Chapter 60

"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."

With her amused grin, and the light sparkle in her mesmerizing eyes, he soon brushed his lips against hers. It was a simple kiss but it wasn't long before it began to grow more heated and a soft little moan had escaped the Warrior Princess' throat. It was the only thing that he needed at this point, not that he needed much to begin with in the first place, and Ares slowly worked his hands down towards her thighs and then swiftly hoisted her up his body, never breaking their passionate embrace and holding her firmly against himself. They continued their little sensual act until it seemed that they both needed to come up for air and broke apart.

"Now… where were we?" he seductively whispered out, lightly running his fingers down her cheek before he snapped his fingers.

Xena looked around for a moment, not really knowing what he had done as her eyes scanned the immediate area, everything still looked pretty much the same to her.

"You just want to see me naked." she playfully stated, bringing her eyes back to his and slowly running her finger along his throat and then down to his chest - making his grip around her tighten from the sensation.

"I'm already seeing you naked." he huskily murmured, lecherously roaming his eyes over her body before leaning in and placing slow seductive kisses against her neck.

It wasn't long until he started to walk them in the direction of the bed and her lips curled up into a small smile when she caught sight of it for a moment. He had changed the bed and an excited little shriek had fallen out of her mouth as they tumbled their way on to it. He was extremely focused on making her think about nothing else as he continued to kiss against the side of her throat and Xena almost found herself falling unconsciously right into his trap at the way his skillful lips were messing with the previous order of her thoughts. It was intoxicating though, a special sensation that she really didn't want to pull away from but she knew that she had too, otherwise, she feared that she would really lose herself to him and that was a fall that she wouldn't be able to come back from.

"Ares, we have wo…" she started, only to gasp out when his hand roamed under her skirt, gently teasing her for a time that seemed way too quick for her liking before he lazily moved over to her hip and pulled her closer, "… we have work to do." she somehow managed to articulate.

"Oh… I am working…" he murmured, moving along her collar bone and placing tender kisses along her chest.

"I'm serious, we need to stay focused." she told him, propping herself up on her elbows but that only gave him even more incentive and he started to run his lips over the tops of her breasts.

"Trust me…" he began, snaking his arm around her body and pulling her even closer before capturing her lips in a scorching kiss, "… I've never been more focused then I am right now, sweetheart." he whispered- breathless against her mouth before taking ownership of it again.

It was more than obvious that the War God wanted her, the possessive way in which he touched her and his feverish kisses against her skin were a deadly combination that was making the Warrior Princess slightly succumb to his charm. She was greedy for his attention though and although she knew that she shouldn't let things continue any further, she quickly found herself responding to his maddening caresses.

In the meantime, Ares was having quite a hard time getting his gorgeous Princess out of the tricky little number he had put her in. It was frustrating really, he wanted to feel her skin so badly and this dress was simply mocking him and his apparent inability to get it off of her only managed to annoy him even more. He had never been so clumsy before and the complicated fastenings that were keeping it closed just seemed like they were seared shut, thus denying him the joy of slowly peeling the infuriating garment off of her delectable body.

"Are you trying to distract me?" Xena teasingly whispered out with the way his nimble fingers were eagerly trying to undo her dress, and she softly hooked her finger under his chin and tilted his face back up to hers.

"No…" he simply stated, a slight smirk appearing on his face when he finally loosened that blasted dress, "… I'm actually trying to make love to you…." he told her, slowly slipping the straps from her shoulders as he did so.

The Warrior Princess was caught off guard with his words, she wasn't really expecting that and during her momentary distraction, the War God managed to have her upper body now completely exposed to him. He slowly lowered her back against the bed, gently gliding his fingers along her form, making her shiver from the contact. It wasn't until Xena felt the delicious sensation of Ares' mouth exploring against her tender flesh that she finally snapped herself out of her haze.

The slow descent of his hand was only making the anticipation within her rise and when he gently started to inch the rest of her dress down her body, shifting her hips up a little and moving to guide the garment further down, it was only a matter of time before she let go completely and allowed him to do as he said and let him make love to her.

