Claws and Kisses

“Mermaids . . .” I murmured as we drew closer to the sea creatures. My eyes could not decide on where to look, and my head was on a constant swivel as I took in the beautiful halves.

We reached the shore. Seth was fully in the water now, his armor shucked off to the side. Bear had already stripped to her underthings while Bruce held back, obviously not in the mood for a swim. Instead of going to the others, Elora led me to a strip of stone that lay right beneath one of the many waterfalls.

She sat down, slowly taking off her arms guards and the silver chestplate that clung to her breasts and torso. I sunk to the ground, still very enraptured with the halves who were swimming merrily. Keeping one eye on the lagoon, I slipped off my boots and dipped my feet into the water, sighing at the pleasant coolness.

Elora quietly laughed, glancing at me as she also plunged her toes in. “I forget that humans do not regularly interact with the . . . more rare species of our world.”

I shook my head, eyes wide. “No kidding.”

The lagoon was the picture of heaven. It was almost humourous to see the dragons swimming around with the mermaids. These fearsome, dangerous, predatory beasts . . . splashing water back and forth with the harmless halves.

There was a churning in the water before us. A head popped up, but she went back under too fast to make out any of her features. A few feet behind her, another head surfaced. Disappeared. Another one behind her. They reminded me of the sharks Rhett and I had come across in our travels.

Elora grabbed my hand, her eyes on the water. “Wendy,” she said carefully. “Don’t freak out. They know you’re with us.”

The mermaids drew closer, popping up before diving back under. The water was too deep to properly make them out under the waves. I turned to the she-dragon, cocking my head. “Why would I—”

I yelped as I was suddenly being dragged into the lagoon. Sharp nails pried my legs from the rock, pulling me from my seat and into the cool lake water. Elora did not try to help me, and only watched with a cringe as I was yanked under.

The lagoon swallowed me whole. I felt my body being prodded and poked before a hand was wrapping around mine. The flash of blue eyes was all I saw before the water was parting around me as I was wrenched through the lagoon. It felt as if we were moving at an impossible speed. The grip on my hand was like steel. Undeniable and stubborn as all hell.

My lungs had only just started to ache when I was suddenly flung from the waves. I sucked in a deep, choking breath as my head burst forth from the waters. The hands shoved me onto a natural curve on a boulder in the middle of the lagoon, but it was still partially under the water. Only from the waist up was there no water.

I doubled over as I choked up lungfuls of liquid. It took a moment or two before I was able to stop. With murder shining bright in my eyes, I looked up to see the three culpable mermaids—no longer hidden but in full view. All female and all with shamelessly gigantic grins on their faces and mischievous sparks in their eyes.

“Romeo,” one of them called, never once breaking her stare from my face. “You’ve brought us a gift.”

She was as good-looking as the rest, with auburn hair and honeydew eyes. Her white breasts were full and rounded, not all hidden by the measly few necklaces that graced her throat. Her tail was a light shade of green, matching her irises. I found myself unable to look away from her pale gaze.

The dragon was a couple dozen feet away, entertaining the blonde and now several other females as well. He looked over at my sodden wet figure and laughed, no longer the teacher from before but back to his usual, arrogant self. “Do not break the human, Giselle. She belongs to Avel.”

Giselle’s lips curled upward into a smirk, her honeydew orbs alight with an inner fire. “Avel? Mated to a human?” She waded closer, her two companions trailing close behind. “What a surprise.”

I glared at the three of them, batting my wet hair away from my face and breathing angrily. “What was that for?”

“The mortal can speak, can she?” The mermaid to Giselle’s left murmured with a laugh, fingering the edge of my breeches.

Quickly scooting back on the rock, I moved as far away from the three of them as I could, not at all liking the wild looks in their eyes.

The one on the right tilted her head, smiling in an insincere way. “Well, look what we have done to her poor clothes. I’m sure his lordship won’t be happy with that. No, it simply won’t do.”

“You’re right, Lori.” Giselle smiled too. “We must do something about that.”

I looked with panic lining my features towards the other dragons. None of them were concerned with the mermaids at my feet. In fact, all of them seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Bear was draped across the rocks near the shore, telling a story to a group of halves with wild hand gestures and bright eyes. Seth was swimming in the water with several females and a couple of men too, playing a game that involved throwing a battered shell around. Elora was the closest to me out of all of them, but she had started talking to a crimson red-tailed man. She caught my eye and smiled, not worried at all. Even Bruce had begrudgingly started to listen to a couple of girls talking about something or another.

