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" That's it! Enough is enough!" the infuriated War God growled tempestuously, literally jumping from his comfortable ebony throne as if he had been sitting on spikes when the blind eunuch's skillful hands pushed gently the satin sheet an inch lower down his Princess' ass, up to her sacrum...

A wave of destructive fury mixed with acute jealousy , frustration and limitless outrage washed over the handsome Olympian at seeing the immense joy engraved on the nitwit's face- who, thoroughly convinced that having some fun on the job couldn't possibly hurt- was now fondling his property as if there were no tomorrow ….And yes, the guy might have been an expert masseur and whatever not, but he was definitely going to have his head ripped off- no doubt about it- 'cause, if the fuming God had been barely capable to suppress his anger minutes earlier- when, as much as he disliked what he was seeing, all the man's moves appeared to be the regular, standard ones he would use with all his clients, now that the clueless idiot was getting bolder and bolder, Ares' chest began to rise and fall at a remarkably fast tempo, the venomous gaze in his eyes predicting in a fairly accurate manner that the man's spirit was gracelessly about to leave the earthly realm soon- and not necessarily for a better existence….

Nope...Definitely no more waiting! Why in Tartarus had he even agreed to her ludicrous idea, in the first place? He was the freaking God of War for crying out loud, not some petty mortal she could toy with however and whenever she felt like it! Whatever it was that had been bothering her, she would have to tell him-and by the head of Zeus he had every intention to get it out of her one way or the other- and then, there would be nothing left for him to do but take her back to the Halls of War. Eventually, things would go back to normal of course- starting with their rough but useful morning drills and ending with him watching her like a hawk throughout the rest of the day while she would be busy bossing her men around.

In short, these were pretty much the wild thoughts that were crossing the War God's industrious mind as he entered the aether- his arms, folded tensely across his chest and one foot- encased in a heavy leather boot- tapping the ground impatiently, revealing essential information about the crappy mood he was in. A blink later, in the easily noticeable absence of the regular light show, of the supernatural effects and sounds - very unlike him, may I add- Ares materialized right next to the massage table on which his Princess was still lying without a care in the world.

Now...uh.. normally, we all know that the next image we were supposed to see had inevitably something to do with a sharp blade, a flying head and enough blood to feed Lamia herself and at least a dozen thirsty Harpies, but though his fingers were twitching anxiously to just dig themselves as deep into his victim's neck as possible- obviously looking for the perfect grip and angle to break it- as he cast another glance at Xena's incredibly relaxed body, another type of instinct, considerably stronger than the criminal one that had been clouding his reason, urged him to act a tad differently.

That's precisely why, instead of sticking to the so called brilliant plan he had managed to come up with, the still furious God simply waved his hand over the man's unnaturally crooked body, choosing to send him to some secluded forest in the snowy mountains of Macedonia instead, a place deserted enough to have him killed- if not by the starving wolves at least by the icy cold winds sweeping over the area- long before daylight - a hard enough punishment, that, at least in his opinion, equaled the man's unconscious, nerve racking audacity- that for the past few hours had made him pace up and down his throne room like a restless, caged animal…

It is pointless to mention I guess- given how strikingly explicit the situation was- that the quick tempered Olympian had a problem- and despite his countless moral flaws and his boundless arrogance, even he could tell it.

Truth was that this unprecedented obsession -that he had slowly started to develop for his raven haired Chosen- imperceptibly took over his mind- preventing him to think straight and to take any type of rational decisions when it came to her- an undeniable reality the effects of which kept screaming at him just how out of line he was …And yet, despite the risks he was aware he was taking, his heart refused to obey his silently barked orders and defiantly kept hammering louder and louder against his chest whenever she was around. To simply say that he was thrilled with this new preoccupation of his, would have been terribly unfair, given the uncommon intensity of his eons and eons of boredom, he finally had a hobby, pleasing both to the soul and to the eye…No wonder he was totally entranced with her persona ….She was something new, something that kept him alert 24/7 and that – strangely enough- made him look forward to the accursed sun to rise - although he usually preferred darkness along with the rare protection that only the grim mantle of the night sky could offer- the perfect time to plot, scheme and to come up with brilliant strategies, definitely the right time to organize surprise attacks and to win wars…..

Only a mere moment had passed since the eunuch vanished from the room, but for Ares, it felt like hours….He was now staring at his Princess with wide, open eyes, a transfixed expression on his face as she let out a soft, absent sigh, as if he were staring at some out of this world masterpiece. The problem was that she hadn't flinched a muscle though since he got there, and that worried him a bit, but, soon enough, the God came to realize that the reason why she hadn't reacted in any way to his presence was because she was asleep…..Her mind had probably evaded reality during that accursed massage session, and despite all the rage that was still boiling inside him, the War God suddenly found himself laughing uncontrollably at the whole scene…..There he was, burning like a torch, wrath consuming him like stubble while his Princess was probably wandering in one of Morpheus' dreamlands….It was unbelievably hilarious, he had to admit it to himself as he got even closer to her, resting his warm hand on her calf before it began gliding slowly up- moving lazily over that thin satin sheet that had drawn his attention from the very begging. Indeed, for the past two hours or so, he had been fantasizing like a sex addict about pulling that accursed piece of fabric - tortuously slow- towards the base of her spine, and even lower still, eventually exposing her nice, round ass cheeks to him….It was an image to die for!

His teeth sunk violently into his lower lip in response to one of the dirtiest scenarios his brain had ever projected- with her as a main character- as his eyes roamed wantonly over her back, following unhurriedly the path traced by his faintly glowing fingertips. She was gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking- in every sense of the word- and it wasn't long until hunger was clearly reflected on his divine visage.

