Page 16 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Beau

B eau pushed himself away from the embrace, his palms flat against Loriun’s broad chest.

“What do you mean, mates? ”

The crimson ring around Loriun’s pupils burned against the teal of his irises as his eyes dropped to Beau’s left shoulder. “Your shoulder.”

Beau reached up and brushed his fingertips along the aching spot where his shoulder met his neck. They came away bloody.

“What—” Then he saw it. Deep, wine-hued blood pooling and spilling down Loriun’s own shoulder, so dark it was almost black. “Oh my god… I bit you… and you…”

Loriun’s face twisted. “I’m so sorry Beau, I lost control and—”

“No,” Beau interrupted, pressing a hand over the wound on his shoulder. “It’s just as much my fault as it is yours. We were both…”

They were quiet for a while.

Mates. There was no undoing a mating mark.

Beau had tied himself to a Mer—a literal alien—for the rest of his life.

The pounding in his chest picked up speed, panic spiking his adrenaline.

He scooped up a handful of salt water and splashed the mark on his shoulder.

It stung, but the water cleansed his body of scarlet rivulets.

Loriun also appeared to be in a state of distress.

Locked together as they were, there was little either of them could do but process what they’d done.

Beau’s thoughts were a snarled mess, compounded by the hormones that still raged through his system.

He tried to direct his focus on the physical sensations—the pleasure, the fullness, the insatiable desire for more…

He’d deal with the repercussions of everything else later.

For now, he locked the mating mark away in the back of his mind, and took the Mer’s sharp, angular face in his hands.

He lifted Loriun’s eyes to meet his own.

“Let’s not think about it now,” he whispered.

Loriun’s eyes wavered. He slumped against the wall at his back. “How can I not think about it?”

Beau felt himself hardening against the Mer’s taut abdominal muscles. “I know of one way.”

∞∞∞

By the time the sun had risen and filled the home with light, Beau and Loriun were little more than puddles. They’d managed to sleep a few hours between rounds of vigorous sex and several fruitless showers. Beau had never been so full of cum in his life.

“Clinic should be opening now,” Loriun mumbled.

He was lying on his face, still in full Mer form with that long, blade-like tail draped across the mattress.

“I should call them. Your heat suppressants are clearly defective.” Then he sat bolt upright.

“Beau, if your suppressants aren’t working, it is possible that the birth control component is also not functioning. ”

Mustering the last of his strength, Beau waved his concerns away. “Doubt it. It’s a separate chemical. And one bad pill isn’t going to get me knocked up.”

The last thing he needed was another life-altering mistake.

As Loriun collapsed back against the bed, Beau reached for the packet of papers he’d received yesterday.

One of the brochures on Omega health might have some explanation, and if he could avoid the doctor, he’d be a happy man.

Despite Dr. Enas’s kindness, Beau still experienced full body shudders whenever he heard the word “clinic.”

He squinted at the spread of booklets and flyers, scanning the titles with one eye.

Ovulation and You, Xenoichthyology: Understanding Mer Anatomy, Interspecies Relations…

Beau paused, pulling a small booklet toward him. Its title read, “ Island Sickness: Common Health Conditions for Human Omegas .”

He skimmed the table of contents and flipped to the page on something called “Pheromone Overwhelm.”

Pheromone Overwhelm is a condition which most often affects human Omegas who have been largely separated from Alphas prior to arriving on the Paeil Islands.

If the Omega is not prescribed a heat suppressant, or if the dosage is insufficient, the sudden increase in Alpha pheromones can trigger a rapid-onset heat.

This form of heat is reported to be much more powerful than a standard heat and can cause great discomfort.

Typical symptoms include fever, chills, sweating, and persistent arousal.

If you or your Omega is experiencing two or more of these symptoms shortly after arrival or after heat suppressant reduction, please contact your healthcare provider.

Beau groaned and jammed his face into the pillow.

“What’s wrong, luae? ” Loriun asked. His words were a little muffled.

“Look.” Beau pushed the booklet into the Alpha’s hand.

It was quiet while Loriun read through the passage.

It was only then that Beau wondered how Mer education worked here.

Did they learn English first? Or Loaish, the universal language of the Mer?

The way Loriun spoke, with a faint, lilting accent, made him think Loaish was the primary language on the Mermades, but then again, everyone seemed to speak English.

I should really learn some Loaish.

“Well. This explains a lot,” Loriun finally said. “You are still taking your suppressant, correct?”

