Chapter 11 #2
Before they reached the underwater cliffside, he gestured to her again — just a bit more forcefully than before — and pointed at the floor. She guessed that he had meant for her to stay put the first time. She smirked and made to move forward.
He didn’t gesture or point again. Instead, he glared at her.
Macy chuckled and moved back. “Okay, okay. I get it.”
He’d left her on the edge of a shallow drop-off.
She watched as he moved to the rocks and grass below.
Fish darted away from him, but he didn’t pay attention to any of them.
He perched himself atop one of the larger rocks, and his skin changed instantly to match the stone.
If she didn’t know any better, she might’ve thought he’d vanished; he looked like part of the rock itself.
She was hungry, but her hunger didn’t outweigh her curiosity as time passed. Jax had brought her a lot of food over the last few days, and she was eager to see how he hunted, eager to see him in action.
Little by little, the fish returned to the area around Jax. He remained so still that she almost doubted he was there.
A school of large, orange fish — gulpers, to the people of The Watch, because their mouths opened wider than their bodies — swam near the rock.
The sudden movement was too fast for Macy to fully register. Jax’s tentacles flared out, enveloping the gulpers like a large net. In a blur of frantic motion, dozens of the fish scattered in all directions, regrouping several meters away.
Jax returned to his normal coloring. For several seconds, he was a mass of writhing tentacles. Then he swam back toward her. The three bright orange fish he’d caught, each wrapped in a tentacle, were easy to spot against his dark skin.
“That was amazing!” Macy grinned at him as he neared.
Smiling, he pointed toward the cave.
She glanced back at the tunnel and bit her lip. The thought of braving the dark, narrow passage on her own sent a chill along her spine.
One problem at a time.
The open ocean had pushed her courage far enough, for now. She turned back to Jax and extended her arms. He embraced Macy without hesitation and swam into the tunnel with her.
When Sam asked if she wanted light, she declined, preferring to bask in Jax’s glow.
They exited the tunnel and broke the surface soon after.
“Sam, release the mask,” she said.
“All right. Field generator deactivated,” Sam said.
There was a soft hiss as the seal was broken.
She yanked off the mask and tugged her hood down as Jax carried her through the water.
As they reached the island’s edge, Macy tossed the mask atop the spare clothing.
She turned to Jax, threw her arms around him again, and rested her cheek on his shoulder.
“Thank you, Jax!” Lingering exhilaration thrummed through her.
She would never have thought it possible to feel that way, especially after she’d given up the sea, but this had been more than she could’ve imagined.
The guilt of her sister’s death had weighed down Macy’s heart for years.
She’d suffered stares of pity and accusation, had tormented herself with what-ifs.
Today, for the first time in so long, Macy had lived.
Because of Jax.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun. It was wonderful!” Macy lifted her head and pressed her lips to his.
Jax tensed. She only registered what she’d done when his eyes widened.
Macy quickly pulled back. “Oh.”
He searched her face, his brow drawn in confusion, and — before she realized what he meant to do — he leaned down and kissed her.
She clenched his shoulders as his mouth pressed against hers; his lips were soft and firm at once, and heat spread across her face and sparked fire in her belly.
This was what Camrin’s kiss had been missing.
This unfamiliar, unexpected, overwhelming sensation that stole the breath from her lungs.
She forgot everything around her; she and Jax may well have been the only two people in the world.
Jax’s lack of skill was meaningless, because his slightest touch sent pleasure spiraling through her.
Macy closed her eyes and gave herself to the kiss. It was a whispering caress, a soft brush of mouths, and their breath mingled as they explored one another.
Jax’s tentacles slid up her legs and over her back, rubbing gently. He drew her against him, and she felt the rapid thumping of his hearts, melding with her own heartbeat through their chests.
The prick of his claws on her hip and the graze of his teeth heightened her awareness of him; something sparked within Macy, something dark and forbidden. Liquid heat pooled between her legs, and her sex pulsated with need.
Macy opened her mouth and touched her tongue to his lips.
Jax’s entire body jolted. He pulled away abruptly, sat her on the edge of the island, and sank into the water to his shoulders.
