Chapter 7 #3
Clawed hands slammed flat onto the slick floor just inches away from Griselda’s face.
She tilted her head up, watching as the scales along the naga’s throat rose with vibration and threat.
Water dripped onto her, causing her eyes to trail over his body.
A thicker trail of scales decorated down his throat and broadened along his torso.
They weren’t iridescent like the rest of him and almost looked softer.
“Get. Out.” Lip curling into a snarl, the naga’s entire body shook with anger. “Or, I will take you out.”
The guard squinted and raised his own lip in what seemed to be disgust. “They’ll come for you. And her. You’ve set your demise. They’ll rip her from your cold dead hands, lizard.”
“OUT!” Screeched the naga as he slammed an open palm onto the stone.
Griselda curled into herself. The naga’s demeanor had changed in the blink of an eye and she suddenly couldn’t see him as the being that was giving her such pleasure earlier. He was pure unbridled danger. A firecracker waiting to explode.
“LEAVE!”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Consider the debt repaid.” Grabbing his helmet and sword, the guard stomped toward the cavern entrance after pointing his index finger harshly toward the naga.
Debt? Who would willingly put themselves into debt with something that could easily rip them apart?
A strange static filled the room. No, not static.
It was a rumble. Griselda reached a hand out and touched the naga’s hand against her better judgment, intending to bring him back to reality.
His black iridescent maw snapped down to her, malice in his piercing yellow eyes as he snarled at her touch.
His reaction scrawled poison through nerves.
Those yellow orbs spat hatred through her veins as his pupils almost disappeared into the smallest of slits despite the darkness of the cavern.
She recoiled immediately and tucked her hands against her cold chest to cradle the necklace.
One moment, the naga was hunkered above her as though tendrils of eating her wandered his mind.
The next moment, he was gone. His tail swatted off the water and he shot forward down the cavern hall, slamming his hands through the dirt like a beast crazed.
Griselda watched in unease as his lumbering body warped down the tunnel in a sickly fashion.
His shoulders heaved forward as though his mind shattered and any shred of what she assumed to be humanity was gone.
There should be screams. With the intent he hauled after, the guard should be yelling with fear of his life. Instead, there was dead silence from the cavern hallway. Which, honestly, was just as bad. The silence of the room filled with the foamy platter of the waterfall’s spittle.
So much for enjoying a bath. Griselda’s shoulders slumped down as she went lax on the damp floor.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was enjoying the moment with the naga.
And wished she knew his name. But now, she just felt hollow.
And slick. Staring at the darkness that swallowed his tail, her body trembled in remembrance of how his delicious tongue felt across her thighs.
This wasn’t the time to get all hot and bothered again though.
Sitting up, Griselda scooted to the edge of the water and tossed water toward her arms as she scrubbed. Something to get her anxiety to go down. Something to get the feeling of his scaled fingers digging into her waist away from her mind.
Damned if she could focus on that. Dipping her hands into the water, she brought a small pool to her face and stared at it.
Little swirls danced between her palms as the water revealed a strange haze.
Almost as though it was enchanted in some form.
Regardless, her ears tipped back as she splashed the water onto her face.
The cold liquid felt more refreshing than it had prior.
It trailed down her neck and trickled around the scale of the necklace.
Similar to his snout. Similar to him entirely.
The naga’s face flashed across her mind.
Griselda palmed the scale, cupping it and massaging it through her fingers. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t disturbed by how his scales felt. She had been touching the scale the majority of her life as though it was a worry stone.
Staring down at the iridescent pendant, awe struck through her as the moonlight bounced off its facets. Almost as though the scale itself hid a small galaxy within its edges.
Something panged through her heart in that moment. She never thought the naga hideous. Dangerous yes, but never ugly.
I wonder if anyone has ever told him he’s absolutely stunning when he’s angry.
Her fingers traced the bevel of the scale.
Absentmindedly, her other hand poked at her bottom lip.
She enjoyed their moment more than expected.
But, never got to do the actual thing she truly wanted to try with him.
Her stomach twisted in knots. Why did it feel more heinous to want such a simple thing when he’s the one that took it further?
When he’s the one that acted on her surprise but seemed to know what she craved?
She bit into her lower lip.
Gods. I just want to lick his tongue.