Work Text:
~
“What do alphas like?”
He’s staring at Javier with mild interest, as if asking about the weather. Slowly, Javier asks, “Pardon?”
“You know,” he insists.
He shoves away his laptop and leans in closer—Javier takes in one whiff of that honey-sweet scent before turning his head away, forcing himself to breathe through his mouth.
“I don’t.”
“Sex, you big idiot. What gets an alpha turned on?”
“That’s—” Javier feels his face flush. “That’s personal.”
Lloyd doesn’t seem deterred by his glare—but Lloyd’s never been one to get intimidated by an alpha’s indignation, and Javier has never been an exception.
Javier tries to slide away but Lloyd is already crowding against him, his hand bracing itself on Javier’s knee as he leans in, his shirt dipping with the motion. Javier’s eyes wander down before he can help it, tracing over the subtle curve of Lloyd’s collarbone into those shadows.
“Come on, tell me,” Lloyd says, grinning.
“No.”
“Please?”
“Have you finished your lab?” Javier asks. “You said it was due at midnight—”
“Don’t change the subject.” He slips under Javier’s arm as Javier tries to push him away, undeterred. “What turns you on?”
Your laugh. Your attention. The scent of honey. When you tease me, get handsy with me, leave the top two buttons of your shirt undone to expose your scent glands—
“Hm,” Javier grunts.
Lloyd leans in until their lips are almost brushing—it makes Javier’s breath hitch, then he flinches back when Lloyd blows a raspberry at him. “You’re so fucking boring,” he complains.
Then he does a double-take at Javier’s face and smiles. It’s the same smile he always gets when Javier is about to be roped into some terrible scheme, and it is not the least bit reassuring.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Lloyd offers.
“I’m not interested.”
“If you tell me what alphas like…” Lloyd ducks in, his lips tracing the curve of Javier’s ear as he whispers, “I’ll show you what omegas like.”
The refusal dries up in Javier’s throat. “... Show me?”
Lloyd bites his lip, the smile still tugging at his face—then he abruptly stands up and whirls around. “Stay there,” he tells Javier, before slipping past the curtains into his nest. Javier tries not to look too curiously at the thin glimpse he sees—soft blankets, a large mattress from wall to wall—as the curtain falls.
Lloyd’s condo is fancy, a bachelor pad in a high-end area that was a fifteen-minute drive away from campus—but it didn’t matter when his parents bought him a brand-new hatchback to go along with the apartment. A gift for his acceptance to Magentano University. It was a sporty red vehicle that smelled like Lloyd and clean leather, and Javier could barely spend those fifteen minutes in it without going insane.
He would spend the drive with his hands politely clasped in his lap as Lloyd cranked up the radio and chatted loudly. Javier would probably scold him for his driving, if his jaw wasn’t clenched hard enough to crack teeth, his canines aching as he swallowed down the drool pooling in the back of his throat.
“This!” he hears Lloyd exclaim proudly.
His shadow shifts behind that thin veil, then Lloyd is ducking back into the room. He’s carrying a stuffed animal with him, and he sits down and plops it into Javier’s lap, staring at him expectantly.
“... Ppodong?” Javier recalls, and Lloyd beams.
“It’s so good for heat cramps,” he says.
He reaches out and presses it flat against Javier’s stomach. It’s hefty, and something shifts inside like the gentle sound of dry rice. It’s the heat aid that they saw at the mall a while ago—at a cutesy, soft-coloured omega store that Lloyd wanted to go inside to browse at.
It threw Javier off. Lloyd never seemed that in touch with typical omega things. He worked in manual labour over the summer at his parents’ construction company. He kept his physique trained and masculine. He was majoring in civil engineering as one of the only omegas in the program.
“So?” Lloyd had demanded, when Javier teased him about it. “I like this shit, sometimes. What are you going to do about it?”
Javier was going to buy it for him. He’d been mentally planning how to afford it when Lloyd had walked ahead and bought it himself—once again reminding Javier that Lloyd is an omega who is very, very far out of his league.
People asked, of course. It was uncommon for an alpha and omega to spend so much time together unless courting, but it was hard to call any outing a date when Lloyd had to pay for everything.
They both knew Javier was pinching pennies even with his athletics scholarship. If Javier’s shift ran late at the grocery store where he worked part-time, and the buses had stopped for the night, he would go outside to find Lloyd’s car waiting for him in the parking lot.
“Working hard or hardly working?” Lloyd would ask with a shit-eating grin.
Then, when Javier insisted he didn’t need a ride, “Shut the fuck up and get in, loser.”
Lloyd made fun of him, but he was always there no matter how late it was or how busy classes were. If even Lloyd was being nice about something for once, then Javier must seem pitifully broke to his standards. He never lets Javier pay for anything, always batting Javier’s hands away to tap his shiny black credit card without a word, not even glancing at the price tag.
It made his inner alpha want to curl up and die of shame.
He’s not oblivious. He knows that he’s attractive and Lloyd is interested in him—plenty of omegas have asked if he wanted to assist with their heats—but he wants more from Lloyd than a casual hook-up.
He’s building his savings, steadily. Lloyd offered that if he has a hard time finding full-time work after they graduate, he can come work for the Frontera company. It would be less ideal than standing on his own, but it would be a starting point. He’ll be a worthy suitor one day, someone that Lloyd would consider as a mate for life.
He just has to keep Lloyd’s interest until then.
Which leaves Javier in his current situation: clutching a honey-soaked heat toy to his lap, in a desperate attempt to hide his erection from the omega of his dreams.
“It’s nice,” Javier forces out.
Lloyd hums and leans against him, slotting into his side as the perfect picture of innocence. Carefully, Javier props up a knee and adjusts before handing Ppodong back to Lloyd.
