Warriors of Poseidon 02.5 - Shifter's Lady

you have need of me, First Maiden.” He bowed to her, then gestured with one hand to draw the portal to open for his and Bastien‟s return to Atlantis.
     
    Marie nodded her thanks, then turned to walk toward the cabin and give Kat and Bastien a moment for a private farewell. Ethan, who had remained standing behind her as if frozen into place, now blocked her path. He stared down at her, and the heat she‟d felt earlier at his mere glance intensified until she wanted to lean into him and soak up his warmth, wrap herself in the flames that the touch of his skin must surely generate in her body.
     
    She drew in a deep breath and forced her expression to one of calm amusement. “Must I have the same talk with you that I have had with my brothers so many times over the centuries? The one about individual responsibility? Where I explain in very simple words that I am no fragile Atlantean flower to be cared for and coddled in a hothouse?”
     
    Ethan leaned forward slightly, his hands behind his back, and raised one silken, dark eyebrow. “Simple words might be a really good idea, beautiful,” he said softly. “Because I‟m having a hell of a fight with my inner cat right now, who wants to carry you off, strip you bare, and lick all of that deliciously creamy skin of yours.”
     
    Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

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    She inhaled sharply as his words sent tsunami waves of shock and heat slapping through her nerve endings. Before she could summon a properly stinging response, he lifted a hand and touched a curl that had escaped her braids. “And as for individual responsibility, I intend to be completely responsible for seeing this glorious hair unbound and spread all over my bed. So consider that, Lady Marie, and maybe you‟ll be the one who wants to run back to your hothouse.”
     
    Her much-prized serenity completely deserted her. “You…you—”
     
    “Yes,” he said firmly. “Me. Remember it.” Then he bowed to her, flashing another of those mocking smiles, and strode off, sketching a half salute toward Bastien and Alaric over his shoulder. Marie glanced at her brother, wondering if he‟d caught the interplay between her and Ethan, but Bastien was talking intently with Kat. When she looked back toward Ethan, she saw nothing but a tawny blur disappearing through the trees.
    She finally let out the breath she had not realized she was holding and continued toward the cabin on knees gone suddenly weak.
     
    Life with the landwalkers was going to be far more fascinating than she had ever imagined.
     
    Ethan leapt into the trees, shifting as his feet left the ground. In panther form, he ran as far and as fast as he could, determined to outpace the overpowering hunger she‟d awakened in him.
     
    Marie.
     
    The mere thought of her name sent another rush of heat through him, and the cat he‟d become snarled and pushed harder, lengthening his strides, escaping from the subtle scent of sea and flowers that had surrounded her.
     
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    Needed to run. Further and further. Needed to run away from the woman who‟d destroyed his equilibrium in sixty seconds flat.
     
    Strip her bare and lick her skin? What the hell had he been thinking? Not two minutes after swearing his protection in front of her brother and the priest, he‟d insulted and threatened her. He snorted and drew his lips back from his fangs, snarling again as he ran. Not only was he a damned fool, but he‟d probably incited some kind of international incident.
     
    Panting, finally nearing exhaustion, he slowed to a walk, padding on four powerful legs that were trembling faintly from the strain of the run. He looked around and stopped, recognizing the woods behind his house, the big-ass mansion that served as home and headquarters to the alpha of the Big Cypress pride. No wonder he was short of breath and suffering from a little muscle fatigue. He‟d never run ten miles in such a short time.
     
    Maybe lust was good for the metabolism.
     
    He called to the magic that infused both halves of his dual natures and lifted his head to receive the transformation. As always, the shift came to him effortlessly, and he stood fully clothed in his human form afterward. Ease of performing the shape change was one of many indicators of shape-shifter strength, and he was alpha. Strongest of all the shape-shifters in Big Cypress. Rumored to be the strongest in all of Florida;