Chapter Eighteen

Rhyse

T he instant I heard Killian's voice, I knew there was going to be trouble.

"Move on, Killian," I said, automatically moving to put myself between him and Emma, blocking his line of sight while I turned my head to whisper to her. "Go below and put some clothes on if you don't want to be ogled at."

"Ew," Emma muttered, going to do just that.

"And where should I move on to, Rhyse? It seems like you've snapped up all the good bits." Killian sneered at me from under his massive brow.

I bared my teeth. "What do you want?"

The other dragon laughed. "I want whatever brought you out here. To this random speck of ocean. That's a good start."

"You want … water?" It was my turn to laugh. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but take a look around if you can, Gorillian. There's plenty of water to go around. And then some."

He seethed at my use of his hated nickname, drawing attention to the prominence of his brow and how it made him look nearly Neanderthalic. Not my finest diplomatic moment, but I didn't care.

"You talk a big game for being a coward who's too scared to fight," he fired back, thinking he could call me out.

I laughed in his face. "You don't know shit to the point your ignorance is actually bordering on painful to witness."

Killian's face turned red with anger. So far, his brown-nosers had stayed out of it, but I wasn't letting myself forget about them either. In the end, I was still outnumbered three to one. On top of that, Emma's well-being had to be considered as well. Picking a fight wasn't the wisest of courses for us.

"All I know is that when we went off to fight and defend our kingdom, you stayed home. Like a coward. Too afraid."

"We've been over this," I said, tiring of the only argument he had against my character. There were more, but this was the one he seemed focused on. "You weren't ‘fighting' the humans in some glorious battle. They can't hurt us. You were in no danger, so stop trying to pretend like you're some brave hero who should be applauded everywhere you go. It's a pathetic cry for attention and even someone as dense as you should have figured out it isn't going to work on me."

"Is he still whining?" Emma asked, coming back upstairs from below, my big sweatshirt now covering all but the lower part of her legs.

I snickered. "He doesn't know how to do much else, truth be told."

"Fuck you!" Killian shouted.

"Do me a favor, will you?" I asked Emma, leaning my head to the side to speak it to her quietly. "Find and hit the switch for the anchor release on the control station?"

"Sure." She wandered toward the console while I turned my attention back to Killian.

"You can't win this," he called. "No matter what trick you're going to try."

I stared at him, not bothering to keep my reaction from my face. "Win this? Win what , Killian? What the fuck are you talking about? We're not in competition with one another."

"I know you're searching for something and that you found it!" he snapped. "I will find it. It's going to be mine!"

"I quite literally have no idea what you're referring to," I said, this time schooling my face into one of frustration, working to keep my true reaction hidden.

Could Killian possibly know what I was looking for? The true reason I'd brought us out to this point? It seemed unlikely. Why would the sovereign have told him about the mission as well? Not to mention having Vicek help send them to the right location. Two teams were unnecessary … unless her faith in me wasn't as strong as she made it out to be.

Or maybe the sovereign didn't send him at all.

The yacht started to sway a little more freely as the anchor began to retract into the hull, the electric winch whining away.

I barely noticed. My mind was whirling with the new thought that had entered it unbidden. The one that suddenly made this encounter all the more worrisome and potentially dangerous.

Because if nobody had sent Killian out here, he had either followed us … or he already knew where to go because he'd been here before.

And he knew what it was I was looking for—what I'd found—during my last dive. I'd already had the pendant necklace in one my claws. I'd instead used the time to search the ocean area.

And I'd found it.

The wreck of Vicek's ship.

A ship Killian and his thugs may have sent to the bottom of the ocean. A ship they would desperately like to keep anyone else from finding.

"Hey, Emma?" I called.

She came over to stand at my side. "Yes?"

I turned my back on Killian. It was a dangerous gamble, but I needed to keep him in the dark as to my plan.

"Two things. One, keep an eye on him. If he starts to do something hostile, yell and hit the deck."

She nodded, not putting up a protest, having picked up on the issue we faced. A smart woman. "And two?" she asked.

"If he doesn't do anything, hold on to the railing like hell. Got it?"

"Got it."

I turned back to Killian. The waves were slowly turning the ship so our stern was starting to point in their direction. That would be the icing on the cake.

"Where do you think you're going?" Killian snapped, walking along the gunwale of his ship to follow me as I headed toward the bow.

"Away from you," I spat as I started to pass the driver's seat and threw myself into it, hitting the ignition key.

Killian shouted angrily, but I wasn't listening. A second later, the motor kicked in, and I jammed the throttle fully forward.

The engine roared to life, and the twin propellers bit deep into the water, dragging the stern down and tilting the bow upward as they built up pressure and shot us forward.

A huge rooster tail sprang up behind us, spraying Killian and his crew as I wheeled us around and took off. The yacht thrust through the water, slowly getting itself up onto plane, where we really began to gather speed.

"I think you may have pissed them off!" Emma shouted as she carefully worked her way to me, holding tightly as we bounced over the waves, easily passing forty miles an hour and still climbing as the big Ilmor engines roared away.

I glanced back to see Killian had gotten to the controls and was coming after us, but I knew the ship he'd brought out. They didn't have the speed to catch us. I'd chosen this yacht with care, knowing that what I was searching for wasn't something others would want found.

There was only one way he would catch us and that would be if he took to the air.

"Look out!" Emma screamed.

I glanced back and immediately turned the wheel slightly to the right.

A giant ball of flame shot through the space we'd occupied, hitting the ocean in front of us. The water exploded as it mixed with flame, and a fine warm mist sprayed us, but otherwise, we were unharmed.

"Asshole," I snarled, veering again to avoid a second blast.

That was all Killian sent our way. Either he didn't want to escalate things any further, or he'd finally accepted we were getting away. Regardless, I was happy he stopped.

I'd already discovered yacht owners took it poorly when I was responsible for fire on their boat. There was no need for a repeat situation.

"You know," Emma said, coming to my side and holding my arm for stability as we left the other ship behind and the pounding of the boat against the waves settled into a familiar pattern, "I have to admit something."

"What's that?"

"You were right."

I glanced down at her, doing my best not to think about how close she was or how perfectly her tiny fingers wrapped around my arm. Her fingers pressing into my skin.

Easy. If we stop now, they will catch up. Now is not the time for this.

For once, my dragon seemed to listen. It circled impatiently in my mind, making it very clear that while it recognized the danger, it didn't like it. This woman was the only thing it was interested in. The only thing it wanted.

I clenched my jaw, fighting to control myself. "Right about what?" I made myself ask, wondering if Emma could sense how close I was to just throwing the boat into neutral and taking her .

The sweatshirt would rip with ease as I tore it from her body, and the flimsy bikini she wore underneath would pose no obstacle for my mouth or hands. I would explore every inch of her, touching, caressing, kissing and enjoying, until she could bear it no more and spread her legs for me, welcoming me in with soft gasps and beautiful moans, a symphony to my ears as I licked her pussy until she came all over my face, again and again. I wanted to—

"Killian does look like a gorilla," Emma said with a giggle.

I couldn't help myself. I laughed, too.

A dam broke, and in seconds, we were both howling with laughter, the tension of the day's events bleeding out through humor. It felt good to let loose that way, to enjoy the moment with her. We recounted the look on Killian's face when the spray from the propellers washed across him, drenching his clothes and sending him scurrying for cover. Our hands recreated their movements and startled reactions.

Through it all, though, Emma never took her hand off my arm. And I never removed it.

That meant something, I was sure of it. Something different from the kiss we'd shared earlier.

But what?