Firefighter Sea Dragon (Fire & Rescue Shifters Book 4)

by Zoe Chant

  Equally unhurriedly, he unfastened his vambraces, sliding them down off his forearms. He stripped away the wrappings beneath, unwinding the soft leather strips with languid, teasing movements.

  Then he hesitated.

  “Don’t stop there.” Neridia’s voice trembled with desire.

  “I will not, I promise.” Candor compelled him to admit, “I was merely trying to work out a dignified way of removing my boots.”

  That won him a true smile at last, though it was brief and fleeting. “At this point, I’ll take speed over spectacle. Take them off, John.”

  He obeyed, though as he had feared it was not entirely a graceful process. Still, Neridia did not seem to mind. He could sense her heat rising through the mate bond.

  He was already so painfully erect, it was a relief to finally unfasten his trousers. Neridia’s soft gasp as he revealed himself was so delicious, it was all he could do to keep his movements unhurried. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to rush.

  “Now,” he said huskily, when he stood before her naked at last. “It is your turn.”

  Her beautiful full lips were moist and parted, and he knew that the hidden folds were equally flushed. Nonetheless, she shook her head.

  “Not yet.” She rose from her chair, stepping close. “Let me look at you first. Just once, I want to look at you.”

  Distantly, it crossed his mind that this was a rather strange thing for her to say—but then she ran her hand across his chest, and all thought was consumed in the fire of her touch. It took all of his discipline not to push her up against the gleaming wall then and there.

  Control, control! He knotted his fists, forcing himself to hold still as she circled him. Her fingertips ran down his side, over his hip, up the broad curve of his back. She explored him with an exquisitely agonizing slowness, as if seeking to memorize every inch of his body.

  He caught her wrist as she ventured lower. “Even a Knight’s discipline is not that good, my mate. If you do not wish this to speed up somewhat…”

  In answer, she kissed him, her hand closing around his hard length. He groaned into her mouth as she stroked him. There was no longer any possibility of restraint.

  Never breaking the kiss, he unfastened the ties of her robe, jerking the fabric down off her body impatiently. At last, at last her exquisite curves were fully exposed to him. He buried himself in them, pressing his whole body against her, wanting to possess and claim every glorious inch.

  Neridia’s hand stilled. She pulled back from his mouth, far enough that she could look into his eyes. Her own were dark with desire, yet still they held that strange solemnity.

  “I want this to be special for you,” she said, as if it could ever be anything else. “I want—I want this to be a night that you remember, always. Is there anything I could do? Something you’d particularly like?”

  You, was his immediate thought…but the gravity of her manner made him pause. Pulling back a little himself, he forced himself to give the matter more serious consideration.

  Not that he had to think for more than a second.

  “There is something. And since the means are at hand…” He gestured at the vanity unit, and the glittering treasures arrayed there. “I would very much like to adorn you. I would like to see you properly crowned.”

  Something flashed across her eyes, too fast for him to interpret. His sense of her down the mate bond weakened, as if she’d retreated into a shell.

  “Not that,” she said. She glanced at the waiting crown, and a shiver shook her. “I’m sorry. Anything else, but not that.”

  On second thought, he supposed it wouldn’t be entirely proper to use the Crown Jewels in such a fashion. A pity. Perhaps another evening they could pay a private visit to the Imperial hoard…

  “Then I will make a different request.” Gently, he drew her over to the vast bed, laying her down on the silken sheets. “I want to take my time.”

  And he did.

  With his mouth, his hands, his body, he treasured her. He could spend a lifetime exploring her depths, and never grow tired of her wonders.

  When she was undone by pleasure, crying out his name in need, he could hold himself back no longer. She welcomed him in like the sea itself, closing around him as strong and sweet as the tides.

  At last he was truly home…and so, he thought, was she.

  But in the morning she was gone.

  Chapter 29

  Neridia clung to Jane’s branching horns, salt spray whipping her face. They’d discovered that it was quicker for the sea dragon to swim along the surface rather than dragging an air bubble under the water. Faster than any ship, they raced across the ocean.

