by Неизвестный
Pulling up to the ship, he mentally calculated how many areas he would need to collect all the subjects. Too many from one spot and the fish would stop swimming. Grathers would expect results soon, though. The scientist knew nothing about hunting paranormal species. Whether they were fairies or werewolves, set-up took time, and they always had hidden defenses. Karon made a mental note to take harpoons next time.
His neoprene-covered feet sploshed on the deck. Karon peeled the wetsuit down to his hips. Gracie’s flowery smell mixed with the scent of ocean. Her hands came up around his back to cover his eyes. “Guess who?”
He’d know that touch anywhere. “Hi, babe.”
“That’s not a guess.”
There weren’t any other babes in his life, but he wouldn’t tell her that. Instead he grabbed her wrist and stretched his teeth over her skin, growling like a dog with a bone.
She slapped at him to stop. “You wouldn’t really bite me, John Karon.”
If only she knew how true that was. At her words, his hand covered his mouth. After a lifetime of dealing with not having fangs or drinking blood, the reminder still embarrassed him. Not being able to eat people sucked. Pretending made it worse.
Gracie swiveled in front of him and said, “I am more than willing to bite you, though.” Going up on her toes, she clamped down on his neck. Her dull teeth sent a wave of hunger through him, and saliva flooded his mouth.
He pushed her away. “Maybe later, babe.” Long strides carried him down to his quarters to shower and dress. She never stayed ticked for long, but he felt bad for shrugging her off. None of his crew knew he was a human born of vampires.
The drugs Grathers sent every month had never made any difference. Karon wished he could give up hope for a cure entirely. Each time the scientist sent a different medication his emotions took a roller coaster ride through excitement, past dismay, to land firmly back in resignation.
He caught the sight of his face in the mirror and noted the ratio of gray to gold in his hair. Like all damn humans, he aged like a motherfucker. Only thirty-five, and already thin crags marred his browned face. Humans used sunscreen, but Karon couldn’t be bothered. Why delay the inevitable? Fifty, sixty years tops. That’s all he had left.
He turned the shower’s handle, and a trickling stream of warmth washed away his thoughts, refocusing him on the task at hand— catching fry. Mere were the only paranormal species that could choose life as either human or supernatural. He tamped down a spike of jealousy. Those damn fish didn’t know how good they had it!
The mere may not know how lucky or unusual they were, but that didn’t mean science couldn’t exploit their powers. If mere could turn human, maybe someday a human could turn into a mere, or a werewolf, or maybe even a vampire.
* * * *
Sidon’s finger thrummed against the table as he argued with Oceanus, Chairman of the Dragon Council. The phone’s plastic handle creaked in his grip.
“But Sidon, that was only one attack. It may have been a random occurrence. Perhaps they were dolphin poachers who just happened accidentally across the mere.”
Isa would be upset about the Council’s involvement, but as Guardian he needed to alert them to threats of attack. Besides, he had a feeling this situation would get worse before it got better. “Be that as it may, they know it’s here.” He avoided mentioning the part about Isa leading the hunters. Without that piece of information he understood Oceanus’s reluctance, but he wouldn’t put her at risk.
“How could that be, son? You know the mere habitats emit a cloak. No human can find them.” Sidon hated when Oceanus used the familiar with him. Knocking up Sidon’s mother did not make the dragon his father.
“I have reason to believe they’re circling. They may not be able to see Sirena, but they certainly have a lock on its location. “
“Sidon, you know this shouldn’t be your concern any longer. Have you given any more thought to your future? “
“Key Sirena will always be my concern,” he ground out.
“Your allegiance is misplaced. You are a dragon, and the mere...” He paused. “We can’t always protect them. “
“This isn’t about dragon politics. I’m asking for assistance to investigate one boat.”
“And what then? Will you ask the Council to launch an attack on humans just to save one or two mere?”
Sidon clenched his teeth in frustration. It always came to this. The Council offered their protection only when it was in their best interest. Key Sirena was an investment, and the mere were a workforce.
