If the cat hadn’t intruded, where would this have gone? Would he have stopped at kisses and scenting? Or would he have thrown Zeller down on the bed and had him right there? He’d been well on his way to acting without considering the consequences. Zeller’s parents. His job.Fuck!He needed to think.
“I’ve got to go,” he said in a rush. He couldn’t declare himself to Zeller. To the son of Keyes and Deveron Parkenson. No matter what they felt. “I’ll grab the box and come back for the cat when I’m off at five.”
He moved toward the door, but the omega reached out with a surprisingly firm grip.
“Valentin—”
“I’m sorry.” He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Sorry that you scented me? Or sorry that we finally admitted we want each other?”
Valentin stared down at where Zeller held his wrist. “Sorry it’s impossible.”
Zeller’s chin trembled. “So you’re running away? Your plan is to forget what just happened?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Valentin huffed. “Forget!? For fuck’s sake!” he said helplessly. “You must know how I feel about…I shouldn’t have…but I…couldn’t stop myself. Just now.”
Zeller raked his gaze over Valentin’s body and didn’t let go of him. “I don’t want to forget.” He massaged his thumb across Valentin’s wrist. “I’ve sensed the alpha in you since the first day I saw you. I can’t explain it exactly, but you woke something in me. I know I’m young, and I haven’t had my first heat yet, but being around you, smelling that smoky sage.”
“Zeller,” Valentin hushed out. “You know it’s impos—”
“I know there are obstacles, but pretending we’re not what we are to one another is ridiculous.”
“Your parents will never allow it.”
Zeller cupped Valentin’s cheek. “We can’t go on like this isn’t happening. My fathers keep bringing around privileged alphaholes, each more dickish than the last, hoping I’ll be interested in one of them for my husband. But every new person I meet makes it clearer that you’re the only one I want. You, Valentin. Even if it feels impossible, I need to be honest.”
“Why? So we can deny ourselves in tandem? Suffer side-by-side?” Valentin experienced a stab of jealousy imagining the alphas Keyes and Deveron had introduced to Zeller. Men they approved of for their son.
“So we can fight for the thing we both want. A future. With each other.”
Valentin’s heart swelled. He pressed their foreheads together.
“Zeller," he said reverently
Maybe he’d always known they’d end up here, after months of finding every reason to be in each other’s orbit. He wished they lived in a different world. One where the Parkensons would allow their son to be with a no-name alpha simply because they wanted him to be happy.
The cat meowed loudly and jumped onto the bed.
“I’m naming him Decoy,” Zeller said. “Seeing that he provided the perfect excuse to lure you to my room so you could seduce me.”
Valentin laughed. “Is that what happened? Dang. Decoy was so good at his job, I didn’t even know that’s what I was doing.” He outlined the mole on Zeller’s cheek with his index finger. “And we can argue about exactly who did the seducing here.” Keeping their foreheads together, he whispered, “Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome…alpha.”
Chapter Seven
Wes
Wes sat in the olive-green lounge chair that took up a quarter of the living room. Across from him, his husband knelt in front of a young alpha, his head bobbing enthusiastically over the man’s cock. The alpha tipped his neck back over the edge of the sofa, closing his eyes in ecstasy as he threaded his hands through Assa’s dark red locks, guiding his pace.
The wet sucking sounds made Wes smile. No one gave a blow job quite like Assa.
“Good, right?” Wes raised an eyebrow at the alpha.
“Fuck, yeah. Maybe the best I’ve ever had.”
Assa hummed with satisfaction. Wes saw that he was palming his own dick as he worked over the other man.