Lloyd takes it from his grip without a word, holding Ppodong belly-up. “And it has a scent pad, here.”
He doesn’t wait for Javier to look at it before he presses it into the crook of Javier’s neck. It fills Javier’s nose with Lloyd’s scent, sugar and honey with the most addictive trace of arousal and god, slick—
Javier shoves it away. “What are you doing?”
Lloyd stares at him, nonplussed. “Take off your patches.”
Not happening. They were the only reason Javier maintained any semblance of decency in Lloyd’s presence. He had to buy the heavy-duty ones, thick gauze pads that stuck to his scent glands and prevented any trace of his pheromones from leaking out. When he finally peeled them off at the end of the day, it was a cold and sticky sensation akin to sweating through his shirt.
“If an alpha scents it, it’s supposed to last for a whole heat.” Lloyd shakes Ppodong pointedly. “But I’ve never been able to test it.”
“Test it—” Javier chokes off.
Are you having a heat this year? It would be inappropriate of him to ask, but Lloyd was the one who shared that he was on birth control. Some omegas elected to skip their heat entirely.
“I like that you can cool it in the freezer, and it’s handy that it has a washable cover, but—” Lloyd tosses the stuffie between his hands. “Wouldn’t it suck to be in the middle of a heat and realise the scent doesn’t last as long as it claims? It really needs to be tested first.”
He tries to grab at Javier’s neck again, fingers dipping under Javier’s collar to tug at the scent patch before Javier pushes his hand down again.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Javier says, sending him a knowing look.
Lloyd pouts at him. He lets out a resigned, dramatic sigh as he finally shifts away, providing enough breathing room for Javier to fix his collar—then he turns back and tackles Javier to the floor.
Tries to, at least, because Javier goes rigid and unmoving. The result is Lloyd hanging off his shoulders, half in his lap as he tries to slip another hand past Javier’s collar.
“Lloyd—”
When Javier bares his teeth finally, snarling at him, he lets out a delighted sound and tries again, shoving all his weight onto Javier until they finally tip over onto the floor—and Javier’s snarl trails off into a choked sound. He has to bite his lip to suppress the smile tugging at it.
He cannot laugh right now or Lloyd will never be deterred, but it’s hard to remain stoic when Lloyd is like this—his laugh infectious, dimples and honey, soft hair falling over his face as he wrestles against Javier’s limbs.
Lloyd said that he has a younger brother, an alpha named Julian that he loves to bully. It explains why he’s far too comfortable rough-housing on the bare floor.
Javier goes limp—Lloyd jumps at the opportunity like a bloodhound, pinning his wrists with a victorious cry. Much like the rest of their bouts, Lloyd wins, and they don’t acknowledge it’s because Javier lets him.
“What must I do for you to finally drop this?” Javier asks tiredly, looking up at him.
“Hm…” Lloyd grins, leaning in closer. He adjusts in Javier’s lap and makes no comment of the prominent bulge pressing against him. “I guess I’ll settle for a kiss.”
“... Fine,” Javier whispers.
Lloyd blinks. He still seems to be questioning the response as Javier slowly lifts his head up and pecks him on the cheek, just at the corner of his mouth.
Lloyd behaves for the rest of the night. He drives Javier home when it gets late, and the car fills with the pleasing scent of honey, stronger than before. Javier hopes the rumble of the engine is loud enough to disguise his purring.
~
Less commonly, Lloyd visits him at the fraternity.
“What’s this?”
“Stop going through my things,” Javier tells him, hastily shoving his bedside drawer closed.
At least Lloyd ignored the silicone rut-toy in there, in favour of plucking out the orange pill vial with the bolded letters Alphablok. He reads over the prescription label blatantly, and Javier isn’t sure if this is a better or worse invasion of his privacy.
“Why are you on this? Got prostate cancer?”
“No, it suppresses ruts—”
When Lloyd throws his head back and cackles, Javier realises it was a joke.
Glaring, Javier snatches it back from him. Lloyd lets him take the pill vial with a chuckle, settling back onto the bed. Javier watches him stretch out his body with a long sigh, how he turns his head to nuzzle against the sheets.
Scenting Javier’s den right in front of him. Lloyd has been more shameless with his flirting lately.
And he smells divine.
Javier breathes carefully through his nose. The sugary scent of honey was filling the confined space of his room, appetizing enough to make his mouth water.
Nothing has gone untouched. Lloyd will casually rub at the back of his neck before tracing his fingers along the surface of Javier’s desk, his windowsill, his textbooks lined up neatly on the shelf.
He even wandered over to Javier’s closet earlier to sift through his clothing and scented every piece. When he finally found Javier’s dark navy hoodie buried in the laundry basket, Lloyd pressed his face into it with a soft sigh, before tugging it out of the hamper and pulling it on without a blink. Javier tried not to look too pleased.
From the bed, Lloyd opens his eyes and sends him an amused glance.
“You’re still on the floor,” Lloyd says. “Come ‘ere.”
Javier shrugs. “I don’t mind.”
“Javier,” he calls, chuckling. “I’m telling you to get up here and fuck me.”
Choking, Javier says firmly, “Lloyd.”
Lloyd stares back at him. “Alpha.”
“Don’t—” Javier swallows. “You shouldn’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
Because it makes me want to pin you down and—
“... I’m comfortable where I am,” Javier finally says.
“Fine,” Lloyd says, sitting up. “Then stay there and watch.”
Lloyd kicks open his bedside drawer. Javier can already tell what he’s reaching in for, but he still feels his face set aflame as Lloyd pulls out the silicone toy. He tests the weight of it in his hands with naked fascination.
“And here I thought you were strapped for cash,” Lloyd muses as his fingers trace over the fleshy rim.
“… The cheap ones break too easily,” Javier confesses softly.
