Ballad Ares Read online

  “We fit.” He grinned.

  We continued to stare into each other’s eyes as he slowly moved, a soothing rhythm, one where we had time to study one another’s reactions, time to feel that I could accommodate all of him. He pulled agonizingly slow back then slammed forward. His jaw dropped open, forming a silent scream. He slammed again.

  “Yes.” Each slam I emphasized with another “yes.”

  He paused in his movement and made a low guttural grunt gasping sound from deep in his chest. He began pounding in me again and I exploded around him. Clenching him intensified my reaction. My entire body lit up. Each pulse sent a wave of fire through my skin. It felt like I emitted electromagnetic shock waves. Building a generating power before clamping down on his cock inside of me, then rebounding out through my entire body. I thought my climax in the shower had been intense. I was extremely glad we were in bed and I was on my back, my legs went numb, and limp. My brain stopped working. I lay sexually wasted.

  “Wow.” He managed as he slowly pulled away from me. Wow was still an amazingly sexy word to watch him say. Now I knew just how sexually proficient, he was, I got an extra jolt watching him say wow. I quaked one last time as he completely withdrew.

  “It’s too early to get up,” he said as he tucked me back into a curl. “Definitely worth waiting for,” he crooned as he curled around me. I fell back to sleep in postcoital bliss wrapped in Ares’s arms. He may have the name of a war god, but I had just experienced proof he was a sex god.

  Six

  Hotels have black out curtains so the fact I was woken up by light shining on my face meant someone opened the drapes. I stretched with the satisfaction of that someone being Ares. I knew this wasn’t some delusional dream, I was naked. If I was at home dreaming, I would have been wearing pajamas.

  I let my eyes stay closed. The sheets were warm and glided over my still sensitive skin. I grabbed the other pillow and inhaled. It smelled of clean Ares and sex. Truthfully, I couldn’t separate the two scents yet. Ares smelled like hot sex to me.

  I heard the muttering sounds of his voice. Deep and soothing. I felt the bed dip under his weight as he sat. I peeked at him, his hair was pulled back, his brow beaded with sweat. He was shirtless and wore what appeared to be track shorts, with a towel around his neck. He was also on the phone. The muscles in his shoulders and back were so well defined he could have been an anatomy chart.

  He agreed with the person on the other line. “Yes,” he paused, “yes” another pause, “I did. Yes Mama.” He said ‘mama’ with a distinct accent, something European, it was not the southern drawling maw-muh, more of a mah-ma, with a short, almost clipped “ma,” at the end

  “Elizabeth.”

  I peeked at him thinking he was getting my attention, no he continued to talk on the phone. He absentmindedly put his hand on my hip and began rubbing my backside, but he hadn’t turned toward me or glanced at me as he continued to listen and agree with his mother.

  He finally did look at my face. His lips slid into a toothy grin exposing large even white teeth that should be the envy of every kid who ever needed orthodontia.

  “Yes.” He winked at me. “She is beautiful.”

  He mouthed a good morning at me and started to wander around the room. “A few weeks more,” pause, “I will,” pause, “I love you too Mama.”

  He clicked the phone off and tossed it onto the table. He crawled into bed alongside me. He was half dressed, and covered in sweat.

  “I was wondering when my Sleeping Beauty would awaken.” He kissed me, it was soft and warm, the familiar type of kiss you give a lover. “I half expected you to be up when I got back.”

  “You’ve been up and out?” I asked, squirming in close to him.

  “Went for a run, then called my mother.”

  “I heard that. You were talking about me.”

  “Yes, and I will tell you all about it.”

  He continued talking as he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. “Shower then food, and I will explain everything. There’s a coffee shop up the road we can check out.”

  As he took a quick shower I got dressed. I had packed my standard issue cargo pants and a T-shirt, and boots. Once he was dressed, we headed up the street on foot to the cafe. He wouldn’t tell me until he had, as he put it “coffee and carbs” first.