Confused and aroused, Macy stared at him. Her lips tingled from the kiss while her skin cooled in his absence. She pressed her fingers to her mouth briefly.
“Jax?”
His eyes were large, pupils dilated, but he held her gaze. His nostrils flared. “We should tend the fish.”
“Are…are you okay?”
“Yes. Kissing is…overwhelming. It feels good, but it is…intense.” He pressed his lips together and lifted three of his tentacles out of the water. The fish writhed in his hold as he swam around the island and deposited them in the empty bucket near her shelter.
She stood on unsteady legs, only now aware of the weariness in her limbs. Their ache wasn’t as pleasant — or as dire — as the one between her legs. She pressed her thighs together, hoping to relieve it, but it only strengthened.
Macy didn’t know what had driven her to kiss Jax, but she knew things between them had changed drastically.
Jax lay on his back beside Macy, tentacles in the water, and gazed up through the cave opening.
Countless stars glittered against the deep violet of the night sky.
The fire had burned down to little more than a few spots of glowing orange Macy called embers.
It still produced pleasant warmth, and she remained nearby.
When she’d been ready to remove her suit, Jax turned around without argument; his self-control after their kiss had been tenuous enough that he didn’t trust himself to so much as think about her naked body.
The touch of her tongue against his lips had forced his shaft to extrude like he was an adolescent.
As much as he wanted her, the decision was Macy’s. When she was ready — if ever — she would make it known. Until such a time, he needed to be the master of his own body, needed to control his desires, and needed to respect her right to choose. It didn’t matter how strongly his cock throbbed.
He’d remained in the water as she cleaned and cooked the fish, waiting until long after his arousal had cooled before daring to venture close.
They’d lapsed into companionable silence.
Now, as they watched the stars, they were treated to the music of the waves outside, a song backed by the constant flow of the waterfall. Jax had spent his life underwater, and would never have guessed at the abundance of beauty above the surface.
Jax turned his head to Macy. Her skin and hair were pale in the starlight, her eyes bright with its reflection.
He couldn’t possibly have imagined the beauty of the surface world.
What would his people say about her, about his attraction to her? Would they find it unnatural, distasteful, a betrayal to their kind? Or would they understand her appeal?
The questions did not long remain on his mind; he didn’t care what they thought. Macy was his. A treasure he would keep to himself. She had given him a taste of something he’d sought for years, something he’d never discovered during his wanderings — contentment.
As though sensing his gaze, Macy looked at him and smiled. “What?”
“I have never encountered anything like you, Macy.”
She chuckled. “Because I’m human?”
He smiled; he enjoyed the sound of her laughter. “I doubt there are other humans like you.”
“Hmm…I’m not quite sure what to say to that.
I mean, there are probably plenty of people like me.
I’m nothing special.” She rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand.
Golden hair fell around her arm, and Jax longed to touch it again.
“Why are you called the Wanderer? Despite the obvious.”
“It is because of the obvious. I’ve always pushed boundaries, since I was a youngling, have always sought new places.
I had explored every accessible part of our home by my tenth year, and a few places thought to be sealed forever.
The adults attempted to break my curiosity, but they never could.
Once I was an adult, I set out on my own, farther than the others would dare, because I had to know what was out there.
I couldn’t confine myself to my den and do nothing between hunts. ”
“Are there others like you?”
Jax shook his head. Arkon understood, but his calling was different, his urge to explore focused within himself rather than on the enormity of the sea. “That is why I am the Wanderer. Kraken venture out to hunt, sometimes quite far, but always in groups, and always to places they know.”
“Do they still try to stop you?”
“They see no point in it, anymore. So long as I contribute as I can, they are content to allow me my strange behavior. I am an accomplished enough hunter that most of them show me respect, regardless.”
“How often do you need to contribute? You’ve been here for a while…are they going to wonder where you are?”
“If a hunt is called when I am there, I go along.”
Except for the last one…
“Some might wonder where I am,” he continued, “but they know well enough by now…I will return when I do, and if I do not return, it is because I am dead. Some would think me deserving of it for my foolishness.”
She frowned. “Do you have any friends? Anyone who would worry?”
“Yes. There is one.”