She fell asleep for a couple of hours. A restless sleep in which the only thing she dreamt about was an endless rain of blood washing over her completely bare body. There was no place to hide, no shelter nearby to take cover, but than again, it was not the accursed presence of that warm liquid trailing down her skin that bothered her the most, but that distinct, metallic smell that she was so familiarized with…the smell of death, of forcefully taken lives….The kind of smell that unavoidably used to fill each village that had the misfortune to be crossed by her army in the past, and which she was still trying so hard to forget….

She woke up with a jolt, in the middle of the night, desperately gasping for air, as if having returned from the muddy waters of the Styx. She tried to inhale , but no air entered her lungs as if there was something blocking her windpipe. She took a deeper breath and some oxygen finally pierced her chest in an almost painful manner. She instinctively covered her mouth with the back of her hand…..She felt like she was about the vomit any second….

"Are you ok Darling?"

His voice sounded like an unearthly, far away echo that had nothing to do with the heavy elements of that material world surrounding her….It took her more than one full minute to realize that he must have been standing there, by her side- gently caressing her hair- from the very moment her eyes had flown open , and her half paralyzed with fear body had began to react.

She just nodded, still unable to speak.

He wrapped his arms protectively around her , but she didn't move. It was then, in the unique comfort of his embrace- when her brain finally started to function normally again- that she could hear herself breathing. She was inhaling impressive quantities of air at extremely short intervals, as if she had been running for miles…..She made an effort to control herself but the only thing she managed to do was to burst into tears. Biting her lower lip in the attempt to keep quiet was definitely useless now that her entire body was trembling like a leaf under the effect of those shuddering sobs.

In the meantime, the War God himself was struggling to keep his calm. Seeing her as pale as a wax statue wasn't helping his nervous system in any way though. He wanted to say something, but the words piled up in his throat and refused to come out. He hadn't seen her torn apart like that in ages….not since Solan's death, at least...

The first impulse was to tighten his hold on her, but the force he had placed in that embrace was already ridiculous; it would have taken just a bit more extra energy to break a bone or two in her body. Consequently, he cupped her face in his hands instead, and tenderly wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

Just like a wounded, defenseless little girl who was now getting all her father's attention, she suddenly stopped crying, staring at him with those unnaturally blue irides as if his every move was hipnotizing. As his thumb brushed away even the last salty trace of her tears, her lips parted almost involuntarily at the shooting sensation offered by the rare suavity of his goldy touch.

When their burning gazes connected, the contact lasted but a meaningless instant before their mouths found their way towards each other, lips crushing under the pressure of that bruising, consuming kiss that followed.

By the time the God managed to realize what was happening, her fingers were already gripping the edges of his leather vest, pulling him even closer to her, so impossibly close that her temptingly round breasts were now pressing disturbingly hard against his chest….

A tidal wave of arousal washed over him immediately, shutting down his brain for several seconds to everything else except that intoxicating scent of desire spreading through each and every pore of her smooth, silky skin…She was irresistible…and the taste of her lips, the warmth of her breath mixing with his own…her illegally hard nipples poking obnoxiously into that flimsy fabric barely covering her form and digging into his chest…..He was out of control…

It was no wonder that his fingers entangled into her hair almost on their own, mercilessly, possessively, demanding , while his other hand pulled down with remarkable speed the thin straps of her negligee , thus exposing the demonically addictive beauty of those breasts that got him to the point of loosing his mind….He eagerly cupped one, brushing it's nipple with his index and he was right about to push her on her back and take her on the highest peaks of ecstasy, when, the awareness of what he was doing and mostly the unfortunate circumstances in which he was about to make his move, hit him like a tone of bricks.

"Whoa there…! " he exclaimed, taken aback by that unbreakable chain of unanticipated reactions, gently freeing himself from her grasp. "You don't wanna do this….You're just... hurt and... tired…" he reminded her, despite of the fact that he could clearly feel her body responding to his nearness.

"Make me forget…" she pleaded, brushing his gorgeous lips with her thumb in the process, just like he had done but a couple of seconds earlier, and despite the fact that her voice was stern and emotionless, he could distinctly see that very familiar sparkle in her eyes…She wanted him….badly….

He barely fought the urge to kiss the curve of her neck….she was so unbelievably inviting….

"You won't forget…It would only numb the pain…. "he casually stated, on a considerably calmer note now, meant too convince rather himself than her of the cruel doze of reality that was bound to pulverize her soul at first light.

"Then lie to me…..Lie to me that everything will be different tomorrow…that the pain would be gone….."

"Princess…."

Despite the aching need to leave any other insignificant and useless detail aside and just ram his cock inside her, he pushed her slightly away from him, as if he were pushing the devil incarnate aside.

When he spoke again, his voice was thick with the repressed craving to fill her, to take away her pain "…you'll just hate me in the morning…."

"I hate you anyway….This will only add some extra incentive…." the dark, seductive line was cunningly uttered, and there was a lingering ache in her words that he simply couldn't stand hearing….

His gaze shifted away from her the same moment that his hands withdrew completely from her hair…..

…The surreal magnetism of her perfectly traced body was overwhelming….

His jaw clenched and his fingers twitched before curling into a fist, as he finally made up his mind: he wasn't going any further that night. Something inside his head kept repeating him like a broken record that making love to her while she was vulnerable and exposed like that was not one of the brightest ideas he had ever had…For once, he was willing to trust his judgement and do the right thing...

..For a split second, Xena actually flinched...He was right about to get up and leave, when her light, smooth palm touched his shoulder. As expected, he froze….Her caress was like pure electricity….

"Stay…." she murmured yearningly against his ear, sending shivers straight to his very core, driving him completely up the wall..

When he glanced back down at her and their eyes met once more, he knew that there was no way in Tartarus he could have said no to her in the first place….She was too damn attractive….obsessive…just like a hot shot of heroin...He didn't have neither the strength nor the will to refuse her…..

"What the Hell….you do need new reasons to hate me after all…" he casually mumbled while with a rough pull he ripped the flimsy negligee off her already half naked form...

…..Next thing he knew, he was pushing her thighs apart….