by D. J. Heart
Grinning through the pounding pain of his hangover, he wondered if maybe he’d missed out on more than he’d thought by skipping college. Pulling himself to his feet, he stumbled his way to the sink where he downed a glass of water and three Advil.
It felt great to have made new friends. His colleagues at Tank Security were decent guys, but they were anything but laid back. Chad had no problem working with them, but he never really relaxed. He always felt like he had to be on his guard or they’d see him as weak.
With Topher and his friends he’d felt free to let loose and have fun, which was something he’d been missing.
Stripping out of his clothes and throwing them in the laundry bin, Chad made his way to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the hot spray, letting the scalding water beat down on his back.
It felt amazing.
Showered and dressed in a fresh set of clothes, Chad made himself a bowl of instant oatmeal and ate it standing by the microwave. As he spooned the tasteless gruel into his mouth, he wondered how he was going to pass the day.
Or rather, he tried to gather the courage to do what he should, which was to head into the Tank Security training facility and sign up for some of the classes they offered. It wasn’t mandatory, but Chad’s new colleagues had advised him that anyone who wanted to stay with the company was expected to take at least a few classes to keep their skills varied and up to date.
Cleaning out his bowl, Chad gave himself a mental shake. He needed to get his act together and stop worrying that he might run into Peter Tank and just head in. The whole reason he was living on this side of the country and not near his parents was that he needed to take advantage of everything Tank Security offered.
Before he could give himself any more time to worry about it, Chad packed his workout gear and grabbed his Tank Security ID badge and headed out.
***
Chapter 7
Peter took Aiden down with a vicious elbow to the back, knocking the wind out of him and pinning him to the mat without giving him a single opportunity to block the move. Holding him down for ten seconds, feeling him struggle uselessly beneath him, Peter finally took mercy and let him up.
“You’re getting slow, Aiden. You should have seen that coming,” Peter said, reaching out a hand and helping his best friend to his feet. They were sparring at Aiden’s request, waking up at an ungodly hour so that Peter could fit the session in before he went to work.
“I know, I know… but fuck, man. Are you getting stronger? You wouldn’t have been able to flip me like that two years ago.”
Peter grinned. His new job had left him with a lot of time to work out and he was bigger than ever. The added bulk had made him slower, though, so any advantage the added strength gave him should be well offset.
Aiden had no excuse for losing so spectacularly.
“You need to work out more,” Peter admonished, only half joking. Aiden was a prime specimen of alpha, his body optimized for speed and strength, but he could be even better if he put in more effort.
Aiden just snorted and started walking toward the changing room. Peter followed.
“Thanks for coming out here today,” Aiden said, stripping off his shirt as they walked and using it to wipe his brow. “It’s getting hard to find people who will spar with me.”
Peter grinned. He didn’t doubt for a second that Aiden had trouble finding willing sparring partners. The man was a beast, and he always gave it his everything when he went on the mat. The only problem with that was that Aiden’s everything was quite a bit more than most guys could handle.
“No problem. Are you headed home?”
“Nah, I’ve got some stuff to do. What about you? Busy day at the office?”
Peter grimaced. Now that his blood was pumping and the thrill of victory had his cock half hard, the last thing he wanted was to go to work and study network security.
“Nothing too bad.”
When they reached the locker room door, Peter stopped. “Hey, I’m going to squeeze in a quick workout before I head out. I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Sure, take care, man.” Aiden waved him off and stepped through the door. Peter turned around and made his way to the weights room, grabbing a towel and heading straight for the dumbbells.
Thirty minutes later he was sweating and breathing hard, the muscles in his chest, arms, and shoulders feeling pumped and swollen. He gave himself a quick glance in the mirror, pleased by what he saw.
He looked good.
Making his way to the locker room, Peter dumped his towel in the laundry bin by the door and headed to his locker. Pulling his shirt over his head, he heard the door open and the sound of someone stepping inside.
The new arrival was wearing boots by the sound of it, though the heavy footsteps came to a quick stop as the door slammed shut. Curious, Peter turned around to see what was up. He was entirely unprepared to see Chad Brand standing by the door with a wide-eyed expression on his face.
Fuck.
Chad looked just as good as Peter remembered. Dressed in tight jeans, biker boots, and a snug leather jacket, he looked good enough to eat. Just the sight of him had Peter’s cock filling the pouch of his jockstrap and straining to get free.
“Mr. Brand,” Peter said after a tense second, turning all the way around and walking right up to where Chad was standing. Chad didn’t look like he had any idea what to do. He looked around with a wide-eyed expression, and Peter forced his mouth to pull up in a rare smile. “I wanted to apologize for the other night. I misread the situation. It wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable.”
