“Mn,” Galen mumbled as he held the top of August’s ear between his teeth. He drew his tongue along the folds and sucked on the earlobe as he straddled August on the couch.

*** Explicit scene starts ***

August’s surprise quickly faded and was replaced with another emotion. Galen’s weight felt so good on him as the Omega straddled him with his wet thighs and pressed him into the couch. He slid his hands around Galen’s waist, mesmerized by how warm the slick skin was.

Then Galen started grinding. The friction of August’s terry cloth robe felt heavenly against his aching cock. He pushed it against August’s stomach, rubbing himself along his Alpha’s body and moaning into his ear in satisfaction.

The effect of August’s cold shower was undone in an instant. He knew he wouldn’t be able to last long. Galen didn’t seem completely aware of his actions, but he was basically giving August a lap dance, bouncing and grinding on his crotch while his thighs pinned him down.

“Galen,” August said, “we need to go to the bedroom.”

“Mmmmm,” Galen hummed, then started nipping and licking at August’s jaw. He was not inclined to change his course of action.

August tentatively shifted his weight, but Galen pushed him back into the couch, teasing August’s cock with his ass in retaliation.

“Fuck,” August breathed, trying to control himself. Galen had increased his tempo, and the bathrobe had come loose. Release could offer a small reprieved to an Omega in heat, but they would get hard again instantly, over and over, until the heat ended. Most Alphas had a physique to match, but not August. He didn’t have a normal development, so his endurance was more like a Beta's. He tried to explain, “Galen, stop. If I cum, you’ll have to wait.”

Galen was not paying attention. August tried to create some breathing room between them, but the damn princess’ whole body was still slippery from the shower, and he couldn’t gain purchase in time.

Galen’s movements reached a fever pitch before sending himself and August over the edge. He moaned against August’s cheek, feeling the Alpha’s hot cum across his ass. Having earned a moment of clarity, he retracted his fingers from August’s hair and looked properly at him. “Wait, what were you saying?”

August laughed coldly. “I was telling you you have to be patient now. I have a normal refractory period.”

“Oh. Oh,” Galen tried to process what he was hearing, “I won’t have to wait, right?”

August considered him seriously. They hadn’t talked much the last time, so the degree to which Galen’s thinking was clouded by his heat hadn’t been clear before.

Galen looked back at him, distressed, and repeated his question, “I won’t have to wait, right?” He could already feel the bone-deep desire spreading again.

There was clearly no reasoning with this, August finally realized. Fortunately, he had gotten somewhat stronger compared to last time. He shrugged off his bath robe and threw the wet Omega over his shoulders. He stood up with a huff, walking them to Galen’s bedroom. He deposited him on the bed and warned, “You are going to have to be patient.”

Galen tried to pull the Alpha overtop of him. He didn’t think he could wait any longer, and he wanted to reach between August’s legs, but August reacted by pinning his arms to either side of his head.

“Galen, you can be good, right?” August coaxed, unsure of what else to try. He spoke in a soothing, gentle voice.

“I can be the best,” Galen smiled back. It was a million-watt smile, the kind that could captivate a nation and win the hearts of the royal family. On the bed, with his long wet hair sticking to his flushed cheeks and neck, it was beautifully obscene.

August swallowed. Never in a million years did he think he would ever get so close to such a beautiful Omega. But Galen’s charisma couldn’t change the nature of their situation. He smiled back. “I didn’t ask if you were the best, I asked if you could be good.”

Something about that serene smile caused Galen to panic. His expression changed and he babbled, “I can be good, I promise I can be good.”

“You promise? Good. Then, if you stay as still as possible for me, I’ll help you wait, okay?”

Galen squirmed at the mere thought. But he could sense that August wasn’t going to give him a better offer. “Yes, please, I promise…” His trailed off breathlessly as tears threaten the corners of his eyes.

August slowly let go of Galen’s wrists and, when he was sure the Omega wasn’t going to grab at him again, kissed Galen’s collarbone. He licked and nipped at the tight skin, before trailing down to Galen’s nipples. They were flushed red and erect, and August rolled one between his teeth, testing the tender flesh. Galen moaned and arched his back, but kept his hands to himself. He repeated the process with the other nipple, licking and sucking on the sensitive skin, while his hand teased the one he’d left behind.

