Echoes of the Tide (Deep Waters #3)

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

T he depth of fear he felt when she wasn’t in front of him was nearly paralyzing. If she were any other female, he wouldn’t have been so terrified. The women of his kind were stronger than the males. He would be able to leave without fearing that someone else would kill her. He would be able to head out into the sea, hunting for her food, knowing that she would be safe.

But now, all he could think when he left her side was that someone else could kill her and he wouldn’t even know until he came back and tasted her blood in the water. How did Arges and Daios do this? They were larger than him by far, significantly more capable of protecting their women.

It didn’t matter that he’d already killed for her. None of those memories gave him the slightest amount of peace when he knew, without a fraction of a doubt, that time away from her was time when someone else could finish the job.

He’d just gotten enough fish to feed her before turning back to the city. There was a pit in his stomach. The fish weren’t enough. They were small, not impressive, and she would see what a meager offering it was. He should have fought a giant tuna or swordfish for her. Bringing back a fish the size of his hands would only whet her appetite.

But then again, she was very small. Perhaps she wouldn’t notice the difference.

He went back to the place where they were supposed to meet, finding her already waiting for him there. He could see her even before he broke the surface of the water. Her pretty brown hair puffed around her head, a little tangled now that she’d been in the sea for so long. But he liked that about her. There was a certain level of wildness in knowing that he had a part in tangling that hair.

Ace leaned against the side of the opening, staring down into the water like she’d been waiting for him for a while. He lifted his head into the air, a frown already on his face as he held the fish out to her. “I brought you food.”

“We need to go to the most dangerous building in Gamma.”

Well, his little kefi had never been very good at preparing him for the insane things she was about to say. He swallowed hard, trying to roll the words over in his mind.

“What?” he blurted out, setting the fish on the floor beside her. “Why would we go there?”

“They stole the key.”

“I thought the key was supposed to be here.”

“It was supposed to be here, but the security system picked up that another gang has it. I don’t think they know what it is, or maybe they do. If they do, then that’s a bigger problem neither of us is going to fix easily.” She made grabbing motions with her hands. “Let’s go.”

He used his hip fins to nudge him out of her grabbing reach. “You need to eat.”

“I need to save my sister.”

“Yes, you do need to do that. But you can’t save her if you work yourself to death. We will go to this...” He took a deep breath, reminding himself that whatever he said to her was a promise. He couldn’t tell her they would do something and then go back on it. “Dangerous place. We will go there. But first, you need water, food, and to rest.”

“I already drank some from the wells here.” She pointed behind her. “That’s good enough.”

“It’s not,” he hissed. “You have to take care of yourself, Ace, or you cannot take care of anyone else.”

His words seemed to sink in. Her face turned a little ashen, and it was almost as though she’d heard those words before. Because, almost too stiffly, she nodded and then gathered the fish in her arms. “Not here, then. This building is going to collapse at any moment.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know where is safe here.”

He did. Or at least, he knew where there was enough safety that they could be alone for a few moments. Enough for her to eat. To rest without someone breathing down the back of her neck.

It was a small outpost that was part of the tower, but it had been closed off to the others for a very long time now. He suspected it was a control tower once. There were more in the other cities that floated off at a distance from the main building. He remembered that there were achromos in them, sometimes. Not often, but enough that he had seen them moving around like a small school of fish.

This one had twin bridges that connected it to the other towers, but they’d been broken long ago. So it was just a single pod, floating out in the ocean with flickering lights that sometimes turned on, and then turned off for long periods.

He swam up into it with her in his arms, breaking open what looked like an emergency hatch and then following her up into the cool room.

Maketes hadn’t expected it to be quite so cold. But apparently his little kefi had. She reached for Tera, water drops splattering out of her pocket as the droid hit the ground and rolled toward the controls.

“The heat’s always the first thing to go,” Ace muttered, her breath fogging in front of her face. “It’s all right. It’ll warm up soon enough.”

“We can eat in the meantime.” He gestured to the fish that she still clutched in her arms. “That should be enough to sustain you, should it not?”

There were about fifteen fish in her arms, which she looked over before her jaw dropped open. “I can eat maybe two.”

“Two?” he frowned. “That’s not nearly enough. I have to insist that you eat more than that.”

