by Alyssa Day
She nodded. “Sure. Hi, Liam. Hi, Jaime. Nice to see you again. Liam, if you call me Lady Erin again, I’ll kick your ass for you.”
He laughed. “You and your husband are well-mated.”
“Hi, Erin,” Jaime said, glancing back over her shoulder to scowl at Liam. “Nice to see you as well. But I’m not staying. We need you to pick three winners and promise them an extra special prize, which I’ll provide if they present themselves at the costumes tent in an hour.”
With that, she handed the mike over to a bemused Erin, and ran lightly off the stage and down the steps, leaving Liam with nothing to do but thank Erin and then follow Jaime.
He caught up with her in less than half a minute. “What do you think you’re doing? These people are criminals. They may be armed. You need to go somewhere safe. Like the palace. Like your rooms. Or my rooms. Yeah, that’s even better. And lock the door behind you.”
Jaime stopped walking and swung around to face him. “You want me to run and hide? Those were my staff guys that they attacked. I’m not an idiot. I know I’m not a warrior. I’m a party planner. But I’m darn good at my job, and I can pick out the three exact costumes we need to find faster than anybody else, since I picked them out, picked them up, and hung them up.”
Liam blew out a sigh. “Two costumes.”
She put her hands on her hips and raised her chin, all stormy eyes and determination. “What makes you think…wait. What?”
“I said two costumes. Ven and Denal caught the ninja. Now all we need are the princess and the pirate.”
“The princess and the pirate.” Jaime started laughing. “I bet you never expected that strange phrase to come out of your mouth.”
“This is Atlantis. Trust me, I’ve said stranger.”
9
Dusk was falling rapidly, and Jaime inhaled a long, deep breath of the cool evening air with a sigh of pleasure. This was her favorite time of day in Atlantis. After all, the lost continent was now basically a giant island, right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. So they were surrounded by nothing but ocean and the sky, which was drenched with the rich oranges, scarlets, and golds of another perfect sunset.
And if she stared right into the sun, maybe her brain would melt, and she’d be able to forget that there were still two dangerous criminals at large.
“I can’t believe I even said the expression ‘criminals at large’ in my mind,” she muttered, as Liam led her to an almost-hidden door in the garden wall.
“Are you sure you’re up for this? Why don’t you just go up to the palace and--"
“Why don’t you give it up, so we can catch these crooks and get on with the evening?”
He threw his hands up in the air, and she couldn’t help but notice that he’d rolled up his sleeves and was treating her to a great view of the tanned, corded muscle in his bare forearms.
Also: her hormones were affecting her brain.
No muscles. Think about criminals.
“Why are we here?” she asked desperately. “Do you think they’re going to be hiding in the bushes?”
“No, but there’s a great view from the top of that wall, and nobody ever looks up. So I’m going to give you a boost, and you’re going to search for pirates and princesses.”
With that, he grasped her hips and lifted her in one smooth motion until she could grab the top of the wall.
“This is a surprisingly erotic position,” Liam said, his voice filled with laughter.
She glanced down to see what he was talking about, only to realize that his face was exactly level with her butt. She was suddenly fiercely glad that it was dusk, so he couldn’t see the full extent of her blush.
“Stop that and lift me higher,” she demanded.
He chuckled, but then he did what she asked, until the top of the wall was level with her chest and she could easily pull herself up.
She scrambled around to a sitting position. The wall was more two feet thick, so she wasn’t worried about falling off, but she did have just the teensiest problem with heights, so she refused to look down at Liam. It didn’t bother her—not as much, to be exact—to look out over the grounds as people in the distance, though, so she did, and then she gasped.
“What is it? Do you see them?”
“No, it’s just…it’s just so beautiful from up here. All the fairy lights, and the gardens. The people and the dancing. The fountain and…oh. Oh.”
“What?” Liam’s voice was sharp with frustrated impatience.
“There are people having sex in the garden,” she admitted, feeling her stupid face heat up again. “Never mind.”
Silence.
“Liam?”
He laughed. “Sorry. I was just wishing that you and I were the ones in that garden.”
“Stop! I’m trying to focus here. I don’t see…Liam! There they are. That must be them, get me down.” Brazen as could be, a princess and a pirate were walking hand in hand to a small speedboat that was pulled up to the nearest guest dock and tied off between two much larger boats.
“Where are they?”
She looked for the twosome again. They were almost to the dock, but she and Liam were almost exactly as far away from that boat as the pirate and princess were. They could catch the criminals before they had a chance to escape.
“Liam, I’m coming down. They’re almost at the dock, and they’re each carrying bulging bags. I bet they stole lots of things.”
“Wait--"
“I’m coming now. Catch me.” They didn’t have time to wait. She pushed off with her hands and jumped off the wall, somehow insanely sure that he’d catch her.
And of course he did.
“Don’t ever do that again. You could have broken your neck,” he gritted out, gently setting her down on her feet.
“They’re almost to the guest dock,” she told him, starting to run. “And they have big bags filled with something, and there’s a small speedboat that’s not supposed to be there. Plus, I knew you’d catch me.”
