Page 146 of Fated or Knot

Once we left the temple, we visited the bottom floor briefly. It was deep enough underground that my head ached from the water pressure.

Besides, I had the feeling we were being watched. Curious water fae peeked out from thick patches of greenery growing in clusters on any available space. These creatures were morefish than fae, diminutive-sized people from the torso up, while boasting voluminous fins in orange, black, and white patterns like overgrown koi. Similar to the crystals, their patterns glowed outside of the radiance of our essence lamp.

“They’re vanishing spirits,”Marius told me.“Said to be what happens to the pet fish that die of neglect and get their bodies tossed back into the sea. If you catch one and try to take it topside…”

“It’ll vanish?”

“Aye. There’s debate on whether they’re alive or not. No one’s had a conversation with one. But they’ve never given water fae that do talk problems, so we leave them alone.”

I was still uneasy with how they all seemed to be staring at us. He carried me back to the second floor, more concerned about removing me from the water pressure that deep in Telimarr. I was content to go: I’d gotten my silvery crystal, I had my kelpie, and this had been a cool experience. Marius agreed and swam up toward dry land.“We’ll have a bit of a walk ahead, but I know where we’re going.”

“Great. With a bed at the end of the path?”

“Aye. No matter what state I shift back in, I’ll wait to knot you until I can lock you in a room with me.”

He rumbled when I shifted in excitement. I thought the water would wash away any sign of my slick, but he smelled it as keenly as any predator after the scent of blood. This time, I could feel his feral side stir and heat. My pussy squeezed on air in echo to the lust that blazed from him.“Going to stuff you with my seed, mate. I can’t wait to feel you shake with bliss from the breeder’s delight,”he added in a low growl.

“Finally, you’re going to knot me,”I said, aching for it already.

“We’re going to be locked together for days. It’ll be a miracle if your heat doesn’t arrive. I’ll gladly fuck you all the waythrough it when it does. Allmine. You’ll grow round with my…”He shook his head sharply and nearly dashed us against a rocky wall as we ascended toward a circle of dim sunlight.“Theoretical babies. Fuck. Sorry. This rut has me by the throat.”

He’d certainly recovered a lot faster than I had, as my core was still hot with need.“I think that was my fault.”

Marius scoffed at the idea offault. He also started to shift back into his fae form as soon as we passed the rockfall partially blocking off access to Telimarr. As his animal features receded, the clinging kelpie mane released me, and I floated to the water’s surface. The sun was going down elsewhere, leaving our essence lamp the best illumination of our surroundings.

Water lapped at a pebbly shore of crudely cut rock, leading up and around a bend shrouded in darkness. I emerged onto the shore waterlogged and quickly chilled by a breeze off the sea. My wings flopped around behind me, looking like short nixie fins rather than stiff pixie wings.

Marius emerging from the water, fully changed and finger-combing his wet hair back in place. The intensity of our bond was starting to fade now that he wasn’t in an animal form, but I could still feel the shape of his thoughts and the lust rolling from his nude body. He prowled toward me, his dilated gaze intent. The defined muscles I admired so much were taut, and his cock throbbed at rigid attention.

I felt a tug toward him low in my belly. It was the bond demanding completion, and my omega instincts were in full agreement. We could fuck like animals right here amongst the grit and pebbles.

Or…I had a better idea, because I did want the luxury of a locked room and a bed. Marius paused within touching distance and let me admire his body. He was looking remarkably lickable, from the little rivulets still running down the planes of hisspeckled chest to the cock jutting out, the piercing at its head glinting from the essence lamp.

There was still water in my lungs, and my gills flared as I tried to draw breath. Marius had only stopped for that moment to exhale, and more seawater leaked from his gills before they closed. How’d he do that? I was starting to struggle for air. He took a step forward and pinched my nose with one hand, the other putting pressure on my throat. “Breathe all the way out.”

I did and felt the water leak out of my lungs with the air, escaping out of my gills before they shut. He released me, and I took half a breath before sputtering on some lingering water and having a coughing fit. Some of his amusement lit in me despite how our bond had fuzzed over. “Still only half a water fae, I suppose,” he teased.

I waited for the coughing to ease before saying, “I have an idea.”

“I know.” His brow raised, and he glanced past me to the hole in the rocky wall, leading out to the open sea. It was thick enough that he could sit on it, and even at low tide, the waves washed over its lip.

“Think it’d work?”

“Probably. Give me our bag.” He considered for a few more moments before his hands moved to his cock. He started unscrewing the rounded stud at the top of the lady pleaser.

“That comes off?” I asked in surprise.

His ear flicked.“Silly female,”I heard in my head, distinctly in Niall’s smoky voice.

“Of course it does, silly female,” Marius echoed out loud. “I have to keep it clean.”

Well, Niall now had a direct connection to whisper feral thoughts in my head after all. I smiled as I passed Marius our bag. He dug out a towel and placed the crystal piece and his piercing inside it before setting it against the cave’s wall.

There was a gleam in his eyes as he turned back to me, though the yellow ring was swallowed up by his feral side when I bent my knees and started to lick the lingering salt water off his lower abs. His cock kicked at the first stroke of my caressing hand. I felt a jolt of pleasure that wasn’t my own through our bond. Stars, that would take some getting used to.

“Just a little relief before you knot me. And a thank you for the date,”I thought to him, pretty sure Niall was active enough to respond.

“The date isn’t over yet. You’ll see.”I had the impression he was excited for me to see what he meant.

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