Archive of Our Own ^beta

Alex flipped the page on the questionnaire and nearly groaned aloud.

He appreciated the clinic’s thoroughness but come on. Fourteen pages of his health and sexual history is a bit much.

The sticky vinyl chair squeaks beneath his weight as he goes down the page, crossing off no fewer than six dozen different medical conditions. Do they really need to know how many teeth he’s had pulled by a dentist? Or how many broken bones he’s had? Or the brand of heat suppressants he uses?

Well, he supposes that last one might be vital to the clinic’s services.

He glances around nervously, though there’s no one else in the waiting room except for the receptionist—whose seat is low enough at the desk that Alex can only see the top of her head over the counter—and Alex himself. The air is pleasantly warm and smells faintly of pheromone-suppressing room spray. They probably have filters in the air vents, considering this place only smells like a regular doctor’s office.

And it is. A regular doctor’s office, that is. They provide more than just the services Alex is there for. Clinics like these provide contraceptives, suppressants, scent blockers, fertility treatment, counseling. Anything you might need in terms of secondary designation and reproductive health.

A door down the hall opens and an omega steps out. She’s pink-cheeked and her hair is wet, and there’s a nervous, giddy sort of pep in her step. There’s an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. An alpha leaves the room shortly after her, hair similarly wet, and gives her a polite nod before leaving.

As the alpha passes, her scent blockers do nothing to mask the lingering scent of heat on her skin.

Alex clears his throat and looks back at his questionnaire.

He’s managed just fine on his own for the past four years of life. He was a late bloomer and didn’t present until he was nineteen, and his roommate Nora had been a lifesaver. She’d held him while he wept through the cramps and unfamiliar stickiness between his thighs and fed him chicken soup when his stomach finally settled. He barely remembers most of it. It comes back to him every now and then in hazy flashes. The most vivid memory of it all was sobbing on his bedroom floor when he realized his fingers weren’t enough, would never be enough, all while Nora tried to coach him from the other side of the door. When the stupor of his first heat passed, nearly a week after it started, she took him to a clinic not unlike this one and held his hand while the doctor went over his options for birth control and suppressants.

He went home with a bag full of sterile heat aides and a prescription for suppressants he filled immediately.

Technically they’re only supposed to be used in case of an emergency, to prevent his heat from starting until he’s somewhere safe. He’s been taking them every day at 9 a.m. since the script was filled.

He lies during his annual checkups, says his heats are hard but he manages to get through them alone with his heat aides and a ton of Gatorade. The doctor always smiles sympathetically and refills his prescription without asking questions.

That is, until last month, when he was getting his exam and the doctor suddenly stopped and tipped her head. Her gloved hand passed over his neck, then pressed down on a tender spot.

“Ow,” he hissed, though it barely hurt. “What’s that?”

“Alex,” she began reproachfully. It was the same tone his mom used when he was nine and fed his broccoli to the dog instead of eating it himself. “It looks like your scent glands are swollen.”

“Does that mean anything? Anything bad?”

She shakes her head, a tight smile on her lips. “Nothing bad. Usually, it happens if you’re pregnant.” She gave him a pointed look. He nearly fainted before she continued. “But considering you said you’re not sexually active, and your pregnancy test came back negative a few minutes ago, I’d say they’re swollen because you’ve skipped your heat. Am I right in that assumption?”

She didn’t know how right she was. He hasn’t had a heat since that first one that had given him nightmares for months. The suppressants made sure of that.

He hasn’t missed one heat. He’s missed seven.

He has no problem with being an omega. It’s part of him, as much as his identity as a man and the color of his hair. It was a little easier for him to come to terms with than his bisexuality, even.

Things have changed for omegas in the past few decades—thanks in a good part to his parents, who have both been using their position in the US Senate to put protections in place. This clinic is one such result of the Claremont-Diaz Act of 2018, the first omega reproductive health legislation to be signed since 1986. It was the first (and only) project his parents have worked on together since the divorce. His presentation as an omega brought his family of alphas closer together.

One win for biology, I guess.

There were perks to being an omega. The bathrooms were always clean. He gets priority rescue in case he’s ever in a plane that crashes or a ship that sinks. If he ever needs it, there’s special housing for unmated omegas who wish to stay unmated. All his healthcare related to being an omega (like his current endeavor) is subsidized.

But going through undergrad and now in law school, he’s just never had the time (or the desire, honestly) to go off his suppressants and let it happen.

Until now.

His doctor refused to refill his prescription before he passed a pheromone test confirming he’s gone through a healthy heat. Technically, he probably should have that test every year, but he’s managed to duck it since he’s not been sexually active.

Like ever.

Just like the heats, he’s just never had the time to lose his virginity. He’s not “saving himself” or whatever. It’s just never happened. He’s made out with people plenty, gotten his hands down their pants and fingers inside him in return. But he’s never taken a knot. He’s never spent a heat with somebody. Never known what it feels like to be bred, to be used.

He shifts in his seat again and the resulting squeak echoes in the waiting room.

Not now, Alex, he tells himself. You’ve got a few more days before you have to worry about that.

He’s already on edge, though. There’s an itch under his skin he can’t reach no matter how many hot showers he takes. He’s been getting warm at night, to the point that Nora threatened to kick him out if he turned the thermostat down again. He’s wearing shorts in November. In New York.

Not to mention the uptick in his libido. It’s been frankly disgusting. He’s getting wet over everything now—shampoo ads, random scents on the subway, the word tort for some reason. He can’t get off without something inside him anymore, which is equal parts annoying and hot. When he cums, it’s not the regular thick white he’s used to. It’s nearly clear, pearlescent, and when he tastes it (yes, he tastes his own cum, get over yourself) there’s a sweetness he’s never really noticed before.

He knows it’s all his body’s natural reaction, in preparation of being bred.

Not that anyone’s breeding him. Well, not permanently.

He’s on birth control—a shot to his arm every month, with a booster dose to be administered right before his heat. Which will be soon.

Too soon, if the clinic nurse Percy’s reaction in a private room a few minutes later is anything to tell by.

He flips through Alex’s (now completed) questionnaire. “Well, Mr. Claremont-Diaz, I’ll say you’ve given us a tight timeframe to work with.”

Alex bites his tongue. “Yeah. Sorry. It kinda came up on me pretty quick.”

“I see you were referred here by your primary care physician because you missed a heat. Is there a reason for that? Are you safe at home?”

Alex knows these are standard questions, but he smiles anyway. “Yeah, totally safe. I live with another omega. It’s more of a… scheduling issue.”

“Ah,” Percy says, scribbling something at the top of one the pages of the questionnaire. As if it didn’t already contain enough information to use as fodder for writing his biography. “Would your partner like to come to the clinic? It’s not uncommon for omega pairs to seek out alphas at clinics during their heats.”

The suggestion startles a laugh out of him. “Oh, uh, no. No, my roommate and I are platonic.” He doesn’t mention that Nora held him and let him rut against her leg during his first and only heat. And they had dated, for about three months in freshman year. They’d only been broken up a few short weeks when he presented, but she’d been a gem about the whole thing. But all that was long, long behind them. “I don’t have a girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Or… anything.”

“Right,” he says, giving Alex a slightly amused but still kind smile. “And this will be your first partnered heat, correct?”

Alex sits straighter in his chair. “Yes.”

“Why have you chosen now to have one?”

“Again, scheduling. I’m in law school. I don’t know how long my heat would last if I handled it on my own, and my doctor said partnered heats shorten them by several days. I can’t afford to miss a whole week of class, but I can do a long weekend or something.”

The nurse graciously doesn’t mention it’s already Thursday. “Your hormone levels indicate you’re already in pre-heat, which means your full heat could start in an hour or in a few days. We’ll have to rush you through the onboarding process to make sure you and your heat partner are comfortable with one another before it hits.”

“Right.” Alex tugs at the neck of his t-shirt. It’s cotton, but it’s rubbing his scent glands raw. “I understand I’m cutting it close. I’ll do whatever you need.”

Percy nods and stands up. Alex watches him roll a pair of gloves over his dark brown hands and pick up a swab and a glass vial. “Tip your head and pull the neck of your shirt aside. We need to get a swab of your scent gland.”

“What for?” Alex does as he’s asked, suppressing a shiver when the swab passes over his gland. The light contact nearly makes him want to scream. And not in a good way.

“It’s how we determine compatibility between partners,” he says, putting the swab in the glass vial. “We do blind partnering here. We take your gender and designation preference into account, then send you scent samples of potential candidates. You tell us which ones you like and which you don’t, and if someone whose scent you like also likes yours, we will arrange for you to make contact. Usually here in the office, though some choose to meet for coffee or something. If you both agree to go through with your heat together, we’ll book a private room for you here at the clinic. The room will have anything you would need—food, water, facilities, blankets, heat aides, condoms, dental dams—you name it. The rooms are monitored by our 24/7 private security, and there are panic buttons located throughout the room if you or your partner feel unsafe or need assistance.”

Alex sat back in his chair, processing all of that. It was all in the brochure his doctor had given him. Nora had done partnered heats through clinics before, and she’d told him they had similar processes. But now he’s realizing he’s the one who’s going to be picking scents out of a lineup, meeting a stranger, giving his virginity to someone he’s never met…

His gut burns and he shakes his head to keep himself from dribbling all over the seat. “Will it be an issue? Pairing me with someone so soon?”

“It should be fine,” Percy says, tapping on the tablet he brought with him. “It looks like we have several alphas with current availability.” He pauses, tilts his head, and makes an ambiguous hmm sound. “Are you comfortable partnering with an alpha who will be in rut?”

“In rut?” Alex’s mouth goes dry.

Alphas in rut can be loose cannons. Depending on the alpha, they could be clingy and protective, or they could be aggressive. But their knots are bigger, their stamina heightened, their pheromones primed for breeding—

“Yes,” he finally chokes out, grateful for the scent blockers. “Yes, I’d be alright with that. As long as they’re not violent, or—”

“All our alpha volunteers have submitted to psychological fitness exams. We don’t accept any alphas who fail the exams or have violent backgrounds. Several of them choose to spend their ruts with heat partners, but most of them don’t.”

“Does the process change at all if the alpha I get is in rut?”

The nurse plucks yet another pastel brochure from a pocket on the wall and hands it over. “There are protocols. Your chance of pregnancy while on birth control even in heat is fairly low, but it would be negated by an alpha’s rut. So, to counteract that, the alpha will also receive a temporary sterilization shot.” When Alex’s eyes go wide, Percy smiles. “Everything will be fully functional, I assure you. You and your partner won’t notice any difference. But the alpha’s sperm count will be far lower than it would be without the shot.” Somehow, Percy’s English accent makes that sound more pleasant than it is.

Alex is going to need a very long shower after just thinking about all of this. He doesn’t want kids until he’s at least thirty, but his omega could not give less of a shit. “Right,” he croaks. “That makes sense.”

“And we would apply a patch over your scent glands that would prevent the alpha from biting,” the nurse continues. “And again, the security measures would all be in place should you need them. An attendant will check in on you every four hours to make sure you’re doing alright. On the plus side, if you’re worried about the length of your heat, getting paired with a rutting alpha would shorten it even more.” He shrugs. “But there’s no saying who you’ll be paired with.”

Alex leaves the clinic with a box of scent samples from potential alphas and the most uncomfortable situation in his underwear.

He fucks himself on his fingers the moment his bedroom door closes just to take the edge off. God. If he’s this keyed up in pre-heat, how much worse will it be during full heat?

He remembers the pain, the cramps, the aching emptiness, the need to be held that not even Nora’s familiar embrace could fulfil. A shudder rolls through him.

He doesn’t regret his decision. Although he’d been miffed when he left his doctor’s office last week without his suppressants, he can’t deny he’s been feeling off the past couple months. He’s been moody. He swings back and forth from insatiably horny to dry as a desert for weeks on end. Just looking at an attractive alpha has made him salivate more than once.

He can’t deny his nerves, though.

He’s not precious about sex, despite the catholic guilt and what not. He’s been wanting to just get it over with for a while now. And it makes sense to do it during a heat, in a controlled environment, with someone who’s been tested for STIs and violent tendencies.

How bad could it be, really?

He opens the box and unstoppers the first vial. “Ugh,” he cringes away, putting the lid back on as fast as humanly possible. “So bad.”

The next two don’t go much better. The fourth is somewhat promising, though there’s still something about it that doesn’t sit right with his omega. It doesn’t smell bad. It’s just not right.

His spirits are low when he gets to the fifth and final vial the clinic gave him. They said he could have more samples if none of these were to his liking, but he knows they’re limited due to the time constraint. If he doesn’t like any of these, he might be screwed.

And not in the way he’s looking for.

Slowly, he opens the final vial and lifts it to his nose.

His next breath escapes him on a moan.

Fuck, he’s never been so attracted to a scent in his life. He can’t get enough. He practically tries crawling inside the little glass before realizing it’s futile.

He turns the bottle and reads the label.

Alpha Male 1001462

24

6’2”

Caucasian, Blond hair, Blue eyes

That’s it?

Alex spins the glass, looking for anything else—a name, a phone number, he doesn’t fucking know—before accepting his fate. He’s never been super into blonds, but he can get past that if the alpha smells like this holy shit.

He calls the clinic with shaking fingers and asks for Percy.

“Nurse Okonjo speaking.”

“Hi Percy, this is Alex Claremont-Diaz.”

“Alex!” The nurse’s voice is colored with surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you to call back so soon. You tried out the samples we gave you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“And did you find one you like?”

Alex chuckles. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“Perfect! Would you mind reading me the number beside their designation please?” Alex rattles off the number, and Percy makes a sound of giddy triumph. “Ah! Sorry, don’t mind me. I’m just glad you picked him.”

“Why’s that?”

“He’s one of our most sought-after alphas,” Percy explains, and part of Alex sinks. “But he’s very, very picky about the partners he chooses.”

“Oh,” Alex says. “That’s fine, I can choose another—”

The nurse cuts him off. “Nonsense! He already picked your scent too.”

“Wha—really? That fast?”

“We processed your scent sample right away so we could get you settled before your heat starts and reached out to any compatible alphas,” Percy says. “When would you be able to come to the clinic to meet him?”

Alex’s pulse is suddenly hammering. This was already happening so fast. “Um, I could do before my classes tomorrow morning, around ten? Or after six in the evening.”

“Right.” There’s the faint sound of typing on the other line. “I’ll reach out to your alpha and see what his availability is.”

Your alpha.

“C-cool. Thanks Percy.”

“My pleasure, Alex.”

The next morning, Nora hovers in Alex’s doorway while he tries on outfit after outfit.

“Just go back to the jeans and black t-shirt that fits your chest super nice,” she says, clearly ready to leave. She’s got her shoes on, purse slung over her shoulder, but she’s been humoring Alex for the better part of half an hour.

“Is that too casual though? I don’t want him to think I’m, like, desperate or anything.”

Nora raises an eyebrow at him. “Babe, you are desperate? And it’s not a date. Think of it as a medical consultation. A medical consultation for a very long prostate exam.”

Alex rips off the button-down he’d been wearing and lobs it at her head. “You’re not helping! What did you wear when you went to meet your heat partner?”

“Literally sweatpants. I was already in preheat so anything rough was a no-go.”

Alex can’t deny he feels extra sensitive right now. Just the brush of fabric against his nipples or his scent glands makes him shudder. In theory he should take this easy, keep it casual, but A: he’s never been a casual guy, B: he’s about to go talk to a man about losing his virginity, and C: the man he’s losing it to smells like verbena and sex.

Forgive him if he wants to look nice.

“I want to make a good first impression,” he says. “The nurse told me this guy’s super picky.”

“And you don’t think that’s a red flag?”

Alex shrugs. “I think it’s nice that he’s an alpha volunteer at a heat clinic, but he won’t take just any omega. I’m hoping that means he’s not just in it to get his knot wet.” In reality, he’s so obsessed with the alpha’s scent he’d be willing to meet him even if Percy had said he’s a human stud horse with zero social skills.

Nora still looks unsure but rolls her eyes anyway. “Okay, if we’re dressing for comfort but a little sexy, try this.” She plucks a forest green polo from the pile of discarded clothing. “Lightweight, casual but a little dressed up, makes your eyes sparkle. I’ve got pasties and gland patches in the bathroom if you’re too sensitive. I’ve gotta get out the door before I miss the bus.” She tips her head and looks at him through her lashes. “Text me when you’re done. I want to hear everything.”

Alex arrives at the clinic half an hour early and spends a good fifteen minutes wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans in the waiting room. Every time the door opens, he can’t help looking, scenting for the alpha he picked. He’d given the box of scent samples to the receptionist, so he couldn’t even calm himself with a little sniff like he’d done all last night and early this morning. He’s starting to feel like he’s having withdrawals.

“Alex?”

His head jerks up.

Percy is beckoning him from the hall, a soft smile on his face. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You’re fine.” Alex stands and balls his shaking hands into fists. “I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

The nurse frowns a little but nods as he ushers Alex down the hall, past the exam rooms, to a new corridor. “That’s fairly common in pre-heat, unfortunately. Luckily you should be able to make up for it once your heat starts.”

Alex refrains from making a doubtful noise. In his first heat, he’d barely slept for the pain and hot flashes. The only time he’d truly slept was when he and Nora curled up together on the floor with ice packs under his armpits.

Percy stops at a door with a lavender flag above the door. “This is your meeting room. Your partner should be here shortly. Help yourself to any snacks or drinks from the fridge.” He shows Alex the two panic buttons in the room in case he needs them. They’re bright red and labeled “EMERGENCY” so they’re impossible to miss. He’s instructed to press it if he feels uncomfortable at any time and someone will intervene.

Alex grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and seats himself in one of the wide armchairs on one side of the coffee table littered with candy bars, granola, fruit, and bags of chips. The room is bathed in warm light and smells of the same scent neutralizers they use in the waiting room. Potted plants line the sill of a wide window on one wall, though Alex is fairly certain they’re all fake. It’s a nice touch, nevertheless. It puts him in mind of his therapist’s office from when his parents got him and June counseling after the divorce—sterile but trying to be inviting.

But the chair is comfortable, and the water is cool, even if Alex’s leg won’t stop bouncing.

He watches the clock hanging above a large abstract painting in greens and browns and oranges, the quiet tick tick tick echoing through the empty room until he feels it reverberating in his own chest.

9:55 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

10:10 a.m.

He counts the seconds until 10:20 a.m. before finally letting himself give up hope.

No one’s twenty minutes late for an appointment like this.

He’s been stood up.

For a fucking heat clinic consultation.

Which is fine, truly, it is. It’s not like he spent thirty minutes getting dressed this morning, then another ten on his hair, and yet another five making sure he was wearing just enough cologne to smell like a classy adult but not too much to cover up his natural scent—which is what drew this alpha to him in the first place.

It’s not like he was up half the night in both worry and excitement for meeting the man to whom he would likely be giving his virginity. It’s not like he rehearsed what he would say. It’s not like he made a pros and cons list to figure out if he should tell the guy he was a virgin before finally landing on “Let’s figure out his vibe first, then decide.”

God, what a prick!

Nora was right. He should have been cautious when Percy said this alpha is picky. Picky alphas have big heads—not always in the place that counts—and feel like omegas owe them something. He can imagine what an ego boost it would be for one such alpha to volunteer at a heat clinic, have unlimited access to omega pussy, have omegas literally begging for his knot.

Alex was a fool. He should have just figured out how to ride this out at home. He should’ve found a friend to heat partner him—though his options at this point in his life would be Hunter, his partner for a law school project they’re in the middle of, and Liam, his former best friend he’s spoken to maybe twice since high school.

Alex doesn’t have many alpha friends, obviously.

Still, he could have arranged something. His parents have connections. Maybe they could have found him some sort of accommodation, something—

The door opens and Alex is so startled he drops his bottle of water.

