Page 76 of Whispers of the Deep
His eyes closed, those gills vibrating next to his throat, and she couldn’t stop herself.
Mira skated her fingers along them, barely touching him but knowing without a doubt that he felt her. A deep rumble started in his chest, echoing through the room with the sound of his pleasure.
His voice was somehow even deeper. “What you are doing is a very intimate touch for my people, Mira.”
“I know.” She leaned a little closer until their lips were barely a breath apart. “My people kiss. We press our mouths together. It feels good. Do your people do that?”
“No.” He never once opened his eyes. So she supposed that was as much of a yes as she was going to get.
Taking the risk, she leaned forward and kissed him. At first, he stayed very still. Even his gills seemed to freeze, completely outstretched and unmoving beneath her fingers.
But then he groaned, long and low in his very chest, before he hauled her closer. She wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping into his mouth as he pried hers open and plunged his tongue between her lips.
Fire sizzled through her veins, and suddenly she couldn’t touch enough of him. She dragged her fingers along his gills, pinching them and stroking them until he bucked his hips against hers. And oh, maybe that was the same between their kinds. Because she swore there was a hardness pressing between her legs, though it was still hidden by scales. A hardness that tempted her to touch, to stroke, to seek out where it was coming from and how she could touch more.
She pressed back against him, arching over his arm so more of her could touch him. She didn’t even care that they were both soaking wet or that her clothes clung to her body. She didn’t care that her nipples were so hard they ached for his touch.
Then, oh, he touched. He lifted that webbed hand and cupped one of her breasts. They both groaned into each other’s mouths, because she’d never felt her body come alive like hers did in this moment. She wanted to touch him back, but she didn’t know where she could touch. The spines on his back made it hard for her to touch him there, and it certainly wasn’t easy for her to grab onto his neck.
He had no problem touching her, though, and it seemed like he was enjoying himself far more than she had expected.
Again, he moaned into her mouth before ripping away from her. “You have no natural defenses, kairos.”
“You mean I don’t have claws and spines?” Her voice sounded so breathless. “I know that. Are you complaining?”
He looked down at his hand on her breast, then she felt him gently squeeze before running his thumb over her hardened nipple. “Not in the slightest, Mira. By all the gods of the sea, I can touch any part of you I wish without fear of poison or pain.”
“Endless touching,” she agreed, arching into his grip so he would touch her more. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
And maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe she would have found out what was underneath those scales that pressed so deliciously between her thighs if they both hadn’t heard an angry thud from the other side of the dome’s glass. Then another. A pounding that rocked the entire dome and shifted her forward awkwardly in his grip.
She didn’t have a moment to breathe. One second he was in her arms, and the next he’d tossed her away from the pool before shouting, “Close it! Now!”
Then he disappeared. The only thing left was the splashing of his tail and the foam he had left behind.
For a second, she was frozen. Staring into the water with wide eyes and a sudden fear at what had come for them. Surely nothing would attack this dome. There weren't any dangerous sea creatures that came into shallow water like this. Was there?
But then she saw the vague shadow of a fin pass overhead. Then she saw the black tip of a tail that was all too familiar. She lunged for the lever that closed the moon pool and shoved it so hard, she was afraid she’d snap it off and end up stuck in here.
“Come on,” she hissed as it closed. “Faster, you ancient bitch.”
Eventually, it closed. Sealing her into the dome like a tomb.
Byte’s shuddering voice interrupted her fear. “Mira? What’s going on?”
“I have no idea.”
Snapping out of her panic, she raced for the windows of the dome. Cursing that she couldn’t see through some of the algae that already had grown back, she sprinted for the bed. Not caring that she soaked the mattress and the blankets, she jumped on top of it and peered out the portion of the dome that was still very clear.
All she could see were the dark outlines of undines in the distance. One glowing bright red, another yellow, and one blue that she would recognize anywhere.
Thirty
Arges
Arges swam with rage coursing through his body. All the lights along his tail flared bright and hot. How dare they? His people knew better than to track him, of all people, through the water. They knew what his mission was, and that he was only doing his duty as he was supposed to do. Mitéra herself had given him this task, and he could choose to do it in any way that he wished.
These were the excuses he told himself for the anger and fear that surged through his entire body.
