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As if Luke had needed the confirmation.

Luke had Colby home and sleeping in his crib by the time he heard the car pull up in his drive.

He stayed where he was, sitting on his hands on the living room couch. If he ran out the door, he didn’t trust himself not to act like a fool—cursing or maybe weeping or something equally dramatic.

He hadn’t been himself all day, and it seemed to be getting steadily worse, like that conversation with Seth had been his last moment of reason. Even with Seth’s reassurance that Riley had texted they were on their way back, both unharmed, that jittery “something is wrong” feeling hadn’t left Luke’s body.

It was even affecting Colby, was the worst part. He’d been fractious and reluctant to settle for his nap, like he could sense Luke’s off-putting energy, even as Luke had done his best to appear happy and unconcerned.

Which left Luke holding himself stiff and straight-backed on the couch when Syrus finally walked in, a ferocious scowl on his pretty face that softened noticeably as he caught sight of Luke.

Syrus stopped in the doorway, and Luke barely kept himself from lurching up and lunging at him. Which would have been ridiculous, as they’d only been apart a few hours.

“How did it go?” he managed to ask.

Syrus didn’t answer at first, seemingly too busy cataloging Luke’s features, as if the time had stretched longer for him as well. “No one was eaten,” he eventually said with a strange sort of smile.

Was it cowardly to be relieved by that? Or maybe perfectly understandable. Should any sane person really want their would-be maybe-boyfriend to be eating people alive?

“And…?” Luke prompted.

The scowl returned to Syrus’s face. “If you see the man from the beach again, you’ll run in the other direction, and you’ll get one of us.”

Presumably Syrus meant one of the other paranormals in the area, and not just any random merman. “He was from the research institute? That stranger?”

Should Luke have sensed that somehow? He hadn’t liked the guy, nosy and off-putting as he’d been, but his working for the institute had never crossed Luke’s mind.

“Yes,” Syrus said shortly, his gaze dropping to Luke’s knee, which was once again shaking without his permission. “A scientist and an…admirer of my kind.”

Oh. Luke didn’t like that. He didn’t like that at all. More bristling tension ran through his muscles. His whole body was practically vibrating with it at this point. This wasn’t just regular anxiety, was it? Luke clenched his teeth, then forced his jaw to soften enough to speak. “I think something’s…not quite right,” he admitted. “With me.”

“Ah.” Syrus stepped away from the doorframe and approached slowly. “My poor, sweet Luke.”

His crooning sympathy didn’t help. If anything, that tension running through Luke only heightened. He was very aware of Syrus’s approach. His impending nearness. Luke could practically taste him on the air, cool skin and cool mint.

“You…” Luke tried to think. Syrus definitely hadn’t seemed surprised by his admission. Or particularly concerned. “You already knew?”

Syrus nodded, still striding forward. “And I know how to make it better.”

Luke’s breath caught as Syrus landed next to him on the couch, pulling Luke to straddle his lap in one smooth motion. Luke caught his balance with his hands on Syrus’s broad chest. That was nice, wasn’t it? Syrus’s strong, solid body, the scent of crushed mint.

Luke tried to relax into it, but that goddamn tension wouldn’t dissipate.

He wiggled in place. “It’s not⁠—”

“Shh. I’m not done.”

And then Syrus was undressing Luke, tugging off his shirt and shucking off his jeans with determination. Luke let himself be manhandled. He didn’t have much choice, stiff as he was, his teeth almost chattering, even though he wasn’t cold.

What was wrong with him?

Syrus kept a naked Luke balanced on his lap with a strong arm around his middle as he undressed himself in turn. And then they were both nude, skin pressed to bare skin. It was…marginally better. Or maybe that was just the welcome distraction of the sight of Syrus’s big, veined, once-again-human dick, already hard and straining in the air.

It was weird. With the state he was in, Luke shouldn’t have been aroused at all. But he was, wasn’t he? There was warmth pooling in his belly, his skin tingling at every point of contact between them.

And then Syrus waved a foil packet in front of his face. “Look what I found.”

Luke blinked. It was a packet of lube. “Where?” was all he could ask.