My husband seems to have a terrible habit of accidentally bonding with unsuspecting newcomers.

Cal and Neviah are married, the coastal lab co-op Neviah started is thriving, and she named her research boat “Cthulhu” just to mess with her husband.
Life is good, until Doctor Rowan “Ro” Priest arrives to assist Neviah on a new project.
The new guy is weird, and Neviah clocks it straight away. All it takes is a near-miss with a Petri dish to confirm it—she knew he had tentacle energy.
Cal feels it too—so strongly, in fact, that he ends up accidentally creating a mate bond with the only person he’s ever met who is like him.
Cal isn’t sure he’s ready to let an interloper into his marriage, but Neviah reassures him it’s okay to want. She tells Cal he should talk to Ro. Or… maybe more than talk.