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I knew the e For one thing, he wore a helmet, short body armor and carried a shield On a date? I had to admit he was cute with his short curly beard and oing to have to be very careful He&039;d laid his spear on the table in front of hiht I&039;d brought surly friends or if I acted the least bit like the angry vae hall in the distillery that I guess was used when they hosted dinners that featured so banquet table What part of et? Or , the delicious sed a sht red and looked positively jaunty waving in the air when he nodded
"Are youme?" His eyes narrowed
Oops No sense of humor "No, seriously Love red and I&039;ll bet it makes it easy for the troops to spot you in the lint in his eyes "I&039;m Gloriana"
"Of course" He marched around the table like he was about to inspect the troops I backed up a little, intiht of course It&039;s i ht of the seat that looked a lot like a throne at the head of the table "Will you have a whiskey? I&039;ve been assured that it&039;s some of Scotland&039;s finest"
"Ulad Bart had told us a little wouldn&039;t hurt I was desperate for a nuave me a sharp look Da to Oly silver helmet Beautiful but ridiculous to wear to a dinner party He nodded and slipped it off, ruffling his light brown hair until the curls looked like they&039;d been professionally styled "Is that better?"
"It&039;s rude to readYou could lose the body arain and picked up the glass he&039;d set in front of me The amber liquid smelled delicious and I took a cautious sip It was potent but went down smoothly Jerry would have called it a treat
"No, I&039;m sure you won&039;t" He slid the armor off over his head "That would be very foolish of you" He leaned the ainst the wall "I know you have powers,to the table" He sat and stared atainst the wall? He smiled and picked up his whiskey
"Hey, I coravated when lass "I&039;m sorry if my mother led you to believe I was interested in a, uh, relationship But I&039;irl I&039;m perfectly happy with my life here on Earth"
"But you haven&039;t had a chance to see e enjoy there It can be paradise coainst the table, his hip close to my left arhs, a strong warrior even without all the trappings
"What&039;s your naods up there who specialize in, uain, very aware of his proximity He smelled masculine, with an odd blend of some ancient musk that made me want to explore where it caone from intimidation to seduction in a heartbeat I could see it in his dark eyes I leaned back in my chair to put some distance between us
"There may be others who dabble in war craft, but they bow to me as their leader I am Mars" He popped himself on the chest with a fist, so hard it had to have hurt He didn&039;t even wince "I&039;m Roman Not Greek like so y worth using andSohNever ht is about us" He leaned down until his face was inches from mine "Would you like to see myspear?"
"No! I mean I&039;m sure it&039;s a fine weapon" I pointed to the steel resting on the table even though I knew he had another weapon on his mind My face felt hot and it wasn&039;t from the whiskey No subtlety here And if he and my mother had been lovers, how creepy was that?
"You have no idea Men froifts" He brushed estured at the food in front of me "What do you think of the feast on the table?"
"Feast?" My voice squeaked The subject change left ed my eyes from his - they were a deep brown, the color of dark chocolate - and glanced at the roasted pig with the apple in its etables and piles of fresh fruits The s me since I&039;d walked into the roo
"I had the staff here prepare this for us What do you think?" He pulled a grape off a bunch and popped it into hisme now? Didn&039;t my mother tell you I&039;m vampire? I can&039;t eat food I only drink" - I let his - "blood"
"I know Your mother felt it wise to disclose the facts to ry I have a nasty temper when crossed" He tore off a hunk ofnearmy dress "Taste, Gloriana I have the power to keep you well You can eat to your heart&039;s content tonight and none of this will harht if you returned to theme" The bite was soclose
"I don&039;t kid" He popped the meat into my mouth
Oh,Moist, tender and delicious I actually et efor a roll and butter
"Gloriana, just relax and enjoy I swear you won&039;t becoic" He slid back into his chair and filled a plate with any number of delicacies then placed it in front of me with a smile
Trust Not easy when I&039;d had bad reactions fro before But as I sipped fine whiskey, devoured roasted pork, cheesy potatoes and an array of ripe fruit that I&039;d never tasted before, I never felt a twinge I admit it was a little bit of Heaven Finally I reluctantly blotted my lips with a napkin, set down my knife and fork and pushed back from the table, so full I was afraid ht I&039;ll adic" I sout with an interest that was beginning to unnerve ic" He touchedyou eat with such enthusias"
"Not to esture at the table "This was a miracle, Mars Thank you I have just enjoyed the first truly delicious and satisfying meal I&039;ve had in hundreds of years" It was no otten to eat fairly recently thanks to a drug I&039;d tested Too bad it had had nasty side effects I&039;d also wasted the opportunity on a pretty sad excuse for a meal cooked by someone who should have been banned froled and I was suddenly afraid Mars had lied Luckily the only thing I suffered was ehed when I quickly covered my mouth with my napkin
"I love to see a woman who appreciates her food It was lass, which had never seeh I&039;d drunk steadily In fact, the roo a little "A toast To firsts"
"Firsts?" I let hilasses with mine but waited for an explanation
"Your first meal with me The first time I&039;ve sat like this with a worin icked "You do want dessert, don&039;t you?" He nodded and a servant entered with a chocolate cake that I could s me I was sure I couldn&039;t eat another bite" I rubbedslice of cake, chocolate through and through, and handed me a plate Before I could pick up a fork, he broke off a piece and brought it to my lips
"Open for me, Gloriana" His voice had dropped to a husky demand
"Mars" I didn&039;t like the look in his eyes but couldn&039;t helpBefore I could stop ers clean Bad, Glory
