Dragon Captain

by Kendal Davis

  Wary of annoying her when she was seeking time to herself, I kept a distance between us when I followed her down to the beach. She was so used to being a capable woman who could solve any problem. She did not know that a dragon was stalking her.

  I was beginning to understand that this other dragon sought to capture Kat, as if he was fated to be her mate.

  Impossible.

  I knew better than that, and I was going to make certain that he did as well.

  She was mine. My future.

  When I began to feel the tingle of another dragon trying to communicate with my mate, I understood that the game was on. He did not know how dangerously he was playing. I would be the victor here. No, it was my bond with Kat that would be victorious. That was the way to look at it.

  Only a few moments behind Kat, I jumped into the waves. I kept my expression unworried, so as not to alarm any of the families playing in the sand around the spot where she had left her bag. The last thing I wanted was somebody else attempting to rescue her.

  If they got too close, they would see my dragon form.

  Once I was fully covered by the warm, salty water, I shifted. I spread out my consciousness, allowing my mind to gather energy from the atoms all around me. There were significant limits to my magic here in this world, but I still had the strength to shift into my dragon body easily.

  To any observer from the sand, it might seem as though a sleek, blue shape was now gliding through the water. I realized too late that I might be responsible for setting of a panic about a shark attack. I knew this world well enough that I had seen the same movies that all these tourists had embedded in their psyches.

  There was no alarm behind me, but as I felt Kat begin to sink lower in the water, I ceased to care. She was an excellent swimmer, my Captain. How was she failing like this? I swam toward her, using my strong tail and furling my broad wings to dart forward. As I moved, I tried to sort out the different touches that brushed across my mind.

  Definitely another dragon.

  I would end him for this.

  In another moment, I was with her. She was still struggling to reach the top again, flailing her arms and seeking the sky. It had not been too long. Her long hair swirled all around her as she sank lower and lower, toward the bottom of the steep drop that lay near this side of the beach.

  I swam underneath her, scooping her body up onto my back. As she felt me, she had the briefest of jolts, thinking that it was an animal. When her skin touched mine in a more sustained contact, though, a frisson of recognition passed between our bodies.

  Our physical forms knew each other well, with no need for awkwardness or uncertainty.

  I raised my back above the water line, so she could gasp, taking in the air she needed. She held onto the ridges of my neck as she shook her head, using one hand to wipe the water from her face.

  “Cobalt, you’re here! How is it that you always know where I am?”

  I sent her my response in my dragon voice, right to her mind. There is never a time that I cannot find you, my mate.

  “I need to tell you something. I thought you were sending me your voice earlier, but I think I just got confused. I must be tired. I...I just don’t know.” Kat was unusually plaintive. She had been through too much.

  We will fly. I know where we need to go from here. I was determined to remind her that she was strong. Her life would be better in time, if she could just find her way.

  “Wait, no! We can’t fly out here in broad daylight. This is Miami! We are in a big city, with people everywhere.”

  Kat, you will see. It will be worth it.

  With her atop my back, I sped through the waves. If the other dragon was nearby, if he had meant to pick her out of the water, I could sense nothing of him. I was sure that had been his plan, though. He did not want to drown her. His plan was to own her.

  I could feel her uncertainty as we moved farther away from the shore, but I sent her a light touch of reassurance. There was never anything to fear when she rode her dragon. I would keep her head above water, wherever we went. There was no creature in this world, nor any other, that would hurt her as long as I stood watch.

  Finally, when we were so far away from the shore that the sight of us would be dismissed as a trick of the light, I gathered my strength and forced my scaled body upwards, to the top of the waves. Very few dragons could take flight from water. It required a feat of power, both muscular and motivational, that not many possessed. I had tried and failed before, but I was certain that I could do it with Kat perched on my back.

  With a grunt of effort, I pushed from one world into the other, and achieved flight. We left the water behind us and ascended into the domain of the wind and clouds. The sky called to me, asking me to spread my blue wings wide and catch the currents of air that whirled all around us. The wind was my ally, lifting us upwards as I trumpeted in triumph.

  “People will see us!” Kat hissed at me, but I heard in her voice that she was smiling. She was glad to be alive, ready to soar.

  No, they will think their minds are playing tricks on them. I’ve done this before. I tried to keep the smugness from my dragon voice, but I could not.

  “Do you mean to say that you fly around in the daylight, like this? All around the cities of the earth? I can’t believe that this doesn’t end up in the news.”

  There are, in fact, many of us that spend time in your world.

  “Why?” Her question was incredulous. Certainly, there were dragons that believed it was a waste of time to be here, that this dimension was beneath us.

  It is a little embarrassing to admit this. Mirth suffused my thoughts as I sent them to her. But I love it.

  Kat, the woman who always stood aloof and proud, actually leaned forward to press her cheek against the scales of the back of my neck. It was a rare demonstration of affection, and I tried not to hold my breath as she did it.

  “I love it too,” she whispered. Then she straightened, and the moment of intimacy was gone. She was an energetic adventurer again, ready to see new things.

