Miranda rubbed his shoulders. “I’ve never been with anyone like you.”
“Human males can be too visual for their own good. Long ago, Atlanteans learned to see with our hearts. My people will find your kindness and laughter a great treasure.” Reef caressed her shoulders and brushed his lips across hers. “I meant every word I said. I want to show you Heaven beneath the sea, paradise above the ocean and a world unlike anything you will ever see again.”
She wiggled against him and giggled at his grunt. “Then why are we still here?”
He laughed. “You drained my strength, little water sprite.”
His rich laughter filled Miranda with warmth. “I don’t have any clothes.”
Reef pushed up and looked down at her delightful figure. “You need none. Unless you wish to return to your world.”
She averted her gaze. “Let me think on that.”
“Agreed.” Ever gentle, he lifted himself off her and stood. He proffered his hand and, at her acceptance, drew her to stand before him.
Miranda smiled. “You’re just the right height for my head to rest on your shoulder.”
Reef clutched her close and beckoned her to follow her suggestion. “I would welcome you here with me, Miranda, for as long as you desire and, if nothing else, at least a visit when you want.” The thought of her absence hurt. He kissed the top of her head. “Any time, sweet water sprite.”
“Can you get me close to the boat?”
“Yes.” Reluctant, he manipulated time and space, then shifted into merman form. Their sudden appearance close to the shipping lanes shielded by his magic, his raised hand deflected a small wave from her face.
Miranda gasped. “I’m wet again.”
Reef wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. “You asked me to bring you here. You’re close enough a passing ship will hear you if you call out.”
“You would let me go?”
“I cannot hold you against your will.” He longed to beg her to stay, but left the decision in her hands.
* * * *
Miranda welcomed the glide of his warm hands around her waist. She placed one hand on his forearm and slid her other palm down his side to caress his scaled hip. “Much softer and warmer than expected.”
With his arm snug around her waist, Reef held her back against him and placed his mouth beside her ear. “Your touch teases. Are you trying to torment me?”
“Yes. Can you perform in any form?”
He groaned at the very idea of her staying. “Yes.”
Miranda giggled. “Interesting. I like my Atlantean… lover. Does Atlantis have secret places?”
“Yes, and you will see them all when you wish.” Reef nuzzled her shoulder. “Your ride is leaving, Miranda, and this is your last chance to return to your world.”
“It is a pretty ship.” She shivered at the warmth of the man pressed tight against her back. The gentle force of the underwater waves caused by his powerful tail swirled around their bodies. “If you wish you may put me there with your magic.”
He turned her to face him and lifted her partly out of the water. “You aren’t going to call for them?”
Miranda slipped her arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his waist and wiggled against his stomach. “If I did that how would I get to see all you promised to show me?”
Reef cupped her backside and fought the tug at the corner of his mouth. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. If I get on any ship, I promise to jump again. Will you catch me?”
“Always, my beloved water sprite.” He kissed her with a passion, strong and desirous with no intent to stop until her moan garnered his attention. Their oral embrace broken, he rubbed the tip of her nose with his. “Let’s explore Atlantis, my love.” Manipulation of time and space accompanied by his wink, he whisked her away into the kingdom below the surface of the sea.
ATLANTIS LOST
Stephani Hecht
“Here kitty…kitty…kitty…” chanted a disembodied voice over Brianna’s earpiece.
“Hey, asswad,” another responded. “That jokes as old as time. I know that this is your first mission, but you don’t need to broadcast is so loudly.”
Brianna pushed the talk button on her own earpiece, “Be nice to Kegan. We were all green witches or warlocks at one time.”
“I’m not that green,” Kegan protested, his voice cracked giving away his nervousness.
“Please,” the other male shot back. His name was Cale and he was one of Brianna’s most seasoned fighters. “We may as well slap a bright red stamp on his forehead that says, Fresh Meat.”
Brianna smiled since the young recruit was a couple of streets down and wouldn’t see her amusement at his expense. “Cale, you’re just pissed because we haven’t seen any action tonight.”
“And we won’t be,” Cale growled. She knew him so well that she could almost see his sneer even though he was nowhere in sight. “Ever since the shifters have taken Garrett, they’ve been laying low, like the little pussies they are. They know you’re going to have all your soldiers out looking for him.”
Brianna’s gut tightened at the mention of her cousin’s name. Garrett was her best friend and had been her constant companion. They had been raised together since birth and he was like a brother to her. Goddess knew they looked alike enough to pass as siblings. They both had the same wavy blond hair and light blue eyes. He hated his curls, always keeping his hair cut short to hide them. She had resigned herself to her own a long time ago, although she always kept it in a tight braid when out patrolling like tonight.
“Look, Brie,” Cale soothed in a much softer tone. All of her men knew how broken up she was about her cousin. “We don’t even know that they took him alive. He might be—”
“Don’t even say it,” she commanded harshly. Brianna shivered, suddenly aware of how cold her exposed abdomen felt as the night air caressed it. She always wore tight fitting shirts into battle so she could move easier. Tonight was a black shirt cropped short so it showed off her taut belly. It was hard for her to resist the urge to pull her long, black, overcoat tighter because she would have to shift her Glock in order to do so and didn’t want to be vulnerable even for a second. Especially now since she faced danger from all sides, the shifters and her own.