The man who enters fits the description on the scent sample bottle—tall, blonde, all alpha male with his broad shoulders straining the seams of his well-tailored suit. He glances at Alex cooly, running a long-fingered hand down the front of his coat, then nods a greeting.

“Good morning.” His voice is deeper than Alex was expecting from someone so young, with a British accent that would be charming if he didn’t look so clearly uncomfortable. He seats himself stiffly in the chair across from Alex. He’s not even pretending to try and look Alex in the eye as he folds his hands in his lap. “I apologize for my tardiness. Mid-morning meetings are tough for me to work around.”

“Oh.” Alex feels whatever simmering excitement he’d had about this begin to dim. This alpha is handsome—undeniably so, in a sun-kissed Prince Charming kind of way—but he clearly has no interest in Alex beyond his usefulness as an omega. But still, he’s available and Alex… is desperate. Truly desperate. “No worries. We could have scheduled another—”

The blond waves a hand. “No, I wanted to get this over with.”

Alex pauses to collect himself. The audacity of this prick! “Right.” Alex clears his throat. “Well, I suppose there’s no use in dragging it out if you have to get back to work or whatever. Should we talk about how this is going to work?”

The blond dips his head. If he’s put off by Alex’s tone, he doesn’t show it. “I have to finish out the workday, but my weekend is clear, and I have already put in Monday and Tuesday for rut leave.”

“Oh.” Alex’s eyes widen. “You’re in rut?”

He nods. “Pre-rut for now, but I’m likely to start tonight if my schedule is correct. Which it always is.”

Of course a guy like this would have his rut cycle timed down to the hour.

“That’s… soon.”

“I would imagine your heat starts soon as well.” He finally looks at Alex, who’s unconsciously edged himself to the edge of his seat to try and catch even the faintest whiff of the scent with which he’d been so enamored. “Pez said there was a last-minute omega who came in. Based on the patches wrapped around your neck, I’m assuming that’s you.”

It's not even phrased as a question. Alex’s cheeks heat as his hand lifts to brush the edge of one of the patches. He hadn’t been able to tolerate the collar of the polo brushing his scent glands, and he could smell his scent growing in intensity. He’d doused himself in neutralizing spray before he left just so he could remain decent in public, but he can already feel it wearing off.

Other than the pinched look on his aristocratic face, the alpha shows no signs of discomfort.

Alex clears his throat again. “Pez?”

The blond blinks. “Pez. Percy.”

“Ah.” Alex tilts his head. “You two… know each other, then?” You don’t just give a nickname to a nurse at your clinic. Even if you happen to share an accent.

“We’re old mates.”

Alex feels something in his chest twinge. Ah. Right. Of course, this perfect specimen of an alpha is spoken for. Nurse Percy is a beautiful man, and his scent hadn’t been obvious, so Alex assumed he was a beta. It makes sense, then, that Percy would allow his alpha mate to use his own clinic’s services to help him through rut. It’s not that outlandish of an idea. Mated pairs do it all the time.

It still stings, though, for some reason Alex cannot name.

“Right,” Alex says, his voice a little hoarse. “Listen, I’ll just be honest with you. This is my first heat in a while and it’s probably going to be rough. I just need someone to partner with through it so I can get back to class as soon as possible.”

The blond narrows his eyes. “You’re a student?”

Alex nods.

“How old are you?” He looks Alex up and down: neatly gelled curls, carefully ironed polo, neat khaki shorts, boat shoes that have seen some shit but still look nice. Alex knows he looks fine, but for some reason, that look makes him want to check himself in a mirror.

“I’m 23.” He frowns. “I’m in law school. Why?”

“You’ve got one of those young faces,” the alpha says. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t lying about your age on your forms.”

Alex gawps at him, a disbelieving laugh falling from his lips. “Wow. Wow.”

“What?”

“Couldn’t you pretend to want to be here? You’ve barely even looked at me. You look like someone shoved a stick so far up your ass you’re choking on it. You haven’t even given me your name! And you act like it’s an inconvenience to be here. Well guess what?” Incensed, Alex rises, and the alpha’s ocean-blue eyes widen. “I’m not thrilled to be here either. I’d rather be anywhere other than a stuffy conference room with a stuffy prick who doesn’t seem to care how this all affects me. Do you think I want to be here? Huh? Do you think I’d be here a day before my heat is supposed to start if I had any other option?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Alex huffs when the stunned alpha makes no move to answer.

“Whatever,” he sighs. “I’ll figure something else out.” He turns to leave, calling over his shoulder. “Have the day you deserve, prick.”

His hand touches the doorknob when the alpha speaks up. “Henry.”

Alex turns around. “What?”

“My name.” The alpha stands, and gone is that proud, tense set to his shoulders. There’s a furrow between his brows and he looks so chagrined that Alex almost feels bad. Almost. “It’s Henry. I’m sorry, I—” He pushes a hand through his hair, mussing the perfectly gelled strands. It somehow makes him look even more handsome. “I’m not usually such a massive tool.”

That startles another laugh out of Alex, this one mostly genuine. “Really?” He crosses his arms. “It comes by you naturally, seems like to me.”

The alpha—Henry—rolls his eyes. “Yes, so I’ve been told.” He takes a step toward Alex and puts his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, making it obvious he’s not going in for the kill. “I’ve been busy, and my rut snuck up on me, and it’s got me in somewhat of a chokehold. I’ve been on edge for days. I’m sorry I took it out on you. You’re in the same position as me, and I shouldn’t have let myself lose my manners like that. I’m sorry. Truly.”

Alex is stunned. He can count on one hand the number of times an alpha has genuinely apologized to him, and most of those were from his family members. To get such a sincere apology from an alpha he’s just met, one with whom he’s arranging a mutually beneficial, clandestine, three-day fuckfest… it’s new, to say the least.

Eventually, Alex approaches the alpha slowly. Up close, Alex can see the ring of gold around his pupils before the irises melt into blue. He’s got freckles, faint ones, across his nose and cheeks, and a tiny beauty mark above his lip. Tawny hair falls across his forehead as he dips his head in deference to Alex, a sign of respect, of submission. Even with the gesture, he’s still got a good four or so inches on Alex. But Alex comforts himself to know he’d definitely beat him in an arm wrestle.

He steps into the alpha’s space and suddenly he’s surrounded by that scent that’s been driving him mad. It’s faint, clearly hidden beneath scent blockers, but it’s there, and it’s even better in person, hot on Henry’s skin, than it was in a cold glass jar.

“Alex,” he whispers. Henry’s eyes lift to his again. “I’m Alex.”

“Alex,” Henry says.

It’s just a name. Four letters. Two syllables. Two vowels and two consonants. Nothing special in the grand scheme of things. But it’s his name. His name spoken on luscious lips that Alex very much wants to taste—or, well, his omega, suddenly inundated with the scent of a virile alpha in pre-rut, wants to taste.

“I accept your apology, by the way,” Alex says, trying to joke away the tension. “It’s kinda unfair, that you can go from stuffy businessman to pouty alpha pup with just a few bats of your eyelashes.”

Henry chuckles, the low, pleased sound of it rolling down Alex’s spine. “You’re the one to talk about eyelashes.” He reaches for Alex’s hand. “May I?”

Alex complies. It’s a bit odd to greet your rut partner with a handshake, but their meeting started off far worse, so who is he to judge?

Instead of shaking his hand, though, Henry lifts Alex’s wrist to his face and slowly, gently presses his nose to his pulse point. Ocean eyes slip closed as he inhales.

It’s like the alpha sucked all the air from Alex’s lungs into his own. His pulse jitters, and he’s sure Henry can feel it where his nose and upper lip are pressed to the sensitive skin of Alex’s inner wrist.

It’s an old, traditional greeting. Alex has only ever seen elderly couples or people on TV do it. It’s a sign of respect, of an alpha expressing their interest in an omega, and the omega’s willingness to be courted. He’s scented with alphas before, both in the familial sense and in the backs of cars or on couches or in beds. He’s had his nose pressed deep into the scent glands of alphas he very much wanted and who clearly wanted him, but somehow this small, bygone gesture makes him wet enough to douse a fire.

Henry’s eyes flick open after a few moments, and he lowers Alex’s wrist. His fingers linger on his skin for only a moment before pulling away. “Is that alright?”

Throat too dry to respond, Alex nods.

They make their way back to their chairs, and Alex gladly picks up his forgotten water and takes a long gulp. Henry grabs a bottle as well and sips at it delicately while he waits for Alex to collect himself. Alex is sure that if he looked at him right now, he’d see satisfaction gleaming in those arresting blue eyes. So, he doesn’t look.

“So,” Alex says once his heart has stopped racing. “What are you looking to get out of this?”

Henry’s brows rise, but he replies, “Same as you mentioned. I want to spend my rut with someone to make it a little easier, less painful, shorter.”

“Painful?” Alex can’t help but ask. “Ruts are painful for alphas?”

“Oh, horribly,” Henry says with a snort. “The knot throbs like the dickens and never goes down no matter how raw you get. But never let an alpha trick you or guilt you into spending their rut with you because of it. It’s like blue balls—sure it sucks, but you can deal with it on your own.”

“Says the alpha trying to get me to spend his rut with him?”

Henry rolls his eyes. “Yes, yes. I know, I’m a horrible hypocrite. What are you wanting from this?”

“I already said—”

“I want details, Alex.” Henry’s eyes seem to harden, and Alex feels himself sitting straighter in his chair. “What do you want me to do? What do you not want me to do? The clinic has forms we can fill out so we know each other’s likes and dislikes. I can send for Pez to bring them to us if you’d like?”

Alex’s throat feels tight and he can’t keep from pressing his thighs together. “Oh. Um. I haven’t put much thought into it, really. I guess just… the standard stuff?”

With a snort, Henry says, “But what’s ‘standard’ to you? Do you just want sex? Do you want to be held? Do you want me to kiss you? Do you want me to knot you?”

“Yes,” Alex blurts out before he can stop himself. “Y-yes I want you to knot me.”

Henry’s eyes lock on his, the pupils dilating. “Right. Do you want to use protection? Condoms—”

“No. No condoms. I need to be f-full.”

“Christ, Alex.” Henry sits back in his chair. His chest expands with a drawn-in breath that releases on a laugh. “Okay, we might need the paperwork.”

Alex frowns. “Why?”

“Because I’m finding it hard to think of the proper questions to ask when your scent is making me want to say damn the rest of the workday and start breeding you now.”

“Oh my god.” Alex digs his fingers into the cushion beneath him to keep from flinging himself at the alpha across the coffee table and making good on that threat. They really went from zero to a hundred. “Um. Yeah. Paperwork. Paperwork sounds great.”

Henry calls for Percy, who arrives with two packets (this one only one page front and back, miracle of miracles) and hands them over with a smug smile to Henry. “Need anything else?” he asks with a pointed look between them.

God, of course he can smell how worked up they are, Alex especially. He hasn’t been able to stop squirming since they sat back down.

Percy doesn’t look upset that his alpha is getting hot and heavy with someone else. In fact, he looks pleased as punch when Henry frowns at him.

“No,” Henry says. “Thanks Pez. I think we’ll be alright.”

Percy holds up his hands in surrender and backs out of the room before leaving them alone.

“Um,” Alex starts. “You two… seem comfortable with each other.”

Henry gives him a fond smile. “We are. We’ve known each other since we were children. His father worked closely with my grandmother before she passed. Now our companies are merging.”

“And that doesn’t put a lot of strain on your relationship?”

“No. It’s actually given us the opportunity to see each other more. This is the first time we’ve lived in the same city since we were… gods, probably seventeen?”

Alex tilts his head, paperwork in his lap temporarily forgotten. “Wait, you haven’t been living with your partner? How did you make that work?”

Henry just blinks at him for a few long moments. “Percy isn’t my partner.”

“Oh, uh.” Alex’s face goes hot. “Sorry. You said you were mates and I assumed—”

Henry bursts out laughing, doubled over and clutching his stomach. Alex would be offended, but Henry looks really pretty when he’s laughing. “Oh, oh god,” he finally says when he regains control of himself. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. I should have been more careful. I meant we’re friends, Alex. ‘Mates’ as in friends, pals, buddies, homies.”

“So he’s not… you’re not…”

“I’m not mated, Alex,” Henry says gently. “I’m not seeing anybody.”

“Right,” Alex declares more cheerfully than he feels. “Right. Me too. I mean, me neither. I mean, I’m single too. So. Nobody to, uh, worry about.”

He’s floundering, obviously, but Henry is unexpectedly kind. “Why don’t we walk through this, shall we?”

They spend the next half hour going all their yesses (which are many) and their no’s (which are few).

The paperwork words it more professionally, but they both agree that they want raw, unprotected sex as frequently as possible and as many times as necessary. They’re both fine with kissing and physical affection. Alex wants to be held after he’s knotted. Henry needs to sleep after he’s popped a knot. They’ll set an alarm to eat every few hours and keep water on hand. They agree to use the stoplight system if anything gets out of hand.

The only no’s from either of them were biting and excessive kink. The first was obvious and clinic policy, but the second was from Alex. He says it’s his first time sharing his heat with someone, and he doesn’t want to go too deep too fast. Which is true. What he doesn’t say is that it’s his first time having sex, period. While the thought of having rough, kinky sex with the man studiously filling in the boxes on his form across from him is appealing, he can’t deny it’s also highly inadvisable and likely to get someone hurt.

Percy comes back to take their hormone levels again before they schedule their room, and Alex can’t hide his blush when he sees him again. He can’t believe he thought he and Henry were mated! Percy jostles Henry good-naturedly while taking his blood sample and Henry shoves him in return, both of them giggling like school children.

Once upon a time, Alex had that kind of friendship with Liam. Innocent, carefree, safe.

Then Liam presented as an alpha, and suddenly their secret mutual handjobs came grinding to a halt and they went no-contact.

“So you’re both comfortable moving forward with this?” Percy asks.

Alex looks to Henry, who’s already nodding.

“Right then.” Percy grabs their blood samples and heads back to the door. “We’ll see if we can confirm when you both will be ready to start, we’ll get your contraceptive shots, and we’ll get your room booked. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks Pez,” Henry says as Alex murmurs his own appreciation.

The room falls silent in his absence and Alex can’t help himself from stealing glances at Henry.

Henry, the not-so-uptight alpha who’s been inordinately kind to him.

Henry, who smells like verbena and sex, only growing stronger by the minute.

Henry, whose knot Alex can’t wait to lock inside him, cum around him, feel him filling him up to the brim—

“Can I bring you anything for our session?” Henry’s question bites into Alex’s wandering thoughts. He’s giving Alex a look that tells him he knows exactly where his mind went.

“Oh, um. Like what?”

“You’ve never done this before, right? Shared a heat with someone?”

Alex shakes his head.

“Sometimes it helps if each person brings things that make them feel comfortable. Pillows, blankets, candles, books. Things to make you feel at home. I personally like to bring my pillow from home—I can’t sleep without it. And I usually bring my own snacks, since the ones they provide aren’t to my tastes.”

Alex swallows. “You’ve done this a lot, then?”

Henry shrugs. “I’ve never had a partner—a romantic partner, that is—to spend my rut with, so I’ve always arranged time with a clinic. I know it’s a little less orthodox for alphas to seek out professional help, but I find that a controlled environment makes me feel safer. More in control of my instincts.”

“That makes sense,” Alex says. “Could you, um… maybe bring something for me that smells like you? A blanket, or a shirt maybe?”

Henry blinks in surprise then grins. “Yeah. Of course. But only if you bring something for me, too.”

“Like what?”

“I’d be fine with a blanket or a shirt as well. But I’d also like you to bring your favorite movie.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re not going to be fu… uh…” Henry turns his head, scratching his ear. “We’re not going to be coupling the whole time, probably, so we need something to keep us occupied between rounds. Something mindless to watch is always good, that way you won’t miss out on any of the plot if you fall asleep or get… distracted.”

Alex is plenty distracted right now, actually. He can’t stop staring at Henry’s neck where he’s loosened his grey and black striped tie and keeps tugging at the collar.

“Can I scent you?”

Henry looks surprised by his question. “Of course. We’ll be doing that a lot, I imagine.”

“No, I mean like… now.”

“Oh.” Henry’s eyes go wide. “Oh, right. Well, I don’t see why not. Come here.”

Alex stands and rounds the coffee table to stand beside Henry’s chair. The chairs are wide but not particularly deep—built for maximum comfort but minimal potential for premature breeding. Scenting isn’t strictly forbidden during consults (according to one of the many pamphlets that have come into Alex’s possession this week—he checked), but it’s not necessarily encouraged, either.

Seeing his hesitancy, Henry grabs Alex’s wrist—the same one he’d scented earlier—and tugs him down next to him in the chair. It’s a tight fit, two grown men in an armchair, but they manage. Alex doesn’t let himself relax, can’t relax. He feels so out of his element even though this is one of the few things he has done with alphas.

One of Henry’s arms curls around Alex’s shoulder, pulling him closer until they’re sharing a breath. Alex can’t take his eyes off Henry’s face, watching him for cues. A touch to his thigh startles him, but it’s just Henry—of course it’s Henry, dumbass—who pulls first Alex’s left leg, then his right, across his lap so Alex is sitting with his legs thrown across Henry’s thighs. It positions them perfectly for scenting. Their height difference is apparent here, as Alex’s nose is nearly tucked right into Henry’s throat and his body curled up under Henry’s arm. Softly, a hand presses Alex’s head down, guiding him where he’s been wanting to be this whole time.

He doesn’t let himself inhale until he’s settled, but when he does—

Oh, when he does.

The moan that had escaped him last night when he first caught Henry’s scent is nothing compared to the desperate noise ripped from his throat now. It’s entirely animal, all omega, and Alex can’t control himself as he presses his face deeper, one of his hands tugging at Henry’s shirt like he’s trying to crawl inside it.

“Easy, Alex.” Henry’s steady voice rumbles through his chest, nearly making Alex’s body shake apart. “Take your time. We’ve got plenty of it. Slow, deep breaths, love, like this.”

Alex follows his instructions; inhaling when Henry inhales, exhaling when Henry exhales, holding his breath when he’s told. Each breath is filled with Henry, Henry, Henry. He’s never been so affected by an alpha’s scent. It probably has something to do with his heat. He’s never scented with an alpha when he’s going into heat. He’s never been around an alpha in rut, either, as far as he knows.

A faint touch to his neck makes him shiver. Henry is fingering the edge of one of the patches covering his neck, and even though the touch is barely there, Alex is wracked with shivers.

“May I?” Henry asks, and Alex is nodding before he’s even through.

The edge of the patch peels away slowly, like Henry’s trying to be gentle with him. In another moment, Alex might’ve thanked him for his care, but right now he just wants to feel that perfect, Romanesque nose pressed against his scent glands.

He rips the rest of the patch away himself and undoes the buttons of his polo, giving Henry plenty of room to work.

“Go on,” he urges when Henry makes no move. “You can do it. I want you do.” His voice is all breathy and he’s panting like he just ran a 5K, but it works. Henry finally, finally dips his head to scent him for the first time.

The barest brush of a nose, of soft lips, makes him shudder and nearly moan in pleasure. Henry’s hand around his back tightens, bringing him closer. Alex is nearly sitting in his lap now. Henry gasps against Alex’s neck and buries his nose deeper into his collar.

“Alrighty, I’ve got your—Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor!”

They break apart at Percy’s abrupt—yet thorough—admonishment. Alex keeps his nose buried in its new favorite place in the whole wide world while Henry drags a hand down his own face in exasperation.

“It’s fine, Pez. We’re behaving.”

Percy doesn’t seem to care. “I leave for ten minutes, and you’ve got him purring like a cat. For Christ’s sake, Hazza.”

