“That doesn’t sound violent at all,” Ramero let out a nervous laugh.

  “Do you really think I’d drown you, Alpha?” I asked, trying out the oh-so-common term of endearment.

  I sorta liked how it felt on my tongue.

  “No, but I can’t breathe underwater under normal circumstances,” he grinned at me, but his scent still whispered of distrust.

  “Well, that’s why we need to make your body think you’ll drown without them,” I said.

  “I don’t like that idea,” Ramero shook his head. “If it doesn’t work, I might panic and punch you or something.”

  “First, I don’t believe you’d hit me, but if you did, it wouldn’t be the first time I was punched. I might be just a wee little omega,” I drew the last three words out for sarcasm, “but I’m a dragon, and all dragons fight at some point.”

  “Well, I don’t want to punch you,” he said, a growl creeping into his voice.

  “Well, then, don’t punch me, Alpha,” I laughed because I couldn’t help it. “If it gets to be too much, say something over the mating link, or heck, I’ll probably feel that it’s too much.”

  “Look, I trust you, but holding someone who breathes air underwater doesn’t seem a productive way to do anything,” Ramero said.

  “If you weren’t my Alpha, I’d tease you about being a chicken, but since we’re supposed to be complementary to each other, I know you’re not a chicken. So, let’s get in and see what happens.”

  “Dragons are more closely related to chickens than lions are,” Ramero said, but I wasn’t taking the bait for an argument, mock or otherwise.

  We needed to get his gills out and start our own hunt for Mookie. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I pushed him and cannonballed in after him. We came up both laughing, and his wet hair hung all over the place, clinging to both of us.

  “I’m really going to need to go to Franny’s after this,” Ramero said, pulling me close and stealing a kiss.

  “Who’s Franny?” I asked.

  “Franny’s Fur Salon in town. My mane is wrecked from all the water and me just being too lazy to groom it while I’m distracted by you.”

  “Shit,” I sighed and bit my lip. “Staying out here all the time isn’t fair for you. All your friends, work, and stuff are back in the city.”

  “I’m on vacation,” Ramero said, and I opened my mouth to ask what would happen once his vacation ended. Only I didn’t want to have that conversation right then. I didn’t want our happy bubble to pop any more than the missing Mookie had already popped it. Soon we’d have to figure out just how much we could live together and how much we could be apart and still be happy.

  So, I did the rational water dragon thing to do when someone tried to talk about something you didn’t want them to. I put my hands on top of Ramero’s head and plunged him under the water. I didn’t merely hold him there. No, I took him under with me. He held his breath and opened his eyes as I grabbed his arm and held tight as I pulled him down into the water like a siren from the lore of old. His energy shifted instantly over our mating link.

  Ramero didn’t panic, but it was close to it. A lot of shifters can hold their breath underwater for three or four minutes, but most land leggers didn’t like to. Their muscles craved oxygen, and they weren’t in the business of depriving themselves.

  “Uri, I don’t think this is working,” his thoughts hit me over our mating link.

  His tone was calm but his free hand flailed through the water.

  “Think about breathing,” I coached him.

  “This is not going to work because I really want to breathe!”

  “Keep thinking it! Gills are a way of breathing underwater!”

  “URI!” Ramero roared into my thoughts, but I kept going down.

  Bodies are wondrous things and have evolved to stay alive. Sooner or later, his gills had to pop out and let him breathe underwater. I just needed to push him a little further – to drag him a little deeper. We could go all the way to the bottom!

  The lake was deeper than it looked from the surface. At least, that’s what some other land leggers had told me. For me, it was just as deep as it looked, and I pulled Ramero down and down some more. I glanced at him over my shoulder. He was still holding his breath, and the gills hadn’t shown up yet.

  “URI!” Ramero roared again and tried to yank out of my grasp.

  “Just a bit further. Your gills will come out soon!” I couldn’t let go of him.

