Ares took his time searching through the contents of the bathroom in search of the appropriate products he needed. He was surprisingly picky for a man who had been living in the Deadlands on his own for who knew how long, something we still needed to question him in regards to. I used the time to set the different foods I had been preparing since the sun had broken over the horizon this morning on the dining table. I only heard the water start as I placed a woven basket filled with toast by the small bowls of fruit for the pancakes and crepes. The paper-thin sheets were difficult to make in one piece, but luckily the visuals weren't going to change the taste.

Once the sounds of water falling onto tile were interrupted, letting me know Ares had stepped into it, I shifted my attention to Nea as I silently made my way to their door. I could hear her release a soft sigh of satisfaction that mirrored the warm hum her end of our bond was radiating. The sheets around her ruffled softy as she settled herself in deeper. The slight deepening of her breathing told me she was slipping back to sleep.

I waited a few moments with my hand resting on the knob in case Ares forgot something and decided to step out. Easing the door open slowly, my eyes went straight to the opposite wall and looked at the bathroom door. It was easy to identify with the small tendrils of steam slowly reaching through the cracked open door. The door beside it was opened slightly, revealing empty shelves for clothing.

Ares's soft humming as he showered had me relaxing. The Fae was just as cocky as his brother. Both thought they were too feared to be tried. I had a feeling Cassius was going to be teaching him a valuable lesson soon.

I didn't know much about Demons, but if his bond with Nea was anything like our bites, just the wall of scents that assaulted me when I opened the door would have been enough for him to try to rip Ares in two.

Though we'd eventually fall into a routine, the need to claim her first would make things tense in the beginning.

Making my way to the bed, I kept my ears open for any discrepancies in the sound of water falling or his gentle humming. When Nea's body shifted in the large bed, a mear bump in the expanse of sheets, I stilled. She turned to lie on her back, her head turned perfectly for me to watch her lips part as she sighed. I was transfixed by the peaceful expression on her face. It was one I hadn't witnessed before.

It was one that had my heart hammering against my chest as it took my breath away.

I swallowed thickly as the slight of her parted lips brought back memories of the warm wetness that had encased my length. The stirring of my member at the memory showed how much taking her mouth forcefully excited me, but the sharp stab of guilt at the tears that had been streaming down her face were fast to deflate the hardening length.

It was the reason why my dragon was able to control himself enough to suffer through their lovemaking, he felt he deserved it and I had to admit that we sorta did

And that was what it was- love-making. They weren't fucking, they were making love to each other into the late hours of the night.

The echoes of whispered 'I love you's' grated on my ears. I clenched my jaw against the imagined voices miming the ones from last night.

I hadn't realized I had gotten closer until my fingers reaching for her cheek entered my sight. Before they could touch her and wake her from her light slumber, I jerked my hand away. I had to do this properly to buy some time to convince her to play nice.

The princess loved to make things difficult. I had a feeling knowing she had a knight in shining armour of water next door would have screams of help leaving the tip of her tongue before I could even notice I was detected.

Steadying my breathe, I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as she remained blissfully unaware of me standing right in front of her. All she need to do was crack her eyes open and she'd know. The peace in her features would be quick to vanish.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I reached a steady hand out and hovered it a few centimetres above Nea's mouth. I didn't know how long Are liked to spend in the shower, but right now wasn't the time to test it.

Bring my hand down, I firmly clamped it over her lower face, blocking her best defence, a cry for help.

My Dragon purred at the pleasure touching her brought. The warm sensation had him perking up after the assault of guilt and self-punishment he had been putting us through.

Nea's eyes immediately shot open. I could feel her lips strain against my palm as her instincts drove her to try to scream her surprise. She tried to jerk her head away, but I was already pressing her into the soft mattresses beneath her, my hand keeping all sounds from escaping.

She started up at me with wide eyes filled with fear, fear that freshened the guilt I had been experiencing in recent days. Having to face her and look into her eyes only made it worse.

Swallowing down the guilt, I rose a finger to my lips to motion her to stay silent. It wouldn't have been an issue if she didn't heed my instructions considering I didn't plan to remove my hand. I knew she didn't trust me enough to stay quiet at my request. Hopefully, I'd be able to sway her with a feast of food.

Her hands came to rest on mine, curling around the edges of my fingers. Though she wasn't trying hard, I could feel her test my grip.

Keeping her firmly in place, I held still as I kept my ears out for any movement from Ares. Hearing nothing, I used my free arm to pull her up into a seated position. Her hands instantly dropped to clutch the fabric covering her to her chest that moment I started moving her.

I gave her a moment to securely wrap the sheet around her chest. Though I'd love to see her naked body, I was trying to show her I wasn't as bad as I made myself out to be. The tactics I was using to get the opportunity to feed her were already pretty unacceptable. I wasn't going to go out of my way to diminish any redeeming points my food may gain me.

