Page 36 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Loriun

B eau’s face was pale as the four of them made their way to the southern end of the house. Loriun couldn’t quite figure out why, as the announcement seemed to have gone well. He bent his head to whisper in his mate’s ear.

“Are you okay, luae ?”

Beau nodded. “Just… nervous.”

Loriun squeezed his Omega’s hand. “There is no need.”

“I know.” Beau shot him a grateful glance.

When they reached the conservatory, the antique French doors were flung wide, and white roses had overtaken most of the available surface area. Two chairs stood near the center, draped in champagne satin and adorned with snowy bows.

Jaime stood just under a white arch that had been threaded with baby’s breath and enormous chrysanthemums. He wore his navy blue suit and a broad grin on his face.

His mate stood off to the side, sleek hair wound into a bundle at the nape of his neck.

A fancy camera hung from his neck, and he gave Beau a secretive wink.

“Beau?” Ileana’s voice was high. “What is all this?”

“Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery,” Jaime boomed. “To the wedding of Beau and Loriun. Please have a seat, and the ceremony will begin shortly.”

“We wanted you to be here, Mamá ,” Beau murmured. He pecked her cheek and said, “See you in a few minutes.” He gave Loriun one last, searching look.

Loriun’s heart swelled and he cupped his mate’s face. “I will be the one at the altar.” He’d heard that line in a movie somewhere.

Beau laughed softly and disappeared through the doors.

“Please, take a seat,” Loriun said, gesturing to the chairs. “All the guests are already in attendance.”

Ashford’s eyes blazed in their sockets, but evidently, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in front of his wife. He rolled her toward the two chairs without a word.

Loriun watched him go with satisfaction. It seemed his message had indeed had the impact he desired.

“Beau and I know everything. If you utter a single word to ruin this moment for Beau or for Ileana, I will drag you to the bottom of the Florida Sea and bury your corpse in the muck of the Everglades.”

Vuos waved him over and pointed out the garment bag awaiting him in the corner.

As Loriun shrugged his suit jacket over his shirt, he kept an eye on his soon–to–be in-laws.

Ileana was weeping, but a smile still split her face in two.

Happy tears, Loriun supposed, though it seemed odd to him that humans could leak salt water out of both despair and joy.

With his jacket buttoned, he moved to stand in front of Jaime. “Remind me again why you are legally permitted to perform a marriage?” Loriun muttered.

Jaime grinned. “I’m a captain.”

“I do not understand how those two things are connected.”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, son.”

Loriun’s face twisted in confusion. “What—”

A familiar song blared from the speaker Vuos had concealed behind one of the many concrete planters.

It was a tune Loriun had only heard in movies and TV.

At the first notes, the French doors opened, and Beau stepped back into the conservatory.

His vibrantly teal jacket was the perfect compliment to his golden skin. He was heart-breakingly beautiful.

Beau walked alone, chin high, to where his groom waited. Loriun held out a hand and twined his fingers with his mate’s.

“Welcome, honored guests, to this celebration of love and family,” Jaime began. “Today, we come together to witness the marriage of Beau Montgomery and Loriun Kolhn. Though their love has been forged in whirlwind and water, there is no doubt of the bond these two share.”

Loriun tightened his fingers around Beau’s. Perhaps there was something to be said for human tradition.

“May I have the rings, please?” Jaime held a hand out to Vuos, who put his camera down long enough to pass over a velvet box. Jaime popped it open. Inside sat two rings—one a match to the sapphire band on Beau’s left hand, and the other a plain circle of heavy gold.

“Beau, please take Loriun’s ring, and repeat after me.”

Loriun met Beau’s endless brown eyes.

“I, Beau, take you, Loriun, to be my lawfully wedded husband.”

Loriun’s chest ached. Gaish ausye, I love this man.

“To have and to hold from this day forward. For better or for worse. In sickness and in health. To love and to cherish. As long as we both shall live.”

The ring was warm as it settled onto Loriun’s hand. He’d need to place it on a chain around his neck after the ceremony, as aquatic webs were not conducive to ring-wearing. But for now, Loriun let himself feel almost human as he watched Beau’s fingers brush along the back of his hand.

“Loriun, please take Beau’s ring, and repeat after me.

