Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

stood in this exact place, near the gazebo that had been his hideaway as a child. Now she wore her jeans and sweater instead of the blue silk robes he'd…
     
    His mind stuttered to a stop. Complete and total, full-on, not going there, STOP. But his brain—heart?—kept right on making the connection that he hadn't seen before.
     
    Blue silk robes. The traditional wedding attire for Atlantean royal brides.
     
    My lord Poseidon, if this is your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing.
     
    When he opened his eyes and unclenched his jaw, he realized Erin was staring at him as if she saw something peculiar.
     
    Well, she did. The one Atlantean who'd sworn all his life never to be tied down to only one woman was suddenly having visions of a witch in an Atlantean bridal gown. Clearly he was having some kind of mental breakdown.
     
    "Bad timing," he muttered, shaking his head.
     
    "Excuse me? Bad timing? For what? Bad timing to be yanked out of my normal life?
    Okay, maybe it's not all that normal, but normal enough that nobody was dropping bombs on me." Her voice was getting louder and more high-pitched with each question, Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    and Ven figured he wasn't the only one on the verge of that rubber room. They were all going to be swimming under the cuckoo's nest at this rate.
     
    She stepped closer and jabbed her finger at him, almost but not quite poking him in the chest. "Bad timing to be whisked off to Atlantis? Bad timing to discover that my sister is not dead but maybe a vampire slave to one of the most evil, depraved tyrants in history? And that the bastard wants me, too?"
     
    He held up his hands in an "I surrender" gesture, but she wasn't done with him.
     
    "Don't talk to me about bad timing, okay, Ven? Just don't." Her shoulders slumped, and her voice caught on the words. Suddenly, all the sane and practical reaons he had for keeping their relationship strictly professional flew out of his mind, and he wanted to hold her. Wanted to comfort her. Wanted to take away the pain in her eyes.
     
    Couldn't think of one valid reason not to hold her. He took a step closer and pulled her into his arms and—for the space of a single, perfect moment—she relaxed into his embrace.
     
    The scent and feel of her silken hair caused things low in his body to tighten. He pulled her against himself, fighting his own instincts in order to be gentle. The feel of her soft curves against the hardness of his own body licked flames through his skin wherever they touched. Even though they were both fully clothed, holding her in his arms shot a raging case of hunger and need through him that was more powerful than any he'd ever felt before. His body jerked a little from the rush of heat, and he tightened his arms, unable to deny his primitive desire to hold her, claim her. Never let her go.
     
    She gasped a little, and then she mumbled something under her breath, and he flew up and away from her and landed on top of the gazebo, flat on his back, the breath smashed out of his lungs. He stared up at the magically created sunlight and clouds at Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    the top of the dome, wheezing, while he tried to force his lungs to cooperate and inhale a little oxygen.
     
    "Ven! Ven? Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened—I just cast a very minor move-away spell, and suddenly you were flying through the air. Ven? Ven!"
     
    He tried to respond, but could only manage a rasping cough. Well, she could damn well wait for an answer. He rolled over and pushed himself up to a crouch, then jumped back down to the ground. He landed heavily and promptly fell on his ass. Before he could pull enough air back into his lungs to let loose with a flood of truly creative profanity, she rushed over to him.
     
    "Oh, Ven, I'm so sorry!" she said, dropping to her knees beside him. "I didn't expect—I didn't know—something about the Atlantean magic must have combined with my own to give it some kind of turbo boost. I'm so sorry—are you okay?"
     
    She put her hands on his face and stared down at him with those enormous blue eyes, huge with concern for him—for him. For so long he'd been considered the biggest, the baddest, the scariest warrior Poseidon had ever sworn to his service, and this little bit of a soft, curvy female was afraid that she’d hurt him.
     
    His irritation vanished. In its place a powerful emotion he couldn't