He sees Lloyd’s pupils dilate. That honey scent in the air darkens into something smooth like molasses.
It had been a worthwhile investment. It was the day of their first outing, when Lloyd invited him out for lunch after their single shared class, a sociology elective focused on gender dynamics.
Javier tried to politely decline—he didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of admitting to Lloyd that he couldn’t afford it—but Lloyd grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along anyway. He didn’t realise until later that Lloyd scented his sleeve with the gesture.
How devious. It could have been excused as an absent-minded accident, if not for how Lloyd threw his arms over Javier’s neck and hugged him tightly when they said goodbye, covering himself in Javier’s scent. “You smell like rain water,” he whispered in Javier’s ear, before waltzing away with a wink thrown over his shoulder.
That night, Javier went back to his dorm and broke his only rut-toy, then fucked his hand raw.
He was so feverish as he buried his face in his own sweater, still tantalizing with the last traces of Lloyd’s scent, that in the midst of it all, he worried he’d somehow gone into rut despite his suppressants. It wasn’t until the next morning, when he woke up still purring and nuzzling into the fabric, that he finally realised—he’d imprinted on Lloyd.
“Do you think about me while using this?” Lloyd asks, prodding at the toy.
Javier watches his hands, hypnotized. “I think about you all the time.”
Lloyd laughs. “Good answer.”
Then he hikes up his legs and pulls off his sweatpants, tossing them off the bed. He’s wearing thread-bare cotton briefs underneath, so tiny that Javier can barely see them under the plush fabric of Javier’s hoodie. Javier’s eyes wander over the soft skin of his thighs. They look freshly-shaved.
Lloyd spreads his legs and settles the toy in between them, nestled up against his groin.
“When you touch me…” he says, his fingers slowly stroking over the fake folds of skin. “Hm, the first time, just pin me down and do whatever you want. But the second time, you should go slow, like this…”
Lloyd slides two fingers between the folds—and when they slip inside, he lets out a fascinated sound, a soft gasp as he curls them deeper.
“There’s no clit,” he remarks, thumbing at the top of it. “This is where it should be, by the way. Remember that.”
Javier tries to evaluate the situation that he’s found himself in. He comes up with the observation that although the brand advertised realistic skin, Lloyd’s complexion is far more tan and golden than the artificial pink.
“And—” Lloyd’s fingers crook, curling deeper until his palm is firmly lodged up against the rim— “This is the angle I like. You can really hammer me, too. I like it hard.”
Lloyd fidgets in place, his thighs shuffling and squeezing around the toy. He watches his own fingers pull out slowly from the folds, then raises his gaze to look at Javier.
“You’re drooling,” Lloyd says with a lopsided grin.
Javier hastily wipes at his mouth. It’s hard to tell when there’s blood rushing through his gums, a heavy pressure building in his soft palate that makes it painful to swallow. His venom glands are swelling up—but with suppressants, they produce nothing more than an ache.
Whatever Lloyd sees in his expression seems to satisfy him. He stands from the bed and slips his sweatpants back on, before traipsing over and dropping into Javier’s lap. He wraps a leg around Javier’s waist and nuzzles against Javier’s cheek.
“If this one breaks, don’t buy a new one,” he whispers, pressing the toy into Javier’s hands. “You can use me instead.”
~
“Distracted?”
Lloyd nudges him, and Javier shakes his head.
“No,” he answers.
Lloyd grins, humming as he goes back to scrolling through his phone. Javier watches the rapid movement of his fingers as he alternates between different windows, sending texts or scrolling through videos that he occasionally replays, holding it up for Javier to pay attention to.
They met at one of the student lounges to study between classes, but neither of them have been very productive.
Lloyd made a big show of fussing with the opposite couch and arranging his laptop and textbooks—but somehow, he ended up settling into Javier’s side, coaxing Javier’s arm over his shoulders before Javier even knew what he was doing.
It gave Javier a glorious mouthful of Lloyd’s honey scent. He’s been purring incessantly, and every time he manages to smother it, Lloyd will shift his head to glance at him—ever-so-subtly nuzzling their cheeks together—and the rumbles will come back full-force.
“Take a photo with me,” Lloyd says, holding out his phone.
By the time Javier looks up, Lloyd is already done taking it—the photo has Lloyd smirking lazily at the camera while Javier is still blatantly staring at him with an expression that makes Javier flush. He doesn’t look subtle at all.
“Hunk,” Lloyd teases, as he swipes through different filters. “You’re so damn hot. You really could be a model.”
Javier shrugs.
He’d looked into it the first time Lloyd joked about it—it was a more dignified position for an alpha bachelor than stocking shelves at a discount grocer, but it hadn’t been as fruitful as Javier hoped. It was double the effort for the same minimal pay, and he refused to take a job that would interfere with his class schedule. The coursework itself wasn’t the issue—that he could make up in his own time, but…
Lloyd’s engineering classes were full of alphas.
It was non-negotiable that Javier had to be on-campus every day. He meets Lloyd between classes when time permits, and he has to walk Lloyd to his car at the end of the day.
Lloyd always goes around with uncovered scent glands, the top button of his shirt undone and no collar in sight. With such an overt signal of available and looking, alphas tended to swarm Lloyd like a bloodbath. Most were respectful of Javier’s unofficial claim, or at least deterred by Javier looming behind Lloyd’s shoulder like a shadow—but with neither a bond bite nor a courtship collar, Javier didn’t have a true leg to stand on.
“How’s this one?” Lloyd asks, holding up his phone.
“It’s nice,” Javier compliments. “Send it to me.”
Lloyd nods and swipes through his phone. Javier gets a brief glimpse of his contact list and his stomach drops when he sees the name, Alicia M, with an unread message trailing off as Have you finished the lab for—
“You…” Javier treads carefully. “Do you talk to Alicia a lot?”
