The Nymph King (Atlantis #3)(77)

Under Valerian's spell... how true those words were. She hadn't been herself since she'd first laid eyes on him. Was it the general allure of the nymph, though, or Valerian the man that enchanted her? She suspected the latter, because none of the other men appealed to her.

"Even still." She squared her shoulders, determined. "I'm leaving you in here. And I feel really bad about that, but - "

"You look like you feel bad," Kendrick said dryly. "Your eyes are sparkling."

The thought of seeing Valerian again did that to her. "Hey." She blinked as a thought occurred to her. "You're speaking English. My language."

He shrugged, as if the observation had no importance. "Our king wed a human."

She blinked in surprise. "So there are more humans in the city? How - "

"Where is she?" she heard a man shout. There was terror and fury in his tone.

Valerian.

Her heart kicked into overtime, beating like a silly drum. Heat infused her cells. "Gotta go," she told the boys. "I won't forget you, I promise, and I'll even talk to Valerian about you. Come on, Brenna."

"Shaye!" Valerian shouted, his voice frantic. "Shaye!"

"Don't leave us," Kendrick pleaded. "Fight against his allure."

She gave him a pinky wave and raced from the enclosure, Brenna right behind her. When they emerged from between the rocks, they rounded the corner and stepped directly behind the portal. She heard another, "Shaye," this one more panicked than before.

"I'll return as soon as possible," he said to someone.

He was about to step into the portal, she realized. "I'm here, Valerian. I'm here."

He whipped to face her, reaching out automatically to grab her arm. He tugged her to him, and their gazes locked. Shadows of relief couched his features... followed quickly by fury. He released her and braced his arms over his chest, and it was then she saw what he was holding. She almost cried. He was holding an orange.

A lump filled her throat. He'd found it for her. She had mentioned that she wanted one, and in the midst of war he'd found one.

Her knees shook. Her nerve endings sizzled as she took it from him. "Thank you," she said softly. She drank him in.

His hair was sweat soaked and hanging in sand-coated tangles at his temples. Streaks of blood covered his face and arms, and his turquoise eyes shot sparks at her. Of fury, yes, but also of lust.

She nearly dropped the orange as she noticed the rest of him. A deep gash branded his chest. "You're hurt," she said stupidly.

"I am fine. How did you escape the cell?" The question was uttered in a still, quiet voice, so much more ominous than if he'd shouted. "And I see you took Brenna with you."

Shaye, too, assumed a battle stance. If he wasn't worried about the wound, she wouldn't be, either. "Leave her out of this. I got out with a little thing called ingenuity."

He ran his tongue over his teeth. "How long have you been free?"

"Long enough to go through the portal."

His expression relaxed in gradual degrees. "But you didn't."

"But I didn't." Why were they talking? She wanted his tongue on her. She wanted, finally, to know the most erotic place on her body, and she wanted him to bring her to shuddering climax. Twice. She wanted to drip orange on his skin and lick it up.

Behind her, Dylan and Terran ushered the rest of the women from the cell. "Take this one, as well," Valerian said, motioning to Brenna.

"No," Brenna said. "No touching."

"Take her, but do not touch her," Valerian allowed.

Brenna walked willingly to the group.

Kathleen spotted Shaye and frowned. "I thought you were going to escape."

"Didn't work out," she said, fighting the urge to hang a sign around Valerian's neck that said Mine. She faced him. "Listen. I was chatting with the dragons and - " She pressed her mouth together. Maybe that wasn't a good thing to admit.

Valerian's nostrils flared. "I put you in that cell to protect you. Not only do you escape, you visit my enemies, too."

Shaye drew herself to her full height. "That's right. So? I will not tolerate being locked away. I told you that. Where's my thanks for staying down here when I could have gone back to the surface?"

"Your thanks? Your thanks?" He pounded a fist into his open palm. "Did the dragons hurt you? Did they touch you in any way?"

"No. And since we're on the subject, I think you should let them go. They're just boys, Valerian."

He smoothed a hand down his face. "They are dragons, Shaye."

"So give them back to the rest of the dragons."

"That is my plan," he said, throwing his arms in the air. "They will make excellent bargaining tools."

"Good."

"Good." He shook his head. "While I like that you are stepping into the role of queen, advising me and issuing orders, you are in dire need of punishment, woman."

His words elicited an erotic response from her. That wasn't what he intended, but that was what he got. Her eyes lowered to half-mast. "Punish me, then. Go ahead, for God's sake. You know how much I hate it."

Instant fire consumed his anger, leaving only white-hot lust. "You hate it? Truly?"