Echoes of the Tide (Deep Waters #3)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

S he didn’t know what to say or what to do. Her entire body was limp, liquid, far more relaxed than she had been since... forever. She couldn’t remember a time when she was more relaxed than she was in this moment.

And for once, she wasn’t worried about what she looked like. She didn’t care that he was staring at her, or wondering if she looked good spread out across his lap. She didn’t fear that he wouldn’t like her soft belly, or that her hair must be tangled and sticking up at all angles. None of that mattered. It didn’t even matter that her glasses were nearly halfway down her nose.

All that mattered was that her body felt so good.

She’d made herself come many times in her life. It was a fun pastime and necessary for a bored teenager. But no one else had ever made her come.

Ace hadn’t realized just how fulfilling that would be. To have someone else that she trusted enough to actually put his hands on her, to make her feel like she was pretty. Worthy. Wanted.

He’d made her see stars in that experience. She didn’t care that she was a little lost in life. It didn’t matter that the key was no closer to her grasp or that her sister had no idea what threats were coming for her. All that mattered was the liquid feeling of her muscles and the sensation of his tail moving behind her back.

Or was that his cock? She realized the slight movement must be his cocks going back to wherever he hid them, because the other one slid between her legs and seemingly disappeared as well.

Two. He had two cocks, and that was a surprise she hadn’t been expecting. The undines differed from humans, obviously. She’d been expecting that. But she hadn’t thought they would have two massive cocks that made her want to do a lot more than just rub up against them.

But rubbing against them had been good, too. She would do that again.

Looking up at Maketes, she didn’t feel fear when she noticed their differences again. His gills were flat against his face again, smooth as they usually were. They became streaking highlights of yellow that made his cheekbones look even sharper. And those dark eyes that once had made her nervous, now all she saw was the depth of emotion in them.

He was handsome. Far more handsome than she had ever given their kind credit for. From the hollows of his strong neck muscles to his incredibly sculpted chest, all the way down to the “v” muscles that narrowed into his tail which was the loveliest yellow color, all of it captivated her.

She wanted more of him. More of this. Whatever it was between them, and she was hesitant to even define what it was, that was what she wanted.

More. That’s all she could think. More of everything and anything until she was glutted on him.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, his hand ghosting up her side again. Those webs were like velvet sliding against her skin, so soft and yet somehow so wicked as he’d pressed them against her own velvety lips between her legs.

Just the mere thought of it had her wanting to press her thighs together to ease the ache between them. But they had already crossed a line that friendship usually drew. So now she just... she wasn’t sure what to do with him.

“Thank you,” she whispered in response. “So are you.”

Which was a true statement, even if it made him laugh at her. He rolled them both, sliding into the water with her in his grip.

Immediately, she braced herself for the icy chill that would steal her breath, especially without the added layer of her shirt to protect her. But instead, she found the water to be quite pleasant. Almost warm, even.

Blowing out the breath she’d just sucked in, she looped her arms around Maketes’s neck and instead looked around them. The green glow turned into sparkling green stars as he disturbed the water. They scattered around them, looking like he had lightning attached to his body.

“What is this?” she asked.

“They glow when touched.”

“They?” She’d heard of bioluminescent creatures before, but this just looked like water.

“Algae. There are millions of them all throughout every wave in this place, and even more out in the sea. They feed the ocean just as the ocean takes care of them.” He curled his arms under her butt, sinking them lower until the glowing waves lapped at both of their chins.

And then she just... stared. How could she not? This otherworldly creature was grinning at her, those eyes showing far too much of his emotions, and she wanted to kiss him again.

Ace had never felt this way about another person in her life. She was always the reserved one. Always the person who saw responsibility and grabbed onto it with both hands.

“I don’t know what we’re doing,” she said. “Everything feels different, though.”

“It should.”

“Oh.”

What was she supposed to say to that? It felt different. He agreed. And that was that. It wasn’t like there was more to say, even though it terrified her that maybe there should be a lot more to say.

