Captive Dragon (2 page)

Nine years after climbing out of the ocean and sprawling onto the sands of Sandy Bay, Reef Bayard stood on the dock and grinned for the cameras. It hadn’t taken much to find himself a way to live here. A new name chosen in honor of his father. A few trips to the ocean depths to bring back treasures from sunken ships. And eventually, a house.

That fateful day he’d left Etrusca had been given meaning soon after he’d surfaced. One trip to a circus on the boardwalk, and he had a living and a life purpose.

A selkie had been trapped by her husband, who’d decided to punish her by making her perform as a seal in a circus. Knowing the fear of being owned by a spouse, Reef had helped her escape that entrapment and now here he was, a figurehead for the Marine Life Liberation Organization. The MLLO helped him learn the world of humans, free wildlife captured and imprisoned, and kept him grounded in his true mission, to free more of his seadragon brethren. So far, he’d snuck back to Etrusca and brought back a small handful of his kin to live here in Sandy Bay.

“Reef! Reef! Is it true you’re dating the lovely model Monique?” called a reporter.

Grinning into the flashing bulbs, he shook his head. He wouldn’t call what he did with Monique dating. “I don’t kiss and tell, folks.”

The crowd chuckled. They knew the score. They took pictures, reported what he said at these little speeches, and didn’t hassle him for more. He wouldn’t give it. Stepping to the makeshift podium he stood at the end of the pier and squinted into the sun at the crowd of around a hundred.

“Thank you for coming today. The MLLO is dedicated in its fight to free all animals caged and experimented upon. In honor of that, I’ll be swimming the length of the pier, in protest, to the Sandy Bay Aquarium.”

They’d started this type of march a few years ago and it’d gathered a following. Somehow, he’d become a sort of public figure. Such a strange turn of events for the young naive boy who’d escaped an arranged marriage to become a rich playboy in this world. He had his freedom, all the women he wanted, and the money to sustain his work.

He let his robe fall from his shoulders and turned toward the water. The crowd made a collective “Ah” as his nearly nude body was unveiled. Sure, most of the membership of the MLLO were women, but he didn’t mind that. Their cause was good.

Diving in, he let his body stretch into the water. The waves caressed him and the serenity he only found in the water soothed across his skin. The swim was over too soon. He couldn’t actually go onto the property of the Aquarium. So he climbed out of the bay onto a nearby city dock. Another crowd awaited there to applaud as he waved and grabbed a towel.

After another speech, a car awaited to take him home where he’d invited as many of the rich, wealthy, and beautiful as he could, to his annual fundraising gala. Everything went as planned.

Except, when the car climbed the long road to his house on a high bluff overlooking Sandy Bay, a sudden sense of loneliness enveloped him. He could afford the large mansion from the treasures he’d brought back, and he bought it to create a home for the few of his brethren he’d been able to rescue and bring here. They needed a bit of the familiar and a shelter of peace to get acclimated to the human world.

The driver let him out at the front steps, but he didn’t go up to his room to get ready. He crossed the large, open-area downstairs, fashioned a bit like the palatial home he’d grown up in, and went out back to the lagoon pool.

His brother Hector stood at the edge of the water and watched seadragons frolicking in the water. Four of them. They still preferred to swim here instead of in the bay—even though the grounds extended to a private beach. He didn’t blame them. There were six, now. Just a few months ago, there’d been seven. One of the seadragons who’d come to live here, Theonis, had disappeared in the bay when they’d gone on a long foray.

The others thought a she-dragon had taken Theonis when he’d lagged behind.

Reef wasn’t sure. The young man had seemed depressed and homesick. It’s as likely he decided to find a way back to Etrusca. If he had, Reef hoped he’d made it. He hadn’t been able to risk a return to Etrusca since then.

“They still won’t go back in the bay, even though it’s safe?”

Hector shook his head. “We don’t know that for sure. Besides, they’ll gradually build up the courage again. You know how long it took me.”

“You don’t regret it, do you?” It’d never occurred to him any of the seadragons might want to return until Theonis disappeared. “I hope Theonis did make it back, and he’s safe.”

Hector put an arm around Reef’s shoulders.

