Dragon Tides: A Shifters in Love Fun & Flirty Romance (Dragon Island Hideaway Book 1)

by Rinelle Grey

  His voice was casual, but he was watching her face, as though gauging her reaction. As though he had a secret he wasn’t telling her.

  Zara stared at him curiously. Just why was he wondering how she’d react?

  “The dragons? Yes, I read about that. I was in an exam when one flew over the city, so I missed it. It would have been awesome to see it though, wouldn’t it?”

  “But not as awesome as a mermaid?” Damien’s eyes danced. He was teasing her again.

  She grinned. “Well, I have always been more interested in aquatic creatures, you know that.”

  For some reason, Damien’s eyes gleamed at her words.

  Chapter 4

  As he stared into her eyes, Damrian couldn’t help feeling Zara’s words were meant for him, even though she had no idea he was even a dragon, much less a water dragon.

  The whole conversation made him feel good, in fact. Somehow, they’d managed to get past that kiss and, even though she appeared to have cut off any hope of anything more than friendship, Damrian couldn’t help feeling that hope lingered in the back of her mind, as it lingered in his.

  On top of that, the ensuing discussion about mermaids and dragons had lifted his heart. If she so readily believed that she’d seen a mermaid, then she would have no trouble believing he was a dragon, would she?

  Did he dare tell her?

  How would that change things between them?

  It shouldn’t matter. This wasn’t related to that kiss, and if he told her, it would be because of their friendship. Because he trusted her.

  He’d wanted to tell her for so long. He nearly had, dozens of times, when they were kids, but his parents had impressed on him over and over again how important it was to keep the secret.

  His father had told his mother he was a dragon, true, but things had been different then. He’d been alone and injured. And he’d bonded with her the moment they’d touched. He’d had no choice but to tell her.

  And they’d also been mated. That changed everything.

  If he and Zara were in love, were planning to mate, his family wouldn’t object to him telling her.

  But they weren’t, just as they hadn’t been then.

  And in between, she’d barely spoken to him for four years. That created a distance between them, one that he couldn’t quite overcome yet. Not enough to tell her his true nature.

  He’d always thought that he’d tell her once he was old enough. That he’d declare his love for her and then share his secret. Maybe that had been in the back of his mind when he kissed her.

  It certainly was now.

  “But if dragons exist, mermaids could too, right?” Zara asked, her expression hopeful.

  “Sure, why not.” Damrian had never actually heard of mermaids existing, but who was he to say they were impossible when he could turn into a dragon?

  “You’ve never seen one? Not in all your time sailing or jet skiing around the island?”

  Damrian shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything out of the ordinary in the water at all.”

  A huge blue dragon diving under the waves wasn’t out of the ordinary, not around his family at least.

  Zara heaved a sigh and looked so disappointed, Damrian wished he had more news to give her. “Maybe we could go out looking,” he said impulsively. “I’m guessing that if a mermaid is around, they’re not going to be too close to the resort. But the waters around the back of the island are a lot quieter. Maybe we could take a boat and check it out.”

  The suggestion obviously found merit with Zara, because her eyes shone. “I was hoping you’d say that. When can we start? Tonight?”

  The thought of being alone on a boat at night with Zara heated his blood, but it wouldn’t help with her search. “Might be hard to see much at night. How about tomorrow?” He had a day off, and spending it with Zara had been his intention from the moment she’d arrived.

  She looked a little disappointed. She stared out towards the ocean for a few moments, her expression longing, then looked back to him. “I suppose tomorrow will have to do.”

  Damrian hid a smile. She was adorable when she was pouting. Something he wouldn’t dare tell her, even if speaking of anything other than friendship wasn’t off limits.

  *****

  “Mum, have you got a minute?” Damrian checked the room but couldn’t see any sign of his brothers anywhere. It was just his mum. Perfect.

  She looked up with a smile. “Sure. What do you want? How did things go with Zara? Did you sort out whatever you needed to sort out?”

  Damrian hesitated. He didn’t really feel like talking about things between him and Zara. In fact, he wished the conversation had never come up. But he couldn’t completely avoid it. Not now anyway.

  “Yeah, all good again,” he said briefly. “I, um… I thought I might go for a sail tomorrow. You can manage without me?” He kept his voice even, as though this was just a normal, everyday sailing trip.

  His mother wasn’t fooled. He never really expected she would be.

  Her eyes narrowed. “A sail with Zara?”

  “Yeah, she wanted to go searching for some marine creature she saw before she left. I said I’d help her.” He tried to keep up the casual tone, as though he didn’t feel like he was being grilled. Even though he clearly was.

  “Are you sure that’s such a good idea right now?” his mum asked.

  It was Damrian’s turn to frown. “What do you mean? It’s just Zara. We’ve gone sailing hundreds of times, and you’ve never said a thing about it. What’s different now?”

  His mother hesitated, and her expression was sympathetic. “It’s clear you feel something more for her, Dam. You always have. I used to see the way you looked at her when you were kids. To be honest, when she left, I half expected you to go with her.”