“Ew,” Lloyd says with an affronted look. “Fuck no.”
He slaps Javier over the head with his phone, and somehow settles with his arms slung over Javier’s neck, so Javier isn’t paying attention very well as Lloyd continues scolding him.
“We’re just friends, barely. I can’t stand alphas like her, so fucking arrogant.”
Javier supposes a little arrogance is warranted when Alicia is the most desirable alpha on campus—the wealthy, charismatic student council president. Javier can tell they sit together during Lloyd’s comp-sci class, because when Javier next sees him, he has the lingering trace of her scent, an airy fragrance like expensive perfume.
Alpha to alpha, Javier has more in common with a speck of dirt.
Lloyd’s eyes narrow, scrutinizing over Javier's face for a long moment—then he grins.
“You know what I like in an alpha, Javier?” he asks, sitting up.
“This again?” he asks, turning his face away.
“I like alphas who are shy,” Lloyd says, staring at him intently. “I think it’s real cute when they purr and all that clingy shit but can’t look me in the eye. Or when they don’t know how to flirt back so they just let me hang off them and pretend to be uninterested.”
Javier swallows, and doesn’t acknowledge how he starts purring even louder.
“It’s hot to think about what they’ll do when they’re too riled up and finally snap,” Lloyd murmurs. “See them get all assertive to take what they want.”
Lloyd shifts his weight onto him, closer enough for Javier to kiss. His breath teases at Javier’s ear and causes him to shiver.
“And I think it’s really hot when you can feel how hard their cock is through their pants,” Lloyd whispers.
“L-Lloyd,” he scolds, and his own voice sounds horribly flustered to his ears.
Lloyd leans in with a purr and Javier automatically lifts his chin for Lloyd to nuzzle at his scent gland. “If we weren’t in public, I’d bite you,” Lloyd tells him, stroking a finger over the curve of his ear. “Right here.”
Then Lloyd backs away and stands up, grabbing his bag and starting to pack up his things.
“Class is starting soon,” he says easily. “Coming?”
When Lloyd drops him off at work that evening, he leans over and nips Javier on the ear before cheerily waving him out the door and driving off. Javier doesn’t think of much else for the rest of the night.
~
Lloyd: I’m skipping classes by the way
Javier glances next to him at Lloyd’s empty seat. He thought that Lloyd’s engineering course was simply running over time. Lloyd has never missed a class before, let alone intentionally skipped one.
Javier: Are you okay?
Lloyd: Yeah just busy and don’t feel like going
Javier: I’ll send you the notes.
He waits as Lloyd types a response, the little speech bubble of dots holding for a long moment, before disappearing entirely. It makes Javier frown.
He scrolls up to their previous messages. It’s a lot of random texts from Lloyd, heart emojis and flirty innuendos, regular back-and-forths of various topics—but Lloyd didn’t message this morning as he usually does. Javier hadn’t wanted to over-think it at the time, but now he could feel the worry growing in his gut.
Lloyd wouldn’t be joining him for lunch today, nor would they have their daily scenting, as informal and unspoken as it was.
For a proper courtship, an omega skipping a scenting was akin to funeral bells.
—But they’re not in a proper courtship, so it shouldn’t matter. Javier swallows down the whine building in the back of his throat.
Javier: Do you have something due tonight?
Then, when he checks his phone after his last class to see that Lloyd still hasn’t responded—
Javier: I can bring you snacks after my shift. I have things to work on too.
Lloyd: No don’t bother, it’ll be late
That’s all that comes. No cheeky comments about Javier needing to stay the night, or bold-faced propositions to sleep in Lloyd’s nest if he gets tired.
Work passes in a daze for him—his alpha is restless in his chest, pacing back and forth, and as soon as his night shift ends, he catches the last bus and heads to Lloyd’s condo with two overflowing grocery bags.
Even if it will just be a brief moment, he needs to see Lloyd. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep tonight without a scenting. Based on how his throat is already rumbling with a beckoning purr as he waits in the elevator, he might not be able to leave the building unless Lloyd spares him some affection.
When he reaches Lloyd’s door, he sets down the bags and rings the bell once.
Eventually, he hears Lloyd’s footsteps, hesitant, approaching the door from the other side—then his phone starts ringing. Javier answers it and brings it to his ear.
“Why the hell are you here?”
Javier startles at the hard edge to his voice. Lloyd sounds exhausted.
“I… I brought you ice cream,” he offers.
“You—” He hears Lloyd sigh. “You need to go home. I told you not to come over. Fuck, did you take the last bus?”
Javier’s stomach drops. It’s likely the sensation of his alpha falling to the bottom of his gut and rolling belly-up at Lloyd’s mercy. “I can walk home,” he answers easily. Based on how this has gone, Lloyd won’t be driving him.
“No, that’s like two hours. I’ll call you an Uber or something, just— Just go wait in the lobby.”
“Should we—” Javier hesitates. “Should we scent each other before I leave?”
“No, Javier. Just go.”
Before he can help it, he whines.
Lloyd pauses over the line for a long moment—then the door whips open.
“Fuck, fine. Get in here.”
Javier takes one breath and his mind goes blank.
Lloyd smells like honey, alluringly sweet as it washes over him, warm amber that coats the back of his throat. Before he can help it, his lips part and he takes another long inhale.
“Brought the whole damn store with you,” Lloyd grumbles.
He’s bringing in the bags and pushing Javier through the door, before hastily slamming it shut. Javier numbly lets Lloyd maneuver him around, too occupied with staring transfixed at Lloyd’s covered scent glands. It’s the first time Lloyd has ever worn patches around him.
“You’re in heat,” Javier breathes.
