Chapter 6 RÓISE

Ares's lips demand my submission and I give it. Eagerly allowing my mouth to soften against his, following his lead without hesitation.

Our tongues tangle and I go as high on my tiptoes as I can, but it's not enough. I can't get as close to him as I want.

Strong arms wrap around me and lift.

Yes. Something falls from my hands and I lock them behind his neck, helping him lift me until my breasts are squashed against his hard pecs and my feet are dangling above the ground.

Alien sensations zing through my body. Sparks of want. Starbursts of pleasure. The desire to spread my legs and wind them around his torso.

Moaning, I bend one leg, using my thigh to push me upward.

This. This is what kissing is supposed to feel like.

The sound of a honking horn breaks through the frantic lust building inside me.

Miceli ignores the interruption and keeps kissing me, but my brain is starting to come back online. It's telling me that honking is for me. Or us.

Either way, I pull my head away and drop my leg, embarrassed I was climbing Ares like a tree in the parking lot.

I look around and notice a car idling with its lights on only a few feet away. My rideshare.

My phone. Where is my phone?

It's not in my hand. Memory of dropping something during that scorching kiss has me scanning the pavement around my feet. There it is .

I kneel down to grab it. The movement lights up the screen which is not cracked. Another point for my shatterproof phone case.

My driver's name is Evan and the license plate on my app matches the car and I take a step away from Ares. "That's my ride. I'll see you at the hotel."

He nods and then walks to the driver's side door of the rideshare.

Evan drops his window. "Ann?"

"No, but I will be following you all the way to the hotel. Don't try anything with her if you value your life."

"Dial it back a notch, god of war," I order, even though his protectiveness stirs things inside me I don't want to think about.

That I can't think about. Not in this situation.

The driver isn't as impressed as my ovaries. "Forget this," he says firmly. "Get your girlfriend a different ride."

The driver's window starts going up.

Ares grabs it and stops it.

"Knock it off. You're going to break my window, man." Evan doesn't sound panicked. He sounds pissed.

"Do not lose me my rideshare, Ares," I warn.

"You will drive my date to the hotel as promised." It's not a question.

I rush to the car and give Evan my most winning smile. "It's fine. I'm harmless, I promise and he's not coming with us."

"He threatened to follow us." He tilts his head and mouths at me, "Are you safe?"

I smile and nod. "My date is a little intense, but he's just looking out for me. You don't have to worry about him."

Suddenly five hundred dollar bills drop through the driver's window into his lap. "Drive Ann to the hotel and you will be fine."

The rideshare driver looks from me to the money. "You promise he's not going to beat me up once we get there, or something?"

"I promise. He'll be too busy with me." I wink.

The driver shakes his head. "Whatever you're into."

Ares opens the back door for me.

I move around him and slide onto the small backseat. "See you soon."

"Yes, you will. Ann."

Something twinges in my chest. The anonymity of made-up pseudonyms is fun. Having him call me by the fake name on my fake I.D. feels deceitful. Especially considering what we plan to do later.

"Aphrodite tonight, remember?"

White teeth flash in a masculine grin. "As you wish, my goddess. "

The door shuts and Ares sprints to his car. He's right behind us as we pull out of the parking lot.

"That guy is intense. Are you sure you're safe?" Evan asks me. "I can drop you off at the police station instead, or a friend's house."

"You're a good guy, Evan, but I'm fine. Really." Ares is intense.

As much as that kind of arrogance in my uncle and his men irritates me, in Ares it's like catnip to the sexy kitty that wants to come out and play.

Losing my virginity to him will have her purring. He'd be a little too much for day-to-day living though. I have a feeling trying to keep up with him would keep any woman on her toes.

But especially one with as little experience as I have.

"To each her own, but I'll stick with my cinnamon roll boyfriend."

I laugh. "I'm pretty sure Ares would be too much for me as a boyfriend too. Tonight is a one time thing."

"It's like that, is it?" Evan teases.

"For tonight." The rest of my life will be spent with a man I've never met and who I can never love.

How do you love a man who works for the same syndicate that cost you both your parents?