What Cale didn’t know was they hadn’t seen any action for months because she’d planned it that way. Garrett had, too, before he disappeared. They both were working together with some shifters in hopes of finally making peace. The pair were taking a great risk because what they were doing would be looked upon as treason by both ruling families. Shifter or witch, the punishment for treason was death.
She was shaken out of her trance when Cale barked, “I’ve got a group of three shifters headed down my street. Requesting backup.”
She started running, her boots echoing wet, slaps with each step. Gunshots rang out nearby and she cursed under her breath, “Shit.” Before ordering Cale, “Damn it, don’t kill them. I need them alive so they can tell me where Garrett is.” Which was only half true, the main reason why she didn’t want them killed was because, thanks to Garrett and his frigging make love not war talk, she’d suddenly grown a conscience when it came to slaughtering shifters.
Cale let out a growl and she heard another shot. “Sure, no big deal. I’ll just catch their bullets with my teeth and tackle them at the same time.”
“Just do it.”
Brianna rounded the corner and stopped short at the sight of two male shifters. One was prone on the ground and another one was standing over him. The stander had brown hair styled in a shaggy cut so bad that even in the dark, she could still make out that it was god awful. He was wearing a dark bomber jacket and he had one hand inside it. He looked up at her and seemed to be just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Recovering quickly, he gave her a lazy smile before he whipped out a gun and fired several quick rounds at her.
She ducked into a nearby door and tried to make herself as
small as possible. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she chided herself. She had never been caught off guard like this before. In her worry for Garrett and his damn cause, she’d been caught with her size four, hip-hugger jeans down. She peeked out so she could squeeze off a few rounds, but the stander was gone. He’d left his friend behind. Brianna saw, even from across the street, that he was injured. That surprised her. She’d never seen a shifter leave behind one of their own. They were, if anything, fiercely loyal to one another.
“What the hell?” she whispered. She knew that shifters were quick, thanks to the feline part of them, but she’d never had one practically disappear right before her eyes. She’d have suspected magic, but that was impossible.
Cale’s voice crackled into her earpiece, snapping her out of her musings. “We’re chasing a couple of them, but they’ve shifted and it’s hard to keep up.”
“Don’t you dare loose them. I want to a full status report as soon as you get one.”
“I could really use your help here. I’m out here on my own with just this green kid to help me out.”
“He can’t be that bad.”
Cale gave a disgusted sigh. “When we first saw them he shouted, Stop in the name of the law. I thought the shifters were going to laugh themselves into submission.”
Brianna imagined the look on Cale’s face at the incident. “Just don’t kill him.”
“I already told you I would try to take the shifters alive.”
“I didn’t mean them, I mean the kid. Maintain pursuit. I’m on my way.” She hoped he didn’t hear the lie in her voice as she disconnected the communication. Brianna inched her way to the shifter, wary because this whole set up could be a trap. The shifter was on his stomach, his face toward her, and he wasn’t moaning. For a second she thought he was dead, then there was a slight movement as he took in a shallow breath. His short, ink-black hair appeared to be wet in areas, no doubt with blood. His eyes remained closed and he gave no indication he knew she was there.
Squatting down, she felt around his neck, trying to ignore how cold and clammy his skin was until she found a chain. Pulling it out, she let out a moan of apprehension at the silver triquetra on the end of it. Damn it, if this wasn’t the cherry on her crap day of a sundae.
“Shit, shit, double shit. You would have to be a freedom fighter.” On both sides of the civil war between the ancient races that had once lived in Atlantis, a small group of freedom fighters had broken out and started to operate in the shadows. Sick of the war that had destroyed their once great home, they now were working in secret in hopes of one day making peace. They did this at great risk of discovery. Most would like to keep this war going, and that included the current royal leaders. With that in mind, the freedom fighters had exchanged amulets so that they would know friend from enemy. Even now she felt the gold paw print she always wore, pressing on her chest like a heavy weight.
Her earpiece came to life as Cale called again. “Where are you? You’re not hurt are you?”
Her heart galloped. If Cale found the injured shifter, he would shoot him on the spot. She couldn’t allow that. Now that she’d seen that damn amulet, she was honored bound to protect his fine hide. Her fingers trembled as she pushed the communicate button. “I twisted my ankle. Finish the mission without me.”
There was a long pause and she held her breath. Cale had known her since she was a little girl. Would he buy her little fib? He finally gave a disgruntled grunt. “Fine, but don’t think I’ll always be here to pick up the pieces of your mess.”
She cocked her head to the side. Now what in the hell did he mean by that? Was is possible that he knew what she was up to? Another shiver ran through her body. Cale was a great friend, but he would make a terrifying enemy and he was fiercely loyal to her father, the king.
She gave a slight shake of her head and returned her attention to the injured shifter. Rolling him over onto his back, she gasped at the amount of blood soaking though his shirt. Whatever had taken him must have been mean and ugly. It wasn’t easy to take down a shifter. Not even for a witch like her. But something had and it had been damn brutal. Sloppy, too. There was no way a witch or warlock would have left a half-dead shifter for a human to find.
