[Atlantean's Quest 01] The Arrival (15 page)

He’d already claimed her. Once they were joined, he’d never let her go.

Rachel showed signs of trust whether she knew it or not. The way she snuggled against him in her sleep, the way she looked at him, her gaze filled with longing. She allowed him to touch her any way he desired.

She had even trusted him not to drop her as they swung through the trees last night, despite the fact that heights terrified her. It had killed Eros to wait as the Professor aimed the gun at Rachel, but for his own peace of mind, he had to see if she would remain loyal to him and the people of Atlantis.

Little by little her resistance was wearing down.

Soon she’d love him, as much as his heart loved her.

Today he would show Rachel the village and introduce her to his people. Perhaps if he explained to her the significance of her being here, she’d understand and want to stay. The seer might be able to help. He’d take Rachel to talk to her this afternoon. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the taste of her on his lips. Explore her curves, until he had them memorized. Record her sensuous moans in his mind.

Eros rose from the furs. He held his hand out to help Rachel up. She rose onto her knees, tugging her hand free from his grasp. Her brown eyes sparked with sensuality and her pink tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip. Eros narrowed his gaze.

What was she up to now
?

He was about to ask when she slipped her small hands around the base of his cock. “By the goddess, what are you doing?” he bit out, his voice strained from the effort.

She arched a delicate brow in challenge. “You want me to stop?”

“No!” he bellowed. He’d dreamt about the feel of her small hands upon him, he didn’t want her to stop now.

“I didn’t think so.” She laughed, the sound rich and pleasing to his ears. The sparkle in her eyes disappeared, replaced by burning desire in its stead, as she gazed longingly upon his staff.

“I’ve wanted to do this ever since I met you in my dream.” With that she licked the underside of his cock from end to end.

Eros blew out a heavy breath. He wasn’t sure what dream she talked about, but if she wanted to touch him, he would not protest. His gaze dropped to her full lips as she sucked the crown of his cock into her mouth. Her fingers took on an intoxicating rhythm, sliding seductively around his girth. Eros was so busy watching her hands that his knees almost buckled when she took him to the back of her throat. Her mouth could barely accept a portion of his length, but it was enough. Warmth surrounded him, enveloping, firing off every instinct to claim and conquer. His cock was cradled while she suctioned the very life from his body.

His palms sought out her head. Eros rested his fingertips in her silky hair, following her bobbing movements. She suckled and licked, swirling her tongue around his cock, playing with the eye. The moist lashing drove all rational thought from his mind. He tried to focus on her goddess-like face, but his vision began to blur. His need rose like an inferno, searing his blood.

Eros labored for every breath, trying to draw out the pleasure she gifted him with. His legs shook and his body trembled. A thin sheen of sweat covered his golden skin as he tried to hang on. His grip tightened of its own accord. He was a warrior damn it, a King. He should last longer than a mere squire…but her lips were wreaking havoc on his good intentions. His shaft strained to gain deeper entrance, seeking the heaven-like release her ministrations would bring.

Rachel sucked in hard and it was all over. Eros thrust in her mouth, unable to stop himself. He felt his heavy sac rise up against his cock, pulling the rest of him over a precipice.

He jerked, his seed squirted forth, flowing out of his body, spilling down Rachel’s throat. He tried to pull back, but she held him firmly, gripping his buttocks with one hand, his cock with the other, as she swallowed every drop. Eros thrust a couple more times against her mouth, his loins aflame.

Rachel ran her tongue along his length once more, catching the last few pearly drops easing from his body, and sat back on her heels. A “cat licking cream from its whiskers” smile spread across her face, warming his soul.

Eros dropped to his knees before her. His eyes locked to hers. His breathing still hadn’t returned to normal. “You are truly a sorceress.”

He brought his mouth to hers, kissing her hard, tasting his own essence on her lips, then dropped his head to place a quick peck upon each of her nipples, resisting the urge to suckle, before rising.

Eros carefully pulled her off the furs as if she were fragile. He dressed her in the traditional outfit and then slipped his loincloth on.