As Galen grew more restless, August kissed and nipped his way down Galen’s body, licking off the moisture from the shower and replacing it with his own. Galen’s hands sliding fitfully against the bedsheets as he gasped and moaned, but he continued to obey August’s request.

August finally arrived at Galen’s cock, which was rock hard and swollen. He licked around the base, fondling Galen’s balls with his lips and lapping up the leaking precum, trailing it up all the way to its source. For a moment, he looked up, and saw Galen propping himself up and observing him, a desperate need evident on his face. “You’ve been good,” August said, and he took the head of Galen’s cock into his mouth as his Omega watched.

Galen shook with pleasure and moaned loudly, breaking eye contact. August’s mouth felt delicious, wet and warm and soft around him, and it felt almost like relief after the interminable teasing. August’s hand moved up and down along his length as his mouth sucked and bobbed. It felt like so much, and not nearly enough. He was half sitting at this point, biting on his hands to keep himself from touching August, lest the Alpha withdraw again. “I’ve been good…” Galen muttered, trying to encourage himself.

August paused him motion and looked up at him. After another moment of eye contact, he looked away. “Mmmmn…” August intoned, going back to his previous actions.

Galen felt the deep, sonorous vibrations play across his cock, and he bucked his hips in delight. “August, I’m good,” he repeated, and August hummed again, sending another wave of pleasure through the Omega. Having learnt a new trick, Galen repeated it several times, and each time, August’s response sent him closer to climax. He whined again, “I’m so good…”

This time, August laughed at him, but the staccato rhythm of the vibrations on his cock left Galen no chance to be embarrassed. He could only grip the sheets and arch his back as he ejaculated into his Alpha’s waiting mouth.

August managed to swallow without choking, secretly happy with this silly Galen’s performance. By this time, he was plenty hard again, and eager to finally do the marking. He teased Galen’s hole with the head of his cock as he chuckled. “You’re the best.”

Then he rammed himself into Galen until their hips were pressed together and Galen forgot whatever the joke was. August stretched him out and filled him up and reignited the need that had only just abated. Galen got lost in the sensation of August thrusting into him, rubbing his cock against his most sensitive place over and over. Each time, for only a moment, he felt like he was in bliss, but then August would pass over him, leaving him with a deep ache.

Galen moaned and cried and prayed for more while August watched him, his eyes clear and playful and predatory. Galen wrapped him arms around his Alpha, kissing and biting at his shoulders, seeking relief, and the elusive scent of freshwater beaches. Then, in one glorious movement, August pushed deeply into Galen’s second chamber, causing Galen to shudder and yelp and tighten his grip on the man.

August barely flinched as Galen began digging his nails into the skin of his back. He instead felt deeply gratified that his Omega was wrapped around him so completely, legs and arms and moans and the ever-present smell of fresh-cut grass. His skin felt warm and prickly where Galen’s fingers passed. Those hands were holding onto him as if he were driftwood, and not the current pushing to and fro. August could feel his muscles protesting again, but he could only push faster, further, harder into Galen, and make him scream and moan and beg a little more.

When August himself couldn’t take it anymore, he pushed Galen’s shoulders into the bed, forcing the creation of a space between them. His Omega’s fingernails left a series of parting gifts as they lost their purchase on his skin. “Fuck, August,” Galen mumbled incoherently, “I, I need…”

“I know, be good,” August replied. He brushed Galen’s still-wet hair off his neck, revealing the tender skin beneath. He leaned down and kissed it as he thrusted a few more times, feeling the vibrations coming from Galen’s throat. He ever-so-delicately ran over the gland with his teeth, and Galen sobbed, shuddering beneath him. Finally, he bit down hard, and fell once again into a world made only of Galen’s heat and scent.

Galen himself drowned endlessly in August’s pheromones. A scent that had been so scarce before pulled him down like an undertow, and he succumbed willingly to the overwhelming waves of pleasure that it brought. After a long while, he was vaguely aware of August wiping him down, then folding a blanket over him. He tried to reach out and touch him, but it seemed that he missed, or maybe he just fell asleep before he’d grasped anything.

