Chapter Fourteen

Ethney stared at the ocean as the waves crashed against the shore; the water an inky black in the darkened sky. Daire and Aric stood next to her, all of them in silence. Daire was free; Mick accepted Astraea’s proposal and successfully replaced Daire. It was no surprise Mick decided to become a dragon shifter; after seeing Daire’s massive form earlier, who wouldn’t? Even Ethney admitted the dragon was pretty impressive, though she still preferred her mermaid and the water to anything else.  

“How does it feel to be free?” Aric asked clapping Daire on the shoulder.

Daire grinned and chuckled softly. “I don’t know. I still haven’t wrapped my head around it to be honest. I’ve been a guardian for so long, I never thought I’d get a second chance.”

“Well, don’t mess it up,” Aric chuckled.

Daire sobered and leveled Aric with a serious look. “I don’t intend to. I’m going to hold onto Grace and her son Caden and never let them go.”

“You better,” Ethney said. Daire reached out and pulled her into a hug. “I’m going to miss you,” she said into his shoulder.

Daire squeezed her a little tighter. “I’ll miss you, too, but this isn’t goodbye. You guys will have to come visit—often.”

“We will,” she promised. Just because she wouldn’t get a happily ever after didn’t mean she couldn’t live vicariously through her friend. She couldn’t imagine losing her mermaid, maybe if she found true love and could have a fresh start it wouldn’t be as bad. Unfortunately, the right man was also her sworn enemy. She was cursed in love; at least she had a job she enjoyed and friends who loved her, she tried to encourage herself.

Daire blew out a breath and took a step back. He flexed his arms and stared up at the sky. Astraea explained he’d have control over his dragon for another twenty-four hours before it vanished for good, making him mortal. Daire shifted into his large black dragon once more, flapping his enormous wings a few times before lifting into the air.

Ethney smiled, watching the clouds as the dragon blended in with the night sky.

Aric moved next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I just can’t believe he’s gone.” When you worked with someone for centuries you kind of got used to having him around. In an ever-changing world, Daire and Aric were the only constants she knew.

Aric pulled her closer. “One day, we’re going to get our freedom, too.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so—not me anyway.”

“Have faith.”

“How can you stay so positive?” she asked. Aric was always a happy-go-lucky guy—nothing seemed to bother him.

Aric shrugged. “That’s how I was raised. At sea, you had to keep a positive outlook and keep trudging on or you’d get swallowed up whole.”

Aric was a Viking, or he used to be a long time ago. He was born and raised on the sea and even gave his life to save his crew. Born in Scandinavia, he was one of the only people alive who could still speak Old Norse, not to mention just about every language ever created.

“You did get swallowed up whole,” she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. It was true—he drowned at sea.

Aric laughed out loud. “True, but I hoped my crew would survive and they did.” Ethney shook her head. “Don’t give up hope, Ethney. I know it seems bleak right now, but there is always a way if you are passionate enough.” Aric squeezed her shoulder and then pulled back and took a few steps toward the ocean. “I’m going for a swim. Want to join?”

She shook her head. “No, thanks.”

Aric shrugged. He rolled his shirt up and deposited it on the beach before going for his jeans. She turned her back and made her way to the house, but froze when she realized Noah was standing on the porch.

“Hey,” he greeted with a smile. “Daire leave?” She nodded as she made her way up the steps. “Oh, okay.”

“Is everything okay?” Ethney asked.

Astraea spoke in great detail to Mick, but he was supposed to call Daire if he had any questions. Adjusting to your other half wasn’t easy; there was definitely a learning curve. She was thankful Aric helped show her the ropes. She and Aric could help for the most part, but it would be easier if another air type taught him. Since both Ryssa and Naveen were currently held captive, poor Mick was at the mercy of her and Aric. Swimming was one thing; flying was something else entirely.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to thank him for his help.”

“It’s our job,” she said moving past him.

“I know it’s your job, but cleaning up the mess at the facility wasn’t part of it. It should’ve been taken care of the first time around. Then maybe Mick wouldn’t be in this mess.” Noah huffed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“It’s my fault, really. I should have known better than to trust the government. Elena shouldn’t even be here.”

“You are so stubborn, do you know that?” Noah said. He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from walking back into the house. “This problem has grown too big for your group to handle.”

He’s right. “Perhaps. That doesn’t mean I like innocent people being injured because we are involving them.”

“Mick knows there are casualties to every war. This is a war, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. One with no end in sight.” She was fighting this battle for over seven hundred years, though for Daire it was over a thousand, and it seemed with each passing year they lost a little more. Protecting people was her priority and it was getting harder by the minute.

