The creature’s tentacle withdrew from Anika’s grasp. He swam back from her a little, then paused, hovering like a ghost. His silvery look was watchful, expectant.

Anika smiled and swam after him. He leaned back as she did. Sleek and horizontal, he propelled himself through the water like a languid torpedo. About a foot above him, Anika glided along in parallel, close to the surface of the waves.

They swam about like this for a while, retreating to and from the shallows of the cove. The creature led, and Anika followed. At times he would skirt just beneath her belly. Then he would dive deeper, nearly out of sight—playfully, almost, as if he were baiting her.

Deciding to test this theory out, to see if he was really playing around with her or if it was just a projection on her part, Anika veered from him and swam away—only to be cut off by him effortlessly. She turned again and shot off as fast as she could. He let her get more of a head start this time, before outpacing her easily once more. Panting into her mouthpiece, Anika watched as he did a series of sinuous, shimmery laps around her.

Showoff, she thought with a quirk of lip. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that his glow seemed a tad smug.

He orbited her more closely with every lap. When came near enough for her to reach out and touch him, she did. She traced lightly over one of the gauzy ruffles that wreathed him. Under her fingertips, the silky ruffle fluttered, delicate as a moth’s wing against her skin. He paused when she grazed him. She worried for a second he’d disliked it, until he drifted even closer, inviting her to touch him again.

With both hands now, Anika explored him. She’d thought his body might be slimy, like an eel’s, but it wasn’t. It was slick in a silken way that felt very pleasurable to the touch. When she smoothed near his silvery eyes, they closed, seeming to meld seamlessly into the rest of him. His satiny casing rippled subtly under her hands. She took this to mean that he was enjoying the sensation, too.

It was surreal to her. Most wild creatures didn’t like to be touched. The only thing that could have surprised her more—and did—was when he touched her back. It was just the lightest brush of a tentacle against the crease of her inner thigh, but Anika went stock-still, flushing.

Just a coincidence, she told herself, swallowing.

The creature had no idea he’d given her an intimate caress. He’d just happened to touch her there, like that. His tentacle circled around to the outside of her thigh. When he trailed down the side her leg, she breathed out in bubbling relief.

More tentacles joined the first, skimming along her arms and legs, her back and stomach. There was a quality of innocent curiosity in this exploration that made her wonder again about that first touch to her inner thigh. Some voice in the back of her mind whispered, Is it really a coincidence he hasn’t happened to caress you anywhere else?

But Anika ignored it. That line of thinking was not only disturbing, but absurd.

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Original Publication Date: 1/24/24

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The Cove © CS Dark Fantasy