  I sat at a corner table on one of the terraced balconies while he waited for our order to be prepared. He had his hair pulled back under a military style cap. The hat was peppered with tiny band pins and badges instead of rank insignia. Round-rimmed sunglasses hid his eyes. His wrists were encased in wide leather bands, and chains of various sizes. His jeans were not particularly tight, but they fit his form well, I didn’t get a good view of his butt since the shirt tails of his button down were untucked. The sleeves were rolled up, exposing his muscular forearms. He was definitely thinner than when we first met. And if possible, even more beautiful.

  He placed a flakey golden pastry and a steaming cup in front of me— chai tea and a Napoleon.

  “You remembered I like chai.” I sat up, wrapping my hands around the warm cup.

  “I remembered, but I had to take a guess on the pastry.” He sat. He shifted his chair so he could place his knees on either side of mine. “I remember everything about you, from the way you watched me when we first met, to the way you try to shrink when you feel like no one notices you.”

  I didn’t, I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. The angel on my right shoulder did cartwheels while the demon on my left kept hissing, “Stalker.”

  “The very first time I saw you, I wanted you. I was drawn to you. A natural beauty in that sea of pretense and compensation. Your hair is outrageously messy, and you have the warmest laugh. I regretted leaving you as abruptly as I did, but if I had stayed, I would have used every trick I knew to seduce you. Even then, I knew I didn’t want you to be that kind of girl.”

  I just blinked. I must have looked like a gaping goldfish— large, slow blinking eyes, open jaw.

  “When you called to me at the place by that naked statue, it was everything I could do to keep my cool and play it out. It was stupid leaving before I found out your name. That was so stupid. But I think your kisses fuddled my brain.”

  “Look, I admit, when I got home, I started trolling the fan chat rooms looking for Invisagirl. I tried to not think about you, and I tried to move our studio time up so I could come back and prowl the streets looking for you.”

  He held my hands, intently focused on my face, unabashed, and unapologetic in his feelings toward me. I was astounded. I thought only girls, women did that sort of thing, had thoughts like this. All the men I ever really dealt with from my father to my ex were always so emotionally stoic.

  “My mother, she’s, she has a gift, she says we’re descendants of the Oracle of Delphi.”

  I cocked my head to the side.

  “My sister Eva, has the gift too. Well, Mama knew I met someone. I didn’t even tell her. She told me I needed to find you, and really find out all the way about these feelings I’m developing, and not just drop you from my thoughts like so many women I have met in the past. And it’s not just because my mother told me to, I want to get to know you.”

  “Lizzie,” he pulled me in even closer, “I know you can’t tell from last night, but I am drinking less. And only in the clubs, not at home. I’m clean. I haven’t done any of that shit since we met. That’s not the kind of man you would have, not the kind of man you deserve. I didn’t go through rehab, no interventions, I just stopped. I started going back to the gym and running regularly. I’ve lost at least thirty pounds. I’ve only had two girlfriends since I met you.”

  I really didn’t want to know about his sexual exploits right now, and telling me about his two most recent women put me on edge. I started to get huffy and glare.

  “They both look like you.” He lifted his left hand and spread his fingers. “Rosie,” he repeated the gesture with his right hand, “and Annie
.”

  I covered my mouth. Ares just admitted he had not had another sexual partner beyond his own hands in the past four months. Maybe that’s why his performance was so well executed, months of built-up frustration? I tried not to blush.

  “Take me home. I want into your life. Let me meet your children. I promise I won’t do anything to jeopardize your safety or your sanity.”

  What about my heart?

  “When I got home, there was this ‘you’ shaped hole in my being. When I saw you last night, all dolled up and perched on that barstool, it took everything I had to do my job and not run off with you in my arms.

  “Look, I get it, this is too much too fast, but you are already making me be a better man. I’ve had four months of thinking about you. I want to earn your heart. And I’m not sure just how to go about it in the short amount of time I have while I’m in town. I don’t have time for games, I need you to know my intentions, and I need to know where I stand with you.”