“No. Once we determine their goals and have access to the boat, I’ll sink it myself.”
* * * *
Isa watched as Sidon bent over a huge stove, his spatula poised over two thick slabs of meat.
“I hope you like steak.”
Isa poured some wine, and soon he lifted the two juicy entrées off the fancy slats built into his state-of-the-art range. “So you like to cook, huh?”
“Well, I like to eat.” He was back to teasing her again, and she caught a hint of suggestiveness in his voice.
She ignored the invitation to giggle and move closer to him, though her body jerked in protest. “I suppose there’s not a lot of take-out here.”
“You mean like food to take home from a restaurant? All the places in town will box up food to-go if you want.”
“All three restaurants?” She couldn’t resist giving him a hard time.
“Yes, all three. Your point, princess?” He huffed a little now, defending his territory.
“Nothing.” She lowered her head and dug into her steak. In true dragon form, the meat was barely seared, still mooing, as most mere would say. Isa always liked her meat bloody, though, and she practically growled at the taste of it. She wiped a trail of slick juice off her chin and licked it off her finger, then started at Sidon’s eyes trained on her mouth.
Her throat went dry, and she cleared it before looking away. “Thanks for the food and everything.”
“You’re welcome, Ismaelda. I…” Sidon stopped himself short and gave her a sly grin. “I’m glad you decided to visit.”
The lie she’d told pinched in her gut, but she didn’t correct him. Instead she smiled back. “I am, too.”
The tide had pulled out, leaving the water outside low and the rocky cliff exposed. Cloud cover rolled in heavy and gray. As they finished eating, rain slapped playfully at the giant window, like an eager toddler begging for attention. Isa felt her pulse quicken and her body tingle with the rising winds. She needed to get away from Sidon. Now.
“I appreciate your hanging with me today, Si.” The sensitivity of her skin intensified. “It would have been hard to be alone after what happened last night.”
Sidon eyed her, his look saying that he knew perfectly well what was coming.
“I think I should go.” She stood from the table and started picking up plates. Pointing to the tracker on her arm, she added, “You’ll know how to find me.”
“Oh, come on, Isa! Where would you go? You going to stay with your mom?”
The idea made Isa flinch. Ashala would not be glad to see her only daughter back in the Key.
“I’ll head into town. Sirena Chalet is still open, right? I saw the sign on my way in. I could get a room there.” She opened the dishwasher and began loading while Sidon prowled toward her.
“Isa, I thought I made it clear I’m not letting you out of my sight until we eliminate this threat.”
“You’re not my keeper.”
“You’re not leaving.” He closed the distance between them, his broad form caging her against the counters.
“Don’t do this to me, Si.” Isa pulled to the side, her heart pounding now, trying to put some space between them. “I have to leave.”
“Why?” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone demanded that she say it out loud.
Tears stung as she swiveled to face him. She felt so weak, so limited, so very mere. “You know why!”
Sidon pulled back
an inch, enough so she felt less trapped. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Isa laughed bitterly. “Oh, please, when has a dragon ever cared what a mere wanted?”
A flash of pain crossed his features but disappeared as fast as it came. “You know me better than that.”
A fat tear rolled down her cheek. Sidon did care about her. He’d even tried to respect her choices back when they were younger, despite his teenage eagerness to get into her pants. The problem was her body wanted one thing, and her mind wanted another. Her heart was still undecided. “I know, Si.”
“So you’ll stay.” He said it with finality and moved in to peck her cheek. She ducked away. “What?”
“Si, I’ll stay with you, but this… this kissing and stuff has to stop.”
“Why?” Clearly he was going to push this through to its end, and Isa hated him more by the second for it.
“Why? Well, let’s see. Because you’ll want to change me. Because I live in Landworld. Because you would never be happy with what I can give you.”
“Who says I wouldn’t be happy?” His tone was lighter now that she’d spelled out her concerns.
