Page 44 of Call of the Fathoms

“Do you want to feel the rest?”

Yes.

No.

She shouldn’t. It would only encourage her to discover new things to experience. Alexia was so afraid that he’d eventually send her back to Tau. Filling her mind with moments like thiswould only make it seem like she could stay here. Like there was a chance that she wouldn’t have to go back to being so cold.

“Are you afraid?” he murmured, that deep voice rumbling through her spine and shaking her entire body.

“No, I am not afraid.”

But she was. She was terrified. Not of the jellyfish, but of what this moment would eventually do to her.

Fortis held her loosely as he swam them up through the jellyfish. His arm around her waist was no longer a prison, but there in guidance as he swam with her into the middle of all these jellyfish. Her heart thundered in her chest, although she did not understand why it would. The jellyfish weren’t hurting her. This wasn’t fear, it was...

“I can feel your heart against my hand.” His fingers slid just underneath her breast, and for a moment, something else flashed in her mind.

She wanted him to cup her. She wanted to arch against those webbed fingers, to feel the power of his hand as he touched her, kneaded her breast, flicked those dangerous claws over the hardened tips. Even in cold water, it made her entire body flash with heat.

“It’s excitement you’re feeling.” His deep voice sent her mind spinning. She loved the vibration of the sound that made her entire body tingle with some emotion she couldn’t name. “I can smell every single one of your emotions when you’re in the water. Achromos always project how they feel. Your fear is acrid and biting, but this is warm and welcoming. You want to seek them out. You want to touch them.”

She wanted him to touch her. It wasn’t a realization she was proud of, but it was the truth. His hands were so close to where she wanted him. His other hand was on her hip, a branding white hot heat that she wanted to slide down between her thighs.

Alexia had only seen sex regarding other people. Harlow and her many partners still needed to be protected, especially in moments of passion where they were completely weak. Alexia had been trained to be passive in all moments. She kept her eyes on the walls, ignoring the sounds they made and the wet slaps of flesh. But she had never been allowed to indulge in such things herself. Frankly, she’d never wanted to.

The medication they gave her made everything so dull. Sex had never been intriguing. Until now. Until her entire body seemed to come alive all at once and a pressure between her thighs made itself hard to ignore.

And then, mortifyingly so, he took a deep breath.

His hand loosened on her hip, and then clenched so hard she swore she felt the bone creak. “But that,” he murmured, his words slow and drawn out. “That I do not recognize.”

Fuck. Could he smell her arousal?

This was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. Not only because he knew she was aroused, but because an undine was making her feel that way. Of all the times in her life when she could have been interested in a sexual partner, right now was the choice her body made? With a massive, finned monster who brought her to see jellyfish?

She struggled out of his arms and this time, he let her go. She didn’t look back to see his expression because she didn’t want to know if he had figured it out. What if he realized that she wanted him? That the scent he was smelling was...

No, it was too embarrassing to even think. Cheeks burning, she swam away from him through the hundreds of jellyfish that bumped against her sides. Somehow, that helped. The cool water chilling her body grounded her. The rubbery texture of the little creatures around her was a stark difference to the heated thoughts in her mind.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to make it so that her heart wasn’t thundering in her chest anymore. He’d said that was excitement, and she definitely understood that now.

Those feelings in her body were so strange. Overwhelming, almost. She hadn’t ever thought of someone like that before.

Blowing out a few more breaths, she grounded herself in the water and then turned back toward him. But Fortis was gone. The space where she’d left him was obvious. There were fewer jellyfish in that area, although many were already closing in the gap that he’d left behind.

But where...

A clawed hand dragged down her spine. The tips didn’t quite break through her wetsuit, but she could feel them. Icy points that made every hair on her body stand up, and not in a bad way.

“What is that scent, virago? It is not one I have smelled from one of your kind before.” His voice was a low, aching growl.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do.” He circled her, that tail coiling around her until she was surrounded by him. The sight of all those jellyfish disappeared as he wrapped her up in him.

She watched as his gills flared wide and he drew more water through them. Thin gills fluttered like he was quite literally rubbing the scent of her onto them and then they stood out at all angles. Even the fins along his face and hips spread wide, shaking in the water so powerfully that it almost appeared as though air bubbles were being created around them.

She had no idea what was happening to him, but she was lost in that dark gaze.

---