The War God's Woman 2

42. Precious Time

Zahira sighed heavily as she stared down at her phone screen. New footage of Orion had been released. Zahira had already watched every speech he'd given as mayor – but now she was stooping even lower, and stalking his fan pages. The star immortal had been caught walking out of his building and Zahira watched and re-watched the clip of him smiling casually – being swamped by adoring fans.

Looking at his face made her happy, but knowing she couldn't get close to him – knowing that others could – was turning her happiness sour. Did he have a new lover? Zahira tensed, resisting the idea, before resolutely decided that he must. Men and women were throwing themselves at him. She shouldn't hurt herself more by deluding herself that Orion was unattached. But still...

She hoped.

She was trapped in a cycle – tormenting herself by searching for him online and then imagining his thoughts and conversations. If she walked past his office building, could she perhaps sneak a peak of him?

Zahira hung her head, shame flooding her. Had she really become his stalker?

She groaned in defeat. At least being his stalker beat being his future mother-in-law... 

**

                        Sage was sleepily brushing her teeth. She flopped her head against the wall and 'rested' her eyes.

"Sage! You nearly done yet?" Jaz hollered, far too excitable this early in the morning. Sage grunted and spat in the sink. She tried to reply but only managed a garbled groan. It was so early. Why did this have to be so early? Leaving the bathroom, she trudged back into her room and nearly had a heart attack.

"Morning sleepy-head." Ares chuckled. Sage scowled, her heart calming down. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling the war god into a hug.

"I missed you." She mumbled. Ares kissed the top of her head.

"I missed you too." He picked her up and carried her over to the bed- 

"Sage!" Jaz shouted up the stairs. "We're going to be late!"

Sage groaned and then laughed.

"Sorry, war god. I've got to go into battle."

"Battle?" Ares frowned, setting Sage down on her feet and looking serious. She laughed again.

"It's competition day. When Jaz goes up against his arch nemesis for who made the best winter desert." Sage went up onto her tip toes and kissed Ares on the cheek. "It's important to Jaz. He loses his mind with nerves every year."

Downstairs, Eros was watching an erratic Jaz flap around the kitchen. Eros perched on the table top, his gaze on Jaz's open shirt. Jaz' skin was flushed from running around and he was breathing deeply, his smooth chest heaving. Eros licked his dry and cracked lips. Jaz ran his fingers through his hair and Eros swallowed, caught off guard. The god of desire was having a tough time with his thoughts.

"I want to carry you away with me." Eros spoke out loud, without thinking, his voice rough. "I can take you to a mountain, just the two of us, and steal every minute of your attention."

Jaz didn't hear. He was too busy panicking. What if his deserts weren't good enough? Should he make them again? He'd already re-done them seven times. Dark shadows hung beneath Jaz's tired eyes. Maybe there was time to do them again?