Beau’s eyes welled up as Loriun repeated his vows and slid the ring to meet its match.

“Loriun,” Jaime said. “Do you take Beau to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” he said, his eyes refusing to leave his mate’s face.

“Beau, do you take Loriun to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” Beau’s voice filled Loriun with an overwhelming urge to sweep him off his feet and carry him from the prying eyes of their audience.

“By the power vested in me by the State of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and husband! Beau, Loriun, please kiss your groom!”

At last, Loriun cupped his husband’s face in both hands and kissed him. He poured every ounce of love, passion, tenderness, and joy into the mingling of their lips—so much so that he heard Vuos clear his throat.

Ileana let out a whooping cheer through her flowing tears, and Ashford brought his hands together in a painful golf clap.

Hand in hand, Beau and Loriun approached their two-person audience and accepted bone-splitting hugs from Ileana.

“Congratulations,” Ashford said stiffly. “This was certainly a surprise.”

“It’s wonderful.” Ileana sniffled. “You both look so handsome, and so happy.” She turned a tearstained face to Loriun. “Thank you. For agreeing to this.” She waved a hand at the decorations. “Having the wedding here on such short notice. Thank you.”

“Actually, Mamá , it was all Loriun’s idea.” Beau beamed up at him. “He only proposed two days ago, but he wanted to make sure you were able to be here.”

The frail woman clutched at Loriun’s hand. Her fingers felt so small and weak compared to his own. “Thank you, Loriun. From the bottom of my heart. For taking care of my son.”

“He is worth all I have given him, and more,” Loriun said, his eyes drifting back to his mate. “I arrived at the decision to hold a human wedding last week. I came across a phrase in an older novel. It was ‘out of wedlock’—”

“Loriun!”

∞∞∞

Months passed, and Beau’s belly grew. It was hardly noticeable at first—a little swell between his hip bones, invisible beneath his shirt.

When they curled together beneath the blankets, Loriun would rest his hand there, where his nymph lay.

In the small hours of the morning, when Beau was sleeping peacefully, Loriun found himself awake, gazing at his mate’s face.

Beau’s golden skin glowed, as if the life inside him was shining through.

The little bump beneath Loriun’s palm set his heart fluttering. His nymph.

In the blink of an eye, Beau’s clothes had begun tenting around his belly.

He was self conscious at first, opting to wear Loriun’s shirts and loose shorts to hide his changing body.

For his part, Loriun spent mornings and evenings worshipping the Omega.

His lips traced the graceful swell, hands sweeping along softening sides and sensitive nipples.

Eventually, Beau seemed to gain confidence, wearing tighter clothes and holding his head high in public. Loriun liked to think that his ministrations had made Beau feel beautiful. Because he was.

Wherever they went, single Alphas watched them with envy, while the interspecies couples offered knowing smiles. Loriun spoke with Vuos regularly—at first in a fit of panic, begging for advice from an experienced Alpha. Then, a bond formed through the shared experience of loving human Omegas.

Jaime, too, was a source of wisdom for Beau. Having birthed four children himself, Jaime referred to himself as a “professional babymaker.” He knew all the tips and tricks to deal with the less pleasant symptoms of pregnancy, and what to expect from a hybrid child.

Loriun and Beau had been introduced to three of their four children: Duion, an Alpha son; Kere, an Omega daughter; and Eret, a son who was neither Alpha nor Omega.

Eret’s kind existed only as a result of interspecies mating, and was informally referred to as a Beta.

Though he looked half Mer, his body most closely resembled a standard human male.

Mer geneticists were still unraveling the mysteries of Beta children, as their appearance in the population was rare.

The eldest son, an Omega named Maevux, was away at college.

“How are you feeling today, Beau?” Vuos’s low, deep voice resonated through the dining room. Jaime and Vuos’s house was quite a bit larger than Loriun and Beau’s, provided by the Paeil government to accommodate a family of six.

Beau’s answer was a wordless groan as he eased himself down into his chair. “I feel like I’m smuggling a sentient watermelon.”

The emerald-scaled Mer reached over and gave him a sympathetic pat. “Jaime struggled with his first, too.”

“And second!” a voice called from the kitchen. “And third. And fourth.”

