Vampire in Atlantis

stabbing him in the gut.
    “Good luck to you. I hope your meeting is successful. It would be very helpful to discover who exactly is involved in this scheme.”
    They stood, and Melody picked up the remaining cup of coffee and the bag of pastries and held them out to Daniel. “Take these for Serai, okay? And tell her . . . tell her I’d like to get to know her. I bet she could use a girlfriend, since hers are all, well, you know what I mean.”
    “I’m sure she could. Thank you.”
    Daniel headed back to his hotel room, where Serai hopefully still slept. So many strange alliances and friendships had formed during the course of the rebellion. Life and hope always found a way, and perhaps it had taken one small human with blue-tipped hair and far too much makeup to remind him of that.
    It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to have happened to him since that fateful day when Atlantis was attacked. Not by a long shot.

     
    Serai woke to an empty room and lay there, disoriented, for a few seconds until it all came back to her. The escape from Atlantis. The danger she was in and the mission she must complete. The battle. Daniel.
    Daniel .
    Her cheeks flamed as she remembered what he’d done to her—what they’d done together. In the very bed in which she now lay. She lifted the sheet and saw that, yes, she was still shamelessly nude, so she could banish any thought that she might have only dreamed the events of the night. Her lips curved into a smile as she remembered the glorious things he’d done to her oh-so-willing body, but then she sat up in a rush, electrified by a sudden thought.
    Was she even still a maiden at all?
    The door opened as if in answer to her unspoken question, and she gasped until she realized it was Daniel, entering quietly and holding a cup and a small paper bag.
    “You went for breakfast? Without me?”
    He looked up and smiled at her. A little bit smugly, actually, and she blushed again and clutched the sheets to her chest all the more tightly.
    “I left a note for you,” he said, indicating the pillow next to her with a nod. As he’d said, there was a note, his bold masculine handwriting slanted across the page.
    Gone to get coffee and make plans with Reisen. Back soon.—Daniel
     
    She realized it was the first time she’d ever seen his handwriting. “It looks like you. Your writing. Bold and unhesitating.”
    He crossed the room and handed her the cup, which smelled deliciously of coffee and spice. She took a sip as he sat next to her on the bed.
    “I was certainly bold last night,” he said, and she choked on the coffee. He grinned at her, that masculine triumph even more strongly written on his face now.
    “Am I still a maiden?” She blurted out the question before embarrassment could stop her, and was intrigued to see the hot red flush that climbed up his cheekbones.
    “I—What? Yes. Yes, I mean, you’re . . . you’re still, well, what we did, ah, I mean—”
    She helped him out before he strangled on his answer. Oddly enough, his embarrassment helped her past her own. “It’s a simple question. Did you, ah, push past any obstruction with your fingers last night?”
    He swallowed audibly, almost a gulping sound, and suddenly she wanted to laugh.
    “No, I was careful not to, you know, I didn’t want to hurt you, only bring you pleasure, and . . . oh, hell, are you sorry?”
    Pain creased his face, and she sobered at the idea that she’d caused him to regret any part of the magical moments he’d shared with her.
    “No, Daniel. It was a gift, what you gave to me last night. I only wondered if I were still a maiden because it’s a burden I so long to be rid of. Without my maidenhood, I lose my value in the game of kings and their need for breeding stock,” she said bitterly.
    He took the cup out of her hand and placed it gently on the table beside the bed, and then pulled her into his arms. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s not like that anymore. Virginity isn’t a prized commodity in today’s world, at least not in most areas of the world. People are valued for who they are, not for the lack of bedding experience.”
    She snuggled into his embrace, content to hold and be held by him for a few minutes, before responding. “Can you be sure it is so in Atlantis? And if yes, why didn’t they release us long ago?”
    “I don’t know. I can’t speak to how things are in Atlantis, but I have met Riley and I doubt Conlan wanted her for her virginity. She’s past the