Blood Moon
By Kara Darkstar

Kara shivered in the night breeze and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself. It wasn't that cold, but the wind, mild as it was, seemed to cut like a knife. She popped her neck with a quick twist and raised her binoculars to her eyes.  A lunar eclipse was a truly amazing phenomenon, and very beautiful.  A soft snort caused her to jump, and she made sure the horses were both asleep before focusing her eyes on the heavens once more.

She nearly shrieked in surprise as two warm, muscular arms enfolded her from behind.  Then the smell of blood, steel, and leather registered as a husky voice raised goosebumps whispering in her ear.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

Kara slumped in his arms as the sudden adrenaline rush vanished. "Ares," she whispered.  He spoke on, apparently unaware of the affect his sudden appearance had had on her.

"When it reaches totality, it will be red. I've always liked the imagery.  For a few minutes, it will look like the moon is covered in blood."  He started to run one finger up and down the side of her throat. "You know, there are an awful lot of clouds out here.  And the neighbors could come home at any time. Not to mention what would happen if your parents got up.  What do you say we take this somewhere... a little more private?"

All Kara could do was nod wordlessly as the surge of his god-power surrounded her.  When her vision cleared, they were in a round enclosure, supported by columns, that was open to the sky.  Torches supplemented the meager light, and nothing was visible beyond the columns except the sky.  A large four-poster bed, covered in sheets of the finest red silk and a black satin coverlet, stood in the center, dominating the space.  Ares began pushing her backwards toward it as he unfastened her jacket and started to tug up on her sweatsuit top, kissing her all the while.

Reluctantly, Kara pushed him gently away.  "Ares, I can't." He stared at her
dumbfounded.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because <mumble>."

"What? Say that again.  A little louder this time."

"I said I'VE GOT MY PERIOD! Okay?  I've been having cramps all day.  Why do
you think I have a sweatsuit, jacket, three pairs of socks, and my warmest
indoor/outdoor slippers on?  I always get cold this time of the month and it makes the cramps worse.  And to top it all off, I have a cold, too.  I don't think you'd enjoy having me sneeze in you face in the middle of festivities." She sat on the edge of the bed, looking depressed.  "And it really would have been nice, too.  It's been a rotten week."

Ares sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and gently stroked her back through the layers of her clothing as he thought.

"Hmm.  You may not feel up to participating, but do you think you might have a good time watching?  I'll even let you pick the scene." he offered generously.

Kara blinked.  "Oooh, that sounds good.  Hm. Let me think." She pondered for a moment, then looked at Ares with a gleam in her eye.

Reading her mind, he started to chuckle.  "Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Even a little... twisted, if you don't mind my saying so."

Kara smiled modestly and buffed her nails on her jacket.  "Blame it on the  PMS."

Ares rolled his eyes.  "I remember when Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, and Discord all had PMS at the same time.  It was horrific.  Even Zeus ran for his life," he recalled with a shudder.

Kara winced.  "That does sound bad.  Now c'mon, let's get to the good part!" she whined impatiently.

"Patience," he said, smirking down at her.

"Screw patience.  Or better yet, start screwing.  Pretty please?" Kara looked up at Ares through coquettishly lowered lashes.

He sighed and shook  his head.  "Kids these days...." he said in mock exasperation.

"...Are exactly the way they were 'those days', except maybe a little more defiant." she retorted and stuck her tongue out at him.  He took the opportunity to capture her mouth in a deep kiss that left her breathless.

"Any more comments from the peanut gallery?" he inquired archly.

Kara shook her head wordlessly.  Ares grinned fiendishly as he created a soft chaise lounge piled high with pillows.  He casually picked her up and settled her on it, making sure she was comfortable and had a good view of the bed.  He turned back to the bed, giving her an excellent view of his backside, and snapped his fingers.

A gagged and blindfolded figure appeared spread-eagled on the bead, face down.  His hands and feet were secured to the bed's posts, and his pale skin gleamed in the torchlight.

Joxer.

Kara had always thought he was a dork until she saw him without that stupid armor.  In normal clothing, he was kind of cute.  Nowhere near Ares' league of course, but then few were.  Now he was looking pretty damn good, though, his muscles jumping as he struggled against his bonds, sweat already beginning to bead on his skin.  He was making tiny muffled noises as he fought to free himself, without success.  Ares waited several long moments for Joxer's struggles to slow, then settled down next to him on the bed.  This inspired another frenzy of struggling, which was ignored as Ares ran one hand slowly down Joxer's spine to cup one cheek of his ass and squeeze.