  I do have something new to show you. I had hesitated before, not sure if she would like knowing how many other dragons were here in her world. Now, though, I would bring her to see them.

  I will take you to my club.

  We circled, high in the clouds, until we were turned around, heading back to the coastline. There was a place that would be perfect for the relaxation that Kat needed. She’d been so burdened recently by her troubles that I wanted to show her a good time.

  My club was at the top of a tall building in a swanky island community of dragon homes. When enough dragon shifters from my land had congregated in this city, we had decided that we needed a place to meet and enjoy life together socially. We had planned for it to serve the purpose of the Great Hall in one of our strongholds at home, but for dragons of all Houses to meet together.

  Some thought it was too modern, too egalitarian a plan to mix our Houses. Others among us, including myself, had been more concerned with the practicalities of it. How would dragon shifters come and go from one building all the time without attracting attention? Even on a remote island, there were humans who might see.

  On my back, Kat was wondering exactly that. She tapped her hand against my scales to try to get my attention.

  No need for that, my mate. I am always listening to you.

  She ducked her head, awkward for just a moment before she pressed on. “How does this work? How can you just fly into populated areas and not be noticed? I feel like I’m missing something here.”

  We shall be hidden in plain sight. Watch.

  We climbed high in the air, then, once I saw my destination, we plummeted. We fell straight down. Kat tightened her grip on my spines, but she did not cry out. She was made of fine stuff. I could sense the moment when she saw the building and understood my plan.

  Our club was the tallest building in the skyline. It reached the clouds in almost any weather. As the afternoon rain clouds h
ad massed today, they had arranged themselves around the top of the building.

  Kat exclaimed. “I can see it! How have you done that?” She leaned over the side of my neck. I was gratified to learn that she now trusted me so implicitly that she knew I would catch her if she slipped. “There are dragons everywhere!” She pointed at the art installation that topped the roof. Our club members had commissioned massive art pieces of metal dragons in every color imaginable. They swung and spun in the wind, each one like a kite in its own territory.

  We will land in plain sight.

  And we did. We dropped out of the sky, in between the dragon art pieces, aiming right for a central area of flat stonework. It was just like a landing stone on Elter.

  As I landed, I shifted my form. I folded all my energy back into the shape of a man. I landed on my feet and spun Kat into my arms so I could deposit her softly on her own feet.

  She smiled at me. Within the circle of my arms, she was almost at ease. Her face turned up towards mine, her bright eyes glowing with the pleasure of our flight. It might have taken her a moment to remember that I was naked, but I was aware of it right away. Her damp blue bathing suit was all that was between us. I held her close, feeling my desire for her like a flame inside me.

  After a moment that might have been eternity, Kat stepped back from me. Only a little, but we were no longer touching. I felt the loss sharply.

  “This is very clever.” Her words were gently teasing, but her expression told me that her sentiment was genuine. “You have so many of these giant metal dragons up here that if anybody reports that they saw a dragon fly in, you can say it was a trick of the light.”

  “Exactly,” I answered her. “The rooftop is an achievement of art that masks a utilitarian purpose. It conceals our presence here in the most obvious way.”

  “You dragons are diabolical,” she murmured, as she followed my gesture and moved toward the door that would allow us entry to the club. The smile she flashed me suggested that she was truly enjoying herself. Her eyes lit up with pleasure when I lifted two blue cloaks from a hook and passed her one. She was happy to be with me, to wear the color of my House. She felt a sense of connection with me, with my people, and with her own spirit of fun.

  At last.

  We settled the cloaks around our bodies. I found that I was unprepared for the sight of her in House Caeruleus blue. The vision of her wrapped in all else that was important to me was a compelling one. How was I going to convince her to wear that all her days, as she lived with me in eternity?

  Before I pulled the door open, I squared my shoulders and drew in a long breath. I had to be ready for anything here.

  For it was becoming apparent to me that my motive in bringing Kat to my secret club, where I had never before brought another woman, was twofold.

  Yes, I wanted her to have a good time, and this was the best place to make that happen.

  But my other purpose in bringing her here was to see which dragons watched her. If there was a dragon who had been stalking her for the five years since she signed that boat loan, then I was going to find out who he was.

  Even if it meant I might have to fight for her.

  Especially then.

  Chapter 9: Kat

  Excitement was never in short supply when one kept company with a dragon. I was learning that. Even now that we were back in my world, there seemed to be no end to the secrets he had tucked away, ready to unveil to me.

  Sure, I had been hesitant at first, coming to terms with the fact that my business on the island was gone forever. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. The habits that I had thought of as making up my “own life” were mostly part of the drudgery I’d had to do to try to make ends meet.

  What if I could use my new fortune not only to make myself financially comfortable in the long term, but to learn to try new adventures without worrying all the time?

  As we stepped through the door into the place that Cobalt had referred to as his “club,” I resolved to hold myself to that ideal. I would find a way to be carefree, not just as a front to protect myself from intrusive eyes, but really, truly, deep down in my heart.

  I deserved a bit of fun.

