Teaser Tuesday

Today's tease is from Gadeiros - Kingdoms of Atlantis and is a companion book to Moontide. This  novella is set entirely in the ancient world of Atlantis.

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“Gadeiros please, when we are alone, Princess.”
She gave him a small smile.
“And are we alone?”
“Assuredly,” he answered, “this space here by the falls is one of many secluded spots on Gades. I have it shielded with Atlantean crystals. Even the gods cannot see us here.”
His voice was hard with confidence and housed the barest note of a threat. Aura started a little at the change, her eyes going wide.
“My father won’t like that. You should take me back.” She kept her voice light. The way one would when speaking to a predator they didn’t want to provoke.
Gadeiros moved into the sun-filled space where she stood. Reaching forward, he touched the crest of her cheek, then s
troked a golden curl at her temple all the way down to where it fell on her breast. He twisted it softly and watched the color change in the sun. Aura took in a shaky breath but it wasn’t fear that made her shudder.
“I don’t think I will,” he said.
Releasing her hair, he skimmed the backs of his fingers down the center of her breast, over the hard peak there and Aura’s breath caught. No man had ever touched her thus. His hand kept travelling and he watched the small jerks of her body with an unreadable expression. All the way down it went, over her ribcage and past the dip in her waist until he found her hand and clasped it. Finally, the hardness in his eyes relented.
“If you are to be my queen, you should know all you can about the lands I rule. I can show you more without an assembly, unless you do not wish to explore. I assure you that you are well protected with me princess.”
Aura slanted him an assessing look. She wasn’t so certain of that.
He’d been angry back in the temple but now he did not seem so. His touch delighted her body. Still, he was a frightening figure. His warrior’s heart lay just beneath the surface of his royal exterior and she wondered exactly what kind of man he was. Of course she’d heard the stories of his conquests and his demigod status but not much else. He was pleasing to the eye, this son of Poseidon, but all too often, a beautiful face hid a wicked heart.
His chest was bare to her view ─ golden skinned and heavily muscled in the manner of a man who spent much of his time on the battlefield. He wore gold and onyx neck plating with a black crystal ankh in the center. His head was free of elaborate headdress save a thin gold and black jeweled band that circled his forehead. His dark black hair hung thick and straight to his shoulders underneath it. Both his hair and skin were oiled, as was custom for a visit to temple and the scent of body-warmed sandalwood filled her nostrils, making her lightheaded.
She brought her head up and met his stare. Inches below his eyes, his mouth twitched turning up in the barest hint of a smile and Aura realized he’d been watching her study him and hadn’t said a word the whole time.
The sight of his lips stirred things inside of her that her maiden’s burgeoning awareness had yet to bring to life. She reached out to retrace the path that her eyes had taken with her fingers but her hand stopped in mid-air.
Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist. She jerked her head up to meet his eyes. They’d been changed by his smile, warmed from their normal stone to something more liquid and she swayed toward him, might have fallen into his chest but his grip on her tightened. She righted herself just as he pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the sensitive undersides of her fingers.
Her eyes drifted closed and it was as though she could feel his lips everywhere on her body at once. She could sense the curving of his smile and opened her eyes just as he brought her hand down between them.
Probably nothing on this island presented her with more danger, that she might need protecting from, than him. He would take her back to her parents if she asked him, of that she was sure, but alone as they were and as thrilling as this place and its king were, she didn’t want to go, not yet.

***
Gadeiros is a free read currently available only on my website.
www.amandavshane.weebly.com 

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