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Essentially, the Ionyc Sea was a demarcation zone: open to all, dangerous to all, and eternal. Very few creatures, especially those of flesh and blood, traveled along the channeled canals that ferried the seas' volatile waves.
Creatures of the northern lands—those whose life force came from ice and snow and wind and vapor—could conceivably find a way through. Mythic ice serpents routinely crossed the Ionyc Sea. And, apparently, so did some dragons.
Whether it was his silver or white dragon heritage that allowed him to forge through the energy currents, I didn't know. And now was not the time to ask. I had no intention of distracting Smoky. Who knew how hard it was for him to keep up the protection that kept the currents from zapping our bodies to dust? Better to keep my mouth shut until we were safe and back on solid ground.
Smoky's arm felt suspiciously like a large wing as it draped around my shoulder, and I could see that we were encased within some form of barrier. Spherical in nature, it surrounded us like an invisible bubble.
How long we journeyed through the sea, I couldn't tell. Time ceased to exist here. A second might feel as long as a year, and a year might wing by in the guise of a week. After awhile I began to grow tired. I leaned my head against his shoulder and let the rocking motion of the currents lull me to sleep.
"Camille? Wake up. We're here."
At first, I didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't Trillian. Nor was it Morio. That much I knew. Wondering why I felt so stiff—I usually slept deep and well—I forced myself to open my eyes. The glint of late afternoon sunlight blinded me, but there was no heat behind it, and as I pushed myself up, I shaded my eyes with my hand. Where the hell was I?
The ground felt springy beneath me, and I looked down. I was on an air mattress, a blue one partially covered with a crisp white sheet. Huh? And then I remembered.
"Smoky? Smoky? Where are you?" When I swung my head to the left, a wave of dizziness rushed over me and, moaning, I fell back on the mattress. The world was spinning like I was tied to one gigantic wheel of fortune.
"I'm right here." His voice was soft and coming from behind me. I leaned my head back and saw that he was squatting, frozen in place, watching me. "You'll be okay. You'll feel much better in about ten minutes, as soon as you sit up and drink this." He held out a mug filled with something that was bubbling. A cloud of steam drifted up from it, and the fragrance smelled like spring meadows and wildflowers.
"What happened? What's that? Why am I lying on an air mattress in the middle of…" I slowly—very slowly—glanced around. Forest. Woodland. My guess was that we were near Smoky's barrow. "In the middle of the woods?"
He set the mug down and scooted in behind me, slowly helping to prop me up so that I was leaning back against his chest. Despite my dizziness, I decided this wasn't half-bad. I sank against his tightly muscled shoulders and felt his hardened body shoring me up. Change that. Not bad at all.
Smoky reached for the tea with his left hand, while he kept his right arm cinched snugly around my waist. He brought the tea to my lips, and I reached up to steady the cup. "First, drink. Then questions."
I tasted the brew. Honey, that much I could tell. And lemon. Rose hips and peppermint, and something else I couldn't identify.
"Good," I whispered, taking the mug and cupping it in my hands. I hadn't noticed at first, but now I realized I felt frozen to the core, as if I'd walked into an ice cave and fallen asleep for a long, long time.
As I drank, strength began to seep back into my muscles, and the dizziness started to subside. A few minutes later, I drained the mug and handed it back to him. Smoky tossed it to one side but kept me tight against him, nuzzling my ear.
"Tell me, now that I don't feel ready to keel over," I said.
"When humans and Fae traverse the Ionyc Sea, even though they may be encased inside of a barrier, they still can't fight the tides of energy. It sucks the warmth from your body and drains energy, then cycles around. If we rode long enough, you would have woken up while we were still in the sea, full of vigor and strength. And the pattern would have continued: drain, then recharge. But we had only a short distance to travel, so you didn't get the chance for the seas to refresh you."
He planted a delicate kiss on my earlobe, then another on my neck. I shivered, and this time, it wasn't from the chill. Here was a creature as ancient as almost anyone or anything I'd met. And yet, he wanted me. The thought was overwhelming, but I'd had too many bizarre things happen over the past year to brush it aside as whimsy.
Whether it was something in the tea or something left over from my ride through the Ionyc Sea, I felt a stirring within me, a quiver of desire that quickly became a flame, shooting from my breast to belly as it unfurled like tendrils on a maidenhair fern. I caught my breath, and he felt it.
"You want me, don't you? You want me as much as I want you. From the first time I saw you, I knew that I had to have you. That I would have you." His voice was deeper now, more demanding. "I'm flush with wanting you. I'm coming into rutting season, and you are my chosen mate."
The time had come. I knew it in my heart. There was no turning back, and now that we were down to the count, my fear slid away like water on duck down. Smoky and I had an appointment to keep, made that first moment I gazed into the dragon's liquid crystal eyes when he stood before me, majestic, wings spread, ready to take me down if I made the slightest mistake.
I twisted around, pushing deeper into his embrace, and leaned into the kiss. "I want you," I heard myself say. "Take me into your world, and teach me what it means to love a dragon."
Chapter Fourteen
Smoky gathered me up in his arms and rose as if he might be holding a kitten. I pressed against him, wondering what would happen next. I'd been with a lot of men and yet never one so alien. Morio was a fox demon, and it had taken me awhile to get used to his shape-shifting during sex, but he was more human than Smoky, even when he didn't look it. And in some ways, Morio was more human than Trillian.
Though I doubted that my dragon lover would shift form in the bedroom—or at least I prayed he wouldn't—a little niggle of fear still squirmed inside me. Better push it aside, girl, I told myself. No need to even go there.
"Camille," he whispered again, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he strode toward the barrow. I'd never seen the inside of Smoky's home before. Nobody had that I knew of. Curiosity made me want to jump down and nose around, to see what kind of home he kept. But stronger than my curiosity was the feel of the arms that held me, the hands that cushioned my legs and back, the musky fragrance of arousal that lightly drifted off of his skin to mingle with the scents of spring moss and damp woodland.
As we neared the barrow mound, still blackened with scorch marks from his dragon fire, a door opened, and he stooped his head to enter. At six four, Smoky was too tall for the archway. As we crossed the threshold, a crackle of energy shot through me, and I jerked, looking around nervously. Lines of pale blue lightning framed the arch.
"What the…"
"Just a portal." Smoky gently deposited me on the floor. "Guaranteed to keep intruders out… and guests within." He gave me a long look that said more than his words ever could.
