Keep Me

by Piper Scott

  A loving family. A sense of unity. A new beginning.

  “Look,” Nathaniel argued when Harrison said nothing. He scrambled back from Harrison and pulled his journal from beneath his mattress, hurriedly opening it to the last few entries. “Look, I wanted you. I wrote this before I was in heat. Please, believe me. Come to bed with me, Harrison. I need you right now.”

  He handed the journal to Harrison without any trace of embarrassment. Nathaniel’s most private thoughts were recorded inside—fears, sorrows, hopes, and dreams. Since he’d shared a kiss with Harrison, the tone of the journal had changed. Instead of a reflection of the past, Nathaniel had begun to project into the future. He’d penned guilty fantasies about building a family with Nathaniel and settling down for good. He’d written naughty, intimate things he hoped one day they’d get to do. He’d imagined a brighter future where maybe he could find a place of his own in Nathaniel’s arms and support him in any way he could.

  It was enough. It had to be enough. If Harrison wanted proof that Nathaniel wasn’t lying about his emotions just to get him into bed, this was it.

  Harrison looked down at the journal. Nathaniel watched his eyes pass back and forth over the page, taking in Nathaniel’s most secret thoughts and feelings. The heat built. Sticky, Nathaniel pulled his shirt off and tossed it across the room to expose his skin to the cool air, but it was little help.

  He needed Harrison. He needed Harrison to work his heat away.

  Harrison looked up from the journal. “You wrote this?”

  “I did,” Nathaniel promised. “It… my therapist suggested I start keeping a written journal to deal with my loss after my parents died, and I’ve been doing it ever since. Please believe me. I want you, I do. I’m not going to regret this. Even if you get me pregnant, I want a family with you.”

  Harrison’s hands trembled. He set the journal down.

  Then he lunged across the space between them, pressed Nathaniel into the bed, and kissed him so hard their teeth clacked. Nathaniel’s toes curled, and he moaned in utter delight as he kissed back.

  This was what he wanted. This was what he needed.

  Harrison was his, and now nothing would tear them apart.

  Even without his clothes, Nathaniel was too hot. His mind spun, thoughts slow to process and his rationality thrown out the window. His body made sure he kept focused on his own pleasure—the way Harrison’s body felt cool and smooth against his own, the way Harrison’s lips were on his, and the pleasure Harrison’s hand brought him. It had snaked down Nathaniel’s bare body and had started to pump his cock.

  “You’re so wet,” Harrison whispered through the kiss. His fingers worked lower, over Nathaniel’s tight balls and down to his taint. Nathaniel knew he was drenched without touching himself, but when Harrison’s fingers played in his slick, he felt it in full. His body wanted Harrison, and it had prepared for him in abundance. If the sheets weren’t already covered with wet marks, they would be soon. Nathaniel dripped for his alpha.

  “Want you,” Nathaniel said between breaths. He pushed down against Harrison’s hand, acting more out of instinct now than ever. “Put it in. Knot me. Knot me deep.”

  Harrison grunted. The sound was low and rumbling, uncharacteristic of the gentle man Nathaniel knew, but scorchingly hot for it. Nathaniel moaned in response, wrapping his arms around Harrison’s neck to hold him in place.

  A week of this? A week of mastering each other’s bodies while Nathaniel’s heat kept them paired together, trying for a baby? Nathaniel didn’t care about where Dylan would sleep or what he and the baby would do in his absence. Right now the only thing that mattered was the alpha pushing him into the mattress. Nathaniel wanted to know what it felt like when they were joined. He wanted to know how Harrison would mate him, and how it would make him feel.

  Harrison’s hips pushed forward, his cock running along Nathaniel’s taint. Nathaniel gasped and lifted his hips instantly, keeping his thighs spread wide and his ass angled up. The position was uncomfortable, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when Harrison’s thighs were inside his own, and his bare, dripping cock was working along Nathaniel’s slick.

  “Harry,” Nathaniel urged. “Please. Please put it in me. I’ve been good. So good. Just want you. Want to be yours forever.”