Chad didn’t answer. His face was a mask of surprise as he stared at Peter in befuddlement. Peter recognized the exact moment Chad realized that his staring might be construed as a challenge, his neck bending so fast Peter worried he might get whiplash.
Chad’s gaze was now trained right on the sizable mound in Peter’s compression shorts, and Peter tried to think unsexy thoughts to prevent the already sizable bulge from becoming pornographic.
“I, uh... you knew that I worked here?” Chad asked after a second, moving his face so that he was looking at the floor to Peter’s left. It was not the question Peter was expecting. He shook his head and offered up a rueful grin.
“No. I found out after when I was going through the evaluations on all our new hires.”
“Oh.” Again, Chad didn’t say anything else.
Peter didn’t know why he did it—it was inappropriate in the extreme—but he stepped closer and put his hand on Chad’s upper arm. “No hard feelings, right?” He kept his voice low. The muscle of Chad’s bicep was hard and firm under the buttery softness of his leather jacket, and Peter squeezed down firmly.
He could feel the shudder that ran through Chad’s body—and it wasn’t from revulsion or distress.
“So, are we good?” Peter asked, moving his hand from Chad’s arm to his shoulder. He squeezed down, his thumb grazing the side of Chad’s throat.
Chad drew a stuttering breath and then nodded. “Yes, sir. We’re good. Thank you for the apology.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Peter said, withdrawing his hand and turning around. He walked back to his locker, purposefully not paying any attention to Chad as he went, his balls throbbing with renewed desire.
He knew that he’d made Chad all hot and bothered—in a good way, this time—but now he needed to back off. Chad needed some time to get used to the idea that he might be attracted to another alpha.
It might never happen, but if Peter had read the situation right—and this time he was sure that he had—it wouldn’t be long before Chad was jerking off to the memory of Peter standing close to him and gripping his shoulder.
What was he doing?
Peter waited until Chad had finished changing before letting his indifferent mask fade and banged his head against his locker. Chad was his employee. He shouldn’t get involved with him, much less seduce him.
But there was someth
ing about Chad that drew Peter in. He didn’t know what it was, but this was twice now that he’d laid eyes on the boy and lost his inhibitions and good sense.
At least the second time Chad hadn’t run away in a panic.
Wrapping his towel around his waist and heading into the shower, his cock full and heavy between his legs, Peter decided that he didn’t care that Chad was his employee. He wanted him, and that was reason enough to have him.
Now he just had to figure out how to make it happen.
Chapter 8
Chad didn’t know what to make of his second encounter with Peter Tank. On the one hand, Peter had pushed right into his space and touched him. It had made him feel hot and almost lightheaded. On the other hand, nothing Peter had done had made him uncomfortable. A little confused, maybe, but he hadn’t felt even remotely panicked or trapped.
It was weird.
He’d gotten a good workout in after the encounter, and he’d signed up for a couple of group classes, but the whole time his attention had been on Peter. Every time he thought about Peter’s hand coming to rest on his shoulder, his thumb practically caressing his throat, Chad’s cock twitched and his balls tingled.
He couldn’t believe that he was reacting like this to an alpha. And not just any alpha, but an alpha like Peter.
Then again, if ever there was an alpha worth submitting to, it would have to be a man like his boss.
The thought brought Chad to a halt, his leg frozen in the air as he straddled his motorcycle. He let his leg come down on the other side of the bike, gripping the handles tight and doing nothing.
Was he attracted to Peter? He thought it over, but the way his cock pushed against the front of his jeans and made them bulge pretty much gave him the answer he needed.
He was. The thought was a revelation. Chad had always—without fail—fantasized and jerked off to the idea of having sex with an omega. He’d only actually had sex with betas—but that had been as a substitute for the omega his knot craved. He’d never jerked off or fantasized about getting down and dirty with a beta, much less an alpha.
Other alphas had never been on Chad’s sexual radar.
Starting his bike, Chad wondered what this meant. If given the chance, would he let something happen between him and Peter? Was that even on the table?
He didn’t have a clue.
***
When he got home, he decided to talk it over with his new friend Topher.
“Wait a minute, you liked it?” Topher sounded incredulous. They were in Chad’s apartment, Topher having helped Chad carry his new TV from the second-hand electronics store down the road up to his apartment, sharing a beer as they flipped through the channels.
“I don’t know. He’s just so… he just has this presence, you know?” Chad tried to explain, knowing from the look on Topher’s face that the younger alpha wasn’t getting it.
“Can’t say that I do,” Topher replied. “Maybe you just need to get laid. How long has it been?”
Chad flushed. The last time he had sex was over a year ago.
“It’s been a while. You really think that could be it?”
