5

"Wow, that's messed up. I've heard that too: avoid relationships with betas unless it's just, let's say… casual sex. Betas think we'll leave them after sniffing our perfect mates, that we'll cheat on them right away."

Damien chuckled. "They’re kind of right, though. The statistics are brutal. Only a tiny percent of beta relationships with other subgenders succeed."

"Well, one of my brothers, Skye, is currently interested in a beta, and I’m really curious how it’ll turn out. But in his case, it seems to have a pretty high chance of working out."

"How do you know?"

"I suspect the guy is his True Mate. But neither of them realizes it yet, which isn’t surprising since it’s such a rarity—the beta-alpha TM thing."

There was a moment of silence, and I cleared my throat. "So, was Alan your only boyfriend?"

Damien made a grimace. "It’ll sound stupid, like I didn’t learn anything, but I tried again… with a different beta."

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled. "Well, well. What a surprise."

"Yeah… even I was surprised by myself, but in my defense, Tony was a real looker."

"Aren’t they all!" I snorted bitterly. "I fell for the ‘good-looking’ trap too."

"Yeah. It happened a year ago. I told him straight up that he needed to accept that I’m not like him if we were gonna be together. I filled Tony in on the whole Alan situation, and things seemed fine. Until I hit what they call preheat. It lasted maybe an hour; some omegas get it a year or two before the real deal. Tony didn’t take it well—it freaked him out big time. I think that’s when reality smacked him in the face. Two months into dating, we called it quits. With none of them, nothing ever went beyond handies. They were both super insecure about sex with omega. That whole situation killed any hopes I had of being with a beta. Like, ever."

"Why didn’t you try a relationship with an alpha?"

He laughed bitterly. "It’s not that I didn’t try. There are maybe four alphas in my year, and they’re swarmed by other omegas! And I’m not very social, I don’t party, don’t go out with friends, so I didn’t have many opportunities to meet any other. Even if I sat next to one in the cafeteria, well, I’m not the most attractive omega to tempt them, that’s for sure," he said with a wry grin.

"They must have been blind because, to me, you’re very attractive. From the moment I saw your picture, I couldn’t stop staring at you," I said in a low voice.

His eyes met mine for a second, then he looked away. I saw a strange expression on his face, like he wanted to say something but bit his tongue at the last moment. Finally, he sighed and shrugged.

"What about you? Have you ever tried a relationship with a beta?"

"Not a relationship, but I, uh… did sleep with a few," I admitted, not wanting to dwell on it.

But he wasn’t letting it go. "And probably a lot of omegas?"

"I don’t know if it was a lot, but… there were a few, also."

"Double digits?"

I cursed under my breath. "Yep. You know, I’m a purple alpha—people sometimes get curious…" I cleared my throat.

Damien stared at me intently. "And alphas? Did you… also?"

I swallowed hard. "Yep, a few of those too."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? So, the whole spectrum, all subgenders?"

"At the beginning, as an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old, I wasn’t picky, but that changed in my early twenties. I wanted more than just being a fetish. Then I met Tom, and for the whole two years, I’ve only been with him. And for the last six months, I wasn’t even trying to date. I was in a bad mood after my divorce."

Damien’s eyes were fixed on my face, and I sighed.

"But you’re my first rose omega, remember? I’ve never been with any other."

His cheeks reddened slightly, and he slowly nodded.

"I remember…"

For a moment, I stared at him, hesitating. Uh, what the hell, I decided to say it!

"You know what? Out of all the people I’ve been with, I love it with you… the most!" And I smiled sheepishly.

I wasn’t even lying—I didn’t need to. The chemistry we had was absolutely insane; I’d never had so many orgasms before, so that was saying something.

Damien stayed quiet, just staring at me, his eyes wide, his pupils dilated. I felt it building inside him, like a huge wave coming. Even though his cheeks hadn’t flushed yet with the typical redness of a heat wave, I knew it was very close.

That’s why I slowly stood up and approached him.

Damien tilted his head up so he could still meet my eyes. They seemed again trusting, vulnerable. I lifted my hand and ran it over his cheek slowly, sensually. I saw him tremble slightly and close his eyes. He stayed silent, letting me caress his skin where his birthmark was. And the wave kept building and building inside him…

"I want you so much, Damien," I whispered. "I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you. I’m a purple alpha. And you’re a rose omega. We complete each other."