  Neridia could only pray that it would be fast enough.

  Jane’s rhythm faltered, and Neridia felt a shiver pass through the sea dragon’s scaled skin. “What is it?” Neridia shouted into Jane’s ear.

  *The Knights of the First Water are singing to each other behind us.* Jane picked up her pace again. *They have discovered your departure. They’re coming after us.*

  “Do they know where we are?”

  *They’re led by the Knight-Commander himself.* Fear colored Jane’s mental tone. *He is the most powerful Seer in generations. The entire ocean is his eye.*

  Neridia touched her pearl pendant, wishing with all her heart that she had the Master Shark’s one as well. She was hidden from the Knight-Commander’s magical gaze, but Jane wasn’t.

  She’d hoped that it would take the Knight-Commander longer to work out who had to be accompanying her. But it seemed that hope was futile. Now, their only chance lay in their head start.

  Neridia shaded her eyes against the wind, scanning the horizon. The sea stretched out in every direction, featureless and empty. She couldn’t see any hint of land yet.

  “How much further?” she asked Jane.

  *The currents are in our favor, but it’s a long swim yet until we reach the shore.* Jane’s powerful finned tail churned the water behind them to froth, her head weaving through the waves. *You are certain we can find help in the human city of Brighton?*

  Fire Commander Ash’s calm, powerful eyes flashed through her mind. If anyone could stand against the Knight-Commander, it would be the Phoenix.

  “John’s friends will help us,” she said to Jane. “John asked them to protect me, when he couldn’t. If we can only get there-“

  She broke off, nearly unseated as Jane shied like a skittish horse. The reason was immediately apparent. A vast, triangular fin broke through the sea’s surface in front of them, rising higher than a yacht’s sail.

  “Master Shark,” Neridia breathed.

  The fin’s shadow swept over them as the shark circled. Neridia felt Jane tremble beneath her. The megalodon’s half-seen bulk under the water dwarfed the female sea dragon.

  Neridia patted Jane’s scales, trying to project a confidence that she didn’t entirely feel herself. “It’s all right. He’s on our side.”

  I hope, she added silently to herself, as the megalodon rose alongside the sea dragon. He rolled a little in the water, staring up at her. His eye looked tiny in proportion to his vast jaw…yet it was still bigger than Neridia’s entire head.

  Neridia met that cold grey gaze. “You were right,” she said, hoping that the shark could hear her. “It was the Knight-Commander. He’s the one who had my father assassinated. He wanted me dead too, until he realized I don’t have any power to threaten him. Now he wants to use me as his puppet.”

  The megalodon’s jaw worked, exposing triple rows of serrated teeth. Each one was longer than Neridia’s forearm.

  Jane sang an urgent, agonized chord as the megalodon started to sink out of sight again. *Neridia, my brother swims at the Knight-Commander’s side!*

  “Wait!” Neridia yelled. To her relief, the shark paused, looking back up at her.

  “John doesn’t know any of this.” Her voice shook, despite her best effort to control it. “I couldn’t tell him. He’s innocent. Pleas
e, whatever you do, don’t hurt him.”

  Without making any response, the megalodon disappeared beneath the sea. Neridia could just make out a ripple cutting against waves, arrowing back the way they’d came.

  *He is calling his people,* Jane reported, her mental tone uneasy. *I can feel the sharks rising to follow him…Neridia, he is calling them to war. Will my brother truly be safe?*

  “He’ll be safer than if he knew the truth.” Neridia wound her hands into the sea dragon’s mane again, flattening herself against the indigo scales. “Swim.”

  Chapter 30

  “Oh, the sea will sing of this day!” The Knight-Commander was a blaze of green and gold in the water, his eyes alight with battle-rage. “Destroy the traitors utterly, my knights! Let this be the hour that the sharks are finally hurled back into the abyss, outcast from the Empire for once and for all!”

  The Knights of the First Water roared back their approval, the entire ocean trembling with their gathered wrath. Sea dragons met sharks, upraised claws matched against tearing teeth. Scales of every hue flashed in brilliant contrast to the sharks’ dull greys.