“Alright, alright,” Henry grumbles. His arm strokes down Alex’s side, no longer pulling him in but not pushing him away either. “Alex, love, it’s time for us to leave.”

“No,” he whines. As he does, his mouth opens, and there’s just Henry’s beautiful, unmarked throat begging to be tasted, so who is Alex to deny? He presses his lips right over the alpha’s thrumming pulse, the salt of his skin stirring Alex’s brain into a frenzy.

He hears Percy sigh somewhere behind him. “Makes sense. He’s in pre-heat already. He’s a bit ahead of you, and he’s been on suppressants for a while, which probably messed with him a bit.”

“Come on, darling, come on out.” Henry coaxes him with soft hands and gentle words and eventually Alex lets him extract him from his hiding spot. He whines like a child. He tries lunging back in, but Henry pulls him away, which only makes him whine more.

Later, Alex will look back on his behavior in this moment and want to crawl into a hole and expire.

“Get him some water,” Percy says. “And maybe get him off your lap.”

Henry does as he’s told, relinquishing his spot in the chair to kneel on the ground in front of Alex, who tries to follow him to no avail. Henry’s hands stay on him, which helps. Not by much.

“He’s scent-drunk,” Henry says to Percy, who hands him a fresh bottle of water. “I’ve never—I guess I didn’t realize that was a thing.”

“You’ve never had an omega go scent-drunk on you?”

Henry shakes his head.

“Hoo, boy,” Percy chuckles. “You might want to take extra precautions with this one, Haz. Like, bring the muzz—”

“I was already planning on it.” Henry tips the water against Alex’s lips, and he sips obediently.

Eventually, lulled by Henry and Percy’s voices, Alex comes back around. And when he does, his face flames hot enough to burn. “Oh, god,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me—”

Henry’s face softens. “It’s fine, love—”

“It’s just your body’s natural reaction,” Percy says. “You’ve never scented an alpha in rut, have you? Or even scented when you’re in heat?” When Alex shakes his head, Percy nods. “Pheromones are a lot different in rut. And you have a heightened sense of smell right now. Your bodies are trying to convince you both to reproduce.”

Both Alex and Henry blush.

“Don’t have to do much convincing there, really,” Henry quips.

Even though he’s so hot from embarrassment he could die, Alex laughs.

“I’d say it would be safest for you both to come back here tonight. Alex, with your levels being what they are, you’ll probably go into heat at some point in the night. Henry, his heat will probably jumpstart your rut. You two might want to be settled in and better acquainted by then.”

They both agree, sign the final paperwork, and get their contraceptive shots. It hits him again why the shots are necessary while he’s watching Percy administer Henry’s, and Alex can’t stop himself from squirming.

“Well then,” Percy announces when that’s all squared away. He grins at them. “I will see you both tonight.”

The rest of the day passes in a blur. Alex has two classes he attends but doesn’t retain an ounce of information, and at some point he texts Nora to tell her all about meeting Henry. Looking back at his text later, it’s hardly coherent.

Nora cooks him dinner, helps him pack his bag, and makes sure he showers even though he insists there will be a shower in their room, and he fully intends to use it several times. He’s never been able to tolerate being sticky.

Before he leaves, he grabs his favorite fluffy blanket from his bed and his DVD of The Empire Strikes Back from the entertainment center.

Nora drives him to the clinic. It’s dark out, and there are few other cars in the lot. A lone figure stands outside, lit by the streetlights—blond head bowed, suit jacket gone, hands in his pockets, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. Alex’s breath catches at the sight of him.

Nora looks back and forth between Henry and Alex. “Is that him?”

Alex nods.

“Daaaamn, boy. Remind me to come here for my next heat.”

A spike of jealousy has him griding his teeth. The thought of anyone else touching Henry, even Nora, Alex’s best friend in the whole entire world, is nearly enough to send him down a deep dark path. Jesus, calm down, dude. It’s not that deep.

Except it kind of is that deep. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity: his first time having sex, his first shared heat, his first alpha rut, his first knot. He’s giving up a lot to Henry. Even if this doesn’t go beyond this weekend, a little piece of Henry will always be with him.

“Be safe,” Nora tells him as he slips out of the car. “Check in with me when you can. Call me if you need me for anything, and I mean anything, you hear me?”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Yes, mom.”

“Shut up.” She shoves his bag at him out the door, laughing. “Be safe, I mean it. Love you, I mean it.”

“Love you too, Nor.”

Henry’s already smiling at him as he approaches. He looks much more relaxed than he had this morning. The jacket and tie are gone. The first few buttons of his powder-blue shirt are undone, exposing a tantalizing bit of collarbone Alex can’t wait to get his mouth on.

“Hi,” Henry says.

“Hi back.”

Henry tips his head to the entrance of the clinic. “You ready?”

Alex breathes in his last lungful of fresh air for the next few days. “As I’ll ever be.”

Their room is nice. Really nice, actually. It’s more of a suite than a room, with a small kitchenette and a bathroom attached. There’s a closet full of blankets, pillows, individually wrapped sex toys, condoms, informational packets, books, magazines (both dirty and family-friendly). Everything has that overlying too-clean scent of the clinic’s neutralizers, which Henry quickly remedies by pulling out a vanilla and cashmere candle from his bag and lighting it.

“I can’t stand the scent neutralizers,” he explains when he catches Alex watching him. “Makes my nose itch.”

It’s endearing. Alex smiles and hopes he doesn’t get a broken heart out of all this.

He explores their room some more. He’s aware Henry has been watching him wander about and appreciates the alpha is letting him take his time. He knows this is Alex’s first shared heat, even if he’s ignorant of the rest of his firsts. His kindness is an anchor.

The lights are on remote-controlled dimmer switches, so he plays with them for a minute before he catches Henry looking at him. He moves on bashfully. There’s a line of windows high up on the eastern wall, but there’s a long blackout curtain that can be pulled over them in case they’re trying to sleep during the day. On the wall beneath the windows is a massive TV with built-in sound system. There’s a small collection of movies in the shelves beneath it, but nothing worthwhile, and the TV doesn’t have streaming capabilities. He can see why Henry told him to bring something.

The bathroom is small and functional. It’s nothing impressive, but some quick calculations tell Alex the bath and shower are both big enough for the two of them to share comfortably.

The carpet is a sad grey but has a nice give under Alex’s shoes, so he slips them off and lets his toes burrow into it. It feels nice. Cozy.

Not as cozy as the massive, high-walled bed that takes up the better part of the room.

He avoids looking at it for as long as possible. When it becomes apparent that’s what he’s doing, he clenches his fist and studies it. It’s a long oval sunken and built into the floor so no amount of rolling around would send either of them toppling over. The walls are padded and squishy, maybe a foot tall. There’s no fewer than a dozen pillows already situated along the walls, and an armful of soft downy blankets in varying earthtones.

“So,” Alex says after a long moment. “Do we just—” He makes a vague gesture at the bed.

Henry chuckles and approaches him slowly. His hands rest on Alex’s shoulders, a grounding weight that keeps him rooted on the ground instead of running away inside his head. “Not until we have to,” Henry says, voice soft. “Not that I’m avoiding it, just so you know. But we’re going to have to, um…”

“Fuck?” Alex suggests with a wry grin, and when Henry nods, he laughs. “Christ Henry, you’re about to rail me seven days to Sunday—literally—so I think you can say the word ‘fuck’.”

“Fine.” Henry takes another step closer, so his socked feet are bracketing Alex’s. Alex’s breath catches as Henry’s eyes lower. “Since we’re going to be fucking the heat out until we’re both sore, we should save our strength. Don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s time. In the meantime, I’m going to run you a bubble bath to help you relax, and we’re going to drink some water to stay hydrated, and we’re going to watch the movie you brought. And maybe, if you’re good, I’ll scent you until we fall asleep.”

Alex’s eyes flutter shut. A moment later, he feels Henry’s forehead knock against his, the alpha so close their lips are brushing.

Alex breathes in deep; the scent of sandalwood surrounds him like a shroud, muffling all his other senses. “Kiss me first?”

Henry doesn’t hesitate.

Alex has been kissed dozens of times in his life. He loves kissing. He’s creamed his pants a time or two just from kissing. He’s had kisses that changed whole relationships, but never before this very moment has he had a kiss that changed the trajectory of his life. Not like this.

While Henry’s kiss had been gentle, light, fleeting, Alex retaliates by surging up onto his toes and crashing his lips to Henry’s.

Henry’s surprised moan is met with a scrape of Alex’s hungry teeth. He can’t get enough. He wants to crawl inside Henry, burrow deep inside him and carve a place for himself the way he can feel Henry doing inside him already. Maybe he’s naive. Maybe he’s overeager. But there’s a feeling as strong now as when he’d first caught Henry’s scent: this means something. They mean something. This isn’t meant to just be sex, a means to an end. Henry hasn’t implied he’s looking for anything more than scratching an itch—though that’s not quite right, is it? You don’t run a bubble bath for a man you’re planning on hitting and quitting. You don’t call him love or hold his face in your big strong alpha hands like he’s the most precious piece of art crafted by human hands. You don’t kiss him like you’ve invented kissing, like you’re trying to rewrite his very DNA, tattoo your name on each strand until you’re inextricably linked.

“Alex,” Henry breathes what could be minutes or hours later. “Alex, love, we have to stop.”

“No,” he whines, clutching the front of Henry’s shirt like he’s going to slip away if he lets go. “No, we don’t have to stop. We don’t have to. I don’t want to.”

Henry catches his chin with one hand and holds him at bay, making him meet his eye. “What are your heat symptoms right now?”

Alex just blinks at him. “What?”

“Heat symptoms. What are they?”

“Right now? I’m—I’m hot, I guess. Horny. I think I’m leaking down my leg, actually.” He says it so matter of fact that he catches himself off guard. His eyes go wide, and he remembers himself. He puts a few more millimeters of distance between them, even if he can’t bring himself to step back. “And I have word vomit, apparently. God, I’m so sorry.”

Henry just chuckles and strokes Alex’s hair. Oh, that feels nice, actually. He tips his head into it, and the alpha follows his silent cue to continue. “It’s the hormones, I’m afraid,” Henry says. “Give me a few hours and I’ll probably be trying to write you filthy poetry. Do us both a favor and stop me if that happens, yeah?”

“Oh, no,” Alex giggles. “No, I wanna hear it. I want you to make a mess of yourself in front of me for a change.”

“You want that?” Henry’s eyes are blazing. Alex knows that if he comes too close, he’ll burn up in their flames, but he wants that. He wants to melt, wants to boil over and let Henry mop him up off this boring, fluffy carpet. “You want me to fall apart? Want to make a mess of me?”

Alex’s moan can’t be held back this time. “God, yes please.”

Henry’s lips brush his again. “Then let me run you that bath.”

Alex thought undressing in front of a man he met less than twelve hours ago would be weird, but it’s not. As he lounges in a bath that’s hot enough to pinken his skin, surrounded by honey-scented bubbles that nearly bury him, he can’t bring himself to feel self-conscious.

Especially not with Henry leaning against the bath—not in it, just sitting on the floor, reading Sense & Sensibility aloud while Alex combs wet fingers through his hair.

They’ve just met Colonel Brandon when Alex speaks up. “Are you sure you don’t want in?”

Henry tips his head against the lip of the tub, turning to look at Alex. He’s so relaxed, so at ease. Every moment feels more like they’ve known each other for lifetimes.

“If I get in, I fear I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from overindulging. It’s like I said before: you’ll know when it’s time.”

Alex sighs and sinks deeper into the bubbles. “You sound like an old man sometimes, you know that? Or like, a Bond villain.”

That, for some reason, sends Henry into a fit of laughter so hard he’s left gasping against the porcelain tub while Alex stares on in confusion.

“It wasn’t that funny, Henry. God, are you scent drunk? Do we need to get you some fresh air or something? Maybe a sedative?”

“No, no, no,” Henry says, finally settling. His face has gone bright red up to the tips of his ears, and his hair is a mess where Alex had been playing with it. Alex sort of wants to lick him. “I’m sorry. It’s just, you have no clue how funny that is.”

“It was a joke,” Alex observes. “It was supposed to be funny. Just not that funny.”

“Alex.” Henry catches Alex’s hand that had been combing through his hair and presses his nose to his wrist. Alex’s heart does something funny. “Darling Alex. Do you know my full name?”

“Um… I think Percy said it earlier, but I was a bit… preoccupied.”

Sobering a little, Henry kisses Alex’s wrist. “My name is Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. Professionally, I’m Henry Fox. Fox, as in—”

“No fucking way.” Alex shoots up straight in the water. “Shut your fucking beautiful mouth. You’re lying.”

Henry grins. “Nope. I’ve got the family photos to prove it.”

“You’re related to Arthur Fox? The movie star? Oscar-winning, longest-running-James-Bond-actor Arthur Fox?”

“My father, I’m afraid.”

Alex blinks at him for a very, very long moment. He can see it, suddenly—doesn’t know how he missed it—the family resemblance. Henry is classically handsome. Alex thinks it’s a shame he’s in business, bundled up in suits all day, when he could be half-dressed on the cover of Vogue. But there’s a striking resemblance to the old James Bond actor that Alex can’t believe he missed (especially considering how much of his youth was spent staring at Arthur Fox’s perfect face). They have the same eyebrows, the same jawline, the same hair color and naturally sun-kissed skin—an impressive feat, for a Brit. Henry’s eyes are blue where his father’s were brown, but there’s a similar enough shape to them for it to be unmistakable.

“Is it a bad time to tell you I, once upon a time, had some very, very bad thoughts about your dad?”

Henry just laughs again, crinkles forming the corners of those eyes that are both similar to Arthur’s and wholly his own. “You wouldn’t be the first,” he says. “Though I’ll ask you to keep the details to a minimum.”

“Pinky-promise,” Alex vows. “But seriously, your dad is on the list of men who helped me figure out I’m into guys.”

Henry smiles, a touch of sadness pulling at his mouth. “I’m sure he’d be honored to hear that.”

It’s then that Alex remembers Arthur Fox is dead. Cancer, he thinks. It happened suddenly a few years ago. Alex himself had cried a little when June sent him the tweet announcing his passing. And here Alex is, telling Arthur’s son how horny Alex was for him.

Alex tries to sit up in the tub but slips on the suds. “Henry, I’m—”

“Hush.” Henry pushes him by the shoulder to settle him, that sad smile softening into something fond. “You don’t have to. I like talking about him. I didn’t originally, but now it’s… it’s nice. Remembering him helps me grieve, I think. Knowing other people loved him too makes it feel less… lonely.”

Alex has no response to that, so he pulls Henry’s wrist to his mouth and kisses it.

This close, with only the lip of the tub separating them, Alex has the pleasure of watching Henry’s pupils dilate. He scratches at the skin with his teeth just to hear the hiss Henry lets out. He’s about to seal his lips around the scent gland there—now steadily emitting Henry’s heady, deep scent as his rut approaches—when Henry jerks his hand away and stands.

Alex pouts but takes the opportunity to ogle him as he stretches. He’s shirtless, only in a pair of black sweatpants. He’s not built—a man like him likely has little time to spare weightlifting—but his body is naturally muscled and lean. He probably runs, Alex thinks, or swims in the pool of some obnoxiously expensive private gym. As he stretches, Alex is treated to the flex and clench of all his abdominal muscles, the deepening vee of his hips, the expanding of his pecs. He’s not as hairy as some alphas, with only a smattering of dark gold across his chest, under his arms, and leading a tantalizing trail south of his navel.

God, Alex wants to bite him. Everywhere.

“Who else is on your list?”

Still admiring the view, Alex says, “Hmm?”

Henry chuckles. Then he snaps his fingers playfully and points to his face. “Hey. My eyes are up here, love.”

Alex goes red all over. It has nothing to do with the heat of the bath. “What do you mean?”

“Your list of men who helped you figure out you’re attracted to them. I’m intrigued who else is on there.”

“Who isn’t?” Alex eases himself back into the water, letting the bubbles hide his embarrassment at getting caught staring. “Harrison Ford, my high school History teacher, George Clooney but only in Ocean’s Eleven. The first was probably Rafael Luna, though.”

Henry pauses, having been fiddling with a fluffy towel likely big enough for both of them. “The… the politician? That Rafael Luna?”

“That Rafael Luna,” Alex says. “He’s friends with my parents. They’re both in the Senate as well. I was on his campaign a couple years ago and we ended up getting really close. He’s always been in my life, like peripherally, but once I got to know him, I realized my feelings for him weren’t purely professional admiration.”

“Did you ever…”

“With Raf? Hell no. He’s too good of a guy to let that happen. I was like, freshly eighteen and he’s been friends with Dad for twenty-odd years. He’d never. I don’t even think he knew. Or if he did, he probably wasn’t interested.”

“Then he’s an idiot.”

Alex stares at him from his bubble pit. “What?”

“He’s an idiot,” Henry repeats, like it’s obvious. “Anyone who’s passed you up is, in fact. Not to sound like a complete knothead, but I’m surprised you haven’t been mated yet. As a man, as a person, as an omega, you are a dream. I’d be mad at all the alphas who have missed their chance with you if it didn’t mean I’m the one who gets to share this with you.”

Inexplicably, Alex is hard. He has been since he got undressed under the alpha’s approving gaze, but now he’s pitching a full tent.

That’s new, kind of. The past couple weeks, even though he’s been horny at every turn, his dick has taken little interest. It’s been oversensitive, unable to get hard even when Alex finally works his fingers inside himself enough to spurt out that clear, spermless omega cum. The fact he’s hard now is probably a good indicator of his impending heat. That, or Henry’s presence is really getting to him.

Or both. Probably both.

Henry clears his throat, bravado from a moment ago gone. “Come on out,” he says. “Let me dry you off before you get too pruney.”

No one’s dried Alex off since he was a child. He half expected it to be demeaning, emasculating. Instead, he feels warm, and cared for, and desired under the weight of Henry’s hands and the warmth of the towel. He’s respectful, even though Alex is hot and hard and wet and staring up at Henry with too-adoring eyes.

Alex had expected to be ravished from the moment he entered the suite. He is, after all, here for the sole purpose of getting knotted so many times he’s bloated from it and his body is content that it’s been bred thoroughly enough. The fact that Henry is taking his time, taking care of him… he doesn’t know what to do with that. He’s grateful beyond words, but it wasn’t a scenario he was prepared for.

Henry helps him redress in comfy clothes: a loose tank top that was once a high school lacrosse shirt but is now faded beyond recognition, and a pair of basketball shorts that help keep him cool. He notices Henry makes no effort to find him any underwear. He tries not to think about that, with little success.

Preoccupied with towel-drying his hair in the mirror, Alex doesn’t notice Henry sneaking up to him until it’s too late. One moment he’s fussing over his curls. The next, he’s over Henry’s shoulder, towel forgotten as he clutches the back of the alpha’s shirt for balance.

“Henry!” he cries through a giggle he can’t stop. “Put me down, you brute!”

Henry doesn’t say anything, but his hands on the backs of Alex’s bare thighs are immensely distracting. He keeps them a respectful distance away from anything important. He even studiously ignores Alex’s still half-hard dick pressed into his shoulder.

He’s dimly aware of Henry moving, crossing the room, but Alex is too busy trying to pinch his ass to notice where they’re going until he’s flipped again. He lands flat on his back in the middle of the bed, the breath wooshing out of him as he watches the shirtless alpha tower over him. If Alex didn’t know better, he’d say Henry was posturing, letting Alex look, puffing out his chest more than necessary. Alex doubts he even knows he's doing it, but fuck.

“You stay there,” Henry tells him. His tone is a bit too light for it to be a true command, but Alex feels it in his gut, nevertheless. “And build your nest. I’m going to go put in your movie while you get settled.”

Henry turns to do just that, and a jolt of panic washes over Alex. “W-wait!”