*** Explicit scene ends ***

August was just going to leave when he felt something soft flit across his fingertips. He turned back to Galen and found that, between one second and the next, the Omega has fallen fully asleep, but one of his hands was hanging off the edge of the bed. August tenderly placed it back under the blanket before leaving Galen’s room, quietly closing the door behind him.

The next morning, August got up late. He was once again aching all over, and the scratches on his back stung quite a bit. By far the worst part was that, every time he moved, he remembered the previous day. Had he been rude? Did he underperform? He could never ask Galen these things, just hope that the other didn’t hate their arrangement.

August took as quick a shower as he could manage, but when he was done, he had still had to solve the problem of getting dressed. He didn’t want the scratches to break open and get blood on his shirt. As he mulled the problem over, he reached for his comm. He saw that Galen had actually left him a message earlier in the morning: When you’re up, I’ve got some bandages and stuff for you.

Galen was waiting downstairs, surrounded by a small army of recently-acquired medical sprays and gauzes, and trying not to die of embarrassment. He, with the notorious healing ability of an Omega, felt at most a little sore the next morning, with some light bruising where August had marked him, and a healthy appetite. He was also used to Alphas who loved to brag about how they were tough-as-nails super-soldiers that could chew bullets if they wanted. As he had been replaying the previous events in his mind, however, what August had been trying to tell him had finally clicked.

Because of his disease, August must have only been getting sicker at the time in his life when most Alphas were developing their constitutions. That meant, then, that not only must August have to pace himself, but that Galen had probably done some damage with his claws the night before. An outright apology would be worse than tasteless, so the least he could do was help with the aftermath. He unfolded his comm and started reading about wound care.

A few minutes later, August came downstairs with moisture-curly damp hair and a shirt slung over one arm. Galen carefully moderated his expression in front of the half-naked man. With no shirt, he could watch every muscle in August’s waist move, one stair at a time. But he couldn’t be caught staring. Fortunately, August was watching the steps, not him. Galen carefully turned his eyes back to his comm as August finished his descent, gaze averted before August looked up.

“So, uh,” August started, “the scratches aren’t a big deal, but I can’t reach all of them, and it’d be good if there was something between them and my shirt.” He set his shirt down on the table, pulled up a chair, and sat facing away from Galen.

Galen had a good view of August’s back, now. His shoulders and lats were streaked with red lines, and dotted scabs where the skin had broken. Fortunately, everything was quite shallow. Galen grimaced, and didn’t know what to say. So he just picked up a bottle of disinfectant and sprayed the area. Then, he used a cotton swab to diligently apply ointment to every red spot.

August was fine with the awkward silence. Since Galen was willing to do this, he didn’t want to insist it wasn’t necessary. But neither he nor Galen had anything to say to each other that wasn’t about the treatment, and it seemed that they both wanted to avoid that subject. So August continued to wait while Galen smoothed strips of adhesive bandage over the scratch marks. The fingernails that had been so persistent before now had only a gentle pressure behind them.

“Okay, I’m done, I think,” Galen eventually announced. August flexed his shoulders to make sure everything was in place, and thanked him. Galen hid his slight blush by organizing the medical supplies.

August put his shirt on, then checked the time on comm. “Oh,” he started, “it’s already this late?”

“You have something to do?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a meeting for a class project.”

Galen watched with calculated disinterest, chin propped on one hand, as August pulled some leftovers out of the kitchen and rushed upstairs to get his bag. With his shirt on, he was much less distracting, but Galen still enjoyed watching him move.

As August came back down, Galen noticed a wet patch on his shirt collar, where his hair must have dripped. The sight of it made Galen want to touch it again. Before August could rush out the door, he asked in his most casual voice, “Isn’t your hair still damp?”

August paused for a minute. It occurred to him that leaving the house with wet hair was kind of sloppy, but he had really run out of time. He smiled apologetically at Galen, “It’ll dry along the way. It’s really sunny out.”

Galen watched as August closed the door behind him, then rearranged the boxes on the table one more time. He really didn’t know what do with himself. One minute he resolved to keep his distance, the next he got strange thoughts in his head. He checked his face in the reflection of the comm, and held in a sigh.