“No shit,” Lloyd responds, before turning around and retreating back into his nest with the bags. It isn’t until the curtains snap shut in Javier’s face that he realises he’s following at Lloyd’s heels like a dog with a bone.
Politely, with all the restraint that he has in him, Javier takes a seat on the floor. He watches silently as Lloyd unpacks his offerings behind the thin screen.
There seems to be a system to where things go—the chip bags and candy bars are tucked in random spots, the toiletries and spa products are neatly placed back in the bag—and when Lloyd pulls out the plushie, a pink worm-shaped creature with a little gold bell, he examines it with an approving sound, scents it, before carefully placing it beside Ppodong where it rests on a throw pillow.
You’re nesting, Javier thinks, his chest fluttering with the thought.
“You didn’t tell me you were in heat,” Javier says.
“I’m in heat,” Lloyd says. “Happy?”
Javier glares at him—or tries to, but he can feel how his face erupts into a smile.
Lloyd is grouchy and moody and smells like honey. Javier can’t get enough of it. His throat is rumbling with shameless purrs. He almost falls over himself, leaning forward in Lloyd’s direction as if magnetised, giddy and love-sick, mouth watering and gut pooling with arousal.
The charm of an omega in heat really is something to behold.
“I love you,” Javier says.
“Oh fuck,” Lloyd mutters. “You really have to go.”
Javier bites his lip. Lloyd takes one look at him and groans, putting his face in his hands.
“Stop with the puppy eyes,” Lloyd grunts. “This is why I didn’t want you to see me like this. I knew you’d be all—”
Javier perks up as he watches Lloyd stand and slide the curtains open. He points at Javier with a finger and sends him a firm look.
“We’re scenting each other, then you’re leaving.”
Javier quickly nods. Lloyd scoffs at him—but it’s hard not to look eager as Lloyd kneels next to him and leans in. Up close, he can see that Lloyd’s pupils are dilated.
When their necks press together, Javier’s entire body trembles.
He keeps his hands clenched in his lap and obediently tilts his chin up as Lloyd nuzzles into the crook of his shoulder. Lloyd’s skin is warm, feverish, and the soft friction of his clothing as he presses close causes goosebumps to rise on Javier’s skin.
Lloyd is still wearing his scent patches—but the rush of endorphins with the gesture is all the same, and that honey-sweet scent has soaked through the apartment, so saturated in the air that Javier wonders if it’s slowly melting onto him in a sticky coating. There’s a heady trace of something that Javier realises to be slick leaking through Lloyd’s clothes.
Lloyd makes a soft, startled sound, and Javier realises he’s shoving his nose into Lloyd’s collarbone.
“J-Javier…” he whispers. Then, more breathlessly as Javier nips at the corner of his scent patch— “Hahn—! God, you’re…”
Javier’s hands are wandering over Lloyd without a thought. He reaches under Lloyd’s baggy sweater to feel along the curve of his ribcage—and when Javier pushes gently, Lloyd lies back on the floor and brings Javier with him.
He gasps when Javier settles between his thighs, hooks his legs around Javier’s waist and pulls him close—their groins press flush with the most perfect pressure against Javier’s aching length, and Javier ruts onto him with a groan, panting into his neck. Lloyd moans every time Javier rocks their bodies together, arches his neck and bares his covered scent glands in a sublime display.
“Lloyd,” he chokes out, desperately—and Lloyd’s eyes fly wide open as if electrocuted.
He scrambles away from Javier, retreating back into his nest and slamming the curtains shut. It rips a growl out of Javier’s throat, but he’s able to stop himself from giving chase.
It’s a very, very good thing that he’s on suppressants right now.
“We’re being stupid,” Lloyd groans. Javier can see how his fists are clenched tight into the fabric of the curtains. “You need to leave.”
“I can—” Javier swallows thickly. “I can heat-share for you.”
“No,” Lloyd says immediately. “No— Don’t, don’t say that.”
Another whine escapes his throat. “Why not?”
Lloyd lets out a short breath. He turns around to meet Javier’s eyes through the curtains with a level stare.
“I know you don’t like me, Javier.”
“I do,” he protests in sheer disbelief.
“Yeah. I’ve given you every green light, I throw piles of cash in your face at any opportunity, I’m basically humping your leg and you won’t start a courtship—” Lloyd lets out a sharp laugh, rubbing at his face. “God, you won’t even fuck me unless I’m in heat—”
“I do like you, Lloyd,” he promises, but Lloyd shakes his head.
“Don’t worry,” he mumbles. “I’ll still give you rides and stuff. It’s okay if you’re just with me for the money. It’s not like I bring much else to the table—” Lloyd starts sniffling, and Javier jolts upright. “Ugh, I hate these fucking heat hormones.”
Javier tugs at the curtain. “Can I come in?”
“No,” Lloyd says, but he still sounds watery.
Javier quickly amends, “I want to come in. Please?”
Silently, Lloyd releases the curtains and clambers deeper into his nest, collapsing with a soft thump into the blankets.
He watches sullenly as Javier enters, and Javier can’t quite conceal his reaction when the smell of slick and arousal hits him full-force, a shaky moan escaping his lips as he sits down on the edge of the mattress and carefully adjusts in his pants.
Lloyd grabs his new gift off the pillow and holds it out to Javier.
“Scent this,” he says, and it’s clearly not a request.
Nodding, Javier takes the heat-toy from him. He peels his scent patch off with a shuddered breath—when Javier’s pheromones hit the air, Lloyd lets out a soft moan and rubs his thighs together restlessly. The little bell jingles as Javier brings the heat-toy to his neck and holds it there for a long moment.
“Have you thought of a name?” Javier asks as he hands it back.
Lloyd flicks the bell, causing it to make a scattered clinking noise. “Bangul, I think.”
