Jewel Of Atlantis

You, to the front entrance, Marina commanded her strongest minions. You, to the back. I want that human snack captured immediately. Do not let him leave.

“Your path will not work,” she said, opening her eyes. “We must go that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.

“You sure?”

“Very.”

He didn’t ask how she knew, but intertwined his fingers with hers. The feel of his callused hand once again tingled up her arm, renewing her ever-present awareness of him as a male. He pulled her behind him and bolted into action. “I’m sorry you had to fight the demon without me,” he threw over his shoulder.

In her shock, she missed a step and stumbled. An apology. He was giving her an apology. He’d come for her; he’d saved her. He owed her nothing, while she owed him everything.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” He didn’t wait for her answer; he whipped around, bent until his shoulder made contact with her belly, then effortlessly lifted her.

Jewel gasped. “What are you doing? Put me down!”

He shot back into motion. “You’re too slow.”

“This puts you at a disadvantage.” She slapped at his hard, muscled bottom. “Put me down this instant or I’ll stab you in the back!” Truth. She’d stab him with her nails, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I hadn’t realized you’d be so bloodthirsty.” He chuckled. “You wouldn’t let me hurt the centaur or the nymph, but you yourself attempted to kill a demon, and now you want to draw my blood. And if you don’t settle down, your feet are going to bruise my favorite body part.”

“Your penis?”

He made a choking sound in the back of his throat, and his feet nearly tripped over themselves. “Watch your mouth, Prudence. You shouldn’t talk like that.”

Watch her mouth? Watch her mouth! “Penis, penis, penis,” she muttered, but she stilled, her body bouncing over his shoulder.

Stone chips were scattered across the floor, and Gray kicked past them to rush through the wide, jagged hole that used to be a wall. He settled into the shadows whenever a demon flew past, doing his best to keep them out of view. When they found themselves alone again, he would jump back into motion. Her satchel pressed into his stomach. She directed him toward the center of the palace, toward the demon queen’s private pool.

Three sentinels awaited them.

Gray spied them and quickly settled her on her feet. “Stay here.”

She was getting sick of those words.

He sprinted in front of her. The guards’ evil red eyes narrowed hungrily. He didn’t slow. Gray grabbed a small, round object from a side pouch in his pants, pulled something thin and silver out of it with his teeth, then tossed it at the creatures.

“Down,” he commanded Jewel, turning and diving on top of her, propelling her to the ground. The moment she hit, Gray’s heavy weight crashed into her, and cut off her air supply.

Boom!

More jagged pieces of stone rained over them. More dark plumes of smoke. More hisses of fury as the demons were tossed into the air like play toys. Before they even hit the ground Gray was up and running toward them. Fire flickered around him, licking dangerously.

Coughing, eyes watering, Jewel shoved to her feet and raced after him. When the demons landed, Gray expertly killed two. Jewel didn’t hesitate. She knew what needed to be done. She gripped her knife and killed the third.

Demon blood splattered her clothing.

She’d never killed before. She’d attacked the other demon, yes, but she herself hadn’t been the one to render the deathblow. Now that she had…she stared down at the lifeless body. She expected to feel guilt or remorse; she’d always fought for the survival of the Atlantean races. But she felt neither of those emotions. Instead, she felt empowered. Like she had finally taken control of her life.

Gray grabbed her by the arm and whipped her around, his gaze dipping over her, scanning for injuries.

“Did you see me?” She couldn’t stop the slow grin that spread her lips. “I killed him. I really killed him.”

“Yeah, and you surprised the hell out of me.” Grudging pride laced his tone. He plucked the bloody dagger from her hand and sheathed it in his belt. “We can’t stay here. We need to find an exit. Fast.”

“We’ll use the pool.”

His gaze shot to his right, at the debris-covered water dappled by pinpricks of light from the flickering flames.

“We can swim to safety,” she said.

He frowned. “I hate to break it to you, babe, but I’m guessing that pool is only seven feet deep. All we can do in that is swim laps.” And have sex, his mind added, never far from the subject.

Hearing his unbidden thought, her cheeks warmed and her stomach knotted. This time he hadn’t been imagining any woman except her. Her. He’d pictured her naked and rosy, skin covered with droplets of water waiting to be licked away.

Tendrils of pleasure curled inside her veins, spreading like the fire around them. When she spoke, her voice cracked. “There’s a hatch on the bottom. A door that leads into the forest.”

He paused, considering her words. His frown deepened. “If the demons follow us inside the water—”

“I’ll make sure they do not.”

His mouth opened to ask how, but he shut it with a snap, changing his mind. “All right. We’ll swim.”

He stepped to the pool’s ledge, Jewel still close to his heels. Before he entered, he turned to her and said, “Take off your clothes.”

Her head snapped up, and she met his stare with wide eyes. “The demons will sniff you out soon and you want me to get naked?”

His mouth twisted in one of those wry smiles of his. “Silly girl. Can’t you read my mind?”

“Not always,” she grumbled. Like before, he had erected some sort of wall she couldn’t breach. It had to be him, but how he managed it, she could not fathom.

“Just so you know, Prudence, that thick material of yours will weigh you down in the water. Take it off.” As he spoke, he began removing his shirt.

She’d seen him naked a hundred times before, perhaps a thousand, but those visions of him had always been in her mind. Seeing him now, in the flesh, was so much more potent. She forgot her surroundings, forgot the danger, focusing only on the bronzed strength of his muscled, sinewy chest. His abdomen was chiseled into perfect rows of hardness.

“You can look all you want. Later,” he added. “Right now, Pru, you need to get naked.” He dropped his shirt and withdrew his dagger.

Her gaze still locked on him, she brought her shaky fingers to her waist and tried to untie the satchel.

“No time.” He sliced the ties with his knife. The satchel dropped to the ground with a thwack. In the next instant, he cut the shoulder straps of her robe. The white material swished to the floor, joining the satchel and leaving her in only a thin chemise.

Bending down, Gray grasped the robe and said, “Step out of it.”

The moment she complied, the robe was stuffed inside his bag, followed quickly by her satchel. All the while, he perused her up and down. His eyes were heated. What did he see when he looked at her? She gulped, too afraid to try to probe his mind to discover the truth.

His hands reached toward her and she felt their warmth as they neared her skin. What did he plan to do? He stopped just before contact.

He shook his head, and his gaze grew cold. Empty. “We need to get the hell out of Oz. Can you swim?”