He pictured his scales rubbing alongside another’s, and his hemipeni reaching out from his vent, but other images intruded. A human-form face and soft-looking lips flashed through his mind. Even as his pumping wrist sped up, he wondered why the sight of a mere’s mouth would elicit a sexual response. Human-form reproductive organs were located on the other end of the body. His forearm danced quickly now, tugging along the length, spreading the wetness from the tip along the pole.
That high-cheekboned face appeared in his mind again. Her lips pursed to the side as she nibbled the inside of her cheek. Strange that those plump red cushions should increase the throbbing of his penis. He supposed that the feel of her kiss on his member would be pleasant, but he doubted she could stretch her mouth around the cap of…
Holymotherofthegods!
Spasms shot from deep in his groin, heralding the ropey spurts of semen that coated his hand and lap. He gripped low on the steely pole, willing the sensation to lessen, to come to an end and allow him respite from the vision branded in his mind. His breath came low and shallow. Eventually he rode out the waves of feeling to find a pleasant restful sensation overtook his body.
He hastily wiped the viscous fluids off his hand and scissored his legs between the tightly-folded sheets. His erection stood at half-mast, and Kai feared that partial relief was the best he could hope for during his time on Murrough Island. Moving forward, he would just have to do his best to avoid the mere girl and keep to the outdoors.
The flannel sheets tickled his bare skin. He allowed himself to feel the sensation without pre-judgment. It was different—disconcerting, but pleasant. Painful memories flashed. His father raising a stick, his childish body racing to shift back to dragon form. The shape of man was weak and inferior. Certainly no dragon of any worth would choose to spend time that way on purpose.
* * * *
In the head off his berth, Karon peered in the mirror and raked his hand through his roughly-cut hair. He looked like crap. More than a few days of grayish-blonde beard shadowed his chin and cheeks. Dark circles hung under his eyes. What’s more, he’d finally gotten word from Dr. Grathers about his next fishing location. It would take at least another week to arrive at the habitat, but soon enough Gracie would find out they were hunting mere again.
But for Chrissakes, it wasn’t like she didn’t already know what he did for work. Why the hell she stayed on board was a mystery. He didn’t blame her for whatever role she played in the last mermaid escapes. She’d had a rough time of it when she was a lab-rat. He could understand that she wanted revenge, but if he tried to quit Dendric, his family and coven would be banging on his door in no time, guilt-tripping and quite possibly torturing him to go back to the company.
With a broad swipe, he spread a layer of shaving cream across his jaw and pulled the skin tight for the first swipe of razor. For a moment, a hint of white teeth shone from his mouth, and his pulse raced before he could temper his excitement with a dose of reality. A heavy shrug shook his body. For so many years Karon had looked hopefully at his mouth, thinking that one day his fangs would finally grow. It was a kid’s fantasy. Unfair as it might be, he was born human, despite the vampire genes hidden, un-activated in his DNA.
Sure every few weeks Dr. Grathers’ assistants shot him full of some new treatment or another meant to switch on the blood-lust. After five years, Karon was starting to feel like a research subject himself. Likelihood had it he would never live to see the benefits of the mad scientists’ work. If his haggard face and red-tinged eyes were any indication, the treatments might even be making him sick.
Karon rinsed off the last of the soapy mess and stroked his hand against his buttery skin. He remembered the way Gracie used to press her cheek against his after he shaved…right before she’d blow him for information on the company. The smell of her perfume, heck the smell of her, hung in his quarters. He could barely stand to look at his own desk, imagining her body sprawled across it.
The handle clicked on his sliding door behind him, and a small hand curled around the edge as it opened. The succubus stood in his doorway, her head bowed. Her long, brown hair hung in front of her face, almost covering it. When she finally looked up, those sexy hazel eyes that always grabbed him were filled with tears.
“John, I’m sorry. I realize now I should have gotten off when you asked me to. I’ll disembark at the next port.” Her face was puffy and drawn, but more than that she looked gray or maybe hungry. He wondered if maybe she hadn’t been getting enough sex now that they weren’t screwing anymore. Not that that was his problem.
He grunted in relief. “Sure thing, Gracie. Thank you. We’ll be in Svalbard in about a week and a half.”
Her eyes widened in interest. “That archipelago north of Norway?”
If possible, his mood dropped even lower. “Yeah, I know it’s a crap place to have to get off, but I don’t have time to stop sooner. I hear there’s an airport there. I’ll give you some cash to fly to mainland Europe.”
She searched his expression. “Didn’t you hunt in that area once before?”
“That’s none of your damn business.” He didn’t mean to snap, but his days of letting her bleed him dry for secrets were over.
She nodded and turned to go. He stepped forward, unable to stop himself. “Listen, are you okay? No offense, but you don’t look so hot.”
Gracie didn’t look his way but said in a small voice, “I’ll be fine.” The memory of how she had thrown around seduction like a weapon in Key Sirena still stung, but the way she sounded so defeated and resigned now made him feel very small.
“Are the guys, y’know, pitching in their fair share?” He knew it was none of his business, but the idea of her suffering caused a faint ache in a heart he thought had turned to stone.
“You know I don’t sleep with the crew anymore, John.” Her lip curled up in a sad smile. Her wistful tone felt like a caress.
“Then who…?” His words trailed off. He remembered when Gracie and he spoke to each other dirty and raw. Those days were gone.
