Atlantis Series Complete Collection

by Gena Showalter

  “Look at my body. I’m not lying. Desire beats through me.”

  Her gaze remained locked on his face. “I think… I think can feel it,” she said, her cheeks growing bright with color.

  A blush? From this fierce warrior woman? Even that fueled his desire.

  “You must be thinking of another woman,” she said. “I know you lied.”

  “Only you, I swear it.”

  “What’s changed?” she demanded. She traced her fingertip over the head of his penis, now sticking out from between her legs.

  Sweet heaven. He opened his mouth to reply—how, he didn’t know—when she stopped him.

  “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. As I said, you will find pleasure with me this time.” She scooted farther back and then…she sucked his length into her mouth.

  Every muscle in his body went taut, his blood molten. “Alyssa,” he shouted.

  She stopped to stare up at him, pleasure in those lovely eyes. Pleasure and hurt and determination. In his mind, the screams cranked up, and yet they still did not affect him. Just then, something else mattered more. Healing this woman’s hurt…

  He wanted her wild. Out of control. Not so that he could regain his strength and escape, he realized, but because…with his private admission that he liked having her in his life, that he liked her, with the flashes of blood and screams overshadowed, he was beginning to sense something else…something shocking. Wondrous. Unbelievable.

  Something that swept through him, infusing his cells, his organs, imprinting her essence inside him.

  He closed his eyes and pictured Twila, a female nymph he liked to bed. His penis withered as it used to do with Alyssa. He pictured Helen, a siren he had spent a month pleasuring. Nothing, not even a twitch. He pictured Brenna, the human he’d wanted above all others. Again, he remained flaccid.

  “Shivawn?” Alyssa asked hesitantly.

  Just like that, he was hard as a rock, her voice the fuel needed to spark his desire.

  She was his mate. His one and only. No other would do. She was it for him. She was a part of his life, always had been. He could no longer deny it—why had he ever?—for all he could suddenly think about was her pleasure. Her protection. Her smile, her laughter, her body. Him, inside of her. Her, and no other. All these years, and he’d allowed painful memories, memories that had nothing to do with her, to cloud his judgment. All these years, he’d pushed her away, treated her horribly, hurt her deeply.

  She was a vampire. That no longer mattered.

  She would have to bite him to live. He was glad.

  She had stolen him. Merely loveplay.

  My mate, he thought, shocked to his very core. How he’d mixed his past with her, he didn’t know, but he would act the fool no longer. Besides, now wasn’t the time to figure it out. He’d ponder it later. Much, much later. “Alyssa,” he said.

  Something in his tone caused tears to spring to her eyes. He knew women well enough to know they were not tears of happiness. What had brought them on? “Unchain me, love. Please.” His tone was gentle. He had to caress her face. Perhaps lick those tears away. Hold her. Apologize for all he’d done to her.

  She wiped the moisture away with the back of her wrist and shook her head. Her chin trembled, her gaze lowering once again to his shaft. “No.”

  “Strip for me, then.” There would be time later to convince her of his new feelings. Right now, anything he said would most likely be dismissed as a lie he told to ensure his escape. “Let me taste you while you taste me.”

  Again, she shook her head. But there was intrigue and passion blended in her eyes now. She nibbled on her lower lip, something he suddenly wanted to do. “Last time, I found fulfillment and you didn’t,” she said. “This time, you will find it and I will not. Equal ground, Shivawn, remember?”

  “Alyssa.” Oh, yes. He had hurt her, and he hated himself for it.

  “No,” she grated. “Do not try to change my mind.”

  “Keep me chained, then. But at least allow me to kiss you. Somewhere. You may choose where. Your mouth…your breasts…between your legs… I will not find pleasure unless you allow me to do so.”

  Her pupils dilated, delighting him. “You don’t really want to pleasure me,” she said, even more hurt drifting from the undertone.