He looks back at Alex. “What is it, love?”

“Could you—” Alex’s fingers find the edge of a blanket and begin worrying it. “I’ve never…”

It takes Henry a moment to process what he means before that perfect face cracks into an endeared smile. “You’ve never built a nest before?”

Filled to the brim with shame, Alex shakes his head.

“Oh, darling.”

Henry drops to his knees and climbs into the bed with him, immediately surrounding him with his scent and his arms. Alex clutches him like a lifeline.

“It’s nothing too scary, I promise,” Henry says against his ear. “The bed does most of the general shaping for it. It’s supposed to make you feel safe while you’re in heat. Your omega instincts will take over and make you want to protect your pack—or, uh, me, as it stands.”

Alex hums at the thought. Henry. Pack. Alpha.

Henry pulls back to pull a few pillows over. “The rest of it is just preference. You can see what textures, colors, fabrics you like best. Toss out anything you don’t like, and we can get you more from the closet. It doesn’t matter how it looks, love. It’s all about how it makes you feel.”

Alex gives a watery laugh. “You’re too good at this, you know.”

“So are you.” Henry’s hands skirt down his back until they land on his waist. His pinkies dip just beneath the hem of Alex’s shirt and oh. He likes that. “You’re very sweet. I’m glad you feel safe with me so far.”

“I do. I feel safe with you. No idea why.”

“If it’s any consolation, I feel safe with you, too.”

Alex pulls back to look him in the eye. “Really? I don’t feel like I’m doing anything.”

“That’s the point in it for me,” Henry says. “When I’m in rut, I want to take care of my partner. Some people fight it, fight submission, fight me. And there will come a point where I like a little struggle, but it’s all playacting. I like to be a caretaker. I like my partner to melt for me.”

And Alex, the boy who has felt like the world has been on his shoulders for years, breaks into tears.

He tries to hide them, but he’s literally nose-to-nose with an alpha who’s spent the past few hours learning Alex’s scent, their bodies becoming attuned to one another. Warm, smooth hands cup his face. Plush lips kiss the tears away.

“I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry.” He’s mortified, but the touch, the comfort feels so good he can’t stop himself from leaning into it, his hands holding Henry’s in place.

“Don’t apologize, love. What’s wrong? Did I say too much? I tend to do that,” he adds with a self-conscious grin. “You wouldn’t be the first person I’ve scared away.”

“No, you’re perfect.” Alex says it like it’s a malady. “You’re so perfect, and you’re being so nice to me, and you barely even know me, and—”

“Stop.”

Alex’s rambling tongue ceases.

Henry’s thumbs smooth over his cheeks. “I’m being nice for totally selfish reasons, I promise. I really like how sweet your scent gets when you’re happy. It really, really fucking turns me on.”

“Really?” Alex blinks up at him, tears staining his eyelashes.

Henry brushes them away gently. “Yes, really.”

Alex settles on his knees, letting himself feel all the parts of Henry that are exposed to him—which, considering his state of partial undress, is everything but the part with which Alex most wants to get acquainted. “No one’s ever talked about my scent like that.”

“Really?”

He nods. “I mean, my sister sometimes tells me I stink, but I think she would whether I was an omega or not.”

Henry snorts. “Probably. Sisters tend to be that way.” Now that Alex’s brief bout of tears has subsided, Henry pulls away. “Want me to tell you about it? Your scent?”

Alex doesn’t know why his heart is pounding. “Would you?”

“Only if you start making your nest.”

With a pout, Alex acquiesces. There were a couple pillows he was already not fond of that find themselves flung out of the nest. He looks up to Henry, who lifts himself out of the bed and stands. “Well?”

Henry rolls his eyes. “Keep going.”

He goes to the closet and pulls out some more pillows to replace the ones Alex is flinging. They work together, replacing any of the scratchier fabrics—wool, polyester—with soft cottons and silks.

Alex gets so distracted arranging them just right that he jumps when Henry speaks again. “You smell like… sandalwood. Deep, sensual, but also sweet. There’s something else, like… like caramel sauce. The nice kind, freshly made, not the cheap stuff you get in bottles. Like that, but warmed overSomething almost spicy. Something wholly you. Something I want to sink my teeth into.”

Alex turns from his pile of blankets and pillows. Henry’s watching him, his gaze heated. Alex’s mouth is dry, but he says, “Come here.” Henry takes a step, but Alex hesitates. “Wait! Not yet. It’s not done yet.”

He doesn’t know why he’s so adamant, but suddenly the thought of Henry coming into his space—his nest—while it isn’t perfect makes him tense.

He points to where they left their bags by the door. “I brought a blanket. It’s blue and black. Could you bring it to me?”

Henry nods and goes to retrieve it. He comes back with the blanket, along with another pillow and a wad of maroon fabric, which he hands over to Alex as well.

“What’s this?”

“You asked for something that smells like me.” There’s pink in Henry’s cheeks. “This is my favorite jumper. My dad got it for me, years ago.”

Alex barely looks at the logo on the front for some British university he doesn’t care about before he’s throwing it on over his head and burrowing himself inside. He’s already warm from his impending heat and the bath, but the AC is turned low enough he can wear the hoodie without sweating too much. His blanket is added to the pile, draped over a few pillows for them to lean against. The last pillow, one that smells so strongly of Henry that Alex can’t resist burying his face in it, finds a home right on top. That, along with the hoodie surrounding him in Henry’s intoxicating scent, finally makes this pile feel perfect. He beckons Henry to join him.

Having the alpha in his nest is just the cherry on top. Alex can’t stop himself from going to his side and curling himself around him, humming happily. They both sink into the nest, letting their combined scents soothe them.

“Thank you,” he whispers to the blond’s chest.

“What for?”

“Being… you about this, I guess. I know you said it gets you off, but… thank you. I could never have expected to spend my first shared heat with someone I—someone like you.”

The alpha’s chest rumbles pleasantly. “I’m glad. Thank you for letting me share this with you. I know it’s a big deal. And if it’s any consolation, it’s probably been two years since I’ve found anyone to share my rut with.”

Alex turns so he’s straddling one of Henry’s legs, arms folded over his chest so he can look up at him. He can’t stop the grin edging its way onto his face. “Percy did say you were picky.”

Henry rolls his eyes. “Of course he did. He has no regard for patient confidentiality.”

“I think he was just excited you showed an interest. Especially if it’s been so long since you’ve shared a rut with anyone.”

The thought of his alpha—this alpha, rather—sharing a rut with anyone other than Alex sets him on edge. To remedy that, he rubs his cheek against Henry’s bare chest, making sure every inch of him smells like Alex.

“Thank you,” Alex says. “For trusting me with this, too.”

Henry’s chest shudders under Alex’s cheek. “Of course, darling. It’s a pleasure. Already.”

Henry reaches over the side of the bed for a remote and turns on the TV, the menu for The Empire Strikes Back already loaded up. Within seconds, the familiar fanfare of the main theme is blasting through the room. Henry dims the lights with the same remote. They’re bathed in low, warm light and the quiet hum of Alex’s favorite movie. Between that, Henry’s arms around him, and Henry’s scent leaking into every pore in his body, Alex is already lulled into sleep.

He feels the barest brush of lips against his forehead before he slips under.

Sometime later, Alex wakes in a cold sweat with an ache deep in his belly he can’t place.

He whines and squirms, hoping it’s just a mild cramp that’ll go away in a second so he can fall back into the wonderful dream he was having of slick lips, smooth hands, and a hot, hard chest—

But the pain persists, and so does the dream.

It slams back to him all at once.

He’s in his nest in the clinic, a sleeping alpha next to him he’s just met but who has been so kind and who wants Alex and who smells like home. Empire is no longer playing, the menu screen idling for God knows how long.

He aches.

He’s so hot.

One of those has a quick remedy, at least. He strips out of the alpha’s hoodie, tucking it among the blankets and pillows he lovingly crafted into the perfect nest. His tank top goes with it, which is just as well, considering it’s already covered in his sweat and makes the perfect addition to the nest beside the hoodie. His shorts come off too. Even fully nude, Alex whimpers as it does nothing to quench the fire burning between his legs.

“Alpha,” he whispers. Part of him doesn’t want to wake his alpha. He looks so pretty in the low light, his hair a little messy, his mouth slack with sleep. Alex kisses it, hoping to wake him up while getting a taste for himself. “Alpha, please.”

Henry groans a little. He shifts under Alex, pulling him closer, but makes no move to wake.

His thigh is now pressed between Alex’s legs, and he can’t stop himself from grinding down, easing the ache and causing a huge mess on his sweatpants they’ll have to deal with later. But right now, the pressure, the mild friction is enough to make Alex moan.

“Henryyy,” he says, louder this time. He’s fully awake, but there’s still a part of his brain that hasn’t gotten fully with the program. He knows the alpha will know how to make him feel better, but Alex himself can’t remember how. Maybe he could do it himself…

One thing he knows: this will feel better if his alpha’s naked.

So, he sets about making that happen.

The alpha’s taller than him but not very broad, and Alex is thrumming with hormones and the fire in his veins, so he manages to get the sweats down his thighs with only a little struggle. Henry still hasn’t awoken. Alex is more than a little sore about that.

I know what will wake him, a voice tells him. It sounds like Alex’s own, but the images it’s filling his mind with are completely foreign to him—in practice, though not wholly on the abstract.

He shimmies down until his nose is level with that part of Henry that smells so good, so like him. He keeps Henry’s leg trapped between his own, softly humping his leaking cock along the alpha’s leg. It feels good. Not enough to scratch the itch, but too good to stop.

Alex opens his mouth, pressing his lips to the coarse hair between his alpha’s legs. The scent here is divine. It’s an experience he wants to declare to the world, but since his whole world is narrowed down to his nest and his alpha, he settles on licking down until he meets velvety, hard flesh.

He gasps a moan at the contact. The sound feels too loud in the otherwise silent room, but he can’t bring himself to care because this, this is what he was put on this earth to do. The base of Henry’s cock strains against his lips like it knows he’s there. Alex wraps his hand around it, marveling at the size, the swell beneath his fingers gradually forcing them further apart.

Later, he’ll wonder how on earth he took it all down his throat. But in the moment, he seals his lips around the head and sucks out a drop of precum that tastes like Alex’s future and is overcome by a hunger that can only be quenched one way. He dives down and takes the whole of him inside.

Henry’s hips jerk beneath him as a ragged moan drags from his lips.

Alex moans in response, his body lighting up at his alpha’s sounds of pleasure while Alex sucks on him to the best of his ability. He’s never done this before, but he knows the general mechanics. His body is pushing him to take more, so he does. He’s stopped only by the sudden stretch of his lips around the base, unable to go any further—and by a hand in his hair, pulling him off.

“Alex, love,” his alpha pants. He’s sitting up, holding Alex up by the hair and now all Alex wants to do is kiss him.

So he does.

Instead of going with it and kissing him back like Alex had hoped, Henry just tightens his fist in Alex’s hair and dodges out of his way.

“You’re being mean,” Alex whines. He shuffles forward and throws his leg over both of Henry’s thighs so he’s straddling him properly. The position presses both their cocks between their bellies. Alex looks down at the sight and moans: even sitting under him, the length of Henry’s cock dwarfs his own. His might as well not even be there, in comparison.

“I’m just checking in, love. Look at me.”

Alex can’t ignore the order.

Henry smiles at him. “Heat hit you hard, hmm?” When Alex nods, unable to keep from pouting, Henry chuckles and presses a kiss to his cheek. “I know baby, I know. I’ll make it feel better in a moment. Just tell me something first: do you really want this? Do you want me?”

Alex is nodding before he even finishes. “Yes, yes Henry. I want you. Want you so bad. I’ve never wanted anybody this much in my life.”

If only Henry knew how true that was.

“Alright love,” Henry breathes against his lips. “Let’s take care of you, then.”

Alex is becoming amazed how easy it is for Henry to get him on his back. For the second time in a few scant hours, Alex is flipped over to lie under Henry, watching him with wide eyes as he wiggles out of the sweats still around his knees.

“How did you manage to get these down without me waking up?” Henry muses, his grin luminous in the low light.

“Turn the lights up. Wanna see you better.”

Henry does as he’s told. He leaves the lights at half brightness without being told—Alex has a bit of a headache already, and the light hurts his eyes. It’s nothing in comparison to the ache inside him, but it’s there, nonetheless.

He surges up to kiss the alpha, smothering a moan against his lips. Without stopping to ask if it’s okay, Henry lies down on top of him, pressing every inch of their bodies from neck to knees together. It’s everything Alex wants and more. If only they were properly slotted together, with Henry lodged deep inside him…

“Easy, easy.” Henry catches the hand Alex had slipped down to guide Henry’s hard cock inside him. “Not yet, baby. Don’t want to hurt you.”

“Won’t hurt me,” Alex insists, because what could possibly be worse than the searing emptiness inside him now?

“I know, love. Just want you to feel good.” Henry plies him with tooth-rotting kisses and whispers of praise as he guides himself down, notching Alex’s thighs over his elbows so he’s exposed fully to him.

Alex should be embarrassed—he’s literally soaking the bed, and no one’s ever looked at him like this, studied him, worshipped him. But the look on Henry’s face erases whatever insecurity might’ve been there. His cheeks are flushed, eyes wide and focused on Alex’s wet hole. His tongue slips between his lips to wet them in preparation of whatever he’s about to do.

“Hold still,” he tells Alex, then he’s there.

Alex has never felt anything like it. Henry’s tongue is hard and yielding all at once, lapping up the slick steadily leaking from him. He blooms under the touch, muscles loose and ready for whatever Henry wants to give him.

Pleas fall unbidden from his lips, back arching in an attempt to get closer and escape the sensation all at once. He fears this touch will kill him. It feels too good. The human body cannot be built for sensation like this, for pleasure like this. He’s surely died and ascended to a higher plane.

Henry’s tongue dips inside him, coaxing out more slick. The alpha buries a moan between his ass cheeks, smothered against Alex’s hot center.

Fuck, fuck. How has he gone so long without feeling this? He hates himself for passing up all the opportunities he had to feel this before realizing it wouldn’t be the same if it was anyone but Henry eating him out right now. That’s the glory of it. It’s not just any alpha’s tongue inside him. It’s his alpha’s tongue.

“Please, alpha, please,” he sobs, though for what he’s begging he doesn’t know. His shaking hands have clamped over Henry’s on his thighs, daring him not to move an inch.

Henry’s tongue leaves him for a moment to ask, “Can you finish like this, love?”

Finish? Alex might very well meet his end like this, yes. He feels too good, too much—

“Yes,” he hears himself choke. “I’m—I’m close.”

There’s a flash of Henry’s grin, then he’s down again, brow furrowing as his mouth makes horrendous noises against Alex’s hole.

The first orgasm of Alex’s first shared heat is barely a blip on his radar, but it changes something fundamental in his brain chemistry.

He sobs out something resembling Henry’s name as his cock spills across his tummy, more slick sliding out of him to coat Henry’s tongue. He’d be embarrassed at the amount of it, but Henry’s lashes flutter when he tastes it. Alex nearly purrs with the knowledge he’s pleasing his alpha.

Once Alex’s body stops shaking, Henry eases his legs back down and crawls up to lick the taste of his own slick into his mouth. Alex’s surprised moan doesn’t deter either of them. They set about licking the taste of him away, their tongues fighting for scraps until Alex yields and lets his alpha lick his fill.

Breaking away to breathe, Henry tips his forehead against Alex’s. “Better?”

Alex pouts. “No, you idiot.”

A surprised laugh bursts from the alpha but he kisses Alex again anyway. “Oh, my apologies, princess. I assumed you would be grateful I let you cum on my tongue.”

“Oh.” Alex’s core goes molten again. “Well, when you put it like that.”

Henry’s grin meets Alex’s desperate lips in another kiss.

Alex is squirming again. The ache abated only a little, but now he’s uncomfortably wet. His fingers slip down to slide against his hole, loose only from Henry’s tongue and his body’s preparation for breeding.

“Fuck,” he hisses, fingers slipping inside himself unwittingly. “Breed me, alpha. Please, please give me your knot. I can take it. I swear I can.”

A slur of colorful curses leaves Henry. He catches Alex’s wrist, forcing his fingers out, and pins it to the nest beside them. “Fuck, I should’ve planned ahead. Should’ve prepped you properly last night—”

“Don’t care,” Alex says. “Just get in me—”

“One sec—” Henry lunges off the side of the bed and Alex grasps at him wildly, nearly hissing his discontent. “Easy, easy. I’m just going for these.” He holds up two flat, rectangular packages in sterile film.

Alex scowls. “We said no condoms.”

“They’re to cover your scent glands,” Henry says. He opens one package and shows Alex the unobtrusive mesh bandage. It’s soft, but slightly inflexible. “So I don’t, um…” His eyes bore holes into the side of Alex’s neck. He licks his lips.

It dawns on Alex. “Bite me?”

Henry nods, but there’s something akin to a growl building in his chest. “We should’ve put them on you last night but…”

“Will you still be able to scent me?”

“As much as you want.”

Alex pouts but takes the bandage from him. “Fine.” Working quickly, he applies the first bandage over the left side of his neck, then the right. Once settled, they don’t feel like much. They’re actually helping his oversensitivity. Still, a part of him mourns that he won’t be able to feel Henry’s lips against his bare skin again, at least not until Henry’s out of rut. “Wait,” he says as the thought comes to him. “Did your—are you rutting yet?”

Henry rubs his own neck with a groan. “Not quite yet. Won’t be long, though. I’d wager the second I get my knot in you, I’ll lose it.”

Alex whines and flings himself at the alpha again. He draws him in with soft moans and even softer lips, trying to ease him between his legs. For a long moment, Henry goes with it, his hands slipping warm and eager over every inch of his skin. But then he halts, pushing Alex away.

“No,” Alex growls. “No more stopping—”

“Easy, love,” Henry chuckles, hands on Alex’s hips urging him to turn. “Just putting you on your front so it’s easier.”

The breath leaves Alex’s lungs. “O-oh. Well, alright.”

With another chuckle, Henry flips him so he’s face-first in his nest. The blankets smell nice, a soft combination of his scent and his alpha’s—and he can only imagine how much better it’ll smell once they’ve rolled around in it for a couple days. His alpha’s hands pull his hips up, an easy, practiced motion that makes Alex’s heart stutter. He gets his knees under him, arching his back to present himself properly.

“There you go, darling. Fuck.” Henry’s hands palm his ass, pulling him apart so he can see his dripping hole. “Look at you. Perfect omega, presenting just right for me first try.”

The praise has Alex’s head spinning. His hands scrabble at the blankets, trying desperately to hold onto his sanity. “Alpha, please.”

“Shh, love.” There’s some shuffling, then Henry’s pressing a few pillows under his hips to keep him elevated while he nudges Alex’s knees back together and further down the bed. The position has him less exposed, but now his cock is rubbing up against the pillows. The friction is delicious, undeniable. He can’t stop the rocking of his hips. “That’s it, Alex,” Henry says. “Make yourself feel good.”

There’s a press against his hole again, and Alex’s heart leaps. Finally—

But then it becomes apparent it’s not his alpha’s cock, but his blasted fingers.

Alex’s whine of complaint is barely out before the two fingers hook down against the spot inside him that makes his belly clench. Oh, fuck, that feels so good!

“I know it does, baby,” Henry purrs behind him. “Just fuck against your pillow and let me loosen you up for your knot.”

“My knot, my knot, yes!”

Alex is half-delirious with want, and the third finger stretching his rim does little to bring back his greater sense of self. He obeys his alpha’s command easily, his cock slipping through the slick that’s already dribbled down his balls and soaked the pillow. The sensation should be off-putting. All he can think is how good it feels, how much better it’ll feel when it’s his alpha’s knot in him instead of those fucking—

“Fingers, oh yes!”

