Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

face was burning hot enough to melt copper by the time she finished. Michelle stared at Grace, her eyes wide and lips twitching.
     
    “If you laugh at me,” Grace threatened, not quite knowing what the “or else” would be.
     
    Michelle nodded, then put her head down on her arms on the table and burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, dear. I would have given enormous amounts of money to have seen that. Serious, reserved Grace humping her Atlantean in the hallway.” That set her off again, and she laughed until she was breathless.
     
    “It‟s so wonderful to have a best friend I can confide in,” Grace said through her teeth.
     
    “Oh, honey, don‟t get—”
     
    “My knickers in a twist, right. Easy for you to say. You weren‟t babbling on and on about kitties and boobs and fucking.” It was Grace‟s turn to put her head down on the table.
    “How am I ever going to face him again?”
     
    Michelle reached over and smacked Grace‟s arm. “You really are an idiot, aren‟t you?
    Are you kidding? The way that man looks at you? It was probably his wildest fantasy come true that you were saying those things and acting like that. He‟s some kind of hero for not having a go at you right there on the spot.”
     
    Grace reluctantly laughed. “That‟s pretty much exactly what he said. „He. Ro. Ic.‟ ”
     
    Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    “And so he was,” Michelle said. “But tonight you‟ll be alone together, and he doesn‟t have to be. All he has to be is a man, and you certainly deserve him.”
     
    “But he‟s going to leave me.”
     
    “You don‟t know that. And even if he does, who cares? Live for today for once.”
     
    “But what if—”
     
    “No,” Michelle said firmly. “No „what if.‟ Only do it. Take something for yourself for once.
    Take a chance. Shave your legs.”
     
    Grace grinned. “Okay, maybe just this once.”
     
    Grace stretched, slowly waking from a long nap. The room was dark, so the 8:00
    glowing on her clock told her that she‟d slept clear through the day and into the evening.
    She‟d been exhausted and weak, and her injury had been hurting, so, for the first time in the past decade, she‟d handed over all control to others and simply gone to bed.
     
    Before he‟d left, Ethan had made a call and told them a truck would be there soon to load up everything from the armory and take it to Big Cypress for safekeeping. Tiny and Sam had figured out a plan to deconstruct all of the temporary improvements that the “theater troupe” had made to the fort, so that it would be left pristine, with no damage whatsoever to the historical structure.
     
    The blood had merely soaked into the grass, after all, and any that stained the concrete was simply carrying on a long-standing tradition for this fort.
     
    After multiple good-byes, Michelle had climbed into the passenger seat of the helicopter as if she‟d been riding in them all of her life instead of being a “chopper virgin,” as she‟d confided just before embarking. She‟d have a great time; Michelle always did. If only Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    she could teach Grace the secret of not taking the world, the war, and herself so seriously.
     
    If only.
     
    And Alexios . . . well, he‟d been everywhere. Watching over her. Making sure she wasn‟t overtiring herself. Catching her off guard, sometimes, with those flashes of heat in his eyes that told her he was remembering the things she‟d said and done that morning.
     
    For the first time, though, she didn‟t feel embarrassed. Instead, she stretched again, luxuriously, in her warm sheets and allowed herself to feel . . . anticipation.
     
    Delicious, tingling anticipation.
     
    Her nipples peaked just from the thought of him and her body grew warm, readying itself for him. She had the desire and the motivation. She even had the bed and the readiness.
     
    All she needed was to find her Atlantean.
     
    Her Atlantean. She wondered where the possessive pronoun had come from, but allowed herself to enjoy it. Cherish it as one would cherish a jewel lovingly loaned by a true friend. It would have to be returned, eventually, but until then . . .
     
    Her Atlantean. If only it could be true.
     
    No. No time for wistfulness or denial now. She threw the blanket back and, still dressed, pulled on her shoes and jacket and went to find Alexios.
    Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon