Chapter 9

9

Akai

D anon carried me to his bedroom. I'd been in here before, snooping, but he didn't know that. The bed was softer than I remembered. And he was way handsomer than any of his photos did justice to. Also, not quite as mean as I'd first thought.

I didn't care about shallow thoughts like that right now. Fever bathed my body. Arousal. I wanted Danon with his whiskers or without. He was an alpha. I craved the strength, the command, the touch.

He was my mate. What that meant to him, I didn't know. To me it was a role that had been forced. But could I fulfil it? For an omega, it might mean submission. For an omega in heat, definitely.

Waves of need consumed me. I wanted to sink into the mattress with Danon on top, his weight pushing me deeper into it.

I remembered the knot-porn my teacher Mr. Abram had shown us. I had not watched the whole thing, only glimpses, but key moments came back to me, the things I'd seen as I was trying to destroy the classroom video screen.

The coupling of the alpha and omega on screen had been quick, even easy, but emotionless despite the grunts of "please" and the begging for "more." It was fast. Thorough. Animalistic.

I expected nothing more for myself. We might be mates, but we weren't boyfriends.

Danon lowered me to his bed.

"I'm not in full rut. We can take our time," he said.

Though I'd never spread my legs for anyone, that seemed awkward. A shudder went through me.

"You can just do it. I'm ready."

He lifted himself up and I let go of his shirt. "But I'm not quite ready." Danon said.

"But I thought—" My entire body flushed.

"Did they teach you about alpha characteristics in school?"

"Yes."

"Tell me."

I was embarrassed to be talking at such a moment. "Like they're dominant, especially during ruts. So don't try to get away or that might lead to, um, well rough treatment."

"Interesting. That's up to each individual, I suppose. Ruts can get rough. I told you mine can. But not because anyone ever ran away from me. If someone were to do that, I'd allow it. I don't victimize my bed partners in or out of rut."

"They told us alphas lose their minds."

"Were they teaching you about wolves?"

"No. Other species. Wolves are much more civilized even if they do like to chase to mate."

"Of course. Wolves are perfect. And dragons are more feral and take what they want." His mouth turned down as if he'd just swallowed something sour.

"Something like that. It's racist, I know, but it was the only available teaching in slave class." I squirmed up in the bed where I could get more comfortable on his pillows. If he wanted to talk, I'd have to endure it.

"What else did they teach you about foreign alphas?"

"That we probably shouldn't talk to them during mating." I had to breathe deep to get that one out. "And we should do as we're told without resistance to make the experience better for the alpha and ourselves." I couldn't believe I was saying these things. Babbling them. "Mr. Abram, my teacher, said alphas want us to want their knots and we should ask for them."

"Well, we don't lose our minds. Not any more than wolves do. And just like any human, some prefer one thing over another. Everyone is different." His voice hitched. His breaths shallow.

Danon was controlling himself. For my sake.

"And I would inform you of an impending knot, in case you don't want it forced. I can move away at that point. Even in a rut." He let out a sigh. "If I am bossy in bed, that doesn't mean you don't get to have your own opinion."

I hadn't expected him to say that.

"Now let me inform you of other alpha characteristics you didn't mention." He sat with his knees bent, ass on his heels. "Instinct for most alphas involves caring for the partner. That means making sure they are fed and have water during ruts and heats. It can include bathing, any minor medical attention, grooming, massage, making sure his partner can rest."

"Mr. Abram didn't say anything about that."

"Maybe he has never had a decent relationship. It's a time to grow closer between matings, and even to bond if both wish it."

"Mr. Abram definitely wasn't bonded."

"I want you to know I have those instincts. The caregiving instinct. So, from that perspective, the omega calls the shots."

"Call the shots?" I winced. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I will make sure you are fine."

The pressure to mate was still there, and still scary, but Danon's words took the edge off. Still, my heat wanted him to pound me right now. Something about giving over all control also appealed.

"What if I don't want to call the shots?"

Danon's eyebrows rose. "Each couple finds their way," he said softly.

Slick had wet the back of my underwear. It was thick and I knew he could smell it. My cock pressed against my clothes painfully. If I could just touch it…. "What if I just want you right now?"

"First heats—new heats—can be very strong."

He was still talking. I had just said I wanted him. Didn't he want me?

I sat up and put my hand against his mouth. He shifted back but I pressed, his breath hot against my palm. "Please. Just—what would you do with anyone else?"

His hand came up and his fingers wrapped around my wrist, pushing my hand down. I let him. When he let go, he leaned forward and placed both hands on my stomach.

My hips lifted into the touch. I knew now this wasn't going to be hard, just awkward for me since I'd never let anyone touch me down there. Not even horny friends.

Danon's hands moved down and caught at my button and zipper. As he undid my jeans, he said, "This is what I would be doing with anyone else. Okay?"

I lifted myself up on my elbows to watch. Did I want this. I couldn't deny it. I did. Or maybe my heat did. "Yeah. Okay."

He didn't look at me but kept his head low. He spread my jeans apart, exposing my underwear and bulging erection, then put his hands under my ass and tugged hard at the waistband.

I held my breath. My jeans slid down, wrinkling at my thighs. He pulled the seams at the knees, and I held my feet up. They were off in seconds. Danon sure knew what he was doing.

