Chapter 59

"…. Trust me…."

Those two simple words echoed around within her head for what seemed like forever as time just seemed to slow down for a moment. Could she… did she? It wasn't something that she normally did and there weren't very many that she had come across that would have made her want to do it either. In the split second that it took her to look up from his hand to his auburn eyes, she knew once she had connected with his warm gaze what the answer to that question was. She did trust him- the only person she had ever trusted with her life.

This seemed right, this was where she belonged, and who she belonged with. Ever since she was a child she had always felt an unnatural pull towards the God of War and since the first time she met him it had only become stronger. With Athena, it was an entirely different scenario and she had always felt out of place by her side but here… she didn't know how to describe it exactly but she truly felt like she had finally found her way home.

With an impish grin, she softly slipped her hand into his, feeling the electricity sparkling between them whenever their bodies touched and Ares pulled her closer to himself. He swiftly entwined their hands together, a mischievous little smirk of his own forming on his face with the way she was slightly irritated for not knowing where they were going and he quickly leaned in and captured her lips with his own in a possessive kiss.

"This better be good or you're dead." she sternly told him, suddenly ending the way too quick kiss and trying to distance herself from him but his strong hold was not letting her go anywhere.

"Ouch... death threats…" he placed her free hand against his chest as if she had actually wounded him with her words- so she could feel how she had broken his little heart, "… a bit uncalled for don't you think?"

"Not at all, I have to have some way to keep you in line." she teasingly stated, allowing her hand to gently run along his exposed chest, lightly slipping beneath the material a little while she slowly worked her way down a small amount.

"Oh, I'm sure you can think of plenty of ways to go about keeping me in line, my dear." he huskily stated, his hand now running softly against her waist, lazily moving up her side and making her shiver a little from the contact.

Her wicked smile seemed to widen even more with his words and she slowly leaned in to him, stopping just before their mouths could touch. The anticipation within him as her mouth hovered over his, she could clearly feel it as his breath became labored a small amount and, wanting to drive him crazy, she then lightly ran her tongue along his bottom lip playfully and placed a short kiss against his mouth before she pulled away from him completely.

Ares wasn't even aware of what had just happened, he was still lost on the feeling of those luscious lips against his and it was only when he heard her voice that he realized it. That was a first, she was such a tease and it wasn't so much the fact that she had teased him but that he actually fell for it like a complete sucker.

"Shall we go?" she sweetly asked, slightly tugging on his hand a little that was still firmly latched on to hers.

He just grinned big at her, the little minx! Gods did he love it though, but he wasn't about to let her get one over him and within a heartbeat, the Chosen of War's back was slamming against the wall. Before she could even catch her breath from the sudden impact, Ares was ferociously claiming her mouth in a demanding kiss, his hand snaking into her silky dark tresses and cradling her head as he fervently brushed his lips against hers.

By the time it had ended, Xena was completely lost within it- the delicious way in which he was expertly plying her lips apart, exploring further before he possessively claimed her mouth in one last deep passionate kiss- driving her absolutely crazy. She slumped back against the wall, her breath raging out of control from that life altering experience…. Now that was a kiss!

"Lets..." he cunningly whispered out, that arrogant smirk plastered all over his face with the state he had left her in and it only widened even more with the way the Warrior Princess was now looking at him harshly.

She was the one who started it after all, and you couldn't blame him for simply calling her bluff.

Within seconds, a blue light was soon forming all around them and the dangerous pair left the Halls of War. Wait till the world got a load of her… he just couldn't wait to show her off.

Xxxxx

Still not fully recovered from the War God's barbaric attack that he gave her no time to even think to compose herself from, Xena barely had time to steady herself from the disorienting sensation of going through the ether and if Ares still didn't have his arm possessively wrapped around her waist, then she would have surely stumbled to the ground the moment her feet had touched solid ground again.

Her eyes looked around wildly for a moment, still trying to get her bearings before she caught sight of the display that she now had before her. What the heck was this? This was his big surprise that he seemed so excited about? It was a bit anticlimactic really and spending the next few hours watching, well, she wasn't really sure what she was watching. I mean, she did have a general idea of what she was witnessing but it seemed so… she didn't even know what to think really and it certainly wasn't what she had envisioned as some sort of a surprise and she frowned from the thought. She was actually quite eager to finding out what it was but this, this was a bit disappointing.

But it was the next set of words that came flowing out of the man's mouth that had really caught her attention, she couldn't help the slight scoff that escaped her throat at his boldness.

