by Zoe Chant
But it was nothing compared to the joy of having his love in his arms, her sea green eyes tender and her fingers lithe and clever over his skin.
When he kissed her, he forgot the pain in his head and the hunger in his belly, happy to lose himself in the taste and feel of her against him.
Her dress slipped easily off over her head, his shorts followed swiftly, and for a long, delicious time, they simply touched each other, hands over exposed flesh.
Bastian didn’t want to rush her, and held himself to worshipping each plane and curve of her body. He kissed and sucked and nibbled. She did the same in return, cautiously, then eagerly. Mutual fingers traced every sensitive place, looking for the spot that drew the hiss of breath and flush. Her hair tickled him as she kissed his chest and cupped his ass. He licked her neck and traced the small of her back.
Breath grew ragged and Bastian couldn’t tell where hers began and his ended; he wondered if her magic would help him breathe without air out of the water as well as it did under it.
Urgency mounted, and the touches grew more intimate; he slipped a questing finger into her wet entrance and kissed her neck as she arched into him. She put her fingers around his eager cock and stroked him until he was ready to cry out loud.
He lay her back on the pillows, loving the dark hair spread on his pillows as it took a hundred hues from the gleaming sea glass he had called treasure before he’d known his true prize.
He slipped into her slowly, with the same deliberate care he had explored her body, and she moaned in pleasure as she spread her legs in welcome.
Bastian was careful, gentle, pausing when she tensed, and she made a little noise of need and pressed herself onto him in a rush.
She was his shield, his holt, he thought. Being deep inside her was the safest place he could imagine.
For a moment, an ugly, unwelcome need interrupted, urging him to be the dragon he’d been so briefly again.
Then Saina cried out as the muscles in her body clenched in orgasm, and that need was forgotten, washed away in cleaner desires.
He returned to his mate, not ready to sate himself and end their bliss, and let her pleasure wash away in a slow, controlled wave.
When she returned to herself, they rolled across the bed so that she was straddling him, and she moved with the same slow, deliberate strokes, drawing him deeper, and deeper, like they were swimming together on a fathomless ocean floor. His senses constricted; he was pressure and slick skin against hot velvet. Her touch, her little sounds of joy, were all that anchored him.
He was ocean and fire, she was tide and flame. They moved in perfect symmetry and as she cried again in release, he lost himself in the only magic he needed from her.
Chapter 21
After bringing her to unknown heights of delight, Bastian collapsed next to her, and Saina didn’t have the breath left to hum him to the sleep she knew he needed after his exposure to the goldshot.
She was glad that by the time she had gathered herself, she didn’t have to do anything. He was asleep, one strong arm splayed over her belly possessively.
Saina closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment as long as she was able to.
Then, unbidden, doubts crept back.
Had she sung out in the moment of her pleasure? Had she unknowingly cast another seduction spell? Had she been wrong about Bastian’s love being untainted of her magic, sure of what she saw because she wanted it so badly?
No, she was sure there had been no enchantment left, but what if distance dampened his ardor and he came back from his trip and looked at her without that same affection?
Saina’s chest hurt worse than her shoulder ever had.
She could imagine nothing worse than Bastian looking at her with indifference. The idea of it staggered her, and filled her with fear.
It would be better not to know, to hold this one perfect memory and flee, she realized, looking up at the sea glass glittering over the ceiling. She could be gone before he returned, and she would never have to face that possibility. And she still needed to figure out a way to free her Voice, something she could not do in the safe haven of this resort.
She slipped out from under his arm and wriggled back into her clothing. He was so beautiful, sprawled on his big bed, looking innocent and exhausted in sleep.
Before she left, she circled the room, dragging fingers over the beautiful things he had collected from the ocean she loved. She made the sea glass chime and considered taking just a piece of it, to remember him forever. She paused at the necklace he had tried to give her, so out of place and awkward in his beautiful collection. He had, technically given it to her, but she knew that it had been under false pretense, still thinking she was his mate.
Sirens don’t have mates, she reminded herself.
Even if he loved her, some day his true mate would come into his life and he would know that the gift had been an error. She would leave this, even if she disagreed that it was the most valuable part of his hoard.
Would his real mate think so? Would she know how perfect his unusual hoard was, or appreciate the beauty of it?
She supposed the hypothetical partner would have to, if mates were really as perfect as advertised.
She ached at the idea of someone else bringing Bastian joy, but sadly realized that she would rather he was truly happy with someone else than falsely happy with her.
The sun outside the open windows was beginning to plunge to the ocean, turning the sky golden and bleaching the green and blue from the sea glass glinting in the window.
Saina put fingers to a particularly fine piece of glass, a shard as big as her palm that was swirled green and blue and ground by sand and salt to a soft-edged plate. Then she pulled her hand back. She couldn’t disturb his hoard.
She had memories to take with her; that was enough.
She crept down the stairs as quietly as she could, hoping to leave unnoticed, but she was greeted at the bottom by Travis, who was just coming up. “Hi, Saina,” he said cheerfully, as casually as if she lived there and was already an established part of the staff. “How’s the shoulder?”
