Mere Temptation (7 page)

Karon let out a long breath. No use telling his boss how unlikely that seemed. “Okay, we’ll just have to go out better armed from now on.”

Grathers cut him off. “John, I don’t want you or any of your men injuring a dragon. The Council is very well connected and protects its subjects with a vengeance.”

“Okay, sir.”

Karon pinched the bridge of his nose as he slammed down the phone. His men were up against a sea monster they couldn’t fight and he was stuck running a research facility. The job was becoming far more trouble than it was worth.

Five years of subject collection was starting to wear on him. He regretted more than ever the day Karita had boarded his boat, killed his crew, and dragged him back to his family. His twin had been emphatic that working for the biotech firm would be the opportunity of Karon’s lifetime. She was fanatical about the work Dendric was doing, determined to save him from his “disability.”

He pressed the intercom to Gracie’s room. “Hey, you there?”

“Yes,” Her bedroom voice answered.

“What are you doing?”

“Are you asking me to have com-sex, Captain Karon?”

“No, I just… I dunno, I just wanted to—”

“Talk?”

He didn’t know what he wanted. “I guess I just wanted some company.”

“Okay.”

Karon kept the line open with Gracie for a while, neither of them saying anything.

“Would you like me to come up?” she asked.

“No, that’s okay, baby. I should go.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Hanging up, he pulled out a new sheath of papers and reluctantly started to plan his next catch.

* * * *

Isa woke for the second day in Sidon’s bed, the sound of his breath in her ear, her naked back pressed along his hard chest. She smiled at the softness of his skin, the tickle of rough hair against her shoulders and hips. The sheets smelled like him and like her and like both of them together.

His half-erection was nestled between her thighs, and when she felt it grow again she was surprised that he might have another orgasm left. He’d released in her hands, her mouth, between her breasts, along the crease between her legs. More times than she could count her inner muscles had clenched and quivered against his probing fingers and tongue.

Not really awake, he began to stroke through the dampening furrow, and Isa reached down to catch his head as it poked forward. She wanted so badly to take him inside her. For the one millionth time in the past twelve hours she cursed that condoms didn’t block whatever caused the change to marked mere.

The friction against her nether-lips was maddening, and too, too, soft. Last night his long fingers had filled her to bursting. She missed that invasion, though she smiled at his appreciative moan as he slid through her clenched thighs.

He ran his hand down along her back, and hooked a saliva-slick finger into her bottom. She rolled her eyes back, softly keening. “Maybe we could try it this way.” Sidon said as he gently fingered her tiny hole. Despite her arousal, she reddened in embarrassment. “Si, we tried that once, remember? It hurt too much.”

He chuckled against her back as he reached around to stroke her clitoris. “We were kids then. I had no idea what I was doing, not to mention that I was probably more than a little over-eager.”

Isa smiled at the memory. She still recalled the sharp pain when he’d entered her, and how the stinging had continued after his immediate pulling-out. Nope, that hadn’t really worked. But somehow the reminiscence made Isa feel even closer to him. After all, he was just as scared at the time as she was.

“Maybe,” her reply was reluctant, “but not right now.”

Sidon kissed an “okay” into her shoulder as his hands continued to pet and explore. He flipped her unceremoniously on top of him in a sixty-nine, burying his face and his fingers into her crevices. She took him in her mouth then, pulling him deep and delighting in his happy groans. Then a thought crossed her mind.

“Si?”

“Hmmn?” He grunted as he continued to lick.

“So, like, now you’re like an expert on…that?”

“What?” He’d lifted his head away, but still held her hips across his chest. But Isa climbed off him, coming to kneel at the side of his supine form.

“Well, you said you didn’t know what you were doing back when we, y’know, tried it. But now you do know what you’re doing. So, did you do some reading? Or is it something you’ve done a lot?”

Sidon stared at her as if trying to solve a complicated math problem in his head. His erection sank.

“Are you jealous?”

“No.” Isa didn’t know exactly what she was, but she couldn’t possibly be jealous. “No, just curious.”

Sidon’s brows shot upward, telling her he wasn’t buying it. “Well, a few of the women I’ve spent time with liked it, and they sort of showed me the ropes. And since then, I’ve done it with a couple women who hadn’t done it before, and they enjoyed themselves, so…”

“So when you say ‘a few’…”

“Isa, you’re being ridiculous. You’re the one with the vow of celibacy, I never promised—”

“I’m not celibate.”

“Oh, so you’ve had sex?”

“Well, no, not full-on sex, but I’ve been with guys.”

Sidon’s relaxed posture became more alert.

“What do you mean you’ve ‘been with guys’?”

Realizing she had accidentally steered in to dangerous waters, she had a desire to back-peddle out of this entire conversation.

“You know. I’ve dated guys, so eventually I’d go down on them, they’d go down on me…”

“So all these years you’ve been out in Landworld sucking random guys off?”

