Atlantis Rising

Riley's body arched to meet him. The emotion that washed through him and into her was a revelation. Awe… astonishment. Simple gratitude.

He had never belonged to anyone. Had never been wanted just for himself since he was a child.

His gratitude transformed into a tsunami of passion, tempered with warmth, and he shared it all with her through their bond. She shuddered underneath him, and something in him seemed to snap.

'I'm sorry, Riley, but I don't have any more control,' he managed, grinding out the words. 'I'm going to take you now, and it's going to be hard and fast. I promise I'll try for finesse later, but—'

She held a finger up to his lips and smiled, feminine power shining in her eyes. 'Less talking. More action.'

With a shout of joy, he pulled back and thrust into her again, his body catching the rhythm that was older than even Atlantis. Older than the gods themselves.

She arched into him in time with his thrusts and he rode her, stroked her, thrust into her again and again while he felt her body tightening around him and the tension building and building inside her.

Riley had never felt anything like it before. The heat and slick tension, the coiling electricity of his body pumping inside her, the hard muscles working under her fingers, the glow in his eyes showing her that he was loving every minute of it as much as she did.

It was all driving her over the edge. Every nerve ending in her body sang. The pressure climbed in a starburst crescendo until she exploded, free-falling into space, fingers digging into his shoulders to keep from cartwheeling off the edge of the world.

He tensed, muscles straining for control as she shuddered beneath him. As she came back to solid ground, she opened her eyes and stared up at him. 'Conlan?'

He bent to press a gentle kiss on her lips, the stark outline of the muscles in his neck and shoulders telling her how much his restraint cost him.

'Riley, know this. As the ancient stories foretold, so it is true. I have waited for you, unknowing, all my life.'

She stared at him, dazed by what his words and his emotions were telling her. 'Are you saying—'

'I love you, Riley. You have captured my heart.' With the words, something in his control seemed to break. He plunged into her once, twice, three times more, then drove into her with one final thrust that took him so deep she felt him against her womb. He threw his head back and yelled her name, exploding inside her. His mind, his heart, even his soul opened up to her more fully than they ever had before, and she felt herself dancing, twirling, reveling in his emotions.

In his passion.

And she exploded again, spiraling up and up into a place she'd never been before. Exploding again around him. Falling and falling…

Into love. Somehow, incredibly, she loved this man she'd only just met. This man she'd known forever.

Before she could catch her breath from the realization, she seamlessly wove her shields into place. It wasn't knowledge she was quite ready to share. Not even with Conlan.

Not yet. It was too soon. If you loved people, they left. She wasn't ready for him to leave.

Maybe not ever.

Conlan collapsed on top of her, holding himself up with his arms so he didn't crush her with his weight. The only sound in the room was panting. From both of them. After a minute or so, he stirred himself to move, rolling to the side, still holding her in his arms.

'Forget the mountain of the gods,' he murmured. 'I'd give that up for this in an instant.'

Chapter 24

Riley woke up, warm, content, and deliriously sore in places that hadn't been sore in a very long time. For a moment she didn't open her eyes, perfectly happy to just lie there with Conlan's arms around her, her head nestled on his shoulder. Sunlight wanning the room. Peace, even the illusory peace that she knew it was, warming her heart.

'I wondered when you might wake up, sleepy one.'

She turned a little to smile up at him. 'Sleepy one? It was after four when you finally let me rest.'

The smile on his face was smug and undeniably male. She laughed, then pinched him.

'Hey!' He rolled over and caught her underneath him. 'Do you know what the penalty is for assaulting the person of Atlantean royalty?'

She rolled her eyes. 'Oh, poor baby. That tiny pinch? Surely the dungeon.'

Conlan's eyes gleamed with mischief and something decidedly lascivious. 'Oh, no. No dungeon for you. The penalty is hard labor. In my bedchambers.'

Riley giggled. She couldn't help it. The sight of her proud warrior, for once lighthearted and teasing, simply made her happy.

Conlan's heart stuttered at the sound of Riley's carefree laughter. He'd never stayed around after bedding a female. He'd always known he must avoid entanglements.

But Riley. Riley. Laughing, cheeks flushed with happiness and the aftermath of the night's passion. He'd felt her desire deepen—known when her emotions capitulated.

Still, she had not admitted it.

Not in words.

He grinned. 'Maybe we'll have to work on that.'

'Work on the idea of me doing hard labor? I think not,' she said, squirming in an attempt to get away.

He lifted his arm, let her pull up on her elbows. Which put him exactly where he wanted to be, with his face level with her adorable little belly button.

He pounced, trapping her again, and licked across her warm skin.

'Hey! No fair,' she said, still laughing.

'Be still,' he murmured, then slid farther down in the bed, until he was staring at an intriguing triangle of red-gold curls.

'Conlan? What are you—'

Her voice cut off with a gasp as he moved his hand and traced through the curls with one finger. 'I think your penalty is about to begin, mi amara. Lie still and accept your punishment.'

He moved her thighs apart, trapping them in his hands.

'But—'

He swept his tongue along the path his finger had taken, and she moaned. He smiled. 'I think the prisoner must behave, or the penalty will be extended.'

Riley caught her breath as Conlan's tongue swept across her again. Nerve endings she didn't even know she had sizzled and flashed fire through her veins, sending an arc of electricity blasting straight from his tongue to every inch of her body.

She moaned as he kissed and licked and suckled her, paying the same attention that he had to her breasts. Except this time, she was going to come in his mouth if he didn't stop.

She whipped her head back and forth on the pillow, drowning in the sensation. Surrendering to the primal heat that sparkled from him, from her, from them both. Who knew where one ended and the other began? Oh, his lips, his tongue, his mouth. She was going to explode. If only, if only…

He slid one finger inside her and pressed down.

'Conlan!' somebody—was that her!—screamed.

He added a second finger and thrust them in and out of her wetness in time with what his tongue was doing, and she gasped, begging, pleading.

And then he stopped.

Her eyes flew open and she stared down at him, trying to breathe, trying to focus. He smiled up at her, pupils