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Syrus didn’t know what he’d been talking about. His hands had been quite deliberate, soaping every inch of Luke’s skin. Syrus had then dried him off with equal attention and brought him straight to bed.

They’d lain wrapped up in each other, exchanging lazy kisses that grew even lazier as Luke’s fatigue grew. At one point, Luke had pressed a hand to his chest. “There’s this…feeling,” he’d murmured.

Syrus lay his hand on top of Luke’s. “I know.”

“It’s you?”

“It is.”

“I love it.”

Luke had fallen asleep right after.

Just remembering that moment had Syrus finally giving in to temptation. He brushed the strands of Luke’s dark hair back, revealing his pretty, sleep-softened face. Syrus was able to admire it for only a moment before the locks fell forward yet again. He huffed a quiet laugh.

Luke’s phone lit up on the bedside table, though it made no noise. Another message from the vampires, no doubt. But Luke and Syrus already had all the pertinent information for the moment, so Syrus ignored it. The scientist’s truck had been disposed of somewhere it wouldn’t bring any trouble, and the moms had promised to further “deal with” any who might come looking for the missing human.

Syrus found that scenario unlikely. He had no doubt the man had been working alone. It had been his downfall in the end. No pod to watch his treacherous back.

With one last look at the sleeping beauty, Syrus left the room with quiet steps and made his way to Colby’s bedroom. He cracked open the door and listened to the sounds of peaceful slumber within. He smiled to himself and shut the door again.

He made a round of the house after that. The windows were closed and locked, the front and back door as well. Safe and enclosed, his new pod. Syrus could feel them both, right in his chest, just as Luke had said. A warm and solid weight.

Syrus wouldn’t lose them, not like he had the others. He hadn’t been bonded within his old pod, hadn’t had any tether to guide him back. He’d been alone, even while surrounded by his own kind. But here, in this box, out of the water, out of his element in every way…

Here, Syrus belonged. He wouldn’t be letting that slip through his fingers. Not ever. It was him, Luke, and Colby. No one lonely. No one alone.

Syrus unlocked the back door and stepped outside, bare feet and bare skin bathed in the cool night air. He looked out into the dark, toward the churning sea. He opened his mouth and sang.

His song wasn’t as beautiful and clear in this form, and those it was meant for were too far to hear it, but that didn’t matter. Nor did it matter that they wouldn’t care, that they didn’t even deserve to know.

Syrus sang anyway. He put into the melody all his new truths. That he was well. That he’d found what he was looking for.

That he was home.

When he’d finished, the last few notes drifting off into the breeze, he walked back inside and locked the door behind him. He climbed the stairs on human feet that no longer pained him. He crawled back into bed and pulled his mate into his arms.

Luke stirred and rubbed his face against Syrus’s shoulder. “Thought I heard singing,” he mumbled in his raspy, sleep-drenched voice.

“Mm.” Syrus hummed. “And was it very beautiful?”

But Luke was already back asleep, his breaths warm against Syrus’s skin. Syrus tugged him even closer, into his chest, Luke’s head tucked right against the spot where his essence pulsed.

Syrus closed his eyes and followed him under.

EPILOGUE

LUKE

Luke stepped out into the backyard to find Syrus sunbathing on a lounger, eyes closed in what looked to be immense satisfaction.

The merman was, of course, completely nude, as Syrus tended to prefer when Colby was away at day care and he and Luke were alone at home. Especially now that it was summer. Not that Syrus had ever seemed to mind the cold of winter, but he had a particular taste for basking in the warm sun. Part of his DNA presumably, a throwback to his ancestors out on the rocks, doing their best to lure sailors to their demises.

His ancestors or Syrus himself—Luke still wasn’t positive on the answer there.

Syrus didn’t open his eyes or turn his head at Luke’s approach, but his lips curled at the sound of Luke’s footsteps. “Care to join me?”

Tempting. Incredibly tempting. Especially with all that soft skin and muscled strength on display, not to mention the large, soft cock resting against his thigh.