Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

while.”
    Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    He flashed across the room so quickly she never saw him move until he was gathering her into his arms, lifting her up and off the floor. Her shoes thudded to the carpet beneath her feet, and she steadied herself with her hands on his strong shoulders.
    “Thank you,” he said simply, but there was nothing simple about it at all, as she could tell from the shudder that wracked his powerful body. “I could not bear it. Any of it. Watching them stare at you, the dancing . . . seeing that vampire touch you—” He broke off and bent to touch his forehead to hers, closing his eyes.
    She knew what she should do. She should let him go. Let him forget her, and she would carry on by herself. The curse was torturing him. He tightened his arms around her, and her heart told her the truth she’d been fighting. She had no choice. Once he was away from her, he’d forget her and maybe the horrible emotional overload would stop or at least calm down enough for him to stay sane.
    He was close to cracking, and nobody deserved that. Especially not this man. This warrior, who had done so much for humanity for so long.
    She put her hands on his face and looked into his incredibly beautiful black and flame-centered eyes. “Brennan. You have to go. It’s too hard, and I can’t—I can’t watch the pain of all of this drive you out of your mind. I can do this on my own.”
    He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. “No,” he said gently. “I will not leave you. We will work together to discover the truth behind these scientists and their plots, and then I will release you.”
    “Release me?” She knew she should move away from him, but she didn’t want to stop touching him. Leaning into his warmth. Breathing in his spicy male scent.
    “You do not need to be drawn into my problems,” he said, his eyes and voice both going flat and cold. As she watched, fascinated, the black faded from his irises until they were a pure, pale spring green, and she was forced to wonder how many of his problems centered around her.
    Brennan clenched his hands into fists at his sides and battled the most powerful enemy he’d ever faced: himself. Emotion buffeted him as if he were a storm-tossed ship at sea, and every molecule of his body was screaming at him to take her, take her, strip her bare, and make her his.
    Discipline. He needed—he must—he would. He would be calm, he would be rational, and most of all, he would be the man she needed and not the man who needed her. Not now. Not yet.
    Maybe not ever.
    “This Devon may be playing a deep game, toying with us, although I do not discount the possibility that he wanted to dance with you simply because you were the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said, steeling himself against the surge of desire that made his cock Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    jump in his pants every time she blushed.
    As anticipated, her cheeks took on a particularly appealing rosy hue. “I don’t think—Well, thank you. But vampires rarely do anything for simple reasons, especially powerful ones like this Devon.” She sat on the edge of the bed and began selecting clothes from her bag, then snapped her fingers. “Wait, I almost forgot. Devon said to say hello to you from him. Have you met him?”
    “I have never met any vampire named Devon, although I admit I probably wouldn’t have recognized him if I had known him, in that crowd and with those glasses on.” Brennan frowned, considering possibilities. “Unfortunately, the first thing that comes to mind is that I may have slain one of his blood pride, and he’s out for revenge. That has been very common over the centuries.”
    She sighed. “It’s kind of surreal the way you casually throw out things like ‘over the centuries.’
    When this is all over, can we have a really long talk about all of the wonders you’ve seen and experienced in your lifetime?”
    He froze, realizing the implication in her words, even if she had not intended them. That there would be an “after” for them. That she would want to spend time with him.
    That he could nurture the tiniest bit of hope.
    “I would love nothing more,” he said.
    She tilted her head. “That was a lie. Not a big one, but something . . . something was untrue in what you just said.”
    He considered his words and then, startled, laughed, and that bit of joy opened the