Shark Bait (8 page)

Sophia watched him choke and stutter. At first she felt guilty. He sounded pained. But then she recalled his laughter at the notion of even pretending to be in love with her. It made her want to kick him. “I know you’d like to, so I’m not sure why you’re so surprised I’d offer that as incentive.”

“I…” He shook his head like a dog with water in its ears. “Wait, let me get this…I don’t get you dragons!”
She pondered his comment, completely at a loss. “What’s not to get?”
His hands flew up in the air, and he paced a few steps to the right, then to the left. It was the most she’d seem him move in such short a span of time. “You’re all medieval with the arranged marriages and shit and then you…”
“Are you referring to the human medieval era? In Western Europe, after the Roman Empire, but before the Age of Enlightenment?” She’d studied human history of various cultures, but in truth, she’d missed most of the details.
“Yeah, sweetheart, that. Wouldn’t your noble knight be upset if you’d already popped your cherry?”
Her mind flew through images of the human world and what the shark could possibly mean. “Why would my mate mind if I ate a cherry?”
The shark shifter, Raider, pinched his forehead between his thumb and his forefinger.
Her brow knit further in confusion.
“I mean, won’t he be upset if you lost your virginity?”
She nibbled her fingernail. Mercy, she should know what that word meant. Virginity—like the Virgin Mary. Her mind spun as she tried to remember her Human Religions course. Christianity…religion…women’s roles…oh, yes! Not having had sexual intercourse yet. That’s what he was talking about!
“Oh no! That’s not such an issue, especially since I’ll just say that you forced me.” She lowered her head in question. “You would want me to say you’d forced me right? Not that you’d seduced me?” Her hands twisted as she considered that option. “I could go that route, but I’m not sure it would bolster your reputation as much.”
The shark’s eyes widened by slow increments, and he stumbled back a step.
“I’m sorry, have I offended you?”
He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders, looking like he was trying to regain his composure. “I’m not easy to offend, sweetheart.”
“Good, then. And I did want to thank you for protecting me earlier.”
He only grunted. “But now you’re offering up the same thing.”
Sophia sharpened her eyes on his. “It’s not at all the same thing, and you know it.”
He shrugged but didn’t argue. “So when do you want to leave?”
“You’ll do it?” She squealed and flew into his arm, planting a kiss on his cheek. Raider’s corded muscles hardened like steel under his clothes. She let go immediately. “Just, um…let me get my stuff. We can swim. Do you need anything?”
He shook his head and then peered around the deck with a somewhat lost look in his eyes. “These are the only clothes I have. I can’t carry them in my shark form.”
Guilt trickled down her spine. His lack of belongings clearly embarrassed him. “I have a dry bag. You can put them in there.”
He nodded curtly, and she hauled open the door to the main cabin, almost running over Kai in the process.
He grasped her arm in his enormous hand. “Are you sure about this, Sophia?”
She looked into his espresso eyes, so full of honest concern. She could see how he might have been a good mate and that the mere he’d chosen was very lucky. “He’s actually a decent male, for a shark. I’ll be fine.” She bolted back to her room, grabbed her dry bag and ran headlong for the exit onto the deck.
The dark dragon scowled at her approach. “All right, Sophia. I’ll let you both go. But you have forty-eight hours, and then I’m letting the Council know.”
She shouted her thanks to Kai as the cool metal handle fell obediently under her grasp and she shoved the door open. On deck, Raider pulled his poncho over his head, revealing the long expanse of his chest and his ridged abdomen. Then he pulled open the worn fly of his jeans and shoved them to his ankles, undressing quickly and handing her the balled up clothes.
Her focus travelled from his outstretched arm to the broad V of his shoulders. The path of bright white led…yep, it led right where she thought it might, and even past that a little, to the inside of his thigh. That tiny pink arrow drew every ounce of her attention, until the shark at last cleared his throat and waved the pile of clothes in her direction.
Nervous giggles escaped from between her clenched lips. The human form was so naked without clothes. She shoved the pile into her bag just as she heard the splash of him diving into the water.

* * * *

The white vinyl lab jacket flapped around Nereus’s bare legs as he stole down the wide hallways. Dehydration hobbled him, but he kept running, throwing Friedson’s office door open and rifling through the drawers. He found the keys to the tanks right away and slipped them onto his finger.

