Page 69 of God of War

“You’re a fucking brat, you know that?”

My skin tingles where I feel the warmth of his breath. I want his mouth on me, but Rev is right there, along with the other Wastelanders, all of whom are pretending they’re not watching Ares send me off.

“I know. But I think you like it.”

Another growl. Then Ares surprises me. He lunges for my lips, crushing my mouth with his in a searing kiss that’s over way too soon. When he pulls back, my body tries to follow and he has to steady me with his hand on my thigh.

“Got shit to deal with here, but I’ll come get you soon. Listen to Rev, don’t be a dumbass, and if this ride gets you all riled up, maybe a little tingly between the legs, you’d better not fucking come, you hear me?” He glances away, shooting daggers at the back of Rev’s head. “Not on his bike.”

I swallow, my nervous little butterflies returning with a vengeance. “I promise.”

With a final nod, he steps back. Rev’s bike roars to life and it feels like a beast between my legs. The vibrations rumble straight to my core, my inner muscles clenching longingly. A little part of me wants to play up to Ares’ warning. Maybe put on a show and see what kind of punishment Ares will dish out when he gets his hands on me later. Instead, I give him a small, serious nod.

“Hold on, kitten!” Rev yells. The bike lurches forward and I scrabble to hang on tight. Ares disappears in a blur as the bike rockets out of the clearing, down the twisting little track, and explodes onto the empty road.

Turns out that not coming on the back of a motorbike is way easier than I thought. My body is immediately at a low level of panic, my stomach swooping with every turn, every wobble. Rev occasionally yells back to warn me about an upcoming bump or another turn, which I appreciate.

I don’t know how long we ride for — my butt becomes so numb that the vibrations don’t even bother me anymore — but eventually I recognize landmarks and turn-offs and then we’re winding through the familiar streets of a place I once thought of as home.

“Almost there,” Rev calls to me as we pull up at a red light.

“And that would be where?”

He doesn’t answer, shooting off as soon as the traffic light goes green. I don’t have to wait long to find out the answer. We pull up outside a strange looking bungalow that sits on spindly looking stilts, a rickety wooden staircase leading up to the front door. It’s on the corner of a rundown block, which, by the look of the overgrown yards and boarded up windows, is half abandoned. Rev pulls the bike right up underneath the house and turns off the engine. My ears ring in the abrupt silence. Rev flips down the kickstand and climbs off. He groans and stretches, his back popping audibly.

“We good?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow at me.

I stumble off the bike, my legs like jelly, and unclasp my helmet. “Are you asking if I came and you need to go into hiding?” I ask sarcastically. “You’re good.”

Rev grins, takes the helmet from me and rests it on the seat. “I like you. You’re funny. Now come on, I need a beer and a piss.”

“In that order?” I ask. Rev barks a laugh as I trail after him.

***

Rev’s house is cluttered and cozy. I’m kind of surprised, actually, that it’s not littered with empty bottles of booze, or a line up of guns and drugs on the coffee table. He disappears when we enter, returning after five minutes with a towel and a change of clothes. He points me down the narrow hall to the bathroom and I take a hurried shower, not wanting to linger on the sight of the pink-tinged water swirling down the drain. Not wanting to remember where it came from.

“So, what’s the, uh… the plan, I guess?”

I sit on Rev’s couch and tug at my oversized sweats. He thunks a beer on the coffee table in front of me, then collapses into a leather recliner with his own and eyes me carefully.

“That’s cute.”

“What?”

“That you think we have a plan.” He gulps his beer and wipes his mouth on his shoulder. “My turn,” he says. “What’s the deal with you and Ares? I gotta say, it was not easy to convince him to let me bring you here alone.”

“Really?”

I think back. The moments after killing Aaron are a blur. Well, except for the vivid, exploding color of Ares fucking me on the hood of Aaron’s patrol car. That is as real and solid as the frosty glass bottle in my hand. I feel my cheeks heat, so I cough awkwardly and shift on the couch.

“Yeah,” replies Rev, not noticing my blush. “He’s real protective. Which, I guess, is why Griff sent him with you in the first place. Thing is, I don’t think any of us expected him to fall in love with you, considering.”

“He’s not in love with me,” I scoff, then frown. “And by considering, you mean…”

“You really did a number on him back in the day. It wasn’t easy, having people look at him like he was a kid-fiddling monster.”

I glare at him. “That was not my fault. And it’s also none of your fucking business.”

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