Ares (7 page)

“I’ve never had goat before,” she told him with a grin. “I’m willing to try it. I take it you have had it before so, is it good? Doesn’t have the same taste as lamb does it?” If so she would likely barf.

“It most definitely does not have the same taste as lamb. It’s a gamier meat,” he told her as he guided her to another table. Once again he spoke to the proprietor and then nodded. Pointing to some things, he dug out more coin. “I think you’ll enjoy it, but I‘m getting some chicken as well. You will most definitely enjoy that. The Turks use of spices is unique and amazing. We’ll pick up some wine and water plus some cheese over toward the end of the market, but we can wander through and see what else might catch your fancy. It’s not all food, it’s full of interesting things.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said with a nod. “I’m willing to try just about anything. We definitely need to get water if we are going to have wine because I really don’t want to be drunk later if you don’t mind,” she teased him. “Oh look.” She stopped in front of a vender and touched a small pair of earrings, “They are beautiful. Will you ask him how much?”

Ares tapped the earrings and spoke to the vendor. The man replied and they chattered back and forth for a moment. “He says they are the equivalent of six dollars US.” He looked to her, “He also says there is a necklace that goes with them. Ah, there it is,” the vendor was holding out the silver chain with a matching pendant. “The entire set is fifteen US dollars.”

Ava smiled and looked up at Ares, “I already have the best necklace ever. I will never remove the one you gave me, so this necklace would never be worn. It’s beautiful, but I would rather keep the necklace that you have given me if you don’t mind. I love it. I will take the earrings though.”

Nodding, he looked to the vendor and spoke once more. He handed over the appropriate money and took the earrings, passing them to her. “Shall we continue your sojourn through the marketplace?” he asked, setting his arm around her waist once more.

“Sounds good to me.” She put the earrings on and then wrapped her arm around his middle once more. “I think I could get used to this. Not the whole flashing from place to place, but the whole spending time with you.” She was seriously weird and she knew it. She had to be. Any moment now she would wake up and this would have all been a dream, she was sure of it.

“It’s not a dream and you are not weird,” he said quietly. “I’m real, you’re real and we are both really here right now. I’d pinch you but I would hate to cause you any pain. Plus, you might deck me and I’d really hate to cause myself any pain too.”

“Ah yes, good point,” she said with a laugh. “You’re reading my mind again, but I don’t mind,” she admitted happily. “Well, I’m very happy I’m not dreaming. I happen to really enjoy spending time with you, being with you.”

“You’re projecting,” he corrected her. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he gave her a squeeze. “I quite enjoy spending time with you as well, Ava. It’s something we’ll do often, especially since I have nothing better to do than harass my siblings.”

“Good,” Ava told him and gave him a small squeeze. “Oh, these are beautiful.” She stopped at a vender that was selling silk material. “I would love to get several of these. Are you sure you don’t mind paying for everything?” He had to since she had absolutely no cash on her at all.

“I don’t mind getting you anything you wish, Ava,” he smiled. “Pick out which ones you like and how much you want of each. I’ll have her to cut it for you and wrap it all up.” Nodding to the woman behind the table, he started to talk with her. The woman smiled big and nodded before spreading her arms wide. “Point to which ones you like. She’ll set them on the back table until you’re ready to cut.”

She took her time in selecting the material that she wanted, touching and feeling each bolt until she found the right ones. “I don’t know how much of each to get. I have a girlfriend that I might be able to talk into making me dresses from the material. Do you think she would know how much to give me to make a dress?” she asked Ares, talking of the woman who ran the booth.

Ares spoke to the woman and then looked to her again. “She wants to know what type of dress you are thinking of having made from each. She says you’ll need more material the longer and more detailed it is. Though she does say if you have leftover, you could get it made into a pillow or a throw of some sort. I think she called it a patchwork,” he gave a shrug.

“Then tell her it’s for a very long detailed dress. If there are leftovers I can make scarves and throw pillows. I just love the material and I have no idea if I would ever come here again so yes please.” She was traveling, but this wasn’t a place that was on her itinerary at all. It was a hidden jewel as far as she was concerned.