Isa aimed her words like arrows to penetrate his scaly reptile brain. “Sidon, I’m not going to have sex with you.”
“I know that.” Flippant now, he pulled back even further, but stayed close enough for her to smell the salt on him.
“Then what do you want?” Her body moved toward his now that he retreated.
He smiled at her approach. “I want to kiss you and spend time with you while you’re in town.” His words were light and friendly, as if asking for the most reasonable thing in the world. “And as far as the other stuff goes, we’ll do whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“Really?” She laced the single word with as much sarcastic disbelief as she could muster.
“Why not?”
Quips and replies flew through her mind, but, “Because you’re so damn fine!” kept bubbling to the surface. She opted to keep that to herself. He continued to look at her, his posture mild and casual.
Something told her he was working an angle, or maybe trying a soft-sell. She was tempted, terribly, excruciatingly tempted. It had been a long time since she’d had a man to spend time with. She’d tired of laying out the rules over and over with guys who didn’t want to respect them. Why not enjoy Sidon’s comfort for now? Why not date a ridiculously hot, kick-ass guy for a few days? She could deal with her broken heart later.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Sidon jerked in surprise, and then his grin stretched from ear to ear.
Now that they’d come to an agreement, Isa was unsure of what to do or how to act. She shuffled, feeling oddly formal.
Sidon broke the tension. “You want some ice cream?”
“Sure, what have you got?”
“Mint chocolate chip.”
“Awesome.”
They ate their dessert in silence. The downpour slapped wantonly against the window, as if highlighting their lack of conversation. She tried to chit chat, but Isa couldn’t ignore the soft pulsing that grew low in her body. Despite their simple pact, she fought a strong urge to run as fast as she could.
His long, tapered finger tapped just a little too hard on the table, and her eyes travelled up his arm to his tense bicep. His nervousness softened her, made her want to comfort him. She slid her hand across the table to stroke his tanned arm with one finger. His dark chocolate eyes lit up. At her touch his entire body seemed to simultaneously relax and expand, and Isa’s senses were flooded by his salty-earth smell. The tunnel-vision from the night before returned. She hovered on the verge of orgasm awaiting his touch.
As though he felt it too, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the tips of her fingers. Each press of lips sent a little jolt of pleasure up her arm, but when he rose and gestured for her to do the same, she gave him a look of concern.
“I’m just going to kiss you,” he said.
Awkwardly, she stood.
He bent toward her and moved his lips slowly over hers. His hands found a home between her shoulder blades and at the small of her back, and he dipped her slightly. Her muscles turned to putty and she moaned into his mouth. He took the sound as encouragement and slid a familiar hand to cup her bottom while the other hand stroked her face. He paused at her mouth to snake a finger inside along her cheek. His contented growl vibrated against her as he broke the kiss and used the rough digit to spread their mixed saliva over her parted lips.
A wave of hot need made Isa’s center clench.
So much for just kissing!
She dropped to her knees, placing her mouth over the bulge at Sidon’s fly and breathing warm air through the fabric. She squeezed her legs together and, hoping he didn’t see, pressed her hand over her mound to ease the pulsing ache. The sooner they both got off, the better. A few blow jobs and he’d tire of her, and she could go back to her life. Sidon stroked his hand softly through her hair, but when she reached for his belt, he lifted her to her feet.
“You are so sexy, and I want you to do that, but I want to lie down with you. Will you come?”
Despite being about to go down on him in the living room, the idea of going to his bedroom made her nervous. He would never force himself on her, but her self control was teetering on the edge. Sidon seemed to understand because he led her over to the cushions of the sofa instead.
Next to her on the soft expanse of white, he kissed her with a slow, deliberate passion that left her breathless. At first she wondered why he wasn’t pressing further, but her thoughts washed away in a sea of ruthless kisses and gentle hands. He stroked her shoulders and neck, before lightly trailing along the edges of her breast. His deft fingers would venture toward the peaked center, over the delicate tissue of her areola. Then his touch would drift outward again; soon Isa was arching up toward him, offering her flesh like bonbons on a plate.
