by Renee Hewett
“The old lore, that the Ursanis were put there to protect the pyrosomes who kept the Old One asleep, it was kid stories. I mean, by now, the city and the world even, has enough advanced technology to set up some sort of monitoring and surveillance that could go beyond an isolated underwater community and its little sea ghosts, don't you think?”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Your people could have long ago set up protections to the area where the Old One rests that would allow you to be more open to the outside world, to visitors.”
Graham noticed that Risa had fallen asleep on the couch, and Monty had put on noise-canceling headphones, likely so he wouldn't feel obligated to listen and report everything Graham said. He took a breath, building his courage. He had to bring it up. He had to talk to her about it.
He leaned forward, inhaling her scent, his human form finding her human form delightful. His shifter couldn't place what hers was, but it wasn't the kind of thing you just ask someone. If she were a deep-sea shifter, then he'd find out when he needed to know.
“Is there something you want to say to me?” she asked, also leaning closer to him. He yearned to kiss her, but he wanted to get the words out first.
“You didn’t ask how long we’re allowed to stay away from our community.”
She looked surprised, as though she were expecting him to say something else. “Oh. Well, then how long?”
“Until we find our mate.”
He watched her face turn pink. He knew then that she felt the same thing he was, but her nervous look at Monty made him think of a better idea. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stood.
“What are you doing?”
He motioned for her to follow him, and he was nervous she would refuse, but relief rushed over him when she unbuckled and stood, taking his hand and following him to the bathroom.
The one thing he could rely on was a large luxurious bathroom on a private jet, even if it was a government FPU charter. When he shut the door behind them, they had a moment to just look at each other.
“So, you’re here looking for your mate?”
"And I'm not supposed to return until I've found them." He took a step closer to her and touched her chin.
“And will you be going home a failure or a success?” Her voice was softer, and it drew him closer. He dipped his head.
“Looks like you showed up at the eleventh hour.” He heard her sharp intake of breath, and then she pulled his head down, pressing her lips to his and giving him the kiss that he’d been dying for since he first saw her.
Then all need for talking was gone, and they let their bodies get to know each other in the most primitive and carnal ways. It didn’t matter they were from different worlds, or that they’d just met hours before. They were born for each other, and their bodies knew it. He felt shivers through his skin when she gently scratched her nails up his back and pressed her breasts into him.
He couldn’t get enough of her, of touching her skin or smelling her sweet perfume. Her lips worked up and down his neck, and his hands greedily went to her breasts and her ass, wanting all of her at once. His cock had already been halfway there, but now it throbbed, begging to be united with Willow’s most intimate places.
In a flurry, he removed her sexy-as-hell leather jacket and sat her on the sink counter. Her legs were wrapped around him, and she was carefully unbuttoning his shirt. "What are you doing?" he asked, hands fully prepared to rip the shirt off.
“Unless you have extras, you probably want this—”
He cut her off, ripping the shirt off and popping buttons everywhere. Her giggle at the move made him want her even more. His white undershirt was next, as was hers. He wanted her warm skin to touch his. He wanted not a stitch of clothing between them.
“Should we talk about this?” she asked as his mouth made its way down her neck and his fingers fumbled with her jeans button. “We’re on a work trip; we barely know each other.”
He almost growled his reply. “Fuck that. You’re mine.” He didn’t even know where the words came from. Why he would say something like that? He pulled back to watch her gulp. “Am I right?”
She nodded.
He grabbed at her pants, hitching his fingers in the underwear and pulling, she lifted her hips to allow him to easily pull them off. He wanted to dive into her, to claim her, to feel her around him and know what it felt like to be with his mate. But he made himself slow down. He wanted this to go as long as possible.
Graham slid Willow closer to the edge of the counter and knelt in front of her. "Oh, what are you doing?" Her voice held a note of nervousness.
"Relax, I just need to taste you." He looked up at her, seeing she was about to object, but as he kissed her inner thigh, moving higher and higher, she let her knees fall away and bared herself to him. He kissed her then, between the legs, using his tongue on her clit. He reached up with one hand to rub a calloused thumb over one nipple, then the other. As he licked, he inserted a finger from his other hand. And then two. Her body bucked in pleasure, and her gasps grew more intense.
"Graham…" She moaned his name, and he almost couldn't take it, but he kept going, inserting a finger, and then two, while his tongue worked, bringing her closer. "Please, I want you in me."
He wanted in her too, but he was also greedy. He wanted to make this woman climax from this act alone. He wanted to make sure she knew exactly how talented he was in this area.
He wanted to make sure she would come back for more.
And as she climaxed, she shouted his name again. He cursed himself for torturing his dick, but damn, if he didn’t love holding her in the palm of his hand this way, looking up at her while she floated in ecstasy, and he slowed his licks and gentled his finger penetration. When her breathing slowed, she opened her eyes and looked directly into his, almost stopping his heart.
He gently pulled away from her, standing and reaching for his pants to remove them.
Just then, the plane jumped and shuddered.
