GUARDED BY THE VODNIK

Monster Security Agency

Layla Fae

Copyright © 2024 Layla Fae

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Zoe’s Epilogue

Vodyan’s Epilogue

Afterword

Thank You

Monster Security Agency

More Books by Layla Fae

For all special peen lovers. I gotchu!

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Welcome to another monster bodyguard romance in the Monster Security Agency! This one is delicious and very frisky with all those flexible tentacles slithering into tight, warm places, so you’re in for a fun ride. (Though it might make you cry. I wept.)

To make it even more entertaining, I’ll ask you to suspend your disbelief. If you think something shouldn’t work the way it does, I’ll tell you right now the state-of-the-art diving gear makes everything possible. Mother Nature takes care of the rest, because if there is a will, life will find a way!

And since this seems to be my tradition with this series, here are the chapters to avoid if you can’t suspend disbelief in a spicy monster romance book: chapters 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, and 27.

Ahem. No spoilers. Just trust me on this. They will make it all fit—eventually. But be aware this is a slow burn. Vodyan, our MMC, has a lot of stuff to work through, so please, be understanding.

This book contains dark themes. Possible triggers: violence, mutilation, death, graphic child abuse, parental negligence, mention of child SA and child trafficking.

Please, stay safe.

One final note: I did my best to describe what Vodyan’s special equipment looks like, but if you find yourself in need of a visual aid, it’s available on my Instagram @laylafaeauthor in the post entitled A Lesson on Vodnik Anatomy.

CHAPTER 1

Vodyan

The soft sand of the lake bottom brushed my tentacles when I followed the cargo walker along the main road between Yeseera, the vodnik city, and Copper Harbor on the shore. I’d made this trip dozens of times in the past year.

It was a long, arduous walk, usually uneventful. The cargo walker was a simple platform on six crablike legs that slowly navigated the lake bottom. The eighteen-mile trip, which would have taken me just over an hour if I could swim freely, took about eight hours at the walker’s speed.

The road connecting the vodnik city to the shore was marked out along the shallowest parts of the lake bottom, but it was still over 150 feet underwater. It was dark and cold, the waters of the lake calm and quiet. Just as I liked them.

I pushed away from the bottom, my tentacles flexing with power. Propelled upward, I spread them out to float easily and did a full sweep of the area, focusing on the sparse plants that could potentially hold a lurking thief. My cargo was beyond precious, which was why I had been chosen to guard it.

Below me, the cargo walker crawled steadily up the road, faint lights mapping out the route. It wasn’t really a road in the human sense. Outside Yeseera and the graveyards, nobody built on the lake bottom. But it was the safest, shallowest route connecting the human world to the vodnik city, and as such, it was marked with flickering red lights placed at regular intervals.

They looked eerie in the cold, dark depths.

Walking along the road, my cargo was dangerously exposed, but this was the fastest route. Then again, it wasn’t like I minded a fight. An attack would do nicely to break the monotony of my assignment.

For now, all was clear, no suspicious shadows lurking around. I floated back down to the walker, letting the cold of the dense, clear waters numb my skin. My senses were still keen, but my scales felt porous, my body’s temperature matching the water.

I was one with the unfeeling, deadly mass of the lake.

Some time passed like this, and I lost myself in the soothing rhythm of travel. The red lights flickered, the sandy bedrock passing evenly under my tentacles, and the darkness around me stretched into infinity. I let my mind fill with the cold nothingness of the deep, keeping my senses alert.

Down here, the only currents were the ones caused by my and the walker’s movements. All was still and felt safe, but that didn’t lull me into carelessness. The cargo, stacked high on the walker’s platform and secured with chains, was the most expensive thing that ever graced the depths of Lake Superior.

Shanta.

It was a plant that grew only in the post-glacial, clear waters of the Great Lakes. Cultivated exclusively by vodniks, who possessed the secret to making it thrive, shanta yielded a substance that healed neural degeneration in humans and other species with similar brain physiology.

It was our wealth and the source of our significance. While humans measured their worth in gold, vodniks measured theirs in the units of shanta they produced.

The neat boxes of medicine were stamped with the official seal of the Yeseera extraction plant. And as one of MSA’s most highly regarded underwater agents, I had the task of protecting the precious cargo.

Shanta fetched incredibly high prices in legal sales, but on the black market, it was beyond invaluable, mostly because I’d never let a shipment slip. The little that made it to the surface illegally had been stolen in the production plant by unscrupulous employees that were quickly found out and punished.

Stealing shanta was as despicable as murder and as severely punished—with mutilation. That didn’t deter greedy vodniks and other creatures from trying their chances, though.

The shipment I guarded was worth millions of dollars, which was beyond tempting. Over the course of my service, many tried stealing my cargo, though only true water dwellers posed a risk.

I’d been attacked by human divers a few times. Disabling their breathing gear was child’s play, and for my effort, I got the dubious pleasure of watching them drown. It was an ugly, weak death, but then again, humans were a weak species. Fragile and too soft, they posed no threat to a vodnik.

Lamias, on the other hand, were mighty opponents.

A cold current brushed my back tentacles, my flexible muscles contracting instinctively. I kept moving, seemingly unaware of the disturbance that I knew wasn’t caused by my movements.

Somebody stalked me.

“Keep walking,” I said softly to override the walker’s programming that would force it to stop once it detected an anomaly.

Its light blinked blue to let me know it understood the command.

I followed the walker at an even pace, suppressing the urge to reach for the jet gun strapped to my arm. I’d never used it on this assignment before and, at this point, not needing it became a matter of pride. Unless forced into a corner, I was going to protect shanta with my arms and tentacles alone.

The water was still now, but that didn’t fool me. If I had been less experienced, I might have dismissed that brush of a current as an accident, but I knew better than that.

There were no accidents. Not down in the deeps.

But my stalker was careful, I had to give it to them. They kept their distance, moving cautiously. Since I knew this route by heart, I suspected where they planned to attack, so I relaxed and waited. I’d soon pass one of the underwater graveyards, a human shipwreck surrounded by a cage-like dome that guarded it from desecration.

There were over a dozen shipwreck graveyards dotting the bottom of Lake Superior. Since the bodies of the sailors stayed down here with their ships, protected from decomposing by the low temperature and the purity of the water, they were places of burial. Contracted by the humans, the vodniks built structures protecting the graveyards. Each was a latticework dome made of light gray concrete. The holes were big enough to let water flow freely but too small to admit adult sentient species entry.

Hulking over the sunken ship, the structure would give my pursuer cover and cut me off from following them around the dome. I had to stay close to the walker.

The graveyard swung into view, a darker shadow in the murky water. I kept my movements relaxed, my pace even. And still, a shiver ran down my spine as I approached. The water here seemed colder, stiller. It was a place of death.

Vodnik bodies were decomposed to nourish shanta after passing. We didn’t keep our dead around the way humans did.

My unease wasn’t irrational. I knew there were no ghosts here. Some vodniks loved to tell dark stories about the souls trapped in the dead human bodies, forced to endure the darkness and the cold for eternity, but I knew better. Death took everyone equally, regardless of their species.

And yet, I couldn’t shake the dread that crawled down my tentacles. It never fully went away. Not since I’d been trapped inside one of the graveyards when I was four.

The faintest brush of current from above made me clench my jaw.

A dark shape dove for me, detaching itself from the concrete cage surrounding the shipwreck. I had barely a moment to brace before it was on me, its slimy, long tail slamming into my side.

Lamia.

Lamias were the dumber, uglier, and more violent cousins of the vodniks, except while our lower bodies comprised of eight strong tentacles,  a lamia had a thick, powerful snake tail.

That tail hit me with force, but I was ready. I stood my ground, spread out to hold my balance. As soon as the impetus slowed, I wrapped my tentacles around the lamia’s tail, making it impossible for him to wrap it around me.

He sneered, showing me a maw filled with black, sharp teeth, his flat, snakelike features contorting in hate. I swung a punch at his face and wrapped more tentacles around his torso and arms to keep him in place.

Something crunched under my knuckles.

The lamia screeched, the sack in his throat bulging with the sound. He struggled with so much force, I had to let him go. He sped away and turned, making the sand from the lake bottom rise around him in a cloud.

He was a big one, black and covered with swirling red scale patterns that broke in places, indicating scars. A warrior, then. Sharp fins ran down the back of his head and spine, growing bigger on his lower back. They were raised in a challenge now, the four barbels around his mouth spread out like whiskers.

His white, milky eyes narrowed a second before he charged.

I let him barrel into me. We both tumbled along the sandy bottom, but while he recovered from the hit, I was already wrapped around him so tightly, his ribs caved in under pressure. He struggled and roared in pain, but I held fast, reaching for the knife strapped to my waist.

“Do you know the punishment for stealing shanta?” I asked through gritted teeth, letting out bubbles.

I had a voice sack just like the lamia, allowing me to speak without expelling air, but agitation made me say it using my above-surface organs. The lamia probably didn’t understand me, but he saw the black blade in my hand. His eyes bulged, and he struggled harder. I wrapped a tentacle around his face, covering the gills at the sides of his head.

“Wonder what piece you’ll miss the most,” I gritted out, releasing more bubbles.

I hated that loss of control over my voice, but at least I had him in a chokehold. The lamia’s struggling grew weaker while I deliberated. I could burst his voice sack easily, but then, it would grow back. To do permanent damage, I’d have to pierce his vocal cords, but they were close to important blood vessels.

If my knife slipped, I’d kill him,

And I made a point of never killing lamias. Death was a mercy compared to letting them live knowing I’d cut off a part of their body, but it was more than that.

I refused to follow in my grandfather's footsteps.

Yet, the urge to snap the creature’s thick neck rose in my blood, colder than the coldest fury. I gritted my teeth with the effort of holding myself back. It was a matter of pride. Of self-control.

As long as I didn’t give in to my base instincts, I was in charge.

So no, I would not take away his voice. The lamia seized in my hold, rousing for one last effort to free himself, and I grabbed the end of his tail lashing uselessly by my side.

I slashed with my knife, holding the cold, slimy tail taut. Black blood inked the water around us, and the lamia screeched in agony.

One more slash, and the piece of tail fell, still writhing, onto the bottom. The lamia sagged in my hold with a pitiful sound of pain, and I pushed him away. He didn’t spare me a look before he swam away, his movements uneven and jagged. I’d cut off a piece longer than my forearm, effectively crippling him. He lost a chunk of his natural speed and balance.

Ahead, the cargo walker moved steadily onward. My communication chip buzzed, announcing an incoming call.

“Hold,” I said, using my voice sack.

The walker blinked blue and halted. I tapped the chip under my ear to open the communication line. Around me, the bloody water slowly thinned and cleared, the sand disturbed during the fight floating to the bottom.

“What?” I asked Malgeri, who was my boss and knew better than to contact me unless it was absolutely necessary.

“I’m putting you on protection detail, effective in twelve hours,” he said without preamble, his voice commanding and deep.

My tentacles contorted with irritation. I’d trained myself to take orders because it was a part of the job, and yet the urge to tell my boss to fuck himself was strong. He’d never sprung a job on me like that before.

“Protection detail?” I shook my head, my mouth twisting in displeasure. “Malgeri, you know very well that’s not my forte.”

“Not your forte,” he snorted. “You’re only my best water agent in the northern states right now. All your missions until now have been successful. No one else can claim that.”

Successful, sure. But guarding shanta was easy, and cutting off pieces of lamias was my life’s calling. Guarding a person, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. Yes, I’d done protection detail jobs here and there, but not in the last eight years or so. Usually, my boss honored my preferences.

“Because I guard cargo,” I snarled, consciously directing my voice into the voice sack, though it took effort. I was pissed. “You know I don’t work with people.”

I could almost see Malgeri wave my protests aside with a careless red hand. My boss was a demon who always got his way.

“You can consider her a piece of cargo for all I care. Look, Vodyan. The order came from the Department of Justice. They have an important witness, and they entrusted us with the job of keeping her safe until the first trial a month from now. And since I contacted you about it and told you the details, you have no choice. You’re already involved. Besides, guarding a warm body from time to time might do you some good. You’re already too fucking cold.”

I gritted my teeth until my jaw clicked. I could keep arguing, but Malgeri was right. If this was a federal order, I had no choice but to take the assignment.

“You said ‘her’. So it’s a female?” I asked, winding my tentacle around the chopped off bit of lamia tail to inspect it.

I normally didn’t keep souvenirs, but the rage brewing in my guts had grown tighter and colder recently. I needed to find a way to keep it leashed. Maybe hoarding bits of lamias would quench my thirst for blood.

Then again, that would be morbid and unnecessary. And if my neighbors discovered I kept bits of other creatures in my apartment, they’d fear and hate me even more.

“A human female,” Malgeri said, sounding like he was grinning. “As warm as they come.”

A shudder of revulsion crawled down my spine. A human. A weak, soft, whiny creature that would probably piss herself from fear when she saw me.

“And why the fuck did you pick me?” I asked, my tentacles tensing with cold fury. “Don’t give me that bullshit about me being your best. You have tons of better agents on land.”

Malgeri had the audacity to laugh. “Don’t sell yourself short. You are my best free agent right now, and the only trusted one in the lakes. See, she needs ultimate protection from a well-resourced criminal. In my genius, I suggested we hide her where no one will look.”

Meaning, under water. I had to grudgingly admit that was rather brilliant. Even though his strike of genius meant I would be inconvenienced for a fucking month, and most likely longer. Important trials liked to drag on.

“Fine,” I gritted out, releasing a small stream of bubbles.

Malgeri knew it as well as me—I had no choice.

CHAPTER 2

Zoe

I stood on the shore of Lake Superior with Agent Narita while Agent Beck got the motorboat ready. It was September, and it was wickedly cold. Despite the thick jacket covering my slick, black suit, I shivered, my teeth chattering, as I took in the turbulent lake stretching far into the distance.

It looked more like the sea than a lake. A vast, violent body of water that frothed and crashed loudly against the cliffs curving up on the left. The lake was the color of lead, dark and uninviting.

“Can you r-remind me why we’re d-doing this?” I asked Agent Narita, who was a slim, lithe woman in her forties.

Her black hair was cut short and swept back, and she didn’t look cold at all. I envied her composure. When she replied, her voice sounded strong, not even wavering in the freezing wind.

“Because even though Matthias Carver is in prison, most of his people are at large. Two key witnesses have already been brutally murdered, and you are the last one,” she answered calmly, looking ahead with keen eyes. “We don’t want that to happen to you. You’ll be safe here, because no one in their right mind will suspect we hid you underwater.”

With that, she was right. Though no one in their right mind would call the depths of Lake Superior safe, either.

A particularly large wave crashed against the cliff, making me wince. Clammy sweat covered my body under the tight suit, and I shivered harder. My gloved hands were jittery, even though I hadn’t had coffee that morning, too wired and anxious to add caffeine to the mix. I only forced down an egg and some cherry tomatoes, the food weighing down my already heavy stomach.

“I read there are sentient water snakes down there,” I said, my voice growing hoarse. “They are huge. And carnivorous.”

I knew it was futile and childish to argue at this point. I had agreed to this plan, but then it sounded so much more reasonable when discussed in a warm, well-lit safehouse.

Now, facing the tumultuous mass of freezing water beating against the shore, I felt small and helpless. And I would be, essentially, even though I had state-of-the-art gear at my disposal.

My suit was supposed to keep me warm in the freezing lake, and my oxygen tank only required emerging every twelve hours to replenish. I was promised a dry safehouse on the lake bottom, where I would spend most of my time.

And a bodyguard who’d protect me. A vodnik.

“Vodyan will keep you safe,” Agent Narita said with confidence. “There is nothing to be afraid of, Zoe.”

I shivered harder, this time not from the cold. As soon as I found out who’d guard me, I spent a few hours googling vodniks on my secure phone, and what I found out inspired both confidence and dread.

They were strong, deadly, and kept to themselves, mostly living in large communities in the Great Lakes. Even though vodniks thrived both in water and on land, they preferred to stick to their cities, where they also built dry spaces under water. They were talented builders and a wealthy nation due to their shanta production.

They were also magnificent. And terrifying.

If one stretched an adult male vodnik in a straight line, he’d measure almost ten feet from the top of his head to the tips of his tentacles. Most of that length was in the tentacles, which were usually loosely coiled, hiding some of that size.

And still, vodniks were enormous. I saw a chart comparing an average vodnik’s height to a banana, a human, a shehru, a bear, and a tree. I already knew my bodyguard would tower over me.

Vodniks were covered in green, blue, or purple scales that looked hard and jagged in places. They seemed sharp enough to cut if touched.

Their faces looked vaguely humanoid, and yet not. Their eyes were deep-set and narrow, noses flat, cheekbones sharp, and their heads were decorated with symmetrical spiky protrusions. They wouldn’t look any less approachable if they wore red signs reading “DO NOT TOUCH”.

And even though their arms were a humanoid feature, they were also unsettling. Muscular and thick, scaly, and ending in large, claw-tipped palms, they seemed made for strangling and ripping things out.

And then, there were the tentacles. I actively tried not to think about them. If I did, my stomach squeezed with something that was partly revulsion, partly a hot, squirmy feeling that I didn’t dare analyze.

Another thing I purposefully ignored was the nudity. Since vodniks reproduced like mammals, their females had breasts that they proudly displayed—all four of them, because multiple pregnancies were common in their species.

Thankfully, the males kept their junk hidden inside their bodies. It only came out when they were aroused, so I was confident I would never see a vodnik prick live, ever.

But I had sneaked a peek at vodnik porn during my googling frenzy. In the light of day, it felt wrong, though, and I was deeply ashamed of myself.

My face flamed. Here I was, about to meet my new bodyguard with whom I’d be stuck for the foreseeable future, and what did I think about to calm my panicking heart?

His huge, prehensile, two-pronged dick.

“We’re ready to go!” Agent Beck shouted over the crash of the waves.

“Thank God,” I muttered when Agent Narita firmly held my arm and guided me down the gentle slope to the motorboat bobbing ten feet away from the shore, its engine running. Agent Beck, a blond man in his late thirties, was already on board, his lifejacket the only splash of vivid color in the dull landscape.

It was just after dawn, yet the sky was overcast, only a few shades lighter than the murky water. Everything around me was gray, and I felt small and insignificant surrounded by the monochromatic austerity of Lake Superior.

I was sure it was lovely when the sun was out, though. It wasn’t the lake’s fault I had to dive when the lighting was at its most severe.

“Good luck,” Agent Narita said, giving me a firm pat on the back. “You’ll be fine. Vodyan is already waiting at the pickup point.”

I nodded, my throat too constricted to speak. I was about to dive deep into a lake that was known as one of humanity’s largest freshwater graveyards, haunted by huge bloodthirsty snakes and who knew what else.

My job as a kindergarten teacher hadn’t prepared me for this. Not in the least.

Though if I were in a better frame of mind, I might have made a joke about my kids behaving like a school of piranhas sometimes, all starving for my attention and ready to tear me to pieces.

God, I missed them.

I took off my shoes and handed them to Agent Narita. My suit was a full body affair, covering me from head to toes, palms included. I didn’t wear anything underneath. It was supposed to draw energy from the water and generate heat through a feat of technological genius I hadn’t bothered to wrap my head around.

Yet as I waded into the freezing water, I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying out. The cold hit me like a physical pain, making me immediately break out in violent shivers.

Heroically, I made my way to the motorboat on numb legs and climbed clumsily inside. Agent Beck tsked with sympathy.

“The suit will start working soon after you submerge. Not to worry,” he said.

I sat down shakily and tucked my feet under me in the hopes of warming them up. My teeth chattered too hard for me to express a concern about hypothermia.

The boat lurched into motion, spraying cold water as the bow plowed through the waves. I squeezed the edge of the narrow bench, holding on with all my might as my brain latched on to my mantra.

You’re all right. You’re safe. It sucks right now, but everything will be fine soon. I promise. It’s just a bit of discomfort. You can get through this. In fact, you WILL get through this, because you have no other choice.

That helped me calm down. The boat shuddered, picking up speed, and I had to untuck my feet to sit more securely. I was still terrified, cold, and miserable, but at least now, I saw the light of hope at the end of this ordeal.

Just a month, I promised myself. A month and you can get back on land and start looking for a new job. And a new apartment.

And, most likely, a new life.

I sighed, deciding not to think about my bleak prospects. Even if I survived this and got Matthias Carver sentenced, my life as I knew it was over. For one, even if all his people were caught and locked up, some of them would get short sentences. They would come out in a few years, all murderous and eager to avenge the bitch who put them in jail.

I would live in hiding until the end of my days. I resented it, and, at the same time, thought it was a small price to pay for justice, inadequate as it was.

Personally, I believed all of them deserved to die, even those barely involved in Carver’s child trafficking business. Those who knew he stole orphaned kids to sell them into slavery and did nothing to stop it were as guilty as he was in my eyes.

And even though the punishment that awaited them wasn’t suitably cruel, I was still determined to make it happen. To do that, I had to survive until I could testify in court. I was the only remaining witness, and what I knew was damning enough that Carver focused all his resources on silencing me.

When I agreed to testify against him, I knew the risks—in theory, at least.

The first witness murder really drove it home, though.

I saw the photo from the death scene by accident. Administrator Kowalski, who was in prison thanks to my testimony, was killed in her cell, the red gash in her throat like a grotesque smile. I didn’t pity her. She was in charge of the children’s home I volunteered at, and she was entrusted with the wellbeing of the children. She violated that trust so completely, no punishment would ever clear her blame.

Instead of fulfilling her duties, she made it easy for Carver to kidnap some of the kids in exchange for a hefty bribe. I overheard their conversation after seven children vanished, and everything they said made it damningly clear what was going on.

She knew the kids would be slaves forced to do unspeakable things. She let him take them for money, and agreed to sweep the kidnappings under the rug. After all, they were orphans who had no one. She was the one who was supposed to care about their disappearance.

After I came forward, the administrator was arrested and offered a deal: a smaller sentence in exchange for testifying against Carver. She was dead two days after she agreed.

The third witness was a janitor working at the children’s home. His account wasn’t as strong as mine, but he had seen Carver and his people visit and even go through the bedrooms while the children slept, picking out their victims. Carver already had clients lined up, and they wanted kids of specific species. At the time, the janitor didn’t realize what was happening, but he put it all together after those kids disappeared.

Now he was dead, too. Two agents had been assigned to protect him, but they failed. All of them were dead, and I was the next in line.

Damn it. Breathe.

I realized I was shaking so hard, it was difficult to stay in my seat. Tunnel vision turned on, my world darkening and narrowing. I gulped deep breaths, recognizing an impending panic attack.

I hadn’t had those in years, but my life being uprooted and in danger, combined with the prospect of diving into the deadly lake, must have been too much. I focused on box breathing, clumsily tapping the top of my head with my gloved hand to ease the anxiety even just a little.

One, two, three, four, hold. Tap, tap, tap.

Five minutes later, I had myself under control, but I felt the panic churning in my belly. It was barely suppressed, ready to leap out at the slightest provocation.

I forced myself to stay calm, breathing as evenly as I could. My body grew numb in places, which helped things a bit as long as I didn’t think about my toes possibly freezing off.

Shit. I was thinking about my toes freezing off.

One, two, three, four, hold. Tap, tap, tap.

“Five miles to go!”

Agent Beck shouted, and still, I barely heard him over the crash of the waves and the roar of the engine. I wasn’t sure the weather was that great for a motorboat jaunt on the lake, but he didn’t seem to worry, so I did my best to stay calm, too.

I knew this was only the first, shortest part of the trip. After I dove about 30 feet down, my bodyguard would intercept me and keep me at that depth until my body adjusted. Then, we’d go gradually deeper.

My breathing gear was equipped with a filter that was supposed to prevent nitrogen necrosis that occurred at greater depths. According to the agent who gave me a crash course in human survival underwater, the gear would do all the heavy lifting. I was supposed to just breathe and let it happen.

As the motorboat cut through the waves, spraying my face with cold water, even breathing seemed like a challenge.

“You’ll be okay,” I muttered to myself, gripping the cold bench.

There was a silver lining to this madness. The longer we rode, the more I longed to finally submerge fully so my suit’s heat-generating powers would kick in. It was such an odd thing to want: dive into the freezing water so I could be warm.

But I held on to the prospect with all my might, because warmth was a positive thing to look forward to.

“Almost there!”

I nodded and pulled the top of my suit over my head. Next, I slipped on the upper face mask, which comprised light-filtering goggles that would make it possible to see in the dark and a nose cover, through which my air would flow. The tubing was sewn into the suit.

Once I pressed the clear plastic firmly to my face, suction turned on, fastening it seamlessly to my skin. I took an experimental breath through my nose, noting with relief the air flowed easily. My gear had been checked and rechecked multiple times, but I was still terrified something would fail.

And then my vodnik bodyguard would have to give me mouth to mouth. I giggled like a schoolgirl, loud enough that Agent Beck heard me. He looked at me with concern and I waved clumsily, almost hitting myself in the face.

“I’m fine,” I choked out, desperately trying to control my deviant brain.

God. Should I just lobotomize myself?

I had a separate piece to cover the lower half of my face. It was also connected to my air tank. For now, I didn’t put it on to conserve air, and I breathed through my mouth, the cold air freezing my gums and throat.

I normally didn’t get sick, my immunity supercharged from all the time I spent with infection-riddled five-year-olds, and yet I still felt like getting the flu was inevitable after freezing my ass off on this motorboat.

Though, I hoped not. I couldn’t imagine having a runny nose while breathing through the mask.

Beck killed the engine, braking gently until we stopped. The boat rocked on the waves. Another bout of panic hit me, and I opened my mouth wide to get as much air as I could.

One, two, three, four, hold.

I didn’t dare tap this time. My hands shook too much to aim properly, and I’d probably gauge my eye out at this rate if I tried to tap its outer corner.

“Well, this is it,” Beck said, coming over. “I checked with Vodyan. He’s waiting right below us, ready to get you once you dive. Are you ready?”

“No,” I said, my voice coming out muffled.

Cotton filled my ears, my senses cutting me off from the world to protect me. Beck crouched in front of me, his gray eyes filled with concern.

“What do you need right now, Zoe?” he asked, very in line with the agents’ practical approach.

From the start, they were all about immediate, optimal solutions to every problem. They moved me from safehouse to safehouse, considered multiple approaches to protecting me, and finally came up with the one that apparently guaranteed the best survival rates based on their calculations.

During all that, I’d been cut off from my family and friends, torn out of my life, and left without any emotional support whatsoever.

So what I needed the most was a hug, but I wouldn’t tell that to Agent Beck. He’d probably hug me if I told him the truth, and it would be as practical and brisk as everything the agents did.

“For this to be over,” I said instead, taking a bracing breath. “All right. Let’s do this.”

He nodded with satisfaction and got up. I followed him on unsteady legs, breathing deeply through my mouth to hold nausea at bay. The lake was impenetrably gray, stretching far and wide. I couldn’t help thinking I’d get lost forever once I dove in.

But I wouldn’t. My bodyguard waited for me down there. I would be fine.

“Just jump in and let yourself sink. Breathe through your nose. He’ll catch you,” Beck instructed me, but I barely heard him through the rush of terror in my ears.

My body didn’t feel like mine when I clumsily walked to the side of the boat, affixing the lower half of my mask to my face, and swung my legs over the edge. When I jumped in with a splash, the cold hit me like a punch. My entire body shuddered, my ribs constricting, and I couldn’t take another breath. I was suffocating.

Beck shouted something, waving his hands, but I didn’t understand him. I fought the grip of the cold on my body, thrashing and shaking, until the waters of Lake Superior closed over my head.

My control snapped and panic took over.

CHAPTER 3

Vodyan

I let the cold of the lake flow through me as I hovered at the pickup point, my tentacles spread wide and moving sporadically to stay on the right level. The water around me was clear and dark, gentle currents brushing my scales. I was close enough to the surface to feel the lake’s even breathing.

She was in a good mood today.

I didn’t know at what point in my childhood I began to think of the lake as her—a mother. It wasn’t a cultural thing, and other vodniks didn’t revere the waters we lived in. To them, this was just our habitat, the part of the world that was ours.

To me, she was so much more. She was my cradle, the loving embrace, and a life-giving power. She was the omnipresent force and the voice that spoke to me when no one else did, which was almost always.

I knew her movements, her breathing patterns, her moods. Today, she was peaceful and welcoming, and that calm spread through me, easing the annoyance caused by my assignment.

I was content, soothed and comforted, the familiar cold embracing me like a friend.

Until something changed.

A disturbance started higher up, disrupting the even rhythm of the lake. The currents broke and stuttered, surface water pushing deeper until bubbles brushed my scales. A shape appeared above me, a shadow against the dim light filtering in.

I clenched my jaw, my serenity breaking into pieces. Here she was, my weak human principal, already splashing gracelessly around. I didn’t understand why surface dwellers couldn’t just surrender and let the lake carry them. It would have been so much easier than whatever she was trying to do.

The prudent thing would have been to sink until she was by my side, but apparently, she decided to make this as effortful as possible.

My tentacles shivered with tension as I waited, folding my arms. I had hoped for a reasonable human, but this one already proved her stupidity. Didn’t she understand that by thrashing around, she slowed down her descent? What was even the point?

I closed my eyes, a muscle in my jaw ticking as the currents jerked against me, their rhythm jagged and unpleasant. I hadn’t even met her and already hated her. She was what stood between me and my peace.

When the currents grew more violent, I opened my eyes. She was right above me, a black, small shape with weak limbs that uselessly tried to control the smooth, potent waters. Her eyes flashed behind a clear mask, her face pale, mouth wide open. She didn’t make a sound, though, and a pang of worry shot through me.

Maybe her gear failed. Maybe she couldn’t breathe.

I loathed to touch her, but it couldn’t be helped. I wasn’t about to lose my principal in my first minutes on the job, so I swam over with one potent push of my tentacles and put my hands on her ribs to steady her and check if she was breathing.

She froze as soon as she felt me. My fingers spasmed involuntarily, feeling how warm she was—so much warmer than anything I’d touched recently. Searing. It was like a shock to my system, and for a moment, I forgot what I was doing.

But then I remembered. Her ribs fluttered in a fast rhythm, indicating she was breathing without an issue. I made to move away with annoyance at the false alarm when her eyes locked on mine.

They were wide, deeply green, and filled with terror.

I hesitated, confused by her fear. Why was she so afraid? Everything happened exactly as agreed, her suit seemed to be working, and I didn’t sense anyone in pursuit. She was safe, so why…

Her eyes widened even more, her face contracting in a strange expression, and understanding dawned. Of course. I was holding her, my face right in front of her, and her mask was supposed to let her see in the dark. Which meant she saw me clearly, taking everything in with those wide, terrified eyes.

I was the reason for her fear. She was scared of me, which was so obvious and inevitable, I cursed myself for not realizing it at once.

My lip curled with mocking distaste. So very human.

Here I was, her ally and protector, and she was terrified of me because I was a different species. She was probably one of those people who lived in human-only enclaves. They inhabited polished, fenced-off neighborhoods where no other species were allowed to enter so the humans felt “secure”.

My tentacles flexed in anger, and I made to push away to keep my distance when she did something unexpected. A whimper fell out of her mouth, her breath fogging over the lower half of her mask.

Next thing I knew, she lunged for me with a cry. All her limbs wrapped around me with a shocking force, squeezing so tightly, my breath stuttered against my ribs. Her body was like a tight band wrapped around my torso, her invasion into my personal space so sudden, I didn’t know how to react.

I didn’t speak or move. My entire body grew rigid, overwhelmed by the explosion of heat all over my scales. She was scalding, shockingly so, and yet, not unpleasant. I was caught up in sensations, desperately trying to understand what I felt. Tremors ran down my tentacles, which spasmed jerkily with an unfamiliar urge that made no sense.

My body wanted to do something, but my thoughts swam rampant, half-formed and impossible to comprehend. In my bewilderment, all I did was hold still and let the human cling to me while she shook, her chest fluttering with rapid breaths.

Her arms were around my neck, squeezing tightly, her fingertips scraping the scales on my back in a way that sent pleasant shocks to my already overloaded brain. Her legs squeezed my waist, pressed so tightly to my scales, there wasn’t an inch of space left between us.

I absorbed her tremors, beginning to shake, too. My hands were still on her lower ribs, and I jerked them away from her body, spreading my arms wide to avoid touching her apart from where she gripped me.

A sudden, ridiculous fear tore through me. I was afraid if I touched her with a big enough area of my body, she would melt me into nothing.

She was so hot.

And so I floated uncomfortably with my arms spread wide, rigid and confused, while my human principal clung to me, making small noises of distress. When I realized we were slowly sinking lower, I finally remembered she was supposed to adjust first, so I kicked up, the movement jerky and too forceful.

Feeling the motion, she pressed even closer, her entire body grinding into my scales like she wanted to glue herself to me. I swallowed, my unease growing as hot and cold shivers crawled down my spine.

What was she doing? What did it mean?

I didn’t understand her. Was this something human females did? But no, I had enough experience with humans to know this wasn’t the case. What, then? Why did she cling to me like she was terrified to let go? We were strangers. It didn’t make any sense.

But what baffled me even more was that I let her. She held on tightly, yes, but she was still human. It would take one good tug to dislodge her and put her at a respectful distance.

So why didn’t I do it?

I tried to think it through, but my brain kept firing with strange, impossible thoughts that were more shapes than words. I kept still, apart from gently undulating to keep us level. Cold waters pressed at me from every side, calm again now that she didn’t move. She pressed so close to me, it seemed like we were one.

It was shockingly pleasant, that juxtaposition. Her thought-scattering heat combined with the soothing coolness of the lake scratched an ancient itch I only now realized I had.

I hadn’t even been aware I needed this before. To have the warm and the cold at once. Now that I felt it, I was loath for it to stop. It felt… Not quite good. Not bad, either. My thoughts contorted into even stranger, wilder shapes as I tried to puzzle it out.

What is this feeling?

Time passed. Her shaking gradually stopped while my body trembled with small shocks. I felt ridiculous, still holding my arms far away from our bodies, my tentacles spasming with that urge I couldn’t name and was too terrified to act on, because I didn’t understand it.

An unfamiliar hotness gathered in my chest and enveloped my face, something tingly and confusing. It made me want to push her away and hold her closer at the same time. I’d never felt so many conflicting, alien things at once.

I was at a loss.

Yet when she took a deep breath, seeming completely calm now, and loosened her hold, I acted without thinking. My arms shot out to close around her, one below, one above her air tank. A low growl reverberated in my voice sack.

Stay.

She made a surprised sound and squirmed in my hold, which sent more confusing sensations into my brain that was already filled with a cacophony of strangeness.

“Oh, are we supposed to… Is this… Because I didn’t know…”

She stuttered through her words, speaking jumbled, incoherent nonsense that I didn’t focus on, anyway. I was too busy negotiating with my body, which suddenly seemed to have a will of its own.

Let go, I instructed my arms while my fingers spasmed in protest, moving over the smooth fabric of her suit and drinking in her warmth.

She is your principal. And human. This makes no sense. Let go.

“I’m sorry I jumped on you,” she said, finally growing coherent.

Her voice was melodic and low, a bit distorted by the piece of plastic over her mouth. She had a pleasant timbre that flowed smoothly. Somehow, it also seemed warm, just like the rest of her.

I wanted her to say something more, so when she fell silent, I felt disgruntled.

Irrationally so.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Do you…” She stopped when her voice broke. She cleared her throat.

“Is this supposed to be like this? Are we… You need to hold me? Because no one mentioned it, but like, it’s fine. I know I get clingy when I’m nervous. God, I’m sorry. I’m usually quite rational, I promise. It was just, well, everything. But the cold was the worst. I jumped in and I couldn’t breathe, and then, even though the suit warmed up, I couldn’t stop panicking. But I’m already better. I think.”

Ah, so she did have a problem breathing, but it was resolved now. And she held on to me because, what, she was startled? I didn’t quite understand the logic in that. All I knew was that she waited expectantly, no longer holding on like her life depended on me, and it was time to let go.

Slowly, finger by finger, I loosened my grip. My tentacles vibrated with that need, and I pushed it away, my annoyance growing. Not just with her, but with myself, too. What was I doing?

Finally, I detached from her enough to pull back. She made a squeaky noise, her limbs sprawling as if to grab onto something as she sank lower.

I wanted to tell her to stop jerking around and just feel the water, but I didn’t trust my voice. Something taut and hard lodged in my voice sack, and it felt full even though it was currently empty, pulled flat against my throat.

When she struggled harder, I lost my patience. My tentacle shot out, coiling around her waist to hold her still. She squeaked again, wrapping those hot fingers around my limb, which made me shudder.

What was wrong with me?

“I’m sorry,” she choked out, seeming upset or embarrassed. I wasn’t sure. “God, I… don’t know what I’m doing, do I? I promise I’ll get better as soon as I get used to all this. I’m not a diver. Like, not at all. And I told them, and they said the benefits outweighed the risks, because they really don’t want me to end up with my entrails dragged all over an underground parking lot, and… Oh my God, another one. Okay, breathe.”

She fell silent, her lips pursed as she took in a deep breath through her nose and held it, then released slowly. She forcefully gripped my tentacle that was still wrapped around her middle as she continued breathing with focus. My muscles tensed, reacting to the strength of her hold and her heat.

She seemed distressed, so I didn’t dare let go, even though the onslaught of confusing emotions made me angry. But my principal’s survival always came before my comfort, and so I endured the chaos in my head and her bruising touch.

My tentacles were strong but very sensitive with the amount of nerve endings they were equipped with. And as it turned out, touching something as hot as a human body made odd sensations travel through those nerves, overloading my brain even more.

I focused on my own breathing, the gills at the sides of my neck fluttering gently as I held us afloat at the right level. My principal’s eyes were closed, her nostrils flaring with every inhale. I watched, mesmerized, as the plastic of her mask cleared when she breathed in and fogged when she breathed out.

When her eyes opened, I flinched. I was staring.

“A panic attack,” she said with a small smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I’d get them again. They ended, oh, seven years ago. I’m thirty-one, you know. Way too old to have panic attacks.”

When I said nothing, simply looking at her, she winced.

“Not that age has anything to do with that,” she added, looking aside as her mouth worked. “That was unkind of me. Stupid, really. I know better. I’m so sorry. Again. I know I’m rambling.”

She looked up with another soft smile. She still held on to my tentacle coiled around her waist, though her grip relaxed. When her thumb ran over my skin, I jolted and sprang away, uncoiling so fast, I knocked her aside.

She squeaked and flailed her arms.

“God! I’m sorry! I just don’t know what… How am I supposed to…”

I gritted my teeth, took a long, calming breath, and extended a tentacle for her to hold. She grabbed it with a frustrated sound and righted herself. We watched each other, her face so small and so fragile behind that mask, her body so breakable and so utterly dependent on tech.

She was already at a disadvantage down here because of her species. And now, it became apparent she couldn’t control her fear and other emotions, either.

This was going to be a very long month.

CHAPTER 4

Zoe

“How much longer are we supposed to wait here?” I asked after an uncomfortable silence that could have lasted anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour. I had no idea. Time ran differently down here, where water pressed at me from every side, and my only guarantee of survival was the suit I wore.

It suddenly seemed so flimsy and inadequate.

My bodyguard’s eyes flicked to me and then to his wrist. Glowing numbers appeared on his skin when he turned his hand. He had a watch implant.

I looked at him expectantly, waiting to finally hear him speak. He made a low sound, and a faint movement at his throat caught my eye. But the sound was more like a gurgle than a word. It broke off, and the vodnik glanced at me before looking away.

He seemed… I didn’t know. I was not used to reading vodnik facial expressions, and he didn’t give me anything to go on since he had yet to speak. His expression didn’t change much. He mostly looked angry and hostile, only now, even more so. But what did I know? This might have been the vodnik default look. Or even their equivalent to a cheerful smile.

I suppressed a stupid giggle at the ridiculous thought. It was obvious there was nothing friendly or inviting about his expression.

But there was a savage beauty to him. His face was proportional, flat-nosed and chiseled into a distinct shape, his bone structure prominent. Covered in emerald scales, finer than on the rest of him, it was also decorated with a web of golden lines, like a stunning piece of art. I couldn't help but steal glances at him, my fingers itching to explore those lines.

I shivered, remembering how it felt when I wrapped myself around him during my panic attack. It was completely illogical, but at that moment, I felt so utterly alone and abandoned, I latched on to him with far more familiarity than was proper. I couldn’t help it. It felt like I would sink and get lost in the enormous lake, forever trapped until I died, and my panicked brain decided the vodnik was my only chance of survival.

Pressing against him made me feel safer at once. He was strong, his body hard yet alive under my touch. I knew vodniks ran cooler than humans, which allowed them to thrive in low temperatures, but through my suit, I couldn’t feel that. All I felt was how solid and real he was, and that was exactly what I needed.

And when I tried to pull back and he pressed me closer with a harsh sound, my body went haywire with heat and relief.

Because he held me, too. That meant I was completely safe—not only when I gripped him, but when I let go, too. He wouldn’t let me get lost in the deep.

I knew I was being needy and helpless, and it disgruntled me. Normally, I was pretty independent. I was single, had a fulfilling job and a well-rounded life filled with wonderful friendships and volunteer work that gave me purpose, just as my job did. I dated sporadically these days after almost burning out on relationships in my twenties, and I wasn’t devastated when things didn’t work out. I didn’t need anybody else to thrive, just myself.

Or, I hadn’t needed that—until Matthias Carver. Now, my old life was gone, and here I was, thirty feet under water and utterly dependent on another person. It was humbling.

Even more so because he wouldn’t even look at me for longer than a few seconds at a time. Almost as if I wasn’t there. It was odd. At first, he stared with vicious intensity that unnerved me, and now, he barely spared me a glance.

He didn’t say anything to my question, just gave me a curt nod and worked his tentacles slowly, stirring the water around us. We sank lower.

One of his tentacles was still in my grip, and I tried not to make any embarrassing sounds as it tugged me lower, pulling me through dense water. I squeezed the muscular flesh with both hands, terrified it might slip out. This was my anchor down here, my lifeline in the infinite depths that pressed me from all sides.

And I knew it was my bodyguard’s limb that I gripped and bet my sanity on. It felt a bit like hand-holding, and I was deeply ashamed that I needed it, but there was nothing for it.

It was either this or another panic attack, and I’d had too many of those already.

Vodyan stopped when we dropped enough and looked away, staring into the distance. I had no idea if he saw anything in there, because all I saw was water, endless masses of it. It was murky, dark, and impenetrable. Everything was so uniform and bleak, I wasn’t sure being able to see was any better than being stuck in complete darkness.

The only solid, real thing in the depths was my bodyguard.

“So you’re, uh, Vodyan,” I said, the silence getting to me.

I was usually a talker and the extroverted one in most of my friendships. My two best friends were massive introverts, and they joked we’d only become friends because I talked at them until they felt comfortable enough to talk back.

The vodnik’s narrow eyes flicked to me. He nodded and looked away, his jaw working. Okay, fine. So he was an introvert, too. Probably. Or maybe vodniks just didn’t talk much, but that wasn’t a problem. I could fill the silence all by myself.

“My name is Zoe,” I introduced myself, jokingly shaking his tentacle.

He flinched, shooting me a quick look, his eyes widening until I glimpsed their color—a flash of bright blue.

“Sorry,” I said, loosening my hold as much as I could without letting his limb slip out completely. “It was a handshake. Uh, a tentacle shake? Let’s go with a limb shake. Nice to meet you.”

He nodded again, but this time, he didn’t look away. His eyes settled on my face with intensity that made something flutter in the pit of my stomach. I cleared my throat and took a slow breath, doing my best not to get overwhelmed again.

Because even though he was currently the only reason why I wasn’t freaking out, he also made me nervous.

His size was definitely a part of that. God, that torso alone was of hulking proportions, all of it naked and sculpted with solid muscle and covered with emerald green scales that shimmered, even though it was dark down here. I could only see thanks to the filters in my goggles that amplified the available light, but they shouldn’t make things look shimmery.

And the tentacles. I had known they were long and strong from my research, but knowing wasn’t quite the same as seeing them with my own eyes—or feeling those muscles corded around me or flexing in the grip of my fingers.

I held on at the thin end, his tentacle almost stretched taut with the distance between us, and still, my fingers didn’t fully wrap around it.

The tentacles were deep green, lighter on the sucker-covered inner side. They got thicker the closer they were to his body.

