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He’d been about to leave Tiberius’s room—or rooms, as it were—after the door had slammed shut after the alpha, but he hadn’t.
He wasn’t quite sure what had happened. After Tiberius had gone with that stranger request, that Reese stay in the room, he’d frozen.
Then he’d remembered that he should take an extra tablet of suppressant or two, since his cycle seemed all fucked up somehow, then had lingered in the bathroom, splashing his face with cold water, like Tiberius had done before going.
He looked flushed.
He felt flushed. Too hot. Overheated. The scent of the alpha was in the air, on his towels and sheets and furniture and the clothes thrown haphazardly on the chairs and the floor.
Well, that needed tidying up, he decided. As if that would help sort Reese’s problem out. Some habits were too deeply ingrained, though, so he set out sorting dirty from clean clothes, pairs of shoes to go on the shoe rack, ties and T-shirts and used towels.
And that left him aching with such arousal he could barely stand.
He kept at it, though, stubbornly, if only to keep his hands busy and his mind blank, thinking he’d leave the moment the room was in order.
One thing led to the other, though, and there he still was, caught like a deer in headlights when the key turned in the lock and the door opened again.
Revealing the very alpha who owned Reese’s thoughts and fantasies of late, keeping him up all night with a hand wrapped around his cock, pumping fruitlessly, coming but never really relaxing.
And who owned this room, obviously, that Reese hadn’t managed to leave.
The alpha stumbled inside, his jacket rumpled, his shirt buttons half undone, his dark hair falling in his face. Dark eyes widened when they fell on Reese.
“You stayed,” Tiberius whispered.
Reese’s face warmed. “Yeah, I just...” He gestured helplessly around him. “Thought to pick the place up a little and...”
The alpha advanced on him, the surprise in those intense eyes turning to something else, something scorching hot.
Reese took a step back, and another, but by then Tiberius was almost on top of him, shoving him into the wall. God, but he was so much taller than Reese, so much wider at the shoulders, all that strength and dominance pressing into Reese. Tiberius’s breath was hot on his neck, laced with alcohol, his natural scent mingling with the deep amber perfume of his shampoo.
Reese was plastered to the wall, with nowhere to go, and he needed... needed the alpha to overpower him.
He closed his eyes, trembling. He was so slick between his legs it was scary, his cock hard as a pole, poking the alpha in the leg.
“Reese...” Tiberius whispered, his hands planted on the wall by Reese’s shoulders, his voice choked. His muscular arms caged Reese. “You smell so good...”
The words slowly penetrated the haze gripping Reese’s mind. Oh shit. What was he doing? What was he thinking?
He put his hands on Tiberius’s chest and shoved. It was like shoving at a wall. “No.”
“Your scent...” Tiberius’s voice was hoarse. It sent shivers through Reese, part fear, part desire. “Sweet...”
“Get off me!”
Tiberius had leaned back a few inches, and his gaze was locked on Reese’s mouth. “Like sugar,” he muttered. “Like honey.”
He sounded drunk.
“What’s wrong with you? Tiberius, move!”
Tiberius blinked, as if finally hearing what Reese was saying, and stepped back. “What the fuck?” His eyes widened. “Reese.”
“Just... let go,” Reese said in a small voice.
The alpha cursed, then drew his fist back and threw a punch at the wall, hard enough to crack the plaster. “Fucking hell. You were right.”
Reese didn’t sit around to ask what he’d been right about or find out what else the alpha planned to do with him. He’d heard too many stories of violence.
He ran.
***
What was he going to do? He was still in Tiberius’s service. He needed the money. He’d never thought he was in any danger from the alpha, and he was more afraid of the others he’d seen in the Academy since moving here.
Worse still, he’d wanted it. He could clearly recall wanting Tiberius to overwhelm him, master him, hold him down and fuck him.
God.
What was this? He’d taken so many suppressants he felt vaguely sick, his stomach roiling. He’d overdose if he wasn’t careful.
And it didn’t seem to be helping at all. He might need to go see the omega counselor. He thought he saw other alphas giving him weird, long looks and he didn’t like it one bit. Paranoia, that was what it was.
“You smell good,” Tiberius had said. “Sweet.”
No, he wasn’t in heat. That had only been Tiberius, drunk off his ass, trying to get into Reese’s pants.
Reese had wanted him to.
But he couldn’t afford it. Tiberius employed him. And what if he let Tiberius fuck him? No, no rational omega would let an alpha who hadn’t Courted him between his legs. No ring, no sex. Especially for someone without resources, like Reese.
