by Cathryn Cade
Halix beamed. “Thank you, Captain. We have some rather special passengers coming aboard—a royal household of Aquarius. Prince Azuran and his retinue will take up a large block of staterooms, including Mr. Stark’s personal suite. They have also reserved the adjacent ballroom for evening entertainments. They will be a large party—forty-five, er, beings altogether.”
“Beings?” Sirena echoed, raising her brows.
“The prince travels with a variety of life forms from the far reaches of the galaxy, including several that boarded from a Pangaean shuttle last night. He visited there recently and was intrigued by some of their, er, wildlife.”
“Any that will need to be confined to the cargo area?”
Halix looked uncomfortable, and Craig sighed. “We’re dealing with royalty here, folks. So long as he keeps his guests—and pets—in his area of the ship…”
“Are there any that might be a danger?” Mra asked, looking concerned.
“Not according to the boarding intel his people provided. If there are, believe me, we’ll deal appropriately with them. Oh, and by the way, you’re all invited to attend the prince’s evening entertainments whenever your duties allow. I understand they’re quite something. The prince apparently knows how to throw a party.”
Mra’s green corn-silk hair folded primly about her throat. “I have heard of these Aquarian parties from my friends in the diplomatic service,” she murmured. “They are said to be very…licentious.”
“Oh, goody,” Sirena said with relish. “I must be sure to attend.”
She looked forward to meeting this Prince Azuran.
Chapter Six
Slyde followed Sirena out of the command center. Despite her serene public demeanor, hostility had radiated in his direction during the meeting. The lady was still angry. Well, so was he. She turned to the left, into the passageway that led toward the gymnasium, and he followed her a little way, watching the roll of her gorgeous ass. He wanted to spank it, he wanted to caress it. He scowled. He wanted to kill any other male who touched it.
“Sirena.”
She turned, raising one arching brow, and waited for him to catch up with her.
“The risk investigation I mentioned? I was trying to locate a scent.”
Her expression changed, all attention.
“I believe there’s something dangerous on board.”
He looked around sharply as a pair of crew members came toward them and reached past her to key open the hatch beside them. A tiny escape pod bay, but it would do. Urging her inside, he shut the hatch behind them.
“I caught the scent last evening when I was… patrolling.” The memory of why he’d been driven to stride the passageways roared up inside him, and he fought it back.
Her eyes sharpened like faceted emeralds. “What do you think it is?”
“A serpent,” he said. “I’ve smelled it before, in the desert on Serpentia.”
“You’re certain? None of our guards have reported anything.”
All Serpentians had acute olfactory senses, especially when the scent meant danger. On Serpentia, every child knew the acrid odor of vipers.
“I’ve an unusually keen sense of smell,” he said, watching her warily. He did not want to tell her who he was—not yet. Since he’d come of age, females had thrown themselves at him. He didn’t think Sirena would give a space rock for who he was, but until he was sure, he meant to keep quiet. He wanted her to desire him for himself, not for what he could give her.
“We must alert the other commanders and guards,” he said, moving to open his com-link.
“Wait.” She grasped his arm. “Slyde, we can’t. If word gets out that there’s some kind of dangerous serpent on board this ship, there’ll be panic. We’re in the middle of deep, cold space—we cannot have hysterical passengers swarming the escape pods.”
He scowled down at her. “What do you propose we do, find it ourselves?”
Her eyes narrowed, his sarcasm hitting home. “Yes. We’ll divide the ship into quadrants. If we can’t locate it by tomorrow, we’ll bring in the guards.”
She patted his arm in mock sympathy. “Don’t worry. If it’s here, I’m sure I’ll find it very soon. I know this ship like the back of my hand.”
“If it’s here—I’ll find it first.”
“You’re on. And whichever of us finds it first must destroy it. I’ll tolerate no danger to my ship.”
He nodded. The search was serious business indeed. But she was competitive to a fault. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage. “Oh, and Sirena…when I find the serpent, I’ll expect to claim a prize of some sort.”
“Name it.”
He moved closer, crowding her against the closed control panel, so close he could feel her warmth, so close her luscious lips were only a few centimeters away. He looked down into her eyes, saw her pupils dilate, her nostrils flare as she inhaled his scent. He planted his hands on the smooth panel beside her shoulders.
“You want me,” he murmured. “If you find the serpent first, you can have me—with no tethers attached. But if I find it first…you’re mine. For as long as I want. Exclusively.”
Her lips parted—as close as his siren ever got to her mouth hanging open, he supposed. She blinked. Then she looked him up and down, those luscious lips curving in a smug little smile.
“You’re on,” she repeated.
“Good. And one more thing.” His blood thundered in his veins. “No other males during the search, either.”
She shook her head pityingly, belying the fire in her gaze. “Since it will take me only a few hours to find the beast, that won’t be a problem.”
