Chapter 32

Thirty-Two

Arges

He came to the next morning, already significantly healed. His body, though still sore and a little aching, was no longer torn or bleeding. Arges could even flex the fin at his hip. And though it wasn’t moving like normal—not even close, if he was being honest—he could at least move it.

And then there was the warmth spread out across his chest. The heat of a woman who had not only saved him but also wriggled her way into his heart. He wanted to hold her for longer. He wanted to cup the back of her head and rub her over every inch of his scales so that he could keep her scent with him always.

It was a strange sensation. One he’d only experienced with her, and he knew that was silly. There were plenty of his own people who were very interested in him. If he wanted a mate, he could find one with a snap of his fingers.

But he wanted her.

His brother’s warning rose in his mind, filtering through the warm fuzzy feeling of the morning. He would be hunted. His people would never understand their connection. Of course, that hurt his heart. He didn’t want to give up anyone at all and certainly didn’t think a love with this woman was worthy of throwing him out of their home. Nerves churned in his belly and he had the sudden desire to shove her off of him.

Then he remembered the skeletons outside of this dome. The way they had been coiled around each other, even in death. He knew what was the most likely story for how they had ended up there.

She’d died. She’d been in this dome, with her pretty dresses and all the beautiful things that undine had gathered for her from across the ocean. Age had caught up with her, or maybe she had gotten sick and no one had been able to help her. the achromos would certainly deny that any of their own people had ever had a connection with one of his own.

So maybe she had gotten sick and there was nothing her mate could do. When she had died, he’d gathered her in his arms and sank them both beside the home. Perhaps he had coiled his tail around her then, keeping them both beneath the waves until he had died.

Though the story was a sad one, there was also a lot of happiness in it as well. The love the male had for his mate was one that had extended beyond death itself.

He’d be lying if he tried to convince himself that he felt any different for her. For Mira.

Sliding his hands down her back, he felt the delicate bumps of her spine and the way she shifted in her sleep. She drew even closer to him, nuzzling her face against his chest and letting out a little sleepy sigh that went right into his very heart. She was so comfortable with him, knew she was so safe that she could sleep deeply. She didn’t even wake when he touched her.

It was an honor. And it was one that affected him far too much. Already he could feel himself growing thicker, longer underneath his scales, until soon he would embarrass himself in front of her. She wasn’t singing the mating songs. She wasn’t asking him to give her pleasure or coiling around him as his own people would do.

But then again, he had no idea how to court one of her kind. She seemed to always take the lead in that.

Her breathing shifted, changing a bit until he thought perhaps she was awake. Then he knew she was, because her fingers moved along his arms, gently feeling over the spines hidden near his elbow.

“Good morning,” she said, her voice a little hoarse with sleep. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep on top of you all night. You must be so uncomfortable.”

He was, but not in the way she thought.

Clearing his throat, he forced his hands to release their hold on the pale dress she wore as she slowly sat up. And then she was straddling him, arching up with her legs on either side of his hips and her arms over her head. She took his breath away. Even with sea wrinkled clothes and hair that tangled around her face, those lovely breasts lifted with her movement and the sun played across her pale skin. He wanted to taste her. Touch her. Linger in all the places that he couldn’t touch because he knew such touches risked her life.

He just wanted to keep her. He wanted to live the rest of his life with her and his brothers had been a wake up call that he hadn’t ever wanted. So for now, he would live in a dream with her. A fairytale where she was his, and he was hers and the rest of the world didn’t matter.

She glanced down at him and her eyes widened. “Arges, your lips are cracking.”

“Probably.”

“Why are they cracking?”

“My people were not made to be out of the water for such a long time. I’m sure my skin is drying out and my scales will probably crack as well.” He lifted his tail, letting it thump onto the ground behind her. “My fins will rip eventually as well.”