Fuck, no.
He threw himself into his studies, waiting for the inevitable call from Tiberius, but for a couple of days, there was nothing. Silence.
Yet, focusing on his homework was a pipedream.
Because he was worried. Worried about the tough alpha who’d pushed him against the wall. The alpha who’d let him dress him, strangely meek and quiet.
The alpha who’d had tension headaches before heading out to a social event he wouldn’t talk about, bad enough to worry his own friends.
What the fuck, right? Reese had no business worrying over an alpha. Alphas had everything—money, privileges, a good life, a bright future. Reese would be much better off being concerned about himself. After all, Tiberius still hadn’t paid him, and the room rent loomed over him. He’d been left with pennies to eat.
At least, not seeing the alpha meant he didn’t have to make any decisions, didn’t have to remember how helpless he’d felt.
Helplessly afraid.
Helplessly aroused.
So damn confused.
But he couldn’t avoid Tiberius and his own confusion forever. When the call came, he forced himself to close his history books, shrug on his jacket, and head over to the alpha building to see what his boss wanted.
His palms were sweaty and he kept wiping them on his pants as he rode the elevator up. His mouth felt dry. His cock... it had been hard for what felt since forever. He was too hot.
The thought of seeing Tiberius again made him dizzy.
The door opened after only the first knock and there he was. The object of his obsession, his desires and wet dreams. Looking sexier than ever in a plain gray T-shirt molding to his muscular chest and biceps, the neckline gaping just enough to give Reese a good look at that strong neck and the swirls of dark ink, those smoldering eyes and a shadow of stubble on his hard jaw.
“Come on in,” Tiberius said and stepped back, opening the door wider. “We need to talk.”
Shit. That wasn’t what Reese had been hoping for. What had he been hoping for, exactly? He had tried not to obsess about it.
... Tiberius’s lips on his neck, on his mouth, on his chest, trailing lower...
... Tiberius’s cock nudging between Reese’s legs, pushing into him, filling him up...
“Talk about what?” He licked his lips and swallowed convulsively as he moved into the luxurious living room. He could smell Tiberius. His scent was like a fist around Reese’s cock. He needed him. Desperately.
Though the balcony door was open and cool breeze blew in from the lake, he was burning up.
“Fuck, Reese...” Tiberius had turned toward him and was running a hand through his hair, his cheeks sporting a red flush. “How am I gonna talk to you when you’re like this?”
“Like what?”
“Damn it, don’t you know? Can’t you see other alphas staring at you? Salivating?”
“I...” Reese took a step back, afraid. No no no...
“Reese, are you in heat?”
“What? No.”
“What the fuck, then? Aren’t you taking your suppressants? Do you need me to get you some?”
“I’m fine. I have my own. And I’m not in heat.”
“Then why do you smell like apple tart and vanilla cream?”
He swallowed thickly. “My... soap?”
Tiberius grunted, shaking his head. He let his hands drop at his sides, and they curled into fists. His jaw was clenched. “Don’t lie to me, Reese. An unmated, unclaimed omega in heat is in danger, even at the Academy.”
“I can’t be in heat,” Reese whispered. “I took my suppressants. Even more of them than normal. I don’t...”
“You don’t want me?” Tiberius’s voice had dropped low, a vibrating bass that almost had Reese coming from the sound.
“That’s not it,” Reese blurted out.
“So you do want me. Want me to make it better? Fuck you and make you come?” With every word, Tiberius advanced on him and Reese stepped back, and back, until he hit the sofa and fell on it, winded. “I can smell you. I can’t fucking resist you. I need to fuck you.”
He bent over Reese, then climbed onto the sofa and pressed his length to Reese, putting one hand behind Reese’s head, holding him still as he kissed Reese’s mouth.
Kiss was too soft a word for it, in fact. Tiberius crushed their mouths together, and he opened Reese’s lips, slipped his tongue inside and licked the roof of his mouth, ate him up. Reese could feel the alpha’s huge erection trapped between them, hot and thick, and his own cock jumped. His pants were soaked with his own slick.
God, he was in heat. Had to be. He’d never felt so out of control, so aroused, as if he could come just from the feel of the alpha’s hard-on against him and that hot, demanding mouth on his, but knowing it wouldn’t be enough.
No, nothing would be enough except for that big cock entering him, filling him up.