“It’d better not be,” he warned. Why not tease both of them and raise the stakes? He lifted one hand and stroked it down her throat, finding the tiny tab on the fastener of her top and pulling it down very slowly, so that her jacket parted, revealing her deep cleavage and the tiny cami she wore beneath it. “Because if you do…”
She stood very still, watching him as he parted her jacket with the backs of his fingers, only the slight hitch in her breath revealing she was not as serene as her expression indicated. The semi-sheer fabric was nevertheless snug and strong. Under his gaze, her nipples peaked, thrusting at the fabric, and her breasts lifted on a deep breath.
He stroked his fingertips down over satin skin and slick fabric, filling his hands with her breasts and squeezing gently. The soft, warm globes fit perfectly in his hands. He wanted to rip the cami from her so that there was no barrier between them, but this was not about his want, his need. This was about pleasing her, coaxing her to come to him for good. She was a deeply sensual creature, and she wouldn’t respond to clumsy grabbing.
She tipped her head back against the wall, eyes drooping, arching her back to push herself into his hands.
“If I do, what?” she asked huskily.
He pinched her nipples, a firm pressure on each, and then rubbed them between his thumb and forefinger. Oh, she liked that very much. One of her arms lifted, curling back against the panel behind her, and she caught her full bottom lip in her teeth.
“If you do…” he drawled, slipping his finger down into the snug waist band of her stretchy tights. “There’ll be seven hells to pay.”
She put her other hand on his chest. Heat rushed over him, and he wanted to rip off his own uniform as well as hers so that she could touch him too. Instead, he gathered both of her hands in one of his and pulled them over her head, holding them against the bulkhead.
She didn’t resist, merely looked as if she were considering whether she liked this new development and deciding that she did. Which was good, because if she got her hands on him, he’d never hold out long enough to please her.
The tights slipped down easily once he found the fastening. She wore tiny panties underneath. They cradled her mons in sheer fabric, but slid aside with ease as he hooked his fingers carefully under the side. She was all silky skin and sleek heat as he turned his hand, slipping his fingers in
to the tender folds of her labia. Fighting for control, he stroked just deep enough to draw her wetness up into the downy curls on her mons, and find the tender knot of flesh hiding there.
She watched him, her eyes glittering as he stroked her clitoris with his fingertip.
“Is this how you intend to punish me?” she asked. “For straying?”
“No,” he admitted hoarsely, watching her carefully as he stroked harder, faster. “This is how I intend to convince you not to.”
He clenched his jaw harder on the waves of arousal that threatened to swamp him. The flesh under his fingers was so delicate, so soft and so hot, that it was all he could do not to rip his own tights off and beg her to let him thrust his cock between the soft lips and into her heated depths. He was rigid, aching in his tight cup, which thank the gods beyond he was wearing, because otherwise his erection would be tearing a hole in his tights.
She shivered under his touch and, as he watched, enthralled, she turned her head sharply and arched in his grasp, pushing herself eagerly against his marauding finger. She gave a long shudder and then went limp against the panel.
He cupped his hand over her mons, triumph and tenderness surging through him, nearly enough against the raging heat of desire. He was ready to step back and force himself to let go when she opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
“Have me here, now,” she invited.
He froze. She offered temptation beyond any he had ever known. His mind filled with the image of the two of them naked, him holding her up against the bulkhead while he thrust into her. The most difficult thing he had ever done was to let go of her hands and step back. His voice, when he spoke, was a mere husk of sound.
“Not yet, siren.”
She made a little moue of regret, then shrugged carelessly and wriggled back into her tights, setting her uniform to rights. “Very well. I certainly enjoyed our little ‘talk’, Commander. Carry on.”
He forced himself through sheer strength of will to key open the hatch.
“After you,” he said.
He followed her out into the passageway.
“Commander Stone.” It was Navos.
Slyde turned, masking his irritation at the interruption. The Indigon bowed courteously to both of them. “I’m sorry, but I wish to speak with you.”
“Certainly,” Slyde said. He nodded to Sirena, ignoring her smug look, and turned to walk with Navos, who was silent until they had crossed the passageway into his office, and the hatch shut behind them. Then he turned to Slyde.
“I received a communiqué on my shuttle about the incident in the arboretum last evening,” he said. “I’m curious about something. When do you plan to tell the others that you are the dragon?”
Chapter Seven
Slyde stared at Navos. He felt as if he’d been stripped naked in public; indeed, would have preferred it to this. His deepest secret was known. The flesh across his shoulders tensed and heated, his hands flexed into the shape of great claws as the beast inside him stirred. He forced himself to relax, took a deep breath to calm himself.
“How long have you known?” he demanded.
“That you’re a powerful shape-shifter?” Navos raised a dark brow at him. “I knew at once. You conceal your identity well. No one else suspects, I’m certain. But it was immediately apparent in your psychic profile that you are…two creatures in one being.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” The Indigon had thus far behaved with the highest integrity. But Slyde had learned the hard way that if others found out what he was, they generally discovered they wanted something from him.
“Don’t be alarmed, Commander Stone. I don’t intend to give you away, nor attempt to take advantage of your situation. But, as second in command of the Orion, I will not withhold information from Captain Craig.”
Steven Craig was a tough yet honorable captain. He seemed unexcited by the impending arrival of the Aquarian prince, so hopefully if it became necessary he know about Slyde, he’d be equally sanguine.
