Val had something of a frightful dream, even though it had exhibited all of the feelings of a good one. It had been the sort of fantasy that she could write out and post on the Internet for many other women to enjoy. Beyond that description, she felt too ashamed to acknowledge it with any more weight.

The fact that she could dream about Arius of all fucking gods in that way terrified her.

Heaving a sigh, she tried to determine if she were truly awake.

Val had that feeling of disorientation if not knowing where she had taken rest. In an attempt to jog her memory, she thought of the serpent snapping turtle and how she had fallen asleep, curled up on its shell.

That was not the circumstance that Val woke up too.

Squirming to get a sense of herself, she realized that she was sitting in an upright position, slouched over with her back against a rocky wall. Her eyes opened to the dark interior of a cave in which she sat at the rear.

A figure stood to the side and leaned nonchalantly against the wall. In the dim light, the chiseled features of his form and the slight coloration of red marked him as Arius.

Her eyes widened so that the white rims likely flashed for him to see.

No, no, no. Her thoughts tumbled over that one word rapidly.

Those erotic things about Arius had just been a dream, right? Perhaps this made for a second phase of that same dream. The arousal from the dreamscape returned involuntarily, making her cringe. Val needed to get a hold of herself, even in sleep.

“Oh, good morning, Val,” Arius said as she stirred. “I was wondering when you would wake up. My whole plan was to talk to you tonight, but you looked so peaceful as I carried you here, I could never bear to wake you.” A lurid, teasing look climbed onto his smiling face.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you, Arius?” Val blurted out of pure reaction.

He gave a casual shrug. “Unlike you, Foofy put up something of a fight, much to our inconvenience. He woke up and barked before I could muzzle him, so Tavras is searching for you both now.”

This Arius behaved in a much more talkative manner than the version of him in her dream. Everything felt too present, too real. The fact sunk in that Val really was awake right now.

The crash of a downpour surged across the greater ocean beyond. Sheets of rain assaulted the rock face and splattered some droplets at the mouth of the cave. Dry at the interior, Tavras would not be able to sense Val here.

At her side, Foofy sat at alert with his eyes boring into Arius with all fury.

“Relax,” Arius said. “You’re safe here. We’ll wait until the rain blows over. Tavras can only keep this up for so long. In the meantime, let’s chat.”

The formidable presence of Arius pushed off from the wall and approached her.

A growl rose from Foofy’s curled lips. The sound became more savage until Arius backed up again.

“Yeah,” he drawled. “Foofy won’t let me get near you. Would you mind calling him off? I just want to talk.”

Val thought about this, heart racing away in consideration.

“F-Foofy,” she said, turning to the good boy at her side. Some of her worries swept away at once, as the inappropriate things that she had dreamed about with Arius never could have happened with him guarding her. For that, she was grateful to maintain some semblance of dignity in these negotiations.

Val gained confidence in the differences between her dream and reality, ready to engage fully in the dimension that mattered.

Already, she dreaded how Arius would be insistent about the same old things after their previous fight. He could only up the ante after something like that. The last thing that Val wanted was to have him anywhere near her.

When it came down to it, a god of his caliber would be just as dangerous whether close or far. If she allowed him to get closer, then at least he would be in range of Foofy’s bite.

“Foofy, off,” she said gently.

The growls ceased from his throat. In a readied stance, his hackles stayed raised while Arius approached anew.

One knee touched to the ground so that he could better address her.

Val shruk into the wall as much as she could. Her heart raced away faster by the fact that Arius had stolen her away into the night. The happenings of the waking world had definitely influenced her dreams, the way that he had kidnapped her and taken her.

“Wait,” Arius said with narrowed eyes. “You’re scared of me and have intention to get away. Damn it,” he swore. “Let me guess: I was the one who just kidnapped you.”

The Ravager just said a true statement if there ever were one.

“Did you not try to kidnap me?”

“Uh, I think that I might have tricked myself into believing that Tavras had kidnapped you. This is just my luck in the fucking nether.” As he cursed again, his eyes reflected his frustration in the brownish red tones. “Well, I tried to save you. Does that count for anything?”

“You tried to save me from Tavras?” she repeated with emphasis to express her abhorrence. “He’s the one saving me from you!”

That declaration steepened the hue of red in Arius’s eyes. “Did you receive my text at least?”

“Oh, do you mean the creepy texts where you threatened me?”

“I wasn’t threatening you!” Arius objected at once, before doubling back to say, “or at least that wasn’t my intention. You should have at least replied to me so that I knew why you left.”

Val gaped at him, almost not believing her ears. Did Arius really expect an update about her plans and whereabouts as if he were her mother?

She tossed out her arms. “What, so that way you could have tried to stop us before we even had a chance to leave?” There was a nonexistent chance that Arius would have just let her waltz off the Summit with Tavras just because she wanted to, so him acting like she should have replied to that text made her mad.

“Yes!” Arius had the audacity to reply.

Foofy in his frantic energy put himself between Val and Arius, sending a warning snap and growl towards his face.

Leaning back, Arius shot razors in his glare at Foofy. “Remind the Dobie to stand down if he doesn’t want to get tied up like before.”

Through her leveled teeth, Val uttered, “Off.”

Arius tapped a fist against Foofy's deep chest and pushed him gently back to the side, letting him sit directly across from Val once again. A big sigh huffed from Arius’s lips. “Why are we even bickering about this? The reason why I came is because I wanted to ask for your forgiveness. You are not truly mad at me, are you?”

With those words, he leaned closer to her and put one arm alongside her body. His hand rested over the backs of her fingers, pressing her own hand into the rock floor. With his face leaning closer, the teasing light in Arius’s eyes dominated her attention.

Val’s breath hitched as she shared his gaze. Both of them were seemingly frozen in the moment. Deliciously slow, Arius ducked his face over her shoulder and tilted inward towards her neck.

Her already quick pulse doubled. “Ah,” she gasped, both in fear and awe. His lips lingered so close to the skin of her neck where he had put the tip of a knife the other day.

Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, Val did not know what to do so did nothing. Her whole body could be felt trembling. Again, her body reacted in opposites. She both anticipated Arius’s touch but also felt repulsed by him at the exact same time.

Logically, Val was starting to really hate him, yet she wanted to experience the physical affections of a man. It would be simple to forgive his abuse in favor of enjoying the moment. She was touch-starved, desperate for his ardor but not so much that the last of her standards would evaporate.

The fact that he could play to her desires so easily made her despise him all the more.

His lips hovered against her neck, breath constantly teasing her and making her await the brush of a kiss. Arius never did so, and instead pulled back after a small eternity. “Am I forgiven?” he asked with something of a forced smile.

The processing of Val’s mind returned to normal, and she knew exactly how she would respond.