“Yeah?” Henry laughs, twisting all three digits down into that spot that makes him sob and bite the blankets. “They feel good inside you, baby?”

Alex thinks he cums again, but there’s so much slick, so much sensation, that all he can do is roll his eyes back and hold onto the blankets for dear life.

“There you are, love.” Henry’s voice sounds low, pleased behind him as he scissors his fingers apart, testing the give of Alex’s greedy hole. “Look how well you take my fingers.”

“Take your knot better,” Alex says, his cheek smooshed up against the bed. “Promise, I’ll let it in and squeeze it real tight—”

“God, you’re utterly sinful—”

Alex gurgles what might be a laugh. “What’re you, my priest?”

“No.” The fingers slip out of him despite his wail of protest. There’s a shuffle, and impossible heat straddles his thighs, sweet-scented breath brushes his ear. “But I am going to make you see God.”

Alex laughs again, half-delirious. “Did you really just—”

Henry’s wet fingers hook into his mouth the exact moment something much larger, much hotter presses inside his ass.

Alex’s groan of relief and pleasure (and, loathe as he is to admit it, pain) is garbled by the slick-soaked fingers playing with his tongue. He’s tasted himself before, out of curiosity, but the sweet bitterness of his own slick and the salt of Henry’s fingers is divine. He moans at the taste as much as the feeling of finally, finally getting that incessant emptiness inside him filled.

Henry spears into him like he’s returning a sword to its sheath. It hurts, it feels strange, but the ache that’s been building for what feels like years finally abates.

Alex drops his head and sobs into the bed, his whole body shaking with it.

“Are you—fuck!” Henry’s other arm lands beside Alex’s shoulder, keeping him from crushing the omega beneath him. Alex is content to be crushed, so long as it means Henry stays inside him. “Are you cumming just from that?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Alex nods, finally taking note of his cock throbbing out yet another release onto the pillow. It’s bound to be soaked through, but he can’t give one iota of a thought to it now as Henry lets some of his weight fall against Alex, pushing himself that much deeper inside him. “G-god you’re in so deep.”

“Not all the way in yet.”

His stomach drops like he’s just started a downward plunge on a rollercoaster. “There’s more?”

Henry hums and pulls back a little to look down between them. “Most of it’s in. Think my knot’s too swollen already to go all the way. Not until you’re ready for it.”

He already feels like some very vital parts of his anatomy have shifted to make room for Henry’s cock inside him, but somehow, he wants more. He wants all of it.

The alpha begins to pull out and Alex shoots a hand back to keep him in place, fingernails digging into his hip. “Don’t go—”

But then he’s easing back inside, this thrust easier than the first. He does it slowly, so slowly Alex can feel every vein and ridge of his alpha’s perfect, perfect cock.

“I’m right here, love,” Henry whispers. He wraps one arm under Alex’s shoulders, pulling him up into a deeper arch. Alex whimpers as the next thrust grinds the whole of Henry’s cock along his prostate, shooting sparks behind his eyes. “That’s it, just take it for me.”

Alex claws at Henry’s arm with one hand and his hip with the other. They’re pressed so closely together it’s a miracle Henry can move at all, but straddling Alex’s thighs as he is, slipping into his upturned ass is easy as breathing. Alex can feel even more slick dripping out around him. His face goes hot. How is he still making more? Surely he’ll run out at some point.

He winces when Henry presses forward a bit more than he had before.

“Been a while, hmm?” Henry breathes against his ear.

Alex’s chuckle is split by another deep thrust. “You have no idea.”

After his first heat, he’d experimented used the boring, flesh-colored fake knot the doctor had given him. It’s a standard heat aid, but he found it too small to reach anything important, even when its inflatable knot was lodged inside him. It was enough to send him over the edge, but not nearly enough to satisfy him.

Since then, he’s bought a couple toys, but they’ve never been enough. He usually relied on the precision of his own fingers and stimulation to his cock to get him off, but there was always a part of him that mourned the emptiness that came after. He resigned himself to the fact that he was probably doomed to never be satisfied.

Yet here he is, wondering how he’ll let Henry leave him after this is all over.

It’s not just his dick, which is perfect (and frankly comically large inside him). It’s the weight of his body, the trembling of his arms, the stuttering of his breath each time he pushes back in, the whispered praises he doesn’t seem to notice he’s spewing. It’s his scent that makes Alex want to take up songwriting or poetry just to find an outlet for how it makes him feel. It’s the way Henry can’t stop calling him love or baby or darling and he sounds like he means it.

With each thrust, he presses deeper. Finally, after what feels like several years to Alex’s heat-addled brain, he feels a slight stretch each time Henry bottoms out.

“’s that—?”

“My knot, yeah.” Henry pauses at the next thrust in and grinds the protrusion against Alex’s hole. It stretches just the slightest before clamping down against it, denying it entry. “I don’t have to knot you the first time if you’re too—”

“If you stop, I’ll fucking kill you in your sleep.” The threat is undercut by a breathy plea. He tips his head to look at Henry for the first time since he entered him.

The alpha’s eyes are wide, the blue swallowed up almost entirely by the black of his pupils. His lips are bitten red and wet with spit and Alex’s slick. His cheeks are flushed, his perfect hair mussed and sweaty from the effort of fucking Alex. When he meets the omega’s eye, he breaks into a dazzling grin. “Alright, put the knives away. Greedy little thing, aren’t you?”

Alex shoves his face back into the blankets to hide the whine he lets out. He tells himself the warmth that flares in his core is just from his heat and not from the alpha’s words. He tells himself he does not want Henry to keep talking to him in that fond, vaguely condescending tone.

“Just fuck me,” he mutters.

“Well, if you insist.”

Alex swears he’s going to get him back after this. How is he so calm? How is he still making jokes? Alex finds himself laughing, but it borders on a cry as he feels the knot stretch his rim even further.

There’s just so much happening. Alex has never had this much stimulus in his life. His ears are full of their panting and the occasional moan or whimper. He still tastes himself and Henry on his tongue. Henry’s scent surrounds him like a fog, rolling in to cover everything else. And he can feel him everywhere—in his ass, pressed up against his prostate and grinding almost cruelly; against his back, where they slide together thanks to their combined sweat; panting at his neck, his nose brushing Alex’s sensitive ears every time he moves.

“Can feel you everywhere,” Alex hears himself say. The hand that had been holding onto Henry’s hip falls limp to the bed, but the other still holds Henry’s arm around his throat. The pressure is grounding, not choking. Later he will wonder how Henry put him in a chokehold without him even really noticing, but now it feels too good to say anything about it.

“Does it feel good?” The words spoken directly against his ear send shivers across Alex’s whole body.

“Feels perfect,” Alex pants. “You’re perfect. You’re so perfect. Never felt this good before. Fuck, fuck, can’t believe I went so long without you.”

Henry rumbles a happy noise behind him that’s all alpha. Alex has never heard something so fucking hot in his entire life. He’s heard alphas growl all the time—his sister used to growl at him when they were kids, and his parents would growl at one another before the divorce—but never like this. Like Alex is pleasing his alpha so well he can’t help but let it out.

An omegan cry leaves him in response, every inch of his being attuned to Henry.

“Christ,” Henry says. His teeth scrape along the edge of the patch covering Alex’s scent gland, and Alex nearly shakes out of his skin. He tips his head to the side until his neck creaks in protest, trying to give Henry all the space he needs to sink his teeth in.

He doesn’t, unfortunately.

But the feeling of his teeth at Alex’s throat is enough to make him gasp for air.

“Please, please!”

“Please what love?” Henry’s voice is nearly unrecognizable. Gone is the posh, polished man who ran late to their first meeting—God, was that only this morning? Alex feels like it’s been an eternity since they first met. They’ve been in this room forever. This has been their nest since the beginning of time.

“Bite me.” At Henry’s reproachful growl, Alex scrabbles to grip the alpha’s hair over his shoulder. “Not—not there. Just—anywhere. Please. Need your teeth in me.”

Henry mumbles something vaguely resembling “fuck, sweetheart” against Alex’s skin before turning his head and sinking his teeth into Alex’s shoulder.

It hurts. God, it hurts. Maybe even more than Henry’s dick slipping inside him for the first time. But Alex cries out in euphoria at the feeling of Henry’s perfectly straight teeth carving a line in his skin, tears of relief slipping down his cheeks.

Heat flares in his gut and he arches his hips back, the knot nudging harder against him. But Henry pulls back, keeping him from going any further.

“Fuck,” Henry hisses. “Easy baby. Let me do it. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Something about the genuine concern in his voice does it for Alex. He shudders through another orgasm, every inch of his body clenching and releasing with the wave. Alex knows he’s speaking, babbling gibberish or Spanglish or too-honest truths he will inevitably regret later, but there’s a buzzing in his head that drowns out the words.

The alpha groans behind him. Alex can feel him twitch and throb, seeming to grow even hotter inside him as he nears his orgasm as well. His first, Alex realizes, while he’s on—what, three? Four? More than that? He can barely think through the pleasure thrumming through him.

Henry sits up, leaving him cold against the mattress.

“Come back,” Alex whimpers. His voice is nothing more than a weak croak. He’s shaking so badly he’s starting to worry for his health. But a quick inventory tells him it’s all good—he’s not hungry, thirsty, hurt, or ill. He’s just high on hormones. High on the scent of his alpha.

“Right here, love.” Henry’s hands are gentle as he pulls Alex back up onto his knees—they’d buckled at some point, likely in his efforts to rut against the pillow, or from the strength of Henry’s thrusts. “Just getting you ready. Spread your knees a little bit. Just like that, darling, perfect. I’m gonna move your pillow from under you, but I want you to hug this one. Can you do that for me?”

He passes Alex a new pillow, this one not covered in slick or cum or sweat. Alex gathers it into his arms and presses his face into it. A moan slips out. Oh god, it’s Henry’s pillow. The one he brought from home. The one that smells like him.

“That’s it, love.” Henry’s big, warm hand trails down his back, easing his trembling just the slightest. “Need you to relax for me. That’s it. Good boy.” Alex’s shaking is renewed. “You’re trembling, baby. You okay?”

Alex can’t find the words. He just tips his hips up higher and clenches.

The last of Henry’s composure breaks.

His hands tighten painfully on Alex’s hips. His thrusts grow sloppy, less careful and more forceful. Each one jars Alex’s whole body, scrambling his brain and making his eyes roll back in his head until all he sees is stars. Each time Henry pushes in, he feels bigger, somehow.

He is, Alex realizes.

His rim stretches even further every time Henry bottoms out, spreading him uncomfortably wide. Alex tries voicing his displeasure, but the stretch is accompanied by a heady throb inside him, and words are suddenly impossible.

Henry’s hands tighten impossibly harder, yanking him up off his knees and back—

Blinding, white-hot pain lances through Alex.

It takes him a while to process what’s happening. Panic claws itself up his throat and he comes to a moment later to find himself clawing at the mattress, trying to escape the impossible stretch inside him. He’s making pitiful, animalistic noises. He can barely think, barely breathe, barely move.

“Alex?”

Alpha.

His alpha.

His concerned voice calling Alex’s name is what finally breaks him.

Alex bursts into tears—heavy, wet sobs that wrack his whole body and make him clamp down even harder around the intrusion in his leaking, wet hole. He lets Henry soothe him, melting into the strong arms wrapping around him.

“Sorry, s-sorry,” Alex pants. He can’t get enough air, and that scares him. Why can’t he breathe, why can’t—

He’s upright so fast it makes him dizzy. Henry props Alex up against him, consequently settling him deeper on the intrusion inside him, but it opens his airway, lets him gasp and grab onto Henry’s arms.

“That’s it, love, just breathe.” Henry’s voice is shaking, but his arms are steady and his words are soft in Alex’s ear. “Deep breaths, just like that. Breathe through it, my darling. You’ve got it.”

“I’m so—” Alex hiccups. “So sorry—”

“Hush, baby.” One of Henry’s hands comes up to drag through Alex’s hair that has become a fluffy mess. “Nothing to apologize for. I should have warned you.”

“Is that—are you—” Out of words, Alex reaches back and finds he can no longer slip a hand between their bodies. Henry’s all the way inside him.

All. The way. Inside.

Alex chokes. “Hoo my god…”

Henry lets him breathe for a moment while his body gets used to the stretch—the stretch of Henry’s knot.

It’s so much bigger than Alex imagined it would be. Henry might as well have stuffed a fist into him without warning.

“Is that—I can’t believe it fit,” Alex says in wonder. It still hurts like a bitch—pun not intended but appreciated—but he’s achingly hard again. Or perhaps still hard. The heat hadn’t ebbed through the whole thing, so maybe his erection hadn’t either.

“Baby…” Henry starts reproachfully.

His tone makes Alex’s shoulders tense.

Uh oh.

“Hmm?” he responds, too innocently.

“Alex,” Henry says again, and uh oh for real. He’s in so much trouble. “Alex. Is this your first knot? And don’t try to lie to me—” he says when Alex opens his mouth to do just that. “God, I can smell it on you. This is your first knot, isn’t it? Mine is the first to knot this perfect, pretty hole.”

Alex’s responding whimper is all the confirmation he needs.

When his cock—and the knot attached to it, keeping him buried to the hilt, unable to pull out—throbs, Henry half-chuckles, half-groans. “Fuck, baby. Fuck.” His voice grows deeper, every word practically growled into Alex’s neck. “Has anyone else ever fucked this perfect pussy, hmm? Has anyone else ever tried to mark what’s mine?”

Alex throws his head back, tears drying on his cheeks. “N-no. No alpha. No. Just you. Only you. Only y-yours.”

With a full-fledged growl, Henry bites him again, right over the mesh patch protecting Alex’s scent gland. His teeth don’t sink in, but the pressure is enough to send a zing down Alex’s spine. He arches back, pressing his hips back into Henry, somehow, impossibly, begging for more.

Henry’s panting, his words frantic. “Make it up to me for not telling me, baby. Squeeze my knot until I cum inside you. Squeeze me ‘til I breed your tight, virgin pussy.”

They’ll cringe about that later, but as it stands, Alex lets out a moan from the bottom of his belly and obeys.

Clenching only makes it worse—or better, as the ache is gradually melting into something deeper, some bone-deep satisfaction Alex hadn’t known was possible. He’s certain Henry has rewritten some vital part of Alex’s life story, but he’s too starry-eyed to care.

He squeezes down on Henry’s knot over and over. Desperate noises spill from his lips and he’s only half-conscious of his own cock throbbing and spitting out pitiful amounts of clear omega cum as he milks his alpha’s knot for all he has.

Henry’s all alpha now. His hands, still gentle somehow, grope at every available inch of Alex’s overheated skin. His hips flex against Alex, fucking his knot in impossibly deeper. He pants against Alex’s neck, the patch protecting his scent gland soaked with his spit and dented by his teeth, but still somehow intact.

Alex realizes he’s babbling again. “Please, alpha,” he moans. “Breed me full, alpha. I’ve been a good boy, your good omega. Please pup me, alpha, please, I need it, need you—”

Henry takes mercy on him and sticks his fingers in Alex’s mouth, letting him drool all over them while Henry growls in his ear. “Been such a good boy for me, Alex. Such a good omega. Taking my knot so well, even though it hurts, hmm?”

Alex nods dumbly, barely remembering to keep squeezing his alpha’s knot, his body taking over and doing it on instinct, trying to milk his cum from him.

“Hold still, love. I’m almost there. Almost ready to fill you full, so full you’ll never stop smelling like me—”

Alex chokes on a whimper—and Henry’s fingers—as he throbs, dry, through yet another brain-scrambling orgasm.

He clamps down on the knot, and that’s apparently enough to make Henry finally spill over.

His groan vibrates Alex’s bones. That, more than his own release, fills him with so much satisfaction he can’t help but purr, an embarrassingly omegan sound he’s rarely made in his life, if ever.

Liquid heat fills him, deeper than anything before and hot enough to melt through him and sate his heat. He feels calm for the first time in days—maybe even weeks.

Henry’s body slumps, pushing them both to the bed on their sides. The knot still ties them, will keep their bodies flush for some time still, but for now, they’re both satisfied.

The alpha’s arms wrap even tighter around Alex, cocooning him in his embrace. Alex purrs again, rubbing his cheek against Henry’s arm as it comes to rest under his head.

He knows, instinctively, that his heat isn’t over. In a few hours, he’ll be desperate for it again. In a few hours, he’ll force himself down on Henry’s knot until he’s crying from it again, and he’ll purr when it takes.

But for now, he sleeps.

This time when he wakes, it’s slow and soft instead of hard, intense, burning need.

The desire is there, simmering low in his belly. But it’s not all-consuming. He’s hungry, he realizes—something he never felt during his first heat.

And he’s content.

He definitely wasn’t content before, either.

Henry’s not plastered up against his back like he was when they fell asleep. Instead, there’s just a blanket and the wet, aching realization that Alex is empty.

Well, mostly empty.

He feels what Henry left in him slowly seeping out, too slow and too deep to be gone even what must be hours after Henry knotted him.

The realization brings heat to his cheeks.

Henry knotted him.

Alex turns over and buries his face in the pillow that once smelled only of Henry but now holds some of Alex’s own scent, too. It’s a comforting realization, even though the rest of him is panicking.

He lost his virginity.

He took his first knot.

He spent the night with another person fully, completely nude.

Not just any person—Henry.

Alex has always been a hopeless romantic. He’s always fallen for the people he can’t have—straight guys, gay women, people far too old to be appropriate, people in committed relationships. He can count on one hand the number of times he’s liked someone who has liked him back.

But the point is, he knows what he’s like when he’s falling head over heels for somebody who is absolutely going to crush his already aching heart.

This is a transaction. A mutually beneficial arrangement made from medical necessity on both parts. It might be Alex’s first time, but it’s certainly not Henry’s.

No matter how beautiful he was, how right it felt to hold him, to kiss him, to take his ridiculously, devastatingly huge knot… this meant more to Alex than it did to Henry.

Then he thinks of the way Henry held him.

He thinks of the way he pressed into Alex’s every touch, every kiss like he was starved for more.

He thinks of the words Henry growled when he realized his was the first knot Alex had taken.

Mine.

It was just the rut talking, Alex tells himself. He said some things in the thick of it last night that he wasn’t sure he meant.

Pup me.

Oh god.

He’d actually told Henry to knock him up.

The thought makes him flush beet red into the pillow. The heat word-vomit was so real, unfortunately. Alex never knows when to shut up on a good day, but in heat? In heat, his filter is reduced to rubble.

But even as his skin crawled with mortification, he realized he was getting wet. Again. Just at the thought of getting pregnant.

No, at Henry getting him pregnant.

He groaned into the pillow.

“Hush, love, I’m right here.”

He perks up without really meaning to. Henry’s crawling back into their nest, cradling a couple of bottles of water and some protein bars against his bare chest. He’s wearing his sweatpants again (not for long, the voice inside Alex says as he licks his lips absently) but the rest of him is bare. His previously perfect hair is utterly fucked, ruined by Alex’s hands and their mutual tossing and turning throughout the past few hours, both waking and sleeping.

Henry helps Alex turn over onto his back and eases him upright, then slips one of the blankets over Alex to preserve his dignity.

He’d temporarily forgotten that he’s naked. Well, no, he hadn’t forgotten that. More like, he forgot that’s something people tend to be ashamed of. In this room, in their nest, it felt more unnatural to not be naked. Still, Henry’s gesture was sweet. Ever the gentleman, this alpha.

“Sorry,” he says, settling across from Alex crisscross. He’s still close enough for Alex to touch, so he does, wiggling the toes of one foot under Henry’s thigh. Henry flashes him a grin, then passes him a bottle of water. “Pez stopped by to check in on us. The night nurse came by while you were asleep as well. Drink,” he says, when Alex just stares at him. Once he takes a few hesitant sips, Henry looks a little less frazzled. “I, um. I did have to try and explain the, umm.” He makes a vague gesture at Alex’s neck.

