Page 56 of God of War

A thin sliver of pleasure twists like a tendril around me. Warms me up. I turn my head. Ares sighs, his jaw tight.

“I called for you. You didn’t answer and I— Fuck, I don’t know, I thought you’d climbed out the window or something. Instead you’re just… having a leisurely spa day?”

His mouth twitches at the joke, but there’s just sadness in his eyes. Pity.

“I’m fine,” I say. My voice sounds far away.

Ares shakes his head. He looks around, mutters something under his breath that sounds like ‘No fucking towels’ and retreats out of the room. As he leaves, the cold seeps in. Deep and icy. I start to shiver, my teeth chattering. And then he’s there again, folding something around me, helping me stand and then hoisting my naked body into his arms.

Slowly, as I nuzzle into his chest and breathe in the filth and sweat and blood that’s quickly becoming the smell I associate with Ares, I start to feel myself returning to the here and now. I thought I would be embarrassed or uncomfortable to be cradled like a child, completely naked and helpless, but instead — Shit, could this be turning me on? I’m so angry at him, and yet a low-down warmth sparks and spreads as Ares carries me into the other room.

“Come on, kid, you’re scaring me.”

“Not a kid,” I mumble. We drop, dust tickling my nose, and I realize that Ares has set me down on the couch, with me cradled in his lap. He adjusts something to cover my chest, one of his large black t-shirts, and smoothes back my damp hair. I must be getting his chest all wet, but he doesn’t seem to care.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” he replies, frowning down at me. There’s a huskiness to his voice. It vibrates deep in my chest. It’s a sound, a feeling, that makes my pussy ache with need.

“Taking care of me?”

“Because you need someone to take care of you,” he replies simply.

I take a deep breath, my spine arching into his hold. His arms tighten around me. “Then why won’t you… Why don’t you want me?”

Ares closes his eyes for a moment and lets his head drop back before looking at me again to answer.

“Delaney, what part of me being hard as a rock right now tells you that I don’t want you? You’re fucking perfect, okay?”

Oh. Oh, he is hard. His erection is pressing against my hip. I feel his heart thundering against my own ribs as I nuzzle closer to him.

“Then kiss me again,” I say.

Ares’ breath ghosts over my face. His tongue flicks out to swipe at his lower lip as his eyes — God, the path they trace over my face, down my throat, to the swell of my breasts... Then his eyes shutter and I know I’ve lost him.

“No.”

Anger pulses hot and bright, rivalling my arousal.

“Fine,” I snip, and I wriggle off his lap, filling the space on the opposite end of the couch. “Then you’d better leave because I’m upset and turned on and I feel like relieving a little stress.”

I shift back against the armrest and fling off the t-shirt he’d draped over me. Ares makes a startled noise, like he’s choking, and springs off the couch.

“Jesus Christ, Delaney,” he rumbles, swiping a hand over his face, maybe so he’s not tempted to stare at my nakedness. “You’re a fucking mess, you know that?”

I don’t think he means it unkindly and it curls my lips into a smirk. “I know,” I reply.

Ares grabs the shirt from the floor and throws it at me. “Put that on.”

“Why? You don’t want to see me touch myself?”

Ares is quiet for a long, heated moment. He finally looks at me, good and hard, raking over every inch of my exposed skin. I let my knees fall open and he inhales sharply, eyes glued between my legs.

“I want…” He swallows hard. “I want to see you touching yourself… while you’re wearing my shirt.”

I bite back my smile and pick up the shirt, slipping it over my damp skin. It’s big on me, obviously, but what I like even more is the fact that it’s his. I nod to the vacant spot on the couch.

“You gonna join me?”

---