Now, when I say this room was a cavern, I don't mean it was just some regular big room, like a king's feasting hall or some shit like that. I mean, it was fucking enormous. It was the biggest place I'd ever seen with a roof. You could hold gladiator matches in there, easy. At the far end was… something. People? A table? It was too far to make out clearly.

This damn place was too BIG for a gladiator match.

Well. I could start walking across the room. Which is exactly what a humble, obedient servant of the gods would do.

I sat down on the third step.

I'm not sure how long I was sitting there. It was probably about half an hour, but it felt like longer. A LOT longer. I sprawled lazily on the stairs, and did my best to be bored instead of nervous.

The only sign I had that I was no longer alone was the ruffle of breath on the back of my hair. I knew it wasn't Strife this time. And bored wasn't even an option.

"Were you waiting for anything in particular? Or do you just have some kind of stair fixation?"

Ares. Well, who else would it be? I tried to stay calm, but the truth is, he scared the crap out of me. I sucked in a deep lungful of air and leaned my head back. Maybe not a smart move… now that I could see him looking at me, I was more rattled than ever. "Oh, it's the stairs. For example, I could 'stair' at you for hours." Aw fuck. Did I really say THAT? Now I felt stupid, as well as scared. Strife didn't make me feel like this. But then, Strife was a rambunctious kitten. Ares was a restless panther.

He didn't exactly smile, but I saw the corners of his mouth twitch. "Oh, you're going to be way too busy for that. I have a job for you."

He had a job for me. I get yanked away from the sweetest score in MONTHS because high-and-mighty Ares had a friggin' job for me. This had damn well better---

Then he kissed me. Oh sweet sky above, did he kiss me. Job? Did someone say something about a job? Anything. Anything. Just keep kissing me like that. I felt him pause, for just a moment, when he encountered the little metal stud Strife had put in my tongue, but the hesitation was gone almost before I noticed it. And… Oh! That little bit of metal slid around under the pressure of Ares' probing…. It was like he was kissing my tongue from the inside. I almost forgave Strife then and there.

Ares rolled over, straddling me, pinning me against the stone steps. "You're not wearing the clothes I gave you." Was that a trace of a chuckle in his voice?

"Well, I like to be inconspicuous when I'm working. And I'm hardly that in a get-up that looks llike what a barmaid would wear if she moonlighted as an assassin."

"But I like it," he murmured, lowering his head to nuzzle my neck. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

Oh, not fair. No fucking fair, to talk like that. He slid a hand up my leg, up under the shabby skirt I was wearing, the cheap fabric melting away at his touch. I quivered. It was a damn good thing I was lying down. My knees were trembling like reeds in a high wind. His teasing, caressing hand slid up further, following the curve of my hip, fingertips trailing upwards, skimming across my breasts. My shirt melted away at his touch, too.

"There, now," he breathed, directly into my ear.

I wriggled my head around, peering down to see what he'd done to me THIS time. Aw, fuck, this was worse than before. He'd crammed me into some strappy leather bra thingie with shiny metal studs on it, and a teeny little leather panty that was already giving me a wicked wedgie. "What kind of job do you expect me to do, dressed like THIS?"