by Jade, Elsa
Hydromagnetics—altering the flow and energy of water with the iron of her blood—was technically feasible. The geomagnetic dynamos at the molten cores of planets worked on the same principles. But to him, it was pure magic.
To the soilers, it was a nightmare.
In the torrent, the Cretarni tried to cling to the anchor points where they’d sheltered, but the cascade was relentless. It tossed them against the sea wall, bashing them to bits.
And if there was any trace left of their sea-green blood, the hungry algae ate it all.
But he spared barely a glance for those who had poisoned his planet and tried to steal his heritage. He only cared about the woman in his arms.
The moment the water struck, her gills had opened, blooming like pale, delicate arctic sea lilies. Even in the hard rush of water as the city flooded once again—out of its usual rhythm, like a heart filling backward, she’d said—her gills flickered in a shy wave. Promising him she’d be all right.
He had to believe that, more even than he’d believed in any battle.
The rising water carried them up, higher than he would’ve been able to swim easily with her slack body. He was able to transfer them to an aqueduct that lifted them to the shaft level where the Cretarni had first emerged.
The soiler he’d shot from across the cavern had been pulled off to one side, and Mael spared the male a hard look as he collected the discarded rifle.
“You should’ve stayed away,” he murmured. “Our fight could’ve been finally over.”
Ridley roused as he was pilfering the corpse, so Mael shifted his stance to block her view until he dumped the body over the rim to the algae before returning to her. “I need to follow this route back to the Cretarni ship,” he told her, “make sure they can’t come after us again. If you—”
“You’re not leaving me again.”
When she struggled to stand, he hustled to her side and knelt instead. “Technically, you left.” She glared at him and he tried to grin. “Don’t call the blood out of my veins, hai-aku.”
“Enough blood.” She winced. “Blaster hurts.”
“Partly seals the wound, which stopped some of the blood.” He swallowed hard. “If I’d lost you…”
“Technically, you did. And I found you.” She bit her lip. “All those soldiers, dead, because of me.” She lifted her anguished gaze to him. “I cut one’s throat.”
He touched her neck where her gills had retreated. “It was supposed to be a date, not a war.” Realizing what he’d implied, he tucked his hand back. “Not you and me, but…”
The horrified shadows melted in her gray eyes. “The Intergalactic Dating Agency has no idea.” She lifted her hand to him. “Let’s go storm a spaceship.”
He carried her up the slanting shaft that was a replica of the one they’d descended. They went slow, partly because he didn’t want to jostle her, partly to listen for incoming foes. But their return journey from the sunken city was all but silent.
Ridley was hurting, and he’d stun anyone who got between him and the med pod on the Cretarni ship. And the rifle he’d confiscated had a full charge, since its previous bearer had gone down so early in the battle, so there would be a lot of stunning.
But what shocked him was a hard, serpentine bend in the shaft that blocked the exit with a pool of the purest First Water. When Ridley had reset the ship-city’s pulse, the surface pools had refilled. It was just a quick plunge through sweet, gently warmed water, although when they surfaced, the chill of the outside made him grimace.
“It’s beautiful,” Ridley murmured.
The battle, her blood, the cold. How could she still see beauty?
The lone star at the center of this system was just rising, its golden rays glimmering over a silvery rime of frost that melted even as they watched, revealing every dark green needle of the trees. Spirals of mist drifted upward into the deepest blue of the sky. She sighed, her body softening against his, and he glanced down at her. The droplets of water in her hair caught each wavelength of light with their own shimmer, but her eyes were the unwavering gray he’d come to long for.
“It is beautiful.”
“Put me down.”
Probably not ever again, if he had his way.
When he didn’t ease up, she squirmed. “You need the rifle in hand, not me, just in case.”
Since she wasn’t wrong—as usual—he reluctantly let her slide to an upright stance at his side. She winced, more at the squish of her boots than pain, he decided; the analgesic in the med gel was holding at least.
“I dropped your knife,” she told him. “But I kept this.” She unfurled her fingers to show him the crushed algae. “Actually, I just forgot to let go.”
Gently, he tucked the cutting into one of his pouches. “We can always get more.”
But this little floret would be the moment he’d believed they might really save Tritona. And the moment she’d claimed her blood and saved their lives.
He wanted to tell her to never let go, but how could he when he’d sent her away?
The Cretarni ship was empty, canceling their need for vigilance.
“I can’t believe they didn’t leave someone behind to watch the ship,” she fretted even after his third round through the abandoned corridors and a full sensor scan of the interior.
“They threw everything they had left at this fight.” He couldn’t hold back the grim note in his assessment as he sent a low-energy message to the Bathyal, skimming under Earther detection. It would take some time for the scrambled code to reassemble on the other end, but Coriolis needed to know what they’d found. “The Cretarni wanted the Atlantyri treasure so badly. Would they have destroyed everything again, killed any chance Tritona has of reviving? Why, when they’ve already left our world behind?”