“I know he’s safe, and there’s no place I’d rather be than here. I’m happy. And so are they.” Hector smiled toward the pool.

Four seadragons, all around six feet in length—their height as humans, raced from one side of the lagoon and back. Their snouts stretched forward, their tails straightened and curled out in time with their lunges in the water, and the sunlight reflected off their iridescent scales.

“We’ve decided that we want to take martial arts classes,” Hector blurted. “I know that you want us to be protected and comfortable, but I’ve been here five years and I don’t do anything.”

“Of course you do. You’ve helped me get these four acclimated. You’re helping each other learn to read English. Learn the history of this country.”

Hector shrugged and dropped his arm from around Reef to stuff them in his pockets.

“Still. We talked. We think if we all learn self-defense, we’d feel better about leaving the house.”

“Of course. Whatever you want.”

“I thought you’d say that.” Hector didn’t look happy even though he’d gotten what he asked for. “You give us what we want. Help us. It’s almost like we never left.”

Reef rubbed his temples.

“I didn’t mean to take you from one prison and bring you to another.”

“You didn’t.” Hector shook his head, hard. “You didn’t. We just want to show you that picking us to flee from there was the right decision. But mainly, we do want to live.”

“Alright then. We’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you, Reef.”

Hector slung his arm around Reef again and gave him a side-hug.

“Are you going to come to the party?” Reef prodded.

The answer came, as he expected.

“I think we’ll stay upstairs.”

“You’re ready for it.” Reef squeezed Hector’s shoulder and his brother squatted down by the pool.

“But they’re not.”

Reef chatted a little longer then headed in. His brother and the others, three cousins and a friend who he’d thought would be an adventurous type, were eager to start their new lives, but they didn’t adapt as quickly as Reef. They’d been as sheltered as he, but they hadn’t yanked on the bit, eager for freedom. Once he’d come to Sandy Bay, he’d soaked up the culture and found himself within months.

And he’d found human women.

They weren’t as set in their ways as the she-dragons, and to some, the males were the stronger sex. It took some getting used to.

He wouldn’t push for the seadragons to join society before they were ready. This party wasn’t so important. Besides, they’d be safer if they kept to the upper house until they learned if a she-dragon really had taken Theonis.

Showered, he changed into his tux, headed downstairs at the buzz on the internal intercom from the hired caterer, and greeted his date of the evening—a young starlet who wore a dainty dress with sparkly things on it and showed lots of skin.

“Lovely dress, Mona.”

“Thank you.” And she giggled. That same giggle that made him grind his teeth.

Still, she draped on his arm beautifully as he led her into his large ballroom—his party already ramping up without him. When he had someone take her home in the morning, he’d have to end it. But not tonight. His hand slid to the small of her exposed back as he led her onto the dance floor.

And he froze.

A sultry laugh tickled his spine and he turned his head toward it, unable to resist the lure. A dark-haired woman with thick, black glasses smiled and chatted with a small group he recognized instantly—administrative staff from the Aquarium.

“Sorry, Mona. I need to speak with someone. Go have fun.” He patted her briefly on the ass in apology and she giggled again. He smiled in return and headed toward the aquarium group.

Her chin-length hair catching in the corner of her mouth, Miss Sultry-Laugh frowned in a direction he’d swear was Mona’s ass. She’d obviously caught that little love pat and it bothered her in some way. He shrugged and she moved her frown to him. That unwelcoming expression should have sent him away, but he felt pulled toward the downturned lips and compelled to push the stray hair still caught there.

As he entered the small circle of conversation, the director of the aquarium introduced Reef to the group. Lastly, “And this is Chloe Pearl, marine biologist.”

She brushed that hair behind her ear and his hand tingled at the loss of its mission.

“Hello, Chloe.” His voice went deep and nearly unrecognizable to himself. He didn’t understand the reaction.

“The famous Reef Bayard. How nice of you to invite us to a fundraiser meant to put us out of jobs.” Her soft lips moved and he froze, held in fascination.

“Chloe,” the director admonished and broke whatever fog had clouded Reef’s brain.

“That’s not my intention.” Reef tilted his head to indicate the dance floor. “Come, why don’t you join me and we can discuss it.”