  “You and no other,” he assured her. He could not explain this change in him, even to himself. All he knew was that he was changed. Later, he told himself again. He would reason it out later, when their mutual passion was sated. “If you want me to beg, I will beg.”

  She looked away from him, as if his gaze was too much to endure. “All I have ever wanted was you. Everything I did, I did for you. Learning to fight, so that I could be close to you and so you would know I could take care of myself.”

  “That, you will stop doing immediately.”

  One of her delicate brows arched. “Trying to please you?”

  “Fighting.” He wanted her safe. In his bed. Away from the war-torn life she lived. He liked the thought of protecting her.

  She traced his navel with her tongue. A tear ran down her cheek and splashed onto his pelvic bone, glistening. The sight nearly undid him. “Alyssa…”

  “I should not have placed you above my own needs and desires. Silly of me.”

  “You are not silly. But your happiness is more important than mine,” he said. “Always. Soon, I will prove it.”

  Another tear.

  “What else have you done for me?” he asked gently.

  Her fangs elongated with an angry hiss. “Will that stroke your male pride, hearing what poor little Alyssa, hopelessly in love with you, did to make you notice her?”

  “No. In the telling, I will begin to understand what I must now do for you in return and how I might make up for my negligence. Equal ground, as you said.”

  Shock flashed over her expression. Her mouth fell open, but she quickly closed it with a snap. Eyes gleaming fury, she snarled, “You want to know? Fine. You refused me time and time again. After a while, I lost hope. I took another lover. And another. And another. Can you make that up to me? Return me to my untouched state?”

  Oh, now that he did not like hearing. He did not like the thought of this lovely woman in the arms of any man save himself. “No,” he admitted softly. “All I can do is try and make you forget. Brand you with my touch, for though I did not have the privilege of being your first, I promise I will be your last.”

  “You courted thousands of women,” she said bitterly, “enjoying yourself, laughing. I cried every time I saw you with another, every time I gave myself to a man. Can you make that up to me?”

  His stomach twisted so painfully he would have sworn knives were slashed through every knot. “I am sorry, so very sorry. I wish I could go back.” She would never have reason to cry again. Whatever he had to do, this woman would know only joy and laughter from this moment on.

  What if, tomorrow, the blood and screams are no longer dulled?

  That no longer mattered. They could storm through him, lightning and thunder, but he would not leave her. She was too important to him. He would endure anything for her. Hadn’t she endured all but death for him? “Somehow, some way, I will make you forget those experiences. I swear it.”

  “The lovers I took,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “I had hoped they could teach me how best to please a man. I thought if I only knew how to pleasure you, you would want me.” She laughed bitterly again, a tear-filled choking. “But that didn’t work, did it? You finally took me to bed and you hated every moment of it.”

  “Alyssa,” he began, then stopped himself. How could he explain that she had always reminded him of the worst day of his life without hurting her further? “That night I spent with you… I was in a dark and dangerous mood. No one would have been able to please me.”

  “Your mate would have.”

  An hour ago, he would have agreed. “I followed you for days afterward,” he admitted.

  Eyes widening, she sho
ok her head. “No, you didn’t.”

  He nodded. “I did. I couldn’t understand why I had been unable to respond to so beautiful a woman. So I watched you, more intently than ever, trying to reason it out.”

  Again, she shook her head in denial, though there was a gleam of hope in her eyes.

  That hope spurred him on. “I’m responding to you now,” he reminded her. “I want you, Alyssa. Let me have you. Please. Your pleasure will be my own.”

  Her features hardened as though she’d stared at a gorgon a little too long and had been turned to stone. “Oh, you’ll have pleasure.”

  “That’s not enough. I want you to have pleasure, as well.”

  “Like I said, I already had my turn, didn’t I?”

  He never should have told her the truth. “I promise you I will find greater pleasure if I know you are enjoying this, too.”

  “The same was true of me. Once.” She didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. Her mouth once again lowered to his swollen length, taking him all the way inside, sucking…sucking… Her tongue swirled around the sensitive head with an ever-upward glide. He tried to resist the headiness, wanting to see to her climax before he took his own.