  I worked as a lifeguard for a bit in Europe on a summer holiday when I was younger. Most drowning land leggers grew disoriented and couldn’t figure out up from down or the shore from more water. That wasn’t happening to my Ramero.

  “LET GO OF ME!” He roared and yanked his hand free.

  I grabbed it again and he tried to push me away as his panic showered over our mating link.

  “Take him up!” My dragon roared inside my head as swoony energy trickled over our mating link with Ramero.

  I shot up through the water, kicking hard and dragging Ramero up with me. He kicked and flailed his free arm, but fortunately, he didn’t punch me. We broke the surface, and he gasped for air, coughing and sputtering. I held tight to his waist, keeping him upright as he sucked in enough air to refuel his limbs.

  “That didn’t work,” he said, his words still coming out in pants. “The deeper we went, the harder it was to hold my breath.”

  “Water pressure,” I frowned. “We’ll have to try again. Maybe not as deep this time. I thought I could jumpstart them if I made them believe we were going all the way down.”

  “I don’t know that I want to do that again,” Ramero shook his head. “I love you and all, but I love breathing too.”

  I cocked my head to the side and bit my lip to keep from smiling. Did he hear what he said? We’d been together almost a week. Was that too soon for that word to slip over either of our lips? I wasn’t sure but the bubbly sensations it set off in my belly said it wasn’t.

  “Well, I love you too, but I want your gills to come out. I want you to be able to be in this part of my life. This may seem one-sided now, but when you see me dump the contents of a water bottle over my head when we walk through town it’ll seem fairer.”

  “I don’t want you to have to do that either,” Ramero said and swam back toward the pier.

  “Yep. Now, we have to have that talk. Naked and wet and having the ‘what comes next talk,’” my dragon sighed where only I could hear him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ramero

  I climbed onto the pier and stretched out. The cool morning breeze played at my naked body while the wind whipped leaves around above our heads. I took in long slow breaths reveling in the oxygen filling my lungs and surging through my bloodstream.

  “It’s not all bad,” Uri said as he climbed onto the pier and stretched out next to me. “Sure, we have a learning curve a lot of folks don’t with their true-mate but fuck them because our payoff will be better for it.”

  I didn’t say anything because being almost drowned left me pissed off. I adored Uri but air wasn’t just a want for me. Sure, the gills had popped up once and I was sure in theory they should’ve come out again and saved the day, but they hadn’t. I hated that something as serious as air and water divided us. I hated that the elements themselves seemed to want to stand between us. Still, I kept my mouth shut because I learned a long time ago it’s better to stay mum when you’re pissed off at someone you care about.

  “Are you mad at me?” He asked.

  “I’m mad at the whole damn world right now,” I said, trying to leak an ounce of comic relief into it.

  “Because your gills didn’t come out?” Uri asked tentatively.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “And you almost drowned me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said and bit his lip.

  “Look, I’m not going to stay mad but give me a minute to wring myself out before we think about what to do next.”

  “Next? About the gills or about us or ---” his words trailed off.

  “Is my gills not coming out a deal breaker for you?” I asked and my heart jumped up to lodge in my throat.

  “No, is my needing more water than the average shifter one for you?”

  I glanced at him and then met his gaze.

  “Is that really what you took away from what I said?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what to say, Ramero. I really don’t. You’re mad at things we can’t change. We can do everything in our power to get your gills out. It won’t be pleasant. I’m going to have to ensure my dragon doesn’t dry out while we’re in the city. Those are things that can’t be changed. I don’t know what to say when you’re mad at things neither of us can change. I don’t know if that means you’re not willing to try to make this work or if you’re just easily discouraged this early in the morning.”

  “The latter,” I sighed and rolled onto my side to face him. “I never meant we wouldn’t work to make us work. It just sucks to be almost drowned because something didn’t work.”

  “I’m sorry, I should’ve started smaller,” Uri bit his lip.

