Prince of Dragons by Cathryn Cade

them. He tipped his head back in the water, simply feeling. She was lithe and relaxed in his arms, her breasts sweet cushions against his chest. Her scent, the spicy smell of the foliage and earth in the little faux jungle seemed sharper, sweeter.
    Then he remembered where they were. His eyes flew open, and he stared up at the swaying branches over their heads. Had they lost their minds—the co-commanders of the ship’s guard mounting each other in the arboretum like two drunken cadets? Not only that, he’d come perilously close to forswearing his personal code and mating with her completely.
    It was just that she was even more beautiful wet, her sleek hair molded to her lovely head, emphasizing her high cheekbones and those siren’s eyes.
    “Quark,” he muttered savagely.
    Sirena’s head lifted quickly from his shoulder. For an instant he thought he saw vulnerability in the emerald depths of her gaze, but it was gone like a shadow, replaced with amusement.
    “Never mind, Commander. I’m sure you can rinse out the, er, evidence before you walk back to your quarters.”
    She pushed at him, and he let her go, his cheeks burning. She was right—she was merely wet, but he was now awash in semen as well as water.
    “And I’m sure no one will comment on your appearance between here and the gym,” he shot back, wading toward the shore. “Where you are due to meet with the new guard cadets.”
    She waded out beside him, wringing water out of her hair. She looked relaxed and amused, unfazed by the riskiness of their encounter. “That’ll only take a short time. We need to search for this serpent of yours.”
    “Fine. Contact me when you’re ready.” He yanked off his sopping jacket, held it in one hand, watching it drip onto the mosses.
    “I am always ready, Commander. And so, it appears, are you.” She cast a look of sultry satisfaction down his body and sauntered away down the path.
    He watched her go, waiting until he was sure she was gone before unfastening his pants. He might as well dive back into the pool and rinse himself and his pants at the same time. Filters worked constantly to cleanse the little lagoon, so all evidence of his passion would soon be gone. If only his desire could be as easily washed away.

Chapter Eight
    The two new cadets were waiting for Sirena in the gym when she appeared after a swift shower-dry and change.
    Sirena was very pleased with Arde. He was intelligent and fast. Tawnee, a pretty, brown-eyed blonde, showed promise in the hand-to-hand combat drills held each morning in the gymnasium, but Sirena had caught her watching Slyde Stone instead of the holo-vid on the new security system. After dismissing Arde to leisure time, Sirena turned to Tawnee.
    “You did well in combat training today,” she said. “Your drop-twirl kicks are superb.”
    “Thank you, ma’am.” The girl was obviously confident of her physical abilities and, like all Serpentians, enjoyed using her body.
    The drills in the ship’s gymnasium were hard work, but Sirena herself still loved the rhythmic, lightning fast moves to the cadence, eerily like the war chant of Earth tribes of eons past. Close combat was even more fun—watching the opponent for the slightest hint of which attack or defense moves would work the best to take them down.
    “Let’s move on. Recount to me the three stages of the security scanning system,” Sirena asked smoothly.
    “I—I seem to need to review the holo-vid.” The cadet’s cheeks reddened.
    “Ah.” Sirena nodded, looking down at the laser pointer she was twirling in her fingers. “And do you also need to review Commander Stone’s appearance, or do you have that committed to memory?”
    She looked up. Tawnee froze, her eyes wide. Good, she was sensitive to danger.
    “I will not tolerate lack of attention to any portion of your training, cadet,” Sirena said softly. “Do I make myself clear?”
    Tawnee swallowed visibly. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Good. Those duties do