"One kiss Just to see how a vampire tastes Humor me" He leaned in and I saw a touch of chocolate on his lower lip It was enough for o" Ito that chocolate than on the kissing part But he was a wily creature He slipped his hand to the back of od as an expert on violence Obviously he had a passionate nature as well He toyed with s and seeh one with the whiskey to doto keep soers into his soft curls His beard was soft too and tickled ed
"No!" I shoved hi my sense when he slid his hand down to cupto Olympus No matter what you offer"
"Really?" He stood and his shield, which had never been far froic His spear ripped it with his other hand "This coy act isn&039;t as cute as you think it is I find it irritating" He gestured with his shield and suddenly everything on the table crashed to the floor I jumped up and backed away Obviously Mars had a temper
"It&039;s not an act I&039;m happy here on Earth I have a vaain "My ht about deesture froic
"I can take care of that vaestured with his spear "Your h I&039;m sure he will be no match for me, I could enjoy a rin reood afternoon&039;s entertainment
"You won&039;t touch him" I picked up an apple which had rolled across the floor and threw it at hiht it on the end of his spear Show off
"I will if I want to" Now he sounded like a petulant little boy
"Really? Is that all you have to occupy your time? Take women who don&039;t want you and kill vampires, who my olden squash that had been used as part of the centerpiece at his head This he slashed in two, dead center I sed at his perfect coordination and the sharpness of his blade
"It&039;s true I usually consider the hi what I a you points?" I really wanted to snatch his helmet off the table and break his plume
"Watch it, woman" He set the helmet firmly back on his head with a scowl Then he slashed his spear through the chair that stood between us Sparks flew, the chair fell apart, and I realized he had more than a sharp blade in that spear
I dashed to the other side of the rooht now in several parts of the world there are real wars going on Bloody, hellacious ones I&039; action there" I saw hi scattered fruit and dishes out of his way He could paralyze me no doubt, like my mother could, but he probably didn&039;t consider that sporting
"I told your et you to Olye" He leaped on top of the table "Admit it, Gloriana You enjoyed that kiss You were tempted by the feast"
I had nowhere to run He dropped down to within a foot of nized it; hadn&039;t I seen it in Jerry&039;s eyes when he&039;d fought in the past? I dared reach out to touch Mars&039;s chest He was hard and warers were shaking because I knew just how helpless I was to fight him
"Are you the kind of warrior who carries ao and rape part of your scene?"
"You dare!" The blast of power from him knocked me flat on my back I lay there for a moment, stunned "I have never raped a woman into get me back to Olympus as your, um, consort" I shook my head to clear it Whoa Whatever he&039;d unleashed in his temper fit had hit me like a body blow
"To hell with you then" He turned on his heel, throwing out his ar the contents of the roo in bits and pieces I heldhit
"Mars, please I&039;m sorry, but I told my mother I wasn&039;t interested It&039;s not you, it&039;s me"
"Zeus&039;s toenail, woman, I can&039;t believe you just said that" He whipped around, his spear close to my chest
"It&039;s the truth You want to be mad at someone, bewhen you&039;re not throwing a te careful of that really sharp blade "And you gave lanced at the total disaster of the rooet"
"You are very like your mother, Gloriana Most wo heap on the floor" He lowered his spear "Damned if I don&039;t think I like you Your warrior is a lucky man"
"Uh, thank you"
He sht to impress you I can tell you like it" He stepped closer, back to flirtation
I held up o to Olyh on whatever she proht Is that true?" I s out of that, relieved when he seemed to take what I said calmly
"Yes, it is And she won&039;t tell anyone you turned me down" He nodded "I have soe too"
"There you go" Olympus politics sounded even worse than American "Seems like it&039;ll be a win for you" I held out my hand "Can we part as friends? I&039;d like to think that if I got in a spot of trouble, I could call on a powerful god like you for help I figure we&039;re probably related in some way, if my research about Olympus is true Seems like just about everyone comes from Zeus up there" And wasn&039;t that an ick factor? I was afraid Mother had tried to fix me up with some really close relatives
"Oh, yes, we&039;re definitely related" He leaned his spear against the wall and took my hand "I&039;d like that, Gloriana To help you Yourasped when he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it "Or are we?"
"Just a courtesy, e But if you ever change your mind or need me, just call my name I will hear you"
"What about my mother? She won&039;t tell me her name Will you?" But he&039;d already disappeared Damn I turned on h to pick up an unbroken bottle of that fine whiskey I had a feeling Jerry would enjoy it andIt had certainly relaxed ot back I was feeling optimistic for the first time since he&039;d been stabbed NoIf Mars had the ic to make me eat, then surely she could find soet his ain and I waited to see if h I did feel like I could burp "The Star-Spangled Banner," a trickabout
I thought about that dense chocolate cake with the crea Heaven on a fork I had to adnored it Sorry, Mo And wasn&039;t that a revelation
Two nights had passed without a word froress with Jerry&039;s ain but they&039;d had no luck We were leaving for Edinburgh to catch the plane the next night Mag and Angus were unhappy about it but saw the wisdo Jerry back to his hter
"I&039;ve got a surprise for you, Gloriana" Jerry had seeht Now he dragged ht air
"Oh?" I didn&039;t like surprises History had shown uests I could go on But Jerry&039;s eyes were bright with exciteood one
"Da and I have arranged a party for tonight A going away bonfire and pipers are co too" He picked up the bottle of whiskey I had brought back fro et back into races "I&039;ll take this with rasp and happy spipes!" I&039;d learned to appreciate their o
"Yes Did you ever learn the dances here?" He swept his eyes down ht a short skirt e I&039;d paired it with a low-cut black sweater and black boots "You look ready for a jig or two"
"Thanks, I wore it for you Plaid isn&039;t " Now I&039;d done it He turnedbutt out Of course he looked fantastic in his kilt and knee socks Oh, but the ave rowing very fond of this ass Besides, the Caood on anyone" He put his ar to dance with me?"