Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

today.”
    “He was my first in another way. He was the first person to lie to me that I couldn’t feel it, but he wasn’t the last. They’re rare, but they’re out there. I think it’s maybe the same kind of Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    person who could pass a lie detector. Sociopaths or narcissists; people who really don’t care about the results of their lies, so they don’t register with me.”
    “You can tell when I lie,” Brennan said, a purely masculine smile on his face. “I care very much.”
    She smiled, but her eyes drooped shut and she had to fight to keep them open. “I know you do.
    My parents, they didn’t last. Their marriage. Too many lies between them, too many deceptions. I don’t usually trust anybody, but somehow—” Her mouth cracked open in a giant yawn and she leaned her head on his shoulder, snuggling close to his solid, warm strength.
    “Somehow I know I can trust you.”
    “You have given me a gift beyond price, Tiernan Butler,” he murmured. “I would rather have your trust than all the sunken treasure in the ocean.”
    “Easy for you to say, Mr. Billionaire,” she said, laughing. “Who needs sunken treasure when you could buy and sell Boston a couple of times over?”
    He tucked the silken covers around her shoulders and lightly kissed her lips, sending a shiver of pure, sensual need through her that almost—almost
    —cut through her exhaustion. “Rest now, and we will discuss treasure and buying Boston in the morning.”
    She stopped fighting the waves of tiredness and sank into the softness of his bed, the strength and warmth of his arms, and the magic of Atlantis. She was falling asleep in Atlantis, with a warrior straight out of the pages of a lovely fairy tale.
    “Rest, mi amara. I’ll stay awake and guard your dreams,” he said, and she sank down, down, into a cloud of peace and calm. Tomorrow she could return to worry. The last thing she saw was an edge of light as morning broke through the window. They’d stayed up all night, and ushered in the dawn.
    “The first of many, I hope,” she whispered, and then the darkness took her.

Chapter 19
    Brennan awoke to the very rare and yet highly appreciated sensation of a warm armful of woman curled up against him. He waited awhile before opening his eyes, searching his memory to see if he could pinpoint just how and when the night before he’d broken his own rule about bringing women to his rooms in the palace.
    He’d learned long, long ago the consequences of slipping from a very straight and narrow path, after all.
    When nothing—nobody—came to mind, he mentally cursed the vast quantity of Atlantean ale Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    he must have consumed and then gritted his teeth against the arduous task that faced him. He needed to get her out of his rooms with the minimum of post-coital drama. It was unfortunate Christophe was not nearby to offer advice; the man was a master at managing irate women.
    The woman stirred against him and then her soft, unexpectedly musical voice confirmed that she was awake. “Brennan?”
    She knew his name, then. Too bad he could not reciprocate that knowledge.
    He’d postponed as long as he could; honor demanded courtesy, at the very least. He opened his eyes and found himself looking directly into the most vividly beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Not brown exactly but the darkest amber shade of ancient gems, with tiny flickers of honey-gold near the pupils.
    “You fell asleep?” she asked, and there was something unexpected in her voice. Not curiosity or lazy satisfaction or even petulant demand.
    No. It was anxiety—or even fear.
    “Perhaps I was well sated, my lady,” he said, smiling in spite of himself at her beauty. He had chosen well, even in his obviously drunken state. And yet—She bolted upright and he realized what had been niggling at him. She was fully dressed, in what looked like a set of his sparring clothes. He glanced down at himself and realized he, too, wore a pair of the soft trousers.
    Her eyes widened until he could see white all the way around her irises. “Did you just say well sated? Wait—and call me your lady?”
    He sat up as well, feeling at a distinct disadvantage, and examined her again, as if repeated viewing could bring her name or circumstances to mind. Her tousled dark hair shone in the morning light from the window, and her soft curves were very