Warriors of Poseidon 01 - Atlantis Rising

waiting sucks," he said.
     
    "You think?" Riley's voice was more than a little sarcastic. "And yet that's what you want me to do, right?"
     
    "That's different. You're…"
     
    "A woman? Oh, you so do not want to go there, mister," she warned.
     
    He pulled her close to him again, rested his forehead against hers. "You are the heart that beats within my body. If you were to die, my existence would end with yours," he murmured.
     
    She shivered in his arms, then raised her face for his kiss. "You're gooood."
     
    "I know."
     
    Riley laughed. "Enough with the smug, fish boy. You're also way too old for me, by about four hundred and fifty years or so. Remember that when you're getting all full of yourself."
     
    "That's prince fish boy to you," he teased.
     
    Slowly, the smile faded from her face. "Is this what they call laughing in the face of death? Because I don't feel all that amused."
     
    Quinn's voice sounded from the door. "Welcome to the club, baby sister."
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 320 of 351
     
    Ven and Jack brought back enough sandwiches for a small army, but Riley hadn't been able to manage more than a few bites.
     
    Small army. Yeah, well, that's exactly what we are. Very small army.
     
    She shivered and pulled her jacket tighter, even though she figured that this was the kind of cold that came from the inside. The idea of death wasn't a warm and cheerful one.
     
    Her gaze followed Quinn as she walked around the room, talking to her band of freedom fighters. Who would have believed that her fragile sister would grow up to be a rebel leader? Or that Riley herself would fall in love with the heir to the throne of a mythological land?
     
    The entire experience was like being written into the script of an urban fantasy where the boundaries of prosaic reality blurred into fantastical images.
     
    Either that, or a seriously bad trip. I picked a bad time not to be a drug addict.
     
    The thought surprised a laugh out of her, causing Conlan, who stood across the room talking to Jack, to glance over at her, one of his dark eyebrows raised. The man's awareness of her was almost viscerally intense; she felt his presence in her blood, under her skin, racing across her nerve endings.
     
    She shivered again, but from a wholly different cause. Decided to have a little fun. Sent a very specific emotion winging over to him.
     
    Desire.
     
    So I hear that "life is in jeopardy, might be the end of the world" sex is pretty hot.
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 321 of 351
     
    She focused all of her concentration on the image of the two of them together, limbs twining. Her mouth on him. Her hands on him.
     
    She watched as it hit him. Saw the sharply indrawn breath, the muscles in his jaw clench. Seconds later he was standing in front of her, crowding her back against the wall.
     
    "Interesting talent, aknasha. Care to take this somewhere private and show me more?"
     
    She smiled up at him. "Oh, yeah."
     
    She waved to catch Quinn's attention, nodded her head toward the door. "We're going to get some rest," she said, knowing she wasn't fooling her sister.
     
    Probably wasn't fooling anybody. In a room full of shapeshifters, they could almost certainly smell her heightened desire. The thought made her face go red, but didn't stop her.
     
    Quinn nodded once and looked away. She hadn't told Riley anything about Alaric. Had merely looked at her, pain beyond measure in her eyes, and said there was nothing to tell.
     
    The memory stopped her. "Conlan, maybe we should—"
     
    He understood instantly; she could feel it in him. "Yes, we can stay if you want. But does Quinn really want us to?"
     
    She gazed at her sister again. Quinn sat nearly head to head with Jack, both of them poring over the blueprints to the Primus yet again.
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 322 of 351
    Jack was yet another issue. Riley had watched his oddly feral eyes track Quinn wherever she moved. The weretiger had deep feelings for her sister, it was pretty obvious. But Riley didn't think they were lovers. And what about Alaric?
     
    "She's a grown woman, love. You cannot solve her problems for her," Conlan murmured in her ear.
     
    "That doesn't mean I won't try," she said ruefully.
     
    "Come with me now. Let me hold you for a little while until the dawn."
     
    She sighed. Nodded. "Yes. Quinn showed me a room where we can sleep. It's cramped, but—"
     
    He took her