  My eyes roved around the large, interconnected parlor rooms that greeted us at the end of the corridor. It was like visiting a palace. Somehow, I had it in my head that this was going to be a sort of bar. It wasn’t that at all. Instead, it was more like a posh gentlemen’s club from a century ago.

  Enormous living spaces led from one room into the next. They were filled with comfortable furniture that was arranged into groups to facilitate conversation. Priceless rugs fit near each other in patterns on the floor. To counteract any sense of stuffiness that the antique rugs might have given, the banks of wide windows were modern and bright. There were gorgeous views of the ocean in every direction.

  I felt Cobalt at my elbow, and I turned to see him smiling down at me. He was enjoying watching my delight in this beautiful place. “What do you think?”

  He wanted my approval. I understood that he was as proud of this club as if he owned it. It must be almost impossible to become a member here.

  “I love it,” I answered. “It is breathtaking. And not very crowded at all.” I followed Cobalt as he showed me to a cozy corner with overstuffed chairs and a low, polished coffee table. “Have you been a member long? Is it hard to get into this place?”

  “The only requirement, of course, is that one be a dragon shifter.”

  “Oh, of course. I was thinking that it was just an exclusive organization, but that makes more sense.” I was putting the pieces together now. “So the overhead entry is not just for fun, it is proof that one can fly to the rooftop.”

  Cobalt hesitated. “Well, for the most part. That was the intention of the designer. But it is true that there are a few dragons who cannot use it. As the use of the rooftop landing stones are not strictly required in the membership contract, we have had to become more flexible about the method of entry.”

  I saw him nod almost imperceptibly to a waiter. The impeccably nondescript servant left without approaching any closer to us. They must already know what he liked here. So, he was a regular. I felt a pang of concern in my heart, wondering again if Cobalt was a bit of a ladies’ man when he was not with me.

  It was hard to reconcile this high society persona of his with the easygoing man that I’d tried to get off my couch this morning. I remembered quite clearly what he’d looked like when he pulled his t-shirt off in the living room, so secure in his own style that he had seemed casual without being sloppy. Oh, yes, I was remembering that moment very well right now.

  He grinned at me, his blue eyes twinkling. “I know what you’re thinking. This seems like a fancy place, yes, but it is meant to be comfortable for us. So few places are. And none of this is really a stretch for us to set up. I come from a society in which everything is powered by magic. We are used to luxuries. And when we choose to visit here, your version of money is quite easy to come by.”

  “I hadn’t noticed that myself,” I murmured sourly. Then I straightened in my chair. “Well, I suppose I have now. I guess there were just a lot of years that I didn’t know how people like you lived. Or that there were even shifters at all.” I looked around the room again, admiring the details that supported our superlative comfort. The few people I saw around us were dragon shifters, I knew. They were all attractive, young men. It was uncanny to think that these people never aged.

  “This is a safe place for us,” Cobalt relaxed back into his chair, looking wonderfully at home. “Even if we don’t have access to all the magic of our world here, we can still travel to the portals of our Houses and draw power from them. Each rift between the dimensions is filled with energy that we can use. Most importantly, we can spend time with people we know and trust.”

  “Are they all men?” I couldn’t help asking. I felt a budding outrage over the sexism of his world, but at the same time, I was happy not to have any rivals her
e for his attention.

  “Kat, enough.” His tone was gentle as he admonished me. “You have to understand. There is no other woman for me but you. Not in my world or yours. It would not matter if the club were full of them. I would have eyes for you and nobody else. Although, you are correct, it is an all-male club, as the women of our world do not choose to travel.”

  “I am the only woman here? How did you get permission for that?” I tried to peek at the other guests without appearing furtive.

  Cobalt blinked at me. “I don’t actually need permission,” he coughed modestly. “I own the club.”

  “Oh.” My brief answer led to a silence that stretched out as I tried to think of what else to say. This Captain of the Guards was full of surprises. “When you said it was yours, I thought you meant that you were a member. Well, that explains why you are so proud of it.”

  “I wanted to show it to you.” He, too, was trying to look around the room without appearing to do so. Why?

  When the waiter returned, he brought us drinks and the most delicious food I had ever tasted in my life. There were arrangements of tapas that included everything I’d ever loved to eat. There were garlic shrimp, served with slender flatbread, and little plates of golden potatoes with spiced mussels. Everything was prepared to perfection and served in a clean, simple style.

  The waiter also discreetly passed Cobalt a sealed envelope. When my dragon bodyguard looked down at it, some strong emotion flashed across his face before he suppressed it. He moved to tuck the mail into a pocket inside his cloak.

  “Wait,” I broke in. “It’s not anything from your home, is it?” I knew it was horribly rude to inquire about somebody else’s mail, but what if it was a letter summoning him? I plunged ahead. “If it is a request that you go back, will you?”

  “Of course not. My life is here with you now.”

  I closed my mouth, not sure what to say next. Had we really decided that? I felt like I had missed a part of that discussion.

  “Really? Do you mean to say that you plan to leave your home world forever? I think we should talk more about that. Don’t you?” A feeling of panic was rising within me. I did not remember having agreed that we were going to be bonded for life, even though he kept talking about it.