Page 51 of Secrets of the Void
And then his tongue found a spot deep inside of her that made pleasure sparkle behind her eyes. She stopped breathing as he slid past it and knew the moment he recognized her reaction. Suddenly he attacked that spot. That hot, vibrating tongue flicking quickly right where she wanted him most.
Her back bowed, her hands clamped down harder on the arms of the chair. Every muscle in her body tensed and coiled, reaching for something she feared might hurt, but then...
Bliss.
She could feel her inner muscles clenching around his tongue, milking him for something that wasn't entirely possible from a tongue like that. Her chest ached and then soothed as everything inside of her rode that wave to become liquid with relief.
She had no idea what had happened. But she'd seen people in Tau react the same way, and now she knew what it was like to come. Now she knew what a wonder it was to feel connected like this with another person.
Blinking her eyes open again, she stared down at him still between her thighs. He had withdrawn his tongue, but was still gently licking between her thighs. Soothing her through what had been her first orgasm.
Proteus seemed reluctant to let her go. But eventually he opened his jaws, pulling his teeth from her flesh where they had all bitten a little too deep. Tiny aches of pain registered, but she didn't mind them. Ellie didn't even care when droplets ofblood dripped from the wounds, sliding down her torso like he'd decorated her torso in rubies.
Proteus stared at them with a strange mix of emotions in his eyes. She swore he was sad, but also immensely pleased to see those marks.
"I promised I wouldn't hurt you again," he said as his jaw closed back up. "I seem to have lied."
She reached for his face, palming it in her hand to make him look at her. "It didn't hurt. You gave me a gift, Proteus."
The grin on his face was decidedly wicked. "Trust me, Sisu. You were the one giving that gift."
Twenty-One
Proteus
Proteus did not have time to be so distracted, and yet, here he was. The taste of her still lingered on his tongue. The sounds she made in the throes of passion haunted every waking and dreaming moment.
He couldn't get her out of his head. Every second of his time was spent thinking about her, and still it only seemed to be getting stronger.
The plan was the only thing he should be focusing on. Proteus knew damn well there wasn't another person in the entire ocean who could do what he could do. If he played this out correctly, then he could finally get the humans back where they belonged. He could free the People of Water from their shackles and make certain that the world returned to the way it had been before.
He could and would do this. It was his destiny, as told by the ancients, from the very first moment he was born. He was meant to bring this world back together, putting the pieces back into the whole as they were always meant to be.
And yet, here he was. Distracted by the clone of a woman who was dead, and he couldn't stop thinking about her.
Not the Original. Not the woman who had been the first. But this wonderful, distracting, honorable woman who had given him every ounce of her attention and focus since the very first moment that he'd woken her.
He had to get moving, though. He couldn't stay in here with her forever knowing that, no matter what he did, he was just going to focus on the way she tasted and the noises she made.
Proteus left both her and Pilot in Sanctuary. Both of them had been given very strict instructions, so they were ready when he returned.
Ellie was to focus on building holograms that would inspire the people he brought back with him. He trusted her to know the human mind and what would convince them that it was a good idea to leave the sea permanently.
Pilot was to stay and watch over Ellie. The droid would ground her, and help her in her task, but it was not to leave to go to another facility like it had before. That kind of behavior would end with the droid's memory bank being wiped, and he would make sure that Pilot would forget every ounce of what he had learned in all these centuries since he had been created.
The threat was perhaps an empty one. Proteus knew he needed the droid. But knowing that Ellie had been left alone specifically because Pilot had been bored made him want to strip the metal parts off of it and scream into the void that was left.
Neither was an easy task. Proteus swam up and over a mound of rocks that had once been part of a towering spire. He remembered this area so easily from when he had been a boy. There had been so much here that used to captivate him.
Once, it had been a mating ground for giant squid. They had been bigger than him, which was surprising considering he'dbeen massive even as a child. But now there was nothing left here. Just darkness and a wasteland.
The sea was still licking its wounds. After centuries of mistreatment, there was plenty for him to focus on here. His home was still bleeding, and he needed to pay attention to that. Not her. Not the woman he had left behind, who he knew was in safe hands.
He had to focus on the sea he was going to save and the world he left behind. It could be fixed if he could just get the humans out of the sea. Then, he would finally be doing what he had been created for.
But first, he had to convince them. Thankfully, he expected that to be easy.
For a while now, he'd been followed. He knew who was following him from the scent on the waves. This depthstrider had been trying to seek him out for ages. This was the one who had first found his tomb, although Proteus had yet to forgive the male for not trying to release him.
