Page 87 of Whispers of the Deep

She felt him come. Felt the warm pulse of his seed flooding her insides. So much more than a human. So much that it leaked out of her, rising from where they were joined in thin tendrils that shimmered with a hundred colors, like a pale oil slick.

Breathing hard, she stared up at him with some form of awe in her eyes, she was certain. “Wow,” she whispered.

He was breathing hard as well, his gills still flared wide. “That was acceptable?”

“Fuck, yes.”

“Good.” He grabbed her by the hips and turned her around. She laid on his tail, her stomach pressed against the undulating scales when she felt a second, hard touch against her opening. “Because I have two.”

She arched her back and screamed as he slid in again. This time felt different. This time, he didn’t let her adjust or to sit with him inside. He pulled back and slammed in again, his clawed hands digging into the sand on either side of her head as he used his tail to hold her in place. The water grew cloudy around them as he rutted into her, his big body pressing against her from every angle.

But in this way, she could feel his scales rubbing against her sensitive skin. He seemed to forcefully slide her along them, marking himself with her body and the scent of her passion.

“So good,” he muttered, his teeth flashing beside her head before he pressed his lips to her shoulder. “So tight.”

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Was the rebreather even working anymore? She had no idea. She arched back against him, tilting her hips so he had an easier access. So he could slip in and out even faster as she felt herself clenching around him again.

He hissed out a long breath, bubbles erupting in the water around them, and suddenly his movements were even more frantic, more desperate. One hand clenched down on her waist and he jerked her against him, grinding into her with the smallest of thrusts that somehow still moved him, but she could constantly feel him against her. Around her. In her.

Rearing up, he used his tail to bring her with him. She was limp in his grip, could do nothing other than take what he gave her. Wild now, he thrust harder, faster, moving into her with the undulations of the sea.

Frantically, she grabbed one of his hands and pressed his fingers against her clit, moving them with her own fingers to show him what she wanted. Then she splintered, shattered, screaming into the mask yet again as she came so hard she thought she might have died.

He came harder this time, shuddering against her back even as she felt a sharp prick at the side of her neck. The pain didn’t even register as she felt another flood of come between her legs, almost too hot even as it seeped out of her.

Breathing hard, he pressed his lips to her shoulder, her neck, her cheek, every part of her he could reach with her facing away from him.

“You are perfect,” he whispered against her skin. “So perfect.”

If she could feel her limbs, she’d have said the same to him. But the feeling of him still inside her, the sensation of pleasure that had almost popped her heart, she found she had nothing else to say. There was only wonder, and the realization that she couldn’t ever leave him. Not after this.

Fuck, she was in love with an undine.

Thirty-Four

Arges

His whole life unraveled the moment she touched him. Fuck, that was a lie. The moment he laid eyes on her was the moment he should have known that he would never be the same again.

This woman, this achromo who fought with an undine even knowing what terrible things he could do to her, had captured his heart. He had admired her bravery back then, but he had no way of knowing that bravery would turn into an admiration that eased into love. True, blissful love. He felt better when he was with her. Like his mind stilled and his soul eased. Like he had been searching his entire life for someone who could see him. Just him.

Not the warrior. Not the man who could save his people and who was good at attacking the achromos. Not the tactician with the brain who could see through what the achromos built.

All she saw was Arges. The monster who had kidnapped her and the creature she had forgiven. They’d fought. They’d argued and drawn blood both ways. And still she found it in her heart to forgive him.

How did he deserve a woman like this? How had he found someone who was so fierce and yet so soft at the same time?

He was a fool for her.

Gathering her limp body in his arms, he swam up toward the moon pool. The longer they were in the water, the more chances there were for his people to hunt her down.

His brother knew where they were. Daios had all but given him an ultimatum. Bring her back to her people, send her home where they would fight against each other for the rest of their lives, or the People of Water would kill her. Because if Daios didn’t, someone else would.

Arges couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t watch her die because he had been incapable of keeping her safe. He just didn’t know if there was anywhere else for him to take her. This dome had clearly been created with one intent in mind. To keep an achromo safe. To keep someone like her alive underneath the waves with a way for them still to be close.

He wished he had thought of it himself. He wished he had provided her with a safe place to rest her head, built with his own two hands.

Drawing her up to the surface, he reached to put her back on the edge of the metal dome. But something tugged at the back of his head when he did it.

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