Warriors of Poseidon 02.5 - Shifter's Lady

surrounded by warriors, so why was this one—this man who wasn‟t even Atlantean; wasn‟t even fully human—so different?
     
    Maybe because Poseidon‟s warriors treated her as a cherished sister, due to their friendship with Bastien. They admired and respected her, certainly, but none had ever desired her. At least not that she‟d ever known. Her few love affairs had been with men from the scholarly life. Philosophers and historians. Gentle, learned men.
     
    None of them had ever made her blood race the way this panther did. A thrill of pure electricity had sizzled through her blood at his touch when she‟d finally dared place her hand in his. She‟d pulled away from him as quickly as courtesy would allow, but not before she‟d seen the shocked expression on Ethan‟s face. This attraction traveled both directions on the path between them, and she was unsure if she could resist it for long.
     
    She glanced at him again and wondered how simple black trousers and a white shirt could be so elegant, when she had seen the high prince dressed in full royal attire on ceremonial occasions. Ethan walked with the pure grace and deadly determination of the ultimate predator. Every line of his body flowed with sinuous movement, and if she narrowed her eyes, she could almost visualize the cat that he could become.
     
    Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

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    They stopped at his car, some sleek black vehicle that looked fast and expensive, based on what little she knew of cars, and she stared at him as he walked up next to her to open her door. Her breath caught in her throat as he approached, and she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “Will you show me?”
     
    He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his thickly muscled chest. “Show you what?”
     
    “I…Is it rude? Perhaps…never mind,” she said, then blushed as she realized that she was actually babbling for the first time in her life.
     
    “We don‟t stand on ceremony around here, Marie. Just tell me.”
     
    He‟d moved closer, so that he stood so near that his breath feathered across her hair, and the spicy warm male scent of him filled her senses, nearly making her forget what she‟d been about to ask. She shook her head a little, to counteract the hypnotic effect he had on her, then drew up her courage and asked. “Your panther. I was wondering…Is it rude to ask you to show me the shape change? Or perhaps you would shift your shape in private and then show me the other of your dual natures?”
     
    She was breathless by the time she finished, both from her own temerity and from his nearness. The heat of his body was enchanting her, calling to her, beckoning her to wrap herself in his arms and his warmth. She suddenly felt as if she‟d lived her life in the cold and only he could rescue her from it.
     
    Madness.She dug her nails into her palms to shake off the fanciful imaginings and return to normalcy, but he moved even closer until she was backed up against his car.
    He placed a hand on the metal on either side of her, bracketing her body between the heat of his arms and chest and the icy chill of the car‟s metal.
     
    Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

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    “You want to see my cat, ocean girl? That‟s a very personal request,” he murmured, leaning forward and breathing the words into her ear. She shuddered helplessly as heat flamed through her, then put her hands up to his chest to push him away. She was tall, and she was strong, but pushing against his chest was like pushing against the rock wall that bordered the palace garden.
     
    He lifted a hand and tilted her face up to his with one finger beneath her chin. She looked into his eyes, unable to utter a word, and he searched her face for something, then stared fixedly at her mouth. Moments passed, and finally he stepped back from her, muttering an oath under his breath. “Maybe later,” he said roughly. “You make me forget myself, Marie. I‟m not sure how to handle that.”
     
    He yanked the car door open for her, then leaned in to show her how to fasten the seat belt, but his touch was brisk and impersonal. When he carefully closed the door and walked around the car to the driver‟s side, Marie stared at him through the window and finally released the breath that had been trapped in her lungs.
     
    “As to forgetting yourself, Ethan, you are not alone,” she whispered, wondering what she‟d gotten