goddess of love

Adrian’s eyes flashed, the blue and brown mix turning electric underneath the club lights. “I never cheated on you.” His heart ached at the memories that came crashing down on him - the sound of their shouting in the hallway of his apartment building, his own body wrenching sobs the night they’d broken up and he laid in bed on his own for the first time in a year. He wanted to close his eyes to brace himself against the pain their relationship, and its inevitable end, had brought him, but he couldn’t, just like he couldn’t push away his feelings for Aurora. 

There was a hollowness in his chest that had been there since their break up. Adrian was starting to think it would never go away. He’d given Aurora such a huge piece of him, maybe all of his heart, and he couldn’t take it back. 

It was that emptiness that made him choke on the words he was dying to say in that moment. His eyes blurred with water, every single one of Aurora’s worst leaving deeper bruises than the hits he took during practice. “You just want to blame it on me instead of admitting that you didn’t love me the way you said you did.” He started to pull away from her, not sure how long he could keep the hardness in his voice before it gave way to the emotional wreck he was. “Don’t fucking blur the memories just so they fit how you want them to!. Don’t act like I don’t want - like I didn’t want that for us. With you.” He shook his head, taking a half a step back. 

“Right,” her eyes narrowed, Aurora hadn’t believed it then, and she didn’t believe it now. A part of her felt like if he’d just admit it, maybe she could forgive him... but he wouldn’t. And Aurora knew there was more to their relationship than he said. She hated that she knew it, but she did. The two of them shared... something. Something he didn’t share with Aurora, and she couldn’t stand that. 

His word stung like a slap in the face, and Aurora blinked. “How can you even say that? I still--” she stopped herself, sucking in a deep breath to stop herself from admitting what she felt. Would the aching for him ever stop? She had to believe that it would, that he wouldn’t forever have a hold on her heart. But she didn’t really believe it... he had carved his name into her heart, and now it belonged to him. But he couldn’t know that. “I still need a man who can support me, no matter what I’m going through.”

“I don’t have to!” Adrian snapped, though he made no move to separate himself from her overwhelming touch. Fire spread through every inch of him, and he was dying to spread it to her. Did she still feel that burn? It was so familiar, but it caught him by surprise every time. He expected it to fade eventually, to dull and burn out. Instead, it only seemed to grow stronger. 

“Bullshit. Maybe everyone else believes that, but you can’t fool me.” He tore his eyes away from the spot on the wall he’d been glowering at. Meeting her eyes, he felt his heart jolt. Adrian had a temper, but over the years, he’d learned to keep it in control in front of cameras….sometimes. He dropped his head, looking fierce, but his voice was softer, almost husky. “You need adrenaline. You love a thrill. Anyone can be good to you - I was good to you, that’s not enough. You’ll never last with someone predictable and boring.” 

He finished his bold claims with a smirk, because he knew in his heart they were true…and they were true for him too. The blonde singer who wailed into microphones and crooned at him in bed made him want to fall asleep he was so bored with her. Adrian brushed a hand across Aurora’s cheek, his thumb grazing her jaw in a showy gesture to push her hair back out of her face. “Someone who makes your heart race all the time. Someone to argue with. Someone who challenges you. Someone who makes you want to go into club bathrooms and fuck like the world is ending.”

“Cheating on me with your stupid little friend isn’t being good, Adrian,” Aurora snapped, pulling on her own heartstrings even as she brought up the reason they’d broken up. He still denied he’d been banging the girl, but Aurora could feel it in her bones, there was something there, and between the feeling that he felt something that strongly for someone else, and believing that he was lying to her, neither of them could handle staying together, no matter how badly they wanted it.

“You don’t know what I need! I need someone who makes me feel safe, I need to not worry about where my boyfriend is all the time, I need to know that I’m the only girl on his mind!” She protested, but didn’t push him away. His touch was electric, and even the brush of his hand across her cheek made her want more. She couldn’t deny that she wanted to take him into the club bathroom right now, but she knew that was a bad idea. “I need someone who wants to settle down... I want a family, Adrian. And you can’t build a family without trust.”

Adrian wished that his body didn’t melt against hers so easily. It was easy to forget her magnetic pull when he didn’t see her for a few weeks. Any woman’s body would do for a quick fuck, but it never felt like this. “That’s because they all have it coming,” he snorted, his fingers scratching against her dress. He pushed his body against hers, closing the gap between them with absolute no regard for his singer girlfriend. 

“He sounds like he’s real fun,” Adrian grunted, rolling his multi-colored his eyes. Heat spread up his neck almost as quickly as it raged into his chest. “What do you see in douchebags like that anyway? What do they even talk about? I know you, you’ve got to find him more boring than a box of goddamn rocks.” He didn’t care that he was ranting. He squared his jaw, glaring overtop of her head. “What does he do when you show him stupid shit on instagram and want to make fun of people dressed like trash bags? Explain to you how the fucking phone works? What a god damn winner.”

No matter how long they were apart for, every time they touched, that same old chemistry pulled her in. They didn’t even need to kiss, just looking into his eyes, she could feel how drawn she was to him. They belonged together, that much was clear from every touch. 