I had just opened my mouth to shout for some assistance when I once again being wrenched into the bracing waves. Squealing in an embarrassing fashion, I tried kicking and slapping away the hands that grabbed at me. The three mermaids had not pulled me all the way under, but just enough so that I was afloat beside them.

There slender hands tore into my clothes, ripping apart the fabric. My screams were muffled by the water, but I still struggled and snapped my teeth at the sea creatures in silent outrage. They laughed as they shredded my tunic and breeches into nothing. The chest band wrapped around my torso was gone in seconds, followed by my underwear. The only comprehensible thought I had was why are none of the dragons helping me?

In less than a minute, I was naked in the waters. My cheeks were flushed a dark pink hue out of anger and humiliation. The mermaids noticed and laughed, tugging at my hair and poking at my bare stomach.

“There,” Giselle giggled, slinging off one of her necklaces and clipping it around my throat. She smiled, her eyes running up and down my body. “Now you look like us.”

I fumed, trying to stay above the water while glaring at the three of them at the same time. “You—You . . .”

The other two added their necklaces on me, gazing appreciatively at their end product. I struggled to find the right words to scream at them, but none came to me. They did not pay attention to my discomfort, and only continued to talk to one another.

“Perhaps Romeo will let us keep her,” the third mermaid murmured, cocking her head. “As a sort of . . . pet.”

Lori shook her head. “The Dragon Lord would not allow it.”

A deep, rumbling voice interrupted the conversation. “No. He would not.”

The whole of the lagoon seemed to focus in on the figure hidden behind one of the waterfalls. Standing there in his golden armor was Avel. His dark hair was slightly damp from the waterfall’s droplets. A sword was strapped to his side, dangling precariously by his hip. His eyes were narrowed and predatory. A beast waiting to make a kill.

Romeo and the others were no longer giggling and splashing about, but quickly swimming ashore to make their way to him. Their expressions were blank and empty.

My eyes met Avel’s, and I felt his intense, burning stare as he gazed down at me. My bare skin erupted into a blaze of heat, and I tried to subtly hide the fact that I was no longer wearing clothing under the water. The dragon, however, could see past my vain attempts to cover myself. “Mermaids,” the Dragon Lord said sternly, his voice carrying across the lagoon, his eyes never parting from mine. “Your presence is not needed here. Be gone before I change my mind.”

A pack of lions could not have made them move faster. Left and right, the sea creatures began diving beneath the waves, fleeing from Avel’s vicious figure. His eyes flickered from mine for a moment, watching as they swam away. His eyes focused on one mermaid in particular who was in the middle of preparing to go under. “Giselle,” he called, staying the honeydew-eyed female. “Come here.”

She did not look at me as she waded through the lagoon to get to him. She paused before the waterfall he stood under, hoisting herself onto a rock beside it. Avel towered over her slender figure, impenetrable and mighty. I could only watch as he crossed his arms, glaring down at her.

“Giselle,” he repeated. “You know what Romeo came for. Give it to him now.”

The mermaid seemed to deflate slightly, but she obediently nodded, looking towards Romeo. Him and the others were gathered to the side, heads bowed in submission as they waited for Avel’s orders. Romeo stepped toward the woman, unpocketing his knife and handed it to her.

She took it with a small whimper. Hefting the dagger—the same one I had held not just this morning—she dug the tip underneath one of her scales and began to pry the shiny, pale green plate from her body.

Blood spurted forth, and I gasped in horror. “Stop!” I cried, letting go of the rock and struggling to swim forward. None of them looked at me as I frantically shouted, “Stop it! Make her stop!”

The scale finally popped off, bloody and without shine now. I swallowed hard as Giselle shakily handed it over to Romeo. The dragon took the scale somberly, nodding in thanks to the mermaid before she dived away. I still was able to make out the tears that stained her cheeks as she disappeared, marred forever.

Romeo handed the scale to his Dragon Lord, not able to meet his eye.

I floated in the middle of the lagoon, upset and confused. Why had Romeo come for a mermaid’s scale? Avel stared at the object for a moment before turning to me, eyes still stern. “Come here, Wendy.”

