"I need you to step aside," Jac whispered.

No. Came into her mind, but his lips didn"t move.

"I don"t want to hurt you."

His eyes flashed with what looked like amus.e.m.e.nt, but he didn"t move.

Jac shrugged. "You leave me no choice." She raised her hands as if to strike, at the last second she swept her leg out, knocking his out from under him. Two giant hands snaked out, grasping her at the last second, and then they were both falling.

Ares"s back hit the ground a second before Jac landed on top of him. A whoosh of air came rushing from his lungs. Her eyes widened when she felt the thick erection beneath his loincloth. He rolled her beneath him, as she started to rise. Soft ferns mashed under her back. Jac could feel the delicate leaves tickle the skin of her arms, stroking like tiny fingers.

She began to struggle, pushing against his heavy bulk, partly out of fear of Ares-but mostly she was afraid of her own reaction. Her skin heated as her body registered his weight. Jac fought like a wildcat. He held her down with little to no effort on his part, until she wore herself out and ceased to fight.

Her lungs heaved, with each breath her nipples sc.r.a.pped against his muscled chest through her"t-shirt. All sound stopped but the beating of their hearts. Jac glanced to his savage mouth and renewed heat flooded her system. Her tongue darted out. It was all the encouragement Ares needed. His mouth came down on hers, punishing, hungry, desperate. He licked her upper lip, following the outline of her mouth, then switched to nibbling the bottom one, until Jac moaned. He swooped inside her dark recesses, deepening the embrace. Like a half starved animal, he fed from her.

His tongue swirled, tasted, devoured her until Jac couldn"t tell where he ended and she began. Her body came alive as every nerve ending fired at once. Jac"s hips started moving of their own volition, grinding against his hard length, searching. She was aflame. Her movements seem to drive Ares harder. Soon his actions mirrored her own. He thrust against her, his hips pistoning. His hand closed over her breast and kneaded. Jac cried out, her p.u.s.s.y flooding with moisture.

She tugged at his loincloth like an animal in heat, scratching his skin, running her nails down his back. "I want you so bad," she heard herself say.

Ares growled and sat up, taking her with him. His eyes smoldered, tumultuous emotions swam in their green depths. He stood, pulling Jac to her feet, then strode back to the fire. They"d no more reached the area, when Ares untied his loincloth and the material dropped to the ground. Jac"s heart skidded to a halt.

Good lord where does he think he is going to put that?

Jac"s eyes practically bugged out of her head. She licked her lips and felt her c.l.i.t twitch. He stepped forward and grabbed her t-shirt with both hands. With a quick flick of his wrist her shirt was off her body and floating to the ground. Jac"s nipples stiffened under his intense gaze, engorging to the point of pain. His fingers immediately moved to her shorts, but fumbled with the clasp, his movements growing frantic, if Jac hadn"t stopped him, Ares would have ripped them from her body.

They stood naked, staring at each other.

Ares"s body trembled, his muscles flexed. "In all my years of existence, I"ve never seen such a beautiful sight as you have chosen to gift me with tonight."

Jac felt heat rush to her face. Good G.o.d, I"m blushing.

"You are most definitely made in the G.o.ddess"s form."

b.u.t.terflies danced in Jac"s belly at Ares"s words. I"m acting like such a...such a...girl. Jac needed to bring back the control she was famous for, turn this situation around before she got so mixed up, she wouldn"t be able to find her way out of these emotions without breadcrumbs. It would kill the mood, but the subject needed to be brought up before they went any further.

"I"ve got a condom in my pocket, let me get it." Jac dug through her pants pocket until she encountered latex. Glancing at Ares, her fingers trembled as she pulled the prophylactic out and opened the packet. Her eyes went to the condom to his p.e.n.i.s and back. Dread filled her. There was no way in h.e.l.l the rubber would fit over that monster instrument of his and this was the biggest one on the market. They wouldn"t be able to have s.e.x.

d.a.m.n it.

d.a.m.n it.

d.a.m.n it.

Jac"s p.u.s.s.y creamed in protest. This isn"t fair. She wanted to stomp, sulk, throw herself onto the ground and refuse to breathe until she got her way. But Jac knew that would be pointless. Her eyes locked with his.

"Houston, we have a problem," Jac said, hoping humor would lessen the blow.

