“Yes?”
She fanned herself, unsure if she was going to be able to withstand the heat of the sun combined with his intense gaze and the nervousness building inside her. Why did she always get so stupid around hot guys?
Probably because none of them had ever looked at her.
“Wha-what do you want?” she stuttered.
He crossed one leg over the other and leaned an elbow lazily on the counter. But his eyes narrowed in a gaze that was almost… predatory. “You.”
She felt the blood drain out of her head, wobbled on the stool, and felt herself heading for the sand. Strong arms caught her as she blacked out, and the last words she heard were a curse and a muttered, “I didn’t even get to ask if she likes to swim”.
Chapter 2
She was the most beautiful woman he’d seen since being awakened, a depiction of the reincarnation of Venus, with her beautiful hair of dark gold in luscious waves, her soft, rounded beauty, and her voluptuous curves and generous but petite body.
The harpy beside her had rudely butted in, but he could hardly blame her. She was probably used to always being overlooked for the beauty next to her.
That kind of thing could wear on a person.
His Venus fainted before he’d even gotten her name, and though he’d caught her easily in his arms, he wasn’t sure what to do with her.
Her friend had already departed, and Sherry, the bartender, looked at him with a questioning shrug.
“Do you know her room number?” he asked, hefting the beauty in his arms, holding her close against his chest, and getting the odd feeling he would never want to let go.
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Sherry said. “Let me call hotel security. They’ll be able to call the medical center.” She came around the bar and laid down a towel. “For now, just set her here and see if she wakes up. She probably just had a shock.”
“Why?” Kai asked.
Sherry just gave him a look he couldn’t interpret and went back to pick up her phone.
Kai laid his quarry on the towel and brushed her hair back from her face. He pressed a hand to her forehead and felt heat there. Perhaps she was simply over-warm.
As he was pretty sure this exquisite creature was his mate, he decided it was up to him to make sure she was cared for and lifted her back in his arms as he headed to the ocean.
He knew the quickest way to cool her off.
“Hey, where are you going? Kai! You weirdo, get back here!”
Kai smiled slightly as he ignored the yelling behind him. If anyone understood the ocean, it was him, and no harm would come to the woman in his arms as long as he was with her.
That meant he would have to stay with her most of the time, probably, but for some reason, it didn’t bother him.
After all, fate wouldn’t have sent him a mate if she didn’t share his affinity for the water. That would make no sense.
He walked into the water until he was waist deep, then bent his legs so his mate could be gently covered by the rolling, cool water.
As the first wave cleared over her, she came up sputtering, hair tangled around her face, eyes wide with shock and rage.
She let out a little snarl and then shoved off his chest, stunning him and making him take a step back.
He’d helped her regain consciousness and cool off. Shouldn’t she be thanking him?
He folded his arms in consternation as she plopped back in the water, balancing on the tips of her toes until the next wave came.
He frowned as he noticed the apex was considerably higher and was going to bowl her right over, but surely she was competent in the water. Otherwise, she never would have pushed out of his arms, where she was safe.
To his shock, she let out a little shriek as she turned and saw the wave coming, but it was too late. It overtook her, covering her with dark-green water and putting her out of sight for moment.
He quickly dove under and saw her caught in the washing-machine-like roll of the wave as it swirled. He cocked his head curiously as she thrashed nonsensically against the water, not making any headway out of the current or toward the surface.
Her small hands reached around her helplessly, and as he watched the panic on her face, he realized in complete, stark shock that his mate was about to drown.
His mate. Drowning.
He acted quickly, diving forward and grabbing her around the waist, pulling her struggling form tightly in against his chest and pushing off the sand at the sea floor to propel them both to the surface.
As they broke, she took a deep, gasping breath and looked at him with raging, golden eyes. On closer look, perhaps they were a golden brown that was lighter in the sun.
She began to push against his chest and struggle, and he held her tighter and pinned her with a glare. “Do you really want to do that again?”
“What are you, psycho? Are you trying to kill me?”
“How was I supposed to know you would come to a beach resort without knowing how to swim?”
Her expression turned even angrier, and he tried not to find it adorable.
“It’s not a requirement!” she said stubbornly, folding her arms and refusing to look at him. “I have the same right to relax as anyone, and you nearly got me killed.”
“I was trying to help you.”
“Let me go,” she said, looking away from him.
Her body felt so good in his arms, soft and supported, rocking slightly in the ocean. She was fine. She was safe. She was meant to be here with him. Why didn’t she see that?
Well, she was a particular beauty. Perhaps it would take more to win her.
“Do you really want me to?” he asked, looking out at the ocean. The waves were getting a little more intense as they neared midday, and if she couldn’t handle the waves a second ago, he wasn’t letting her out now.
Her eyes widened, her lashes dotted with water that made them sparkle, and she looked at the ocean before quickly shaking her head.
He had to chuckle at anyone looking at the water like that. The exact opposite of how he felt. If anything, that was how he felt about being on land.