  “Hey, in theory, what you did should’ve worked. It’s okay. Just let my ‘land legger’ brain catch up to the fact it didn’t drown or get water damaged.”

  “Is your lion mad at me?” Uri asked.

  “No,” my lion answered for himself over our mating link before I even had time to check in with him. “I think I should try next. I’m a better swimmer than him. If they’ll come out on me and I practice with them, I should be able to give them to him like I can claws or sight.”

  “Actually, that’s not a bad plan,” Uri grinned. “What do you think?”

  “One more try, and then I need more coffee if it doesn’t work,” I said, sitting up.

  “Well, I need a kiss before we try,” Uri laughed.

  “You know what that leads to,” I said but stood up and took him with me anyway.

  “Yeah, but do you think we’re the first pair of guys to fuck on the pier?”

  “Maybe we should’ve brought a towel to put down,” I laughed and pulled him in close to my body. “This is when we’re perfect.”

  “When we’re naked and hugging?” Uri laughed.

  “Yep. This is when the world is simple.”

  “Well, let’s never wear clothes again if they clog up your brain cells,” Uri laughed, and then I kissed him hard.

  Chapter Twenty

  Uri

  “I forgot how good cumming is for stress relief,” I panted, still on all fours from our romp on the pier. “We should do this every morning. Forget sun salutations or any sort of yoga. We’ll romp our way into each new day.”

  I stretched out on my belly next to Ramero, who lay on his back wearing a smug, satisfied smile. Just looking at him was almost enough to make me want to wiggle down and play with and lick his dick until I got him up and ready to go again.

  “Mookie’s still missing,” my water dragon reminded me.

  My heart dropped into my belly. I hadn’t forgotten Mookie was missing, but since he was, it was more important than ever that we drew Ramero’s gills out of their hiding place.

  “Hey, Alpha,” I said. “You have your brain back yet?”

  “Halfway,” he grinned and kissed my cheek. “I’m not mad anymore.”

  “We’ll mark it on the calendar. It’s the first time we had makeup sex.”

  “We’re going to have a lot of anniversaries.”

  “And we’ll romp on all of them,” I laughed and fought off the urge to lay down on top of him.

  We were both still naked as the sun peeked its head out for the first time that day. Getting on top of him would only lead to more romping, and his gills weren’t hiding up my omegahole.

  “We can check again,” his lion cut into my thoughts, and I laughed.

  “What if they never come back? Do we still work out?” Ramero asked.

  It was his turn to feel insecure.

  “That’s why there is such a thing as a mating moon,” my dragon chimed into my thoughts.

  “Of course, we do. We just have to work around more stuff. We’re us no matter what, right?” I asked, feeling as if insecurity was contagious.

  “Yeah. If they don’t come out, though---” Ramero started, and I put a finger to his lips.

  “Maybe this is why we’re struggling. We’re too caught up in all the things that could go wrong. You shift up here and jump in. I’m going halfsies. So, I need to be in the water. I’m going that way because if I need to get your head above water, I’ll be a lot quicker.”

  “Kiss for luck?” Ramero asked against my finger.

  “Always.”

  We shared a long, slow kiss, and I let my worries pour away from me. His gills had come out the morning after our claiming vows. So, he had them. Now he just had to learn how to bring them out. What we wanted to do wasn’t impossible. It was just going to take some time, and every second felt as if it was another step Mookie took away from me.

  “Hey! You still have to explain to me how that works!” Ramero called from the pier.

  “Yeah, I do,” I said. “Just not right now.”

  “Don’t drown him this time!” My dragon warned inside my thoughts so that only I heard him.

  “I didn’t drown him last time! He’s still alive, isn’t he?” I shot back.

  “If you do that again, he’ll never trust us! We’re lucky he hasn’t called one of his pridemates to come drive him home! You can’t drag an air breather that far underwater! You could’ve killed him!”

