Chapter Five

We had relocated from the floor and onto the couches in my living room. Adrian had been nice enough to go and get some pain medicine for me and I was just waiting for it to kick in. Meanwhile, Nikkos was looking all around the living room as he sat next to me and didn’t seem like he was going to be moving soon. Which wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t pressing his arm up against me, sending tingles throughout my body.

“So where’d you get the giant hottie?” Adrian asked as he stared between me and Nikkos.

Nikkos stared at him for a moment with a frown on his face before looking at me and then back at Adrian. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was thinking and I rolled my eyes at the thought. Adrian and I had never been a thing and we're just friends but Nikkos wouldn't know that seeing as he’s basically a few days old.

“Found him in the woods, got attacked like twice, and now here we are.” I shortened my reply because I didn’t want Adrian to get involved with what was going on. Plus, I knew he hated drama and preferred to be MIA if anything hit the fan. And everything was hitting the fan, everything.

Adrian nodded, “Well, as much as I would love to stay and investigate more I have my own plans.” He got up to leave but stopped, “I already fed the dogs before you dropped in so they should be good for the night.”

“Thanks, Adrian.” I nodded and he disappeared.

I leaned back against the couch and I could feel Nikkos stare on me as I kept my eyes closed. I didn’t know what exactly to do and while I had more questions I still realized that what was going on was big. I still didn’t know how I really played into it all and that was stressing me out, but not enough for me to ask questions for tonight. I’d do that in the morning.

“Are you in a relationship with that man?” Nikkos spoke up.

I opened my eyes and looked at him, “No, I am not. He’s just a friend.”

Nikkos beamed, “Good. I do not share.”

I frowned and sat up, moving to put some space between us. I could tell Nikkos didn’t like that but he didn’t say anything and didn’t try to move closer. I knew I wasn’t going to ask questions tonight but one doesn’t just ignore what he just said. Plus, I didn’t like the feelings his presence brought me.

“There is no sharing. We are not a thing.” I said clearly, hoping he got the point.

“We are connected.” He stated as he glared at me.

“You keep saying that but I don’t need protection and I don’t need anyone beside me. Whatever this connection thing is, I want it gone.” I glared right back at him.

His eyes flashed red, “No. The Origin says we are connected, so we are connected. There is no breaking it and I am not leaving your side. Ares, you are mine and I will kill anyone who tried to get in the way.”

My eyes widened, “Woah, woah, let’s not get violent.” I took a deep breath before releasing it, “What exactly does connected mean?”

“Ares is mine, I am Ares. I feel all things Ares feels and you feel all things I feel. I protect you, I stay by you, I die for you, I kill for you, and I live for you. You lie in my heart and in time I shall lie in your heart too. We are connected by souls and spirit.” Nikkos stared me dead in the eye, unwavering as the words came out his mouth without him even having to think about it.

I felt like my mind was malfunctioning as I stared back at him. I couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around what he had just said and while it seemed like a part of me was ready to accept everything with no questions, I wasn’t a fool. I didn’t like the words I had heard but that part of me knew he wasn’t lying. It knew he wouldn’t lie to me and that part pissed me off to no end. I didn’t want this or anything to do with it.

One failed marriage was enough for me and here he comes saying that I’m basically already married to him. I knew how this played out and In knew how it would end, despite all the mushy shit he was saying it always ended up with them walking away. I didn’t need the Origin dropping me a man because it thought I was fucking lonely. I was fine by myself and once whatever was going on was over, so would any connection I had with Nikkos.

I decided to act like I didn’t hear anything he said.

I stood up, “I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

I started walking without seeing if he was following but I could feel him behind me. I went upstairs and I had many guest rooms but I had a feeling if I placed him far away from me he would fight me and probably try to sleep on my floor. I didn’t want that so I decided on the guest room that was across from my bedroom and I opened the door, walking in.

“You can sleep in the bed and the shower is through that door. I’ll bring you some clothes to change into after you're done.” I said getting ready to walk out of the room but his grip on my wrist stopped me. I didn’t turn around though.

