Page 84 of Call of the Fathoms

“I have never met someone so excited for their own death.” She shook her head, her hands moving against his arms as they smoothed across his biceps. “Do you really believe I’m going to kill you?”

“Yes, of course. It has been seen by many people. My story has always had an end, and I’ve known it for many years now. It was odd to see you after so many years wondering who was going to be the one to end my life.” He squeezed her a little tighter, turning away from the village and heading out into the deep sea. “I’m glad it’s you. If it had to be anyone, I’m quite pleased to know that you are the one who will hold the blade.”

She frowned up at him. “I know you have proven to me a great many impossible things. But I find it so hard to believe that I would ever hurt you. I haven’t believed in your ability to see the future before, and I don’t intend to believe it now.”

“Maybe you won’t have a choice. In your belief or your ability to prevent my death.” He could see that happening. Her people were dastardly, and their plans often hurt many people. “If youhave to choose between me and everyone else in the sea, then you must kill me. If it will stop the plan that we have spent so much time building, then you have to do what it takes. Yes?”

She took a deep breath. “I suppose. But I don’t want to kill you.”

“You are strong enough to do so. Maybe that’s why you were brought into our current and why the sea believed you could help us.” There, in the distance, he could already see the facility he had brought her to before. It felt right to bring her to this place where he had realized just how serious he felt about her, and how much he wanted her.

“I don’t...” She paused, and then nodded. “If that’s what it takes.”

They both knew that they would never be together for a long time. He had to believe that to be the truth. Fortis had done everything in his power to keep himself separate from her. She deserved to not mourn him after he left, at least not for a long time. If he was capable of learning this lesson to live when loved ones were gone, then she was capable of it as well.

He entered the area where the ships would have sailed through, his fins trailing along the bottom as he gently propelled them into the space. Then it was so easy to lift her out of the water and sit her on the edge of the facility with all that glass and cool blue light behind her.

Alexia was quick to remove her helmet. The braid of her dark hair was freed, swinging against her face and playing on the harsh edges of her features. She was right here, in that strange metal suit, waiting for him to do whatever he wanted.

Fortis planted his palms on either side of her hips, leveraging himself out of the water so he could loom above her.

“You told me that if you knew you were going to die, you would want to live as much as you could before it happened.Now, I bring you back here to ask...” He paused before correcting himself, “To beg you to indulge me.”

“Indulge you?” she asked, her pupils blowing out until her eyes were as black as his. “What do you want me to indulge you in, Fortis?”

He didn’t have the words to say it. He wanted her to know that he was obsessed with her. That after their moments here, all he had thought about were the little moans she had made, the way her waist would fit so perfectly in his hand. He wanted to lick every single scar that covered her body and slide his tongue between her thighs.

Fortis wasn’t sure how to ask for it, though. He hadn’t explored his desires in years. He knew women were complicated, no matter what species they were. There was a lot he could ask of her, and there were ways he could ask without touching her.

Seeing the heat in her gaze helped. She looked at him like she wanted to eat him alive, and she’d been looking at him like that like that for a while now. All he had to do was trust that the two of them were more compatible than he thought.

“Take off your suit,” he said, his voice little more than a growl. “I want to see you again, virago. But this time, I want to see all of you.”

“Are you certain about this?” she asked. “Even if I’m the one who is going to kill you?”

“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”

It was the truth, and he hoped she could hear that in his voice. He wanted her to know that he desired her beyond reason, beyond any of his training or understanding of how he should feel. He’d spent so many years hating her kind, and especially the people from her city and yet... One look at her and he was weak.

Alexia pushed back from the water and stood. The suit was easier to take off than he thought it would be. She hooked her fingers into deep grooves on the sides and slowly took off first the chest plate, then the arms. They thudded onto the ground hard in harsh clangs that echoed around the room and bounced off the glass. Then she leaned down to take the same armor off her legs, leaving her in nothing but a tight fitting wetsuit.

His gaze feasted on the strength of her thighs and the broad power of her shoulders. Every part of her showcased the power that filled her form. There was no reason for her to be so strong, especially after all he had done to her. Starvation might have made her slightly more weak, but it did not show in the way she stood there, staring at him with heated eyes.

Then she lifted her hands and peeled off the wetsuit. Fortis had to grip the edge of the floor so he didn’t lunge across the room and devour her. She revealed pale, strong shoulders with mounds of muscles on them. Dotted with scars, she was a vision of power. Then that fabric revealed her breasts as well.

He had forgotten how captivating they were. She was beyond stunning, with those small breasts peaked with blush pink. He’d only seen coral that color before, and even then, they were never so tempting to lick.

More skin, more hard edges and long lines. Her abs were as defined as his own, although they were mottled with scars and what looked like scorch marks. He’d not seen those when he had been coaching her through fingering herself, but he also realized that his attention had been elsewhere.

Already, he could feel himself hardening behind his scales. His body wanted to surge forward, foreplay be damned. He wanted to plunge himself into her and know what it was like to be inside a woman as warm and wet as she had described herself.

He wanted her, plain and simple. And the sight of her leaning down to peel that wetsuit off her legs, the profile of the hard mounds of her glutes, nearly made him lose all reason.

Why was it he felt like an animal with her? He’d never been like this with his wife. He’d always been able to separate what they were doing and the reasoning for it. Oh, there had been some pleasure, but never like this.

Never had he felt desire gnawing at his mind, surging through it like there was another beast within him. The logical side of his mind told him to ease her through this, as he had before. To tell her with his lips and teeth and tongue that he wanted her beyond anything else on this planet. But the beast inside of him wanted to leap out of the water, grab her neck between his jaws, and rut into her until they were both screaming.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he kept his gaze on her as she stood.

---