“You don’t even know him,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Of course, it figured that he automatically hated any guy she so much as mentioned. Not that she didn’t hate his date, but at least she wasn’t vocal about it. “He’s very good to me, he treats me like a queen, and I’ll have you know he does have a sense of humor.” She defended him, but even as she spoke, she was sliding her arms around his neck, intertwining her fingers behind his head. “He’s very.... stable. I need that in my life, I need someone to... keep me grounded.” At least, that was what he mother kept saying, and all her friends. They said she needed someone who could look after her, who was mature and grown up. So she’d found someone who fit the bill.

“I hate when you lie to me,” Adrian rolled his eyes, his arms naturally slipping around her waist. He tried very hard not to look right into her golden eyes, but they called to him more than hot coffee when he woke up hungover. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and he forced himself not to smile as his eyes grazed over her face. “I know when you’re fake laughing.”

The music was easy to dance to, or maybe it was just easy to dance with Aurora. Adrian hated how natural it was to fall into a rhythm with her. He’d spent years trying to convince himself he hated her, that the two of them were nothing but bad for one another, and yet… 

“I came with someone,” he answered dryly, his eyes flicking up as if to keep a look out. Adrian rarely dated seriously - he didn’t have time for it - but he’d been seen out in public with the woman before. She wouldn’t be pleased if she knew Adrian was dancing with Aurora, but if Adrian was being honest, he didn’t really care. 

He rested a hand on the small of Aurora’s back, his hand catching on the sequins on her dress. “She’s off schmoozing with some music producer,” a sly grin appeared on his features, “She told me to stay put. Apparently I hit the guy’s brother in some bar fight a few years back. Dude’s still holding a grudge. But if I hit the brother, then he had it coming. I should’ve gotten a paycheck for giving him a free nose job, if you ask me.”

“I’m not lying,” she protested, squeezing his shoulder. “You said I look bored, and I don’t. You’re the only one who can tell,” she pointed out, she was a very good actress, but she always had trouble fooling him. She moved effortlessly in his arms, following his lead as easily as if they’d done it hundreds of times.

“Oh, really? How nice for you,” Aurora lied, feigning surprise. Of course she’d seen the woman he’d arrived with, and of course she’d recognized her. He’d been out with her before, and Aurora couldn’t stand it. She was some wannabe singer, but Aurora had already let slip a few unsavory rumors about her. It was petty and she knew it, but anyone who went out with Adrian more than once was subject to her wrath.

“You always say that, any guy you punch supposedly has it coming,” she rolled her eyes, but they usually did. Adrian was a hothead, he picked fights all the time, but he was usually good at picking the douchebags out in a crowd. “I’m seeing someone too... he doesn’t like these parties, though. He owns a tech company,” she had been seeing the reclusive hardware engineer for a while now, although he often bored her to tears. She wasn’t even sure why she was still dating him, when he refused to do anything she liked and she couldn’t stand the things he did.

Adrian tossed back the last of his drink, willing himself not to look across the room. He hated parties like this. Everyone was dressed up to the nines for no reason other than a picture on the way in and to impress each other. Not that anyone seemed to rely just on their looks. He’d seen so much ass kissing he was starting to think people might actually start bending over to really seal the deal. 

His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw the exact woman he was trying to ignore. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he stared over at her. That was the other problem with these stuck up shin digs. She was always there.

His lips twitched into a hard line, making him appear just as fierce as he really was. If he was smarter, and had more self control, Adrian would’ve turned around and walked away. That wasn’t his style, though. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman with lust-filled approaching the one he was currently staring at, and his instinct kicked in.

She sipped her drink as she saw a familiar figure approaching her, a dark haired woman she’d met on set the other day. The woman had not been subtle about her attempts to get Aurora into bed, and yet, Aurora knew things would get very awkward if she turned her away. She smiled, but before the woman reached her, she jumped as she suddenly saw the object of her attention next to her, inviting her to dance. She couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face, and she rolled her eyes good naturedly. “All right,” she nodded, reaching out to take his hand, she tugged him out onto the dancefloor with an apologetic nod towards the woman.

“No, I don’t. But you do,” she answered as she turned to face him, resting her hands on his shoulders. “I’m surprised you haven’t cut and run yet,” she observed. “You’ve made your obligatory appearance, isn’t this normally where you slip out a side door?”

He closed his eyes, but the moment he felt comforted, guilt overwhelmed him. He wrapped his hand around his lover’s wrist, pulling it away from his face. “But it does.” It was too late to do anything about it now. If Ares had put up more of a fight before Aphrodite had been married off, he might’ve been able to save her from this fate, but those days had long since passed. “Aphrodite,” Ares whispered, scooting out from under her so that her touch wouldn’t overwhelm him. “After the baby is born…do you want to take a step back? From us?”

He felt the same way, which is why he didn’t pull away. The few times he’d fallen in love with someone else had been…magical, but those romances didn’t compare their relationship. Adrian glanced down at her eyes, meaning to look away as soon as possible, but instead found himself getting lost in her deep gaze. “You can’t make that promise,” he whispered, though his eyes were pleading with her to make it anyway. “You’ve always been enough for me. I didn’t - I never wanted anyone else. Not at first.  All my love, all my adoration - is that even what you want?”