Page 21 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Beau

“F auos Valhn and Zicoi Koame,” Beau recited. He was pacing a frantic track around the living room while Loriun watched from the pool in amusement. With each step, the impending family dinner ticked closer.

“ Jaei and Riue . Fauos Valhn and Zi—” Beau halted in mid stride.

“Wait, where did your last name come from? Why are you Kolhn?” His eyes found the stark teal of his Alpha’s.

Even distorted by the water’s rippling surface, his scales and fins were striking.

Beau was starting to wonder if he would ever get used to it.

“It’s tradition to combine the last names of the parents,” Loriun said, sinking deeper into the waves and flaring his gills. “Usually the first half comes from the Alpha and the second half comes from the Omega. Koame and Valhn: Kolhn.”

Beau furrowed his brows. “How do you keep track of the family lines then? What if you accidentally mate with your cousin?”

Loriun had been drawing in a gulp of seawater, and consequently choked at Beau’s question.

“Ideally, you would know who your cousins are,” he spluttered.

His gills and ear fins jerked back and forth, presumably trying to clear his alien respiratory system.

“But surely I have a better chance of tracing my family line than you. Your species usually carries the father’s last name only. At least I carry pieces of both.”

Beau opened his mouth to argue, but closed it when he realized he had nothing.

Loriun’s powerful tail whipped to the side, pushing him from the pool and onto the low wall at its edge.

Inconsequential things like family lineages and last names evaporated from Beau’s mind as he watched muscles bunch beneath Loriun’s scales.

A dorsal fin rose between his shoulders and ran the length of his spine, falling just short of the ribbon-like tail fin.

The scarlet patterns along Loriun’s back reminded him of sunlight through the water’s surface, casting shadows along the sand below. Long, red hair cascaded across his shoulders, concealing the rest of the markings.

The Mer twisted himself around to sit on the ledge. He glanced up, catching Beau staring silently in his direction.

“Yes?”

“You’re just. Really beautiful.”

The rush of heat over his face was both predictable and instantaneous.

Loriun’s mouth curled into a sly grin. “Would you like a closer look?”

Beau’s legs moved of their own accord, carrying him to where the Alpha sat. He perched himself on the pool’s low wall. Seawater enveloped his legs.

The Mer remained still, allowing Beau to trace the scale patterns and run his fingers along his fins. They were softer than he’d expected: no spiny bones holding them in place. Just smooth, flexible membranes, designed to catch the water.

The pair may have enjoyed a night-long sex marathon, but this was Beau’s first time seeing his mate’s body up close, in the daylight.

Loriun was indescribably alien, and yet Beau’s cock twitched at the sight of him.

A very distant part of his mind contemplated whether his attraction to the Mer was the result of his altered human Omega body, or if he would have experienced ichthyophilia regardless of alien invasion.

“How can you be attracted to me?” Beau blurted out. “I’m a boring, squishy, hairy human. How can there be so many Mer mated to humans when we look like this?”

He glanced down at his suntanned legs, dotted with fine hair. In comparison to the Mer, he felt vaguely repulsive.

Cool fingers gripped his chin. He found himself face to face with a now-serious Alpha.

“Beau. You do not see yourself clearly.” Loriun’s eyes flickered down, running along Beau’s jaw, brow, nose, and mouth.

“Your eyes are warmth made tangible,” he murmured. “Your lips are soft spring petals. Your skin is a gentle beam of sunshine on my scales.”

The cool fingers released Beau’s chin and traveled down his chest.

“Smooth. Soft. Curved.”

Loriun’s hands glided to Beau’s sides, coming to rest on his hips.

“A perfect fit.” Loriun lifted his face to his mate’s. “You are perfect, Beau.”

Beau’s throat tightened, and he choked on whatever response his brain had been attempting to push out. Before he could recover, Loriun’s lips met his.

Tarpine coiled into Beau’s lungs—crushed cedar and a musk that emptied his head of any conscious thought. Loriun’s lips were some of the only parts of him that were soft and pliable.

The Alpha pulled back just a few inches, giving Beau a searching look.

Thousands of words thundered through Beau’s skull, but none of them were right. Instead, he reached up, sliding his fingers through his mate’s hair, and kissed him.

Loriun gave a soft groan when Beau’s tongue flicked along his lips.

His lips parted, and a much cooler tongue met Beau’s.

The kisses were gentle, unhurried. Beau felt Loriun’s claws grazing along his scalp, sending a sharp tingle down into the base of his spine.

His dick was already at attention, but the sensation paled in comparison to the aching need in his hole.

This was nothing like their pheromone-fueled, desperate fucking from days before. This felt like coming home.

Beau’s hands shook as they drifted down along the smooth scales of Loriun’s shoulders.

Nerves? Fear? Excitement? The wordless emotions were too tangled for him to decipher.

His fingers continued their journey, exploring the plane of his mate’s broad chest, then the flat expanse of his stomach.

The scales were smaller here. They gave under Beau’s touch.

Loriun broke the kiss to take a sharp breath.

Beau paused. “Is it uncomfortable?”

The Mer shook his head. “No. Quite the opposite.”

Muscle corded beneath Beau’s fingertips with each breath Loriun took. Awe held him captive as Beau traced the hollow of the Alpha’s hip bones.

A nearly inaudible moan came from Loriun’s throat, but he made no move to take charge. He merely tipped his head back and closed his eyes.