The word that came to mind to describe it was girth, and somehow, it made me feel hot and uncomfortable. Also, my fingers itched to explore the suckers on the tentacle I held, and I had to keep that instinct in check all the time.

Because when I ran my thumb over one before, he bolted.

That was another thing that bothered me while also making me insanely curious. For a person who hadn’t said a word to me, Vodyan expressed a lot, except, I had no idea how to interpret his behavior. He seemed cold and professional, and yet, he was so shockingly skittish. Or did I overstep somehow? Was that why he’d bolted when I thoughtlessly ran my thumb over his sucker?

A blush crept up my cheek. Sucker. Why did an anatomic term sound so dirty somehow? And why did I keep wanting to touch it?

Well, I knew why. I was a tactile person. I learned and made connections with other people through touch, but this didn’t seem like the best way to start a professional relationship with my bodyguard.

“And, um, how long do we have to stay here? Before we can go lower?” I asked, hoping to finally coax some words out of him.

The skin at his throat fluttered, a faint green glow lighting there just as a soft, inquisitive sound made its way to me. But the sound stopped, the glow extinguished, and Vodyan shook his head.

Oh my God. Was he… mute? No one had told me if he had any disabilities, and now I was completely embarrassed and afraid to ask him.

Because maybe it wasn’t that. Maybe it was a cultural thing I didn’t get to during my brief research.

Gosh. I probably came across as a total oaf, uneducated and human-centered.

Though I knew about the voice sacks, of course. I read about them. Vodniks had vocal cords that worked in a two-fold way: similarly to human ones so they could speak on land, and also in a way that redirected the sound into the voice sacks in their throats. That allowed them to speak comfortably underwater, but the speech was supposed to sound different because they didn’t form the words with their tongues and lips, but with a specialized voice apparatus in their throats.

I’d been really eager to hear him speak when I learned about the voice sacks, but now, I was afraid he couldn’t.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, squeezing his tentacle gently.

He jerked, his mouth opening, which briefly revealed the tips of his sharp, white teeth. A small flurry of bubbles flowed out. His tentacle twitched in my hold, and I cringed. Right. Skittish.

“I shouldn’t do that. Got it.” I smiled with contrition.

He blinked, watching me intently. His gaze felt like a physical pressure, making me ramble. I usually eased tension with talking.

“Thing is, I was told only yesterday that you’d be my bodyguard, and I knew so little about vodniks before. Which is really uncool of me. I usually go out of my way to learn about all the sentient species, especially because I teach—well, used to teach before all this happened—in a co-ed kindergarten. So I learned everything I could to support all my pupils equally. But I have to admit, we never had a vodnik kid. Though it’s not surprising, obviously. Since you guys stay in the lakes. Do you have kindergartens down here?”

Too late did I realize I asked him a question, which was insensitive of me if he couldn’t speak. But Vodyan nodded curtly, and I breathed out in relief. At least it wasn’t an open-ended question.

“So there you have it,” I said with a smile. “But I’m open to learn. I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Believe me, I’m determined not to make this difficult for you. I just… I just need a while. To adjust. And maybe stop panicking. This was all sprung on me so suddenly, though I’m grateful, of course. With the other witnesses having been… Uh. Nope. I can’t talk about it. Shouldn’t even think it. Sorry. I’m sure I’ll feel better soon. Though, I wish you could tell me how long until we get to the safehouse. Maybe being indoors will help some.”

Vodyan cocked his head to the side, studying me. With a gentle flex of his tentacles, he swam closer. I gulped, watching as they undulated. It was a strangely beautiful sight, so synchronized and hypnotic. They shimmered, too, just like his torso, and the effect was utterly enchanting.

Until Vodyan’s face appeared so much closer as the tentacle I held slackened in my palms. This was incredible, too. He’d barely moved, yet that small movement propelled him across the distance between us with shocking speed.

We were very close to each other. His face hovered right opposite mine.

I saw the exact shape of his irises in his deep-set eyes that partly hid under his prominent brow-ridges. They were almost round, but not quite—a bit more elongated than human ones. His eyes had no whites.

His nose was flat, with two narrow slits at the sides, and his mouth, which had seemed kind of lipless from a distance, looked utterly sensual from up close. It definitely wasn’t lipless, but the color of his lips was the same as the rest of his face, which made them less visible. His upper lip didn’t have a bow, but there was a softness and flexibility to his mouth.

“Oh. Hi,” I said, my stomach twisting.

I really hoped it wasn’t nausea. The idea of puking underwater was utterly unappealing.

The soft skin on his throat glowed briefly, fluttering, as he made a deep, rumbling sound. It wasn’t a word—at least, not one I could understand, so I frowned and moved closer, as if that would somehow help me hear him better.

Vodyan recoiled slightly, and I pulled back.

“Right. Sorry. I thought you wanted to say something, but I didn’t get what,” I explained, desperately trying to suppress that weird feeling in my stomach.

Vodyan pressed his lips together, his eyes narrowing as he looked aside. Finally, he nodded once and looked at me again. Slowly, his hands settled on my waist, his expression losing some of its harshness. I thought he seemed questioning.

“Oh. You… You want to hold me?” I asked, nonplussed and suddenly too hot in my suit.

I wondered if it was overheating. Was it possible? I’d been told it was designed to keep an optimal temperature.

He nodded curtly, and I shivered, realizing how his palms spanned my waist. They covered an impossibly large area of my body, and that made a spark go off in my brain, making me blink stupidly before I realized he was waiting for a reply. His touch was light and questioning.

“Oh, okay.” I nodded.

He didn’t react at once. His fingers twitched, and he pulled his hands away, letting them hover around my waist as if there was an invisible barrier around it. He tilted his head to the side, his eyes roaming me up and down, before his hands fluttered back to my waist.

His throat worked as he swallowed, looking away from me.

I gasped. So suddenly, he pressed me to his torso much the same way as I held him before. I barely had enough time to react and put my arms and legs around him, and then we were in motion, shooting through the water as his powerful tentacles propelled us away from the pickup point.

And now, I would be completely lost in the enormous, terrifying lake. My bodyguard was the only person standing between me and death.

CHAPTER 5

Vodyan

Holding her like this didn’t help me clear my mind, only producing more confusion instead. But it couldn’t be avoided, because the safehouse was far into the lake, and if we traveled at her pace, it would take days.

She was probably slower than a cargo walker. If she could swim at all. I still didn’t know.

I held her close to my body to make our joined shape as compact as possible and easily pick up speed. And as she nestled against me, warm, squirmy, and small, I wrestled with my thoughts.

My biggest problem was that I couldn’t speak. I didn’t understand it at all, but it was like from the first moment she clung to me, something hard lodged in my voice sack and didn’t let go.

It made completely no sense, and no matter how hard I tried to clear and expand that space so sound could come out, it didn’t work. That tightness didn’t feel like anything I’d ever experienced before, and it irritated me even more than my principal’s lack of survival skills underwater.

Though, to be fair, it didn’t seem like it was her fault she fared so poorly. From what I understood, this assignment had been sprung on her, just like it had been sprung on me.

We shot through water at a slightly greater depth, because I gradually lowered us as we traveled. She squirmed against me, her legs, which were wrapped around me again, squeezing my sides as her fingers dug into my back. I clenched my jaw and sped up even more. The sooner I got us to the safehouse, the sooner I’d be able to stop touching her.

It made me wildly uncomfortable, probably because of the temperature difference. She was so scaldingly hot.

And yet, I had one reason to be glad about our position, because it allowed me to monitor her status. She trembled slightly, but her breathing rhythm was normal, and I was relieved. It looked like she wouldn’t have another panic attack. Hopefully.

That was the other thing that confused me—the feelings. I finally understood why she had acted the way she did. She was scared, and not just of the lake, but of the criminal she was supposed to testify against, too. That terror was reasonable and justified.

And even though I had obliterated my own fear long ago, it was familiar enough that I could sympathize. That sympathy led to an even stranger thing: wanting to help her feel safe.

I made a frustrated, half-croaking sound, trying to understand why this felt wrong. I was supposed to protect her. It was literally my job.

The problem was, whenever I worked a protection detail in the past, I was never motivated by a personal need to keep a client safe or make them feel better. My only motivation used to be duty, which was why I was good at my job. Feelings were unreliable and fickle, whereas protocol and professional integrity could always be trusted.

I’d never felt much on the job before. Which was why it was so completely baffling that I found myself not just concerned about her, but angry on her behalf.

When the Monster Security Agency and Zoe’s protection team negotiated the pickup, it was treated with logical efficiency. It made sense for me not to emerge but wait at the right level so I could intercept her. For one, if anyone happened to watch the pickup, my presence on the surface would call even more attention to them. Without me there, Zoe was just a diver going into the lake.

But if a vodnik showed up to pick her up, that might provoke questions, and her agents were adamant about avoiding that risk.

And yet, had I known how difficult this was for her, I would have waited closer to the surface. But there had been no indication at all that there was an issue.

All through planning the pickup, her team took everything into account apart from Zoe’s mental state. No one informed me she had panic attacks. She was treated like cargo all through the process, and it felt wrong to me now, but I couldn’t understand why.

She was cargo, just as Malgeri said. I was supposed to keep her alive, uninjured and safe. That was the full extent of my assignment, and helping her stay calm wasn’t even on the list.

But that was precisely what I wanted to do. Keep her calm. Keep her safe in a way she could trust. And keep her talking so I could learn what else she needed.

I finally decided it was all because I found her so annoying. All that thrashing around that disturbed the waters, her rambling speeches that didn’t make sense half the time, and her need to touch me were all highly irritating.

Yes, that made sense. I wanted to keep her calm to have more peace.

But why the fuck couldn’t I speak? That didn’t explain it.

Zoe was quiet, her face pressed into the crook of my neck right next to my gills, and even though I couldn’t feel her skin through the mask, I was acutely aware of how strange it felt. Her face was right there, next to mine. I was suddenly jolted by the awareness that I hadn’t held a female in… Damn. Two decades.

At least, not like this.

I had sex, of course. There was one upper-tier establishment I liked to visit once a month simply to blow off steam and keep my reproductive instincts in check. But that was always a purely physical thing, professional and paid for. Organs came together, tentacles coiled around each other, but there was no need to bring our faces or torsos close.

It was how I preferred it. Just sex, but with enough distance that I could shake it off at once.

Because when I’d once made the mistake of letting a sex worker embrace and kiss me twenty years ago, I was unwell for months to come. All the things I worked so hard to control rose to the surface and tortured me for weeks.

I never made that mistake again.

Fuck, I cursed in the depths of my mind. Why was I thinking about sex? My monthly appointment had been two weeks ago, and my lethargic libido shouldn’t be waking up for another two. I’d trained myself to get by on the little I allowed myself.

But my human principal disrupted my routine. And now I held her closer than I’d held a woman before, and my instincts reacted, which was utterly illogical. She was human, for fuck’s sake.

There was nothing particularly attractive about humans, not to me, though I knew some vodniks swung that way.

Zoe chose this moment to squirm in my hold, her warm body sliding over my scales. I jolted, losing my rhythm.

“Can you maybe indicate how much longer it will take? I’m getting kind of jittery. Um. Low blood sugar after all that panicking.” She laughed huskily, and it made me twitch. “And, uh, well, I’ll need the bathroom soon.”

I swallowed thickly. She asked if I could “indicate” because she obviously thought I wasn’t capable of speech. This was getting out of hand, and I had to get over whatever the fuck was wrong with me.

Zoe squirmed expectantly while I swallowed again. The tightness in my throat grew even worse, like a hot stone was lodged in there.

Maybe it was the heat of her? Maybe the temperature wreaked havoc with my… hormones, or something?

“It’s okay if you can’t, I perfectly understand,” she said when I didn’t react apart from slowing down. “Forget I said anything. This is really nice, and I’m impressed by how fast we’re moving. I mean, I assume it’s fast, because I feel the movement. But the landscape is kinda the same.”

She chuckled softly under her breath. My throat tightened even more, the vise of unfamiliar, burning emotion closing in.

I didn’t understand her. We were strangers. I was a big, scary vodnik who hadn’t even said one word to her. Why was she so… So?

I lacked the right words to describe her.

But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I got over myself. I swam to a gentle halt and floated, still holding her. Somehow, I felt this would be easier without her looking at me.

With a heroic force of will, I made my voice sack expand, emitting a guttural growl that pushed past the resistance. Zoe flinched with a squeak, but when I expected her to spring away from fright, she pressed closer, her arms tightening around me.

“W-what was that?” she whispered, barely loud enough to hear.

The tension in my throat loosened just enough. I spoke, though my voice was very much unlike mine. But at least, I formed words now.

“It’s less than an hour. There’s food and a bathroom.”

She tensed and then slowly pulled back, though she didn’t struggle to get free. Guided by a helpless instinct, I looked down. Her eyes were wide and so very green.

“So… You can speak? I just assumed you couldn’t, because… Oh, you know what, never mind. Thank you for letting me know. I can handle an hour. Is there anything else you want me to know? Like, can I make the journey easier on you somehow?”

I grimaced and looked away. The only way she could make things better was if she kept her distance and swam on her own, but that wasn’t an option. So I shook my head, working my jaw.

“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. But then, a soft laugh stole into her voice. I glanced down, unable to stop myself.

She grinned up at me.

“You’re an introvert, aren’t you?” she said with such a wide smile, I was afraid her cheeks would split behind the mask. “That’s why you don’t speak much.”

I couldn’t help but stare at that shockingly wide smile brightening her face. Her teeth were nice and white. Her left canine was sharper and longer than the right one, and I fixated on it, my throat tightening right back up. I was mute again and still no closer to figuring out why.

Zoe ignored my confusion and lack of response, speaking with way too much glee.

“You know what, this is perfect! I was worried about being stuck with a stranger, but I’m great with introverts. Seriously, you won’t have to do a thing, I will do all the talking. And I know you’ll need your space, too, so I promise I’ll leave you alone as much as you need. I can entertain myself. It will be awesome! We’ll get along like… Well, a house on fire, but I never understood that saying. It doesn’t sound quite right. What do vodniks say about people who get along well? Do you have a saying?”

I blinked down at her, my thoughts tangling in the maze of all the words she just said. The tip of that left canine peeked out when she pronounced certain sounds, and now that I noticed it, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Zoe’s smile grew smaller, and she nodded with understanding. “Too much? Sorry, I’ll tone it down.”

I frowned. No, it wasn’t too much, and I…

A strong, cold current brushed my back. I whipped around just in time to see a lamia warrior charging right at us, his teeth bared for a killing bite.

CHAPTER 6

Zoe

Vodyan’s arms tightened around me so much, I couldn’t take a deep breath. He whipped around, and I didn’t understand why until a gurgling, low sound reverberated right behind me. Something was there.

With one, powerful push of his tentacles, Vodyan shot up. Bubbles foamed as we swam, faster than I thought possible. I actually felt the friction of water moving past my suit at great velocity.

When we turned and dove back again, I squealed. This was like a rollercoaster ride, only infinitely scarier and yet safer, too.

He held me so tightly, I wasn’t afraid I’d fall, even though my ribs could use some room to expand.

I still didn’t know what it was we fled from and I couldn’t look. Vodyan held me so close, I couldn’t properly turn my head. Yet when another vicious sound tore through the water, I shivered, my insides twisting with primal fear.

That thing sounded like a predator. A very angry one.

With one powerful flip, Vodyan turned until we were horizontal with me on top of him. I felt rather than saw his tentacles shoot out, water moving against me jarringly.

Something tugged, something struggled, moving us a bit, and I understood Vodyan caught the attacker. I felt the vibrations and tension in his muscles that bulged against me with his effort to keep still as the creature thrashed against his tentacles.

His entire body was so hard with coiled power. I felt the creature trying to get free, but Vodyan barely moved. He was obviously stronger, and all that strength now pressed to me through his scales and my skin.

It was a shocking sensation. I’d never been so intimately close to such a primal force.

Something tugged sharply, and Vodyan rumbled in displeasure, twisting again until he was on top of me. I felt the pull of the depth underneath, yet he held me so securely, I wasn’t afraid of falling.

His voice sack, which was right by my face, expanded and lit up with a beautiful, green light.

“You should have known better than to come after me again.”

I flinched. He sounded so cold and beastly, his voice a sharp blade. It was accented in a harsh, biting way, and when a whimper of pain followed from somewhere close behind me, I whimpered, too, pressing closer to my bodyguard.

Now his ribs were probably squeezed tight, too, because I clung to him with all my fear and confusion. What was that thing?

“You want to lose another piece of that tail?” Vodyan asked with a snarl. “One wasn’t enough for you?”

I trembled, his voice sounding so horrible, I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t directed at me. The one sentence he spoke to me earlier had been so much softer and huskier, and I clung to the memory just as I clung to him, desperately needing this ordeal to be over.

Another whimper came, and then words.

“Let me go, let me go, let me go…”

That voice was so pitiful and filled with pain that I jolted with sympathy. The creature could speak. That meant they were sentient.

Vodyan growled with anger, his muscles bunching as he moved with a jerk. His victim released a loud gurgle, and I winced. They were probably in great pain.

“If I ever see you again, you’ll die,” Vodyan threatened, his voice so cold, it made me shiver.

I loosened my hold around him, suddenly craving distance, but he pressed me instantly closer.

“Let go! Fine! Let go,” the creature pleaded, their voice breaking on another gurgle as Vodyan’s body jerked with violence.

“I know I have a reputation for letting lamias live,” the vodnik added with menace. “But I’ll make an exception for you. In fact, anyone who dares attack me from now on will die. Tell your friends if you have any.”

Lamias. That was what the giant water snakes were called.

Vodyan tugged sharply, making me shudder, and then the power coiled in his limbs released as he pushed away and turned, swimming fast. I understood he let the lamia go, but when I raised my head to peek over his shoulder, all I saw was dark water. The lamia was gone, and I still didn’t know what one looked like from up close. The pictures I found online had been blurry and taken from a distance.

Lamias were said to be unfriendly and wary of outsiders. Yet, I still had no idea why one attacked us, which I assumed was what happened.

I only knew Vodyan was ready to kill them, and I fully believed his threats.

We sped ahead, dark water rushing past as the vodnik took us gradually deeper. I found myself in a rare predicament. Namely, I didn’t know what to say.

I badly wanted to ask who that lamia was and if Vodyan actually cut off a piece of their tail, but I was afraid of his answer. In my post-panic state, with my body growing more and more jittery after everything that happened, I wasn’t sure I could handle that.

So I stayed silent, doing my best to breathe in a calming pattern. Vodyan’s hold on me loosened enough to let my ribs expand, but I was much less relaxed about being so close to him now. His harsh voice played on a loop in my head, making me shiver.

It was so cold. So utterly devoid of mercy.

After some time, he made a low sound, his voice sack flashing bright. I knew the light was an evolutionary feature that vodniks developed to communicate better. Thanks to the light, they could instantly see who spoke and locate them in the dark.

“Are you well?” he asked after making a few more guttural sounds. I wondered if they were something akin to clearing one’s throat.

I sighed in relief. His voice was softer, deeper, and completely unlike before when he addressed the lamia.

“Yes,” I answered. “Just a bit jittery.”

His head dipped in a curt nod but he didn’t say anything more. I chewed on my questions, wondering if it was even appropriate for me to ask them. That fight had nothing to do with me from the looks of it.

And yet, it also affected me. After all, I was there.

I argued with myself, grappling with those thoughts while Vodyan swam fast, taking us deeper and deeper. At a few points, my ears popped, and I had to swallow and yawn a few times to adjust to the pressure, but otherwise, I was fine.

The suit really was marvelous. And yet, it felt like such a flimsy barrier between me and the dangerous, lethal vodnik who carried me. I couldn’t help it—I felt uneasy in his tight hold, my heart beating faster than normal as I tuned into the play of muscles under his scales.

Lamias were dangerous, and I’d been the most afraid of them before I submerged in the lake. Yet now, I was also aware the giant snakes weren’t the only deadly predators in Lake Superior.

Vodniks were, too.

Finally, I decided to just ask him about the lamia when he landed on the lake bottom, sending a small cloud of sand up into the water around us. Apprehension gripped me and the question died on my tongue.

We had to be very deep, even if this was one of the shallower parts of the lake. If Vodyan left me here, I would never make it to the surface on my own. I pushed that thought aside, my heart fluttering madly in my chest.

It was dark here. Still. Thanks to my goggles, I made out vague shapes that looked like nothing in particular. Maybe discarded crates or simply trash.

Vodyan’s voice sack lit up. “We’re here,” he said curtly before slowly releasing me.

I gasped when his tentacles pressed to my sides and slid along my legs after he put me on my feet on the sandy bottom. I suspected it was to steady me, but the slithering sensation felt a bit like a caress, and it sent tingles up my thighs. Vodyan averted his eyes, his mouth pinched, and when I stood firmly, he let go and turned away.

His tentacles reached out, brushing through silt. They did something I couldn’t see, making the ground vibrate gently under my feet. A low clang came from below, like a mechanism falling into place. Next, his limbs grabbed something and turned. Through the cloud of sand, I made out the shape of a large metal wheel that he turned a few times seemingly with no effort, even though it had to be difficult, and then pulled a door open.

It was a trap door. At the bottom of the freaking lake.

“Awesome,” I whispered.

Vodyan glanced at me, the corner of his mouth briefly pulling up. “This is the MSA’s safehouse.”

I nodded and slowly walked toward him, clenching my jaw when it proved more difficult than I expected. It was just a few steps, but the water resistance slowed me down, and yet I didn’t dare exert too much force. I felt weightless, as if I would float away if I moved too abruptly.

When I glanced at Vodyan, I just caught the way he pursed his lips, watching me with his arms folded on his chest. He tapped his fingers against his bulging bicep with clear impatience.

“Bet I could outrun you on dry land,” I muttered under my breath, defensive in the face of his judgment.

He didn’t reply, but when I finally reached the open trap door, his face was schooled into a more neutral expression.

“That was a joke,” I clarified, a part of me itching to get a reaction out of him. He was too much of an enigma for my comfort. “I know you’d be as fast as a gazelle if we raced. You’d leave me in the dust.”

He blinked, looking confused, and then pointed at the large, circular hole the trap door revealed. His mouth didn’t even twitch with a smile.

Maybe vodniks were incapable of smiling. Somehow, that thought made my overstimulated heart squeeze with pity, which was so out of place.

God, I was so hungry.

“We should go in together,” he said curtly.

I waited a beat for an explanation, and when it didn’t come, I shrugged and nodded. After all, he was in charge here.

“Okay.”

His voice sack glowed with a low hum before he leaned in and picked me up until I was pressed to his torso. I wrapped my arms instinctively around his neck, just in time to feel a faint tremor running up his spine.

“Is this uncomfortable for you?” I asked before I thought better of it. “Because I can…”

“Hold on tight.”

I clamped my mouth shut when we gently floated into the dark hole, Vodyan’s tentacles shooting up to clamp the trapdoor shut and turn the wheel. There was a clang of a mechanism locking in place, and then a few more reverberating sounds as he secured other locks.

In a moment, a faint blue light flooded the space, revealing bare cement walls of the cylindrical space. A mechanical rumble came from below, followed by rhythmic whirring. The water around us moved, whirling faster and faster as the pump worked, and I dug my fingers into Vodyan’s nape, feeling a little claustrophobic even though the lock was a large space—large enough to fit a vodnik with all those robust tentacles.

I pressed instinctively closer. He shivered, and I relaxed my grip with a frustrated sigh.

All this physicality got to me. After the ordeal of today, my inhibitions were gone, and I shamelessly sought comfort through touch. It had to stop.

The pump was powerful, and soon, all water was gone from the lock. Ahead of us was a door with a glowing control panel. Vodyan reached out with a tentacle and punched in a long code. Something clanged and whirred, and the door swung open.

He gently put me down on the floor, and I realized he’d held me even though he didn’t have to. He could have put me down as soon as the water level lowered enough for me to stand, but he didn’t.

My stomach rumbled and I abandoned that train of thought, not even knowing where I wanted to go with it.

“Wait here,” Vodyan said, his voice low and hoarse. I did a double take but he was already through the door, moving just as fast as he did in the water. I realized he must have spoken using his above-surface organs.

I stood in the lock, growing colder by the second. No longer submerged, my suit lost power, and soon, I shook and hugged myself as water pooled at my feet. I longed to take off my mask, which pressed uncomfortably into my skin, but waited for the green light from Vodyan. For all I knew, the life support system had to be turned on manually or something.

Soon, light flooded the space beyond the door and the vodnik came out a moment later.

“All clear. You can breathe here.”

I tried to nod, but I wasn’t sure he caught it, I was shaking so hard. I lowered the part covering the lower half of my face with trembling fingers and took a wheezing breath through my mouth.

Vodyan gave me a long look and turned away. “Follow me.”

For a moment, I had the stupid urge to ask him to carry me, but he already moved down a narrow corridor, so I hurried after him as best I could on my freezing legs. He went through another door into a well-lit room, and I followed. My jaw dropped when I stepped inside.

It was a large, posh living room with a sprawling couch, a big TV occupying a wall opposite it, and really nice furniture including a couple bookcases and comfortable armchairs. There was also a pull-up bar affixed to a wall and what looked like a slim walking pad. I narrowed my eyes at something that suspiciously resembled a minibar when Vodyan pointed at a door to the left.

“This is your room. Everything inside is at your disposal. You can change.”

I’d barely nodded when he headed for the door opposite mine. It closed behind him with a soft click.

I stared without comprehension, my teeth chattering. He didn’t come out. The safehouse was perfectly quiet.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath, annoyance shooting through me with a pang. “Incredible.”

More like incredibly rude, but I didn’t say it out loud. I knew myself enough to realize my irritation stemmed from the combo of the cold, hunger, and all the pent-up anxiety coiled in my gut. It would be unfair to take it out on my introverted bodyguard who had been forced to carry me around for hours while fighting water snakes and threatening to cut off their tails.

I shuddered violently at the memory, which only added to my discomfort. So I took a shaky breath to calm myself down and trudged to my room, undoing my suit on the way. The first thing I did was take off my mask and unhook my air tank the way Agent Beck taught me.

Peeling off the suit was a challenge, though my skin was dry underneath. I took in my new living quarters while I wrestled with the tight fabric that clung to my naked body. My room was spacious and pleasant, with warm lighting, light gray walls, and a bed large enough to roll around all over the mattress. Once my suit fell on the floor with a wet slap, I swayed into the en-suite bathroom, praying for hot water.

My prayers were heard by whatever genius had designed this secret bunker in the bottom of the lake. I stumbled under the spray with a moan of gratitude and swore I wouldn’t come out until my skin was all wrinkly.

Hot and clear, this was the kind of water I loved.

CHAPTER 7

Vodyan

As soon as the door closed behind me, I slumped, burying my face in my hands. Fuck, I was exhausted. It wasn’t a physical or mental strain, yet I felt raw all over, my nerves overstimulated and aching. My chest was heavy and tender, my throat was still tense, and my heart beat in a sickly, unpleasant rhythm.

If I hadn’t known better, I would have suspected I was ill. But that wasn’t it.

Touching Zoe made me so shaky.

I didn’t fully understand why, and I still didn’t have names for some of the emotions that flooded the pit of my stomach. Whenever I’d brought Lord Kannui, who was my last protection detail assignment eight years ago, to this safehouse, I never felt like such a wreck afterward.

He had felt like cargo when I hauled him around until we reached this hideout at the bottom of the lake. So why didn’t Zoe feel the same way?

Was it a temperature thing? Did she run hotter than he had? Or maybe the suit technology had changed, which was why she had seemed so scalding in my arms? I had no idea, and the more I thought about it, the more the tumultuous whirlpool inside me roiled until I had to force myself to snap out of it.

I had to stay alert.

The security network giving a full view around the safehouse was already on, the screens glowing on the wall of my room. I moved to a dark pool sunken into the floor opposite the screens, where I would work and sleep. If everything went according to plan, I wouldn’t have to even talk to Zoe from now on. I’d just stay here and, hopefully, my condition would go away, whatever it was.

I scanned the screens, predictably seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and reached for the tap to fill my pool with cool lake water. A sound traveling through the pipes made me freeze, a shiver going down my spine.

Soft and very female, it was a moan. I closed my eyes, shaking harder, even as another followed. And then, a low groan. For a moment, I wondered if she was in pain—honestly hoped those sounds were caused by pain—but then her words, distorted yet clear enough to understand, floated through the pipe system.

“Fuck, yes. God. Finally.”

A full-body shiver rolled through me, from my head down to the twitching tips of my tentacles. Heat bloomed in my gut, shocking and unwelcome just like the warmth of her, and it tightened when another moan of pleasure resounded from the wall.

I closed my eyes and exhaled with helpless fury. I’d forgotten about this unfortunate feature of the safehouse’s acoustics, probably because I didn’t want to remember it. Lord Kannui masturbated in the shower often and was very vocal during the act. I’d quickly learned to ignore it, just like I ignored his propensity to watch porn at full volume in the living room.

But the sounds of his pleasure never made me feel as helpless as Zoe’s moans.

I clenched my jaw and tightened my muscles to the point of pain, hoping that would help me get myself under control. But the added sensation only made me vibrate harder with whatever it was I felt. It wasn’t lust, at least, because that would have been incredibly awkward.

But I knew what lust felt like. It was pleasant and easily controllable, a bit like feeling the first pangs of hunger and knowing a meal would come soon. It was easy to wait without much discomfort.

This thing that I felt now was wildly unpleasant. It stirred in my gut like a monster tearing through my insides to find a way out. A parasite.

It fucking hurt.

As I struggled to contain this new, wild thing inside me, I was also swamped by a powerful wave of curiosity. I was so exhausted, I couldn’t keep my thoughts in check, and they poured in, inappropriate and scalding my brain with heat.

Was she touching herself? Was this her way of dealing with tension and anxiety? Or was she some sort of sex addict who had to get herself off multiple times a day? It was odd that she did this first thing after getting here. Had she spent our entire journey craving this release? Was that why she was so hot?

Did she think about getting herself off while I carried her?

I cursed as the monster in my gut thrashed harder, making my muscles clench with something hot and wanting. Desperately trying to get a hold of myself, I slithered into my partly filled pool, letting the jets of water pound my tentacles in the hopes of easing some of the ridiculous tension.

But my limbs twitched and jerked, guided by an urge I didn’t understand. When I gave in, they tangled with each other, sliding and grasping in a wet, slithering mass. It brought me no relief, only more confusion.

It almost felt like I wanted to grip something and squeeze. To wrap myself around… something. Something that wasn’t myself.

Another moan, the loudest yet, came from the wall. I jolted and cursed quietly, pressing my palms to my ear holes at the sides of my head. The thin membranes that covered my ears when I was underwater now gently pulled open, letting me hear everything even more acutely than normally.

My own body conspired against me.

Even worse, as water slowly covered me, cold and soothing like the lake outside, phantom memories of Zoe’s touch bloomed across my skin. I felt every part of me that had been pressed against her. The scales on my stomach that remembered how it felt to have her legs wrapped around me flared with sensation.

I groaned deeply, trying to ease the horrible tension in my throat. The sound was loud and filled with all my discomfort. Too late did I realize she could hear me, too. Sounds traveled both ways in these pipes, after all.

“Oh, fuck,”  Zoe’s voice floated through the pipes before growing completely quiet.

I froze. So now she knew I’d heard her, and it would most likely make things really awkward between us. But I didn’t have to spend time in her company, I reminded myself. And hopefully, she’d keep it down now that she knew, though I didn’t hold out much hope.

Lord Kannui knew I heard everything, because I told him about it. It hadn’t stopped him even for one day, but then again, he viewed me simply as help. To him, I wasn’t a person. I was a tool to use when needed, so it probably didn’t even cross his mind to consider my comfort.

I released a long, frustrated breath and did my best to settle in and forget about everything that happened. It was difficult. The tension was still there like a constant itching under my skin, and the camera feeds didn’t offer any distractions.

Of course, I didn’t even have to watch them, because the security system was equipped with state-of-the-art motion detectors. As soon as something larger than a fish moved outside, alarms blared to life.

When I heard movement and shuffling outside my door, I knew Zoe came out. Another bout of curiosity took me by surprise. I wanted to know what she looked like with human clothes on and her head uncovered.

I reasoned with myself, trying to suppress the ridiculous need to see her. It wasn’t normal. I’d just spent a few hours in her company, and it stood to reason that I’d need a lot of time alone to decompress.

So why the hell did I want to come out?

When my stomach rumbled, I exhaled with relief. I was hungry. Of course, I wanted to find some food in the kitchen, which was accessible through the living room. I didn’t want to see Zoe at all. I just wanted to eat.

When I got out after drying myself up, Zoe jerked, shooting me a wary look from where she stood by a bookcase.

“Oh, hi,” she said sheepishly, her face covered with pink splotches. “I, uh, got lunch.”

She pointed at the bowl in her hand, and my eyes helplessly tracked the movement of her slim fingers adorned with a few colorful, glittering rings. The tightness in my throat was still there, and I didn’t speak for fear of my voice breaking.

I didn’t move, taking in her entire frame with eyes that refused to turn away, even though I knew I shouldn’t stare. But she was so… So.

I still didn’t have the right words to describe accurately what I saw. Separate parts of the image were easy enough, so I focused on those, pushing away the urge to find a word that would define her as a whole.

Her messy hair was damp and piled on top of her head in a strange arrangement that looked oddly attractive. Dark curls escaped, framing her face that was small and delicate, with a dainty nose, a sharp chin, and round cheeks that colored a bit deeper as I stared.

There was a crumb in the corner of her mouth, and her lips were slightly parted, that canine tip peeking out. Her green eyes were big under the gentle swoops of her eyebrows, staring at me just as I stared at her, which made me feel a bit better about my abysmal lack of control.

When her pink tongue darted out to lick off the crumb, a shiver ran down my spine.

“So, uh, I guess the person who built the sanitation system here didn’t care much about privacy, huh?” she asked with a small smile, putting her bowl on a table.

I blinked, unnerved by her direct question. I expected her to ignore the entire matter completely, and the fact she didn’t made me respect her a bit. Maybe she wouldn’t be as inconsiderate as Kannui, after all.

Zoe gripped the back of an armchair, clearing her throat, and I finally looked away as I forced myself to speak.

If I kept staring, I knew my eyes would linger on how the too-large, blue sweater hung around her soft curves. How the black, tight trousers hugged her legs. How she rubbed one foot against the other, both covered with thick, dark socks.

I didn’t understand my odd fascination. Humans had never seemed particularly interesting to me.

“It’s because of the pressure,” I answered, my voice resembling a croak. My lips tingled.

She nodded. “Oh, well. I promise not to sing in the shower, then,” she said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want your ears to wither.”

The soft membranes by my ears fluttered gently at her words, and her eyes twitched, noticing the movement. Her smile widened and she opened her mouth to speak before exhaling with a frown. She shook her head once and gave me a tight-lipped smile.

“What?” I asked, touching my membrane that still trembled with a vague sort of nervousness.

I couldn’t remember when they’d last done that, honestly. But then, I never spent much time above the surface.

“No, it’s just a stupid thought. I have lots of those. You don’t want to hear them,” she said, looking away. She grabbed a cracker smeared with a thick layer of peanut butter from her bowl and popped it in her mouth, moving to the tall, narrow shelf by the TV.

“Tell me,” I demanded, watching her. I was frozen to the spot, tracking her hand as she ran her fingertips over the spines of movie cases stacked inside the shelf.

“You really want to know?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder. “Fine. I just think it’s cute. The way your ears twitch. Which is so odd, because cute is not a word I’d ever think would fit a… well, a grown man of your type. Are these DVDs? I don’t think I’ve seen those in years.”

Of my type? I frowned, about to demand she explain that remark, but bit my words back at the last moment. What was I doing? I was supposed to get food and disappear back into my room. Not lounge around with my principal and talk.

“This safehouse was built twelve years ago for a client,” I explained in answer to her question. “He spent long stretches of time in here and required entertainment.”

“Well, I hope these still work, because if they don’t, I’ll probably torture you with constant talking. I require entertainment, too,” she said, crouching to take a look at more titles. “Oh, workout videos! Cool, maybe I will finally get in shape.”

I said nothing, wondering what she meant by that. Did she think there was something wrong with her body?

When Zoe reached toward the closed cabinet under the TV, I jolted with sudden awareness of what was in there.

“I wouldn’t look at those if I were you,” I said, a bit too harsh. She flinched, looking up with wide eyes.

She was still crouching, her body turned toward me, her face open in curiosity. There was something about that sight that made me buzz. She looked so small and compact like that, and the way her face turned up, coupled with that wide-eyed, expectant look were so… So.

My tentacles twitched with the urge to squeeze. I forced myself to look away.

“Why? What’s in there?” she asked, her fingers grazing the flat knob with an obvious urge to open the cabinet.

“Fetish porn,” I replied, clenching my jaw as I passed her, heading for the kitchen.

“Wow,” she muttered under her breath. “Entertainment, indeed.”

CHAPTER 8

Zoe

I would have let it go, really, I would have. If he had just said porn, I would have given the cabinet a wide berth.

But he said fetish.

And that immediately made me curious what sort of fetish was involved. For a moment, I even wondered if it was his, because that would have kept me from snooping—I wasn’t so compulsively curious that I would have invaded his privacy to find out.

But Vodyan made it clear the entertainment in this room was for the previous client’s sake. And since he left it behind, I reasoned I had a right to take a look.

Finders, keepers.

I glanced at the door leading into the kitchen, but Vodyan was on the far side, rifling through the contents of the fish conserve cabinet. Just like my bedroom was stocked with clothing of various sizes, most likely to accommodate a range of clients, the kitchen was well stocked with a wide range of non-perishable food, and one entire cabinet was stuffed with canned fish.

Now I knew why.

Licking my lips and feeling ridiculously naughty, like I was trespassing and about to get caught, I gently eased the cabinet open and looked at the titles on the DVD cases inside. My eyes grew wider and wider the more I took in, a stupid laugh building in my throat. Some of the titles were extremely ridiculous to the point of being comical.

Alice in Shehru Wonderland: A Taboo Story. Two Girls, One Golem. Backdoor Bloodsuckers. Riding the Werewolf MILF. Double-Stuffed: Spider Shibari Dungeon. Underwater Adventures with Tight Vodnik Sweethearts.

I grabbed the last one to take a look at the cover. It depicted a muscular, grinning human guy with two vodnik women who looked at him adoringly, their tentacles wrapped around his legs almost up to the ridiculously tiny thong he wore to cover his bulging junk.

“So that’s how you follow suggestions?”

I shrieked and dropped the movie case. It opened, showing the disc inside. It was printed with a graphic of green tentacles not unlike Vodyan’s.

Oh God.

I looked up, cringing with embarrassment. It was the worst possible disc I could have dropped, and now, Vodyan’s eyes were glued to it, one of his tentacles tapping rhythmically against the doorway while his fists clenched.

“To be fair, it was just a suggestion,” I said, swallowing down my shame. “There’s nothing dangerous about this. At least, I hope not. I promise, I’m not the type to run into danger. I’m a coward at heart. I’ve never even killed anyone, not to mention cut off their tail.”

And why did I say that?

The explanation was simple. I babbled to break through the palpable tension that suddenly sprung in the room, thickening the air between us. Vodyan’s eyes shot to me and immediately away as his jaw worked. I wondered what his expression meant. Was it contempt?

For fuck’s sake. It’s just porn.

But then why was I so embarrassed and hot around the ears? Why did the air feel so charged?

With a low huff, Vodyan pushed away from the doorway. “If you end up watching it, keep the volume down, please.”

“What?” My mouth fell open with indignation. “I won’t watch porn when you’re around! And I definitely don’t have an interspecies fetish!”

He gave me a piercing look and finally nodded, disappearing back in the kitchen. I picked up the DVD and put it back in the cabinet, muttering obscenities under my breath. I was weirdly riled up and annoyed, not least because of the chopped nature of our conversations.

I sensed he was extremely closed off, and it irritated me more than it should.

With a sigh, I moved over to the non-porn movie selection and picked out one of the few romantic comedies I found. Most titles were action or thriller movies, so definitely not what I needed to soothe my still jittery nerves.

My skills were dusty, but I finally figured out how to play the movie and settled down with my peanut butter crackers. I’d already devoured a full can of peaches in the kitchen by the sink, and this was a follow-up snack.

“Wanna watch it with me?” I asked Vodyan when he emerged from the kitchen, carrying a stack of cans and a few other items in his arms.

He glanced at the screen and shook his head, disappearing in his room.

And that was that. After that day, it was like he wasn’t even there, and I hated it.

I almost didn’t see him at all during the five following days. I spent most of my time in the living room, and Vodyan came out only twice in that time, both times completely ignoring my presence apart from nodding curtly to acknowledge my enthusiastic greetings.

I didn’t know whether he avoided me because I grated on his nerves or if he just needed some time alone. Very optimistically, I decided it was probably the latter and vowed to myself not to bother him, even though I was stir-crazy by the third day.

Being all alone had never served me well.

I tried to keep my days full with books, movies, and yoga workout videos, and even did a few cooking experiments in the kitchen, trying to come up with fun desserts from canned food and crackers, and yet I grew more and more lonely as time passed.

In a fit of desperation on the fourth day, I tried journaling, but it had never worked for me. It felt like sending my words into the void. I desperately needed to know someone was on the other side to hear when I talked, otherwise, it felt meaningless.

But I had no means of communication with the outside world, and my only company was my withdrawn, reticent bodyguard, who might as well not have been there at all.

He probably thrived all by his lonesome, while I slowly gave in to madness.

I was a social creature by nature, and the lack of company made me irritated and anxious. I processed my shit by talking about it, and with the lack of that outlet, I spiraled. I thought more and more about Matthias Carver and worried about my parents and sister, who were also under protection but not as extreme as mine.

Most of all, I mourned my old life.

Normally, I spent entire days surrounded by people, especially children. I used to work full-time in a kindergarten, and a few days a week I volunteered in the Minnesota Children’s Home after work. It was an institution housing orphaned and abandoned children while they waited to be placed in a suitable foster home.

Since the law favored foster care and adoption by parents of the same species as the child, finding proper care for a kid was sometimes a challenge. Some species were generally more eager to foster, while others—not so much. Children’s homes around the country were supposed to serve as temporary care homes, though in reality, children often spent years in them, some never entering the foster care system.

And while children’s homes were well funded in terms of the basic necessities, there was one thing that the overworked staff couldn’t possibly offer their charges: affection.

That was the gap I filled with my volunteer work.

I spent the fifth day of my de facto solitary confinement crying silently on the couch while a stupid car racing movie played in the background. I kept thinking about the children I’d spent years becoming friends with, reading to, and playing with. I thought about some of the babies I rocked, hugged, and sang lullabies to days before this entire ordeal began, and I couldn’t stop sobbing into the couch cushion.

Who was going to give them warmth and connection now that I was gone?

Volunteers had to undergo a lengthy vetting process to even be allowed inside a children’s home. Few people felt like jumping through so many hoops only to read books to other people’s children, often of various species.

My loneliness, coupled with all the grief and longing for simple connection, made that day the most miserable one of my adult life. I’d kept it together until then, but I was only human. Finally, I had to crack.

After crying for a full day, I dozed off. I woke up in the middle of the night, still on the couch. The lights were turned off, and when I sat up, a soft blanket slid off my shoulders. Vodyan must have covered me when I slept.

That was when I decided I’d had enough. And even though Vodyan probably hated me, he was the only person available. The blanket showed he cared, at least, and that gave me hope.

I went to sleep in my bed, and the next morning, I knocked on his door.

When it remained closed, I pressed my ear to the cool surface. There were faint splashing noises, but otherwise, it was silent. I knocked again, louder this time. There was a sudden big splash, and then nothing.

I was already fuming at his rudeness when he finally spoke up. “Yes? Do you need me?”

Fuck, yes, I needed him. Treating his words as an invitation to come in, I opened the door and stepped inside.

“Whoa. This is different.”

My bedroom was generic in a minimalist, hotel-room sort of way. Vodyan’s room was a cavern. It was dark, the walls, ceiling and floor painted black and lit with faint, greenish lights placed just above the floor. The biggest source of light was a setup of over a dozen screens covering an entire wall.

A rectangular, sunken pool, also painted black, took up most of the room. It was filled almost to the brim with water, and Vodyan lounged inside, looking more relaxed than I’d ever seen him before.

His muscular arms were draped over the edge of the pool, and his tentacles spread wide, taking up the entire surface area. Manspreading, vodnik edition, I thought, my cheeks flushing with heat.

