...Gabriel strolled past Henri into the cabin, peeling off his clothes, and the firm muscles of his buttocks rolled beneath his dark skin. All rational thought left Henri’s brain. His erection took over, pointing to Gabriel like a dowsing rod to water, making him follow. Gabriel led him out back to the dock that overlooked the bayou.

“Wait, no,” Henri said. “Gators come out at sundown.”

“They don’t bother me, remember? I protect you.”

Gabriel dove into the murky water and stayed under for way too long. Henri rubbed his sweaty hands on his jeans. He knelt on the dock, scanning the reeds and heavy underbrush along the banks where the gators and snakes liked to hide.

Gabriel surfaced close to the dock. “C’mon in!”

“I ain’t joking, no. Get back out here!”

“You don’t swim?”

“Only when I have to.”

Henri saw a twelve-foot gator drifting upstream along the far bank. Its ashy-black scales glinted in the low light. He went cold all over and the fine hairs lifted on his body. He spotted a smaller gator in the reeds, also watching Gabriel with unblinking eyes. Gators tended not to attack humans unless they considered their nests threatened. But why take chances with a big reptile? Henri leaned out from the dock, pointing them out to Gabriel. “C’mon out, Gabriel. Now!”

“I go get acquainted. You watch.”

He dove beneath the surface as Henri shouted his name. His dark form slid like an arrow under the water and began to transform, his body gaining mass. It broadened and lengthened, changing his silhouette. Henri’s mouth went so dry it hurt to swallow. Had he started to hallucinate? The slanting sun turned the water’s surface reflective. He stared until his eyes burned, and Gabriel’s head broke the water.

Gabriel’s long snout sent a V-shaped ripple back as he surfaced, revealing his entire body—maybe sixteen feet of solid alligator muscle. He drifted parallel to the bigger gator, which held still as he passed. The smaller gator disappeared into the reeds.

Henri found himself panting with astonishment as Gabriel swam back to the dock. He tried to deepen his breathing before it made him too dizzy.

He stared down through the murky water as Gabriel changed again. The massive reptile body rippled and folded on itself. Gabriel surfaced in man-shape, shaking the water from his face. He climbed to the dock, water pouring off him.

Henri backed away, still trying to swallow as his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth—exactly as Charlie had described experiencing when getting shot at on Okinawa. His overloaded mind felt like a stunned beetle, struggling through a haze of shock.

“Don’t be afraid,” Gabriel said.

He held out his hand as droplets beaded on his shoulders and broad chest. His heavy genitals swayed against his thigh as he advanced. Henri’s erection strained against his jeans, throbbing with his wild heartbeat. He stumbled at the porch, reeling backward to catch himself on the cabin wall.

Gabriel stood a hand-span away. “What am I?”

“The Devil.” Henri forced out the words, terrified and shaking with lust.

“Oh?” Gabriel looked surprised, even flattered. “Wouldn’t I have trouble with this?” His cool fingers slipped inside Henri’s shirt. He drew forth the silver chain with its cross and holy medal. River scent drifted from his skin as he pulled the chain taut between them. “What am I?”

Henri nodded toward the bayou as sweat streamed down his back. “One of them.”