  Yep. My dragon was also my guilty conscience. I was going to have to make it up to Ramero somehow, but how did you make up almost drowning someone? Sure, we had makeup sex and weren’t fighting now, but my dragon wasn’t going to let it go.

  “Give me your tail!” I said, changing the subject.

  “I should ground you from my tail for nearly drowning my lion!” He roared at me.

  “Well, your lion is up there shifting out of his human form. So, give me your tail to help him.”

  “You know, if I could, I’d beat you over the head with my tail right now! You’re so fucking stubborn!”

  “That’s because my Mookie is missing!” I roared back at him.

  “Woah!” Ramero said as he lost his human form and had to switch to our mating link to finish his sentence. “Are you two okay down there?”

  “We’re discussing his behavior,” my dragon said to everyone involved.

  “It’s okay. I’m okay,” Ramero said soothingly as he looked down at us with big kitty eyes.

  At least he and his lion were getting along at the moment. I took a deep breath and gave in to my dragon. It was always a risk whether he would give me his tail and allow me that famous mermaid half shift or if he’d just take over and say, ‘Fuck it! I’m in charge!’ This time he was kind to me, and I felt the runny gooey feeling of the scale sack that would cover my legs and feet and make me sleek and fast in the water.

  My legs didn’t disappear and turn into a tail. My feet did not turn into slippers. I merely borrowed his sleek under skin and scales to share his speed and water mobility. Hell, there were even convenient openings to romp in this form if you knew where to find them.

  “I’m coming down!” Ramero said from the pier, and a second later, he crashed into the water with me. “I’m going to swim around a bit.”

  I stayed still, buoyed by my tail, as Ramero swam circles around me. If I weren’t a dragon and a shifter, I would’ve worried the big cat planned to make me breakfast. Then without warning, he sank under the water. He didn’t dive in or plunge. He just sank like a bag of rocks.

  “Ummm… Ramero?” I asked, not wanting to interrupt his vibe but still a bit worried.

  “It’s the famous feline relax and weigh more than the moon,” he said, his voice the chillest I ever heard it.

  “Ummm….. Alpha, is that really safe to do in the water?” I asked and dove under.

  Water moved through the lion’s thick mane as he drifted around, his eyes shut as if he were just taking a nap. The panic human Ramero had was nowhere to be found in the big cat. I guess lions aren’t only the king of the jungles and forests. They’re the kings of wherever they happened to be.

  “Is it working?” I asked him.

  “Why wouldn’t it work?” He shot the question back.

  “Because you nearly drowned not even an hour ago!” I said, swimming over to run my fingers under his mane to find the gills.

  “Shit!” His eyes darted open, and he swam backward.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Don’t poke me there!” He said. “You start poking into my gills like that, and they’ll hide again.”

  “They’re out then?” I asked.

  “Yes!” He nodded.

  I breathed a long sigh of relief and swam a few laps around him.

  “Are you okay to go deeper? I trust you, and I trust your gills, but they’re new. So, I sorta want to stick together.”

  “Didn’t we already have this conversation?” Ramero asked over our mating link.

  “Huh? I mean, we did talk about going to the bottom and ….”

  “I mean, didn’t we have the sticking together conversation a long time ago in the Other World when we picked each other?” Ramero asked, his big whiskered lion lips turned up into an almost toothy human grin.

  “Asshole!” I said and spun around to stir up the water around him with my tail.

  He swam after me, and I swam down toward the bottom. I kept an eye on him over my shoulder, but his lion was right. Maybe it was because he was a stronger swimmer or maybe because lions didn’t fear many things. Hell, maybe the gills just wanted to feel fur instead of flesh and scales for a while. Who knew? I was just happy his gills came back, and he hadn’t stormed out of my life shouting that I tried to murder him. I’d wait until later to tell him we held our babies underwater to make their gills come out too. I predicted some serious culture clashing in our future.

  “Keep your eyes open for the white! There aren’t many things down here that can be white!” I called out to Ramero over our mating link.

 

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