  “What… what if you discover I’m not worthy of this?” I patted his chest right over his heart. “What if you discover you made me up to be more in your mind than I really am?”

  “I want us to find out together. I want to be a consideration, not a distraction. What happened last night was phenomenal. If you say that’s all it was, that was it, then I will walk away. But my intention is not for immediate gratification only.”

  I had a hard time watching him. He just voiced everything I had been thinking over the past four months. This was a fantasy, and yet it was happening. I took a sip of my tea to calm my nerves.

  “Yes, to everything you just said,” I agreed timidly.

  His face had been so intense and serious, and instantly with my words he lit up, smiled, and kissed me deeply.

  Surreal was the best word for it. Folded into the van next to me was a huge man. He looked even larger in the small space than he did normally. We rode in silence. I didn’t know what to say. I could say a lot, a whole lot. I had been working so hard to not obsess over him, or the ideal of him, only to find out he had been doing the same thing. There I was taking him home. It seemed natural, logical. It was right. I wasn’t even worried about him meeting the girls. It would all work out, I just knew it.

  I navigated the van through the anti-intuitive maze of the Nashville freeway system.

  “There is so much space out here.” He gazed out the window and watched as I pulled off at my exit. He was alert and paid attention to all intersections and turns.

  “These yards are pretty big, but some areas are closer together. There are some amazing estates we’re about to pass.” I turned the van down the next road.

  “Are those horses?” He was amazed. “Are we in the country?”

  “Nope still in the city, they just have horses.” I nodded.

  “Okay.” He sat back, a few more turns and we pulled into my driveway.

  The house sat on a half-acre lot. It was a long modified brick ranch style, with an extension added over the garage, in a neighborhood of mostly matching houses. The yard was unkempt and shaggy looking. It was in dire need of the first mowing of the season. Unfortunately, it made the rest of the house look shabby. If we had a HOA, they would have been on my stoop at least a week ago demanding I take care of the situation.

  “I apologize about the yard. Richard was supposed to mow it this last week,” I said as I pulled into my gravel drive.

  “Your ex?” There was definitely a menacing tone to his query.

  “Part of the divorce agreement, he either does the maintenance work, or pays for it.”

  I continued as I led Ares up the walkway.

  “Sorry,” I said as he ducked around the rose trellis.

  “It bugs you doesn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yes, it makes the place look bad, it makes me look bad, and I really can’t rely on Richard for anything. If I do it, he will see that as negating the divorce agreement, so I don’t do anything on that principle. He’s not getting out of anything.” I shook my head.

  Once in the foyer, Ares put his bags down and grabbed me. He slipped his arms around my back and bending his legs, lowered himself to closer to my height.

  “Let’s play house,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “Sure,” I said sarcastically. “I need to do some laundry, clean the bathrooms, and go grocery shopping. How ’bout you do the yard work and vacuum?”

  He kissed me.

  “As long as you rub my feet at the end of the day,” he said mockingly. He kissed me again. It was slow and warm and full of promise. I was ready to show him my room and see how well he fit in my bed.

  “You have a mower?” he asked as he straightened up.

  “I was joking.”

  He grabbed his bag, pulled out a T-shirt. “Where’s the bathroom?”

  “Oh right, my room is this way.”

  He picked up my bag as I led him down the long hall to my door. “The bathroom is through here.” I led him in and pointed to the master suite bath.

  “Nice,” he said appreciatively as he tossed the bags on my bed and headed into the bathroom. “Lizzie, is this a pool or a tub?”

  “Pretty sweet huh? It’s why we bought the house. The previous owners redid a lot including expanding the main and adding the bathroom. What? Don’t you have a jacuzzi at home?”

  “No, it’s not like I live in a mansion.” I could hear him rummaging in his bag.

  “I thought you were a rock star. You know, rich and famous.”

