by Неизвестный
When he let go, he pulled off his pants, pausing to wiggle his eyebrows at her. Conceited jerk! Then he strode into the water, turning to look at her once he was submerged to his waist. His dragon form stretched out behind him, and as it did, his upper body grew and expanded till he resembled nothing so much as a sea god. Isa’s breath caught in her throat. “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t even think of running. I’d catch you.” His larger-than-life voice resonated in the small cave, and Isa just shook her head. No, there was no way she’d be able to escape him, not until he let her go.
* * * *
Sidon struggled to quiet his breathing as he streaked through the boat’s passageways. He’d found the section where the kids were held shivering in their cages, and he’d shuffled them off the ship and into the water before anyone was the wiser. Laird had circled below the ship to accompany them home, but Sidon stayed aboard to plant the equipment before the crew realized that their catch had been lost.
Narrow passageways twisted through the boat up to the bridge. Entering the farthest office, Sidon slipped around a scarred wooden desk, but as he moved to unscrew the mouthpiece from the receiver he heard someone approaching the opaque sliding door. A man and woman walked in just as Sidon pulled himself into a corner and willed his skin to become the same color as the walls behind him.
Shifting color was almost effortless in his dragon body, but required a huge amount of concentration and energy in human form. In fact, he didn’t know any other dragons that could do it. That, and his unusual half-dragon shape, had the Council breathing down his neck to leave Sirena and do “more important” things.
“So, when will you be collecting more victims for your little concentration camp here?” the woman asked.
The man looked exhausted, utterly defeated.
“It’s not like that, Gracie. It’s a study. They’ll let the kids go when they’re done with them. Catch and release.”
“And you really believe that?”
“They’re not monsters, Gracie. They’re scientists.”
“I don’t really see the difference.”
The man took a deep breath. “Listen, I don’t like it either, but it’s my job. And Dendric helps people.”
“Do you really believe that, Karon?”
Raking his hand through his hair, the man said, “I don’t know what the hell I believe.”
At that, the man embraced the woman, and Sidon was shocked to see her looking right at him over the man’s shoulder, then she smiled and gave Sidon a little wink.
The girl, Gracie, started kissing the guy. Good! If she distracted him enough, Sidon could sneak by instead of waiting god-knows-how-long for the asshole to leave. He only had one shot at getting to the door, so he waited while Gracie started to undo the man’s jeans. She was pretty, Sidon thought as he reluctantly watched, seductive-looking, but nowhere as perfect and cute as Isa. On her knees now, she gave Sidon an extra-long stare as she wrapped her lips around the man’s cock.
Blood surged to Sidon’s groin, and he realized that this lady may not be an enemy, but she wasn’t exactly a friend either. She was trouble.
He started to ease out of his hiding spot, but suddenly the man took charge and laid the woman on the desk. Thankfully, the captain’s back was angled toward where Sidon stood. The dragon cursed, realizing that the guy was now facing the door. Even if he could color-shift all the way to the exit, the man would see the sliding door open.
Next thing Sidon knew Gracie’s skirt was up, her panties were off, and the guy’s jeans were around his knees. Sidon closed his eyes, wishing he was somewhere, anywhere, else. Then he heard the woman’s soft “Ah!” at penetration, and his already painful erection started to pulse. And even though he tried not to watch, the rhythmic gasps of their coupling burned his ears, and he found himself pressing his hand hard along the bulge in his shorts. He couldn’t help but imagine it was him standing at that weathered desk, and that it was Isa’s dimpled knees on either side of him.
Sidon said a little inward prayer that he wouldn’t have to watch this through to the end, and a moment later it was answered when Gracie said, “I want to ride you.”
Lifting the still-mounted woman smoothly from the desk, the guy sat back on the chair behind him. Gracie began rising and falling on his lap, giving Sidon a Cheshire-cat grin. Then her face went slack with pleasure as her partner used his hands to work her hips harder against his. Sidon eased forward, and when the man’s face was busy against Gracie’s chest, Sidon soundlessly crossed the room. Then Gracie started shouting, a little too loudly to be believable, “Yes, Karon! Yes! Fuck me! Oh, fuck me deeper!” and Sidon slipped through the door.
* * * *
Isa paced the house all night, pausing only to toss and turn in the empty bed for a couple of hours. She knew Sidon wouldn’t be back until morning, but the worry built with every passing hour. She lingered through coffee, but didn’t bother trying to eat. By noon, her nerves were stretched so taut that when she heard a loud rapping at the door, she jumped several feet.
She opened it to find Kai on Sidon’s doorstep. The dragon launched into his interrogation immediately.
“Where is Sidon?”
“I have no idea.”
“He left at midnight, correct?”
“Yes.” Isa felt defensive. If he wasn’t back, there was certainly nothing she could do about it.
“And did he share with you when he expected to return?”
Isa bristled. “I’m not his house cat. Of course he told me when he thought he’d return. He said by mid morning.”
“So he is late?”
Wow, dragons might be hot, but they weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. “It seems so.”
“Then we will wait here for his return. Mere girl, please fetch me some food.”
