Harris, Daisy - Mere Passion [Ocean Shifters 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 9

  “Why the fuck would I involve that bitch? She’s going down, just like my father.”

  “Now Florian.” The Council Chair adopted that slow, comforting voice that rubbed the prince raw. “You know the people need new leadership to have a familiar face. They love and trust Alara. You need her by your side when you take the throne, at least in the beginning.”

  “And how the hell do you expect me to get her on my side? That bitch hates me!”

  The Council Chair chuckled again, that kindly uncle laugh that made Florian want to reach through the screen and slap him. “Once the triton supports the dragon soldiers in taking over her forces, she’ll be more than happy to remove him from power.”

  Florian thought for a moment. Reluctantly he agreed that the plan was sound. “True. She’s been shuffling tasks away from him for years. I think she questions his fitness to rule almost as much as I do.”

  The face on screen nodded solemnly. “That’s right! Find common ground. She’ll prove an ally in the end.”

  Florian rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but what happens once I take the throne and she figures out my plans?”

  The Chairman’s face split into a wide smile that sent a chill through Florian’s thin skin. “Dr. Grathers has already mailed you the substance I told you about. Once public opinion is on your side, you can dispose of the triton at your leisure. By the time your sister realizes what’s happened she will have lost everything and will have no allies left to help her fight.”

  * * * *

  Alara trudged up the path from the docks. Behind her, another batch of her soldiers left for another round of concentric sweeps. She heard the thrum of a motor starting as the boats left harbor and the splash of troops diving in the water. No doubt each of them was as exhausted as she was.

  The dragon’s visit had already stretched her resources to capacity, and for an emergency to occur right at this moment? The timing couldn’t have been worse. She bit at the edges of her fingers as she walked. Things were spiraling completely out of her control, and she didn’t even want to contemplate what she needed to do next.

  Dusk fell as she reached the Glass House. The footsteps sounding through the halls were fast, frantic, showing no signs of readying for night. Everyone was on edge because of the kidnappings. Alara knocked hesitantly at the triton’s door. When he didn’t answer right away she almost scurried away. Then the low kindly voice she so loved emanated from the room, telling her to enter.

  His long white hair reached well past his shoulders, and a graying beard of the same length rested on his chest. His wrinkled face curled in a gentle smile. For the first time in a while, she realized why he was such a good leader. He truly cared—about his people, about his children. If he made mistakes, at least they were out of kindness.

  She took a seat in the small chair in front of his desk. “Dad, I am so completely fucked.” Her head hung low. Never in her thirty-five years as leader of the armed forces had she felt so defeated.

  His voice chided. “Alara, that’s no way to talk. You’re doing the best you can. You’ve defended Murrough against sharks for thirty five years, and other than the incident last summer, you’ve defeated every threat. Every leader loses some battles.”

  His look was so solemn she wanted to burst into tears. “We can’t find anything. Not a blip! Not a ripple! It’s like nothing is there. But something, or somebody, must be out there because another report of a kidnapping just came in. They’re picking the kids off one by one. Why? How? And why are they motherfucking invisible?”

  The triton’s forehead creased in thought. “I sent an email to the Dragon Council asking if they had any information, but I never heard back. Have you asked that General Kai for his input?”

  She frowned. “No.”

  The triton’s smile became too knowing. “Alara, you are the most capable woman I’ve met since your mother. But you need to ask for help.” When she winced he continued. “I’m not saying the dragons can solve problems better than us, or that they have all the answers. But it’s not fair to those girls if you discount resources out of prejudice.”

  She took a deep breath. Her father was right. She forgot he did that sometimes. “I know, Dad. It’s just that I get the feeling that if I give him an inch he’ll take a mile, y’know?”

  Now his face broke into a broader smile, maybe a little mocking and way more understanding than she was comfortable with. “Some males are like that, my daughter. He’s decent, though, that dragon. He won’t take advantage of a weakness.”

