Citrine (Deliverance #3)

34. Wroahk

34

Wroahk

The skies roar with impatience above us.

She feels lighter in my hold under the waves, like the weight of her life is as light as the gentle pull of the water. Her struggle in my arms reminds me that she's indeed alive and fighting to stay alive.

She hasn't realized it yet, but she's not drowning.

She really shouldn't keep her gills covered like she did. My kind has always displayed their gills proudly, a challenge to the creatures of the oceans. We have defeated every uncanny thing so far.

I don't like how small she is in my hold, like she can slip away at any moment, so I hold on tighter.

I have thought often about bringing her down here with me. The water is terrible, but staying down here is better than up there. I don't know how she can breathe underwater, but I don't need an explanation, especially not from her.

It would probably last all day and she would end with as many questions as she tried to answer.

After she finally relents and decides to live, I move us into an underwater cave.

The cave is even darker than normal, though the luminous snails cast a dull light, the skies dark with the violent storm. I can still hear the thundering from above, but it doesn't seem like she can. She was jumping with each booming sound of it before we came into the water.

Even less equipped to survive down here than I initially thought. It has ceased to surprise me.

She's still angry, likely knowing I would've let her drown if she didn't figure out how to use the gills she stole.

How else would she know if she could use them?

"See? You're alive."

Her eyes say so much. It's such a relief that her mouth does not.

She scuttles deeper into the corner of the cave and doesn't look at me. I can still see her clearly, but I know she can barely see me. All that's similar about us are the gills.

I reach out a tentacle to tap at her feet, pleased when she jumps. She can't complain, so she just grumbles, like she wants to kill me with just her eyes. I decide to leave her alone and wait for the skies to clear.

It takes a while, so I venture out to find something to eat. Most creatures safely hide during a storm and are alert. The ones who can't are left in a panic and are easier to catch. I take some of those first and keep searching around the nearby ridge to find more.

It's an easy hunt and I come back to the cave soon after.

She's still by the corner in the cave, but she looks curious. I reach a tentacle around her waist and bring her out, swimming around the underwater ridgeline with her in tow.

I don't know why I'm doing it. She could just as easily wait out the storm in the cave, but I want her with me. Want her to see more. Maybe it will make her want to come here more often.

Where she can't speak.

I swim for quite some time, whacking away Many Teeth who try to investigate her long, yellow weeds. For some unexplained reason, I even show her how to chase a school of fish out of their hiding place.

As if she could hunt without me.

Eventually, I bring her up close to the surface and watch the last of the storm clouds move away. She points at the shore, death in her eyes. I let her go and she swims to the surface like she's fleeing from me.

She can't flee from me.

I follow her, and she climbs up among the rocks, coughing. She glares back down at me and her lips part.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You were seriously going to leave me to drown in there, weren't you?"

"You didn't."

"Oh, because I have gills? What is the difference between tossing me into shark -infested waters and what you just did? And that stupid, smug look on your face! You're so infuriating!"

I float close to her, noticing she isn't going back to the cove. When she's talking, she seems to focus on delivering her message more than anything else. If she tries to leave, she'll stop talking and I'll follow her.

"Why are you angry?"

Her expression changes again.

"You don't know? You seriously don't know? Wow ! I can't believe I'm wasting my time trying to explain basic decency to someone like you."

She's saying things I can't understand again and waving her graspers frantically.

I'm not sure why I feel the need to explain, but I do. "It is the way I was taught. It's the way we were all taught."

"Right. Semi-aquatic mammal . Wait, you didn't hatch from an egg, did you?"

I decide not to answer that. She huffs and squats until she's right in front of me again. I want to kiss her and feel the warmth of her mouth again.

I want her, but it is very clear she does not want me.

There is a pain in my chest I cannot explain when I think that.

"You're not even listening! I swear. You… I shouldn't bother with you."

She rubs at her face, then continues. "That thing you did underwater, the echoing thing. Teach me how to do it."

I stare at her, the thought of her speaking to me under the water seeming more and more like torture.

"No."