  “So sexy when you say that,” Harrison breathed. Nathaniel knew the heat had to be starting to overtake him, too. Alphas had better control over their minds when it came to being heat addled, and they experienced long stretches of clarity that omegas didn’t get to have, but in the heat of the moment they were just as enslaved to their reproductive urges as omegas were. Nathaniel wanted it. He didn’t want to be the only one who lusted so badly. He wanted Harrison to want him just as much. “Tell me you want my knot. Wanna hear it.”

  Nathaniel’s arousal peaked. He bucked his hips, letting Harrison’s cock trace along his drenched taint one more time. God, did he want it. Hearing Harrison want it just as bad was amazing. Incredible. Like he’d won the lottery.

  “Want your knot,” Nathaniel said against Harrison’s lips. They kissed hard, Harrison’s tongue ravishing Nathaniel’s mouth. When the kiss broke, Nathaniel continued breathlessly. “Want it to stretch me, lock in me. Want you to shoot your come so deep it won’t come out.”

  “Fuck,” Harrison gasped. One of his hands worked its way through Nathaniel’s hair while the other stroked Nathaniel’s cock, the hand at his hair tender at first, then tightening and pulling. Nathaniel gasped in turn, the pain coming across as pleasure as his heat took control. “Just… fuck. Want you. Gonna put it in you.”

  Their bodies shifted. The bed creaked, and Nathaniel gasped as Harrison dragged him up the bed. Harrison’s hands pinned Nathaniel’s wrists above his head, and for a prolonged minute, Harrison looked down at him, hunger in his eyes. The dominant, possessive glint in his eyes turned Nathaniel on, and he arched up to try to take full advantage.

  “Gonna knot you,” Harrison promised. His hips pushed forward, and Nathaniel was startled to feel the head of Harrison’s cock push against his tight, untouched entrance. Nathaniel loosened for him as best he could, wanting Harrison inside, but despite his best efforts, Harrison’s cock slid away and nudged between Nathaniel’s cheeks instead.

  Both of them groaned in disappointment, and Harrison tried again.

  Again and again, he pushed without result. Desperation built inside of Nathaniel, and he strained against Harrison’s clutch. If he could only brace the base of Harrison’s cock and guide him in, there wouldn’t be a problem. They could mate. Harrison could breed his insides and knot him just like he was supposed to. The burning heat and the unending arousal would end. Nathaniel would be a father.

  After one more unsuccessful try, Harrison snarled and let go of one of Nathaniel’s hands. One handed, he pinned Nathaniel’s wrists to the bed while his other hand braced his cock and guided it to Nathaniel’s hole.

  “Do you want it?” Harrison asked, words rasped.

  “Want it,” Nathaniel uttered. “Please, please, please!”

  He got what he’d been asking for.

  Harrison’s cock sunk deep into him, Nathaniel’s slick lubricating the way and letting Harrison sink deep on the first thrust. Nathaniel gasped and tightened, not expecting to feel so full. Cool sensation tingled through his body, originating from where Harrison penetrated him. Nathaniel felt his every inch.

  Harrison pumped, and Nathaniel saw stars.

  Back and forth he went. The bed rocked, striking the back wall gently as Harrison gained speed. The old bedsprings creaked, protesting their activity. Nathaniel humped back, letting Harrison’s cock sink as deep as it wanted and urging it to go faster.

  This was the alpha he wanted. This was the alpha he hoped to call his. This was the only alpha he would ever care for.

  Nathaniel closed his eyes and cried out in total pleasure.

  Harrison was his.

  Pleasure flooded his synapses. He worked with Harri
son’s body to sink him deep, and twisted his hips to increase Harrison’s pleasure. His passage fluttered around Harrison’s shaft as his body built up to orgasm, wanting nothing more than to feel his alpha breed him.

  Harrison’s head dipped. He pushed his nose against the crook of Nathaniel’s neck and breathed him in, and Nathaniel craned his neck up and to the side, wanting Harrison to bite and mark him. It was old fashioned and outdated, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t progressive. All he wanted was to be happy.

  Harrison’s hips kept their steady pace, sinking his cock time and time again into Nathaniel’s wet hole. The slap of their bodies joined the creak of the bedsprings and the dull thud of the bed frame as it hit the wall. He nosed Nathaniel’s neck as if wanting—craving, but not daring to go further.

