Page 30 of Technically Abducted
"I'm right here," Tev'ra says, and suddenly he is—close enough to touch, his presence solid and reassuring. "You're safe. The water is only chest-deep, you can stand easily."
I force myself to breathe, to focus on the feeling of the pool floor beneath my feet, the way the water supports rather than threatens. Tev'ra doesn't touch me, but he stays close, letting me adjust at my own pace.
"Better?" he asks after a minute.
"Getting there." I look at him, noting how the water amplifies every detail—the way it clings to his skin, the play of light patterns beneath the surface, the way his hair darkens when wet. "You're really glowing."
"Aquatic environments are... stimulating for Nereidans," he says, and there's something in his voice that makes me think he's not just talking about the bioluminescence.
"Stimulating how?"
"Enhanced sensory response. Improved conductivity of bioelectric signals. Increased..." He pauses, and his skin flares brighter. "Physical sensitivity."
Oh.
"So being in the water is kind of like..." I gesture vaguely.
"An aphrodisiac would be an oversimplification, but there are certain... heightened responses to aquatic environments, yes."
I look around the pool, suddenly understanding why this space feels so intimate, so private. "And you brought me here for swimming lessons."
"The instruction is legitimate," Tev'ra says quickly. "Though I perhaps should have... mentioned the potential complications."
"Complications," I repeat, acutely aware of how close we're standing, how the water seems to amplify everything—the heat radiating from his skin, the subtle scent that's uniquely him, the way his pupils have dilated slightly.
"Yes," he says quietly. "Complications."
"So," I say, my voice rougher than I intended. "About those swimming lessons."
Tev'ra's bioluminescence pulses brighter, patterns swirling across his skin in hypnotic spirals. "Yes. The lessons."
But neither of us moves to start any actual instruction. We just stand there in the water, close enough to touch, close enough that I can see the way his breathing has changed, the way his gaze keeps dropping to my mouth.
"Finn," he says, and my name sounds different in his voice now. Less clinical, more personal.
"Yeah?"
"I think," he says carefully, "the swimming instruction may be more complex than originally anticipated."
I laugh, though it comes out shaky. "No kidding."
The water moves around us as Tev'ra steps closer, close enough that I can feel the current of his movement against my skin. His bioluminescence is so bright now it's lighting up the entire area around us, creating patterns that seem to respond to his pulse, his breathing, his proximity to me.
"Are you still frightened?" he asks softly.
I consider this. The water that terrified me minutes ago now feels like a secondary concern compared to the way Tev'ra is looking at me, the way my body is responding to his nearness.
"Of the water?" I ask. "Not so much anymore."
"Of what else?"
That's a loaded question. I'm afraid of a lot of things—of being vulnerable, of trusting someone, of the way Tev'ra makes me want things I've never let myself want.
"I don't know," I admit. "This is all pretty new territory for me."
His expression softens. "New territory how?"
I feel heat rise in my cheeks despite the warm water. "I'm not exactly... experienced with this kind of thing."
