Warriors of Poseidon 01.5 - Wild Hearts in Atlantis

His—"
     
    "Really?" she said, tilting her head. "So Prince Brilliant chose yol as liaison, huh? Guess he must have known what he was doing."
     
    He gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You arf also very wise, are you not? Fierce in your defense of one as unworthy as me. Had my heart not been captured to your will before, you would have just won it."
     
    She trembled, unable to breathe. "Your heart?"
     
    "From the day of my vow until this night, I have never found reason to question my loyalty to my duty. But looking at you, holding you in my arms… "
     
    "And mi amara?"
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    "Means my beloved."
     
    Heat rushed through her at the words and at the expression on his face—that of stark possession mingled with fierce longing. "Shh," she said, laughing a little, trying to pretend her universe hadn't just turned upside down. "There is no need to question anything right now. We never question loyalty on an empty stomach, right?"
     
    He blinked, then shouted with laughter. Something chained in her heart broke free at the sound of his unfettered joy. "Ah, yes, my little cat. I am indeed hungry. But it is not for the food we purchased."
     
    In an instant, he had her on her back and underneath him as he grinned joyously down at her. "I'm of a mind to sample my dessert first this night."
     
    It was a long, long time before she was able to form another lucid thought.
     
    Bastien watched Kat as she lay sleeping and wondered why Poseidon had seen fit to bless him with this woman. He could never deserve her.
     
    No, but the gods do not give only what we deserve. It is the nature o f their caprice. And perhaps she is not for me.
     
    Everything in him rebelled at the thought. Perhaps she was not meant for him, but that did not mean he would ever give her up. If Prince Conlan could break with eleven thousand years of tradition and marry a human, surely he—not royal by a single cell of his makeup—could make his own choice, as well?
     
    If she will have me, I will be hers.
     
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    As he stared down at her, the emotion welling inside him forced the words up from his heart. From his soul. Words that he spoke in his native tongue, ancient Atlantean, as if to underscore his vow:
     
    I offer my sword, my heart, and my life to protect your own. From now until the last drop of ocean has vanished from the earth.
     
    You are my soul.
     
    She stirred in her sleep, but didn't waken. Simply uttering the words had freed something in his heart and stirred his body to urgency again. He leaned over her, tempted to wake her and join with her once more, but decided to let her rest. To put her needs ahead of his own.
     
    Oh, boy. Next I'll be taking out the garbage and shopping for curtains.
     
    Grinning, not nearly as bothered by the thought as he should have been, his thoughts turned to something nearly as important as love—food.
     
    He rose silently from the bed, intent on stealing into the kitchen and preparing a feast for her while she slept. She had mentioned a hunger other than the one they had sated so well together. Let her learn that he had other skills than death and justice.
     
    He was a fantastic cook. And what was the old saying? The way to a shapeshifter's heart was through her belly?
     
    Laughing softly, he drew on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from his bag and headed for the kitchen. Humming to himself, enjoying the peaceful and contented aftermath of his body's fierce spending in hers, he reached in a cupboard for a pan and nearly missed Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    the quiet call of justice's voice in his mind. Bastien? You brick-headed ox, are you in there?
     
    He accessed the mental pathway that only Atlanteans knew, save for Riley and her sister, and reached out to his fellow warrior. I am. Do you have something to report?
     
    We're on your front step. You're going to want to hear this.
     
    He strode to the front door and opened it to find justice and Denal waiting for him. The dangerous cast to Justice's expression sent ice racing up Bastien's spine. "What is it?"
     
    Denal looked him up and down and whistled quietly. "Ho, boy. What have you been up to? Or should I say who have you been up to?"
     
    Bastien never changed expression, but lifted the youngling into the air by means of a hand around his throat. "Perhaps