Chapter 106: Dragged Down

Tugging his left arm back, Parc began to swiftly rewound his chains, causing them to charge through the water as they re-entered his gauntlet. But soon came to a grinding halt when Najenda, whose arm was wrapped in the tip of the chain, dug her heels into the earth and resisted the pulling force.

Gritting her teeth together, her lips slightly quirked upwards realizing what exactly it was Parc was attempting to do. "I don't, swim," She said twisting her body with enough force to drag Parc through the water only to stop himself by lifting his legs up, planting the soles of his feet on the outcropping, both hand's tightly gripping his thickest chain.

"C'mon, it's fun. The waters ice cold," he chuckled with a little tug bringing them into a stalemate.

"Enough reason not to go diving then," she grumbled.

"Not a good enough one I'd say." Parc chuckled in return, an evil glint coming to his eye as he sent a second chain shooting out of his gauntlet towards Najenda who narrowly dodge it by dodging to the side. Bringing her unchained arm up and over it, proceeding to hook under it and grip the chain. Her chest puffed up with a deep breath as she kicked off the stone trying to tear Parc from the water.

But he was persistent and unwilling to give up. And so, he sent the last of his chains, his third and final. Letting it pierce through the air like a javelin. It swept across the ground just a few centimetres above, leaving Najenda with only one option, to let it take her legs or what she actually did. Hop into the air. Knowing full well that her support of the earth was now gone. Giving Parc the capability of pushing off the rock wall and retract his chains back into his gauntlet. Rapidly dragging Najenda towards him.

His cocky smirk soon faltered as he saw Najenda expression turn up into a foreboding grin. Both her hands coming together, fingers interweaving into a single ball that she then rose above her head.

"Huh, should have expected this," Parc mumbled with blank eyes as Najenda threw her balled hands down, impacting his head and sending a large splash through the lake, large enough that it took a second for the water to refill the small crater she formed.

And while that happened, both Najenda and Parc found themselves rapidly descending through the water. Najenda till dragged along by Parc's chains while Parc was feeling a powerful migraine coming along.

The water pressure soon began to slow Parc's velocity, finally stopping his and Najenda's downwards decent halfway to the bottom of the lake. Parc in a daze while Najenda just smirked with puffed cheeks at his limply suspended body. Rapidly blinking as he stared at the ceiling of shimmering light.

Catching the sight of Najenda in his peripheral vision, Parc dragged his aching attention onto her and her 'you get what you deserve' expression. A sight that sent a twitch through his cheek. 'two can play at this game, Najenda.' He inwardly cackled lifting up his left hand towards her, earning a raised brow from the woman which soon turned to a surprised 'gurgle' as she was uncontrollably dragged through the water towards Parc. Their distance already close and her unaccustomed surroundings of water leaving her without enough time to prepare for a counter. Instead all she could do was prepare for Parc's retaliation. For his own hit, his payback.

Yet it came not in the form of a punch, nor a kick. Instead as she arrived before him, he hooked an arm behind her back, right above her buttocks while his other rose to her scapula. The chains he'd had around her arms released. Letting her arms hover at her sides while he went in for the 'kill' by cockily smirking and pushed his lips onto hers.

Tongue already burrowing between her lips and into her mouth with little resistance from her who could only 'let out' a surprised gurgle and push what little water was in her mouth into Parc's, practically forcing it down his gullet. All whilst feeling his tongue skilfully twisting around her own, forcing her to push her own tongue into his mouth. Drawing her eyes to a hazy, but still clear glaze.

There beneath the water's surface they unconsciously traded breaths. Tasting the very depths of each other's bodies. Her hands that floated by her side had come to wrap around Parc's back, pressing into and holding his muscular body while his own hands lowered, gripping her bottom through her now soaked suit pants.

Neither kicking nor flapping their hands to keep them suspended, leaving them to start drifting upwards, breaking through the waters surface in each other's embrace. Allowing them just a short moment to part from the others lips and breath in fresh oxygen before once again locking lips together into passionate undulations.

Moments travelled to minutes, neither growing tired of traversing the others body with their hands nor their tongues from within their mouths. Both sets of eyes clasped shut, uncaring for the shimmer of river tuna swimming just below the surface or the hellbender devouring one after another that swam past its perch on the lake bottom.

When finally they did part, both were left panting. Najenda's eyes a sharp gloss, just barely able to keep her eyelid from collapsing shut while her eyepatch remained firmly over her right eye. Parc on the other hand, more experienced with such was calm, his own fully opened with his brows angled down into a gentle expression. A hand that gripped her bottom releasing it, slowly travelling through the water, stroking across her suit and onto her cheek.

"I'm ready whenever you are Najenda," he whispered to her, thumb stroking over her cheekbone.

Najenda light gulped, clearing her throat of spittle and letting her tongue regain a hint of normalcy whilst still feeling the phantom kiss upon her lips. She knew fully well that he was ready, how could she not when she could feel something hard pressing against her belly.

Still, she as the leader of Night Raid, a general in two armies. Someone who challenged monsters in games of death and came out victorious time and time again. Was just a simple woman, one who had never truly felt 'love' was what she felt for him truly love? Or just some strange attraction to him?

And that made her heart nervous. It made it jump and squirm like she was a teenage girl engrossed with some childish crush for the boy of her dream.

It went against her, her very being, her very position. It would ruin her reputation, perhaps not amongst the army, nor those in Night Raid. But her own opinion of her reputation for allowing herself this small weakness.

"The wars nearly over Najenda," Parc whispered, bringing her back from her thoughts, "You've fought for a long time, sealed yourself away. You don't have to do it anymore. Four days and you will be free to be the woman you want to be. That I know you want to be." Lowering his hand from her cheek and back into the water to keep them both still, he kept speaking. "what's a few days earlier. But you can also let yourself go now, prepare yourself for the woman you'll become. You don't have to be 'the hunk' anymore. You can just be 'Najenda.'"

He could see her mind racing in thought. The faint uncertainty in her expression, something he had never seen in her even once. Yet something he felt she showed when alone.

Bringing her hands up and onto Parc's chest, Najenda's pale cheeks turned red, "three days," she said, "The night, three days from now. I'll… I will be ready." Pushing against his chest, Najenda parted herself from Parc's body, legs kicking hard to keep herself from dunking beneath the water with the added weight of her metal arm.

With eyes trained on each other, Parc simply smiled and nodded, "I'll be there."

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Shameless plug, I started a sfw story, planning for releases to be weekly/around weekly. Releases up to chapter 10/20 will be thrown out as I finish them but once I get that initial chapter count hook I'll be switching to the actual weekly schedule (I am planning, don't hold me to it) while I get the patr-eon tiers filled up.

Basically it's a post apocalyptic story with somewhat of a gameshow themeing inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl (I can not recommend it enough, it's on Royal Road and it is amazing.)

It's called Resurgence Watch, currently got 4 chapters out and about.

https://www.webnovel.com/book/17580909405606305

(Link is in Comments)