Waterborne by Katherine Irons

are,” she whispered. She’d found that after sex was the best time to get the truth from men. Alex had been fantastic, over-the-top, the best lover she’d ever had intercourse with, but that didn’t mean she trusted him. Trusting could get you killed in a hurry.
    “Alexandros of Atlantis.”
    She concentrated, trying to pick up any hints that he was lying. She had good instincts, and she’d been trained to read men and women. Usually liars gave off clues such as averting their eyes or touching their nose, but sociopaths were a breed apart. If Alex was outside the normal range of behavior, none of the old rules worked. And he was certainly different enough and charming enough to arouse suspicion.
    “And you claim to have gone to Varenkov’s boat to kill him?” She gave him her most adoring gaze. With men, it paid to use honey instead of vinegar. And if he was feeling as good as she was about the past six to eight hours, she thought Alex should be pretty mellow.
    “I’ve already told you that I did. And I would have succeeded, if you had stayed below deck where you belonged. I had it timed perfectly. Varenkov would have come up for his nightly stroll and ...”
    He left the rest unspoken, and she punched him playfully in the ribs. “Isn’t that just like a man,” she teased. “Lord, the woman you gave me made me eat the apple.”
    Alex draped a big hand possessively over her hipbone and slowly traced a circle on her bare buttock. “You don’t have a clue as to the trouble you’ve caused me. Atlanteans are forbidden to become involved with human women.”
    “That’s right,” she said. “I forgot. You aren’t human, are you?”
    “No.” He shook his head. “I’m not.”
    “So, what just happened between us, all that great sex, wasn’t supposed to happen.”
    “Was it great?” Alex pushed himself up on one elbow.
    She shrugged. “You probably don’t get a lot of complaints.”
    Alex chuckled. “None so far.”
    “None you’d admit to, you mean?”
    “And neither do you, I’d venture.”
    She felt her cheeks flush. It was a redhead’s curse. She could control a lot of things, but not her reaction to a compliment.
    “Where I went wrong was when I interfered with the guard’s attack on you, and then compounding that by removing you from the boat. Legally speaking.”
    His amused gaze made her pulse quicken. “And the sex? I suppose that’s a hanging offense?”
    He grimaced. “That’s a gray area. You aren’t really human anymore.”
    “I’m not?” She glanced down at her breasts. “You don’t think so?”
    “I’m telling you the truth.” He took a lock of her hair between his fingers and brushed it against his lips. “You’re free to believe whatever you please.”
    “You’re an Atlantean.”
    “I am, and as hard as it may be for you to accept, my kind are as real as yours.”
    “You’re right,” she admitted. “It’s a difficult concept.”
    He stared at her for a moment, and then his sensual lips curled into a smile. “You seem to be an intelligent woman, Ree. I could ask why you’d put yourself in harm’s way by working for an international criminal. You couldn’t have been so innocent that you didn’t know what sort of man Varenkov was.”
    “Maybe I needed the job.”
    His smile faded. “Not good enough.”
    “Since you have the ability to read my mind, you shouldn’t have to ask.”
    The smile returned, but this time the humor only glinted in his eyes. “It’s not that simple. Some things I pick up from you because you’re shouting in your head. Here, in this sphere, we’re talking as you might be on land, but in the ocean, it’s easier to send and receive thoughts mentally.”
    “So everyone’s private thoughts are open to general—”
    “No, it doesn’t work that way.” He shook his head. “With practice, you’ll get better at hiding what you don’t want common knowledge. Probing private thoughts is considered extremely bad manners. But I