Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

even over the roar of the shower and the pounding of so much blood in his skull. “I’m too tired right now, or we’d have a little chat. Do you have spare clothes?”
    He pointed to the cabinet under his sink, then squeezed his eyes shut, so he wasn’t tempted to see her bend over. The towel was long, but, still . . .
    “I have several sets of sparring clothes under there. They’ll be too big, but they’re soft enough to sleep in.”
    “Thank you.”
    When he was forced to open his eyes to see her, for fear of the results of the curse, she was dressed in a soft gray sparring outfit, and the sight of her wearing his clothes sent a spear of fierce possession thundering through him.
    She was his, and he would keep her safe, even if it had to be in spite of herself.
    He had no choice.
    “I’ll just lean here, okay?” she called out, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes.
    Every line of her body drooped with exhaustion and he hurried his bathing so he could put her to bed.
    His bed.
    She would be in his bed, and he would have to somehow, by all the gods, refrain from touching her.
    He caught the groan before it escaped, and with a quick glance at her, still resting against the wall, he turned so that his back was to her, in case she should look up. With a fierce, practiced stroke, he pumped his cock once, then twice, in a painfully necessary attempt to take some of the edge off his need before he had to share a bed with her.
    Even as seed spurted from his body and was instantly washed away by the force of the shower Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    stream, he knew it was futile. No mere physical release would ever keep him from wanting her.
    He was hers, and he was cursed, and any future they might have together was doomed. He made a sound of pure despair, deep in his throat, and shut down the shower.
    Maybe sleep would make it better. He didn’t see how it could make it any worse.

Chapter 18
    Tiernan stared at Brennan, who was lying on the other side of the bed from her, as relaxed and at ease as, oh, a slab of marble—if marble could radiate misery. She was feeling a little tense herself, after the glimpses she’d snuck of his naked body in that shower. The man was pure, muscled, hard-bodied, delicious goodness, which was entirely unfair.
    “Worse,” he muttered, his eyes clenched shut. “Oh, gods, of course it will be worse. I can’t see you when I sleep.”
    “You can’t see me now.”
    He opened one eye and glared at her.
    “Your fierce glare does not scare me, oh, black-eyed one,” she said, grinning in spite of her exhaustion. “You’re pretty used to barking orders and people falling in line, aren’t you?”
    His other eye popped open. Now both of them glared at her, in all their long-lashed, color-changing gorgeousness. “I am not. I am accustomed to working with bullheaded warriors with more guts than brains. I wonder why I am surprised by anything about you, now that you mention it,” he said, his voice nearly a growl. “You could be related to Christophe. Or Ven, for that matter.”
    She laughed out loud as the purity of his truth rang through her veins like champagne filtered through her blood. “Wow. That was purely true, not even a shade of deception about it. Do your friends know you think so highly of them? Bullheaded with more guts than brains, I believe you said?”
    “Believe me, I have said this to them in far more colorful language,” he said dryly, and she started laughing again, an edge of wildness in it.
    He narrowed his eyes at the sound and then he sighed, his face relaxing, and held out his hand.
    “You are tired beyond the endurance levels of your body and mind. Please rest.”
    Slowly, cautiously, she reached over and twined her fingers in his. At the touch of his warm, strong hand, realization dawned. “Oh, Brennan, I didn’t think,” she whispered. “When we’re asleep, of course you won’t be able to see me. Do you think—I mean, will the curse—”
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    His expression grew even more grim. “I have no way to know the answer to that, but my expectation is that, yes, closing my eyes in sleep will activate the curse and I will forget you.”
    Pain sliced through her at his words, emphasizing the truth she’d been trying to hide, even from herself. “I don’t want you to forget me,” she whispered. “I know this isn’t about me, and this is so