I've been a Xenite and a X/A hardcore shipper since I was 10, but it took me 11 years to actually write something about my first OTP ever. I'm not very pleased with it (I actually wrote it when I should be getting some rest - there goes my beauty sleep) but I can feel the creative juices flowing, so I will hopefully write more and better stuff in the future.

English isn't my native language, so there might be some mistakes.

Enjoy!

"Ares."

The sound of her saying his name like that - something between a sigh and a prayer - would make his heart skip a beat if he were a mere mortal. Still, it does have a certain...effect on him.

She doesn't even bother to turn around. She knows that it's him and she knows that he is not here on urgent business. It is as if she doesn't really care that he is there, as though his presence is the same as his absence to her. He knows that this is not true - simply part of their dance, this game they're playing - and he appreciates it. It is a lot better than those sniveling cowards who serve in his temples, running around and getting out of their way in order to please him - although messing with them is so much fun.

He decides to tell her then, as he looks at her leather-clad form.

"You know that no one else can sense my presence, right?"

She turns around to face him this time. Her sapphire blue eyes widen for a moment, then she frowns. "What do you mean?" she asks.

"No mortal can sense my presence," he explains calmly, his curiosity concerning her reaction almost tangible. "It doesn't matter whether they're warriors dedicated to no one but me, or priests in one of my temples - they only know that I'm there only when they see me. But not you. You can tell when I'm about to materialize. When I come to you, you always know it's me."

She seems to be genuinely in a loss for words. She always has a smart comeback to throw to people, whether it's someone begging for mercy, someone she's about to kill, or even him. He likes that in her - her defiance, her fire. He wouldn't have her any other way. People falling on their knees at the sight of him, worshiping him, following him anywhere blindly, living to serve him - he can find people like that anywhere and at any time. But she - she is special. She is, to put it quite simply, something else. It excites him. She excites him.

"Why? How?" are the only words she can speak at that moment.

"Because you're my Chosen," he announces proudly, possessively.

Xena shivers and licks her lips at the sound of his words, even though she doesn't really know what they mean, doesn't realize the full extent of the statement the God of War has just made. "Your...Chosen," she repeats. "Your favourite warrior, flavour of the month?"

He chuckles. "Not just of the month, dear," he teases her and takes a few steps towards her, feeling the tension between them grow, smelling her arousal. "I have been a Patron God to many warriors before you." He doesn't say that there will be many warriors after her - he hasn't really thought about a time when she is no longer his Warrior Princess, his girl. "Warriors caught my attention, I took them under my wing, I trained them, I moved on. But you...you are my Chosen. You are more, much more than they have ever been or could even have hoped of being. There's a special bond between us."

"What kind of bond?" she asks huskily, in a breathy tone, as if he is softly caressing her like only he knows how.

"Well, for starters, you can sense my presence," he carries on, his tone lower, adding to the intimate feel of the atmosphere. "And I burn inside you - you can feel it, can't you? Many believe that they can feel it too, but it's just a rush of adrenaline during or after a battle. But with you - it's permanent. It's like I'm a part of you."

She nods with her lips parted, as if she can feel him inside her - spiritually but also physically.

"I can sense you as well," he reveals. "If you ever get mortally wounded, I'll know."

He doesn't say anything more. He doesn't add that he will feel it when she dies. Not because he cares - no, she is just another warrior, just someone incredibly skilled killing in his name and pleasuring him, nothing special, Chosen or no Chosen - but only because he doesn't want to contemplate on the fact that their fun will end soon and he will have to find some other army to favour, another warrior to train.

He doesn't know whether a god or goddess can have more than one Chosen. Xena is his first; if she is his one and only, things simply won't be that much fun after she is gone.

"Wow," she says breathlessly.

Then, there is a change in her. The awe is gone, replaced by slyness and glee. She closes the gap between them, presses her full breasts against his muscular chest and wraps her arms around his neck. She grins mischievously and licks her lips again. "Well," she says seductively, "all that talk about how special I am has made me...really...horny."

His grin mirrors hers as he snakes his strong arms around her and presses her even harder against him, barely allowing her room to breathe. He breathes her in, smelling her hair, his cheek resting on her, his hot breath on her hungry skin. He softly tugs at her earlobe as she begins to stroke his possessive arms.

"Well, in that case, let's go strengthen our bond, my Chosen one," he whispers in her ear and feels her tremble in his embrace out of anticipation and pent-up desire. He has all day ahead of him and a god never tires.

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