  Amidst the sea-shaking thunder of battle-song, John was the only silent voice. Though his fellow knights were filled with the righteous delight of testing their strength against worthy opponents, he could not join in their chorus of joy. He had no heart for it.

  His heart was gone, fled across the sea.

  Why, my mate, my Empress, why? He called out for her down the mate bond, but only silence met his anguished plea. Why do you run? What do you fear? Why do you not trust me to help you?

  He had told her that he would face any danger for her, confront any challenge. He had thought that she had believed him. And yet still she had fled. She had thought his little sister a more worthy protector than him.

  Oh my mate, my heart, have I failed you so badly?

  There was only one thing he could do. He would follow her, and find her, and win back her trust. Whatever it was that she feared, he would show her that he was strong enough to face it with her.

  John extended his claws, his markings glowing with new resolve. He dove at the nearest swirl of combat. He would fight his way to his mate’s side, even if it meant swimming through an ocean of blood.

  A dozen sharks scattered at his charge, abandoning the knight that they had been harassing. John was surprised by the pack’s cowardice. A single shark was no match for a sea dragon, but in numbers the sharks’ superior speed and maneuverability made them deadly foes. It was not like them to retreat from confrontation so readily.

  “My thanks, Knight-Poet,” his fellow knight sang. Despite his wounds, he laughed, bloodlust lighting his eyes. “It seems even the sharks have heard of your great poem! See how they fear your power!”

  John left him to pursue the fleeing sharks, turning instead to help another knight who was beset by foes. As before, the sharks immediately broke off at his approach. No matter how he chased them, they refused to turn and give fight.

  This is very odd.

  John curved his body in an arc, bringing himself to a halt. His futile pursuit had brought him close to the surface. Hovering in the water like a hawk in the sky, he surveyed the battle below.

  He was the only knight not engaged in bitter combat. Every other sea dragon was mobbed by sharks, wheeling and darting around them. So far, the sea dragons’ superior discipline was holding the sharks at bay, but more were arriving by the minute.

  Now’s our chance! his inner human urged. Go, while everyone else is busy! Run to our mate!

  John hesitated, torn. Honor demanded that he fight alongside his brother-knights until the foe was vanquished…but his inner human had a point. What if this attack was but a diversionary tactic? What if even now, another force of sharks was hunting down the Empress-in-Waiting?

  Below, the vast shape of the Master Shark loomed out of the depths. Jaws agape, he hurtled straight up toward the Knight-Commander, who was preoccupied fighting a pack of great whites.

  Without thought, John dove down to defend his superior. There was no time for subtlety or poetry now. Claws extended, he flashed past the Knight-Commander, ready to meet the Master Shark head-on.

  The megalodon saw him coming…and the great maw snapped closed. The shark turned, aborting its attack. John was so startled, he aborted his as well, fanning out his webbed feet to halt his dive.

  The megalodon circled away, one cold eye fixed on him. With a sharp movement of its tail, it sought to rush past him, but John blocked its path to the Knight-Commander with his own body.

  “Brethren!” he sang, keeping his claws raised and ready. “Defend the Knight-Commander!”

  Three knights sang back in answer, flashing through the water towards them. The Master Shark turned to meet their charge, jaws opening once again. The megalodon seemed to have no hesitation about attacking these challengers.

  John gathered himself to join the assault—but found his own way blocked by a green-and-gold finned tail.

  “Wait,” the Knight-Commander said, eyes narrowing. Thin ribbons of blood spiraled around his reddened claws, slowly dispersing. “Did the Master Shark just flee from you?”

  “I cannot explain it, sir. No shark seems willing to face me. A brother-knight suggested that perhaps they fear that I might part the sea again.”

  “Perhaps,” the Knight-Commander said slowly, harmonies of doubt clear in his tone. His assessing gaze flicked from John to the battling Master Shark, and back again. His song turned more thoughtful. “Or perhaps they have been ordered to turn aside from you…”

  John rippled his length in a shrug, dismissing the mystery. There were more urgent matters at hand now. “Sir, we must not lose sight of our greater purpose here. Where is the Empress-in-Waiting? Is she too in danger of ambush?”

