Page 69 of Treasure of the Abyss

“Macy,” he rasped, moving in time with her, his thrusts pushing deeper anddeeper.

Macy closed her eyes and tilted her head back. “Love me,Jax.”

He growled and returned his hands to her hips, lifting her up and slamming her down on his shaft. She took him to his base, and his feelers writhed, flicking along her folds and over her clit. All the while, his lips trailed heat over her face andneck.

She lost herself in a whirlwind of sensation and pleasure, in Jax’s scent, feel, and intensity. Short breaths escaped her with his thrusts, each one striking a cord within her that pushed her higher and higher until she finallyerupted.

She came with a cry, clawing at his back with hernails.

Jax roared as her sex clamped on his shaft, and his body shook with the force of his climax. His heat flooded her. She rode him until neither of them had anything left togive.

He held her when she sagged against him, as they both caught their breath, and continued to place gentle kisses on herskin.

Macy smiled and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. She was on the verge of dozing when he spokesoftly.

“Always,Macy.”

Chapter 15

The water was still dimwhen Jax and Macy left the cave; the sun had only just begun cresting, and the gray-blue sky bled first to pink, then to golden as it approached the horizon. They held hands as they swam. Though it slowed their pace, it was a comfort to them both. They hadn’t seen the razorback during their excursions over the last several days, but Jax would never forget how close they’d come totragedy.

He was reluctant to allow Macy beyond hisreach.

Jax kept close to the coastal cliffs as they moved; the rocks had been their salvation when the razorback attacked, and he’d not risk another chase to reachcover.

They saw a variety of fish on the way — grayfish, spinefish, gulpers, and dozens more Jax had no name for — but it was the basketmouths that caught Macy’s attention. Longer than razorbacks, the basketmouths glided near the surface, their long, flat bodies flowing behind him as they held their wide mouths open. Despite their size, their only prey were creatures so tiny they were nearlyinvisible.

Finally, they reached the Broken Cavern. It had been years since Jax’s last visit, and he’d forgotten the strangeness of the place. When he’d first found it, he’d thought — in his inexperience — that it was a natural cave, somehow overlooking the perfectly shaped planes of the walls and floor. It seemed, from outside, to be part of the cliffface.

He knew now that it had been built byhumans.

Macy’s eyes were wide as she looked from side to side. The floor was flat and deep — as deep as seven or eight kraken, stretched end-to-end — and the walls extended over the water level. It was dark inside, and as they left the last of the meager daylight behind, Jax cast his ownglow.

Smiling, Macy moved her gaze over him appreciatively, just as she had two nights before when they joined beneath the starry sky. Though this was neither the time nor the place, his blood heated witharousal.

When they were far enough inside to see the huge chunks of crumbled stone on the bottom, he brought Macy to the surface, blinked the water from his eyes, and swept his gazeabout.

The Broken Cavern was the largest cave he’d ever found; the ceiling was so high that it was lost in darkness, but a huge crack allowed the still-gray morning light to filter through it. At some point in its existence, the roof had broken open, dumping stone into thewater.

To either side, the walls jutted a body’s length over the surface, like perfectly flat, symmetrical cliffs. Two metal bridges spanned one side to the other. The center of one of the bridges was missing, its edges twisted and bent. Massive chains hung from thick posts set into the tops of thewalls.

“All this time, we never knew… How do we not know about these places in The Watch?” Macy’s voice, though soft, echoed off thewalls.

“I cannot say, Macy. All of this was made many years ago, and the people who walked here are longdead.”

They swam to one of the ladders set into the wall. Jax allowed Macy to climb the metal rungs first and hauled himself up behind her. The metal groaned under hisweight.

Macy stood on the stone walkway, mask in hand and head tilted back as she surveyed the huge chamber. She stepped to the second wall, leaning forward to examine the fading, flaked paint upon it, and pulled back herhood.

The painting had been the only reason Arkon agreed to come here after Jax discovered it years ago. It was in slightly worse condition, now, but the basic shapes were still clear — stretching from one end of the wall to the other, it depicted humans of various shapes and sizes. Time had largely obscured their features, but their joy was apparent. Arkon had said someone created the image by hand in the ancientdays.

Jax had always harbored doubts about that… Before meeting Macy, atleast.

“This is amazing. What was it used for?” She turned and walked to one of the posts, running her hand over one of the huge chainlinks.

Jax moved closer to her, glancing up at the broken ceiling. When was the last time a piece hadfallen?

“I don’t know,Macy.”

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