  “Let me lick. Between your legs,” he worked past his constricting throat. “Need to taste you.”

  Up and down she sucked him, her teeth scraping, ignoring his plea. Her fingers bit into his hips, released him, then wrapped around his testicles. His body was tensing, readying. Power was surging through his bloodstream, un-stoppable and inexorable. He’d never wanted anything as much as he wanted her. Couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her unsatisfied.

  “Alyssa. Please.”

  She increased her speed, and his passion spiked. Consumed him. He roared loud and long, his hips pumping his shaft down her throat. He couldn’t stop the motions, couldn’t stop the momentum of his release.

  “Drink from me,” he commanded. “Take my blood.”

  “Already did.”

  Not enough. “Do it again. Let me feed you.”

  “No!”

  The hot spike of her tongue swirled over the head of his shaft, and he lost control completely. His muscles clamped down on his bones, endlessly clenching and unclenching. The pleasure… Oh, the pleasure. More intense than anything he’d ever experienced. He couldn’t speak, could only gasp, groan and pant like an animal.

  When he got inside this woman again, he might not survive. The thought almost made him smile. But as he shuddered and calmed—would his erratic heartbeat ever slow?—Alyssa straightened, pulling away from him. She refastened her robe, shielding her nipples from his view. Her color was high; she, too, was panting.

  “Now you have found release with me. You can’t deny it this time.”

  “Alyssa.”

  She moved swiftly to his wrists, gave a tug, and the chains fell away. She followed suit with his ankles.

  Free, he sat up, already reaching for her, needing her in his arms. He could smell her sweet desire, had to sate her, had to…now. Forever. But she backed away from him, shaking her head.

  “Come here, Alyssa.” He gave a gentle swipe of his fingers. “Please.”

  “Return home. Tell your king what I did. Send the entire nymph army to kill me. I don’t care.”

  “This is between us. No one else. I will go nowhere without you.” He pushed to shaky legs. Where was his strength? He should be completely energized now. All he wanted to do, however, was lie down and cuddle his woman.

  “Very well,” she said, and stopped, studying him bleakly. The jagged walls of the cave were at her back, a harsh frame for her fragile beauty. “It is I who will go. This is goodbye, then.”

  He frowned. “No. Never goodbye. Come—”

  She disappeared.

  A roar rushed past his throat and he stumbled from the cave, searching for her. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself in the Forest of Dragons, fat trees towering all around him. What he didn’t find was Alyssa.

  She was gone as if she’d never been.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  BRAND PICKED UP the Amazon, Nola, and carted her away from the beach. She was bleeding, but refused his aid because of their audience. One of the sharks had decided her leg would make a tasty snack and had chomped on her calf. Blood had swirled in the water and now dripped onto the sand.

  “I have you,” he assured her.

  Her cheeks were a stark white, but she was shaking her head. “I can walk. I’m fine.”

  He tightened his grip on her. “Be still, woman.”

  “Put me down. I have to find Delilah.”

  Chaos was behind them, but Brand didn’t fear for Nola’s friend. Even though Tagart was responsible for the trouble and no one could cause more damage or carnage than a pissed-off dragon changeling, the other Amazon would be fine. He’d seen the way Layel looked at her, the way he’d held her earlier, an expression of both torture and pleasure on his face, the way he’d dove to save her from sharks and dragon. The vampire would ensure her safety, no question.

  Brand had never liked the vampire king. From his earliest memory, they’d always been at war, striking at one another in every way possible. But Layel had walked away several times, allowing defeat. All in the name of love. Now Brand was going to walk away from Layel. In the name of love.

  “The vampire will take care of her,” he assured Nola.

  “They are enemies.”