  It was true. Kai wasn’t a monster. She would ask for his help. Maybe he wouldn’t have anything useful to offer, but at least she would try. The picture of his hopeful and open face at her door that morning sent a little ripple of guilt through her. The princess wondered if she might have to do a little smoothing over.

  Chapter 8

  Alara shuffled from foot to foot before the dragon who’d appeared at the door. His bitter chocolate eyes shot daggers at her, and his arrogant jaw clenched. His stance was more than a little hostile, but Alara saw past it to his pain. She bowed her head.

  “I owe you an apology, Kai.” She spoke in measured words, kind but not submissive.

  “For not telling me about the kidnapping?” he asked with a mocking scowl.

  “Yeah, I suppose you would have heard about that by now.” Her shoulders slumped. She felt so damned defeated. There was no use worrying about how he'd found out. She’d come for a purpose and wouldn’t back down. “And also for how I treated you this morning.”

  She didn’t look up at him, but heard the whoosh of air that left his chest at her statement. Tension crackled in the air between them, pulling her to him as if with magnetic force. “I meant what I said about us not sleeping together again, but I should have been clearer about why.” Still not looking up, she felt him move closer. He was so close now his heat warmed the exposed flesh of her arms.

  “Why then?” That soothing deep rumble caressed her. Despite all that had happened that day, she relaxed into the feeling. Taking a deep breath, she allowed the words to pour at all at once. “Because if we kept screwing, I’d start to…well, I’d get used to it and miss you when you left.” She pressed her eyes closed and felt her lips pursed tight as well. If he laughed or teased, she would rip his fucking—

  “I understand, Alara.”

  Her gaze rose to meet his. “You do?”

  Thank the gods. His face was cool, friendly, relaxed—not mocking. “Yes. You are wise in your choice. I too might become attached if we were to continue.” As usually, his answer was solemn, like an oath. For some reason, it tore at her worse than if he’d teased her.

  She swallowed hard to appear unaffected. “Well, so long as that’s cleared up. I need to ask you for something.”

  A small but sly grin crossed his face, as if he knew how much is cost her to come to him. “You don’t even have to ask, Alara, you know I will help you.”

  Her smile came naturally. Deep down she’d known he would. “Great, I have some documents I’d like you to take a look at.”

  She brought them to the small table in his bedroom and laid them out. They poured over the details for about an hour, but then she had to go. “Kai, I’m going to leave these with you. I have something I need to do tonight.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her deliberate vagueness. “Good evening then, Alara.”

  She could tell he wanted to ask her where she was going, but thankfully he held his tongue. If Kai knew her destination, he’d probably try to talk her out of it. And her will was so weak on this matter she might even have let him.

  * * * *

  Kai shifted to his dragon form and willed his scales to blend in with the cool tones of the Glass House walls. He followed behind her, knowing that if she met with a lover, he would have to kill the male. What they had might be casual, or temporary, but he would not stand for her to have another while he remained on the island.

  Alara turned and stared right through him sev
eral times, surely having heard a scrape of his talon on the ground. However, she continued down winding staircases at the back of the building until she reached an enormous underground cave.

  Moonlight filtered in from an opening at the very top and steam rose from the water. Rows of houses lined the water’s banks. This must be their winter dwelling, warmed by the lava tubes. Kai watched Alara remove her clothes and rifle through a nearby storage locker. She pulled out two daggers and a broadsword, which she strapped at her upper arms and across her back. Then the princess slipped into the water, as one might an overly-hot bathtub. Once the last ripple of her entry disappeared he followed, moaning in enjoyment as the heated saline drenched his scales.

  Her firm tail pumped ahead through the moon-lit water, and Kai reveled in the sight of it. Up, down, up down. He followed for what felt like an hour, till a large black hull appeared in the distance. The enormous ship dwarfed the mermaid, and Kai swam closer to her, suddenly less concerned about being caught following and more concerned with what lay ahead.

  She grasped a ladder affixed to the side of the hull and pulled her body out of the water with only her arms. Her tail shifted to legs and Kai broke the water’s surface to keep an eye on her. Alara gasped at the sound and turned around. “I friggin’ knew it! I knew you were following me! Go back to Murrough, dragon!”