He leaned forward and nipped at her neck with those sharp teeth, right over the spot that still stung a bit if she focused on it.

Then the menace said, “Are you going to ask me about this?”

She waited for the original rage and fear to come bubbling up like it had when she’d first touched her neck and realized he’d done something to her. But instead, all she could feel was the smallest sense of warmth and maybe a bit of irritation. But it was irritation that also made her want to tease him.

“I guess.” Ace released one hand from his shoulders and touched the soft spot on her throat. “I did notice that something was different here.”

“My people have found a way to connect with yours.” His hand shifted under her bottom, one broad finger slowly stroking between her legs before he retreated back to holding onto her. “Besides that, of course.”

Her cheeks flamed bright red. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” This time his opposite hand moved up her side, gently brushing against her breast before retreating. “Do you not want me to touch you, kefi?”

“No.” Wait — “I mean, yes. It’s fine if you touch me. You’re just distracting me from this conversation.”

“Maybe.” Those talented fingers pressed down against her ribs, hauling her a little higher in the water until her breasts were at eye level for him. She could see the heat in his eyes again, and it made something in her squirm. “Perhaps I need to distract you better.”

“Maketes, we need to talk about the hole in my neck you added without my permission. What do you mean, it’s a connection between our... our… species?”

Fuck, that broad tongue slipped out from between his teeth. He licked first one breast, then the other, the ridges moving over her nipples in that distracting way that had her seeing stars. Then he drew one into his mouth, sucking hard enough that she felt it all the way between her legs. The slick heat of his mouth was in sharp contrast to the body temperature of the water.

“Hm?” he murmured, the sound vibrating over her sensitive nipple before he released it with a pop. “Oh, I can breathe for you underwater.”

He licked her again, somehow coiling that long tongue entirely around her breast and the sensation...

No, hang on. “You can breathe for me?”

She slapped her hands against his shoulders, shoving him until he had to move back. He licked his lips, still staring at her chest, clearly incapable of looking her in the eye when he could instead look at her breasts.

“Maketes!” She forced him to free her, wriggling out of his grip so she could duck underneath the water and cover herself with her hands. Glaring, she muttered, “Would you just look at me?”

“I am looking at you. All that wondrous, full flesh. Seeing you like this makes me want to bite you.” Baring those sharp teeth, he added, “Only if you wished, I suppose. But I would like it known that I very much would like to.”

Heat flooded through her at the image her mind conjured. Him looming over her, rutting into her like an animal with her neck in his teeth. And it wasn’t... It should have been terrifying. It should have been an image that made her disgusted. But it didn’t.

Not in the slightest.

“Explain the breathing,” she ordered, although she felt like there were more words unspoken. Explain the breathing before this gets out of hand again.

He sighed, then flicked his tail and moved all the way across the pool. “I need space from you to talk.”

“Is it that bad?”

“No, you’re too distracting. I can’t think with all...” He waved his hand up and down, dunking it into the water so he could gesture to her entire form. “All of that. It’s too much. My mind can only do so much.”

And that might have been the nicest thing that any man had ever said to her.

She blinked a few times, then moved through the water so she could brace herself against the lip of stone. There was something unnerving about treading water without knowing what was beneath her. Especially without Maketes to hold on to her.

There was plenty of space between them now, but she also leaned over the edge and yanked her shirt over her head as well. Just for good measure.

Dunking back into the water, she braced herself and then turned to look at him. “Better?”

Those heated eyes looked over her and groaned. “No. Now look at you. That shirt does nothing to hide and everything to somehow make you even more tantalizing.”

She glanced down to see that the shirt had become entirely see through. Clinging to her breasts, the fabric creating little hills and valleys along her skin that was... pretty. Was this the first time she’d ever looked at her own body and thought it was pretty?

That thought definitely needed to be unpacked later, but not right now. Even if it took the entirety of her self control to yank herself out of the water, sit down on the lip of the stone, and cross her arms over her chest. “Talk.”