I didn’t know why, but the way he commanded so much space was wildly attractive. It spoke of power and confidence, and I drank him in until his blue eyes flashed as he sat up straighter.

“What is it?”

His voice was low and a bit hoarse, as if he hadn’t used it much and, in all fairness, that was probably the case. I cleared my throat, hesitantly taking a step closer.

“You have to talk to me,” I blurted out when I stood at the edge of the pool. “I’ll go crazy all on my own. I’m already halfway there.”

From the very edge, I saw the bottom of the pool was also lit with tiny pinpoints of green lights. They weren’t bright enough to spill out of the water, but etched his tentacles in an emerald glow. My hands burned with a need to touch him that was so powerful, it almost knocked me off my feet.

I hadn’t felt that need acutely during my five days of isolation, but now that I was in a room with another breathing, living person, my chest caved with the longing for touch. In my life before Matthias Carver, I hadn’t lived through a single day in which I hadn’t touched somebody, and now I was in withdrawal.

My hands shook.

The water splashed as Vodyan’s tentacles tangled together in a mesmerizing heap of powerful, muscular flesh. A big, dark sucker flashed in the light, and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the words gathering on the tip of my tongue. If he refused me, I was ready to beg him for a crumb of connection.

God, this was embarrassing.

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked, turning so he faced me directly.

I almost sobbed with relief as I sank down to the floor and sat cross-legged on the damp tiles.

“Anything at this point. My life. Your life. The benefits of veganism. Chicken keeping. Art and architecture. This stupid movie I watched yesterday that I don’t even remember. We can talk about that eclectic porn collection that I, by the way, haven’t touched but felt tempted to. That’s how desperate I am for something that will keep me sane.”

Abruptly and without warning, Vodyan smiled.

I gasped as his face stretched in a brief smile, his eyes crinkling, his lips widening enough to reveal the sharp tips of even, white teeth. Just as quickly as it appeared, the smile vanished. I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, it was gone.

But the lines of his face were softer and kinder now. He definitely didn’t look as hostile as that first day, and it made me slump in relief.

“Maybe not the porn,” he said. “I’ve had enough of it for a lifetime.”

“Well, now I want to ask you why, which sucks, because you don’t want to talk about it,” I said with a playful grin that was a bit hesitant.

I still worried he would kick me out.

But Vodyan only shrugged, the scale-covered muscles in his shoulders rippling. “The client who stayed here before you played it very loudly. I developed an intense dislike.”

“Ah,” I nodded, shuffling a bit closer until I could reach into the pool and dip my fingers in the water. It wasn’t quite like touching, but it felt a bit similar. That pool was so filled with his body, it almost seemed like the water was an organic part of him.

He watched my fingers as they skimmed the surface. The water was surprisingly cool, but not icy cold.

“So, where is he now? Why doesn’t he use this place anymore?” I asked, playing with the water.

It quieted some of my longing, but at the same time, it sharpened it into an even greater need. This was barely enough to fill the yawning craving for touch that gaped inside my chest.

“He’s dead,” Vodyan said without inflection, like it didn’t matter one way or another. When I looked up, startled, he shook his head. “He didn’t die in my care, but on land. This place is completely safe. You have nothing to worry about.”

Water splashed as one of his tentacles shot out with a jerky, compulsive motion. It almost brushed my fingers—I felt a ghost of a touch as the air he stirred whispered across my wet knuckles—and dipped back under the water.

I pretended I hadn’t noticed, and Vodyan didn’t comment on it, either.

“How long did it stand empty?” I asked, dipping my entire palm underwater.

Vodyan released a sharp breath, and I looked up. The softness leached out of his face, replaced by that hard look from the day we met. He didn’t look at me, his eyes focused on where my wrist dipped under the surface.

Slowly, as if he was a wild animal I didn’t want to startle, I pulled my hand out and wiped it on my leggings. The air felt suddenly heavy and charged, and I was anxious I’d done something wrong.

Vodyan looked up and slowly leaned back against the edge of the pool, relaxing.

“Eight years. But the MSA poured a ton of money into building it, and it’s useful in extreme cases, so we maintained it. The food was replaced when it expired. Client quarters were equipped with clothes and things for both genders to anticipate situations like yours, when someone had to be placed here without preparation. It’s completely self-sufficient energetically. The generator uses fresh water, just like your suit.”

I blinked a few times. This was probably the longest utterance he’d made in my company, and I was tempted to pump my fist in triumph. I finally got the big vodnik loner to talk.

Encouraged by that success, I asked the question that had been on my mind since the first day.

“Okay. You don’t have to answer the next one, just for the record. But can you tell me what was your deal with that lamia? Did you really cut off their tail?”

Water splashed as Vodyan shifted a bit, leaning his head back until he gazed at the ceiling. That position revealed the underside of his long, muscular throat, lighter in color where the delicate voice sack lay against his scaly skin. I pressed my lips together and used that moment to touch the water again. Just a bit. I barely grazed it with my fingertips.

“I did,” Vodyan said at length. “Just a small piece. He tried to steal a shipment of shanta I guarded. Mutilation is the customary punishment, and it can be delivered by any shanta handler as long as they are able. I was able.”

His lips tipped up in a small, cruel smirk. My fingers spasmed, partly with attraction, partly—apprehension. He heard the faint splash I made and straightened. His eyes narrowed on where I stroked the water.

“Is this all right?” I blurted.

He nodded once but didn’t lie back like he did before. His eyes fixated on my hand as I played. Something in my belly tightened, and I had to swallow with effort before I spoke again.

“So anyone can deliver the punishment? You don’t need a trial?”

He snorted, a tentacle jerking out until it almost touched my hand. I stilled for a moment before I dipped my fingers a bit deeper in, just to the first knuckle. Heat warmed my belly. It felt intimate. This was his space, and since I didn’t see furniture in the room, I suspected he slept in the pool.

I gulped, wondering if what I was doing was akin to playing with the sheets on somebody’s bed. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like such a good idea to keep going, but I didn’t want to stop. I needed at least a substitution of touch.

“Yes,” Vodyan answered with a deep rumble. “I assume you think it’s barbaric.”

“I think it’s fucking awesome,” I said without thinking. “If our law worked like that, I wouldn’t be in this situation. My life wouldn’t be over.”

He stared at me without moving, his eyes intense, and I deflated.

“I mean, no. I would still be here, because even if I had a gun and the skills to use it when I overheard Carver talking to administrator Kowalski, I still would have been too much of a coward to do it. Besides, he had two goons with him. I definitely wasn’t able.”

I pulled my hand out, feeling dejected and angry with myself. Before I shook it off, Vodyan’s tentacle shot out and wrapped around my wrist.

I shivered, sparks tingling along my skin. This was exactly what I needed. His skin was wet and cool, his pulse throbbing just underneath, and I reveled in his touch.

When I looked at his face, he seemed startled, but then his expression smoothed into something not exactly soft or kind, but not neutral or hostile, either. I couldn’t read him.

His eyes glittered in the light of the screens as he spoke, his voice the lowest yet.

“You’re not a coward, Zoe.”

CHAPTER 9

Vodyan

Oh, the heat of her skin. It wasn’t as scalding as when she wore the suit, but it was soft and warm, and I didn’t dare pull away even as the familiar tightness squeezed my throat. But I was more used to it now, so I let it be while I looked at my principal, who had come to me begging for conversation.

Of course, I folded at once. Avoiding her had exhausted all my reserves.

I spent the last few days doing my best to control the weird instincts and thoughts that had wormed their way into my head since the first day. I kept away, afraid more contact would bring in more confusion, but staying in my room when I heard Zoe just outside required a lot of discipline. I wanted to be close to her, and it made no sense.

What made even less sense was that I still wanted to make her feel safe and comfortable. When she cried yesterday, a leaden weight settled in the pit of my stomach. I almost couldn’t stand it, but I had no idea what to do. It wasn’t my place to comfort her, and yet, it was, too, because no one else was available.

But I didn’t even know how to start. When she fell asleep, I went in with a stupid, meaningless gesture I’d seen in human movies, covering her with a blanket. I had no idea how it was supposed to help.

And now she was here, needing me, and my strong will had frayed to nothing.

Carefully, like she was afraid of dislodging my limb, Zoe lowered her hand to rest on her knee. I didn’t pull back, though I should have, probably. Were we even supposed to touch outside of relocation?

Then again, what did I know? I didn’t really touch people. So I followed her cues, and since she didn’t protest, I kept my limb wrapped around her wrist. Shockingly, some of the tension vibrating under my skin eased at that, and I relaxed against the side of the pool, watching her.

“I am a coward. All I do is hide,” she grumbled, looking away.

I considered it for a moment and shook my head in the end. The membranes by my ears fluttered gently, catching Zoe’s eye. A small smile ghosted her lips, and for whatever stupid reason, I made the membranes flap a bit harder. Her smile grew until the tip of her canine peeked out.

“You hide because this is currently the surest, safest way to defeat him,” I said. “This isn’t cowardice, it’s a very smart, strategic move. Also, I read in your file he threatened you and your family, demanding you change your testimony. You didn’t. It takes courage to stand up to a murderer.”

“Oh, yeah,” she muttered. “Those threats were nasty. I couldn’t even delete those emails because they are now in evidence.”

She lowered her eyes, brushing my tentacle with the fingers of her free hand. My breath caught, but I didn’t say anything. Zoe ran her fingertips over my skin in gentle, gliding patterns, and my heartbeat picked up until it grew uncomfortable, but I didn’t pull back.

“I mean, I was brought up to tell the truth,” she said after a moment. “But even if I could lie convincingly in court, I still wouldn’t. He deserves to rot in jail. He’s a monster.”

Her jaw set, her fingers stilling, though she still touched me. An electric shiver ran up that tentacle, and I was surprised to discover it wasn’t unpleasant.

“I suppose. He murdered the other two witnesses in a gory way,” I said, remembering the pictures.

There weren’t many, but their gruesomeness was memorable. The first witness, administrator Kowalski, was in jail when Carver’s people got her. They slit her throat and left her in a pool of blood. The other witness and the agents guarding him had been literally drawn and quartered, bloody pieces of their bodies scattered over an underground parking lot.

Zoe shrugged like it didn’t matter.

“Yeah, I mean, it is horrible. But, you know. He’s a mobster. That’s what they do. What I can’t forgive is buying and selling the lives of innocent children who have no one to protect them, no one to care. It’s beyond evil. I can’t let someone like that go unpunished.”

I jolted, shocked by her answer. My throat tightened even more, and when Zoe looked up, her glittering green eyes meeting mine, I felt naked and exposed. Like my past was in the room with us now, close to the surface and ready to be touched. Ready to hurt again.

“The file said you were in the children’s home when you overheard him making the transaction with the administrator,” I said, grasping for words while I pushed my raw wounds deep down, where they belonged. “But it didn’t mention why you were there. I only got the necessary info.”

She sighed, beginning to tap her fingers across my tentacle that pulsed around her wrist, getting drunk on her warmth. It felt mindless on her part, like playing with other people’s limbs was natural for her. For a sharp, biting moment, I wondered how many people she touched this way and if I could be the only one from now on.

It was a ridiculous thought.

“I volunteered there,” she said with a sigh, shifting to straighten out her leg. “Ever since I read about how neglected children develop differently, I wanted to help. It's just… It’s just so sad.”

She sighed again and looked up, her face tightening with passion. I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

“Do you know what happens when a baby cries and nobody comes to comfort it? It learns from the earliest moments of its life that its voice, its needs, its comfort and happiness don’t matter. Neglected children learn that no matter how loudly they cry, no one will help. Even worse, they learn they don’t deserve to be helped. So they stop crying. They stop asking. It’s heartbreaking.

“And if babies aren’t hugged, if they don’t get that physical contact early on, their emotional and social development is thwarted. It’s been studied and proven across most sentient species. We need touch. It’s literally a basic need, just like food and shelter, except it’s not included in any official guidelines. Ever since I learned that, I made it my life’s mission to hug the children no one else wants to hug. I’ve been doing it for six years now.”

Hug the children no one else wants to hug.

It was like she said a magic spell that broke through all my locks and armor that were already cracked and chipped from her touch.

Stripped of my protection, I was defenseless and raw, and I couldn’t stop it. I was about to break apart, and I couldn’t let her see it.

“Leave,” I snapped, yanking my tentacle back until it disappeared in the pool with a splash.

Zoe’s eyes widened with surprise. “What? But why do you…”

“Get out!” I roared, painful tremors running down my frame.

Memories popped open like overgrown slugs, flooding my mind with agonizing fury. Normally adept at keeping them hidden, I couldn’t stop them from coming forth now. I struggled to breathe as they assaulted me, some so vague and hazy, I wasn’t even sure what they were, and yet the feelings accompanying them were sharp and clear.

Desolation. Helplessness. Pain.

Unworthy.

Zoe scrambled to her feet and rushed to the door, sliding on the wet floor. She made it out with a stumble, slamming the door shut behind her. Once she was out, I submerged and released the scream of crushing fury that choked my throat. It rose to the surface in a stream of bubbles as I wrestled with my mind, trying to put my wounded past back in its place out of sight, but I couldn’t.

She broke something in me. Either her presence, her touch, her warmth, or all three made me incapable of restoring the calm equilibrium from before.

And so I was forced to relieve my worst experience. My body, though fully grown now, still couldn’t contain all the hurt and burning shame left over from when I was a child.

I was eight years old, and my grandfather kept me tied up in the land summer house he had on Isle Royale. He’d been at it for over a day already, and I was in agony. My dry skin cracked and bled, my mouth was parched, and my surface organs, barely developed at the age of eight, couldn’t keep up breathing the surface air.

I was dying.

Vodniks were born under water and spent most of their childhoods there, gradually getting used to functioning on land as they grew into adolescence. But my grandfather was determined to make me tough. He trained me for hours, depriving me of food and punishing me physically when I disappointed him.

Keeping me out of water for longer than a day was insane. Even a few hours was way too long for an eight-year-old.

I was in so much pain and so terrified, I cried that day, even though I knew better at that point. He abhorred all weakness, and he hated my tears above all else. And yet I couldn’t stop them. Maybe it was that instinct all children had, crying to get their needs met, like Zoe said. He hadn’t beaten it out of me completely yet.

But of course, crying was a mistake. When he heard my whimpers of pain and small, childish pleads to be let go, he lost it.

At first, he just beat me with his tentacles, their blows shaking me in the ropes. I stopped crying at that point, my training kicking in. I knew he’d go easier on me once I stopped sniveling, so I forced the tears back and just took it.

But he was beyond stopping at that point. He grabbed a wooden board and smacked me with it, screaming I would never amount to anything, that I was too weak to survive, would never be a man. He said I would die just like my mother, torn to shreds by lamias, and he was done watching me fail.

I was unworthy of his name and blood. I was a failure.

He left me like that. My entire body was enveloped in a crushing, cold pain, and my lungs gave out. My breaths came short and wheezing, my small torso spasming, my gills fluttering as I tried to get more air.

I would have died, but the beating he gave me turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The violent blows loosened the ropes, and after a few desperate, sluggish attempts, I was able to crawl out of them.

When I made it outside and into the water, I knew I would live. The first breath through my gills was the purest relief, and the way the cool water soothed my cracked, beaten flesh comforted me like the most loving caress.

Mother.

I lived on my own for some time after that, using all the skills my grandfather beat into me to survive. When I was nine, I made my way into Yeseera and asked to be allowed to attend school. Trying to integrate into society was a form of rebellion against my grandfather, who was still lodged deep under my scales.

When I was fourteen, I sought him out only to find his dead body trapped in one of his remote huts in the deepest parts of the lake. I hauled him out of there, up to the house on Isle Royale, and left him on land to rot and be dragged by wolves.

He didn’t deserve the sanctity of a grave in the deep, nor for his body to be composted into a fertilizer for shanta.

Now, I breathed through my gills, letting the water envelop me whole. It wasn’t the same as sinking deep in the lake, but it worked. Relief seeped slowly into my buzzing, aching limbs, and the gaping wounds inside me dulled to a low throbbing.

And yet, the sharp, acute pain in my heart didn’t lessen. It was grief for the childhood I hadn’t had. I thought it was normal that I didn’t get any warmth after my mother died—it was just the way it was, and my grandfather always said I should be grateful he took me in, because otherwise, I would have ended up in the system.

But listening to Zoe, I suddenly beheld a different possibility. Maybe orphaned children could get those crumbs of warmth, too. Maybe it could have been different.

I emerged with a growl, splashing water onto the tiles. I was forty, for fuck’s sake. It was time to let go of the past, yet no matter how hard I tried, the past wouldn’t let go of me.

It took me an hour to bring myself more or less to normal, though I was still raw and shaken. Fury buzzed under my scales, alive and vicious, but I felt guilty, too.

The hurt in Zoe’s green eyes when I screamed at her was like a thorn lodged in my gut. I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but I knew one thing. I wanted her forgiveness.

When I came out, resigned to offer my apologies to her closed door, she surprised me by smiling as soon as she saw me.

She sat on the couch, her legs folded, and didn’t seem to be doing anything. The TV was off, and there was no book in her hand. I wondered if she’d waited for me, and it made me feel strangely hot.

“How are you feeling?” she asked when I froze in the doorway, unsure what to do.

My plan hadn’t even taken into account the possibility that she might be friendly like this. In my experience, it took much less to offend a woman than what I just did. I knew. I’d tried dating in my late teens and it was a disaster. Vodnik girls hated me because I wouldn’t talk as much as they wanted or let them touch me in certain settings or circumstances. I grew accustomed to the idea I wasn’t made for relationships.

“Better,” I said, watching her intently to understand what was going on.

She nodded, her smile still bright and kind. “I’m glad. It seemed like something very serious happened, to make you lash out like that. What do you need now? Food? A nap? Something to take your mind off things?”

“What are you doing?” I asked instead of answering her questions, which baffled me infinitely.

I had never considered I might take a nap after a breakdown. What I’d just done was a sign of weakness. I didn’t deserve comfort or a treat, I just had to get myself together and be tougher the next time around.

And how did that strategy work out for you until now?

I ignored the small, inquisitive voice in my head, because Zoe answered my question, still smiling with patience.

“Trying to offer you comfort after a difficult experience,” she said easily, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I screamed at you,” I said, confused.

For a moment, I was angry. Was she playing some kind of weird game? Was this a trick? Yet I couldn’t see what sort of game that would be. What would she even achieve? I had no idea.

Zoe sighed and nodded, her smile growing fainter. “Yes, you did, and I didn’t like it. I’d feel better if you apologized, but I know enough not to take it too personally.”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out at once. “I really am. I apologize. That’s why I came out.”

Her smile brightened until she grinned at me with her cute teeth, her eyes sparkling with pleasure. She bounded off the couch and dashed to my side, stopping just in front of me. Her smile softened as she looked up, offering me her hand.

“Handshake? I’d hug you, but I’m not sure you’d be comfortable with that, so…”

“I would,” my mouth said before my brain had time to process what it meant.

“Yeah?” she grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “That’s awesome, because I miss hugging people so freaking much!”

Next thing I knew, she was on her tiptoes, her arms around my waist, her face pressed to my chest. My heart launched into a wild rhythm, and I knew she’d hear it thudding against my ribs, but the sudden pleasure of having her pressed so close overrode my desire to pull back.

Around us, my tentacles twitched and jerked with the urge to wrap around her and bring her closer, but I didn’t act on it. Instead, I focused on my arms. They were by my sides, hanging uselessly, so I put them around her with hesitation.

It felt weird to stand with her like that, feeling her warmth, breathing in her scent. She smelled like soap and canned peaches, and I found the combination captivating. Zoe didn’t pull back, and I didn’t, either, breathing her in and trying to understand why it felt so good.

After a few minutes, I was shocked to discover the gaping abyss in my chest slowly shrank and filled with warmth. Normally, I would be stuck with that pain for days to come, forcing it down and down until it was buried deep enough.

Yet now, it melted. Just like that.

“This is nice,” Zoe sighed, squirming closer. “You’d be so handy to have around on hot summer days with how cool your skin is.”

Her voice was husky and mellow, and suddenly, an electric shiver raced down my spine, making me straighten.

The way she sounded made me think of sex, and my body reacted. With eagerness.

Let go, I told myself, even as Zoe gently stroked my back, sending bursts of pleasure into my brain. It felt too good, and I didn’t understand why. We’d been close that first day, too, but all I felt then was a choking discomfort. Was I getting used to her?

Was familiarity the reason why my cock warmed in its slit, beginning to harden?

It was profoundly wrong to feel that way about her, and I forced myself to let go, even though my tentacles trembled with the need to slither under her clothes, and… No.

When Zoe looked up, her face flushed, her lips redder than before, I had to blink a few times to make myself focus. I vaguely remembered a part of my training that taught us how to handle situations like this. I’d scoffed at the time, so fucking certain it would never happen to me.

And now, here I was. In lust with a client.

CHAPTER 10

Zoe

I was giddy. I just hugged my bodyguard, who was evidently going through some shit, and it was the best feeling in the world. My heart raced, my body warming pleasantly. I almost growled when he pulled away, his blue, narrow eyes settling on my face with an unreadable expression.

But then, he was right to step back. We weren’t friends, ultimately, even though it felt so natural to treat him like one. I already knew there was a world of pain locked behind those electric blue eyes and I itched to tease it out and kiss it all better.

Wait… what?

“What did you mean when you said you know enough?” Vodyan asked, sounding hoarse.

I had to think for a moment before I understood what he meant. We were still so close that I sensed the coiled strength in his body towering above me, but we didn’t touch. My heart squeezed with the longing for more.

Get a grip, girl.

“Oh, right,” I said, a small laugh falling out in my embarrassment. “Well, uh. You took a while, so I had time to put it together. The stuff I talked about before you lashed out, and then the face you made, and, uh… Like, please, don’t hate me for figuring it out. You can also tell me I’m wrong and I’ll forget all about it, I swear.”

The scales covering his brow ridges rippled in a frown.

“Figured out what?”

He didn’t sound angry, just curious, but I knew from experience people who hid pain and trauma didn’t like it to be seen by others. I didn’t want to lie to him, though, and he asked.

“That you carry some unresolved pain from the past,” I said vaguely, wincing when it came out too esoteric. “Well, from your childhood. I suspect it’s some really bad shit, to make you react so strongly. But I don’t know. I’m not a therapist or whatever. I just talk to a lot of kids and teenagers who open up to me, and I kind of know the signs. Not that you’re a kid. Far from it. Oh, God. I’ll shut up now.”

I shot him a panicked look, expecting another shout or maybe derision. It could go many ways, none of them good. But Vodyan surprised me with his calmness as he rubbed his forehead with a long sigh.

“Unresolved,” he muttered before looking up with a tired expression. “Well, what would you tell one of your kids in this situation?”

I nodded, my fingers itching with the need to touch him.

“I would tell them that they have a right to hurt. That whatever they went through, it was unfair and they didn’t deserve it. That they deserved to be loved and protected then, and they deserve it now. And I’d also say that they are bigger than whatever bad shit happened to them in the past. You might feel smaller and like it controls you, but there are ways to take control back. There are ways to make the shit so small, you barely know it’s there.”

He stared at me, the intensity of his gaze making me squirm. I’d had a glimpse into his soul, but I didn’t know if I was right, and he didn’t confirm it. His face was utterly blank, and I had no idea what he was thinking.

“Thank you for this conversation,” he finally said, courteous and reserved. “I’d like to establish a boundary now. I don’t feel comfortable touching you anymore unless it’s necessary, but I am open to talk.”

My mouth grew slack, disappointment stabbing my gut. Ridiculously, I felt rejected, even though there was nothing to reject. But how could he hate the hug I gave him when to me, it was such a gorgeous experience?

Though maybe I was just starved for touch, and that was why it felt so good. Just like food tasted so much better when I was hungry. Yeah, that made sense and also made me feel slightly better.

But not much.

“Of course,” I said, trying to recover. “Yeah. You got it.”

I shuffled away, feeling awkward as Vodyan watched me, his expression still neutral and cold. Unable to keep looking at him when I felt hot tears prick my eyes—ridiculous, idiotic—I turned away, heading to my room.

“So, uh, if you need me, just holler,” I said, already slipping through my door.

In my bed, I hugged a pillow, trying to wrestle myself under control. I shouldn’t have cried about this. I shouldn’t have felt much of anything, so I spent a good while suppressing all the stuff that shouldn’t be there before I remembered how pointless it was.

The feelings were there, for better or worse, and if I wanted them gone, I had to let them flow. No matter how painful, uncomfortable, and humiliating they were.

So I cried into my pillow, feeling like an idiot, but at least it brought me relief. I felt almost normal after I was done, so I washed my face and came out to find Vodyan doing pull-ups using the bar in the living room.

“Holy shit,” I murmured under my breath, watching as the muscles in his arms bunched, his teeth bared.

All his tentacles lifted off the floor as he came up with a sharp exhale, his entire torso rippling from the effort. I stared at the muscles in his back, each chiseled and defined under the shimmering scales. He looked like a sculpture.

I didn’t know how much exactly a vodnik weighed, but it was obvious it had to be a few hundred pounds, at least. And he was able to lift all that using his arms alone. It was beyond impressive, and my fingers spasmed with the urge to trace the beautiful, symmetrical shape of him.

Uh-uh. Bad Zoe.

“So that’s how you train?” I asked when Vodyan let go of the bar and turned to me. I expected to see sweat, but of course, vodniks didn’t have sweat glands. They regulated their temperature in other ways.

“A well-rounded routine includes surface stuff, yes,” he said, a small shadow crossing his face. “Though I do most of my exercise in the pool here.”

I rubbed one socked foot over the other, feeling strangely self-conscious. I was never big on fitness, and I suddenly felt inadequate compared to him.

“I should probably move more, too, since we’re stuck here and I don’t walk around as much as usual. I feel so squishy,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh, running my hand down my stomach.

Vodyan stilled, his tentacles freezing halfway through a movement. His eyes were glued to where my hand was at my hip, and I clenched it instinctively into a fist. His eyes dropped away. He swallowed, his throat working.

“Squishy,” he muttered under his breath. He seemed angry, though I had no idea why.

“What?” I asked, folding my arms on my chest.

“Nothing,” he bit out. “That word just surprised me.”

He disappeared in the kitchen, and I went to the bookshelf to get the dictionary, afraid I’d used the word incorrectly. It happened more often than I cared to admit, especially when I was nervous or spent a long day surrounded by kids. They were masters of using language in creative ways.

The dictionary didn’t reveal anything strange, though.

squishy, adj. of a soft, yielding, and wet quality.

I blinked a few times at the definition, finding nothing wrong with the word. I was soft and yielding. Maybe not exactly wet, though if someone squished me hard enough, I was pretty sure wet stuff would come out, so it was accurate.

Great. And now I thought about someone squeezing my guts out of me. If Matthias Carver employed people as big as Vodyan, with muscles that bulged massively and could lift a 600-pound weight, then it was definitely a possibility.

Could Vodyan squeeze me until my body yielded? Hot and warm tingles bloomed across my nape at the image, shockingly not unpleasant. I shivered and shook my head. Yeah, it was time to end that line of thinking.

With a resigned sigh, I set the walking pad in front of the TV and put on a movie. At least that way, exercise wouldn’t bore me to tears.

When Vodyan came out after his meal, he joined me without a word, and we watched the movie together in companionable silence. It was another action flick, this time with motorcycles instead of cars. I spent a ridiculously large part of the movie forcing my eyes to stay on the screen instead of glancing at him every ten seconds or so.

He was so oddly magnetic, and I didn’t understand why.

Overall, that day was a very welcome breakthrough. After that, we hung out every day. Two weeks passed, and I found them surprisingly perfect compared to the first one, because now I had company.

While each of us had some alone time, we spent most of every day together. Vodyan mostly listened while I talked to him, telling him about my job, my family, my neighbors, and anything that came to mind, really.

I told him all my funny stories. About how I got a potted plant as a present and watered it religiously for a full year before I realized it was fake. Or how I told my friend a lewd joke on the phone in the bathroom at my first job, and after I was done, my boss came out of the adjacent stall, having heard it all.

She gave me that arch, unimpressed look, and when my eyes widened in panic, she burst out laughing. We became friends after that.

I talked about my cat, who passed away, and friends I drifted apart from, because so many of them were now paired off and raising kids while I was single.

One night, I cracked the mini-bar open and had some supposedly luxurious whiskey that burned like shit and went down really badly, but I drank it, anyway. I only stopped when my hands jerked in my lap with the need to grab fistfuls of Vodyan’s tentacles and press them to my face.

That urge was ridiculous and something I fought almost constantly. It was like his boundary made me crave his touch—forbidden fruit and all that. But I held back, because I wasn’t about to make him uncomfortable, no matter how much I wanted to glide my fingers down his muscular shoulders and feel him tense, then relax, under my touch.

I fantasized about touching him when I was alone. It was really embarrassing, even though it was also pretty innocent. I just wanted a hug and maybe some friendly caresses.

When we talked, I avoided sensitive topics, so I barely mentioned my volunteer work. And even though Vodyan was an attentive listener, and I loved to talk for hours on end, I was infinitely curious about him, so I did my best to pry him open with questions.

What was his favorite food? Did he like his job? What other things did he do before he became a bodyguard? Which superpower would he choose, invisibility or flying? Did he have a favorite insect? Coffee mug? Brand of tinned tuna?

After a few of my questions coaxed brief smiles out of him, I got hooked. I came up with more and more ridiculous ones, and it was like a game. I awarded myself points: two for a brief smile, five for a big one, and ten for a full-on laugh.

He hadn’t laughed yet, though. But I was determined.

“Would you rather date a Sagittarius or a Gemini?” I asked before popping a handful of peanuts in my mouth.

We were in the living room, and I lounged on the couch while Vodyan sprawled on the floor, his tentacles spread wide all around him as he leaned back against an armchair. His eyes were hooded, expression soft, and I had to make myself look away every now and then to not stare like a creep.

It was a stupid question, and I cringed internally, because obviously, I was a Gemini. I felt a bit like a teenager fishing for proof that their crush liked them back. And fine, maybe I did have a bit of a crush on my bodyguard, but that was all there was.

And it was caused by the touching ban, I was sure of it. I wouldn’t have developed this unhealthy obsession if he wasn’t forbidden.

“I have no idea what those mean,” he said, swallowing a piece of sushi that he made from canned fish. “But regardless, I don’t date.”

My brows furrowed in surprise. “You don’t? Not at all? But you’re so breathtakingly hot, so why…”

I pressed my hand to my mouth, hiccupping when I realized what just fell out of my mouth. Vodyan sat up straighter, shooting me a piercing look. We stared at each other, and I just knew my face was all red.

That was the downside of having a mouth that chose the worst possible moments to disconnect from my brain.

He frowned, parting his lips to say something, but then his frown deepened, and he pressed them together. I closed my eyes in embarrassment, and when I opened them, Vodyan was closer, his gaze roaming my face.

“Zoe, I…”

He didn’t finish that thought, though, because a booming alarm blared through the safehouse, making me shriek from shock. Vodyan shot to his room without a backward glance, and I was left on the couch all alone, peanuts scattered all over me.

A moment later, he was out, his mouth set in a grim line.

“We’re under attack. If I don’t come back in an hour, hit the big red button in my room.”

And then, he was gone, the door of the lock hissing shut behind him. I sat motionless for a terror-filled moment before I scrambled to my feet and ran to look at the security screens.

CHAPTER 11

Vodyan

I strapped my gun on while the cylindrical space of the lock filled with water. My jaw was clenched, my tentacles vibrating with tension. Two cameras were already smashed, and who knew how many would be destroyed before I came out.

But regardless of how many would remain, this place was burned. And it was all my fault. They finally had enough and came after me, and now Zoe was at risk.

The lock filled completely, and I pulled in air through my gills, turning the wheel to open the door. I shot out, slamming it shut behind me so no one would go in and attack Zoe. She was safe inside, behind multiple locking mechanisms, and if anything happened to me, she would send a distress signal that alerted the MSA directly.

The knowledge she would be fine even if I wasn’t kept my worry at bay, giving space to more primal emotions. When the first grinning lamia lunged at me with a shriek, I attacked him with all my pent-up fury and frustration.

Today, I didn’t care about my vendetta. They would all die, and it didn’t matter that it was more merciful to kill them than to cut off pieces they would mourn for decades to come. Something had shifted in the last three weeks, and my priorities changed.

Every lamia I took out for good was one less threat to Zoe.

“You’ll never… argh!” He broke off with a choking gurgle.

I wrapped my tentacles around his head, squeezing tighter and tighter with rage. His tail thrashed, his claws dragging down my scales, but it took only a few more seconds for his skull to burst under pressure like one of Zoe’s canned peaches.

He went limp, and I pushed him away just as his companion wrapped his tail around my throat from behind.

In my entire life, I saw lamias band together less than a dozen times—the first one when they killed my mother. They were solitary predators and needed a very powerful stimulus to be forced to hunt together. I’d finally pissed them off enough to join forces.

Red scales flashed in my periphery when I reached for my jet gun, not caring about my long streak of defeating lamias without a gun. I wasn’t taking any chances today.

The lamia’s mutilated tail tightened around my throat until my body heaved from the pressure. I aimed over my shoulder and shot blindly.

The jet gun had a powerful engine that sucked in water, turning it into an intense current. Aimed right, for example at the eyes, it could kill.

But I didn’t hit the lamia’s eyes. He pulled me sharply when the jet threw him back, but the pain did the work, and the lamia untangled his tail to pull away and avoid another shot.

The only disadvantage of jet guns was that they were a bit slower than land bullet guns. Water offered more resistance than air, and the jets I shot were very conspicuous, cutting through the water in a straight line.

When I shot, the lamia ducked away, but he didn’t run. Hidden behind a large rock, he laughed with confidence.

“It’s no use!” he called out, gloating. “We know you have some precioussss cargo. There are buyersssss.”

What? So it wasn't about me. They were here for Zoe.

Anger and fear shot through me. I sent another jet in his direction. He ducked behind his cover, so I stopped for a second, dropping my aim, and hit the rock. The jet was powerful enough to push it, making the lamia scream in surprise.

“Come out, coward,” I gritted out. “Tell me more about those buyers.”

He could be talking about shanta. After all, that was what he tried to steal the first time we met. And yet, a horrible, gut-twisting fear told me it wasn’t about that.

“The human is worth millions!” the lamia said with an ugly laugh.

Cold crept down my spine as I stalked closer, my gun raised. I was ready the moment I saw him shoot out from behind the rock. I sent a shot in his direction, getting the side of his tail. It knocked him off course until he went sprawling on the bottom, his fall raising a cloud of silt.

I pushed away from the bottom and was on him with one powerful burst of speed. When he rose, I tackled him until he was immobilized. I wrapped my tentacles around his tail and arms, leaving only one thing free—his head so he could talk.

“How did you like the nice little trim I gave you?” I asked, fury spilling out. I grinned, delighted because I had him in check. “You know what I’ll do? I’ll keep shooting you until you tell me everything I want.”

He growled, but the sound broke when I tightened my hold. Something snapped, and he whimpered.

“Or I could keep breaking you. We’ll see.”

“Others know, too!” he screeched, squirming helplessly in my hold. “They are coming!”

“See?” I said through a rabid grin. “That wasn’t hard. How many?”

“Everyone!” he bit out, his eyes growing reddish with pain. “All lamias!”

I pressed the muzzle of the jet gun to his side and tightened my hold. He screamed when I pulled the trigger, and the jet propelled us across the lake bottom, but I held on fast.

“Try the truth this time,” I snapped.

“They will! Please, they will! We told many!”

I gritted my teeth. It sounded unlikely that all lamias would come together for one job, but I couldn’t disregard that answer. If he was telling the truth, we were in deep shit.

I pressed the gun to his cheek, right underneath his milky eye. The lamia scrunched up his scaly face as if that would prevent him from getting hit.

“How did you find this place?”

“Searched and searched until we found the cameras.”

Of course they did, because they knew I guarded a human, and if someone approached them asking about it, of course the lamia told. He hated me.

I should have killed him when he saw me with Zoe, and it was all my fault for letting him live. I was too cocky in my belief lamias were scared of me. I underestimated them.

The safehouse was well hidden, too, and yet, they found it, even though it took them three weeks.

Damn, those lamias were determined.

“Who told you to come after her?” I asked, my voice dropping to a threatening rumble.

“Human diver!” he screeched at once. “Offered us a bounty. Gave us an advance. More after we get him the girl.”

“And where will he wait for delivery?” I asked finally, pressing the gun deeper until it ground against his cheekbone.

“He didn’t say! Just said get her and wait!”

“Wait where?” I growled.

“In the lake! Please! Let me go, let me go, let me go!”

I exhaled through my mouth, releasing a flurry of bubbles. It seemed like I wouldn’t get anything more out of him, so I shrugged and lifted the gun until the muzzle pressed into his open eye.

I squeezed the trigger. Blood inked the water as his eye burst open. He spasmed and was still.

One threat less.

Even though I was desperate to check on Zoe, I gritted my teeth and did a full sweep of the area to make sure no more lamias lurked around. When I didn’t find any more, I unlocked the safehouse and went inside, my tentacles squirming with impatience as I waited for the water to pump out of the lock.

As soon as I could, I opened the door to find her waiting on the other side. She wrung her hands, looking anxious and terrified. When she saw me, she took an impulsive step forward and then stopped, vibrating with tension.

“Are you all right? Did they get you?”

I shook my head, scanning her from head to toe while she did the same to me. It was ridiculous on my part. Zoe was safe all along, locked up in the safehouse, and yet, the adrenaline in my system made me worry excessively.

“I’m fine, but we have to go,” I said, guilt and shame twisting in my gut. “I suspect Carver’s people know you’re hiding in the lake. They enlisted the lamias’ help to find you. This place isn’t safe anymore. If we stay, they will swarm us, and if they are smart enough, they might damage our systems.”

She hugged herself, looking desolate and shaky. I lurched forward with the urge to touch her, but halted at the last moment. No, it wasn’t prudent. If I crossed that boundary, it would be a slippery slope. I’d probably try to fuck her, and that couldn’t happen.

“Zoe, put on the suit. We’ll also pack a bag. Only necessities, like food or warm clothes. Things you can’t survive without.”

She nodded, giving me one last, yearning look. I saw the way her hands shook at her sides, palms clenched into fists. She leaned forward, as if her body was helplessly drawn to me.

It seemed cruel to deny her that comfort. I gritted my teeth, my resolve cracking. I raised my hand, planning to put it on her shoulder, when Zoe turned on her heel and hurried to her room.

For a moment, I stared after her, my arm half-raised. Then I dropped it with an angry huff and hurried to my room to get ready. If what the lamia said was true, we had very little time left.

Fifteen minutes later, we were both in the lock while water sloshed around our feet. Zoe stood next to me, her arms by her sides, her shoulders tense. Her eyes behind the clear goggles were wide, the lines around her mouth deeper than normal.

“It will fill up soon,” I said over the sound of rushing water. “Can I lift you now?”

I caught it because I suspected it would be there. Her face crumpled in relief, and she nodded frantically.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, gently picking her up until she settled against me, her arms wrapped around my neck, her legs squeezing my waist.

“For what?” she asked, pressing closer until her breasts were completely squished between us.

Heat poured down my spine with the awareness of how soft her body was. How warm. How it molded to mine. I held myself in check with adrenaline alone, knowing we’d be much more exposed out there than in the safehouse. I had to be alert.

And yet, I still felt the pleasure buzzing underneath the watchfulness. She felt so fucking good.

“Doesn’t matter,” I replied when water reached Zoe’s legs, and she gasped from the cold, instantly shivering. “I just am. Hold on tight.”

“You c-can hold me, too,” she said, laying her shivering head in the crook of my neck. “However is m-most comfortable.”

I paused while water reached up to her lower back, where my arm was, pressing in under her air tank. What did she…

And then I understood. Slowly, I let my arm fall until I settled it under her ass, my forearm becoming a ledge for her to sit on. Zoe made a squawking sound, and I pulled my hand away, fingers spasming in the cold water.

“It-t-t’s all right,” she said, shivering. “J-just c-c-cold.”

I exhaled as water reached up to my neck, and settled my hand back in place, refraining from grabbing her ass with my palm. But it was tempting. I’d stolen glances at her during our time together, and I knew every curve of her beautifully rounded behind. I just bet it was squishy like her breasts were.

The lock filled completely and I braced myself, banishing all inappropriate thoughts. We swam out, and Zoe sighed with relief, her hold tightening around me now that she stopped shaking.

Another small pang of guilt shot through me. I could have kept her warm through the transition. There was a hormonal mechanism that allowed me to raise my bodily temperature in certain circumstances. But then, it wasn’t proper.

Though I was close to deciding that being proper wasn’t as important as keeping her safe and well. That realization made me tense, because it was a clear sign that my judgment was compromised.

That was exactly why boundaries shouldn’t be crossed. Personal feelings muddled the image and made me less reliable at my job.

By caring for Zoe, I became less able to protect her effectively. It was quite ironic.

I exhaled, pushing away from the bottom while she clung to me, her fingers gently stroking my scales in a mindless, probably self-soothing way.

“You okay?” I asked, my voice sack pulsing.

She stirred, her legs tightening around me until I fancied she pressed her core to my torso with a faint sigh. Electricity skirted across my spine.

And now I was really distracted. Fuck.

“I’m good,” she said, her voice distorted through the plastic. “By the way, I watched your fight on the security screens. You were amazing. So ruthless.”

I barked out a surprised laugh. “Amazing? It was fucking slaughter.”

Zoe murmured something so softly, I didn’t really catch it. It sounded a bit like “ten points”, but that didn’t make any sense.

“Well, I assume they tried to hurt us, so it’s good you dealt with them,” she said, sounding unsuitably appreciative.

To be honest, I would have expected her to be horrified or scared if she saw the whole thing. If I had known she watched, I would have strangled both lamias. It was the least gruesome and very efficient manner of death.

“They were trying to kidnap you,” I replied, which made her hug me more tightly.

“And you prevented it, so I’m grateful. You know, a few months ago I might have been horrified, but Carver changed my outlook on things. If I could get him, I’d kill him personally. Someone who sells children into sex slavery deserves to fucking die, and everyone who works for him deserves that, too.”

“It’s almost certain those lamias acted on his behalf,” I said, warmed by her acceptance for necessary violence.

Because it was necessary. It was one of my cornerstone beliefs. Some villains could never change, and the only way to stop them from hurting others was death.

“They got what they deserved,” she said viciously.

A warm feeling of pride glowed in my chest. Suddenly, I wished I could kill Carver myself, and then every single one of his employees and supporters, too. Not just because they deserved it, but because it would earn me Zoe’s gratitude and awe.

“So, what now?” she asked, squeezing my sides with her hot legs.

I sped up while I explained where we were heading.

“There are few options in the lake to stay in hiding and dry,” I said with regret. “We’re headed for a small hut that doesn’t have a dry space, but it’s remote and well-hidden. We can regroup there while I consider the other possible locations. Ideally, we’ll keep moving.”

“For one more week,” Zoe said with a sigh that fogged up her mask. “Okay. I guess it will be hard, but it’s not for long. You know what’s strange? I’m not even afraid. I was, at the start. Like, this lake terrified me. It’s so dark, so completely uniform. I don’t have any idea where we are—but you do. And I trust you completely.”

Something inside me gave at her words. It was almost physical, like a crack behind my ribs.

And I knew then. I’d do everything to be worthy of her trust.

CHAPTER 12

Zoe

We’d traveled for four hours, according to Vodyan’s watch, and my muscles hurt from holding on. But the pain was bittersweet, because finally, I got my fill of touching him, and it was amazing.

I just wished I could do that without the suit. Skin on skin in this position would have been amazing, and my imagination went rampant, trying to visualize how he’d feel against my bare…

I coughed, my face flaming with heat. Bad Zoe.

At least I was done pretending. I had the hots for my bodyguard, and there was nothing I could do about it as long as we were stuck together. That was my nature. Once someone caught my eye, I latched on. I became clingy, touchy-feely, and overly affectionate.

It was a huge problem in my dating life. Most of my previous partners didn’t have as huge physical needs as I did, and that included sex. I loved sex, but only with the right person. I had to get to know them and develop feelings first, but once I did, I was game to fuck multiple times a day for months. Shockingly, none of my previous boyfriends could keep up.

The media lied to me. Men weren’t even half as horny as I’d been led to believe.