“We got Brockwell.” Noah reached up to touch her cheek. “That’s a win for us.”

His calloused thumb skimmed over her skin and she closed her eyes enjoying the feel of it. “We got him, but he’s not the only one. As soon as we find out if Elena’s cure works or not, once I...” she trailed off. Once she killed everyone here if Elena failed, she’d have to jet off to help Ryssa and Naveen.

“Elena’s got this. Her cure is going to work.”

“You’re so full of hope.” She kept her eyes shut and blew out a breath even though she could sense him drawing closer to her lips. She was so tired of fighting. What would one more kiss hurt? She knew the answer to that—a whole lot.

Her heart was already at risk, though. If she gave in, she’d at least have a few weeks of happiness. Would she rather be stubborn or give in to her desire and feel a few moments of happiness? Of course she wanted the latter.

A soft sigh escaped her lips seconds before Noah’s mouth claimed hers. His lips pressed against hers lightly at first as if checking to see she wouldn’t push him away. She couldn’t even if she tried.

Her mouth opened to his tongue and it swept over her teeth before gliding along hers. She moaned when he pulled her against him so their chests pressed together. His cock was already hard; she could feel it against her belly. She trembled; still all too familiar with the way it felt to have him buried deep inside her.

“Noah, I think I found it,” Elena’s voice called seconds before the screen door glided open.

Ethney pulled away from him making their lips pop. She put her fingers over her swollen lips as heat crept over her cheeks. Why did they have to get interrupted? Just when she was ready to give in and let Noah take her to bed!

If Elena saw anything or minded, she didn’t say; she was too worked up over something and it took Ethney a moment to realize she was still talking a mile a minute.

“You can test it on me,” Noah said.

Wait! What? She’d missed quite a bit. “Test it on you?” Ethney asked slowly.

Noah turned to her and grinned. “Elena thinks she has something.”

“That was fast,” she commented.

“The blood you gave me made all the difference. I honestly don’t know if I’d have been able to help by the deadline otherwise,” Elena said with a smile. “Without it, I’d still be nowhere.”

“So you think it’s a workable cure?” Ethney asked.

“It’s promising.” Elena bobbed her head up and down excitedly. “I ran it with twelve different samples and it seems to be attacking the lycanthrope gene I’ve identified. I won’t know how effective it is until I try it on a live subject.”

“And you want to try it on you first?” Ethney asked turning to Noah. Her heart skipped a beat when his beam widened. This wasn’t a good idea. What if something went wrong? Then someone else would be doomed. This sucked.

“We’ll know if it works sooner rather than later. It will give Elena the chance to do some adjustments if she needs to before the full moon.”

“What happens if it doesn’t work?” Ethney asked focusing her attention on Elena.

The doctor’s grin fell and she looked at the ground. “I don’t know, maybe nothing, or maybe something not so great. It’s hard to tell how the body will react. Typically, we wouldn’t try it on a human subject so fast, it would have to undergo tons of other testing first, but we don’t have time for all that. We are on a bit of a time crunch.”

They were on a huge time crunch. Two weeks wasn’t nearly enough time.

“Better to test it out now and know if it’s working or not than to wait. If it doesn’t work, then you’ll have time to come up with something else,” Noah said.

“Noah,” Elena and Ethney said at the same time.

Noah glanced between them. “I know it’s not ideal, but I’m volunteering for this and we don’t really have the time to argue it out.”

They didn’t have the time and she couldn’t very well demand they find someone else to volunteer. Most of the others were children.

“Fine,” Ethney agreed with a huff, “but we don’t do anything until Aric gets back.”

Her mind ran wild with all of the possibilities that could go wrong. Honestly, she didn’t want to think about it, but she had to go there. Aric would need to help out—just in case.

“That’s fine. Give me about an hour.” Elena gave her brother a quick hug. “I’ll be in my lab running a few more last minute tests.”

An hour. One hour until Noah was either cured, dead, or something else entirely. Her heart accelerated at the thought.

She watched as Elena disappeared back inside. Noah let out a breath and scratched his chin where there was a tiny bit of stubble. “So...care to grant a dying man his last wish?”

Ethney closed her eyes and shook her head as she turned back to him. “What’s that?”

“Take a walk on the beach with me.”

She could do that. “Okay.”

Noah held out his hand and she slipped hers into his warm one. His fingers curled around hers and he gently tugged her toward the beach. Her feet squished into the sand as they made their way down the shore. He led them toward the water, taking them out far enough for the cresting waves to wash over their toes as they walked.

