Page 69 of The Delver
Shivering, she climbed down and accepted her bag, ripping it open and tugging out the blanket, which she used to briskly dry herself.
Urkot stepped away from her to shake excess water from his limbs. He felt the chill too, now that his damp hide was exposed to the cool air—and he felt the air current from the tunnel, faint but unmistakable.
“F-Fuck that water is cold. I d-don’t know if I’ll ever c-complain about the heat and humidity again,” she said.
He chittered. “You will.”
Callie snickered. “You know me s-so well.”
After taking out her boots and clothing and stuffing the blanket back inside, she closed her pack.
His gaze fixated on her as she dressed. He mourned the loss of her dark nipples as she drew the fabric of her top over her breasts and relaced the front.
Hunger stirred low in his belly, and his fingers flexed. Urkot had not had nearly enough time to explore her body, to appreciate its curves, its softness, to carve its every tiny detail into his memory. Her flesh was so unlike his hide. He could spend eternity caressing it, feeling its gentle give beneath his touch. And right now, he found himself wondering how it would feel under his palms after it had been warmed by the sun.
His gaze dipped to her slit. A shudder rippled through him. Her pussy had wrapped around his cock so tightly, had accepted it so readily, had taken all of him as he’d buried himself deep in the wet heat of her core.
The memory had his stem pulsing and pressing against the inside of his slit. He drew his claspers in to keep his cock from extruding, barely suppressing a groan at the ache caused by his own restraint.
This was no longer the time, and they’d left their sanctuary behind. They were exposed again. Vulnerable.
But by the Eight, he yearned to take her again, danger be damned.
Callie lifted her skirt and wrapped it around her hips, shielding her pussy from his eyes. The urge to grab her, tear off her clothing, and rut her right here swelled within Urkot. In a moment, he could be inside her, could lose himself in her heat again.
Instead, he watched as she tied off the skirt and stepped into her boots.
“Ugh.” She scrunched her face, lifting and setting down her feet to produce a soft squelching sound. “You’d think with how advanced HWI was, they would’ve invented boots that didn’t retain water inside.”
“It is like when we strode to Kaldarak.” Urkot removed a crystal from his pouch, pushing back the darkness in the tunnel with its blue light.
She slung her bag over her shoulders. “Yeah. Those were some miserable days. At least it’s not muddy and raining here.”
He placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her forward as he walked along the tunnel. “I learned much in those days. Learned much of humans. Much of you.”
And Urkot would learn much more about her now that she was his.
The sound of their steps, though quiet, echoed on the tunnel walls, broken only by the falling of water droplets to the floor. Moisture glistened on the stone and hung in the air.
Moss appeared on the walls as they traveled, first in little clumps, then in larger and larger patches. Soon, it was accompanied by mushrooms growing from cracks and crevices and leafy plants clinging to the rock. Much of the vegetation gave off its own dim light, which was amplified as glowworms and their strands of glowing silk became more prevalent along the ceiling.
The dampness in the air increased, and Urkot became aware of a faint vibration in the ground. It was nothing like what had preceded the collapse; this was steady, consistent, and did not seem to run deep.
Something scuttled out of the vegetation in front of them, something white and nearly a segment long, with jointed legs all along its thin body. It moved straight toward Callie.
Her screech was loud and sharp as she leapt back and climbed atop Urkot.
“Get it away! Get it away!” she cried, her blunt claws biting into his hindquarters as she draped herself over him, feet raised and kicking. “Ew, ew, ew!”
Chittering, Urkot glanced down at the creature, which wound between his legs. “It is an akreel. They do not harm.”
“It’s a fucking giantsentipeed!”
“No, it is an akreel,” Urkot corrected, lifting his left leg foreleg as the creature climbed onto it. “They taste much good.”
Callie yelped and scrambled farther away from the insect, clutching Urkot’s right arms. “Oh my God, Urkot! Get it away!”
“It will not eat humans.” He plucked it off his leg before it could reach his hindquarters, holding it by its neck. Its segmented body curled around his arm and wriggled, legs flailing in the air.
