“Yeah, it’ll work. Just wanted to make sure it came off.” She brought the mask up to her face, and it resealed. Then she paused, eyes drifting upward, and nodded. “Okay, Sam. Thank you.”
“What?” Jax asked.
“You can’t hear him?”
“Hear who? The ghost?”
“Yes. Sam. He’s talking to me in the suit.” She tilted her head. “You can hear me, but not him?”
“I have not heard him since he disappeared, Macy.” The ghost was speaking to her in her head? It made Jax uneasy, but if she trusted it, so would he…though he’d remain wary.
“I guess his voice doesn’t project like mine does.”
She walked to the edge of the island and lowered herself into the water; with the receding tide, it only reached to her middle. Her hands skimmed over the surface.
“It’s so different. Like I’m not even in the water at all,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Jax. “It’s not even cold.”
Jax moved into the water as well. Macy bent down, submerged her arms, and swung them slowly back and forth. He eased himself as deep as his shoulders and swam backward, toward the underwater tunnel.
“This way, Macy.”
The water rose as she followed. She didn’t stop until it reached her neck, head tilted back to keep her chin above the waterline. Her rounded eyes were locked on the dark water before her.
“Macy?”
“I’m…I’m scared.”
He swam to her side and placed a hand on her arm; the suit felt different, now that she had it on, and seemed to vibrate faintly beneath his palm. “What is there to fear?”
She laughed. “Everything. Humans aren’t meant for the sea.”
“And kraken are not meant to exist,” he replied gently, “but that hasn’t stopped either of our people.”
She stared at him, her gaze unwavering. “Will you…will you keep hold of me?”
“Yes.” He moved to her front, facing her, and put an arm around her waist. She hugged his neck and didn’t struggle when he raised two tentacles to support her legs and lift her feet off the bottom.
Slowly, Jax swam backward. Her body tensed. The suit’s low thrum pulsed through him.
“I will protect you, Macy. I will keep you safe. Trust me in this.”
Macy encircled his hips with her legs, holding herself that much closer, and searched his face. She nodded. “I do.”
“Good.” His chest swelled with pride and, something more.
Their position was very near the tangle of limbs that was two kraken mating. His shaft, still hidden, was pressed between her legs. It ached to be released.
Their relationship had changed so much in so short a time; a few days ago, she would’ve slapped him if he laid a finger upon her. Now, she clung to him like he was her rock during a storm. But his physical attraction to her was only a small part of his desire for Macy.
He longed for her companionship. To hear her voice, and listen to everything she had to say, to share his meals with her, to share a den with her.
Jax wanted Macy to claim him as her own.
He wanted to be the one she chose. The one she joined with.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She inhaled deeply and slow released the breath. “I’m ready.”
Though her features were drawn, displaying her fear, her eyes remained steady.
She has the heart of a hunter.
Jax smiled and dipped underwater.
Chapter 11
Macy tightened her hold on Jax as they submerged. She waited for water to fill her ears, nose, and mouth, to drag her to depths that couldn’t be penetrated by light, but she was met with only silence. Her lungs filled with fresh, clean air.
The light in the mask made it difficult to see through the dark water surrounding her.
“Sam, could you turn off the inside light?”
It turned off instantly.
Ice flowed through her as she was plunged into darkness. Her heart thundered, and her breath grew shallow. The ocean was terrifying enough, but the ocean in total darkness?
“Would you like the external lamp switched on, or would you prefer to activate night vision?”
A gentle glow filled her vision. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, and another few to understand the source of the illumination — Jax. His stripes emitted soft, blue light.
“I…don’t need anything right now, Sam.”
She stared at Jax in wonder as they descended toward an opening on the cave wall, near the floor — a tunnel. Her hold on him strengthened while he guided them through the opening. Keeping an arm around her, he pulled them along with his free hand and tentacles, maneuvering around the turns and avoiding jutting rocks.
Macy was glad she hadn’t been brave enough to attempt this route on her own. She had no doubt she would’ve drowned.
Soon, she saw a light ahead; Jax’s skin dimmed as they neared. They emerged from the tunnel soon after.
The ocean was as she’d never seen it before. Rays of morning sunlight streamed through the surface at harsh angles, lighting up the sea floor below — swaying seagrass, sand, and colorful bits of coral. In the shaded spots, the plants gave off their own light, all in various shades of blue. Fish and other sea creatures — some that she’d never seen before — swam alone and in schools or scuttled along the bottom.
She raised her eyes and looked straight ahead. It was so open and blue, so beautiful, so terrible, and she was an insignificant thing that could be swallowed up at any moment.
Except she had Jax. Jax, who’d sworn to keep her safe. This was his world, and she trusted him.
Admitting that to him — and to herself — had eased her fears. She didn’t have to carry it on her own. Jax was strong, and he was here to lessen her burden, to ensure she wasn’t crushed beneath it.
Macy turned her head toward him. He was watching her intently, and hadn’t loosened his hold on her.
“I’m okay,” she said.
He shook his head and gestured to the side of his head — where his ear hole was located.
He can’t hear me.