But I loved all forms of touch. Cuddling, holding hands, brushing their hair or having my hair brushed, massages, small affectionate gestures in public, sitting in their lap, even grooming each other. I’d let my boyfriend in college shave me once, and it was a fantastic experience. The amount of trust involved and the tactile sensations were incredible.

He hadn’t lasted, though. None of them had. Apparently, I was too much to handle.

And Vodyan wouldn’t last, either, because nothing was going to happen between us. It was probably forbidden, anyway, though to be fair, none of the agents had sat me down and explicitly told me not to fuck my bodyguard. If anything happened, I could claim ignorance.

But of course, nothing would. Vodyan was a perfect gentleman, and even now, as he supported my ass with his forearm, it didn’t feel improper. He hadn’t even tried to cop a feel.

I, on the other hand, was dying to grind against him, and it took all my self-control not to. It would have been pervy and disgusting to hump him without his consent, anyway, and so I didn’t.

But God, did I want to.

“Could we maybe stop for a moment?” I asked when my legs began to shake. “I just want to rest for a few minutes.”

He slowed down but didn’t stop. When I pulled my head back to see him, he didn’t even look at me, his face set in a hard expression, eyes forward.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to deal with something before I let you go,” he said hoarsely, his voice sack glowing with every word.

I couldn’t get over how cute that was. The voice sack, the flappy membranes by his ears, and the way he shimmered when his body was submerged were just absolutely delicious, especially since he wasn’t cute in general. No, he was bulky, strong, and lethal.

My mouth watered. Damn, I was a menace.

“Deal with something?” I asked, nonplussed. “What is there to deal with? And how long will it take? My legs are killing me, and I could really do with a moment to stretch them. Or could I maybe, I don’t know, straighten them while we move?”

I made to unwrap my legs, and Vodyan growled, pressing my hips to keep me from moving. I couldn’t help it. My pussy spasmed appreciatively at being manhandled like that.

I waited a moment until I was certain a moan wouldn’t fall out once I opened my mouth.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, wondering about this new mood of his. “Maybe I can help?”

He laughed mirthlessly, the sound hoarse and ragged, and I decided to award myself seven points for this one. It wasn’t a happy laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

“No. It’s my problem. I don’t need help.”

I wanted to argue, I really did. I was a pushy person by nature, but I’d learned over the years that forcing my way through rarely helped and usually made things worse. So I took a deep breath and relaxed, squirming a bit to find a better position for my hurting legs.

“Fine, you know best. But the offer stands, okay? Any time.”

Vodyan exhaled through his mouth, releasing a flurry of bubbles, and hiked me up a bit higher. My inner thighs dragged against his lower ribs, and I had to bite my tongue to stay quiet.

“We should be there in under an hour,” he murmured, pressing me closer.

I gulped. His voice was lower, hoarse with something deliciously scratchy, and just damn. If he told me to spread my legs in that voice, I’d fall over myself in a rush to obey.

Except that was never going to happen, so I bit my tongue to get myself under control and settled in, resigned to endure one more hour of pain and excruciating temptation.

But we never made it there. About ten minutes later, Vodyan swore under his breath and reversed course, speeding up until we tore through the water like a rocket. I pressed my face to the crook of his neck.

“What’s going on?”

“Lamias.”

I wanted to ask him why he didn’t fight them like before when cruel howls and shrieks behind us made me flinch. It sounded like four or more voices. Probably too many to fight, especially with me attached to his front.

“Oh God,” I whispered, holding on tightly when another voice joined in from the left, whooping with a shrieking laugh.

Vodyan turned away from the new foe and sped up even more, cutting through the dark water. I desperately wanted to ask him if it was possible to outrun them or if there was a place we could hide, but I clamped my mouth shut. I’d only distract him, and I trusted him to get us out of this.

And yet, when another whoop came from above and Vodyan cursed bitterly, I couldn’t hold back a shiver of fright.

“They are herding us,” he bit out. “It’s okay. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know,” I said through the tightness in my throat.

We swam deeper, so fast, I was dizzy, and yet the pursuit was right behind us. Vodyan grunted with effort, his tentacles pushing us forward with powerful thrusts, and I kept my eyes closed, holding on to him.

I didn’t even worry about myself. I was terrified they would shoot him in the back or hurt him in another way, but I didn’t say anything for fear of distracting him.

Let us be okay. Please, let us be okay.

“Almost there,” Vodyan grunted when another lamia dove at us from above, shrieking madly.

Suddenly, we stopped. I opened my eyes just in time to see we were in a dark, enclosed space. Vodyan’s chest heaved, his body shaking against me. The ground thudded, and we were plunged into total darkness.

Vodyan exhaled shakily and ran his hands up the back of my head and down my back around my air tank. His tentacles rose and wrapped around my hips and ankles, like he was afraid I’d fall away.

“Are you all right?”

I saw his face, ghostly like a mask in the green light from his voice sack. It extinguished as soon as he stopped speaking, and I cleared my throat.

“Yeah. And you?”

“I’m fine.”

I didn’t let go, and he held me firmly, absorbing my shivers. I gulped deeper and deeper breaths until I remembered about boxed breathing and switched to the right rhythm as my heart slowly calmed. Vodyan kept running his hands over me, his tentacles slithering against my legs, and the caresses soothed me.

“We’re trapped, right?” I asked when I was almost completely calm.

He hummed in confirmation, the soft glow dispersing the darkness.

“This is good news, Zoe. I should be able to dislodge the stone with my jet gun. We just have to wait for them to leave. They might put up a guard or two, but that I can handle.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

And I really did. Some fear was still there, which was natural, but it was a far cry from the panic when I first hit the lake. Because now, Vodyan was here to keep me safe.

I pressed closer. It was probably time to climb off, but I was so entangled in him now, I wouldn’t be able to if he didn’t let go of me first. And even though my muscles ached, I was loath to stop when he touched me like this.

Vodyan seemed reluctant to let me go, too. When he pressed his face to the top of my head, my breath hitched in my throat. This seemed different.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “It’s the adrenaline. I need a minute to make sure you’re safe and well.”

“It’s okay,” I said, my voice growing breathy as my heart sped faster. “Do what you need.”

I was shaking, but not from fear now. His voice sounded like that again. Ragged and hoarse, and just so deliciously intimate.

I flinched when a tentacle slithered across my buttock and up my back. Another one followed, and another, suckers pressing to me as he slowly wrapped me up in himself.

My body woke up with bursts of heat under my skin. I pressed closer, wishing I could see it, and yet grateful I didn’t. The darkness made it all hidden, and if it was hidden, it was allowed.

I exhaled sharply when a tentacle slithered under my abdomen, so low, it was just above my pubic bone. It pulsed gently, squirming between our bodies with small movements, as if he was rubbing himself against me. All his other limbs did that, too. I was surrounded by friction, and in the complete darkness that even my goggles couldn’t penetrate because there was no light here, my sense of touch grew even sharper than normal.

Tingles chased down my spine, my skin blooming with sensitivity. My breath grew shaky, each pass of his tentacles or hands building something hot and wanting inside me. I was surrounded, sinking into darkness and touch, and my throat burst with a moan that wanted out so desperately, I was afraid I’d fall apart if I didn’t release it.

But I held it back. I was terrified Vodyan would stop once he realized how into this I was. For all I knew, it was a completely innocent procedure vodnik bodyguards did. Fuck, I didn’t know. But I wasn’t about to make it awkward.

Something nudged the mask over my lips, and Vodyan released a bubbly breath through his mouth.

He stilled, just holding me close, his body surrounding me from all sides. My breath was fluttery and fast, and my fingers spasmed where I held him. I desperately wanted to rub myself against his torso, or maybe ask him to touch me, but he was evidently done with this strange caressing ritual.

And it was for the best. If he kept going, I would indeed moan and more, and it would probably cost me my dignity.

Slowly, he untangled himself from me until only his arms held me to him. I felt each limb that fell away like an acute loss to be mourned.

“I will let you go now, okay?” he said softly. “But you can touch me if you need. I know it’s scary.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, my voice too high-pitched for my comfort.

I was so far gone and half-delirious with need. My pussy clenched greedily, and I bit back the disappointed whimper that wanted to tear free when his hands slid off me, and my feet touched the bottom.

It was good that he let go, I reasoned with myself. Distance would do me good. I had to cool down. Get my bearings.

Yes, I absolutely needed to get a fucking grip, because if he did that again, I would grab his tentacle and ride it or something, and that just couldn’t happen.

Down, girl.

While I chided myself in the privacy of my mind, Vodyan hummed softly, emitting enough light to make the walls of our cavern visible. He swam over to the entrance we came through and gently poked the edges, pushing at the stone that blocked it.

“We’ll wait a bit longer,” he said, coming back to my side.

The cavern was large enough for us to keep our distance, but Vodyan was so close, his tentacles brushed against my shins. I gulped, realizing what a prolonged stay here would mean. I was already thirsty, hungry, and my bladder was full.

“On a scale of one to ten, how uncomfortable will you be if I pee in here?” I asked, cringing a bit, though not much.

If I had to go, I had to go, and there was nothing for it.

He was silent and then a soft, surprised laugh resounded from his inflating voice sack. A full, green glow lit the cavern, revealing his white, sharp teeth bared in a smile. I blinked, and then chided myself for doing it. Even a second of having my eyes closed meant I missed out on the view of his gorgeous, handsome face when he laughed.

“Absolutely fucking zero,” he said when he stopped. I still didn’t dare blink, drinking in the good-humored sparks in his eyes. “Pee is warm. It will float up and out through the crevices in the stone above us.”

I grinned back. “Yeah, okay. But I think I’ll drink first, just to be safe.”

I fumbled with the mask over my mouth and finally peeled it away. Cold water pressed against my lips, and I gulped in a sharp breath through my nose. Then I opened my mouth and drank.

It was an odd experience. As soon as my mouth was open, water flooded it, and all I had to do was swallow. The water at the bottom was safe to drink. The low temperature kept it bacteria-free, and in my crash course on lake diving, I was told I could drink it as long as I was deep enough and the water looked clean.

The one downside was that it was freezing. I shook when more gulps hit my stomach, but I drank to satiation. When I was done, I pressed the mask to my mouth and sucked the water out until it sealed in.

“Well, this will hurt,” I muttered, moving away from Vodyan, my arms outstretched to feel for the walls. “But only for a short while. There’s a very thoughtful zipper down here. I don’t even have to take it off. I imagine that’s how human men feel all the time.”

When Vodyan made a choked sound, glowing for a moment, I shot him a worried look.

“What’s wrong?”

He rumbled. “Nothing. I’m just trying not to laugh at your commentary. I expect you don’t want me to light up the place.”

“Well, there’s nothing to see. But yeah. Keep it dark, and I’ll shut up. Or not. Wait. You said it will float up. Will it hit me in the face on the way?”

He huffed softly, turning away so his back was to me.

“Only one way to find out, Zoe. I won’t like you any less if it does.”

My heart gave a hot little thud, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. They took off into a full flight before I could explain to them that what he said didn’t have to mean he liked me. It could have meant he couldn’t like me any less, because he already hated me.

But the butterflies knew better, and they wouldn’t settle.

In the end, no warm stream hit me in the face, but my coochie was stabbed with piercing cold. I zipped up, shivering and cursing, and Vodyan hummed in sympathy.

We waited some more after that. He told me about the hunting tactics of lamias, and how they very rarely banded up to herd their prey, usually in times of hunger or when they had a lot to gain.

“Carver’s emissary probably offered a lot for your head,” he said, his tentacle coiling around my wrist when I shivered. “But don’t worry. We’ll be out of here soon. I’m not sure how they will play it out this time, but lamias usually leave their prey in the trap for a few days until it weakens from hunger.”

Finally, he got up and shot at the rock. At first, it seemed promising. Fragments of stone chipped off, and I fancied it moved in the pale light from Vodyan’s voice sack.

But time passed, and Vodyan grew angry, cursing in between blasts from the jet gun. After about an hour of trying, he growled and stopped, swimming over to me.

“Let’s eat,” he said, reaching for the waterproof backpack he’d taken from the safehouse.

He brought out sealed tubes of military nutripaste for me and himself. They tasted very bland but were supposed to have a nutritious cocktail that supported most mammal species. Another upside was that I could just seal my lips around the circular opening and squeeze the paste right into my mouth.

“Try to sleep,” he said after we ate. “And I’ll check out a few other things.”

I thought it would be impossible to fall asleep while we were in a literal trap, but the combination of exhaustion and the trust I had in Vodyan worked a miracle. I fell asleep at once, buoyed by the weightless feeling of being submerged.

I woke up groggy and thirsty some time later when Vodyan again blasted the stone with concentrated bursts from the jet gun. His face was drawn in a feral focus, his muscles tight, and a constant low hum emitted from his throat, letting him see.

When he was done with this round and lowered the gun, I got up. The water stirred, and he whipped to face me.

“Zoe, we’ve been here for six hours.”

I yawned, holding my mask so it wouldn’t dislodge. “I can’t believe I slept for so long,” I said sheepishly. “Did you get to rest, too?”

He shook his head, watching me with a tight expression.

“No. I’ve been at this fucking stone for hours. It won’t budge. There are a few spots I want to blast more tightly, but we’ve run out of time.”

I blinked a few times, wishing I could rub sleep out of my eyes.

“What do you mean? Are the lamias back?”

Vodyan clenched his jaw, releasing bubbles through his nose. Finally, he came closer with a gentle push of his tentacles and held my shoulders with both hands.

“No, Zoe. But the air in your tank will run out.”

CHAPTER 13

Vodyan

I could tell she didn’t understand me at first. She was still sleepy, and I was glad she managed to rest. As for me, I’d been painfully aware of every minute that passed since we got stuck in this fucking cavern.

It was all my fault, but at the same time, it had also been the only choice at the time. Zoe would have got hurt if I fought so many instead of letting myself be herded into the trap. I knew that, and yet, the guilt weighed in my chest like a stone.

The moment Zoe’s eyes widened with fear, I had her in my arms, my body wrapping around her in comforting layers. That tightness in my throat that was there at the start of our acquaintance was back, but this time, it was because I knew exactly what I had to say to her.

Yet I lacked the necessary language. Because how was I supposed to say a thing like that? It was wild, impossible, and it would sound like a lie.

All of this would have been so much easier if I hadn’t developed personal feelings for her. It could have been professional then. Clean.

But I’d allowed myself to grow attached, and because of that, it would all be a huge mess.

Zoe cried, her goggles fogging up with hot tears. I stroked her back and arms, my tentacles sliding down her legs and caressing her nape soothingly. Following that instinct to touch her came naturally. It was like by denying myself that comfort for days, I grew this powerful need that now guided my limbs.

When she shook harder and harder, I realized my silence hurt her more than any words I could possibly say, so I tried to coax her to listen.

“Zoe. Please, you have to stop crying. Zoe, I have to tell you something.”

It was no use. I wasn’t even sure she heard me, she was so lost in the terror of her looming death. I cursed myself quietly. Of course, I handled it all wrong. Once this was over, I would take some fucking course on socializing or something.

Not that it would be worth it if she wasn’t by my side.

“Zoe. Come on. Stop crying.”

When that didn’t work, either, I pushed gently away and lowered myself until my face was level with hers. I held her head in my palms and called her name until she opened her eyes. When she finally did, I told her what I should have said right from the start.

“Zoe. You won’t die! There is a way for you to survive without the air tank. Do you hear me? Give me a nod.”

A sob fell out, and then a hiccup. She finally nodded shakily, and I returned the nod with emphasis.

“That’s right, pretty human. You won’t die. You will be okay. Yes? Do you understand me?”

She sniffled and then grimaced, realizing her mask was filled with tears.

“Did you just call me a pretty human?” she asked in a wobbly voice.

I grunted in embarrassment. “I did. I’m sorry. Okay, are you with me? Can you listen? Because we have to talk. We have exactly forty-six minutes left, but it would be better if we got it done in thirty, just to stay on the safe side.”

She blinked at me uncertainly. Tears stuck to her eyelashes, and the tips of my tentacles tingled with the need to wipe them away, but of course, her goggles were in the way.

“Have you kept track all this time?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course I did,” I said, mildly offended. “It’s my job to keep you alive. I kept track of time from the moment you took the first breath from the tank.”

She looked away, swallowing thickly. “I should have remembered about this.”

“It’s my job,” I repeated. “And we really need to talk. I expect the thing itself won’t take long, but… Ugh. Fuck.”

She frowned, seeing my discomfort. I closed my eyes, exhaling through my mouth, and pulled in a long, cooling breath through my gills.

When I opened my eyes, she watched me curiously, thankfully calm. I remembered she trusted me, and this, right now, really drove it home.

Except, her trust was about to be put to test. I had no idea what I would do if she didn’t believe me. Would I have to force her to keep her alive? My skin crawled with revulsion at the thought.

She’d better believe me.

“This is hard for you,” Zoe said after I grunted a few times, wondering how to say it best. “Why don’t you start by telling me why it’s hard?”

My chest constricted, my heart thudding fast. Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Because I’m about to ask you to suck my cock,” I said, my voice gritty.

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to look at her, even though I was aware this was the worst possible way for me to begin.

Her head jerked back, but she didn’t pull away, laugh, or scream. In fact, she did none of the things I was afraid of. After a beat of silence, Zoe nodded once.

“Okay.”

I reared back, confused. She couldn’t have meant that.

“Did you understand what I just said?”

She nodded again. “Yup. You want me to suck your cock. That’s a great idea. At least I’ll get to do something fun before I die. It will take my mind off imminent suffocation.”

“You won’t die,” I growled, my head spinning from her instant agreement. It made no sense. “What I’m trying to say is, you will be able to breathe underwater. Once you… swallow.”

Zoe nodded slowly, a hysterical giggle gurgling in her throat, even though her face remained completely straight. I realized I was losing her. She was about to give in to panic or whatever this was.

“You don’t have to convince me you have a magic dick,” she said, bursting into a hard, teary laughter. “I’ll do it anyway! Ha! I only wish you could reciprocate, but it’s too fucking cold in here. Oh well, I’ll take what I can. Whip it out, baby!”

I rubbed my forehead, exasperation making pain explode behind my eyes. Of course, I did it all wrong. Now I had to save the situation because we were running out of time.

At least she was somewhat willing, and if push came to shove, that had to be enough. But I didn’t want it to happen when Zoe was in hysterics, convinced I was trying to use her before she died.

I caught her face in my hands again and looked closely into her eyes.

“Zoe, I know it’s hard. I know it’s difficult to believe and it sounds ridiculous. Will you try to hear me out? Please?”

Her laughter subsided, but when she looked at me, she grinned in an unhinged sort of way.

“If I had known you were interested, we could have fucked in the safehouse,” she said, her eyes dancing with mischief and madness. “But I guess better late than never.”

“What?” I stared at her, taken aback. Was she saying she was attracted to me? It honestly didn’t even seem like a possibility.

But then I remembered how she’d called me breathtakingly hot. Could it be? But if yes, this wasn’t good news, no matter how eager it made me feel. It was bad enough I was attracted to her. This was already beyond messy.

“We could have fucked already,” she repeated, running her hands down my torso as her eyes grew hooded. “Come on. You said we don’t have much time left. Let’s do this.”

When her fingers went past my navel, I caught her wrists and wrapped my tentacles around her middle for good measure to stop her from pouncing on me. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to put a stop to it once she started, and I still needed to explain this better.

“No, Zoe. Stop. This isn’t about sex. This is literally about your survival. Vodnik sperm gives humans a temporary ability to breathe underwater. It’s not widely known. We actively hide this trait, and I can’t get into that now. But it’s real. I’m telling you the truth. Do you believe me?”

She shrugged, looking put out. Her expression was pouty, like that night when she got drunk on whiskey and spent the evening sitting on her hands and telling me she wanted the forbidden fruit but the fruit didn’t want her back. I still didn’t know what that was about.

“Yeah, I believe you. Can we start now?”

I huffed, so exasperated, I wanted to shake her.

“Zoe, for fuck’s sake. Listen to me carefully. If this works, there is a very real possibility you will survive. Are you with me? After we’re done, and you realize you’re breathing without your mask, we will swim out of this cavern and spend one more week together. So please, consider it carefully.”

She paled, drawing away. I let her. It finally seemed like she got it.

“So… You’re for real?” she asked, her hand flying up to her face. “This… This could work?”

I exhaled in relief. “Yes. It will work. And I didn’t say it right, so I apologize. You don’t really have to suck my cock. All you have to do is swallow my cum.”

Her eyes flitted down to where my cock was warm but still soft in its slit. I knew she couldn’t see it, but she evidently knew exactly where it was in my body.

“We’re in water,” she said slowly. “If I’m supposed to swallow, I have to take it in my mouth. But I get what you’re saying.”

I nodded. “I will get myself there. It will be awkward, but at least you’ll survive.”

“I kind of want to die, though,” she said flatly.

Fuck. That hurt. Just moments before, she seemingly couldn’t keep her hands off me, and now, she said she preferred to die rather than swallow my cum?

“I’m sorry,” I said, my jaw clenching. I’d expected this. I braced for it. And yet, that still didn’t prepare me for how painful it was.

“And that’s because I made it so fucking obvious how horny I am for you,” she said, staring at me with annoyance. “While you’re being all heroic and noble, and only helping me out of duty. You think it will be awkward once I take your jizz down my throat? Honey, it’s already beyond awkward. Just let me die here.”

Oh.

My shoulders slumped with a bright sort of relief. It was heady, and it loosened my tongue enough to tell her the truth even though I knew better than to muddle things further.

“After we set out from the safehouse, I was hard almost the entire way because you felt too good pressed up against me. I’m doing it because I want to save you, yes, but I will also enjoy it. I promise you, I’m not being noble. There. Now we’re even. You don’t have to be embarrassed anymore.”

She stared at me for a moment, then exhaled softly. She nodded.

“Thank you for that. For the record, now I definitely want to stay alive so we can explore this later.”

I winced. Yeah, telling her was a bad idea, because I already knew refusing her would be difficult after this. And I would have to refuse. Keeping her alive was my job, so it was okay to be intimate in our current circumstances. But starting a full-on sexual relationship was still out of the question.

Thankfully, Zoe didn’t seem to expect an answer. She smiled and pressed her fingers to the piece of her mask covering her mouth.

It was such an innocent gesture, yet it felt so filthy.

I held my breath, my cock filling rapidly. Damn. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself this was purely professional, it didn’t work. I’d never wanted a woman so much before, and now I knew she wanted me, too.

At least it would be quick. Embarrassingly so.

“I won’t be able to speak after I take off the mask,” Zoe said softly, watching me with glittering green eyes while I hummed to give us light. “Is there something you want to discuss beforehand? Any limits? Because honestly, I’d like to blow you. If that’s all right.”

A burst of pleasure rolled up from the base of my spine. I nodded helplessly, my throat constricting again.

“Yeah,” I said hoarsely. “Anything goes.”

I had a list of hard limits I always gave sex workers who serviced me. No touching above the waist. No kissing. No affectionate words or terms of endearment. No hugging. No smiling. No pretending this is more than it is.

But I had done all those things with Zoe, maybe apart from kissing, and it made no sense to list them. Besides, this wasn’t the kind of sex I usually had. It was… I didn’t know.

All I knew was that I didn’t mind if she touched me however she wanted. This was the only chance I got to cross the line. After this, we’d have to go back to normal, so I was desperate to milk this moment to the fullest.

“All right,” she said before licking her lips. “As for me, I don’t really deepthroat, but I can deal with a bit of choking. So if you want to fuck my throat, a couple deep thrusts will be fine, but more than that is not. And… will you hum or speak? I’d like to see.”

I stared at her, suddenly heating with jealousy for all those men who taught her how many thrusts down her throat she could take. With a deep, cooling breath, I forced myself to let that go. We weren’t a couple, and I had no right to feel any sort of possessiveness over her.

So I simply nodded, focusing on the present moment. It was just this once. Just once, I would have her, and I would follow my instincts and take what I needed, because it was my only chance.

She took off her mask, and even though there were lines where it had pressed into her skin, I thought she was the most beautiful sight I’d ever beheld.

As she approached me with a conspiratorial smile, words crowded on my tongue, half-formed and eager, yet not savvy enough to speak. I didn’t dare say them, anyway, and so they had to remain my secret.

My pretty human. Such a warm, gorgeous woman. My sweetest, lovely thing.

Yet such a filthy, dirty girl. I want to fill you up until you can’t think about those other men. Until you’re dripping and crying, because you can’t handle how good it is.

My sweetheart.

CHAPTER 14

Zoe

I was shaking when I approached him, my eyes darting between his face and the area low below his navel where I knew his slit was, covered with scales that blended seamlessly with the rest of him.

This felt surreal. Vodyan hummed softly, the dim glow of his emerald light slanting over his features in a dreamy, phantasmagorial sort of way. I felt unmoored and detached, like I was a stranger in my own life.

I still hadn’t fully processed what was happening. One moment, I mourned my own death, and the next, sex was in the picture.

And then, I was told I wouldn’t die, after all.

It was so confusing, but as I came closer and cupped his cheek, looking at his face, I also realized it was achingly simple. Here he was, a man I wanted, and he wanted me back.

It was an equation I knew how to solve.

He tipped his face into my hand, nuzzling closer like he couldn’t get enough. I brought my other hand to his chest and traced the beautiful, chiseled shape of it, his scales just a bit rough under my covered fingers. His muscles flexed and trembled, and I longed to touch him barehanded. It felt like a privilege, touching this man—this killer—this monster who was my protector.

When he made a low, groaning sound of pleasure, I looked down just in time to see his cock emerge. I took in a ragged breath through my nose and slowly fell to my knees, water cushioning my fall.

His tentacles parted for me, letting me closer even as they rippled around me, brushing my arms and nudging my hands like pets begging for a stroke. I petted them distractedly, because my eyes were glued to his girthy length.

Here he was, right in front of my eyes, and he was gorgeous.

When I first read vodnik cocks were two-pronged, I couldn’t imagine it, so I did some visual research to get the full picture. Yet even though I knew what he looked like, the sight of him still came as a small shock that burst in my lower belly with a splash of heat.

He was long and fat, and the tip of him was pointed and curved up. In the greenish light of Vodyan’s humming, which was now distorted and choppy because his breathing was so fast, it seemed green, but I wanted to see it in daylight, too.

The root emerging from the dark slit was his thickest part and looked painfully girthy. It remained impossibly thick until halfway up his shaft, where the smaller prong sprung from the main shaft and curved gently upward. The prong flexed rhythmically, eager to be touched.

Further toward the tip, his cock was slimmer though still substantial, until it narrowed to the very tip. The head was narrow and pointed, its base bulbous.

I touched it with my finger, and Vodyan shuddered, a wave of pleasure coursing through his entire body, from his fluttering eyelids down to the twitching tentacles. His length pulsed, both prongs straining toward my palm with eager need. It would have made me laugh if I hadn’t been so mad with arousal. It was my first time handling a prehensile dick, and the amount of autonomy it had was a little freaky.

Vodyan’s limbs shot out, winding around my middle and pressing to my breasts with slow, shaky friction. I looked up to find him staring at my face, his teeth bared in a feral expression.

“Zoe,” he said, his voice the lowest, the most jagged, I ever heard. “You have to… There is no time.”

I smiled and leaned in.

When I sucked him into my mouth, his tentacles twisted and tangled, more shooting out to wrap around me. I widened my stance, giving him access if he chose to touch me, but Vodyan either didn’t notice or didn’t want to. That was fine.

“Fuck,” he panted. “Such a hot mouth you have. Perfect. You can just hold me inside and I’ll come.”

Shivers of pleasure sparkled down my spine. I wasn’t about to stop moving, though, no matter what he said. Now that I had him all to myself, I was determined to get very closely acquainted with his cock.

It was hard and yet not rigid, the tip caressing my palate with even strokes as it undulated in my mouth in search for friction. I could fit most of the upper part of him in my mouth without a problem. From the tip to the smaller prong, it was as thick as and longer than an average human penis, but it seemed manageable. I sucked him eagerly, running my tongue over the rippled surface.

He was coated in slick that was tangy with salt and not at all easy to lick up. I knew his natural lubrication was specifically suited to having sex underwater, and so it stayed on despite the friction of my tongue against his skin.

That slick coating and unusual shape weren’t the only fascinating things about him. Another secret was hidden, only revealed in states of heightened arousal.

So I sucked and licked, trying to squeeze his thicker base even though my fingers wouldn’t meet around it. I was determined, and finally, my prize came out.

The longer I worked him, the more the tip opened, until it split into four even parts that were like the petals of a flower. Underneath was the most sensitive piece of him, soft, slightly bulging, and equipped with a narrow slit. This was where his cum came out.

With small licks, I teased that sensitive place, relishing every shudder and pulsing squeeze of his tentacles around me. His soft flesh swelled larger with every flick of my tongue, until Vodyan’s tentacle shot to my throat and loosely coiled around it, draping over my shoulders.

His cock suddenly flexed with power, pushing my tongue into the roof of my mouth so I couldn’t tease him anymore.

I froze. The weigh around my shoulders was heavy and intimate, and I loved it there. My muscles instantly relaxed, and I obeyed the unspoken command to stop even before he told me what to do.

“Fuck! Slow down. I can’t… This isn’t…”

I pulled back, gently nipping the fleshy, triangular petals with my teeth before I took him deep in my mouth. He made a loud, groaning sound that flooded the cavern with brighter light.

His cock played with my tongue, caressing me back as I licked him. It was like kissing, yet so essentially not. I was already in love with how flexible and responsive he was, and I craved to know how it would feel inside me.

“Zoe,” he grunted. “You have no idea… That naughty tongue… The way you look…”

He groaned and hummed in turns, his pleasured sounds washing over me until I couldn’t stand it. I wrapped my left hand around his base and jerked him to the rhythm with my sucking mouth, while my right hand trailed down until I cupped myself through my suit.

I wasn’t even sure I could come if the sensation was muted through my clothes, but I didn’t care. Feeling and seeing Vodyan fall apart, his cold armor smashed into pieces, was the hottest thing I’d ever seen. I had to touch myself or I’d explode.

“What are you… Fuck. Zoe. Fuck. Can I touch you?”

I looked up with my mouth full of cock and nodded frantically. Yes, please.

His mouth fell open, his forehead furrowing with a mild frown, and then something pushed between my legs from behind and rubbed me slowly.

I sucked him harder to show my appreciation, and he shuddered. His tentacle explored the entire space between my legs, the tip trailing over me like he tried to map it out. The suit didn’t make it easy, and his touch was too light to do what I wanted.

Yet, it was still good. I focused on keeping up the rhythm while pleasant sensations flowed from the nerve endings he strummed in his exploration.

When Vodyan made a low, frustrated noise, I looked up. His teeth were bared, eyes glittering with intensity.

“I don’t usually… I don’t know… Will you show me? How to make you feel good?”

I pulled back and tongued the sensitive tip until he grunted with pleasure, his tentacles quivering around me. Still sucking him, I grabbed the limb that was between my legs and tugged until the fleshy tip protruded between my legs like a strap-on. He swore softly when I gripped it like I did his cock and gave it a slow pump, my fingers mapping out the suckers on the underside.

“Zoe, you’re killing me.” He groaned when I squeezed the tip of my pinkie finger inside the shallow hole of one sucker.

It closed around my finger and, indeed, sucked. I shivered, swallowing convulsively around the tip of his cock when I realized what it meant.

He had much bigger suckers higher up. Big enough to envelop my clit. With a bit of maneuvering, I could definitely put them to good use, and I almost shook with anticipation.

And then, another fun thing happened that made me even more eager. As the sucker pulled on my finger, Vodyan’s cock in my mouth pulsed with the same rhythm, flexing until it swelled against my tongue, writhing helplessly. He grunted, cupping the back of my head with his large palm.

“Show me. Now.”

I shivered and freed my finger, looking up with wonder. He’d spoken with a bit of uncertainty and incoherent bliss before, but now, his voice was hard and demanding. A command.

So I obeyed. I grabbed his tentacle and pressed it hard to myself, moving my hips so I rubbed against it.

It felt instantly good, so good, I lost my rhythm and took him in too deep until I choked. Vodyan’s tentacle around my throat tightened and gently pulled me back until his cock fell out of my mouth. It strained as if seeking the heat of my mouth, and I had to check the impulse to suck it back in to soothe it.

“I’m almost there,” he said, green light skittering over his shimmering scales. “I want to see you come first. There’s still time.”

I breathed fast through my nose, growing dizzy and hot from pleasure. I still rocked on him and, a moment later, he caught on to my rhythm and moved seamlessly in the right way. I shivered, my fingers tightening around his muscular limb. I urged it to stroke me harder, until more and more length passed between my parted legs, a long tentacle now sticking out between my thighs, writhing and flashing with the movement.

A part thicker than my thigh rubbed me back and forth through my clothes, the sucker-side up. It was like being seated on a huge, muscular, living sex toy. He went with enough pressure to lift my knees from the ground, but his other tentacles pushed down to keep me in place.

I realized he’d wrapped around my hands, my neck, my middle. I couldn’t move, and he was completely in control. He played my body like a fucking cello, and his tentacle between my legs was a huge, fat bow.

“That’s it. You’re shaking so nicely. Perfect little human.”

His words hit a spot deep in my brain, making me blank out with bliss. I closed my eyes and slumped, trembling. The edges of his suckers caught against me in the best way, just as hard as I needed them, and I was almost there. It was ridiculously easy now that he had the right rhythm and pressure. It was perfect.

Vodyan rumbled with displeasure.

“No. Look at me. I want to see your face.”

Another burst of hot bliss went from my brain right to my clit that caught with every hard pass of his tentacle against the edge of a pulsing sucker. I raised my head with difficulty, my mouth open and filled with water as I desperately tried to keep my eyes from closing in pleasure.

“Good. Like this. I want to see it in your eyes when you come.”

I stared at his face, and it filled my vision as everything else blurred and fell away. He looked cold and feral, his teeth bared, eyes dangerously narrowed. Somehow, that made it even hotter. He looked enraged, and I loved it.

Also, he liked being in control. We were blissfully compatible.

He rubbed me harder, faster, his tentacles keeping me in place, their muscles flexing with power. I moaned, unable to keep it in, and bubbles flew out of my mouth. Movement next to my face caught my eye. My insides tightened with even more pleasure when I saw it.

He fucked his hand, gripping the smaller prong tight against his shaft. His long fingers could close around his girth, but it was a close call, and it seemed like he was fighting with his own cock and stroking it to submission. The tip writhed every time his fist slid down to the base, and he had to squeeze it tightly to control it as his hand stroked up.

The petals around his tip opened fully, the sensitive head protruding as his cock strained for my mouth that watered in turn.

It was just so eager. I wanted to give it everything it so avidly begged for, but Vodyan made it clear he didn’t want that, so I only stared, mesmerized, my hips jerking with mounting pressure until he snarled.

“Eyes. Up.”

That did it. I barely looked up when the tension inside me reached the breaking point. My body tensed, electric heat surging between my legs until it snapped and ecstasy poured out in long, powerful waves that seemed to go on and on. My eyes were locked on his, which widened when he saw it.

“Fuck. Now!”

He brought my face to his groin with a sharp tug. I’d barely closed my lips around his cock when warm, salty spurts of cum flooded my mouth. I swallowed and swallowed, still shaking with aftershocks of my bliss. There was so much, I barely kept up, and when I thought he was done, he jerked in my mouth and more came out.

I got every last drop. When finally no more came, I ran my tongue around him for the last traces. That hidden, fleshy part now protruded far out of his shaft, like a cockhead pushing out of its foreskin, and I sucked on it gently, feeling how it pulsed and strained. Another small spurt of cum landed on my tongue.

His body shivered all around me, because I was totally enclosed in his grip.

Finally, I pulled back, feeling smug and content. I did that. I made my closed-off, broody bodyguard come.

I grinned up at him, but Vodyan looked at me with a cold, tight expression. My smile faltered.

When I went to take the next breath, I choked.

There was no air.

CHAPTER 15

Vodyan

I was reeling. Things happened inside me, tight, hot, and painful, all of them released by that powerful orgasm that tore through me like a bomb. I didn’t understand what was happening, only that being intimate with her made me fall apart in the worst way possible.

So fucking stupid. I shouldn’t have let myself get carried away. I shouldn’t have let her touch me until absolutely necessary, and I shouldn’t have touched her.

But I wanted to. So fucking much. And now I paid the price.

It came as a shock, that turmoil. I hadn’t expected to feel like this. After all, it was just sex, and sex was familiar and safe. Yes, I lowered my usual boundaries to get the most out of the experience, but my reaction still felt excessive.

It was just fucking. Why couldn’t I get a grip?

My chest squeezed with cold desolation, my heart thudding sickly in my chest. I looked at Zoe, trying to focus and escape the nightmare of being in my body when I realized she was struggling in my hold.

Her face was scrunched up in pain or terror, and she fought to free her hands that were still restrained by my eager tentacles.

I released her arms at once, a pang of fear adding to the storm brewing inside me. Zoe clawed at her mask, desperately trying to tear it off. But it didn’t make any sense. The ability to breathe underwater wasn’t supposed to appear for the next few minutes, and she should still be able to breathe the air from her tank, so what…

She tore the mask off her face and released a flurry of bubbles. I understood. Her air had run out.

“I’ve got you,” I said at once, my personal suffering forgotten when I realized I was about to lose her. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll give you air.”

I brought her up too fast, moving too sharply in my haste. She gripped my shoulders, her mouth open, her face tight with terror.

I gripped the back of her head and sealed my mouth to hers, swallowing water.

She struggled at first, clamping her mouth shut. I held her closer, wrapping my tentacles around her in the hope it would make her feel safer. With the tip of my tongue, I gently coaxed her lips to part. As soon as they did, I blew in air.

She shuddered, breathing in, and then her arms were around my neck, holding on desperately.

“Breathe out and I’ll give you another,” I said, using my voice sack.

She released the air through her nose. I blew another big breath in her mouth, and she clung to me even harder, shaking.

It went on like that for a good minute, until Zoe settled completely in my arms, her body softening. We fell into a rhythm, breathing in sync without prompting, and I did my best not to give in to the hot, messy feelings that gathered in my chest, because my mouth was pressed to hers, and I hadn’t done that in decades. It felt violating, weird, exhilarating, and like the best thing in the world right after having her mouth on my cock.

I did my best to keep still and remember what this was—just me giving her air. Nothing more.

But Zoe didn’t have the same hangups I did. After I gave her the next breath, she gently flicked her tongue against mine.

I jerked as if that impact was a punch, and not the smallest lick. She made a dismayed noise in her throat, stilling completely, like she understood I was uncomfortable.

And I was. Kissing was… It wasn’t good. Or rather, I wasn’t good at it. The few girlfriends I’d had years ago when I was still trying complained that I was too rigid, too detached, and overall too cold. It was all true, because kissing nudged that pain inside me that I needed to keep buried, and if I let go too much, I was afraid it would consume me.

But this was Zoe. She was warm, trusting, and literally breathing my air. She was also my comfort. I remembered her hug that filled the abyss of cold inside me with warmth.

Now, the things she unleashed still tumbled through my bloodstream, and I was desperate for the pain to stop.

She didn’t try again, but she still held me close. I rearranged her gently in my arms so she straddled me as we breathed in a slow, even rhythm. When I had her like I wanted her, drinking in her warmth and closeness, I licked hesitantly just inside her mouth.

She shivered and stroked my nape with trembling, seeking fingers.

“Is this all right?” I asked.

She nodded as much as our position allowed, so I did it again. This time, her tongue met mine. I shivered, my tentacles pulsing with the need to bring her even closer. The air tank on her back was in the way, cold and hard and so unlike the rest of her, but I didn’t dare remove it for fear I might break something.

She’d need it later. After all, the effects of my cum would wear off in up to a day, and I definitely wasn’t going to feed her again.

Because it was too good while it lasted, yet the consequences were horrible. The pain, partly soothed by her closeness, still danced under my skin, cold and cruel.

But as she squirmed against me, digging her heels into my back with a low moan, some of that darkness dissipated. And when she ran her hands down my head and nape, stroking and soothing, it kept melting away.

That kiss wasn’t exactly what I wanted. We couldn’t really move our lips, keeping them sealed together to exchange air, but my tongue licked over hers, seeking friction and warmth, chasing her taste that was unlike anything and so good.

She trembled in my arms, aroused and trusting, and so clearly, obviously wanting me that I was dumbfounded. I’d never felt like this before.

Like… Like I was enough.

It was heady, that feeling. Terrifying in that it was so completely unfamiliar, and yet as I let it in, because there was no hiding from it when Zoe was in my arms, it grew more and more pleasant, until it exploded with glowing heat under my skin.

I could see myself easily getting addicted to feeling this way. Worthy. It was like a drug, and Zoe was my dealer.

As she squirmed with a muffled moan, pulling my head closer like she couldn’t get enough of me, a sharp thought pierced my bliss. I went still.

Oh, fuck. Had she ruined me? Would I be able to go back to my lonely, ruthless life and the cool detachment of transactional sex? Would I even enjoy sex the way I’d done it before now that I knew how good it could be?

I forced that thought down, and it was easy. Like all the other tight, sorrowful things inside me, that fear was soon swept away by Zoe’s eager caresses. The glittering warmth of her enveloped me, pushing everything else away. I groaned and moaned, making undignified, broken sounds that lit up the cavern enough that I saw the light through my closed eyelids.

And still, her hot tongue coaxed more pleasure out of me. I got lost in the kiss, barely remembering to give her air, and then, she pulled back and kissed me with her lips, too. Water came between us, and I swallowed it eagerly to be closer to her, to feel her heat, to plunge my tongue deep in her mouth. She felt so good, I wanted to crawl under her warm skin and live there.

When warm bubbles tickled my cheek, I realized I hadn’t given Zoe air in some time. Yet, she was evidently alive and well. Breathing.

I pulled away, giving her one last soft kiss on her lips, and looked at her. Her face was flushed with heat despite the cold water, her eyes glittering and big, her lips obscenely red and swollen. When I caught her eye, she grinned and blew out bubbles.

“It worked,” I said in wonder. “Oh, Zoe. It worked. You’re fine. You’ll be okay.”

She frowned at me with mock outrage and pushed back, fumbling with her suit. A moment later, she affixed her mask to her mouth while leaving her nose uncovered.

“Why are you surprised?” she asked, coming back to settle against me like it was completely natural for us to be so close. “I thought you were certain it would work.”

I rubbed my forehead sheepishly. “I was. I just haven’t done it before.”

She nodded with exaggerated understanding. “I can imagine it might be a tad awkward to have your human friends blow you so you can hang out underwater.”

“I don’t have any friends,” I blurted out, my filters gone in my raw, exhilarated, heated state.

Zoe blinked but didn’t react otherwise until finally, she smiled and punched my arm.

“Nonsense. I’m your friend.”

I stared at her with a ridiculous mixture of disappointment and elation. Was she really? Was that what friendship was? And why did that feel like not even nearly enough?

“Is that what friends do?” I asked, more hoarsely than I intended. “What we just did?”

She laughed softly, running her hand down my neck until her fingers gently brushed my gills. I shivered from that touch, the delicate membranes overly sensitive after everything that happened between us.

All of me was sensitive, and suddenly, I was afraid of her answer. I didn’t know if she was aware, but she could destroy me right now. All my defenses were gone.

“Sometimes, I guess,” Zoe answered. “What I meant is, I am your friend, and I’ll keep being that if you allow me. And I can be something more, too. If you want. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive. The point is, you’re not just a bodyguard to me. After all of this is over, I’d like to keep hanging out, in any way you’d be comfortable with.”

My gills fluttered under her touch, and she hummed in surprise, running her fingers over them again until I caught her wrist.

“We need to get out of here,” I choked out, unable to keep my voice cool as another wave of hot, helpless feelings flooded my chest. “If you keep doing that, I’ll get distracted again.”

She stopped and settled her hand on my chest, right over my heart that beat with frantic, fragile happiness.

“Thank you,” she said, looking seriously into my eyes. “You saved my life more times than I can count, and I know it’s your job, but I also know you didn’t have to go to such extreme lengths for me. And yet you did. I’ll never forget it.”

I swallowed with difficulty, reveling in her taste that still lingered on my tongue.

“Thank you for letting me,” I said quietly.

She grinned and pulled back, watching me with those warm, uncovered eyes that she finally closed.

“Well, you’re all blurry, and it’s really dark in here. Is there a chance we can go to the surface?”