“All better,” she said in surprise. She hadn’t thought about it all day.
“I hear you’re going to be our lifeguard while Bastian’s gone a few days,” he continued, friendly.
Saina nodded slowly, surprised by how fast the news had traveled. “I am,” she said. And she’d be gone before he returned, she reminded herself.
“Let us know if you need anything,” Travis continued, then he was moving past her up the stairs.
It was odd, being the object of friendliness with absolutely no sexual expectations behind it. They accepted her as Bastian’s mate, not as something potentially their own.
Even Graham the landscaper, who hadn't said so much as a word to her the few times they had crossed paths, gave a nearly friendly nod from the common room as Saina passed it to get to the door.
She would miss this place, she realized as she shut the door behind her.
Not just Bastian, who was going to leave a hole in the heart she had never believed she had, but the resort had grown on her as well. Her magic felt odd here, but she liked the quirky, big-hearted staff. She even thought Jenny might even become a good girlfriend, something she had never enjoyed before.
She looked out over the cliffs at the rosy-colored ocean.
How completely unexpected.
Chapter 22
Bastian woke just before the sunrise, knowing at once that something was missing from his hoard.
A thread of anger and hunger rose in the back of his throat before he recognized that Saina was gone. He could still taste her in his mouth, but the bed was cool beside him.
The headache was gone, but the desire remained. He wanted badly to be back the way he’d been with the drug coursing through his veins. He struggled, hating how he’d been to Saina, but loving how simple and powerful it had been to be a complete dragon, strong and sure and single-minded.
Bastian-with-goldshot had known who he was, and where he belonged. He could do anything, stronger and faster than Bastian-without. Bastian-without was adrift, caught between two worlds, unsure of his path.
Bastian-without rubbed his eyes and rolled from the bed.
For the first time in a very long time, he did not dress in his lifeguard uniform, regretfully putting it aside for a light silk shirt from the back of his closet and a pair of tailored gray slacks. Tooled leather shoes were dredged from beneath the bed, and a fine wool suit jacket went over his shoulders. If he was going to battle, he was going to do it well-armored.
It was odd to turn from the staff house door to walk towards the cliffs instead of towards the heart of the resort. He shifted and fell from the cliffs to spread wings and catch the wind in his dragon form.
He felt small and fragile, compared to Bastion-with.
Then he thought of Saina, and his wing beats steadied. Whatever kind of dragon or perversion of dragon he was, he would earn his mate. He had none of her doubts regarding the truth of their bond, but he knew he had one more thing to do before he could completely claim her.
He flew through the sunrise, and through most of the day, following the coast of the mainland Costa Rica. He might have enjoyed the flight, and the pods of dolphins and whales he passed, but he dreaded his destination.
Midafternoon, he arrived, turning inland at the end to climb into the coastal mountains. The compound he arrived at was castle-like in its grandness, with towers intended to imply the royalty he knew his family craved.
He circled the structure once before landing in the secondary courtyard, folding glinting green wings back neatly as he set claw to the stone he thought he’d left behind forever.
He was not surprised when a second dragon, darker green, back-winged into the courtyard moments after.
Mother and Father have no desire to see you, the newcomer said in his silky mind-voice. You are no longer family, brother-not.
I didn’t come to see them, Bastian replied evenly. I came for you, Keylor. He was concerned to see that Keylor seemed significantly larger than he had been mere years ago. Bastian had always been the big brother in both years and mass, but that was no longer the case.
What do you want with me? Keylor sniffed.
I am here to treat with you, Bastian said, drawing himself up to his full height. I’m here for Saina’s Voice.
Chapter 23
Saina’s first stint as lifeguard went smoothly. Bastian’s uniform didn’t come close to fitting her, but Scarlet provided a staff polo shirt in her size and a pair of nondescript shorts. With the orange high visibility first aid kit strapped at her waist, Saina looked the part, and the swimmers accepted her authority without question.
She found the work easy and enjoyable, bantering with older women on the pool deck who reminded her achingly of her Voice and showing a pair of younger men the basics of the paddle boards at the beach. She reminded pale-skinned people to reapply sunscreen at appropriate intervals, and handed out cold bottles of water and sunhats to guests who weren’t used to the intensity of the heat in the tropics.
When the sun began to set and people abandoned both pool and beach, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. After she put all the beach chairs back at the beach bar structure and straightened the now-abandoned pool deck, she wandered up to the bar.
Jenny was sitting at the bar, holding hands with a bartender in a cowboy hat, which puzzled Saina until she realized it wasn’t Jenny, just a woman who looked exactly like her.
“I’m Laura,” she said, offering a hand as Saina approached the bar. “You met my identical twin sister, Jenny.”
“Saina,” she answered, accepting the hand for a polite shake.
“You’re looking considerably better than the last time I saw you here,” Laura teased gently.
Saina realized that Laura must have been present when Bastian brought her to the resort. “Well,” she said dryly, “I imagine it’s not too hard a bar to beat, given that I was bleeding all over the place at the time.”
