Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Proteus
Proteus had lived for centuries. He had seen cities built and fall, watched the world end and start anew. He had fought with krakens, massive sharks, and had argued with the ancients themselves. He was a god of the sea and had thought he had seen every part of what life could offer.
He had never experienced the blistering heat he felt after she licked his cock.
The world tilted. Shifted. Suddenly it wasn't just what pain he could bring or what madness he could inflict. A world opened up that was just him and her. Doing this until they both couldn't anymore or until they died.
His hips arched toward her, as though his body knew what to do while his mind did not. It was a good thing that there was some semblance of nature to this, because if he was left to his own devices, he thought his mind might fracture and he'd freeze.
Ellie's tiny lips wrapped around the tip of his cock. The softness of her tongue swirled around the head, tasting him as his tentacles tasted her.
Loops of his hip tentacles had wrapped around her.
Latching her onto him, forcing her to remain where he wanted her as they worked through her folds as though they were made to do so.
His body was a foreign creature. He allowed it to continue only because he wasn't sure how to stop it. Or if he even wanted to.
A low vibration rocked through his cock as she hummed. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever suffered before.
"You taste like saltwater," she whispered, laving her tongue down the side of his cock and then grasping the second with both of her hands.
She tasted like the end of all things. Like ruination and an awakening that he could not stop.
He wanted to devour her whole. Already he could feel his jaw unhinging, and his throat opening up as though his body wanted to swallow her.
But no, it wouldn't. He wouldn't. He knew damn well that no part of him wanted to hurt her.
So he was not all that surprised when instinct had him curving up, using all of his abdominal muscles that he had spent centuries building so that he could feast upon her flesh while she worked on his as well.
His tongue slid up the inside of her leg, catching a few drips of heaven that had leaked out of her. And then he plunged his tongue into her depths.
He listened to the music of her moans. Tried to focus beyond the sudden suction and friction as she started to pump her hands up and down his cocks. There was no thought, only feeling. Knowing that she was here. He was here. They were together, and that something like this couldn't end so soon.
But Proteus had never done this before. He hadn't even realized that his body could produce the cocks that she now used to her own devices. All of this came to an end far sooner than he wished it to. His hips jerked again, and suddenly he couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.
Thunderous pleasure, aching need, all of it struck him at the same time. He was suddenly slammed with what felt like the best and worst experience of his life.
He came hard. Probably too hard. He wasn't truly paying attention when she reared back from him and then moaned again as apparently his tentacles started rioting against her skin because they too experienced a sensation that they had never once indulged in before.
His entire form seemed to seize until sudden, wondrous relaxation turned all the muscles of his body to liquid.
Ellie gave a moan of her own, the sound alerting him that, thankfully, his tentacles had done their job right and she, too, had enjoyed this experience.
Limply, he moved his arms. Gently turning her so that her head could rest against his chest while he played with the strands of her drying hair. How strange it was, not even to think about someone attacking them.
He couldn't even if he tried. All of his thoughts were of her. This woman who had brought light and life into his life, even as he desperately attempted to destroy much of what she valued. She'd played along with his game, and then she'd turned him inside out.
Still breathing hard, he glanced down to see that her hair was nearly dry already. The silken strands clung to his fingers and claws, holding on as though even that part of her body wanted to cling to him as well.
He'd let her. He'd let her hold him for the rest of her life. Proteus would consider himself a lucky man if that were the case.
She stirred against his chest, her breath fanning over his overheated flesh. "You're always so warm."
That's what she had to say? After what they had done?
He chuckled, the sound reverberating through his chest. Then he tried to reply, saying something along the lines of, "Not many sea creatures are warm," only to realize that his mouth was still open.
Not just his jaw, but the entirety of it. All of his teeth were still bared, his throat was completely exposed to the world. She was lying against him, knowing that this beast with a throat full of teeth had yet to close his damn mouth.
He used his free hand to put himself back together. The body that he was stuck in fought against him. Apparently it wished to air out the teeth that had closed upon her hips once again. He could smell the metallic scent of her blood in the air, and it infuriated him that he had been so careless.
But she didn't complain. Of course she didn't. Ellie never complained about anything.
She just sighed and snuggled her face into his neck once his mouth was completely closed, and Proteus realized he had never felt more whole than he did right now. With her snuggled into him, he felt like the god so many had called him for so many years.
This was where he was supposed to be. This was where his life had been leading him.
All those centuries of pain. All that torment. All the years hidden in that coffin deep within the sea, all of it had been worth it to bring him to this moment, here and now, with her.
Breathing in her warm scent, he relaxed against the floor and allowed his eyes to close.
When was the last time he'd slept? He couldn't even remember.
He knew that he didn't need that much sleep.
Perhaps he had never slept in his life. But right now, he was so relaxed that he felt like he could rest. Even for a few moments.
Proteus didn't know how long he had been out.
All he knew was that he woke to her shifting on top of him.
The smooth weight of her thigh slid across his belly, and her arm tightened around his ribs where she'd been holding him all night.
Her face nuzzled closer to his neck, and he swore she inhaled his scent before another sigh blew across his chest.
"Proteus?" she asked, her voice a quiet rasp of sleep. "Are you awake?"
"I am now."
"How long have we been sleeping?"
He rubbed a hand up and down her back, arching his neck to look out the window. The storm had passed, and that usually took hours. But he couldn't hazard a guess to answer her question.