Ares"s brows furrowed. "I no not why you insist on calling me by every name but my own." He shook his head. "My name is Ares."

"I know what your name is Tarzan. I"m trying to tell you it"s not going to happen."

"What?" Ares crossed his arms.

Jac put her hands on her hips, the condom tucked in her right palm. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

He c.o.c.ked his head to the side as if to say I"m listening, go ahead.

"The condom isn"t going to fit your..."ah, um," considerable a.s.sets." Jac nodded, indicating she referred to his staff.

Ares glanced down at his thick shaft and back at Jac. "What is a condom?"

Jac cracked up. She couldn"t help it. She"d heard a lot of excuses why guys didn"t want to wear a rubber, but asking what one was-well, a new one.

"Ignorance isn"t going to work." She choked back a sarcastic laugh.

Ares pointed to Jac"s right hand. "Are you referring to that strange substance in your hand?"

She nodded.

"What were you planning on doing with that?" Confusion shadowed his features.

Jac stopped laughing and took a serious look at him. He appeared genuinely confused. "You really don"t know what this is for, do you?"

Ares shook his head, sending his ebony hair sliding over his broad shoulders. "No."

She cleared her throat. "You wear one of these over your p.e.n.i.s to prevent disease, babies, you name it."

Ares looked horrified. "You want me to put that tiny thing over my staff."

"Yes."

"Absolutely not," Ares swept a hand through the air to indicate the conversation was over.

"No condom. No nookie." Jac glanced at the fire, the conversation beginning to get on her nerves. She wasn"t about to give into temptation no matter how bad she wanted his c.o.c.k. And she really wanted his c.o.c.k.

Jac heard twigs snap. Her gaze shot up. Ares had taken a step closer. His eyes narrowed and a red flush colored his cheeks.

"I am not diseased," he ground out between clenched teeth. "My people are immune to the maladies of this planet." His gaze leveled on Jac, boring into her, willing her to believe.

Jac took a step back. "It"s too bad I can"t take your word for it, but in this day and age you can"t be too careful." She would not concede on this point. "Who are your people by the way?"

Ares"s face tensed as if considering whether to answer her question. "I agree with you about the perils of this time in which we live. The Earth is a very dangerous place, which is why we must soon leave."

Jac looked around her at the jungle surrounding them. "Leave?"

Ares waved a hand in the air as if to erase his last words. ""Tis unimportant."

"You obviously haven"t gotten out lately." Jac"s hands rested on her hips. "Disease is nothing to joke about."

"You think I jest?" He stepped closer. "Do you have any idea how old I am? What I am?"

Jac could feel heat rolling in waves from his body. She fought herself to keep from falling into it, drowning. He made resisting much harder than it had to be-than it had ever been before.

"I"d say you"re about thirty-five." She looked at him, studying the lines around his eyes, the slight weathering of his skin. She was about to touch the second question he"d asked. What in the h.e.l.l did he mean by "what I am"?

It was Ares"s turn to laugh. The muscles rippled in his six pack abs. Jac put her hands behind her back to keep from reaching out and stroking every ridge, every ripple.

Ares stopped laughing. He reached out and grabbed her upper arms, his thumbs rubbing her skin, sending shivers through her body.

"Try three thousand five hundred years old."

The trees behind Ares started to spin. Jac heard her blood rush, pounding in her ears, and then everything went black.

Chapter Five.

Jac awoke with Ares leaning over her, fanning her face with a palm leaf. She blinked a couple of times until he came into clear focus. "What happened?" she croaked, her tongue feeling thick in her mouth. The last thing she could recall was talking about condoms and the ills of the world, then everything went black.

"You fainted." He smiled.

She tried to sit up, but Ares held her down. "I never faint."

Ares looked as if he tried hard not to laugh. Jac didn"t think any of this was funny. For all she knew he"d put a whammy on her when she wasn"t looking. Yeah, that had to be it. He"d been able to do a h.e.l.l of a lot without actually touching her, so it stood to reason that was what occurred this time.

"I did not touch you." His eyes sparkled, dancing in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Jac clutched her head. "I wouldn"t really know, now would I?"

"I"ve given you my word. "Tis enough."

"You"ll forgive me," she shoved his hand away and sat up, "if I don"t quite believe you."

