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He had a date with Zach. An official Courting date. Not an auction night, not an impulsive decided-on-the-spot night-long fuck-fest—though a date with Zach would probably turn into a fuck-fest, seeing as Val was helpless to contain his desire for his omega, and what was wrong with that, huh?—and not a fight.
A date.
He’d spent an hour going through his shirts. He’d gelled his hair, then washed it again, then re-gelled it. He’d combed it up. Combed it back.
Washed it once more.
You’d think he’d never met Zach in person before. Ridiculous. The pretty omega was having his babies.
And fuck, that was so sexy. If he rubbed another one out, his cock would have rug burns. He’d already jerked off a few times to take the edge off.
The edge was determined to stay.
Yeah, so he was nervous. This was so unlike him. Then again, when it came to Zach, everything was new and different, every single damn time.
Finally grabbing a dark blue shirt and shrugging it on, he told himself he was ready. Enough doubting—about his appearance as much as about his future with Zach. It wasn’t a matter of not wanting it. It was a matter of fearing it wouldn’t work out.
At the back of his mind was also the fact that he had to tell Jai and his family that he was calling the whole thing off. That he was going to Claim someone else, and to hell with the will’s money and his alpha father’s wishes.
Even if he deserved to live unhappy, he just couldn’t do it.
He wanted his chance to be with Zach, no matter what. Would his father have forgiven him eventually, if he’d lived a little longer?
The grief swamped him again. It’d been coming in waves, rolling over him in unexpected moments. There had been a time when his father had loved him, when they’d sit and talk for hours, when everything had been okay.
Until Valerian had squandered this happiness and fucked everything up.
Don’t think about that, he told himself for the thousandth time. Don’t think of him.
Your uncle.
He has said he has forgiven you, so accept it. And if you’re depraved and worthless, well, even those deserve a chance to start over, right?
Right?
He ached to hold his omega once more, to lick his skin and taste him everywhere, to enter him deep and pleasure him until the shadow of fear faded from those remarkable green eyes, until the lines of worry around that sweet mouth smoothed out.
Zach was too young to worry and fear. Zach deserved to be loved and cherished and pleasured every day and every night of his life.
Damn, there Val went again, getting hard and achy for his omega. He should get going, go find him before he came inside his pants just from thinking about him.
Would Zach wear the things Val had sent him? He had a couple more things with him, if Zach was willing to play.
Val groaned at the thought—not that he needed games and toys to get aroused. Zach did it all by himself, got him hard and ready just by being himself.
Especially now that he was carrying their babies. Val was dying to see an ultrasound. Maybe he’d join Zach next time he went to the doctor’s. He wanted to be with him, share this experience, and every other experience their future held in store. He wanted to be a part of Zach’s life, to Claim him officially and take him home with him, see him and hold him every morning and every night, and every hour in between.
Grinning, he got into his Maserati and sped off to Lotus academy to find out if his omega really wanted him.
***
Still unaccountably nervous, he went through the gate and parked, then climbed up to Zach’s room, refusing to take the elevator, needing to burn some excess energy.
Not unaccountably, perhaps. He knew why he was nervous. Zach might have decided by now that he was done with him. Walking away from him, telling him to contact him through the Dean, to stand in line... his omega was upset.
And rightly so.
Zach didn’t want Valerian to want him because of the babies in his belly. And in the same way, Val didn’t want Zach to be with him because he was the man who’d put those babies in him.
Fuck.
“I need you more than air” he’d said. He’d said that.
It had to count for something, right?
He’d said that being with Valerian made him feel good, and safe, and happy, but also that he didn’t want to depend on him for happiness. That love wasn’t a choice. See, his memory wasn’t all that bad. In fact, every word Zach had said was seared inside his brain with neon glowing letters.
Wait, back up. Wait... Shit, those things Zach had said weren’t all good, were they? Love not being a choice, not wanting to depend on Val for happiness. They made sense but... they weren’t a declaration of love.
