Chapter 12
Keld
Keld watched the metal door bang shut, leaving him alone in the alleyway. He probably shouldn’t have done that. But Grayson had kissed him back. The scent of sweet flowers hung in the air as evidence, like sugar-spun petals.
Keld suppressed a smile. He could already tell that getting under Grayson’s skin was going to be a lot of fun. He took a few minutes to compose himself—thinking very hard about corporate taxes and spreadsheets—before returning to his table.
“What happened?” Zasia demanded. She wrinkled her nose. “Gods, I can smell you from here.”
Keld shrugged. “He yelled at me, I kissed him, he kissed me back, then ran off.”
Loriun gaped at him. “You kissed him? What in Turys’s depths possessed you to do that?”
“He’s much more attractive when he’s pissed off.” Keld grinned.
“That’s fucked up,” Eksal said, reaching for a fried kelp chip. “But I get it.”
“Same,” Zasia said. “Omegas are cute when they’re mad.” She took another piece of fermented skate. Keld could see the moment it hit her bloodstream by the slow sinking in her fins.
Loriun looked at his employees, thunderstruck. “Do all of you intentionally irritate Omegas for fun? Am I the weird one here?”
Keld rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t poke fun at Beau to get a reaction once in a while.”
“I—” Loriun paused, brows furrowing. “Okay. Fair point. But I’m mated to Beau. You had one bad date with Jason.”
“Grayson.”
“Whatever.”
Keld puffed out a breath. “I know, you’re right. I’ll wait for him to kiss me next time.”
Eksal scoffed. “You really think there’s going to be a next time?”
“I’d put money on it,” Keld said, lounging back and stealing a glance at the bar. Grayson was knocking back a drink with alarming speed. The back of his neck and ears were red. Keld smirked as he turned back. “Bet I can get him to kiss me tonight.”
“Careful,” Eksal said. “If your ego gets any bigger, you might not be able to carry it out the door.”
Keld flicked a kelp chip at him. The platter of hongeo was nearly gone, and Eksal was practically radiating ammonia.
“It’s terrifying how much of that you can handle,” Keld commented. “If I tried that, I’d be on my ass.”
“Deep sea genes, my friend.”
Keld snagged another piece, savoring the searing heat that spread across his tongue. Loriun sighed and followed suit.
“Okay, I shouldn’t have any more,” he muttered. “It’s almost nine anyway. Better get home.”
Zasia patted Loriun’s arm, missing the first time. “Goo’ luck.” She reached for the plate again, but Eksal intercepted.
“You’ll hate yourself if you eat another,” he chided, stealing the slice of skate from her fingers.
“ ’M totally fine,” she argued. She made another bid for the last piece, but not quickly enough.
Keld popped it into his mouth and laughed at the expression on Zasia’s face.
Loriun chuckled and rose from his seat. “I’ll get the tab. Thanks for tonight.”
“Thanks boss,” Eksal said. His spiny fins flared wide, tops wavering with gratitude.
“Yeah, thanks Loriun.” Keld winked at his old friend. “I promise to behave myself with Grayson from now on.”
Loriun rolled his eyes. “Make sure Zasia gets home okay.” He disappeared through a group of starry-eyed human Omegas.
“Wish Omegas looked at me like that.” Eksal sighed. His scales were a shade of purple so dark it seemed black in low light, with fins to match. Sharp spines threaded through every fin on his body, unlike the softer, more ruffled fins of temperate Mer like Keld and Loriun.
Eksal’s face and throat was a deep, rich shade of brown Keld had seen on very few humans. Perhaps that would have attracted Omegas if it weren’t for the solid black of his eyes and bioluminescent markings along his high cheekbones.
Zasia flapped a hand at him. “If you came with us t’Siren, I guarantee you’d get all th’Omegas.”
Keld kicked her under the table. They didn’t typically go around broadcasting their after-work activities, especially since kink was overwhelmingly human in composition.
Eksal blinked at her “What’s Siren?”
“Oops.” Zasia giggled. “Nothin’. Never mind.”
Eksal eyed Keld, brow raised.
He shrugged. “No idea.”
Eksal sighed and got to his feet. “Alright, come on, Zas. Let’s get you home.”
She squinted at him. “You’re not my type.”
“We live in the same building, Zas.”
“Oh.”
Keld watched the deep sea Mer wrap a careful arm around Zasia’s shoulders and escort her from the hustle and bustle of the pub. When they’d vanished out the door, Keld shifted his seat. From his new vantage point, he had a clear line of sight to Grayson.
