She doesn’t respond, but I put my hand behind her head and pump my legs furiously to ascend. I fan the webbing of my hands and toes and use their resistance against the water to move even more quickly.
I can feel the pressure shift in my body, and I know that despite the roars below us, we’ve evaded the danger.
“We are safe!” I whisper to Leeenuh.
She doesn’t calm down. She pushes against me, sputtering and choking. Her eyes shut, and her head lolls. I pat her cheek hard, trying my best to wake her. My hand runs down her neck to support her head. Her skin is soft and smooth…and her neck is free of gills.
This female isn’t aquatic.
Of course, she’s not. Why would she be in an air-filled bubble under the waves if she was? I curse my stupidity and rush to break the surface of the water.
Please don’t let me be too late.
The spray of the waves kisses my face with salty droplets as I make my body switch from its underwater breathing. Water rushes from my gills, running in thick rivulets down the cords of my neck.
Treading the water, the female limp in my arms, I head toward the jagged outcropping of the island. Porous, iridescent mineral formations litter the breeding gound. These pockets of space are the caves in which we build our nests.
The current provides the final push, beaching us both on the rocky shore. She’s underneath me, not breathing. Her lips change from pink to blue.
I turn Leeenuh onto her side and thump my fist on her back. She’s lifeless for only a second, but it feels much longer. When she finally ejects the water from her lungs, her normal breathing patterns return. Her swollen chest rises and falls as the wet fabric of her bodysuit sticks obscenely to her skin.
She coughs, and I turn her head to the side, letting the salt water work its way out of her lungs. Her body shudders, and she slumps her shoulder blades back onto the rocks.
Leeenuh’s mouth opens, letting a string of raspy words fall out.
“I don’t understand. I’m sorry, Leeenuh…”
She coughs again, color flooding her once-pale face.
She grips my biceps with her hands, her nails digging into my flesh, and she pulls herself to sit. I can feel her lips move next to the sensitive lobe of my ear. I wrap my arms around her torso to support her weak attempt.
“Kitaico…” she whimpers before slumping, her back arching over my arms.
Something stirs inside my chest—breathing in her scent and holding her tiny frame against my body causes something to snap into place. That small twinge multiplies quickly, turning into one all-consuming thought.
Protect.
I have to get Leeenuh back to the nearby nest. I have to keep her safe…
She’s still drifting in and out when she coughs again.
I’ll have to breathe for her to get her to the nest. If she is mated, touching her so intimately would be unforgivable.
I hitch her up against me, her head falling into the hollow of my neck. Joined together as one, we slide back into the sea.
I shake her roughly enough to get her attention, even though it pains me to handle her so. She has a translator chip, so I tell her my plans.
“We’re going somewhere safe. It’s not far, but we must swim.” She stares at me, her eyes open but lids heavy. “I will breathe for you. Do you trust me?”
She cocks her head, furrowing her brows. A silence passes between us, one that feels much longer than it likely is.
She nods, setting her jaw. More strange words fall from her lips, and she wraps her legs around the small of my back. Our hips are pressing tightly against each other. For the first time since I began the Great Proving, I am self-conscious of my nakedness. Clothing, much like tech, is unnecessary during my trials. I make a conscious effort to control my mating crest. The feelers ache to explore whatever lays beneath her thin body suit. To open her sex as if she was my own kind, to mate her, to rut her, to—I stop myself, curling the tips of my tentacles back toward my hardening cock.
Miming a deep breath for Leeenuh to follow, I switch to aquatic breathing. I grimace as my gills fill again. They stretch and ache with the rush of water. The waves lick at our heads as we dip beneath its surface.
My feet press off the sharp side of the island. Leeenuh’s cheeks puff outward as she holds her breath. I scan the watery expanse, looking for challengers to my…no, she’s not mine. I shake my head in an attempt to clear it.
I haven’t proven myself—I am undeserving.