Oh, she really hated this guy. “I’m not his pet, and I’m not his maid. And it’s not my job to feel his co-workers.”
Kai’s eyes became colder, like shards of glass. “So if you are not here to serve the dragon, what is your role?”
Isa pondered that for a second. Ex-high-school-sweetheart-current-captive-everything-but-sex-buddy seemed like too much information. So she aimed for simple. “I’m his girlfriend.”
The dragon’s jaw hardened. “His girlfriend?”
“Yes, is that surprising?”
A vein in his forehead pulsed, and Isa worried he’d blow a gasket. “Dragons do not mate or form attachments with part-humans.”
Isa had half a mind to tell the jerk that Sidon had probably “mated” with half the female mere in Key Sirena. She doubted that the observation would help her case.
“Well, I’m sure dragons who live in all-dragon areas mate with other dragons. But Si grew up here and lives here. I mean, there aren’t even very many female dragons on Sirena. The district is a small area, and almost no one lives there year-round.”
“True, but there are plenty of eligible females at court.”
She laughed out loud at the thought of her Sidon at the dragon court.
“Yeah, well, if he ever goes there, I’m sure he’ll clean up with the ladies.”
“No need. He’s already met his betrothed.”
“His what?”
Kai regarded her without a hint of sympathy. “His betrothed. Were you not aware that Sidon was promised?”
“No.” Her voice was softer than she hoped. She bit hard into her lip. There was no way this smug prick would see her cry.
“Well, it’s neither here nor there as far as you’re concerned. Once he is married he’ll be re-assigned to a post in Washington. He really should have taken it already, but Sidon’s always been a bit unconventional.”
Breaking through the haze of hurt at the idea that Sidon was engaged, Isa took in Kai’s words.
“Do you mean Landworld Washington?”
Kai didn’t smile, but his face relaxed into a paternalistic expression. “Yes, little mere. Washington DC, not state. I forgot how your
kind refers to places outside your little habitats as ‘Landworld’. It’s quaint.”
“So,” Isa said, trying to ignore the insults piling up. She wanted, no needed, to understand. “So the Dragon Council is located in Washington?”
“No, of course not! The Council just has representatives in Washington. Lobbyists, politicians, environmental lawyers. We have representatives all over the world. After all, protection of the oceans is the Empire’s most important mission. We can’t leave that to the humans.”
Isa felt like she’d been slapped in the face, punched in the gut, and hit by a car all at once. Excusing herself, she launched down the stairs and into the water, swimming fast as she could. She ignored the sharp pinching as she shifted this time and swam till she reached the boulders at the Key’s eastern end. Pulling herself up on the rocks, she shivered against the harsh winds. Isa allowed each new piece of information to shuffle through her mind like flashcards, and started to cry.
She hadn’t even admitted to herself that she was considering staying forever until this minute. Now she knew. This time she would have stayed with Sidon, given in eventually, and become marked for him. Then he would have left her, trapped.
* * * *
To Sidon’s dismay, his raging wood survived the transition both to and from his dragon form, as well as the swim back to his place. Tucking himself into his loose pants in the cave, he headed up the stairs, wondering whether he should tackle Isa right away or head to the bathroom to take the edge off before he found her. Instead, he discovered his living room occupied by two extremely cranky dragons.
“Sidon, you’ve arrived,” Kai said. “I was concerned when you didn’t complete the mission within the projected time frame.”
“Well, I got a little held up.”
“Regardless, I need your update to send to the Council immediately.”
“Okay.” Sidon shrugged in frustration. His hair was wet, he was half naked, and he sported a tent that could sleep a family of four, but he quickly gave the dragon a rundown on everything that had happened on the boat. For some reason he left out the part about the woman, Gracie. Something told him to keep that particular card close to his chest.
“So where is Isa hiding out?” he asked when they were finished talking. Sidon was eager to send the dragons on their way.
“The mere female? She left over an hour ago.”
Sidon’s heart practically launched out of his chest. The room spun as his anger billowed, burning a hot pulse through him.
Trying to calm himself and quell the panic, he strode to his office and logged on. After a few clicks he found the signal from the tracker he’d placed on Isa’s arm. She was on the Eastern rocks. He closed his eyes, thanking the gods she was still on Sirena. Then he swept through the living room and down the stairs.
“I want you out of here when I get back.”
Sidon peeled into the water, telling himself again Isa was still in the Key. There was no way she could have gotten the tracker off. There was no damn way she had left him this time.
* * * *
Isa watched as Sidon’s human torso rose out of the choppy black water. He called up to her. “It’s a mermaid sitting on the rocks! Where’s my camera?”
Isa scowled. “Let me guess, you tracked me like a dolphin?”
His face scrunched like he trying to look sorry, but steel came through in his voice. “Well, yeah.”
Isa took a deep breath then turned her tear-streaked face to him. “I want to go home to Landworld, Si.”
He recoiled. “Why?”
She shifted her tail into a more comfortable position on the jagged boulders. “I want my life back. And frankly, you should get back to yours as well. Whatever we’re doing, it’s been nice, but it’s not reality. Not for either of us.”
