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Being with Zach felt so right. It felt fucking great, and it wasn’t just the sex, which was in fact mind-blowing. No, it was much more than that. Something about his omega’s softness, his scent, his tired smile as they lay in each other’s arms, in his voice when he said, “me, too” that twisted Val’s damn heart.
How could he ever give that up? Give Zach up?
He had to go back to his father, ask the doctors if there was any way to wake him up, get a chance to convince him to change that damn will. That was the plan. And maybe... maybe his uncle would see him, and be persuaded to intervene, tell Val’s father that Val hadn’t bothered him in many years. That he’d regretted his actions and would be a worthy son.
Damn.
“What’s wrong?” Zach whispered, lifting a slender hand to trail his fingertips over Val’s cheek. It was a sweet gesture, one that twisted his heart worse, until he hissed from the pain. “What is it?”
How could pain feel so good? It was as if the ice inside his chest was cracking, splintering, melting always.
“I’m good. Never been better,” he said and realized he meant it. Being with Zach set the world to rights, fixed the rends and holes in it, the ones that stalked his sleep at night, the guilt and anger and panic. “You?”
“I’m good.” Zach smiled, and Val couldn’t help himself. He kissed him again. He could spend hours, days kissing him.
His whole life.
Shoving the thought aside, to stave off the unavoidable panic it would bring with it, he settled into the kiss, thrusting gently into his omega. He was still half-hard, and the heat and pressure around his dick felt awesome.
He pulled back to look at his omega.
“Oh...” Zach rocked with him, eyes falling shut, mouth going slack. His small cock was stirring against Val’s stomach. “Feels good. How’s that possible? I just came twice.”
“You’re incredible,” Val whispered.
“So are you.”
“Fuck, Zach...” Val captured those slack lips, thrusting his tongue into that hot mouth, groaning at his omega’s taste.
Then Zach’s stomach rumbled, and Val stopped moving.
Another rumble and he broke the kiss to stare at his omega. “Are you hungry?”
“No, that was the bear I keep hidden in my closet,” Zach grumbled. “It demands human sacrifices morning and evening, like clockwork. What, you don’t have a bear of your own?”
He choked on laughter, and his omega’s indignant look made it even harder to keep serious. “Zach—”
“Yeah, I’m hungry. I’m so hungry all the time,” Zach confessed, his cheeks stained with crimson. “Dunno what’s up with me.”
“Maybe you need to eat more, with all the dancing you do.” Val shrugged. “You’ve put on some weight.”
“I know.” Zach frowned. “Shit.”
“No, you look great,” Val hurried to add. “Really fucking great. It suits you.”
“You think so? I’m not too fat?” Zach looked down at himself, a worried frown on his pretty face.
“You look amazing,” Val said truthfully. “Better than ever.”
“But if I—”
“I don’t care if you put on weight or lose it, if you dye your hair green and tattoo your face,” Val said fiercely. “You could glue horns on your forehead for all I care. I don’t give a shit. You’re beautiful. Always will be.”
“Aw shucks,” Zach whispered, his cheeks coloring.
“It’s the truth.”
“Not sure about the horns though.”
Val grinned. “I’ve worn you out. No wonder you’re hungry. Let’s get you some food so I can wear you out again later.”
And when Zach grinned back, fucking hell, he was entranced. Gone. Nuts for his omega. He’d do anything to protect him, keep him smiling. He’d never felt that way before, for anyone.
He’d known from the start this was a bad idea. The worst and best idea he’d ever had.
***
Zach liked eating some weird stuff. Val watched, amused, as his omega raided the kitchen of the Lotus Boys cafeteria, with the help of another omega called Sim.
Sim apparently knew someone in the kitchens who agreed to open at that late hour and provide Zach with... Let’s see:
Jalapenos. Lots of those.
Peanut butter.
Hot dog sausages.
Pop-tarts.
...and pickles? What in all the hells? It was unbelievable and too damn funny.
Especially when Zach sat down and wolfed everything down, moaning in such pleasure that Val got hard all over again.
And the other omega, Sim, staring at Zach with wide eyes was just as funny.
“Where are you putting all that?” Sim exclaimed, apparently unable to stand this any longer in silence. “You’ve polished a jar of peanut butter, a package of pop tarts, half a jar of jalapenos, three sausages... In one go! And we had dinner before the event.”
The event. So that was where Val had seen the omega before. When Zach was around, he barely noticed anyone else.
