While many shifters had no qualms about being naked, that wasn’t how Emory was raised. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen any member of his family shirtless, much less actually naked before shifting. Ronan had trained a little of that reticence out of him, often sauntering around naked in their sprawling yard after a shifted run, but Emory still wasn’t used to it.
Emory turned around to see Cameron stripping off his shirt, and his parents doing the same. “She wants you to swim with us,” Cameron said, his smile full of sunshine. “But if you’re not comfortable swimming in your lion form, you can swim in your human form or just watch.”
Cameron dropped his yoga pants, revealing lace boy shorts. Emory hesitantly removed his shirt, his eyes glued to his mate.
“I think…I might stay human if that’s alright, but I’d love to swim with you.”
Cameron pressed himself against Emory’s chest, wrapping his strong arms around Emory’s neck while Emory was still trying to get his pants off.
“Will you carry me into the water? I’ve always wanted someone to do that,” Cameron said.
Emory kissed his nose. “Of course, my love. Will you let me get my pants off first? And should you take off your panties?”
“Can you take them off my octopus? I’m not sure how my parents will feel about me clinging to you naked.”
“Weird,” Cameron’s ba said as he walked by them stark naked.
“Seeing as how this is the first time we’re meeting him, your parents would indeed feelveryweird about it,” his pa echoed, also strolling by naked.
Cameron jumped up, wrapping his legs around Emory’s waist, allowing him to undo and drop his pants to the cobblestone.
Emory heard a splash, and he looked up to see an alligator poking her head out of the water. A moment later, two large seahorses floated over, and they all stared up expectantly at Emory. All his lion wanted to do was snuggle in the sunshine with his warm mate, but Emory was committed to making a good impression. He carried Cameron around to the steps that led into the pool. The water was a nice temperature, and it felt heavy, like it might be saltwater. His lion recoiled from the water and instead nuzzled up against Cameron’s octopus energy.
As Emory stepped into the water, Cameron’s body shrank, and soon, Emory was cradling an octopus to his chest. He untangled the panties and tossed them on the poolside deck. As he finished his descent, Cameron clung to Emory’s shoulders and pressed his big head against Emory’s chin.
Emory tilted his face to kiss Cameron’s bumpy skin before pushing him out into the water. “Go swim with your family, love. I’ll be right behind you.”
Cameron wiggled happily and then took off. He was incredibly fast, and Emory did his best to keep up. As soon as Cameron reached his family, he and the smaller seahorse dove beneath the surface, and Shay swam towards Emory.
Emory’s lion reared back in surprise, but Cameron’s calming energy reminded him that this was his new family and there was nothing to fear. When Shay reached him, she nudged his chest with her snout.
He had no idea how to approach a reptile, so he held his hand out for her to sniff.
If it were possible for an alligator to roll its eyes, Shay did. She pressed her head into his hand and then gestured down into the water with her snout.
Emory took a deep breath and plunged his head under the water. It took his eyes a moment to adjust, and then he saw Cameron speeding through the water with his parents. He let out a laugh, and they must have sensed the vibrations, or the bubbles, or something, because they all turned to him. Cameron shot towards him and wrapped around his arm.
Emory popped his head up, took in a deep breath, and then dove under the water. Cameron led him to the bottom of the pool, where he began running across the bottom on two tentacles. Emory was more careful to hold in his laugh this time, desperate to conserve what oxygen he had. It wasn’t only his lion that wasn’t a great swimmer. Maybe he should take lessons. He knew a lot of shifters swam in the lake in their city’s shifter park. Maybe Cameron would want to go with him?
After thirty seconds of watching his mate’s majestic display, he had to swim back to the surface, and Cameron followed him. This time, he did something strange, sort of sitting on Emory’s arm so he could press the underside of his body into Emory’s hand.
At first, Emory wasn’t sure what he was asking for. He reached out through their mate bond and sensed Cameron’s octopus was feeling bratty. Emory ran his fingers over the underside of Cameron’s body and found his ink glands. He and his lion tilted their head in surprise, and Cameron tapped Emory’s mate mark with a long tentacle.
Emory hummed in pleasure and decided, why not? His mate wanted to be playful? He could be playful.
He pressed on the ink gland, and Cameron’s body jerked, and then he inked.
The two seahorses frantically swam away, and Shay lifted her head above water to make a prehistoric groaning noise.
Cameron danced back and forth in the water, totally gleeful at his little prank. Emory laughed, and the larger seahorse shook his head and swam towards Cameron. He nudged Cameron with his nose, and Cameron nudged him back with a tentacle. They swam around each other in wide circles until finally diving under the water, dissipating most of the ink.
The smaller seahorse swam to the stairs before shifting back to human.
“Emory, if you’d like to shift, you’re welcome to sun yourself on the patio. They’ll probably be at it for quite a while,” Cameron’s pa said as he walked over to retrieve his clothes.
Emory kept his eyes averted as his father-in-law got dressed, but his lion watched in eager anticipation as he grabbed a large picnic blanket off a table, flaring it open and laying it down on the patio.
He tried to be a good mate and polite guest bynotcatapulting himself out of the pool, but he only lasted another few minutes before his lion had him clambering out, ignoring the small stairs entirely. His lion pranced around gleefully, and Emory was barely able to keep his steps to a fast walk as opposed to the skipping his lion wanted him to do.