My underwear was now all that hid my hard cock. My skin burned all over. Whatever came next, I wanted it.

Danon grabbed the waistband. "Okay?"

"Okay."

He tugged and I helped by pressing up. Suddenly, I felt the wetness on my ass. Panic made me tense.

I grabbed at his wrist. "I need a towel."

Danon got up and went to the nightstand, sliding open a drawer. He pulled out everything we could ever need, including a stack of clean towels and extra lube.

I had no time to wonder what that would be like as Danon picked up a towel and said, "Up."

I again lifted my hips, and the towel went under me, soft and absorbent. Danon knelt at my side and put both hands on my hips, fingers curving under my waistband. He pulled fast and with one swoop had my underwear off and over my legs.

My cock bounced free.

I gasped, putting my hands to my mouth.

"If you don't mind me saying, you're beautiful."

I didn't mind, but everything became almost surreal after that. Danon still leaned over me, now working on my sweater, pulling it up, helping me get each arm out of the sleeve.

In no time, I was in my birthday suit on Danon's bed waiting for him to plow me.

His temples shone with sweat. His pupils were blown. He wanted me. I knew it. Soon I'd have my legs in the air like I needed, if not desired him.

"You're perfect," he said.

My cock dripped as Danon ran one hand down my chest.

To have him looking at me, touching me, was like nothing I'd ever imagined. It puffed me up inside. All of a sudden, I was proud of my set-omega body. And my virginity. Maybe it was the heat talking, but I wanted to give it to him. To think he would be my first—the room spun.

I reached up to him. He took my hands in both of his. "Okay?" he asked again.

I liked that he kept asking. "It's almost like it hurts."

"Where?"

"You know where."

He put my hands to his lips and kissed them. I nearly exploded, my cock quivering up from where it curved toward my stomach as if it was reaching for him all by itself.

Danon let my hands go and backed off the bed. He had his shirt off in seconds. His body was all lean muscle, stomach flat and ribbed. His hands quivered with what I guess was tension from his rut. His skin glowed with a sheen of sweat. I couldn't look away.

He pushed his pants down and his cock popped out, fully hard and very large.

My hole clenched. Would it hurt? Heat made omegas pliable, but still….

I gulped, staring straight up at the ceiling. Different emotions fluttered inside me all at the same time. Fear. Eagerness. Want. And lastly, despair, because what if he didn't like me? What if I didn't please him. Would he sell me after I laid his egg?

Danon knelt beside me again, and when I glanced at him he was fully naked, a beautiful alpha with the rut upon him.

"I'm going to lie down beside you and help you relax," he said.

Confused, embarrassed. "How?"

"Like this." He straightened out and rolled onto his side. His huge cock bumped against my hip. "I'm going to stroke over your arms and chest."

"That's not what I need."

"I say it is. You're very tense, even in the first hour of your heat. I'll help you relax."

"You're tense, too," I shot back.

"This will help both of us."

His fingers went gently up my arm and over my shoulder. They left tingles in the wake of the touch.

At first, I wanted to tell him to stop. I needed his fingers on my cock, my balls, my hole. Those were the places that yearned. This touch wasn't anywhere near those places. How long did I have to wait? But as his hand worked slowly across my chest, making little circles, I realized the sensation distracted me in a good way. The blood rushed through those areas, easing my urgency. My muscles started to relax.

I let my eyelids close halfway.

"Good," Danon said. "When you relax, I relax. And that fast, we're already in tune."

"Is that good?" I really wanted to know if he liked being in tune.

"Yes. It's best to share this time when you feel that. Nature has already confirmed we're compatible. It makes everything better. Enjoyable, in fact."

Enjoyable. What a word. The heat might make the mating feel ultimate and deliver pleasure on a hormonal level, but enjoyable for me meant intimacy. I didn't have that with Danon.

Yet his fingers on my chest were getting very close to enjoyable. As if touch between us opened some floodgate on trust. I had no choice but to trust him, but deeper parts of me knew without facts that I already did. I believed him when he said he didn't lose his mind during a rut. And on a shallower level, because his body was so attractive, I believed he would bring pleasure.

Danon's hand moved up to my neck, my jaw, my cheek. He stroked my face. My hair. He leaned closer and his knee touched my thigh.

"Akai," he said. "I pledge I will take care of you."

All my muscles turned to liquid. I was on his bed. Naked. In heat. Yet those were the exact words I needed to hear.

My feet slid up and my knees bent and spread. A wave of slick gushed from me. Were we going to face each other, or did he want me on my knees?

Danon looked down my body, then at my face. "That's perfect. Are you comfortable?"

"Yes."

"May I touch you down lower?"

"Yes."

"Don't be startled. I'm going to get on my knees between your legs."

I nodded, my hair catching on the edge of the pillow.

The bed dipped. Danon's cock bobbed as he stood up on his knees, then deftly moved toward the foot of the bed.

Now that I was more relaxed, I could appreciate the beauty of it, of his cock, dark on the shaft, light pink and wet at the tip.

My own cock pulsed at seeing another so aroused.

Hands ran up the insides of my thighs. I didn't realize how sensitive I was in that area until my upper body came up and I moaned aloud. Two thumbs rubbed gently on either side of my balls.

"You're perfect and ready," Danon said.

I gasped and dropped my head to the pillow. I could do nothing but take this. Lie back and let it begin.