Hesitating, I did not immediately swim to him. That look in his eyes had my nerves on high alert. Plus, I was keenly aware that I had absolutely no clothes on.

The Dragon Lord cocked his head in a threatening way. “Do not make me come to you, little tiger.” His eyes sparked with something menacing. “You will not enjoy it.”

I begrudgingly began to start making my way to the dragons. They were only a short distance, and I was there in seconds. I did not pull myself up onto the rock as Giselle had, but stopped at the water’s edge, not willing to expose myself in the middle of the day before Avel and his Inner Circle.

My modesty seemed to amuse him only slightly. He turned to his horde, a wordless command in his eyes. They bowed their heads once more before taking flight, shifting to beast in mid air. I watched as they flew away, feeling Avel’s intense stare as they left. I turned to him, staring at his chest instead of his eyes.

“Why . . .” I could not finish my sentence, but Avel seemed to understand what I was trying to say.

“My Inner Circle is composed of a bunch of idiotic, foolish, naive, short sighted simpletons.” He spat, gripping the scale in his hands tightly. He did not glance at me as he spoke. “A mermaid’s scale. When charmed correctly by a spellcaster, it can be of great use to someone in need of protection.” He looked up to the sky, his eyes on the distant, soaring figures. “This is their way of showing you that they recognize you as my mate. That they are willing to defend you. Serve you.” He finally laid those violet orbs on me. “Die for you.”

I blinked, tears clouding my vision. “They made that woman mutilate herself for my own gain.”

Avel did not flinch. “That is the way of dragons.” He stepped away from the waterfall, towards me. “We hunt. We kill. We feast. We protect.”

Once at the edge of the rock, he kneeled so that my face was only inches from his. He gripped my chin in his hands, pulling me close enough so that I could see the blue specks in his purple gaze. The sunlight glittered prettily upon his nose and eyelashes, contrasting with the crude slash of his firm lips.

“You are angry,” I whispered, almost frightened.

He shook his head. “Not at you.”

I licked my lips, trying to think of the right words to say. “Do not being cross with the others. They were just trying to prepare me for the coming days. They said you were going to be away all day and wanted to show me—”

“Wendy, darling.” He placed one finger on my lips, silencing me. I gripped the rock tightly as he leaned close enough to whisper hotly in my ear, eliciting a small, pleased sigh from me. He smirked. “I know what my Inner Circle was thinking when they brought you here. They knew the consequences of doing such. Do not defend those who do not deserve it.”

Unable to resist, I tried arguing further. “But, I—”

Avel apparently grew tired of my debating. In one strong sweep of his arms, he had fished me out of the water and cradled me like a baby to his chest. I immediately began shrieking and jerking like a trapped, wild animal, screaming with all my might.

“Avel!” I shouted, petrified and abashed that he was seeing me in my naked state. “Stop it! Put me down! I am—”

“Going to be quiet now,” he slapped a hand over my mouth, muffling my cries. He shook his head, smiling down at me in full now. “Wendy, please. We are mates. You should get more comfortable with the idea of there being no clothing between us.”

My eyes widened. “Avel!”

He laughed lightly as he transformed into his dragon, placing me onto his back with a quick flick of his tail. I slumped on top of his form, unprepared for the sudden ride. Before he took off, I pressed my hand into his side and tentatively asked, “You’re not going to hurt them, are you?”

Avel’s deep voice floated into my head, dark and full of promise. My Inner Circle and I are going to have a long talk when we get home.

I cringed as we took off, praying to the heavens that Avel would not punish my newfound friends too bad.

Hey, folks!

I am about to fall asleep so quick A/N today. A big thank you to the over 100 people who have followed me on FindNovel.net! I know that is not a very big number to some people, but it is out of this world to me. So thank you to you guys. Having all of you wonderful followers is the greatest!

I know it's far away, but I already have some ideas for the next book in the series. I won't spoil anything yet, but I am so looking forward to being able to start writing some of it soon!

Aaaaaaand I can't think of anything else. That's all for today folks--I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and I will hopefully be able to update again sooner than Saturday!

(P.S. Did you all catch it? Wendy darling. . . like the movie. I'm so sorry I couldn't help myself lmao.)

~Elaine