In fact, Zach had never said outright that he loved Valerian.
Fuck. No wonder all his systems were firing, overloaded with nerves. Somewhere deep inside he’d known something had been off. He’d heard what he’d wanted to hear, hadn’t he?
Well, now it was time to clear everything up.
He knocked on his omega’s door and heard the light pad of footsteps from inside. Then the door swung open, revealing Zach in the opening, and all the words and thoughts went right out of his head. He should have expected that—it happened every time he found himself in the pretty omega’s presence—and there you had it. You couldn’t beat desire or love. No choice in either, it seemed.
Not that he had any complaints.
His omega was dressed in the thong Val had sent him, the belt tied around his big belly with a bow on top—and the necklace Valerian had given him months ago hung around his neck, the pendant of the crescent moon resting in the hollow of his collarbone.
His silky, pale hair was caught in a high ponytail, the light blush on his cheekbones drawing Val’s eyes to those bright green eyes, before his gaze dropped back to that sexy body with the dark, stiff nipples and the big belly, the long pale legs, the package between them.
Oh, baby. Zach was everything, everything he wanted. He lifted a hand to touch that lovely face, and Zach’s blush deepened. He took a step back, and Val followed, entering the sparse room with its single bed and the woven mat on the floor, the mirror on the wall, and the unadorned closet. A rectangular window showed him a piece of cloudy sky.
None of it caught his attention for longer than a fleeting second. All he could see was Zach. That smooth cheek under his palm was like silk, warm and soft. At Zach’s temple, under his fingertips, he felt his omega’s pulse, skittering mouse feet under the skin, a small vein pulsing rapidly—with nerves? With fear? With excitement?
He tilted Zach’s face up to look into his eyes, try to understand—and found in their depths all three emotions at once. It broke his fucking heart all over again, shattered it inside his chest until the jagged shards poked into his ribs and hurt.
“Zach...” Leaning in, he kissed those parted lips and his omega melted against him, pressing his big bump into him, wrapping his arms around Val with what sounded and felt like a sob. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Zach whispered and kissed him back. “You came.”
The tremble in his omega’s voice all but undid Valerian, but he refused to deal with all the emotions welling up inside him right now. With a small growl, he swept Zach up in his arms and carried him to the bed. Sorrow and shame warred with arousal, and arousal won, sweeping over him in a fiery wave.
Impossible to avoid, with Zach lying on his back in front of him, swollen belly wrapped with the black satin ribbon like a gift, heaving with every breath, his eyes wide and dark with need. His small cock was hard, straining inside its prison of black lace.
Despite his fear and uncertainty, he desired Val, and that was enough for now. First, he’d pleasure his omega, then would come the serious talk. They had to have that talk, Val knew it, a talk where he’d have to open his chest and bare his broken heart for Zach to see, show his weakness and his depravity, his crimes and failures, and accept judgment—but first things first.
His omega’s pleasure would always come first.
Zach was propped on his elbows, looking up at Val. He licked his lips and Val bent over him to tease at a stiff nipple with his teeth and tongue and lips, wrenching a raw moan from Zach’s lips.
“Ow,” his omega whined, shifting on the bed. “Ow, gently...”
Val circled the tip of the nipple with his tongue, then the aureole, drawing more sounds from Zach who had started to pant. His nipple tasted sweet, his scent stronger there, like honey and cinnamon, making Val’s mouth water. His omega trembled as Val sucked gently, remembering that nipples were sensitive in pregnancy.
He reached between Zach’s legs and found his cock fully hard, the lace of the thong wet with precum. So sexy. He rubbed at the delicate hard-on over the lace, his own cock rock-hard and leaking inside his pants. Sinking inside his omega was all he could think of.