She released her hold on his neck and placed a hand on the center of her chest. With her other hand, she pointed down.
Jax nodded and swam toward the bottom. His movement was strange, in open water; he’d fan out his tentacles and bring them all together, thrusting himself forward. Each thrust propelled them far, their speed diminishing just before he spread his tentacles again. They reached the seafloor within seconds. Various creatures scurried away, kicking up clouds of sand as they sought shelter amidst rocks, pieces of coral, and clumps of grass.
Macy grinned and lowered her legs from his hips, patting his arm. He hesitated, eyeing her skeptically, but released his hold on her.
She dropped the last bit of distance. Her feet touched the bottom lightly, and though she couldn’t feel the grains of sand through the suit, it was an amazing experience.
She was walking on the ocean floor.
The joy she’d known as a child came roaring back. It had been so long since she felt such exhilaration, such delight, so long since she’d reveled in discovering something new.
Jax remained close as she stepped around the plant life. She bent down and brushed her fingers over a shell tucked in the seagrass. Picking it up, she raised it for inspection, releasing a yelp when at least a dozen legs sprouted from the opening. Macy dropped the shell and stumbled back.
A tentacle wrapped around her waist, halting her backward momentum. She glanced at Jax first — he wore an amused smile — and then behind her. Jagged rocks jutted from the seafloor just centimeters from her heel.
He righted her, and she patted his tentacle. When he released his hold, she turned her attention down, searching for the shelled creature. It was about a meter away, sending up puffs of sand as it dug a hole to bury itself in.
Jax caught her attention and waved for her to follow as he swam away. She felt a moment of alarm �
� he was her safety, her rock, and walking on solid ground wasn’t nearly the same as swimming in open water, dealing with currents and riptides and…
He won’t let anything happen to me.
Keeping her eyes on Jax, Macy kicked off the sea floor. She swam after him, and any lingering worry faded away; with the suit, she glided through the water and caught up with him quickly.
He increased his pace gradually, swimming just to the side and ahead of her. She pulled ahead briefly between each of his powerful thrusts — and she’d been right, it was like flying, now more than ever. But her attention returned to Jax over and over; he moved with undeniable strength and grace, and seeing him here — in his natural environment — was as wondrous as the ocean itself.
Jax glanced at her over his shoulder. Macy smiled, her stomach fluttering with excitement. She hadn’t felt so giddy since her childhood. When he returned the smile, her excitement took a different turn; the sensation in her belly spread until she was warm all over.
“I have detected a fluctuation in your body temperature. Do you—”
“Not now, Sam,” she said, blushing.
As Jax drew alongside her, he caught her hand and pulled her close. He slipped his arms around her; she wrapped her arms and legs around him without conscious thought.
Their momentum slowed, and for a moment, they seemed to drift on the current. Then they darted forward, faster than she’d thought possible. Water rushed by; Jax spun, giving Macy a dazzling show of light as the sparkling surface tumbled around her, alternately above and below, until she wasn’t sure which way was up. She laughed, pressing her head to his shoulder.
His spin gradually ended, and they came to a stop. Macy pulled back to look at Jax. He grinned at her, displaying his sharp teeth, and it didn’t unsettle her. There was genuine delight in his expression.
He shifted so they were both upright, and Macy withdrew her legs from his waist. His gaze flicked to something over her shoulder, and he nodded in the same direction. Macy turned her head to see what he had gestured toward.
Huge stalks of seaweed swayed in the current behind her, anchored to the seafloor by thick stems. Sunlight beamed through the large leaves, granting them delicate violet and crimson glows. The plants stretched as far as she could see, so dense in some places that they appeared impenetrable, and a variety of creatures swam in and out of the leaves.
It was an underwater forest.
“Wow.” She looked back to Jax and pointed toward the seaweed.
He released her, and once there was a little space between them, he pointed at her and then down at the ground. She nodded and allowed herself to sink to the sea floor. Jax cast her a glance over his shoulder and disappeared into the seaweed forest.
Macy frowned, sweeping her gaze over the stalks for any sign of him. What was he doing?
“Jax?” she called, before remembering he couldn’t hear her. She stepped closer.
The fish continued their business, and small creatures scurried along the bottom, darting from stalk to stalk. The leaves cast tinted shadows on the seafloor around Macy’s feet. She raised a hand and pushed aside the seaweed to peer beyond.
Macy crossed the boundary, brushing leaves as she moved farther in. Seagrass was thick around her feet. Creatures fled at her approach, seeking shelter in the surrounding seaweed.
“Jax?”
Something grabbed her shoulder.
Macy shrieked and spun around.
It took her a moment to realize she was looking at Jax; his skin matched the seaweed — a blend of red and purple — right down to its apparent texture. He frowned, eyes narrowed.
She’d seen him change color before and assumed it had something to do with his emotions, but she’d never seen his skin like this. If he hadn’t touched her, she would never have noticed him. He was almost perfectly camouflaged.
And he didn’t look happy.
He took her hand and led her deeper into the forest. The color of his skin rippled, reverting to normal. She touched his shoulder just to see if it would change again.
Jax glanced at her, brow lifted in question, but he continued forward, keeping close to the bottom.
