by Leta Blake
“You’d want to go?”
Vale’s eyes twinkled. “I admit I’m old for it, but—”
“Is your ankle all right? It was swollen earlier, and I wouldn’t want it to get hurt worse sledding.”
“It’s fine.” He put his weight on his foot. “See? All better.”
“If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
“Then of course you can come with me,” Jason said, sounding too eager even to his own ears. His hot cheeks flushed even hotter.
But it wasn’t a mistake this time, because Vale smiled widely, the small wrinkles next to his eyes going deeper, and Jason’s heart fluttered in his chest. God, he’d never survive the happiness, the utter bliss of pleasing Vale.
“Wonderful. I’d like that very much. We’ll see in the morning how the weather has shaped up.”
“I hope it snows heaps.”
Vale grinned, ducking his head like he wanted to hide. “Me, too. I haven’t been sledding in a long time.”
“I’ll help you. It’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget how. And it’d be my pleasure to take you out. Really.”
Vale’s breath came in shallowly as he crossed the last few feet to Jason, standing within easy touching range. “You were… Tonight at the table…” he gazed into Jason’s eyes. In the low light of the lamps, his irises were the green of mossy ponds. “You made me proud.”
Wolf-god, Vale meant to obliterate him from the world with this immeasurable, uncontainable joy. Jason’s heart tumbled so hard and fast he felt dizzy, and he clutched at the wall behind him to keep from reaching out. He knew Vale wanted to decide when he’d be touched or taken.
Not taken. Don’t think about taking, Jason!
“I want to make you proud always,” Jason whispered, his lips trembling and his knees weak.
“You’re so earnest.” Vale reached toward him, his fingers halting just beside Jason’s cheek, and it took all the self-control Jason could muster not to lean the half-inch into the touch.
“You’re so beautiful,” Jason breathed.
“So are you.”
Jason wanted. Desperately wanted. But he forced the words from his mouth anyway. “I should go.”
The wrench in his chest hurt as much as the joy had, but he couldn’t risk it. He’d done so well. This time with Vale was a test, he knew it was, and he refused to fail. He’d make Vale see he was capable of controlling himself, of being in charge, of taking care of them both.
Then Vale would invite him back. Maybe without the buffer of other friends.
“Yes,” Vale said, stepping even closer. “You probably should.” His body heat touched Jason like a caress, and Jason’s cock throbbed. He knew if he looked down he’d see the tent his arousal had made in his trousers. It probably came within millimeters of touching Vale’s hip; the distance between them was so small.
“I’ll call in the morning if the snow sticks,” Jason said, closing his eyes and slipping sideways, trying to escape temptation.
Vale’s hand on his was a shock of pleasure he couldn’t have anticipated. He gasped aloud, a sweet ‘oh’ of bliss, and almost came in his pants. He stopped, motionless, gathering himself from the roar of instinct that rose up inside him.
Claim him. Now.
“I should go,” he croaked.
“Yes,” Vale said again, but didn’t let go of his fingers.
That was when Jason smelled it—the sweet, musky aroma of Vale’s slick. Lots of it. He groaned, his restraint near collapse. He pressed Vale’s fingers to his lips, kissing them greedily, tantalized by their cool, firm lengths. Then he forced himself to pull away, pushing Vale back firmly by the shoulders when he seemed to instinctively follow him.
“Goodnight. Thanks for inviting me,” he said, voice thick with lust. He threw open the front door. “I’ll call in the morning if the snow sticks!”
He ran down the front porch stairs, out to the sidewalk, and down the street toward his side of town. He heard Vale’s voice behind him and his alpha instinct begged him to stop, to listen, but he knew if he did, he’d go back inside, kiss Vale’s mouth, take his plump ass in his hands, and rub against his body until he creamed his pants.
And then he’d use that cream to further slick Vale’s sweet hole, and—
He couldn’t think about it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Vale sipped his tea, gazing out his study window at the sodden brown leaves of the garden. The snow from the night before hadn’t accumulated at all. The pink light of mid-morning left no indication of the fat, beautiful flakes that had spun joyfully through the air. The skies were clear, and the day looked like it would be sunny eventually. Strange to be irritated by something he normally enjoyed, like good weather.