  Kai roared his disagreement and struggled to keep up with her, talons clasping and slipping on the ladder’s rungs. His body slowed as he dragged up the side of the ship. Only the sight of her rear end dangling ahead of him forced Kai to reach the top. When he stumbled over the ship’s railing onto a parched-wood deck, his body morphed to human form.

  Alara threw a blanket at his newly-human face. “It’s a wonder you haven’t woken the whole damn vessel, Kai!”

  He wrapped the rough cloth around his shoulders and shivered. “What is this place?”

  A shaft of light spilled across them. The door of the cabin opened, and a thickly muscled male with short, spikey black hair emerged, flanked by two others like him but slightly smaller. The leader’s face bore heavy scars, and his teeth came to jagged points. He seemed to have more teeth than normally were found in a human mouth.

  He felt Alara’s shiver of repulsion. Based on the other male’s slow leer, so did he.

  Alara jutted her chin forward and threw back her shoulders. Unfortunately, that did nothing to hide the scent of fear trickling off her. “Rhazzor. We’ve had some disappearances. I’ve come to make certain none under your jurisdiction are behind it.”

  Kai forced back a growl. The name indicated that these males were shark-shifters. He wanted to grasp Alara by the waist and carry her back to the ocean, away from this threat. But the princess appeared determined to learn something from the pirates.

  Rhazzor tilted his head to the side, his nostrils flaring wide. He approached with his men. “I got your email, princess, and if you recall I replied as well. None that I rule have stolen any mere or human for ransom in over five years.”

  The older shark held his hand up for his men to stay put while he walked a wide half circle around Alara. He appeared to only barely stop himself from circling her completely. Kai felt his hackles rise and drifted toward her, placing himself between Alara and the pirate.

  The princess shoved him out of the way, and marched directly up to Rhazzor. She poked her small, pale finger directly at the shark’s chest. “You better not be fucking with me, shark, or the human authorities might just stumble upon your little smuggling operation up here.”

  Rhazzor wiped his hand across his mouth. “Feisty. I’ve always liked that about you. But no. If any of my boats had taken on mere, I would have heard about it.”

  “Nevertheless, I’d like you to send us the coordinates of all your ships. I want to contact each of them.”

  The old shark smirked in amusement. “Demanding, too! I forgot how much I enjoyed these little meetings of ours, Alara.” When the princess stared straight ahead without emotion, he continued. “I’ll email them first thing tomorrow morning.”

  Alara flexed her head to one side, then another. Kai heard a resounding crack. “Thank you for your cooperation, shark.” She began backing toward the ladder, not taking her eyes off Rhazzor and his men. Again Kai stepped between the male and the princess, this time to hide her nudity as she had dropped her towel.

  “So Murrough’s hiding behind the dragons again, heh?” Rhazzor and his men chuckled.

  Alara pushed Kai to the side and strode forward to stand proudly before the males. “Never!” But a hard pulse of fear billowed off her, sickly sweet and hovering on the ocean air. All three males’ eyes bled to black, and they began to circle.

  * * * *

  Alara whipped her gaze from one shark to the other. Fuck her loss of control! No way could the pirates resist messing with her now. The sharks were too close for the sword, so she crossed her arms and drew her daggers, swinging out at one assailant and when he ducked, slashing out at another.

  Kai’s fist shot like a cannon in front of her, knocking a shark to the ground, but the one she had stabbed rose, his skin knitting together almost as fast as it had been cut. Unfortunately, sharks displayed truly astounding healing abilities. To kill them, you had to take their heads. And Alara needed her closest thing to allies in the shark-shifter community alive.

  Kai hooked his enormous arm around Rhazzor’s neck. “Kai—don’t kill him!”

  In response, the dragon growled so low the floor seemed to vibrate. His blanket had fallen from his shoulders, and his bicep bunched against Rhazzor’s reddening head. “Why can I not kill him?”

