Note: It's the penultimate chapter! After this is the final chapter, and then an epilogue.

Standing in the kitchen, Galen was relieved that August liked his idea, but he was nervous the next second when he saw what August was reaching for. He got even more nervous as he watched August reach for a paring knife and start shaping it. Perhaps he should have been more discerning in what he put out. “Ginger?” he asked lightly.

August heard his uneasy tone and looked over. “Um,” he said, his hands stalling, “is this a bad idea?”

“It’s a terrible idea,” Galen said, scrunching his face slightly. He should have guessed that August would like it. “But,” he added, “if you think it’ll be fun…”

“Yeah,” August smiled sheepishly, “I think it’ll be fun,” he turned back to his work on the ginger, laughing lightly at some devious imagining in his mind’s eye. “Can you take your sweater off and sit on the counter for me?”

*** Explicit scene starts ***

Galen did as he was asked, the cold material underneath him making him want to shiver. August covered the freshly peeled ginger nub in oil and brought it in front of him. For a moment, no one moved; August didn’t push him, but Galen also didn’t pull back. So August finally hooked his hand behind one of Galen’s knees, folding his leg up onto the counter and forcing Galen to lean back. A particularly tender place came into view.

Galen almost couldn’t bear to watch. There was a hungry expression on August’s face, and he wasn’t sure if the Alpha knew that he was literally licking his lips, canines peeking through the gap. August touched him tenderly, spreading him wider, pressing the slick ginger to his puckered hole.

Galen bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from hissing at the sting as August pushed it slowly inside of him. It was warm, and it burned, and it stung. August backed away and Galen tried to return to a more comfortable sitting posture, but whenever he moved, or whenever he didn’t, the sensation seemed to get worse.

August watched him keenly. At the moment, Galen lacked his usual grace. Instead, he moved gingerly, his eyebrows pinching together as he failed to get comfortable. He squinted in displeasure and slowly gyrated on the counter as if he were searching for just the right position. But he didn’t say anything, so August didn’t say anything either. Instead, he started stripping his own clothes off, folding them on the dining room table with Galen’s sweater.

Once August walked back over, Galen looked back up at him, his eyes filled with grievance. “Are you having fun?” he asked, a barbed complaint behind his words.

August wasn’t sure it was wise to answer that question honestly; however much fun he was having, Galen could revoke it in an instant, after all. He said lightly, “You can take it out, if you want,” and offered Galen a strawberry in the name of peace.

Galen looked at August’s long, clean fingers that were holding the fruit and gave a little sigh. It was hard to say no, after all. He gave August a quick glare then bent his head, provocatively biting the berry out of his hand, grazing his fingertips with his teeth. In his peripheral vision, he could see August’s muscles tense in response to his action. The sight gave him a thrill that momentarily rivaled the other hot sensation in his body.

Galen sat up straight again, and the burning sensation moved and adjusted with his posture. It was unpleasant enough to wet his eyes. Using this to his advantage, he blinked at August in faux innocence and watched the Alpha’s eyes go dark in front of him. August was certainly affected by Galen’s actions. The Omega’s eyes were wide and watery, his expression a mix of tension and submission, the moisture from the strawberry wetting his slightly parted lips with an alluring sheen, a soft pink tongue faintly visible behind. This cute and aggrieved performance appealed to him all the more for how obviously calculated it was, every action playing at his heartstrings with mastery.

August chuckled and moved closer until his hands were resting on the countertop to either side of Galen’s thighs, and Galen’s legs dangled on either side of his own. He leaned into Galen until he was close enough to reach out with his tongue and lick the juice off of the other’s lips. Galen made a little sound in response, and the next moment they were connected, lips to lips, teeth to teeth, tongue to tongue, with nothing but the taste of strawberry between them. Galen pressed into the kiss, craving the distraction it offered him. Wet and soft and yielding, it was everything the fiery ginger wasn’t, and the two sensations mixed in his body like oil and water.

As if by alchemy, a new sensation spread through Galen a moment later, sweeping out from his spine to strangle him in heat and longing. It merged every sensation together into one boiling hot discomfort until he could no longer distinguish between the ginger inside of him and the strawberry kiss. They both made him yearn for the same thing.

August felt the change in Galen, as what was soft became firm and what was calculating became desperate. He backed out of the kiss, Galen chasing after him, until he could take an admiring look at his Omega. He had a flush that spread from his ears through his cheeks and down across his collarbones. His mouth was agape with a string of drool winding down his chin. His eyes were welling up with tears, and his newly risen cock was welling up with precum. He made a whimpering noise and looked at August like he’d just kicked him.

