Chapter 12
Amaelstrom ignited above him.
Violet light.
An explosion that sent Nyx tumbling backward through the layers he'd fought with everything he had to breach.
Dazed, scales ruffled by the aftershocks, he blinked in the haze.
He was… blind.
Just for a moment.
The scent of ozone was heavy in his gills. Cloying. Sharp and acrid. An overwhelming stench that reeked of Kore's bright flavor.
But when his vision returned to him on a blink, Nyx could not make sense of the carnage wrought before him.
Thalos.
Limp.
Sinking as he spiralled away from Kore. Cymareth clenched in rigid fingers, as if he couldn't let go, for the Shallow King's eyes were wrenched wide open. Unseeing.
And his scales…
They danced with the violet arcs of… of electricity.
Heart in his throat, Nyx flexed his tail, shifting. Trying to see, if she—
She was there.
Suspended in a murky, violet haze.
Kore.
Floating in her watery prison, skin alight and crackling with the residual fingerprints of what she'd done. Those veins of lavender light pulsed beneath her scales.
Nyx moved.
No thought.
Absent any whisper of strategy.
Nothing but a seething mass of pure, unfiltered instinct.
Desperate, ignoring the way the black waters tore at his body. Heedless of the invisible walls peeling his scales off in ribbons or the membranes that were shredded as he moved without finesse, Nyx closed the gap.
Gasping.
Gills flaring as he strained to draw enough oxygen into blood already toxic with nitrogen bubbles. Rising too fast. His ascent violent and sloppy in a way he hadn't been, even when he'd thought she'd escaped.
He couldn't feel the blistering agony.
There was only her.
A chance to claim her.
Shoving great swathes of water aside, he heaved his fluke. Once… twice…
Almost. Nearly close enough to touch her. To claim victory when it had seemed all but certain he'd already lost.
His precious living flame.
Movement flickered in his peripherals.
Thalos—dazed, but recovering. Moving with that terrible grace.
Their eyes met. Just for a moment. And then, with a frigid rage and brewing clarity, Cymareth ignited in Thalos’ fist as the Shallow King cut the water with a speed that sent a chill through Nyxarion's blood.
The promise of death.
But it was too late.
Crashing through the wall of her prison, Nyxarion swept his bride into his arms. His claws locking around her delicate limbs. Cradling what he could so easily crush, Nyxarion shielded her from the current as the Gauntlet collapsed all around them.
A chime sounded in the deep.
Victory.
"Mine," he crooned, delighting in the electric pulse that kissed his shredded fins. "All mine. My precious, glorious girl." This delicate creature had defeated Thalos on the cusp of devastation.
Body still crackling with the extraordinary shimmer of pure, raw power, Nyxarion held her close to his chest. Marvelling at the lattice of veins pulsing in patterns he'd never seen on any creature of the Deep.
Flashing in sync with her racing heart, her blood was visible as it rushed through her veins.
The hollow between each rib glowing with an internal light that left no question about where such fire had come from. It echoed in the curve of her throat. The dips beneath dainty collarbones.
Impossible colors to match a flame capable of burning at the bottom of the sea.
Crackling with aftershocks, body trembling and limp, Kore was unconscious. Claws flexing, Nyx turned her in a deliberate twist. Inspecting as she sagged against him. Pliant. Her breath coming in ragged little bursts.
And then her lids fluttered.
Opened.
Revealing pupils blown wide. Enough to swallow any hint of color—pupils shimmering with more of that violet crackle of power. Cold fire, ancient and untamed.
And then she blinked, and the fledgling Siren was his innocent bride once more.
Trembling and confused in his grasp.
Perfect.
Grinning, Nyx's lips spread over something vicious and uncouth. All teeth and triumph. "There she is," he murmured, stroking the delicate line of her jaw, her throat. "My perfect little monster," he growled in a voice of pure gravel, tilting her face toward the scattered court.
Possessive when he traced the curve of her hip.
Humming their approval, the Abyssari lifted their voices in victory. Celebrating his bride, while the Hollow Court fell silent.
Stunned.
That Thalos had lost.
That this tiny slip of a thing had handed Nyx a victory.
And against her neck, where her pulse still flickered with violet light, he purred, "You are everything I made you to be." His grin grew wicked. "And so much more than they knew to fear."
Citrus and lightning perfumed the water. Charred ozone rich with the sweet tang of Siren slick,
Coiling, Nyx wrapped his arm about her middle.
Pulling her back to his chest, putting her on display.
And then, lips brushing the shell of her ear, "They see you," he murmured.