Footsteps sounded in the distance. He pressed himself into a corner behind a filing cabinet. Despite the Central American humidity, his skin began to pucker. The door opened, and he heard David’s tenor. “Is someone there?”

He licked at his rapidly-drying lips, wondering if he could trust the scientist enough to reveal himself. David wandered into the room, and when his knees began buckling, Nereus had no choice.

“It’s me.” He strode out of his hiding place and toward the door. “I have to get back into the lab. I’m shriveling like a jellyfish in the desert here.”

David jumped back a foot and yelped. Apparently he hadn’t really expected anyone. “You scared the shit out of me!”
Nereus couldn’t help the snort that escaped his lips. “You must be the only human on the planet scared of mere-people.” David’s eyebrows drew down, and he frowned. He adjusted his glasses with renewed fervor, but Nereus couldn’t help but rib him. “Save me from the vicious merman!”
David set his shoulders and walked forward, pushing Nereus’s shoulder back. “I wasn’t scared.”
A zing of sensation ran up Nereus’s arm at the contact.
David’s breathing sped up. He moved closer. “Why do you have to go back?”
Nereus’s heart sped up even as his lips continued to dry. “I’m too far from the sea.”
The scientist’s hand reached around to grasp his ass. That warm grip pulled him forward, into a hard ridge and a solid chest. “Ah shit, I’m sorry. I just want you so bad.”
His pulse beat so hard he thought his veins would pop right out of his skin. He was out of his tank and they were alone in the dark. Anything seemed possible. Only the steadying twist of thirst held him back. “I’ve got to get closer to the ocean, now!”
The normally mild-mannered and hesitant researcher grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the office. Dang, he could get used to this new version of David.
They passed through several doors before reaching the front of the building. Night coated the walkways outside, but the human looked all around
Nereus gazed into the dark but saw little. Mere used hearing more that sight anyway. He cocked his head, but only distant snores sounded.
Long fingers stroked up his arm. David’s hand skimmed over the vinyl lab coat and under it, onto Nereus’s bare shoulder. Then that strong grip rose to behind his neck and hauled him into a kiss.
David nipped him just once, and then plunged his tongue inside Nereus’s mouth. The scientist fed like a starving man, the wetness of his saliva soothing his dry membranes. He pulled away as quickly as he’d attacked and shoved open the door.
Nereus stepped through, breathing deep the warmer, more humid air outside, not as satisfying as seaside, but better than climate control. “I have to come back later, though, that little boy…”
The alarms shattered the night.

Pitbull blared from the speakers. The latest batch of mere whores danced on the white fiberglass surface of the spot-lit deck, long blond hair waving like fucking Ocean-Cruise Barbies. The
Sharhazzor’s Edge
sat docked at the harbor in St. Tropez, breaking every noise ordinance in the joint. His guys leaned against the cabin or sidewalls and crashed on benches, all stoned out of their minds. Rhoaver held court from his lounge chair.

His gaze alternated between the gyrating mermaids, his badass pecs, and his iPhone. Fuck if he was going any farther north. The
Cape Fear
would have to pass France eventually. He had plenty of time.

He scanned his Twitter feed, opening his list of dragon contacts. Looked like one of the
Fear’s
sharks had escaped, and with a hostage nonetheless. Now that was news! He clicked to follow every dragon in the conversation, eventually finding the escaped shark’s name— Raider ShaCrayz.

Hmmm… So it was Crayz’s kid who got free. Interesting. Even more interesting, “Raider” wasn’t a shark-shifter name.
He looked past the crowd of partying sharks and mere, pondering his next step. There were several ways to play this one, and every last one of them would lead to a win.

* * * *

Her serpentine body swerved through the water alongside Raider’s. The dragoness’ large head still held its heart shape in her dragon form, which in his experience was unusual. Even odder, her eyes stayed round and gamine, rather than slanting fully like most dragons’. Raider found the differences sexy as hell, though he imagined that a lot of dragons might think her funny-looking.

His shorter, thicker shark form kept pace, eyes darting from side to side to spot an ambush. He growled her direction, gesturing for her to follow, and then led her further south. They needed to go somewhere no one knew either of them, a human area where they could blend in on the docks and no one would wonder why an elegant dragon noble was slumming with a mutant shark. Either that or they needed a boat of their own.

After several hours, she roared plaintively. Damn, he thought dragons were tougher than this! She looked tired, though in her reptile form she couldn’t say as much.