“Take me back,” she said. “You shouldn’t have brought me here.”
“You were overheated. I had to cool you off.”
“I was?” she asked, pausing for a moment. Then she shook her head. “No. You nearly drowned me. There was no need for that.”
“I was holding you. You only nearly drowned because you shoved off of me, knowing you can’t swim. A stupid thing to do.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, going even more rigid in anger. If she hadn’t been depending on him for her life at the moment, he had the feeling she might have slapped him. “Do I know you? No, I don’t. For all I know, you were kidnapping me or had evil intentions—”
Dark anger rose in him as he remembered what the world was like now. He’d been at the mansion long enough to hear reports from other enforcers about the kinds of things happening in the world. The kind of evil the gemstone and double dragons were trying to fight. He supposed there were people out there she would have had to watch out for.
Not that she would need to anymore now that he was here.
“I—I guess I should thank you, if you really did mean to help me. But could you please take me back to shore? My friend will be worried about me.”
Her arms were crossed over her generous cleavage revealed in the small, thin dress she was wearing and the swimsuit underneath it. Every part of her was soft, rounded, female. He ached to take her in his arms and truly show her how he felt.
But now wasn’t the time.
Hesitantly, he held her higher and walked back to shore. The second they were on the sand, she struggled and kicked at him, trying to get away.
He set her down and stepped back with raised hands. Perhaps such a beauty was used to fending off unwanted advances.
Even if she didn’t want him around at first, he would probably have to keep a close eye on her at this resort to prot
ect her from any encroaching males.
His eyes narrowed slightly. Was this human jealousy? Possessiveness? His dragon had never felt anything like it.
Looking at his curvy mate as she stomped away from him, he realized he didn’t hate the feelings inside him, human as they were.
He also realized, as she turned around and gave him a fist with an extended middle finger along with an angry scowl, that he knew nothing about how to win human women.
And despite doing everything he’d thought would be right, he’d somehow gotten everything wrong.
But it didn’t matter. For the first time since awakening, he was interested in something other than the ocean, and he was nothing if not a persistent dragon when it came to anything he was interested in.
The curvy, stubborn beauty would be his.
It was only a matter of time.
The audacity of the man, Renee thought as she stormed toward the lobby of the hotel, her heart still pounding from her close brush with death.
All thanks to that stupid, presumptuous man who, instead of waiting for health professionals, had taken things into his own hands and dumped her in the ocean.
She, who had a tremendous fear of water.
Well, he didn’t know that. And maybe she’d overreacted, but she wasn’t used to big men paying any attention to her, let alone grabbing her and carrying her around like so much cargo.
She’d been embarrassed to even be in his arms, with her weight, and she’d not known why the hell he’d taken her so far from where anyone else could see them.
Where had Sherry, the bartender, been?
Being gorgeous didn’t give him the right to push people around or make arrogant decisions for them.
Or call her stupid for jumping away from a possible psycho even if it led to drowning.
She hadn’t known his intent, and a good-looking man could be as dangerous as an ugly one. Maybe more so since it could be easier to fool people and gain their attention.
She grabbed her soaking dress and wrung it out as she walked. She was right. A man that gorgeous was nothing but trouble.
And where was Liz? She didn’t see her anywhere.
She cast a quick, paranoid glance over her shoulder and saw the man who’d “rescued” her standing there, arms folded, same inscrutable, intense look as he’d had before.
Dammit, why did he have to be so good-looking?
She should tell someone he was crazy before he hurt someone else.
However, by the time she’d reached the lobby, she’d calmed slightly, realizing despite her shock waking up in the cold ocean and nearly sinking like a rock, he hadn’t let anything happen to her.
And he hadn’t done anything to her either, not that she could remember.
Perhaps he really did mean well because she had fainted.
Perhaps she should apologize or do something… She bit her lip and decided she didn’t need to say anything to the front desk. He might be arrogant and a little misguided, but she figured he would probably think twice before picking up another strange woman without her consent.
She walked to the stairs to take them to her hotel room, feeling bedraggled and spent. It had been a pleasant morning, all sunlight and relaxation, then had turned into complete crap.
Hopefully, Liz would be at the room, because she was pretty sure her key card was at the bottom of the ocean since it was no longer in her soaking-wet dress pocket.
She got to her door and knocked and was relieved when Liz opened the door, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“What happened to you?”
“That guy on the beach happened to me.”
Liz gasped, stepping back so Renee could step in. “He attacked you?”
“No,” Renee said, feeling a little embarrassed now that she had accused him of the same thing. But then again, she’d felt completely out of control of the situation and terrified, so she didn’t know how she could have acted otherwise. “He just… was a bit misguided in trying to revive me.”
“Revive you?”
“I fainted, I guess,” she said.
“The shock of having a hot guy offer to buy you a drink?” Liz said, sitting on a couch languidly. “He was probably messing with you.”