Cock throbbing where it pressed against his slit, he cupped her tits, thumbs rolling over her nipples until they grew peaked.
Hard and aching.
At this, Kore moaned. Head lolling back against his shoulder, her hips tilting. Seeking friction.
"Look," he whispered, voice rich with mirth.
His teeth grazing her pulse as his touch dipped between parted thighs.
"See how he seethes? The Shallow King is jealous," Nyx crooned, grinning at Thalos as the other was forced to remain motionless.
Violence stayed by the very laws he'd sworn to uphold.
"But my sweet Siren wanted me. My knot. So she handed me the victory.
And now," he hummed. "Now you reap your reward. "
He pulled her slight body tighter against him. One massive hand splayed across her lower belly, where she would stretch and bloat with the vast quantity of seed he meant to pump inside her.
Fingers dipping through the swollen folds of her cunt, he let his chest swell with the drone of victory.
Purring to make her pliant as his cock snaked free of his slit.
Pearls already bulging and ripe, already thrumming with the need to burrow.
"This tight little hole is mine to fill," he sang.
"And I'm going to flood your womb with enough cum to sink you back into the heart of Vorynthar. Where you belong."
A dainty hand reached back. Cupping his cheek.
Nyxarion went still.
Leaning into her touch when her fingers—small, delicate—curled against his jaw.
And then, "Please."
One word.
A single syllable spoken in a voice that forced him to still. Music. Pure and untouched. Neither Pelagorn nor human.
Her voice. It was more than he’d ever dreamed it might be.
He nipped at her throat—just to taste the lightning still dancing on her skin. "Again," he snarled, claws digging into her hips. Pulling her flush to his scales. "Say it again."
"N-Nyxarion," she breathed, a song of pure, desperate want. "Please… I-I need…"
Selfish, but trying to give, he didn't make her wait.
Nudging at her slit, where she was weeping and slick, he set his cock into the mess. The ridged head catching at her rim, where she was aching and swollen with neglect.
He pushed.
Burrowed.
"That's it," he sang in a low rumble. Hips rolling. Plundering what he'd won. "Take every fucking inch like I know you can."
A broken, musical sigh bubbled up from her gills. Her lips parting around a silent wail, for the stretch was obscene. A struggle to fit everything inside, no matter the way the world narrowed to that silken grip. The way her flesh resisted when it craved.
"That's it," he rumbled. Voice a dark purr that hung thick and cloying in the dark waters. "Let them see how well you take me."
And, without giving her a moment to adjust, he bullied his way inside. To the root. Scales pressed against those that were delicate and new.
"Nyx—" She whined, clawing at his forearm. Body clenching in a merciless fist of desperate, needy want of all that he was.
"Louder," he snapped, free hand sliding up to circle her throat. To catch that impossible, musical voice as it sang against his palm. "Let them hear your voice as I breed you, sweet Kore."
Squirming, equal parts mortified and desperate for more, Kore whined. "Please," she keened high at the back of her throat. Impaled. Feeling him bump her end. "N-Nyx—I don't… I can't…"
Claws biting her hip, caging her desperate pleas, he snarled as he seated himself to the root.
Delighting in the helpless surrender of that fluttering sheath.
And then, "Look at him," he commanded. Voice jagged where it splashed against her gills.
As he tipped her chin and forced her gaze to lock with Thalos' frigid scowl.
"Watch his flawless face as I ruin you."
A helpless sob saw her obey.
Withdrawing only to slide back in, he revelled in the glorious clench of forbidden flesh. In the scowl marring Thalos' face as the Shallow King clenched his waveblade in trembling, indignant fury—but did nothing.
She came with a gasp.
Convulsing around him as his pearls dragged across her clit.
"Again," he commanded, fucking her through it. Rough. Punishing. His hips snapping against her, cock gliding through the mess in deep, punishing strokes. "Milk my cock and show them how good you are for me."
Hips canting back, rolling against him, a plume of bubbles escaped her lips. Her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Fingers tightening around her throat—enough to make her whine—Nyx purred deep in his chest. Scales bristling as they lifted.
Fins flared in a spiny display of dominance.
"Such a greedy little thing," he sang, letting his teeth rake her pulse.
"Taking it so well. Clenching"—he grunted—"on my cock like you were made to take it.
" He laughed, then. Hips beginning to smack as he pistoned into her. "Because you were."
"Hnngh," she grunted, and he felt her grow tight once more. "Pleassseee," she slurred, voice breaking as her face burned with shame. "Please, Nyx, st-stop—"