“This is your captain speaking. We’re hitting a little turbulence, and I’m going to ask that all passengers return to their seats and fasten their safety belts.”
Are you fucking kidding me?
5
They were in for a bumpy ride the rest of the way to the Arctic, much to Willow’s chagrin. She wanted to get back to that bathroom to show Graham that two could play that game. She had as much to give him as he had her.
But that chance didn’t arrive. Instead, she sat with a buckled-tight Risa, who had suddenly realized that turbulent flights were not her thing. By the time the plane safely landed, Willow’s partner was ready to kiss the frozen ground.
A strange vehicle painted a mottled white and black camouflage Willow had only seen in the movies waited for them at the empty airstrip. Like the front of a bullet train or a spaceship, the futuristic pod was low and sleek with a large window along the front. Willow could make out the giant skis in the front, and the flat belts running nearly the length of each side, like a snowmobile. No one was waiting in it. "That's what I drove in," Monty said, pulling out the keys. "It's one of our toys. Great on snow and also submersible."
Impressed, Willow wondered how long until the inside heated up as she was already chilled from just walking from the plane to the Ursanis vehicle. The answer was not long at all. After getting themselves arranged inside the oddly spacious and comfortable snowmobile, and apparently watercraft, they were warm and on their way to the coast.
As they neared, Willow caught Monty and Graham exchanging looks and pointing to the console while murmuring to each other.
“What’s going on?” she asked, leaning forward.
"Someone's there," Graham answered.
“Where? At the coast?” He nodded in reply. “And they aren’t your people.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
Willow understood what they weren't saying: this could mean trouble. Graham instructed Monty to stop along a tree line, and he got out, discarding his clothes. "You all stay here."
“Don’t you think they might have heard us driving up?” Willow asked as the vehicle wasn’t exactly quiet.
“No, we watched them pop up on the radar. They just docked.”
"Were they submerged?" Risa asked, having shed her fear from the flight and turned back into the inquisitive investigator that Willow knew her to be.
“No, at least not when they showed up on the scope.” Hidden from view by the trees, they were able to watch Graham gallop to the boat, and then slow when three people emerged, hauling crates between them. They started to disembark, heading toward a nearby multiperson snowmobile, not yet noticing the bear waiting for them.
By the time they did see him, it was too late. They halted, and it gave Graham time to charge between them and the snowmobile. Willow watched in horror as the figures pulled out weapons. Despite the size of Graham’s bear, and the size of his teeth and claws, she knew three armed people could take him down.
“We have to help him.”
Monty didn’t need any extra encouragement. He gunned it, hurling the vehicle toward their friend as the figures lurched at Graham.
Willow worried for no reason though, because the bear held his own. She watched as the mass of white fur and muscle ripped a rifle out of the hands of one startled person, sending him flying with an awkward-looking side-check, done almost by accident as the great white bear whipped around to charge the other two, standing far too close to each other.
Willow felt a quick jolt of terror as the two leveled their rifles, but no shots were fired, and the fear she felt was echoed by the two men as the bear approached, and their only salvation failed in their hands. By the time Willow filed out of the vehicle, Graham had dispatched the other two with a quick swipe that sent them to the ground as if they were tiny stuffed dolls. They didn't move, and might have been dead for all she knew, she didn't care to look too closely.
“Heh, dumbasses,” Monty said, a big smile on his face as he picked up the rifles that had fallen to the snow. “Jammed when they froze up. Always leave them outside when it’s this cold.”
Graham didn't wait for the group and took off back to the boat, inspecting the cabin and then going below deck, struggling for a second to get his massive body through the small doorway. Meanwhile, Monty handed out zip ties so they could restrain the intruders. Willow was relieved to see they were still alive. It would make her report easier, but she knew they were badly banged up and were going to be in a lot of pain when they woke.
Graham returned from below deck, signaling it was all clear. Then he went toward the snowmobile and continued past it, sniffing the ground and air, likely checking to make sure there weren't any others lurking anywhere. Willow, Risa, and Monty turned their attention to the crates the figures had dropped, prying open the first and looking inside.
“Bingo,” Monty said. “Our sea pickles.”
“Are these all of them?” Willow asked, peering in one crate and watching a purple-ish glowing figure, almost invisible, moving in the water inside of it.
“Hardly.” Monty gestured to the boat. “We’ll see if any more are on there, but just these few wouldn’t have been noticed missing.”
They searched the boat, not finding any other crates. "Maybe they've already brought them all up. That they'd been doing this for a while?" Risa asked.
“But you said it was the grindylows taking them… and also that you don’t know why the grindys would have a sudden interest in the pyrosomes…”
Risa picked up Willow’s train of thought. “These people might have put them up to it somehow.”
“Let’s keep going. There aren’t any more here, and the best we can do is hope there are still more down there. Let's take all the info we can from their ship, any computers or documents, and send it back to HQ. Meanwhile, we go down to follow up with what your people have figured out.”
