Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

at his own target and realization dawned. His was the one that had changed. Dead center, nestled in the midst of his six daggers, her final arrow stood proudly in feathered triumph.
     
    He bowed. “I must concede defeat and offer forfeit.”
     
    “Well, you do owe us all dinner now.” She was glorious in her triumph, color high and eyes sparkling. It took a more than heroic measure to force himself not to jump on her and carry her off like some ancient spoils of war. Yet it had been she who claimed victory. The thought of himself as a conqueror‟s loot made him laugh out loud again.
     
    “I will buy the dinner. And after dinner . . .” He let the unfinished statement hang there in the air between them like a promise. Like a wish. After dinner, he and Grace would see who would triumph in their personal challenge. He let the heat of it show on his face, and she trembled just a little.
     
    Later, he would tease her, touch her, and taste her until she trembled like a seabird caught in a gale.
     
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    “Dinner and much more,” he promised. As the crowd came rushing up to congratulate Grace, he moved toward the target to reclaim his daggers, allowing himself to think thoughts long banished of silken limbs and heated passion. She was a conqueror, his Grace.
     
    But tonight he would conquer her.

Chapter 14
Later that evening
    Grace‟s skin felt hypersensitive, as though her nerve endings had been scraped raw and repositioned for maximum stimulation. She was antsy, tense; her breath caught in anticipation of something so momentous she couldn‟t quite comprehend it. It was an emptiness that needed filling; it was an ache that needed tending.
     
    It was a wanting so deep and powerful that she couldn‟t stretch her mind around the contours of it.
     
    She stood at the edge of the parapet, staring at the sea, trying to focus her mind on the mission. On her orders. On the very real concern that she hadn‟t heard from Quinn or Jack.
     
    Or the meeting with the Fae in two days.
     
    But there was no room for any of it in her mind; the space was filled with Alexios. His laughter—so rare, but she‟d heard the low, rich tones of it a couple of times during dinner. The kindness in his eyes when she‟d seen him sneaking scraps to Sam‟s dog upon their return. The breadth of his shoulders in his elegant but simple shirt; the fabric so starkly white against the deep tan of his forearms and throat. The line of his neck as it curved into that sculpted jaw.
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    The deep, deep blue of his eyes.
     
    She heard the tapping of ridiculously high heels and smiled as Michelle approached.
     
    “Do we need to have that chat about the birds and the bees?” Michelle leaned against the edge of the wall and smiled innocently up at Grace. “I popped by the store and picked you up some condoms,” she continued, dropping into an exaggerated whisper.
    “Not really sure they even knew about such a thing in his day. Don‟t want you having any unexpected Atlantean bundles of joy.”
     
    A tendril of wistfulness crawled through Grace at the unexpected thought of carrying Alexios‟s child, but the unfamiliar emotion was quickly followed by shock. “What are you talking about?”
     
    “I saw the way you two were looking at each other,” Michelle said patiently. “ Everybody saw the way you two were looking at each other. Better to be prepared, I‟m only saying, before he sweeps you off to Atlantis or the closest bedroom, whichever comes first.”
     
    Grace wrapped her arms around her chest, huddling forward into the wind. “I know,” she finally admitted. “Don‟t you think I know? But the timing is terrible. And he has so many issues—he‟s been through so much—I don‟t think I‟m enough. I don‟t think I could ever be enough to help him get through it.”
     
    She glanced farther down the parapet, to where Sam and Alexios were discussing something with great animation. Knowing guys, it was either the end of the world or hockey scores.
     
    “Do you think they have hockey in Atlantis?”
     
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    Michelle blinked and looked at Grace as if she were nuts. Good call. “Hockey. In Atlantis. You really expect me to believe you‟re thinking about hockey?”
     
    Grace changed the subject, suddenly realizing the four of them were alone.