August tucked a loose lock of Galen’s shiny blue hair behind his ear and inhaled the sharp scent of fresh cut grass, relishing the moment. Who knew how many more of them there’d be. “Fix your hair,” he said softly, “and then get on the floor on your hands and knees.”

Galen did what he asked with a little bit of encouragement and a fair bit of frustration. Once the Omega was on the floor with his hair firmly secured and out of the way, August grabbed the whipped cream and the chocolate sauce and sank down to his knees behind him. Galen wiggled his ass and August could see the external knob of the ginger move with it. He held out a hand to stop Galen from backing into him, his palm pressing into the pliant skin, warm and silky smooth; he couldn’t resist petting it with his thumb. “August…” Galen arched his spine and whined.

August knew what he wanted to do, but wasn’t sure if he could get Galen’s in-heat personality to go along with it. Still, he felt compelled to try. He leaned over and scraped along Galen’s shoulder with his teeth. “Ah!” Galen just about collapsed from the surprising touch. His arms buckled and he sank to his elbows.

August pressed his face to the back of Galen’s neck and formulated his request. “Do you want to make me happy?” he breathed.

“Mmn,” Galen stretched his neck and mumbled an affirmation.

Relieved, August continued, “Will you be good for me and keep me company?” he ran his nose across the tiny hairs of Galen’s nape.

“Ah—yess”

“Then bear with it for me,” August said. After a moment’s consideration, he took one of Galen’s hands in his own and brought it down to wrap around Galen’s own desperate cock. Hopefully that would make the waiting easier.

August then grabbed the chocolate sauce and started drizzling it across Galen’s bare back. He watched as the dark lines across his shoulders undulated and warped with his movement. He continued pouring crisscrossing lines down his spine and swirls across his hips, ending in sauce that dripped down his ass and trickled onto the pale backs of his thighs. August was mesmerized. He wanted to bite Galen right then and there. His gut was already searing with desire, his cock hard and wanting, his mouth dry and hungry. But he still had the patience to grab the whip cream.

The fuzzy noise of the nozzle and the cool touch of the cream caused Galen to shiver and cum onto the kitchen floor. August was intent on painting him edible, spraying cool whorls all over his back, but cruelly neglected the place most desperate for him. He really did seem to be having fun, playing with Galen’s body and watching his every reaction. After a moment, Galen’s heat came back over him and he moaned, rocking his hips back and smearing the dripping chocolate sauce against August’s waist. August said something that Galen couldn’t quite make out, and pet his cock in supplication.

Galen was buried alive in sensations. Hot hands and cool cream. Biting ginger and sticky chocolate. Need and need and burning heat and a cold hard floor beneath him. Slick cum and a few salty tears leaking down his face. He knew what he needed and he knew it was behind him and he knew it wanted him this way, so he offered up his pretty gingered ass and begged, “August, fuck me.”

“Soon.”

August bowed down and slowly bit into one pale round cheek, testing the strength of the skin. He pressed harder and harder until Galen yelped and bucked, and then he let go and licked all the chocolate off it. Galen screamed and moaned and twisted his spine trying alternately to move closer and get away. August licked and scraped at Galen’s skin until his whole ass was flush red and covered in his spit. Then he moved up, kissed Galen’s tailbone and the little dimples beside it, and started to repeat the process across the small of Galen’s back.

Galen wailed and sank closer to the floor, folding himself at the hips as August teased his skin with every sensation a mouth could make. “Please,” he moaned, his voice already hoarse, “please fuck me.” August hummed against his skin in response, sending a wave of tingles through his stomach to his cock. August continued to jerk him off with sporadic movements, half distracted by his feast, but it was enough to make Galen cum again.

August felt every ripple of Galen’s muscles as they flexed and contracted beneath his mouth and hands. Soon, they were vibrating and jerking with frustration as Galen wrapped his own hand around August’s and forced his movements, desperately milking his still hard cock.
“Don’t you want to fuck me?” Galen changed his approached, “Don’t you want to be inside of me? August?”

“I always want to fuck you.”

August played with the ginger in Galen’s ass for a minute, enjoying Galen’s varied and desperate reactions as he did so. He swallowed in anticipation and finally pulled it out, leaving the asshole empty and twitching. Galen sighed in relief and allowed August to extract his hand so that he could position himself nicely, lining up his aching cock with the hole that wanted him. Inch by sweet inch, he sank himself inside, holding Galen’s hips steady to better savour the process. “Does that feel good?” August couldn’t help but ask.

Galen couldn’t reply. For a moment he was in bliss. The tender heat of August’s flesh was a miracle compared to the harsh sting of the ginger. Even though he didn’t say anything, August heard the sound of more cum hitting the floor and was satisfied that his cock had brought Galen some sense of comfort.