Beau’s gaze was drawn to the bulge between Loriun’s thighs. The cock hidden there strained against the soft scales. Curiosity drove him to run a finger along the seam.

Loriun gasped and tightened his grip on the pool’s edge.

The sound curled in Beau’s belly. His cock throbbed against its own barrier, but he ignored its silent pleas. He rested his palm on Loriun’s stomach, feeling his abs tighten at the contact.

Loriun was breathing harder now, though he kept his eyes closed and head back.

Slowly, Beau slid his hand down along the slit. As he passed over it, the Mer’s length emerged, as if he was unable to hold himself back.

He couldn’t keep sitting here like this—not if he wanted to have his way with the beautiful alien beside him.

“Come on.” Beau’s voice was husky. “Let’s go to the bedroom. I want you to lie down.”

Without a word, Loriun pushed himself up and offered a hand to Beau. Beau allowed his mate to pull him to his feet.

In the bedroom Loriun obediently positioned himself flat on his back, tail between his outstretched legs.

“Is this what you want, Beau?” he murmured.

“Yes,” Beau breathed. He crawled onto the Mer’s thighs, seating himself so that he could see every inch of his mate’s body. From his new angle, Beau leaned over the pulsing cock and placed a kiss on one hip.

Loriun made a strangled noise.

Beau’s lips moved along Loriun’s stomach, kissing and licking his way to the other hip. He could feel the length beneath him, jolting against his chest. He would give it what it wanted eventually, but not yet.

The Alpha fisted the blankets under him as Beau’s mouth traversed one inner thigh, then the other—kissing a tortuous circle around where Loriun clearly wanted him most.

“Beau,” he rasped.

Beau gave him a coy smile before wrapping his fingers around the thick base before him.

“Tyr,” Loriun swore. “Beau…”

“Yes, Loriun?” Beau asked innocently. Before Loriun could respond, Beau leaned back down and slid his lips over the narrow head of the Mer’s cock.

“Gaish ausye.” Loriun’s hips rose to meet the warmth of Beau’s mouth. Beau stroked the base with one hand, and focused on swallowing down as much dick as possible. His throat and tongue worked in tandem on the rock hard length.

“Wait,” Loriun groaned. “Not like this.”

Beau eased off the member, giving the tip one last flick of his tongue. “What do you want, Loriun?”

“You, luae ,” he gritted out. “May I take you?”

Beau made a show of contemplating the request, smoothing his hands down Loriun’s thighs.

“Yes,” he said at last.

The shift was instantaneous. Loriun seized Beau’s hips, flipping him onto the bed. A whoosh of air was knocked out of him. The Mer loomed over him, lips parted with labored breath. In a matter of seconds, his clothes were gone.

“On your hands and knees.”

Beau didn’t need to think this time. He rolled up and onto all fours. Powerful hands gripped the junction of his hips and legs with bruising strength, hauling him backward. The underside of Loriun’s cock slid across his hole, spreading the slick his body was so feverishly producing.

Loriun ground his hardness against him over and over until Beau was panting with need. One hand released its hold on his hip and came down to wrap around his neglected shaft.

A quiet cry broke from Beau’s throat. He began to rock into the hand, thrusting into it with each forward motion, and grinding against Loriun’s body with each move backward.

How quickly he had been reduced to a shaking, needy mess.

“Loriun, please,” he gasped. His hole throbbed, desperate to be filled.

“Please what, luae ?” his Alpha asked. His hand stroked up and along Beau’s side, returning to its place on his hip.

“Your cock,” Beau managed. “I need it.”

A nudge at his entrance. “This?”

“Yes,” Beau whimpered. He was too far gone to be embarrassed.

The barest push through the ring of muscle. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

A few inches. “How badly do you need it, luae? ”

“I—” Beau’s voice cut out.

A few more. “What will you do if I don’t give it to you?”

Salacious bastard. “I’ll get the biggest toy in that drawer and fuck myself until I can’t come anymore.”

All at once, Loriun sheathed himself to the hilt.

Beau cried out at the sudden fullness, then sweet relief burned through his belly.

“Oh god, yes .” Beau pressed back against his mate, trying in vain to take even more of him.

Loriun pulled out just a bit, then thrust back in, hard. “Is this how you want it, luae? ” A slower, gentle rock of his hips. “Or like this?”

“Hard. I want you to fuck me so hard, I can’t remember my own name.”

A feral growl sounded behind Beau before the steely length inside him began to pound against his prostate.

“Oh, fuck .” The pleasure bordered on pain, sending shocks of ecstasy through his veins. At his back, Loriun grunted in animalistic fervor with each thrust. Neither of them were going to last long if they kept up this pace, but Beau couldn’t bring himself to slow things down.

His arms and legs shook beneath him, threatening to give out. His balls tightened and the tension in his lower belly grew.

“Loriun,” he choked out. “I’m going to… I’m going to…”

Every nerve in his body released.

A wave of cum erupted from his cock, and his hole clamped down on Loriun’s length. The Mer followed close behind him, pumping him full of seafoam.

Beau half-collapsed, held up only by Loriun’s hands on his hips. Loriun carefully moved their joined bodies onto their sides. They lay like that for a few moments, catching their breath and savoring the heat between them.

“Loriun?”

“Mm?”

“How am I supposed to look your parents in the eye tonight?”