Javier nods. Lloyd is still staring at him.
“I can throw that away for you,” he says, pointing at Javier’s hand.
Javier hesitates, before gingerly offering up his used patch. Lloyd takes it without another word, peels off his own scent patch and replaces it with Javier’s.
“The other one, too,” Lloyd whispers, and Javier is reaching up to rip it off so fast that the rest of his skin almost comes with it.
Javier expects him to place it on his other scent gland, but instead Lloyd reaches down and places the patch on his leg just where exposed under the hem of his pajama shorts—high up in that enchanting groove of his inner thigh—and when he shuffles, Javier can see that he’s not wearing any underwear.
He feels something cold at the corner of his mouth and hastily wipes the drool from his chin, swallowing.
“I’ve imprinted on you,” Javier confesses.
Lloyd huffs. “If you like me so much, why aren’t we courting?”
“We will,” Javier promises. “I’m saving up for a collar—”
Lloyd interrupts him with a loud snort. “Nice excuse. You can buy one at Walmart for twenty bucks—”
“I’m not buying your courtship collar from—” Javier cuts off with a sigh. “Is it so bad that I want to do one thing properly for you?”
“You’re on financial aid. Your entire wardrobe is made of polyester. We’ll both be fucking dead before you can afford a proper collar.”
“I’ll take a loan,” Javier tells him.
Lloyd groans. “Do not ruin your life chasing heat pussy, Javier.”
“That’s not what I’m—” Lloyd just shrugs, and Javier realises, “You don’t believe me when I say that I love you.”
“I’m in heat,” Lloyd mutters. “You’ll say whatever I want to hear.”
Frowning, Javier approaches him slowly, maneuvering over the arrangement of pillows and blankets until he’s kneeling next to Lloyd, close enough that the tantalizing scent of slick becomes unavoidable.
“You bring lots to the table,” Javier says quietly.
Lloyd scoffs, so Javier settles down next to him and reaches out to brush the hair from his forehead in a soothing motion. Lloyd’s skin is clammy. He once told Javier that the hot flashes were one of the worst parts of having a heat.
“You’re smart, and hard-working,” Javier tells him, adjusting to pull Lloyd against him. “You always have an answer for everything. I love how loyal you are to your family. You take care of me and spoil me.”
“Alright, you can stop buttering me up now,” Lloyd sighs, so Javier climbs over him and pins his wrists. Lloyd gasps, blinking rapidly as he stares up at Javier.
“And you drive me crazy,” Javier whispers.
Lloyd swallows. “What are you doing, Javier?” he asks. It comes out breathlessly.
“You said…” Javier’s eyes trail down to the soft shadow of his jugular furrow. “You said for our first time, I could do whatever I wanted.”
He reaches down to place his mouth on Lloyd’s neck, but Lloyd stops him by the shoulders.
“You should go home,” Lloyd whispers.
When Javier opens his mouth to protest, Lloyd makes a frustrated sound and pushes at him.
“Please. I don’t think I can—” Lloyd groans and rolls away from him. “Once this happens, I’m not letting you leave or change your mind,” he mumbles. “If you still want me once your head’s clear, then come back tomorrow.”
“... Alright,” Javier agrees.
Lloyd nods and shuts his eyes. He doesn’t seem to have anything else to say. Javier considers reaching out to pet his hair one last time—but by the way Lloyd’s pheromones were saturating the air, it would only make things harder for both of them.
As he slips out of Lloyd’s nest, Lloyd suddenly sits up.
“Javier?” he calls. “If you really meant it, then— Then stop taking your pills.”
Javier’s heart jumps in his chest. He can feel his throat rumbling as his alpha rears its head with a growl.
They both know what it means for an alpha to stop taking suppressants.
Javier nods, and leaves Lloyd’s apartment quietly. He hears the lock click behind him as he stands in the hallway, and thinks of Lloyd on the other side as his mouth waters.
~
He can tell when the suppressants begin wearing off, because he breaks his rut-toy again.
He wakes up rutting against the sheets, snarling as he fumbles for his drawer and pulls it out. He can still remember the way Lloyd’s fingers traced over the rim, recall the weight of Lloyd sitting in his lap like he belonged there, and the images quickly flood his feverish mind.
He fucks into the toy and thinks of Lloyd spread out, whimpering, folded in half and holding his thighs behind his ears, begging Javier to breed him full in a wanton presentation. How his toes would curl, the stuttered hiccups he would make with every thrust. The sticky sweetness of honey and syrup that Javier could lick and suck off his neck, his thighs, between his legs in the wet heat of his—
Javier comes with a snarl, his knot shoving and stretching at the toy—and he can feel it when the silicone gives out and tears.
The pressure releases from his knot and rips a frustrated growl from his throat. He slams his fist against the wall and grinds into the toy, thinks of Lloyd teasing him with vulgar promises of use me instead, get up here and fuck me, do whatever you want—
After his head finally clears, he washes up, places on fresh scent patches, and takes the first bus he can catch to Lloyd’s condo.
As soon as he knocks on the front door, it’s barely a second before he hears Lloyd’s footsteps running down the hallway. The door whips open and Lloyd is grabbing at him.
“You came back,” Lloyd says. He has a wild expression as he drags Javier inside.
The door kicks shut behind them. Javier crowds against him with a groan as their necks press together. He hitches his hands under Lloyd’s thighs and forces him up against the wall as they kiss, moaning into each other’s mouths, Lloyd’s hands scrambling under his collar to tear away at his scent patches.
“Are you off suppressants?” he murmurs against Javier’s lips. “How long until you—”
“Two more days,” Javier answers. “Are you sure you want to—”
Lloyd finds the corner of his scent patch and rips it off, placing his mouth on Javier’s neck and sucking at his scent gland with a pleased sigh. Javier shudders, feeling his legs go shaky as the sensation jolts down his spine.