Food had already been set outside the door, as was the custom during the preparation period. He lifted the hide blocking the door and grabbed the bowl of fruits and fresh bread.

“Let us take nourishment. You have much to see today.” Eros set the food upon the table. They sat and ate companionably.

Rachel shared the adventures in shopping that she had with her friends Jac and Brigit. She talked of parties and luncheons, even holidays. The love she had for the two women was apparent. She choked up while talking about them, pretending that a piece of fruit got lodged in her throat.

Eros didn’t question her, but felt guilty that he’d caused her pain.

Rachel shared her ambitions with him and explained to Eros in great detail what her field of study in school had been.

Eros listened intently, hanging on her every word. Gripping the table, he hesitated, then asked. “Can you interpret symbols?”

“What kind of symbols?” Rachel mumbled over the bite of banana she’d taken.

Eros sat back. He knew in order to gain trust, first you must give it. He looked at his future mate. Her hair lay in disarray from their earlier frolic. It was time to trust her with more than his heart.

“We have a transport here that no one has been able to interpret since the sages were lost. Would you be interested in seeing it?”

“Transport? You mean like a ship?” Rachel’s eye lit up with excitement. “I’d love to.” She took another bite of banana. Her gaze fixed on the discarded peel, obviously lost in thought.

Eros picked up pictures of flying discs, gray aliens, Roswell, and strewn wreckage from her scattered thoughts. None of the images made any sense to him.

Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his. “What happened to the sages?”

“Some were killed, some escaped to Zaron, our home planet.” The ache of loss flooded Eros. Over two thousand years had passed since the great disaster, yet the pain felt fresh every time he spoke of Atlantis.

“Did you say planet?” She held up her hand. “No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

He nodded and watched as her brows furrowed. After a few seconds she frowned, her disbelief as transparent as her emotions. When she changed the subject, he decided not to push the point.

“What about your parents?”

“Lost…” Eros looked away from Rachel. He didn’t want to see pity on her face. He wanted only her understanding, her love.

Rachel cleared her throat. “How old were you when they died?”

“I was thirteen of your years.”

“I’m sorry,” she gulped. “My folks are dead, too.”

He turned back to prevent her from saying any more, but stopped as her words registered. Tears pooled in her brown eyes, covering her lashes, a moment before they spilled down her pale cheeks.

Eros reached out and captured some of the wetness on his fingertips. He leaned across the table and placed a kiss on each cheek, feeling the salt upon his lips. Pulling back to frame her face with his large palms, he tilted her chin up until their eyes met.

“Please don’t cry,
my
Rachel. We have each other.” He brought his mouth to hers in a tender kiss before releasing her.

“It’s just so sad.” Rachel swiped at the fresh tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost my parents when I was growing up. It
was bad enough losing them at twenty-one. If it weren’t for my friends, Jac and Brigit,
I’d be all alone in this world. They are my family now.”

Eros’s eyes flashed at her words, but he said nothing.

Eros had experienced the worst kind of loss as a child. Rachel tried to imagine him as a boy. His hair golden, those aquamarine eyes flashing with mischief. He was probably a handful for his mother and father. She wondered which one he most resembled. The truth was, she’d never know.

She frowned. “You were so young.”

“I was not the only one who lost loved ones that day. Many have suffered.” Eros’s jaw tightened and he crushed the piece of fruit he’d just pick up from the table. “Their only hope was that the seer’s prophecy of your arrival, our impending union and ultimately the conception of our child, would prove true.”

Rachel blew out a ragged breath. “Prophecy? Baby? This is too much. How do you expect me to believe all this? Eros, I can’t even believe I’m the one chosen to save your people. Look at me.” She stood and twirled around in a circle. “I’m an average woman, in every sense of the word. There is nothing special about me.” She stopped and faced him. “And motherhood? I’m not ready to be a mother.”
Was she?

Eros flinched as she uttered her last words, but continued on. “Ah, but that’s where you are wrong, my Rachel. There is nothing average about you.” A knowing smile curled his lips. “When the red-haired demon was about to end your life you had the chance to save yourself by telling him where to find my people, and showing him the instrument in your pocket, yet you chose to remain silent. You were brave and loyal, like a Queen should be.”