“How did this become about me? You’re the one who’s gone around poking his prick into any hole offered!”

At that Sidon looked hurt, and Isa curled up, feeling more than a little sorry.

“Si…”

He launched from the bed. “I need a shower.” Then he closed the door, leaving Isa alone to wonder at what had gotten into them both.

* * * *

Sidon paced his office, dreading telling Isa about the kidnapping and worried about her reaction to their plans for the day. He was chomping at the bit to destroy the threat in their waters, but worried about the aftermath, the part when she wanted to leave him again. His conceit wasn’t so great that he thought she would crumple in his arms and promise to stay forever just because he got her off a few times. But part of him had hoped.

Isa entered his office, carrying plates full of fruit, toast, and eggs like a peace offering.

“I made some breakfast.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

He kissed her check as he took his plate, trying to infuse the gesture with a bit of his regret at their fight.

“So what’s the plan for the day?”

“Well, I got a message early this morning. There’s been another attack.”

The color drained from Isa’s face.

“Four girls have been kidnapped. I’ve called all the phone trees telling the mere to keep further from the boundaries, and I’ve insisted on the Council’s help.”

He watched her eyes widen in fear and steadied his voice to calm her.

“Our plan is to get the girls back, set up surveillance on the ship, and figure out how to redirect them.”

“And the Council is going to help?” she asked, chewing the inside of her cheek.

“I’m hoping so.” He didn’t want to share how reluctant that help might be. “They have a couple soldiers on the Key right now, but we have to go talk to them.”

“Where?”

“At the Yacht Club.” He tried to sound as offhand as possible.

Her annoyed gasp filled the room. “Are you serious, Si?”

Despite the severity of the situation, his lips twitched at her tone. “Oh come on, Is, it’s not that bad.”

“Yes, it is that bad. I’m not going. I understand you need their help, but I’m not going.”

He considered playing the strong man or guilting her into it, but despite his determination not to plead with her, he felt that a little well-timed begging might work.

“Come on, sweetie. Please? I’ll keep those mean dragons away from you.” Playing on her need to be brave was a good angle as well.

“Oh, fine.”
Bingo!

Sidon speared a few bites of eggs before frowning. “And Isa, don’t take anything they say too seriously, okay?”

She rolled her eyes at him and scowled. “Why would I take seriously anything a dragon says?”

* * * *

Sidon held her hand as they walked up the broad white stairs into Key Sirena Yacht Club. The colonial monstrosity jutted off the southern tip of the island amidst miles of manicured greens. They’d swung by Key West for a crisp kelly green polo shirt and a flower-print skirt for her to wear. Sidon wore a seersucker blazer over his white collared shirt. She’d practically laughed out loud when he put it on. The country club chic made him look amazing, but she hated that he clearly knew his way around the dragon’s little gated paradise.

The maitre d’s demeanor bristled as soon as he caught sight of Isa, despite the fact that he was also mere.

“Master Sidon, so glad you could join us today. I see you’ve brought a guest. Please make sure you sign her in at the main office.”

“Sure thing, Buck.” If he caught the hint of disapproval, Sidon didn’t show it. Instead he led her through starched hallways to a roster where he entered her name alongside his.

Sitting at their table, Isa couldn’t help noticing the stares that kept flickering her way. She didn’t have markings yet. Her legs and back were still pale and skin-colored, but both mere and dragons had a certain look to them, and everyone on Sirena knew perfectly well which was which.

The dark-skinned dragons were tall and regal looking. She’d never seen one under six feet, even a female. Their hair was stick-straight and black. Among so many, she could see where Sidon got his genes. He was much darker than a mere, but not nearly-charcoal like others of his kind. While full-blooded dragons had a scaly hardness to them, a snake-like quality that Isa found cold and a bit creepy, the man sitting next to her had just a sexy slink. She wondered what the other dragons thought of him, whether they found the differences attractive or repugnant.

The dining room was informal but spotless. The large open space had whitewashed paneling and hardwood floors and was attached to a wide patio with more tables. The haughty dragons spoke in low tones as they ate, muttering about business or sport. She found herself scooting her chair closer to her lunch date.

He placed a hand on hers. “Is, I’ve got to go talk to those guys over there.” He pointed across the room to a table mostly hidden. Now that she focused on it she could barely believe her eyes. One of the dragons was paler than her. His bearing was just as stiff and reptilian as the rest, but his skin looked almost albino, and his waist-length white-blonde hair looked almost mere. He brought to mind a Viking lost in the Caribbean.

As they approached the dragons’ table, Isa wondered if being impossibly handsome came standard with being a dragon. Both tall and incredibly cut, the dark one looked Asian on closer inspection, with striking cheekbones and exotic features. The pale one looked like a Norse god with his crisp blue eyes and shoulders that looked like they would barely fit through a door.