She bit her lip, reviving that bright flush of blood that had almost broken him. On his first search of the ship, he’d taken a portable med pod and a robe to drape over her wet clothes. He patched her wound and showed her how to properly belt a uni-species mantle. “Does this mean war again for Tritona?”
“Maybe. But at least we have this fine, commandeered ship, or we will once night falls and we can fly to the Bathyal. Plus we have a secret weapon now. So we have a chance.”
She nodded. “All the survivors on the ark.”
“I meant you too.” With a hard breath, he straightened, facing her, facing her judgment. “But, Ridley, you weren’t supposed to be part of this. You weren’t an IDA bride looking for a match. You didn’t ask for any of this.”
For a heartbeat, the icy rime of a cold, dark night was in her eyes. Then she stood up tall, lifting her chin. “Then I guess I’ll ask now.” The boldness of her stance nearly took his breath away, but she went on. “Do you want me to be part of it? Do you want an intergalactic match? Do you want…me?”
On that last part, her voice wavered. And he realized she was not as fearless as she’d come to seem to him. “You never have to ask. I only want you, at my side, all around me, everywhere, in the deeps or across the stars.”
Mindful of her injury, he snagged one arm behind her and reeled her to his chest. He stared down at her, not because he was afraid to lose her but because he wanted to hold every moment from now on, whatever might come.
He lowered his head slowly, savoring as the yellow sun lifted, and when she opened her mouth to him, her soft gasp seemed to diffuse through his veins in the purest torrent of need, setting his blood afire.
“The breath of rising desire,” he murmured.
“I don’t have that.”
“Then it’s your touch calling my blood.”
In the shadow of the spaceship they’d pirated, he led her to the crystalline pool and stripped naked in front of her, proving that she’d definitely aroused his desire.
“It’s been a century since a Tritonyri warrior descended to take a Tritonesse mate,” he told her, “but there’s no one anywhere in any ocean of galaxies that I want more than you. May I ask
, do you want me?”
She dropped the mantle and all her other layers, standing before him with only sunlight on her skin. She cupped his chin and kissed him again, hard, with not just lips but teeth and tongue too.
“I was so mad when you sent me away,” she growled into his mouth. “Don’t do that. Promise me.”
“Never again, my hai-aku. We’re matched, forever.”
Her hands gentled, skimming over his skin and raising the small puckers of his vestigial scales. “I want to dive into your oceans, see the home I’ve never known.”
“I’ll take you there.” No matter how far, how deep, he’d be there for her.
He kissed her, tracing the swells and hidden crevices of her body, seeking out the jewel at her core with a delicate stroke that made her gasp his name. Trembling—or maybe that was him—she leaned into him, letting him take her weight. She trusted him to hold her up, and whatever came next, he’d take renewed strength in remembering how she’d faced the loss of everything she knew…and fought on.
When he fell backward into the water, taking her with him, this time, she breathed for him.
***
The MERMAIDS OF MONTANA trilogy continues with CORIOLIS! Read more...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elsa Jade, author of sexy shapeshifting romances, also writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance, and science fiction romance as Jessa Slade and sexy contemporary romance as Jenna Dales. In all her incarnations, she believes in the transformational power of love and is thrilled to share her stories with like-minded readers.
More from Elsa Jade
Paranormal Romance
Mating Season: Wolves of Angels Rest
(Wolf shifters)
Hero
Joker
Rogue
Warrior
Lost Wolf
Ghost Wolf
Cry Wolf
Fighter
Wish Upon a Werewolf
Beast
Coyote’s Christmas Kiss
Dreaming of a Wolf Christmas
Shifters in Love: Fun & Flirty
(Bear shifters)
Bear and Baby
Bachelor Bear
Barely Bear
Mating Fever: Masters of the Flame
(Dragon shifters)
Dragon Fever
Dragon Fate
Dragon Fall
Science Fiction Romance
(Sexy aliens and Earther girls!)
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides
Alpha Star
Red Shift
Dark Matter
After Burn
Freefall: Team Prism (The Great Space Race)
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Black Hole Brides
The Intergalactic Duke's Inconvenient Engagement
The Interstellar Rake's Irresistible Kiss
The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Cyborg Cowboys of Carbon County
Mach One
Delta V
Big Bang
Theta
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Mermaids of Montana
Maelstrom
Coriolis
Fathom
Other Science Fiction Romance from Elsa Jade
Obsidian Rim: Edge of Sunrise
Rock Rift
Fire Strike
Deep Claim
More Science Fiction Romance from Jessa Slade
Queen of Starlight ~ FREE DOWNLOAD!
Prince of Passion
Assassin’s Hunger
ABOUT ROMANCING THE ALIEN
Looking for a love that’s out of this world? These strong, smart, sexy aliens are seeking mates from the Milky Way. Just hop onboard with your local Intergalactic Dating Agency and become an Alien Mail Order Bride! Join eight authors as we explore the friendly skies and beyond with trilogies of cosmic craving, astral adventure and otherworldly lovers. Warning: abductions may or may not be included!
Putting the “sigh” and the “friction” in science fiction romance!
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