“That’s different.”
Wasn’t it?

“No, ‘tis not. You have told me about your friendship with Jac and Brigit and how you all supported one another in times of crisis. Your loyalty is obvious for all to see.”

He swung his hands wide for emphasis. “The pain that you feel at the loss of these two women is reflected in your eyes. But they are not lost. Because you have told me they will seek you out. I will ensure that Ares finds them.”

“What?” Rachel’s mouth dropped open. Her eyes widened in shock, then outrage. She placed her hands on the table and rose, pushing the chair away in one movement. “Leave Jac and Brigit out of this.”

“I cannot do that, my Queen, for their company has been requested.”

“By who? I never said—”

“In your mind, you’ve asked for them dozens of times. I’ll stop Ares’s quest for the red-devil and send him to wait for your friends instead.”

“Ares is the dark-haired man I saw the first day I was brought here, right?” Somehow she just knew that’s who he was talking about.

“Yes, he is like a brother.”

Rachel shivered. Ares gave her the willies. His jade eyes had pierced through her, like a blade, unsettling in their regard. She pictured the dark hunter, then imagined Jac. “No, you can’t send him after my friends!” Rachel plopped down on the chair, holding her head. This wasn’t happening. Eros had her dead to rights. She may not have said anything aloud, but she thought of Jac and Brigit often. It still wasn’t right to inflict this situation upon her friends,
was it
?

She looked up in a flash. “Stay out of my mind,” she warned.

“Why do you fight me, when you know what I say is true?”

Rachel covered her face with her hands in frustration. “I’m not fighting you. I just don’t…I just don’t know what I want anymore.” She dropped her hands and looked into his fathomless depths. “You are purposely trying to confuse me.”

Eros shrugged. “Tell me about Donald.”

The mere mention of the man had Rachel ready to spit bullets. That bastard should pay. But if she stayed here, there was no way justice would be done.

“Justice will be done, my Queen. I will see to it.” Eros pushed the table out of the way and pulled Rachel onto his lap. He stroked the side of her hair with his fingers, gently tugging on the loose strands.

She sniffed. “What does that mean?”

“I cannot allow this man to escape the jungle. He is far too much of a threat to my people. Besides he has broken Atlantean law.”

“What law?”

“Atlantean law states that if a man strikes a woman in our society he must face a tribunal. If he is found guilty, the group will strip him of his ability to mate, along with his telepathic powers. Once he has lost these powers, he often chooses to leave the tribe and go off to die.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped. “They’ll chop off his dick?”

Eros nodded. “Our methods are humane.”

“Then it’s not for Donald,” she snapped. “He doesn’t deserve humane.”

“But necessary. We have so few among us, as you may have noticed, that our women are protected above all else. We show them honor and respect, as all societies of the world should.”

“Unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way.”

“I am aware of your world.” Eros’s jaw tightened.

Rachel shook her head. “The tribunal wouldn’t be able to hold a trial for Donald. He’s not a telepath and he doesn’t mate. Besides, I’d need proof.”

“You have it right here in front of you.” Eros patted his chest.

Rachel worried her teeth over her lower lip. “You?”

“I witnessed him striking you. No one would doubt the word of the King.”

“He’s probably halfway back to New York by now.”

Eros shrugged. “He will be found,” he said without apology or further explanation. “Now let’s see the village.”

Chapter Twelve

Eros rose, lifting Rachel in the process. He gently set her feet on the floor and led her out the door. His eyes caressed her lovingly, warming her. Rachel figured she would never grow tired of basking in those lipid pools.

He placed her hand on the crook of his arm and put his large palm over top. Rachel felt special. Needed. Wanted. And it scared her senseless.

They walked along the tree branch. The huts were empty. Rachel glanced and saw people bustling on the ground. She tightened her grip on Eros. He patted her hand in reassurance.

Warm, orchid perfumed air clung to her skin, moistening it to a glistening sheen. Rachel looked up, catching glimpses of sunlight through the swaying leaves. A breeze washed over her in a gentle embrace.