  The Knight-Commander hesitated, turning his head to stare into an empty patch of water. The green glow of his eyes turned to pure, brilliant gold. John knew that he was using his powers as a Seer to scry out Neridia’s location.

  The Knight-Commander blinked, his eyes returning to their normal hue. “I can still see your sister, although her rider is hidden from my sight. There are no sharks near them. You need not fear for your mate, Knight-Poet.”

  “Nonetheless, sir, I must go to her,” John said, in a stern melody that bordered on being an outright command. “I must stop her from this inexplicable, disastrous flight. I swear that I will do whatever it takes to bring her home.”

  The Knight-Commander stared at him for a long moment, a still point in the maelstrom of battle raging all around. John had the distinct impression that his superior was engaged in furious mental calculation.

  “You are quite correct, Knight-Poet,” he said, his tone still thoughtful. “We must not lose sight of our true purpose.”

  John let out his breath in relief, bubbles trickling from his nostrils. “Then I have your permission to quit the field of battle, sir?”

  “We shall both go.” The Knight-Commander swirled, heading for the open sea. “Come, Knight-Poet. And stay close by my side.”

  Chapter 31

  *They are right behind us!* Jane’s mental voice came in panting gasps, matching her labored breathing. *Neridia, it’s the Knight-Commander and my brother! They’ll be within sight of us any second now!*

  “Just a little further!” Neridia shouted back. “Look! There’s land!”

  The south coast of England was a dark smudge on the horizon. Despite Jane’s obvious exhaustion, the sight seemed to hearten the sea dragon. She redoubled her efforts, fairly flying over the sea.

  Neridia could make out the lights of Brighton now, glittering through the twilight like stars that had fallen to earth. Neridia fixed her eyes on the rapidly-approaching city, her heart rising. They were so close now…they were going to make it…

  Jane shrieked like a hundred off-key flutes, recoiling from the sea as if the water was suddenly burning hot. Or, as Neridia discovered as spray dashed against her legs, burn
ing cold. Between one breath and the next, the sea had turned icy.

  Literally icy.

  Neridia swallowed freezing sea water as Jane frantically back-finned away from an iceberg that hadn’t been there a second ago. Spluttering and coughing, Neridia gaped as the sheet of ice grew thicker right before their eyes. It raced out to either side of them, forming a wide crescent blocking their path.

  “How-?” Neridia began—but even as she spoke, she already knew the answer.

  *There is ice in my brother’s heart.* Jane paddled back to the white wall, which loomed a good ten feet above sea level now. *Enough to freeze half the sea. It’s too thick to dive under, you’d drown before we got to the other side.*

  “We’re trapped!” Neridia’s pulse raced. “You go, Jane, leave me here. You can still get to safety-”

  *And abandon my Empress? Not likely!* Jane dug her claws into the ice. *Hold on!*

  Neridia grabbed onto the sea dragon’s mane as she pulled herself up, seawater streaming from her scales. Breath hissing between her fangs with the effort, the sea dragon climbed the sheer wall of ice.

  The iceberg’s surface was unnaturally flat, level as a table. Jane lay still for a moment, panting, then painfully hauled herself to her feet. She tested the ice gingerly with one webbed foot.

  *It’ll be faster to cross this on two feet,* she said, ducking her head to allow Neridia to slide off her back. *Sea dragons aren’t built for walking.*

  Neridia hastened to support Jane as the sea dragon resumed human form, glad to finally be able to do something to help her. “Just a little farther,” she said encouragingly. “Come on!”

  She’d feared that the ice would be slick, but the flash-frozen sea water was gritty with trapped particulates. It crunched under Neridia’s shoes as she half-pulled, half-carried Jane across the iceberg.

  Just a little farther…just a little farther…

  Indigo scales erupted from the ocean ahead. The entire iceberg tilted as John’s enormous bulk landed on the far edge. Neridia was knocked off her feet, sharp ice crystals cutting into her palms as she fell.