32. Lourdes
Lourdes
Acrack of thunder and a flash of white light yank me awake as though the long-awaited storm grew claws and reached through the open terrace doors to shake me in this bed.
For a moment, I forget where I am. The unfamiliar ceiling, the soft sheets, the fluffy pillow.
The scent of salt and jasmine with the whipping winds remind me I’m in Santorini.
I’m still in Santorini.
And I’m still alone.
Ares has been gone for days. I stopped counting because counting means admitting that his absence is something I need to measure in order to get through this. I’m stronger than that. But it’s wearing me down. Like this storm is wearing down the rocky hillside.
I’m not totally alone. Elani and a few guards are still here. I feel safe. I miss Ares, but I refuse to acknowledge that the dead silence at night has grown teeth and every hour takes another bite of my flesh.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m not supposed to feel anything for Ares. God, was I so starved before him?
I sit up in bed, throat tight, tears threatening to fall. But I can’t cry. Won’t cry.
I thought being alone would make me feel more like myself.
Back when I was the boss of me, before David married me out of obligation, and before Ares took temporary possession of me.
Before my entire plan to get enough money to take care of Sandrine and quietly sneak away got upended by a six-foot Greek God!
Lightning fractures the darkness again, interrupting my thoughts. It’s bright enough this time to turn the room silver. The storm performs its light show in the sky. Greek mythology claims that when it storms, it means the gods are fighting somewhere higher than the clouds.
The thunder that follows is a rolling, violent rupture that makes glass shudder in its frames. Drapes from the open terrace doors billow and dance in the wind.
From the bed, I can see that the floor is wet.
“Damn it.” I push back the sheets to grab some towels.
The cool marble is a small comfort to my bare feet.
Another blast of rain lashes past the terrace doors.
I go to close those, but I look out over the island first. The view I’ve been staring at every night is unrecognizable.
Not much of a paradise right now. More like a carwash tunnel. I’ve never seen rain like this.
There’s no activity outside. The guards have hunkered down. Their booth is dark and locked up.
The floor dried, and the terrace doors closed, I pace the length of the bedroom while another crack of thunder splits the sky.
It feels closer this time. It’s cracked me as well.
I hate how much I wish Ares was here. I’ve resisted calling him.
Or texting him. His silence has spoken volumes.
He can live without me. He’s lived without anyone for forty-two years. Who the hell am I to change that?
Damn it, I will not be ignored while captive on his estate.
Before I can even conjure what I’ll say, I reach for my phone on the nightstand. Not bothering to calculate the time difference between here and New York, I place the call.
The line begins to ring with a soft electronic pulse echoing in my ear. It combines with the sound of my ragged breaths, the violent song of the storm, and…the sound of a phone.
Inside the bedroom.
From the dark corner near the closet.
My body reacts before my mind can wrap around what is happening. Immediately, I think Ares left his phone here the whole time. I freeze mid-step, my phone still pressed to my ear as the ringing continues.
Then suddenly, the call disconnects.
Blaring silence floods the room. I don’t even hear the rain thrashing the windows anymore.
A brilliant flash of lightning illuminates the room, and a sliver of terror rises within me at the figure sitting in the upholstered chair near the closet.
My pulse throbs in my neck. “Ares…”
But he’s once again lost in the sudden shadow. I step closer and see he’s just sitting there, elbows resting loosely on his knees, one hand clasped to his phone, watching me.
“I’m here.” A lamp clicks on at his side, warm unnatural light spilling across his long legs.
“When did you get back?” I ask, my voice thinner than I would like.
The storm answers for him with another violent tremor of thunder until he rises to his full height. The shadows carve around him as he steps forward.
“A few hours ago,” he finally replies, slowly closing the distance between us like he’s not sure he’ll be gentle once he touches me. “You were asleep. I didn’t want to disturb you. You haven’t been sleeping well.”
His restraint settles heavily in my chest. “How would you know?”
“Elani told me.” The words strike sharper than the pulse of the thunder.
He’s been calling her. Not me. To check on me like I don’t have my own voice.
“Is that how you keep your feelings contained?” I ask, annoyance in my tone. “By speaking to everyone around me, but not me?”
He stares at me, eyes fluttering like I nailed him in one sentence. “Contained in the heart, yes. But not my body.”
The rain lashes harder, pounding the glass in chaotic rivulets.
“It’s…insane out there,” I murmur. “I heard the airspace around the island was closing.”
“They grounded air traffic hours ago.” He takes a step again. “I flew in anyway.”
There’s no arrogance in the statement, only fact.
“Why?” My voice cracks, unable to hold back.
His gaze darkens. His hand comes up, and deliberate, warm fingers wrap around the column of my throat. He doesn’t squeeze hard enough to hurt, but it’s firm enough that I feel the power of his claim on me.
“Why?” His thumb presses lightly against my pulse as though he’s measuring what his presence does to me. “Nothing will keep me away from you.”
“Ares…” My breath catches, my body betraying me.
I lean into his frame, needing warmth, needing contact, needing to feel the hard length that controls him when he’s like this. This is so damn messy, but I want him anyway.