“Visiting scientists mainly.” His mind immediately went to Dr. Grathers, and a wave of nausea hit. She seemed to catch the look on his face, and her jaw dropped in disgust. “No, Karon. Not him. That is revolting, and I can’t believe you’d even think that of me.”
He racked his brain for who else she could possibly mean. “But other than him the last person on the ship was…what, five days ago?”
She nodded stiffly, and he got it. The succubus was starving. “Gracie, you’ve gotta…y’know. It’s unhealthy. There are five other men on board who’d be perfectly happy to…”
Her tear-streaked face rose to him. “But I don’t want any of them. I only want you.”
Her perfect features drew him in. There was no deception in her gaze and not even any hope, just honesty—that same honesty he’d have given his left nut for back when they were lovers. He studied her eyes, the slight flush of her cheek. Then his gaze travelled lower to where a single blue vein pulsed just beneath the surface of her pale-olive skin. The slow dance of blood echoed the throb in his gums. All thoughts of forgiveness or caring fled as, for the first time ever, his fangs erupted.
“I want you too, baby.” It came out as a growl, right before he sank deep into the curve of her neck.
Chapter 3
Kai grasped the handle and swung the door outward to find the young mere from the snowmobile. Without a hat, the boy’s red hair shone like a beacon.
“Alara wants you to meet with her lieutenants this morning, down at the docks.” He bounced on the balls of his feet. “I’ll give you a ride down there. Y’know, if you want.”
Kai regarded the lanky boy with interest. He was tall for a mere—almost six feet perhaps. “What is your name?” Kai asked.
The boy reddened slightly, seemingly pleased to have gotten Kai’s attention. “I’m Olaf Mercer.” The mere looked up at him with round blue eyes that held an overflow of interest. Kai sensed that if allowed, this youth would speak uninterrupted for days.
True to Kai’s estimation, the youth chattered non-stop during the short snowmobile ride to the docks. He regaled the dragon with stories of the island’s fiercest battles, worst snowstorms, and best parties. Kai found himself flattered by the mere’s attention. At least Olaf sought to make him feel comfortable, as opposed the princess, who antagonized him at every opportunity.
Alara stood on the main dock, waiting while about seven males and females loaded up a mid-sized aluminum vessel with a re-enforced hull. Her white-blond hair hung loose today, sweeping around her shoulders and back. Her gray hat highlighted the cold beauty of her eyes and the angles of her features. Kai breathed deeply, willing blood to his brain and hoping to the gods to hide the hardening of his body.
“Alara, I have reviewed your portfolio, and I am very impressed.” He’d searched for holes and inadequacies in the paperwork she’d given him, but every detail was in place, every item he requested present and accounted for.
Her eyes widened. “Did you just pay me a compliment?”
His jaw hardened. Had he? “However, I found some of your numbers surprising. Why would you employ so many troops during peace time?”
She chewed her lip and darted her eyes to the side. A spark of concern pinched him at the meaning behind her expression. “It’s never peace time here. We’re a tiny mere settlement surrounded by shark-shifter waters.” Her eyes narrowed on his. “As the dragons knew perfectly well when they left.”
He flashed her the whites of his eyes. “I was just hatched the year the dragons left this area.”
Her lips twitched to the side as she nibbled her lip again. “So, you’re about my age? I’m sixty-two.”
He nodded solemnly. “I was laid sixty years ago.”
Alara’s suspicious expression shifted and she snorted. “Laid?”
His forehead drew together in confusion, and she snorted again. “You’re pretty young to be a General.”
Kai’s chin jutted forward in pride. He’d reached the status of general earlier than any dragon in recorded history. Like the mere, dragons aged similarly to humans in childhood and lived to be about three hundred. “And you’re pretty young to be a commander- even of forces as small as yours.”
The mermaid’s nostrils flared, and her eyes widened in undisguised challenge. Gods, if her look didn’t send shivers across his skin. Her expression changed to serene in an instant, making him wish he knew what to say to bring back her fire.
She motioned to a few of the mere behind her, and five came forward. “This is Erling. He’s my second in command. Kaylee, Hans, Sven, and Hoken are my other lieutenants.”
Kai surveyed the mere. All eyed him warily, but the female came forward to shake his hand, her curly hair bobbing, and her cherubic face smiling broadly. The others followed suit. The one called Erling raised an eyebrow and smirked, which Kai found confusing, but Hans, Sven and Hoken merely grunted.
“This morning the twins, Hans and Sven, and I will take you on a combination tour and patrol of the northwestern waters.” Alara shrugged off her jacket and pulled her sweater over her head. A tremor of nerves coursed through him until he noticed Hans and Sven doing the same. Apparently this would be an underwater tour, and apparently Alara had no modesty whatsoever. Kai turned his back to the mere and thrust off his clothes as quickly as possible, shifting to dragon form before any could witness his human body.
He followed the mere through the bay, and soon he wound slowly through the icebergs, his attention riveted on Alara’s beating tail. A small fin protruded from where her human bottom would be, and the rubbery gray-blue of her dolphin-like tail looked smooth and supple.
They skimmed what he knew to be the edge of Murrough waters. Spotting a group of juvenile sharks, Alara dashed forward. The sharks scattered quickly, seemingly frightened of the streaming mermaid. To Kai’s surprise, he felt a warm rush of pride, tempered by a little sliver of worry.
She turned to the group, communicating in dolphin-like mere-song. “Just your typical Greenland shark…Not shark-shifters, but you can never be too careful.”