Vuos rolled his bottle green eyes. “How about you, Loriun? Only a few weeks remaining. Is everything ready at home?”

Loriun’s claws plucked at the scales of his wrists—a nervous habit he’d developed in the past few months.

He had been so lost in the bliss of their unexpected pregnancy that he forgot to be terrified of parenthood and the suffering his mate would undergo to bring his nymph into the world.

It wasn’t until the twenty week mark that Loriun’s fears clawed their way to the surface.

That was the night he felt his child move for the first time.

“Oh my god.” Beau dropped his phone to the mattress and stared down at his protruding stomach.

“What is it?” Loriun was instantly at his side, kneeling to examine his mate for signs of pain or injury.

“The baby’s moving,” Beau whispered. He rested a light hand below his navel. “They’re kicking.” He seized Loriun’s hand and placed it on his skin.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, Loriun’s eyes widened in shock. A little nudge came from within. A little foot, hand, elbow, it was impossible to know. Loriun was unable to tear his eyes away. He placed a second hand on his Omega’s belly. His child squirmed beneath his Rieo’s touch.

“Xui’asi wueiri,” he breathed. “We really have a baby in there.”

“Yeah.” Beau’s hands rejoined his Alpha’s. “We do.”

Their child had been a concept until that day. A loosely imagined blend of their best traits. But when Loriun felt them move in the womb of his young, fragile, human mate, reality came crashing down.

Beau would have to deliver this child, sacrificing his body in more ways than one. He would suffer the discomfort of pregnancy, then the pain of childbirth. He would have to experience the swell of milk in his chest, surrender his own life force to feed the nymph Loriun had put inside him.

He spiraled for about a week, doing his best to hide it from Beau.

It wasn’t until he’d reached the end of his tether that he snapped and dialed a now-familiar number, not considering the hour.

By some miracle, Vuos picked up the phone, voice thick with sleep.

He listened patiently as every one of Loriun’s fears gushed through the phone, not interrupting even once.

When Loriun had finally fallen silent, Vuos told him the story of their first child.

Then the second, third, and fourth. As the older Alpha spoke, Loriun felt himself being pulled from the brink of mental breakdown.

Jaime had done what Beau was now doing, and he survived.

Not just survived, but went on to do it three more times.

Jaime was happy and healthy. Even though he was one of the first human Omegas to produce a hybrid child, he was still here.

Beau had the advantage of twenty years of advancement since Jaime’s first birth. He had an attentive doctor who addressed every pain and discomfort, regardless of how small.

The sun was staining the sky pink by the time Loriun put the phone down.

He returned to the bedroom, where his mate lay on his side, body moving with slow breath.

Loriun eased into the bed beside him and watched the sunrise catch Beau’s sandy hair.

Delicate shadows grew where long lashes brushed his cheekbone.

For the first time in a week, Loriun felt calm—Beau and their child would be okay. He would be okay.

Vuos tapped the table between them, yanking Loriun back to the present.

“Ah. I am… still nervous,” Loriun admitted, casting a look at Beau. “I feel somewhat useless. Beau’s final trimester has been hard on him.”

Beau placed his hand over Loriun’s. “I’ll be fine. I can hang in there a few more weeks.”

Jaime came sauntering in with an enormous platter of fish tacos. “That’s the spirit, Beau! When I was at this stage in my first pregnancy, I was scared shitless of the delivery.”

Beau’s face paled. “Don’t remind me.”

Jaime chuckled, returning to the kitchen for plates and silverware. Beau hauled himself upright with a grunt. Loriun half-rose from his chair.

“ Luae? Do you need something? I can—”

Beau waved him off, propping one hand firmly on his lower back. “I’m just going to talk to Jaime about something.”

Loriun hesitated, wondering if he should escort the heavily pregnant Omega to the kitchen. Beau heaved a sigh.

“I can walk the seven steps to the kitchen, Loriun. Sit and try to relax, okay?”

Loriun’s tail thudded to the ground as he dropped back into his seat. He scrubbed his face with both hands.

“It’s difficult,” Vuos said quietly. “Seeing them like that and feeling as though you did something terrible to them. But you must remember that this was Beau’s choice too. He wants this just as badly as you do. Put some faith in him.”

Loriun gave him a wordless nod.