Page 107 of Call of the Fathoms

He moved in front of her, glaring at Daios until the red finned bastard backed down. “We’re leaving. Clean the city up. All of you. If this is to be your new home, there is no reason for it to be filled with corpses.”

And then he turned, gathered Alexia in his arms, and headed for the nearest hatch.

She looped her arms around his neck and didn’t complain in the slightest when he attached the breathing tube to her neck and dove into the water with her. He knew it would be freezing for her, and she had just been injured, yet his brave and wondrous woman did not even hesitate to disappear with him.

His soul filled with happiness, knowing that he had finally found someone who would allow him to let go of all his chains.

They’d survived. Both of them.

As he raced through the waves to the one place he wanted to show her more than anywhere else, he let out a laugh that echoed out of his chest. Happiness, like this, was so rare in life. He wanted to enjoy every single second.

She looked up at him and bubbles exploded out of her mouth as she started laughing, too. Perhaps they were both delirious as they realized they were free now.

Soon enough, he found the cave system that had always captivated him. Not for the lights that hung from the ceiling in little blue glow worms and not for the water that splashed up in it. But for the hole in the ceiling that the sun and lightning would flash through, revealing all the carvings on the walls.

Carvings from People of Water, of their own kind swimming through the waves. Whales and squid, sharks and small schools of fish decorated the walls in such detail, they looked almost alive. Hundreds of carvings, all done by his people.

Alexia pressed her hands to her mouth, staring at each of them with wide eyes before she crawled out of the water. “What are these?”

“I don’t know. A bored artist’s escape, I imagine.” He pulled himself out of the water as well, brushing his hair back as he looked with her. The depthstrider carving beside him was so detailed, he could run his claw along the texture of its scales. “I thought you would find it beautiful.”

“I do,” she breathed, but she wasn’t looking at the carvings anymore. Now she was looking at him.

Some uneasy feeling relaxed in his chest. Finally. This is what he had been waiting for. A moment alone with her, where he could indulge himself without the fear of death looming over both of their shoulders. He knew what he wanted to do with the time he’d been given back.

Perhaps he shouldn’t lick his lips while staring at her. Apparently, that gave him away.

She took a few steps back, her hands already going to the bloodied jacket she wore. She peeled it off, revealing a soaking wet white shirt beneath that did nothing to hide the muscles of her stomach flexing as she moved, or the tight peaks of her breasts. “You’ve been given years back, Fortis. So many years when you thought you might be dead."

“I have.” He crawled after her, corralling her toward a flat stone in the center of the cave. “So many years.”

“What do you plan to do with them?” The back of her knees hit the stone, and she looked back at it in surprise.

He used that opportunity to leverage himself upright. Grabbing the roof of the cave with one hand, he waited for her to turn back and gasp as she realized he was now far above her, holding onto a rock with one hand and waiting with the other to grab her around the throat.

He curled his claws around her thundering pulse, forcing her up to look up at him. “Take off your pants, Alexia.”

She complied. It was likely a little difficult for her as he held onto her neck, but she wriggled out of the wet garment and tossed it aside. Only then did he lower her onto the flat stone that looked like an altar. She was laid out before him, covered in salt water that dripped from her collarbone and pooled in the hollow just below her ribcage.

Leaning down, he cut through her shirt with his claw, leaving it in two tattered pieces and then peeling it back to reveal those breasts he so adored. “I intend to feast upon you for hours, Alexia. That’s what I’m doing with my years.”

He descended upon her like a man in a frenzy. The taste of her skin was enough to make his mind fracture. He’d always held back from her, at least a little, because he knew how large he was and how new she was to all this. But she’d taken both of his cocks the last time, and surely she could take them again now.

Alexia hooked her arms around him and drew him down. Their tongues tangled with each other, exploring the taste of their passion even as his claws found her nipples. He couldn’t stop touching her. Couldn’t help that he wanted to drag his fingers down her sides, likely bruising with such a harsh grasp. But he wanted to crawl inside of her. It was a need, a frenzy, that overtook his entire being. He wanted her, that much was certain, but he needed to be closer to her than he was right now.

“I missed you,” she said, nipping at his lips. “I need you inside me.”

“I need to taste you first.”

A low whine vibrated in her throat. She was as desperate for him as he was for her, but he had to be the reasonable one here. She might have a little more experience than before, but she needed far more than a few kisses and a breast grope before she could take him.

Trailing down her body, he pressed kisses to every part of her that he could find. And then slowly he turned, rolling them on the rock until she was on top of him with his lips sucking at her breast. With a soft pop, he drew back and stared up at her.

“Ride me,” he said.

“You want me to what now?”

She might not have any idea what he meant, but he could damn well show her. Grabbing onto her hips with his hands, he slowly rocked her back and forth across his tail. The scales gave her the texture she was desperately seeking, and he could indulge himself in her for a bit.

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