Iwake grinding against air. My hips move on their own, seeking friction that doesn't exist. The hollow ache between my legs has evolved overnight into something that makes thinking difficult. Every heartbeat sends a pulse through my swollen clit that makes me whimper.
Since arriving here, my body has become something foreign. Something that wakes desperate and stays that way.
“Female's body speaks its need clearly.”
I jolt upright. Aylth floats near the ledge, only his eyes and the top of his head visible above the water. Silver-blue eyes that track over my naked form, noting every detail. The way my nipples are constantly hard now. The wetness that pools beneath me on the moss.
“This one promised relief,” he continues, rising higher to reveal his shoulders. Scales shift from deep blue to green as morning light catches them. “Female's chemistry calls for what was promised.”
“Then give it to me.”
“First, female learns to survive in this one's domain.” He extends his hand. “Come.”
I shouldn't take that hand. But my body is already moving, already seeking any contact with him. His fingers close around mine, and just that simple touch makes my pussy clench. He pulls me into the warm water, and I gasp at the sensation against my oversensitive skin.
“Today female learns to breathe as ocean dwellers breathe,” he says, turning me to face him. His hands rest on my waist, thumbs brushing my hipbones. “Not merely holding breath. Sharing breath.”
“The breathing kiss from the storm?”
“More than emergency measure. Proper technique.” His hands slide up my sides, making me shiver. “This one filters water through specialized glands. Creates what female's lungs can process. But requires perfect seal.”
He demonstrates by pulling me against his chest. I feel his heartbeat against my breasts, steady and strong. So human, that heartbeat. If not for the tentacles moving beneath us, I might forget what holds me.
“Open,” he commands.
I part my lips, and he covers them with his. Not a kiss exactly. Something more mechanical yet more intimate. His mouth creates a seal over mine, and then something flows between us. Not air as I know it, but something my lungs accept eagerly. The burn of holding my breath never comes.
He submerges us without warning.
Panic hits for a moment before I realize I can breathe. Not normally, but adequately. Each breath comes from him, processed through whatever alien biology allows him to extract oxygen from water. We're breathing together, sharing the same system.
His hands stay on my waist as his tentacles propel us through the cave tunnels. We emerge into open water, and the reef spreads before us in impossible beauty. Coral formations in deeppurples and gold create architecture that seems designed rather than grown. Schools of fish move like living ribbons of light.
We surface briefly.
“My territory,” he says with obvious pride. “Forty seasons of shaping. Every creature chosen for purpose.”
“It's incredible.”
“Female will see all of it. Learn its paths. Understand why this one rules here.”
The kiss resumes, and we dive again.
He shows me the boundaries of his domain. Coral valleys where the water runs warmer. Deep channels where larger creatures patrol. Gardens of seaweed that pulse with bioluminescence when we pass. My body moves easier than it should in water, the modifications from the tonic making me more aquatic. Not graceful like him, but competent.
Other creatures notice us. Some flee immediately. Others watch with curiosity. A few follow at distance, and I wonder if they're drawn by my scent even underwater. Everything here must taste what I am. What I need.
We surface in a different grotto, this one with crystal-clear water and walls that shimmer with mother-of-pearl. Steam rises from thermal vents below.
“Female swims adequately,” he observes, though I hear approval beneath the bland words.
“I was a rescue swimmer. Before.”
“Explains comfort in water. But comfort is not mastery.” His tentacles spread beneath us, creating a living platform. “This one masters these waters. Every current. Every creature. Everything here bends to this one's will.”
“Including me?”
His pupils dilate. “Female will bend. But not break. This one has no interest in breaking valuable things.”
