Page 85 of Call of the Fathoms

He could see the hesitation in her eyes. She didn’t want him to think that she was lesser because of how she looked. And that broke his heart.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured, the words aching as his throat seemed to close around them. “So incredibly beautiful.”

She clearly didn’t know what to do with her hands. Alexia smoothed them down her stomach, perhaps a way to ease her nerves, but for him all it did was draw his attention down her hairless body. She was perfection personified. How did she not know this?

“Virago. May I touch you?”

Her throat worked in a swallow. “What are you going to do when you touch me?”

He could feel the heat flare through him at those words. Then every gill on his body stood up straight, fluttering with all theenergy and need within him. “Everything, Alexia. I’m going to do everything.”

Her cheeks turned bright red, the color spreading down her chest. “Oh, well, if that’s all you’re going to do.”

He didn’t have any patience for her sass right now. Pulling himself out of the water, he slid across the floor and grabbed onto her. Gently, he tumbled her onto the cold tile so he could loom above her.

Icy droplets of water fell from his shoulders, and each one of them rolling across her skin like pearls. Fortis leaned down to catch one that pooled in her collarbone, his dark tongue tracing along the soft skin there as though he had found his own treasure in the movement.

A low groan echoed through his chest. “You taste so sweet.”

And she did. Like spun sugar and smoke, that made him want to taste more of her. So taste he did.

She had given him permission, and he took what she offered. And more. He wanted everything that she knew she wanted and everything she didn’t know she wanted. He moved down her chest, licking and sucking at her skin until he finally reached the pebbled peak of her breast. Licking around it, he reveled in the sound of her moan that echoed through the room.

She didn’t care if she was loud, and he loved that about her. The song of her passion let him know what she liked.

“Has anyone ever touched you here?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“No. Only you.”

“Good. We’re going to find out what you like, Alexia. And if I remember correctly...” He bit down on her nipple, hard enough that she let out a little squeal and arched off the floor.

But when he looked up into her shocked gaze, she was staring at him with even more red on her features. She’d liked that. She’d enjoyed the slight edge of pain.

Good, she was going to likely feel it once he figured out how to put them together.

Fortis took his time playing with her, alternating between her breasts as he bit and licked and sucked. He had her writhing underneath him in only moments, but he wanted more than that.

Gliding webbed hands down her sides, he felt for every place that made her whisper out a, “Don’t stop. Right there. Yes, that feels so good.”

Finally, finally, he allowed himself to slide his webbed fingers between her folds and seek out that warm, wet heat she had described. Fuck, she hadn’t been wrong in that descriptor. She was dripping between her thighs, and though that felt very strange to feel, he couldn’t help but want to touch more of it. Leaning down, he licked his way up her neck all the way to her mouth.

“Kiss me again, virago. Like you did in the sea.”

She wasn’t hesitant about her pleasure. Alexia ground herself against his webbed hand, and he had to make sure his claws were nowhere near her. He could easily cut her, and she wasn’t looking out for herself. But then she wrapped an arm around his neck and drew him down for a vicious kiss, and it was hard for him to think of anything else. Her tongue tangled with his, rubbing over the ridges and bumps that covered it.

She moaned into his mouth, riding his hand toward her own oblivion. “You feel so good.”

“I’m going to feel much better soon. I wanted to ease you into this, but I cannot wait to taste you.”

“Taste me?” She was breathing hard, staring down the length of her own body as he suddenly moved until his face was between her legs.

Ah, her scent here was divine. Thick and earthy, feminine, just as he knew she would be. All his to devour. Fortis licked hislips, staring at the deep pink and red of her folds before he dove in.

Why describe to her what he was going to do, when he could just show her?

Her flavor exploded on his tongue, and he groaned into her flesh. The ridges of his tongue slid along her slit, finding a nub at the top that seemed to make her arch more than the rest.

Even though she was larger than the average human, he knew she was going to be tight. He had to make sure she was prepared to take him. He had to make sure she would survive this encounter, even though it might hurt a little.

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