I watched as his eyes snapped open, his pupils dilating until they almost eclipsed his graphite-sapphire irises.

He slowly raised his hand and placed it on my chest, whispering softly, "You’re so big, so much stronger than me."

"I’m like this to protect my omega."

"And I’m so small," he murmured, something flickering in his eyes—a bit playful, almost seductive.

I smirked. "Yes, and that’s wonderful. You’re so very, very cute."

"You’d never hurt me…?" He tilted his head quizzically.

"No, never, Damien. You are to be cherished. And to be given a lot of… pleasure."

There was a moment of silence before he whispered, "Can we go to the bedroom?"

"Your wish is my command."

His face lit up. I smiled slightly, leaned down and picked him up again. I didn't know why, but carrying him gave me so much pleasure.

As I entered the room, I saw that Damien had rebuilt the nest…again!

It was even more elaborate this time. He'd added two green blankets to simulate leaves around the rose and a dark green ribbon for reinforcement. Now it was a truly refined and solid construction.

I set him down and said, "Wow, your nest is becoming more and more spectacular. It’s… blooming. Like you."

I could see he was pleased with my words. He blushed, and his mouth stretched into a delighted smile.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, it’s an absolute work of art. It really is so… you. Like a part of your soul is here."

He looked straight into my eyes, and I looked into his. For a moment, we just stared. Then suddenly I reached for him and he reached for me. I picked him up again and stepped carefully into his nest.

"Such a perfect place to make love," I murmured, using the words on purpose.

And of course, the first thing I did was kiss him—but this time I resisted the urge to turn it into a sexual kiss. It wasn't wild anymore, but gentle, soft, tender. Like lovers, like boyfriends.

At the same time, this persistent thought kept creeping back into my mind: was I acting ahead of myself, advancing into a more subtle intimacy?

After all, still nothing had been said between us, no promises made. There was no way we could make any big decisions during his heat and my rut. We’d both been taught to wait until it was over before committing to anything.

But here I was, already acting like he was my beloved—kissing him gently, caressing him, pecking his temples. Then I moved my mouth to his cheeks, especially the one with the birthmark, and covered it with soft, feathery kisses.

Yep, I was in such deep shit.

My feelings were kinda getting out of control. I kept repeating to myself over and over: It’s just heat hormones, Storm. Pull yourself together.

But it was hard. Soon, I involuntarily began to make the sound known in the AO language as ‘Appreciation’—an open confession of interest in another person—on many levels, not only sexually. And Damien responded with a matching sound! For the first time, his arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me close.

Finally.

That felt good, so nice…

Then I noticed again that he instinctively began to turn his head slightly, showing me his neck glands, as if he wanted me to claim him by biting and marking.

Outside a relationship crossing this line was unimaginable, and yet, I saw how, perhaps instinctively but persistently, he was craning his neck, stubbornly presenting it to me, almost like insisting I make a mark there! Crazy!

It took a lot of effort to refrain from doing so—like a lot ! Nonetheless, I used the opportunity to suck a bit on his so-invitingly exposed glands. I couldn’t deny myself that, before sliding lower to his collarbones, and then to his lovely nipples.

I found them very pretty and hard —perfectly erect, waiting to be licked and tortured sweetly and passionately. So I started with the left one, lightly biting, sucking, simultaneously my fingers played with his right swollen nipple. Damien began to make deep, guttural sounds of impatience, quickly becoming more intense, louder. Finally, he arched his body, his fingers digging into my hair, his mouth opened. As I firmly rolled and stretched the tip of his second nipple, I suddenly felt something splash down my side. I looked down in surprise.

"Did you just come from me touching your nipples?" I asked, sounding rather silly.

He sighed slightly and muttered, "What's so strange about that, I guess it happens sometimes in heat?"

"I've never seen that before."

I didn’t know if it was possible for him to blush any more, but he turned as red as a beetroot. I leaned over and licked his soft belly thoroughly, pinching his sweet love handles and leaving a few hickeys over the soft mounds of his hips.