“Where will you be sleeping?” He asked and I could hear the tension in his voice, even if his hand grip remained light.

“My room is across the hall.” He dropped my wrist and I walked into my room.

I quickly found some sweats and a shirt that shouldn’t be small on him. I walked back to the room and heard the shower so I just placed his clothes on the bed and then left, heading downstairs. I tried to push all thoughts of what had been going on out of my mind as I checked up on my dogs. I brushed them for a while to clear my mind and try and release any tension I was feeling.

My dogs always made me feel better when down and it was nice to have loyal animals around you. It made me excited for the litter of pups that were coming soon and I couldn’t wait to have more dogs running around. I also knew Adrian was excited to see the pups and he also wanted one but he would have to take that up with the momma. Hell-Pits were really smart and didn’t play when it came to their young.

I sighed and stood up as I went into the kitchen to make food. I wanted to just take a shower and sleep because I didn’t have much of an appetite after everything, but I knew it was best to eat. I also had to feed the giant upstairs because a part of me wouldn’t allow for the knowledge that he hadn’t had food or even experienced food sit with me and not do something about it. I hated that part of me and I knew it was gonna make the whole avoidance thing much harder than what I planned.

I decided to keep it simple since I was tired and still kind of sore, despite the pain medicine I took. It didn’t take me long to cook up some pasta and when I was plating it Nikkos entered the kitchen, looking confused but also intrigued. I decided I had made the right decision with making pasta because I didn’t know what his taste buds would and wouldn’t like. And I also doubted whether he knew what he liked or didn’t like so pasta was a great first thing.

“Sit.” I nodded towards the stool across the island and he sat down. I slid the plate over to him with the food already inside it and he looked at it with a frown. He moved to use his hand to pick it up and I quickly shut that down.

“Use the fork like this.” I stabbed my pasta and took a bite from it. He watched me chew for a moment, his eyes flashing red before he looked back down at his food.

I watched as he picked up the fork and at first he held it in a fist but then he glanced at my hand before switching up how he was holding it. He fumbled with it and let out a breath before finally securing it in his hand and stabbing his pasta. He collected some on the end and then brought it to his mouth and chewed it. He chewed it slow at first with a look of wonder on his face before chewing faster and smiling.

“This is amazing!” He looked at me with raw happiness over simple pasta.

I couldn’t help my smile at such innocence, “Thank you. It's pasta.”

“Pasta is very good. You are very good at making it.” He grinned as he stabbed his food, eating a lot more now. I also began to realize that I might have to make another pot because he was flying through the portion I had served him.

“It's a simple meal most people can make. You might even taste some other pasta and think it's a million times better than the quick mess I made.” I continued to eat.

Nikkos shook his head, “Anything you cook will always be my favorite.”

I choose to ignore what he said, “Do you want more?”

“Yes!” Nikkos nodded eagerly.

I finished up the rest of my pasta before going back to make some more. This time I tried to move faster because I could feel Nikkos’ stare on me and it made me feel strange. I hadn’t had anyone watch me cook in forever and it made me nervous I would mess up. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nikkos eyes travel from my ass to my back but I turned back around before we could make eye contact.

His stare made it seem like I was too hot to be in clothes and I could feel goosebumps rising on my arms. I was chalking it all up to the connection we seem to have and I bit my cheek as I quickly moved to finish the pasta. I didn’t want to spend unneeded time begging ogled as I cooked. In fact, I just wanted to lock myself in my room for the rest of the night and act like no of this was happening.

“Here.” I grabbed his plate and added the pasta I made onto the plate. I pushed it back over to him and went to clean up after myself.

“Just place your plate in the sink. I’m gonna get ready for bed.” I told him, not waiting on his reply as I left the kitchen and finally felt my heart rate calm down the farther I got.

I need a shower as hot as hell. I thought as I locked my room door and headed straight for my bathroom and stripped off my clothes. I wasted no time in turning on the water and jumping right in, making the cold water hit me and sending a shiver through my body before it switched to hot water. I enjoyed the hot water and let it run over my body as I willed for everything that had happened to leave my body.

I wanted to relax completely and the shower was doing that.