He pulls me closer, my back against his chest. His hands rest on my stomach, and I notice his body feels different somehow. Warmer than usual. A subtle vibration under his skin that wasn't there before the frenzy.
“What is that?” I ask, pressing back against him.
“Changes,” he says vaguely. “Since the frenzy, this one's body... adapts.”
“Adapts how?”
“Female will understand when time comes.” His hands move up to cup my breasts, clearly changing the subject. “For now, we maintain our rhythm.”
He lifts me from the pool, carrying me to the nest. The bioluminescence in the walls dims to a gentle glow, creating intimate atmosphere.
This time when he breeds me, I'm aware of how different his body feels.
His tentacles spread me open, two of them working in tandem inside me while others attend to my breasts, my clit, the sensitive marks he left during the frenzy. But when he enters me with the primary breeding tentacle, there's something changed about it. Not the shape or size, but the temperature. It's hotter than before, almost feverish.
“You feel different,” I gasp as we lock together.
“The frenzy changed things. Started processes.” He pulses inside me, flooding me with seed that's definitely hotter than before. “This one's body prepares for something. But not yet ready.”
The breeding is intense but controlled. He took me to the edge four times, a relentless, controlled assault on my senses. Only after my fourth shuddering climax did he permit his own release. But through it all, I feel that strange vibration in his body, like something building beneath the surface.
Day twelve follows a similar pattern. He shows me more of his territory, the borders where his domain meets others. We see other hunters in the distance, but none approach. They know I'm claimed, marked, taken.
That night's breeding is even more intense. Whatever is happening to his body has progressed. His skin is almost too hot to touch, and that vibration has become a constant thrum I feel through every point of contact.
“Are you sick?” I ask, concerned.
“Not sick. Changing. The frenzy triggered something ancient. Something that only happens with perfect genetic match.” He looks frustrated. “This one has heard of it but never experienced. Body prepares gift for mate. But the process takes time.”
“What kind of gift?”
“Female will know when ready. Trust this one.”
Day thirteen brings a storm to the surface. We watch it from the palace depths, see the way it churns the water above but doesn't reach us. The pressure changes make me restless, makes my body ache for something I can't name.
That evening, as we breed in the master chamber, his body is so hot it's almost uncomfortable. The vibration has become visible, his scales actually trembling with whatever force builds inside him.
“Soon,” he pants against my neck. “Whatever this is, it comes soon.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not hurt. Pressure. Like breeding tentacles before frenzy but everywhere. Whole body preparing something for female.”
When he withdraws, I'm left wondering what his body is creating. Some new secretion? Some biological response to our bond? The not knowing is both frustrating and exciting.
“Perhaps after next challenge,” he muses as we lie tangled together. “Perhaps body waits for specific trigger. Combat or threat or female doing something to prove worth.”
I trace the bioluminescent marks on my skin, watch them pulse with my heartbeat. Above us, through tons of water, that black spire of island waits. The portal will open there. I could leave, return to my drowned world.
But below me, wrapped around me, this magnificent male vibrates with some unknown transformation triggered by our joining. His body prepares something it's never prepared before, something that only happens with a perfect match.
“Whatever it is will come when it's meant to,” I say, though I'm not sure if I'm comforting him or myself.
“Yes,” he agrees, pulling me closer. His skin burns against mine, that vibration transmitting directly into my bones. “And female will be ready when it does.”
We sleep wrapped in each other, tentacles and limbs intertwined. His body continues its mysterious transformation, building toward something neither of us can predict. The portal island stands vigil above. The palace waits around us for life to fill it.
And I float between two worlds, not yet sure which will ultimately claim me, only knowing that for now, in this moment, I'm exactly where my body wants to be. Whatever Aylth's body is preparing, whatever gift the frenzy triggered, I'll be here when it's ready.