Turning back to the woman, Ares smiled and started to talk. The vendor’s eyes went wide and she was practically vibrating. Nodding happily, the older woman grabbed his face and kissed him on each cheek, twice. Making a face, he pulled back and shrugged at her. “She’s very excitable apparently.”

Ava laughed and shook her head. “I think that she’s just very excited about the money isn’t she? I will pay you back, I promise,” she assured him. She leaned against him when he wrapped his arm around her again and watched the woman as she cut large bolts of fabric down to size for them. Looking up at him, she grinned, “This is very nice. I like this, a lot. Thank you for making me so happy.”

“You are very welcome,” he said quietly. He brushed a kiss to her forehead and gave her a squeeze. “I did tell her to give me the whole roll of the green one though. That’s a gift from me to you to do with as you wish. I like it against your skin.”

“Thank you.” She looked up at him with happiness in her voice. “I love it,” she admitted. “I’m going to make sure I have lots of nice things made up with the green so every time I wear it or touch it I will think of you and this moment and just how perfect it all is.”

“You are even more welcome,” he chuckled. He gave her a squeeze before letting her go to pay for the purchases. Taking the bags, he gave a small bow and spoke a little more with the woman. When the vendor blushed and waved them off he turned to Ava once more. “Come on, Ava darling.”

“Where are we headed now and are we going to be carrying these bags with us all over the bazaar?” Ava asked with a happiness about her that was infectious.

Grinning, Ares shook his head at her. “I’m going to send them to the house, but we need to step out of sight for a moment.” He pointed toward a street, “We’ll duck through here and find an alley for a moment. Then I’ll send everything to my place, well, everything but the food.”

“Sounds like a plan to me and yes we have to keep the food so you can feed me. Maybe a blanket as well so we can have something to sit on while we eat?” It would be lovely no matter what, that much she knew without a doubt. He would ensure that it was.

“We’ll pick up a few more things along the way. There’s a table about another three blocks from here where we can pick up a blanket.” He led her down the street and then between some buildings. Stopping, Ares looked around and then the bags disappeared from his hands. “Alright, let’s go.”

Shaking her head as everything disappeared she looked up at him in amazement, “Wow, that’s just. Wow.” She grinned happily. “I don’t know if I will ever get used to it. I hope so but I’m not so sure if I will.”

“It definitely takes a while. The human mind tends to think in straight lines, from point A to point B by doing movement C. When you throw in something that doesn’t work in their 2D or 3D thought process, it tends to fry out the synapses. When you throw in something of the fourth dimension you all tend to go deep into denial.”

“Well I think that I’m taking this pretty well all things considered,” she replied quickly. “I’m not yelling or screaming. Heck I’m asking you to do things because it fascinates me. That,” she shrugged, “and because honestly, I like watching you flex your muscles, so to speak.”

“That is not flexing my muscles,” he grinned at her. Pulling her close to him, he kissed her gently. “Later I’ll really flex my muscles and see if you notice the difference, but for now, we need more food, a blanket and then we have somewhere else to be.”

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go and get ourselves out of here so we can enjoy our meal. It smells amazing and I can’t wait to try it.” She found herself looking forward to trying the goat. Heck, she was looking forward to all of the food they purchased.

“We just need a few more things,” he said. Taking her hand once more he led her back into the market. They collected some cheese, bread, wine and water. They got their blanket as well as some fresh dates and a little bag of dried fruit. “I think that’s everything we need,” he looked into their bags and looked to her. “Unless you see something else around here you want to try.”

She looked at everything they had and shook her head, “Actually I think that you’ve thought of everything. I honestly wouldn’t have thought of most of this without you.” She smirked and added, “Have you done this often? Wined and dined women who are fascinated by you?” Her tone was teasing, her hand on his arm tightening and leaning into him to show her happiness with being the only one here.

He slid his arm around her and pulled her in close. “I’ve never wined and dined anyone, Ava. I don’t date, I don’t do things like this, but for you I want to do something amazing. I want to spoil you and show you the world. I want you to know you are the most amazing and special woman ever to have come into my life. Hell, I’m running around grinning like a fool because I love being with you.”