His phone remained irritatingly silent, too.
Vale turned to shoot a glare at it, as though it was responsible for Jason not calling. Zephyr perched on the desk, legs spread wide, licking her asshole in a very impolite manner.
Vale rolled his eyes. “Shameless beast,” he muttered her way. “I enjoy having my asshole licked as much as any omega, but even if I could do it myself, I wouldn’t display it to the world.”
She ignored him, licking even more intently.
Vale sighed and turned back to the window, his mug warm against his cool hands.
The night before with Jason had been a close call. He didn’t know what had come over him, but if Jason hadn’t taken off like he had, then Vale had no doubt he’d have ended up on his hands and knees, presenting himself and being mounted.
When he’d asked Jason to stay, it’d been partly to praise him, to let him know that he’d enjoyed seeing him rise to the occasion in the confrontation with Urho, but he’d also meant to subtly investigate the subject of Miner and the abortifacients.
Even now he wasn’t sure what he’d been hoping to ascertain from Jason about the situation, but with pheromone delirium touching Vale, and Jason’s alpha quell no doubt wearing off, things had gone so sideways he hadn’t been able to corral his thoughts. Then Jason had luckily run off into the night forgetting his coat and the recipe for hot crab casserole Vale had carefully copied out for him.
Now he wasn’t sure when he’d get another chance. He’d go into the negotiations tomorrow not knowing if Jason knew about his parents’ alleged criminal behavior, or how he felt about it if he did. Given his own history, Jason’s thoughts on the matter were rather important to Vale.
He built a fire, considering his options as he struck the match. When the flames took hold, he rose, dusting small pieces of bark from his trousers and the soft, long-sleeve pink shirt he’d pulled on that morning. He supposed he’d sort through another old stack of magazines or possibly finish reading the novel he’d begun the day before. Neither seemed particularly appealing, though, not when he could have been sledding with Jason, acting like a kid again. It was a relief when the doorbell rang.
Sitting the mug of tea on his desk, he gave Zephyr a firm look and said, “Don’t knock it over. Understand?”
She meowed and turned her back on him.
Anticipating a delivery or perhaps the early post, Vale gasped when he opened the door. “Oh!”
“Hi,” Jason said, grinning cheekily.
Vale raised a brow, his stomach swooping like a bird in flight. “I thought you were going to call me this morning,” he scolded. “Not show up on my doorstep.”
“I was going to call if it snowed,” Jason said, a bit smugly. He wore a pair of rough-looking pants, a thick, heavy, long-sleeved shirt, and held a shovel in one hand.
Three men stood on the lawn behind him in similar garb, carrying garden tools. There was a work truck in the street behind them. The side of it read Garden Grow – Betas for Hire.
Jason pushed a hunk of blond hair away from his eyes. “It didn’t snow.”
“No. It didn’t.”
“We’ll have to go sledding another time. But the cold last night got me to thinking. If I’m going to do anyt
hing about your garden, I need to get started before the ground freezes. Mox, Jim, and Roe, the betas my parents hire, agreed to come over with me and get started today if that’s okay. We have a lot to do. If I remember, the place is pretty overgrown.”
Vale blinked at Jason in the pale light glinting through the trees. His blue eyes glowed like the sea in high summer, and his cheeks were pink from the chill. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
“Of course. They dosed me extra, don’t worry.” Jason grinned.
Vale flushed, a wave of heat rising through him as slick dampened his asshole.
Jason’s nostrils flared and his eyes glinted dangerously. “Oh.”
Vale groaned, wiped a hand over his beard, and said, “Hold on a minute.” He closed the door in Jason’s face and took a deep breath in and out, trying to still his pulse. Ridiculous pheromones. He was a grown man, for wolf-god’s sake.
He turned to the coatrack by the door, grabbed Jason’s coat, took a long sniff of it, reveling in the hints of pencil, earth, and something spicy. He opened the door again. “You left this last night.”
