Chapter 36
Xena had already made it half way down the corridor when she realized that in her haste to just get away from the irritating Love Goddess she had head it the wrong way. She just wanted this day to be over and all she really wished for to do was crawl into her bed and go to sleep. She let out a deep breath and then turned around towards her bed chamber but to her surprise she saw that now there was this man standing a few feet away from her. But it wasn't just any man, it was the same one that Aphrodite was trying to get her to sleep with. Great, now she had to deal with yet another horny bastard who thought that he would so easily get what he wanted.
She decided to pay no attention to him and she began to walk forward. She planned to just walk right passed him and not even spare him the chance to spewing out whatever hunk of crap he was going to try and say to her in order to attract her attention. She didn't make it very far though as he stepped into her path and blocked her from leaving the hall.
"Now what is a gorgeous woman such as yourself doing all alone in this dark corridor?" he smiled softly at her while slowly beginning to close in the distance between them even more.
He had this growing need to just get closer to her, wanting to feel her body pressed up against his as he took possession of it. And what a body it was, he hungrily let his eyes roam over her as he thought of all the different ways he was going to have fun with it. That red dress she was wearing just seemed to be enchanting him with the way it clung to her body, hugging her ample breasts then flowing down to her waist where it seemed that the fabric was just painted on to her body, perfectly highlighting her every curve before it flowed out into a loose skirt, showing off those bronze toned smooth legs before they got lost in her boots. As for those seductive eyes that shined brightly and seemed to have a hint of warning behind them as she just stared at him cruelly, they only made her even more appealing. She was going to be an interesting one that was for sure and he couldn't wait to get a taste of that.
One the other hand, Xena didn't even bother to give him a response and she tried to move and walk passed him again, but there was no chance in that ever happening since he had grabbed a hold of her arm the moment she was close enough to him and pushed her roughly up against the nearby wall as he pinned her to it with his body.
"I suggest you remove your hands from me or it will be the last thing you will ever do." Xena threatened as she attempted to push the man away from herself.
"Oh, you're a feisty one... I like that." he leaned in closer to her with the intention of placing a kiss against her neck.
Xena saw it coming and without delay had head budded him to stop his advance on her. He loosened his hold on her for a second and she shoved him backwards.
"You should have listened."
In the man's apparent shock that she had dared strike him, she moved passed him. She didn't need this tonight and she wasn't going to stick around for one minute longer then she had to. But her thoughts of this night ending on a peaceful note were quickly doused when the over confident son of a bacchae grabbed a hold of her hair viciously and pulled her back towards him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he instantly crashed his lips in a bruising kiss against hers when he finished his question. By the Gods, she had tasted better then he originally thought she would have and he forced his tongue into her mouth as he tightened his grip in her hair. He brought his free hand up and started to squeeze her breast roughly, his excitement building as he now tried to slip his hand below the fabric of her dress and have more access to her breasts. He pulled the flimsy strap to her clothes down her arm and thus out of the way , desperately wanting to get and started to fondle her right breast.
Immediately, Xena fought back, starting to push against his chest to break the unwanted kiss. Her attempts to break free from him nonetheless were made harder with him still gripping her hair so tightly. The bile in her throat was rising when she felt him run his grubby hand all over her breast…. She was not his to touch! She bit down hard on his bottom lip and the pain that it inflicted was enough for him to loosen his hold on her and she shoved him back yet again and fixed her clothing as she pulled the strap back up on her shoulder. He had immediately retaliated with a nasty slap across her face that left her in a bit of a haze for a moment before she shook it off. She turned back to face him and not entirely anticipating his next move he punched her in the gut and then delivered a brutal blow to her face and she staggered back from him. She moved her hand to her mouth where she wiped away the small amount of blood that trickled down when he busted her lip open with the savage hit.
Alright, if the bastard wanted to fight then she was going to give him one hell of a fight. Xena walked towards him, set on making him hurt and regretting the day he had ever met her. He simply chuckled at her as she walked towards him. He could see the anger that was now flashing in her eyes but that type of look just seemed to turn him on more to lusting to have her. If it was aggressive she wanted, he would give her that.
He launched his attack against her once she was close enough and Xena quickly blocked his first blow and much to his surprise she had him on the defense as she punched him savagely in the face and then delivered a wicked kick that was meant for his groin but collided with his leg as he moved out of the way faintly. She didn't give him the slightest opening to get a blow in against her. She was boiling with rage and not quite keeping her focus, he got a lucky blow in that made her stumble back. He quickly punched her in the midsection again and then tossed her into the nearby wall cruelly. She quickly recovered from the impact and back handed him across the face viciously. The fire flared behind her eyes, her fury now mounting with every single blow that he struck against her and unfortunately for him she was not going to give him the satisfaction of leaving this corridor alive. A cocky grin began to form on his face as he looked into those cruel sapphire eyes. He brought his hand up to his face and he started to massage his jaw from her blow.
