Grayson snorted and got to work peeling off his sandy, muddy clothing.
Keld’s eyes tracked cascading bits of dried mud and flecks of sand. “Maybe we should go for one last swim first.”
“If we go out and swim, I’ll just have to put the dirty clothes back on,” Grayson pointed out. “Defeats the purpose.”
“You don’t need clothes.”
“Keld, for the last time, humans can’t just walk around naked,” Grayson said, exasperated.
“Can’t or won’t? Anyway, I meant you can use these.” Keld tossed Grayson an enormous beach towel, freshly laundered bythe smell. “Put that around your waist, we’ll find a deserted stretch of beach, and we’ll get you cleaned off.”
Grayson narrowed his eyes at the Alpha. “There is no way a place like this doesn’t have showers.”
Keld paused. “Would you believe me if I said they didn’t?”
“Nope.”
“Fine!” Keld threw his hands up in mock outrage. “Deprive me of a second night swim with my naked boyfriend. But I’m getting in the shower with you.”
Grayson leveled a finger at him. “You can join me, but we’rejustshowering, got it? Keep that thing away from me.”
They did not, in fact, just shower.
Chapter 30
Keld
“Are there going to be any other Mer there, or is it just going to be me, getting grilled by all your friends?” Keld lay sprawled across Grayson’s bed, watching him inspect his outfit in the mirror. “Do I have to wear clothes?”
“Yes, there will be other Mer, yes you should probably wear clothes.”
Keld groaned and flung himself onto his back. “Humans are weird and clothes are dumb.”
“Don’t be a baby.”
“I’m a Mer, I have never been a baby.”
“Don’t be anuaia.”
Keld sat up. “Your accent is sexy. Say something else.”
Grayson went red under his freckles.“Yai zafnei laemsao.”
Keld burst out laughing. “ ‘I’m trying to help?’ Let me guess, you yell that phrase at angry Alphas at the birthing center.”
“I don’t yell at them, I speak very firmly. Now put clothes on.”
Keld grumbled under his breath but tensed his retraction muscles all the same. His tail pulled in toward his torso, cinching his vertebrae tighter and tighter until the limb disappeared entirely. His scales were already closed against the arid climateof his human Omega’s apartment, sealing moisture underneath. His reflection showed a humanoid version of himself, with the light refracting new wavelengths of color.
Keld might have passed for a pale human, if it weren’t for his ears. The fins were shrunken against his head, but the shape was markedly wrong. He reached up and removed the thick tie that held his hair in a bun. The strands sprang free and fell around his shoulder in a sheet of coppery brown.
Grayson watched him, a small smile playing on his lips. “You know you don’t have to go full human mode.”
“If I’m being forced to wear clothes, I might as well.” Keld went for the drawer that held an ever-growing collection of his things. He picked out linen shorts and a white t-shirt, and donned them under Grayson’s close supervision.
When he was done, Keld stuck out his arms and performed a slow spin. “Acceptable?”
“Eh, you’ll do.”
