Walking to the tent opening, he surveyed all that was his. Yes, he missed the comforts of his home, but it now held too many memories. Memories that even after months of planning and preparation still distracted him from his destiny. Yet he couldn’t deny the pull he felt to go after her, the urges he fought with the iron will of the warrior he was.

Lightning flashed in a clear blue sky and struck the only tree left standing in his camp, splitting it straight down the middle. The singed and burning wood reminded him that he had other more pressing matters to worry about. For one, he needed to find Gaia before she ruined all his carefully laid plans. He needed to learn why she suddenly decided to work against him plus where she received such power. The time had come to return to Mount Olympus.

Matius’ report of the devastating earthquake hadn’t been the only natural disaster to plague the earth of late. They’d experienced tornadoes, tidal waves, hurricanes and a record number of volcanoes were becoming active all over the world.

Nature seemed to find a way to strike within his personal vicinity, always hurting or killing his men just before they were ready to go to battle, effectively putting him out of commission and back to square one. He hadn’t missed the fact that the attacks always occurred while he was asleep and dreaming of her!

The dark circles under his eyes attested to the fact that he hadn’t been sleeping much of late. It was a good thing for him that a god needn’t much sleep. Those dreams always felt so real, so vibrant that he could swear that Desi was right there in the room with him.

Her lips would kiss him, her tongue teasingly run over his nipples, her teeth nipping him to distraction. Her hands would roam all over his ready and willing naked body beneath hers. She’d tease him to a fever pitch, her cries and moans of pleasure driving him insane with lust. Then, when he would be ready to scream in frustration, she’d relinquish power to him to do with her as he pleased.

He always started the same way, he wasn’t sure why. First he’d crush her to him and devour her mouth with a kiss born of desperation. Only when he felt her desperation was as high as his, would he enter her, thrusting deep inside of her in one fluid movement, until he felt their bodies merge. Desi would cling to him desperately, whispering words of love and regret, telling him how much she missed him, until they both climaxed together.

Ares shook himself out of the trance last night’s dream put him under. It was the first dream he’d allowed himself in weeks. Their lovemaking had shown that. It had been quick and rough; as if they’d both craved the other’s touch and couldn’t wait to come together. Once they caught their breaths, they came together again, slowly this time, sensually.

He shook his head to dislodge the mental image; Desi was the last person he wanted to think about today. Today he needed to find Gaia! It was time to stop her from throwing her temper tantrums and killing his men. He couldn’t rule the world as the supreme god if she destroyed it in her blind, jealous rage.

Grabbing his cloak he left his tent. “Matius, I’m leaving you in charge of this group of recruits until I return. I want them ready; we put my plans into motion the moment I get back.

“Yes, my god Ares.”

“No one is to enter my tent while I am away. No matter the reason for their entrance, if I sense a single presence in there, I’ll kill the culprit with my bare hands.” To put weight behind his words, Ares erected a barrier over the tent with a single wave of his hand. He didn’t know how, but Desi came to him in that place and he didn’t want anyone desecrating the space in his absence.