BUY HERE
Ares thinks his life will be simpler now that his affair
with Aphrodite is over. However, he didn't count on finding out that Alala, his
constant companion and best friend, has been waiting a very long time for him
to end things with the love goddess. Alala, goddess of the war cry, has loved
Ares all her life but never told him. Even when Aphrodite wasn't around, there
was always another woman in his bed. Now she's taken a chance and allowed her
feelings to show. Ares quickly becomes confused by his desire for her and his
fear of losing her completely, if he makes the wrong choices. When a rival
appears on the scene, Ares has to do something to make up for how blind he's
been, or risk losing the perfect companion the Fates gave him so long ago.
Excerpt:
Aphrodite
disappeared, and Ares sat back on the couch. He groaned. Conversations with
Aphrodite always took a lot out of him. He wished more women could be like his
mother or his sister.
The back door
slammed, and Ares listened for a minute. He heard humming.
“Alala?”
“Yes?”
He got up and
walked into the kitchen. “Hey, you’re up late.”
She smiled. “Went
for a walk.”
He nodded. Alala
was a deity of war like himself and the daughter of Polemus, a war demon.
Polemus and Alala were his two most interesting companions. Polemus was a
surprisingly pacifistic war demon, at least he had been the past few decades,
and Alala’s name had become the Greek war cry, even though she was probably the
quietest woman he had ever met. She was also the sweetest, despite the fact that
many a poet had said soldier’s lives were sacrificed to her glory and the honor
of the call to war. He had to smile, remembering how many of those mortals had
never even believed in the ancient gods. She and her father lived in the west
wing of the house, as they were his most constant companions when he decided to
involve himself in mortal warfare and conflicts.
“Is it nice out?”
She nodded.
He was always
inclined to find her silence frustrating, but he knew it was part of her
personality. “I could use some air. Aphrodite was just here.”
Alala smirked.
“Oh. I see.”
He knew she didn’t
like Aphrodite, but he wasn’t sure why. Being so quiet and so intelligent, she
probably found Aphrodite silly and superficial, but it had to be more than
that. “She told me something interesting.”
She looked into
his eyes and nonchalantly asked, “Finally admitted Eros is your son?”
Her statement
shocked him. “So you’ve always thought I was the father?”
She shrugged. “It
seemed obvious to me, but it wasn’t my business.”
“Well, maybe not.”
He rubbed his neck. “I’m going out for a while.”
“You seem tense.
Let me give you a massage.”
That sounded
amazing. It had been months since she’d done that for him. “Yeah, if you
weren’t going to bed.”
She shook her head
and started down the hall to one of the fitness rooms.
He usually liked
the silence that accompanied her massages, but he found himself growing curious
about why she didn’t like Aphrodite. He also wanted to talk instead of brooding
over his own thoughts. Alala was a very good listener and always gave
remarkably insightful advice. She was so wise he’d often wondered if Athena or
Artemis might be her mother, though the “virgin” goddesses both claimed they
had never sullied themselves in that way.
He sometimes felt
as if Alala was a servant, not a friend. He didn’t treat her that way, but she
acted as though she was, as if serving him automatically made her a servant.
She kept him at a distance, though he knew she cared about him. She had tended
every wound he’d ever received and never complained once. She’d spent hundreds
of hours massaging his sore muscles and seeing to his needs.
He removed his
shirt and stretched out on the table. Her touch immediately calmed him. After a
few moments, he turned his head so he could see her.
“Can I ask you
something?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never said
this before, and now it feels ridiculous, but you and your father are not my
servants. You’re no different from me. You’re a goddess, and your father is a
powerful demon.”
She looked at him,
tilting her head a little. “I know that.”
She didn’t
elaborate. Instead, she climbed on top of him and began kneading his shoulders.
He found he
couldn’t help becoming aroused as her hands worked his shoulders. She was very
petite, so her thighs pressed tightly against his sides as she straddled him.
He wanted to get her talking again.
“Why do you hate
Aphrodite?”
She stopped and
sat back. “I think she isn’t good enough for you.” She climbed off him and
began rubbing down his legs.
It took him a
moment to realize she’d used her powers to take his pants off.
“Oh.”
“She’s obviously
good enough for you to fuck, I guess. You have to unwind some way.”
Once again, he was
shocked. Alala didn’t normally express any opinions unless asked, and
especially not such bold ones. “Well, I’m never going to do that again.”
“You want to do it
now.”
He grimaced. She
was referring to his erection. He didn’t know if it was better to tell her that
her skilled touch turned him on almost every time she massaged him, whether he
got an erection or not, or to lie and say he still wanted Aphrodite.
“I’ve got a
beautiful woman massaging me. I’m not thinking of anyone else.” He’d never
really considered fucking her, as he’d always felt very protective of her more
than anything else, but the sensual power of her hands usually made him think
of fucking someone.
She paused for a
moment, but then went on with her massage.