August started to move slowly, careful not to rush things or lose control, gently stroking the inner slit. He kept firm control of Galen’s hips, holding them still, even as Galen writhed beneath him. He bent his head once again and returned to removing the remaining chocolate sauce. The whip cream had started melting and was running in rivulets across the smooth back, so he licked at it and lapped up the drips. Galen hissed and swore. Now he was dizzy with frustration at August’s slow and deliberate actions. “Mark me August,” he taunted in a hoarse voice, “I want to keep you inside of me forever.”

“Would you like that?” August murmured against his skin, “would you like me to stay inside? Do you want my scent on you forever?”

“Fuck me, mark me… you can have me”

August listened to the whining reply as he ran out of patience for the sauce. He pulled out for a moment to turn Galen around, a move which Galen eagerly completed. His fingers wove themselves into August’s hair and held onto him tightly, not letting him go until August reentered. He was fiercely kissed. Galen’s tongue laid claim to his mouth as he moaned deeply, the vibrations tickling August’s throat. August kissed him back until the claw clip made a scratching noise against the floor.

August sighed in contentment as he felt Galen’s thighs wrap around him like a vice. He was uninterested in teasing the Omega any longer, so he abandoned his restraint and started thrusting fast and deep into Galen’s innermost part. Galen’s arms wound around August, seeking a sense of security. A few of his nails were long enough to leave scratches, but even the ones that weren’t were pressed so tightly into August’s skin he suspected they’d leave bruises. He willed himself to move faster and give the other more reason to hold him.

Galen was losing himself in the waves of heat and pleasure that August provided. He felt that he had everything but wasn’t satisfied at all, just wilder and more desperate to take his Alpha down with him. In between his gasps and moans, Galen avenged himself upon August’s shoulders, leaving bite and kiss marks across their span and up and down August’s neck. He delighted in making August jump in shock and delighted even more when August punished him with a relentless and dizzying assault.

August closed his eyes and focused solely on the sensations around him. He existed in a gradient, with cool air on his back and a warm and soft body pressed flush against his front and a desperate hotness connecting them at the waist. The air was moist with their breath and sweat and every inch of skin between them had gotten sticky with something or other. The sweet smell of sugar was buried beneath an enticing haze of fresh cut grass. He put his hand on Galen’s shoulder and pinned the Omega to the floor.

Galen whimpered at the slightest separation but moaned in satisfaction when August kissed him again. The memory of strawberry lingered between their teeth, mixing strangely with the bitter, earthy, sharp, and sweet scents amongst them. August buried his tongue in Galen’s mouth and intermingled with the other until his lungs screamed for air.

He lightly kissed the corner of Galen’s mouth, and his jaw, and his throat, as Galen sobbed and murmured soft words at him. Finally, he kissed Galen’s most delicate skin, a hopelessly fragile film between August’s canines and Galen’s heat. August bit down hard. His teeth tore through the last boundary between them, and submerged Galen in a world of only him, only his scent, only the irreducible alchemy of the Alpha’s pheromones and the Omega’s mark.

*** Explicit scene ends ***

August collapsed beside Galen and had to catch his breath, his head spinning. As he cooled down, the sticky floor beneath them became unpleasant. Galen had closed his eyes and was curling up beside him. If August didn’t move him, he’d probably just go to sleep in the middle of the kitchen. He groaned and forced himself to stand up.

Just that act was enough to tell August that there was no way he would be able to carry Galen back upstairs. Fortunately, the guest room had an ensuite. “I’ll be right back,” he told Galen, popping a painkiller for his musclesnand stumbling his way out of the kitchen. He ran the water in the bathtub until the temperature was right, quickly wiped himself down, then went back and carried a sleepy Galen over for a bath.

Galen mutter something about not needing it, but he nevertheless cooperated as August wiped him down. “Feels nice,” he admitted as August washed miscellaneous gunk out of his hair. He leaned against him as August toweled them off and sighed contentedly when he was placed on the guest bed. But he made sure to keep his arms hooked around August’s neck until the man laid down beside him.

August pulled the covers over them and ignored the mess in the kitchen. Instead, he waited as Galen fell asleep curled into his side. He was unbelievably warm and unbelievably soft, and August could faintly detect his own pheromones emanating off of the mark he’d left in the crook of his neck. He quietly admitted to himself that maybe he really was almost like a proper Alpha, or at least he could be, as he wrapped himself around Galen like a dragon and his treasure.

After a long while, August realized he’d have to do something. He got up despite the protests of his instincts and his muscles, and went to set the kitchen in order. He wanted to make Galen something he could eat in bed for supper.