  “Mark me,” Nathaniel begged. “I’m yours. I’m all yours. Mark me.”

  There was no pain. Harrison’s teeth sank into his skin, almost hard enough to break the surface. They rocked together, and Nathaniel cried out again, not caring who heard. Harrison’s tongue darted across his skin like a cat’s into milk, testing, tasting, and savoring. His teeth loosened their grip, then clamped down again.

  Nathaniel came.

  The end came so quickly, he couldn’t brace for it. His balls tightened, his shaft pulsed, and cooling stripes of come shot between their bodies and pooled uselessly on his stomach. He whimpered not from pain, but from knowing it was over far too soon.

  His hole tightened and fluttered, milking Harrison’s cock. Harrison gasped against his skin, the sound almost delicate, then pushed in deep. Nathaniel felt the pulse run through Harrison, starting from his balls and twitching in his cock. Come, like ice water after a long run, chilled Nathaniel from the inside out.

  As Harrison shot, his knot swelled.

  Nathaniel had never taken a real knot before. He gasped and let his body do exactly what it wanted, pushing up against Harrison as Harrison pushed down into him. The base of Harrison’s cock inflated, stretching Nathaniel just beyond his ring until he was so big, there was no way they could part. It was warm, and huge, and intimidating in a way Nathaniel never expected it would be, and he laid still as it filled him and tied him to his mate.

  Harrison kissed him tenderly, and Nathaniel kissed back.

  For a long while, they laid together and kissed. From time to time, one of them would rediscover their arousal and begin to rock their hips until the other was too aroused not to reply in kind. Firmly knotted in Nathaniel’s ass, Nathaniel felt Harrison come another two times. Nathaniel came just once more, right as Harrison’s knot was beginning to wane, and found himself utterly exhausted afterward.

  The heat had abated enough that he could function, but all he wanted to do was sleep. As Harrison’s cock slipped out of him and they laid side by side on the bed, kissing and caressing, Nathaniel started to drift off.

  A week wouldn’t be so long with Harrison at his side, ready to help work him through it.

  And when they were done, and Nathaniel was pregnant, they’d have the rest of their lives to do this.

  Nathaniel had never been so happy.

  11

  Harrison

  Harrison rose from beside Nathaniel’s side, propping himself up on his palms to do so. The bed was pushed into a corner, and he was on the side closest to the wall. If he wanted to get up and get dressed, he was going to need to cross over Nathaniel—but Nathaniel was sleeping so peacefully that he didn’t know if he could risk waking him.

  Harrison wasn’t a virgin. Earlier in his life, he’d shared his bed with partners, but not long enough to forget what sex was like. The sex he was familiar with was nothing like what he’d just shared with Nathaniel. What bound him to Nathaniel was more than simple lust—it ran deep, and the sex had been phenomenal for it. Harrison didn’t think he’d ever feel the same with another partner.

  The rational part of his mind reminded him that he should be concerned he’d just come inside an omega in heat, but the fear of repercussions mattered a lot less when the worst that could happen was still something Harrison wanted. If Nathaniel did fall pregnant, then what? He liked to think he’d be an excellent father, and Nathaniel had been on his mind since the first time they’d crossed paths at Five Pie.

  Fate had a funny way of working out sometimes.

  Maybe, Harrison thought, he could stay for a little while longer and knot Nathaniel again. And again. He wanted to make it as clear to Nathaniel that he was devoted as Nathaniel had made it to him. But first, he needed to wash, and he needed to make sure that Nathaniel had water and something to eat for when he woke up.

  Harrison was about to risk crossing over Nathaniel’s body to rise when someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

  Instinct took over. Harrison clenched his fists and braced himself for a fight, refusing to let another alpha take his omega from him. But when he looked toward the doorway, no other alpha was there. Uncle Martin stood blocking the way, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

  Instinct slipped away, and for the first time since he’d taken Nathaniel to bed, Harrison felt uncertain.

  “You need to leave,” Uncle Martin said. His voice was stiff, and his hardened expression was unwavering. “Now.”