“I quite literally can’t.”

“You will eat more.”

“Maketes, if I eat more than two, I’m just going to throw it back up.” She selected her two fish and then shoved the rest toward him. “Here. These are yours.”

He took them, but he wasn’t happy about it. If she wanted him to feast with her, he would. But it felt like a rejection of everything he had done. Everything he was offering.

He’d already stolen her. That much was complete. But now he was giving her food, and she didn’t want all of it. He’d never known that to be something that happened. What did it mean? What was he meant to do when a female accepted some of his offering, but not all of it?

A little off kilter, he picked up one of the fish and swallowed it whole. Though eating them was lackluster now that they were no longer wriggling.

And then he realized she was staring at him. Her jaw had hinged open, and he was certain that was surprise, not that she was still hungry and wanted more fish to put into her mouth.

“What?” he asked.

“You just... swallowed it.”

He wiped his face, making sure there weren’t any scales left on his mouth, but that wasn’t why she was looking at him. Frowning, he watched her a little more closely. He hadn’t surveyed her while she was eating what he’d brought her before. Mostly because he considered it rude and because they hadn’t eaten in front of each other regularly.

“How do you eat it?” he asked.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a capped scalpel. The same little blade had cut through her enemies. But this time, Ace used it to slice into the fish. She gutted it, wasting all the good parts by washing them into the open water, and then slowly... flayed the skin off as well.

He bared his teeth in horror as he watched her then slice flesh from the naked body and then put that raw piece into her mouth.

“You’re ruining all the best parts,” he muttered. “That’s how you eat them?”

“I’m shocked you’re swallowing bone.”

They stared at each other in disgust for a few more moments before they both started to chuckle. He waved up and down her body with a laugh. “I forget so easily that you’re...”

“And I forget you are...”

That stare turned heated. He could see the desire in her eyes right before she looked away. Like the thought of him being different had made her...

No, that wasn’t possible. But wasn’t that also how he’d seen it last time? It was like she found him more attractive when he was just himself. As different as that was. As strange as it must be to her.

His kefi was more interested in moments like this. Small moments where they were together. She didn’t care if he was big or terrifying, nor did she care if he could provide for her. She just wanted quiet memories between the two of them, and for him to make her laugh.

Fuck. How was he supposed to deny her when she saw so much more of him than he’d ever dreamt any female could?

Sighing, he put the fish down and watched her eat. It should have made her uncomfortable, but he could see her doing the same motion she’d done before. Pressing those thick thighs against each other as though she could hold herself together just through sheer will.

By the time she’d finished eating, the heating unit had turned on. Tera was still doing something with the control panel, but he could feel the warm air billowing into the room. Perfect. Because what he had planned to do would require her to be warm.

“Ace?” he finally said, watching as she washed her hands off in the emergency hatch opening.

“Yes?”

“Come here.”

A shudder danced through her, and he could see all those little bumps rise on her skin again. But she turned toward him, heat in her eyes and her breath coming quicker. “Why?”

“You know why.”

“Tell me anyway.” She sauntered toward him, a confidence in her hips that he hadn’t seen before. Then she placed her fingers on his shoulders, dancing up to the fins on his throat.

He arched into her touch, already hard behind the scales that kept him safe from her gaze. “You made a promise, didn’t you?”

“Oh, and you think you deserve to have that promise fulfilled?”

He’d saved her life multiple times, so he thought maybe he did. But he didn’t want to ruin this moment. Not when he knew that it was so tenuous and he wanted this to happen so dearly. So he arched into her touch, leaning back against the equipment that dug into his spine.

He hit something that made all the lights turn out in the room. Blinking in the darkness, he watched her lean around him, set her glasses on the back of the console, and hit another button. Instead of the blinding lights overhead, the only light that came on was the red emergency light. It bathed her body in sensuous colors as she placed her feet on either side of his tail.

Gills already fluttering, he watched as she sank onto her knees. The heat of her pressed against his tail and he nearly lost his mind, but it was more than that. It was her hungry gaze on his chest, the way her hands slid down the planes of muscles and teased his abs until they flexed against her touch. It was the way she leaned down and her hot breath skated over his chilled flesh.

