Chapter 11: An accident
AYLA
"Here, wear this."
We were standing in Ares’ room.
The moment we had stepped away from the ceremony, he had led me straight here without offering much explanation.
Now he stood before me holding out a shirt.
I stared at it, then at him, then back at the shirt in his hand.
The red stain from the wine had soaked through the back of my dress and the fabric was beginning to cling uncomfortably to my skin.
"Oh."
Very intelligent, Ayla.
Ares’ lips twitched.
"Oh?" he echoed.
I snatched the shirt from him before he could laugh at me.
"Thank you."
I held it awkwardly against my chest, not sure what to do next. The fabric was soft in my hands. It smelled like him.
The problem was that he was still standing there, watching me with amusement in his eyes and something else...
Why was he always looking at me like that?
As though he found everything I did entertaining.
He turned his back to me.
"Change," he said. "I’ll be a gentleman."
My heart did a strange little flutter.
I hesitated for only a second before I pulled the ruined dress over my head and let it fall to the floor. The air hit my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms.
I pulled his shirt on. It was enormous.
The hem fell to my mid-thigh, the sleeves swallowing my hands entirely. I had to roll them back three times just to see my fingers. The collar slipped off one shoulder, exposing my collarbone.
I looked down at myself. I was drowning in him.
My eyes lifted to his back.
He was still turned away, his hands resting on his hips, his shoulders broad beneath the fabric of his own shirt. I could see the muscles shifting beneath the material, the line of his spine, the way his waist tapered from his shoulders.
I had never looked at a man like this before.
"I am done," I announced. "You can turn around now."
Ares turned, his gaze sweeping over me.
From my bare legs to the oversized shirt hanging off one shoulder.
Something flickered in his eyes that made my pulse skip.
I shifted nervously.
The movement seemed to snap him from whatever thought had captured him.
He stepped closer.
"So," he said, his tone shifting. "What is the deal with Willow?"
I blinked at the sudden change in topic.
"What do you mean?"
"I know she is your sister."
Half-sister but I let it go.
"I know that," he continued. "But she doesn’t seem to like you very much."
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"That’s one way of putting it."
"She told a lie about you last night."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
For a moment he looked like he regretted mentioning it.
"Never mind."
"No." I straightened. "Please tell me."
His eyes met mine.
"Last night, after I stopped the ritual, Damon thought you might have been lying."
I froze.
"Lying?"
"About being untouched."
The words made my face burn.
"Oh."
Ares looked equally uncomfortable.
"We summoned Willow."
"What did she say?"
"She claimed she had caught you with the healer’s son."
"That is a lie," I said quickly. "I have never..."
"I know." Ares’ lips curved. "Cassian pointed out that the healer’s son couldn’t have done what she accused him of doing because of some unfortunate circumstance as a child."
My mouth fell open.
That explained why she had been standing outside the hall and why she looked so destroyed. She had been humiliated. Caught in a lie in front of the Alpha and his sons.
I should have felt satisfied.
Instead, I just felt tired.
"She has hated me for as long as I can remember." I shrugged.
"There is nothing to hate about you, Ayla"
I looked up at him.
He was closer now. I had not noticed him moving.
His hand lifted, slowly. His fingers found the collar of the shirt where it had slipped off my shoulder and he tugged it gently, adjusting the fabric, settling it back into place.
His knuckles brushed my skin.
The contact hitched the breath in my lungs.
"Ares?"
"Hm?" he murmured, his eyes dark.
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Speak in my head at the ceremony when I was this close to running."
"There are many things I can do."
The smile playing on his lips sent butterflies into my stomach.
His knuckles brushed my cheek.
"I could show you if you let me."
My heart was pounding so hard I was certain he could hear it.
His thumb traced my lower lip.
"Your eyes," he said. "I have never seen anything like them. That shade of violet. Like the sky just before the sun sets completely."
I could not speak or move.
He leaned in and his lips brushed against mine.
I answered by not pulling away.
He kissed me then. His hand slid to the back of my neck, his fingers threading into my hair, tilting my head so he could deepen the kiss. His mouth was warm and I felt something unravel inside me, something I had been holding tight for so long I had forgotten it was there.
I made a sound against his lips.
His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him. The shirt bunched between us. His chest was solid, and I could feel the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my palm where my hand had pressed against him.
I kissed him back.
I did not know what I was doing, but I kissed him back.
He pulled away slowly, his forehead resting against mine, his breath warm on my lips.
Then my stomach growled, startling us both.
I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.
Ares pulled back, a surprised laugh escaping him.
"When did you last eat?"
I looked away.
"Ayla."
"I can’t remember."
He cursed under his breath and releasing me.
"Wait here."
"What? Where are you going?"
"To get you something to eat. Do not move."
He was at the door before I could protest, pulling it open and disappearing into the hallway.
I stood there in the middle of his room, wearing his shirt, my lips still tingling from his kiss.