It will take at least forty-eight hours for the suppressants to fully clear out of his system, but it’s not surprising that he’s already riled up. Lloyd’s arousal clung to him, his clothing, his sheets—he spent last night rolling in Lloyd’s scent. Heat pheromones were already potent enough, but imprinting put things in an entire league of its own.
He finally manages to yank off Lloyd’s shirt, and groans when he sees how Lloyd’s swollen scent glands protrude from those gentle dips in his collarbone. The scent of honey flares stronger.
Javier feels his gums ache. He’s about to lean down and nip at one when Lloyd abruptly shoves him away, snarling.
It makes him startle, flinching back as Lloyd’s teeth snap at his face.
“... Lloyd?” he asks, his voice rough.
Lloyd stares at him for a moment—then he turns around and starts running down the hallway in the direction of his nest.
Javier launches himself forward and chases after him with a growl. He catches Lloyd just as he’s about to turn the corner, throwing them both to the ground in a heap.
Lloyd grunts as he hits the hard floor, still trying to scramble away on his belly, so Javier braces a hand down on his nape, holding him in place—and Lloyd moans, a shaky sound as he goes limp under Javier.
“Fuck,” Lloyd whimpers. “You’re supposed to let me get to my nest—!”
“I already know where it is,” Javier chuckles, breathless as he admires the bare expanse of Lloyd’s back stretched out beneath him.
“It’s customary, you asshole.”
“Then run faster.”
Lloyd glares at him through lidded eyes—and when Javier bears down on him and grinds his hard length between Lloyd’s legs, he can feel that Lloyd is soaked through his shorts, warm and damp as their clothes drag together.
They make it to Lloyd’s nest eventually, tangled and tumbling through the curtains together. Lloyd scrambles back on the sheets and pulls off his shorts—with a smouldering gaze, Lloyd sits up and spreads his legs wide open.
Javier struggles to swallow. Lloyd is soft and rosy down there, flushed skin glistening with slick.
“Take out your cock,” Lloyd says.
He feels himself blush red up to the roots, but Lloyd only laughs.
“There you are,” Lloyd whispers, grinning. “My little prude.”
Hesitantly, Javier reaches his hands down to unzip his jeans, kicking them off. He hesitates at the waistband of his boxers. Lloyd is watching him like a hawk, eyes fixed on how Javier’s hard length bulges through the fabric. There’s a large wet spot that Javier covers with both hands as his face burns.
“Go on,” Lloyd breathes.
“Do you have to stare?” Javier asks.
“You’re staring too.”
He is. Javier lifts his gaze back up, and pulls down his boxers.
Lloyd beckons him over with a finger. Obediently, Javier crawls towards him and as soon as he’s in range, Lloyd hooks a leg over his waist and pulls him closer. When their bare groins press together, a loud helpless sound escapes Javier’s lips.
It felt nothing like his rut-toy.
Lloyd is burning hot, the folds of his cunt so soft that Javier can barely register the sensation, and there’s the intoxicating aroma of honey smothering over Javier’s brain like a heavy fog. When his hips give an involuntary jerk, his length slides across Lloyd’s heat, slippery with slick in a way that makes him whimper.
Lloyd’s hand wanders down—he grabs Javier by the beginnings of his knot and positions the head of Javier’s cock deeper, somewhere warm and wet that Javier starts to sink into, his cock pulsing as it’s enveloped in the most maddening way and Javier realises he’s about to—
Javier reaches down and squeezes hard around his length. He shuts his eyes tightly.
“Javier,” Lloyd whines, his hips wiggling. “Fuck, come on—”
“Lloyd,” he rasps. “I— I need a moment.”
The words come out guttural, less eloquent than he wanted—his venom glands are engorged at the roof of his mouth, albeit non-functions still, and he tries to swallow around them but he can’t quite manage it.
Lloyd nods shakily. Javier finally takes him in properly, how his entire body is shivering and twitching as he fists his hands into the sheets, whining, and remembers that Lloyd is probably feeling more desperate than him right now.
He starts to thrust gently—he tries to build a steady rhythm but his hips are shaking, uncontrolled, and he can’t help but whimper as Lloyd squeezes tight around him—
“D-Does it—” Javier manages, drool spilling from his lips despite his best efforts. “Does it feel good for you?”
He hopes it does. He doesn’t think he has it in him to stop.
“Yeah,” Lloyd breathes. “Yeah, it does.”
Javier looks down at where they’re connected, at how Lloyd is split wide open around him, all red and puffy as he stretches around Javier’s cock—he has to look away again before he goes mad.
“I’m not going to break,” Lloyd chuckles. He reaches out and cards a hand through Javier’s hair, and a rumbling purr erupts from Javier’s throat as he leans into it. “You can go harder.”
“Harder?”
“Yeah, alpha, a lot harder—”
Lloyd throws his head back with a loud cry, his entire body rocking with every one of Javier’s thrusts. The friction is blinding, searing, his head spinning every time he pulls back and feels Lloyd clench and twitch—
“Fuck, yes yes yes yes— Come here,” Lloyd whines, before pulling him in and shoving their necks together. It fills Javier’s senses with sweet amber and syrup. Javier shudders as they scent each other, rubbing their necks together fervently and moaning into each other’s ears.
He can’t remember how they got there but Lloyd’s legs are over his shoulders. Javier grabs his hands and holds on tightly as he feels his knot start to catch.
“I’m going to— Lloyd,” Javier chokes, and Lloyd moans, dragging him into a kiss.
“Knot me,” he whines into Javier’s mouth. “Fuck yes, alpha, come inside me, breed me, hahn. Oh fuck—!”
