Page 35 of Battle Fluke
“Why don’t you find out?” Hudson said, trying to entice Kyree even closer.
Honour tugged Kyree’s wrist, but Kyree broke free.
Interesting.
Hudson watched with rapt attention as Kyree swam closer to her, slowly, with one swish of her tail at a time. Was she actually coming over here to touch her? To check on her?
“Are you hurt?” Kyree reiterated her question from before, this time her voice much softer. “You took just as much of a beating as Honour did.”
For the first time in her life, Hudson was at a loss for words. Kyree danced her fingers over Hudson’s arms and tail, then her torso. She skipped Hudson’s breasts—but that could be expected. It wasn’t sexual pleasure that Hudson felt, though. It was an undefinable warmth, one she’d never quite experienced before.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she couldn’t force her lungs to open. Kyree must have noticed because she tossed a concerned look over her shoulder in Honour’s direction. Honour swam closer, her open wound already sewn together and bandaged up. When had Kyree managed to do that?
“Hudson?” Kyree asked. “You need to breathe.”
Sucking in sharply, water entered her lungs and broke the tension in her chest. At least, Hudson had thought it had, but when she looked back up into Kyree’s eyes, she couldn’t stop herself from wondering again…just what would those lips feel like pressed against hers?
“I always enjoy a bit of physical release after a battle,” Hudson said. She’d meant for the words to come out harsh, for them to push Kyree away with her bluntness, but they hadn’t. They’d been soft, echoing of unmet desires.
“Do you?” Kyree asked, a brow raising and curiosity filling her features.
Hudson nodded, and she risked a glance toward Honour. “Don’t you?”
Honour was nodding before she caught herself, as if she was trapped in the same trance that Hudson found herself in, one that was filled with nothing other than Kyree, the beautiful dark, deep sounding mer, that was the center of their entire world.
“That’s not something I would have ever expected,” Kyree murmured, her fingers once again tracing lines down Hudson’s torso, but this time, they had a different purpose. Kyree touched Hudson’s ribs, sliding her hands down to the start of her scales and then back up, over the generous swell of her breasts to her nipple.
Was Kyree seducing her?
“Why wouldn’t you?” Hudson asked, reaching out and grasping onto Honour’s hand. She tightened her grip.
“I’ve never been in battle before.” Kyree bit her lip, her gaze following the course of her fingers. “I was so scared.”
She didn’t expect Hudson to admit her own fears now, did she? Surely. That was a harebrained idea.
“It’s frightening for everyone, even those of us who have been there before,” Honour added, squeezing Hudson’s hand back.
That same silent communication was already happening between them. They were picking back up right where they had during the battle, as if no time had passed, as if they were working together for the same cause. But were they?
“I don’t believe Hudson was afraid of that kraken.”
Kyree was right. Hudson hadn’t been afraid of that machine, of the monster she knew she could destroy. But she had been afraid. For a very brief moment, when that third beast had risen up behind Kyree, who remained unaware, she had been afraid. She’d been frozen on the spot, drenched in fear. Honour hadmoved first, and Hudson had struggled to catch up, to make her way to protect the one mer who needed it the most.
Kyree.
But she couldn’t say that. She refused to admit that that had been what she’d felt. But she knew it, without a doubt. Fear had found her, for the first time ever. Hudson lifted her hand, touching Kyree’s cheek, cupping her face. Kyree turned into her, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath.
Hudson reveled in that, in the fact that they were all here together, for the first time all on equal ground. Yet here they were. Without thinking, Hudson pulled Kyree down. She pressed their mouths together. She breathed in Kyree’s breath. She closed her eyes, smelling nothing other than Kyree’s deep, salty scent, the faint seaweed flavor that lingered on her lips.
“Hudson!” Honour shouted and jerked Kyree back, pressing herself between the two of them.
Kyree’s eyes were wide, her body rigid. But she moved her gaze from Honour to Hudson and back again, then she shook her head.
“No,” Kyree stated, firmly but with a gentle tone.
A thrill ran through Hudson. She’d gotten her kiss, and it had been amazing. Even for those two seconds that it had lasted, she hadn’t wanted it to end. She wanted that flavor back on her lips. She wanted the softness of Kyree’s mouth on hers, on her neck, her breasts, her slit—fuck, anywhere she could get it.
Kyree wrapped her hand behind Honour’s neck and pulled their mouths together. Hudson’s heart leapt into her throat as she watched with rapt attention. Kyree slid her tongue along Honour’s lower lip, pressing their chests together as she pushed Honour into the sandy ocean floor, covering her entirely.