She laughed and hugged him closer to her. “Good. I’m enjoying it too. I’m very, very happy you are here with me and you want to give me everything that makes me happy. I don’t know what I did to gain your attention, but I’m happy I did. I want to keep it and hold it. I need us to enjoy all of the time together that we possibly can. I think that would be best, don’t you?”

“Most definitely,” he smiled down at her. He leaned in and rested his forehead to hers as they stared into each other’s eyes. “We should get moving,” he said after a time. Lifting his head, he led her toward a street off the market.

“Yes, we should.” Ava moved once more to his side, her hand sliding into his automatically as if she were born to have her hand in his. “Are we almost ready to whisk away from here and go somewhere we can be alone for have our picnic?”

“Almost,” he said. “We’ll go a few more blocks toward a quieter part of the city. Then we’ll duck out of sight and we’ll get on our way.” He was quiet as they walked through the noisy city. It took them maybe fifteen minutes before he stopped, looked around, and then indicated an alleyway. He nudged her into the shadows before wrapping an arm around her. He pressed a kiss to her lips gently and the noise was gone, a light breeze against her cheek a moment later.

Leaning into him, Ava let out a sigh of pure pleasure from the kiss. She didn’t open her eyes, just licked her lips when he pulled back from her and smiled. “I think I could become very used to this, Ares, you should be very, very careful or you will find me hunting you down more often than you want.”

“Hunt away,” he told her, his voice husky. “I don’t mind in the least, just be careful you aren’t around others or cameras when you decide to hunt me down. It’s a little hard to fix those kinds of things. We need to keep others from going all crazy and hunting you down.”

“I will make sure when I come searching for you I will be either inside my own home or I will be sure no one is around. I have no idea where but I’ll figure it out.” She would never let the secret out of the bag because that would cause Ares trouble and that was something she refused to do.

“I thought you didn’t have a home right now? Or did you just run away from it to get away from your family?” he asked softly, lifting his head and looking around. “Let’s go and sit under the tree there.”

“You know what I mean silly. Eventually I’ll have to find a home. I’ll have to settle down one day you know. I can’t walk the world for the rest of my life. One day I will sadly have to stop and find a place to call home, put down roots.”

“Ah, right, sorry,” he smiled at her. He led her toward the spot he’d chosen. Handing her the basket, he shook out the blanket and gave her a hand sitting down. “Don’t rush into anything, Ava. Enjoy the fact that you don’t have to decide tomorrow. You have some freedom so you should spread your wings and check out everything you can.”

“That’s what I’m doing. I’m very much enjoying being able to check out everything, to experience life and to just simply live. Now there is this man.” She took a seat on the blanket with his help and grinned up at him. “He’s breathtaking, funny, even though he and I seriously got off on the wrong foot, but I’m afraid I have the hots for him. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth and back if he asked me to.”

Ares dropped down next to her and lifted a brow. “Yeah?” he asked with a grin. “You should tell me more about this guy. I need to know whether I puff up my chest in pride or rip out some poor sucker's throat and dance on his entrails.”

“Well he’s got these eyes that I just want to swim in. They are lethal, truly they are but when he looks at me, I don’t see the predator that he can be. Instead, I see the man that he is on the inside. He’s tall with a dark complexion and dark hair. He has this laugh that’s like whiskey and cigars. He’s spectacular and he can dance like a dream.”

He burst out with a laugh, “I don’t know about most of that but the last bit, not so much. I know I’m less than spectacular on the dance floor. I am relatively competent but really, avoiding toes is pretty much as far as it stretches.” Ares pulled her into his lap and hugged her close, pressing kisses over her cheek and neck. “I adore you, Ava, I want to have you in my life as long as you’ll allow me to be there.”

“Good. Then I think you and I are going to be spending a great deal of time together. In fact I’m going to demand it. I adore you and I want as much time with you as I can get. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, as long as we are doing it together, deal?”