Ares-
The flickering flames of the hearth cast long shadows across the room, stretching over the marble floors of the hall. The air was thick with the scent of burning incense, a strange mixture of both comfort and foreboding. I leaned against the stone pillar, my eyes fixed on the distance, where the looming threat of war hung like a dark cloud.
"Do you ever wonder, Ares," Aphrodite's voice broke the silence, smooth and dangerous as silk, "why you do what you do?"
I turned to her, my gaze darkening as I fixed on her silhouette framed by the doorway, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. She stood there, impossibly beautiful, with that same allure that made me forget reason. Made me forget everything except her.
"Isn't it obvious?" I grunted, trying to sound dismissive, but even I could hear the tremor in my voice. The anger that simmered beneath my skin, the anger at myself for letting her get to me, leaked through. "The war—it's what I was born for."
Aphrodite glided closer, her steps soft, her presence like a whisper in the dark. She reached out, trailing a finger along my arm, and my breath caught in my throat. Anger, sharp and bitter, coursed through me. How dare she touch me like that? But it didn't take long for that anger to twist, to settle into something else, something dangerous—desire.
"You were born to conquer, yes. But not just the battlefield, Ares. You were born to conquer hearts. To make them bleed and burn with desire."
Her words were like a lash against my chest, stoking the fire that I hated but couldn't escape. I clenched my fists at my sides, muscles taut with tension. She knew exactly what she was doing. And damn it, I was letting her.
"You think winning this war will make me… whole?" I spat the question out, the weight of it pressing down on me. The tension in my chest felt like a knot pulling tighter. I had always been the warrior—the one who fought, who killed, who bled. But standing here, with her gaze on me, the line between anger and desire blurred.
Aphrodite smiled, and it was a smile that could bring kings to their knees. "Winning the war, Ares," she said softly, her voice like the distant crash of waves against the shore, "will be nothing more than a prelude to the real victory. The one that will make you feel as if you are more than just a god of war. You'll be a god of everything. Of all things."
I could feel the anger rise again, hot and furious, at her manipulation of me, at her games. She didn't care about the war. She cared about something else entirely. But that desire—the pull between us—choked the words before they could leave my mouth. It made my heart race faster, and my fingers itch with the urge to touch her, to claim what she was offering.
I stepped closer, the air between us crackling with both fury and something else I refused to name. "And you think that... that victory will matter to me?" I asked, my voice thick with both challenge and something more raw, more visceral than I cared to admit.
Aphrodite tilted her head, her gaze sharp like a blade, and my pulse quickened, as if her every word could pierce me. "Victory matters, Ares. But who stands beside you when the battle is won? That's what truly matters." She placed a hand on my chest, her touch light but electrifying. I felt the fire within me flare to life again—anger and desire mixing with a violent force.
"And when you win this war," she whispered, leaning closer, "you will have me. You will have everything."
Her words were like a knife, slicing through my control. I gripped her wrist, my hand tightening around it harder than I intended. What was she doing to me? Was I really going to let her manipulate me, to twist me up like this? But as her breath hitched slightly under my touch, I knew I was losing. The anger that burned in me was nothing compared to the hunger that surged in my chest.
"You know how to manipulate me, don't you?" I growled, my grip tightening, desperate to push back against whatever it was that pulled me to her.
Aphrodite's eyes gleamed with amusement, her lips curling into that knowing smile. "I don't manipulate, Ares," she whispered, stepping closer. "I guide. I show you what you are capable of when you embrace your true nature."
Her words were molten metal in my chest, melting everything that had kept me in control. I was done fighting it. The battle was already over. But what came after? What would I be when the bloodshed was done?
"Then let's make sure I win," I said, my voice low, thick with the weight of the choices ahead, and all the anger and desire that surged through me, making every word feel like a vow.
Aphrodite's laugh was soft, almost sweet. "Oh, Ares," she said, brushing her lips against my ear, "I never doubted you."