Kaerius
Sitting on my throne inside the glass-domed throne room, I gazed up at the ceiling and the water held back by the glass.
Shapes darted left and right inside the big blue—Ondrithar males and females hurrying home from work or harvesting food and resources from the nearby cliff and reef.
Normally, the sight of all that business made me happy, but today, nothing appealed.
My thoughts kept straying to a certain female currently sleeping in my bed inside my private chambers.
Not even the report my head guard gave me about the shadowy enemy that had made our harvests fail and our resources dwindle could keep my attention.
For the first time, I wondered if a treaty with these humans could aid us in our problems.
We had fought the Shadefins before, back when the Ondrithar had first arrived on Sanos several hundred years ago.
To defeat them, the fuel inside the engines of our ship had been sacrificed; we could not do that a second time.
What if the humans had more such fuel?
I jerked upright from my slouch and ignored the surprised expression on my head guard’s face.
“I need to attend to a more pressing matter,” I snapped, then growled because I didn’t need to explain myself.
The female was addling my brain, and now I was acting oddly.
My men were going to take note, and then they were going to gossip like old wives because soldiers loved nothing better.
I hid a wince as I considered the ramifications of such news, my bare feet slapping against the metal floor as I rushed past the male without another word.
Finding the nearest shaft of water, I dove inside it, my body shivering through the transformation, and my gills opening wide to pull water through them.
With my long tail, I propelled myself through the tunnel, darting left and right along paths worn like furrows into my mind.
A maze to many, I knew the tunnels, the waterways, and all the nooks and crannies of the palace, once a mighty spaceship made by my ancestors.
Then I rose from the pool inside my chambers, my senses instantly alerted me to the danger.
I was not carrying any weapons, but that did not mean I was unarmed.
My claws were razor sharp, as were my fangs.
I caught the side of the pool with one hand, ears twitching as I quickly assessed what was going on.
Undina was right in front of me, her feet braced in a battle-ready pose, her claws out and raised in front of her.
She had streaks of green scales crawling up her arms, evidence of her half-shifted form.
In front of her, the human stood, one hand raised in front of her; it trembled and shook, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she was holding my razor as a weapon.
Clever girl.
She had also found the dress I’d left for her, and it was emphasizing how lush and sexy her breasts were, clinging lovingly to her hips.
I might think her shape was weak, but it was also temptingly soft, and her mind was brave and sharp.
I was beginning to see more than a little of her appeal.
I also knew how dangerous this situation was, and if I hadn’t arrived when I had, Undina could well have harmed or killed Samantha.
Anger flowed through my veins like a tidal wave at the thought.
Harm my little human?
Nobody was allowed to do that—nobody but me.
“Undina,” I said.
All the discontent from earlier and the fresh, new anger rose to the surface, echoing in my tone.
“What the krill are you doing inside my chambers?”
I hauled myself out of the water, but I did not shift yet, rising tall on my coiled tail, fins spread wide to provide all the posturing and intimidation a fully grown Ondrithar male could bring.
The courtesan twisted, turning her back on the human as if she did not consider her a threat.
Her beautiful, aristocratic features expressed disdain in a measured fashion—polite enough, withdrawn enough to make you wonder if it was there, yet right beneath the surface if you were only willing to look.
Then her lush green mouth curled into a sultry smile that had once, when I was young and not yet king, worked on me.
Wise to her manipulative ways now, I did not fall for such barbed allure.
“But Kaerius, my love, I had to come see the strange curiosity you brought home! You know how boring things are ever since Morven died. All you do is work and work, no play…” She shifted her hip and struck a pose designed to draw the eye to her best features, but they held absolutely zero appeal.
Instead, my eyes flicked to Samantha behind her.
The human had backed up a step and crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest.
Her brown eyes were wide with fear, but she was holding it together, appraising with the clever mind I could see spinning behind that soft gaze.
“As bored as you may be, these are my chambers, and I did not give you permission to visit them. Don’t let it happen again, am I clear?” She wilted, nodded sharply, and then quickly dove past me into the water with nary a splash.
She was gone in a single breath, which I pulled in deeply as my body shifted to its two-legged form.
Dropping my hands to my hips, I forced myself to stay where I was instead of striding across the chamber to pull the source of all my turmoil into my arms.
She’d been there before, and the desire to have her back that close against my body was intense.
Then my eyes flicked to the bed behind her, and my cock surged to full mast, thickening as I contemplated what it would be like to fuck the human.
And fuck her I would; I had no doubt of that.
“Samantha,” I drawled, my tone softening as I began my own seduction.
I knew I’d come here with some noble notion of negotiating, of finding out if her human ship had what we needed to defeat the Shadefin once again.
All that went out the window when she gulped for air and her breasts rose and fell temptingly beneath the shimmering fabric of her dress.
Ah, krill it, I was lost to her, lost at sea.
I knew what this was now, what drove me, and it was going to cause war if I wasn’t careful—war with the humans, maybe, war with my own people certainly.
And the only war I wanted was with the Shadefin, to end them once and for all.
My thoughts were turning darker, as was the sharp arousal that gripped me.
If I did not get control of it, I’d reach for her and do things I might regret later—like take her without proper seduction, without her vehement agreement.
I could tempt her, convince her with my touch, but that would not be right.
Then she spoke, and her trembling voice was exactly what I needed to settle my roiling emotions.
“You know my name?” she asked.
I hissed, my lips curling as I realized what she was saying, what she’d been thinking: that I didn’t care.
Her brown eyes were wide again, but they were not fearful like they’d been when faced with a jealous Undina.
Taking a slow step forward, I tested her response, and when she did not seem to mind, I took another.
I could see the pulse at her throat, smell a hint of uncertainty, fear, and something else.
Ah, krill.
She was aroused.
“Yes,” I said, my voice rough.
“I know your name, human. I know your occupation, scientist. I know you are mine, mate.” She gasped, her mouth dropping open, and, unable to contain myself, I swept in and kissed her.
Back in my arms, I lifted her high, and she spread her legs and curled them around my hips without hesitation.
Her taste was divine, filling my mouth, my mind, and my heart with her and nothing else.
She was dangerous to my sanity and dangerous to my people.
The course was set now; there was no backing down—not when I felt the heat of her core burn against my aching cock.