Page 36 of Brine and Bone
Lips already stretched across a smirk.
Until Kore whined, pressing her face against Nyxarion's gills. "Please, Nyx. Please…please…"
Thalos' smile faltered, then vanished. His pupils ballooning wide. Growing flat and reflective as the scent of slick bled through the current.
Spines flaring, fins spread to catch the current, Nyx allowed himself to drift closer. Imposing. Dwarfing the Shallow King with pure Abyssari strength.
Unashamed, because his bride had a taste for sun clams.
And Nyxarion would feed her exactly what she needed.
CHAPTER 9
It was the perfume that hit him first.
Thick.
Layered and complex.
A cocktail of pheromones so dense it stained the water with the bouquet of a Siren for a dozen meters in every direction.
Drawing it across his palate, Thalos' fins shivered as he drank it down. Luxuriating in her chemical signature as it filtered through his gills.
Tasting what Nyx had done.
Venom.
Fresh, humming just under her skin.
Kore's blood was saturated with it.
Ripe.
Teeth flashing, Thalos' smile grew wide. Predatory.
So predictable.
Suspended in the dark waters, Nyxarion exited the riptide with a flick of his tail. Entering the mid-ground with Kore crushed tight to his chest. One massive arm banded across her back. Tail churning slow circles through the current.
Gills fluttering, Kore panted against him. Fingers curled into dainty, pathetic little claws where she clutched at Nyxarion'sshoulder. Those grotesque legs wrapped around his hips in a way Thalos couldn’t help but track.
And as he watched, greedy, drinking her in, she shuddered. Biolume rippling across her skin with enticing light as her hips rolled.
Thalos looked.
Shameless.
The snarl that erupted from Nyxarion's chest was heavy enough to push him back. Subsonic. A pressure wave that vibrated the current and landed in Thalos' ribs.
It was a threat. A claim.
Something furious and possessive.
But they werehere.
Nyxarion had brought her to him.
Grin widening, flashing teeth, Thalos said, "Korrides," in a tone reserved for lesser members of his own court. As if he were in Caelith Mare, and not an interloper in the Black Sea.