“I grew up on the ocean,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“My parents own a home in the Florida Keys. Most people vacation there, but that’s where I’ve lived my whole life. My family owns a company that gives boat tours and rents paddle boats for the day.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It was okay. I spent my whole life wanting to get away from it. I always knew I wanted to do something more. That’s why I originally joined the military.” He chanced a glance at her before looking up at the moon. “You know, no matter where you are the stars and the moon always look the same, but there is only one place that is truly home. I’d give anything to see my parents one more time.”

She opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t make promises. Too many people were already involved in this. As much as she’d like to allow him to see his family, she knew she couldn’t.

“My parents kept wanting to put together a family vacation, but we never could because of my hectic work schedule. Now my sister and her husband are...” he trailed off and shook his head.

He didn’t need to finish to tell her what she already knew. “If this works, will you look after Claire?” she asked curiously.

Noah crinkled his nose up and glanced out to the ocean before continuing, “I’m not sure. Don’t get me wrong, I love my niece to pieces, but taking on a child full time is...a big responsibility. All I’ve done since I turned eighteen was work in the military and go on special ops. If this works, I think I need to figure out who I want to be, who is Noah Hawthorne? Once I figure that out, then maybe I could look after her.”

Ethney licked her lips. “I think some of us are just designed to help other people. If I ever were to be free, I think I’d still want to help people, maybe be a paramedic or a firefighter. There’s a part of me that craves the thrill of it, if that makes sense.”

“I think you might be onto something. Do you ever think about what you’d do if you were free?” Noah asked. He flexed his fingers and then held her hand tighter. “Would you marry again? Have a family?”

“No, I haven’t thought about it. Not really anyway. Maybe a passing fancy here and there. Until a few months ago, I didn’t even think it was possible to get out of our contract. Now that Daire is free...” she trailed off. It opened the door to so many different possibilities. Did she want to marry again? Would she ever have children? She didn’t know.

“Do you think you would ever take the opportunity to go free?”

Ethney shrugged. “Maybe. Sure. If I found someone like Daire did, but I don’t see that happening.”

“You found me.”

“Noah.” She stopped and pulled her hand out of his. “Even if this cure does work, you’re still mortal. I’m not. It could never work, not for any length of time.”

“You don’t think Astraea would let you out, too?” Noah challenged.

She hadn’t really considered that. Would she let her out of her contract? Daire had been freed, but what if all the guardians started asking for freedom? Who would fight the lycanthrope?

“If this cure is a success will you at least consider it?” Noah reached out and took her hand again. He lifted it to his mouth and placed a kiss on her fingertips. “I want to find out what this is. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I don’t think I can just let it go.”

Ethney closed her eyes and took a step forward. She placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “If this works, we can talk.”

Noah pulled her into him and deepened the kiss. She opened her mouth to him relishing in the feel of it. The waves crashed against her ankles doing little to cool the heat swelling inside her. She took a step back allowing her fingers to roam to the bottom of her shirt as she slowly rolled it up.

“Do you like the water?” she asked.

“Sure. Why?” he asked with a curious smile.

“Take your clothes off.”

She tugged her shirt up and over her shoulders and tossed it onto the dry sand. Her fingers flicked the button of her shorts loose and she shimmed those off along with her panties, kicking them to where her shirt lay. Then she stepped deeper into the water until she was submerged to her shoulders. Lifting her finger, she beckoned him out to her.

Noah grinned and slipped off his clothes. She watched as he threw his clothes onto the sand and sauntered into the water. Her heart raced and her blood hummed in her veins. She needed him.

Noah was before her in a few seconds. His hands glided across her, pulling her flush against him. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his back. Her center rubbed against his lower belly doing little to ease the friction building by the second. Reaching between them, she found his member and guided it to her entrance. He angled himself so he could push inside.

She cried out at the contact, loving the way he stretched her so completely. He gave her a moment to adjust to his size before he set a slow and steady rhythm of pushing in and pulling out.

Ethney found his lips and kissed him. She was right—a few moments of happiness was so worth a lifetime of pain. At least now when things were rough she could look back on these few bright weeks and have a reason to smile. She didn’t know what the future had in store for them, but for the moment, she wanted to enjoy the here and now.

Getting lost in the sensations, she tipped her head back while rubbing her hands through Noah’s hair. He grunted and then peppered kisses along her chin, trailing them down her throat to her shoulder blades. An orgasm was already building within her and she ground her hips harder seeking it out. It crashed through her like a tidal wave sending pleasure coursing through her veins and causing her to scream out loud. Noah came with a growl, burying himself deep inside her. She clung to him as she regained control of her breathing.

If only this moment never had to end.