“Why did you call me just now?” His thumb traces the frantic rhythm beneath my skin. “After five damn days. Tell me why now?”
“I couldn’t sleep. The storm.”
“Liar.”
Lightning flares again, illuminating the tension in his jaw. This barely leashed intensity makes him feel less like a man and more like a primal beast ready to strike.
“Say it,” he murmurs.
I swallow against his hand. “I—”
His grip tightens. “Did you miss me, Lourdes?”
“Yes,” I admit, the single word slipping free before I can dress it up with pride.
That’s when his mouth crashes into mine.
The punishing kiss steals the air from my lungs as though he intends to strip me of my life force.
His hand slides from my throat down to my waist. In one seamless motion, he lifts me and carries me to the bed.
All with the storm raging outside, the flooding forgotten.
I land on my back, my legs splayed open.
“You have no idea what I went through these last five days.” He crawls toward me and settles the long, muscular length of his body against mine. A stiff erection in his pants presses against my thighs.
“David…” I whisper. “Is he—”
“Later. I need to fuck you because he’s got nothing to do with how I want you,” Ares says, his voice husky with need.
He crashes his mouth on mine again, his tongue just as punishing as before.
Growling, he breaks off. “My dick has been aching for you for days. My eyes have been aching to look at you. My hands ache to touch you. What the fuck have you done to me?”
He gives me no chance to answer, just drowns me with passionate kisses.
“This is in my way.” He grabs the neckline of my nightgown and tears it right down the center. He cups my breasts and sucks my nipples. “I need you.”
I arch up against the hot, greedy pleasure I get from his mouth. I plunge my fingers into his messy hair. His hair…is messy and soft. The unkempt look of him startles me.
What have I done to him?
He puts his hand between my thighs. “No underwear. Good girl.”
His thick fingers stroke my clit until I’m squirming. He works his tongue down my body until his mouth meets my center. He buries his face between my spread thighs and inhales deeply against the slit.
“So fucking sweet.”
“God yes,” I moan as Ares laps at my pussy like a man starved.
His groans create a vibration that feels like a sex toy.
“Oh God,” I ground out when he slides one thick finger inside me while another presses on the entrance to my ass.
“You fucking like that?” he growls.
“Yes, don’t stop.” My nipples are so hard they hurt.
Grinning, he sucks on my clit, swirling his tongue around and around until I’m squirming, riding his mouth.
He stops for a second to ask, “Will you be mine?”
Lost, I say, “What?”
“Tell me right now if you’re mine…”
I struggle to answer. I don’t know where my bastard husband is. Ares won’t tell me. Yet he wants me to choose him regardless of my marital status.
Ares licks a finger and then slides it into my back hole while his tongue lavishes my clit. “Tell me if you’re mine.”
Oh God of War…
“Yes. Yes, I’m yours.” I say it because it’s true.
Ares pulls off me. “Stay like that.”
“Ares, please,” I say, watching him undress.
He deftly unbuckles his belt and lowers the zipper. When he removes the rest of his clothes, he gets back on the bed, and after a few strokes of my pussy, he thrusts inside me. Pulling my hair, he fucks me, driving into me hard and fast.
I grip the bed sheets so tight I think I may shred them. I’m already close to falling apart.
Ares stretches me open, thrusts into me with such loud moans, my pussy starts throbbing, and I climax with a violent spurt of my juices.
“I’m coming,” I cry out, convulsing around his cock.
“I feel that, you squirter. How fucking deliciously filthy.” He rocks into me, going deeper. “You better come hard for me. I earned this orgasm. All this mess on my legs.”
“Ares…” I moan.
“Christ, you’re so fucking drenched. I love the way this perfect tight cunt feels when I’m fucking you.
I love the way you taste when I’m licking you.
How you sound when you come. How you smell like me.
You minx of a woman, you have driven me so goddamn crazy.
I was on the verge of a breakdown being away from you. ”
I come so hard again, Ares grunts, feeling it.
“That’s right, come all over my cock. You’re as crazy for me as I am for you. I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk down the stairs tomorrow for breakfast. I’ll have to carry you.” The waves stop, and he pulls out to crawl over my body.
“Now suck the cum out my cock while I fuck your face.” He thrusts his dick into my mouth.
It’s slick, drenched from being inside me. Inch by glistening inch, he pushes it past my lips.
“Fuck, I feel my dick in your throat.” His hands close around my neck. “This is so fucking good. “
My eyes water, and I struggle to breathe.
He starts speaking Greek. Loudly. I close my eyes and let him take what he needs. He needs to get this out of his system after the long flight and the restraint of sitting in the dark for hours watching me sleep.
Ares’s breath shudders. “I’m close. You will swallow every drop then lick my balls clean.”
I nod, since I can’t speak. And I’m trapped on my back.
“Fuuuck.” Ares throws his head back and roars.
His cock erupts, and warm cum floods my mouth. He cradles my head as he continues to come. His hips rock in such a sexy way as he moans with each thrust.
With a gasp of rapture, he jerks out, releasing the last ropes on my lips.
“You are fucking mine.” He bends to kiss me, our lips sealed together with his cum.
“Ares…”
He grips the back of my head and stares at me with wild eyes. “Your husband is dead.”