Her knees still quivery, she took her time putting her breastplate on, brushing hay off it as she did.
It was the only thing he had taken off her after they'd closed the barn door behind them.
It had become a sort of their ritual since they started sparring; after a fight, either their shore of the lake or here, they would barge in and fuck like animals, ending up more sweaty than from the fight itself. They had different kinds of sex, but if she had to choose one, this would definitely be it.
Gods, he loved it when they came here right after, still hot and sweaty from the sword fight, their clothes on; he would push against her from behind and tease her, make her beg him for it; and she wouldn't, and he'd go crazy when she'd always drag it on, turn it into another duel; but he played along, because in the end, he knew she would give in; in the end, they both knew it turned her on as much as it turned him on, when she begged for it; and gods, she would, and it was always worth the wait, the way she did it, her voice when she did; and he fucked her, like she was spoils of war, hard and fast, like a slave he'd use instead of his hand, till they were shaken, both; and yet, somehow, it still felt like it was her who won, somehow. He could never win with her, could he?
She realized she was staring, but didn't stop; they were past playing the cat and mouse — she loved looking at him, especially when he was in bed, still flushed from how he just fucked her senseless.
"Where're you going?" his voice brought her out of her musings.
"Why?"
"What're you putting this on for?" He gestured towards the breastplate.
"Last time I didn't you whined about it all day."
"So you're going there, again… seriously, Xena, you've been going there every single day…"
"So?"
"Can't they just send a messenger down here if something comes up?"
"And where would the fun in that be?"
She glanced at him briefly; he looked like he was about to say something but still mulled it over before speaking.
"Why do you need to get out that much?"
"Ares, what the hell? What do you expect me to be, a stay-at-home wife?"
"Actually, just stay-at-home would do…" he replied casually, and, enjoying the look on her face, added "For now."
"You know what — you might have a fever — you might wanna check this with Pelagia."
"So, you're saying I'm hot," he replied, and she rolled her eyes in disbelief at how it was possible that even his lamest one-liners still amused her.
"I'll see you later."
"I'm going with you."
"What?"
"Why not?" he asked.
"No, the question is, why yes?"
Ares didn't answer, he got up from the bed where he was lounging and walked up to her. He reached around to her back, trying to unclasp the breastplate, but she was faster and blocked him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said, annoyed.
"Take it off. I'm not done with you yet," he said with a face so serious it put her under the spell right then and there. Her heart pounding, she unclasped the armor and took it off.
"Turn around," he ordered, and she complied, her pelvic region heating up anew.
She waited, till he finished untying her leather dress and let it drop to the floor, before he moved on to remove her waistbands and armbands.
He swiped her black hair away to reveal the nape of her neck. Slowly, he started kissing it, his hands gripping her waist the way he knew drove her crazy; listening to the little hums leaving her lips, he slid his hands up her torso and cupped her breasts.
It was subtle, but it was there — she winced.
Scooping her up in his arms, he brought her to bed. Getting out of his own leathers, he joined her, him on top, their lips meeting in a kiss, a hungry one on her part and a rather tender one on his. Then, suddenly, he couldn't. He sighed and collapsed on his back next to her.
Xena knew better than to ask what was wrong. He had his own little moods — not that she didn't have hers — and so she just snuggled up close to him and covered them both with a blanket, her hand on his cheek, stroking it the way she knew soothed him.
She knew something was bothering him, and she knew that she was about to find out what in mere seconds. He wasn't too good at keeping things in for too long — not that he ever tried — but he was definitely more open than she was when it came to letting the feelings out; it was one of those little things she secretly loved about him.
"Either I'm going with you, or you ain't going anywhere," he spat.
Okay, here they went again. It had been like this for days.
Something had gotten into him recently; every time she was about to leave the village to do her scouting routine, he would get weirdly unsettled, whenever he happened to be around at the time. But now — this was the first time he spoke to her like that, and she was taken aback.
"What?"
"What I said."
"Are you saying I'm grounded?" she asked, the initial annoyance giving way to sudden amusement.
She saw his jaws clench.
"Ares, most of the time I do it you're not even here, what's the big deal?"
"Well, I'm here now, so that's it, we go or you stay."
"Ares, you can't ground me."
"Watch me."
She was intrigued. He was dead serious, and upset.
"Ares… I'm fully recovered, you've seen it when I kicked your ass just now."
"What if you're pregnant?"
"What?" She froze. She had been having a daily dose of the yellow powder for days now, but she wasn't sure when she had started with relation to her period; surely after the bleeding had finished, but how many days exactly? She'd been a mess back then.
Her heart started pumping furiously. The more she tried to remember, the more fuzzy it got.
She kept staring at the roof, blinking, the gravity of it settling in.
Her eyes closed when she felt his warm hand between her breasts.
Ares listened to her quickening heartbeat against the skin of his palm. He wondered what she was thinking; half of him was curious, the other half didn't want to know. He moved his hand to her side until it was full of her breast, and gave it a squeeze, not too strong; but it was enough to make her wince.
