Ares blinked at me. My heavy breathing sounded uncomfortably loud as he looked at me like I had just spoken to him in a foreign language.

Maybe the translator spell Ezra had cast to replace the one from Aradonna hadn't worked and the one from the other realm was fading. Apparently, he was wrong when he said that the one from Aradonna would last at least a week before breaking without its magical source existing in the same realm.

"Ares." my voice held a snapped urgency. I didn't know why but it felt like if I didn't get him now, that I wouldn't get another chance. Every pounding thump of my heart tried to announce it to me.

Probably because Cassius had decided to take his brother's place to continue my torment.

It was only a matter of time before he grew tired of my refusal. Before it became worthless in the face of his wants.

At my call, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Nea."

The severe tone of his voice had me second-guessing my decision to jump him. Although I knew he wouldn't hurt me, that didn't change the fact that Ares was a dangerous man. I could practically feel the warning in his aura daring someone to try him. That someone just happened to be me.

He straightened his spine, putting him in a position to look down on me intimidatingly. It worked. I cowered back slightly, but the drive to make him mine before Cassius could show up and act like he had the right to determine who had access to my body drove me forwards.

I wasn't going to let him gain the control his bother did. I was alone when I had to face him. I wasn't alone now.

Ares's intimidating aura pressed down on me. It was a slight pressure that I almost didn't notice. My eyes widened.

The tactics he's learned over the years may have given him a well-known and infamous name, but it also gave him knowledge and skills that he could manipulate to fit different situations.

Just the hint of scrutiny he put me under with those slitted eyes had me swallowing thickly. Although he had been more than patient with me taking my time to open up, I could tell he was more than capable of squeezing out every unwilling detail about my life if he wanted.

"What did they do?"

At his concerned words, the momentary lapse of fear dispersed as a hint of guilt replaced it. He wasn't like Axel. He wouldn't use his ability to manipulate me to get what he wanted. That was enough to renew my growing hunger for him.

I was going to claim him.

I tried to go in for another taste of his lips, but just as my lips brushed his, his hand in my hair pulled me back.

"What happened?"

I swallowed at the intensity that I found looking down at me from his lavender eyes. The flakes of gold seemed to breathe along with his angered breaths.

I looked away, suddenly finding the ornate carpets lining the floor mare more interesting. "Nothing."

His hand tightened, drawing my eyes back to his by force. "Don't lie to me, little one. Did they touch you?"

I couldn't help the fresh tears the welled up at his question. His words had softened after seeing how his anger was putting me on edge. His hand easier its grip as his eyes softened at the appearance of the blinding moisture I couldn't keep at bay lately.

I began to shake my head before recalling Axel's stolen kiss, freezing mid-motion.

I could feel Ares freeze along with me. "Who?" He demanded, gently, but firmly.

I knew he wasn't going to let it be. I could feel it in the bond between us so I decide to rip the bandage off.

"Axel. He forced a kiss on me." I quickly added before his mind could go too wild.

A muscle jumped in his cheek as he clenched his jaw. He was silent for a moment, contemplating before he spoke. "I will deal with him."

I began to shake my head before he could finish speaking. I didn't want him to deal with him. I didn't want to make things worse, I just wanted them to get better.

He narrowed his eyes again, disregarding my protest. "What else?"

I chewed my lip, hesitant to tell him the rest. Did I want him to know that the person he was stuck with for life was so weak that she couldn't even dictate her own body?

If Cassius was dead set on me not sleeping with anyone until I caved to him, there wasn't much I would be able to do to stop him. I didn't stand a chance against anyone here, much less him, the King.

I was just the weak human who 'managed to snag herself some real gems' according to some of the court officials I had shamelessly eavesdropped on.

"Little one, I can be patient in regards to your silence for your past because it poses no immediate threat. But your safety is another matter. I will not tolerate you lying or withholding anything that puts you in danger, do you understand?" He waited till I acknowledged him before continuing. "Now tell me, what else happened?"