I nodded. There was a place we could go and be safe, and even though I hadn’t been there in years, and the very thought of visiting again made my skin crawl with disgust, I would go. For her.

After that, it took me another hour to finally blast off one side of the rock covering the cavern’s mouth. The crevice I made was narrow, but I made it bigger with a few more blasts, until the rock finally cracked, a large part rolling away.

“Stay here,” I instructed Zoe, carefully swimming out to check the area.

I stayed close to the cavern’s mouth, turning slowly to check for lamia guards. When I couldn’t see anyone, I closed my eyes and let the lake in, focusing on her breath, her rhythm, her soft touch against my scales.

And even though I felt keenly enough to finally be certain no lamias were nearby, something was different. That touch of the waters washing over me was still soothing and familiar, but not nearly enough.

Something was wrong with me.

“All clear,” I said, pulling Zoe into my arms. “Maybe they got bored. Or maybe they all went to fetch whoever wants to buy you to make sure they’d get their cuts. Lamias aren’t exactly team players.”

“Better for us,” she said, wrapping her legs around my waist.

She squirmed, settling in, and when her arms came around my neck, warm and trusting, my heart died a little. She was perfect. It was perfect. And all I could think about was that it would end horribly, either because I failed to protect her or fucked up in some other way.

Because I would. I wasn’t made for this… this warmth, connection, friendship, or whatever it was.

“Will you forgive me?” I asked, pushing away from the bottom and making the course for Isle Royale.

“For what?” she asked, nuzzling in. She pressed her forehead into my neck to protect it from the cold.

“For when I disappoint you,” I said, wincing. It sounded like I intended to fail her, and it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Zoe surprised me by laughing softly, neither hurt nor offended in the least. “Yeah,” she said. “I forgive you. A thousand times over.”

I shuddered, her easy, accepting words touching a hurting place deep within me. That pain bloomed to life, piercing and fresh, even though I’d carried it for decades.

Normally, I had a very good handle on my past. It flared up only sometimes, increasingly rarely as I grew older, yet more often lately. Zoe seemed to have a way of squirming under my defenses and dragging the pain to the surface. I couldn’t blame her, though. She didn’t do it on purpose. It was me that was broken.

It was ridiculous and exhausting, but even though my grandfather had been dead for almost thirty years, his words still lived in my head, crawling out whenever I was vulnerable.

You can’t do anything right. Always such a failure.

All you do is disappoint me.

You know whom you failed the most? Your mother. She’d be alive if not for you.

You’re good for nothing. Weak, unworthy of my blood.

Everyone would be better off without you.

When Zoe grunted, I realized I clutched her to me with too much force, as if trying to squeeze all her warmth into me to feed the cold abyss inside. With a shuddering breath, I loosened my grip, and she stroked my nape as if she knew what I was going through.

“I forgive you,” she said, running soothing circles over my scales. “You did nothing wrong, and I forgive you anyway. You’re perfect. You’re so good. Such a good, beautiful, perfect man. I trust you with my life, you know? I trust you, and I know we’ll be fine.”

I sped up, trying to direct the gut-wrenching feelings she tore out of me into movement. It helped enough that I could still control myself and stay alert, but just barely. My insides roiled with hot and cold currents, past truths and present truths clashing until one came out on top.

I was afraid to believe her, and at the same time, I couldn’t help myself.

In the end, she was right. We would be fine, and that was because I’d never allow her to get hurt. I spent my whole life proving to myself how strong, efficient, and lethal I was. I’d honed my body and mind into sharp, deadly weapons, and I had a record and an entire population of scarred lamias to prove it.

That was not what I was worried about.

I was so much less certain about the future of our friendship or whatever this was, but one thing was painfully clear.

I would protect her, and failure wasn’t an option.

CHAPTER 16

Zoe

I stroked his nape, keeping my feelings to myself. I had a hunch Vodyan would think I pitied him if I let him know how I felt, but it wasn’t pity. I was deeply sorry someone had hurt this magnificent, strong, beautiful man and convinced him he was bound to be a disappointment.

Will you forgive me?

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my face into the crook of his neck. He sounded so unsure of himself, so sad, when he said that. It nearly broke my heart. As soon as I realized where that must have come from, I couldn’t hold back the words of affection and praise, because I longed to soothe him and show him how amazing he was. Yet for a moment, I was afraid they were too much.

Whatever Vodyan’s wounds were, they made him skittish, which was understandable. He’d already opened up so much, and I was afraid to push him too hard. So even though I knew I definitely wanted a relationship with him, not just friendship, I left the choice to him. Commitment could be scary, so I did my best to make it sound light and playful.

I kept my heartbroken anger to myself. And I didn’t ask, even though I desperately wanted to know who hurt him so horribly.

“Thank you,” Vodyan said after a while, his voice carefully neutral. “You can trust me. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know.”

We traveled in silence after that, but it was peaceful and cozy. I breathed water, even though it should have been impossible. It floated in through my nose, cool and pleasant, and at first, I’d expected to choke, to drown.

But kissing Vodyan helped me ease into it until I grew accustomed to this weird, magical experience. I was dying to know how that was even possible, but I put off asking him for later.

As we swam evenly, I kept my eyes closed, since I didn’t see anything without my goggles. But I didn’t sleep. I spent that time trying to detangle everything I knew about Vodyan and wondering why he’d become so important to me so quickly.

Was it because he was the only person around when I was at my lowest and loneliest? I didn’t think so, but just to test that theory, I tried to imagine the same scenario with different people I knew accompanying me instead of him.

And it felt wrong. Because none of those other people smiled so rarely that every smile felt like an intoxicating victory. They didn’t listen to my stupid rambling with attentiveness one might reserve for an amazing lecturer. They didn’t bother answering my idiotic questions and just being near me in such a quiet, protective way.

They didn’t have this unabashed, direct way of speaking that I suspected was born from reticence. Vodyan was a man of few words, so he used them wisely.

And still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was an entire volcano of words just brewing inside him and waiting for the right moment to spill out. I craved to be the one to hear them once they came out, and I wanted it so much, that longing hurt deep in my chest.

He never told me much about himself, and I had only glimpses into his solitary life filled with work and training to keep his skills sharp. His existence seemed so desolate, just like the underwater landscape of the lake. Murky dark water, perpetual cold, and monsters hiding in the deep.

Was that what Vodyan’s life felt like?

When he made a low, growling sound as his muscles hardened around me, I shivered from fear.

“Lamias?” I whispered.

“No,” Vodyan answered in a low, grating voice. “Nothing dangerous. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,” I said, but I didn’t relax.

When his hand spasmed against my hip where he held me to him, my curiosity prompted me to speak. He was obviously triggered by something, and at this point, I was invested in finding out who hurt him and whether they were still alive so I could… Well, I didn’t know what I would do yet, but I’d figure it out. It would be vicious and painful, that was certain.

“It’s nothing dangerous, but you clearly don’t like it,” I said carefully.

It was an invitation to share but not a question, because those could put pressure on the other person. And I didn’t want to pressure him, no matter how curious I was. He already had enough to deal with.

Vodyan was quiet for a while, and I resigned myself to never learning what horrid, dark thing hiding in the depths made him tense, when he surprised me by speaking up. He slowed down until we were barely moving.

“We’ve just passed a shipwreck graveyard. The biggest one in the lake.”

I shivered, remembering I’d read about those. Now I was grateful I didn’t see it. There was something eerie about those sunken ships holding bodies that wouldn’t decompose, the entire structures enclosed in giant cages so no one would desecrate the graveyards.

Not that anyone should. But the reason those cages were necessary—to keep morbidly fascinated people away—gave me the ick. The dead should be left alone.

“And you don’t like them?” I asked after Vodyan relaxed a bit, making a low hum that lit his throat but didn’t penetrate the ubiquitous gloom.

“No. I hate them. This one the most.”

There was no vehemence in his voice, but I felt the way his body hardened even more. So much pent-up emotion roiled within him, and he kept it all inside—hardened himself not to let it out.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” I asked carefully, afraid I’d scare him away.

He said nothing for a while, but then, he breathed out through his mouth, folding around me as he slowed to a halt. His forearm that was under my butt shifted until I sat in his open palm. His fingers dug into me with compulsive urgency.

“Do whatever helps,” I said without thinking. “Whatever you want.”

He released a low snarl, pressing my face into his neck. His grip on my nape was tight, the sounds he made violent, and yet, I wasn’t afraid.

“You keep doing this to me,” he ground out, his voice sack barely lighting up, his voice was so low. “You keep dragging all these things out until I’m choking. It would serve you right. If I took it out on you.”

He changed the angle of his hand until his finger pressed between my legs. I moaned at the sudden burst of electric pleasure. Fuck, he was angry. And even though it wasn’t appropriate, I felt giddy and eager.

“Okay,” I said simply. “Take it out on me.”

He shivered but didn’t move. We were silent, floating in place, until Vodyan released a long, bubbling breath and resumed swimming.

“I got stuck in one of those graveyards when I was four,” he said quietly.

His palm remained under my ass, but he didn’t move his fingers. I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to continue, and after a moment, he did.

“I was out with my mom. Playing. She took me secretly in a rare moment when my grandfather was away. He didn’t condone playtime. Or letting us go anywhere in the lake without him.”

I nodded against his throat, and his fingers flexed against my buttock. He pressed me more tightly to him, and I embraced him harder with my arms.

“My grandfather hunted lamias. It was his… His way of life. His calling. And my mother… She was young. She had me when she was sixteen. Sometimes, she could be… unthinking.”

My heart thudded, my body covering with a cold sweat under the suit. Whatever was coming would be awful, I just knew. A part of me hated listening to his story already, but I knew telling it must have been so much worse, and the least I could do was listen.

I tried to stroke his nape, which was as hard as stone, but Vodyan barked, “Don’t!”

My fingers stilled instantly, and his chest expanded against me in a long, controlled breath.

“Don’t move, Zoe,” he repeated quietly.

“Okay.”

We swam in tense silence until he spoke again.

“It happened so fast. We were swimming together. She laughed because I chased that fish and whenever I caught it, it would slip out of my grip. She had a beautiful laugh, but it was so rare.”

My heart squeezed painfully, and I itched to move, because that would ease the tension. But Vodyan needed me still, so I obeyed.

“When they came out, she was so shocked. You know, my grandfather trained her ruthlessly, just as he did me, and she probably could have taken one, even two. But there were three.”

I clenched my jaw and forced my body to be completely still. His fingers dug into my flesh painfully, but I didn’t protest. It was a relief, in a way. Something to focus on.

“She told me to run. They converged on her, deciding to leave me for later. They didn’t think I’d manage to get far since I was so small. And you have to understand something.”

He pulled my head away from his throat, grabbing my nape in a firm but painless grip. We were still, slowly sinking into deeper darkness as he angled my head so I would look at him. When he spoke, his light played across the sharp, unforgiving angles of his face.

I didn’t dare make a sound.

“You must understand. I was four. I was a child, and I was terrified. I did what she told me, because she was my mother, and I’d been brought up to obey. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I choked out, my heart breaking in two.

It was so telling that he put so much emphasis on this. I imagined he blamed himself very much.

“Good,” he said, pressing my face back into the crook of his neck as we moved again. “My grandfather believed I should have stayed and fought. I should have died in her place.”

“What?” I blurted out, shocked by the cruelty. “But you… You were a tiny child! You didn’t… It wasn’t your fault! How could he say that? Oh, baby.”

He shuddered and pressed down on my nape in an almost animalistic way, as if reminding me to be still.

“Don’t. I’ve never told anyone. I have to get it all out now that I started. If you say things like… Just don’t. Be quiet.”

“I will,” I whispered.

He took a moment to compose himself, his fingers tight on my nape as if he was afraid I’d move my head or speak again. But I was perfectly still, finally understanding why he needed that.

He must have felt so wildly out of control, reliving that horrible, cruel experience. I couldn’t even imagine how it felt, but I got that by moving and speaking, I only added to that chaos. He needed me still and quiet, so my presence would soothe instead of feeding the pain.

“I heard her screams as I swam away. She fought them, that much I know, but then… The sounds changed. She was in pain, so much that she roared with it. And I swam faster. Because I didn’t want to hear that.”

I swallowed, my throat bobbing, and he growled, pressing me closer.

“And then it stopped. She was quiet, and they laughed and shouted. They were so fast. Right behind me. So I did the only thing I could think about, and I was lucky, Zoe. I was so incredibly lucky. So much luckier than I deserved.”

He snorted suddenly, derisive and cold.

“Or maybe not. Maybe death would have been kinder.”

I breathed shallowly until he slowly relaxed enough to speak again.

“The shipwreck graveyard, the one we passed, was the closest to where we lived. I reached it before they caught me, saw a hole in the cage that seemed big enough, and squeezed through. They were furious. Spent hours circling the cage and trying to get in, and when they realized they couldn’t, they tried to scare me into coming out. Told me about the ghosts haunting the shipwreck. The monsters that would grab and eat me. They said my mother’s ghost would come to haunt me, because she was dead, her stomach ripped out.”

I bit my tongue until the pain was unbearable, and then I bit in harder until the urge to cry was gone. Vodyan shook, and we moved fast now. His body vibrated with coiled energy.

“When they left me alone, I tried to come out. But I couldn’t. All the holes were too small for me. And I couldn’t even remember which direction I’d come from.”

My body ached from being so unnaturally still, my muscles screaming from the effort. My eyes and throat burned with unshed tears.

“My grandfather arrived later that night. He found me pressed to the cage from the inside, shaking and mumbling about ghosts. I know, because he reminded me often how weak I was at that moment. I don’t remember it myself.”

I ruthlessly swallowed the shocked gasp that wanted to come out.

“He said since I got in, I had to get out myself. And if I didn’t, no loss. Because I got my mother killed, so in his eyes, I was already dead.”

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

“So I rose and kept trying, until I found that one single, bigger hole through which I finally squeezed out. I swam home. He didn’t let me eat for two days as punishment for… I forget what it was. Not killing my mother, not that. It was something else. One of his stupid things, like taking too long at a task or missing a target too many times.”

I cried silently without sobbing, without shaking. Tears squeezed out of my eyes, and I barely felt their warmth under my eyelids before cold water washed them away.

Vodyan took a deep breath and finally, his body and hold relaxed a fraction. He stroked the back of my head once, hesitantly.

“Don’t hate me, Zoe,” he said in a soft, low voice that sent another wave of silent tears into my eyes. “I’m sorry. I was bad to you.”

“C-Can I speak?” I asked, loathing myself for that stutter.

He stroked my head and back frantically. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s okay,” I broke in, my voice so tight with tears, I barely recognized it as my own. “You needed that and it’s okay. I don’t mind at all. What… What do you need now?”

He laughed sharply, so gritty and vicious, I flinched and held on more tightly, my fingers digging into the scales on his shoulders.

“A nap won’t help,” he said, almost with amusement, but there was a hard edge to his voice.

“No, not a nap,” I agreed. “But I can hold you. Or we can have sex. Or we can find a way for you to be alone. Whatever feels best right now.”

He stopped suddenly, pulling my head back by my nape until I looked at his face. I realized with a jolt there was enough light for me to see. We were close to the surface.

“You’d have sex with me?” he asked, sharp and disbelieving. “After what I told you?”

I blinked, trying to see him more clearly, though it was impossible in the water.

“Yeah. You’d be surprised how helpful sex can be as a release after processing intense emotions. I used to…”

He squeezed my nape, baring his teeth. “No. Don’t talk about how you fucked in the past right now. I can’t… Please.”

I swallowed thickly. Warmth pooled in my belly, insistent and needy, but I did my best to control it. I didn’t want to influence his decision, even though his jealousy was so incredibly hot.

Damn. It was me who needed sex after all that, if only to show him with my actions how grateful I was that he was alive and here. How worthy of love and pleasure he was.

And yes, I needed it for myself, too. Everything he told me buzzed in my guts, cold and squirmy, and I desperately needed to somehow make peace with it so it wouldn’t hurt so much.

But my needs were secondary right now.

“Okay. I won’t,” I said easily. “Just know that I’m here, fully available. Whatever you need from me.”

He shook his head, seeming angry, though as the water rippled, I couldn’t be certain.

“But I told you… Horrible, despicable things. How I… I ran, Zoe. I could have stayed, could have fought, but I ran. I left her behind.”

It felt like my throat was permanently tightened from holding back my cries of dismay and tears. I took a deep breath of cooling water.

“Yeah. You were four, you ran, and you did well. So well. You did exactly the right thing. She told you to run, and she was an adult when you were just a child. She wanted you to be safe. You did good, baby. You did everything right. But it’s okay to feel like you didn’t. It’s okay to feel those things, okay? Just don’t… Don’t punish yourself.”

He pressed me closer, and I felt how fast his heart thudded through his chest. We stayed like that for a long moment until he seemed to shake himself off.

“We will emerge now. There is a safe place we can go. And I’ll do my best.”

I nodded into the crook of his neck, pulling my mask away from my mouth in preparation. With just a few thrusts of his tentacles, we broke the surface. Icy wind whipped my face, and I gasped from the shock.

And then, I coughed out water. My body shook, a violent hacking cough tearing my lungs apart. Vodyan held me, cursing under his breath, his tentacles wrapping around me as I shook. My throat burned, and when I finally took a full breath, the cold air seemed to freeze my lungs from within.

“My sweet girl. I’ll keep you warm. Just need to figure it out,” he said over the rush of the wind.

I blinked, my eyes watering in the cool gray brightness of the day. We were close to shore, a narrow strip of rocky land separating the lake from the forest. I squinted, blinking water from my eyes as my teeth chattered and a few more coughs shook my frame. There was a stone house on the shore, rough-hewn and large. It had its own wooden pier jutting into the lake, the wood blackened and old.

“Fuck. I’m not sure how to do it,” Vodyan muttered. “Zoe? Can I kiss you?”

I gave him a shivery nod. “Yeah. Of c-course.”

He brought me higher with his palm gripping my ass, and his lips, barely warm, pressed to mine. I shook from the cold but kissed him back as best I could, until I realized his tongue grew hot in my mouth, his body warming up fast.

With a needy whimper, I pressed closer, and he wrapped around me, layers and layers of his arms and tentacles emitting glorious, blissful heat. We kept kissing, my moans growing louder as he surrounded me from every side, becoming a cocoon that shielded me from the wind.

He pulled away from my lips and peppered my face with eager, clumsy kisses, each a hot lick against my freezing skin.

“It works, my pretty girl. There you go. All warm and good.”

I had no idea how he did it or how it was possible, but I clung to him with all my might. Water splashed around us, and next thing I knew, we were on the shore, heading for the stone house.

He kept kissing my face like he couldn’t get enough. It was cute and blissful, his lips searing a path of heat down my cheek, along my jaw, up to my lips, and across the other cheek.

“This feels so good, baby,” I choked out, quivering from the heat. “You feel so good.”

He moaned once and dropped a kiss on my lips, but when I tried to catch his mouth for more, he shook his head.

“Zoe, I need you to be still. Like before. Please.”

“Okay,” I said, curious and eager. “What else?”

His eyes flashed away to the house, his face contorting for a moment before he looked back at me, his features hard with determination.

“I want to fuck you.”

CHAPTER 17

Vodyan

I felt out of control, bursting with the need to somehow tear the pain and fury out of myself and fling them far away. At the same time, the hormonal reaction I finally triggered to warm up Zoe made me painfully hard, and all of it combined felt like a ticking bomb in my system.

Zoe’s words still burned in my mind and heart, too, and I didn’t know what to do with them. They just didn’t fit with everything else that I’d learned, and yet, she said them with such conviction, they rang so true.

The most painful, burning thing was her acceptance. Here she was, knowing my greatest shame, and she still wanted me unconditionally. I’d told her I would take my pain out on her, and she simply said yes.

I didn’t know who was crazier at this point, me or her.

“You’re fucking unreal,” I said, pressing my lips to her head as I went around the house to the front door. “Feels like I dreamed you.”

She shivered but didn’t move, and another burst of gratitude choked up my heart. I needed that, though I didn’t know why. All I knew was that if she stroked my nape in that soothing way of hers or gave me hot little caresses, I would die.

I wouldn’t be able to handle it. It would be too much.

“Baby, I promise you I’m real,” she whispered.

I closed my eyes, squeezing her warm ass in my palm, where she fit so nicely, seated on my hand like it was her personal little throne. Because it was. She had no idea what she’d done, and I didn’t comprehend the full extent of it myself, but I knew one thing: now, a month from now, or in twenty years, I would have her.

I wouldn’t let her leave.

The metal door was intact, though a bit rusty around the handle. I slid open the crude crate covering the electric lock. It lit up when I pressed a button, meaning the underwater generator still worked.

The generators were a state-of-the-art vodnik invention, transforming life underwater in an instant. They produced extremely cheap, renewable energy only at the cost of the generator itself and its maintenance. I knew there were attempts to invent a similar type of tech for saltwater environments, but none were successful for now.

I snorted under my breath. My grandfather had abhorred civilization, and yet, that didn’t stop him from installing electricity and cameras that would keep him safe from lamias in his separatist fortress on the shore.

I hadn’t been in this house in two years. It belonged to me now that my grandfather was dead, and I’d bothered to complete the paperwork and have it filed under my name, but I rarely came up here. The memory of that day I almost died permeated every fucking stone of this house, but it was the only place I could think of that was on the surface and safe for Zoe.

There were vicious traps around the house, and a perimeter keeping wild animals away. A few cameras were dotted around the property, and if the lock worked, hopefully, they would, too.

“What is this place?” she asked as I punched in the code and the lock buzzed mechanically, allowing me to open the door.

“It’s mine,” I said simply, unable to get into the rest right now, my being already stretched taut with one painful confession. “It’s a safe place.”

“Okay,” she said, pressing her face to the crook of my neck.

It undid me. She was so fucking trusting, so completely devoid of doubt. It hurt, that trust. When people expected nothing but disappointment from me, I couldn’t really fail them. But Zoe? If I fucked up, I would hurt her, and I couldn’t bear the thought.

And yet, she’d already forgiven me. My incredible, pretty human.

“It’s not much,” I said as we entered the narrow corridor that opened into a large kitchen at the end.

Two bedrooms flanked the corridor, and I hesitated. One had belonged to my grandfather, and the other had been supposed to be mine after I was finally conditioned enough to stay out of water for longer. It was where he tied me up to train me.

In the end, I picked that room instead of the one that had belonged to him. The bedroom was bare, not even a mattress or a shallow pool. One dirty window looked out onto the rolling waters of the lake, set in a stone wall with no decorations. The dark wooden floor was dusty.

I still held Zoe, pouring heat into her, even though she was perfectly warm. The house had no heating, though, and she’d have to stay close. It was perfect, because I wouldn’t let her out of my sight, anyway.

The bathroom attached to the bedroom was equally bare. An oblong toilet made of cracked, white porcelain was level with the floor. I knew it was different from human toilets, but hopefully, Zoe would be able to use it.

“Oh, a squat toilet,” she said, looking in over my shoulder. “We have those in the kindergarten.”

I blinked. She’d be fine then.

Apart from the toilet, a small bath stood by the wall. It would probably fit Zoe, but not me.

I flinched, a memory flashing in my mind. My grandfather taking a break in the surface training to hose me down in there before he tied me up again so I wouldn’t flee into the lake.

“Everything okay?” Zoe asked softly.

I shook myself off. “Yeah. Do you… Need the bathroom or something?”

She nodded. “Just need to peel this suit off. At least I’m warm, thanks to you.”

I let her stand but I didn’t retreat, crowding her. It was a visceral need at this point. I had a ridiculous notion she’d vanish if I let her move too far away.

Zoe didn’t mind. She smiled at me, red-lipped and bright-eyed. She took off the breathing tank before pulling the top of the suit off her head to reveal dark hair braided into a messy updo.

“Give me a hand?” she asked playfully, undoing the zipper at her front until she reached her sternum.

I reacted instantly, catching her wrists.

“Yeah. I’ll do it.”

She let her hands hang loosely by her sides and looked up, still smiling like my controlling behavior was a perfectly normal thing.

“Okay.”

“Is there something you won’t immediately agree to?” I asked, slowly undoing the zipper all the way down to her pubic mound.

“I don’t know,” she said, tilting her head to the side. She watched me watch her naked body as it slowly appeared to me, and she was so deliciously unabashed about it. “Keep pushing and let’s find out.”

“What if I told you I will stuff both your holes full?” I asked, my cock hardening in a rush as I pushed the suit off her shoulders, uncovering the heavy curves of her breasts, her dark nipples pointed, her flesh pebbled with goosebumps.

“I’d say yes, please, and ask you to go slow when you fuck my ass,” she said, her breath catching.

Mesmerized, I raised one tentacle and ran the underside slowly across her soft, warm tits. She shivered, arching into my touch. I focused, and on the next pass, one sucker latched onto her nipple. She cried out, throwing her head back, as it sucked. My cock pulsed with a hot, heavy need, pushing to come out, but I held it back.

It was a struggle. My dick flexed in my slit, trying to peek outside even just a bit. Reaching for Zoe.

She was my cock’s favorite person now.

I watched her face, scrunched up in pleasure. Her hands were balled into fists, shaking at her sides, and her mouth was open. She was so…

So sweet. So filthy. So understanding, warm, affectionate, cheeky. So pliant and sexy, so utterly uninhibited. So fearless. So good. So funny. So kind. So searingly erotic. So precious. So needy.

So shockingly into me.

Her desire fed mine, making me shake with the need to do exactly what I said. To fill her up until she wouldn’t go away. To make her full for months to come. Trap her, so she’d have to stay.

To breed her.

That thought shocked me, and the following thud of desire in my abdomen made my vision darken at the edges. My cock slid out, heavy and hard, eager to start right away.

I raised another tentacle and pushed it in her mouth. Her eyes flashed open in shock which lasted just a moment before she closed her lips around me and sucked.

“Fuck, sweetheart,” I said, rusty and low.

Her eyes widened, and she gave me a harder suck, as if to encourage me. But I swallowed the words that wanted to come out. I wanted to call her so many things, because I finally had the vocabulary for it, but I was afraid of saying too much.

The lust pounding in my veins made me unhinged.

With tentacles that refused to shake because it would slow me down, I slid her suit down her body until it pooled on the floor. Seeing as her flesh pebbled in the cold, I picked her up and wound myself around her, suckers pressing into the mounds of her breasts, hands kneading her ass, tentacles slithering between her thighs to feel her heat.

She cried out, pliant and easy, exactly like I wanted her. I was a mass of coiling, sliding, seeking flesh, and she was in the midst of me, the thing I sought and craved to devour.

I brought her up for a kiss, plunging my tongue deep inside her mouth, and positioned her until her foot rubbed against the top prong of my cock, the one that probably wouldn’t fit in the first time.

But there would be more times, many opportunities to stretch her, mold her, prepare her to take me whole.

“You’re the prettiest human of all,” I breathed, bringing her even higher so I could bury my face in her tits and suckle first on one, then on the other, both pressed tightly together with my palm until they spilled over.

She keened as my cock wrapped around her foot, stroking itself against her. It made a wet sound, my natural lubrication marking her skin. That wound me up even tighter, giving me an idea and, a moment later, I slid a tentacle inside myself, where it was hot and wet. I shivered from pleasure.

When it came out, I stroked it down her spine, marking her as mine.

“Such a soft, yielding girl,” I rasped, mindless with something that was beyond lust, beyond need. “You will let me do anything with your pretty holes, won’t you, sweetheart? You will let me stuff you full and make you come, then fuck you raw until I come deep inside you, yes?”

“Oh, God,” she pleaded. “Yes! All of that, yes!”

“So perfect,” I whispered, running my tongue along her earlobe, and then sucking the edge of it in my mouth.

I couldn’t get enough of her.

“But before, bathroom,” she got out. “I really have to pee.”

I stilled, a bit of reason trickling back. Yes, that was the plan, after all. But I was so winded, so completely crazy about her, I couldn’t let her disappear.

“Leave the door open so I can watch you,” I said without thinking.

She gasped, and I realized how creepy that must have sounded, but before I could take it back, Zoe gave me a cheeky grin.

“Okay.”

It was the same word she said every time, to my every demand. Her green eyes glinted with an unfazed smile, a bit challenging, and I understood she was pushing me. She wanted me to demand more.

Was it a game? I was eager to play.

I lowered her to the floor, pinching her nipple on the way, thumbing her lip, teasing the crease of her hip with the tip of my tentacle. She shivered, her smirk sliding off her face until she looked needy and pleading. When I let her go, she swayed on her feet before she caught her balance.

“Well, go on then,” I said quietly, watching her without blinking.

She pressed her lips together in a nervous gesture that somehow was also a smile. When she turned and walked into the bathroom, shivering in the cold air, she swayed her hips provocatively.

When she squatted over the toilet, I held my breath.

Of course, she could have faced the wall, giving me the view of her back and her dimpled ass. And of course, she didn’t.

I stared at the landscape between her legs as she peed, the gorgeous, pink and red heat of it, the softness I saw even from a distance, and the unique, mesmerizing shape of her. She squatted wide, opening for me without a hint of self-consciousness, though she was nervous.

Was this her first time peeing in front of someone like that? Did it turn her on? It did me. I was an animal, craving all of her, and this was a part of it.

When she was done, she looked around and bit her lip. “There’s no toilet paper.”

She got up fluidly, turning to the bath. I came closer to watch her, but I was still outside, a voyeur skulking by the door. She washed her hands under the cold spray, because there had never been hot water here, and then cupped some in her hand and brought it between her legs.

I jolted into action.

“I’ll do it.”

She straightened and looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes dark. “Okay.”

I stood right behind her, my cock nestling against her lower back until its curve molded into the exact shape of her spine. Holding her close, I reached for the spray that thudded metallically against the bath and wet my fingers, winding my tentacles around her legs to push them further apart.

Zoe’s breath hitched as she widened her stance. I brought my wet hand between her legs and gently glided it up her inner thighs first as I buried my face in her neck and breathed her in.

“Oh, I should wash,” she said, shivering. “I’ve been cooking in that suit for hours, I must smell…

“Perfect,” I broke in harshly, licking a long strip up the side of her nape. “Good enough to eat.”

She shivered, and I reached for more water, sliding my fingers over her without parting her first. I licked the place where her collarbone met her shoulder, and then pushed my face closer to her armpit and breathed in.

“Vodyan,” she choked out, sounding dismayed.

“Perfect,” I repeated, wetting my hand again. “Everything you are is perfect.”

This time, I parted her gently and slid my wet, warm fingers over her hot skin. She was so soft here, so eager. I mapped her out, learning her shape, attuned to her reactions. When I circled her opening with the pads of my fingers, she sighed softly. When I went higher up the side, she gasped, and so I explored that place until I found it.

Here was that small, pulsing part of her, swollen and needy. I ran my finger over it in an exploratory circle, and she sagged against me with a trembling sigh.

“I used to be very selfish,” I whispered, rubbing her clit in thorough, soothing circles and watching to see if she liked it. “And now, I’ll have to learn everything, because I am determined, Zoe.”

She swallowed audibly before asking, “Determined about what?”

“Making you come so many times, you’ll never want another cock but mine.”

She cried out, her body tensing. I brought my slick hand up to my mouth and sucked my fingers into my mouth. She looked at me with wide, awed eyes, turning to face me.

“You really are good enough to eat,” I murmured without a smile, looking into her eyes. “Can I eat you?”

She stilled, her jaw going slack. There was a beat of startled silence, and then I grinned, baring my sharp teeth with a low laugh.

“Psych,” I said, cupping the back of her head to angle her face up. “No breathy little ‘okay’ this time, ah? Kiss me, you sweet thing.”

I didn’t wait for her response as I claimed her mouth in a deep, thirsty kiss. I did want to eat her, or something that felt like that. She had to be mine, all of her. It was like I’d waited my whole life for her to appear, my unabashed, beautiful, trusting Zoe, and all my pent-up need now focused on her.

It scared me, but it was also inevitable. Even if I knew how, I wouldn’t stop it.

“It’s all your fault,” I said, kissing down her neck until she trembled and moaned, her fingers clutching my scales. “I had it all handled but then you came in and broke it all to pieces. And now you have me, for better or worse. Now you have me.”

“I don’t understand!” she choked out, squirming in my hold.

“It’s okay. You will,” I promised, kissing back up to her mouth. “Are you on birth control?”

She nodded frantically, and my greedy heart thumped with disappointment. But if not now then another time.

“I got a shot. It’s good for one more month.”

She wouldn’t get any more.

“I’m clean,” I kissed into her skin.

I got tested every month one week after my sex appointment. It was a rigorous part of my regimen.

“M-me, too,” she sighed, clutching at my nape. “So, Vodyan?”

“Yes, my sweetest?”

She pulled back, breathing hard, and gave me a mischievous smile with those lips I’d reddened with my kisses.

“You can’t eat me, but you could eat me out.”

CHAPTER 18

Zoe

I didn’t understand what happened, but I loved it. It was as if his shell, his armor, all his barriers and defenses crumbled to nothing, revealing that hungry, wildly passionate beast with an insatiable appetite—for me. It should have been scary. He was terrifyingly intense, his every touch, every kiss, every word possessive and hot, but I wasn’t afraid.

Even more, I drank that in. He fed all those places that had been undertouched, underloved, underappreciated within me, and I let it all in, greedy for more.

Out of us two, Vodyan was more touch-starved, and it shocked me how much I clung to him in turn, how much I craved his caresses. And he gave. He gave with such a generous, open hand, speaking a language I hadn’t thought him capable of.

“Oh, I’ll eat this pretty little cunt,” he promised, carrying me out of the bathroom like I was his bride. “I’ll keep eating it until I figure out how to make you come, even if that takes hours. You aren’t allowed to help me.”

My head spun, lust and confusion slowing my brain down. “What?”

“Keep still,” he said, winding his tentacles around my hips and under my armpits until I wore a corset of him.

One tentacle wrapped under my knee and pulled my leg to the side. Lightly, with an open palm, he slapped my pussy. “And don’t touch what’s mine.”

God. I couldn’t believe he was the same person as my taciturn bodyguard who barely strung three words together. And yet, it made sense, too. I heard that saying before—about the quiet ones being the worst.

He was the worst in the best possible way.

“Okay,” I choked out.

I cried out from shock when he tipped me back until I was upside down, my head and shoulders cushioned by his tentacles. He hooked my legs on his muscular shoulders, burying his nose between my thighs as he sniffed me.

“Fuck!” I choked out, too horny to be embarrassed about how I smelled.

“Yes. Very fuckable,” he spoke directly against my labia, his lips teasing me. “Very pretty.” He teased me open with a long lick. “Very delicious.”

“God!” I cried out, shaking. “You’re so… so…”

I couldn’t find the right word, and he smiled against me, his eyes sparkling electric blue between my thighs.

“It will come to you,” he said smoothly, leaning in for another long lick. “It did to me.”

It was another thing I didn’t understand, and I let it go. It was possible my brain wasn’t up to task, or maybe he spoke in a code of some sort. It didn’t matter, because his mouth sealed around my clit, sucking gently, and his tentacles slid over my breasts until each nipple was pulled into a sucker.

I arched with a shout, trying to dig my heels into his back, but my ankles were gripped by tentacles, too, and held away from his body. He held my hips in his hands, and I felt like I’d fall, drowning in the deep, wide lake of his lust to never find myself again. When I gripped the tentacle around my waist to anchor myself, he hummed around my clit.

“Grip as hard as you want, pretty thing. I’m all yours.”

I moaned, and he moaned back, unapologetic and eager as he pulled back, tasting me with long, thirsty licks. His tongue swirled around my opening until it slid in, and I arched and tried to kick my feet, but he had me completely restrained.

“Fuck,” I swore. “Please! I have to… I need to…”

But I didn’t know what I needed, I only knew that the fiery, potent tension inside me brewed too hot to handle. I’d never felt like that, had never been devoured with so much attention, never been commanded so surely.

“My delicious girl needs to come,” he spoke, using his voice sack, the sound raspy and cool. “Poor darling. Is it bad? Tell me.”

“You’re insane,” I sobbed when his suckers pulsed harder around my nipples, his mouth returning to my clit with a long swipe of his tongue.

“Only because you’ve made me so,” he answered with his mouth, the sound warmer and richer than the one from his voice sack.

“What did I do? Oh! Fuck, don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

He sucked me hard while something wet and slippery nudged my opening, gently pushing inside. Vodyan didn’t stop. A soft green glow bathed the edges of my hips when he replied.

“You broke me, Zoe. There’s no going back.”

The pressure in my pussy grew, a thick, flexible length pushing in until it filled me to the brim, my opening stretching around the girthy flesh. I couldn’t make sounds anymore. My throat was tight, my mouth wide open in a mute scream, and I knew I’d come or die, because there was no other option.

He sucked me harder, flicking his tongue around me, while the tentacle buried in my pussy fucked me with even thrusts.

I exploded into a million incoherent pieces, sobbing without words, my body a taut arch that felt like the most perfect form I was meant to be. Through the blood rushing in my ears, I heard him hum with satisfaction as he kept sucking and fucking me through it until, an eternity later, it ended.

I fell limp, voiceless and sated, and Vodyan pulled back while his tentacle stopped moving, buried deep inside me.

“That didn’t take long,” he said with mild disappointment. “You’re a filthy girl, my precious thing. Just so perfect.”

“Filthy… and perfect?” I choked out, still spasming with rolling aftershocks as he slowly turned me around until I straddled his waist.

My pussy clenched helplessly around nothing as his tentacle slid out. I shook so badly, I probably couldn’t have stood on my own, but he held me and controlled my every movement. There was no need to worry, so I just gave in to the glowing, satiated feeling inside me.

“Mmm,” he murmured, bringing me up for a kiss. He licked across my lower lip, kissed the corner of my mouth, and pulled back. “Perfect for me.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“We’re going to fuck now, my lovely girl. Or I will fuck you. You won’t do anything but take it.”

It was impossible to feel horny again after such a world-shattering orgasm, and yet I did. I looked into his eyes with wonder, sinking into the deep lakes of clear blue.

“You have a big cock,” I managed to say, that concern making it through my foggy bliss. “It might not fit all in. The second half especially.”

He grinned, showing off those white, sharp teeth, and I awarded myself five points before I lost the train of thought as something hot and wet slid down my tailbone.

“Don’t worry about it, Zoe. I’ll take care of everything,” he said, and ridiculously, it was enough.

That was how much I trusted him. It was unreal.

“But first things first,” he murmured, pressing me close until I buried my face in the crook of his neck. “I promised to fill both your sweet holes, didn’t I? Breathe for me.”

I was no stranger to anal, and he’d already relaxed me with an orgasm, so when I felt his tentacle press in, I bore down to let it in. It slipped inside, stretching me, and I cried out, fingernails skidding down his smooth, shimmering scales.

“There,” he murmured, shivering. “You’re so hot inside, sweetheart. I made it so slick, it went right in. You feel so good. Too good. Fuck, let me just…”

He rearranged me, pushing my hips slightly away from his torso until another wet tip quivered between my pussy lips.

“Oh, fuck,” I breathed, shaking all over.

“When I’m keeping you warm like this, my entire body is primed for fucking,” he murmured, the other slick tentacle sliding in my pussy while the one in my ass squirmed slightly, not really thrusting. “I feel that all over. I wonder if I could come from fucking you with my tentacles alone, but we’ll have to try it another day. You’ll get my cock today.”

“Okay,” I said at once, the word breaking halfway through as the length in my pussy thrust deeper.

“How sweetly she agrees to everything. Tell me, sweetheart. Will you say ‘okay’, too, when I tell you I want to fuck you until you’re pregnant? It would be so easy. Our species are beyond compatible. Do you want children?”

The tentacle in my ass moved, pushing slightly deeper before it pulled out. I moaned out a shaky “yes”.

Yes, I wanted children. That was why I devoted my life to kids, didn’t I? Only, no man had been right to build a family with.

“Yes, she does,” he said, his voice dipping into a lower, hungrier range. “Will you pop out babies for me, lovely girl? Will you be mine forever?”

“Okay,” I said, so delirious, I didn’t fully grasp what I was saying, what he said.

All I knew was that everything was exactly right: his words, his touch, his caresses enveloping me from every side.

“That’s my girl,” he groaned, leaning in for a ravishing kiss.

I shook wildly, kissing him back sloppily, my body and brain disconnected on a fundamental level. I was out of control.

Soon, a slick tentacle tip prodded my back hole again. I moaned when it slid back in, slicker and warmer than before. It pushed deeper until I grunted in protest. The tip was narrow enough, but it quickly flared into wider and wider girth.

“I’ll teach you to take more,” he murmured, a trembling hand smoothing my hair. “So good. So generous. You have no idea. No one’s ever… No one. No one but you.”

Hot tingles raced down my spine, making me weak. I nodded jerkily, my open mouth pressed to his scales, gulping hungry breaths. The lengths inside me moved in an interchangeable rhythm. When one thrust deeper, the other pulled back, and the friction was insane.

I burst at the seams, and it seemed like with every thrust, he tried to get just a fraction of an inch deeper, until my jaw went slack, my brain desperately trying to hold on to reality.

Fuck, was I stuffed.

When the tentacle in my pussy turned slightly until the suckers pressed at my front wall, I cried out, the friction instantly growing better. When it pushed deeper, I moaned, begging without words.

And when the suckers latched on, I arched and whimpered, uncomprehending why this thing felt so impossibly good. It was like… Like they were sucking my clit from below.

The thrusts grew shallower, smaller, just enough movement to give me friction without removing the suction. Vodyan stroked my hair and nape with a shaky hand, his body undulating around me in endless ropes of powerful, muscular flesh.

A few more thrusts, and I took off again, sobbing my release into his scales.

“Fuck! I can’t wait any more.”

I was a rag doll in his hold, a being of bliss and water. When he slid out of my pussy, I barely sighed, and when he brought me lower and thrust his cock into me, I smiled deliriously, too happy to put it into words.

“That’s right, smile for me. I’ll make you so happy,” he said, the words coming fast, manically ardent.

I looked down in time to see him slam halfway in, stopping at the place where the upper prong came out of. It flattened against my clit with that thrust, and then, it rubbed me. Like a mini-tentacle.

My poor, oversensitive, burning clit somehow produced a tingle of pleasure at the contact.

“Uh-oh,” I said, slowly raising my eyes to see him staring at my face.

His lips were parted, eyes wide and bright, and the membranes at his ears fluttered madly.

“You’re cute,” I slurred, reaching up to touch his ear.

He caught my wrist gently and settled my palm on his shoulder. I startled when I realized I felt the echoes of his thudding heartbeat in his collarbone.

“Be still,” he said, choking up.

All his control and the commanding, engrossed manner were gone. His eyes were wide with fear or wonder, his slack face somehow younger and more open than I’d ever seen it. When he cupped the side of my head, his hand shook hard, his fingers spasming against me until they tangled in my hair.

“It never felt like this,” he said, his voice tight with something breakable and hot.

I nodded shakily, because he was right. It hadn’t ever felt this way. I wondered if I’d had sex the wrong way until now. I couldn’t qualify why this felt like so much more. It wasn’t even the tentacles, but something unspeakable, something sacred.

His hold tightened around me, muscular limbs wrapping around my thighs, middle, and neck, the one in my ass thrusting languidly when he slowly pulled almost completely out and slid back in, that prong stroking my clit.

“Fuck,” I breathed, tension coiling anew in my trembling, blissed out muscles. “You… I’ll fall apart. I can’t.”

“Shh,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine, moving so slowly, I wanted to scream for him to go faster so it would end.

All my nerve endings felt taut, all of me stretched open and exposed. Nothing separated me from him. It felt like my skin, muscles, and bones were all gone, and we were soul to soul, excruciatingly close.

“You’re so good,” he choked out on a long, agonizing moan. “Take it for me. Just a bit longer.”

“Okay,” I whispered when he pushed in again, filling me through both holes until I felt like bursting. “B-but I can’t.”

“Shh, shh, shh.” He shushed me compulsively, his cock dragging inside me with languid ease, rubbing his tentacle through a thin wall of flesh in mind-blowing friction. “You have to, because you’re the only one. There’s no one but you. So you have to. Say okay, my darling.”

“O-okay,” I sobbed out.

“So perfect.”

He thrust harder, a jolt of painful pleasure shooting up my spine. I was lost, my tongue getting away from me. I pleaded with him in slurring, deranged words, begging him to stop, to keep going, not to let me drown, to fill me up, to let me crawl under his skin, to never let me go.

