Page 70 of Jewel of the Sea

Before the power had been restored, the ceiling and walls were always dominated by shadow, even when the sun was shining; it had granted the massive chamber an air of mystery as intriguing as it was ominous. The effect had created a certain beauty, allowing the sunlight and its reflections on the water to highlight some of the precise edges and lines while leaving everything else to the imagination.

It reminded him of what Aymee had said about the mind filling in the details; perhaps Arkon’s mental image was simply more appealing than the truth.

The artificial lights left nothing hidden — even the water was illuminated from within by lights in the walls and floor. The precision of this place’s construction was impressive, but apart from the painting on the wall, it seemed largely uninspired. Years of damage and wear only made it seem dreary and lonely.

He swam to the ladder and climbed up to the platform. Aymee was nowhere to be seen; was she still asleep?

After taking a few minutes to fill a container with seawater and store the single fish he’d caught inside — the fish was large enough to provide them both a single meal, at least — he went up the steps to the second level and entered the short hallway. The door at the end slid open with a groan after he punched in the number sequence.

He moved through the threshold and along the corridor, allowing his eyes to wander, and found himself comparing it to home —Pontus Alpha, as Captain Wright had called it. The interior of this place was cleaner, but the higher ceilings and concrete walls made it feel colder, even though the climate control systems kept the air comfortable. The contours and lines in the Facility were sleeker and smoother, which dulled the edge of heartless precision that seemed to have gone into constructing such locations.

He turned down one of the intersecting corridors and was heading toward the room they’d slept in when the door ahead slid open. Aymee emerged, wearing her diving suit with a mask tucked under her arm. Her long, curly hair was pulled back from her face; he’d never seen her wear it that way before. The suit accentuated her long, graceful limbs and molded itself to her every curve.

Arousal stirred within him, a dull heat in his lower abdomen that spread throughout his loins. His gaze fixed on the V between her legs. The heat intensified, and his shaft pulsed. He forced his eyes back up as she neared.

She smiled at him. Though the bruise on her cheek was already fading, its presence rekindled his anger; he’d seen her come to harm and had been unable to prevent it.

“How was your hunt?” she asked.

“It was not quite as fruitful as I had intended, but we will have some meat for today, at least.”

“Then it was a success.” She kissed his cheek and caught his hand as she walked past. He followed her lead. “Let’s go swimming. I want to try out the suit. I’ve already gone through the tutorial with Sam.”

Arkon’s gaze dipped. The suit cupped her swaying backside, leaving little to his imagination.

He fought a surprisingly strong urge to reach forward, clutch her hips, and draw her back against him.

“Macy never went into detail on everything these suits are capable of,” she said as she led him toward the submarine pen. “I can’t wait to try it out in the open sea.”

Her words reminded Arkon of the beauty he’d witnessed during his hunt. Aymee wouldhave appreciated it immensely, but there’d be future opportunities to take her.

“It is for the best that you learn its functions here, where the dangers are minimal.”

The door to the submarine pen opened and they moved through it. Aymee walked him to the railing and didn’t release his hand as she looked at him, smiling. “I suppose I should be honest and tell you that I’m not a strong swimmer.”

Arkon couldn’t help but smile back at her; the hint of guilt in her expression was endearing. “The suit is meant to help that. And I will be nearby the entire time.”

“I know.” She squeezed his hand and released it, peering over the rail. “Since the storm’s let up, I thought now would be good. The water is calm.”

“Perhaps that will lend itself well to a lesson. Even when the sea appears calm on the surface, there are currents running below, out of sight, and they will carry you away if you are not ready for them.” He gently took her wrist and raised it, indicating the white piece attached to the suit. “This will help you immensely, but you cannot allow yourself to grow complacent because of it.”

“I won’t.”

Arkon nodded. It required a surprising amount of willpower to stop himself from listing all the potential dangers;hewas the one who’d said life was meaningless without risk, and there was no controlling the fickleness of chance.

“Come.” He led her down the steps to the lower platform.

“Macy said Sarina is already swimming.”

“She is. Kraken can essentially swim immediately following birth, though it is not the most graceful sight.”

“It’s amazing. Our newborns are helpless. It takes them months to get strong enough to move themselves around. When do kraken learn to walk? It is walking, isn’t it?”

Arkon glanced down at his tentacles. He’d never really thought about it before;walkwas one of many words the kraken rarely used, as it had never seemed applicable to them. “Draggingmay be more accurate. Because of the way my people typically handle the raising of our young, I have not spent much time with children until recently, so I cannot answer you with any certainty. I know only that it does not come as naturally to us as swimming, and it involves using our muscles in ways we are typically unused to. Our skeletal structure does not extend below our waists, so our stability outside the water is a matter of the musculature in our tentacles.”

They stopped half a body length from the edge of the platform. Aymee slipped her wrist from his grasp, set her mask down, then placed her hands on his sides from behind. Arkon stiffened, eyes widening.

“I never considered that you wouldn’t have bones in your tentacles,” she said thoughtfully. Her fingers slid toward his spine, pressing firmly. Though it wasn’t her flesh meeting his, it was still her touch, and it was enough to reignite the fire within him. She traced his spine first up then back down, past his last vertebrae. “That you stand and move like this on land is an amazing show of strength.”

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