"No? What do you mean, no? Why won't you teach me?"

"I will not."

"Excuse me, mister ! You can't just tell me no with no reason! That's discrimination !"

I decide I like it. The expressive range of emotion that crosses her face.

It's always changing, never dull. She's always full of life, always bubbling like sea foam. She's just as weak, of course, but I am finding that it matters to me less and less.

I especially like it when her face contorts in anger, and she yells at me. Raising your voice and exerting your presence is the way of a predator.

She's doing well now.

"You're not listening again! Arrrghh ! I give up!"

She sits by the shore and folds into herself. I raise a tentacle and poke her, but I get no reaction. She's dull now. I want to see her expressions again. I poke her harder and this time, her head snaps up.

"What do you want?"

"Touch," I say, holding my tentacle out.

She looks at me with sharp eyes and says…

"No."

She fighting back. It's rare that prey fights back. I raise a tentacle and wrap around her waist again, intending to bring her into the water.

"Wroahk, don't you fucking dare…"

There is a menace in her voice now, and it thrills me. She doesn't have to touch me with kind hands , but I need her near me.

She's back in the water again, her head above the water, though I would like to dive deep, and my tentacles are wrapped around her. I hold her face with my grasper, relishing in how soft it is.

"What are you doing?"

" Kiss ," I urge, knowing I can't take it, but hoping she will offer.

"I'm not going to kiss you after what you just did."

"I helped you. Saved you from the storm. You didn't drown."

Recognition flares in her eyes, and she doesn't look pleased.

I pull her closer, my hunger for her growing stronger. I want more, but then I remember how empty it is when I take.

It's hard, but I manage to stop, letting her loose in the water.

"Touch?" I ask again.

She moves her limbs in the water, staring at me, thinking.

"Wroahk…" she whispers, then swims toward me, her face still above the water. "Yes."

She leans in first and places her lips on mine, initiating a kiss . My mating tentacles fight for dominance against my other ones, threatening to burst out and caress her like the others do.

Her formerly sharp, angry eyes are now clouded over, her graspers roaming over my tentacles.

She moves her mouth to my neck, and I resist the urge to break her before she can do any damage. Then I feel her weak teeth dig into my flesh. I'm taken aback when she clamps down, her teeth feeling almost as abrasive as mine.

Then she hisses out her rage, clearly still angry with me. The next moment, my tentacles flail wildly.

It feels so strange and so good. Then her soft tongue glides over my neck before she bites me again, then sucks hard and I wonder if there is something else about her that is similar to me after all.

A gurgle escapes my throat, and I hear her laugh.

"I didn't think it would work on an alien . Guess I'm very good at it."

"What are you doing?" I question her.

"I'm giving you a hickey . I guess in your words, it's probably something like marking your territory."

"I am not a territory," I reply fiercely.

She shows me her teeth, while running her finger up and down my torso.

"Of course you are. Another kiss , Wroahk?"

I can't say no.

It feels… amazing. Her graspers hold on to my tentacles, wandering below like she's searching for something. I touch her body like she touches mine, following all her dips and curves.

While my tentacles spread from my torso, she only has two thin limbs. In between those limbs, there is a greater heat, and I can taste a difference in the water near there. I move in my grasper and feel around like she did to me when she showed me what kind touch was.

She gasps, arching in my hold, but not trying to get away. She looks down and seems to be shocked by what she sees. She looks back at me, her eyes clearing up.

"Touch?" I ask her.

"Yes."

She furrows her face and reaches down herself, the black covering disappearing from her body.

" Fuck . I'm really wet."

"You're inside the water," I point out.

"Not that, dummy. Dios . We've barely kissed but I'm…"

"Should I check?" I offer, worried that she might be hurt.

"There's really no need to—" she gasps again as I turn her over to look at it, spinning her so her face is down in the water and her legs are spread open before my face.

It looks unusual with its fold, and it seems too small. Is this really her mating organ? It doesn't look like I'll fit. And what's this small thing here?

My grasper darts out, but I stop myself just in time, annoyed with once again clamping down on simply doing what I want.