Raider resisted speaking in shark-form as much as possible. His voice came out too much like mere-song.
He’d charted their course along the coastline, but wasn’t sure about them landing in Scotland. He didn’t know the area well, but kicked hard into a promising-looking bay.
The dark green water of a harbor surrounded them. Hulls of tourists’ sailboats pierced the water at odd intervals. Oh, it would be fun to make them scream. With a rasping chuckle, Raider swept under Sophia’s body, trying to push her upward to the water’s surface to play Lock Ness Monster.
She wriggled in panic and clawed at his side. The scales of her underbelly tickled his fin, and as she slid backward along his body, his fin caught at something and she yelped.
He turned to see what happened and found her curling into a ball, her body sinking to the grassy floor of the lake. The most delicious scent filled the water. He circled her, trying to catch her eye to ask wordlessly what was wrong, but she shot off toward land, leaving him confused and alone.
He darted after her, his fin rising close to the surface of the dark water. Her long spiked tail disappeared between a rocky cleft and he followed. Beyond the rocks lay a small cove, secluded and dark in which the water led up to a tiny, crag-enclosed beach.
Sophia had already shifted to human form. He caught a glimpse of her fantastic tits and adorable ass before they slipped under her dress. He shifted to human a second later. His cock bobbed as if asking whether now would be a good time to take payment on his trade.
She swiveled on him, eyebrows lowered in anger. “You hurt me!”
He tried to figure out what could possibly have happened, and then noticed her little human hands crossed over her crotch. “How…?”
“Your fin caught on my vent!” She said it as if he’d done it on purpose.
Raider grabbed his jeans from her outstretched hand and pulled them on, pissed. Of all the ways he could hurt someone in his shark form, he’d never considered accidentally stabbing them in the pussy. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’t know where everything’s located on a dragon.”
Her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. “Okay. I’ll assume you didn’t do it on purpose—this time!”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be a next time!” His dick shriveled in agreement. He didn’t know why he was so angry. Maybe because he’d been having fun, and he hadn’t in a long time.
“What were you trying to do?” He wasn’t certain, but she seemed sad, hurt, and maybe a little sorry.
“I was trying to scare the tourists.” When her forehead knitted more tightly in confusion, he explained. “Like the Lock Ness Monster. You know, you’re being a sea dragon, and tourists all come to this part of the world because of…Okay, you have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“No, I do know the legend. But why would they be frightened of me? I’m extremely un-threatening.” She bit at her fingernail and looked at her feet.
The expression made him want to reassure her, though why he had no idea. “I’m sure you can be very scary, especially to a human.”
Her chest puffed up as she gave a huff of indignation. “Everything scares humans! They don’t count!”
Raider pulled his poncho over his head, tired of shivering in the cold and arguing with this female. “You have to start somewhere, Sophia. If you’re too embarrassed to scare the piss out of a human, you’re not going to be able to stand up to anyone else.”
He grabbed the dry-bag out of her grip and shoved his hand to the bottom to locate her shoes. “If we’re going to walk out of here to get supplies, we’d better start now.” The dark would affect Raider less than the dragoness since his built-in sonar worked day or night. But he didn’t know about dragon night vision. He headed toward the rocks, searching for a seam through which to hike out.
He turned to find Sophia still rooted to her spot on the beach. “Let’s go back.” Her voice held a determined edge. He returned, coming to a stop right behind her. “I want to try it.”
“What?”
“To scare them. It’s getting dark, how badly could I humiliate myself?”
He took a few more steps, rounding to her front and allowed his smile to widen and his teeth to grow just a bit more pointed.

* * * *

Sophia swerved by the edge of the sailboat, rolling broad waves across its side. She heard shouts as the Bayliner’s occupants, a middle-aged couple, rushed out of the cabin and leaned over the edge of the sidewall. Raider swept between her and the hull, urging her away. Of course, slow build up, that’s what he’d taught her. She swam a few hidden circles, to let the retirees gather on their deck and then kicked hard for the bottom of the lake, pointing her head and foretalons to the floor. When she reached the grassy mud, she pushed off with her front, then her hind legs. Her body launched to the surface, breaking through the membrane of water and into the cool night sky for a split second before diving back into the waves. Screams erupted, not just from that one boat but from vessels at all ends of the lake.