“Isa, what are you talking about? It was real enough last night, and this morning, and when I left. So what the hell is the problem?”
“Kai told me, all right! He told me about your fiancée, how you’re moving soon.” Her voice rose and quivered. But she didn’t want to give him one iota of satisfaction. “How could you? How could you try to get me to change, to get me stuck here when you’re leaving?”
“Is, for the record, I didn’t try to get you to change.”
“Oh, please!” she shouted. “You knew what you were doing. Don’t pretend you weren’t seducing me to stay here. To be what? Your sex toy? Your mistress?”
“Isa, that wasn’t what I was doing. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t—”
“Mere aren’t like dragons! We can’t go back and forth whenever we want! Once I’m marked, I’m stuck in the Key. A half mile from the water and I’ll dehydrate!”
“Isa!” Sidon shifted to human and climbed out of the water. He crouched on the rocks. “Firstly, there are plenty of places within a half mile of the ocean. But more importantly, I’m. Not. Going. Anywhere.”
Isa humpfed.
“Seriously, Isa!” His fingers scrubbed against the rock. “The Council has all kinds of ideas about what I should do, but I’m not leaving the Key, and I’m not planning to marry anyone.”
Isa turned to him, disbelief rubbing deep in her belly. “Why not?”
Sidon’s forehead knit in thought. “I don’t know. I like it here. I grew up here. The mere need me.”
“That’s baloney.” Isa scoffed. “You just like being a big fish in a small pond.” She laughed ruefully at her unintended joke.
Sidon pulled back, his lips narrowed. Isa realized too late the venom in her voice.
“Believe what you want.”
Despite his obvious anger at her, he sat on the rocks alongside her, and she felt guilty. Whatever his reasons for staying in the Key, who was she to judge? Her anger was more because he could leave, could take the form of dragon or a human whenever he wanted. He could make love without worrying about the consequences. She had the limitations of all mere. The same limitations that made the dragons look down on them, and made humans see them as a cute little fantasy. Frankly, she was sick of being a second class citizen, even if only in her mind.
“Si, look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… I’m just sorry.”
He moved closer to her then and took her hand. “Listen, Isa. I should have told you. I should have told you about the Council and all their stupid plans for my life. It’s just that if I talk about what they want, it makes it more real.”
“Sidon, it is real. Jeez, Si, these guys are seriously well connected. And if you work for them—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. They pay me money and I have to do what they say.”
“So, if you don’t do what they want, they’ll fire you?”
“Not likely. Being Key Guardian isn’t exactly a choice position. I mean, guardians normally just get their starts in the mere habitats. Once we get a few years under our belts, the Council starts to groom the ‘promising’ ones for other positions.”
“So, you’re doing something below yourself here?” She bristled again.
“No, it’s just they can’t really fire me for insisting I keep a job other people don’t want. They want to promote me, I’m happy with where I am. They’re not thrilled about it, but they’re not going let me go.”
“And have you told them this?”
He looked away, coloring slightly. Damp hair swung as he shook his head. “No, I haven’t told them.” He looked up to see her expression. “But I will, I promise.”
“When?” She challenged him with her tone.
“Soon. As soon as we’re done figuring out this kidnapping situation. Isa, I swear I have no plans to leave the Key. I just, I guess I just let them believe what they wanted.”
“But what about the whole ‘betrothed’ thing?”
Sidon gave her a shaky laugh and pressed a little closer. “Oh, that’s just bull. Dragons can have a hard time breeding. So the Council has been trying to step in as matchmaker, handing out wives like assignments. I’ve never even slept with a dragon.”
Leaning toward her, he stroked one long lock of hair. “They can’t tell people who to marry. Well, they can’t tell me.”
Isa’s brows knit together. “So what’s she like, this dragon ho you’re supposed to marry?” She kept her voice casual, but Sidon’s expression said he didn’t believe it for a second.
“Isa, I barely know her,”
“But is she pretty? Tall? Long, exotic fingernails?” She wound her hair around one hand as she spoke.
“Isa!” Sidon turned her face to meet his and pressed a kiss into her lips. “I barely know her. And you’re the one who’s pretty.”
“But what if she shows up and you get to know her and you decide you do like her?”
He kissed her hard, wrapping his arms around her cold mere-form body and lifting her, tail and all, onto his lap. “I only want you, Isa.”
She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Even with everything?”
Sidon kissed her again. “Yes. Even then.”
* * * *
In the depths of the Pacific, Oceanus muttered quietly into his phone, talking to a Board member from a company called Dendric Research.
“Chairman, we are offering you a considerable sum of money. There’s no way your business holdings in the habitat off Key West are worth this much.”
The old dragon peered around his office, his eyes coming to rest on a small picture of a mere woman with a little half-dragon boy. He’d maintained the tiny colony for far too long, unwilling to hurt the feelings of his only son.
“Yes, I understand, and I agree. We will remove our protection from the island, but I ask that you refrain from hunting until we have time to evacuate the dragon population from the area.”
“With all respect, sir, time is money. A dragon has nothing to fear from us. We only want mere.”