With a small amount of her brain clearing from the fog that he had managed to engulf her in, Xena roughly pushed him to the side, attempting to put some space between them even though every cell of her body wanted him - but his hand that was firmly attached to her hip was not going to let that happen. The force of her shove only made Ares tighten his grip and he pulled her along with him and swiftly situated her on top of him. Before she could even think of moving, he sat up, pulling her closer and snaking his arm around her waist, succeeding in locking his Princess tightly against himself.

"What's the matter?" he sweetly asked her, sensing the apprehension in her and he soothingly ran his fingers through her long raven tresses before gently bringing her eyes up to meet his.

"Nothing…" she lied, failing miserably to actually convince him of her words before nervously playing with the edge of his vest, "… I just think that we should get a solid plan in motion now that I have this wonderful army to play with."

"Always so eager." he stated, lightly running the backs of his fingers down her cheek.

"I can make it worth your while." she mischievously stated, letting her hand run provocatively along his torso and causing a low growl to form in his throat.

"I like the way you negotiate." he informed her, swiftly leaning in and stealing a quick kiss before making a map appear next to them on the bed.

"You know, these enticing offers of yours…" he began, teasingly roaming his hand up her waist, barely letting his fingers touch against her velvety skin, "… one could certainly get use to such an arrangement."

For the next few hours they went over several different strategies and Xena informed him of all the possible entries into Athens and what would be the best time to launch an attack. By the time they were done, they had quite a few tactics figured out and even some impressive new ones that the War God would not have even thought of using before. She really was something else and he just couldn't help but admire just who she was and what she was able to do.

"This is where their defenses are the most vulnerable…" Xena said, pointing towards a specific area within the city, "… it's not heavily guarded and would be an easy access point."

She stared pensively at the map for a few seconds, seeming to think something over for a moment and then she made one tiny adjustment to what they had. After looking it over one more time, a satisfied smile soon formed on her face with the new modification, it was just gonna have to do.

"So what do you think?" she asked absentmindedly, still rearranging a few things.

When she didn't get a response right away, she looked up just to see Ares staring at her with a weird look in his eyes. She wasn't sure how to identify it exactly and it was only making her grow uneasy. Inside, she loved it when he looked at her like that but at the same time it made her completely nervous because she could never figure out what caused it.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're absolutely gorgeous when you're scheming?" he asked as he lightly brushed a stray lock of her silky tresses out of her face.

She just softly chuckled at his remark, shaking her head slightly with his words.

"Flattery will get you nowhere War God." she made sure to strictly inform him, casting him a cattish grin before returning her focus back to the task at hand.

"No?" he asked with a bit of shock, it had always worked for him before but then again, his Princess was not just anyone.

"No."

He just pursed his lips with her ever growing amusement, but he planned to make that smirk disappear though. In one swift movement, he abruptly knocked the map from the bed, sending their carefully laid plans in a heap to the floor. Before Xena could protest in any way, he quickly pulled her closer to himself and in to a rough, passionate kiss. She attempted to fight it at first, trying to keep herself from giving in to it but there was just no way that she could have pretended that she didn't like it and she was quickly returning his kisses with just as much fervor.

Several moments later, when he was certain that he had ensnarled his Princess completely, Ares pulled back from her, but not before capturing her lips in a few couple sweet, short kisses.

"Where will that get me?" came his arrogant question, softly running his thumb along her bottom lip before lightly pulling on it a little.

"I think your odds might have improved…" she breathlessly whispered out, gently brushing her mouth against his as she slowly made her way to his ear, "…. but only a little… it seemed to lack a certain passion that I've experienced with someone who was much more skilled with something like this recently…"

She let her hand softly run down his face and then proceeded to challengingly spur the War God on while she continued with her sweet caresses.

"Though I don't think you would be able to live up to such demands." that was a clear invitation, one that he was all too willing to fulfill and so he did just that.

"If I didn't know any better…" he softly began, lazily inching his hand upwards on her leg, "… then I would say that you were trying to provoke me, my dear."

"Me?" she asked with mild shock, seeming completely appalled with his accusation, "Trying to provoke the almighty Ares? I'm just a mere mortal, My Lord…" she taunted, a cunning smile lightening up her features as she teasingly started to roam her hand against his chest.

"There is nothing simple about you, my sweet." he made sure to tell her before calming her mouth for a hungry kiss again.

Needless to say, those next several hours were certainly going to be well spent while they lost themselves within one another.