The Sea Dragon's Lion (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Friends and Family)

by Zoe Chant

  The previous times that Reiner had been here with Danny, the quirky little cafe had been packed. This close to closing time, however, the only occupant was the owner, busy tidying tables and stacking stools. Reiner went to have a quiet word with him, leaving Jane marveling over the chiller cabinet as though it was an open casket of jewels.

  “Yuzu meringue… honey and lavender… lemon and rosemary…” Jane was reading aloud when he returned to her side. She turned shining eyes to him. “I do not know what any of these things are!”

  Her joy was contagious. He found he was smiling again, happiness at her happiness tingling through every nerve. He probably looked an absolute besotted fool, and he did not care one bit.

  “They’re all good, I promise,” he told her. “This place is famous for its ice cream. Nothing but the best for your first taste.”

  Jane bit her lip (making Reiner have to take a deep breath and think very hard about ice again). She cast a longing gaze down the ranks of open tubs, her fingers twisting together in indecision. “They all sound so fascinating. How will I ever choose?”

  He chuckled, taking her hand. “Who said that you had to?”

  Her brow furrowed as he led her to a private table at the back. The cafe owner had already reset the places with spoons and napkins, and even added a mason jar containing a string of softly glowing lights. The bearded, tattooed man flashed Reiner a conspiratorial grin, winked, and went back behind the counter. Whistling, he started scooping ice cream into bowls with deft, rapid motions.

  “Oh,” Jane said, sounding just a touch crestfallen. “You already chose for us?”

  “Just this once.” Reiner held out a chair for her. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not.” Jane regained her bright smile, though Reiner could tell it was a deliberate effort. “No matter. I am sure that whatever you have selected for me will be most delicious.”

  The owner returned carrying a heavily laden tray. To Reiner’s delight, Jane’s eyes went round again as the man deployed bowl after bowl onto the table. Each one contained a single, perfect scoop.

  “There you are, sir.” With a flourish, the bearded man found space for a small jug of warm chocolate sauce. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

  Reiner slid the man a tip that was five times the amount he’d already paid for the ice cream itself. “Just privacy, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course, sir. I’ll be taking inventory out back if you want seconds of anything. Please, take as much time as you need.”

  With a final admiring look at Jane, the man headed for the kitchen. On the way, he flipped the sign on the door to Closed.

  Jane’s astonished gaze moved across the crowded table, then up to Reiner’s face. He grinned at her.

  “I thought you might find it difficult to choose.” He handed her a spoon. “So I got you one of everything.”

  “This is…” Words seemed to fail Jane. She stared at the ice cream as though afraid it might scatter like startled fish if she reached for it. “I don’t know where to begin!”

  “Here.” Reiner scooped up a bit of Ecuadorian dark chocolate ice cream on his own spoon. He leaned across the small table, offering it to her. “Try this.”

  Her full lips parted, sending an electric jolt straight to his groin. He had to clench his free hand on the edge of the table to steady himself as he slowly slipped the spoon into her mouth. The slight movement of her throat as she swallowed was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen.

  Jane’s eyelids fluttered closed. She let out a moan, and Reiner came damn close to breaking the table in half.

  “Oh,” she breathed, her eyes still closed. “Oh, my. That is exquisite.”

  “Yes.” Need gripping him so tightly that it was all he could do not to lunge for her there and then. “Exquisite.”

  Jane shot him a wicked look through her lowered eyelashes. With a thrill, he realized that she knew exactly what effect she was having on him.

  “How do you know?” she asked, her innocent tone utterly at odds with the teasing gleam in her eye. Slowly, she ran her tongue around her lips. “You haven’t tasted it yet.”

  How could he resist such an invitation? Without conscious intent, he leaned even further across the table. Jane stretched too, meeting him halfway.

  When their mouths touched, she made the same breathy little moan. Reiner growled in answer. She tasted of bitter chocolate, with a sweetness all her own.

