Marina was just getting back to her room after the matches when she saw Mercury striding down the hall to meet her.

He looked handsome as always, wearing a black shirt with jeans similar to what they wore on Earth but made of a different fabric, and his face was more relaxed than usual as he reached her door.

Hands in pockets, he cocked a hip and looked at her. “How was the fight?”

“Cobalt and Chromium?” she asked. “It was fine. I mean, at least no one looked like they were in danger of killing anyone else. What happened with Zinc?”

Mercury shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The guy apologized. Besides, he withdrew from the tournament.”

She was shocked, and Mercury raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you hadn’t heard about it.”

“I guess it makes sense,” she said nervously. “I suppose I always knew he had mixed feelings about it.”

Mercury nodded, and long, awkward silence stretched between them. “Uh, actually, on that note, he also gave me something by way of apology.”

“Oh?” she asked. “What?” She was relieved for something to talk about, because after the night before, when he’d just curled up and then left silently in the morning, she wasn’t sure what was happening between them.

She didn’t know what to say.

“Key to the private gardens. So we can have some alone time.”

She flushed. “Oh.”

“What do you think?” Mercury asked, cocking his head, making his gray-silver hair flop to one side. His eyes were twinkling slightly. “Some time without those boorish dragons around?”

She laughed. “Like old times?”

He walked forward, offering his arm. “Except I’m not in jail.”

She took his hand, shocked by the gentlemanly gesture. “Chivalry? I guess Drakkaris looks good on you.” He flinched, and she immediately changed the topic. “As for you not being in jail, I vastly prefer it this way.”

“Are you sure?” Mercury asked. “Don’t want me in chains, princess?”

She wrinkled her nose as they continued down the hall. “I told you not to call me that.”

“And I told you I could call you whatever I want as long as I made you come. And I believe I made you—”

“Shh!” She whirled toward him, clapping a hand over his mouth, and he grinned against her fingers. His eyes were laughing. “People could hear.”

He had the audacity to lick her fingers, and she jumped back.

“Mercury!”

He put both hands up, not looking at all apologetic. “I don’t care who hears. It happens.”

“Wow, so us spending time alone together. What if the other dragons find out about it?”

“Not really their business,” Mercury said. “And I doubt they could second guess Zinc.” He stopped, putting both hands on his hips. “Besides, I guess it’s really up to you at the end of it. Do you want to spend time with me or not?”

She jerked her head in a nod, heart pounding at the thought of being alone with him, but not asleep this time.

“Then it’s settled,” Mercury said. “Besides, the dragons were being a little nicer to me today, after I didn’t beat Zinc’s head in.”

“I’m sure they appreciated it,” she said, stifling a grin.

“Well, I mean, I guess I should say their virulent hatred was a little less harsh,” Mercury said. “No one here wants to see me win.”

“Do you want to see you win?” Marina asked, wishing she hadn’t made herself so vulnerable as she waited for his answer.

He looked away. “I don’t know, princess. It’s complicated.”

Her heart seemed to drop into a black, dark hole when he said that. Had she been naive, skating along on the assumption that because he’d seemed to want to win, had fought really hard, that he was trying to impress her and thus would want to mate her?

“I told you I wouldn’t be on a leash,” he said. “I told you that, Marina.”

“So it’s Marina now, is it?”

They were nearly to the kitchen, and he stopped again, leaning on the wall next to the door. “What do you want from me this time? We both know I’m entirely unsuitable for you. We have chemistry. I get it. Maybe we even care for each other to a point. I helped you with your brother; you helped me here. I’ve stayed in the competition to make sure the men here aren’t turds and you have some good ones to choose from. And if you want, I’ll make sure you get back to your planet, no matter what it takes. But as for the rest—”

“Stop.” She didn’t want to hear it. Maybe she’d known on some level, due to his inability or unwillingness to tell her anything about himself, that he wasn’t planning for any kind of future.

But she just couldn’t imagine a world where she woke up and couldn’t go talk to him. Where he wasn’t a part of her life.

But she had the feeling if she pushed it, he’d only push back, which would hurt.

Why did her dragon want to mate with such a difficult person, and more importantly, why didn’t his dragon want her back?

“One second. I’ll go pick up our lunch,” he said.

“Okay,” she replied quietly, annoyed at how cowed she was acting. She was Marina, the water dragon. She didn’t need to be intimidated by anyone. If Mercury truly didn’t want her, then she would deal with the consequences. Surely, if his choice was not to be with her, then fate would find a way for something else to make her happy.

She hadn’t had any expectation when she’d come here, except to save him. She hadn’t expected to fall for him as fast as she had. Or to become aware that maybe she’d been in love with him for a long time. Since she’d seen him, in fact, and she told herself the only reason to visit a lonely, imprisoned dragon was because she was bored and felt sorry for him.

She should have known how she felt when she was willing to come to this planet for him just to fulfill a promise.

But it didn’t matter now. Her feelings had nothing to do with his obligations, and as long as they had the opportunity to spend time together, she was going to take advantage of it.