Making it a point to keep my eyes on hers, I helped her to her feet. With a jerk of my head, I motioned her in the direction of the door. Following my gesture, she bundled up the edges of the sheet tangled in her legs at her knee and stepped ahead of me, allowing me to comfortably hold her from behind.

I made sure to keep her out of kicking range of any furniture. There were more ways than one that she could raise an alarm. Although he may have let his reputation go to his head, I doubted he'd hesitate before acting if anything sounded out of the ordinary in the slightest. Men like him didn't survive so long by ignoring small disturbances as scattering mice.

Exiting the door, I quietly shut it behind me. When it was firmly shut, I tightened my hand on the knob. Sending a wave of heat to my hand, I pushed it into the metal locking mechanism that lay beyond, melting it shut. I pulled my hand away once I was sure the door was more securely shut, the melted mechanics locking it more securely than the ordinal pins did. It wouldn't do much against Ares, but it would buy me the moment's warning I would need to prepare for the attack he would no doubt launch.

It was a quality of his I couldn't help but admire. He would always fight for Nea.

Good. He was going to need it. I wasn't above myself to admit that I had problems reacting rationally due to my dragon's volatile temper. It was a bit reassuring to know someone was going to be on Nea's side to deal with my dragon's outburst, though those should begin to ease as I matured.

Pulling my hand from the melted and reformed metal that was still glowing faintly red, I led Nea to the table. She flinched when I returned my hand to her arm. It was as though she expected me to melt her skin like I had the doorknob.

It hurt, even if it was deserved.

I stood beside her seat, my hand still keeping her silenced as she lowered her rigid self into the seat I pulled out for her.

I noticed with dismay that the warmth her end of the bond had been radiating throughout the night had chilled to a cold dread. It only grew colder when her eyes dropped to the spread before her. I could see a sheen of glistening sweat form on her forehead as her eyes darted from dish to dish.

Pulling the chair nearby closer, I took a seat and brought my lips to her ear.

"I'm going to let go of your mouth. Are you going to be a good girl and stay quiet?" When she didn't answer for a few moments, my brow rose. I went to ask her again but it was quickly cut off by the slight nod of her head.

I didn't believe her.

But I was also feeling anxious and giddy at the thought of hand feeding her.

Taking the risk, I gradually pulled my hand away. I kept my arm tense, prepared to latch back onto the lower half of her face at the first sight that she was going to shout in distress. I couldn't blame her for expecting what I conditioned her to from me, but I could stop her from cutting my chances to redeem myself short.

She surprised me when I was able to pull my hand away without a single sound from her. Her wide-eyed focus was entirely on the spread before us.

Shaking off the feeling of unease trying to creep its way up my spine, I reached for a plate and placed a pancake on it before pouring some syrup over it. Apparently, it was a very popular sweet treat. Cutting into it, I gathered a piece dripping with syrup onto my fork before offering it to her. My heart pounded anxiously in wait for her to try it.

I lifted it to her lips. "I made everything myself."

The little tidbit of information caused her body to tense further. I pulled back a little in concern.

"It's b-burnt," she stuttered out when she caught sight of my confused expression.

My eyes widened in realization before dropping to the dark drown food that had darker, almost black bits in some places. It did look darker than Zev's example did yesterday.

"Oh. Zev told me raw eggs weren't safe for humans so I wanted to make sure they were done. I guess I must have gone too far." If this one was considered burnt, I didn't even want to ask what the darker ones would be called.

Placing the denied offering back onto the plate, my dragon urged me to try to feed her again. It's why I found myself reaching for the basket of toast and the mashed jam I had made. Holding a piece of one of the lighter toasted pieces, I grabbed a butter knife and I reached into the small bowl filled with the strawberry jam I had freshly prepared for Nea. There wasn't much I could have messed up while making it. When I had tasted it, it had tasted fine. Better than Zev's if you asked me.

Holding the slice in my hand, I lifted it in another offering to her.

"Here," I said, urging her to open her mouth.

Instead, they flattened into a tight line.

"Just try a little," I gently urged when placing the bread on her lips only made her lips tighter. My dragon wasn't liking how she was reacting to our offering. Our mate should have been happy we were able to provide for her and feed her.

I once again prodded at her lips with the toast, leaving behind a small drop of jam. I thought nothing of it, nothing a quick dart of her tongue couldn't fix, but the tremble that started in her lip told me otherwise. The actions that followed backed it up.

One moment the jammed toast was in my hand, the next the wet side was stuck against my shirt as I was harshly pushed away. Though the force didn't do much to move me, it gave the perfect leverage for Nea needed to fling her chair back and escape me.

I was left stunned in place as her blood-curdling scream filled the room.

My eyes looked around for the source, suddenly unaware of where she had escaped to. They stilled when they found her on the ground with her knees tightly held to her chest as her back pressed into the wall behind her.

I went to step toward her to find out what was wrong but froze when the door she sat beside was kicked open, revealing a fuming Ares who stood naked, dripping with water.

Maybe I should have thought this through better.