I looked up at him, hesitant. I didn't want to tell him, but I also didn't doubt his warning or that consequences would follow. I wasn't a fool. If I told him now, it would look like I was just using him to get at Cassius. Although the courage to follow through on fully accepting Ares originated from such origins, I didn't want to claim him to send a message to Cassius by the time I asked him to fuck me. By then, I wanted to claim him for myself. I was too blinded by the chaos around me to fully understand everything Ares had offered me with the promise he force me to make.

He was offering me the opportunity to have the life I dreamed of one day having, even if it contained unexpected complications. He offered it with the promise that I give him the same in return.

And I wanted to.

But would he let me if he knew what spurred my sudden change?

"Nea," he warned when I spent too long contemplating in silence.

If I was going to do this right, I couldn't start it off with lies and deception, not with Ares. He had been the only one who had been honest and upfront from the moment I met him. Well aside from the hidden fact that he was a Fae prince. But I wasn't one to talk seeing as all he knew of my past was that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows and the brother of the man who was housing us was to blame. He didn't even know half of the torment his twin brother or the others had inflicted upon me.

All I knew for sure was that he didn't hide anything when I asked, going out of his way to offer the information himself since my little outburst when we first met. It was one thing I couldn't say for the others. Even Ryder. Although he had burrowed his way into my heart with the bond and his light and humorous personality, he had started his relationship with me the same way as the others, by force and disregard, even if it was to protect my unconscious state as he claimed. Only Ares had refused to force me into anything, even with death looming as the alternative.

I don't think there would have been much that would have stopped me from reaching the same conclusion that I had.

I loved Ares. I don't know when it went from, fearing, to loathing, to not minding having him around, to loving him, but I knew I wanted to make him mine. I could feel the need pulsing through my veins and lacing every breath I took.

"Cassius said that I can't sleep with anyone but him until I'm..." I didn't want to say the word. Just the thought of doing anything that would lead me to being pregnant by Cassius had my heart twisting painfully as the bond that tethered me to him hummed in contradiction.

But the thought of it being Ares...

I wasn't going to let him use me as an incubator, no matter how much his Demon powers were trying to manipulate me through the mark he branded me with.

"So you want to use me to prove him wrong." A hint of disappointment flashed across Ares's eyes as he came to the conclusion I had feared he would.

I hesitated a moment before admitting the truth. "Yes, but only to begin with," I rushed to add. "When I asked you to..." I trailed off, embarrassed to repeat the bold phrase.

"Fuck you?" He helpfully filled in the blank.

"Yeah," I sheepishly said. I began to play with Ares's hair at the nape of his neck nervously. "When I asked you to do that, it wasn't because of him, it was because I wanted to..." My voice grew quiet as I admitted the truth. I wasn't used to having to convince someone I wanted to jump them for the right reasons. Or at all. It wasn't been a situation I had found myself in before.

Then again, I hadn't met a man like Ares before. He made me feel like I had control, a choice, but at the same time, I had no control over how my body and mind had come to react to him.

"You want to claim me, little one?"

I was surprised to see a slight smile curling his lips when I peeked at him through my lashes. His fingers in my hair relaxed as he slowly pulled his hand away, brushing a few strands out of my eye before using it to support me up against him better. He adjusted his grip so his hands palmed my ass.

My legs squeezed around his waist in response.

"I'm going to give you until we return to our quarters to change your mind."

I did not expect him to act unphased, which is probably why it took me so long to understand what he had said. Before I could think of a response, he was carrying me across the library and out the doors. I clung to him tightly as he carried us to the room we had slept together in innocently the night before. I had a feeling things weren't going to be so innocent this time around.

Noticing curious glances being thrown our way, I buried my face in Ares's neck and hid. I hoped that word wouldn't get back to Cassius. For once, I didn't want someone interrupting what was about to happen.

I could feel Ares's pulse hammering away. It was fast and hard like my own, anticipation and excitement for what was to come fueling it. My body grew warm the more Ares rubbed against mine as he carried me.

It was like he had reignited a hidden fire in me. Flashes of images in my head that would once have paralyzed me with fear were instead causing my body to warm in anticipation. Who would have thought my reaction would differ so drastically just by changing the face of the man staring in them.

I impatiently squirmed against him, causing his hold to tighten.

His stride didn't slow as he made his way into the living quarters of the royal wing. He kicked the heavy doors open, not slowing to close them behind him.