“Breathe,” she whispered against his skin, pressing kisses down his torso in a way that made it hard to see.

Breathe? He couldn’t think about breathing when her hands were everywhere. Nor when those talented little fingers brushed against his gills along his ribs and made the world go black.

“Maketes,” she whispered, and he had to open his eyes at that sultry siren song. And he was treated to the best view he’d ever had in his life.

She had her belly against his tail, that glorious ass perked up in the air. All he could see was the round swells of it, the beauty of those globes that already had his mouth watering. The softness of her breasts pressed against him, and he could see how they were also pressed up higher. Her hands were stroking the scales of his tail, not quite in the right spot, but close.

“I know you have two,” she murmured. “Can I please see them this time?”

See them?

Right, she wanted... Fuck.

He swallowed hard and released the tension of the muscles that held his cocks in. They extruded, already glistening with pre-cum and pure need. He’d thought maybe it would startle her, but instead, her eyes only widened. That was it.

Her hand came around the top one. He bucked against her firm grip, a low hiss escaping him as he slid into her grip. It was beyond what he had ever experienced. Her fingers were so tight. The pressure that built just from that single touch was beyond what he had ever felt by himself.

“Easy,” she murmured, her breath fanning over the tip. “We’re just getting started.”

And then she swirled her tongue around him.

He saw stars. Back arching, hands grabbing at nothing, stars that only got even more powerful as she drew him into her mouth. That wicked tongue kept moving, swirling around him and then flattening along the base. She sucked harder than her fingers had grabbed him, drawing him deeper down her throat until he was certain this would be the death of him.

He’d never known things could feel this good. He hadn’t even realized that part of his body could feel this good. The females from his kind were so incredibly rough, and this was not that.

This was delicate. Soft. The warmth of her mouth was a stark contrast to how cold he usually was and already he felt like he was going to explode. Everything in him tightened, drawing up as though he was already going to come, but it was too soon for that. He wanted to feel her on him more. He wanted to sink deeper into that heat.

Rolling his tail, he drew her up until she was balanced so that he had access to her. He could already smell her. That warm, earthy scent slicked between her thighs. With a single movement, he drew her pants off her legs, though they still dangled off one of her ankles. She braced herself with one hand against his stomach, the other now wrapped around his bottom cock as she worked them both.

Her mouth popped free from the top one, the sound echoing in the small room before she dove for the other. He wasn’t even sure she was breathing, but did it matter? Did anything matter?

Her soft core clenched before him and that was all he needed as an invitation. He had to do something. He had to keep himself busy or he would end this before it even started.

Maketes turned her so her back pressed against his tail, and then plunged his tongue into her depths. He slid the ridges along her inside walls, pressed the base of those bumps against the little button that had made her cry out last time. And then he mimicked what she was doing.

The taste of her exploded on his tongue. Warm and earthy and so much her that he realized this was a terrible idea. He wouldn’t last like this. Not now that she was whimpering around his cock, tiny shudders moving throughout her entire form every time he withdrew his tongue, only to sink it even deeper inside of her.

Now her hand worked faster, tighter, switching between each of his cocks as she sucked even harder. He could feel himself tightening again, and knew he was about to lose control. So he worked her harder as well. Faster. Together, they drew each other to the limit and just when he was certain he would fall first, she clenched around him.

The slight scream that echoed through her throat vibrated through his cocks as well. With a low grunt that should have been a curse, he came so hard he thought he pulled a muscle in his back, hunched over her as he was.

But she drank it all down. Swallowing every single drop he gave her. He drew away from her, leaning back against the consoles again, and stared down his glistening body to see her lick his second cock clean as well.

Her loose legs were still wrapped around him, but now he could feel how drenched he’d left her. His scales would smell like her for days after this.

She sat up slowly, rubbing herself on him, and she shifted to sit on his lap. At his look, she licked her lips and grabbed her glasses from the console beside him. “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”

Red light had turned her into a sultry witch of the sea. He reached out and traced her bottom lip, watching the movement with pure rapture in his head. “Kefi, there are no words.”

“Is that a good thing?”

He tugged her against his hearts, holding her tightly against him as they both sank toward sleep. “Yes, kefi. For a male who won’t shut up like myself, I think that’s a very good thing.”