She hated it. She didn’t want to die, but she wanted him to look at her even less. He didn’t get to... stare. He didn’t. Every fiber of her being wanted to hit him, fight him, grab that stupid welder he’d given her, and melt off a couple of those damn scales.
Maybe she was just mad because her feelings were less real than they had been only moments before. He’d stolen that rare, wondrous feeling he’d caused in the hot springs. Now, she just felt used.
And she was so damned tired of it.
“There’s nothing we can do for each other, Arges,” she added, her breath ragged and her voice catching in her throat. “So just end it.”
Before she could take another breath, the undine before her was surging out of the water with his claws outstretched for her throat.
Twenty-Four
Arges
He should break her.
Shatter her.
Let her blood drip into the water and bring the animals that would devour her body so he could forget this had ever happened. Mitéra would understand. She would know the truth when he said it was an impossible task, that he had failed and he would take the punishment that came after.
The achromos were destructive in everything that they touched. They were impossible to tame, and as such, there was no way for him to get information out of her. It was the achromo’s fault that he had failed his people. But soon enough, the People of Water would forget. He would get his pod back from his brother, and he would lead them to attack her people with even more fervor.
All it would take was one slash of his claws, and she would be dead. The life dimming from her eyes as he dragged his nails along that long, beautiful neck.
But his gaze lingered on that neck instead. Arges couldn’t stop staring at it even as he tackled her to the ground, forcing her to submit beneath him. He wanted to scare her. He wanted her to realize that tempting one of his kind would only lead to madness and ruin. And yet...
Ah, and yet she was so lovely. So pretty. An otherworldly creature who had somehow captivated his mind, body, and soul. He couldn’t harm a hair on her head, and it killed him that he’d already done so. She deserved so much better than this. Than him.
His mind came back to the present, and he realized their position was a rather compromising one. He’d laid out between her legs, where her heat pressed against his scales. Her hands were caught in one of his, held over her head with a webbed grip that looked so luxurious against her pale flesh. And those eyes... Oh, her eyes spat fire just as the humans’ weapons did.
Arges had never seen such a beautiful woman. He’d never known someone to meet him head on, no matter what he did. She did not fear him, and that was intoxicating.
Though still glaring at him, she didn’t move as he dragged his free hand down her throat. Tiny bumps rose on her skin. Captivating, although he had a feeling it might be a fear response.
Good, she should fear him.
But then she tilted her head to the side, baring more of that lovely neck until he reached the prominent muscles of her shoulders. And still, his fingers caught on the blanket and he thought, “I could tear this off her.”
He would then finally see what an achromo looked like underneath all those layers that they hid beneath. Even more than that, he could see what she looked like.
His skin still tingled as he remembered their moments near the hot springs. He could still feel the sensation of her skin against the back of his hands, dragging as she shifted and moved. It was... More than he’d expected. Even now, the thoughts were tempting.
Hissing in a long, deep breath, he told himself that there was no place for thoughts like this. She was pinned beneath him, likely terrified, and yet he pressed himself harder against her. The strong muscles of her legs surrounded his hips, and he’d thought this would disgust him, but instead it... intrigued him.
Those delicate arms lifted above her head, and those big eyes that stared at him with so much determination. How was he supposed to function normally when all he wanted was to press their lips together? To do what he had seen achromos do a hundred times, but his people had no reference for it?
“Why do your kind touch mouths?” he asked, knowing that she had no idea what he was talking about. “I always saw it through the glass and wondered why you were doing it. Was it to pass food between the two of you? It disgusted me. But now I find myself looking at you, and I am curious what your people were doing.”
She almost... reacted to his words? He couldn’t really tell. Her pupils dilated until he stared into a black-eyed gaze, and he thought she shifted a little closer to him. It was a strange reaction from a woman who could not understand him.
Did it matter, though? He was already so deep into this that he couldn’t remember what he had planned before. He didn’t even notice that he’d rocked against her, pressing them a little closer as he got dangerously close to showing her everything that his people hid underneath their scales. Already he could feel his cock pressing against the backs of the armored plates, wanting to release and take her.
He hadn’t taken a woman in ages. He hadn’t felt the bite of their claws or the gnashing of their teeth. Mating for his people was not a kind event. The male frequently left the interaction with scars that he’d carry with him for the rest of his life.
Still, he had to wonder if the experience would be similar with an achromo. She was too delicate to damage his hardened scales, and his tail was so far out of her reach that she wouldn’t be able to lock him in place. Those tiny nails on her hands would impede her and barely break through his skin on his back. And she had no fangs or sharpened teeth in the slightest.
He wondered how they protected themselves. But he would not complain about needing to protect her, because for some strange reason, it made him feel rather powerful.
Arges tightened his grip on her blanket as he stared into her eyes. He swore there was acceptance in that gaze, maybe even need. She wanted him to tug it down a little farther. She wanted him to see her, and perhaps find himself captivated even more by what he found there. Was she this pale all over her body? Were there really no scales to protect her?
But then a loud clunking noise made him freeze, and her stupid little robot dragged itself closer to them.
“Mira?” it asked, those strange metallic eyes blinking. “Are you well?”
She turned her head toward the robot, and he swore she was a little breathless. “I’m fine, Byte. He’s not going to hurt me.”
Or maybe he would. Their bodies were clearly not compatible, and he was considering doing the impossible. Fitting them together might hurt her more than she thought.
The little robot clunked again, clicking a few times like a dolphin before it muttered, “Should scan. Something is wrong.”
He returned his attention to the woman beneath him. Something was wrong with her? Perhaps her cheeks were a little pale, but that wasn’t surprising, considering he had her pinned to the ground underneath him. She wasn’t shaking or vomiting or spewing anything out of her orifices, so surely she was all right?
But then she made a slight coughing noise, almost clearing her throat, but he heard the rattle in it. Perhaps that was what the robot had heard as well. The rattle, the strange sound that erupted from her lungs when she spoke. He only sounded like that when he was trying to clear the fluid out of his second set of lungs so he could breathe on land.
Mira didn’t have another set of lungs for underneath the water. He should have known something would go wrong after he’d kept her underneath the surface for such a long time.