Mere Passion Read Online Free PDF Page B

sixty-two.”
    He nodded solemnly. “I was laid sixty years ago.”
    Alara’s suspicious expression shifted and she snorted. “Laid?”
    His forehead drew together in confusion, and she snorted again. “You’re pretty young to be a General.”
    Kai’s chin jutted forward in pride. He’d reached the status of general earlier than any dragon in recorded history. Like the mere, dragons aged similarly to humans in childhood and lived to be about three hundred. “And you’re pretty young to be a commander- even of forces as small as yours.”
    The mermaid’s nostrils flared, and her eyes widened in undisguised challenge. Gods, if her look didn’t send shivers across his skin. Her expression changed to serene in an instant, making him wish he knew what to say to bring back her fire.
    She motioned to a few of the mere behind her, and five came forward. “This is Erling. He’s my second in command. Kaylee, Hans, Sven, and Hoken are my other lieutenants.”
    Kai surveyed the mere. All eyed him warily, but the female came forward to shake his hand, her curly hair bobbing, and her cherubic face smiling broadly. The others followed suit. The one called Erling raised an eyebrow and smirked, which Kai found confusing, but Hans, Sven and Hoken merely grunted.
    “This morning the twins, Hans and Sven, and I will take you on a combination tour and patrol of the northwestern waters.” Alara shrugged off her jacket and pulled her sweater over her head. A tremor of nerves coursed through him until he noticed Hans and Sven doing the same. Apparently this would be an underwater tour, and apparently Alara had no modesty whatsoever. Kai turned his back to the mere and thrust off his clothes as quickly as possible, shifting to dragon form before any could witness his human body.
    He followed the mere through the bay, and soon he wound slowly through the icebergs, his attention riveted on Alara’s beating tail. A small fin protruded from where her human bottom would be, and the rubbery gray-blue of her dolphin-like tail looked smooth and supple.
    They skimmed what he knew to be the edge of Murrough waters. Spotting a group of juvenile sharks, Alara dashed forward. The sharks scattered quickly, seemingly frightened of the streaming mermaid. To Kai’s surprise, he felt a warm rush of pride, tempered by a little sliver of worry.
    She turned to the group, communicating in dolphin-like mere-song. “Just your typical Greenland shark…Not shark-shifters, but you can never be too careful.”
    Though dragons learned mere-song as a second language in school, they had no ability to speak underwater. So instead Kai nodded. Hans shrugged, while Sven remained impassive. The dragon appreciated the blond and barrel-chested twins’ silence. It made him fell less excluded from the conversation.
    A bark bounced off the floating blocks of ice. Alara swiveled in the direction of the sound. Kai followed her beating tail as she moved to a large iceberg and speared up to the surface between several huge chunks.
    Kai followed, breaching the water’s surface to see a polar bear cub pace sadly on top of a fifteen-foot diameter platform of snow. As gently as he could, Kai caught Alara’s tail in his jaw, and dragged her back to the safety of the water below.
    She sang out a shock wave that knocked him back several yards. In reply he roared, unable to otherwise communicate his concern for her safety.
    Alara appeared to compose herself. She sang, “That cub will starve to death if we let him drift off to sea.”
    He roared again, this time adding a growl.
    “Yeah, yeah. I know, dragon. I should just let nature run its course right? Survival of the fittest?”
    Alara pressed her shoulder against the iceberg, attempting to push it back toward the glacier. Rolling his eyes at her persistence, Kai bent his neck and placed his head flat against the ice. Alara’s men took position next to him. Together they pushed.

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    The black dragon’s force so