It was his turn to agree to my every demand, until every jolting thrust was punctuated with a moaning “okay”. I couldn’t get enough of the sounds he made, so sensual and passionate, male moans and whimpers that tickled a spot deep in my brain, making me wind up tighter until I couldn’t stand it.

He fucked me hard now, my entire body jerking in his tight grip, and when he hit my clit just right, moaning out his pleasure, I shattered. My body fell apart until there was only him and the bliss that burned me away to nothing.

Harder and harder, he fucked me through it until he stilled, his body a hard coil of tension as he spent himself inside me in jarring, agonizing thrusts, trying to push himself even deeper. I swore I felt his hot cum filling me up, each heaving pulse of his cock giving me more until he coated my insides with himself. When he stilled, breathing hard, I thought he was done. But a second later, he groaned deeply, shaking harder. Something hot covered my lower belly, sticking to my skin.

“Fuck,” he said through gritted teeth, shaking. “I’ve never… Zoe… You’re the first…”

I didn’t know what he meant, but that didn’t matter, because he pressed me flat against him, the gel-like wetness on my stomach sticking to both of us. He stayed inside me, shaking as he held me, and I shook, too, easy and safe in his embrace.

“My girl,” he murmured reverently into my hair. “Mine forever.”

CHAPTER 19

Vodyan

Zoe was wrapped up in me so thoroughly, not even an inch of her body was visible, just her face, her eyelids heavy, her mouth curving in a soft, languid smile. I was inside her, too, a tentacle plugging her pussy to keep my cum inside. It had to be that way. My instincts wouldn’t allow her to put any distance between us.

We’d had water and food, and she’d peed again, my tentacles supporting her, because she shook so hard. I couldn’t stop touching her.

“How are you feeling, baby?” she asked, her hand squirming somewhere beneath my coils to pet a big, trembling sucker. “Did it help?”

“Oh, yes. It helped,” I said, running my knuckle along her eyebrow with fascination.

She was just so pretty. I hadn’t noticed that at the start—she was passable then, I guessed. I didn’t even think about her appearance much since she was my human principal and nothing else.

But now, she was the center of my universe. Every single piece of her, every detail down to the tiny mole in the corner of her eye, had me enthralled.

Her smile widened, revealing that canine I was so obsessed with.

“I’m glad,” she said softly. “You… You deserve to feel good. To be happy. And free. You deserve all the best things in the world.”

“You’re the best thing in the world,” I said without thinking.

It was so natural to speak freely. My tongue loosened, and somehow, the pathway between my brain and my vocal cords shortened significantly when it came to Zoe. She made it safe to say what I thought. And still, I shivered, wondering how she’d answer.

“You, too,” she said with a pleasured sigh, making my heart lurch into a trembling stutter. “Baby, I… You have no idea. How good you are. How hot. You’re out of this world.”

“Good,” I said with relief.

“But you don’t know everything about me,” she continued, settling in more comfortably, her toes flexing somewhere inside the mass of me heaped all around her. “I am desperately clingy. I’m talking cuddles, baby. Constant touching. Sex a few times a day even after you get fed up with me. It’s always been a deal-breaker in the past, you know? Apparently, I’m too needy, too horny, too everything.”

I laughed incredulously, gently sliding my limbs all over her until she sighed with pleasure. I pumped a few times inside her, too, and she moaned brokenly, trying to arch her back in my tight embrace.

“You don’t know what clingy means. I literally won’t let you go to the bathroom alone,” I said, a weird pride filling me.

It looked like no one in her past had been able to fulfill her needs. I had another way to keep her with me, then, because my girl would never want for sex and cuddles.

Because I was desperate to keep touching her, too. Like I told her—she broke me. Or maybe I’d lied to myself all my life, thinking I didn’t need touch and closeness, and she exposed that lie.

Regardless, now that I could have those things, I’d greedily take from her. She was out of her mind if she thought I wouldn’t take advantage of her openness and generosity.

“You say that now,” she said, a bit of sadness stealing into her voice. “But six months from now…”

“I’ll carry you around and fuck you whenever you want. Probably more, though. You woke up a monster within me, sweetheart,” I said, thrusting inside her to prove my point. “You don’t seem to get it. What you did… It’s a life sentence. You won’t get rid of me.”

“What did I do?” she whispered, her eyes glazing as she blew out a harsh breath, beginning to shake.

My cock warmed, but I was satisfied just giving her pleasure for now.

“You dragged my deepest secret out of me,” I said, thrusting viciously deep until she cried out, her muscles spasming around the intrusion. “You got me hooked. You want me in a way no one else ever did. It’s game over, pretty human. I’m not letting you go.”

I turned my tentacle the way I’d done before that made her shatter. It had been a stroke of luck, and I hadn’t even known my suckers would latch on inside her like that, not to mention that it would make her come so hard. But now I knew and I used that knowledge ruthlessly.

“Fuck!” she cried, craning her neck back until her throat was bared to me in a gesture of absolute trust. “Like this! Oh, like this!”

I grinned and pushed my hand into the squirming mass of my eager limbs until I found the apex of her thighs and, after a moment of fumbling, her clit.

“No, no, no,” she chanted, shuddering all over.

It took me a moment to understand, and I froze, startled and instantly remorseful. Did I hurt her?

“No, don’t stop,” she mewled so pitifully, my heart wrenched.

“You said no.” I was confused and still didn’t move.

“Because it’s too good!” she choked out. “Please, ignore it! Keep going!”

I blinked heavily, uncertain, but she made a noise of pure suffering, and that jolted me into action. I fucked her gently, though, carefully thumbing her clit. She released a growling noise of frustration.

“Harder.”

But I didn’t speed up. “Zoe, if you want me to ignore you when you say no, I need another way of knowing if I’m hurting you. I’m bigger and stronger than you. There are many ways I could hurt you without meaning to.”

“Fine!” she spat out, her eyes opening to shoot me a baleful look. I reared back. She was furious with me.

“My safe word is tabasco, and if you don’t make me come right now, I’ll never talk to you again!”

I stared at her, taken aback, until she growled in that cute, completely non-threatening way of hers. I laughed, rubbing her clit faster while I pushed my tentacle deep, stuffing her full before I let the suckers latch on.

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” I told her, pinching her clit experimentally.

She howled, arching, and I shook my head with a wide grin.

“Such a greedy girl,” I said, adjusting until a sucker found her nipple. “Filthy, like I said. You know what I want to do now? Make you come so many times you actually use that word. That would be fun.”

“You can… try…” she breathed before collapsing into a shuddering, moaning heap of a pleasured woman.

Her sweet cunt spasmed around my tentacle, and I let her ride it out before I pulled out and brought her up, arranging her legs so they straddled my hips. I pushed inside her, still not all the way in, but it was for the best.

If I was going to shoot my plug inside her, she’d better be off her birth control by then.

“Oh, already?” she panted into the crook of my neck, and I laughed, feeling smug and powerful.

“You told me to try.”

Quivering from pleasure, I slid a tentacle inside myself for lubrication and penetrated her ass with a smooth glide.

She threw her head back, sweaty and deliciously flushed.

I fucked her hard, came inside her, and then fucked her with my tentacles until, five orgasms later, she gave in.

“Tabasco! Please! Tabasco!” she cried out desperately when I put my mouth around her swollen, pulsing clit right after I’d made her come.

I smiled, giving her a gentle kiss that made her jolt, and let her go, pulling out of her sated body. She lay buried in a bed of me, so relaxed, all her muscles were soft, her pulse fluttering madly in her bared throat.

And still, I could have kept going. I’d never been so insatiable before. But I was also satisfied in a bone-deep, glowing way that suffused my every cell. It felt so good, and in that overwhelming, ubiquitous ease, I found the will to tell her everything.

“My grandfather was a separatist,” I said, stroking her sweaty hair off her face. “One of the last ones. He believed in the separatist principles in a way that bordered on insanity.”

“What’s a separatist?” she murmured.

“Someone who believes organized society is based on flawed logic and weakness. Rot, he called it. According to him, vodniks were meant to live the way lamias do. In a way, he respected them. Lamias are anarchists. They have no laws, and since the law from the surface has little reach down here, our species govern themselves.”

She nodded. I thought she was sleepy, but her eyes were bright and curious as she looked at me.

“So, your grandfather chose to live outside society?”

I nodded. “He did. It was a stupid choice, considering lamias don’t care if the meat they eat comes from a sentient species or not. They hunt vodniks out here, but my grandfather was a zealot. Soon after his daughter was born, he took his family out of the city so she wouldn’t grow up poisoned by civilization.”

The tension inside me grew, anger buzzing at the unnecessary suffering my grandfather caused. It was all his fault, yet if not for his choices, I wouldn’t have been born. What an irony.

Zoe was quiet and still, the way I needed her to be. She didn’t even have to be prompted now. Gratitude welled in my heart, and I stroked her hair with affection.

“His wife was torn apart by lamias a year later. That shattered whatever was left of his sanity. He didn’t even see the fault in himself—lamias became the ultimate enemy. He brought up his daughter in total isolation, teaching her to kill lamias to avenge her mother. I don’t know how he was with her, because he loved her, but if it was anything like he was with me, it’s no wonder she ran away.”

Zoe breathed evenly, her eyes wide open, lips pressed together, her body soft and motionless. I sighed deeply, closing my eyes.

“She ran to the city. I don’t know what exactly happened, because grandfather never told me, but she returned to him a year later with a baby. She was sixteen. Fifteen when she got pregnant.”

Zoe swallowed thickly, evidently distressed, but I had this craving to bare the truth completely so she’d see what she was getting into. A morbid curiosity urged me on, too. Would she finally get disgusted and push me away? What would it take?

“He hated me from the start. I don’t remember much from that time, I was too young, but I have some vague recollections. Of hunger and cold. Of helplessness. I can’t say for certain, but over the years, I figured out either my mother didn’t want to care for my needs or didn’t know how, or, more likely, he forbade her. If she wasn’t allowed to feed me enough or hold me… That would make sense, considering everything that’s wrong with me.”

“There is nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect,” Zoe whispered hoarsely.

I shook my head, dismissing her.

“No, I’m not, but I will be,” I promised her.

She didn’t contradict me, and I was grateful for that. The way she listened was so helpful. She didn’t judge me for how I felt, and that allowed me to show her honestly.

“This house was his,” I continued after a moment of silence. “Living on land was a huge advantage. He had a few hiding spots, huts deep in the lake, but ever since he made hunting lamias his mission, they hunted him back. And since lamias loathe coming up to the surface and are much weaker on land, he pushed for us to live here. But I was too young yet.”

I looked around the cold room, instantly noticing the rusty cracks between the stones were the metal hooks for ropes had been lodged. I’d pulled them out once I claimed this house as mine, but the rust gave the spots away.

“I don’t know if you know, but baby vodniks can only survive underwater. It’s the same with human-vodnik hybrids, because the vodnik race is essentially a human-vodnik hybrid. That’s why we… can reproduce with humans.”

She said nothing, looking at me with steady openness that made me shiver. I took a bracing breath and stopped delaying the truth.

“Vodnik children can come to the surface around age five, at first just for a few minutes at a time to train their breathing apparatus. It’s discouraged for them to emerge completely, since their skin is too delicate to handle it.

“The first time my grandfather took me to the surface, it was already after my mom’s death. I was five. He kept me in this room for a full hour, completely dry. I was sick for two weeks after that.”

She shivered, her face tightening in pain, and I looked away, swallowing with difficulty.

“He kept extending the time. It was… Training, he said. He was getting old, and a few times, lamias banded up on him. He’d lost a tentacle, had scars that hurt from those fights. He wanted to stay up on the surface so they couldn’t ambush him, but I prevented that.

“I remember I begged him to send me away when I was seven. He loathed me so much, Zoe, and I wanted to go away to make him happy. Funny, right? He never let me forget how much of a problem I was, what a huge burden, and I thought if I was out of his life, at least he’d have it easier. Children are idiots.”

She closed her eyes, tears spilling from underneath her lashes. I wiped them gently away.

“But he wouldn’t. He said no blood of his would be poisoned by the city or given to lamias. So he kept me, trained me, until he almost killed me.”

She sobbed once, clenching her jaw as if trying to keep that in. I watched her, hurting that she was hurt but numb about my own suffering.

“He kept me tied up here, in this room, for so long. There were sores all over my body, and I was suffocating. My lungs gave out. I wasn’t ready. Vodniks are able to stay on the surface for longer periods in adolescence. I was eight.”

She shook, and I stroked her hair, my tentacles sliding over her naked skin in a desperate attempt to give her comfort.

“Shh, sweet girl. It’s okay. It really is. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry!” she blurted out, crying fully now. Hot, fat tears fell down her cheeks, and I couldn’t keep up swiping them away. “Don’t you ever be sorry! You went through so much, and you will fucking never apologize to me again!”

I shook my head with a faint smile, watching as she wailed over me. And it was so strange. It felt like her grief for me, her outrage and sadness, made something ease inside me. She cried over me, and it meant my pain was validated, my suffering witnessed.

“Come here,” I whispered, hot relief loosening something inside me that had been tight and numb for many years, and now it flared to life. “Hold me.”

I brought her up, and she wrapped around me with all limbs, shaking and crying into my collarbone.

“He left me here to die,” I said to wrap up the story. She wailed, clutching me to herself. “But I managed to get out of the ropes. I fled to the lake and never saw him again until he was dead. So it ends well. And now, I have you.”

“Yeah, you do,” she said, running her hands up my nape and head. “You have me.”

It took some time until she calmed down, but I was happy to comfort her through it. I felt oddly empty and buoyant, as if telling her had released huge amounts of pressure, and I was so much lighter without it.

When she finally fell asleep wrapped up in me, fed and watered, I sighed deeply and looked out at the lake, thinking. The goal now was to keep her alive until the trial, and then, find out the names of Carver’s people who were after her so I could pick them off one by one. I would leave nothing to chance.

With all threats gone, I would resign. Move, possibly. I had many lamia enemies in Lake Superior, but there was a thriving vodnik community in Lake Erie, so that was one possibility. We’d have a fresh start, and I had enough savings to make it work.

Zoe would want for nothing.

The vibration of my comm set jolted me out of my plans. We’d agreed on minimal contact, because even the most secured channel could give away my position, so if Malgeri was calling, it had to be serious.

“What’s up?” I asked, tapping my ear.

“Carver’s out,” he said without preamble, sounding grim. “And the feds didn’t admit to anything, but it looks fishy. He just went poof out of his supermax cell, and it makes me think he has someone on the inside pulling strings for him.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, glancing at Zoe. “It makes sense. He knows we’re in the lake. There must be a mole.”

Malgeri was silent for a few seconds until he exploded, “The fuck you mean, he knows where you are? Since when? Why the fuck didn’t you report it?”

Oh, shit. He was right. I clenched my jaw as realization hit me. That was why it was forbidden to fuck your principal. Because my head was completely off the job, and I’d fucked up in a major way.

“Lamias attacked us yesterday. I learned a human was ready to pay them for Zoe,” I said, keeping my voice cool, even though I was jolted by the realization it was only yesterday. “We were too deep for comms to work, and then we spent hours trapped until I managed to get us out. But you’re right. I could have called you a few hours ago, after we got closer to the surface.”

“Why didn’t you?” Malgeri spat, his fury spilling over. As a demon, he could never hold his temper in check.

Well, there was nothing for it.

“Because I fell for her,” I said. I probably should have faked contrition to avoid more shouting, but I didn’t care. “And if you take me off the case, I’ll resign and keep protecting her, so you might as well fire me.”

Silence fell, so complete, it was ominous.

“Do you understand you’ve already compromised your principal’s safety?” Malgeri said, his voice deceptively cool.

“Yes. It was a mistake that I won’t make again. I also saved her life by giving her my cock, though.”

He sputtered, and I clenched my jaw. Too far. Shouldn’t have taunted him like that.

When my demon boss was done cursing, he took a deep breath, his voice tense, though he seemed calmer. “I see. Because of your special stuff, yes?”

“The mating adaptation process,” I supplied helpfully. “It’s something no one else can use to help her survive underwater unless you have another vodnik on retainer.”

Even just saying that made my chest squeeze with anger. No one else would touch my Zoe.

Malgeri sighed deeply. Another fraught silence fell as he thought through his options.

“I don’t have anyone else. Very well. You’ll stay on the job, and I’ll prepare a team to support you. Keep hiding. Carver is a dangerous fucker and the brain of his little venture, and with him out, you have your work cut out for you. You’re on your own for now. The feds sent a request to Yeseera to hand over any suspicious human divers, but that will do fuck all. That lake is big, and Yeseera is just a small part of it.”

That was a great piece of news if I ever saw one. I grinned, already knowing how I would keep Zoe safe.

“Thank you for an excellent idea.”

CHAPTER 20

Zoe

“Wake up, sweet girl. Open those pretty eyes. That’s it. Hello.”

I blinked up at the serious, scaly face of Vodyan hovering over mine while his words still rang in my head.

“Who are you, you sweet-talking creature, and what have you done with my bodyguard?” I asked sleepily.

He grinned, showing off a row of sharp teeth. Damn, he was handsome when he smiled. And dangerous, in a very hot sort of way.

“Better get used to it. I’ll figure out all kinds of sweet things to tell you. But for now, we have to go. Carver got out of jail.”

I sat bolt upright, my vision swimming from the head rush.

“What? When?”

“Yesterday, though it was reported only today. He already knows we’re somewhere in the lake and he knows you’re with me. He’s also well-resourced and has the means to check properties in my name if he’s smart enough to cover all his bases. That’s why we can’t stay here.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll get dressed and we can go. Back into the lake?”

“Yes. We’ll go to Yeseera.”

While I got ready, Vodyan explained briefly that Yeseera’s authorities, which were efficient and well-funded, would be on the lookout for Carver, which meant it was the safest place for us currently.

“He’ll be at a disadvantage underwater,” he said. “Which is why we’re sticking with the lake. He can’t enter the city, and lamias aren’t allowed in. It’s the safest place, and since he already knows you’re here, it’s no use hiding.”

While I dressed, Vodyan went out to check the area, grimacing unhappily.

“You’d better be here when I return,” he said before giving me a deep kiss.

When I was ready, I checked my air tank to make sure it was full again. I’d barely put on the top half of my mask when Vodyan burst in and picked me up without a word, his arms hard with tension.

“A camera caught a human checking out the perimeter,” he said through clenched teeth. “Hold on tight.”

I wrapped myself around him as he sped through the house, shooting out through the door in the kitchen onto the pier outside. I didn’t understand the rush, because everything seemed to be as deserted and calm as the moment we got here.

Then I heard a shot. Vodyan gasped.

“What…”

“Just a second,” he gritted out.

We reached the end of the pier in no time, disappearing under the surface. But we didn’t go deeper. He swam right under the surface, tearing through the water at a breathtaking speed. When I heard a shriek from below, I understood why.

Lamias.

Whoever shot at us must have coordinated with them. A cold, slimy fear crawled into my stomach. If they caught us now, there would be no herding to trap us. No, they’d kill Vodyan and take me, and then Carver would put a bullet through my head.

Was there a way out? Could Vodyan outswim them and reach a safe place before they got us?

I wanted to ask him how far Yeseera was, but in the rush, I hadn’t put on the lower half of my mask, so all I could do was listen to the roar of blood in my ears and cling to him, trusting in his cunning and strength.

Vodyan swam fast, pressing me close, his body tense with coiled energy. We went gradually deeper, darkness setting around us. My suit turned on, keeping me warm while Vodyan focused on our escape.

“I can’t keep this up until Yeseera,” he said after a moment. The shrieks of pursuing lamias didn’t let up. “It’s over forty miles away.”

I nodded, my heart squeezing in terror that I quelled immediately, because my trust was stronger. He said nothing, tearing through water like a bullet.

“Saving your life is my priority,” he gritted out a moment later, his voice sack lighting up faintly. His voice was low and focused.

I nodded again, not understanding where he was going with that. Another moment passed. The lamias’ voices seemed to grow fainter as we tore into the darker depths.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding cold. “Please, trust me.”

I didn’t have time to nod this time. Vodyan let me go, ruthlessly dislodging my clingy arms and legs. I flailed, beginning to sink, my panicked movements making it worse.

I screamed his name in terror, frothing up the water, but he was already gone.

Panic welled, cold and sticky, as I spread my arms and legs, trying to get my bearings. All around me was the endless water, dark and uniform. The fear of being lost here forever burst in my stomach like it did that first time I dove.

But it was different this time. I knew Vodyan, and I knew he wouldn’t let me die.

I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath through my nose. He would find me. If he let me go, that meant he had a good reason. He wanted to protect me. That was what he said.

On my next inhale, I counted to four, and then held my breath, counting again. I slowly sank deeper, and it had been years since I properly swam, so I decided to just let the lake do as it willed with me until I calmed down.

After my sixth controlled breath, I remembered my mouth mask and put it on. Silence surrounded me, pressing in thick. I tried to move my legs and arms to stay on one level instead of going deeper, and after a few tries, I got the hang of it.

“Okay,” I said under my breath. “You’re okay.”

And I was. When a huge shadow loomed under me, I smiled. Here was my warrior, coming back to take me to the underwater city.

But when a horrible face with white eyes and sharp, black teeth burst from the dark, I screamed and flailed, desperately trying to get away. A clawed hand closed around my ankle, tugging sharply.

Next thing I knew, the hand was still curled around me, but its owner disappeared in a roiling mass of tentacles and bubbles, shrieking as the water grew black. I stared, forgetting to breathe, as more body parts littered the water. Another hand floated gently by my side like an odd fish. Then, a piece of tail. A palmless forearm.

I choked when the black cloud surrounded me completely, and then screamed when Vodyan’s face emerged from the dark.

“Are you all right? Zoe! Did he hurt you?”

I shook my leg frantically, squeezing my eyes shut, but the fucking hand wouldn’t come off. A wail built in my throat, until suddenly, a tentacle closed around my calf, and the offending body part was removed.

“Zoe. Look at me.”

“Is it blood?” I choked out, so happy for my mouth mask. I just knew that I would have inhaled that bloody water if not for it.

“Yes.”

Vodyan’s arms closed around me and we swam away, leaving the carnage behind us. He stopped when not a trace of it was visible.

“Are you hurt?” he repeated, his voice hard and demanding.

“No,” I gasped out. “Just freaking out. His hand, Vodyan, you cut off his fucking hand…”

“He touched you,” he said coldly as if that explained everything. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

I nodded, clinging to him as my heart slowly calmed down. Vodyan’s tentacles wrapped around me for a moment, all of me surrounded by him, but then he untangled himself and we moved again.

“I dealt with them all,” he said shortly, cupping my ass with his palm. “I killed six lamias. Grandfather would have been proud.”

“Don’t say that,” I said instantly. “You didn’t do it to impress him.”

“No,” he snorted with a cold, quiet laugh. “I did it for you.”

A heavy weight settled in my stomach. Did he… hate me now? I pushed that thought away, deciding not to be a drama queen. He’d just fought a horde of monsters and chopped one to bits to save me. Of course, he was affected.

“And you, baby? Are you hurt?” I asked, stroking his nape once to see his reaction.

He exhaled through his nose, growing marginally less tense. A moment later, he pressed his face to my head and nuzzled in. I stroked him with more confidence, seeing it worked.

“Just a bit. That bullet on the island grazed my arm. Must have been a really good sniper. I also got a few bites. Nothing major.”

A wave of panic bit at my insides. “What?! You’ve been shot? Baby, we have to stop and have a look at it! You need to… get a bandage… or something…”

He laughed, warm and hearty, until he shook all over. I tried to peer at both his arms to see where the wound was, but he pressed on my nape in the familiar, quelling gesture.

“Water will heal me,” he said with amusement. “But it’s cute. That you worry about me.”

“Cute,” I said with outrage before I remembered the way he grew up. My chest squeezed with a burning ache. “Of course I worry about you. Are you in pain? Can I do anything?”

“You’re already doing enough,” he said, splaying his fingers wide under my ass. “And the pain is negligent. I’ve had far worse.”

“I know,” I said quietly. “Doesn’t mean you just have to suffer through it. Have you considered you’ve already gone through your lifetime quota of pain? Maybe things get to only be good from now on?”

He squeezed me with a low hum. “They will be. Once we’re safe. Now, why don’t you tell me all you know about Carver? We have about four hours to kill.”

I grunted, not appreciating the change of topic, but then, if I had information he needed, it would be stupid not to share it.

Though, I doubted I would be helpful.

“All I know is what’s in my testimony,” I said, shivering at the memory. “I don’t know, was that in your file?”

“Tell me everything,” he demanded, angling his palm on my ass to press me closer into him.

My breath hitched, and Vodyan cursed. He readjusted until I sat on his forearm.

“I shouldn’t let myself get distracted. Please, talk. Let’s pretend we’re not fucking for now.”

I sighed regretfully, but then, he still held me and we were close enough to satisfy my need for touch, making it easier to revisit painful memories.

“As you know, I volunteered in the children’s home,” I began, refraining from stroking his nape. “I usually spent a few afternoons there, staying for up to three hours at a time. I made a point of hugging the babies and smaller children while I read to the older kids or played board games with them.”

“Multitasking,” he murmured, his hand twitching.

“Well, I only had so much time,” I explained. “One afternoon, I walked around with two-year-old Laura in my arms. She’s a half-vampire and was new to the home at the time. I prioritized her, because she was scared and withdrawn.”

And she’d really clung to me. My heart squeezed, missing the baby girl who liked playing with my hair and earlobes, for some reason. She already had fangs, and her smiles were so adorable.

“A six-year-old abomination boy came in, saying he wanted to ask me something. Laura had fallen asleep, so I sat down with him.”

“Wait. Abomination?” Vodyan asked, and I couldn’t blame him.

“They are incredibly rare. Almost extinct because, well, most people hate them. They used to be hunted. Still are, in some parts of the world.”

“What are they?”

I thought for a moment, painting the image of the little boy in my mind. My heart squeezed with grief and pain.

“Well, they are humanoid, but their bodies are covered with a black chitin carapace that only opens in certain circumstances,” I said slowly, trying as best I could to paint an objective image of the species. “And their… Well, their heads are naked skulls. Though there is flesh underneath the bone. They are overall very hard creatures. Heavily armored. Um. They are born out of eggs.”

“Okay,” he said with a nod.

I loved him a bit more for that. I was more than convinced most people would have expressed disgust after hearing that description, but he was completely neutral.

“His name was Azahl,” I said, my breath hitching. “We sat down, and he squirmed in place for some time until he gathered the courage to tell me. You see, the kids are used to being dismissed. But finally, he started talking. He said that one night, when he couldn’t sleep, he saw a man walk into his room that he shared with four other children. That man stopped over his bed, and Azahl saw him clearly. Abominations have black, matte eyes, deep set in their eye sockets. They can see in the dark. So even if his eyes were open, he probably appeared to be asleep.”

Vodyan hummed, and I took a deep breath, swallowing down my tears.

“That man whispered, but he stood so close, Azahl heard every word. He said, ‘Add this one to the list. If he doesn’t sell for a million bucks, I’ll be fucked.’ Azahl told me all of that, and he clearly thought I wouldn’t believe him.”

“Why?” Vodyan asked, harshness creeping into his voice.

“Because he’d already gone to his head teacher with this, and she told him he must have had a nightmare. When he insisted, she punished him for talking out of turn.”

“But you believed him,” Vodyan said without a shadow of a doubt.

“Of course. I was disturbed, so much so that little Laura woke up in tears because she sensed my anxiety. I calmed her down, hugged Azahl, and spent some more time with the kids, waiting for administrator Kowalski to be free. I wanted to take it up with her directly, and then, with the police. Azahl was called away to do some chores, and I stayed with a few younger kids. We played a bit, and when they were called away for supper, I went to see the administrator.

“She wasn’t in her office. The kids were at supper. I went over to the library, which was empty, and waited. It was quiet, the couch was comfortable, and I was exhausted, so I fell asleep. I woke up a bit after eleven p.m., and the children’s home was dark and quiet. I was angry with myself for falling asleep and missing my window to talk to the administrator. I decided to try her office anyway, hoping she’d still be in.”

“And Carver was there,” Vodyan said, his voice hard.

“Yes. The door to her office was closed. It was made of thin plywood, cheap, like everything in that place. I saw light under the door, and a shadow of someone walking. I heard the floor creak inside. And then, I heard a man’s voice.”

Vodyan pulled me closer with a comforting hum. I realized I was shaking.

“I heard him very clearly, because he stood close to the door,” I continued after taking a few breaths. “He said, ‘Thank you for your cooperation, administrator. Everything went smoothly, and you were very accommodating.’ She replied, ‘Good. And where’s my money, Mr. Carver? You said you’d pay extra for the abomination.’ He said, ‘Everything is in the briefcase. As agreed, half now, half after we sell them. The abomination should fetch a good price. Some people are freaks for that kind of novelty.’ And to that, she replied, ‘Pleasure doing business with you.’”

I fell silent, my blood boiling with rage. I shook hard, and Vodyan held me even tighter, absorbing my distress.

“You remember it word for word,” he said softly.

“I hear it in my nightmares,” I said honestly. “Anyway, I didn’t wait after that. I ran out of there—the front door was unlocked. I drove straight to the nearest police station and gave my testimony. Feds appeared within an hour and took over. Carver was already of interest, and they were building a case against him. When they checked in the children’s home, seven kids were missing, Azahl among them.”

Tears gathered in my mask, and I desperately sniffed time and again to keep snot from coming out.

“It will be okay, sweetheart,” Vodyan murmured, stroking the back of my head. “I’ll get him. He’ll pay.”

That distracted me enough from the impending meltdown. I’d cried enough over that. I wanted to be done.

“What do you mean, you’ll get him?”

“We’ll get him,” Vodyan corrected himself smoothly. “He’ll get justice”

“I know,” I said, swallowing tears, though I was mostly calm. “And it’s not like… I mean, most of the kids were recovered.”

“Yeah. Thanks to you,” he said proudly. “You alerted the police fast enough.”

“But not Azahl,” I said, tears threatening to spill again. “He came to me, Vodyan. He trusted me to help him, and I fucking failed! When he was called away for those chores, I thought nothing of it. But I should have been suspicious. I should have… Taken him out of there, hid him, I don’t know!”

“You couldn’t have known. And if you’d done that, you’d be the one kidnapping children. No one would have believed your testimony. You did everything exactly right, Zoe.”

I laughed wetly, the words I’d said to him earlier coming back to comfort me.

“But he’s still gone,” I said, grief bursting in my chest.

“Yeah. As is my mother. Sometimes you do things right, and yet, nothing is right afterwards.”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” I choked out. “This is… Ugh. Just look at the pair of us. And I know we’ll be fine. Everything will be fine in the end. I just wish I could have saved Azahl. When I think about what they must be doing to him, wherever he is… Oh shit. No. Thinking about it is useless. All of that goes back under lock and key.”

That was what I had to do ever since it happened. My role was clear: survive until Carver’s trial so he’d go to jail and never hurt another kid again. Except, how could there be a trial if he’d run away? God, how I hated him.

“Saving the boy is important to you,” Vodyan said softly.

“Of course! I’d do anything to bring him back. But even if he’s rescued, he’ll need so much help after that. I don’t even… I can’t fathom his suffering.”

Vodyan hummed, hiking me up a little higher. “Rest until we get to Yeseera. I think you’ll like it.”

CHAPTER 21

Vodyan

My world and all my priorities pivoted in just a few days. I went from simply doing my job to planning multiple murders, and now, a rescue mission for a child I didn’t even know. And all that among half-baked visions of starting a family that were more fantasies than real plans, because I had no fucking idea what a happy family even looked like—I only knew I wanted Zoe, and having her would be enough.

My wounds barely throbbed, half-healed already, and I was excited. No matter how many times I reminded myself I shouldn’t get distracted, and that Zoe was my principal first and foremost, I was still giddy about showing her my home.

The feeling was unsettlingly foreign, and yet, it also felt light and happy.

“Are you asleep?” I murmured when the lights of Yeseera loomed ahead, pink, purple, and green. “You will want to see this.”

Zoe stirred, humming softly. “I was kind of drifting in my happy place, but I’m awake. What is it? Are we there?”

“We are.”

I turned my torso to the side so she could look comfortably at the view stretching ahead. Zoe gasped with a shiver, and I grinned. Yeseera was a stunning city, a real gem in all the Great Lakes, and I never failed to be in awe when I saw it after a period of being away.

“What… But how…”

I laughed softly, looking at the tall, intricate structures of glittering stone that marked the borders of the city. A thin but extremely durable net stretched between them, banning entrance to anyone who didn’t have a pass. Yeseera was where all the shanta production happened, and we took our security seriously.

I swam over to a border check—a circular portal in the net, lit with blue lights. Two vodnik guards swam out to meet me.

“Halt. Is that a human? We need to ID both of you.”

I nodded, offering my palm for a scan. It was good to see they were already on high alert. Since Carver’s people were on Isle Royale just a few hours ago, it was very unlikely they would have managed to infiltrate the city before security tightened.

Zoe would be safe.

The guards managed to scan her iris through the goggles. While we waited for the system to load her data, she craned her neck around me, looking in through the portal with wide eyes.

I understood her awe. Yeseera shone brightly in the ubiquitous gloom of the lake, like a beacon of fantastic colors that glittered and mesmerized. Right beyond the net, the lake bottom was covered with luscious, gently swaying carpets of green and blue. Beyond the stretch of greenery, the apartment buildings started, each surrounded by a generous area of space with more plants.

The apartment towers were wide, cylindrical structures of dark stone, draped with lights, each building in a slightly different color scheme.

“All in order. Enjoy your stay,” the guard said, smiling to Zoe.

She thanked her distractedly and turned back to look at the city as we swam through the portal.

“Wow. This is… So unlike the rest of the lake.”

I smiled, ridiculously proud, as if I’d single-handedly raised the city from the bottom. Yeseera was an integral part of my identity. After I finally got here as a child, it became a sanctuary and a home. I embraced it with all I had as a form of rebellion against my grandfather, and Yeseera embraced me back. I got a place to live, a small income to support myself, and access to education. At ten, I was considered big enough to take care of myself, and no one had bothered finding me a guardian as long as I didn’t cause trouble and attended school regularly.

The vodnik society differed from most others in that regard.

“They are so tall,” Zoe whispered as we swam between two outermost apartment buildings, one lit bright pink, the other purple.  “Oh, and each level has an entrance from the outside, right, because y’all can swim. So there’s no need for stairs or elevators.”

“That’s right. Now, this is a bit different from human hierarchy,” I explained, pointing at the higher levels of the closest apartment building.

A group of vodniks hovered by the entrance of the top-most apartment, talking loudly, their voice sacks glowing green and blue. A group of kids did cartwheels nearby, laughing like crazy, until the smallest one, who looked to be around three, got tangled in her own tentacles and began crying. A woman pulled away from the group of adults and caught the girl, helping her untangle herself while talking rapidly and pointing at the other children.

“The apartments at the top are the smallest. The towers grow slimmer with height, so the places at the top are the cheapest. The lower down a tower you live, the more expensive the place, until the very bottom. Those who live on the lowest level have access to dry space.”

“What do you mean?” Zoe asked without looking at me, her eyes glued to a colorful flower shop we passed, bright, luminescent blossoms spilling out through the shopping window on one of the middle levels.

I stopped, an outrageous thought making me smile. I’d never bought anyone flowers before.

“Like the safehouse,” I explained. “There are bunkers under every tower. Everyone who lives on the bottom floor has a whole another level to themselves. Hang on.”

I left her outside the flower shop, hanging onto a rail, while I bought a rich, purple and blue bioluminescent flower that could be worn as a bracelet. The blossom was huge, the petals thick and fleshy.

“For you,” I said, putting it around Zoe’s wrist.

She gaped at it for a few long moments, her lips parted, before she looked up at me with a huge smile.

“It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever got,” she said seriously. “Thank you.”

My heart thudded with happiness. “I’ll get you a new one every day.”

But Zoe didn’t listen to me. Her eyes were wide and trained on the building opposite us. When I looked, I immediately knew why she was so shocked.

A mixed couple swam out of a middle-level apartment, a vodnik woman and a human man who wore a suit just like Zoe’s, except, without a mask. His face was bare, and he smiled at the woman, who I suspected was his wife. They held hands, and he swam using the slim, graceful flippers humans usually wore in Yeseera.

Zoe sidled up closer and whispered in my ear, “Did he also get some special juice to breathe underwater?”

I snorted, picking her up to swim away so I could explain. We got closer to the center, passing taller, brighter buildings. The passages between them were wide, but the city was busy. It was evening on a Friday night, and people swarmed the all-night cafes and dry space nightclubs that played human music and served cigarettes. Lots of vodniks were smokers, many smoking shanta as a recreational drug. Apart from its medical properties, shanta tasted good and helped us relax.

“Yes, he got a special juice, most likely from his vodnik partner,” I said.

“Uh. She’s most likely a woman. I saw her tits, and they are very pretty, by the way.”

I nodded, grinning. “Yours are the prettiest. But it’s funny you should mention that. Vodnik females produce the mate adaptation cocktail in their mammary glands. Though, I don’t think he has to drink it anymore. After a prolonged exposure, the effects stick long-term. I think it takes up to three months for a full adaptation to occur.”

Zoe was silent, her lips moving behind the mask as her eyes wandered, sliding over a bright commercial building that housed mostly restaurants and shops, and then moving over to the nearest shanta tower.

“I didn’t understand anything from what you just said,” she said slowly. “Apart from the fact that guy… drank something from her breasts? Like breastmilk? Vodyan, what’s going on?”

She pointed at a group of people, three vodniks and two humans, also without masks. Mixed couples were a relative rarity, but we got here at a time when most people were out. Vodnik culture was very outdoorsy, regulated by the rhythms of city life.  After all, we weren’t servants to the weather.

I glanced at the shanta tower, a narrow spire whose entire length was covered with faint-pink plants that glittered delicately, and stopped in place, checking my watch.

“I’ll tell you everything. But let’s wait here, because shanta brushing will start in about five minutes, and I want you to see it.”

Zoe rubbed the side of her head, like she was trying to physically rearrange all the information I gave her so it would fit in her brain.

“Okay, I won’t ask you what shanta brushing is since I’ll see it in five minutes. But please, for the love of all that’s holy, explain the tit sucking.”

An elderly vodnik shot us an outraged look as she passed by, her eyes glinting blue. I grinned, and she swam off with an offended grunt.

“Remember how I said all vodniks are actually human-vodnik hybrids?” I asked.

“I… Maybe? It was at a kind of intense moment. But yeah. You did mention that.”

I nodded, wrapping a tentacle around her middle to keep her close as we waited a distance away from the shanta tower, another mixed group passing a bit overhead with a laugh.

“Well, vodnik scientists agree that tens of thousands of years ago, the vodnik race was on the brink of extinction. They speculate about the possible causes, but that’s not important. What matters is, a huge evolutionary shift happened, equipping vodniks with something that’s called the mate adaptation process.”

She nodded slowly. “Let me guess. The special cock juice is part of that.”

Someone above us laughed, a male vodnik shooting us a grin before he swam away.

“Are you doing it on purpose?” I asked her, and she smiled innocently.

“You should know by now that I have no filter. Unless there are kids around. You’d never hear me say ‘cock’ around children. I did say ‘fuck’ a few times, though. But not many.”

I leaned in to kiss the top of her head. “Of course, sweet thing. And yes, special cock juice is an essential part of that, but not the only one. For example, remember how I kept you warm?”

She nodded, but then her eyes flitted away.

“Oh. Is it… moving?”

I looked at the shanta tower, a shiver sliding down my back. No matter how many times I saw it, I still felt the same awe as when I witnessed it the first time.

All along the tower, twenty-foot long elements gently pulled away from the base, opening slowly like umbrellas. The thin membranes on which shanta was cultivated stretched open, wider and wider, glittering and half-translucent. Around us, people stopped to admire it.

“It’s called brushing,” I explained softly, gazing at Zoe’s face filled with childlike wonder. “Twice a day, the sheets have to open so all debris and waste are washed away. These structures are incredibly intricate and fragile, and it’s forbidden to touch them when they are open.”

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, gasping when the spire opened fully, a line of glittering, light purple umbrellas all along the base.

I smiled and nodded, tipping her face to me. “Yes, you are.”

She blinked then smiled playfully. “I didn’t have you pegged for a romantic, but I love it.”

“I watched a lot of movies and TV focused on relationships and family life,” I admitted with a self-conscious shrug. “Sort of… Tried to learn. When I was older, I realized a lot of that was idealized and filled with cliches.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her mouth to my ear. “Give me all the cliches you’ve got. I love romantic gestures and love stories. And just for the record, what you said made me incredibly horny.”

That startled a laugh out of me. “It was supposed to make your heart melt.”

“My heart and pussy beat as one,” she said with a mischievous smile, making me swallow with difficulty. “But you were saying about how you made me warm.”

“Yes.” I welcomed the change in topic, because a strange, hot unease pulsed in my stomach, and I had no idea where it came from. “It’s another part of the mate adaptation process. Now, you have your fancy suit to keep you warm, but thousands of years ago, it was impossible. Vodniks needed to develop a way to keep a human mate warm under water so they wouldn’t die of hypothermia.

“The goal of these two traits, so my ability to make you breathe underwater and changing my body temperature to keep you warm, is to help you survive and thrive in the lake. The evolutionary goal was to produce offspring, and of course, baby vodniks can’t go to the surface. That’s why we have to keep our mates down here.”

“And you can just turn it on?” she asked, curious and impressed.

The shanta umbrellas closed, and Zoe looked at the spire, smiling faintly.

“No,” I said at length. “It’s all based on hormonal reactions. I mean, sex is easy, it sort of releases the hormones naturally, so every time I come, it potentially has that effect. But changing my temperature… it took a bit more.”

“More what?” She turned back to me, her brows pulled into a slight frown.

“Affection, I think. Devotion. A need to comfort and protect. A… a desire to commit.”

The unease inside me grew, and I bit back the urge to growl at myself, because what the fuck was wrong with me? Here she was, safe and happy by my side, and there was no reason to feel this sense of foreboding.

Zoe smiled, asking softly, “You mean love?”

And there it was.

I turned my face away so she wouldn’t see my expression as cold currents rose inside me, suffocating and slimy. I didn’t understand that dread and loathing in myself, didn’t comprehend where the terror had come from.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, but I wouldn’t look at her. I knew she’d be hurt if she saw my face right now. “It was dumb of me. Please, forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive,” I said stiffly.

“Okay. Let’s just forget it then.”

I turned back to her, relieved to find her smiling with infinite understanding, as if she knew exactly how much pain that single word produced. I wasn’t cured, then, even though I’d felt like it ever since the island house.

But my current wellbeing, all that warmth I felt, was deceptive. My issues ran deep, on the very cell level, and it had been stupid to expect I’d just be normal now because I fell in… feelings with a human.

Ridiculous, I snarled at myself. You want to fuck her till she pops out a brood of kids, you want to keep her forever and spoil her as long as you both live, but you won’t tell her the L word?

But that was the crux of it. How was I supposed to know if what I felt was love if I’d never experienced it myself? How could I know I was even capable of it?

A hormonal reaction was one thing. Lust, another. Even friendship and devotion—I could wrap my mind around those.

But not love.

“Let’s go home, Zoe,” I said woodenly, feeling defeated and foolish.

Feeling broken.

CHAPTER 22

Zoe

I wanted to wrap myself around him with all I had and love all the pain and confusion out of him, but Vodyan was detached, focused inward, so I didn’t push him. I didn’t even feel hurt or that my feelings weren’t reciprocated, because I had a strong suspicion I knew what caused his reaction.

There was that boy once, a thirteen-year-old orc, whose parents neglected and abused him, both finally landing in jail when his scars were discovered. He was withdrawn but combative, and one day, he attacked a few older boys, who in turn beat him up. When the teachers separated them, I knelt by his side and stroked his sweaty hair, telling him he was important and loved.

That boy looked at me with such infinite contempt and asked me in a calm, cool voice why I believed in fairy tales. Love didn’t exist, he said. He’d never seen it.

I was unable to answer. I even apologized for saying something that made him feel worse when I only tried to comfort him. He was taken aback. Maybe he believed being apologized to belonged in the realm of fairy tales, too.

Now, I sat comfortably in Vodyan’s tight embrace, and he held me possessively as we swam through the glowing, vibrant city center to his apartment. When he showed off Yeseera, I got the feeling he loved the city, and no wonder. It was beautiful and felt safe in a way I hadn’t experienced on land.