She had only been gone for a week- a whole damned, agonizingly endless week, to be more specific- and his body was already aching for her in ways that he wouldn't have imagined possible….He tried to keep his mind busy of course, and a few scattered battles here and there sounded like a pretty decent idea in the beginning, but his little play dates only ended in disaster. Heck, one night he even made an effort to amuse himself by seducing one of Athena's priestesses- knowing how much his sister would hate him for it afterwards- but sadly, the poor girl was so ungifted when it came to any type of sexual activity that she only managed to get him even more frustrated and thus even angrier….Much to his disappointment, their romantic one on one ended with his abrupt disappearance from the room, leaving his horribly inexperienced partner kneeling in front of an empty an armchair - where she had been desperately struggling to unbuckle the War God's belt- for what must have been about half an hour by the time he decided that he just couldn't take any more clumsiness... . Naturally, he could have helped her, but on the other hand, the woman was a complete idiot, so he stubbornly refused to do so.

Despite himself, the small smirk playing across his face only widened even more at the thought. What was it about her that made him boil over? He didn't have the slightest clue, no valid answer to shatter the doubts he had regarding his own sanity- it had never happened before , you see, for him to be so very enraptured with a woman- and yet, she had captivated him to the point where he had left everything at sixes and sevens and just ran after her like a mindless puppy….

While all kinds of ideas and images kept whirling and whirling ceaselessly inside his head, his eager hand kept advancing automatically, trailing up the Warrior Princess' back, and, seconds later, as a confirmation that he was doing an amazingly good job, she let out another soft, contended sigh as he added a bit more pressure to that light, sensual caress…That perfect curve of her spine and her slightly bronzed, velvety skin- glimmering in the faint morning light- was driving him wild. She was such a damn sexy, impossible to ignore woman! What he loved the most about their relationship and about their connection in general though, was precisely this- her responsiveness to his nearness, the fact that even at an unconscious level, her brain could tell he was there- a veiled, barely perceivable presence for sure, but, beyond question, her aura had charged instantly with a different type of energy as he made an appearance….

Indeed, from the very moment he had materialized by her side, Xena's body had detected his presence- just as quickly as the sensation of an unexpected but extremely pleasant physical contact had registered even in the last nerve of her slightly trembling body the moment his fingertips touched her leg…There would have been no way for him to actually get anywhere near her without her knowing it, for the impact he had on her was unmistakable- even her heart had changed automatically its rhythm as his palms started moving along her sides, in straight lines or ample circles until they reached her shoulder blades. As he delicately headed back down her spine, her body suddenly started to respond to all these tender manipulations, and relaxation was no longer what she was feeling, but lust….

Even in that trance like state, despite the comforting numbness of her body, Xena's mind became fully alert when she felt that overly familiar tingle down her spine, and there it was, a deep enough moan that let him know that she was craving for more….No surprise there…- after all, despite having only been together in little over a year, he knew pretty well what she liked and what she didn't like…He could play her like a piano and actually getting her to surrender to him, assiduously struggling to tame her, had gradually become his major goal in life…

A few minutes later he could also sense her change in breathing. She was fully awake now and almost instinctively, leaning down, the God began to nuzzle the back of her neck, kissing his way up to her ear, and there it was- the desired effect- For the shortest moment, the Warrior Princess held her breath, focusing her entire attention on the sound of his voice as his lips grazed her ear lobe.

" If driving me completely crazy was your intention all along, I'm here to tell you it worked…..The Halls of War are empty without you and wars are no fun without you around…." he whispered, rubbing her lips with her thumb as she raised her head and glanced at him- her eyes only half open- as if wanting to check if him being there was real or if her senses had gotten so rusty that she could no longer tell apart the dream land from the real world.

" Ares…." she gasped sensually, an almost indistinct sound that echoed endlessly nonetheless through his head…. As his fingers entwined into her long, silky hair, she forcefully released a shaky breath, a bit taken aback by his gaze. He was looking at her as if he wanted to taste her, to eat her alive. She could feel desire coursing through her own veins, with wild power, but still, it hardly matched the fire burning in his eyes, and though she wasn't the type to blush easily, this time color rushed to stain her cheeks…

" Are you ready to leave this place?" he queried in a low, sexy voice, his mouth hovering over her slightly parted lips, his hot breath giving her goosebumps. Just as he was ready to sweep her up in his arms and take her to a far more intimate and fancy place, she placed a hesitant palm on his chest, thus keeping him at bay.

In response, the God eyed her suspiciously, his gaze suddenly turning from surprised to panicked as she stood by the side of the massage table, her hand clutching the sheet that was still covering the lower half of her body…..A bundle of nerves, that's what Ares had turned into while silently watching her search for the right words to say, and the tension radiating from her troubled aura only made everything worse.

"Princess ? "

His mind literally froze while waiting for her to speak. When she finally decided to offer him an answer though, he nearly had a heart attack- if Gods could actually have one, that is. Her words indeed, hit him with the force of a sledgehammer, and there was no fighting it.

" I uh….I can't.."

" You can't….." he repeated,staring at her inquisitively, making an effort to block- at least temporarily- the dreadful fear that had assaulted his heart.

"I can't come with you…."she clarified- and from the look on her face, something serious must have happened. Something he had no idea about, something she had been keeping from him all that time.

"What? Why? What's going on, Xena? You've been acting like a spoiled brat lately…!" he scolded, sounding rather scandalized and a bit fed up with this enigmatic behaviour of hers.

... Let's just say that when she told him the truth, he kinda wished she hadn't said anything.

"I did something…"