He rolled over and
took her by the shoulders. “Why react to other things I’ve said and not to
that?”
She looked fairly
calm. She brought her hands up and moved his off her shoulders. “I was still
thinking about it.”
He closed his
eyes. He was frustrated about the things Aphrodite had said, and he was taking
it out on an innocent who meant a great deal to him.
He looked at her
imploringly. “I’m sorry. I’m not myself right now. I didn’t mean to make you
uncomfortable.”
She shook her
head. “I’m fine.”
He studied her
face, pushing a strand of her red hair out of her blue eyes. “How did you grow
up so calm and sweet living here?”
“I was born to
calm and soothe you.”
He could not keep
his eyebrows from shooting up. “What?”
“I’ve been with
Eris to see the Fates many times. She was born to be your companion and
reflection. I came into your life to calm you.”
“You think so?”
“Don’t you feel
better when you come home to me? I tend your wounds, get rid of your pain, and
massage away any aches. I mix a fine drink too.”
He’d always loved
her low-key sense of humor, and he would never deny he was always very glad to
come home to her.
“So now I’m an
even bigger asshole for not noticing all you do.”
“You always
notice. You always thank me. It comes so naturally you simply don’t think about
it.”
He didn’t feel as
if he was getting much from her responses. “How come I can talk to any woman
but feel awkward with you?”
“It’s probably
because my silence makes me seem so different from other women. You talk to me
all the time. And you’re never awkward.”
That’s because
I’m usually not thinking of you as a woman. “But I just ramble about my
problems.”
“So I can make
them not seem so bad.”
He crossed his
arms, struggling to find the right approach. “Are you really going to tell me
you like taking care of me like I’m a big baby?”
She laughed. “I
give you what you need. It’s not hard.”
“Sounds boring to
me.”
“It gives me great
joy.”
“Coming from
anyone else, I wouldn’t believe that in a million years.”
“Perhaps this is a
bad night to have this conversation.”
She turned away
and started folding his clothes. He watched her face. She didn’t seem upset. He
couldn’t read any emotion from her at all.
“Why?”
“Aphrodite upset
you. Your mind is racing. You’ve never questioned any of my actions before.
You’ve never questioned my place in your life. You’ve accepted it because it
was meant to be. It’s natural. You’re feeling off kilter right now and suddenly
questioning things you never thought to question before.”
His mind struggled
to keep up with all she’d just said. “I’m far more upset about you than about
Aphrodite.”
She put his
clothes down beside him. “Why are you upset about me?”
He ran his hands
over his face. “I’ve taken you for granted for thousands of years when you’re
probably my best friend.”
She shrugged. “I’m
quiet. I blend into the background.”
He turned his body
to her and held her arm when she tried to move away. “You do not. You’re
beautiful and sweet. You do soothe and calm me.”
“I know, and I’m
glad.”
“I talk to you all
the time, but you’ve never talked to me this much, ever.”
“Sometimes words
aren’t needed.”
“I suppose not.
You do always seem to know what I need.” He paused. “What would you do if I
kissed you?”
She put her hand
on his cheek, but he still felt nothing from her. “I would let you.”
Something about
her calm answer stung. “But you wouldn’t kiss me back? You simply wouldn’t
object.”
“I would do what
you wanted and give you what you needed.”
He felt an aching
in his temples that reminded him of fights with Aphrodite. Yet this was not a
fight. He touched the hand on his cheek. “So you’d let me use you? I don’t like
that, Alala. You’re a goddess. I could never and would never command you. Or
take advantage of you in that way.”
“You wouldn’t be
using me. You’d be turning to me.” She took her hand away. “I’m not insulted
you don’t want me.”
He thought hard.
What was she talking about? “I just asked you if you’d let me kiss you. How did
you translate that into me not wanting you?”
“You were testing
me.”
He sighed. “I’m
not testing you. I’m trying to figure you out. Five minutes ago you were my
sweet, innocent girl, and now you’re the most puzzling woman I’ve ever known. I
said I wanted to kiss you, and you acted completely indifferent.”
She blushed.
“That’s how you thought of me? Your sweet, innocent girl?”
She seemed to like
that idea, and he had never seen her blush before over anything, so he decided
to pursue the topic. “Yes. I never thought about it much before, but yes.
Thinking of you always calms me. Like you said.”
“I can be anything
you need.”
The candid
surrender in her eyes aroused him in a way he’d never experienced before. He
imagined taking her to his bed. He knew she’d be sweetly submissive. She would
yield to his every whim. He could almost hear her quiet sighs and moans.
When he realized
they were staring into each other’s eyes, he suddenly felt like a dirty old
man. He jumped off the table and darted from the room.
“I’m going to bed.
I don’t need anything else tonight.”
Any other woman
would have called after him, even if only to say one last thing. She let him
run away from her without a word. And that’s what he suddenly felt he was
doing. Running away.