When she moved to strike another blow, he rapidly ducked out of the way and grabbed a hold of both of her ankles instead and tripped her up. Her back hit against the hard temple floor brutally and she groaned out when he fell on top of her, he was a lot bigger than she was and he was crushing her with his weight. He immediately grabbed a hold of her arms as she began to push against him and pinned them above her head and he nudged her legs apart and settled himself at home between them.
He smiled smugly down at her, seeing her defenseless like that, all that rage radiating form behind her cerulean eyes, making everything even more interesting. He started to run his hand down her body to her right leg and then he hiked it up over his hip so he could get closer to her and he shoved the bulge in his pants into her crotch, grinding himself against her. Her free hand pushed against him to try and dislodge him from her but his heavy body made her attempts futile and he thrust his hips into her more, barely being able to control his excitement of wanting to ram himself inside of her as he pushed her skirt impatiently out of the way and ran his fingers along her sex.
It didn't last long until he moved to his own pants and he freed his engorged shaft and pressed it at her opening, groaning lowly in his throat at the feel of her against his swollen member and he ran it slowly up and down her opening to tease her. He moved his hand back up her body, feeling all of her curves, stopping once he got to her breast and began to grope it roughly again. The next thing she knew, he leaned down and started to kiss hungrily against her cleavage. He pulled at the fabric, breaking the strap, and he tugged it out of the way, giving him access to what he wanted. He greedily took her nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking against it feverishly as he bathed it with his lips. Xena brought her hand up and scraped her nails across the side of his face, leaving behind five distinct gashes as she tore at his flesh brutally. He jerked his head back from the sudden sting and violently slapped her across the face again, when, bringing his own hand up to his cheek and touched it, he saw the blood that now stained his hand. He pushed her legs further apart, wanting to show her who was the one that was really in charge there, so he shifted his hips back planning to ruthlessly thrust himself within her and take what he wanted as he violently fucked her brains out again and again until he had gotten his fill with the little bitch.
"I hate uninvited guests." she sneered out and wasted no time as she reached into her boot and pulled out the dagger that she kept there and jabbed it into the side of his neck ferociously before the filthy bastard had the chance to enter her. The blood squirted across her chest as she hit an artery and she pulled it out and rammed it into him again savagely. A spiteful glare formed in her eyes and a slight pleased smile tugged at the corner of her mouth from the shock that formed in his eyes as he slowly died and she pulled the blade out again and sunk it back into the side of his neck and twisted the blade, making the hole twice as big.
He slumped down on top of her, covering her more in his blood as it gushed from his wounds and she rolled him off of herself, not wanting to feel his grimy body against her any longer. Xena laid there for a few seconds, relief filling her as she tried to catch her breath, and she unsteadily shifted her clothing back into place and tied the strap together then she got to her feet. That had been way too close for her liking and she reached down and pulled the dagger out of the side of his throat. She wiped her blade clean on him and then placed it back inside of her boot. She looked down at herself…If only it would have been as simple to do the same for herself as she just did with her dagger….To merely wipe her memory away, now she had to take another long bath and scrub his grimy touch off of every inch of herself until she felt clean again and she headed down the hall towards the roaring party so she could get a fresh pair of clothing.
As soon as she entered the room Aphrodite had immediately taken notice of her. That had gone a lot quicker then she thought it might have and she vanished from her spot and reappeared next to her.
"So how did it go?" she asked all happily that she was able to help her.
Her only response from Xena though, was a nasty glare that showed the Love Goddess just how much fun she really had. A small gasp had left the Goddess' mouth at seeing the condition she was now in. The slight blemishes that was forming on her cheek, her busted lip and the blood that she was covered in. Why was there so much blood?
"Xena, by the Gods, what happened?!"
She turned to walk away from Aphrodite, she had enough of her interference for that night. She shrugged off her attempt to try and touch her and she continued to move away from the Love Goddess and head to her room.
"Xena..." the Goddess pleaded with her, "... what did he do? I was only trying to help."
"Help?!" she chuckled softly at her brainless answer, "I didn't ask for your help!" she whirled around and glared menacing at the Love Goddess.
"I'm so sorry." she didn't mean for such an unfortunate turn of events. The Goddess was now completely horrified that she had sent a monster after her. That had definitely not been her intent and Ares was going to kill her for having inadvertently caused harm to her.