"What's the matter baby, you're not afraid of the God of War are you?" the man sweetly whispered out to the voluptuous redhead that was lying precariously beneath him.

Now granted, the man was actually quite handsome, dirty blonde hair and a mildly built torso that would have been enough to attract the opposite sex without any trouble what so ever. His half naked body wasn't leaving much else to be desired though but those blue eyes of his could capture the heart of any young maiden once he set his sights on them.

"It's just…" she nervously began, just to giggle out softly the following moment when he started to lightly run his fingers along her chest, "… I've never been with a God before."

"Don't worry sweetheart, it'll be like Olympus under your feet." he seductively told her, capturing her lips with his own in a brutal kiss for a few seconds, "… I'll be gentle, I promise."

The girl's excited squeal as he began to passionately kiss against the side of her neck was quite nauseating. Was she really that naïve, she actually thought that she was about to have sex with the God of War and Xena just frowned annoyed with the idea.

"Oh, Ares…" she breathlessly moaned out when the man had worked his way down to her breasts and started to suck against them.

Just hearing the way the redhead had so wantonly uttered his name had set the Warrior Princess' blood on fire. A small spark of jealousy had spiked within her and she just sneered menacingly, that little harpy just wished that it was him right now making love to her. The display was rather sickening and the girl's overly dramatic moans of pleasure as she cried out Ares' name again and again and again just made Xena want to slap the bitch silly.

She cast a small look in Ares' direction, wondering what on earth he had been thinking by bringing her here. He had a vicious sneer upon his face though, not at all enjoying the display, so it seemed that this was not what he had been expecting to find either and she was pretty positive that the fact that this man was impersonating him was not sitting all too well with him either. The darkening gleam in his eyes was a clear indication that he was barely containing his anger.

"Tydus!" Ares had cruelly yelled out before things could continue along any further and bringing to a halt the duos little foreplay.

The soldier had frozen immediately once his name had reached his ears and it was the voice that had said it that had truly struck fear within him. He was desperately hoping that maybe he was just imagining it and he slowly turned his head to where he had heard it and his eyes widened in panic once he saw the God of War standing there, and judging by the expression on his face, he was not happy.

"Lord Ares!" he respectfully stated, clumsily making his way off of the girl and quickly kneeling before his patron God.

Oh shit, he did not expect him to show up. He had figured that since his Lord had been delayed from when he said they were going to meet that he had plenty of time until the War God had decided to finally come. Something had kept the Olympian elsewhere and he thought that he could sneak a bit of fun in while he had to wait for him.

"What's going on?" the redhead cautiously asked, quickly covering herself with the fur blanket once she caught sight of their two new guests. Just how did they manage to get in here?

"Who are these people, Ares?" she naively inquired, looking to her new lover who had abruptly abandoned what she was just dying to experience with the God of War, "Why are they in your tent, just send them away My Lord."

A snarky little laugh made its way out the Warrior Princess' mouth at her words, causing the redhead to glance her way for a moment before she looked back to whom she thought was the almighty, powerful Olympian.

"Sorry tuts, party's over." the War God coldly informed her and with a simple way of his hand she vanished from the tent.

He then turned his focus to the completely useless and soon to be very dead general in front of him. Just how long had he been putting on this little charade? The thought only made his blood boil and he soon grabbed him by the throat and savagely slammed him against the table, nearly breaking it in half from the impact.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Let me explain!" he quickly choked out.

"Oh, please do." Ares mockingly encouraged, tightening his grip even more, "… On second thought, don't even bother."

He soon lifted him up from the table and made a fireball appear in his left hand. The man started to panic, desperately trying to loosen the War God's grip but he knew that he was not going to get himself free. He had been walking a very fine line and his time was now up.

"Ares, wait!" Xena soon shouted, grabbing a hold of his arm that had been dangerously close to making this pathetic man barbeque.

He just continued to stare threateningly towards the man but his Princess' touch appeared to have some type of calming magic to it and he relaxed a little. This piece of scum didn't know how lucky he was and he made the fireball disappear and then cruelly dropped him to the floor.

The man shakily rubbed against his neck, gasping for breath for a few seconds and then directed his eyes to the woman standing above him. Despite his current situation, he couldn't help the lecherous once over he had given her. The strikingly familiar attire she was wearing made him wonder where he had seen that before and as his eyes lustfully drifted up the rest of her amazing body it finally hit him. At the awareness of it, his eyes slowly glanced over to the War God, seeing the malicious look he was giving him before he had possessively wrapped an arm around the unknown woman's waist, subtle but clearly stating that she was his property.