  “Hardly, I’m more like a working class musician. No multi-million contracts, but enough that I can definitely keep doing this as my job.” He returned pulling a shirt over his head. The sight of the trail of crisp dark hairs leading from his belly button disappearing into his jeans caused me to catch my breath, and quickened my pulse.

  “At least it’s an interesting job.” I had to focus on my words, he was distracting.

  “Yeah.” He smiled as he grabbed me. “But sometimes it’s just works. Where’s your garage?” He tilted his head to the side.

  “Garage?”

  “Yeah I need a mower, some clippers, you know, tools.”

  “I was just playing.” My fingers were trying to point back at the entry where we had been when I made the suggestion.

  “It bothers you. Let me fix it, it’s something simple I can do to make you happy.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay then.” I led him out the garage where the rider mower and the other tools were. He stepped over various kids toys and moved the garbage cans out of his way. I watched as he found the gas can and checked to make sure there was gas in it.

  He looked up at me. “I’ve got this.”

  I really didn’t want him to think I expected him to come over and work, but he seemed determined, and well, competent with the equipment.

  “I’ve got this.” He smiled, so I left him to it.

  He mowed the front and back yards. The property line was easy to determine. We were surrounded by fences in the back and the yards to either side had been recently mowed in the front.

  Later he found me in the kitchen, I handed him a glass of water, and he grabbed my butt before heading back outside. It was all very domestic. That afternoon not only did he mow, he edged the walkway and trimmed the attack trellis. I took another glass of water out to him a bit later and just watched him work. Yard work was something he was clearly familiar with, and not afraid of. He moved with competence and skill. Dark sweat stains developed and spread across his tight shirt, emphasizing his chest and shoulders. His face was calm and serene. There was none of the fierceness and concentration he had when performing on stage. I had never found yard work fascinating. However, I enjoyed watching him move, and could have been content to sit on my front steps just to be near him while he cut and chopped. Unfortunately, I did have some of those boring mundane domestic tasks to complete, I should take advantage of this time to work on them.

  I was in the kitchen d
oing some of my week’s pre-cooking. I like to have at least one full meal sitting in the fridge for those nights I just can’t muster the energy to cook. I checked on some chicken and vegetables roasting. Ares had obviously waited until it was safe after I slid the food back into the oven before he grabbed me. I was still bent over, and he pulled my hips back and rubbed the hard mound of his crotch against my butt.

  He spun me around and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He smelled like earth, the musty smell of cut leaves and freshly mowed grass. Nature smells mingled with his warm sweaty smell, he smelled of clean air and sunshine. He was missing that sour goat smell that men seemed to get after prolonged physical labor. He hummed a deep throaty sound of satisfaction. I heard that sound last night, but was too distracted to have clearly noticed it.

  “I had just put everything away.” We swayed together, Ares danced his crotch closer to mine. “Basking in the satisfaction of a job well done, then BAM—” he emphasized the word with a hip thrust “— hard as a rock. I was almost hoping I’d find you in a little sexy cotton dress, and I could just lift the skirt and take you.”

  “I don’t own any, hold on.” I ran, leaving him leaning against the counter, adjusting himself through the front of his jeans.

  I ripped off my shirt and pants and grabbed the dress from last night. I rummaged through his bag quickly for the condoms, and ran back to the kitchen.

  “Will this do?” I posed. I had a ribbon of gold foil condoms hanging from my hands, and socks still on my feet. I didn’t have time to think if I looked silly or not. He growled and lunged for me. He tossed the condoms on the counter, and swept the few dishes sitting there into the sink, then lifted me into place.

  In a fumbling hurry, he undid his pants. His swollen cock sprang forth. It was really the first time I had seen it in this state in the light. It was impressively large, and it pulsed with need. He pushed the hem of my dress up and pulled my panties off, they were already wet. Seems just the thought of being taken by him was enough foreplay for me. He claimed my mouth with his, and teased my folds with the tip of his cock. It dipped into my entrance.