  Damrian stared at her, a little shocked. It had never occurred to him that his mother guessed his feelings for Zara. Or that she thought he might leave with her. She’d never mentioned it until now. Not even when he’d spent six months moping around in his room after Zara had left for uni.

  In retrospect, it would have been nearly impossible for her to have missed it.

  Damrian shrugged uncomfortably. “So I care about her. As you said, I always have. It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t feel the same way.”

  Just admitting it, saying the words, deflated him. He’d been so excited about going out with her a few minutes earlier, and now it felt flat. Dull.

  Like something vital was missing.

  Damrian gave himself a shake. There was no reason for that feeling. He was going out sailing with Zara, his best friend. He’d been looking forward to spending time with her for years now. He wasn’t going to let anything spoil that. Not even his mum’s concerns.

  His mum though, wasn’t going to let things go so easily. “Even if she did, now isn’t the time,” she pointed out. “There’s too much at stake. We can’t risk letting anyone in on our secret right now. You understand that, don’t you?”

  It was the same old story. He’d heard it too many times before. “Zara would keep our secret, you know that. In fact, I’m surprised she never figured it out.”

  His mother gave him a smile. “I’m sure she would. But even if she told one person, someone she thought she could trust, and they told someone… The story could be all over the country in a matter of days, and we would have reporters on our doorstep. I can’t deal with that right now, especially not with your father away.”

  Naturally she couldn’t deal with it right now. Damrian felt bad for even suggesting she should.

  And it didn’t matter anyway.

  “I’m not going to say anything about dragons to her,” he promised. “We’re just going sailing.”

  He wasn’t sure looking for mermaids would be much better, but he wasn’t going to tell his mother about that. She had enough on her plate.

  Besides, the chances they’d be doing anything other than sailing around the island, enjoying the sunshine, weren’t
high.

  Chapter 5

  “You’re not rushing off again already, are you?” Zara’s father’s voice held a note of disappointment that made her feel bad.

  “I’m going sailing with Damien,” she told him. “I’ll only be gone a few hours. We’re still having dinner together tonight, like I promised.”

  He nodded easily, his face lightening. “Good. I just feel like I haven’t seen you in so long. And I’ve missed you.”

  Zara couldn’t help feeling guilty again. The feeling wasn’t helped by the fact that her dad had aged while she’d been away. His movements were slower, and he seemed less likely to take a chance on something or try something new. He hadn’t seemed this old when he’d come to visit a year ago.

  “You saw me just last Christmas,” she reminded him. “And you could come visit again any time, I told you that.”

  Her dad shook his head. “It’s too busy for me. I like the peace and quiet here. And besides, I couldn’t leave work.”

  “You get holidays, just like everyone else,” Zara teased. “Or do you think they couldn’t cope without you now you’re a big shot manager?”

  That was one change she approved of. Her father’s job in pool maintenance had been upgraded to a managerial position. He now had a fleet of ‘pool boys’ under him, and he no longer had to fiddle with filters and chlorine himself.

  “You never know what they’d get up to if I wasn’t watching them,” her father said, but his expression wasn’t serious. “Besides, you don’t need me hanging around all the time. You have your own life now.”

  “I’ll always have time for you, Dad, you know that,” Zara reassured him.

  At the same time, she vowed to make more time to come back, without him asking. He was right, it seemed silly to expect him to travel when she could. And now that she’d sorted things out with Damien, there was nothing stopping her.

  There shouldn’t be anyway. But despite the fact that her talk with Damien had gone well last night, she found it hard to really believe that after so long, it really was back to normal.

  Her expression must have shown something of what was going on in her head, because her dad’s eyes narrowed. “That boy you like isn’t giving you trouble, is he? Because I can speak to him if you like? He should appreciate you properly.”

  “Dad,” Zara protested, feeling her face heat. “Damien and I are friends. That’s all.”

  “Sure,” her dad agreed. “But he is the reason you stayed away for so long, isn’t he?”

  She hadn’t thought she’d been that obvious. Had, in fact, thought she’d done a great job of pretending she was just too busy with uni and work to travel all this way.

  “Of course not,” she insisted, but her protest was weak.

  Her dad raised an eyebrow. “He sure moped around for long enough after you left. He missed you more than I did, and that’s saying something.”

  For some reason, his words shocked Zara.

  They shouldn’t have. She knew that Damien had missed her. He’d said as much in the emails he’d written to her.

  But for it to be obvious to everyone around him, even workers at the resort like her dad?

  Her heart wavered a little, and the guilty barbs attacked her from all directions.

  “Well, he’s going to miss me even more if I don’t turn up for our sail today, isn’t he,” she pointed out, her tone playful.

  Her dad grinned. “That he is. You’d better get going. But don’t forget you promised me dinner tonight and lose track of time.”

  “I won’t, I promise,” Zara said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

  She escaped out the door before he could add any more revelations.

  But as she walked down the path towards the resort and the jetty beyond, she couldn’t help dwelling on what he’d told her.

  It made sense that Damien had missed her. She’d missed him too, terribly. There had been so many times, especially in that first year, when she’d wanted to call him just to hear the sound of his voice. So many times when something funny or interesting had happened, and she’d wanted to share it with him.