  Alara touched Kai’s arm. Rhazzor’s men stood wary now that their leader was threatened, an uncommon behavior in sharks, and one that proved the civilizing influence of Rhazzor’s rule. “I need them. They’re the enemy I know. And sometimes even an ally. If a new leader emerges, things could be worse.”

  She could almost see Kai’s military and political reason slowly trump his rage as he released the shark. Then he slung Alara over his shoulder and dove for the water.

  The cold ocean slapped her with a thwack, almost knocking her unconscious. The dragon shifted and then streamed forward full speed, grasping Alara against his body. She wanted to scream at him not to flee, that it would only force them to chase, but his scales were so smooth against her skin, and they moved far too fast to be caught. In just a few minutes, Kai pulled her up on the shore of the cave.

  He shifted to human form before they even cleared the water, and his big body knelt above hers in the shallows. She struggled to her elbows, to pull her tail out of the water, but he lowered his chest to hers.

  Part of her still fumed at his caveman act, but the dark skin over his pecs pressed into her breasts. Their breaths rose and fell together, still panting from the chase. He nibbled his full lower lip as he stroked her cheek. Alara opened her mouth to speak, but he covered it with his, soft lips suckling hers, forcing a gasp when he bit down.

  The lava-warmed water heated her blood. Her hands roamed his back, his arms, and drifted to his firm rear end. His hard-on thrust along her tail, forcing a dolphin-like squeak from her chest. “Kai,” she gasped, breaking their kiss. “Mere can’t have sex like this.”

  His mouth plundered hers again. His tongue swept inside, tickling her palate and stroking at hers. Kai lifted his head, and kissed each of her eyelids, then her nose. The corner of his lip curled up, and his eyes narrowed slyly. “I know.”

  * * * *

  When the battle excitement wore off, Kai invited her to sleep on his bed, and for some weird reason, she did. They curled up and spooned, not even kissing once she returned to human form. It was nice. Just as she drifted off to sleep, she heard the dragon crooning to her.

  “I’ll take care of everything Alara, you don’t have to worry.” The wonder of what he meant almost jostled her awake, but exhaustion took over, and her eyes closed.

  Chapter 9

  Karon blew heavy pants a
cross Gracie’s neck as he bit. At each suckle, a growl rumbled in her ear. Her small bed pressed soft at her back, and his hard naked body caged her front as he drilled her in time with his draws. She’d fed off his lust before he’d turned vampire, knew the flavor of his desire. Her need and his mingled so that she regenerated and healed even as he drained her lifeblood.

  Another orgasm wracked her body, clasping her center on Karon’s thrusts. He sped up to keep time and reached his peak a moment later. His release wouldn’t mean the end of their loving, though, not now with the whole vampires-not-needing-recovery-time thing. She shuddered as he started all over, licking the wound in her neck to heal it, as he slid into her gently.

  Gracie pressed her eyes together in guilt even as she gave her body over yet again. He’d made several catches now. The little bodies lay on stretchers in the bowels of the ship. The thought threw cold water over her. She pushed him away.

  He reared back to his knees, cock still rock hard, but expression mild and sated. “Had enough for now, baby?” His gray eyes sparkled with amusement and pride.

  “John, you know I’m glad I can give you what you need, in terms of nourishment, but I can’t keep doing this. Not when there are prisoners, children prisoners, on board.” As if to punctuate her statement, a soft cry swept through her heating and venting unit. Her face flushed.

  Karon grimaced and raked a hand through his shaggy mass of gray-blonde hair. “I want to move you to a different room.” He didn’t meet her eyes, and she felt his guilt in the way his spine straightened.

  “I don’t want another room, John! I want…” She didn’t know how to finish the sentence. Another man?

  He seemed to have heard her thoughts, because he grabbed her arm and tugged her body against his. “As I’ve told you before, if you want something other than what I am, you need to get off this boat.”

  He stood up, pushing her away. “I need to go down to the holding room and make sure they stay sedated.” Karon pulled his trousers up and drew a shirt over his broad shoulders.