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The clench of Luke around his fingers, so tight and warm—how was this going to feel around Syrus’s cock? Like paradise, no doubt. And then there was Luke himself, flushed and overheated, his body switching between tense and pliant, his skin growing damp from perspiration the longer Syrus played with him.

Syrus had mated before, his pretty face and impressive physique garnering the attention of bored breeders waiting for their protector. It had been satisfying, in its way, if he’d ignored the underlying disdain toward him, the awareness that he was a last-choice novelty.

But Luke…

Luke’s body welcomed Syrus like no other. Syrus had known it would. It had been clear in the way Luke’s gaze always traveled over Syrus almost against his will, the little hitches in his breath when Syrus stood too close, the moans and cries he let out when Syrus had a hand around his cock.

And now he was going to show Syrus how to claim him completely, how to sink into his depths and never come out again.

Syrus would give Luke the same courtesy one day. He would show him how a merman mated in truth. Luke would like that, sweet and brave as he was. Syrus’s cock, heavy and engorged between his thighs, bucked at the thought.

Slowly and with great reluctance, Syrus removed his fingers, although he kept his eyes on that soft, secret place. It was dusky pink and furled, surrounded by a whorl of soft hair.

Syrus loved Luke’s hair. On his chest, his legs, his groin. He loved the way it trapped his scent, all musk and earth and man. Syrus had never known the smell of a human could be so arousing. No wonder his kind had such an appetite for them.

Luke shifted, and Syrus clapped his hands on the human’s thighs, keeping him exactly where he was. Luke laughed, a low, husky sound. “I’m just grabbing a pillow to put under my hips. You should lube up, by the way.”

Syrus released him, watching carefully as he did as Luke asked and poured more lubricant onto his cock.

Syrus liked the deep flush on Luke’s cheeks and the new glaze to his eyes. He especially liked the way Luke’s hard cock bounced against his firm stomach with his movements. Syrus wanted to suck it into his mouth, lave it with his tongue.

“Or I could turn on my stomach,” Luke was saying with a small frown. “It might be easier.”

On his stomach? His expressive face turned away from Syrus while Syrus took him for the first time?

“No,” Syrus said firmly.

Another husky laugh. “I knew you’d say that. You like to watch me, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Syrus wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, giving these terse answers. He should be trying to flirt and cajole, to lull Luke into a relaxed state as he offered this gift to Syrus. But Syrus couldn’t manage the ease of it. His breaths were coming fast as Luke moved and shifted, placing the pillow under his hips. Offering himself up.

Syrus needed to take him. He needed it.

He’d distracted himself from that feral urge with the feel of Luke around his fingers, the scent of him in his nose, the salty taste of his skin as Syrus nuzzled close. But those treats had been taken away from him, and now Syrus could only feel the hunger, the rapid thunder of his own heartbeat pulsing through his swollen cock.

“Why do you like to watch me so much?”

Apparently terse answers would no longer suffice. Syrus cleared his throat, a human mannerism he finally understood. “I like to look at pretty things, Luke.”

He expected Luke’s familiar denial at the appeal of his looks. But Luke only lay back, the pillow now under his hips, tilting them up in invitation. He spread his legs and pressed his feet flat on the mattress. Widened his knees. “Come here.”

Syrus held back a hungry growl, but only barely. He surged up and over Luke’s naked body, placing his hands by Luke’s flushed face.

He was so pretty, Syrus’s human, no matter what he said. Those thickly lashed eyes, the line of his jaw, the way his mouth moved through his many expressions.

Syrus needed to taste him again.

He lowered his head and took more of what Luke so readily gave him. Lips and tongue and teeth. He growled into Luke’s open mouth as Luke’s hand circled Syrus’s engorged cock, guiding him back to that soft, secret place.

“Here,” Luke murmured against Syrus’s lips. “Now you come inside.”

Syrus swept his tongue over Luke’s lower lip. “And what will you do, Luke?”

“I’ll let you in.”

Syrus groaned, unable to stop his hips from jutting forward. He pressed his head helplessly into Luke’s neck as he sank inside that tight heat with less finesse than he’d hoped. Luke’s legs came around Syrus’s lower back, and he was true to his word—he let Syrus in. It was a slow push, tight as he was, but his body never denied Syrus his right to stake his claim.