Ares shrugged. ""Tis no matter to me, believe what you must." He casually plucked at her nipple as he spoke, positioning his body between her legs at the same time. "You know I speak the truth. You have seen what I can do."

Jac had to fight to keep her eyes from closing, the sensations he created inside her body should be illegal. She leaned forward pressing her breast into his palm. He increased his movements, until Jac thought she"d go mad.

"I know no such...Please." Jac didn"t even know what she asked for. The soft ground cushioned her head and body. Locusts buzzed, their scratchy sound filling the air with a strange kind of music.

Ares lowered himself until his head was between Jac"s thighs. He threw her long legs over his broad shoulders, his gaze locking onto hers. Jac started to close her eyes.

"Look at me," he demanded.

Jac snapped to attention.

"I want you to see the man...the only man...who will ever give you pleasure from this day forth."

Jac"s nostrils flared at his words and her eyes narrowed, but she refused to break contact. She watched as Ares stuck out his six and a half inch tongue and licked her from bottom to top. She groaned at the carnal sight. He did it again and again until Jac could no longer support the weight of her head. Ares nipped and sucked on her c.l.i.t as if he"d never get enough of her, laving and lapping like a deranged serpent, his tongue an ent.i.ty all its own.

Ares slipped her c.l.i.t between his lips and hummed. Jac flew apart, shattering into a million pieces of light, falling off a precipice into the abyss. Her body strummed and pulsated. Her nipples stabbed skyward as they engorged with blood.

A heavy weight settled upon her body and Jac was only vaguely aware that Ares had risen above her. Jac"s lids fluttered open. His elbows rested on either side of her face, his gaze intense and uncompromising. Jac could feel his ma.s.sive c.o.c.k dig into her belly, satin and velvet, hard and urgent. He stared at her until she"d finally floated back to reality and gathered her wits. His body pressed ever so slightly, letting her know without words, that he, in fact, dominated her. Jac"s instant reaction was to tense and fight.

Ares lowered his head and kissed her tenderly, the pressure so light it felt like the sc.r.a.pe of b.u.t.terfly wings over her sensitized lips. Jac"s breath caught, surprised by his gentleness. All fight left her body. She could taste her own essence in Ares"s kiss. He lifted his hips and his shaft slipped down to her opening.

Ares pulled back until he could once again look in her face.

Her molten core yearned for him to fill her. Alarm bells rang in Jac"s head. "We can"t do this."

"We can and we must." The crown of his thick phallus slipped into her entry.

Jac fought the urge to buck her hips, drawing him deeper. The tip of his c.o.c.k stretched her beyond limits. She bit her bottom lip, as her body flooded with moisture to ease his entry.

"See even your woman"s center recognizes its mate." He slid an inch further inside.

"How can I trust you? I don"t even know you," Jac reasoned, fighting panic and the demands of her body. She lost the battle.

She didn"t have to add that she"d never trusted a man in her life, it was probably written across her face. h.e.l.l, she wasn"t ready to have kids. At least she didn"t think she was...Her sheath gripped him, urging him into her inner sanctum.

He licked her neck and nuzzled her ear. Jac shuddered.

You know all you need to know about me. I scare you because your body recognizes me as your other half.

Ares pushed deeper, then stopped. Only a couple inches inside her velvet walls and already he was overwhelmed. He fought the urge to rut in her like a wild bull. She fit him perfectly. The seer, Ariel had been correct. This woman was all he"d ever need. Jac would carry his sons and daughters in her womb and they would grow up to be warriors, just like their parents. Ares didn"t bother to tell Jac he couldn"t get her pregnant, because he wouldn"t be fertile until after the joining ceremony.

You bring joy to my heart.

Her expression turned troubled. "How can you do that?"

He arched a brow. "Do what?"

"Talk to me in my head."

Ares smiled. You learn a lot in three thousand years.

Jac laughed despite herself. "You can"t hear my thoughts can you?"

Ares"s expression softened for a moment. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then as if changing his mind kissed her hard instead. I fear I can wait no longer to claim you, my fierceness.

Jac swallowed nervously.

Ares started chanting in a strange language. Heat emanated from his hands and spread throughout her body. Jac felt as if every cell in her began to regenerate, as if the mere act of touching her had turned back the hands of time. But that wasn"t possible. After a few moments the heat subsided.

"It is done," he said, strain showing on his handsome face.