"You're so soft, pudgy, and you taste delicious, like a marshmallow…" I purred.

The moment I looked down, he immediately spread his legs wide and inviting, so I could easily taste some more of his sweetness that was now literally oozing out of him and soaking the sheet.

"Mmm… so ready for me." Smirking, I leaned in to lick his swollen entrance and kiss his pink petals. When I penetrated him with my tongue, he moaned so adorably and lifted his hips higher, as if to encourage me to put something thicker than my tongue in there. Finally, I couldn't help myself, I lifted up and pressed my dick against his soft hole.

Then I remembered that he loved hearing cringy dirty talk the first time around, so… why not go back to that?

"You agree to be stuffed, my hot marshmallow?"

"Very much so!"

And we merged again, both of us moaning.

"God, I love, love, love to be there, the best place in the world," I murmured and closed my eyes because it was true, I felt like I was in heaven, wonderfully held in a wet, hot paradise, an ideal retreat.

"I'm going crazy in your softness," I babbled, making no sense but unable to stop wallowing in him. "This is too good," I mumbled, feeling my knot growing even though I hadn't had an orgasm yet.

I moaned loudly as it expanded inside me, followed by a powerful orgasm and a wave of ecstatic pulsations in my cock, but all I could do was mumble gibberish, "Too good, too good, too divine, too divine…"

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by Damien's wide-open eyes. He was staring at my red, flushed face.

"Do you really like being there so much?"

I snorted with laughter. "Do I like it?! That word is way too small to describe what I feel when I’m inside you. I could live there!" I smiled, and he replied with a shy smile.

"You’re so sexy, Damien, the sexiest omega I’ve ever met…"

He rolled his eyes. "This is absolute bullshit, and you know it."

"I don’t know anything about that because that’s how I feel, Damien. You’re just perfect for me."

And then we didn't talk for the next hour.

I fucked him constantly, I don't know, probably in all kinds of ways and positions, and he couldn't stop coming! It was almost 11 pm when I finally finished and positioned myself behind his back. I knew that he might experience small waves at night, and I wanted to be ready.

We pulled the blanket over us and just went to sleep without a shower, cum puddles around us. It was right around 2 in the morning when I felt the movement of his ass rubbing against my dick, which was strangely already stiff, so I just pushed it in and fucked him for a while until we both came.

And then we just went to sleep, but not for long—about 4 in the morning I was woken up by him tossing around the bed and the situation repeated itself. I entered him, thrust into him for a while, and we both climaxed.

Two hours later, the same thing happened again. At 8 o'clock in the morning it lasted even longer, the wave was much more intense, so we went to sleep again around 9:30, so tired that we fell dead asleep immediately. I didn't wake up until around 11 am when I heard the sound of the shower.

I sat up in bed and noticed, with some amusement, that my entire side was stained with dried jizz. The sheet didn’t look much better—crusty and smeared with cum. Then I heard Damien’s footsteps as he left the bathroom.

He stood in the doorway, dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts, peering at me. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, which was new. I smiled apologetically and pointed to the sheet. "Looks like you’ll have to replace it. Luckily, the nest didn’t get wrecked. A miracle!"

Damien laughed softly and walked closer. He looked surprisingly good, almost radiant, with a kind of positive energy surrounding him.

"It’s not a problem. My nest is really solid this time. I don’t think it’ll even fall apart when I change the sheet."

"Let’s try doing it together," I said with a grin.

He nodded, pulling a fresh sheet from the bottom drawer. Carefully, we slid the old one out from under his nest and just as carefully slid the new one in.

Damien was smiling the whole time. Then he said, "You know, it’s really nice how delicately you handle my nest. So many alphas think it’s some silly omega quirk."

"But it's natural for omegas, it's not some weird behavior. My omega dad always makes nests, really elaborate and sophisticated ones. My alpha father loves them. And… I love yours."

Damien looked at me like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Finally, he whispered, "Thank you. That’s really kind of you. It makes me feel—" He trailed off.

"It makes you feel—?" I prompted, even though I could tell we were venturing into sensitive territory.

He shrugged and shyly looked away. "Well, you know, all my omega instincts feel more fulfilled somehow. And even though I was so stressed before this heat, at least the stress is gone now. You taking care of my nest—I think that helps. It makes me feel like I'm being taken care… by you too."

