Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

but she didn't look back at him, afraid that if she saw heat mirroring hers in his eyes she would be back to the naked thing in a heartbeat.
     
    "Yes, it is. Ven, the King's Vengeance, of the House of Atlantis. There are seven isles that comprise Atlantis, each with its own House, and the main and largest of them is also named Atlantis, and houses the rulers of the Seven Isles."
     
    "So it's a royalty thing, I got that, and it must be hereditary. What about the other Houses? Are the rulers there dukes or earls or something like that?"
     
    He laughed. "No, we don't have such titles. The ruling families are simply Lady and Lord, but Atlanteans from non-ruling families can also earn the title of Lord or Lady for acts of valor or distinction. Marie is the sister of my friend and brother warrior, Bastien, Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    and she has earned the title of Lady many times over, for her great service healing the childbearing women and their babies."
     
    Erin bit her lip. "Crap. I must have broken protocol a dozen times in the brief time I was there. I never called Marie 'Lady Marie' at all. Nobody mentioned—"
     
    "She does not allow us to use the title, saying that she is content to be simply Marie, or First Maiden in service to the Nereid Goddess."
     
    She heard the admiration in his voice. "You think a lot of her, don't you?"
     
    "She was always following me around when she was little. The most curious and annoying little girl child I'd ever known," he said, fond amusement in his tone. "Who could have guessed that she would grow up to be such a serene beauty?"
     
    She felt a tiny, petty twinge of jealousy at hearing him call the other woman a serene beauty. "Yeah, she's a lot different from me," she said glumly. "Tall and elegant and serene, not short and dumpy and frazzled."
     
    Before she heard him move, he was standing behind her, pulling her back against his chest. "Dumpy? Are you having an attack of temporary insanity brought on by standing too close to the fire? You are beautiful, and your body is so perfect that I cannot look at it without imagining you naked."
     
    Heat rushed through her that had nothing to do with the tire, but still, she was a woman who faced facts. "My butt is way too round," she said. "It's a family trait, so I can't really hate it, but facts are facts."
     
    He tightened his arms around her so that she was pressed against the very hard, very unmistakable evidence of his desire. "Your butt, as you so inelegantly name this rounded temptation, is as perfectly curved as the rest of your body." He lifted his hands Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    to cup her breasts, and made a growling sound into her hair. "Speaking of your body…
    perhaps we could spend some of the hours until dawn wearing fewer clothes?"
     
    She turned her neck and lifted her head and he was simply there, fitting his mouth to hers, and any doubts she had about the Tightness of them being together were swept away by the heat of his touch. He kissed her deeply and urgently and she twisted in his arms and put her own around his neck, still kissing him.
     
    She heard a low moaning sound but wasn't sure if it came from him or from her, because the sound was captured inside of their mouths, which were locked together, their tongues first dueling for supremacy, then surrendering in a tasting, exploring dance of passion. Ven lifted her up off her feet and she wrapped her legs around his waist, still kissing him, clutching his shoulders tightly, not letting go, never wanting to let go.
     
    Suddenly he jerked his head back from hers and stared wildly around them. "Did you hear that?"
     
    "Did I hear what?" she asked, still dazed from their kisses.
     
    He whispered "wolves" in her ear, then lowered her to the floor, saying nothing else. As he lunged for his cache of weapons, eerie sounds resonated through the cabin. It was wolves, howling out something that must be a warning or a threat. From the sound of it, there were a lot of them.
     
    And they were surrounding the cabin.

Chapter 23
    Headquarters, Circle of Light
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    Alaric startled awake out of the half-dozing trance he'd put himself in to speed his recovery. A noise—something unexpected. He looked up to see Justice standing in the open doorway to Gennae's small sitting room, sword in hand.
     
    "You should get out here,