Alex’s hand flies to the spot Henry’s eyes couldn’t stop flicking to. The patch is gone, he realizes, gut sinking. And the skin is tender, clearly bruised.

His heart stops beating.

He raises his gaze to Henry. “You didn’t—”

“No!” Henry says quickly, then softer, “No. No, I’m sorry. I didn’t bite you. I mean, well, I did, but it wasn’t a bonding bite. The patch kept my teeth from, um…” Henry flushes a charming shade of crimson.

Good, Alex thought. Someone else around here should be blushing besides me.

“Oh, good,” Alex says hollowly. “Good. It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt, really.”

Henry’s eyes trace over him like he doesn’t quite believe him. He rips open one of the protein bars and breaks off a piece to give to Alex. “Are you hurt anywhere else? Sore?”

Now Alex is blushing again. Damnit. “A little,” he admits. “Just, like… ya know, the good kind of hurt. I think.”

“Alex,” the alpha says, a hint of a reprimand coloring his voice even as he passes Alex another piece of protein bar before he’s even done chewing the first. “Why didn’t you tell me you’ve never had sex before? I didn’t even prepare you properly. I just forced my knot in like a… like a… I don’t know. Like a right proper arsehole, I suppose.”

Alex snorts, then parrots Henry’s accent. “A right proper arsehole.”

Henry withers him with a look. “I’m serious. I’m so sorry, Alex. If I had known—”

“It was perfect,” Alex assures him. “Like, actually perfect. I wouldn’t have wanted you to change a thing.”

“You panicked when I knotted you. I nearly hit the emergency button on the wall to get help.”

Alex bites his lip. “Right. Well. Yeah. So it was a bit… too fast, for me. I think.”

Henry makes a sound like he’s about to throw up, so instead Alex shuffles over and climbs into his lap like he’s wanted to since they’d scented in the meeting room the first time they met. The alpha catches him, protein bar forgotten. His hands settle on Alex’s bare hips, squeezing reverently. This close, Alex can see his pupils dilate.

Alex clears his throat. “It wasn’t your fault. It was… really hot, actually? Like, sorry if this is crossing a line or whatever but it felt… nice. Not to have to make the choice if I wanted it. To let you make the choice for me.” He turns his head, cheeks pinking again. “And I, um… I do think I threatened to stab you in your sleep if you pulled out.”

Henry’s chuckle brushes Alex’s cheek half a second before warm, smiling lips press there. “I think your words were I’ll fucking kill you, but it’s nice to know you had a murder method in mind.”

Alex shoves him, then immediately wraps his arms around Henry’s neck to counteract it. “The bottom line is I asked for everything that happened last night. The biting. The knotting. All of it. I asked for it, I wanted it. I—I needed it. Needed you. More than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.”

A single finger to his chin turns his face back to Henry’s. His breath catches. Henry’s attention is almost too much, this close, this intense.

“Just because you asked for it in the middle of your heat doesn’t mean I should have done it. We should have gone slower. I should have taken my time—”

“I don’t need rose petals and candles,” Alex says. “I needed you. Need you.” Even as he says the words, he can feel the heat returning with fiery passion. There’s an ache starting deep inside him. He’s so wet it’s obscene.

Henry’s throat bobs with a swallow. “I did bring you a candle, to be fair.” He nods to the candle he’d brought with him, burnt out across the room. “But I meant—” His hands grip Alex’s ass, gently spreading him open. Alex gasps, a shudder rolling through him as cool air hits wet, overheated flesh. “—that I should have taken my time opening you up. Working you open on my fingers one by one until you were loose and dripping, begging to take my knot inside you.”

Alex bites his lips to keep from moaning. A trickle of slick slips out of him, no doubt coating Henry’s fingers as they ghost over where Alex is once more open and greedy for more.

“You’re—” he gasps. “You’re upset you didn’t finger me longer? Baby, you can finger me anytime, anywhere. Seriously. Like here. Now, preferably.”

Henry laughs, brushing his fingers over Alex’s loosened hole with a bit more pressure. “What, are you not still open from earlier? Did my knot not stretch you open enough?”

Alex opens his mouth to protest but all that comes out is a whine when Henry sinks three of his fingers inside.

He’s still tight, miraculously, and the stretch is enough to make him bite his lip to keep from doing something that’ll haunt him forever.

“You stretched me p-plenty,” he grits out, holding onto Henry’s shoulders for dear life as those fingers slide out, then back in again. “Stop trying to get me to stroke your ego. You know your knot’s big.”

“Is it?” Smugness coats Henry’s words. “How would you know? It’s the first one you’ve ever taken.”

Alex buries his face in Henry’s shoulder. “Well, yeah but—” Henry’s fingers curl, brushing his sensitive prostate, and he forgets whatever argument he was about to make.

Henry’s chuckle rumbles through both of them. They cling to one another for a long time while Henry fingers him indulgently, switching off speeds and positions and number of fingers so often Alex’s head is spinning trying to keep up. The lack of rhythm prevents him from nearing orgasm, but it feels so good he doesn’t really want to cum yet anyway. He just rests his cheek on Henry’s shoulder and moans into his ear.

He's peripherally aware of Henry’s cock hard and insistent under him. The precision of Henry’s strong, dexterous fingers inside him is enough to make his brain go numb, but with every second he misses that all-consuming fullness Henry’s cock had granted him. He hadn’t had to try to find Alex’s prostate—it was so big, the ridge of the head dragged over it with every thrust anyway.

And then the knot, which had stretched his rim and toyed with him until he shoved it deep enough to—

Alex sits upright, rearranging his legs to better straddle the alpha. One hand reaches down, ready to slip Henry’s cock out of his sweatpants.

Henry’s grip on his wrist stops him.

“No,” Alex whines. “I’m stretched enough, Henry. Just lemme have it again, please?”

This time, Henry’s laugh is tense, buried beneath a tight growl. “You’ll have it, love. I just need to grab something first.”

He slips out from under Alex and leaves their nest. Leaves their nest! The audacity!

Alex makes a sound not unlike a hiss and tries to follow him, but Henry snaps his fingers. “Stay right there where I can see you, pretty thing,” he says, smiling at Alex over his shoulder as he shucks his sweats down.

Alex is rewarded with the sight of Henry’s bare, squishy, shapely ass walking away from him. He hadn’t been able to catch a glimpse of it before, but his fingernails had clearly become very well acquainted with it, if the row of crescent-shaped indents is anything to go by.

Henry bends over to rummage through his bag, giggling to himself in satisfaction that his plan to stop Alex’s whining by flashing him worked. “I’ll be back in a moment. Be patient.”

Why should he be patient when he could have Henry in him now?

Alex pouts. “What could possibly be more important than my sweet, yummy ass right now?”

“It is quite yummy,” Henry quips, not looking at him. “I’m glad you’re aware.”

“Henry.”

The man in question stands and returns to the nest, his cock hard and bobbing in front of him with every step. He nearly dives into the bed, upsetting Alex’s previously carefully arranged mound of pillows, but Alex, now within grabbing distance of Henry’s junk, doesn’t notice.

Alex had forgotten he’d even stood to get something until Henry lifts some sort of contraption comprised of leather straps and thin metal up between them.

“What’s that?”

There’s pink in Henry’s cheeks now. “It’s, um… my muzzle?”

Alex’s mind goes blank.

“Your…”

“Muzzle. Yes.”

“And um…” Alex slowly creeps back into Henry’s lap. “You need it because…”

Henry scoffs. “Because I bit you black and blue last night, and I can make no promises I won’t rip off your patches the next time a wave of rut hits me. Which is going to be any moment, by the way, just so you’re prepared.”

“God,” Alex groans, burying his face against Henry’s neck and kissing the hot skin there. “Why is that so hot?”

“My muzzle?”

“Fuck, please stop saying my muzzle all shy like that, I’m like two seconds away from jizzing all over your lap right now.”

Henry growls happily, running his hands up and down Alex’s sides, the muzzle in question temporarily set aside. “Well. I’ve never had that reaction before. Usually, it’s a big turn-off. Like having to put in your retainer before bed at a lover’s house.”

“Not even close,” Alex says. “Like, what do you mean you need a fucking muzzle to keep yourself from biting me? That’s so fucking hot.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, dude, can’t you feel me actually leaking on your thigh right now?”

Henry laughs. “You can’t call me dude and also tell me you think my lack of higher brain power when I’m in rut is hot. You are a perplexing creature.”

“At least buy me dinner before you talk dirty to me,” Alex jokes. “Wait no. Don’t do that. I need you in me, like now. Unless you’re prepared for me to get bitchy, which you don’t want to see.”

“I haven’t seen you bitchy?”

“There’s a joke about a doghouse, like, right there, Hen. Don’t make me say it.”

Henry rolls his eyes. “Just help me put this thing on so I can fuck you properly.”

It takes some finagling. Alex would never have been able to figure it out on his own. But between the two of them, they get the soft leather straps buckled around the back of Henry’s head, his mouth and nose covered by a lightweight metal lattice just wide enough to stick a finger through.

Henry looks oddly endearing in it. It leaves tufts of his blond hair flying in various directions between the leather straps. His eyes are left uncovered, only the bottom half of his face encased in the muzzle. Alex can still see his mouth, but he can’t reach it. He tests the give of the thin metal bars protecting him from Henry’s teeth. He can fit a finger in up to the second knuckle before he gets stuck. He wiggles it around then giggles when Henry purses his lips to kiss the tips of his fingers.

“But I can’t kiss you like this,” Alex says. He releases the muzzle and instead slides his arms around Henry’s neck, settling closer in his lap so his dripping cock rubs up against the alpha’s soft tummy. He can’t stop himself from grinding against him.

“You’ll have to settle for kisses when I’m not rutting.” Henry’s hands run down his sides, admiration plain in both his touch and in the look in his eyes. He tugs gently at Alex’s hips, meeting the rhythm of his grinding and encouraging it. “Think you can take me just like this? The angle will be different from before—”

But Alex is already nodding. “Yes,” he says. “Yeah, I can take it, please—"

Henry hushes him gently then reaches down to hold his cock up and ready for Alex to sink onto. His other hand steadies him as Alex slowly lowers himself down.

Despite what transpired the night before—and the fingering from moments ago—Alex is still impossibly tight. The realization makes him flush even more with both pleasure and embarrassment as the tip of Henry’s dick finally pops past his rim.

Henry tips his head back with a groan at the tightness around him, and it’s then Alex realizes this is the first time he’s seeing Henry face-to-face when he’s inside him.

He’s thankful the muzzle hides little of Henry’s expression so he can get the full picture: furrowed brow, parted lips, flushed cheeks, dark eyes. He looks nearly helpless behind the muzzle, though Alex knows how strong he is. He’s more than capable of pushing Alex off him and taking control. But there’s something about his willingness to do this, to let Alex muzzle him to control his teeth and to climb on top and set the pace of their coupling, that makes Alex bite back a whine.

“There you go, love.” Henry’s other hand returns to Alex’s waist, not pushing him down, but steadying. “Fuck, feel so fucking good.”

Alex has to hold still for a few moments to let the jolt of that initial entry roll through him. He’s somehow even more sensitive than he was a few hours ago—likely thanks to the numerous orgasms Henry served him up on a platter—but he’s not on a hair-trigger like before either. Now that he’s somewhat used to the sensations, it’s not so overwhelming. He can actually feel enough to enjoy it, but it’s not going to send him over the edge immediately like before.

He slips down a bit more and allows himself to savor the exact feel of Henry’s cock inside him—the head that’s slightly wider than the rest (aside from his knot, of course), the ridge beneath it that catches on something delicious every time he pulls out, the unwavering hardness only interrupted by the occasional throb. It’s so much more than anything else he’s had inside him. So much better.

“Think your dick was made for me,” he hears himself say. He doesn’t remember telling himself to say it, too preoccupied with working his way all the way down until he can’t go any further.

Henry grunts in response. There’s a half-hidden grin on his face when Alex chances another look up. Those eyes have refocused a bit, now trained on Alex’s red-tinged face. “Maybe it was,” he says, and that undercurrent of a growl is back. That, more so than the knot already pressing to Alex’s rim, tells him his rut is back in force. “Maybe I was special ordered to fill you up the way you need. Almost too big for you, isn’t it?”

Alex whines and nods. He shifts his hips, but the angle only allows him to go so far. “Deeper,” he pants. “Need you deeper.”

“Alright, love.” Henry gives his hips one last squeeze then lies back. Alex’s body jostles as he repositions them both: still with Alex on top, but now instead of sitting up with his legs crossed, Henry’s flat on his back with his legs extended and slightly spread. Alex repositions himself and turn and can’t hold back his gasp when he slips that much further down. Henry grins up at him. “That better?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Alex hums distractedly. He’s already planting his hands on Henry’s shoulders and experimenting with ways to roll his hips. If he arches his back and grinds, he gets that delicious pressure against his prostate. But if he rolls his hips down and uses his legs, he can move up and down and let that perfect prick drag along all his overwrought nerve endings, Henry groaning along with him. Fuck, he wants everything. It's impossible to choose.

Henry reaches up to brush his thumb against Alex’s lips after a few moments with little rhythm. “Breathe, darling.” His voice is like cool water across a sunburn. Alex relaxes at the sound of it and obeys. “That’s it. You alright? Legs getting tired?”

Alex shakes his head. “No. Legs’re good. I do club lacrosse. Could do this all day.”

Henry laughs, and the sight of it while he’s buried knot-deep inside Alex makes something hot bubble up inside him. “I’d let you,” Henry admitted. “But you’re frowning. What’s wrong?”

Was he? “Oh.” Alex touches his own face, like that would give him the answers. “It’s nothing.”

Henry shoots him a look, somehow managing to come off as somewhat intimidating even through the muzzle. “It’s not exactly my aim to have you frowning while my cock’s inside you, baby. Kind of a point of pride.”

Alex snorts. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Fine,” Alex sighs. He arches his back the way that makes him shake, demonstrating. “When I do this, it presses on my—it makes me feel really good. But if I do this—” He straightens his back and rolls his hips. Henry’s breath visibly leaves him. “That happens. And it gets you like, really fucking deep inside me. Can’t choose which one I like better.”

“Why do you have to choose just one?”

Alex frowns at him in earnest. “Because I’m either grinding and making me feel good, or I can keep a rhythm that benefits both of us.”

“First of all, this—” Henry’s hand urges him to arch again, making Alex grind. “Feels good for me, too. Because every time it pushes against your sweet spot, you go all tight and hot around me. Like you’re trying to milk me dry. Secondly, nobody says we have to go fast.”

“The omega gremlin in my head screaming put a baby in me! says otherwise.”

Henry growls outright at that. “Tell that gremlin I’m getting there.”

That shuts Alex (and his gremlin) right up.

“Just focus on making yourself feel good, Alex,” the alpha says. “I’ll be more than fine. Watching you squirm on top of me is one of the hottest things I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing.”

Alex bites his lip. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“That didn’t stop you last night, when you were the best, most perfect omega an alpha could ever ask for.”

Alex feels his dick twitch, bobbing softly where it’s dribbling on Henry’s happy trail. “Sh-shut up and show me what to do.”

Henry chuckles but does as he’s asked. Through gentle words and guiding hands, he helps Alex ride him properly—rounding his back to get better leverage moving up and down, then pausing to give a long, luxurious grind once he’s fully seated. There’s more hip movement than he’d been employing previously, and he can tell he might tire out quicker than when he was using his legs, but at present it feels too good to even think about stopping.

He's making pitchy, desperate noises he can’t bring himself to care about. He doesn’t realize his mouth is hanging open until Henry reaches up to wipe the drool from his chin. It doesn’t take long to work up a sweat—the combination of his increasingly frantic riding and the heat fueling him further, he’s a hot mess. Literally.

Henry’s not that far off. He looks like some sort of explicit painting hidden in the very back of a museum—ethereal, untouchable.

Except Alex can touch.

And he does.

He traces the outline of his brow, his dampened hairline, the tops of his cheekbones before they disappear under the muzzle. Alex whines when he realizes he can’t touch more. He wants to lick the sweat from Henry’s face, but the damn muzzle won’t let him. Instead, he hooks his fingers into the grate and stretches them, desperate to touch as much of him as he can.

Henry’s eyes flutter open. Alex half expected him to laugh at his desperation, but instead he lets out a bitten-off groan and stretches to kiss the tips of his fingers like he had before.

Alex moans at the contact and his rhythm stutters for a moment. It shouldn’t feel that good. A brush of lips against his fingers shouldn’t be anything while Henry’s buried deep inside him.

He swears he feels Henry get bigger inside him—his dick, not just the knot, which is making it harder for Alex to sink all the way down without getting impaled on it. And he wants that. God does he want it. But not yet. He doesn’t want this to end.

“What is it, baby?” Henry’s lips brush his fingers as he speaks.

“The kn-knot,” Alex says. His words stutter as he gets a little too excited and shoves himself down with gusto. A gasp wrenches from him and it’s an effort to keep his eyes open. “Wanna keep going. Don’t wanna be stuck yet.”

For some reason, Henry chuckles. It would sting, if it wasn’t accompanied by the slow, gentle slide of one of Henry’s hands around Alex’s forgotten prick. He nearly cries at the contact. He realizes this is the first time Henry has touched him like this. Last night, the pillow was the only thing that ended up touching his cock. The realization makes Alex blush and sit up straighter, suddenly self-conscious even as he continues riding Henry like there’s a cash prize at the end of it.

Henry’s other hand drums softly on Alex’s thigh, reminding him they were having a discussion. “There’s something we can try before it swells too much. Do you trust me?”

Alex nods without hesitation.

“Lean forward. Brace your hands on the bed on either side of me. Just like that, love. Good boy.”

Alex turns his head so Henry can’t see his overenthusiastic reaction to that, but the way his cock twitches in the alpha’s hand is a dead giveaway.

Luckily, Henry makes no mention of it. “Hold still. Tilt your hips if you need to but I can’t have you pushing back on me, otherwise this will be over far quicker than you want it to. Alright?”

Alex hums his agreement. He feels Henry shifting beneath him, scooting just an inch down their nest and planting his feet. Henry’s thighs now press up against Alex’s ass. He can’t help sinking down a bit further.

Henry’s hand tightens on his dick, earning a squeak Alex will never live down. “What did I say?” Henry growls, chuckling at him so he knows he’s not mad. “Hold. Still. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Alex nods frantically, locking his legs in place so he doesn’t move an inch unless Henry wants him to. “Makes me so wet when you talk like that,” he admits. There’s a quiver to his voice that wasn’t there before. “Makes me want to do anything you say.”

Henry hums in approval. His hand releases Alex’s dick. The omega whines and almost grinds forward to get some friction back, but both Henry’s hands settle on his hips, holding him in place with an iron grip. “That’s because,” Henry says evenly as he lifts Alex up until the head of his cock tugs at the inside of his hole, threatening to pull out. “Your omega knows to trust his alpha. He knows I’m going to take care of you.”

“God yes,” Alex nearly weeps. I think I want you to take care of me the rest of my life.

When he speaks again, Henry makes it a point to growl, now that he knows how it affects Alex. “Now hold still. I’m gonna fuck my knot in and out, get you all loosened up for me before it swells. You stop me if it hurts or if it’s too much, okay?”

“Okay,” Alex breathes. “Didn’t—didn’t know you could do that. Thought once it was in, it’s—it’s in.”

“Once it swells fully, yes.” Henry makes it hard to concentrate on his words as he lifts his hips and fills Alex to the brim again. He’s not sure how the angle changed from before, but he’s suddenly so deep it’s like Alex can feel him in his throat. “But while it’s like this, I can fuck you with it until you’re dripping and loose enough to take it when it’s full.”

