Vow of Hell by Clara Elroy

Saint

“Should you even be playing? What if you get injured again?” Aria grumbled as she followed me to the back of the Range.

I scoffed as I opened the tailgate, inhaling the fresh morning air, ripe by yesterday’s shower. The field would not be in prime condition to play football, but I could utilize that to my advantage. It was easier to knock someone down when the ground was slick, less impact trauma too.

“By whom? Leo and Ares?” My voice was muffled as I removed my sweater and dropped it in the truck. The thermal long sleeve I had on underneath let some of the cold seep in. I knew I’d be sweating my ass off once I got in my element.

“Why is that so unbelievable? They are as big as you.” I noticed there was a hitch in her voice, and I turned just in time to catch her eyes roaming up my body, biting her lip like her mind was filled with some pretty NSFW thoughts.

I knew mine was.

After yesterday, nothing was stopping me from slipping Ariadne into my daily menu. Seeing her completely lose her mind was like a drug and watching her muscles flex with pleasure or her pretty pink slit engorged with arousal wouldn’t be a bad reel to keep replaying for years to come.

I didn’t perform oral sex often. It wasn’t something I enjoyed doing with random people. Sure, penetration was personal, but having someone’s genitals in your mouth was beyond intimate. I enjoyed the taste and smell of pussy, and Ari’s was delectable. I didn’t know if it was the pineapples she kept shoving down her throat at home, and I didn’t care. All I cared about was for a repeat, and it was going to happen soon if she kept staring at me like she was wondering what I tasted like.

“No one is as big as me.” I flexed my chest to drive my point forward, and she rolled her eyes at me. “Also, body size doesn’t matter all that much when you don’t know how to use all that muscle.”

“So basically, I have no chance of survival whatsoever.”

It was my turn to look her over and I almost laughed. She reminded me of a Hobbit from Lord of The Rings in her compression tights, green Nike shirt, and hair hastily thrown in a ponytail. All she was missing was a pair of pointy ears, and the package would be complete.

I wisely decided not to tell her that mini people didn’t have very high prospects when it came to this game, but I didn’t give her false hope either. “If I pick you for my team, sure you do.”

Her eyes rounded comically, and she caught the football I threw her way midair as I slammed the trunk shut, her hands shaped like a diamond, squeezing the oblong shape between her fingers. Not bad.

“What do you mean ‘if I pick you’?” Aria tried to mimic my voice.

“I play to win, Spitfire. I don’t need any liabilities on my back, don’t take it personally.” I ushered her forward to join the others.

Their vehicles were already here. I recognized Bella’s car seat in Leo’s Mercedes and Ares’s sleek Ducati parked right next to each other. Killian was also here. He decided to stay for Christmas break. Someone at the wedding might’ve caught his attention because he usually fled at the earliest opportunity. Our parents weren’t the most fun to be around, so he always crashed at my place whenever he visited, but now that Aria was living with me he was uncomfortable stepping on our toes.

“So not only did you cut me off in the middle of work and told me to get ready cause we’re going out, but now you’re also not choosing me for your team?” For all her talk, she melted by my side as we poured into the grass, borrowing some of my warmth.

“You have a flair for the dramatics.” My friends came into view, exchanging thermos filled with hot chocolate, so I distracted her by biting the top of her ear, male pride uncurling inside of me at the reaction I pulled out of her. “Besides, I did it for you. All that time hunched over a sewing machine is not going to do you any good. You’ll be needing daily visits to the chiropractor before you even turn thirty.”

Aria met my backhanded comment with her elbow on my stomach that tickled more than it did any harm. “I’m half Greek. Have you never watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding? It’s not that far off from reality.”

“You have a point. Your grandpa almost broke my legs dragging me on the dance floor every five seconds.”

“Aww, I’m rubbing off on you,” she said when I matched her energy.

“In more ways than one, Spitfire.” I winked at her, and just because I could, I leaned down to kiss her parted mouth.

I wish I could’ve surprised myself and been stronger. No matter who chose who, who initiated the deal, and who wanted what, Ariadne was a good person. I wish I wasn’t such a lousy piece of shit because this would end in eight months' time. I couldn’t not take advantage of the situation, though.

She was the perfect medium to help me forget what I should be running from but was instead barreling towards with Leo’s help.

