Paris waited anxiously for Ariel to come back downstairs, he was so randy and impatient that he felt he was about to jump out of this skin. Paris found himself pacing and staring at his reflection in the dark window, he was almost giggling at the thought of what was to come. There was a sound upstairs, a movement, Paris stilled and listened. It wasn't Ariel; he knew her footsteps like he knew the back of his hand, better in fact.

Where was she?

Excitement and anticipation turned into trepidation that turned into a fully fledged panic and Paris found his feet carrying him up the stairs. He whisked down the landing hallway and into Ariel's bedroom, his heart was pounding in his temples, she wasn't there!

Paris moved further into the room, he checked her walk in closet and bathroom; he even tried, with some lingering pathetic hope that she was playing a game, under the bed. Paris dropped the quilt back into place with a curse and the small breeze it created caused a note on the bed to flap, Paris lunged for it and ended up lying across the bed on his stomach reading the note, like a teenage girl would a magazine.

Catch me if you can …

Ariel

Paris's face split into a grin and he set the note aside. His mate was a playful little thing, it was something Paris loved and treasured about her. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushed himself up from the bed, for a terrifying moment, Paris had believed Ariel had gotten cold feet and chose to cut and run. He raised his head and sniffed the air, her trail was strong, it was deliberate, chuckling to himself he flashed outside to the patio. She wasn't there, but the air was saturated in her scent, the scent of aroused lioness, Paris felt a full body tingle flush his skin. He flashed himself in the direction the scent was strongest and realised Ariel was leading him to the back of her property, he flashed himself a mile or so from her. A predatory smile made his face edge on the wicked side; he gave a dark chuckle when he saw lights in the distance at the base of the oak tree that they had made love under so few nights ago. This time however Paris would be able to relish the experience of making love with Ariel outdoors with a clear and sober head. Paris flashed himself a few feet away from where Ariel had made a delightful little camp for them; it looked like a grotto, a small haven in the middle of nowhere.

Bathed in soft yellow lamp and candle light, Ariel lay on a comfy looking make shift bed, plush pillows and blankets of a feather mattress looked like a nice place to rest while being watched by the stars. Ariel was leaning back on her forearms, dressed in lacy black Victoria Secret lingerie; her long blonde hair was pulled back at the front, just the way he liked it, while the rest was left to blanket her voluptuous mounds, making it look like an attempt at modesty. The affect drove Paris wild; he cleared his throat and moved forward until the toe of his boots touched the end of the mattress.

"This is very …." he searched for a word, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "bohemian."

Ariel gaze a silent laugh, before flicking her hair over her shoulder with a confident movement of her head and body.

"Your late, Literian, its cold," Ariel bit her lip and let her gaze rake him with deliberate slowness. "I wanted you to warm me."

Paris almost looked shy when he scratched his forehead and chuckling.

"I can do that," he said quietly, before flashing himself naked and kneeling down in front of her on the mattress. Ariel immediately leaned up to meet him and came together on a kiss. The movement looked as natural as breathing; it was unstoppable and automatic yet still managed the look of being unarranged. Paris kissed her so sweetly and thoroughly that Ariel didn't want him to stop and complained when he pulled back from her.

"I'll spend the rest of the night kissing you if you want," he laughed quietly, "but can we do something important first?"

Ariel smiled and nodded, "You better do more than kiss me for the rest of the night."

"Don't worry, love, I'll be more then happy to service you," Paris replied while they changed positions. Paris laid himself back on the mattress and Ariel straddled his waist, he moved his hands lightly up Ariel's smooth, golden thighs, all the while staring into her beautiful face. His fingertips met with the skimpy lace and he smiled, fingering the flimsy material Paris looked quirked an eyebrow.

"Haven't you forgotten something rather vital?" he said pointedly, plucking at the elastic so it pinged back on her skin, Ariel laughed. "Can't very well claim you as my mate with these in the way, can I?"

"Take a closer look," Ariel suggested with an impish smile, Paris looked down and let out a sound between half sigh half growl.

"Crotchless panties," he whispered in reverence, if he was hard before it was nothing to now, Paris felt like he had a hot, iron bar replace a certain member of the anatomy. "I want this off though."

He flicked the front catch on the bra and sighed with satisfaction when her breasts were released, the bra floated away into the darkness and Paris brought his hands up to play gently with her. Ariel arched her back slightly and gave a little moan.

Ariel couldn't believe she was doing this again; she was actually going to mate with him! Her first mating experience had been nothing like this, it had been quick and rather fast if she were perfectly honest, at the time she had thought it just the way things were, she had been very naïve. Ramirez hadn't treated Ariel with half as much care as Paris had; he had been brutal throughout their brief mating and as it turned out evil and ruthless.