He took off running, and there was no way she would ever keep up with him. The man ran like a world-class sprinter, and that was in boots, for Pete’s sake.
“I regret that last donut at breakfast,” she said, panting, and then put on a burst of speed.
By the time she made it to the dock, Liam had knocked out and tied up the pirate. Convenient how there were always plenty of ropes on docks.
The princess was yelling a stream of profanity at Liam, so Jaime walked up to her and punched her in the nose.
Hard.
The princess, shocked, quit swearing at Liam and fell back against the wooden post, then slid to the ground, holding on to her nose.
“You broke by dose,” she shouted.
Jaime shook her hand to try to get the stinging to stop, and it took her a few seconds to translate that one.
“I did not break your nose,” she said indignantly. “I’ve never broken a nose in my life. But if I did, you’d deserve it.”
Liam stood there staring at her with what looked like reluctant admiration. “Way to go, Slugger. We’ll have to recruit you to train the warrior trainees in boxing.”
“Very funny,” she said sternly, but she was secretly pleased. “Now open the bags and see what they’ve got, please.”
Alaric, Ven, Erin, and Denal all ran out onto the dock together, just in time to see Liam unzip the second bag and stand back, whistling long and loud. The dock lights reflected off what looked to Jaime like all the gold coins and gems in the world.
“How in the nine hells did they get into the gallery with the crown jewels?”
Ven shook his head. “If Fiona were here, I’d be sure she was involved.”
Jaime, still shaking the soreness out of her hand, had to ask. “Fiona?”
“Christophe’s wife is an international jewel thief,” Liam said absently. “I’ll tell you later.”
“All righty,” Ven said, sauntering up to the now-stirring pirate. “Time to go to jail. Consider yo
urself lucky that we don’t make you walk the plank.”
The princess started in on a fresh torrent of filthy swearing, and Liam’s eyes narrowed. “Princesses don’t talk that way on Atlantis.”
He moved to take her arm, but Alaric intervened. “I’ll take this one, warrior.”
The former priest waved his hand, and the pirate and the princess vanished.
Jaime’s mouth fell open. “Did you disintegrate them? Because that’s just not right.”
Quinn started laughing, and Alaric even almost smiled. “No, I did not disintegrate him. I am not in the habit of disintegrating humans, even thieves.”
She didn’t feel all that much better about it. “But you could disintegrate someone?”
Alaric said nothing.
“Oh, boy,” Jaime whispered. “I’m on your good side, right?”
Alaric still said nothing, but this time Quinn elbowed him in the side. “Quit playing with Liam’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not actually his girlfriend,” Jaime pointed out.
Alaric put an arm around Quinn and pulled her close. “Where have we heard that before, my love?”
Quinn started laughing, but Jaime didn’t get the joke.
“Nice job, Jaime,” Denal said, smiling at her. “I’d be glad to help you with the rest of the party.”
Liam spoke up, quiet but deadly. “Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged,” Denal shot back at him.
Jaime stepped between the two of them and put a hand on Liam’s arm. “Thanks, Denal, but we’ve got it covered. But I’d love it if you’d help judge the children’s costume contest.”
Denal raised one sardonic eyebrow and then bowed to her. “I’m not the best person to be around innocents these days. Another time, perhaps.”
With that, he and everyone else left, leaving her alone with Liam.
“We did it,” she told him, smiling like a loon. “We were Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes all wrapped up in one.”
Liam tilted his head. “Who?”
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter at all. You should kiss me now,” she told him.
“I thought you’d never ask.” With that, he leapt across the space between them and pulled her into his arms.
His kiss in the morning had been all heat and fire; this kiss was gentleness and seduction. He teased and nibbled at her lips, caught her tongue with his own, and kissed her and kissed her. She was lost, drowning, dreaming in the ever-deepening erotic temptation of this kiss, this quietly demanding kiss that didn’t take but gave and gave and gave until she knew she wanted to surrender.
Needed to surrender.
Needed to claim him, in return.
Liam kissed her until she could taste colors and smell music; until her world spun on its axis and only he and she—only Liam and Jaime—still existed in the vastness of time.
When he finally released his claim of her mouth, she let out a long, shivering breath and clung to him, not sure that her knees would hold her up.
“Liam, I…I have to get back to the party,” she said, although it was the hardest thing she’d ever had to say.
“So let’s go. I guess I need a costume,” he said, taking her hand.
They started off for the tent, but this time it was Jaime’s turn to laugh. “So long as you don’t want to be a pirate, a ninja, or a princess.”
10
It was nearing midnight and the end of the party before Jaime had a chance to talk to Queen Riley and find out if she’d enjoyed it. She’d been insanely busy making sure every single bit of the party had run smoothly, especially after the fiasco of the first half. She also had to keep reminding herself that nobody but the few involved even knew that anything bad had happened.
When she was finishing the last face paint, on a tiny Wonder Woman with curly red hair and sparkly shoes, Riley and Conlan came to find her. They’d dressed as Han Solo and Princess Leia, and little Prince Aidan was a Wookie.
“All done,” Jaime pronounced, and the littlest Amazon ran off to her patiently waiting parents.