  “Damnation.” With an effort, he tore himself away before he flipped the table. “I think you’d better feed yourself from now on, or this ice cream is going to end up on the floor.”

  “That would be a waste.” Jane poked her spoon into a perfect, crystalline sphere of mango-raspberry sorbet. She held it out to him, eyes still dancing with mischief. “But there is too much here for even a sea dragon to eat alone. Here. Your turn.”

  “Woman, if I let you feed me, there’s going to be a seriously embarrassing incident under the table.”

  “That would also be a waste.”

  “Stunning, brave, and she cracks dirty jokes. You really are perfect.”

  Jane’s skin was too dark to betray a blush, but from the way she ducked her head, he was sure her cheeks must be heating. “If you keep telling me such things, I will start to believe them.”

  “Good. You are perfect, Jane. Completely, utterly perfect.”

  Jane shook her head, but a smile tugged at her lips. She popped her spoon into her mouth, and her eyelashes fluttered in bliss.

  “Oh my.” She tapped her spoon against the glass bowl. Her unrestrained, joyous smile shone like sunlight. “In all sincerity, you really must try this.”

  They shared each dish, trading bites. In Jane’s company, every flavor became more intense. Watching her face, savoring her reactions, it was as if he too was tasting everything for the first time. Salted caramel rich and golden; mocha sharp and uplifting. Strawberry bloomed in his mouth, impossibly sweet, the pure distillation of summer.

  And as they ate, they talked.

  Jane told him about her adventures that day, with such vividness and joy that Reiner felt as though he’d been there by her side. Listening to her, watching the excited, graceful gestures of her expressive hands, was sheer delight. She had the deep, penetrating curiosity of a born scientist, combined with the eye of an artist. She saw things in a way that he’d never imagined; had questions that would never have occurred to him.

  The only time her boundless enthusiasm dimmed was when he asked her about Atlantis, and her life there. Jane described the city’s wonders, painting a picture of a place of pearlescent towers and gleaming majesty… but Reiner, watching her face, saw something else.

  “I grew up in a place a bit like that,” he said, thinking of his own hidebound, traditional clan on their shifter-only island. “Not as isolated, but still cut off from the outside world. Insular. The sort of place where if you don’t fit in with everyone else, it’s natural to assume that you must be the problem.”

  Jane toyed with her spoon, drawing spirals in the melting ice cream. “I never fit in, no matter how hard I tried. That was why I was so eager to find my mate. I just wanted to finally belong. To one person, at least, if nothing else.”

  “No wonder you ran, when you thought there was no hope that we could ever be together.” Reiner grimaced. “I really am sorry for putting you through all that. Deep down, I knew it was a misunderstanding, but I let my own fears get the better of me. I should have come after you sooner.”

  “In a way, I am glad you did not. If I had not lost that last hope, I would never have dared to venture into the human world all on my own, and then I would not have met Tallulah.”

  “I’m glad you’ve made a friend already. Speaking of which, you’d better text her tomorrow like you promised. Otherwise she’ll hunt me down and string me up by my balls. That’s not speculation, by the way. Those are literally the words she used. I think she’s still reserving some judgement about me.”<
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  Jane laughed. “I shall reassure her that you are not in fact an ‘evil cheating bastard’, never fear. Next disco night, I shall sing your praises to the sky.”

  “I hope that I’ll be allowed to join you on the dance floor.” Reiner let out a wry breath. “And there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say. I’ve done my share of clubbing, but I have to admit I never saw the appeal of disco before tonight.”

  “Another good thing to come of our misunderstanding today, then.” Jane tilted her head, looking pensive. “I set off to explore the human world, but I think I learned more about myself. Perhaps it was meant to happen this way. Does that sound strange?”

  “Not at all. A—” Reiner hesitated, a little surprised at the word on the tip of his tongue, and how naturally it had come to him. “A friend of mine told me today that we can only find our mates when we’re ready. You thought you needed a mate so that you would finally feel like you belonged somewhere. But you what you really needed was to discover that you were in the wrong place all along.”