“I don’t know,” Renee said, not wanting to sit anywhere until she’d had a shower. “I guess that plus the heat… plus forgetting to breathe. I thought he was talking to you.”
“Me, too,” Liz said. “My guess is he’s playing the long game. Trying to make me jealous by going after my friend. Trying to look less shallow.”
Renee winced at the harsh words. She’d been friends with Liz so long that she was used to blunt barbs like that and usually able to brush them off.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said dully.
“Don’t forget about the luau tonight,” Liz said. “You’ll want to do something with… that.” She waved a hand at Renee’s hair, and Renee felt like, for once, she wanted to say something back.
Maybe the guy on the beach was strange. Maybe he had almost gotten her drowned. But he had saved her. And he’d hit on her, not Liz. And while he was rude with his mouth, his actions said otherwise.
Renee might not be used to being hit on, but she was pretty sure she knew what male interest looked like, and she’d seen it in that tall, gorgeous man’s eyes.
So what if people like Liz and Chase had always told her what she could expect? What if they were wrong?
She strutted off to the shower. She’d do something with her hair for the luau all right. Then she’d go down to the hotel lobby and buy one of those beautiful, off-shoulder dresses they sold.
Maybe she wouldn’t see the beach man again. Maybe she didn’t even want to since she still didn’t know him at all.
But regardless, she was going to enjoy this vacation, and she wasn’t going to let any negative thoughts or words from others stop her.
She was done with that kind of life.
Chapter 3
Kai observed with curiosity the gathering taking place out on the beach, far below his penthouse suite. Some kind of party, and he would need to leave soon if he wanted to keep any eye on his mate, prevent any rude men from bothering her.
But he was currently still on the phone with his sister, Marina, and he knew her advice would be invaluable once he tried to make another approach toward his mate.
“She thinks I tried to drown her,” he said. “I was only trying to cool her down.”
“She was afraid,” Marina said. “Justifiably so. Humans don’t see the water the way we do. It can kill them.”
He supposed that was a point. Some humans could swim admirably, but it still wasn’t the same as a dragon who could breathe underwater even in human form. “I suppose. But I wouldn’t have let anything happen to her.”
“She doesn’t know that,” Marina said, exasperated. “She doesn’t even know you’re a dragon or that dragons exist. To her, you were just a human male, one who had kidnapped her.”
“She thought I was a villain?” he asked.
“Maybe at first,” Marina said. “She didn’t know. Regardless, Kai, you’re going to have to take a softer approach with this one.” She paused for a moment. Then amusement entered her tone. “So you say she’s beautiful?”
Jealousy rankled in him, and he was a little grateful Marina was in another state. She liked to flirt with male and female humans alike, sometimes just for the attention, he felt. She was beautiful enough to catch most people’s notice, and she liked having everyone’s eyes in a room.
She also just had a general love for most creatures, shifters and humans equally, and got along with most everyone. The complete opposite of Kai.
But currently, she was also a little preoccupied with quarry of her own, so Kai didn’t have to worry about her.
“Are you still talking to that prisoner?” he asked. “Or has Seaton put a stop to it.”
“No one can put a stop to anything I want to do,” she said. “I’m my
own person, and besides, the oracle is curious to see if I can learn anything from him. He doesn’t have any history with me like he does with the metal dragons.”
“Does he still hate you?”
“He doesn’t hate me,” she said. “He just doesn’t know he likes me.”
Kai shook his head. “You deserve better.”
She let out a sigh. “We don’t always get to decide what we deserve. Besides, there is more to him than meets the eye. I haven’t given up on him, unlike most.”
“You are a hopeless, big-hearted idiot,” Kai said, meaning it as half compliment.
“And you need to learn to speak nicer, or I’m not going to give you any advice on winning your human.”
“Fine,” he said grumpily. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”
“He is collared,” she said. “I’m not. End of story.”
But Kai didn’t really feel that was the end of the story. Either way, he could never make Marina do anything she disagreed with, so he decided to let it drop. She had lots of dragons at the mansion to help keep an eye on her, and he needed to focus on winning his mate so he could get back to her.
“So human women,” Marina said. “They like to feel beautiful, desired.”
“How do I do that? Tell her I want to have sex with her?”
Marina let out a snort. “No.”
“Tell her she is beautiful? I am sure she already knows.”
“One odd thing about human women is that none of them seem to know how beautiful they are,” Marina said. “I don’t understand it. I don’t deny my beauty at all.”
Kai laughed. “That is true.”
“Anyway,” Marina said. “What makes you think she knows she’s beautiful?”
“She didn’t react to me like any other human woman,” Kai said. “She didn’t try to seduce or touch me. She didn’t look affected by my presence.”
“Perhaps she doesn’t like men,” Marina said.
Kai frowned. “She is my mate. My dragon roared like the ocean at high tide when I saw her. I do not think she hates men. Otherwise, why would I be paired with her?”
Tourmaline (Awakened Sea Dragons Book 2) Page 2