Jason took the coat from him, smelled it, too, and smiled. “Now it smells like your house. And you.”
“I thought it smelled like you, actually.”
Jason gazed at Vale with such intensity it made more slick spread around his asshole. “Did you like that?”
Vale groaned again, glancing over Jason’s shoulders to where the beta gardeners stood talking quietly in a huddle in his front yard. “I did.” At that admission, his body betrayed him even more. His cock thickened and rose, and his hole grew sopping wet. He’d have to change his underwear.
Jason’s jaw clenched, and he leaned the shovel against the side of the house. Pressing his coat back through the doorway, he said, “Keep it then. I won’t need it today. I’ll be plenty warm once I start working.”
Vale took it without argument, and he quivered as Jason’s scent wafted over him again.
Jason glanced over his shoulder toward the men he’d brought with him. “I could send them away. I can smell how you’re opening for me. And if you consent, I can do something about that.” He gestured down where his hard cock distorted the front of his work pants.
“Protocols,” Vale rasped, his own dick throbbing now and his nipples grazing the front of his shirt, roused by more than the cold air outside.
“Who cares? We’re already wrong by cultural standards. You want to feel me. I want to feel you.” He took a step forward, pupils dilated and mouth open as though he was going to bend for a kiss.
“Stop,” Vale whimpered. He squeezed his eyes closed to get himself under a semblance of control. “I thought you said they dosed you.”
“They did. Maybe they need to dose you with something, though, because you’re soaked for me. You shouldn’t suffer when I know what I want.” But he hesitated just at the threshold. “It’s up to you.”
“Impudent brat.”
Jason’s eyes glinted. “I should spank you for that.”
Vale’s knees quivered, and he shut the door until it was just open an inch. “Yes, you may clear out my garden,” he said through the crack, trying to get some dignity back when he wanted nothing more than to pull Jason in the house, fall on the floor, shove his pants down and get spanked—then fucked—until he couldn’t see straight.
“If you’re sure.” Jason’s eyes sparkled.
“I’m sure,” Vale said, his heart racing.
Wolf-god, Jason was so young, so inexperienced, he was probably all talk anyway. He wouldn’t know what to do if Vale let him in the house. He’d have no clue where to start with a proper spanking and fucking. Right? Right?
Vale had to believe that or he’d go mad.
Jason nodded and blew a strand of his blond hair out of his eyes, but it only landed back against his cheekbone again. “We’ll be around back. It’ll probably take most of the day.”
“I’ll have lunch ready for you by noon then.”
Jason cocked his head doubtfully. “Can you make lunch?”
“Don’t believe everything my friends tell you. I’m perfectly capable of sandwiches for four men.” His dick beat with his pulse as he fought the urge to throw the door wide and drag Jason inside.
“I look forward to it then,” Jason said before adjusting his cock to be more inconspicuous and turning to the men behind him. “This way. There’s a lot of work to do. Oh, and Mox, will you let me know your thoughts about what we should plant? We’ll discuss it with Vale before we make any purchases, of course.”
“I’ll be here all day.” Vale said faintly, before shutting the door completely, locking it, and clutching Jason’s coat to his face. He felt to his knees, wrestled his pants open, and gripped his throbbing cock. With his eyes squeezed shut, thinking of Jason’s intense blue gaze, he shoved his hand in his mouth to stifle his grunts. His hips jerked and his body convulsed as he painted white streaks on the worn brown planks.
When it was over, he rose shakily, hung Jason’s coat back up on the rack and grabbed a handkerchief from the pocket of one of his own to clean up the mess. Heart still pounding and asshole quivery and wet, he headed upstairs to shower. A glimmer of worry pestered him despite the post-orgasmic haze. His arousal was barely sated at all.
Alpha imprinting might be instantaneous and violent, but the omega counterpart was nothing to scoff at! His body craved Jason and wasn’t about to let him forget it. It took another orgasm in the shower, complete with his asshole stuffed full of an alpha-sized dildo he rode when Urho needed a break during heats, for him to return to his senses.