  Harrison glanced toward Nathaniel. He knew that what he’d done was wrong, but he couldn’t leave now. Dylan was right—Nathaniel needed him. If he woke up to find Harrison gone and his heat flaring back up, what would he think?

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Harrison said apologetically. “I can’t do that. He’s in heat.”

  “Even more reason for you to get out,” Uncle Martin said stiffly. “You’ve done enough damage as it is. I will not allow you to damage him further.”

  Harrison hesitated. Martin was a beta, and he didn’t understand what it was like. He wasn’t enslaved to his instincts or bound to the same set of rules. The scent of Nathaniel’s heat did nothing to him, so he couldn’t empathize with what either of them were going through.

  Nathaniel, his hormones in overdrive and his body urging him to reproduce.

  Harrison, enslaved to Nathaniel’s pheromones and protective of the partner he’d claimed so suddenly of his own.

  If they didn’t see out this heat together, then what? Nathaniel needed him there not only to protect him, but to know that Harrison cared. Harrison’s heart wasn’t transient—it had found its home.

  And now Uncle Martin was evicting him.

  “He needs me here,” Harrison said. He didn’t want to argue with Uncle Martin, but the situation was a lot more urgent than a beta could understand. “I can’t leave him right now.”

  “You can, and you will,” Uncle Martin replied. He gestured over his shoulder toward the front door. “You have five minutes to get dressed and leave before I call the police.”

  Harrison’s pulse raced. He looked down at Nathaniel, desperate for him to understand, but at the same time, not wanting to jeopardize his relationship with his uncle. It wasn’t fair to ask Nathaniel to fight for him, and it wasn’t fair to vilify Uncle Martin for wanting to protect his nephew.

  “I understand,” Harrison said softly. “I’ll go.”

  “Good.” Uncle Martin glanced down at his watch, then looked back at Harrison. “Five minutes, starting now.”

  Harrison squeezed his eyes shut, taking a second to compose himself as Uncle Martin parted from the doorway and closed the door in his wake. When he had his wits gathered, he climbed across the bed and stood, careful not to rock the bed too much. Nathaniel remained asleep.

  Piece by piece, Harrison collected his clothes and dressed. He needed to shower badly, but that wasn’t going to happen when he had such tight time constraints. He ran his hands through his hair, hoping to do away with the worst of his bed head, and looked down upon Nathaniel as he slept.

  Should he wake him? Harrison didn’t want to disappear without a trace, but he knew that as Nathaniel traversed his heat, he was going to be disoriented and confused. If he woke up, ther
e was a good chance he’d be right back where he started when Harrison came into the room, unable to string a coherent thought together without begging for sex.

  There wasn’t an easy solution.

  Harrison eyed the notebook he’d set at the end of the bed. If he couldn’t wake Nathaniel to say goodbye, he could at least leave him with something to let him know he was loved and valued. Harrison took a pen from Nathaniel’s desk, opened the notebook to the next empty page, and wrote a quick message.

  N—

  I needed to go. I’m sorry to have left you alone, but the circumstances demanded it. Call me when you’re able and let’s talk, please. You are what I want.

  —H

  It was the best he could do. He just hoped it was enough.

  12

  Nathaniel

  Nathaniel opened his eyes to an empty bed. A whine built in the back of his throat, and he rolled over, praying to find Harrison lying on his other side.

  Harrison wasn’t there.

  Tears built in Nathaniel’s eyes. He blinked them away. The bed still smelled of Harrison, so he knew he hadn’t imagined him there. They’d slept together—they really had—so where was Harrison now?

  Nathaniel’s heat was still abated enough that he had his wits about him. He rose up on his elbows. As he did, his foot knocked something off the bed. His journal toppled to the floor, and Nathaniel bent over to pick it up. The pen was tucked into the spine to the last page, and he knew he hadn’t left it there. Curious, he opened the book to find a note.

  N—

  I needed to go. I’m sorry to have left you alone, but the circumstances demanded it. Call me when you’re able and let’s talk, please. You are what I want.

  —H

  Circumstances? Nathaniel was confident that he had his head on straight enough that he understood what the note meant, but he didn’t understand what could have happened. He traced his fingers over the paper. It was the last trace of Harrison that he had.