Macy smiled and squeezed his hand. “Don’t be mad at me.”
He squeezed her hand back, gently, and pointed up.
She tilted her head back, and her breath hitched in her throat. Here, amidst the seaweed, the light was even more intense. The surface broke it into shafts, like the beams of sunlight that sometimes penetrated the clouds after a storm. The backlit, ever-shifting leaves reminded her of the panes of the stained-glass window back in The Watch — the one that had been put together in the lighthouse to commemorate the fallen colonists of years gone by.
The result was an array of dancing color — whites, blues, greens, reds, and purples — unlike anything she’d ever seen.
Macy lowered her gaze to watch Jax as they swam. The multicolored shadows on his skin seemed fitting; he could change into any of those colors, she was sure; perhaps even all of them at once.
They spent hours exploring the seaweed forest and the surrounding area. It wasn’t until Macy felt hollow pangs of hunger that she caught Jax’s attention, rubbing her stomach.
He nodded, and they swam back toward the cave.
Before they reached the underwater cliffside, he gestured to her again — just a bit more forcefully than before — and pointed at the floor. She guessed that he had meant for her to stay put the first time. She smirked and made to move forward.
He didn’t gesture or point again. Instead, he glared at her.
Macy chuckled and moved back. “Okay, okay. I get it.”
He’d left her on the edge of a shallow drop-off. She watched as he moved to the rocks and grass below. Fish darted away from him, but he didn’t pay attention to any of them. He perched himself atop one of the larger rocks, and his skin changed instantly to match the stone. If she didn’t know any better, she might’ve thought he’d vanished; he looked like part of the rock itself.
She was hungry, but her hunger didn’t outweigh her curiosity as time passed. Jax had brought her a lot of food over the last few days, and she was eager to see how he hunted, eager to see him in action.
Little by little, the fish returned to the area around Jax. He remained so still that she almost doubted he was there.
A school of large, orange fish — gulpers, to the people of The Watch, because their mouths opened wider than their bodies — swam near the rock.
The sudden movement was too fast for Macy to fully register. Jax’s tentacles flared out, enveloping the gulpers like a large net. In a blur of frantic motion, dozens of the fish scattered in all directions, regrouping several meters away.
Jax returned to his normal coloring. For several seconds, he was a mass of writhing tentacles. Then he swam back toward her. The three bright orange fish he’d caught, each wrapped in a tentacle, were easy to spot against his dark skin.
“That was amazing!” Macy grinned at him as he neared.
Smiling, he pointed toward the cave.
She glanced back at the tunnel and bit her lip. The thought of braving the dark, narrow passage on her own sent a chill along her spine.
One problem at a time.
The open ocean had pushed her courage far enough, for now. She turned back to Jax and extended her arms. He embraced Macy without hesitation and swam into the tunnel with her.
When Sam asked if she wanted light, she declined, preferring to bask in Jax’s glow.
They exited the tunnel and broke the surface soon after.
“Sam, release the mask,” she said.
“All right. Field generator deactivated,” Sam said.
There was a soft hiss as the seal was broken. She yanked off the mask and tugged her hood down as Jax carried her through the water. As they reached the island’s edge, Macy tossed the mask atop the spare clothing. She turned to Jax, threw her arms around him again, and rested her cheek on his shoulder.
“Thank you, Jax!” Lingering exhilaration thrummed through her.
She would never have thought it possible to feel that way, especially after she’d given up the sea, but this had been more than she could’ve imagined. The guilt of her sister’s death had weighed down Macy’s heart for years. She’d suffered stares of pity and accusation, had tormented herself with what-ifs. Today, for the first time in so long, Macy had lived.
Because of Jax.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun. It was wonderful!” Macy lifted her head and pressed her lips to his.
Jax tensed. She only registered what she’d done when his eyes widened.
Macy quickly pulled back. “Oh.”
He searched her face, his brow drawn in confusion, and — before she realized what he meant to do — he leaned down and kissed her.
She clenched his shoulders as his mouth pressed against hers; his lips were soft and firm at once, and heat spread across her face and sparked fire in her belly.
This was what Camrin’s kiss had been missing. This unfamiliar, unexpected, overwhelming sensation that stole the breath from her lungs. She forgot everything around her; she and Jax may well have been the only two people in the world. Jax’s lack of skill was meaningless, because his slightest touch sent pleasure spiraling through her.
Macy closed her eyes and gave herself to the kiss. It was a whispering caress, a soft brush of mouths, and their breath mingled as they explored one another.
Jax’s tentacles slid up her legs and over her back, rubbing gently. He drew her against him, and she felt the rapid thumping of his hearts, melding with her own heartbeat through their chests.
The prick of his claws on her hip and the graze of his teeth heightened her awareness of him; something sparked within Macy, something dark and forbidden. Liquid heat pooled between her legs, and her sex pulsated with need.
Macy opened her mouth and touched her tongue to his lips.
Jax’s entire body jolted. He pulled away abruptly, sat her on the edge of the island, and sank into the water to his shoulders.
Treasure of the Abyss Page 12