Because the precious, expensive shanta was right there, ready to be stolen, yet nobody even tried. Then again, if the punishment was mutilation, maybe it was understandable. So it wasn’t all pretty colors and glitter, but the city seemed peaceful in a way that spoke to me deeply.

And the lights! The flowers! Also, humans swimming around, some with plastic masks covering their mouths so they could speak, but no air tanks. It blew my mind.

“Why isn’t it common knowledge?” I asked as we passed between two very wide, jet black towers shimmering with turquoise lights. “That vodniks can help humans survive down here?”

Vodyan laughed bitterly. “Well, for one, no vodnik wants to be kidnapped to have our sperm harvested. With women, it’s more difficult. They actually need to be in the right frame of mind for the cocktail to flow. Men, not so much. Someone could just tie us up and jerk us off. The body does the rest.”

My stomach tightened with horror and unease. “God. I didn’t even… It didn’t cross my mind. That sounds horrible.”

He hummed, his palm squeezing my ass. “Because you’re a good person, Zoe. But people like Carver, for example, would absolutely use that as a resource. We decided to keep you in the lake because humans are at such a huge disadvantage down here. If I cut off their air tanks, they are done. But if they could breathe without them, that would change things.”

“So all those humans here, what, they just fell in the lake? Or how did those couples meet?”

He descended, lower and lower, until we touched the lake bottom in front of a black tower shimmering green. There was a door of matte, black bars and a glowing touch panel by its side.

“Vodniks go out to the surface to hang out with humans if they want to,” he said softly. “But… It’s also a sexual orientation some vodniks have. We differentiate between being attracted to vodniks, to humans, or to both. You were kind of my bi awakening.”

He pressed his entire palm to the touch panel, and it lit up green. The door swung open.

“Wait. You said… The lowest levels are for the rich,” I said, realizing what was happening.

“Yeah. I was kind of leading into this,” he said with a cocky smirk that looked so good on his face. “Guarding shanta shipments pays really well. My apartment has a dry space downstairs. You’ll be comfortable.”

Just as he was about to enter, there was a gasp from above and a childish voice screaming, “Mama! Mama!”

Vodyan stopped, his jaw clenching as the smirk slid off his face. He seemed uncomfortable. I looked up to see a vodnik woman emerge from the apartment above, looking annoyed by the child’s calls.

“What, Kipka?”

“The scary man brought a human! Will he eat them?”

She jolted and looked down, flinching when her eyes met Vodyan’s. Oh. Was she afraid of him?

“Don’t talk nonsense, Kipka,” she said without speaking a word to us.

Vodyan tensed further. I didn’t know what the deal with his neighbor was, and he evidently wasn’t about to say anything, so I laughed as loudly as I could, drawing the vodniks’ attention.

“From one lady to another,” I said, looking at the woman with a conspiratorial grin, “I very much hope your hot neighbor eats me. Good day!”

Vodyan made a soft, surprised noise, and the woman’s eyes widened before her lips stretched in a reluctant smile.

“Mama! Why isn’t she scared?” Kipka asked, her voice hushed but still loud enough to hear.

“Because he’s a very kind, amazing man!” I shouted while Vodyan pulled me into the apartment.

The door closed behind us, and he tugged me in deeper, passing through a doorway covered with a curtain of something that looked like bluish fronds.

“Hope she has fun avoiding the kid’s questions about what I meant,” I said with an evil grin.

Green and soft golden lights lit up as soon as we entered, revealing a space filled with plants. All of them swayed as we swam in, woken by the current. It looked like a jungle in here, except the plants were mostly blue, red, pink, white, and purple.

“Wow,” I breathed, looking around as more details stood out to me.

A huge, jet black screen was embedded in a wall. Thin, intricate ornaments hung from the ceiling, turning gently and reflecting the lights. And deeper in the room, another doorway with a curtain of bioluminescent blue plants led into another room.

“Thank you, Zoe,” Vodyan said.

When I looked at him, I realized he must have stared at me the whole time I was taking in his apartment. His eyes were intense, face serious.

“For what? What did I do?”

He snorted softly and stroked the back of my head. “When I told you I don’t have friends, it was true. Even my neighbors are afraid of me. I can’t… I don’t smile at people. I rarely speak to strangers. And you… You just shine. I appreciate what you did.”

My heart wrenched with pain at his admission, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I smiled, throwing my arms around his neck.

“I only told them the truth. You’re a kind, amazing man, and you’re very, very hot.”

“Yeah?” he asked, that cocky smirk back on his face.

I longed to kiss it, so I took off my lower mask and pulled him closer. He caught me deftly until I straddled him, our lips meeting in a messy kiss, cool water sliding between us. Vodyan kneaded my ass, a deep groan coming from his voice sack. I squirmed against him, shamelessly seeking friction, until he pulled away.

“We can fuck downstairs.”

I barely nodded while he already moved through the house, fast and eager. In the next room, there was a trap door that opened after he pushed a button. We fell into a cylindrical lock, much like the one in the safehouse, except this one was jet black and dotted with pretty green lights.

The water pumped out fast, and Vodyan kissed me through it. As soon as the water level dropped enough for my suit to stop operating, I realized he was hot around me, his tentacles and arms already there to shield me from the cold.

“You’re so good,” I choked out when he kissed my cheeks and jaw, the tips of his sharp teeth gently scraping my skin. “And so hot. So strong. And you make me laugh. And I just love…” I broke off, realizing what I almost said and terrified of spoiling the mood for him. “I just love the way you fuck me. You’re so perfect.”

His lips curved in a smile against my jaw.

“Told you it would come to you.”

I didn’t have a chance to ask what he meant, because the water was gone, and the door to the dry floor opened, the space beyond flooded with soft, golden lights. Vodyan stopped kissing me and smiled.

“Hope you like it.”

It was a huge, open space, with a door on the far side. Most of the floor was taken up by a deep pool, its tiles arranged into a light and dark green mosaic. A huge flat TV screen took up almost an entire wall. In another part of the room, I saw a pull-up bar and a big rack with neatly arranged dumbbells and kettlebells.

“It’s awesome,” I said honestly. “And I’ll like it even better when I see you work out, because that’s a level of hot my life didn’t prepare me for.”

He grinned, leaning in to give me a soft kiss. “If you need some time to yourself, I think I can handle it for a bit. I’ll also order something to eat. I think we’re both fed up with canned food.”

The bathroom was gorgeous, dark green and light gray, with a huge sunken bath and a squat toilet. I took my time rinsing off the long hours of traveling in the suit, washing my hair and body with dark green, creamy cosmetics that smelled pleasantly organic. I toweled myself off with a towel Vodyan gave me, and it wasn’t made of cotton, but of a fabric that brought to mind compressed plants and was surprisingly absorptive.

I came out of the bathroom naked, wearing just a smile. When Vodyan saw me, his face instantly sharpened. He was in the pool, two plates and two bottles of beer set aside on the edge.

“Come here,” he rasped, stretching his tentacles until he took up the entire area of the pool. “It’s warm.”

“I love it when you manspread like this,” I said, walking over.

“Manspread?” He looked confused, but before I could explain, he grinned.

His tentacles shot out and wrapped around me, pulling me in the pool. I shrieked and laughed, clutching him to find my balance. Vodyan settled me on top, and as I straddled him, his cock slid out, nestling against my clit and belly.

It flexed, gently rubbing my skin, but seemed mostly content just curling against me for now.

“Hello there,” I said, running my finger along the slick length. “You seem happy to see me.”

Vodyan snorted out a laugh. “Definitely. You must be hungry, though. Let’s eat. I got you today’s human special. I hope it’s all right.”

It was more than all right. Rice, fish, and some type of green vegetable that was deliciously crispy was blended into a well-seasoned dish. We ate like that, with me pressed up against his cock that I stole glances at, while Vodyan definitely had his fill looking at my tits.

“I could get used to this,” I groaned with satisfaction, taking a long pull of my beer.

“You’d better,” he said, taking the bottle out of my hand. “And to that effect, I’ll feed you some more, sweet thing. So next time, you can go out without your tank.”

I pressed into his hard cock until he released a sharp breath. “And we’d be like one of those couples,” I murmured. “Yeah. Let’s do it. Feed me.”

His eyes brightened with heat, and he kissed me hard, wrapping his tentacles around my thighs until he spread me wide open. I felt the stretch and welcomed it, opening as wide as he commanded.

“And then,” he said, kissing a path up my cheek, “you’ll have to take me whole.”

He whispered hotly, licking the shell of my ear and then my throat, his teeth scraping my skin. I squirmed against him, horny, and yet…

“But… But look at you.” I pointed at his cock that was easily twice the size and girth of a human one. “I can’t take…”

“You can,” he interrupted, silencing me with a kiss. “You have to. I need to be home, Zoe. I need to be inside you.”

Fuck. How could I say no? But before I had time to speak, he continued, his voice dropping low as his cock pulsed between my thighs, a tentacle wrapping around my chest until both my nipples were encased in eager, hungry suckers.

“We’ll do it slowly the first time, and I promise you, it will feel so good,” he said, tilting my head to have better access to my neck, where he licked over my pulse point. “It will work, sweetheart. I’ll stretch you out first and get you ready. Do you want two tentacles in your pretty pussy? I can make two fit in there. You’d look so good, stuffed full of me. Fuck, I need to be inside you.”

I breathed too fast, getting dizzy, and my pussy clenched so hard, it felt like an orgasm was building already. It was insane, and when a tentacle dove inside his slit, nudging his cock aside, I groaned at the same moment he did.

His eyes focused on me, and he grabbed my hand, wrapping it over his tentacle.

“Do you like it? Fuck me with it. Do anything you want.”

“I feel like I’m gonna have a stroke,” I confessed, my voice so hoarse, it scratched my throat. “This is so fucking hot.”

I gripped his muscular limb obediently and moved it slowly, watching with parted lips as it sank deep inside him and pulled out, glistening with slick lubrication.

He grunted with every careful thrust, and when I wrapped my other palm around his cock, it throbbed in my hand like a heart. He moaned deeply, shuddering all over.

“Fuck! You’ll make me come,” he bit out, water churning as his limbs spasmed with pleasure. “You have to…”

But he didn’t need to spell it out. I leaned over and closed my lips around the hard, salty tip, sucking gently as both my hands worked him into a frenzy. Tentacles slid over me, caressing and urging, and with every pulse of his suckers, a beat of lust ran from my nipples straight to my clit, building me up.

Vodyan tensed with a harsh groan, and salty cum flooded my mouth as he shivered, his own tentacle buried deep inside him, his cock jerking violently in my hand. I swallowed it all and gave him a few more pumps, milking every last drop out of him.

When I sucked off his cock, he grabbed my nape in a possessive hold and bared his teeth in a feral smile.

“You fucked me with it, and now I’ll use it to fuck you, too.”

CHAPTER 23

Vodyan

We’d be like one of those couples.

Her words danced in my brain, making my lust burn even brighter. I just came, and I wanted to fuck her again, to have her, to claim her time after time so she’d be tied to me forever.

It was a bit pathetic, how much I wanted that. To have her to call my own. To show her off, my precious human girl, the prettiest of all. To see her get to know all my neighbors, so they’d know the scary man from the bottom level was worthy of such a luminescent creature’s attention.

Now, I wrapped around Zoe in tight coils as she faced me, arranging her so her legs were as wide as her muscles allowed, her cute pussy on full display for me, right above water level. I controlled all of her, holding up her head so she wouldn’t strain her neck, winding around her palms so she’d have something to grip.

At first, I only watched her. She was dark with pounding blood, pink and red, her clit swollen, her pussy seeming so tight, so unassuming. But it would fit me like a glove. I knew it was possible with the right prep. It was a part of the mate adaptation process, but I didn’t remember now if it only happened through sperm consumption or if my natural lubrication played a part.

I’d give her both just to be safe.

“Are you gonna just look at it?” Zoe asked, shooting me a challenging look. She squirmed, trying to free her hands, and I grinned, remembering how angry she was when I stopped fucking her before. She was so feisty when she got horny, ready to fight for her pleasure. It was adorable.

“Maybe I will,” I teased her, drunk on this moment.

It was exactly right. She was here, in my pool, fed full of my cum, and completely restrained. The pleasure of seeing her like this, unable to run, unable to leave me, was heady. I needed her like this. Mine.

She didn’t get angry like before. Instead, her expression crumpled, her eyes glittering with a desperate plea.

“Baby, please. I need you,” she almost sobbed, and that was that.

I could fool myself I was in control, but really, it was completely the other way round.

“Of course, you lovely thing,” I rasped, nudging that tentacle slick with my lube between her lower lips.

I watched with fascination as she parted for me, opening wider and wider the deeper I went, until I reached the end, and she grunted, trying to arch her hips.

“You’ll get everything you need, sweetheart,” I promised, fucking her slowly as I eyed her swollen clit that begged to be touched. “All in good time.”

I decided to leave her other hole alone tonight, though it beckoned, pulsing gently as she clenched around me in pleasure. But if I was going to fit my whole cock inside her, that would take work and focus.

When I thrust deeper, her opening stretching around my girth, she moaned and shuddered, clenching tight.

“All right, my darling? Is it good?”

She groaned helplessly, squeezing her hands tight. I stopped thrusting, pushing as deep as I could inside her. After a moment, she looked at me blearily, panting.

“What? Don’t stop,” she said, a bit of a whine to her voice.

“I asked you a question, Zoe.”

She gaped at me, her pussy squeezing me so hard, we both gasped. She liked it.

“No way,” she said, slowly shaking her head. “You’ll be like that? Baby, don’t force me to talk, you feel too good! It scrambles my brain.”

I tried to push a bit more of my limb inside her, and she cried out, shaking.

“And now? Good or too much?” I asked, relentless.

“Good,” she choked out. “Full.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard,” I said, settling into an easy rhythm while I slowly circled her clit with a wet finger.

Zoe spasmed, crying out, but my eyes were glued to that tiny, throbbing bud. It fascinated me. Such a small piece of her, yet it held such immense power.

I wound the tentacles that were wrapped around her thighs tighter, bringing the very tips to come together at the apex of her thighs. They flanked her clit, pressing to it from both sides, and as she moved slightly with my every thrust, it caused friction.

I sat back and watched, curious and patient, even though my cock pounded with lust, reaching for that sweet home between her legs.

“It’s not enough!” she cried out a few beats later, desperately trying to thrash against my restraints. “Please!”

“Please what, sweetheart?” I asked, not changing a thing, though I had a few more techniques planned to try out.

She was so fun to play with. Everything I did got a reaction, and I knew I’d learn all the ways that made her shatter into blissful incoherence soon enough. I already had a pretty good repertoire, but it wasn’t enough. I’d learn everything until I was a master of her. I’d go to lengths no one else would even bother to consider.

“Please make me come!” she demanded, her eyes flashing with anger, her lips open around big, shuddering breaths. “Stop torturing me!”

“Would you like me to stop? Really?” I asked, rubbing both tentacle tips against her clit in a faster, tighter pattern, trying to stuff half an inch more inside her.

She howled, throwing her head back, and then she came with rhythmic contractions that caused my suckers to latch on, making her scream even more high-pitched. That orgasm lasted long, a perfect moment of tension and release shaping every trembling contour of her body. When she finally relaxed, gulping deep breaths, I grinned.

“How was it? Is there room for improvement?” I asked, eager for her feedback.

She shot me a look so vicious, so utterly disgusted, I reared back for a moment, wondering if I did something wrong. But Zoe wasn’t angry about anything I did.

“Room for improvement,” she muttered angrily. “It was the best fucking orgasm of my life! There. Happy?”

“Very,” I answered, my chest filling with a deep, wonderful glow of satisfaction. “But why are you angry?”

“Because you’ve ruined me,” she said, gasping when I pulled out of her, gazing at the delicious gape where her pussy stayed in the shape I’d molded her into. “Nothing else will ever compare.”

“That was the goal, and I’m not done,” I said without a hint of remorse. “I will ruin you, pretty thing. I have to.”

She shook her head, blinking hard in surprise, but I didn’t let her gather her thoughts or reply. With a deep groan, I pushed the tentacle slick with her juices inside me while sliding another one in her mouth.

“Suck on me. Show me how much you like it,” I ordered, out of my mind with the pleasure of having her like this.

She did, nodding frantically, her hot little tongue instantly licking all over me without hesitation. It still blew my mind. How accepting she was. I’d heard stories about vodniks who were attracted to humans but had difficulty finding a partner who wouldn’t fetishize them or feel reserved about their different anatomy.

Not Zoe. She was perfectly on board with everything I was, and while she loved the things I did to her, I knew she wasn’t here for the tentacles. I felt deeply that she wanted me.

“And now, I’ll fill this little hole right up,” I whispered, teasing her still gaping opening with my slick tentacle while I plunged another one inside myself. “Fuck! You make me so horny.”

Her dazed eyes fixated on where I pumped in my slit, coating myself in my lube. It felt insanely good, better than it had ever been when I did it by myself. I pushed deeper, fucking myself harder, and she gave me a series of eager, urging sucks, as if to keep me going.

“Enjoying the show?” I murmured, pushing inside her with one tentacle for now. “How about this?”

I fucked us both in the same rhythm, pushing deep, as deep as I could go. She made a muffled moan, her fingers digging into me, but her eyes stayed stubbornly open. She watched my slit open to allow for the tentacle’s girth just as I watched her pussy gape for me, the ring of pink flesh squeezing around a sucker in a way that made me moan.

“See? No one else can do this for you. No one else can fuck us both at the same time like this. Isn’t it nice, pretty girl? Fuck, you’re so hot inside.”

She moaned deeply around my tentacle, sucking on it desperately. I realized I was about to come again, and so I pulled out of her mouth and brought her to my cock, still fucking her pussy with deep, long thrusts.

“Swallow, darling,” I said, my stomach tensing when her hot lips closed around my cock. “Swallow it all.”

I moaned as I came in her mouth, her tongue pressed up against me as I coated it, knowing she’d have to taste me this way and reveling in it. I’d never come down her throat, I decided. She’d taste my flavor every time until her taste buds learned to crave me.

“Every day,” I said as the aftershocks eased, my cock finally softening, but not all the way. I was still ready for more. “Every day, I’ll come in your mouth until you’re fully adapted. And when you are, I’ll keep doing this for the simple pleasure of it. Up you go.”

I brought her trembling body into her previous position, spreading her even wider until she cried out, the taut muscles in her inner thighs fluttering with tension.

“Good?” I asked, my tentacles already trembling with the need to give her more.

She nodded, panting. Her face was flushed, pupils blown wide, locks of hair plastered to her sweaty face. I leaned in and put my palm on her lower belly, looking intently into her eyes.

“I’ll fill you up so much, it will be visible from the outside,” I said, watching her reaction.

She sighed shakily, blinking slowly until her lashes fanned over her cheeks. I licked my lips, waiting for her protests, but none came.

“I’ll go deep,” I promised, turning myself on with my words. “Deeper than anyone before me.”

She shivered, her belly tensing. I spread my fingers wide, spanning my palm possessively from hipbone to hipbone.

“And when your shot stops working, I’ll put a baby in here.” I shivered from the very pleasure of saying those words. “I’ll shoot my cum deep inside you, plug you up so it doesn’t come out for hours, and do it again three, four times a day until you have no choice but to get pregnant for me.”

I wasn’t asking, but she nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

“Fuck. I want to do it now,” I groaned, stroking her belly, so pretty, soft, and rounded. It would be a perfect little cushion over my baby when it grew inside her.

“Okay,” she said again, her legs shaking even though I held them firmly. “Yeah. Do it. Okay.”

“So eager,” I whispered, enthralled. “She’ll never say no to me, will she? Such a good, needy girl. She’ll let me do what I want.”

I rubbed my two slick tentacles together before winding them into a symmetrical, swirling shape, narrow at the tip, but flaring obscenely wide with length.

“I’ll stretch you so well, pretty thing,” I said, the words tumbling out as I watched her gaping pussy clench over nothing, her need so obvious. “I’ll fill this greedy cunt right up.”

The entwined tentacles slid easily enough inside her, her opening stretching over the growing girth. I stopped when she spasmed, crying out, and fucked her to that level, preparing her for my cock.

“And she takes it. You’re a helpless little thing, aren’t you?” I pushed deeper, just half an inch, and she screamed, her challenged muscles spasming as I opened her wider.

“Please!” she sobbed. “I can’t!”

I didn’t stop thrusting, though it was slow now, her tightness resisting me despite ample lubrication.

“But you didn’t say your special word,” I breathed, watching as she pulsed around me. “I think you can take it. I think you’re dying for more.”

I twisted inside her until suckers lined up against her front wall. She cried out, tears streaming down her face.

“Fuck!” she wailed as a hot little fountain gushed out of her when she came. “Fuck! No! Fuck!”

I rubbed her clit, making her scream again, that orgasm either still going or turning into another, I didn’t know. When it ended, she was limp in my hold, each breath shaking her soft frame. I guided her unresisting hand to her belly, where my shape protruded slightly, her pussy still clenching around me like it couldn’t get enough.

Her palm spasmed when she felt it, her teary eyes lifting with effort to my face.

“And you thought you were ruined before,” I said, giving my hard cock a slow pump. “Look at you. Such a lovely mess. So ready for me. Tell me, sweetheart. If you pass out from how good it is, can I fuck you? When you fall asleep from exhaustion, can I use your tight little body?”

She shook her head, closing her eyes as if she was in pain.

“Every time…” she began, her voice rusty, her lips dry. “Every time I think… nothing could make it better… You come up with a new thing.”

“Hang on. You need water.”

I reached over to where I’d prepared a few bottles. I brought one to her lips, holding her up so she could drink. When she downed the whole bottle, I pulled her closer, my entwined tentacles jostling inside her until she hissed, clenching around me.

“A short break,” I said, gathering her to me. Her every shallow breath fluttered against my throat, and I loved it. I loved all of it. “How is my girl? Need anything else?”

She laughed soundlessly, shaking in my arms.

“I feel like I’ll never need anything in my life again. I’m fully sated,” she said hoarsely. “You’re unbelievable.”

“So. Back to my question. Can I use you when you’re asleep?”

Her pussy clenched, giving me my answer, but I wanted to hear it. A moment later, I did.

“Of course. Isn’t it obvious? You can do anything to me. I just let you get me pregnant, for fuck’s sake. What else do you want?”

My chest filled with light, my cock hardening painfully. I was milked dry, and yet, I almost felt it—the testicles hidden deep inside my body going into overdrive to make more cum so I could breed her.

“I’ll ask you again when you’re not out of your mind with bliss,” I promised. “And you’ll say yes, because I told you about it in a moment of intense pleasure, and now it’s deeply connected in your mind. The idea of having children with me and that ecstasy. I can be cunning if I want.”

She scoffed, shaking with hoarse laughter that made her stuffed pussy spasm around me.

“Listen, tentacle boy. If I didn’t want you more than anyone in the world, none of your tricks would have worked. But keep telling yourself that. Sure. I’m here because you’re cunning.”

I grinned, stroking her hair and naked, trembling back. “More than anyone in the world,” I repeated, drunk on bliss. “I think you deserve to come again for this one.”

I eased out of her and arranged her lolling body until she was on her back, my tentacles supporting her so her hips were above water level. I leaned over her, bringing my face so close, her uneven breaths fanned over my lips.

“Any last words?” I asked, reveling in the way she looked at me. Like I was the only thing worth her attention. It was addictive.

Her voice was hoarse but sure. “Yes. I love you.”

I stared at her, my mind blanking out. Her eyes were lucid and dark, staring at me with a challenge, her jaw relaxed as she breathed through her mouth, her eyes flicking between my left and right one as she waited for my reaction.

“Yeah?” I asked finally, my throat constricting.

“Mmm. I do. It’s okay if you don’t say it back, but I wanted to tell you. Since we’re planning kids and all.”

A faint smile played on her lips, and even as I was frozen above her, my tongue tied, my heart hammering faster and faster, she was patient, easy and comfortable with what she said. I sensed her deep certainty and complete lack of pressure. She really meant it. She didn’t expect anything from me in return for her confession, but as heat rose inside me, making my body itch from within, I knew I had to tell her.

With one, sure motion, I spread her open and pushed into her, pressing my top prong to my shaft to make it go in. I stopped when half of my length was inside her, snug and hot. Her eyelids fluttered, but she kept her eyes open and focused on my face.

“You gave me purpose,” I said, fucking her easily with half of my shaft for now, a tentacle passing over her clit until she clenched around me. My top prong wanted to pull away, putting pressure on her front wall.

I was only a few thrusts in, and she was already shaking.

“You live so deep in my brain, I can’t imagine existing without you,” I continued, giving her an inch more.

She squeezed her eyes shut and cried out, gripping my hips until her nails hooked under my scales with a pleasant sting.

“You tore the lies out of my head and replaced them with your truth,” I said, feeding her a bit more, my movements growing shaky until I struggled to keep an even pace.

“You got me hooked. Everything I see, everything I think about makes me go back to you. What will Zoe think? Will Zoe like it? Will it make her laugh? Will she like this place? How do I make her happy? How many people do I kill so she’s safe? Who do I hurt, threaten, bribe, murder, to get Zoe everything she wants?”

I pushed deeper and she moaned, clenching tight. I rubbed her clit roughly, watching myself sink three quarters in with each thrust, my fat girth stretching her open in a way that was beyond erotic. The tip of my cock found her cervix and curled back, allowing me to feed more of my length inside her.

“Is this love, Zoe? It doesn’t seem to be. This thing is unhealthy and obsessive, but I’ll never give it up. And you gotta take it, cause it’s all I got. This sick, toxic bag of feelings, and my cock, and the mess that’s me. You gotta take it.”

“Yes!” she cried out, and I fed her a bit more, until I was almost in, and it took all my restraint not to slam home on the next thrust.

“Yes what?” I asked sharply, pulling out so slowly, black spots danced across my vision.

I slid in equally slowly, and she whimpered, shaking all over.

“I take it! I take it all! Please!” She sobbed, her belly filling out with me as I pushed in deep. “Now! Please!”

With that, my self-control was obliterated. I went all the way in, and it was a struggle. She resisted me, the fattest part of me at my root seemingly unable to go past her opening stretched to its limit.

And then, I was in, and she screamed, coming all over my cock, her moans mixing with incomprehensible, blubbering words.

“I want to live here, inside you, forever,” I whispered, my own orgasm almost there.

Before pulling back, I ran my fingers over her bulging belly, so very gently, as she squeezed me with helpless, fluttering aftershocks of pleasure.

I pulled out, almost to the very tip, and rocked in to the hilt. Once, twice, thrice, before my cock jerked and flooded her with cum. It flexed, writhing, until the tip latched onto her cervix, pushing my cum right inside. I came and came, hot agony bolting up my spine until the world grayed out in the most visceral bliss I’d ever felt.

My smaller prong swelled and hardened with a second orgasm, straining to reach deeper. It shot my plug of clear gel inside her, sealing my cum from coming out of her womb, where it belonged.

She was the first woman I ever gave it to, and she’d be the only one.

My Zoe.

CHAPTER 24

Zoe

That night was a blur. I drifted in and out of sleep, falling under when exhaustion claimed me and waking to Vodyan fucking my barely conscious body, his hands and tentacles cradling me tenderly as he whispered sweet, filthy words in my ear.

“Sleep. I just need to fill you more. I can’t resist, sweet thing. But you should rest. I promise I’ll be done soon. This cunt is such a good sheath for my cock. Sleep, sweetheart.”

He didn’t stop touching me, and I felt him even in my dreams, tracing the shape between my legs with his fingers, filling me gently with his tentacle as he chided my pussy for letting his cum slip out, caressing my belly, my throat, my breasts, and my face.

I slept completely entangled in him, and he kept me luxuriously warm. It was everything I’d ever wanted and so much more.

He didn’t sleep, and I let him do everything. His behavior was compulsive—obsessive, just like he said—and it filled me with a bone-deep, satiating comfort. It felt as if I was finally fed after a lifetime of barely eating enough. He met my voracious need for touch, giving me more than I could ever dream of.

No man had ever done that. Never. I hadn’t even dared to want it, because attention so consuming, caresses to erotic and tender, used to belong to the realm of fantasy.

A small voice in my head warned that it would have to end, sooner or later. That I shouldn’t get used to it. I pushed it away, though, deciding to wait and see.

It was a moot point, anyway. Vodyan captivated me, completely and utterly, and I was in this for the long haul.

Sometime around noon, we finally rolled out of the pool. He let me use the bathroom alone while he ordered us lunch, but as I walked across the room, his eyes followed me with greedy attention. I left the door unlocked in case he wanted to come in.

I didn’t mind his overbearing presence in the least. In fact, it was exactly what I needed.

We ate, and then, he asked if I wanted to check my email or social media using his computer.

“The connection is secure, and you’ve been offline for weeks,” he said, an unhappy frown on his face. “I thought you might want to check what’s happening with your family.”

I was halfway to his computer set into the wall when I realized his frown grew deeper, his teeth gnashing together.

“You don’t like it,” I stated, facing him. “Why and why did you offer, then?”

His jaw clenched as he looked aside, folding his arms.

“I want to give you everything you want, Zoe,” he finally said, his voice low. “But I’m afraid you’ll want something or someone more than me. It’s horrible, and an impossible contradiction. I want to take you out again, because you loved Yeseera, and at the same time, I’m terrified someone will catch your eye, and you’ll leave. And I’ll have no choice but to let you go, because what you want is more important than what I want.”

I smiled and came over, hugging him closely until he softened with a good-natured grumble, embracing me back.

“I will only say this once, because you told me you don’t want to know these things about me. But I think what I’m about to tell you will prove an important point, okay?”

He nodded, his chin brushing the top of my head. I stepped back so I could look into his eyes, but my hands stayed on his waist.

“I’ve had eight long-term partners before you. I was engaged twice. With each and every one of them, I felt a connection, and most of those relationships were good. But—this part is important. None of those men made me feel the way you do. I thought I knew what it meant to love someone, but I was wrong. Because now I know, and all those feelings I felt for other people in the past are pale and washed out in comparison to what I feel for you.”

He swallowed thickly, his eyes softening, though he was still frowning.

“Why so many? Did you get bored? Didn’t they do it for you?”

I winced, because the question was crude, his tone harsh, but I understood where it came from. He probably worried I had a pattern of breaking things off. He couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I wish, baby,” I said, pressing my lips together, because the truth was embarrassing. “Actually, out of all those people, I was never the one to end things. Never. It was always them finding me lacking. Or too much, depending on how you look at it.”

His eyes bored into me, so intense, I had to look away. My face burned with shame. I knew it wasn’t my fault, I knew nothing was wrong with me, but statistics didn’t lie.

When eight men break up with you, most of them in under a year, you gotta wonder.

That shame rose in my gut, hot and choking, but before it could become too much, solid arms and tentacles wrapped around me, Vodyan’s lips pressing to the top of my head.

“Idiots, all of them,” he growled, showering me with kisses. “You’re too precious to ever let you go.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, while that shame inside me murmured, “Just wait and see. Will he still think so a year from now? Or will he tell you to go?”

I sniffed, melting into his embrace as I pushed that unpleasant voice away.

“There’s literally no chance that anything in my email will make me want to leave you,” I promised. “You don’t have to worry. And if you want, you can even look over my shoulder. I don’t mind.”

He stiffened, then relaxed with a deep exhale.

“I really want to do just that, but I recognize how fucked up it is,” he said after a moment. “No. Check your email, Zoe. I’ll go to the main level to grab the food when it arrives, okay?”

Since Vodyan didn’t need chairs, there weren’t any in the apartment. I used his computer while standing. The screen was big, set into the wall, and the keyboard rolled out after clicking a button.

My inbox was stuffed, and I scrolled to the very bottom first to look at my messages chronologically. Most of it was newsletters, but my sister sent me occasional emails since she knew email was always the first thing I checked. I read through her brief messages letting me know she and my parents were safe.

Vodyan came back, and I still wasn’t done with the avalanche in my inbox. I couldn’t believe how many things I was even subscribed to. It was fucking unhealthy.

“Almost done,” I called when he asked me if I would eat. “God, what’s this morbid thing? What kind of freak sends an email with the subject ‘Come out or he dies’? I swear, those marketing people will do anything to…”

“What? Show me!”

Vodyan was by my side in seconds, just as the message loaded. We both stared at a blurry photo of a skull submerged in water.

“Is this the boy?” Vodyan asked sharply, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“What b—oh my God.”

It was Azahl. I hadn’t realized it at first, because his face filled the screen, and it seemed bigger because of the perspective. But now, I saw it. It was him.

“Is there anything else?” Vodyan asked, his tentacle winding around my leg like he needed to touch me as much as he could.

“I… Yeah, let me just…”

I scrolled down, but there was just the photo. No text apart from the ominous subject line.

“I knew he sent you threats in your email,” Vodyan said grimly. “How old is it?”

“It’s new, so… From two hours ago,” I said. “That’s… How did he know?”

When I looked at him, Vodyan was grim. “He knows you’re in Yeseera, safe and untouchable behind the fence. He knows you’re not hiding anymore. I’d say it was a pretty good guess on his part that you might check your inbox. Or he might have sent this across multiple channels, you just happened upon the email first.”

“Wait. There’s an attachment.”

I clicked on the MPEG file, my heart hammering sickly in my chest. Carver’s face wearing a clear plastic mask filled the screen, handsome in a cold, ruthless kind of way. He grinned, his white smile marred by a gap where his central incisor used to be. The image blurred because it was filmed underwater, but his voice came through clearly.

“And I missed you again, Zoe Gilbert. I was so close!” he grinned into the camera, seemingly having the time of his life.

I shivered, and Vodyan wrapped another tentacle around me. I sank into his touch gratefully, letting him ground me.

“And now you’re hiding in the vodnik city like the little fucking coward you are,” Carver continued, that smile tightening into a grimace. “Zoe, Zoe. Come out. Let’s play. Don’t you think it’s high time we met? There you are, scuttling in the shadows, hiding behind bodyguards, and it’s no fun!”

He grinned again, and the camera panned away from his face, showing Azahl tied up, held between two lamias. He struggled weakly, but it was obvious he either lacked strength or the will to move.

A sob lodged in my throat, and I swallowed it to hear Carver talk.

“Now, did you know, Zoe Gilbert, that abominations can survive up to two hours underwater? Two hours! That’s a long fucking time. Well, we’ve been here on this underwater trip for a hundred minutes. Can you do the math, Zoe?”

The camera returned to his face as he laughed, his eyes flashing mockingly. “Now, maybe we’ll come up to the surface so he can take a few breaths, or maybe we won’t. I fancy killing him just to make you cry, you fucking bitch. I lost a tooth because of you!”

He screamed, pointing at the gap in his mouth, his amused manner completely gone. I flinched, and Vodyan held me tighter.

Carver shook himself off and continued. “I lost a tooth and precious cargo, and I lost good customers because of your little eavesdropping stint. But I did my research on you, bitch. I know you’re a fucking do-gooder who probably gets off on touching children, so here’s what will happen. Within the next twelve hours, I’ll send you a location. If you don’t show up within an hour, the fucking abomination will die, and it will be on you. Bring your bodyguard. My new lamia friends have some business with him. If I see anyone but the two of you, the boy will die.”

The video ended, and I realized I was barely breathing, so I gulped in a long, shuddering breath that did nothing to ease the knot of terror in my gut.

“I need to send it to Malgeri,” Vodyan said quietly, reaching for the keyboard with one hand.

“What? No!” I grabbed his wrist, looking at him pleadingly. “You can’t tell the feds! They don’t fucking care about abominations, no one does! They will sacrifice him to get Carver! Please, baby. Please! You heard what he said.”

He nodded patiently, and when I stopped begging, breathing fast as tears crowded my eyes, he leaned in and kissed my forehead.

“We won’t tell the feds. There’s a mole, remember? But I need to tell Malgeri. He is the head of my branch of the MSA, and I promise you, if there’s anyone who cares about persecuted monster children, it’s him. Okay, Zoe? We need a plan and all the support we can get if we are to save Azahl.”

I blinked a few times, taken aback so much that even the urge to cry went away. “Wait. You… You’d do that? I thought… Vodyan, I thought you wouldn’t let me go. I thought you’d be ready to sacrifice him, too. To keep me safe.”

I didn’t mind it in the least—I was happy he was on my side in this, and I’d give my life for Azahl’s in a flash. After all, I owed him. He came to me, and I failed him, and it was my fault that he was in Carver’s grip.

Vodyan gave me a tight smile.

“I think we’ve already established I’ll give you everything you want, and you want to save the boy,” he said, his voice harsh. “But I won’t be fucking stupid about it. We won’t go there like lambs for slaughter, and just to be clear, if I have to choose between the boy and you, I’ll save you. But I will try my best not to let that happen.”

I stared at him for a moment, the cold anger in him settling my fear until I could almost breathe fully.

“Okay,” I whispered, and when he reached for the keyboard again, I let him.

Vodyan spent a long time on a call with his boss after that, and he didn’t let me out of his sight, even following me to the bathroom. His eyes were on me the whole time, watchful and alert, and I had the feeling he wanted to drink me in while we were still in safety. Whenever I was available to touch, he wound around me with almost all his limbs, as if his life depended on keeping me close.

I didn’t understand most of the conversation. They spoke in code, talking about numbered strategies, negotiation techniques, discussing other people in MSA’s employ I had no idea about. Malgeri exploded a few times, calling Vodyan a stubborn son of a bitch and a lovesick idiot, to which Vodyan just smiled, playing with my hair.

Finally, an agreement was reached, people were put on alert, transport organized.

“And now we wait,” Vodyan said, running his fingers through my hair while his tentacles wrapped around my legs and torso, only leaving my arms and head out. “He’ll pick a place close to Yeseera since he knows we’re here. Though it will probably be far enough that getting there will tire me out.”

We were both tense. I was sure the message would come any moment and we’d miss it. Vodyan showed me a secret panel in the wall hiding his weapon cabinet, and he armed himself to the teeth with a few jet guns and knives, and a bullet gun he could keep in a vacuum package and rip out fast if he had to fight on land.

“And this is for you,” he said, presenting me with a discreet black belt sheathing a short knife. “It shouldn’t be very obvious against your suit. Fuck, I’m so glad you won’t need your tank.”

“Oh.” I thought about it. “How long does it actually last? Your cum?”

I ended up sucking his cock while he cleaned and checked his bullet gun, because he hadn’t used it in ages, and he wanted to make sure it was fully operational. It was surreal. His hands were busy, his eyes on the gun, but his cock was hard and eager in my mouth, playing with my tongue. A tentacle coiled over my shoulders, urging me on.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he murmured, not even looking at me. “You feel so good. Fuck, what’s this?”

He frowned, reaching for a small bottle of gun oil, and a shiver went down my spine. He looked so hot and dangerous when his long, emerald fingers deftly handled a gun. I could see myself blowing him while he did this in the future. Or while he trained. I wondered if he’d be game to have his cock sucked while he did bicep curls, or another upper body exercise…

A loud noise from the computer jolted us both. The volume was turned way up, and Vodyan immediately glanced at the screen.

“Your favorite sex toy shop has a sale,” he said without inflection, going back to his gun.

Well, there was that. Way too many newsletter subscriptions. They wracked my nerves.

Finally, Vodyan couldn’t focus on the gun anymore, his eyes sliding to my face time and again. It didn’t take long after that. He came in my mouth and then brought me up for a long, devouring kiss.

And then, we waited some more, getting two more jump scares from innocuous mail. Until, finally, Carver’s message came through at 8 pm.

“Showtime.”

CHAPTER 25

Vodyan

It was fateful that Carver wanted to meet by that shipwreck graveyard that was between Yeseera and Copper Harbor. After all, that was where I mutilated the lamia who then had a grudge that likely pushed him into Carver’s arms. I learned about my Zoe assignment right after that.

Carver probably closely worked with lamias, which might have influenced his decision to pick this place. Their choice of the rendezvous spot put them at an advantage, because the graveyard offered enough cover to conceal some of Carver’s forces.

He counted on crushing us with brute force, I assumed. He’d wait for us with overwhelming numbers, making it impossible for me to fight and protect Zoe. We’d both die fast, swarmed by lamias and human fighters.

Thankfully, Malgeri was nearby. He had two shehru ready to deploy in a boat right above us, which was excellent. They were very good swimmers and powerful allies under water even though, unlike lamias, they needed air tanks. Then, I didn’t know how, he got an abomination bodyguard from a different branch who just so happened to be in Wisconsin.

And Malgeri himself was coming, too, though he’d stay in the boat to offer us support if the fight came to the surface.

Our plan was simple. Those always worked the best.

“What if he just shoots me?” Zoe asked, clinging to me with all her might. I had to give it to her, though. She didn’t shake.

Her voice was steady, her body tense, her mind made up. She was committed, and she didn’t even know that I’d arranged it with Malgeri that she’d be whisked away by one of the shehru while I and the guys cleaned up Carver and his crew.

Malgeri, just like me, wasn’t interested in arresting anyone. It would be a bloodbath. Even a horde of lamias, who fought instinctively but lacked training, wasn’t a match against a few Monster Security Agency professionals.

“He won’t,” I answered calmly. “You heard him. He wants to gloat. Besides, the only weapon that’s effective underwater is a jet gun, which won’t kill you, or something like a harpoon, which is fucking slow.”

“Yeah. Okay,” she said, nodding fiercely.

We were five minutes away from the shipwreck. I watched the area with focus, though Malgeri had contacted me earlier, confirming no one lay in ambush. All living organisms detected by his scan from the surface were gathered around the graveyard.

We were about to walk into a trap and my insides were cold with the terror that I’d fail and lose Zoe forever. But that was just fear, and it wouldn’t obscure my goal.

Because here was my chance to kill all birds with one stone. Carver and his most trusted people were involved, together with all the lamias that had an ax to grind. If I played it right, I’d eliminate all threats to Zoe with this one mission and save the boy on top of it.

She’d have no choice but to marry me after this.

Zoe’s involvement was the only thing I hated about the plan, but it couldn’t be avoided. I took all the precautions to keep her safe, too. I even asked her to put on the air tank at the last moment, in case something went wrong.

But when I finally saw the dome-like cage over the shipwreck, with two figures right on top of it, alarm bells rang in my head.

A set of lights floated above the dome, lighting the area as if it was a fucking stage. They focused on the very top, plunging the rest of the structure into darkness. That meant visibility was even worse than normally at night.

“I don’t see anyone,” I murmured with my mouth that was covered with a similar mask to Zoe’s. I didn’t want the light from my voice sack to give us away if we needed to hide. “Just two people on top of the shipwreck. I assume it’s Carver and the boy.”

“Got it,” Malgeri said over comm. “We’re ready to dive.”

The crux of the problem was, if we wanted to save the boy, we had to get him away from Carver before reinforcements showed up. I knew from Zoe abominations were armored all over, but a tied up kid was still relatively easy to kill. A sharp weapon through his eye socket or a bullet through the roof of his mouth would do the trick.

“I see our guests are here!” Carver’s voice boomed over the shipwreck, amplified. “Come closer so I can see you. You have ten seconds or the boy dies.”

I swam closer, staying slightly above Carver where the area was clear and I could see every attack coming.

“A vodnik and a human,” Carver said mockingly, tugging on something that looked like a leash around the boy’s neck. “Could that be Zoe Gilbert, coming to see me at last?”

“I’m here!” Zoe shouted, sounding brave and fierce. “Let him go!”

“Definitely sounds like Zoe,” Carver said with a nasty laugh. “You know, I saw a lot of footage with you in it, heard a lot of material with your voice. One ex-boyfriend had some fun videos to sell.”

She made a small sound in the back of her throat, shuddering. I pressed her closer.

“We’re here, Carver,” I said evenly, using my voice sack. “Free the boy. Let him go.”

“The boy for Zoe,” Carver said smoothly. “But you won’t have much fun with him. He bit off his previous owner’s finger. Nasty thing.”

He kicked Azahl, who barely reacted. Zoe gasped, her control unraveling.

“Why don’t I come over there and we can trade?” I asked, forcing my voice to sound businesslike.

If I got near enough to take Carver out, all our problems would be solved. And yet, it was deceptively easy. I knew from his file he shouldn’t be underestimated, so when Carver agreed at once, calling me closer, I swore under my breath.

“Shit’s about to go down,” I murmured to Malgeri. “He wants us there, but I don’t know why.”

