The Vampire's Bride (Atlantis #4)(25)

Slowly, she leaned toward him. He didn't meet her halfway, but he didn't pull away, either. Anticipation swirled through her. Would he allow the touch? "Your lips," she said.

"What about them?"

"I want them."

His shoulders straightened with a jolt. "No?" He'd probably meant the denial as a statement, but it emerged as a question.

Closer...a little closer...Still he remained in place. His breath hitched in his throat; she caught the slight sound and reveled in it. Closer...Just before their lips met, however, a harsh male curse echoed through the night - and it wasn't Layel's.

Whoever had shouted snapped him from her...spell, he would probably have said. Magic, indeed. How she wished she were capable of wielding enchantments. She would bind this man to the tree, keeping him in place until she at last knew the taste of him.

Layel straightened, fury once again falling over his mesmerizing features, overshadowing any hint of heat. "I let you distract me from my purpose this time. It will not happen again." And then he was in the air, flying away from her as hastily as if she were a gorgon, able to turn him to stone with a glance.

Delilah sat there a moment, shaken to the core. She would have believed she'd dreamed the entire encounter if not for the fire raging in her blood, infusing all her limbs.

What was she going to do about that man?

LAYEL SOARED through the trees, dewy branches slapping him in the face. He was glad for the sharp sting, for it helped calm his riotous, traitorous body. He was a bastard. Wicked, evil, wanting someone he should not.

Gods, that female...

She was a menace. Yes, a menace. Damn her! Why did she have to smell like rainflowers and look like a goddess? Why did her skin have to appear as smooth as golden velvet? Why did her eyes have to glow so vibrant a violet? She was violent, harsh, as bloodthirsty as any vampire. Unworthy, his mind shouted.

Yet he could not stop thinking of her. Could not stop picturing her, naked and straining against him. Wet, hot, tight. Eager. For him. For his possession.

He should have killed her.

But once again he hadn't been able to do that. Only the sound of Zane's curse had stopped him from kissing her, which would have been certain ruination. I am sorry, Susan. So sorry. Not only did I fail you once, I seem to be failing you yet again.

" - only because the gods might place us on the same team," a woman was snapping. "Otherwise I would slit your throat here and now."

"Try it and see what happens." There was fury in Zane's voice. But also...No, surely not. Surely not confusion. Zane usually revealed only two emotions: desire to kill and desire to maim. There was no uncertainty in his black-and-white world.

"As if you could hurt me," the female said. "You have only to look at your cage to see what happens when you attempt something so foolish."

"You will pay for this, woman."

The woman in question laughed, a sound of true glee. "Poor baby. All muscle and no brain."

Layel burst through a thicket and stopped abruptly, taking in the scene. Zane was trapped inside a makeshift cage, hanging from a tree. The second Amazon woman - Nola, he recalled - balanced on a branch, facing him and grinning.

When she sensed Layel's arrival, she lost her smile and whipped to face him. Her lips parted, and her hands fisted at her sides in preparation for battle. "Come to try and kill me, too?"

Though he concentrated on the female, Layel kept Zane in his peripheral vision. The warrior's cheeks were bright red, stained with mortification. He'd been defeated by a woman. Layel would have laughed if not for the fact that Delilah had knocked him on his ass earlier.

"Well?" Nola prompted.

A moment later, Delilah appeared at Layel's side. He stiffened as her rain-kissed scent once more assailed him, as her body heat wafted to him. Could he never escape them?

This close to her again, he remembered the worst part of his encounter with her. She had desired him, had hungered for his kiss. Her nipples had begged for his touch. And he'd almost given her both. Teeth cutting into his cheeks, he stepped away from her, not even trying to hide the action. He hated that he was forced to act so cowardly, hated the weakness she caused in him. But he simply could not be near her.

She aimed a furious glare at him just as a moonbeam hit her directly, revealing dirt smudges all over her body. Sadly, they did not lessen her appeal. "So. You thought to kill me and your friend thought to kill mine," she said.

"Do not pretend surprise."

Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits, the top and bottom of her lashes fusing together. "Surprise? Ha! I'm merely thanking the gods you are both incompetent."

He had failed at so many things these last few years, her words struck all the way to the bone. He'd failed to destroy all of the dragons. He'd failed to numb himself to the pain of Susan's death. He'd failed to render the death-blow to Delilah, a woman who threatened the memory of his one and only love.

He wanted to strike at her. Hurt her. Do not approach her. She's merely baiting you. "The god told us that there will only be one survivor of this game. One. We shall see which of us is left standing."

"Do not threaten my sister," Nola shouted, stepping toward him. "I have decapitated men for less."

He did not doubt that.

Gaze never leaving him, Delilah held up a hand. The other Amazon stilled and pressed her lips together. "You have tried to prick my temper from the first," she said. "Well, now you have succeeded. Taking you down will be fun, vampire."