Crimson Lips [Amazon Warriors] (Siren Publishing Classic)

Amazon Warriors

Crimson Lips

Crimson Acker is the leader of the Amazon Warriors, a group once known as "the killers of men." Crimson is surprised when she meets Sloan Baptiste, a marine lieutenant, and finds herself craving more than she should. He's not intimidated by her strength like most men—he embraces it.

Sloan is lost the moment he sees Crimson walk into the bar. Her strength and beauty captivate him, but her stubbornness will make it a challenge for her to accept him. He finds himself thrust into a world he never knew existed.

When an old enemy threatens the tribe, their worlds threaten to tear them apart. Now she must fight to save her tribe and her leadership while he must fight to fulfil the Amazons' Code—fight for her, fight with her, and fight against her.

Only then can they be recognized as true life partners.

Genre:
Contemporary, Fantasy
Length:
30,578 words

Amazon Warriors

Ellie Wilson

EROTIC ROMANCE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

CRIMSON LIPS

Copyright © 2012 by Ellie Wilson

E-book ISBN:
978-1-61926-666-7

First E-book Publication: June 2012

Cover design by Harris Channing

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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Crimson Lips
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Amazon Warriors

ELLIE WILSON

Copyright © 2012

She felt free, running along the treetops. The chill evening air did nothing to cool her heated skin. Cold beads of sweat coated her exposed skin. Knowing what she was running toward made her enjoy the feel of every drop running down her body.

Out here Crimson had no responsibilities, no cares, and no battles to win. She just had to enjoy the fresh air of Uinta National Forest, Utah, or as she liked to call it, her backyard.

It doesn’t matter how much you love your job or the people you’re with, the pressures can build up and weigh you down.

This was her escape.

Her sanctuary.

Her peace.

It had been so long since she’d gone for a run, never having time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

The Amazons had recently fought in a decade-long war against Medusa and her serpent slaves. In that time, she had moved up from a front-line warrior to the leader of her tribe.

This was Crimson’s time to celebrate the Amazons’ victory, to release the tension and stress that had built up over the years.

With every step she took, she was a step closer to her goal.

Leaping from branch to branch, tree to tree, never faltering in her step or pausing for breath, just single-minded determination to reach her destination before sunset.

After running two more miles, Crimson reached her tree, but for the best vantage point, she’d need to be higher, so with ten minutes left of the day, she climbed with all the strength and speed she possessed.

She reached the top with minutes to spare, the war may have been hard fought and well won, but it had kept her in peak physical condition.

As she stood on the highest point she could within the great oak, she watched as the sun started to fade beyond the horizon, and slowly began to undress. With the heat of the setting sun on her face, the smell of the forest filling her lungs, and the feel of the breeze cooling the sweat on her chest, she removed her tank top and bra, exposing her breasts.

She felt at ease for the first time in so long.

Crimson released a sigh when she felt sweat trickle between her breasts as the evening air caused her nipples to become stiff to the point of a pleasurable ache.

As she continued to undress, she heard shouts coming from the direction of the estate but refused to let anything interrupt this moment. She was going to enjoy this as she may not get to do it again for a long time.

Removing her yoga pants and panties, she stood completely naked at the top of her great oak, thirty meters from the ground, treasuring the moment of being alone, relaxed and surrounded by the wilderness she loved.

She rocked back on her feet then ran as fast as she could in the short distance to the end of the branch and jumped.

There was no feeling that could compare to the freedom she felt when free-falling through the sky, naked, in the twilight of day.

Just when she felt things couldn’t get any better, her overheated body hit the chilled surface of the Strawberry Reservoir.

Bliss.

She made sure she stayed under the water as long as possible. She tried to extend the moment, knowing it wouldn’t last much longer.

Her head burst through the surface, and she gasped for air, hearing urgent noises coming from behind her. When she could focus again, she heard what was being bellowed in her direction and ruining her peaceful moment for what could be a long time to come.

“Crimson!”

“Come on, Crimson!”

“There’s a fight at the estate!”

If it wasn’t a war with the enemy, it was a fight within the tribe. These are grown men and women, Amazon men and women, for fuck’s sake, they should be able to sort their own shit out.

With a groan, Crimson left the comfort of the water, not embarrassed by her nudity, she didn’t have time to be embarrassed. Besides, these women were like sisters to her.

“Who is it this time?”

Crimson really didn’t need to ask, she knew who it would be, but she didn’t become the leader of her tribe by making assumptions.

“Delila,” the young and slightly bitchy warrior, Kellie Wheeler, replied.

Just what she’d expected.

The warriors with Kellie, Sophia Quin, and Honor Gomez had recently graduated from training, so they were eager to gain Crimson’s respect. What they should have learned by now is that an Amazon warrior gains respect in the field of battle.

The warriors, knowing why she had come out here, had apologetic looks on their faces but handed Crimson her clothes they must have retrieved from around the base of her great oak.

Crimson quickly dressed then started the twenty-minute run back to the estate, where she would have to be the no-nonsense Amazon warrior and leader the tribe knew her to be instead of the carefree Amazon woman she’d been five minutes ago.

* * * *

The three warriors led Crimson to the games room in the main building of the estate. The room was packed with members of the tribe watching tonight’s “entertainment,” which happened to be a fight between Delila LeMassor and, her target of the day, Jamall Mansour.

As Amazon women were stronger and faster than Amazon men but trained with equal skill, it was not uncommon in Amazon tribes for men and women to fight.

However, what was not common was for fights to erupt between members of the same tribe.

Unfortunately, since Delila graduated from training a year ago, she had caused fights within Crimson’s tribe on a semiregular basis.

The fights were nearly always with the male members of the tribe as she held very outdated beliefs about the value of men within the Amazon world.

When Amazons were first created, they believed they were superior to men. The only man they respected was their father, Ares. Any other man was seen as expendable, and they were either killed or used as slaves. Once or twice a year, they would use their slaves to procreate new Amazon warriors. If a warrior would give birth to a son, they were killed, given to their fathers to raise, or left in the wilderness to fend for themselves.

It was not a history most Amazons were proud of, and although the Amazon males were born without the inherent skills the female warriors had, they were now treated as equals and got the same combat training as the females. Males were rare and cherished in modern Amazon societies. Generally, they do not go to war with the women of the tribe. The female warriors fought the creatures believed to be myth, whereas the males lived and worked amongst the humans as soldiers, doctors, policemen, or other public servants. Protecting mortals in their own way, they were respected greatly for their choice.

Sadly, there were still some female warriors who believed the Amazons should go back to the old ways, seeing themselves as superior to all men.

Much like young Delila.