"Do it, Gabriel," he whispers breathlessly, his thighs wrapping around my hips. "I really appreciate that you didn’t ask for it sooner. Your patience is beautiful, and so is the space you created for me. But I’m ready now. I want to wear your mark. This is our moment, the sunset of my heat, and I’ve finally grown ready for its crowning."
A shiver races down my spine, as though my body responds to those words instantly, preparing itself, rejoicing, becoming even more eager.
I smile, and immediately I feel pressure building in my gums. Slowly, almost savoring the sensation, I extend my fangs.
Blue watches them for a moment before gently tilting his head to the side in a soft, deeply submissive gesture, offering me his untouched glands, the ones that regrew over the past two months.
They’re slightly pink from the heat, swollen, spongy, and ready, just like I am and apparently just like Blue is too.
I do it differently than he did.
Calmer. Slower.
I sink my teeth into him carefully, but still, Blue trembles violently. His fingers clutch at my shoulders, nails digging into my skin as a deep moan tears from his throat.
"Oh, Gabriel… Gabriel, I can feel it."
I know exactly what he is experiencing right now.
The synchronization of our nervous systems. The way they fuse together and tune themselves to one another on the deepest possible level, deeper than even the Bond between True Mates can fully merge us.
We both come, and this orgasm is long, deep, unbelievably satisfying. Different from all the others we shared during this heat.
There’s something more mature about it.
Something decisive hidden inside it.
As if only now Blue has truly given permission for us to fully belong to each other.
I feel a tear on my cheek, and Blue gently wipes it away.
"Everything will be so much easier now. I’m sure of it," he whispers.
???
Heat recovery turns out to be unexpectedly intense.
Every omega goes through a recovery period after heat, though people say True Mates usually experience it much more gently. But in Blue’s case, the hormonal crash is far more noticeable, probably because his system went through such an overwhelming flood of heat hormones in the first place, which was already a massive challenge for him, and now his body has to survive the aftermath too.
Blue lies in the bedroom with the lights dimmed low, curled tightly into a small ball. There’s a pillow resting over his head.
Every now and then a certain restlessness creeps into him, something that wasn’t there during the heat itself. I catch him reaching for his tablet a few times, but I intervene quickly and move it out of reach.
"C’mon…" he grumbles.
His eyes drift toward his glasses, but I slide those away too.
"This recovery period is just as important as the heat itself," I say firmly.
I can’t imagine letting Blue bury himself in work immediately after such an intense experience. He deserves a chance to breathe.
I do everything I can to give him what he needs, mostly peace and quiet.
Blue is finally able to eat more than just energy shakes again, but he’s so physically thrown off that he doesn’t even want to sit upright, especially since his petals are still swollen. He lies propped up on a double stack of pillows while I sit beside him with a spoon or fork, cutting up the incredible steaks prepared by his father’s kitchen and feeding him bite after bite directly into his mouth.
Maybe it’s a little ridiculous, feeding a grown man like this, but for some reason Blue allows me to do it, and I find a strange kind of satisfaction in taking care of him so completely.
Blue stares at the ceiling and sighs from time to time.