  Damien hadn’t been the only one suffering.

  And it had been his fault as much as it was hers.

  Yes, she’d left, but he’d been the one to make things change. If he hadn’t kissed her, had accepted that she needed to do this, then she would have felt like she could call him and talk to him. Like she could come home for the holidays and relax. Like maybe she would have invited him to come and visit her in the city.

  Not that he would have come. He was so focused on the resort. On staying here. On not changing.

  She was going round and round in circles. None of this mattered. They’d sorted things out, and they were back to where they were.

  So why did she keep dwelling on it all? Why couldn’t she just let it go?

  “Hey, Zara. No time to catch up with your old friends, hey? Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Hayden, Damien’s older brother dropped into step beside her.

  His words confused her a little. She’d hung out with Damien and his brothers often enough, with his whole family in fact. Pizza and movie nights at their house had been one of her favourite times. But she certainly wouldn’t have said Hayden was really her friend. She couldn’t think of one time he’d hung out with her when Damien wasn’t around.

  She glanced over at him and was a little taken aback by the smile he gave her. It was teasing, yet there was an intensity in his eyes that she’d never seen before. It hit her with a jolt that Damien wasn’t the only brother who was looking for more than a friendship.

  She stared back straight ahead, her mind spinning.

  Hayden’s flirting shouldn’t have made her nervous. She’d had a little experience with rebuffing men she wasn’t interested in. It was never easy, but she’d never hesitated to do it before.

  So why was she now?

  Maybe because she’d just convinced Damien to be just friends, and now she had to do the same for his brother.

  Just what was going on here?

  “I’m going sailing, with Damien.” There was no point in lying, but the truth felt uncomfortable too. She glanced over at him in time to catch his mouth twist into a grimace.

  “He always was your favourite, wasn’t he? I suppose I never stood a chance.”

  Zara frowned. “Look, Damien and I are just friends. I’m not looking for anything more.”

  “That’s not what he thinks.” Hayden’s reply was quick, almost too quick.

  And it’s meaning set Zara’s heart pounding.

  So he hadn’t been telling the whole truth when he’d said he just wanted to be friends. She wasn’t really surprised. Not after the way she’d reacted last time.

  Hayden was still staring at her expectantly. “That’s between Damien and me,” she said firmly.

  He stopped walking and stared at her. Zara found herself automatically stopping and turning as well, even though she really wasn’t keen to continue this conversation.

  Hayden searched her face for a few moments, then to her surprise, he grinned. “You like him too, don’t you?”

  Zara sucked in her breath, an automatic denial on her lips, but she couldn’t make the words come out.

  Of course she liked Damien. They’d been friends since they were kids. But she didn’t like-like him.

  Who was she kidding? It was pointless denying the fact that she felt more than just friendship for him, that was why his kiss had unsettled her so much. Tempted her so much. If she hadn’t, she probably would have just laughed it off.

  She stared at Hayden. Why had he said that? What was he playing at?

  As though his work was done, Hayden turned around and headed back the way he’d come, leaving Zara staring after him in bemusement.

  Chapter 6

  Damrian stared up the road again, his heart constricting. She would come. If Zara said she was going to do something, she did it. A few years ago, he wouldn’t have doubted it for a s
econd.

  But everything was different now.

  He bit back a sigh and turned back to stare out to sea. For a moment, he found himself searching the waves, wondering if Zara really had seen a mermaid.

  He still found the idea a little implausible. Not because he didn’t think mermaids existed. He was a dragon, who was he to disbelieve in other magical creatures? No, he just couldn’t fathom how one could exist and have escaped detection all this time.

  Damrian had spent a lot of time in the ocean. As a water dragon, he could breathe underwater for long periods of time, and form an air bubble around himself if necessary. Since his dad preferred it if they avoided too much flying, he’d spent hours in dragon form under the water, exploring the sea floor, the reefs, and several underwater caves.

  Even as he thought about that, he realised what it signalled. If there were mermaids around, surely he would have seen them somewhere in his travels? He’d gone far deeper and explored a lot further than any human in the area.

  Then again, dragons had managed to remain hidden for the last few centuries, apparently. His clan had hidden so well, even his father hadn’t been able to find them. So why not mermaids?

  He shook his head. Whether the mythical creatures existed or not, he’d help Zara look for them all day if it meant he got to stay beside her.

  If she ever arrived.

  He turned and surveyed the road again, but his attempt to focus on something else hadn’t made her mysteriously appear.

  Determined not to be caught standing staring up the road like a puppy dog, he ducked below decks to check on the picnic basket he’d ordered from the kitchen and to secure any loose items.

  He heard footsteps on the deck before he saw her and had time to school his expression into that of a friend, not a lover, by the time he heard her call out, “Dam, are you here?”

  “Just stowing our lunch,” he said, as he climbed back up the ladder. “I hear hunting for mermaids is hungry work.”

  Zara grinned at his joke, but it wasn’t quite the happy and open smile he’d been hoping for.