He began to circle one nipple through her shirt till it stiffened and puckered. The sensation shot straight to her core, tearing her between offering him the other side and pressing herself into his hand.
Isa rolled to straddle his hips, pressing her center against the thick ridge on his lap. Sidon brought her closer, and still plundering her mouth, rocked her steadily against him. Despite the clothing between them, they both moaned low at the pressure.
His musky scent made Isa buck against him and bite into his jumping muscles. He moved to control her frenzied rubbing. She had lost all reason, and she panted and strained against him, her climax just out of reach. Grabbing her roughly, he wrapped one strong hand around her hip and the other in her hair, holding her face to his gaze.
“Come for me, Isa.” The growl of his voice raked her taut nerves, causing a hot rush of moisture to dampen her shorts. He pressed her along his steely hardness. One, two, three strokes and she cried out with spasms, calling his name while his grasp held her tightly in place.
Isa’s legs still trembled as he lifted her and started toward his room. Tendrils of concern wove through her mind. This was all so much easier when he was a horny kid. He said please and she said no—simple. The confident male who carried her now would never stoop to such childish games. No, the games the Sidon played now were far more dangerous.
Chapter 4
Chummed
Sidon laid Isa flat and caged her small body with his arms. Then he pulsed his tongue into her mouth, trying to taste her every gasp. Her explosion on his lap had been the most erotic thing he’d seen in years. Damn, she was beautiful and hot and so crazy when she got worked up that he’d almost come with her. Though his cock ached at the memory, he needed to go slow, to draw her out and make her want it. Make her want him.
He pressed kisses into her mound through the material of his boxers before winking and pulling them down with his teeth. Her lower half was naked to him and pale curls framed the glistening folds that had haunted his dreams ever since he first tasted them. She blushed under
his stare and pressed her knees together, making him want to kiss her again and again. He wrapped a hand behind each leg and eased them gently apart, watching for every reaction. “Don’t close them again, Isa.”
Her parted legs shook ever so slightly as she held her sex open, and he touched her mouth one more time, never tiring of the feel of her tongue and cheeks. She captured his finger and suckled, causing his cock to twitch and his heart to lurch. Closing his eyes to regain composure, he moved downward to stroke through her slippery crease. He smiled at her wetness and added another finger to the first one, circling her entrance.
His mouth watered to taste her, but he held back, needing her panting before he’d go further. She scooted on the sheets, trying to get his touch in the right spot. He placed a firm hand over her belly, pinning her as he plummeted two fingers into the narrow passage, and his gaze flickered between the ecstasy on her pretty face and the quivering of her thighs as he drove calmly into her. His thumb brushed her nub gently, as he worked her, and soon she was thrashing and squirming, trying to rub her tender button against his hand.
She pled with her eyes, with her mewls, with her hips. He’d make her beg for him to go further, but not tonight. Instead, he looked into her eyes and pressed his thumb up into her clit, curling his fingers onto the little sponge inside her, and Isa arched up off the bed. Her screams washed over him like ambrosia.
“Oh, Sidon! Oh, God, Si. Oh, God.”
Petting her down, he stretched out along her body to plunder her mouth in a fresh bout of kisses. When she was done shaking, he eased the T-shirt over her head and undid her bikini top. She colored anew, and his chest beat hard at the sight. A stab of desperate need rocked him before he could tamp it down.
He bounded up, partially to undress, but also to break away from the haze of her embrace. Isa’s big blue eyes never left him as he lifted his shirt and unbuckled his cargos, letting the weight of his belt pull the shorts and boxers to the floor. Her gaze panned down his body like a caress and came to rest at his cock. That perfect pink tongue swept out to wet her lips. Her little white teeth bit down on the finger that had drifted into her mouth. His erection wept. Isa’s eyes drifted back up to meet his, and he fought to keep the violent desire off his face.