When his knot takes, Javier lets out a raw scream.
He collapses against Lloyd, whining, his vision whiting out as he feels his knot tug with every one of his stilted thrusts, lodged at Lloyd’s entrance and tying them together. Lloyd is moaning, his voice high-pitched and overwhelmed—he’s saying something to Javier, frantic, his entire body quaking as he grabs at Javier—
He feels Lloyd’s hand lock tight at the back of his head, forcing their eyes to meet.
“Bite me,” Lloyd whispers, eyes dilated.
He shoves Javier down into the crook of his neck where his scent gland is swollen and sweet-smelling beneath his skin. Javier latches his teeth on with a snarl.
It’s not a bond bite, but Lloyd wails and thrashes under him like it is.
Javier keeps his canines tightly clamped into Lloyd’s shoulder as they cling to each other—Lloyd pulling at his shoulders, tugging through his hair, scratching long lines down his back that make Javier groan deep in his throat. Lloyd’s skin is feverish and warm beneath him.
His heat must be in full-swing now, because he doesn’t have the patience to wait for Javier’s knot to deflate before they go another round. Javier fucks him like that, still tied, pressed together from neck to groin with Lloyd’s legs wrapped tight around him. He growls into Lloyd’s neck as their bodies rock together, languid rolls of his hips as his knot tugs at Lloyd’s rim.
After they finally separate, Lloyd pushes him down and crawls over him, his thighs slotting on either side of Javier’s head as he cards a hand through Javier’s hair. “Stick out your tongue,” Lloyd tells him, and it becomes very hard to breathe for the next several minutes.
His lips pop off Lloyd’s heat with an obscene wet sound when Lloyd finally rolls off of him, shuddering. Javier takes gasping breaths and stares at the ceiling, chest heaving, his face soaked down his chin, down his neck, in his hair—thoroughly scented, marked by Lloyd in the most vulgar way. Lloyd crawls forward and arches his back, slick glistening between his legs as he spreads them open and presents for Javier. He calls Javier alpha.
Javier pins him down, and they start all over again.
~
“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
He waves around the negative pregnancy test in Javier’s face, then snorts at Javier’s barely-disguised sigh of relief.
“So much fuss.” Lloyd tosses the test away and clambers back onto him. “I thought you wanted kids.”
“Not right now,” Javier says incredulously.
Lloyd only chuckles, leaning in to press their necks together. Javier embraces him with a soft hum, his lips caressing over the healing marks of his bond bite—and Lloyd moans, shuffling in his lap.
“We should go again,” Lloyd whispers.
He nips at Javier’s ear—then he lets out a delighted sound as Javier rolls them over and settles between his legs.
“Are you not sore?” Javier asks.
“Depends. Which hole are you using?”
Javier stutters, feeling his face heat up. He hadn’t been the most coordinated once his rut began.
He remembers growling, impatient as Lloyd batted him away with breathless whispers of w-wait, I need to stretch first, give me a second— He didn’t even notice something was off until after he knotted, buried to the hilt in Lloyd’s heat and purring up a storm. Lloyd reached down and guided Javier’s fingers into his empty cunt with a moan, and Javier finally realised the math didn’t compute.
“Knew you’d be kinky,” Lloyd teases. “And you cried when you bonded me.”
“You cried too.”
“Because I was getting fucked up to my eyebrows. You were crying because you’re a sap.”
“Are you done making fun of me?” Javier sighs.
Lloyd grins at him. “Never.”
Huffing, Javier rests his head on Lloyd’s chest. He feels Lloyd’s fingers tangle through his hair, petting him gently as he shuts his eyes lightly.
“You’ll have to come and meet my family soon,” Lloyd muses. Javier must startle, because Lloyd ruffles his hair and laughs. “They’re nice, don’t worry. They’ll like you.”
“It’s a bit soon,” Javier says.
“Not soon enough. God, you play hard to get. You really forced my hand with—” Lloyd cuts himself off.
Javier’s eyes narrow. “Yes?” At Lloyd’s sheepish little grin, he sighs. “Did you decide to have a heat this year so that I would bond you?”
“Of course not,” Lloyd says, blinking at him innocently.
Javier gives him a look.
“Fine, maybe I was sick of you dancing around me and dragging things out. I just wanted something to finally happen. I was gonna send you some sexy panties or— I don’t know. Something to make you either court me or reject me.” Lloyd glances at him. “I didn’t expect you to show up on my front doorstep like an abandoned puppy.”
“I never would have rejected you,” Javier says firmly, meeting Lloyd’s eyes. “Your heat is over, so I hope you will believe me now when I say that I love you.”
Lloyd’s face slowly erupts into a smile—a wide toothy grin that lights up the room. There’s a red blush across his cheeks and honey in the air. It feels like imprinting on him all over again.
“I love you too,” Lloyd says softly.
That weekend, Javier takes him shopping for a collar. It’s a bit redundant given the scarred bite mark on his neck that Lloyd proudly displays for all to see, but Javier still spends one long, indecisive hour agonizing over which one to choose. The process is further complicated by Lloyd actively fucking with him—giving nothing but inconsistent hums and haws every time Javier presents an option to him, keeping his nose buried in Javier’s scent gland and chuckling as it releases Javier’s harried pheromones.
Predictably, Lloyd doesn’t let him pay for it. Like clockwork, he slaps Javier’s hand away from the machine to tap his shiny black credit card, not even glancing at the price tag.
Javier sulks all the way back to the car—and Lloyd laughs, turns back to throw Javier a wink over his shoulder as he climbs into the backseat. He smells sweet like honey and clear like morning dew, the collar dangling from his fingers as he beckons Javier inside. Javier sighs and climbs in after him, his throat already rumbling with a purr.
He always knows how to push Javier's buttons.
~