And wasn’t that crazy?
He was going crazy. That was it. Raving mad.
Tiberius broke the kiss, panting hard. What the hell are you doing to me? he whispered in wonder, eyes wide, pupils blown. “Why can’t I resist you? Why do I feel like this?”
Reese had no answer to those questions, or to why he felt the same way. He should be pushing Tiberius away, shoving at those hard pecs, those massive shoulders, but instead, he found himself reaching for him, winding his arms around the alpha’s neck, pressing his aroused body to the bigger one laid over him.
“Please...” he heard himself whisper, “please, Tiberius...”
“God damn, you really are in heat, aren’t you? You’re hard, and you smell... fuck...” Tiberius grabbed Reese’s legs and lifted them around his hips, rubbing their hard-ons together, and Reese cried out at the sensation, starting to come. “You’re so ready. Ugh...”
Reese moaned, buffeted by the waves of his release. It was such a relief, but he needed more. A lot more. The ache inside him was only growing stronger.
But at least his head cleared for a few precious moments, and he started.
Oh God. What was he doing? No, this couldn’t be happening...
“Stop. Tiberius, stop.” This time he did push at the alpha, putting all his strength behind it.
And this time, the alpha stopped, a dazed expression on his handsome face. “What?”
“Stop. We have to stop. Tiberius, god damn it, stop!”
The alpha stilled, then jerked a little. “Christ...” He rolled off Reese, sprawling on the sofa, rubbing a hand over his face. “What the fuck?”
It would have been funny if it wasn’t so bad. Reese still throbbed, still ached, and he was all wet and sticky inside his pants. Beside me, the alpha’s wide chest fell and rose rapidly. The tent in those dark pants was huge.
It made Reese’s mouth run dry. Pushing Tiberius off was the rational, the right thing to do.
Then why did it feel so wrong?
“You should go,” Tiberius said.
“But I—”
“I should have heeded your reply the other night.”
Reese swallowed hard. “Okay. But truth is... I hadn’t heard the question. So...”
“What?” Tiberius lowered his hand and gave Reese a wide-eyed look. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I... I admit I hadn’t heard the question.”
“Jesus. I asked if you trusted me,” Tiberius said, his voice slightly hoarse. “And you said no.”
Oh shit. “Tiberius...”
“And you know what? You were right.” Tiberius sat up. “You shouldn’t. Because I can’t control myself around you. This has to stop. Permanently.”
“What do you mean?” Reese asked in a small voice.
“I can’t keep you as my Boi. It’s not a good idea.”
“Please, Tiberius...”
“If I keep you, I’ll fuck you, and get you pregnant. You don’t want that.”
Reese shivered. He didn’t... and yet something inside him did. How stupid could he be to want it? It was what he’d always told himself he couldn’t have. A family. Kids with an alpha he wanted.
But Tiberius wasn’t done yet. “I can’t afford that. I have my family duties to fulfill. And besides, I can’t stand brats. Annoying, stupid pups who won’t leave me in peace.”
Reese blinked, the words like s stab to his heart. He actually lifted a hand to his chest, expecting to see blood seeping from the wound.
Why did it hurt so damn much? They’d only kissed. Tiberius hadn’t promised anything, hadn’t done anything. Reese was in heat, and Tiberius had reacted. An instinctive physical reaction of an alpha toward an omega in heat. That was all.
And he wasn’t going to beg. Not Tiberius. The thought of groveling at his feet, of seeing pity in Tiberius’s eyes, was too much to bear. So, no.
“As you wish,” he said, keeping his voice steady with an effort.
“Here’s what I owe you.” Carelessly, Tiberius pulled a wad of cash from his back pocket and threw it at Reese. “Count it, if you think you must. This should cover your services.”
Services. And now Reese felt like a whore. Taking the bills, he nodded, his eyes too hot.
Would Tiberius take on another Boi? Would he go fuck some other, willing omega? Would he even speak to Reese ever again?
“I guess this is goodbye, then,” he said.
“Yeah.” Tiberius leaned back and closed his eyes. “I’ll be seeing you around.”
And damn him for leaving Reese with that sliver of hope, of challenge, of defiance. Of throwing him a bone when he was trying to resign himself to not seeing Tiberius ever again.
Of course he’d see him. If Reese didn’t flunk his tests, didn’t lose his scholarship, found somehow money to stick around... he’d see a lot of Tiberius, doing things Reese would rather not know about.
This was going to be bad...