As he slid into her, inch by inch, her awareness expanded. She could not only feel the exquisite slide of him entering her, but also his astonished delight at the feel of her warmth embracing him, her slick depths welcoming him in. His pleasure and hers mingled in her mind, echoing and doubling, until she couldn’t tell where she stopped and he began.
They both cried out as he buried himself fully in her. Neridia clenched around him, and felt him lose all control at last. He plunged into her, powerful and rhythmic as the sea, sweeping her away on a tidal wave of sensation.
“Neridia!” He sang her name as they both came, in a thundering chord of triumph and wonder.
She knew that the music was words, and what those words were. She could hear them in her head, as clearly as if he’d spoken in English.
*My mate!*
They drifted for a time, entwined in each other’s embrace on the surface of the lake. Neridia leaned her head on his chest, listening to the slow, quiet sound of his heartbeat, and the deeper, equally quiet sound of his mind.
She couldn’t exactly read his thoughts, but she could sense something of their nature, like the way rippling water revealed the currents below. She knew that he was tired, and relaxed, and profoundly, deeply awestruck.
This last thought was so unexpected that she lifted her head to look at him. “You’re awed by me?” she said in disbelief.
His fingertips traced light, spiraling patterns down her spine. “How could I not be, Your Majesty?”
Annoyed, she splashed him. “Don’t start that again. Anyway, if you’re the Empress’s mate, doesn’t that make you the Emperor?”
His hand stilled. She could sense that this honestly hadn’t occurred to him. “It would make me…the Royal Consort, if I am remembering the protocol correctly.”
“Well then,” she said in triumph. “You’re royalty yourself now, so there’s no need for formality, your Royal Consort…ness.”
His shoulders shook with his deep chuckle. “I bow to your impeccable logic, Your—my mate.”
“That’s better.”
Still feeling that all this had to just be a dream, she ran her hand over the smooth planes of his chest—only for her skin to snag against his. Rubbing her fingertips together, she realized that they were waterlogged by the long immersion in the lake.
She let out a deep sigh, holding up her hand to show him her wrinkled skin. “I guess we have to get out. If we stay in here much longer, I’m going to turn into a raisin.”
He kissed her fingers, tongue flicking lightly over the tips in a way that made her toes curl. “No. You will turn into a sea dragon.”
Apprehension cut through her glowing contentment like a bucket of ice water dumped on her head. “John, I don’t think anything’s changed. Well, I mean, it has, but…I still just feel like myself.”
“You feel like yourself because you are still yourself,” he said serenely. “You are what you have always been. A sea dragon.”
He flicked himself vertical with an effortless twist, balancing upright in the water. She was forced to slide off his chest, rather less gracefully doggy-paddling at his side.
He smiled at her, his usually solemn face alight with joyful anticipation. “Watch me, my mate. Learn how to take your true form.”
He disappeared under the surface with barely a ripple, smooth as a seal. She couldn’t see him through the dark water, but she still knew exactly where he was. She could sense him swimming down with strong, swift strokes, moving with the unconscious grace of a fish.
Then he did…something.
She caught her breath. He’s shifting.
It was as quick and easy as pouring water from one container into another. One moment he was as human as her. The next-
She tumbled head over heels, thrown backward by the shock wave of displaced water. All the breath was knocked out of her lungs, bubbling away. Unable to tell which way was up, she panicked, hands clawing as she sank.
*Neridia!*
A vast, scaled back rose up beneath her, pushing her to the surface once more. Neridia scrabbled for purchase on the slick, hard scales as she spluttered.
*I am sorry.* Something huge curved above her, blotting out the moon. *I was too eager, and did not give myself enough space to shift. Forgive me.*
Pushing her hair out of her eyes, heart hammering, Neridia looked up.