Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

is going to be an aphrodisiac to me for the rest of my life,” she said, laughing a little herself.
    He kissed her again and bent to retrieve her pants and underwear before she could do it, stopping midway to kiss her stomach. When he’d pulled her pants halfway up, he paused and swiped his tongue across her in a last long, savoring lick. She gasped and clutched the tree behind her as the burst of sensation flashed through her sensitized skin yet again.
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    properly and thoroughly,” he said, smiling up at her.
    “If you’re any more thorough, I’ll pass out.”
    He laughed again and then pulled her jeans up over her hips, leaving the fastening to her. Since she was looking down, she noticed the huge bulge in his pants, which was even more pronounced than it had been earlier, and a trace of guilt surfaced.
    “You didn’t, um . . . We didn’t do anything for you,” she whispered, feeling her cheeks flaming.
    “Now isn’t the time, but trust me when I say you can have no idea of how much you did for me.” His voice was incredibly deep and husky, and it resonated through her, making her shiver in anticipation of what exactly “more properly and thoroughly” might involve.
    She finished arranging her clothes and glanced up at him, fascinated by the way his eyes were glowing with magic, or power, or maybe Atlanteans got glowy eyes when they were turned on.
    “Maybe later, we could get to know each other more? See where this might take us when we’re not hiding from evil scientists and power-hungry vamps?”
    He pulled her close for a quick hug, then froze, his body against her going ramrod straight.
    “Brennan—”
    “Shh,” he whispered in her ear. “I believe we’re about to have company, and it’s nobody good.”

Chapter 14
    Brennan heard the leaves rustling, but it was their only warning before the vamps were on top of them, flowing out of the trees like dark ribbons of liquid night. There were only three, but they were armed with daggers, which was unusual for vamps. Generally they counted wholly on their preternatural strength and their fangs.
    This wasn’t a good development.
    “Stay behind me,” he ordered Tiernan, who responded with her usual meek submission.
    “Like hell.” She bent and grabbed a small fallen tree branch and snapped it in half. “Two stakes for the price of one, what do you think about that, boys?”
    The vampires arranged themselves in a three-point semicircle around them, and one of them bowed deeply before speaking. “You mistake our intent, Miss Baum. We’re part of the security force for the conference, and we merely wish to be sure you make it safely back to the hotel.
    There were vicious animal attacks near here tonight.”
    “We’re wounded that you would so quickly assume we intend you any harm,” said another, Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    fake innocence oozing from his oily tone. “Just because we’re vampires doesn’t make us bad people. You, as a reporter, should know that.”
    “It’s not the vampire part that bothers us,” Brennan said. “It’s the security guard part. We are not at all in the mood for a second unpleasant encounter with overzealous security.”
    “Exactly,” Tiernan added, flashing a big smile. “Some of my best friends are vampires.”
    The vamp farthest away from them made a strange gurgling sound, and it took a moment for Brennan to realize that it was laughter. “Some of our best friends are humans, little snack.”
    “Just a guess, but I don’t think calling a human ‘little snack’ is usually going to win you points, buddy,” Tiernan said, pointing one of her newly made stakes at him. “You wouldn’t like it if I called you ‘bloodsucker,’ would you?”
    The vamp who’d bowed to them earlier hissed in a breath. “You know, this is not going as smoothly as I’d hoped, and now I’m bored. Either come with us now or we will take action you will not enjoy, I promise you.”
    Brennan unsheathed his daggers and snarled at them, dark urges to stab and cut and kill swarming through him. “There isn’t much about you that I enjoy so far, so I don’t see that we’d be any worse off. We’re not going anywhere with you.”
    “Perhaps not willingly,” the vampire countered. He slashed his hand in a signal to his friends