  Jane nodded slowly. “I would have attached myself to you like a sucker fish to a shark, desperate for you to give me purpose. That is not the sort of mate that you need.”

  “It’s not what you need.”

  “No,” Jane said softly. Then she bit her lip. “Oh dear. That sounds terrible. Here I am with my true mate, and I am telling you to your face that I have discovered that you cannot be the sole purpose of my life.”

  “I don’t want to be your whole world.” He reached over to take her hand. “I just want to share it with you.”

  It was easy, so easy. He told her about Danny, and Hayley, and all that complicated history. Not to make excuses, or to seek forgiveness; but because Jane needed to know how his past mistakes had shaped his life.

  Jane didn’t pass judgement, or offer misplaced sympathy. She just listened, gaze steady on him, occasionally asking questions when something didn’t quite make it across the culture gap.

  “I thought that Danny’s mother must be a great warrior.” Jane chased the last spoonful of lemon-basil ice cream around a bowl. “It sounds like I was right.”

  Hayley would have denied it, but Reiner nodded in agreement. “She’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. I think you’ll like each other. You have a lot in common.”

  Jane sucked thoughtfully on her spoon (which made Reiner seriously consider upending a bowl of ice cream into his lap). “You are the father of her child, and I am your mate… it feels like that should make us family, somehow.”

  “Well, two connected families, at least. She’s always going to be a big part of my life, thanks to Danny. But there are lots of different ways to make this work. We’ll figure out what’s best for everyone. I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I co-parent Danny, but that doesn’t mean we have to be inviting Hayley and Griff over for dinner every Tuesday.”

  “But… we could do that, if they were amenable?” Jane looked a little shy, ducking her head. “From what you have told me of them, I would very much like to get to know them myself.”

  Reiner chuckled. “I’m certain they’ll welcome you with open arms.”

  Jane’s smile was like the sun rising. Then her expression flickered, a shadow crossing her face. “Will Danny?”

  “Danny already loves you, Jane.” Reiner let out an amused breath. “When he worked out that we were true mates, he moved heaven and earth to get us together. Much as it pains my ego to admit it, without him I might still be moping around on a beach, hell-bent on ruining my own life.”

  He told her the whole story, not without a few winces at his own idiocy. It was somewhat bruising to the ego, to realize just how much you owed to your own six-year-old.

  “Which makes that the second time he’s saved me from myself,” Reiner concluded. He grimaced. “Let’s hope he never figures that out, or I’ll never be able to get him to go to bed on time. He’s already far too good at getting his own way as it is.”

  His lion stirred, flicking its tail. Our cub learns the skills he will need when he leads his own pride. He will be a fine alpha one day.

  “Danny is a special soul,” Jane said, unwittingly echoing his own animal. Her expression had lightened throughout the tale, but he could still see traces of worry lurking in her eyes. “Just from our brief meeting, I already knew that. And the more you tell me of him, the more I long to be a part of his life, to treasure him as you do. But he already has a mother. What more can I give him?”

  “That’s easy.” Reiner smiled at her. “Love.”

  Jane did not look convinced. “He already has many people who love him.”

  “But not someone who can teach him to dance like liquid moonlight,” Reiner countered. “Not one who can keep up with him eating ice cream, who sees all the world as new and wonderful, just like he does. Not someone whose so brave that she walked away from everything she’d ever known. Who refused to make herself small, no matter how much other people tried to cut her down. Danny needs someone like that in his life. And so do I.”

  Jane’s eyes had gone brighter and brighter as he spoke. Drops of moisture glittered in her long eyelashes like tiny diamonds.

  “That is how you see me?” she whispered.

  “Yes.” Gently, he reached out, brushing away her tears. “Because that is who you are.”

  Jane caught his hand, pressing it to her cheek for a moment. “You said earlier that you did not come after me straight away because you were afraid. Of what?”

  “That I would fail you. That I would make mistakes, like I have so many times in the past. I’m not… I’m not good at this.”