Joxer yelped and wiggled a bit, which only served to make Ares' leather pants a little bit tighter.  A sharp, small-bladed knife appeared in Ares' hand, and he trailed its tip along the same path his hand had taken.  At the first touch of the blade, Joxer grew very still, barely even seeming to breathe.

The first nick seemed almost accidental. A little careless, perhaps. The second was a little more serious, a little more deliberate.  So were the third and fourth.  Little more than scratches, none of them were deep enough to cause damage. They probably weren't even very painful. They certainly didn't bleed much.

When Ares had covered Joxer's back with a fine network of red scratches, he set the knife aside.  Kneeling between Joxer's spread thighs, he braced his weight on his hands, one on either side of Joxer's body.  Then, starting at the nape of the neck, he began to lick the would-be warrior clean of blood in long, slow strokes of his tongue.

The young mortal shivered under the stimulation, every nerve ending stretched tight.  As the warm, moist tongue continued further down, he found himself growing hard.  Just above his ass, it stopped.  Joxer relaxed into the mattress with a whimper.  Then, without warning, an oiled finger forced its way inside him, unerringly finding his prostate and sending a jolt of sensation through him.  A second and third finger followed, stretching and working him until he thought he would go mad.  Then the fingers withdrew, and he tensed, certain he was about to be taken.  Instead, so suddenly that
he was dizzy for a moment, he found himself on his back, still shackled as before.  Or was it again? It had happened so fast he couldn't tell.

Ares stood back from the bed and admired the figure spread across it.  Joxer's fair skin was gleaming with sweat, and his chest was heaving with every rapid breath.  His cock, surprisingly impressive for such a slender fellow, pointed at the sky, leaking.  He looked over at Kara.  She was breathing almost as hard as Joxer was, and her face was flushed.  She looked like she was enjoying herself.  He knew he was.

Ares materialized a small bottle of red liquid.  "Hot sauce," he said on answer to her inquiring gaze, then chuckled as she shot a look at Joxer. "Don't worry, he can't hear us. I made sure of that."

He took the bottle over to the bed and began dripping the sauce on Joxer's flushed and sweating skin, and licking it off.  As each drop hit, there was initially no reaction, but soon it began to tingle, and then to burn.  Licking it off was more for Ares' benefit than Joxer's, because it had little to no effect on the sensations.  Ares worked his way down inch by inch. Just before he reached Joxer's cock, he switched the hot-pepper sauce
to a milder cinnamon oil.  He oiled Joxer's cock thoroughly, allowing Joxer to thrust into his fist several times before backing away and making his leathers vanish with a thought.

Joxer was beginning to moan and thrash about, his hips arching off the bed, seeking stimulation.  Ares oiled his own cock with the cinnamon oil, enjoying the mild burning sensation, and released Joxer's leg restraints with a gesture.  He swiftly grabbed the would-be warrior's ankles and hooked them over his shoulders, sliding home in one well-aimed thrust.  Joxer let out a muffled wail and arched his back  nearly in two as Ares pounded into him again and again, striking his prostate with every thrust.

Finally, Joxer surrendered, and with a shout, came, dragging Ares' orgasm out with his own.  They collapsed to the bed, sweat glistening off their bodies and their chests heaving.  With a gesture, Ares released Joxer's arms, but Joxer was too limp and exhausted to even remove the gag and blindfold for several moments.  Finally summoning his strength, he pulled the strips of cloth away.  Looking into Ares' eyes for the first time that night, Joxer sweetly kissed him.

"I knew it was you." he explained. "Well, I was almost certain, anyway.  I didn't *think* it could be anyone else, but...." Ares chuckled and climbed out of the bed, magnificently nude, and walked over to Kara.

"Well?  Are you feeling better?" he asked, amused.  Instead of wearing a sweatsuit with a shirt under it, a jacket, three pairs of socks, and a pair of warm slipper, she was now only wearing the shirt and the pants rolled up to the knee.  The rest of her clothing was scattered on the floor around the chaise lounge.

"I'm certainly feeling *warmer*." Kara laughed.  "You guys could melt the polar ice caps, you know?  Thank you. I *am* feeling better now.  Oh, look!" she said, pointing skyward. "Totality!"

The moon hung low in the sky, red as blood.  Ares sighed in satisfaction.  "It looks good.  You know, that was my idea." he said, gesturing upward.

"Whose else would it be?" she said with a smile.  "So what's next?"

"Next, I get you home.  Then, after I wake Joxer up," he said with a glare to the already-snoring mortal, "I'll go and visit the other listsibs.  It's going to be a long night." he said with a lascivious grin.

The End