The last thing any surviving Atlantean needed was for one of them to end up in a human hospital. There were too many secrets that they needed to keep, regardless of what side of the war they were on.
She took in a deep breath, weighed her options and almost gagged at the mixture of scents that assaulted her. The alley reeked of garbage, urine, dirt, fish and saltwater. Fish and saltwater? She leaned down closer toward the shifter and gave another tentative sniff. Why would he smell like fish? They were hundreds of miles from the ocean.
She moved his blood soaked clothing around to get a better look at his injuries. He was wearing a heavy army jacket over a black hoodie, so it wasn’t easy. To make things even more difficult, the night was pitch black and the only lighting was one weak streetlamp.
She must have jostled him more than she’d realized because he let out a sharp gasp and his lids cracked open. She found herself looking into the most intense blue eyes that she’d ever encountered. They were fringed by dark thick lashes. Any female would kill to have those suckers and here was this warrior shifter touting them around and probably not even appreciating them.
“So, I guess you’re here to finish the job,” he slurred out, sounding like the local drunk.
She tilted her head to the side. She’d seen him somewhere before, but just couldn’t figure out where. “Now that would make my life a whole lot easier.”
“Lucky me,” his voice weakened with every syllable. “My angel of death is so fucking hot that I really don’t mind that she’s going to put me out my misery.”
She couldn’t hold back the small chuckle and he gave a weak smile in return. His lips curled up enough to reveal his elongated canines. It wasn’t until she saw the dimples he was proud owner of, that she realized who he was. “Beat me with a stick and call me Nancy,” she all but shouted. “You’re Markus, the oldest son of the shifter king.”
He didn’t answer her because he had fallen back into unconsciousness. His breathing became more ragged and shallow and his skin turned such a pasty white it stood out in stark contrast to his dark hair. He let out another gasp and she waited nervously for an eternity to see if he took another one. He finally did, but it was accompanied by a wet rattling sound that announced his lungs were filling with fluid.
There was no way she could let him die now, not when she just discovered who he was. If he were to croak on her watch, it would set the freedom fighters back ten years. She placed her hands on his chest and called upon the ancient Goddess of Atlantis. A great white light of healing energy hummed within the earth before it shot upward through her body. It slammed into her with so much force she jerked a bit, but she had prepared herself and was able to keep her hands in place. The light traveled down her arms, through her fingertips and into the shifter. He let out a loud gasp as his worst wounds started to slowly heal.
His eyelids fluttered open as the color came back into his face. Using this much magic quickly drained her, but she didn’t dare stop. She knew she didn’t have enough left in her to heal all of his wounds, but did have enough to mend the worst of them. Once she knew for sure that he wasn’t going to die, she relinquished the white light back to the earth.
As she pulled her arms back, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. It wasn’t a violent move, more like he desperately sought something to anchor onto. Brianna looked down at him and her gaze instantly locked with his. She remained frozen in place, her heart hammering in her chest as his sharp blue eyes seemed to look inside her soul.
His presence and essence snaked through every fiber of her being, as if she found something she never knew she lost. She’d never been a believer in love at first sight or lifemates, but right now, she would kill to protect this shifter. Not because he could help lead her to Garrett, but beca
use he belonged to her. Oh, this is so not good.
His upper lip curled up in disgust. “This is damn inconvenient. The last thing I need right now is to find out that my lifemate is a witch.”
She jerked her hand away, surprised that one little statement stung that much. “Hey, bud, I don’t know what you think is going on. I was just healing you so I could barter your ass back to your daddy.”
He rolled over and pinned her on the ground so quickly she didn’t have time to react. She sucked in her breath at the feel of his hard body pressed against hers. His full lips lingered mere inches from hers and, each time he breathed, it tickled her cheek.
“Are you still going to deny there’s something between us?” he challenged before leaning down and burying his nose briefly against her neck. “I can smell the desire on you and it makes me want you even more. The minute I looked into your eyes, I knew you were the one for me, witch or not. All you have to do is deny you feel the same thing and I’ll get up, leave and you never have to see me again.”
“You need to stop this,” her protest sounded weak, even to her own ears.
“I’ve seen you fight before, Brianna,” her named rolled from his tongue like hot caramel. “If you really wanted to get me off you, you’d have already done so.”
“You know who I am?” she squeaked as every nerve ending in her body hummed in pleasure.
Instead of answering, he slipped one hand down the front of her top. Her breathing halted as his fingers brushed her sternum, briefly touching the insides of her breasts, before he fished out her amulet and held it out between them. “Garrett told me what you would look like. What he didn’t tell me was that your hair looked like spun silver and moonlight or that your eyes might remind me of the ocean that I’ve longed for, but have never seen. He sure as hell didn’t tell me that your curves would be so soft and perfect, or that you would smell like flowers and desire.”
“Oh gawd,” she groaned out. “You must have a head injury because now you’re talking stupid.”
Atlantis Allure Page 3