He’d never seen her move so quickly. She bolted upright and ran for the handle that opened the moon pool. With a frantic slap of her hands, she opened it and then ran back to him. He let her draw his tail about, helping her move the heavier weight when he thought she needed the help. She didn’t notice, at least, grunting and shoving until his fluke hit the water with a slap and half of his body was dragged in after it.

He sat up, amused at her antics.

“Why are you smiling?” she grumbled. “You’re going to shrivel up like a raisin!”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s not good.” She shoved at his shoulders, trying to push him into the water. “Go.”

He caught her wrist, dragging her closer to him. “What if I don’t want to?”

“I don’t care what you want to do! You’re getting in the water.”

Mira shoved at him again, and it took everything in him to not laugh. She was so tiny and her shoves felt like a little fish butting against him, trying to get him to move. Still holding onto her wrist, he reeled her into him.

She hit his chest with a soft “oof,” before he tugged her back onto her knees beside him. She knelt there, staring into his eyes with so much worry.

“Kairos,” he murmured, gently dragging his finger down her cheek.

She interrupted him. “You’ve called me that for a long time. What does it mean? My translator doesn’t know what to do with that one.”

“It is a word with many meanings,” he replied. His throat closed a bit, knowing he was about to reveal maybe too much. “For us, it is a fleeting but crucial moment. An ephemeral rightness of time and place. A moment that brings you to where you were supposed to be.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and he hated seeing that saltwater in her eyes. “Arges… You really need to get into the water. You’re going to hurt yourself worse.”

“You make my hearts bleed when you worry like that.”

“Hearts?”

“I have two.” Arges brought her hand to first one, then the other. “One beats for my people, and it will never stop beating for them. But the other beats for you, Mira. I’m sorry it took me such a long time to realize that.”

Her lips parted, and her gaze was locked on her hand touching his chest. She spread her fingers, and that touch seared through him. “I have a feeling I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say.”

“My brothers want me to return you to your city or kill you.” He covered her hand with his own, holding her tight against him. “But I have no intention of letting you go, Mira. You have captured my heart, stolen it just as you have my attention and my time. I cannot let you go. I would be denying my heart the reason it beats.”

That pale face turned toward him and he couldn’t help himself. She had called it a kiss, and it sounded so important to her. So he cupped the back of her head and drew her closer to him.

This time, he kissed her. He pressed their lips together, gently tasting her and teasing her lips to soften. He’d never known how wonderful this would feel. And yet, the achromos were right about something.

This kissing made him want her even more. It made him want something that he knew he should not have, but that he would steal for a few moments, if only to experience it with her.

He devoured her mouth, nipping at her lips with his sharper teeth and trying to coax her to open her mouth so he could taste her tongue. And when she did, oh, it made his entire body ache. His gills fluttered, the scales along his cock shifting. He was so close to extruding right out and then she would realize how incredibly different they likely were.

“You have to get into the water,” she murmured against his mouth, her fingers digging into his chest. “You can’t dry out. Especially not... If you...”

Did she want to continue this? He certainly did. He didn’t want to let go of her, nor did he want to find out what would happen if he did. “Come with me.”

“Where?”

“Into the water.” Where else would he be asking her to go? He drew back enough to see that her eyes had drifted shut, and she weaved toward him when he pulled away. “Come into the water with me again, kairos.”

“Kairos. That’s what you always call me.” She looked up at him in awe. “You’ve called me that for ages now. Surely you haven’t known⁠—”

He raked his claws through her hair, using them to tug her head back so she had to look at him. “I will call you whatever I wish, Mira. Kairos. achromo. Mine.”

He snarled the last word, every inch another creature that should have terrified her and yet, she looked at him with only more lust in her eyes. She wanted him.

It threw him off what he normally wouldn’t have done. With any of his people, he would have bitten her neck. Marked her. Torn into flesh, and waited for her to do the same to him. She would have already marked him with her spines or claws. But their females were so much larger than the males. She was so tiny, and he wasn’t sure they would even fit.

They would. He was certain of it. They were made for each other, just as the sea gods had intended. If it took a little work to fit them together, then they would figure it out.