  He noticed she didn’t have to guess which vampire he’d been speaking of. “As are we,” he reminded her. “Your people attacked mine just before we were sent to the island. I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Yet another reason for you to put me down.” But she stopped struggling and allowed him to carry her past the line of trees, away from the other creatures lying on the beach. “Bad things happen to my enemies.”

  “And you do not wish anything bad to happen to me?”

  “No, of course I do. I just… I—”

  He laughed. “I will accept the consequences. All right?” When he felt they were well enough away from prying eyes, he finally set her down and lifted her leg to study the damage. The flesh was torn in several places, and a sharp tooth was embedded deep. “This will hurt.”

  “What?”

  Not giving her time to tense, he pinched and pulled the sharp white tooth out of the savaged skin and muscle. “You must be in great pain.” But she hadn’t even gasped when he’d slid his fingers inside her wound.

  “I’ve had worse.” Absolute truth sang from her tone.

  “I will not think less of you if you cry.”

  She snorted, as far from tears as a creature could be. “Why do men act this way when a woman is injured?”

  “What way?” He had seen worse injuries, true, but this one actually made his stomach churn with sickness. Bone seemed to be glaring up at him.

  “You are protective. When my sisters and I fought your army, the men pushed us away rather than slice at us.”

  His gaze lifted to her face, and he wanted to smile. She reminded him of the sister he’d lost long ago to humans. Confused by him, exasperated. Actually, she could have passed for his sister’s twin. Same turquoise eyes, same pert nose. Same stubborn chin and sun-kissed skin.

  “We do so because women are softer,” he finally replied, his chest aching for what he had lost. “They need protection.”

  She gave another snort and lay back on the moss. “I have endured more pain in my life than anyone should be forced to endure in seven lifetimes. I’ve had to look out for myself, trust only myself. I don’t need anything from you or anyone else.”

  “Who hurt you so terribly? I will slay him for you.”

  She waved a hand in dismissal. “No need. I took care of it myself.”

  His lips twitched. Though she was tall and leanly muscled in the way of the Amazons, she was a tiny thing compared to his massive size. Would reach no higher than his shoulders. “You think yourself hard?”

  “Think? When I have kil
led more soldiers than I could possibly name, warriors of every race living in Atlantis?” There was no pride in her tone, only fact. Perhaps a little sadness. “How many have you killed?”

  “More.”

  Now her lips edged into a smile.

  “Are you in pain now?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Still, not by word or deed did she reveal it. He thought, had their places been reversed, he might have been cursing the heavens. He couldn’t help but admire her fortitude—and be dismayed by it. To shrug at this pain, she truly must have suffered over the years. “Seems you and the other, Delilah, are constantly being injured.”

  Nola’s brow puckered. “When was she injured?”

  So. Delilah hadn’t told her of Layel’s bite. Guarding the vampire already, was she? Interesting. Though he doubted Layel would be any more grateful for the protection than Nola had been. “I thought she was. My mistake,” was all he said.

  She anchored her hands behind her head and stared up at the muted sky. “Men always make mistakes.”

  That haughty tone would have set him on edge had anyone else used it on him, but again, she reminded him of his sister and he could only shake his head and grin. He returned his attention to her poor leg. “Does your race heal quickly?”

  “None of your concern, dragon.”

  “I’m not going to use the information against you.”

  “So you say.”

  So distrustful, she was. “So I swear.”

  “Would you give your enemy knowledge about your race?”

  Excellent point. “Right now, I am not your enemy. We are teammates, you and I.” The bleeding hadn’t stopped. The wound was so deep, it probably wouldn’t. Without help. “Close your eyes.”

  “No.”

  Damned woman. He shook his head in exasperation. “Keep them open, then, but know that this is going to hurt.”

  “What are you—”

  He sucked in a deep breath, held it a moment, then pushed the air from his mouth. Air that was now blended with orange-gold flames. Those flames licked her skin, the now sizzling flesh cauterizing over each bite mark.

  Nola screamed. “Bastard! Son of a demon! Centaur’s ass!”