Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

ever be happy with a meek woman who was content to stay home and bake Atlantean spice cookies?”
     
    She shrugged. “I don‟t know. I just don‟t know you well enough. Also, what are Atlantean spice cookies? Are they good?”
     
    He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and sighed, then he gave her a rueful smile. “They are, actually, excellent. My favorite. Maybe you could still be a tough warrior and learn to bake them?”
     
    She laughed and lightly punched his arm. “Nice. Very nice. How about you still be a warrior and learn to bake them?”
     
    “How about we both learn to make them and I can lick spices off your naked body?” he said, flashing that wicked grin.
    Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
    Page 266 of 314
     
    Then he bent his head to kiss her and she sank into the heat of it, the lovely welcoming warmth that felt like home and soon changed to something sharper. Longing became hunger; hunger became need. She lifted her hand to his face, but he yanked his head back and caught her wrist in his hand. The muscles in his shoulders tightened under her other hand, and his eyes darkened to black in seconds.
     
    “What is this?” he demanded, shaking her wrist a little. “You let them mark you?” His voice had dropped so low it came out as a snarl.
     
    She glanced at her wrist and instantly understood. “Ah. The Fae mark.” He was still clutching her wrist, hard, and she jerked it free. “It wasn‟t like I actually wanted him to do it,” she snapped. “Quit acting like a Neanderthal.”
     
    He put his hands on her thighs and pushed them apart, then walked between them, pressing her back and down until she was leaning back on her elbows on the table behind her. With one sweep of his arm, he pushed her bow and arrows to the side, flinching when his skin touched the bow.
     
    “What in the nine hells—”
     
    “The bow deeded to a descendant of Diana protects itself,” she said flatly. “As can I, which you‟d better remember if you try to take this any further. You‟re not going to like what I do next.”
     
    He blinked, as if waking from a trance or enthrallment, and looked down at where she half lay, half sat on the table. Shaking his head back and forth, he dropped his forehead until it rested on her chest for an instant, then rose and gently helped her to sit and then stand up from the stool. “Please, mi amara , please accept my apologies for my behavior. I saw the Fae mark and the drums started pounding in my head again. I fear I Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
    Page 267 of 314
    am unworthy of you if I cannot even control my anger and jealousy over such a thing. I will leave you to your work.”
     
    Grace caught his arm as he turned to leave, and the look he gave her was heartbreaking in its mingled hope and remorse. “No. Don‟t go. I want you to stay. I want . . .”
     
    “You want?” He moved closer, so close, and stared down at her, his eyes once again deep, deep blue. “Tell me what you want,” he said, his breath warm against her skin.
     
    “I want you,” she admitted. “Only you.”
     
    The smile began with his eyes and took over his entire face. “I want you, too. Gently this time.” He glanced down at her wounded side. “Gently.”
     
    He lifted her into his arms and carried her to her room, murmuring thanks to any gods who would listen for this gift beyond price.
     
    Grace watched him as he removed his clothes, and then her own. She watched him as he lay down beside her, his hands touching and stroking every inch of her skin. The sight of his large, scarred hands—warrior hands—on her skin was oddly erotic, and added to the gentle wash of heat and desire flooding through her.
     
    Gently, he‟d said. And so they were: Gentle with her wounded side, though it was healing rapidly. Gentle with each other. Gentle with fragile emotions newly awakened and overwhelming emotions newly unmasked.
     
    She rose above him and watched as he caught her hair and brought it to his mouth, first inhaling deeply as if memorizing the scent of her and then releasing her hair to raise his head and kiss her. He lay still beneath her, his muscles trembling with the self-control he was exerting to be passive. To let her take the lead.
    Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
    Page 268 of 314
     
    Lead, she did. She lowered himself onto him, her softness surrounding his hardness, and gasped at the feel of him inside her. Slowly, but catching and