“I don’t dance.” She raised a brow higher than the rim of her glasses and his knees went a little weak.

She wasn’t quite the type he usually went out with. Wearing a baggy dress that didn’t bare much of her chest and draped past her knees, he couldn’t see much more than the hint of her curves, but the hint was there. Usually, he dated women who invited his touch with their form of near undress, their sultry smiles, even dancing—rubbing against him as if they were a second skin. He wanted that kind of dance right now.

“It’s the best way to talk and get to know each other.” He tried his most persuasive voice and a small, provocative smile that had always worked for him.

“We don’t have anything to talk about.” Her cheekbones streaked with red, but he couldn’t tell if she were turned-on or pissed-off. Still, he couldn’t help but try to persuade her. His body wanted her close. As close as he could get her and stay legal in front of a hundred guests.

“The gala is intended to bring us together to discuss the welfare of the marine wildlife endangered every day. You obviously care about that as passionately as anyone I’ve ever met. I think talking is the perfect way to spend the evening.”

Ms. Pearl licked her lips and put her hands on her hips, causing the cloth to finally highlight her form. A visceral punch to his gut made him fist his hands to keep from clutching those hips and pulling her against him.

He watched her lips as she continued talking. She lectured him about helping endangered creatures—and truly, he agreed with her every word. Her impassioned speech made her blush darken and her eyes sparkle behind her glasses. She was ravishing. Her beliefs aligned with his own in a way he’d never found before, but she went about things entirely differently than he did. Passion like that appealed to him on so many levels.

“Are you even listening to me?” She leaned toward him and gave him a look that said she clearly thought he was one card short of a full deck.

“Every word.” He smiled. He had. The gist of them. He just hadn’t been able to form coherent responses with his cock threatening to swell in his slacks.

Her mouth dropped open. Then she snapped it shut and turned as if to leave. He reached to grab her arm.

“Wait.”

“Let go of me, Mr. Bayard.” She tugged and he let his fingers fall from her soft flesh. Her heat stayed with him and became a ball of heat in his chest.

He went rock hard.

“One dance, Ms. Pearl?” He spoke through the tightening in his throat.

“I wouldn’t give you the time of day.”

And she left him there, on the dance floor of his own ballroom, cock stiff, lungs working for breath, and waves crashing in his head.

***

Reef surged toward the underwater gate that led to freedom. Mesh ropes entangled him. Tail thrashing against the tightening bonds, he struggled. His snout straightened and battered against the closing net. Unyielding cables wrapped his scaled torso, growing tighter against his efforts.

He’d been so close. The murky sea waters beyond were mere inches away. The churning cloud occluded his vision, and he couldn’t make out the dark shapes surrounding him.

Ready for battle, spikes on his spine rose. He slashed in a vain attempt to escape.

The net lurched, towing him, confusing his senses, but the treated, warmer waters told him he headed back into the aquarium pool.

Useless though it was, he couldn’t give up. He struggled frantically against his capture. Who would have thwarted him? It couldn’t be a she-dragon. He’d suspected one had found them. Following that whisper of a trail had led him here.

Interminable minutes later, towed across the manmade lagoon, he recognized the dock.

Harsh, steady grips lifted him from the water and threw him onto the decking. He panicked, desperate to get back into the water and out of the suffocating air. Tail tightened into a ball, he ceased bucking against the inevitable. If he wanted to survive, he’d need to change.

A man hunched over his now inert form. The seadragon’s vision blurred. Strong hands manhandled him, grunts filled his ears, and whispers bombarded him that he couldn’t discern.

At the last moment, before strength failed him, he reached inside to unfold his humanity. To change. But his shift stalled for a split second when hands landed on him.

He was shoved, hard. Falling into water, he let go of the urge to shift and kept his dragon form.

Vision still muddied, he darted, determined to escape and smashed headlong into something hard. He drew up short, curling his tail. After the ringing in his head subsided, he took in his surroundings.

Plexiglas. Beyond, a room he’d been in before. He’d been caught like an exotic fish and imprisoned, to be displayed. Indignation throttled through him. This was no better than being some she-dragon’s boy-toy, arm candy used for nothing more than procreation. Never would he submit to being trapped.