Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

that, she took off, practically running, toward the recruits standing around the practice ring.
     
    Alexios stood staring after Grace, unable to move. Unable to do anything but stand there like an idiot. She was taunting him.
     
    She was taunting . Him .
     
    He‟d left her alone, untouched, the night before like he was some kind of damn eunuch, so now she thought she could taunt him with impunity. Either that or she and Sam really did have something between them.
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    The thought burned through his gut like a slice from a poisoned blade. No. Surely not.
    Grace had far too much integrity to toy with him if she were involved with the human.
     
    Didn‟t she?
     
    He realized he was gripping the handles of his daggers so tightly that his fists ached, and he forced himself to relax. To recite the focus chant aloud. Out loud, for the first time in more than a century, because he could chant in his mind all he liked but it didn‟t help him find his calm center.
     
    Hells, around Grace he didn‟t have a calm center.
     
    But Alaric had freed him. Told him the oaths he‟d sworn were only to himself. That Alexios would know if he were ready to relinquish them.
     
    He watched Grace move around the ring, shaking hands with the recruits, offering encouragement. Smiling. Laughing. She‟d left her hair down and loose. He wanted to believe she‟d done it for him. It floated gently around her with every breath of breeze, with every step she took.
     
    Oh, yeah. He was ready. He could keep her safe from his own black urges. He would keep her safe.
     
    “I saw a smile like that once,” said Sam, who was suddenly standing right next to him, though Alexios hadn‟t heard him approach. “It was on a jungle tiger that was fixin‟ to pounce on a gazelle.”
     
    Alexios deliberately widened his smile, never taking his eyes off Grace. “I know a tiger and am therefore honored to be compared to one.”
     
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    Sam nodded. “Yep. Except whadaya know? Damn poachers shot the tiger mid-leap, before he could hurt that doe. Craziest thing.”
     
    Alexios turned his head and met the man‟s gaze. “Am I to understand that you are issuing a warning? Be careful how you respond; I am sure that Grace would be unhappy to be compared to a helpless prey animal.”
     
    “I‟m sure she‟d kick my ass for me,” Sam replied, unperturbed. “This is between us, though, and you don‟t strike me as the type to run and tell tales.”
     
    “But?”
     
    “But I care about that gal, and she doesn‟t have any family to stand for her so I thought I‟d step up. If she wasn‟t as tough as she is, I‟d be telling you this with a shotgun in my hands.”
     
    Alexios inclined his head. “I respect you for that. But you should know that I have no intention of hurting Grace. Not now, not ever.”
     
    “Maybe not. But she‟s a woman who doesn‟t give her heart or her body lightly. If you just want a fling with some random human gal, go elsewhere.”
     
    Alexios finally turned so that he was facing Sam and stared straight into his eyes. “If I wanted a fling , I would.” Then he bowed to the old reprobate and headed for Grace.
     
    His Grace. Whether she knew it yet or not.

Chapter 12
The Bunnery Restaurant
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    Alaric stared down at the mug of steaming black tea and the white napkin on the wooden table in front of him and wondered how, exactly, the human had maneuvered him into breakfast.
     
    At a restaurant named the Bunnery.
     
    Ridiculous humans and their need to name everything.
     
    Alexios and the Seven would mock him forever for this one. Not that he, as high priest to Poseidon . . . The unfamiliar laugh worked its way out of his throat, interrupting the disdainful thought. He didn‟t have room to stand on pomp and ceremony when he was about to eat something called a cinnamon bun .
     
    “You smiled again,” Michelle said, clearly delighted. “That‟s twice! We‟re making some progress here.”
     
    “Why, exactly, are my facial expressions of interest to you?” It would never occur to him to care whether another smiled or not.
     
    Except for Quinn, a dark voice whispered in his mind. A smile from her would be a gift beyond price.
     
    “Well, I‟m responsible for you now, since you saved my life. Everyone knows that,” she said,