Ares just smiles. “I stand by my statement. What were you looking at?”
“Just someone walking out of the alley,” I say. “Cave came in earlier.”
“That’s weird. He normally never comes in once the chases start. He refuses to let his cornfield be empty.”
“He gave me a riddle.”
Ares is quiet for a second. “He’s a weird one, but generally harmless when he is out of the cornfield.”
“He spooked me a little. Why would he leave to deliver me a riddle? It makes no sense.”
“I wouldn’t try to understand him. Sometimes whenhe comes in, he will talk in riddles, but not all of them make sense.”
We move back into the bar and fall into a rhythm, finally finishing up and then closing down.
“Storage room,” Ares says, throwing me the keys. “An order came in today and I need to log it in before morning or Nixie might have both our heads.”
“That seems a little dramatic since I don’t even work here. She can have your head, though.”
Ares laughs. “Don’t underestimate Nixie before coffee. You have been here a few times now, enough to be considered part of the furniture.”
“Guess I better go get that box then.”
I duck out the back and unlock the storage room, pushing the door open with my shoulder, then feeling around for the light switch. The room is small and has a weird smell, probably from a cleaner they use. I find the delivery on the shelf, and hear Ares come in, the door slamming shut behind him.
“I found the box,” I say, but he doesn’t answer. When I turn around, he is standing right behind me, leaning against the adjacent shelving. “Are you okay?”
He nods as he pushes off the shelving and moves in front of me, his hand gripping my waist. “Fuck it,” he whispers, and walks me backward until my back hits the door.
I look up at him. “This is a terrible idea.”
“Probably,” he agrees, and his mouth findsmy jaw as I tip my head back against the wood. His hands slide up my sides as he kisses down my neck.
“Ares,” I groan.
He pulls back to look at me, and I hold his gaze because I need to say this before we go any further.
“Since I know more about you now, before we start, I need you to understand that if you use this to get something from me, I will walk away and won’t come back. That is a rule you cannot break.”
Ares goes completely still. I know he likes rules, Vero shared as much on one of his verbal diarrhea days.
“No manipulation,” he says.
His mouth comes back to my jaw, and his hands squeeze my hips. Fuck, he feels so good pressed up against me. He drags his mouth down my neck again, and it’s torture.
My grip on his shirt tightens as I pull his body closer to mine. “You’re doing this on purpose.”
“Doing what?” he asks, and I swear I can feel his lips smirk against my skin.
“Going slow, it’s torture.”
He pulls back, and for the first time, I really see him without his walls up. “Yeah, I am.”
I let go of his shirt and slide my hands up the back of his neck, dragging him down to my mouth. He makes a sound against my lips as he pulls my body flush against his.
“Kayla,” hewhispers.
“Don’t stop.”