"What's going on?"

I raised my head from Ares's neck to see Zev standing in the kitchen with a dishtowel over his shoulder. In his mitted hand, he held a tray of pastries. His head had snapped up at our sudden arrival. His surprised, and unexpectedly concerned, expression slowly turned into a disapproving frown as he took in the way Ares held me.

I thought Ares was going to just walk past him, ignoring him like he had been each time they breathed the air in the same room. That's why when he paused near the island that separated Zev from us, I couldn't help but look on in worry, the possibility of having to postpone what I had started- no, what Cassius had started, for an altercation had the heat beneath my skin calming slightly, but it roared to life again at Ares words and the implications they held.

"Stick around and you'll hear." With those words, the dark twin resumed his stride as my ears burned red.

Zev's frown deepened as he set the hot tray on the rack before him, but he didn't say a word as Ares continued forward, nor did it look like he intended to leave.

Ares didn't stop again until he stood before the now made bed we had slept in the night before, the door to the bedroom shut firmly behind us.

Dropping me on the bed, he climbed over me. "So little one, what will it be?"

Though he asked, he already knew. It was clear in the confidence that lined his body as he faintly ran his finger over my brow before trailing it down my cheek and down my neck.

A sudden urge of possession claimed me as the thought of Cassius taking him from me blindsided me. I knew he couldn't in the sense that I feared the most since we were soul-bound, but the thought of him separating me from him had me rolling us over with a strength I never knew I possessed. It was probably because Ares recognized what I was doing and allowed it, but I wasn't going to dwell on the how. Not when the now was burning a trail of need through my body stronger than I had ever felt.

Straddling him, I pinned his wrists to either side of his head. "Your mine."

The string of fate trying me to Ares hummed in agreed possessiveness at my claim. The possessive statement had his eyes widening before I dropped to claim his lips. He met mine halfway, his head raising to reach me sooner.

As our tongues danced together, driving the heat beneath my skin to levels I was unaccustomed to, I couldn't help but suddenly jerk back panting. My eyes narrowed on the faint scars that remained of the bite I had given him. I don't know why, but I felt the sudden urge to bite down on his throat again to make another claim, one that ran deeper.

"Go ahead, bite," he offered, turning his head and baring his neck as though he had read my mind. He didn't seem phased by the sudden shift in my emotions, it was like he expected it as he looked up at me with a gentle smile.

"The bond wants you to make your claim again, stronger. It feels threatened. It won't change anything, but it will reassure it that I'm yours. That no one can take me from you.

As he spoke, my eyes remained locked on the marks my teeth had left previously. I hadn't been aware that I had been drawing closer until I could feel my warm breath bounce off his skin and onto my lips.

"Go ahead," he encouraged.

I couldn't stop myself. My blunt teeth travelled the remaining distance to meet his skin. The salty taste of his skin between my teeth was quickly overrun with the sweet taste of his blood as my teeth broke the surface with more ease than I expected. Unlike previously, I didn't need assistance to dig them in further, not when Ares was the one having to pull me off of him. He had let me be for a moment before pulling me off and pinning me beneath him.

"I do love how much you crave my blood, but we're not going to finish what you've started if you get high on it. I want you here for this."

I looked up into Ares's eyes as the spinning world around me settled. He had switched our position back to its original one, he hovered over me, caging me in beneath him.

His eyes became serious as he closely examined my eyes, making sure I hadn't consumed too much. When he was sure I was fine, they softened again.

"So, little one, have you changed your mind?

I bit down on my lip as I looked up at him, my core warming in anticipation. For once in my life, I knew exactly what I wanted.

"No."

Ares's smile slowly spread. "Last chance. You sure?"

"I'm sur-"

Before I could even get the words completely out, Ares was sitting up and had his hands gripping the top of my pants. Pulling them off in one smooth motion along with the underwear I was wearing beneath, he tossed them aside.

I tried to cover myself at the sudden action, but his hands were quick to intercept.

"If you want to claim me as yours, you're going to need to let me claim you as mine," he said, his smouldering eyes burning into me. "And I don't plan to let you start until you know your thoroughly mine. All of you."