They left the boat, seeing that the four figures were still out cold, and Graham had made his way back. Monty looked between them and the vehicle. “It would be good to take them down for questioning, but our sub is small…”
“I can make my way down,” Willow said, “And I’m guessing he can too.” Graham made a small roar in agreement, and ran off, splashing into the water and then disappearing into it.
Willow helped Monty and Risa get the intruders into the Ursanis vehicle and stow the crates safely. She double-checked that the people were still unconscious and the restraints would hold if they woke during the transport. It's not like Risa and Monty wouldn't be able to take care of themselves, but she liked the extra reassurance before she left.
Everything in order, Willow stripped down, folding her clothes and handing the pile to Risa. She shivered against the cold air kissing her skin, and then even more at the stabbing pain of the cold water as she waded in. She let the shift take over, knowing that as soon as she was in her moray form, the temperature wouldn't matter.
Willow dove under the water, going from human to large zebra moray, what looked to some like a giant black and white striped eel. As she slid into her other skin, she felt the water swirl around her, and she spiraled through it. She knew this form was magnificent. Maybe not as slim and sleek as some would like, but chunky and strong. Hell, she'd probably give that polar bear a run for his money in a one-on-one fight. He might have sharp teeth and claws, but she had speed, strength, and cunning.
She wasn't like the regular shifters, the ones on land who could switch into their other skin at any time. She had to be in the water to shift. When she'd been a regular FPU agent, she'd been so jealous when other shifters could turn into their wolves or dragons wherever they were. She had to be in the water, and not just any water, but saltwater, to shift into her beast.
It had gotten to the point where she'd researched joining an underwater community. The domed cities gave their people a chance to have human forms but exit into the ocean to enjoy their water forms. She'd stopped looking into that when the ATTF took her, and she was able to focus on water tasks and enjoy her trips into the ocean when she could get them.
She quickly caught up to Graham and enjoyed startling him as she snaked around him. She saw when he recognized it was her, and almost saw the bear grin. The thought occurred to her that once they were properly mated, they'd be able to talk through the mate connection, but for now, it was body language only.
Don’t get ahead of yourself. She reminded herself. Their natures might have decided that they were a good fit, but that didn’t mean they’d be able to make a go of it. Their human selves still had to figure out how much was really there to build on. Let alone the fact that his home was here, and she was a land-based ATTF agent with responsibilities to her team.
The thoughts of her mate left her mind, though, as the city of Ursanis came into view. She'd seen depictions of it, but none had prepared her for seeing it in person. The dome shimmered a purple hue, and underneath, gleaming rounded pod-type buildings interconnected, making up the city proper. She felt like an airplane landing as she got in closer—the city going from a small spec to a larger and larger complex structure.
If she’d had breath, the city would have taken it away.
6
From the moment he set foot off the plane, Graham knew something was off. When they saw the strange blip on the radar, he knew they were walking into the action. Taking down the strangers wasn't a challenge. They'd clearly not expected to be confronted by a polar bear on their way out. He couldn't wait to get back home and learn whatever they could, to find out why these strangers were lurking around his home and taking their pyrosomes out of the ocean.
Ursanis was a protected area, and no scientists or recreational divers were allowed in the area. What’s more, it wasn’t the typic
al place to find researchers. It was in the Arctic, far away from stations and well out of the way for normal ocean operations.
He swam into the ocean, starting to feel a measure of excitement at being home when a large black and white creature swam around him. He went on the defensive, knowing zebra morays, especially ones of that size, could be dangerous. But then he remembered where he was, and that morays like that weren't common there. And then he realized the moray was Willow.
She captivated him. He watched her move, so smooth and sleek, large, strong, and undoubtedly able to fend for herself. She sped ahead, leaving him behind, and he couldn’t help thinking she looked like she belonged there… swimming toward his home. And a feeling of happiness came over him, something he’d never felt before, swimming in his home waters toward Ursanis with the being he was meant to be with.
She halted when they got to the dome, and he gestured her to follow him toward the entrance. Because the people of Ursanis often came and went from the dome, that is, from a non-water environment to the ocean, they’d perfected a method for entry and exit.
They entered a vestibule and waited while it sealed shut behind them. It was large enough that both large shifters had plenty of room. Graham started to change the moment he felt the floor moving underneath him, and Willow followed suit.
The grated floor started to move up, meaning the water was left on the first level and by the time they made it to the next level, they were out of the water and shifted back into their human forms.
Normally, he’d be a gentleman and give the other person privacy, but Willow wasn’t just some other person. And she didn’t shy away from his glance. She stood proudly, a flirty grin on her face. He would have made a move toward her if he hadn’t been aware of all the control people who were watching them.
“Nice stripes,” she said, reminding him that he’d dropped his glamour and was showing off his natural blue hue with sapphire bands all over his body.
The next set of doors opened, revealing a large chamber. He took a step off the grated surface and took down two robes off the adjacent wall, handing one to Willow, and then getting an extra towel for her wet hair.
