Oceanborne (33 page)

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Authors: Katherine Irons

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fantasy

BOOK: Oceanborne
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“Yes, the answer is yes!”
He laughed. “You don't even know what I'm going to ask.”
She thumped his shoulder, and he groaned. “Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you wounded?” She kissed the spot that she'd just hit with her fist. “Where does it—”
“I hurt everywhere, but it doesn't matter. Pound me all you like, so long as you never leave me.” He kissed her again. “Now, what did you just agree to?”
“To become your wife. To stay with you always. To become one of you.”
He pushed her away just far enough to gaze into her eyes. “But how did you know that was what I wanted to ask?”
“Rhiannon and Morwena. They told me. Explained all the rules—how, if you asked me to join you under the sea and I accepted, I could be transformed, and we could be married.” She smiled up at him. “Morwena said it would save precious time … time we should spend together. And if I did the asking, you wouldn't have to worry about me refusing and you being condemned to be frozen in coral for all eternity.”
“Woman … you are …” He stopped. “You will? You agree? You'll become an Atlantean? You'll give up being human to be my wife?”
She laughed. “What did I just say? What did you think? After what we've been through together? Did you think I'd start all over with another man, someone like Greg Hamilton when I can have Apollo?”
Orion gathered her up in his arms and swung her around. “Elena, Elena, Elena, what am I going to do with you?”
“Take me somewhere we can be alone and make love to me.”
“Granted. Your wish is my command. Always.”
Suddenly, her giddiness dissolved. “But, Rhiannon told me that there would be a six-month period of mourning for Poseidon.”
Orion nodded. “That's true. If you want a royal wedding with all the trimmings, we'll have to wait until that's passed and Morgan is crowned.”
“What if we took our honeymoon first?” she suggested. “A long one?”
He laughed. “A woman after my own heart. We could do that, Elena, or we could have Lady Athena marry us now, quietly. Whatever you want.”
“I think …” She smiled at him. “I think I'll hold out for the fairy-tale wedding, with or without the actual fairies.” She stroked his cheek, reassuring herself that this was really happening, that she hadn't lost him.
“I warn you,” he cautioned. “Atlantean marriages last a long time.”
“I wouldn't have it any other way.” She chuckled. “There are a lot of underwater sites I can't wait to excavate. If that's allowed …”
“Allowed and encouraged. Once you're transformed, you'll be invited to join the royal scientific society, probably given more projects than you'll have time for. We value scholars, Elena. If you want to continue your archeological work …”
“I do, I do. My work means everything to me.” She laughed. “At least it did before you came along.”
His gaze grew serious. “There's something else, Elena, something you need to know. Lord Mikhail …”
Fear chilled her. “He didn't die, too?”
“No, he's very much alive. But he isn't here. He's gone on a diplomatic mission to visit all of our colonies and carry the official news of Poseidon's death and prepare them for our new king. He may be gone some months.”
“I see.”
“You will. You were right, Elena. Mikhail was once human, and he … he was your father … Is your father.”
“But why did he leave before telling me? Doesn't he want me here? Or doesn't he love me anymore?”
Orion cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips. “Mikhail loves you very much. He asked me to tell you that he would come to you when he returns.”
“But why didn't he tell me himself? How could he just go away?”
Orion kissed the top of her head and cradled her against him. “He has to come to terms with his own existence and yours as an adult and as an Atlantean. All these years, you've remained a child in his eyes. That—out of all the human women in the world—I would find you, fall in love with you, and bring you here to Atlantis, is almost more than he can comprehend. Remember, your father is an academic, a scientist. It can be hard for such people to accept fate, and even more difficult to believe in the magic of love.”
“Not for me,” she said. “Not anymore. I'm sold. Turn me into a mermaid.”
“Atlantean woman,” he corrected. “Definitely not a mermaid.”
“You can really do that? Transform me? Is it painful?”
“We can, and I promise it won't hurt at all.”
“How long will it take?”
“A few weeks. Normally it would be sooner, but we'll have to obtain permission from the High Council and from my brother Morgan.”
“He's already given it.” She chuckled. “Or he will. Rhiannon said that since Morwena and I brought back Danu, we can choose our rewards.”
“And have you picked one? A reward?”
“I have. I want you to take me to every historical site featured in the children's museum, starting with Alexander's tomb. It would make the best honeymoon destination … destinations.” She laughed again.
“We can do that,” he promised. “But first, we have some minor housekeeping to tidy up. The coin from Melqart's treasure ship. We can't keep it. It has to be returned. It's not something you should have. Not something safe to have in Atlantis.”
“But he's dead, Melqart's dead,” she assured him. “He turned into a warty toad and went down into the fire pit in the floor of his temple.”
“Maybe he is,” Orion said. “But I've found that evil isn't always easy to destroy. Alexander's tomb lies off the coast of Alexandria, in fifty fathoms of water. We could drop the coin near the site of the shipwreck on our way.”
“All right, and … I've been thinking about the ring you brought me.”
“Which one?”
“The diamond engagement ring that Greg gave me. It seems to me that the best thing to do with that would be to donate it to the tsunami relief fund, if you wouldn't mind doing just a little illusion to deliver it. Greg Hamilton has become somewhat of a hero on Crete. I'm sure he'd be pleased to have his ring go to a good cause.”
“Are you certain you want to part with it?”
“Absolutely.”
“And the one I gave you?” Orion asked.
“I want that to be my wedding ring.”
He kissed her again. “That's what it is, darling. It was my great-grandmother's wedding ring … and my mother's. I know she would have wanted you to have it.”
Elena felt a new surge of emotion, and her eyes clouded with tears of happiness. “Your mother's wedding ring? And you gave it to me? When you hardly knew me?”
“I love you, Elena Carter. You're the only woman I'll ever want, the only wife I'll ever take.”
“Then start by keeping your promise,” she said, looking deep into his beautiful green eyes.
“And which promise is that?” he asked.
“To take me somewhere we can be alone and make love to me.”
“As I already told you, your wish is my command.”
And that's exactly what he did.
BRAVA BOOKS are published by
 
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
 
Copyright © 2011 Katherine Irons
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
 
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-7441-0

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