Alex is whimpering on every rapid exhale now. He feels the knot pressing against his rim again, but instead of stopping there like Alex had, Henry pushes past the resistance. Alex’s head falls, unable to keep it up anymore as shivers run all the way up his spine. His forehead rests against Henry’s, and despite the muzzle digging into his chin in this position, he keeps it there.

“That’s it, love,” Henry breathes when the knot’s fully inside. He’s right—it’s not nearly as thick as it was last night. It throbs inside him, making it hard to think of much else. Or maybe Alex is the one throbbing, his body already trying to milk it even though he’s not ready. “Just stay nice and relaxed for me.”

Alex is melting. He doesn’t think he could tense up now if he wanted to. “Yes, alpha.”

The sound that rumbles through Henry’s chest could only be considered a purr. “See, this is how I would have done it last time if I knew it was your first knot. Finger you open nice and slow—”

“S’that why you fingered me just now?” Alex huffs. “A do-over? You can’t do do-overs in my nest. No takesie-backsies, love muffin.”

Alex can feel the resulting eye roll. “Mostly I just love how you leak and squirm around my fingers.” Alex shudders, and Henry hums. “You’re surprisingly easy to shut up. Just have to talk about how wet and sweet this perfect pussy is, and you’re dripping all over me.”

“Love when you call it that.”

“Your pussy?” Henry eases back. The knot slips out and he draws nearly all the way out before pressing back in again, the knot sliding in just a tad easier. His fingers skate around where Alex is stretched wide around him. The feeling of fingers there while there’s a knot bullying its way inside makes Alex’s eyes roll back. “That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

“But I’m not—not a girl. Don’t have a cunt.”

“You’re not a girl. You’re my strong, athletic, manly omega. You’re all male, baby boy. You’ve got a prick I’d very much like to feel inside me at some point when I’m not dying to knock you up. But you also have the sweetest little cunt I’ve ever tasted. Feel so fucking good around my knot. Never felt anything better.”

The knot pops out then immediately back in. It catches Alex by surprise—he’d grown used to Henry’s slow, steady pace that let him relax and clench back down before being stretched again. But this doesn’t allow him time to adjust, time to close back up.

He’s not sure if it’s that or Henry’s words—it’s probably some combination of the two—but he’s suddenly on the edge. He shoots upright, startling Henry into impaling him deeper. And that doesn’t help matters. At all.

“I’m c-c-caahh!” Henry repeats that move, pulling out then back in without giving him time to recover, and it’s enough to tip Alex over the edge. “Oh my g-guh. God, fuck. Fuck baby please.”

Henry must know what he means, because he keeps doing it, fucking his slowly swelling knot in and out of Alex’s convulsing hole. Alex holds on for dear life to anything he can get a grip on as he crests a wave of orgasm that nearly blinds him and leaves him shaking and gasping for air.

He’s still working through it when he opens his eyes and finds he’s clutching one of the leather straps of the muzzle with one hand and Henry’s hair with the other, yanking a little too hard. Henry doesn’t seem to mind. He’s gazing up at Alex with eyes more animal than human. His teeth are gritted and he’s arching into Alex with every thrust that just keeps coming.

Alex is shaking so much he’s barely upright. His knee slips and lands in something wet. His eyes go wide in mortification.

“I’m so s-sorry!” he gasps as the realization hits him. “I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry!”

Henry’s pace slows. “Alex?” It looks like it’s taking everything in him not to keep going. Something aches in Alex’s chest. “What’s wrong baby? Why are you sorry?”

Alex makes himself sit up further to examine the mess. He’d sprayed Henry’s entire abdomen with his cum—he hopes, prays it’s just his cum—so the poor alpha even has it in his chest hair. It fills Alex with both pride and dread. It’s dripping down Henry’s sides a little, but not enough to account for the puddle under Alex’s knee. That, he realizes as he shifts around, was from… from inside him.

He covers his face with his hands. “I made a mess. ‘M so sorry. Don’t be mad.”

Hot, gentle hands circle his wrists and draw them away from his face. Henry’s eyes, now returning to some of their normal hue, are filled with concern. “I’m not mad,” he says, voice sticky sweet. “You don’t have a single thing to apologize for.”

Alex sniffs. “I don’t?”

“No, baby.” He smiles a little. “If you think I don’t want to be absolutely drenched in your cum, you clearly haven’t spent enough time with me. Or I haven’t done a very good job expressing it. But this?” He drags a finger through Alex’s cum on his chest and—Alex gasps—sucks it straight into his mouth with a wider grin. “This is what I’m here for.”

Alex can only blink at him, heat curling up in his stomach already. “But it’s everywhere. It’s in your chest hair, Hen!”

Henry’s grin goes even dirtier, if that’s even possible. “Is it? I’ll just have to make you clean me up later. With your tongue. I think you’d like that.”

“… I would. A lot.”

“Good. You alright? Can I keep going or do you need a break?”

“I’m good, but…” Alex blushes again. “I also think I… you know, made a mess down there, too.”

Henry just stares up at him for a long moment. Then he reaches back and slides his fingers across where they’re still joined and groans like he’s been punched in the gut. “Oh my god. You squirted on me?”

Alex could burst into flames. “I did not!” he shrieks.

“You definitely did!” Henry grabs his hips again and fucks up into him so suddenly Alex’s eyes cross. He’s still sensitive from that steam engine of an orgasm, but he needs Henry to keep going more than he needs his next breath. “What a perfect omega I found, squirting on his alpha’s prick with his tight little pussy.”

“Henry-y-y-y,” Alex whines. His protest is drowned out by the loud, wet plap plap plap that echoes through the room every time his alpha fucks up into him. He tips forward again, grabbing Henry’s hair and pulling it in retaliation.

Henry just laughs and keeps up his punishing pace.

Alex doesn’t know how much time passes like this, with him clinging onto Henry for dear life as his knot grows, getting harder and harder to pull out each time. He wrenches another orgasm from Alex just like that, making him bite his lip and sob through it as he doesn’t slow for even a second.

“Close,” Henry grits out after what feels like years. “You want my knot?”

Alex is nodding before he can even think it through. “Yes, yes, yes!”

The noise Henry lets out as he grips Alex by the waist and fucks up into him hard enough to make his teeth clack together is going to be plastered at the back of Alex’s mind forever. For the moment, he only clenches his jaw and prepares to be knotted again.

To his surprise, it doesn’t hurt like it had before. There’s an audible pop as it enters and swells even further inside him, and the stretch makes him ache. But the blinding pain, the sting, is gone. He breathes a sigh of relief as all he feels is perfect fullness, like scratching an itch that won’t go away.

Henry grunts and arches into him further, cumming already as Alex flexes around him and reaches down to cup his cock that’s somehow hard again. He has the pleasure of watching Henry cum this time. It’s a privilege. His eyes roll then squeeze shut. His mouth drops open on a silent moan that finally claws its way out of his strained throat. His cheeks are endearingly pink. Alex can’t stop himself from fitting his fingers into the muzzle again, touching his lips as he releases deep inside him.

Finally, Henry relaxes, pulling Alex with him as he settles back against the bed. He hadn’t realized how high up he’d been kneeling to let Henry fuck him like that. His knees creak in thanks as he leans back and stretches his legs, not caring how goofy he looks sitting on Henry’s knot with his legs up by the alpha’s head. It has the added benefit of seating him even deeper on Henry, which makes them both groan.

For a moment, they bask in the reprieve, catching their breath.

Then Henry’s fingers brush over the back of Alex’s hand, which is still gently holding his cock. “Alright?”

Alex nods, heat searing the tips of his ears, but releases his grip. His dick bobs up, still hard. “It was just… bouncing around too much. Got overstimulated.”

Henry laughs and pats Alex’s thighs. “Occupational hazard, I’m afraid.” Alex eyes those hands on his legs. Henry catches on quickly. “Want me to take care of that for you?”

Alex ducks his head. “You don’t have to—”

“Hush.” Henry gently, slowly takes Alex’s dick in hand, like he’s afraid to spook him. Alex gasps at the contact. It’s almost too much. It isn’t nearly enough. “If you keep talking like that, I’m going to have to pamper you until you realize my world revolves around you.”

Alex swallows and prays the way his cock jumps comes off as arousal at Henry’s touch instead of what it really is. How can he say things like that and not expect Alex to fall in love with him? My world revolves around you. What bullshit is that! Mushy-ass alpha. God, Alex wants him so bad.

You have him, the gremlin inside him says. He’s yours. His knot is yours. His hands are yours. He is yours.

For once, that voice is right. Right now, Henry is his, for all intents and purposes. His to touch, his to kiss, his to fuck. His to imagine growing old with. His to imagine what his face would look like on a child who has Alex’s hair and speaks fluent Spanish in an awful half-English accent.

Alex whines and arches his back, letting Henry take control. He plants his hands on Henry’s thighs behind him, feet now planted on the ground to give him leverage to grind on the knot inside him.

Henry seems to know Alex’s cock as well as he does—perks of being sexually experienced, he supposes. God, he doesn’t even know if Henry’s gay. Is he? Would he care that Alex is bi? Does he prefer women? Is the fact Alex is a man secondary to the fact he’s an omega?

The hand on his dick squeezes before a thumb brushes over the tip. Alex’s stomach swoops.

“I can hear you thinking.” Henry is reclining, one hand on Alex’s prick and the other supporting his head as he watches, intent on all Alex’s little responses. It’s borderline obnoxious how relaxed he is. “Should I be offended?”

Alex shakes his head and takes a breath. “No. No I’m just—in my head about stuff.”

“Want me to take your mind off it?”

Alex releases that breath. “Please.”

Henry lifts his head, then his torso, shifting Alex gently so they’re both upright again. It gives him less room to work Alex in his hand, but his proximity is better than any touch. His free hand wraps around Alex, encouraging his own arms to encircle Henry’s shoulders and hold on. “Better?”

Alex nods. “Much.” A squeeze to the head of his cock, and Alex’s knees draw up tighter at Henry’s sides. “Ah—easy!”

Henry just chuckles and presses his forehead to Alex’s shoulder. “Sorry. Just wanted to see what you’d do. You’re so gorgeous.”

He says it like he’s stating the obvious—the sky is blue, the grass is green, Alex Claremont-Diaz is gorgeous. That thing tightens in Alex’s chest. To distract himself, he reaches for the buckles on the muzzle. “You gonna bite me if I take this off?”

“Not unless you ask me to. And not anywhere that’s going to get us in trouble.”

Well.

Alex doesn’t hesitate to start unbuckling the blasted contraption as Henry keeps working him in his hand. He notes, with no small amount of satisfaction, that he’s more than a handful for the alpha, whose hands are as big as the rest of him. He’s not carrying around some tiny omega cocklet—though it’s about as useful as one right now. He’ll have to take Henry up on that offer to fuck him later, once the heat begins to ebb and they’re just horny instead of trying to breed.

Finally, the muzzle comes off. Alex sets it aside and runs his hands through Henry’s hair (both mussing it and smoothing it in one go) before using his grip to pull the alpha’s lips to his.

Henry’s surprised moan dies in Alex’s mouth, swept away by his searching tongue. They haven’t kissed nearly enough, Alex decides. The feel of their lips together is still novel, still new. The only thing familiar about Henry’s taste is the tang of Alex’s own cum—and that’s a whole new kink Alex fears he’s discovering.

Once their lips meet, it doesn’t take much else for Alex to tip over the edge again. He trembles in Henry’s grasp, lets out a groan from deep in his belly, then spills over with a pitiful dribble of pearlescent cum across the alpha’s knuckles.

“That’s it.” Henry presses a kiss to the side of Alex’s gasping mouth. “You’re so perfect, Alex.”

Alex whimpers and bats his hand away. Finally, his body cools, content to be full and knotted and empty of everything but Henry.

Henry wipes his hand on Alex’s thigh.

“Hey!” Alex cries indignantly, breaking into a giggle immediately after.

“Revenge,” Henry says. “For squirting on me.”

Aaaaaand the blush is back. “I did not squirt. People with penises don’t squirt.”

Henry raises an eyebrow. There are lines across his face where the muzzle dug in. Alex can’t—won’t—stop himself from leaning in and brushing his lips across them. “You’re wrong on two counts.”

Alex barely pauses in his task to respond. “Enlighten me.”

“Firstly,” Henry starts. His lips brush against Alex as he speaks, seeming content to let Alex pepper him with kisses. “Under the right circumstances, you can make someone squirt from their prick. Granted it’s… mostly piss, but… the general idea’s the same. Make them cum so hard they can’t hold it in.”

Alex considers. That’s definitely not what happened. His bladder is becoming insistently full—though how that’s possible with all the fluids he’s lost, he has no idea—and Henry’s tummy was covered in just his cum, he’s almost certain.

“But,” Henry goes on. “Male omegas can squirt, too. You naturally release slick when you orgasm. Sometimes it just comes out faster than others.”

And that… Alex can’t refute. That’s exactly what happened. Henry made him cum, and he’d released a veritable flood of slick. He feels it now: sticking to the backs of his thighs, around his hole, even down to his knees. He’s covered. So is Henry.

Henry snorts. “No arguments?”

“I’ll withhold my judgement on the first part, but… you may have a point. You know, about the slick thing.”

“You just hate to admit I’m right.”

Alex shoves him onto his back, groaning. “You’re not right. Weird-ass man.”

“I am an ass-man, thank you very much.” To prove his point, he takes two firm handfuls of Alex’s backside and squeezes.

Alex yelps. “Quit groping me! We need a shower before I can let you fuck me again. The second your knot goes down, I am running to the bathroom.”

Henry rolls his eyes then searches around the nest for something. After a moment, he passes Alex one of their forgotten water bottles. “To replenish your fluids.”

Alex returns his eye roll but screws off the lid and takes a few hearty gulps. He sighs in relief when it’s empty, then crushes the bottle and chucks it in a random direction. “God. Didn’t know sex would be this sweaty.”

“You’re picking that up,” Henry tells him flatly. “And usually, it’s not quite as sweaty. Special circumstances, and what not.”

Alex scoffs. “You must not be doing it right, if you’re not usually working up a sweat.”

“Okay, virgin.”

Alex flushes crimson.

Henry coughs, clearly surprised with himself. “Sorry. That wasn’t kind of me.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugs, distracting himself by tracing a line across Henry’s collarbones with the tip of his finger. “It’s true, anyway.”

“Alex.” The softness of Henry’s voice makes it impossible not to meet his eye. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I know it’s a bigger deal to you than you’re making it out to be.”

Alex shifts restlessly then remembers there’s an eight-inch pole inside him (approximately… he doesn’t have the tools to make an accurate measurement). “It’s… I’m not like, a prude or anything.”

Henry glances down briefly. “Clearly.”

Alex twists Henry’s nipple, then laughs at the resulting yelp. “Dick. I mean, I wasn’t, like, saving myself or anything. I’ve just been too busy to… make it happen.”

“You mentioned school?”

“Law school, yeah.”

“Impressive. Do you have a preferred career path?”

Alex shifts so he’s lying on Henry’s chest, careful not to crush his own balls or twist the knot inside him. It’s kind of nice, talking like this while they’re joined. It feels… domestic, almost. (Though Alex won’t delude himself like that.) “I originally went in with the intent to go into politics like my parents, but I’ve actually really enjoyed the idea of practicing law. I did an internship with my professor’s firm last year and it was like, really rewarding. They do a lot of pro-bono stuff. You know, representing single moms suing their landlords and what not. I could see myself doing something like that. Helping people. Just not criminal defense.” He shudders. “Anything but criminal.”

Henry’s laugh jostles him slightly, but his arms around him are warm and comforting. “So you’re Daredevil? Fighting crime by day and by night?”

“Daredevil is almost exclusively a criminal defense lawyer, so your whole metaphor is shot. But attorneys do work ungodly hours. And I think I’d rock a Lycra suit.”

“Give me a call if that ever happens. I’d love to see it. I’ll be the Lois Lane to your Clark Kent.”

Alex frowns. “They’re journalists. And they’re DC, not Marvel.”

“Okay, nerd,” Henry scoffs. “I was trying to be cute.”

“You are cute. Except when you mix comic book universes.”

Henry just shakes his head and urges him to lift up. When he does, the knot, now soft, slips free, and a flood of slick and cum follow it. Alex burns with embarrassment at the feeling, but Henry groans and slicks his fingers through it before pushing them back into Alex.

Alex shoves him away and shakily climbs to his feet. “No, nope! No more until I get a shower.”

Henry growls playfully and grabs for him, but Alex is already halfway across the room, trying very, very hard to ignore the wetness dribbling down his legs. He stops at the bathroom door and turns back to their nest.

“You coming?”

“This isn’t—what I meant—when I said I wanted to get—clean, oh fuck Henry.”

Henry laughs, but it’s muffled by the sound of the shower and Alex’s ass half-smothering him. “I’m helping get you clean.” His tongue dips in—much easier than it had last night, Alex notes—and drags out more cum, which Alex cranes his neck back to stare at. “Thee?”

For all his protests, the sight of this beautiful alpha on his knees with their combined cum on his tongue is enough to make Alex reconsider some things about himself.

“I don’t think I can cum again right now,” he warns, pressing his cheek to the cool tile. “Give me, like, a couple days.”

Henry’s snort sounds truly disgusting where he’s half-buried in omega pussy, but it makes Alex wet, nonetheless. “Fine. I’ll get you cleaned out so you don’t make a mess in our nest again. Then do you mind if I cum on your face?”

“Do you mind, he says, like that’s not the single hottest thing anyone’s ever asked me.”

“I’m taking that as a yes.”

It is a yes, a very enthusiastic one. And a few minutes later, Alex is the one kneeling, watching Henry jerk himself off above him. Alex’s eyelashes are clumped together with water, and he has to swallow every few seconds from the water running down his face, but he dutifully keeps his eyes open and his tongue out.

Henry cums with a soft moan, his head falling back but eyes staying locked on Alex as he paints his face with white. Alex moans too, at the feel of it, the smell, the taste. It feels like a reward. Proof his alpha approves of him, wants to mark him as his own.

Ever the gentleman, Henry helps him clean up, only swiping his thumb into Alex’s mouth to make him eat his cum twice. It’s not bad, he thinks. He was honestly expecting worse, but it’s Henry “Exceeds Expectations” Fox we’re talking about here.

Afterward, Henry dries off and leaves him to finish up. “I’m going to go change the sheets,” he tells Alex in way of explanation, and Alex flushes happily.

He’s glad for a moment alone. His heat is fine for now—if he wasn’t so sensitive he would have begged Henry to keep eating him out until he came again—but he can feel it starting to ramp up again. He takes the opportunity to piss (he’s not yet comfortable enough to do that with Henry in the room) and take a look at himself in the mirror.

His eyes are bright, fevered. They’re darker than they usually are, the pupil eating up most of the brown. And his cheeks are flushed, even after he cools down from the shower.

Then there’s the giant bruise on his neck.

It sends a shock through him before he realizes it looks worse than it feels. It’s tender to the touch, but it’s more sensitive than painful.

He realizes how close they’d come to making a mistake. If it weren’t for Henry remembering last minute to put on the patches, he would have… they would have…

Alex shakes his head. It didn’t happen. That’s what matters.

Would it be so bad if it did?

He shakes his head again, harder. “Not now,” he tells himself.

He doesn’t need a mating bite now for many, many reasons.

He makes a mental list, wishing he had a pen and paper to make it feel more real in his head.

Reasons Alex shouldn’t let Henry bite him:

1. They just met.

2. They’re both in states of impaired judgement.

3. Any permanent decisions made would be reckless and inadvisable.

4. There would be so much paperwork—with the clinic, with the government.

5. He has school to think about.

6. He has a future to think about.

7. What would he tell his family?

8. Getting it reversed would be a long, painful, expensive process.

9. It would make it harder to walk away from this like Alex’s whole world hasn’t been turned on its head.

He could go on and on all the reasons he shouldn’t beg Henry to bite him—

But still.