"Your breasts are tender."
Xena blinked rapidly several times. She was stunned. "It's because my bleeding is about to start," she said, wishing she was right.
"When is it due?"
"Soon."
He looked at her profile. Her eyes were open, staring blankly in front of her. He knew she was dodging the question. He decided against pushing further. He knew her, and he knew he should let it go for now. But she wasn't going anywhere without him, not while he was there.
Then it dawned on him. What if she'd known she was pregnant and kept it from him to get rid of the pregnancy? His stomach churned.
His fists clenching, he took a calming breath before asking. "You would tell me if you knew, right?"
Xena's eyes narrowed as the implications entailed to his question settled in. She looked at him. He was fuming, but not just with rage; he was shaken, and seeing it made her heart sink. She rolled to her side to face him; moving to stroke his cheek, she noticed her hand tremble slightly. She wanted to say that she would tell him if she knew, but it would be a lie. She would probably tell him eventually, once she decided whether… but the longer she stared into those hurt, dark eyes she loved, the more she knew that she didn't want to keep anything from him, ever.
"I would tell you if I knew," she assured him in a whisper, looking into his eyes; which now, upon hearing her words, glimmered with sudden frenzy as he captured her lips in a crushing kiss.
It must have been the first time when their lovemaking was silent, no words spoken. On her part, it was mainly because she had to bite her cheeks to stop herself from letting out the words that she ached to whisper into his ear when he was being so tender with her.
Ares nuzzled the side of her face, inhaling the scent of her hairline, his lips brushing against her lids, nose, her forehead, and doing his best to trap the words in his throat; the words he'd promised himself to never say again and which suffocated him now when he looked into her hazy eyes, and then even more when she was coming undone in his arms.
Some time later, when she was putting her leathers back on, she felt him behind her, tugging at the laces of her bodice to tie them up. She loved his touch, firm but surprisingly gentle — quite unlike Gabrielle's, Xena smiled, thinking back to how Gabrielle would always make her stomach end up in her throat with the way she pulled at the laces.
When he was done, he nuzzled the back of her head, his hand roaming around her hips before one of them slid over her belly and lingered there. She froze, both tense and fluttery; but then melted into his embrace, only later noticing that her hand unknowingly covered his.
#
Their village was the last one of the three, counting from the trail connecting the two closest towns, so when they left, they rode past the other two villages before reaching the trail.
They were almost there, threading through a lush green grove separating the last village from the trail. The path got narrow at some point, so she rode first, Ares behind her; they actually argued about it for a while, who should go first, but then he just gave up and let her lead. She could tell he was annoyed, or just not in the mood; they rode in silence since then.
At some point, hearing a rustle in the trees above their heads, she slowly put Argo to a halt.
Ares reached her side and did the same.
Their eyes meeting in a sideway glance, she felt a wild rush of excitement when he gave her a subtle eye signal to indicate what she already knew was waiting for them up in the trees just steps ahead.
And, indeed, they had company. Seconds later, the company jumped off the trees and were now pointing four swords at them.
She couldn't help it — she reveled in the adrenaline rush and the fact he was by her side. It was nothing special, just random cutthroats, but still, she couldn't help enjoying it.
There was just one downside. She was more worried about Ares than she'd expected. He was a great fighter, but his lack of immortality was suddenly very unsettling to her. She moved for them to be back-to-back, at least, but it still troubled her; to a point she lost focus and her opponent's blade slashed across her left arm. She scolded herself inwardly.
But it was over in no time. Three bodies were on the ground between them.
Kneeling down, she put a pinch on the fourth one, the one that grazed her.
"You've got thirty seconds to live, who sent you?"
"No one—"
"Well, suit yourself then."
"No… one… it's bounty…"
"Bounty for who?"
"Ares… God of War…"
Frowning, she undid the pinch and watched the guy flee.
Still down on her one knee, she looked up at Ares and saw his face frown in terror as he approached her.
"Xena, your arm…"
Her arm. She remembered it now; the gash wasn't too wide but it burned. She lifted the arm — the muscles were intact, it was just the bleeding that made it look serious.
He was by her side, holding up her elbow to take a closer look. "We're going back," he ordered.
"It's just a deep scratch, it's enough to wrap it for now."
"I said, we're going back," he repeated calmly, with an edge to his tone that sent a tingle down her spine. It was the second time today when he used that tone with her. It simultaneously enraged her, moved her, amused her, and turned her on, and she couldn't decide which of the four to act on.
"It's the last time you come here with me," she stated, annoyed, getting on the horse.
"Don't fucking get me started…" he said throatily.
She felt her core spasm at the threat in his voice. "You do know how to make me wanna go back," she uttered, throwing him a teasing glare when she passed him by on her way to Argo.
Ares fumed.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to stop the urge to drag her off the horse and give her a taste of what he'd do to her once they reached home, but decided against it — they needed to have her wound dressed first.