"What's with the wench?" he foolishly asked, a bit surprised that the War God had actually brought one of his whores with him and trying to direct his focus to something else, other then what had just taken place.

What the soldier couldn't see, but what Xena could certainly feel, was the tightening of Ares' grip around her waist and how he became tense when that question slipped out of his mouth. This wasn't going to end well for him and he had just sealed his fate by having dared to have insulted his Chosen like that. But before he could meet his untimely demise, the Warrior Princess stepped in before Ares painted this tent in his blood.

"The name's Xena, and I'm nobody's whore." she sneered out, not at all impressed with this pitiful excuse for a warrior, "Which is more than I can say for you."

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that!" he angrily stated, getting up from the ground and stepping towards her threateningly, "Just because he's fuc…." but he was soon gasping for breath when the Warrior Princess grabbed him harshly by the throat and with some impressive force, he soon found himself experiencing a case of déjà vu when she slammed him against the table.

She was strong, he wasn't really expecting that coming from her and the darkening of her irises as they stared coldly into his was a bit alarming to him. He had seen that same look many times in a set of eyes that he truly never wanted to be on the receiving end of when it happened and he trembled a little under her gaze. He cast a quick glance to his Lord, hoping that he would do something about this but he just saw Ares standing there looking rather pleased with what was going on. The fact that he was even approving this type of behavior, and from a woman no less, was really confusing and he looked back to this mysterious, but yet powerful raven haired woman.

"Let's get one thing straight here, Tydus…." she acidly sneered out, the taste of his name in her mouth just making a bitter look form on her face, "… I don't like you, and this little charade that you seem to have going on here, ends now!" her lips curled into a spiteful smile when his eyes widened at her words, "Still hoping we didn't hear you , huh? "

He panicked for a moment, the realization that the War God had found out that he had been impersonating him was making him start to sweat. Not really wanting to do it, but they just seemed to be drawn there like a magnet, his eyes started to slowly shift over to his Lord but he was soon slapped back to reality, literally when he felt the harshness of the Warrior Princess' palm connecting with his cheek.

"Don't look at him…" she informed him, grabbing a hold of his chin and redirecting his focus back to herself, "… it isn't polite to ignore people. Especially when I've gone through so much trouble just to capture your attention." she sweetly murmured out, her grip tightening on his face.

Tydus didn't know what to say really, she was deadly and intimidating and at this point he didn't know who he feared more at that moment, this woman or his Lord?

"Do we understand each other?" she inquired and he merely shook his head a little, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you?"

"Y-yes." he timidly replied, unable to pull his eyes away from her haunting sapphire ones that seemed to have paralyzed his body and had him frozen where he stood.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, Xe-Xena."

"That's better…" she said as her mouth corked up into a malicious grin, "…. Now you just remember that and we shouldn't have any problems."

She patted him harshly on the cheek and then roughly shoved him away from herself, now she felt like she needed to take a bath to rid herself of his filth. This had certainly been a wasted trip.

The man on the other hand, although she had inspired fear within him, he was strangely aroused from the whole display. As she began to walk away from him, he couldn't help himself and his eyes drifted over her once again. His eyes spent quite a lot of time dwelling on her ass and he soon found himself fantasizing about her. It didn't last very long though, no, the thought had barely formed in his mind before he was on the receiving end of a fireball and slowly burned to death.

"What did you do that for? He could have been useful." she asked Ares, he might have come in handy later on and it was not like she had bouts of men just waiting for her command.

"He insulted you. You didn't think I was just going to let him live did you?"

"We could have used him." she murmured out grudgingly, crossing her arms across her chest and huffing out an irritated breath.

"There are plenty more where he came from, my dear." he informed her, closing the space between them and he wrapped his arms around her tense form and pulled her closer to himself, securely locking her within his embrace.

"Plus, pretending to be the God of War wasn't working in his favor either." he told her as he gently lifted her face up to meet his, just to find a pair of sad sapphire eyes looking back at him.

"Some surprise." she disappointedly whispered out, jerking her head out of his grip and casting her eyes away from him and pretending to find something else of interest that she could look at.

Her words caused a frown to form on Ares' face, her surprise, did she think it was that? It had been unexpected for sure but that was not what he had brought her here for. The slight disappointment on her gorgeous face was actually kind of sexy and he gently took a hold of her chin and turned her face back towards his own.

"That had been unfortunate…" he sweetly whispered out while he tenderly running his fingers down her cheek, "…but that wasn't it, this is your surprise."