One of the human servers appeared at his side. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Just some saline water, please.”
Keld sipped at the water when it arrived, chasing away the burn of ammonia in his blood.
Grayson refused to turn around, though he was beginning to sway a bit in his seat.
A female Alpha with burnt orange scales and a telltale double-pointed fin approached the dark-haired man on the far right end of the bar.
He seemed to be the man Keld had met alongside Grayson in the lobby of their building.
The Alpha looked familiar too, but he couldn’t quite place her.
The equatorial Mer trailed her claws down the Omega’s arm, and he grinned back. It took only minutes for the two of them to leave the pub together.
The crowd of pubgoers thinned as the night ticked by. Around midnight, Grayson stumbled off the barstool, his three remaining friends in tow. He was clearly the most intoxicated, with the two women doing their best to support his tall, lanky frame.
Now.
Keld weaved between tables and chairs, reaching the Omegas just in time to steady a teetering Grayson.
His friends yelped in shock, though their reactions were dulled with inebriation.
“Hey, aren’t you bad date guy?” the taller woman demanded. She had tanned skin and dark, almond shaped eyes.
“He definitely is.” The blonde woman glared up at him. “What do you want?”
“Grayson seems pretty drunk,” Keld said, in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “I thought you might need a hand.”
“We got it,” the tall woman snapped.
Keld turned his attention on the short, slight man hovering uncertainly near the dispute. “Do you think you all can carry him if he falls over?”
The man’s black hair fell in his eyes as he blinked up at Keld. He seemed very young.
“Jenna, Tara, he has a point,” the man mumbled. “You really think we can get him home on the bus by ourselves?”
“Jaeyong, this guy kissed Grayson without his consent!” the blonde retorted. “What do you think he’s going to do if we hand him over unconscious?”
A little ember of anger lit in Keld’s chest. “I see he failed to mention the part where he kissed me back.”
The blonde deflated.
“Listen,” Keld continued. “I have a car. I can drive all of you home, and carry Grayson up to his room. One of you can stay with him the whole time if that makes you feel safer.”
The three exchanged glances.
“I think we should,” the smallest one, Jaeyoung, said. “Jenna?”
The tall woman scraped her silky, dark hair back off her forehead. “Fine, fine. Tara, can you grab his bag?”
The blonde shouldered a canvas tote bag with the well-shaped logo of the nearby midwifery stamped across it.
“May I?” Keld asked. He didn’t wait for a response before bending down and knocking Grayson’s legs out from under him.
The semi-conscious Omega let out a delayed grunt of surprise as he fell into Keld’s arms. Despite his lanky frame, Grayson hardly weighed anything. Keld jerked his chin toward the exit. As Jenna reached for the door, the muscular female Alpha by the door called, “He okay?”
“He’s fine,” Jenna said. “Just had a few too many.”
The other Mer shook her head. “Humans and their poison,” she muttered in Loaish.
“We may never understand,” Keld agreed.
Tara narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you saying?”
“Nothing,” Keld replied with a grin. “Just that humans have an unnatural obsession with ingesting toxins, that’s all.”
To his surprise, the woman laughed. “You’re not wrong. Night, Nerual!” she added to the female Alpha.
Nerual raised a burgundy hand in farewell. “See you next weekend, Brighid’s Well.”
As the door swung shut behind them, a loud crash sounded from the bar.
“Vitor, I swear to all the gods, put everything down and take a break.” The female Alpha’s footsteps pounded past the door and vanished in the direction of the bar.
“He’s going to give birth on the pub floor,” Jaeyong grumbled.
“Nerual’s going to have to carry him to the center.” Jenna laughed. “I’m predicting his water breaks behind the counter.”
Tara huffed a laugh.
“My car’s over there,” Keld interrupted. “The gold one.”
“Is that a Range Rover?” Jaeyong asked, eyes wide. “Wow. I thought Mer didn’t care about cars.”
Keld shrugged. “Most don’t. I like them.”
“Matches your scales,” Jenna commented. “I can’t decide if that’s cool or egotistical.”
“Why can’t it be both?” Keld unlocked the doors with a tap of the handle, then eased Grayson into the back seat. “If he seems like he’s going to hurl, yell at me. I do not want to be cleaning vomit out of my nice upholstery.”
“ ’M not gonna puke,” Grayson mumbled.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Keld retorted. He shut the back door and slid into the driver’s seat. “Everyone buckled?”