The rest of the morning passed calmly enough.
Vale pottered around in his study, all loose-limbed and relaxed, sorting through a few piles of magazines. Then he settled in for reading on the sofa with a blanket pulled up over him. Zephyr slept on his legs, and he faced away from the fire, so he could appreciate the view out the now-open windows, where Jason and the betas worked unimpeded. He sipped tea, read a few pages, dozed a bit, dreamed of Jason’s fingers in his ass, and woke aroused all over again. He groaned and turned on his side, dislodging Zephyr, and took slow, deep breaths until his erection went away.
As he came back to himself, he heard four voices raised in song, and the words drifted into him on the breeze. Curious, he rose and stretched, and then crossed the room for a better look. Sure enough, Jason sang along with the other men, his voice a sweet, tender baritone as he crooned an Old World song of love for a human female named Roxanne.
Vale smiled fondly, leaning against the sill and gazing out to where they’d cleared away nearly a truckload full of debris. It was already shaping up to look more like his pater’s old garden. They’d uncovered the old statue of Wolf in Extremis near the back.
The men sang about the beautiful Roxanne selling her body as her lover pleaded for her to understand that with him she had other options. Vale wondered what life had been like for human women. He’d considered the question often from the time he first understood as a young boy that he was destined to be an omega.
Had women suffered like omegas did now? He knew they didn’t experience heats but instead endured a monthly menstruation that signaled the end of fertility for a period instead of the beginning of it. But otherwise, he knew little of their lives.
Did they die in childbirth? Had they also been required to submit to their alpha and subsume their lives to his whims? Had the deity who’d created them, wolf-god or whatever had come before, require them to do so?
Probably not. But there was no telling for sure. Artifacts from the Old World were incomplete at best and confusing at worst.
When the song ended, the beta Jason had called Mox started a new one. Vale recognized it as something he’d heard performed at the theater several months back. He’d attended the show with Urho, and afterward they’d returned to Vale’s house to make love.
He’d always enjoyed Urho’s careful, serious intensity in bed. He should miss it, and maybe
eventually he would, but for now he wanted something else entirely. He wanted Jason. A boy who hadn’t even been on his radar when he last heard this song. It was hard to believe it’d only been a week since his life had been turned topsy-turvy.
Jason turned, caught his eye, and wandered over to the window. “Do you like calla lilies? Mox says he can get them from a vendor in the Calitan district for a good price.” Jason wiped a dirty hand over his sweaty forehead, peering in the window at Vale with a smile. “Not that price matters. Don’t let that worry you.”
“I do like them, actually. My pater had them years ago. They died a few years after he did.” Vale shrugged sadly. “I neglected it all very badly.”
“It must have hurt to come out here and think of him. Of course it was too much,” Jason said gently.
“It’s hurt more over the years to look out and see how I let it go to waste. I’m afraid I’m quite lazy, oh alpha, my alpha. If I’m not teaching or writing, I’m fairly useless. I’m not sure what you’ll do with me.”
Jason’s grin turned sly. “Oh, I have lots of ideas of what to do with you.”
Vale’s dick rushed with blood. He clucked his tongue. “Not now.”
After casting a quick look over his shoulder, Jason leaned against the sill and said playfully, “You seemed excited by the idea of a spanking earlier. Would that make you less lazy?” His eyes twinkled. “A spanking a day keeps the dust away.”
Vale’s asshole grew slippery with slick, and he was glad the breeze was blowing into the room instead of out. He could smell Jason’s sweat, though, and that made him even wetter and his ridiculous cock—hadn’t it had enough already?—even harder. “I have a feeling a spanking would be useless for encouraging housekeeping.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’m very motivated by sex, as we’ve already discussed. Spanking will lead to fucking, and that will lead to an orgasm, and that will make me very tired and happy to do nothing but lay around reading books and napping while awaiting my next spanking.” His nipples tingled, and he had to hold himself very still to keep from wriggling his ass. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for control.