Before memories could swamp her, Ariel focused on Paris's eyes, liquid gold in the candle light, he looked up at her as if she were something divine and holy, the nagging doubt was still there but pushed into the back of her mind. She refused to let it have free reign. She felt Paris take his hand from her breast that he was kneading so exquisitely and capture her hand; he kissed the mating mark before sliding his fingers through hers. Ariel felt her breath catch when her palm began to heat up.

"Ariel, if you want to back out now's your chance," Paris murmured, his own eyes filled with fear, but he gallantly forced the words out.

Yeah, now's your chance, the doubt in her mind said, Ariel felt Paris's fingers loosen on her hands and his eyes slid away from hers. The molten gold began to cool and she just could not have that. Ariel gripped his hand and slammed her body on to his, surprisingly enough his body slid easily into hers, with no discomfort; but then that wasn't surprising because she seemed to get wet just looking at him.

"You think I'm going to let go of you, Literian? When you've just said something like that to me?"

Paris gasped and Ariel began to gently move her hips, taking a deep breath she spoke her part of the ritual.

"I accept you as you are, I always hold you close in my heart. I will walk beside you forever."

***************************

Paris heard the last of her words echo in his ears, the brief fear and indecision he'd seen flicker over her face was bravely being pushed away and replaced by raw determination to see it through.

Paris couldn't be more proud or more humbled by someone, he smiled at her even though his eyes filled a little, he used all his control not to make them fall.

'I will walk beside you forever'

Gods of Olympus, he hoped so! He wanted her with him always and forever, he wanted to love her and make love to her, he wanted to fight with her about family and about the names of their kids or that he'd been out too late with Trey. He wanted to lose all his money to her in a poker game and drink wine on a beach with her until sunrise. He wanted to make her promises under red sunsets and keep them on rainy days. He wanted her cursing him to hell when she was in labour and hear her passionate cries in the throes of love making. He was obsessed and greedy for her because he wanted all! The hardest thing in the world was for him to keep his hips still but it had to be her choice, she had to ride them through this, Paris repeated the vows back and immediately felt the pain of the thiro.

Ariel watched him arched beneath her, hissing fiercely as the pain racked his body, it was awful and frightening to watch, they locked eyes for a moment and Ariel took a deep breath but did not say a word. She didn't need to, Paris did it for her.

"Do you want to?" he asked gently, even though he was in so much pain, Ariel choked on a sob and found herself nodding. It was exactly what she wanted.

Paris sat up under her, her body still locked around his, he moved her hair away from her neck and winding his arms round her, he pulled her close. Almost the way one would tenderly hold a child, like she would break.

"Thank you," Paris whispered in to her neck and Ariel wanted to cry even harder, not through fear or sorrow but happiness and joy. The man was thanking her! He truly was spectacular.

"I love you, Paris."

With that he sank his teeth deep and the biggest, most vivid explosion of pleasure and colour passed through them both. It had them making inhuman sounds as they thrust against each other's body in a wild frenzy of passion. The closeness that they felt was truly unimaginable. It was like being one person, one heart, one soul. Every barrier and prejudice was gone, every thought and feeling was the same. It felt as though invisible string stretched across the space between them and tied them to one another, through their skin the threads bound them tying them closer to each other than their own hearts were to their bodies. Not even the fates could sever it. At the same time both reached the peak of pleasure and the roar from Paris exploded into the night, his powers and hers rocketed, sending the flames of the candles shooting up and whipping around them like a lasso of fire. The feeling faded and left behind a marvellous afterglow, Paris still had his arms wrapped tightly around Ariel; she lay limp and boneless on him. He lay down with her blanketing him, and only when a tickling on his face began did he realise those tears had fallen; turning his face into her golden hair he muttered endearments in Greek. Ariel stirred.

"What did you say?" She pulled back to look at him and delicately kissed away the tears on his cheeks.

"I called you, the one I worship."

Ariel beamed at him and laid down again, her head over his heart.

"That was fantastic," she muttered dreamily.

Paris grinned triumphantly and rolled over so he was on top; he shifted so he wasn't crushing her and lay with his head propped up on his elbow, looking down at her face, while his leg was thrown over hers.

"I guess your stuck with me now," he muttered, holding a lock of hair to his nose, he kissed it, Ariel opened her eyes and grinned.

"No, Paris, your stuck with me. Forever," she added in a sing song voice.

"Not a bad deal as far as I'm concerned," he said thoughtfully, and then gave her a grin nothing short of wicked. "I'm ready for round to, how about you?"

Ariel laughed loudly and rolled with him. They played all night, claiming each other's bodies, talking, laughing, and making wondrous plans. It was, by far, the best night of both their lives.