A general mutter of affirmation rose from behind him.
“All of you live at Sandpiper Park, right?”
Another general grumble.
Keld glanced in the rearview mirror. “Would it kill you to speak? I didn’t have to offer to drive you all home.”
“Yes, we all live at Sandpiper Park,” Tara said. “Sorry. It was nice of you to drive us home, but it doesn’t exactly cancel out the whole bad date and alleyway kiss thing.”
Keld grunted. “Fair enough.”
The trip was brief—only about ten minutes—but the stubborn silence that permeated the cab of the vehicle made it feel much longer. Keld pulled into his usual parking space and went to retrieve the semi-conscious Grayson.
“Do any of you live in his building?” Keld asked, hauling the Omega into his arms with a grunt.
“No,” Jaeyong answered. “Aureli does, but he uh…”
“Is at a sleepover,” Tara supplied. “Grayson’s in apartment 604.”
Keld paused. The unit directly above his, this whole time…
“I’ll take you up,” Jenna said, though her tone made it clear this was more threat than kindness.
“Much appreciated,” Keld said. “Good night Tara, Jaeyong.”
“Yeah, night, uh…” Jaeyong had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Keld,” he supplied, barely suppressing an eye roll.
“Right. Keld. Uh. Thanks again.” The slight young man scuttled off, his blonde friend in tow.
Keld and Jenna walked, side by side, into building A. Jenna tapped the elevator button.
In Keld’s arms, Grayson groaned. “I’m never drinking prosecco again.”
“Sure you aren’t, babe,” Jenna said with a pat on his arm. “Let’s just get some water in you.”
Grayson let his head drop against Keld’s shoulder, nuzzling into the crook of the Alpha’s neck. Keld’s breath caught just as the elevator doors slid open. He followed Jenna in and tried to ignore the heat radiating from the drunk Omega’s face.
“Which floor are you on?” Jenna asked, breaking the silence that throttled the small space.
“Fifth,” Keld responded. He saw no need to tell her which apartment he was in.
He had a feeling she’d only be more suspicious if she knew Keld lived right below Grayson’s feet.
He could respect Jenna’s fierce loyalty and protectiveness, but winning her over would likely be more challenging than Grayson.
“Good,” she huffed. “I was worried you were about to tell me you live on the same floor.”
Keld shook his head. “This floor is for humans. The Mer apartments are on the second and fifth floors.”
She shot him a quizzical look.
“We need space below us for the pools,” he clarified.
Jenna tried and failed to mask the spark of interest in her dark eyes. The elevator chimed and opened, revealing the sixth floor.
“Come on.” Jenna led him down the short hallway then paused. “Ah shit, the code.” She turned a wary eye on Grayson, still curled up against Keld’s shoulder.
“Gray? Babe? We need your door code.”
“Mmph?”
“Your door code. For your apartment.”
“ ’S m’birthday.”
Jenna furrowed her brow. “Month, day?”
“Mmm.”
“You’re lucky I have a good memory.” Jenna moved to block the keypad with her body and unlocked the door.
“Think I’m going to sneak in?” Keld asked, amused.
“Better safe than sorry.” Jenna shrugged. “Bedroom’s at the end of the hall on the right. I’ll get him some water.”
Keld moved down the darkened hallway where a moonlit bedroom waited.
The bed was unmade—a nest of down duvet and pillows.
Keld’s lips twitched as he eased Grayson onto the mattress.
The silver light caught the bridge of his nose and his parted lips.
His eyelashes glinted white, despite the black shadows they cast on his cheekbones.
Without thinking, Keld reached out and brushed a lock of blond hair from the Omega’s forehead. It was even softer than he’d imagined.
“Cold,” Grayson mumbled. Limp hands groped around for a blanket.
Keld laughed under his breath and tucked him under the fluffy duvet. “Better?”
“Mm. Thanks.” Grayson wriggled deeper, pulling the covers up to his chin.
“Gray.” Jenna’s soft voice nearly made Keld jump out of his scales. “You gotta drink some water first. Trust me.” She helped Grayson sit back up and held a metal straw to his lips.
Keld tried not to look too hard at Grayson’s throat bobbing as he drank.
Jenna glanced over at Keld. “Thanks for the help, but I got it now.”
Keld jerked a shoulder. “Sure. Have a good night.”
He backed out of the room, but paused as he passed the kitchen island. A notepad and a pen lay waiting—too good an offer to pass up. He clicked the pen and began writing.