" Kind touch here?"

She moves her head up and down, her mute signal of agreement.

I touch it and her body trembles.

I flip her over to make sure she is not in pain. She has a dazed look in her eyes and I can sense the heat radiating from the place that I touched.

"Is that good? Do you want more?"

"Yes. I'll hit you if I want you to stop, or we could just stay above the water and—"

I flip her back over, confident that I will know her signals of consent , then touch her again.

She holds on to my tentacles, air bubbles floating up to me since she can't speak now that she's upside down in the water. I double check to make sure her gills are uncovered, then go back to my task.

I ignore them since she isn't hitting me, and decide to explore, keeping an unoccupied sucker on the place that made her react while I explored the rest of her mating organ with my grasper.

After a few moments I realize that while it might be small, it can stretch.

I pull it apart with my fingers, feeling some resistance. Fluid pours out of it, but it's not water. I lower my tongue and taste it, finding it just a little sweet. I move my tongue further in, exploring her mating organ and the depths of her channel.

The more I do, the more her body shivers. The air bubbles become more frequent and her hold on my tentacles become tighter. Soon enough, more of the fluid gushes from inside her and fills my mouth. I swallow it, licking it up until there was nothing left. I decide to flip her back up, putting her face back above the water.

She trembles, doesn't say anything for the longest time, just takes in long breaths. I watch her, still holding my tentacles to her body.

"That… that was…"

"Your mating organs are small," I say before she completes her statement.

She scrunches her face again and points her finger.

"First of all, that sounds rude . It's not supposed to be big. You're the one who's big! Second of all, you're the one who suddenly decided to eat me out without warning. I'm beginning to think you're actually planning to eat me."

"You taste good," I say, not understanding what her point is.

She clearly liked it and hasn't told me to stop.

"That was consent ? Was I wrong?" I ask.

"It was consent . You did well; I am just teasing you now. In fact, I want more."

A thrill runs through me.

I pull her back and part my tentacles, showing her my mating organs. She stares at them, eyes wide, like she cannot believe what I'm showing her.

"I know people abuse this line, but those are not going to fit."

Compared to hers, mine are much, much bigger. I know that both of them won't fit in one hole. However, I don't let it bother me.

It's the first time I've ever done this without the threat of losing my head. My mouth already knows how good it feels inside her. Now, it's time for them to feel it.

"Yeah, no, we're not doing that. I'm not ready for double penetration."

"Double?" I ask, cocking my head.

"I've always thought about it, yeah but who ever knew I would meet one man … person with two… humongous things. I don't even think it'll go in the back. I might just die."

"You will not die. Do you have another mating organ?"

She slaps a grasper over her mouth and shakes her head.

"Do you want me to stop?"

She lets out a long groan. "No, I don't. I—"

That sounds like plenty of invitation.

I pull her down with me to the cave where she will stop saying all her confusing words, and kiss her, careful to make sure she always has a limb free to hit me with. I check for her other opening with my graspers, ready for her to tell me no, but she doesn't, so I keep checking.

It's not far from the first one and it's much tighter. Slipping a finger in is hard at first, but I'm able to move my finger in her and the more it stays in there, the more the opening widens, like it will accommodate whatever I plan to give it.

I look back to her face, and she has a dazed look in her eyes, but rouses when I move closer to press my lips against hers

She holds on to me, air bubbles escaping her as she gasps. I remove my finger and use a tentacle and a grasper to hold her as I push my mating organ inside her tighter hole, holding her still with my other grasper and a kiss as I seek out the other entry.

It isn't as tight, and she lets out a long groan as I move into her, the inner walls stretching around me in a surprisingly violent hold, but with a slickness that excites me.

I struggle to fit in for only a moment before I feel her stretching to take me in. She bites my lips as my mating tentacles twitch inside her, the force of her hold increasing. It can't hurt me, but I can feel her shuddering movement as she adjusts.

It's better than anything I ever thought I would feel, being here with her without trying to dodge her teeth or keep too many limbs from being ripped off.