  “At what?”

  “Loving. And being loved. It’s not something I’ve had a lot of practice at. I’m still learning.”

  Jane gazed at him, her eyes as deep and mysterious as the ocean. “There was not much love in your life before Danny, was there?”

  He blew out his breath. “No. And I didn’t realize how much I was missing. I’m a lion, from a long line of lion shifters. I was brought up to believe that meant always competing for dominance, always fighting to prove your place in the pride. Love makes you vulnerable, and I was taught never to show weakness.”

  “It is hard,” Jane murmured, “to go against the conditioning of a lifetime.”

  “It’s something I’m working on with my therapist. But it’s not easy for me to trust people or be open with them. I am a lion at heart. There’s a part of me that will never be tame.” He gestured with his spoon, drawing an imaginary ring in the air. “That will always divide the world into mine and not mine, and stand ready to fight tooth and claw to protect my own. It’s not always a good thing.”

  She touched the back of his hand. “I think you are better at love than you fear.”

  “Well, I want to be the mate you need, and if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s fighting for what I want.” He took a deep breath, meeting her steady gaze. “I can’t promise I’ll always get this right, Jane. Sometimes I’ll make mistakes. I need you to tell me when I do.”

  “I will.” Her melodic sea dragon accent making each syllable ring like a church bell, solemn and lovely. “And you will listen.”

  He turned his hand over, lacing his fingers through hers. “Always.”

  Her fingers squeezed his, lightly. “What more could anyone want in a mate?”

  He let out an ironic, self-deprecating huff. “Someone easy-going and open-hearted, that everyone likes? If I’d been dumped into the middle of a completely foreign city, you can bet that I wouldn’t have made a lifelong friend by the end of my first day. I wish I was like you, Jane. I wish I didn’t carry all these scars and complications. It would make things a lot simpler for both of us.”

  Jane tilted her head, pursing her lips for a moment. She cast a glance down at the table.

  “Do you know which was my favorite flavor of ice cream?” she asked.

  It was an abrupt topic change, but the conversation had been rather hea
vy. Glad to move back to something more light-hearted, Reiner surveyed the carnage of bowls and dishes. Between the two of them, they’d done a considerable amount of damage to the ice cream feast. Danny would have been impressed.

  “The toasted hazelnut and toffee?” he guessed. From the noises Jane had made while eating it, he was fairly certain she had come close to a small orgasm.

  “No.” Without hesitation, Jane pointed at the remnants of a pitch-black scoop. “That one.”

  “The charcoal salmiakki?” Out of all the options, he would never have guessed that would be her favorite. Salmiakki was Finnish salted licorice, and very much an acquired taste. The addition of active charcoal did nothing to make it more appetizing, in Reiner’s opinion. “Really?”

  Jane lifted her eyebrows at him. “Why do you sound surprised?”

  “It’s the least popular flavor. Whenever I’ve come in here, that tub’s always practically untouched. I always thought they made it more as a stunt rather than to sell.”

  “Well, it is my favorite.” Jane scooped up the last melting spoonful. “But I noticed that you have not taken any yourself. Do you not enjoy this flavor?”

  “I don’t know.” Reiner eyed the tar-like substance. “I’ve never tried it. Danny nicknamed it Evil Ooze From Outer Space, and I have to admit that rather put me off.”

  Jane laughed and held out her spoon. “Close your eyes.”

  Out of all the things Jane might offer up to his mouth, salted licorice ice cream was not in the top ten. Or even top ten thousand. But she was his mate, and he wanted to share everything with her. Even Evil Ooze.

  Bracing himself, Reiner leaned forward. He would rather have distracted himself from the frankly unappealing sludge on the spoon by keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Jane’s luminous face, but he closed his eyes as she’d ordered.

  The cold edge of the spoon kissed his lips. He let them part, surrendering to his mate. As the spoon slid into his mouth, he tasted a startling contradiction of flavors—salt and spice, creaminess and smokiness.