Laura laughed.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked, after introducing himself aptly as Tex.
“Is staff supposed to drink here?” Saina asked cautiously.
“As long as you don’t make a habit of getting falling down drunk on the expensive stuff or get in the way of serving the guests, Scarlet gives us free rein and encourages us to eat and drink well,” Tex said. “The profit shares have been pretty non-existent, so she wants the room and board to be a fair trade for our work.”
“Seems like a sweet deal,” Saina said wistfully. It was getting harder and harder to think about turning her back on the resort. “Can I have something light and fruity, just a little alcoholic?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tex said, putting his fingers to the brim of his hat.
As he bent to mix her drink, Laura gave her a sidelong look and a grin. “So. Bastian.”
Saina was glad her golden-brown skin didn’t show a blush easily, and she had to use all of her willpower not to squirm in her seat. How could she explain that she wasn’t Bastian’s mate, that she’d just enspelled and deluded the poor man and then had the poor grace to fall in love with him? Whether he loved her without magic or not, they were not mates.
She didn’t want to talk about Bastian.
“Is that a karaoke machine?” she asked desperately, hoping to deflect the topic.
“It is,” Tex said, setting the umbrella-topped drink in front of her. “Care to fire it up? Usually it doesn’t see a lot of use until the evening drinking crowd really settles in.”
Most of the guests were on the deck above, eating Chef’s fine food at the gourmet restaurant, but a few were nursing before-dinner drinks here in the bar, scattered between the tables in the open air bar and out on the uncovered deck, where stars were just beginning to appear in the purple sky.
Saina took a sip of her drink, eyeing the little stage hesitantly.
“I’m dying to hear you sing,” Laura admitted. “Jenny says you have the most gorgeous voice.”
Saina gave her a hard look, trying to determine if she’d heard about the things Saina could do with her voice, or if it was an innocent request.
The mischievous look on her face suggested it was not innocent.
Saina’s eyes narrowed. She wondered if Laura would prove as impossible to enchant as Jenny had.
“Of course, I could quiz you about Bastian, instead,” Laura suggested breezily.
“Hush, love,” Tex chided her. “It’s not always easy at first, and we should know. Give her space and let her enjoy her drink.”
Laura pouted good-naturedly.
Saina was puzzled. This wasn’t the mean-spirited kind of teasing she was used to in the siren pod. They were smiling, not only at each other, but inclusively at her. They would give her space if she asked for it, and she thought that they would be willing and understanding ears if she wanted to talk about Bastian. She wondered what they could tell her about him, and then remembered that she was planning to leave before he came home. She didn’t need to know more about him, as badly as she wanted to.
Suddenly singing seemed like the much simpler choice.
Chapter 24
Keylor slithered to one side, flaring his wings. So, you’ve met Saina the siren. Did she enchant you into coming to fight for her?
I am not enspelled, Bastian said, calmly confident. He remained seated, wings neatly at his back, not returning Keylor’s posturing. You have done her family wrong, he said reproachfully.
Is that what she told you? Keylor scoffed, drawing himself up. Made herself out to be the innocent victim of a cruel dragon deal?
Bastian reminded himself not to rise to Keylor’s baiting. If there is a debt, let me pay it and call it done. Release her Voice!
Slights of honor cannot be repaid with gold. At least not the amount of gold in your ridiculous hoard.
Bastian chewed on this.
Sirens lie,
Keylor told him. They thrive on power and control. They backstab and weave fantasies as a matter of nature. He paused, and gave Bastian a sly sideways look. If she said she loved you, it was a falsehood.
Bastian wanted to mantle his wings and hiss fire at the idea that Saina’s love was untrue, but he kept himself controlled.
Oh, brother-not, do you really believe you love her? You are a bigger fool that I ever knew.
This is not about me, Bastian snarled. This is about releasing her Voice.
Her Voice is mine now. She has a debt to repay and I do not choose to release it. I gave Saina a chance to buy it out, but she must have failed, if you are here now.
Then I challenge you for that contract, Bastian said.
Keylor laughed derisively. He spread his wings and drew himself up, demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was indeed larger than Bastian now, and his scales had a deep, healthy glimmer to them that suggested greater strength. You think you have a chance against me?
Bastian was privately thinking he probably didn’t, but he wasn’t about to admit this, keeping his head high and proud.
Then he realized that Keylor’s eyes, which had always been the same golden as Bastian’s, were glowing red. As he furrowed his dragon brow, his human realized, Goldshot! Keylor was dosing on goldshot. Pieces of the puzzle fell into space. Keylor had sent Saina to get more of the drug, not for its street value, but for himself.
If Bastian had goldshot himself, he would be even mightier, he thought grimly. He would be stronger, faster…
I accept your challenge, Keylor roared, and he pounced, claws outstretched.
Chapter 25
Saina took one last sip of her drink and then stood, leaving the lifeguard first aid kit behind her on the counter.
The karaoke machine had the usual selection; mostly pop music and classic rock.