“Ew, I did not need to hear that.” A voice broke past our kiss, and we disconnected Ari’s cheeks tinged in pink as she turned toward the source.

“Or see that,” Killian added, never one to miss out.

“Ina,” Aria met her sister halfway, greeting the teenager that was already taller than her with a hug. “What are you doing here?”

Irena resembled Eliana’s sister more than she did Ari’s. They had somewhat similar colorings and body types if you didn’t take into consideration that Eliana was almost six months pregnant now and looking ready to pop as she sat on the back of the Chevy I’d instructed Killian to take.

“Saint sent Killian to drive me over. He said they needed some more members for the teams.”

We were still eight players short on each team, but this wasn’t a professional game by any means. Aria seemed quite estranged from her sister last time I saw them together, a cordialness between them I usually didn’t see in siblings, so sue me, I took the initiative to invite her too.

“Uncle Saint!” A smile rippled over my face when I heard the excited squeal.

“Hey, beautiful girl.” Dropping to my knees, I widened my arms, and Bella threw herself at me. I crushed her to my chest, basking in her warmth. Her sweet floral scent infiltrated my senses as the rest of the guys took their turn greeting us as well.

“You’ll never believe what daddy said.” Her green eyes crinkled up at me, little hands toying with the collar of my shirt.

“What did he say?” I glanced at Leo, tying his shoes a few feet away.

“He said I couldn’t play with you because if I did you’d squash me like a bug with your big as—”

“Bella, that’s enough,” Leo interrupted, looking at his daughter like she’d betrayed him. “When did you turn into such a snitch? You’re supposed to be daddy’s partner in crime.”

Bella didn’t pay him any mind. “Would you really squash me, Uncle Saint?”

“Of course not. I’ll reserve all the squashing for your daddy, babe.” I lifted her into my arms.

“So can I play?” Bella’s legs swung back and forth over my forearm, and I threw a mean grin at Leo whose face was etched with a frown.

“Isabella Bianchi, he’s threatening your father with bodily harm,” he said sternly, horrified by his spawn’s lack of concern.

“But daddy, you’re a liar. Uncle Saint would never hurt his favorite girl.” The squirt talked back haughtily, her hair hitting me in the face as she turned to Spitfire. “Aria, you can be his second favorite. I don’t mind sharing.”

Now that pulled a laugh out of me. It felt good when you were a kid’s favorite, even more so when she was Bianchi’s. The two of us weren’t the best of friends back in the day. Ares was the only one linking us together. I found him too rough around the edges and way too fucking serious, and Leo couldn’t stand my brashness.

I’ve since calmed down, and he has pulled the stick off his ass.

“Thank you for being so gracious, Bella,” Aria brushed up to me, a smile painted on her face. “Which days would work best for you?”

“I want him on the weekends.” Bella patted my face with her sticky fingers, and my stomach hurt from holding back a roar. “Mommy won’t let me have any fun during school days. Pre-school is tough, man.”

A collective wave of laughter rolled out of us, tumbling through the trees, and open space, and smoothing over the surface of the pond. Leo would have his hands full with her when she grew up. Not many kids her age were as bold or outspoken as she was.

“Pray you don’t have a daughter this time, or else they’ll both abandon you for a prettier guy. First crushes are hard to beat,” Ares fluffed Eliana’s hair, popping his gum.

“You’re assuming the kid’s going to be straight,” Cole, Eli’s half-brother, argued, enjoying the sunny day with a Starbucks Frappuccino, as he looked Leo and me over, winking. “Don’t get me wrong, Damon Salvatore is hot, but I would go for Klaus Mikelson any day.”

“I guess everyone prefers my fat ass over yours,” I bragged at Leo, hoisting Bella higher in my arms.

“What is this? National band against Leo day? First my daughter and now everyone else?” He complained, crossing his arms.

“Aw, don’t worry, honey. I would still choose you.” Eli blew him a kiss.

“You’re saying that because he knocked you up,” I said drily, letting a writhing Bella go.

Her little feet blurred as she ate the distance to her father, changing sides like changing tides. She launched herself at him, and he caught her with ease as if they’d done the same routine a thousand times now, even though she hadn’t been walking for all that long.