He came out of the kitchen, holding a basket woven from silver metal and white fiber, with silky fabric overlaying the top. Someone had obviously put a great deal of effort into making it look nice for them.

“Zinc,” Mercury said, noting her curious gaze.

“Oh,” she said. Of course. After all, they wouldn’t even be doing this if it weren’t for Zinc. Well, that wasn’t true. Mercury didn’t do anything if he didn’t want to.

They walked down a side hall and then in a direction she’d never gone before. “Where are we going?”

“Zinc’s private gardens,” Mercury said. “Supposed to be very romantic.”

She was waiting for him to roll his eyes, and when he didn’t, she tried not to let herself hope a little. “Interesting.”

He held out an arm again, and she took it, reveling in his touch, in how right it felt. Her body had been aching for him since that first night, and she wondered if she was ever going to have more of that again.

She’d been disappointed when he’d come to see her, only to want to sleep, but she’d also been flattered because it had seemed he needed her for some reason. That he was coming to her with trust, which was progress in and of itself.

Now it felt they were back to square one. But on the other hand, the garden was private…

Perhaps if she played her cards right, she could at least get to experience him once again.

“Do you know how hard it is not to read your mind right now? You’re looking downright sneaky,” Mercury said, a teasing note in his voice.

She giggled nervously. “Too bad it’s not allowed.”

“As if that ever stopped me from doing anything before,” he said. He turned to her as they reached a gate leading outside. “Why is it your boundaries are the only ones I respect?”

She wanted to answer him but knew it would only lead to an argument, so she just shrugged.

“Hm,” he said. He put the key in the latch, and the large, solid metal door swung open to reveal a total paradise behind it. “Wow.”

Marina walked out into the garden next to him, looking at the rainbow of blue, green, and purple plants all around. Like the rest of the planet, familiar but foreign at the same time.

She walked to a tall, wilting tree with hanging purple tendrils dotted with blue and green blossoms and touched a tiny flower with her finger. It curled up, protecting itself in a little ball and only opened again when she pulled back.

Kind of reminded her of someone. With a snort, she glanced over at Mercury, who was standing open-mouthed, surveying the garden.

“I remember this,” he said, looking stunned. She’d never seen him like this. His arms were limp at his sides, and as he stared around him, turning in a slow circle, he looked as though he were in a daze.

He fell to his knees, and she rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him instinctively. He pushed away, trying to be gentle, and she moved back.

“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “But I’m… not all here right now, and I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

There it was, another of those signs that he cared, making her want to hope for things she shouldn’t.

When he opened his eyes to look around him, his eyes were bright with tears. “How can I remember this place and nothing else?” he said, and his tone was empty. “This is as familiar as my own hand, and it’s almost as if I can hear voices. Yet it’s all so far away, trapped in pieces of my mind that I know are too broken to touch.” He dug into the blueish-gray grass beneath them. “How can this be home? My entire life is on Earth.”

She stayed kneeling beside him, giving him room but wanting him to know she was with him.

“We can have different homes at different times in our lives,” she said. “Like me. At one point, it was the ocean. Then it was Earth. Now, I suppose, it will be here.”

He looked at her sharply, and she saw he was coming back to himself again, regaining the lost color in his face. “Could you really be happy here? What about Earth?”

She shrugged. “I won’t have a choice if I choose one of the dragons here,” she said. “I knew what I was signing up for. Don’t worry about it.”

He scooted over to her, taking her arms in his hands. “How can I not worry about it when you’ve always been worrying about me? I do want you to be happy, Marina.”

She reached up to stroke his face softly, marveling at the beautiful plants all around them reaching up to twenty feet high in some directions. There was little light filtering through the canopy of branches, yet it was just enough to see clearly.

He looked so odd in this place full of color, with his silvery eyes and hair, his pale skin, and hard muscles in contrast with the lush, soft surroundings.

Yet he looked at home as well, and she could feel strongly looking at him that this was truly where he’d come from.

“Mercury, I know what would make me happy. At least right now.”

His hand covered hers, and he didn’t pull it away. Simply sank in against her. “Heaven knows I could use that right now, but I’m done being selfish. The last thing I want is to give you something now that will cause more hurt in the end.”

“You can’t hurt me,” she said, unable to stop the husky note in her voice. She had to be close to him. She wanted to be close to him right now. “I know what I’m doing. I know what I want.” She leaned in, brushing her lips against his neck, making him catch his breath. “Please? We’re alone now.”

He let out a harsh breath, and she knew she had him. Quickly, he grabbed her shoulders and rolled her over. When he had her pinned, he looked up at the door behind them and shook his head. “No.”

Before she could say anything, he scooped her up and charged forward along a small path through the lush trees, lined with small, flowered shrubs that gave off an exotic, spicy floral scent.

Intoxicating.

They reached an opening where there was a patch of soft grass surrounded by trees, and he nodded. Then he knelt, laying her down in front of him, surveying her like a meal that he wanted to set out just right.

Their actual lunch was probably strewn by the door somewhere, but Marina didn’t care.

The hunger she felt now to have him inside her far surpassed any other. And from the burning glow deep in Mercury’s eyes, he felt the same.