Page 42 of Call of the Fathoms

“Thank god,” she muttered, before turning and hitting the button to open the area of the floor where she could escape. “Not that I’m happy about this, mind you. But it will be nice to get out of this cramped space.”

He waited until she made her way out from underneath the ship and into the open water. This was different. Somehow, looking at her without any of her armor or weapons made it seem like they were going on some adventure together, rather than fighting like they always did. It made something twist inside of him.

No, he thought to himself.You will not react like this. She is not yours. You just saw the spirit of your wife, whom you have longed to join for years. Your body is merely reacting to the mating urges that are... are...

Primal. Raw. Aching.

She swam toward him with strange flippers attached to her feet, and he marveled at how smoothly she moved through the water. Her wetsuit was black as night, completely different from his wife, who had been so pale even in life. Alexia’s hairwas black as well, smoothing back from her face with every movement and then billowing in front of her eyes as she paused before him.

“Well?” she asked, her voice muffled by the contraption over her face that allowed her to breathe.

He couldn’t speak. Not with thoughts like this dancing through his betraying mind. He reached for her, his arm snapping out a little too quickly as he dragged her close to him.

Her hands smacked his chest hard enough that he felt the air expel from his gills. She would not let him throw her around, but then she did something that he hadn’t expected.

She wrapped those long legs around his waist. The sensation of them was equally intriguing as it was odd. Two of them twined stiffly around his body but holding onto him with surprising strength. The same position they had been in when she’d shot rivets into his fins.

For a moment, they both stared at each other. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and he was likely staring at her with a wide-eyed gaze because he’d never thought he’d feel like this. No other achromo had touched him. Not like this, at least. And to feel her against him, so warm even through the wetsuit, was... was...

Her hands came up, and he let her touch him. Her fingers stroked the gills along the side of his face, feather light but still calloused from years of fighting. It took everything in him to not roll his eyes back into his skull.

“These are so pretty,” she murmured, the touch far more intimate than she knew. “It’s strange that you have such delicate appendages when you are so brutal.”

He had no words. Only pleasure that ached down to his bones as she continued to touch the very sensitive edges of his gills. He wanted to bite down on her fingers, then draw her closer so he could burrow himself in her heat.

Why was she so warm? Why was he letting her touch him when he knew how risky this was? She shouldn’t be allowed to touch him. Not like this. He should toss her away from him, but by the gods, it felt so good to have someone touch him.

He was suddenly reminded that it had been a very long time since he’d been touched. Sure, he’d hugged his son and made sure that Aulax knew how much he meant to him, but that was the extent of it. How long has it been since he’d let another person touch him with kindness and tenderness?

Years. Nearly twenty years, if he thought about it. And it felt so good.

He was a fool to entertain this. And yet, his arm curved around her a little more tightly as he flicked his tail and they were off. She braced herself on his chest, holding herself up while they flew through the water.

Alexia thought she was fast with those boots? She was anything but. This achromo was going to learn just how fast his people were, if only so he could entertain her. He knew she liked to travel quickly. The way she’d piloted that ship gave that away. The woman enjoyed taking risks.

Just as he’d hoped, she tilted her head back and let the water run over her features. There was no fear scent now. Just pure enjoyment of the water rushing by her.

They darted through the currents, and she had no way of knowing that he was bringing her toward the surface. Not all the way, of course. Tau happened to be in the heart of where many of the storms brewed. There were so many hurricanes in this part of the sea that it was deadly to be at the surface at all. But he wanted to head somewhere he could potentially summon his son.

Aulax would know that his father was within reach. There was much he wanted to tell his boy, so the others would know to prepare. They were so close to getting Tau under their thumb,and he would not waste time wooing this woman. But he would try to get her on their side.

It was complicated. His feelings were difficult to parse through, but Aulax wouldn’t ask him anything that he didn’t want to answer.

Soon enough, they hit the right temperature of water for the creatures he sought. This time of year, the ocean put on a show, and he wanted her to see it.

The first sign was the brightening of the water. Soon enough, he could see her face without the light from his own body illuminating her features. Her pupils were still blown out, not used to the brighter light yet. Now he could see her eyes. The few times he’d seen them before, he had been so certain there was gold in them. And he’d been right. Pretty gold strands that were so lovely.

Fuck, he was having the wrong thoughts again. He couldn’t. Not with her. Not with any achromo.

Rather than stare into those lovely eyes, he turned her so her back was pressed against his chest. He lifted a hand, pointing for her to look at all the sparkling particles around them.

“See these?”

Her mouth dropped open inside the mask. What would she look like in the water without it? Already he could see the red lines on her skin around the plastic. It hurt her face to wear such a thing, and yet, she had to wear it when she was in the water.

He could reach under the long length of his own hair and attach a tentacle to her neck. He couldbreathefor her, although he had no idea what she would do if he pricked the side of her throat and then ripped the mask off her face. She’d lose her mind. She’d try to fight him again, and he hated how much he wanted her to do that.

He enjoyed it when she struggled in his arms, but he was finding this wasn’t all that bad, either. Limp and trusting, sheleaned against his chest and stared up at the silver edged particles floating all around them.

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