“I would choose you too, daddy,” Bella squealed when Leo bit her nose playfully, and I heard strangled sounds coming from next to me.

“I think my ovaries just exploded.” Ariadne was the first to say.

“I think I just fell pregnant.” Irena followed up.

“Tell me about it,” Killian completed the trilogy of sighs. I stared at him pointedly, and he shrugged. “What? That shit is cute.”

Yeah, yeah… the bastard was living in domesticated bliss, disapproving my theory of relationships daily. I couldn’t even be mad. They deserved the happy ending after the shit they went through. You either suffered in your younger years or later on in life. There was no escaping it. The world was purely made of fire, you just had to know how to navigate through it not to get burned, and my path had a single lane. So, I avoided the hope swimming in Ariadne’s eyes like the plague.

I’d seen what a large age gap and forced marriage had done to my parents, and I refused to let that be us.

“All right, enough with the chit-chat,” I instructed, my quarterback mode activated. My body straightened, muscles tightening, ready to let some aggression on the field. “Gather around, kids. You’re in for the game of your lives.”

* * *

We were losing.

How were we losing?

“Touchdown, baby!” Aria yelled as she threw the ball on the end zone doing a little victorious dance with her hips.

"Hell yeah." Killian high-fived her, and they bumped shoulders like old sporting buddies. "That's my sister-in-law!"

I ground my teeth, staring at my team that had the motivation of a fucking sloths. Irena and Ares chilled on the ground, dry-heaving as if they'd run a marathon when they could barely catch a pass and ran like they’d just learned to use their legs. I should’ve let Bella join. No one would tackle a kid.

“Man, are you sure you were in the NFL? We’re wiping your ass,” Ariadne taunted, hands on her knees as she looked up at me. Sweat dripped down the side of her face in distracting patterns. It would be deemed gross by most, but I didn’t give a shit and leaned down, pressing my lips on her temple.

“Beginner's luck,” I murmured, condensation staining my lips. And just like that her smile disappeared, breaths getting shallower.

God, I needed inside this woman. If anything, to fuck the obsession off, see if the real thing held up to the hype in my mind. You didn’t fight like we did without having mind-blowing chemistry in bed. I couldn’t wait to uncover the ineffable mysteries of make-up sex.

“That’s what you get for underestimating me. Keep your shitty players,” her voice was hoarse when she replied.

“I’m offended,” Ares complained, flopping back on the grass like a limp noodle.

“I’m not. We suck,” Irena said, not faring any better. “Football was dad and Ari’s thing growing up. They've been playing together since she was a kid.”

How little you know about your wife.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, crossing my arms.

She met my stare head-on, biting her lip like she was demure, but I was starting to realize she was a lot more than met the eye.

Intelligent, savvy, a hard worker.

"You assumed that big is strong, and small is weak. People have been doing it my whole life. I didn’t want to ruin your dreams.” Aria shrugged, taking pleasure in proving me wrong.

Something very acute to respect warmed its way into my expression, and frissons zinged their way to my dick. Day by day, Aria was turning me into a fucking lotus-eater, leading the life of dreams because I fantasized about fucking her twenty-four-seven. I had to do something about it, and I hated how that trip to Europe right after our wedding set me on square one once again.

"Weaseling your way to the top, I see."

"One master at a time.” She bopped her head like she had a whole mental list of names.

“How about one last game, Spitfire?” I tugged on her droopy ponytail, and she knocked my hand away. I bared my teeth. “Winner takes all."

“I’m sensing you mean more than bragging rights.”

“You’d be right.” We’d gathered the attention of the others as well. I didn’t miss the way their eyes lingered on us, looking for tarnished spots on our shields. Our rush engagement and wedding were still at the forefront of every mind. I leaned close until she was the only one that would hear. “A date, that’s what I want. Wherever I choose, and you have no right to ask me where we're going or storm out of the place when we get there.”

I was taking quite the leap from eating her out to introducing her to all the things that would send her running. She was walking on a road paved with daisies, it would be quite the adjustment to find the beauty in thorny bushes.

“Well, that's not very comforting.” Aria fidgeted with her sleeves.

“Knowing Saint, expect the worst, sweetheart,” Leo warned, back from his water break.