“That was a very light dinner,” Zach protested around a mouthful of pop tart and jalapeno. “And we danced, and...” His cheeks pinked, gaze darting to Val and away. He looked down at his food. “And stuff,” he finished.
Sim glanced at Val who grinned. “Okay...”
“You mean he doesn’t normally eat like this?” Val leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.
“Hey, what are you implying?” Zach muttered, glaring at him. “That I’m eating too much?”
Hilarious. Val ran a hand over his face, swallowing a chuckle. “It’s just... weird combos.”
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
Arching both brows, Val reached for the food only to have his hand slapped away. “I thought you were offering.”
“Get your own.” Zach stuck his tongue out at him and stuffed his face with sausage and pickles.
“Fucking hell.” Val snorted and shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
“But you like me?” The uncertainty in Zach’s voice almost broke him.
“I like you a lot,” he growled, “or don’t tell me you haven’t noticed?”
“Uh. I should go,” Sim mumbled, getting up from the table, “leave you to talk with your alpha—”
“You should eat whatever you want, and as much as you want, Zach,” Val said earnestly, leaning forward. “And fuck what others say. As long as you’re happy, fuck the others. Put yourself first because you deserve it. You’re awesome, and you deserve the best in life.”
Zach’s eyes filled with tears. He put the sausage and the pickles down, wiped his hands on the loose pants he’d pulled on. “You mean that? Even though I’m eating like a horse and you disappeared after that night and I just...” He sniffled. “I don’t know what’s going on!”
“Um, guys, I’m going. I’m gone.” Sim slunk away. “Good night. Have fun. Bye!”
Val barely noticed, all his attention on his pretty omega who seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown.
“Come here,” he said gruffly, tapping on the table to get Zach’s attention. “Come here, baby.” He opened his arms and sighed in relief when Zach got up and went to him, climbing onto his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. “Yeah. That’s right. Let me hold you.”
“Please don’t leave again...”
“I’ll do everything I can to be with you. Do you believe me? Everything I can to set you free from his place.”
“I believe you,” Zach whispered.
And that belief was his mistake. He should never have trusted Val, believed in him—except that Val would find a way, damn it, would prove to Zach that what he felt was real. That he wasn’t a good for nothing, a selfish idiot anymore.
For love, he’d do anything, including fall to his knees in front of his father and beg. He’d move the earth and sky to be with Zach.
He knew that now.
***
“Val...” His omega rode him hard, hands resting on Val’s chest, that blond braid that drove Val crazy brushing over his pecs with each movement. “Oh, God...”
Val grunted, gripping those narrow hips and rocking up into that delicious heat, his brain mostly quiet, his body vibrating with arousal.
He could stay there forever, lost in the pleasure of his lover’s body, the sounds he made, the look of bliss on his face.
The moon was setting, and the night scents coming through the window were heady, but none of them compared to his omega’s scent.
His omega.
His.
There was no doubt in his mind anymore. This was where he was meant to be, with this lovely omega, where his body and soul agreed was his home. His mind was a swirl, thoughts jumping over one another as it sank in. His Soul Mate. His fated Mate.
His to protect, to hold, to love.
He’d found him, when he thought he wasn’t meant to. Why would someone like him find such happiness? It made no sense, but he wasn’t going to question it any longer. He’d grab on to it while he could.
On to Zach.
Zach was panting, the pink on his cheekbones deepening as he clenched around Val, his cock smearing precum on Val’s stomach as he bent over lower, eyes widening. “Oh!”
“Come with me, baby,” Val growled, feeling his balls drawing up more, tight and snug at the root of his cock, the pressure in his groin excruciating as he tried to hold back. “Let go and come with me. Are you there?”
A look of surprise on his omega’s face was all the warning he got before Zach groaned, bowing over, his cock jerking between them, spilling out thin strings of cum over Val’s chest, his hole tightening like a vise.
Val’s head fell back and he ground his hips up, pushing his cock into his omega as far as it would go, as he started to come. It was almost painful, that cresting of pressure, the release, the pleasure. He drew Zach down to kiss him as he rode the waves of his orgasm, panting against that sweet mouth, biting lightly at those soft lips when what he really needed was to bite on that long neck, mark his omega.
They had to talk.
Not now, though. Now he could only bask in the sunshine warmth of their lovemaking, of Zach’s scent, the feel of his satiny skin, the feel of his silky hair on his fingers, the light weight of Zach on top of him.
Yeah, he never wanted to move from here.
But he should have known that such happiness wasn’t meant for him and wouldn’t last forever.