He splashes some cold water on his face.

Not now.

There are some spare patches to cover his glands in the medicine cabinet, and he puts them on without hesitation. He knows Henry has the muzzle for that exact reason, but better safe than sorry, right?

After he’s patched up, Alex goes back into the main room to find Henry tucking the mattress back into the indent on the floor, soiled sheets replaced with clean, fresh ones. The alpha glances at him when he emerges and gives him a quick, appreciative once over that straightens Alex’s spine. “Fresh as a daisy?”

Alex huffs. “As I’ll ever be. I still think there’s jizz inside me. And not all of it’s mine.”

Once he’s in arm’s reach, Henry pulls him in, hands going directly to Alex’s ass. “Want me to check for you?”

Alex makes a vague blegh sound and pushes him away so he can crawl back in the nest and fix all the pillows again. It still smells like them, thankfully, but the giant wet spot on the sheet is gone.

Henry climbs in after him and reclines on the pillows when Alex deems appropriate.

“Of course you do lacrosse.”

Alex shoots him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Henry reaches over and squeezes one of Alex’s pecs. “My guess was rugby, but lacrosse makes sense, too.”

“My tits? You know I play sports because of my tits?”

Henry’s laugh spills over him like warm honey, melting him so he can’t help but curl up on top of him again. The alpha’s arms accept him, pull him closer to scent him properly. “Only partially,” Henry says against his neck. “And I love that you call them tits.”

“That was a joke.”

“I’m sure it was.” Henry rolls them onto their sides and props his head up on one arm to look at Alex properly. Something about the look in his eyes is too vulnerable, too much for Alex to handle. “I mean, your physique reminds me a lot of rugby players back home. Thick thighs. Big chest.”

“That’s also kind of an omega thing. Child-bearing hips, and what not.”

“That’s only part of it,” Henry says. “I can tell you take care of yourself. You’re bloody beautiful, Alex.”

Alex hides his face against his arm.

Henry chuckles. “And too easy to fluster.”

“And what about you,” he bites back. “Mister perfect alpha, with your height and your Prince Charming hair and your Jane Austen novels and those arms. You’ve got to do something, right? Running? Swimming?”

“Swimming,” he confirms. Alex mentally fist-pumps for getting it right. “I have a pool that I make use of every morning.”

“You have a pool? Not your apartment complex or your posh company?”

“It’s all mine, I’m afraid. I’ve got a townhouse in Manhattan. It’s rather sparse, and far too big. Impossible to keep clean. I’ll likely sell it in the next year or so, find something more reasonable. But I like the pool.”

“You own a townhouse. In Manhattan. With a pool.” Alex blinks at him. “Christ, how rich are you?”

Henry’s eyes go wide, and he presses his lips into a thin line.

“Shut up. Are you kidding me? I let a one-percenter inside me?”

Henry snorts. “Yeah. Sorry. But if it helps, half my income goes straight to Pez’ LGBTQIA charity.”

Alex pouts. “It helps a little. Man. I knew you were well-off but not like, that well off.”

“It’s mostly my parents’ money. Dad was an actor, and my mum’s grandfather was a… Duke or something? I don’t know. He abdicated. It was a whole ordeal back in the 30s.”

“Are you trying to reassure me by saying your money is old money?” Alex says, raising an eyebrow and trying not to laugh.

Cornered, Henry says, “…Possibly.”

Alex groans playfully and flops onto his back. “God, I can’t believe I’m sexually attracted to a fucking British Rockefeller.”

“Eat the rich and what have you?” At Alex’s glare, Henry backpedals. “I’m not—I mean—I’m not making fun of—”

Alex kisses him. He’s not sure why. He just can and so he does.

He draws Henry back on top of him, keeping him caged between his legs. He reaches down and slips Henry’s already hard dick inside him, the slide smooth and almost easy now.

He’s sore, but Henry sinking back inside him feels like setting a broken bone. The gasp that tears from his throat could never be faked—it’s too raw. Henry presses kisses to his exposed throat.

“Muzzle,” Alex breathes. “Do you need your—”

“In a minute,” Henry says, leaving little room for argument. “Want to kiss you while I knot you.”

Alex finds it hard to argue with that.

He lets Henry pound him into their nest, only cries a little when he cums, and lets Henry kiss away the tears when he knots him.

“You alright?” Henry’s voice is rough, nearly unrecognizable. They’ve gone two more rounds, and both of them are nearly on the brink of collapse.

“Think I saw God for a second there.”

“I’ve been told the resemblance is uncanny.”

Alex is too tired to do more than kick Henry—a hard task, considering Henry’s still on top of and inside him. “I need sleep. And a burger.”

“Can’t help you with the burger, but I need rest as well.” Henry guides Alex’s legs to lie flat on the bed. It shouldn’t be comfortable, what with a six-foot-something alpha on top of him and a knot locked inside him, but it is. “Though I’ll warn you, I think I’m at the point of my rut where the rounds are more… frequent.”

That sends a curl of heat already curling in Alex’s gut. “That’s fine. Me too. Just go… whenever.”

“Do you want me to wake you up before I start again?”

“Don’t you dare.” At Alex’s hasty response, Henry raises an eyebrow. Alex blushes. “I mean… no need. You have my consent to do… whatever. While I’m asleep. Within reason.”

“Within reason, right.”

Alex smacks his arm and reaches out across their nest. “Where’s your muzzle? Don’t wanna risk it while we’re sleepy.”

Henry finds it and straps it on. For old time’s sake, Alex sticks his fingers through the front to let Henry kiss them.

“You can do whatever you need while I’m asleep as well,” Henry tells him. “Or wake me up. Whatever you need, love.”

Alex pouts and kisses his forehead. “Stop saying sweet shit while I can’t kiss you. Dumbass.”

Henry snickers and pulls a pillow over for them to share. “Sorry.”

“Night, Hen.”

“Night, darling.”

Alex has no clue how much time passes, but it’s all spent switching from fucking to sleeping to something in between where neither of them is chasing an orgasm and they’re just… basking.

Alex discovers his new favorite thing: waking up to a knot swelling inside him.

He learns this the first time Henry fucks him awake. He had Alex’s legs pressed together over one shoulder, nearly bending him in half while he stuffed him full. Alex came all over his tummy the second he gained consciousness and discovered what was happening.

The next time, they were spooning, and when Alex began to stir, grinding on Henry’s already hard cock inside him, Henry quickly woke and reached around to jerk him off.

One time Alex woke him with his mouth around Henry’s dick again.

Then Henry returned the favor.

Once, Henry woke him by picking him up and bending him over the side of the nest and fucking not one but two knots into him—a particularly enjoyable experience for Alex, who Henry had to hold afterward when he couldn’t stop shaking.

Some indeterminable amount of time later, Alex fully wakes, feeling like he can’t physically sleep another wink and lacking that hot desperation that had been under his skin for the past week.

His heat is ending.

That’s not what woke him, though. No, it’s the absence of his alpha in his nest.

He lifts his head but doesn’t have to search for long. Henry’s at the door, speaking in hushed tones with Percy, his dignity preserved by a blanket—Alex’s blanket. The one he brought from home.

Alex nearly purrs.

“…told you we’re fine,” Henry’s saying. In the hand not keeping the blanket shut, he’s holding a thermos of some kind that Percy apparently gave him.

“Sorry,” Percy says, though he doesn’t sound it. “Don’t mean to be a mother hen. Or a mother, comma, Hen.”

“Are you quite finished?”

Percy lowers his voice more so Alex has to strain to hear. “… need me to go get you an engagement ring? I’m on the clock, but I can—”

“Goodbye, Pez.” Henry shuts the door, then quicker than Alex can react to, turns and catches him staring. “Oh. Good morning.”

“Morning,” Alex says, voice rough with sleep and… other activities.

Henry raises the thermos. “Pez brought you some soup. Says it’s good for recovery.”

“Just for me?” Alex reaches out once he’s close enough to the nest—for Henry, not for the soup. Though soup sounds heavenly right now. “No soup for you?”

Henry snorts to say he got the reference. “No. He doesn’t think I’ve earned it.”

“Why not?”

For some reason, Henry blushes and looks away. “It’s an inside joke between us.”

For some reason, that hurts Alex. “Oh. Right.”

A moment of tense silence passes before Henry opens the thermos and passes it to him. “Here. It’s something blended so you should be able to just sip it. Careful, it’s hot.”

Cheeks blazing, Alex lifts the thermos and takes a tentative sip. Heat, spice, and comfort burst across his tongue. He takes another sip then licks his lips. “It’s good. Really good. What is it?”

Henry shrugs. “An old Okonjo family recipe. I’ve been threatened my swift and painful demise if I ever share the recipe with anyone outside the family. But I believe it has yams in.”

Alex smiles and takes another sip. “Are you sure you’re allowed to tell me that much?”

“Probably not. But Percy likes you, so I think he’ll make an exception just this once.”

Giggling, Alex sets the soup aside. It’s still too hot to enjoy with gusto, and besides, he has something else he’s hungry for.

“Oof,” Henry huffs when Alex climbs into his lap and starts sucking kisses into his jaw. There are already several marks along his neck of varying darkness. The worst of the bunch—and the one Alex is most proud of—is a round, dark thing surrounded by the dark red indents of his teeth. He kisses it now, just because he can. “Is the soup that good?”

“It’s not the soup,” Alex says. “Missed you.”

Henry sighs. His hands paint a trail up Alex’s back, and Alex wishes it would stain him, leave him with tangible evidence of his hands on Alex’s skin. “I was only gone a few minutes,” Henry says.

“Do you mean you didn’t miss me, too?”

A hand in his hair pulls him away from Henry’s delicious throat. He’s looking at Alex with blue eyes no longer fogged with rut, no longer driven solely by the desire to mark Alex inside and out. Alex finds he’s only a little disappointed. He missed this version of Henry’s eyes: calm, unwavering blue.

“Terribly,” Henry admits.

Alex swallows.

This is the first time they’ve interacted without the intervention of their respective mating cycles. There’s no reason for them to be doing this. Alex is no longer burning up with fever. Henry is soft for the first time in days—though that started changing the second Alex climbed into his lap.

For all intents and purposes, they could clean up and check out of the clinic right now. They would both pass their mandatory wellness exams. They could be back home in a matter of hours.

But neither of them makes a move to leave.

Instead, their lips slot together for perhaps the thousandth time.

There’s no hunger—well, okay, there’s plenty of hunger. But this kiss isn’t foreplay.

It just is.

When Henry takes Alex’s bottom lip between his teeth and scrapes it gently with his incisors, it’s not to rile him up and make him wet—though it does do that—it’s because he knows Alex likes it.

And when Alex fists a hand in the hair at the base of Henry’s neck and pulls, it’s not to make his knot swell, but to see the look of adoration float across Henry’s face when their lips finally part.

“Don’t wanna go,” Alex finally whispers, sometime later when their lips are raw and there’s little either of them need to reach orgasm.

Henry kisses the side of his mouth, then the dip of his chin. “I don’t either.”

Alex’s chest nearly overflows. He wraps his arms around Henry’s shoulders and holds him tight, hiding from the feelings he can’t put a name to. “Is your dick gonna fall off if you put it in me one more time?”

Henry laughs—that bright, surprised chuckle he sometimes lets out when Alex catches him off guard, or when his orgasm finally crests. “I think that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

The last time they couple, it’s not out of desperation to breed. It’s not because their baser instincts are driving them to copulation. There’s hunger, yes—desire, in spades. But this is something more. Something so tender it almost hurts, though Alex has been well and truly broken in and there’s more than enough slick to ease the way.

Henry has him on his back, surrounded by pillows that smell of them—both of them, not just Henry, or just Alex. Their scents are inextricably linked. Spice and sugar all melded into one.

Alex gasps into Henry’s mouth when the knot slips in. Henry’s eyes cut him so deeply he knows it’ll scar.

Henry’s arms slip around his back, pull him closer so the only thing Alex needs to finish is the slick drag of their bodies together, his dick caught between their bellies. The contractions of his orgasm is enough to make Henry cum, spilling inside him one last time.

Their eyes stay open the whole time.

An hour later, they’re both showered and dressed in actual clothes.

It feels strange to not be naked, now that he’s spent what he learns has been three whole days pressed skin-to-skin with the man slipping on his shoes only feet away from him.

Feet away, though it might as well have been an ocean.

They haven’t spoken. All throughout their shower, neither said a word. They just washed each other’s hair, then soaped up their own bodies. Alex gave himself a perfunctory wipe but made no effort to clean himself out. The thought of not only leaving Henry, but not taking any part of him with him is unbearable.

He texts Nora to let him know he’s free and needs a ride. He’s already got his shoes on and his bag over his shoulder, but it feels wrong to leave the room—leave their nest—without his alpha—without Henry.

Henry straightens, shoes tied, then presses his hands down either side of his jacket. He’s in another suit—Alex is beginning to think it’s the only clothing he owns, other than the few pairs of sweatpants that made an appearance this weekend—but this one is more casual, clearly not built for the office. He looks yummy. Alex would go and lick him, but he knows the time he was allowed to do that is over.

He's thankful when Henry meets his eye and extends a hand to hold while they go out to begin the checkout process.

Percy takes them back separately for their physicals. Henry goes first, and his scent lingers in the exam room when Alex settles himself onto the exam table.

The nurse is more subdued than he had been before, only asking Alex the appropriate questions and not giving him those too-knowing looks he’d given once he and Henry were paired up.

“Rate your overall pain on a scale of one to ten.”

Alex thinks for a moment. “Maybe a two? I’m a little sore, like everywhere, but there’s no pain. Does that make sense? That’s probably more of a one, now that I think of it.”

Percy smiles. “That’s all I need to know. Any wounds we should know about?”

“Not other than the bruise—” Alex points to his neck, which hadn’t taken any further damage after that first night. “Which you knew about. And that doesn’t even hurt.”

“Good to hear.” Percy makes a few notes in his chart. “All your vitals look great. Your BP has even gone down from your preliminary exam, which is quite common for omegas who have successful heats. And your hormone levels appear to be starting to balance out. Your primary care physician requested a recheck next week. We’ll have all your tests sent over so you shouldn’t have to have blood drawn again. You can call their office to schedule that.”

Alex’s question comes out before he even really thinks about it. “Do you think she’ll prescribe my suppressants again?”

Percy looks at him for a long moment. Alex nearly squirms. There’s a look in his eye that reminds him too much of the man Alex spent the last three days with. “Alex,” he says finally. He sets the clipboard aside and takes a seat on the table a respectful distance away from him. “It’s not healthy to take them long-term. I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but daily use of heat suppressants has led to fertility issues, worsening mental health, hormone imbalance, heart problems—I could give you yet another pamphlet on it, though I’m sure you’re sick of those.”

Alex snorts. “Kinda.”

Percy sighs then looks around the room. “Look, I’m taking off my medical professional hat—” He mimes doffing a hat. “And putting on my concerned friend-of-a-friend hat.” He puts on another imaginary cap, this one with a wide brim, according to the flourish once he puts it on. “Alex. This shit is dangerous. I know you’re in law school, but with some help, you’ll be able to control your heats and plan around them. Many successful omegas have regular, healthy heats. It doesn’t distract them from their work or make them any less able to have normal, successful lives.”

Alex swallows the lump in his throat. “I know that. I think. On the abstract at least. But I’m… I’m the only omega in a family of alphas. Like, grandparents and tias and tios included. And my folks are crazy successful. My sister’s an awesome journalist. She’s basically in line for a Pulitzer. I guess I just don’t know how to be… like them, if I’m also an omega.”

“Oh, Alex.” Percy reaches for his hand. Glad for physical contact, Alex lets him take it and press it between his own. “Sweet, emotionally stunted Alex.” Alex snorts at that, and Percy grins. “I get it. I do. Well, not exactly. I’m a beta, but my mum’s an alpha and she… she’s never taken shit from anybody. My father included, the poor bastard. My whole life I’ve tried to be like her, to emulate her in everything I do. But there’s only so much I can do that before I hit a wall. Because I’m not my mum. I’m not an alpha. I’m not an omega either. I’m just… me. And that’s not a bad thing. I’m fucking fabulous, if you haven’t heard.”

“So I’ve been told,” Alex says, a smile tugging his lips.

“And you’re fabulous, too. Trust me, I’m a great judge of character.” Percy slips his phone out of the pocket of his bright green scrubs and passes it to Alex. “Put your number in. We’re going to work through this together.”

Alex presses his lips together and tries not to cry as he types in his number then sends himself a message so he has Percy’s number as well. “You don’t have to—”

“I do, though,” Percy says, giving Alex a joking once-over. “You’re just so pathetically lost, I feel obligated as both a physician and a human to help you out.”

“I can see why he likes you.”

Percy smiles and nudges Alex’s shoulder with his own. “I can see why he likes you, too.”

Alex leaves the exam room with red cheeks and a game plan to wean himself off suppressants, start hormone therapy, and begin planning for normal heats every six-ish months.

The last part is the scariest. They’re bound to be unpredictable the first couple years—nasty side-effect of the suppressants—but the clinic will help him track his levels to get a better idea of when his heats will hit. And since he’s already been onboarded at the clinic, the process will be much faster and less stressful. Ideally.

He’s no longer filled with dread like he’d once been about it. His first heat had been a nightmare. Physically painful. Emotionally traumatizing. Life-alteringly bad.

But this heat.

It was life-altering, for sure.

He’s already planning on having Nora stop by the store for ice cream and wine on their way back, ready to head off a broken heart before it can start.

“Ready to go?”

Alex looks up.

Henry’s waiting for him by the front door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets like he just stepped off the cover of GQ. He grins, and that traitorous thing in Alex’s gut clenches.

“Yeah,” Alex says, only a little breathless.

Nora had already texted him to tell him she was waiting for him outside, so they stepped outside into the night.

It was almost identical to the night they arrived—just past dusk, lit only by streetlights, Nora’s car idling a few steps away. And just like that time, they loiter in front of the clinic before moving one way or another.

Alex smacks his lips together, shifting onto the balls of his feet. “So.”

“So.”

Alex meets his eye.

They both burst into giggles.

“Thank you, Alex,” Henry says after a while. “Really. I had… a really nice time.”

Alex is once again glad for the low light. If there’s one thing he won’t miss about being around Henry, it’s the blushing.

(He’s definitely going to miss it.)

“I did, too,” Alex says. “And thanks. For being cool. About the whole… virgin. Thing.”

“Of course.”

The conversation stutters. Nora is probably getting impatient. Alex is very clearly stalling.

(And he thinks—hopes—Henry may be stalling, too.)

Alex shakes his head. No. The longer he lingers, the worse this is going to be. Just rip off the bandage, Claremont-Diaz. Don’t be a baby.

“Well,” he says. “I should get going. My roommate is waiting in the car, and she tends to get pissy if I don’t haul ass. She hates driving at night.” He shakes his head. “Anyway. Good night, Henry.”

Stepping off the curb into the parking lot takes herculean effort. Every step feels heavier than the last, like someone’s strapped weights to his ankles. But he manages it.

One step.

Two.

Three.

“Alex?”

He stops by the car and turns, half expecting Henry to be holding out something Alex accidentally left behind—a shirt or a pair of boxers, maybe.

Instead, it’s just Henry, his hair still wet from their shower and a tense, half-shy look on his face. There’s a bruise visible just under his jaw from Alex’s mouth. Even with his deodorant, cologne, and scent neutralizers, Alex can smell him from here—verbena and sex and… Alex.

Alex tips his head. “Yeah?”

Henry takes a half step closer and meets his eye. “Do you want to go to dinner with me sometime?”