Because it made no sense. If Carver’s lamias hid around the dome, in the darkness where the lights didn’t reach, why would he lure me to the top? Even if they attacked at full speed, they wouldn’t reach me from below before I ripped Carver apart.

Something was wrong.

Malgeri was quiet for a moment. “Okay. Approach carefully. I’ll send in the Phantom.”

I gritted my teeth. This wasn’t perfect at all, but Carver was impatient.

“Aren’t you coming? I thought you wanted him. If you don’t, I’ll put this fucking knife through his eye and get it over with.”

He waved a long blade, and I slowly swam over until we were above the dome, the shipwreck inside looming faintly, the light bringing out the edges of the sunken boat.

“Now, Zoe,” I whispered.

“So, what’s the deal with your tooth?” she asked, totally nailing her usual chatty, a bit cheeky tone of voice even though she trembled from nerves against my side. “You grumbled about it a lot.”

“What’s the deal—Oh, you’re funny!” Carver laughed jarringly loud, sounding unhinged. “That’s bratty, Zoe Gilbert. If I could keep you, I’d teach you not to use your mouth this way.”

She shuddered, and I clenched my jaw, moving as slowly as possible. I scanned the area, but still didn’t spot the trick. Either the lamias hid in the shadow of the dome by the bottom, or he was here alone, and that was impossible.

“Yeah, I get it, you’re a big man,” she said, sounding dismissive. “But seriously, I wanna know. Why is the tooth my fault?”

“Because you put me in jail!” he screamed, getting louder with every word.

By his side, Azahl moved faintly. He was on his knees, bowed forward, like he was too weak to stay upright.

“So what, a cellmate didn’t like your smile?” Zoe said with bravado, but her voice cracked at the end. “That’s hardly a reason to blame me.”

“But I will blame you, dear Zoe,” he said, his voice dropping into a snarl. “Because you had to poke your fucking nose into my business. And now I get to make you pay, and I’ll enjoy the fuck out of it. Hand her over!”

“The boy first,” I said tightly. We were close enough that if I lunged at Carver, I would get him, but that would expose Zoe.

“The boy first,” he mocked me in a whiny voice. “He’s practically dead, and so are you. Now!”

A portion of the dome behind Carver shattered, blasted through with powerful jet guns. I barely managed to get back when a dozen lamias shot out through the hole. They surrounded us but didn’t attack.

“Code red,” I murmured my status to Malgeri.

Carver came closer, walking slowly on top of the dome, but he stayed behind the lamias.

“Now, this was fun,” he said with glee. “You really didn’t expect that, did you? My friends here told me how fucking respectful everyone is about the shipwrecks. And I thought to myself, I bet they won’t see this coming.”

And I fucking didn’t. The domes seemed impenetrable to me ever since that time I got stuck in one, but of course, a jet gun could blow through a rock if given enough time, and the relatively thin concrete bars of the cage didn’t stand a chance.

The lamias must have made another hole somewhere to the side where I didn’t see it, and they waited in the shipwreck for Carver’s signal. Really, it was a perfect plan.

“Now, my feisty lamia friends. Give me the girl, and the vodnik is yours, as agreed. Everyone who survives will get paid.”

We were still on top of the dome, and lamias surrounded us from above, too. Azahl didn’t move, lying on his side, most likely dead. I smiled grimly. The mission got so much simpler now.

I just had to keep Zoe safe until reinforcements arrived.

As two lamias dove for me, I shot up toward the biggest break in enemy lines. Claws raked down my scales, and a tail hit my side, but with a powerful thrust of my tentacles, I was out of the circle. Of course, this was only the beginning. They were right behind me, shrieking viciously, while Carver screamed for everyone to get him Zoe.

“Give me the bitch! I want her to fucking drown!”

I tore through water with Zoe in my arms, but instead of speeding away, I circled the graveyard until I saw the other hole. I considered hiding Zoe in there while I fought, but a lamia chose that moment to come out of the shipwreck and lunge at me. I swiveled on the spot and sped away, barely avoiding the teeth of another lamia diving at me from above. A blast from a jet gun went wide, tearing through water a few feet away from us.

Zoe was calm in my arms, her trust absolute.

“The Phantom should be here soon,” I gritted out, changing course as two lamias tried to flank me between their sides. “Fuck. I need to shoot. Hold on tight.”

She clung to me with her arms and legs, and I let go, unholstering my gun. When another lamia loomed out of the dark water, a cloud of green hair surrounding her face, she got a blast right in the grinning mouth.

One down.

Carver’s amplified voice wove through the mayhem, screaming for Zoe. I made directly for him, shooting out blast after blast and correcting the course easily, but Carver flattened himself on top of the dome, not one of my shots reaching him. I got another lamia, though only in the tail.

When I saw a shadow of a humanoid creature descending nearby, I tore in the other direction, deliberately drawing attention to myself. I shot without aiming, mostly to create a distraction. The longer the Phantom remained undetected, the bigger advantage he would have. Hopefully, the rest of Malgeri’s people would be here soon.

As I swam above the dome again, a lamia shot out from the hole below, too close to avoid. I managed to turn, giving him my back so he wouldn’t get Zoe. Sharp teeth bit into my shoulder, and I grunted, winding my tentacles around him in a desperate need to push him off.

He stayed on, his jaws clamped tight over me, the place burning with pain. We struggled harder and harder until we toppled off the side of the dome, plunging into darkness. A commotion burst out above, Carver shouting about a new threat.

“I’ll let you go,” I whispered to Zoe, holding in my groan of pain. “Just for a second.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Her arms and legs fell away, and she drifted toward the bottom while I turned sharply, squeezing the trigger just as my jet gun connected with the lamia’s eye. Once he tore away, propelled by the jet, I was already plunging deep. Zoe was right there, unharmed, and I grabbed her fast.

“All right?” I asked tightly, swimming up in a straight line to avoid a lamia who reached for me with sharp claws. A jet gun blast brushed dangerously close, and I jerked away.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me.”

I managed to take out two more lamias with well-aimed shots, getting one more bite and a bruising blast in exchange. A fair trade, considering I’d shielded Zoe from both. As I did another pass over the dome, the Phantom was there, moving so fast, the long knives he held in both hands were a blur as they cut through water and lamia flesh.

His body was completely black, gleaming under the light, his head a grinning skull. He moved as if water resistance didn’t exist, his knives extensions of himself as he cut and jabbed, protecting Azahl who lay at his feet.

Carver was nowhere to be seen.

“Hold on tight,” I grunted, making a direct course for a lamia swimming at the Phantom from above.

Right before we collided, I gripped him with my tentacles, trying to get his face within the reach of my gun. We struggled, and he proved stronger than I expected. His tail lashed at me, his claws raking down my scales, and I was so busy shielding Zoe, I couldn’t focus on getting a better grip.

“I’ll drop you again,” I said through clenched teeth. “Just for a second.”

She let go, sinking slowly. The lamia tried to get her with his tail, but I caught it in a tight grip, turning sharply to end him so I could get Zoe again.

We struggled. He bit my tentacle, and I lost precious seconds pulling it free, then when I had my gun ready, he managed to slip his upper body out of my grip, making aiming impossible. I grunted, fury welling, because every moment I wasted on this fucking snake was a moment I couldn’t protect Zoe.

Finally, I got a tentacle around his gills, slowly suffocating him. When he stilled enough for me to blast him, I shot his brain through his eye.

Pushing the limp body away, I dove down, humming to light the area so I’d see her at once.

But Zoe wasn’t anywhere in sight. She was gone.

CHAPTER 26

Zoe

I sank slowly, looking up as Vodyan fought with the lamia. I worried about him, my heart beating somewhere in my throat when I saw tentacles, a snake tail, and clawed arms clash in a vicious fight, and at the same time, I had this deep conviction Vodyan would come out on top.

He was so strong, so utterly focused and dependable. He would win in no time and come back for me, and so, I didn’t even worry about myself.

Until a forearm snaked around my throat from behind, choking me. The lower half of my mask was ripped off my face, and my shocked scream turned into bubbles.

“Now, that’s better,” Carver’s cruel voice spoke in my ear as he tugged me through a hole in the cage surrounding the shipwreck.

I struggled, trying to grip the edge of the cage to resist him. Carver snarled and pressed harder at my throat, hitting my temple with something hard. My vision darkened for just a moment, my fingers slipping free. He huffed with satisfaction and dragged me into the shadow of the ship’s hull, my body buoyed by the water.

“Alone at last,” he said, turning me until my back was pressed against the ship, the air tank digging into my spine. “Move and I’ll cut your throat.”

I forced back the urge to swallow, feeling the edge of the blade pressing into my windpipe. Carver was right in my face, grinning so widely, he looked psychotic.

My heart beat faster and faster until I wanted to hurl. With my lower mask gone, I couldn’t speak. I could only shake, and hope, hope, hope.

Hope that Vodyan would come in time.

“I lost everything because of you,” Carver said, that grin still on his face even though his voice was furious. “And now you’re here, about to get what you deserve. Tell me, how does it feel?”

I tried to glare, but my face was numb from fear, my head dizzy from the hit he served me. Blood rushed in my ears, fizzing with adrenaline.

Carver laughed, rolling the blade across my throat. I whimpered against my clenched teeth, and he leaned closer.

“I wish we had more time together.”

He pressed in with the knife. I squeezed my eyes shut, begging the universe Vodyan would survive without me, when suddenly, the knife pulled back. My heart wrenched with hope.

I opened my eyes, but no one was here to save me.

“On second thought, I think I’ll enjoy watching you drown,” Carver said with a smirk. “It’s poetic. Don’t you think?”

I gaped at him, uncomprehending. How did he want me to drown when I had the ability to breathe underwater?

When he ripped the mask off my face and cut it off with a slash of his knife, bubbles from my tank flowing in a steady stream through the broken tube, I finally understood.

He doesn’t know. Of course.

Desperately, I reached for my mouth mask, knowing this would be my first step if I was really drowning. Carver laughed, whipping me around until my face flattened against the rusty hull of the ship. He tore the tank off my back, cutting where it was connected to the tubing inside my suit.

I held my breath, determined not to give away that I could breathe. Blindly, I scrambled toward the hole in the cage, but Carver grabbed me by the arm and threw me to the bottom. A cloud of silt rose, and I took a quick breath, struggling and writhing as best I could. I didn’t know how death from drowning actually looked, so I did my best to feel into the desperation of not having air.

“I will enjoy the next minute, Zoe. I will enjoy watching you breathe water into your lungs and drown, knowing you couldn’t save that fucking abomination or even yourself. And when I finish you off, I will rebuild, while you will stay here, not even getting to rot. That’s justice.”

With a wide sweep of my arm, I disturbed the sand again, giving myself cover to take another breath. I was on my hands and knees, doing my best to seem like I was growing weaker as I tried to stand up.

Carver laughed, kicking my legs from under me until I fell flat on my belly. That gave me enough cover to stick one hand under my stomach. I closed my fingers on the handle of the knife Vodyan gave me, just in case. While my other hand clawed at the bottom, my body heaving, I eased the knife from its sheath.

“Ah, that’s fucking beautiful,” Carver said with a laugh. “Zoe Gilbert dying at my feet like the stupid cunt she is.”

I moved more and more sluggishly, using the cover of the disturbed sand to gulp in a final, deep breath that I held. I stilled completely, bidding my body to be loose and hoping like hell Carver would leave me alone now.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” he muttered. “Let’s make sure your fish guy can’t revive you once he finds you.”

I held back a flinch when he straddled my hips, my heart going into overdrive from terror. It was now or never.

I flipped fast, cutting blindly with the knife. Carver gasped in surprise, then grunted when my blade met flesh. I pushed in as deep as I could, breathing hard, but a moment later, a heavy fist connected with the side of my head. The knife slipped out of my grip.

“You fucking bitch!” Carver screamed, hitting my head again until I had to blink hard against a haze of disorientation. “The tooth wasn’t enough for you? You had to give me a scar, too? How the fuck are you alive?”

I saw a blur of movement over my face. I caught it instinctively, my hand closing around a blade. Carver roared, yanking it back, and I screamed, releasing a flurry of bubbles. My hand pulsed with a cold, vicious pain, cut open.

“Fine! I don’t care!” Carver snarled viciously. “I’ll gut you like a fucking…”

Suddenly, he was gone. One moment, he straddled my hips, looming above me in the gloom, and the next, he screamed, clouds of sand rising from the bottom where he tumbled away, wrapped up in a roiling mass of tentacles.

“You will never touch her again!” Vodyan bellowed, his voice sack lighting up so brightly, the entire shipwreck illuminated green. “You fucking scum!”

Carver gurgled. I sat up carefully, my head feeling tender and dazed. I didn’t see much, but it was obvious Vodyan was on top. Thank God.

“One last thing before you die,” my bodyguard spat viciously. “Who’s your mole?”

Carver gurgled something incomprehensible. A beat later, he screamed in such agony, I winced on his behalf, even though he deserved whatever Vodyan did to him. Dark blood rose around them and, a moment later, a cut-off palm drifted out of the carnage.

“I’ll cut you piece by piece unless you tell,” Vodyan promised, his voice so cold, I shivered. “Last chance. Who’s your mole?”

After a moment of silence, another gurgling scream shook the water. A foot floated gently up, followed by a dark ribbon of blood.

Before Vodyan had a chance to ask again, Carver broke.

“Beck! It’s Beck!” he sobbed. “Please, I beg you…”

Silence fell, and then, more thick, dark blood bloomed, completely obscuring them both. Two frantic heartbeats later, it parted like a dark curtain, revealing Vodyan who swam over in one powerful thrust, one of his tentacles sending the floating hand careening into the sunken ship.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice tight with tension as his hands, the same ones that just cut Carver open, tenderly held my face. “Zoe. Talk to me.”

I pointed at my mouth, showing him I couldn’t speak. Gently, I cupped his cheek with my uninjured palm, trying to communicate I was all right.

“Do you have any wounds?” Vodyan asked, quickly adjusting his questioning strategy.

I raised my palm and showed him the knife wound. He took a careful look, his body tensing where it curled around me, tentacles holding me gently.

“Do you have other injuries?”

I shrugged, unsure how to communicate that I was hit repeatedly in the head. I pointed at my temple with my free hand, and Vodyan immediately palpated my skull, but the suit was in the way.

“I’ll take it off,” he murmured, sliding it off my head. “Are you cold?”

I shook my head. The suit still worked, heating most of my body, and I could live with my head being uncovered for now.

When gentle fingers buried in my hair, looking for injuries, I closed my eyes and finally relaxed. Carver was dead. He was dead. It was over. And even though I knew it beyond the shadow of a doubt, because I trusted Vodyan’s ability to kill, it still didn’t fully register.

There would be no trial. No more people trying to kill me or my family. No need to hide.

I was safe. I could go home. Maybe I could even have my old life back.

“Looks all right, but I want to get you checked out. Malgeri has a doctor on the boat, just in case,” Vodyan said, gently taking my chin between thumb and finger. “Do you have any other injuries?”

I shook my head, wincing when that made a wave of nausea roll through my gut.

“Come here.”

His arms came around me, his tentacles holding me close, and I sank into the familiar, strong touch, tension seeping out of me in waves. Yes. This was safety, right here.

This was home.

I kept my face buried in the crook of his neck when he swam quickly toward the surface. My shivers subsided, and even though Carver’s maniacal grin still sat under my eyelids like a haunting vision, I knew I would be fine.

With therapy and time, this would become just a memory. It wouldn’t stop me from living a long, happy life.

When we broke the surface, Vodyan kept me warm while I coughed out water, heaving and snarling. This was definitely my least favorite part of being able to breathe underwater, but then, who was I to complain? I was alive thanks to Vodyan’s gift.

In a feat of acrobatic strength, Vodyan put me aboard a large boat and heaved himself in right behind me. A dark-haired man wearing a white shirt rushed over, guiding us to an area at the back of the boat, where he quickly checked me out and tended to my palm, asking me a series of questions. I was pronounced healthy, my head injury not dangerous.

“I’m so glad,” Vodyan said quietly, wrapping all around me as soon as the doctor released me.

It was cold, and I sank into his heat with gratitude.

Movement further down the deck caught my eye, and I sobbed with relief, seeing Azahl hauled in by a bigger, meaner version of him—an adult abomination man. Both stood on the deck, their black carapaces dripping, before the doctor approached them. The adult abomination waved him away, laughing throatily.

“God, he’s alive! But why won’t he let Azahl get seen?” I asked under my breath, outrage coiling in my gut. “Come on.”

“Azahl,” I said softly when we came over, the boy sitting on a bench, the adult’s arm around his shoulders. “Hello. Are you hurt anywhere?”

A pair of black, impenetrable eyes focused on me as the boy slowly shook his head. I swallowed tears, feeling wrecked and inadequate. I wanted to apologize so badly, but I didn’t have the words.

Because how did one say sorry for something like that? He trusted me, he came to me for my help, and I failed to prevent his suffering.

When it felt like I couldn’t hold back sobs any longer, Azahl spoke, his voice quiet and inflectionless. Abominations didn’t express emotions the way humans did.

“I knew you’d get him, miss Zoe.”

I gaped, taken aback. Didn’t he hate me? I was convinced he would. Emotions roiled inside me, but it was unfair to burden a child with them, so I swallowed everything and forced a tremulous smile onto my face.

“I’m so happy you’re alive,” I said, and then winced at the way it came out. “I mean… Yeah. I’m glad you’re okay. Physically.”

“He is okay in every way,” the other abomination spoke up, his voice deep and gritty, something like amusement ringing in the back of his throat. “He was only kept in a cage and mocked for a while, and then almost drowned. It’s nothing.”

It took me a few seconds to comprehend what the man just said. A wave of anger pulsed in my gut, his mocking voice drilling into my head. How dared he reduce the child’s suffering that way? I shook with anger, but Azahl was there, looking at me, so I forced myself to speak calmly.

“What you described is a traumatic experience, mister…”

“Phantom,” he interrupted, raising his grinning skull to look at me. “And it would be traumatic—for a human. I already talked to him. He isn’t disturbed, and he wasn’t hurt in a lasting manner. He’ll be fine.”

My anger boiled hotter, until I felt I would spit fire if I could.

“How the fuck can you say…” I began, but the man raised his hands, each finger encased in matte, black chitin, and gave me an even wider grin, his skull’s expression shifting disturbingly.

I broke off, staring. I didn’t know how he did that. Azahl didn’t smile or move his face much, and he was the only abomination I knew until today. I got used to the fact he didn’t move his mouth to speak—I read abominations projected their voices onto the bone structures of their faces, whatever that meant—but the ability to shape hard bones into expressions was uncanny.

“Lady, I know who you are. The boy told me. You hug kids and sing them lullabies, and it’s all fine for you mammals, but he’s an abomination. We’re made tougher than you.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, refusing to believe that a child of six could be held captive and almost drowned and not experience any trauma.

“But he’s six years old!” I exclaimed, shaking so hard, Vodyan put more limbs around me until I was encased in him.

“He’s a big boy,” Phantom said dismissively. “When I was six, I lived on my own, running from abomination hunters in Mexico. It was rough until I got big enough to hunt them back. That fixed everything.”

“Sir, your horrible childhood doesn’t mean that every abomination child…” I started, but Azahl chose this moment to get up and come over.

The boat rocked, and he grabbed onto Vodyan’s tentacle for support. I extricated myself gently and crouched so we could be on the same level.

“Yes, Azahl?” I said, my voice instantly falling into the easy, soft cadence I saved for wounded children.

“Miss Zoe, I saw Carver. Mister Phantom showed me. He’s dead,” he said solemnly, his flat voice betraying no distress.

I shot Phantom a disbelieving look. What? He showed a torn apart body to a fucking child? I desperately wanted to rip him a new one, no matter that he was literally armored. But that child was right here, staring at me, and I didn’t want to make things worse.

“Yes, he is,” I said. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

Something in the set of the boy's shoulders eased, his posture growing relaxed, as he nodded slowly.

“Yes. Because he’s dead,” he said. “It was fun, Miss Zoe. I’ve never been in a lake before. I liked the shipwreck. And the snake monsters were pretty.”

I blinked a few times, trying to take it in. Azahl turned away without waiting for my reply, going over to a demon and a shehru talking nearby. Phantom sighed, the sound rustling like a heap of insects crawling over one another.

“Lady, let me tell you something they don’t teach humans about abominations. Will you listen?” Then, before I could answer, he looked at Vodyan. “Will she listen?”

My anger rose hot again at being patronized, but I pressed my lips together and straightened.

“Yes,” I hissed.

He didn’t look quelled by my cool manner, his skeletal face grinning.

“Let’s put it this way. You mammals have an evolutionary drive to fuck, suck a tit, and stay warm. Abominations have two primary drives: to fuck and to kill those who wrong us. You with me? He knows the fucker is dead, he saw the body with his own eyes, which means everything is fixed. Whatever he went through doesn’t matter. His brain literally doesn’t care anymore. The fucker is dead. The problem is gone. Yeah?”

I stared at him. He was right—I’d never heard anything of the kind before, and it sounded ridiculous. But then, I wasn’t about to tell him his information was wrong, since he literally spoke about his own species. He was the expert here, no matter how much I disliked him.

“But he’s six,” I said again. “Even if what you say is true, doesn’t he need at least some support? Do abominations really not need to process? And would you say you wish the same experience on him as you had? Being hunted and having to deal with that by yourself? Or maybe we can agree he might thrive better with additional support?”

Phantom stared at me for a moment, his smile tightening until it looked like a grimace. I refused to break eye-contact, even though his skeletal face looked utterly creepy. After a long moment, he laughed grittily and raised his hands, as if giving up.

“Human females, man. They go straight for the balls. All right, lady, if you want to give him support, give him support, but educate yourself first. He needed to see that body. He needed closure. That’s the biggest support he can get, and without it, no psychological mumbo-jumbo will cure him, yeah?”

I nodded stiffly. Vodyan’s tentacles ran smoothly down my back, but he very wisely didn’t insert himself into the conversation.

This was between me and the Phantom guy.

“Fine. Thank you for telling me,” I said, though it barely came through my throat. “I have one more question. Is he… Will he be hostile? For example, if someone else hurt him?”

Phantom straightened, his skull pulling into an even scarier, more ominous expression. “Who? Give me their fucking name.”

“I…” I swallowed thickly, but there was nothing for it. “Me, I guess. I failed him. He came to me, he told me, and I tried, but Carver still managed to…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he stepped closer, looking down at me from his height advantage. “See? This is the result of your human overthinking. Is that what you wish on the boy? Lady, you’ve got issues.”

“Speak with respect,” Vodyan said, his voice calm, though there was a hard edge underneath.

Phantom shot him a quick look and focused on me again. His grin remained fixed, his face not moving as he spoke.

“Lady, you didn’t hurt him. In fact, it’s thanks to you two that Carver is dead and Azahl got closure. He doesn’t hate you or feel wronged in any way. Believe me, you’d know if he did. To even think that he might hold a grudge! For fuck’s sake, he just told you about the pretty snakes. That boy adores your too soft, human ass.”

“Tone it down,” Vodyan said, a growl stealing into his voice. “You’re speaking to my mate.”

Phantom’s smile grew lecherous somehow. I had no idea how a skull could express things so clearly.

“They let you fuck your principals in Wisconsin?” he asked, voice laughing. “Damn, I’ll need to move here.”

“No, we don’t,” a red-skinned demon with a robust pair of horns said, coming over. “But we’d be happy to have you. You’re an incredible asset.”

Phantom laughed, the sound dark and rustling. “You say asset, I hear ass. No, I’ll stay in DC. Thanks for letting me jump in, though. The little brother needed that. I just bet the lady here wouldn’t have let him see Carver. Good job, by the way. He was all in parts. A 3D puzzle, eh?”

He laughed, that rustling echo loud in his voice, and turned away to find Azahl. And good for him. I had a strong urge to punch him in the face, which probably would have resulted in broken knuckles for me and merely amusement for him.

Malgeri, Vodyan’s demon boss, clasped Vodyan’s palm in a strong handshake. He was huge, towering two heads above me, his legs ending in thick, dark red hooves. He wore a charcoal gray three-piece suit.

“He’s a good guy, but people tend to hate him,” he said. “How are you holding up, Zoe? Vodyan take good care of you?”

I nodded, finally allowing myself to sink into Vodyan’s protective embrace.

“He was perfect.” A sudden thought filled me with worry when I realized how pointedly Malgeri said sex with a principal wasn’t allowed. “Hope he’s not in trouble. He really saved my life, you know. So many times.”

Malgeri’s smile grew, his canines unusually sharp among otherwise pretty normal, straight teeth.

“I’m sure he did. All right, lovebirds. Go home and decompress, and I’ll clean it all up in here. We’ll talk tomorrow, Vodyan. Also, you’re suspended for the next seven days for misconduct with a client. I suggest you use your time wisely.”

He gave us a wink and turned away.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, turning to Vodyan. “I had no idea you’d be suspended for…”

He pressed a warm finger to my lips, grinning sharply.

“I just got a week off, Zoe, with the official permission to fuck you senseless. Don’t be sorry. But… Will you come home with me?”

CHAPTER 27

Vodyan

I looked at her with trepidation, my heart beating sharply. I was painfully aware Zoe didn’t have to come with me. She probably wouldn’t want to, either. The threat was gone. Carver was dead, and while we fought lamias underwater, Malgeri dealt with Carver’s human forces that waited for him in a boat up here. My demon boss left no survivors, completely unbothered about any potential questioning into the total massacre.

Malgeri, like Zoe, had an ax to grind with people who kidnapped children.

There was no one left to hunt Zoe, and while there was one name left on my list, he wasn’t a threat to her. She could go home, back to her volunteering, her family, her human friends and ex-boyfriends.

Really, there was no reason for her to stay. I felt hideously exposed waiting for her answer, so convinced it would be a no that when she spoke, I replied instantly, trying to shield myself.

“Of course. You want to see your family. I understand,” I said, swallowing down my painful disappointment.

Zoe was silent for a beat. I didn’t see her expression, avoiding her eyes so she wouldn’t see how hurt I was.

“Uh, Vodyan?” she said tentatively. “Yes, I want to see my family, but they are safe and well. I can call them or something. So, can we go now?”

I looked at her sharply, confused and refusing to hope.

“Go where?”

She was perplexed, her green eyes confused, brows pulled into a small frown.

“Um, to your place? So you can fuck me senseless? Isn’t that what we’re discussing?”

I couldn’t contain the bright grin that stretched my lips. “Yeah? You really want that?”

She seemed to catch on to my confusion, because she smiled, holding my face in both hands.

“Silly man,” she said, pulling me down for a kiss. “Yes, I want you,” she said between soft, sweet kisses. “Of course I do. I love you so fucking much.”

“Good,” I said, a bit gruff, a bit tender. “Because I’m not letting you go.”

Zoe snorted when I picked her up. She wrapped her legs and arms around me, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck.

“But you were just about to let me go. Are you all talk, big man, or will you actually take me? Preferably hard and fast?”

I stiffened, my cock filling rapidly. Post-fight lust was here, powerful and hot, and her naughty mouth didn’t help the matters.

“Careful, or I’ll undo that nice little zipper you have between your legs and keep you impaled on my cock while we travel,” I murmured in her ear, my hands settling possessively on her ass.

I didn’t even care if anyone saw it. She was mine, the secret was out, and I’d touch her unless she told me to stop.

“Fuck,” Zoe whispered, breathy and hot. “Mhm. Yeah. Okay.”

I laughed under my breath, pulling her closer until her hot core rubbed against my scales while I kept my cock hidden with sheer willpower.

“It’s always ‘okay’ with you, pretty girl. Fine. You’ll get my cock.”

I didn’t even bother to say goodbye to anyone. Gripping Zoe close and keeping my body warm, I jumped in the water and sank, taking us along a route that would keep us away from the shipwreck graveyard. When Zoe tried to reach down to undo her zipper, I nipped the shell of her ear in warning.

“Keep still. Don’t touch what’s mine.”

She stilled instantly, settling into me, soft and relaxed, while I let my fingers wander. I petted her through her suit, touching her slowly until I found the zipper. I toyed with it for a while until Zoe squirmed impatiently.

“I think we need another sign to replace your special word,” I said, running my fingers over the seam of her, desperate to feel her soft and bare, and yet enjoying teasing her even more. “Tap my shoulder three times for me to stop. Show me now that you understand.”

She released a flurry of bubbles, probably in an exasperated sigh, but tapped my shoulder three times as commanded.

“Good girl,” I murmured, letting my cock slide out. “My girl.”

I undid that zipper, and she shivered hard, but I had her on my cock in no time. At first, I gave her only half of my length, with the top prong inside her, too, because I planned to give her all of it by the end of the journey. Zoe clung to me, shivering, and I sped up, longing to be back home already and take her like she deserved—all night long.

When she adjusted, I changed the angle of my movements slightly, so now, each thrust of my tentacles not only propelled me forward, but also pushed me a bit deeper inside my girl.

She made a soft, whining sound in her throat, and I relaxed into her, content and happy.

“This is what my girl likes, yes? To be stuffed full of my cock? Fuck, sweetheart. You have no idea. You feel like home. So warm and soft, and tight… I adore you.”

She made a muffled sound, and for a time, we just swam like that, joined and barely fucking. Underneath us, the red lights of the road to Yeseera blinked in the gloom.

When we were halfway there, I got an idea. Carefully, I slid a hand between us, dipping a finger inside myself to coat it fully.

“We’ll be home soon, and I want to stuff my girl until she can’t breathe,” I said softly, bringing my slick finger to her rear entrance. “How about I get you ready on the way?”

She moaned when I ran gentle circles around her back hole, my lube sticking well despite water friction. After all, I was designed to have sex in water, even if she wasn’t.

“I was made for you, sweet thing,” I said, sinking my finger carefully inside her, the claws of my index and middle finger filed down to blunt tips.

She shivered and moaned, squirming against me, and with the next thrust, I pushed deeper inside her until her nails dug into my scales with pleasure. I fucked her, sinking deeper, and deeper—as deep as I could. My cock flexed and writhed, curling in on itself to make space for more.

Finally, she took all of me, making ruined, needy sounds in the back of her throat as I moved inside her, my finger rubbing my shaft through the thin wall of her.

“I was made for fucking you, for keeping you safe, and for giving you all you need,” I said, my cock growing harder with the need to spill inside her and plug her up. “There’s no one else for you, darling. Only me. And I’ll give you everything you ever want.”

And I would. I would give her children, a big house, all the touch and sex she wanted. I’d give her independence and freedom to volunteer, if she wanted to keep doing that. She’d be safe, taken care of, and fucked every day. Worshiped every day.

“I can’t wait to lick your pretty pussy again,” I said, my movements growing erratic with uncontrollable need. “And make you come all over my tongue. I can’t wait to show you off, and for your shot to finally stop working. I can’t wait to see you pregnant. I can’t wait to marry you, pretty girl. Whatever ceremony you want, human, vodnik, or something else, we can do them all.”

She moaned constantly, shaking, and I finally took pity on her.

“Hold on tight,” I said, pushing a hand between us until I pressed my knuckle to her clit and rubbed it while my finger plunged in and out of her ass.

When she came with a painful moan, her hole squeezed my finger so hard, I groaned from the sensation, immediately wanting to feel that on my cock, too.

“Change of plans,” I said harshly, stopping so I could fuck her properly. Yeseera was just ahead, and we’d have to stop to pass through the city unless I wanted someone to get a glimpse of what was mine.

“I wanted to hold it back until we got there, but you’ll get it now.”

I pulled my finger out of her and held her hips in a punishing grip, fucking her hard and fast, just as she told me to. Zoe moaned, her fingers scratching down my scales, her face flushed and twisted in pleasure.

It didn’t take long. She was so hot inside, so welcoming, and the idea of filling her with my cum had me in a chokehold. Soon, I came deep inside her, shooting my plug to keep it in while her cunt squeezed me tightly with another orgasm.

“That’s my girl,” I said shakily, holding her to me. “That’s my pretty human.”

We entered Yeseera in decent attire, Zoe’s zipper done, my cock put away in my slit. She stroked my back and nape as we passed through the silent city, almost empty at night. Yeseera stuck to the surface rhythm of day and night, since this was easier.

“See the lights?” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. “They are turned low at night, but they stay on. It’s pretty here, isn’t it? I’d like you to stay. With me.”

I knew she couldn’t reply, so I felt safe asking her—she couldn’t refuse me yet, because for some reason, I expected refusal.

So when Zoe tugged on my ear, pulling her face away, I looked at her with trepidation. She smiled, rolling her eyes slightly, as if to tell me I was silly again, and gave me a big, exaggerated nod.

I couldn’t hold back my wide grin. “Yeah? You’d live with me?”

She nodded again, laughing silently, and I gathered her close, feeling the happiest I ever was.

In my apartment, I took her to the dry level, holding her close the entire time. In the lock, I undid her zipper gently, making her shiver, and by the time the water pumped out completely, my cock was already deep in her cunt. Zoe moaned louder and louder as I fucked into her.

“But I already shot a nice big load up here,” I said, going inside and flicking a softer, muted version of the lighting on so it wouldn’t be too bright. “And now I’d like to put my cock in your ass, sweet thing.”

She pulled away to look at me, her face and hair wet, her pupils wide and dark. She bit her lip, looking at me for a moment, and I waited patiently, until finally…

“Okay.”

I lost no time undressing her before I thrust inside myself to coat a tentacle in lube. She moaned shakily when I pushed in her, just with the tip at first, slowly opening her wider with careful thrusts.

“Good, my sweetest? Does it feel full?”

She nodded helplessly, her hips jerking to the rhythm of my thrusts. I peppered her face with kisses, smiling between them, because she was so adorable.

“And I’ll make you come when I’m inside you,” I promised. “I want to feel that. The way you clutch me like you never want to let me go.”

She nodded with frantic conviction, moving her hips to take in more of my thrusting limb, until finally, she was ready.

I turned her around until she lay belly down on a mattress of my wet, warm tentacles.

“You look so good on top of me,” I groaned, tugging her hips higher.

I pumped my cock in my fist, making sure it was slick and ready, and squeezed both parts of it together, notching myself at that tight little hole.

Zoe shivered and opened for me, exhaling deeply, and I lost no time getting inside her.

As soon as the strong ring of muscle closed around me, I moaned with sharp, penetrating pleasure. She felt divine. It was everything, and I yearned to go deeper, but she made those whimpering, begging sounds, her body shaking, so I waited, thrusting shallowly for now.

She resisted me at first, that tightness suffocating. When I angled a tentacle up, enveloping her sweet little clit in my sucker, she howled with pleasure, and a moment later, squeezed me even tighter until my cock pulsed in her grip, straining to get deeper. It was the best feeling.

I let go of her clit when she rode out that orgasm, her hole fluttering around me, my poor girl breathing hard.

“You really don’t need much, sweetheart, do you?” I asked, rocking into her again. “Just my cock, a tentacle, and you’re coming for your future husband like you just can’t help it. Such a needy girl. I’ll take care of you.”

As she relaxed after that orgasm, she opened for me, and I went deeper and deeper with every thrust until she moaned loudly with every one, and my slit almost brushed her opening. I just needed one more inch. Just one more inch of my fattest, girthiest part, and I’d be fully in.

But somehow, it seemed to be too much. I didn’t want to force it, and the way her opening squeezed me, though stretched wide, was the best in the world.

“Does my girl need to come again?” I asked, hoping another orgasm would let me slide in to the hilt. “Will you show me how easy it is to make you come, sweet thing?”

I pulled her clit into a sucker again, sucking on her greedily until she shattered, squeezing my cock tightly, that delightful ring of muscle milking me with rhythmic contractions. I fucked her through it, and this time, she didn’t make a sound, shivering like the neediest, sweetest thing.

Then she relaxed. I slid home.

“Here it is.” My voice was rough, my pace growing erratic, and I put that sucker to her clit again, not caring that she just had an orgasm and was probably sensitive.

I was about to come and I desperately needed her to have one more before I did.

“No, no, stop,” she whined, raking her nails down my tentacles.

“What’s your word, sweetheart?” I asked, fucking her harder.

“No, don’t stop, not saying it, no, fuck, please,” she whined incoherently, my cock swelling with her every word.

“You really need it badly, don’t you?” I asked, gritting my teeth, because I was almost there.

I sucked harder, desperately trying to force her orgasm, and she screamed, clamping on me like a vise.

The sound I made when I came was raspy and loud, and it tore from my throat with force just as cum tore out of my body, filling her with thick, violent spurts. I came and came, hot bliss careening up my spine, my cock enveloped in the ecstasy that was her.

When it ended, I slumped forward, barely avoiding Zoe’s shaking form. My cock stayed inside her, still jerking with powerful aftershocks, while she mewled incoherently, petting my tentacles, her face red and sweaty.

“You’re so good to me,” I murmured, brushing hair off her face when I moved again. My cock softened and fell out of her, her ass still open from my girth, my cum spilling out.

With effort, I gathered her in my arms that shook hard and pulled us both into the pool where I washed her, holding her to my chest like the most precious thing.

We stayed like that for a moment, until I finally gathered the courage to ask.

“So, will you marry me?”

“Okay.”

ZOE’S EPILOGUE

“Come on, we need to go!” I called to Vodyan, checking if I had my mask. My suit was already on, tight over my big belly, and I was ready to go.

He came out a moment later, holding a large, waterproof bag. He gave me an uncertain smile and called me closer, opening it to let me look.

“Do you think they’ll like these?” he asked, watching me seriously as I took in a bag full of brand new toys, including action figures of soldiers of various species, and a new inclusive line of dolls that included an anatomically correct vodnik doll with pretty pins in her hair and a ghoul doll, her skin gray, hair silver.

I’d complained to him about the dearth of representation among the toys children had to play with in the children’s home. Some species just weren’t as often represented as others, or the toys were more expensive, and so Adda, a new ghoul girl who came to live in the home a month ago, didn’t have a doll to play with she could relate to.

Until now.

I had tears in my eyes, my chest squeezing with so much love, I couldn’t contain it.

“Oh my God,” I said, my voice shaking from emotion. “Yes! Yes, of course. These are amazing! I didn’t even… Oh my God, baby! I love you so much!”

I launched myself at him, hugging him and crying, and Vodyan embraced me back, careful not to press on my pregnant belly. He swallowed, tensing slightly, and then exhaled with force.

“I love you, too, Zoe.”

I stilled, even my sobs stopping, my eyes wide open. We stood together in that perfect, gorgeous moment, and then I was full-on bawling my eyes out, because my vodnik husband just told me he loved me for the first time.

“I love you, too!” I said, sobbing. “God, how much I love you!”

And I did. My life was so much brighter and fuller thanks to him. He made all things better.

We both volunteered in the children’s home, and in our free time, we built a community of more volunteers and organized awareness campaigns, making information about the vetting process more accessible.

We were aware we couldn’t help all children on our own, and once our baby was born, we’d be confined to the lake. But we’d done well preparing for the transition. The community was robust and thriving, including many generous, wonderful people who were ready to help.

With Vodyan by my side, my lone efforts that had never seemed enough transformed into something so much bigger.

My happiness was overflowing.

“I love you so much,” I said again, unable to stop telling him.

“And I love you, too.”

VODYAN’S EPILOGUE

It took three long fucking years, but I finally got it done. We were by that shipwreck where Carver went down, and Agent Beck was cuffed to the cage, shivering and wide-eyed. I gave him an air tank but no fancy suit. I didn’t care if he was cold.

“You must be so confused,” I said, baring my teeth at him. “You must have thought no one found out, didn’t you? You probably felt so smart taking Carver’s money. With one hand, you sent Zoe into the lake, and with the other, you pointed Carver in the right direction.”

Beck had walked free. I told no one about the information I’d tortured out of Carver, knowing from the start Beck was mine to deal with. He sold Zoe’s life for money.

In my eyes, there could be no bigger crime than hurting my family.

“With Carver, it was quick,” I mused, playing with a long, serrated knife. “You, however, evaded me for a long time. I’m going to have fun. You know I saved you for last? Only a few months ago, I had another guy here. Zoe’s ex. He recorded her having sex with him without her consent and sold the videos to Carver. I made him bleed, nice and long. And then I went home to fuck my wife the way that fucker never even could.”

Beck shook his head wildly, whimpering noises building in his throat. I grinned.

“And after I’m done with you, your body cut into pieces small enough to go between those bars, you know what I’ll do?”

He didn’t answer, but then, he was gagged. His eyes were wide, though. I gave him the goggles so he saw every detail of what I did to him.

“I’ll go home to my family, hug my wife and children, and feel good about myself, knowing that I removed a piece of scum from this Earth,” I said calmly, gripping his hand. “A thumb or a pinkie?”

It took me two hours, and by the time I was done with Beck, his body a 3D puzzle so much better than Carver’s, I missed my wife and children terribly, since we were never apart for long. We had three kids now, because we’d adopted an orphaned vodnik girl six months ago.

Zoe loved them all, and I was so proud of her. She was a beautiful mother, a gorgeous wife, and everything I ever wanted in a woman. Even now, after three years, I couldn’t get enough of her, and I didn’t think I ever would.

Leaving the painful past behind, trapped in an underwater graveyard, I went home to my family. I longed to tell each of them how much I loved them.

THE END

AFTERWORD

Thank you so much for reading this book! I’ll tell you honestly, I cried for Vodyan a few times while writing it, and I’m so glad he finally got his happy ending! Both he and Zoe deserve all the love.

Now, how did you like the first glimpse of the Phantom? That’s not his real name, by the way, but a code name. Few people know the real one, but Barbara, the heroine of my next book in this series, Guarded by the Phantom, will probably learn it at some point.

Though, who knows? The Phantom is very aggravating, and his irreverence has no bounds. And Barbara is a proper good girl. She’s a politician’s daughter, raised to behave impeccably in every social situation, a perfect, polished girl taught to suppress her passions and never put a toe out of line.

Won’t it be fun when the two of them finally clash?

Please, leave me a review on a platform of your choice, and if you’re interested in free stories or spicy character art, visit my website at www.laylafae.com.

Love you!

THANK YOU

I am so incredibly supported as an author and a person, and I don’t think I acknowledge it enough, so here goes.

A huge, resounding thank you to my husband, who tells me how incredible I am whenever I feel down. You are my rock, my fortress, and the reason why I’m strong. Thank you, my love.

To my daughters, who tell me stories and hug me when I’m overwhelmed with stress. You are the two most important masterpieces of my life, and I wouldn’t be the person I am if not for you.

To my coach, Nikki, who helps me make sense of the mess that’s my brain and keeps me from burning out. Thank you for giving me fabulous ideas, too! It was Nikki who pointed me towards the @AskAMortician YouTube channel, where I found the most incredible material on Lake Superior and its shipwrecks.

And so, thank you to Caitlin Doughty aka @AskAMoritcian! If you don’t know her, check her out! I don’t know anyone else who speaks so fabulously about death and dying.

Many thanks to my editor, Shannon. My books would have been so much messier without you.

And thank you to my PA, Ava! Your enthusiasm and wonderful work ethic make me feel so supported, and your reels make me laugh in the most undignified ways.

Many thanks to the amazing artists who help me bring my characters and stories to life with amazing art!

Finally, thank you, Cara and Cassie, for being my friends. And to all the members of my favorite Discord server—you guys are my haven.

MONSTER SECURITY AGENCY

Guarded by the Golem by Cara Wylde

Guarded by the Snake by Layla Fae

Guarded by the Spider by Cassie Alexander

Guarded by the Kraken by Cassie Alexander

Guarded by the Leshy by Cara Wylde

Guarded by the Vodnik by Layla Fae

Guarded by the Phantom by Layla Fae

Guarded by the Nightmare by Cassie Alexander

Guarded by the Reaper by Cara Wylde

MORE BOOKS BY LAYLA FAE

Jaga and the Devil: A Dark Fantasy Romance

Devil's Deal

Devil's Doom

Devil's Dance

***

Finger Licking Monsters

Draco: A Dragon Chef Romance

Trickster: An Old God Romance

Falling for Mr. Hyde: A Paranormal Academy Headmaster Romance

***

Arranged Monster Mates

Wed to the Ice Giant

Wed to the Orc

Wed to the Lich

Wed to Jack Frost

Wed to the Basilisk

***

Ghosts of Halloween

Jacked

Carved

Gutted

***

Monster Security Agency

Guarded by the Snake

Guarded by the Vodnik

Guarded by the Phantom

***

Dark and Twisted

GHOUL