“I don’t know, man. You’re making pretty decent bank doing this private soldier thing, right? Why don’t you go to an omega house and get your knot wet? See if it puts things in perspective?”
Chad’s cock throbbed in his briefs at just the mention of fucking an omega. Whatever this thing with Peter was, he wasn’t any less attracted to omegas than he’d been before.
And why hadn’t it occurred to him that he could now afford to visit an omega house? Not often, obviously, but as an occasional treat it was entirely within his budget.
“Fuck, man. Your face!” Topher laughed. “Hadn’t thought of that, had you?”
Chad blushed and shook his head, shifting in his seat in an attempt to hide his burgeoning erection.
“No. I mean, I’ve been to omega clubs before, but I’ve never actually booked time with an omega. It’s always been way out of my price range, you know?”
“Speaking as someone for whom it is still out of their price range, I understand perfectly,” Topher said.
“Sorry, man,” Chad said, grinning. He felt better now that he had a plan. He would head out to one of the cheaper omega houses—and wasn’t that a knot-inducing thought—and have sex with an omega for the first time. If, after experiencing sex like an alpha was supposed to experience it, he still felt whatever it was he felt about Peter, then at least he would know that it wasn’t just his blue balls playing tricks on him.
“So are we done with the feelings crap-fest, or do you have anything else you need to talk about?” Topher joked, draining his beer. Chad laughed and punched his shoulder, more than happy to change the subject.
“No, we’re done. Thanks man,” he said. He really did appreciate the opportunity to talk through his feelings with another alpha, even if that maybe wasn’t the most alpha thing to do.
“Great. Now let’s talk omega houses…”
Chad sat back and listened as Topher launched into a lengthy description of all the omega houses in a fifty-mile radius, describing what each house was known for and how much they charged.
The more Topher talked, the more Chad couldn’t wait to put his plan into action.
***
Peter was well aware that he was acting unethically when he hacked his way into Chad’s phone to keep an eye on him, but he didn’t care.
“Wait, so that’s him?” Aiden asked, nodding at the little red dot on Peter’s computer.
“Yes.” Peter didn’t look up from the file he was reading. He and Aiden were heading out for dinner, but Aiden had shown up at the office an hour early and was now making a nuisance of himself.
“Good for him, having some fun,” Aiden said. When Peter looked up to see what he meant, Aiden was smirking.
“What?” Peter asked, impatient.
“Nothing. Your boy just walked into an omega club, that’s all.”
“He what?” Peter put down the file and moved his chair so that he could see what Aiden was talking about, pushing his friend away in the process.
Peter frowned at the little red dot. He wasn’t surprised that Chad would go seek out an omega—it was a common response when an alpha realized that maybe they could be persuaded to swing the other way—but he was disappointed.
Peter had always thought that the way omegas were bought, sold, and abused was ugly and wrong. How anyone could convince themselves that the omegas kept at omega houses wanted to be fucked and knotted by strange alphas was beyond him. They were in heat, sure, but they were in heat for the alpha that took their virginity. No one else would be able to give them relief.
Peter couldn’t understand the appeal of fucking someone who was slowly dying from being abandoned by their true alpha.
Having sex with someone who could put up a fight was hot. Fucking someone who wanted to put up a fight but couldn’t…? Peter found it disgusting. It was rape, pure and simple, and that society allowed it to happen the way it did was shameful.
Not that Peter had ever made any effort to put a stop to it. He wasn’t an omega rights activist, and he never would be. There was no money in it.
Hitting the button on his intercom, Peter buzzed his assistant.
“Yes, Mr. Tank?” David answered, respectful and prompt.
“I’m done for the day, David. You can go home.” Peter didn’t wait to hear David’s reply.
“Really?” Aiden asked. “What are you going to do? Drag him out by his hair?”
Peter didn’t answer the question. Of course he wasn’t going to do that.
“Do you mind if we get dinner tomorrow instead?” he asked, clearing off his desk and shutting down his computer.
“Sure, why not?” Aiden didn’t sound happy. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure,” Peter said. “I’ll play it by ear.”
“Fine. Well, if we’re skipping dinner I might as well stay here and fi
nish up all my reports. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Aiden said. He walked out with his back held stiff, and Peter sighed. Aiden was going to make him pay for ditching him, but hopefully it would be worth it.
Taking the elevator down to the lobby, Peter wondered why he was so annoyed by the idea of Chad visiting an omega house. He usually couldn’t care less what other people did.
He wasn’t actually jealous, was he? Peter examined his feelings, and was surprised to find that he was.
Peter had a long and successful history of spotting alphas that would enjoy submitting to him, and at this point he had the art of getting them into bed down to an art. But he never felt jealous of their attentions. There was no reason for Chad to be different. Peter hardly knew the man.