There was almost no light left in the temple. He thought perhaps that was a lack of sun. The building seemed to mimic what time of day it was outside, at least the few times he'd been here. Which meant it must be nighttime, or nearly that.
"I think it's the evening," he murmured, his fingers finding knots in her back and slowly working them out.
"Should we be getting back?"
"They'll be fine on their own."
And in truth, they would. It made him a little angry that they didn't need her, because he found himself needing her a bit more every day. But they would continue the work without Proteus or Ellie being there to watch over them.
"All right," she whispered. She wriggled a bit closer to him and shivered. "It's colder in here now, isn't it?"
He wouldn't know. The icy depths of the sea made any temperature warmer for him than it was for her.
Proteus drew his massive fluke up over her like a blanket, checking to be sure it was completely dry before laying it over her body. She tucked the edges in around herself, making a happy little moan as the heat of his body rushed over her form.
"You feel like velvet," she said with another happy sound. "So soft when you're dry."
Proteus swallowed. "What we did... You enjoyed it?"
"Just like the first time."
"Good."
An awkward silence settled between them. They hadn't even had sex, and he found himself not knowing what to say to her. Proteus feared that if he opened his mouth, he would start spouting off things that he couldn't believe he would say.
Like asking her to stay with him forever.
Telling her that she was as much a part of his soul as his own body.
Whispering that he never wanted another woman in his life after knowing her.
She leaned up, bracing her arms on his chest and staring down into his eyes.
He almost didn't pay attention to what she was saying.
Her hair was sticking out at all angles, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
But she had never looked more beautiful than she did at this moment.
Even if she should rub her eyes to get the crusties out of them.
"What?" he asked, realizing she was looking down at him with expectation.
"Oh, you weren't listening."
"No, I—” he brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes, merely as an excuse to touch her cheek. "I wasn't."
Those cheeks burned a deep, dark red that was so adorable. She couldn't seem to even look at him before she glanced away and then whispered, "It's strange waking up with you like this. I think I like it."
"If we could do this every day, what would life look like?" He wanted to know. He wanted to crawl inside her head and know exactly what she dreamt of.
She shook her head with a small smile. "We'd wake up like this and go on some adventure. Perhaps you'd show me another coral reef or... you could introduce me to the sharks."
"Sharks aren't very friendly."
"Oh, well what about other animals?"
"Dolphins are curious. Manta rays would be my choice, though.
They're eighteen feet long, and they seem to fly through the water.
Sometimes they're hunting, so they're busy and they will ignore you.
But other times they're playful. They want to swim up to you and then dart upwards, but it's like they're dancing with you.
They'll do it for hours until they grow bored with you and move on to the next journey. "
"That sounds lovely." Her eyes were full of wonder, and he swore he could see the picture he'd painted in her gaze. "Then what? We'd play with the mantas and then..."
"Well, you'd be hungry."
"Of course. And the only way you'd know how to feed me would be to raid an old human settlement. Because you know without question that I don't like eating raw food and I prefer the slop, as you call it." Ellie laughed at her own joke, and he couldn't help but laugh with her.
She dropped back down onto his chest, curling up against his skin like it was the most natural thing on the planet to do. He held her close to him. Listened to the sound of her heart beating so steadily, so sure. And he knew from this moment on, everything was going to change.
He would do anything to keep her by his side, no matter what.
As Proteus tilted his head back, he stared at the ceiling. There were etchings in the gold there. He didn't think Ellie had noticed, or she would have brought it up. But there were serpents and gods who mated with them. Creatures from the minds of the humans who had worshipped here.
It had been a temple of fanatics. He'd avoided those who had worshipped the sun god in the end.
They were the ones who had unfortunately thought the rising temperatures of the world were a blessing from gods who thought the humans could take it.
Or that they would become creatures that could manage the heat.
They'd been wrong, of course. And they had died like the rest of them.
His gaze turned instead to the sea. The cold, endless sea that had survived the chaos of the world above.
He could see the kraken as it waited for prey to come near it, and the shadows of the water as night fell above.
He swore there was another shadow nearer to them, something that was vaguely familiar. But then it darted away.
Such a thing must have been a figment of his imagination. No one knew they were here. No one but him and her.
Gathering Ellie a little closer to his body, he breathed in her scent once more before squeezing her tightly. "There's more I wanted you to see here. It wasn't meant to be all pleasure, you know."
"I thought you said this was a gift?"
"Ah, I can give you a gift and then want something in return, can I not?"
She stuck out her tongue and blew air at him. The strange expression made him laugh, even as he helped her stand up. "Come on now, Sisu. What's an adventure without a discovery?"
"And what discovery is that?"
"Get dressed and I will show you. This facility used to be so much more than just a temple. The people who were here kept a close eye on the surface. I think it's important for us to be able to do the same."
He rolled onto his belly, watching as she pulled the wetsuit back on.
It was a slow process, and she continued to make these little grunting noises that made his chest ache with how cute they were.
She was struggling to get it on, but he didn't offer to help.
Instead, he watched as the angles of her struggle showed him parts of her body that he hadn't seen yet.
The power of her abs as she arched into it. The shape of her shoulders as she tugged on the tense fabric. The column of her throat as she swept her hair out of the way so she could zip up the rest of the suit.
All of these were details he burned into his memory, so he would never forget a single one of them.
And when she was finished, he asked, "Ready?"
"Ready. What other adventures do you have to show me?"