“I don’t want to talk right now.”

“I do.”

“What do I get if I tell you?”

Oh, this devious man. He looked at her with all that hunger, and she wanted to promise him everything. She wanted to tell him that there was a lot more she could do and now that they weren’t only friends, she wondered if maybe she just... could tell him that.

So she tilted her head to the side and was braver than she’d ever been in her life. “If you’re good, I’ll show you what humans do with their mouths and cocks.”

“Excuse me?” His eyes had widened.

“Cocks don’t just go into pussies.” Even though at the words she spread her legs a little wider, just to get his attention. “They’re also good for sucking. You like what I did with my hands? It’s ten times better with my mouth.”

He dunked completely underwater, like he’d forgotten how to swim. One moment he was there, staring at her with an open mouth, and the next, underwater. He came up spluttering, wiping his face clear of water before opening his eyes and gaping at her again.

“What?” he said.

“You heard me. Just tell me what I want to know, and maybe I’ll entertain the idea.”

Maketes swallowed so hard she could hear it. “There are two other human pairings with my kind. Both of them realized that we have a tentacle that is seemingly there for breathing purposes. We haven’t used it in a very long time, but have realized we can connect with your species underwater. It is unnerving from what I’ve heard, but it keeps you alive. The tentacle is fairly long on its own, and seems to be a bit stretchy, so you don’t have to stay in my arms at all times.”

She could feel her eyes getting wider and wider with every word. She could breathe underwater if that thing was in her neck? She supposed the goo made sense now. The thick liquid likely made it so the tentacle couldn’t pop out easily and also made sure that there was an air-tight seal on it.

Maketes took another deep breath and kept going. “It is a permanent reconfiguration of your body. I’m sorry I didn’t ask permission. I was told that I have to ask permission before I did it. But the water was flooding the room, and you were going to die if I didn’t do it. So it seemed better to ask forgiveness later after I was certain that you were alive rather than try to mime in the water what I was doing. Besides, you passed out.”

“Oh,” she mumbled.

“Anya and Mira were both very explicit that I was not to do anything permanent to your body without asking you if it was all right for me to do so. I fully understand that there are some limitations to what you can and cannot do, and I would very much like to have you around me at all times. The breathing is likely not going to be something you enjoy very much, but it is something that I can do to keep you safe. Which is important to me. When I thought you were harmed, I didn’t know what to do with myself. That is not something I will willingly endure again, so I’m afraid I don’t feel bad about changing anything in your body without your permission.”

He took another deep breath, and she held up her hand to make him stop rambling. None of it made sense anymore.

When he froze, she said, “Thank you for explaining. I think I understand what it is now.”

He blew out the breath. “Good. Does that mean you’ll do that thing with your mouth?”

Was all of that rambling because he wanted to be extra thorough so she would give him a blow job? Maybe men really weren’t all that different, no matter what species they were.

Still, a deal was a deal. And she was more than ready to get payback for the way he’d made her see stars.

Ace licked her lips, watching as his eyes followed the movement. She could see the hunger in him, the need. All of it was nearly too much and yet she wanted to keep teasing him.

“All right,” she said with a laugh. “A promise is a promise.”

He started moving toward her right at the same time she saw something flash in the depths. It wasn’t as big as the shark, but it was something. Shrieking, she launched herself out of the water just before a tentacle reached for her foot.

Maketes coughed out a laugh, but then hissed out his own angry sound when the tentacle attached to him. “Damned squid,” he muttered, batting it away before two more tentacles latched onto his waist.

He yanked it off of him, but she noticed the red circles left behind on his belly, and the scales that had been pulled up by the sheer force of the suckers.

The long, suffering sigh that he gave preceded him rolling his gaze up toward the ceiling.

“Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll take care of the squid and then I’ll be right back.”

She rolled her lips, trying hard not to laugh. “I’ll be waiting.”