“He’s adorable,” she told Aidan’s royal parents. “Best costume of the night.”
“We think so,” Riley said, smiling. “But we’re biased.”
“We wanted to thank you for everything,” Riley said. “This has been the most magnificent party I’ve ever been to, let alone ever hosted. You are absolutely incredible. Anything you want—references, a Yelp review, anything—you just name it.”
King Conlan, all controlled power and presence, turned his head to look at his wife. “Yelp?”
“I’ll tell you later,” she said, smiling up at him.
Riley could tell that they were blissfully happy together, and she was happy for them, but they made her want to go find Liam and share a bottle of champagne.
“I appreciate it,” she told the queen, instead. “That will be amazing. When I go back to Chicago.”
But even saying ‘back to Chicago’ depressed her. She didn’t want to go back to Chicago, for so many reasons. It was cold and windy and not Atlantis.
And maybe the biggest reason of all had ocean blue eyes and kissed like an angel.
“The best part is that there was absolutely no drama. Everything went perfectly,” Riley said, sighing with contentment. “You have no idea how rare that is for me over the past several years—or how wonderful. Smooth as silk; not a hitch. I’m so happy.”
Jaime had to clamp her teeth together to keep from bursting out in hysterical laughter, so she just smiled and nodded.
Riley touched her arm. “Thanks again. I’ll see you at breakfast, if you’re up, but feel free to sleep in. You’ve certainly earned it. Good night.”
“Good night,” Jaime managed.
As the royal family walked off toward the palace, she heard Riley repeat “smooth as silk,” and the king glanced back at her.
And he winked.
She waited until they’d disappeared into the garden to let the laughter escape. He knew. And now she knew that he knew, and he knew that she knew that he…oh, forget it.
She plopped back down on the face-painting chair and laughed until her sides ached.
“Smooth as silk.” She ought to put that on her business cards.
She was still laughing when Liam found her.
11
When the superhero walked in, Jaime was ready.
It was two-thirty in the morning, and everything was packed up, cleaned, put away, and spotless. She’d never had an army of assistants before, but it seemed like everyone on Atlantis wanted to help out and, as her grandmother used to say, “many hands made light work.” Now everyone else was gone, and she was exhausted, starving, and deliriously happy.
“I deserved some light work, after the day that we had, Batman,” she told the tall, dark, and deadly warrior standing in front of her.
“I don’t understand this costume,” Liam replied, looking down at himself. “It would hinder me while fighting. What if the sword gets caught in this stupid cape? Then evil would win, all due to poor clothing choice.”
He looked so disgruntled that she had to laugh. And then she had to kiss him.
Not here, though.
She pointed to the large basket on the table. “Maybe you could carry that, my not-so-caped crusader? I have food, I have champagne, and I have a blanket. I was hoping we could go have a picnic at the beach, since I never got to eat.”
Liam pulled the mask off his head and smiled that slow, dangerous smile that made her melt. “I’d like that very much. Just let me get rid of this damn cape.”
He pulled the costume off, right there in front of her, not even a little bit bashful. Beneath it he wore only a low-riding pair of black briefs. She had to bite her lip to keep from hyperventilating over all that lean, tanned muscle, while he pulled on his pants and shirt and put his boots back on.
When he straightened, his shirt still unbuttoned, she got a glimpse of a tattoo, high on the left side of his chest. He saw her
notice it, so he moved the fabric aside so she could get a better look.
“What is it?”
“This is the symbol of Poseidon’s Warriors, given to me by the sea god himself. The circle represents all the peoples of the world, intersected by the pyramid of knowledge deeded to them by the ancients. The silhouette of Poseidon's Trident bisects them both.”
“It’s more than a job, isn’t it?”
He nodded, suddenly serious. “It’s a sacred vow.”
She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “I don’t think I’ve ever made any vows, sacred or otherwise.”
“Do you want to?”
She froze, not even knowing how to answer that question. Instead, she evaded. “I’ll just go remove my costume and get dressed.”
His eyes blazed so hot they glowed. “I’d be happy to help you with that.”
Jaime’s brain quit working entirely while she thought about that.
“Jaime?”
“Um.” She licked her lips, and got a little dizzy when Liam’s gaze arrowed in on her mouth.
“I can do that for you, too.”
“Eep. I mean, later. I mean, I have to get changed,” she said, grabbing the bag with her clothes.
“Wait. What is that costume? Not that you’re not always beautiful, but why in the world are you dressed up as a blue box?”
Jaime smoothed the skirt of her dress. “Oh, Liam, you’re in for a treat. I’m going to introduce you to the wonderful world of Doctor Who.”
“Who?” He looked puzzled. “You’re a doctor?”
“Let me get changed, and I’ll tell you on the beach. I’m going to fall over if I don’t get something to eat.”
LIAM WATCHED Jaime toy with her champagne glass as she stared out over the moon-bright white sand, and he suddenly wanted her with a fierce, primal desperation. She was going to leave him, and he wanted to claim her so she could never, ever go.
It didn’t even make sense. He hadn’t known her long enough to make such a claim—to make any claim--but his heart was telling his mind to shut up.