Our eyes met, and this feeling passed between us—energy, trust, something unspoken, something rising.

I approached him slowly, knowing it wasn't the best idea, but I hugged him and pulled him close anyway. His face was pressed against my chest.

"Every omega should feel this way during heat. It’s such a deeply intimate experience; everything should work perfectly. I’m sorry it’s me—a stranger—here instead of someone you trust completely and know well. I hated seeing you stressed before, and I promise, with what little I can do, I’ll try to take some of that off your shoulders."

Damien looked up at me. We stood there, holding each other, and he stared at me. Were his eyes a little moist?

"The doctor told me stress can shorten heat significantly," he said softly. "It’s a delicate process—hormones are produced at lower levels during stress. I have a feeling today will be the last day."

I sighed heavily, feeling regret. "I guess the whole… refusal thing didn’t help."

He shook his head, stepping back. It felt wrong to let him go from my arms.

"Don’t worry about that. Looking back, I know you had good intentions, and I really appreciate that you didn’t want to treat this like a job."

"I’m here only because I want to be. It’s an amazing experience to share it with you."

Damien bit his lip. "If you’d taken the money, it would’ve been forever tainted." He let out a breath. "I would be fixating on: ‘What if he doesn’t really want this and just wants the cash?’ So now I’m sooo grateful for your decision!"

It was quite an effort to keep myself from saying more, declaring more, but still something slipped out.

"You have no idea how much your words mean to me, Damien. I struggled with that situation horribly. Even my cousin thought I was being irrational, but I just couldn’t do it. You didn’t deserve that—it’s your first heat."

He stared at the floor for a moment. "Thank you," he whispered.

Something intrigued me. "Um, where are your glasses?"

Damien blushed suddenly. "Umm… I have no idea why, but when I put them on, everything looked foggy. For some reason, I see more clearly without them today. Maybe they’re damaged or something—I don’t know."

I stared at him for a moment, noticing his intense blush.

Well, the whole idea of us being True Mates, which I had been entertaining in my head the whole time, seemed like a perfect explanation for this.

Was Damien aware of it? Only True Mates could heal each other, and since we’d slept together for two days, the healing might’ve already started! His eyesight could actually be returning to normal.

I hesitated. If I brought it up, it would be like an avalanche. We’d have to admit out loud what we were. But I wasn’t sure he was ready.

Damien cleared his throat. "Come on. I made breakfast for you. Have something to eat."

Well, I guess he wasn’t ready.

So I just smiled. "You spoil me, Damien. That’s really nice, but I can order something or even make something myself. I bought ingredients to cook us something interesting…"

"Maybe later. For now, pancakes are waiting for you. I even ate half of one myself."

We entered the kitchen, and sure enough, there was a giant pile of blueberry pancakes under a transparent lid. I paused for a moment. It was impossible not to notice Damien making an effort—was this his way of showing gratitude, or was there more to it? Was this a subtle invitation to his life, to sharing it with me? Storm, stop imagining things! These are just pancakes, not a confession of love!

"Oh, they look delicious!" I sat down and started eating immediately. Damien watched me the whole time, just like he had during previous meals.

"You really eat a lot," he said with a smirk.

"I’m 7’2" and weigh 650 pounds. I need to fuel these guns." I winked, flexing my biceps.

He kept staring, biting his lower lip as if he were struggling with something. Welcome to the club, Damien! I very intimately knew he didn’t have the courage to bring up what the future might hold for us because I shared the sentiment.

After heats, many people simply lost contact. It wasn’t always the case that those who went through it together—stayed together. Once the hormonal high faded, rational thinking returned. Then came the recovery period, when omegas often felt weak, tired, sensitive, even depressed. Many cried and needed peace. By the time they recovered—usually in two days—most hired alphas were already gone.

But I didn’t plan on disappearing. Oh, no! In my mind, I was already working on a way to ask him to be my boyfriend.

After breakfast, I shot him a brief look. "I’ll take a shower and then check what Mr. Ragu sent me. I noticed a text from him earlier."

Damien nodded. "I’ll go study and work on my app."