“Yeah, but my doctor in Gainesville lowered the dose right before I left.”

“Your doctor did what? ”

Beau rolled over, startled by the sudden venom in the Alpha’s tone. “Lowered my dosage. It was in my medical file, wasn’t it?”

“Dr. Enas did not mention anything about it. But you still have your right to privacy here, Beau. He did not show me your file.”

Beau blinked at Loriun. “Then how did you know about all the medical tests?”

Loriun hesitated. “He… asked me if I was aware that you had experienced an alarming number of experimental procedures and tests. That your treatment in Gainesville may have been less than humane.”

“Oh.”

“But you have a copy of your file.” Loriun nodded his head toward the large envelope on the bedside table.

Beau sat up with a grunt and pulled out a stapled packet of paper. It looked as though the poor receptionist had to use an industrial stable to bind the sheafs together.

On the very first page, Beau’s medications were listed—an iron supplement to compensate for his frequent blood draws, and his heat suppressant-birth control combination pill.

“That’s weird,” Beau said. “It still says thirty-five micrograms of each. That’s the dose I’ve always been on.”

Loriun’s brows furrowed. “Where is your suppressant bottle?”

Beau pointed a lifeless finger toward his open suitcase in the center of the bedroom. “Over there. But I can’t get up. Someone liquefied my legs.”

Loriun chuckled and climbed from the bed. He was even more magnificent in the daylight. Long, red hair waving and coiling to the middle of his back, sculpted muscles across every inch of his body, and a vibrant array of teal and scarlet scales throwing rainbows in the sun.

Mate… Beau shoved the thought back down.

Loriun stepped over the end of his own tail and retrieved the orange bottle. His eyes darted across the label, and his mouth thinned.

“What?” Beau asked nervously.

“It says five micrograms.”

Beau gaped at him. “Five? Just five? Not like… twenty-five?”

Loriun moved to Beau’s side of the bed and held out the bottle. Sure enough, the little numbers under his name listed a paltry five milligrams of heat suppressant and not a single mention of birth control.

“I would like to believe this is a clerical error,” Loriun rumbled, “but something tells me this was intentional.”

Arlene’s sour, decrepit face flashed in the forefront of Beau’s mind. “Something tells me you’re right.”

The wardrobe door creaked open. “I need to take you to Dr. Enas before your heat flares up again.” Loriun selected a light, cotton tank top and a pair of athletic shorts. “Shall I dress you?” A little smile played along his lips.

“I think I can manage.” Beau tugged the clothes on, grateful for the baggy fit on his overstimulated skin.

He watched in fascination as Loriun began to shift, his scales contracting and pulling together to seal the moisture within.

His fins shrank back against his body, and his tail retracted into his spine.

Beau had seen pictures of Mer skeletons in his school books, but knowing how their spines could compress and actually watching it happen were two very different things.

When the tail was entirely withdrawn into Loriun’s body, all that remained was something that very much resembled the ass of a man who never skipped leg day. Beau licked his lips.

“If you want to get me out of here before I jump you again, you’re going to have to put some clothes on.”

Loriun’s answering grin bordered on carnal, but he pulled his rumpled slacks on all the same.

∞∞∞

“Five micrograms?” Dr. Enas’s lilac ear fins flared with outrage. He held Beau’s prescription bottle in his hand, still staring down at the label like it might change if he looked hard enough.

“Yeah,” Beau mumbled. “I didn’t really look closely when I picked it up at the pharmacy. The pills looked the same.”

“No, this isn’t your fault, Beau. Your… doctor…” The Omega doctor said the word with a hint of venom. “…Perhaps she made a mistake.”

Beau nodded along, though he doubted the discrepancy was anything but malicious.

“I will provide the correct dosage immediately and dispose of these .” Dr. Enas eyed the bottle with distaste. “Have you been experiencing any symptoms due to the missed dose?”

“Um…” Beau peeked at Loriun, who was sitting, rigid, in the corner behind him. “Yeah. I had a fever and chills. And… um…”

The doctor quirked a black brow. “A state of arousal?” he supplied.

“Yeah, that.” Beau’s face heated.

“It’s a very common symptom for human Omegas who have just moved to the Paeil Islands,” Dr. Enas said. “Even some Omegas on the proper dosage of suppressant experience Pheromone Overwhelm. Now, I must ask, have you engaged in intercourse?”