But then again, he had to figure out how to even get them to fit.

Leaning to the side, he hooked her device with his claw and held it out to her. “Come with me, Mira. I have many questions that I need answered.”

“Wouldn’t talking up here be a little easier?”

“I don’t intend to talk.” His gills quivered again, and he let his eyes wander down her body before meeting her gaze. “Make your decision, Mira.”

Maybe he was pushing too hard. Maybe this would overwhelm her, but she looked at him like she wanted this. Like she wanted him. When he slipped back into the water, she didn’t hesitate. She pulled the device from his grip, yanked it on over her head, and followed him into the water.

They had slept through most of the day and into the night. The storm had passed, and the moon turned everything silvery and bright. Spears of moonlight caressed her skin with a metallic loveliness that took his breath away. Her dress floated up around her hips, revealing long legs that were all the same color. No scales, only smooth, lovely skin that would have once disgusted him.

Now, it only made him want to taste her. To touch her.

She turned toward him, her hair floating around her head and not a single moment of fear in her movements. She swam toward him, using her arms to drag her through the water.

The currents shoved her the last distance into his grip. She twined her legs around him, already arching into his touch even though he knew this likely wasn’t where she had expected any of this to happen.

But the cool water flowed over his gills, soothing the remaining aches and pains that still lingered. Then she touched him, and he forgot he’d been injured at all.

The currents flowed around them, coiling around both of their bodies and drawing a blooming scent to his gills that filled him with longing. He had smelled that from her before, but he had never realized that it meant she wanted him. Needed him. Desired him just as he did her.

Breathing it in deep, he had to force himself not to rub against her just to keep that scent. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice low and booming. “Are you certain this is what you want?”

“I’ve never been more certain.” Even with her voice muffled by the device that helped her breathe, he could still hear the passion in her tone. “I want you, Arges. I have for a long time.”

Perhaps they both knew this moment would have to be stolen. That they couldn’t stay together for any longer than a few moments, because it was such a risk for them to even linger like this. To even be in the waves together meant that others could smell them, hunt them, find them.

He drew his hands down the smooth planes of her legs, feeling the warmth that radiated off her body even in the chilled water, and he found he just didn’t care. He had never been the one to risk anything, especially not her, but right now, this was worth every risk.

“I cannot kiss you,” he said, moved his hand over the device on her face. “Is this important to your people?”

“It’s nice, but not necessary.” She caught his hand and drew it down to her breast, molding his palm to her skin. “There are other ways to make this enjoyable.”

“I do not know your kind.” A small flare of nerves twisted inside him, wriggling like an eel in his belly. “Mating is rough and brutal for my people. The females are larger than us. We coil our tails together, fighting even while intertwined. There is much blood and much pain, along with pleasure.”

Her eyes widened in the water. “That’s not how it is for humans.”

“Then how is it?”

She cupped his hand in hers, easing his grip on her breast and softly gliding it over her skin. She used his thumb to ghost his touch over the peak, and to his fascination he saw her nipple grow harder beneath his gaze. “Soft,” she whispered. “Not always, but soft is always a good start. We touch. Linger. We use our tongue and fingers to bring the other person pleasure.”

“Tongues?” he tilted his head, watching her with a narrowed gaze. “You jest?”

“I do not.”

She leaned forward, and he had no way of knowing she was going to remove her rebreather. One second it was on, and the next he felt the warm, wet glide of her tongue along his gill.

His scales slid to the side, and he popped out into the cold water. His gills shuddered, his body seized, and all the thoughts in his mind fled other than fight, fuck, or claim. By all the gods in the sea, he had never expected it to feel that good. He hadn’t thought anything could feel that good! Her fingers had been stunning, but this?

She slid the device back over her face, hitting some button that cleared out the water as she leaned back. “Get the idea?”

“You’ll do that again,” he growled, gripping her a little too hard. “But first I’m going to do it to you.”