Zach mewled with pleasure, his cock jerking under Val’s hand. His omega rocked, rubbing his hard-on against Val’s palm, small white teeth biting into his lower lip, sweat making his skin shine. Val released the throbbing nub from his mouth and trailed his lips lower, over the curve of that taut belly, up to trace with his tongue the jutting navel making Zach groaned, and then down again, between Zach’s legs.
He put his mouth on that lace-covered erection and Zach lost it, yelling as he came, beating the mattress with his hands, his hips lifting off. “Oh, God,” he panted. “Oh, God.”
Val grinned, nuzzling the twitching cock under the lace for a few moments more, tasting his omega’s cum, before kissing his way back up his belly to the top and winking at him.
Zach blinked at him, still panting, flushed and sleepy-eyed, pale strands of hair sticking to his neck and temples. “Whoa,” he breathed.
“Liked it?”
“Is this a trick question? I just came, didn’t I?”
Val laughed outright. “I barely touched you. Imagine how you’ll come when I’m inside you.”
God damn, when had been the last time he’d laughed? It had been with Zach, hadn’t it? Only Zach got him to relax and feel this good.
Zach sat up slowly, placing a hand on top of his round belly, and smiled softly. “I thought you’d want to see my dance and undress, like last time.”
“I’ll undress you,” Val growled. Not that there was much to take off. “And the only dance I want to dance with you is the horizontal one.”
Zach pffed. Maybe it was a guffaw. It was a challenge, for sure, and damn, but his omega looked so cute with his belly tied in a bow.
Val reached up and undid the ribbon, pulling it off. “You’re so hot,” he informed Zach, “that your sheets will burn.”
“I hope not. The Dean will make me pay to the last penny. He isn’t so happy with me right now.”
“He’s not?”
“Not many alphas want an omega with a belly full of babies.”
“No other alpha can have you,” Val snarled, pushing Zach back down on his back and looming over him. “You’re mine. This...” He drew back to kiss the top of Zach’s belly. “This is mine.”
Damn, he had to get a grip, or he would send his omega running. But Zach moaned in agreement, reaching for Val. “Yours,” he whispered, “please, Val. I need you inside me.”
Reason shattered after that. Caution flew out the window. He yanked that damn thong off, threw it over the side of the bed, and looked down at his omega, so pregnant and aroused and naked underneath him, his eyes wide.
“Fuck, I want you so much,” Val breathed and unzipped his pants, taking his cock out, diamond-hard and flushed, burning hot in his hand. “Been wanting you day and night. Couldn’t study, couldn’t think, couldn’t sleep. Damn...”
Zach bit his lip again, and all Val wanted was to kiss him hard, bite into that luscious flesh himself. “I want to taste you,” Zach said. “Haven’t managed to, so far.”
“Because I can never keep my hands off you long enough for that. Here.” He moved beside Zach, on his knees, and pointed his cock at his lover’s mouth. “Open wide.”
Zach did. New emotions played in his gaze now: hunger. Need. And trust. He smiled, right before his lips closed around the head of Val’s cock, and the world went hazy.
Fuck. God. Oh shit. It felt so fucking good. Val groaned, pushing his cock deeper into Zach’s mouth. He’d meant to only let him have a taste, but damn, it had been a long time since he’d been blown, and holy shit, it was his omega sucking him off, so damn beautiful.
His.
As he thrust gently into Zach’s mouth, he reached out and stroked the top of Zach’s belly, then found a nipple and teased it, tugging on it and twisting it a little, until Zach was moaning around his hard-on and rocking his hips.
Good.
“Enough, babe.” He pulled away and helped Zach to sit up, then lay down himself and helped Zach on top, to sit on him. “Ride me. Get your pleasure.”
Zach was getting really heavy, from the way he shifted his belly awkwardly and moaned a little when he tried to get on his knees and almost pitched forward.
Damn adorable.
Grinning widely, Val steadied him and lifted him up with one hand, reaching between them with the other to grab his cock and guide it into his omega’s slick opening.
And then he was home.