Aiden charged through the waves. The chill of the water brought him back to his senses. His cheeks were still flushed and warm. He felt as if his brain cells had melted from the lip contact.
In the short time he had experienced on land, he had gotten poisoned and then jumped his crush. He felt embarrassed, a little ashamed of his actions.
The poisonous aphrodisiac must have been in the liquids, otherwise he would have never been so stupid. The only good news he had gotten was that his love might not be unrequited. He had a small chance, especially after Xander had looked at him with such hungry eyes.
A chill ran down his back, unlike the one he had gotten before from the cold water. His face brightened pink.
The want that swirled in Xander's eyes had almost been enough to make him submit there and then. He kind of regretted not letting Xander lead him away to his nest, or whatever the human equivalent was, and having some sex.
The thought of him and Xander mixing their bodies until their individual scents become one, a mix of seasalt and sunlight.
Aiden swam into the little crevice of rocks that sheltered his nest.
He wasn't quite in his right mind so he decided to hunker down and then deal with things in the morning. He shifted the kelp and seagrass a little, trying to create a comfy area to lay down.
***
When Aiden awoke in his nest, safe on the seafloor, he had a pounding headache. A throbbing interrupted his thought process and even dulled each of his thoughts.
That mysterious liquid that all the humans seemed to be enjoying was giving him some severe reactions. His current theory was that the drink was fine for humans but toxic for mermen.
In the future he should avoid it.
Still laying in the kelp nest, Aiden wiggled to find a comfortable spot to go back to sleep. He really didn't want to get up with such a headache, to leave everything for tomorrow when he was hopefully going to feel better.
With a buzzing sting he remembered one of the dozens of embarrassing moments from the night before. After losing his sanity, spilling some secretive sand grains and then stupidly agreeing to meet him again today, was he trying to become shark bait?
Aiden absentmindedly grabbed a random piece of seagrass and took to shredding it.
His mind returned to agreeing to meet Xander. If he didn't show, would he be livid, angry that Aiden had broken his promise, or would Xander move on to the next person, indifferent to being rejected.
Deep inside Aiden knew the elders were going to find out at some point. He was bad at keeping his business from them, he had also been super sloppy. Aiden didn't know if he had even come off as a human to Xander and Malai, acting all naive and clueless like he was born yesterday.
The rational part of his mind told him it wasn't worth it. He might get banished.
Even though the population had plummeted, the elderly weren't forgiving enough to let a merman interact with humans daily without kicking them out. Banishment was equal to a death sentence. For mermaids and mermen, the act of being rejected by their pod could result in them dying for physical reasons or having a mental breakdown.
Each time Aiden saw Xander he felt that rational part retreating into his unconscious mind. He felt he was getting addicted to Xander. Everything Xander did was to his taste, his hair, his muscles, his clothes, his kind actions and his endearing jokes. Aiden was drawn to the man.
Aiden knew he was going to be at the SeaStar shack that evening. He was already in too deep.
***