"I'm so sorry, Xena..." she didn't think she could apologize enough for her mistake, "... I didn't think..." but she got cut off quickly.
"That's the problem, you didn't think. The next time I tell you to leave me alone, just do it." she breathed out venomously.
The Love Goddess wanted to make it up to her and she reached up and tried to heal her wounds. But Xena quickly jerked away from her touch, not wanting the Goddess any closer to herself then she already was. She didn't have the right to touch her, not after what she had just done.
"Xena please, allow me."
A sheen of tears could be seen playing on the recess of Aphrodite's eyes when she pulled away from her.
Not waiting for an answer, she reached up again and a soft golden light formed from her hand and she placed it against Xena's face and healed her injuries and with a wave of her hand she cleaned her of all the blood she was covered in. Now the Warrior Princess looked as if nothing had ever happened but the Goddess knew that she couldn't take away the scar that she had just given her. She felt terrible for having caused her harm and no matter what Xena might be thinking about her at that moment it was nothing compared to how she felt about herself right now. She was disgusted with herself, she was the Goddess of Love and she was supposed to spread its joy and happiness around, not be the cause of a vicious assault on someone who she knew her brother held very dear to himself…. Ares would never forgive her for what she had done. She couldn't believe that she unintentionally had a hand in this violent attack and she vanished from the temple completely sickened with herself by what she had done to her brother's flame.
Xena saw the clear self loathing that was now in the Love Goddess' eyes for having had a part in what had happened to her before she left. Now she felt bad for her, deep down she knew that Aphrodite did not really mean to cause her any harm and that the Goddess was not one for violence. But at the same time she didn't feel that sorry for her, if she had only listened then none of this would have happened. She made her way to her bed chamber and let out a deep sigh once she got inside, she just wanted this night to end already. She made her way over to pick out a clean shift and, as she rifled through the several different pieces of fabric her hand came into contact with a silky soft material. She knew what it was before she pulled it out and she took off her now clean dress and slipped into it, not wanting to feel dirty anymore even though there wasn't a speck of grime on her. The short black garment barely covered her and she didn't put much thought as to why she had chosen to wear that particular piece of clothing.
She moved over to her bed and she burrowed herself beneath the sheets, letting out a deep sigh as she held the covers tightly around herself, trying to create a protective cocoon. Xena laid there for a moment thinking about the day and everything that had just happened to her. Then she propped herself up and reached over to the table next to her bed and lifted open the lid to a box that sat on it. Inside, it held the remnants of what once used to be two very vibrant looking roses that were now all dried out and flaky. She ran her finger tips delicately over the crumbling petals for a few moments, not wanting to destroy them in their fragile state, and looked pensively down at them. She closed the lid and then laid back down on the bed and moved her hand to her chest and took a hold of the pendant and held it firmly in her hand. She was holding on to it so tight that the pointed edges of the sword were digging into her skin. She hadn't opened that box in quite some time and she silently wondered why today she had chosen to open it again.
She finally pushed the thoughts from her mind and tried to get a restful night sleep and rolled over onto her side, still holding the sheets closely to herself and clutching the pendant securely in her hand. She could still feel that bastard's filthy hands all over her body and she closed her eyes tight, trying to block it out. It was all in her head, she tried telling herself over and over again, she was fine and the bastard was dead.
She wanted a peaceful, dreamless sleep, one that she hadn't had in a long time and she was pretty sure that tonight was not going to be one either. She laid there for awhile trying to will herself to fall asleep but the continuously unfolding images were not letting her rest though and she opened her eyes and just stared at the wall.
Her blue moons shifted over to her closet for a moment and then she got up out of bed and walked over to it. She opened it and then pulled out a chest and lifted the lid. She pulled out the pillow that she had put in there so long ago and held it in her hands for a split second and then brought it up and inhaled against it. It still smelled like him even after all this time and she walked back over to her bed with it and climbed in. Xena settled herself in and hugged the pillow close to her chest. She breathed in deep the War Gods scent again, letting his fragrance take over her senses and wanting to get lost in it, and sighed out as she relaxed a little and nestled the pillow beneath her chin. She didn't want to think about the reasons as to why Ares' aroma soothed her so much and she just put it off to it just being that she just liked the way he smelled. It calmed her and at the moment that was everything she needed: to be comforted. Feeling her nerves beginning to compose a little more she nestled herself further into her bed. Bringing the sheet up and covering herself tightly with it, she closed her eyes and attempted to get some sleep, never loosening her hold in the slightest on the pillow that she now clung to as a life line.