Hell, if that didn’t spark interest in her eyes. I felt myself tightening in my slacks in response.

Say yes, little fire.

Let me corrupt you beyond repair.

“And if I win, you do whatever I want?” She perked like I knew she would, and I nodded. “Alright, let's do it.”

“You can’t be serious. He's a professional football player, you're going to lose.” Her sister inserted herself from behind me, wiser than Ariadne despite her years, entirely too innocent as well.

Ariadne was tempted by the idea of losing, yearned to know what I was offering. I could read her like a goddamned billboard. She was both hellfire and holy water, too bold for her own good, and stupid enough to cave to her twisted fantasies.

Who was I to say no if she was offering me her heart on a silver platter?

“Team, on your feet,” I ordered, giving Aria my back.

I wasn’t losing even if I had to tackle both Leo and Kill at the same time, stacking them on top of each other. I gave Irena all my tough love and told her to cover Kill, who I knew would hesitate to tackle her if push came to shove, and Ares took the Quarterback’s role and a smack on the back of his head as a prerequisite of what was to come, in case he fucked up the throw.

“You’re covering me? So predictable, Spitfire.” I met her simmering gaze head-on, hyper-aware of my surroundings too. My blood buzzed, the hair on the back of my neck stood to full attention, and my feet took on a wide stance, ready to sprint when Ares sent the ball flying.

“Scared, Astor?” She squinted at me.

“I like my odds, baby.”

“Hut, hut, hike!”

I kept my peripheral vision open when Ares yelled the words. Irena passed him the ball, and second nature took over as I rushed to the end zone, beating Aria, Irena, and Killian with my long, determined strides. Leo was well on his way to tackling Ares when I turned back, but he was a pinch too late.

Ares had already locked me as his target. His arm cocked back from the moment he caught the ball. When Leo was two short steps away from him, he propelled his hand forward, releasing the ball with the perfect amount of rotation.

Ari’s tiny self was doing a bang-ass job, trying to intercept the pass from my much larger build. All I had to do was roll my back to her front, slightly push, and her legs twisted like a baby deer’s, dropping back like a hot potato.

This was too easy.

“No.” She gave a dramatic gasp when the ball fell to my hands perfectly, rushing to her feet. Smart man that I was, I let her jump me. Her chest crashed against mine, legs around my waist as she climbed me like a tree to get to the ball. Even then, she couldn’t reach my outstretched hand, but I sure had a great time holding her up by her ass as I walked a few short steps and relinquishing my hold on the ball.

“This doesn't count, you were holding yourself back before.” Her breath tickled my neck, and I set her back on her feet, not wanting to scar little Bella who was watching from the truck.

“Not my fault you got too arrogant, Spitfire.” I shot her a dirty look. “This Friday, cancel all your plans.”

There was more pink than blue in the sky when we decided to call it a day. It was a good one. Kill took a liking to Irena, and the two of them talked their ears off, fitting in better with each other than they did with the thirty-year-olds. Ariadne’s interest in Eliana’s pregnancy had my chest squeezing for some fucking reason. Maybe it was because she could get to have that in the next five years if she wanted, and I’d apparently turned unceremoniously emotional ever since she was thrust into my life.

“What did you need Ethan's number for?” Leo found an opportunity to corner me when we were walking back to the parking lot, jogging next to me and leaving the rest behind. I’d been avoiding any one on one time with him today because I didn’t feel like answering any questions. As always, he was blunt as a razor’s blade.

“To satisfy an itch.” I rolled the football between my hands, resisting the urge to sink my nails into the soft plastic. It’d been a week since I contacted the P.I. and was learning why people said patience was a virtue.

“The only ones that go to him are the ones that are in some deep shit, and as far as I know, your life is as rosy as a petal.”

“And that's where your knowledge will remain.”

“Hey.” Leo gripped my shoulder, but I kept walking uninterrupted. This had to stay on the low-down for the time being. He was the only one that knew, and that was because I needed his help to get in contact with Astropolis’s fixer. Ethan White went by many titles, and I would decide which mask he’d wear for me after he confirmed my inkling. “We care about you, man. If you need anything, you know our door is always open.”

“I know, and you'll find out eventually.” I nodded, but I didn’t want to cry wolf without proof. “I'm just hoping to be proven wrong.”