With her now curious expression, though she was trying to act like she wasn't interested, he took a hold of her hand and slowly led her over to the entrance of the tent. Feeling the slight excitement rising within his Chosen, Ares lifted the flap of the tent and revealed to Xena a massive army. Her eyes scanned over the area wildly for a moment, seeing the hundreds of men that were out there and just waiting.

"What's this?" she inquired, still not sure what to think of it.

"It's my army… your army." he informed her when her surprised eyes snapped back to him and he could indeed see the excitement that was now shining in her blue moons and a small smile lightly pulled at his lips with the expression that was on her face.

He soon led her back within the tent, watching while her mind was trying to process everything and just what it all meant exactly. She seemed a little unsure but completely thrilled at the same time.

"I figured they might come in handy in our assault against Athena and who better to command them than the Chosen of War herself."

"What?" she asked a bit shocked, not really believing him.

He was giving her his army, something that would have taken her months to form on her own and now, it had just been formed within the matter of an hour.

"Do you not like it?" he hoped that she did, it seemed like it had pleased her but he wanted to be sure and for her, he wanted it to be perfect.

"I do…" she quickly rushed to inform him, "… it's just a little unexpected."

"Why…?" he asked, cupping her face and searching her enchanting blue eyes, he really wanted to understand her, "I can't think of anyone who would do a better job and you, my dear, are truly magnificent."

She didn't know what to say, there was a softness in his eyes as they stared into hers and she couldn't form a sentence even if she wanted to. Although her mind was certainly at a loss for words, her heart on the other hand just wouldn't shut up and was just screaming at her while she gazed into his warm auburn eyes. He was completely overwhelming and for some time now, though she had tried to ignore it, she was falling in love with him and it just scared the crap out of her. She honestly didn't know how to deal with it or if she even should deal with it. This was ridiculous really, and it certainly didn't make any sense what so ever and it only made her more confused when it came to him.

Seeing the slight inner turmoil she was having with herself, Ares tenderly ran his fingers down her cheek. Why was she so anxious? Did she really think that little of herself? She was absolutely amazing and she excited him in ways that he never knew were possible. She was a rare treasure and he was extremely happy that she had come into his life.

"… You're my equal, you mean the world to me…" the words snuck up on the War God in his mind while he fell deeper into her sapphire eyes. He was completely shocked by it and then he did the only thing he could think of to voice it without actually saying it. He might as well have stabbed himself with the Hinds Blood dagger if he did, and he softly pressed his lips against hers in a slow tender kiss, attempting to ease her worries and to let her know that he was in this with her till the very end.

That kiss had felt different to the Warrior Princess, it still held its same hunger but there was definitely something different about it that she just couldn't put her finger on and she just pushed it from her mind for the moment and just let herself enjoy this with him.

When it was finally over, they just stared at one another for a moment, both of them having the same inner battle within themselves but not quite knowing how to express themselves properly and in the end, their actions spoke a lot louder than their words could have ever done. Ares placed a sweet kiss against her forehead and then soon engulfed her fully within his arms and Xena just snuggled herself against him comfortably while she just relished in his presence and sighed out content in his embrace.

"Can I ask you something?" she softly whispered out a few minutes later, cozily nestling her cheek firmly against his chest, inhaling a little of his masculine cologne that was doing havoc on her nerves.

"Anything, my darling Xena." he sweetly murmured out, softly burying his face within her raven hair and taking a deep breath while he gently ran his fingers through it.

"Does this mean you've kicked me out of your temple?" she teasingly asked, increasing her hold around him a small amount as if he was going to say yes and was suddenly going to vanish from her arms, "If so, then I am going to need a new bed. I refuse to sleep on that soiled… thing over there. Consider it a last request."

He couldn't help but chuckle, she was just something else. One moment she was all fire and then the next she was adorably cute. She soon looked up at him and the slight pout she had on her face was just doing all sorts of damage to him on the inside. She was just so irresistible and he just simply cupped her face and softly smoothed his thumb over her cheek.

"There will always be a place for you within my temple…" he told her, placing a chaste kiss against the tip of her nose, "… in fact, there's a bed reserved just for you and the owner of it is going to feel quite lonely without you there to help him fill it."

"Hmm… well, maybe I can convince him to let me visit every once and a while…. Or, he could visit…" she faintly whispered out those last words, not really sure if she wanted him to hear them.

"Tempting offer…" he suspiciously stated, seeming to think it over for a moment, weighing the pros and the cons to such a proposal, "… I accept."