“Fair enough. As long as no one else knows.”
“The Dragolins are considered merely legend on your planet, are they not?” Navos asked. “In truth, I myself was not sure.”
“Yes,” Slyde said shortly. It was a notion he and his family actively nurtured. It made it easier to live their lives under the name Stone, if few Serpentians believed the Dragolins existed any more.
There were vestiges of other ancient royal lines, tribes who clung to the remote lifestyle of the mountains, even lived in a kind of elegance. The “Stone” family had managed to blend in for generations. Their employees all descended from retainers who had been with them for many years, making a fine living keeping their secrets.
He certainly wished to keep his identity secret on board the Orion. While Navos and Craig might remain unimpressed by a Dragolin among the crew, he was not so sure about others. The Dragolins were the guardians not only of their mountains, but of great wealth.
And, unfortunately, there were others who still believed. At least a few times a year, adventurous souls made their way into the mountains, hoping to find dragon hoard, or to holo-vid a Dragolin in flight. They usually had to be rescued.
Secrecy was vitally important on this voyage, because now he was pursuing not just a business deal, but a woman.
“If you don’t shift into your dragon form on board again, I see no reason why anyone else has to know who you are. I assume you disabled the holo-vid cameras in the arboretum?” Navos asked. “There’s no record of your presence there.”
“Yes, I overrode the security system.”
“Ah.” Navos nodded. “I see. I have one final question. Why are you on board the Orion?”
Slyde felt himself flush. He shrugged. “Perhaps for the same reason you are, Commander Navos—searching for adventure. I’m sure you could have a prestigious position at the university on your planet, had you chosen to remain there.”
Navos raised one dark eyebrow, then nodded. “There is truth in what you say. Well, thank you for your time, Commander.”
Slyde nodded, turned to go, then stopped. “You must know a great deal about everyone on board the Orion,” he said, looking back at Navos.
Navos looked at him, his deep blue eyes fathomless. “Yes. I do.”
Slyde thought about Sirena, then shook his head. He doubted Navos could explain her, even if he would. After all, she was a female, as mercurial and mysterious as a supernova. He and Navos, when all was said and done, were mere males.
Sirena made good use of Slyde’s distraction, slipping into a crew elevator down to the main passenger level. However, once there she was waylaid by a passenger wanting to know if the ship was safe from asteroids. It was several moments before she could get away.
She headed straight to the arboretum—clearly the most logical place for a serpent to hide. She stopped inside the doors, scanned the security holo-cams to ascertain that the only inhabitants at this hour were the resident birds, and locked the doors with a voice command.
Walking slowly into the open area by the pool, she closed her eyes and opened her other senses. She heard the hushed roar of the waterfall, the soft burbling of birds in the branches of the vegetation, the rustle of leaves in the simulated breeze. She smelled water, spicy vegetation and damp earth, minute traces of bird droppings, sweet blossoms—and Slyde Stone.
Her eyes flew open, and she whirled.
He stood a few paces away near the pool, watching her. Quark! The big sneaking serpent had not only chosen the same place to begin his search, he’d arrived first.
“It’s not here,” he said.
Sirena advanced on him. “How did you get here before me? And how did you hide from the security cams? They showed no one when I came in.”
He shrugged slightly. “I’ll tell you, if you’ll tell me where you’ll look next.”
“Nice try.” She strolled closer. “Wait, I know. I’ll look in the pond!” As she uttered the last words, she moved with the
lightning speed of which only a wild creature and a Serpentian are capable. Hooking her foot around the back of his, she pulled with her leg and shoved him hard on the chest with her hands.
He fell back into the pond with a huge splash—and took her with him.
Sirena let out a shriek of displeasure as she plunged into the water entangled in his arms. They went under, down into the warm, clear water. Slyde held her under with him, evading her every move, holding her knee away from his balls and her hands from his face. He even grinned at her under the water, holding her hands captive against his broad chest. Finally, her lungs ready to burst, she dug her nails into him as hard as she could. He let her go with a grimace of pain.
She shot to the surface, gasping for breath and coughing as water poured over her face along with her hair. Ducking again, she tipped her head back so that her hair streamed sleekly off her face.
“Aaugh!” Slyde surfaced with a growl of pain. “You little clawed lizard.”
Sirena glared at him. She was soaked and she would have to walk half the length of the ship to her quarters for dry clothing.
“That’s nothing compared to what I’d like to do, you great beast,” she hissed.
He surged forward and hauled her into his arms. He was, impossibly, even handsomer with water gleaming on his taut, golden skin, his hair a sleek cap on his head. He looked like an angry god.
“Don’t kick me,” he warned a low growl in her ear. “Or I will dunk you again, siren.”
She believed him, but this close, she had a better idea for revenge. She gave him a smoldering look. Turnabout was fair play—she would leave him panting for her.
“I don’t need to kick you. I have other weapons.”
“I know,” he growled. “You used them on me.” He pulled open his soaking jacket with one hand.
She looked down at the broad expanse of golden chest that appeared. The swelling pads of his mighty pectorals were marred with four small blotches on each side, a few oozing blood.