But then again, he had no idea how to court one of her kind. She seemed to always take the lead in that.
Her breathing shifted, changing a bit until he thought perhaps she was awake. Then he knew she was, because her fingers moved along his arms, gently feeling over the spines hidden near his elbow.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice a little hoarse with sleep. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep on top of you all night. You must be so uncomfortable.”
He was, but not in the way she thought.
Clearing his throat, he forced his hands to release their hold on the pale dress she wore as she slowly sat up. And then she was straddling him, arching up with her legs on either side of his hips and her arms over her head. She took his breath away. Even with sea wrinkled clothes and hair that tangled around her face, those lovely breasts lifted with her movement and the sun played across her pale skin. He wanted to taste her. Touch her. Linger in all the places that he couldn’t touch because he knew such touches risked her life.
He just wanted to keep her. He wanted to live the rest of his life with her and his brothers had been a wake up call that he hadn’t ever wanted. So for now, he would live in a dream with her. A fairytale where she was his, and he was hers and the rest of the world didn’t matter.
She glanced down at him and her eyes widened. “Arges, your lips are cracking.”
“Probably.”
“Why are they cracking?”
“My people were not made to be out of the water for such a long time. I’m sure my skin is drying out and my scales will probably crack as well.” He lifted his tail, letting it thump onto the ground behind her. “My fins will rip eventually as well.”
He’d never seen her move so quickly. She bolted upright and ran for the handle that opened the moon pool. With a frantic slap of her hands, she opened it and then ran back to him. He let her draw his tail about, helping her move the heavier weight when he thought she needed the help. She didn’t notice, at least, grunting and shoving until his fluke hit the water with a slap and half of his body was dragged in after it.
He sat up, amused at her antics.
“Why are you smiling?” she grumbled. “You’re going to shrivel up like a raisin!”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s not good.” She shoved at his shoulders, trying to push him into the water. “Go.”
He caught her wrist, dragging her closer to him. “What if I don’t want to?”
“I don’t care what you want to do! You’re getting in the water.”
Mira shoved at him again, and it took everything in him to not laugh. She was so tiny and her shoves felt like a little fish butting against him, trying to get him to move. Still holding onto her wrist, he reeled her into him.
She hit his chest with a soft “oof,” before he tugged her back onto her knees beside him. She knelt there, staring into his eyes with so much worry.
“Kairos,” he murmured, gently dragging his finger down her cheek.
She interrupted him. “You’ve called me that for a long time. What does it mean? My translator doesn’t know what to do with that one.”
“It is a word with many meanings,” he replied. His throat closed a bit, knowing he was about to reveal maybe too much. “For us, it is a fleeting but crucial moment. An ephemeral rightness of time and place. A moment that brings you to where you were supposed to be.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and he hated seeing that saltwater in her eyes. “Arges… You really need to get into the water. You’re going to hurt yourself worse.”
“You make my hearts bleed when you worry like that.”
“Hearts?”
“I have two.” Arges brought her hand to first one, then the other. “One beats for my people, and it will never stop beating for them. But the other beats for you, Mira. I’m sorry it took me such a long time to realize that.”
Her lips parted, and her gaze was locked on her hand touching his chest. She spread her fingers, and that touch seared through him. “I have a feeling I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say.”
“My brothers want me to return you to your city or kill you.” He covered her hand with his own, holding her tight against him. “But I have no intention of letting you go, Mira. You have captured my heart, stolen it just as you have my attention and my time. I cannot let you go. I would be denying my heart the reason it beats.”
That pale face turned toward him and he couldn’t help himself. She had called it a kiss, and it sounded so important to her. So he cupped the back of her head and drew her closer to him.
This time, he kissed her. He pressed their lips together, gently tasting her and teasing her lips to soften. He’d never known how wonderful this would feel. And yet, the achromos were right about something.
This kissing made him want her even more. It made him want something that he knew he should not have, but that he would steal for a few moments, if only to experience it with her.
He devoured her mouth, nipping at her lips with his sharper teeth and trying to coax her to open her mouth so he could taste her tongue. And when she did, oh, it made his entire body ache. His gills fluttered, the scales along his cock shifting. He was so close to extruding right out and then she would realize how incredibly different they likely were.
“You have to get into the water,” she murmured against his mouth, her fingers digging into his chest. “You can’t dry out. Especially not... If you...”
Did she want to continue this? He certainly did. He didn’t want to let go of her, nor did he want to find out what would happen if he did. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Into the water.” Where else would he be asking her to go? He drew back enough to see that her eyes had drifted shut, and she weaved toward him when he pulled away. “Come into the water with me again, kairos.”
“Kairos. That’s what you always call me.” She looked up at him in awe. “You’ve called me that for ages now. Surely you haven’t known—”
He raked his claws through her hair, using them to tug her head back so she had to look at him. “I will call you whatever I wish, Mira. Kairos. achromo. Mine.”
He snarled the last word, every inch another creature that should have terrified her and yet, she looked at him with only more lust in her eyes. She wanted him.
It threw him off what he normally wouldn’t have done. With any of his people, he would have bitten her neck. Marked her. Torn into flesh, and waited for her to do the same to him. She would have already marked him with her spines or claws. But their females were so much larger than the males. She was so tiny, and he wasn’t sure they would even fit.
They would. He was certain of it. They were made for each other, just as the sea gods had intended. If it took a little work to fit them together, then they would figure it out.
But then again, he had to figure out how to even get them to fit.
Leaning to the side, he hooked her device with his claw and held it out to her. “Come with me, Mira. I have many questions that I need answered.”
“Wouldn’t talking up here be a little easier?”
“I don’t intend to talk.” His gills quivered again, and he let his eyes wander down her body before meeting her gaze. “Make your decision, Mira.”
Maybe he was pushing too hard. Maybe this would overwhelm her, but she looked at him like she wanted this. Like she wanted him. When he slipped back into the water, she didn’t hesitate. She pulled the device from his grip, yanked it on over her head, and followed him into the water.