Chapter Twenty-Five
Valentin
Valentin shoved his hands into the pockets of his tailored slacks and paced the carpet in front of his desk. His black, bespoke suit put his muscular frame on display, but as usual, he wondered if it was enough armor.
Marshaling his face into a neutral expression, he presented the picture of a confident, aloof alpha. It helped when he did that. People never dug too deep.
It had been a gamble asking his chief security guard to deliver the note. As a rule, he didn’t involve others in his affairs, but he hadn’t wanted to disturb the sanctity of Beta Night by approaching the couple on the floor.
Xan had arched an eyebrow, surely wondering why Valentin, a good-looking alpha who could easily attract a boyfriend or husband, settled for such a stilted romantic life.
Valentin had no intention of enlightening him, answering the man’s raised brow with a glare.
When he got the urge, Valentin found men to fuck, mostly betas who frequented The Cracked Heart, although he’d exchanged the occasional blow job with a fellow alpha—under the radar, of course, as alpha/alpha pairs were still taboo.
He hadn’t fucked an omega since he was nineteen, and he didn’t see that changing. Ever.
Sex was occasionally pleasurable, but always inconsequential.
Valentin got off, and that was it. It was a function his body required to stay healthy.
He had the same high sex drive as other alphas, the same desire to fuck, but it was tempered by the bitterness he’d carried for nearly a decade.
Most nights, his right hand worked just fine.
Xan could arch his eyebrow all he wanted, but Valentin wasn’t fit for a future with anyone. Not after everything that had been taken from him.
He would never forget how easily it could all disappear.
Valentin didn’t seek happiness. Or a partner. Nothing as pedantic as that. At most, he sought pleasant hours and the gratifying feeling of pounding into another man.
Tonight, when he’d first peered down at the dance floor, he experienced his typical indifference. Did he want to find someone to fuck? Was it worth the hassle?
He coolly scanned the bodies swaying to the music. His cock twitched at the sight of the magnificently uninhibited men—he was an alpha after all—but he remained unmoved.
Until he laid eyes on them.
The beta couple’s seductive movements captured his attention. They writhed together, heads tilted inward, lips close enough to share breath, yet not quite kissing.
Valentin’s mouth watered as an unfamiliar heat invaded his veins. Something so long buried he’d forgotten the sensation.
Stalking them with his gaze, he catalogued the taller one’s lean body and dark crimson locks as he closed his eyes and melted into his partner. That partner, shorter but broader, had shaggy black hair and deep bronze skin accentuated by a few days’ worth of scruff.
Valentin’s urge to taste another man’s jaw had never been stronger.
He swallowed, his pulse speeding up as he watched the couple dance, mesmerized by how they touched each other with care, but also with a roughness that spoke of trust. His inner alpha surfaced, a churn of raw need invading his gut.
When the couple began grinding together, his throat vibrated with a low rumble.
He wanted to watch them kiss, wanted to command them to do so.
Metallic flashes on their fingers caught the light, and Valentin realized the men were married. It figured. They moved so perfectly in sync, it was hard to tell where one body ended and the other began. He knew he should divert his attention, find an available man, but he couldn’t look away.
He rubbed his slacks over his thickening cock and imagined being in the middle of that beta sandwich. The thought was alluring, but he wasn’t a homewrecker.
It wasn’t until the couple left the dance floor that Valentin noticed the way their eyes kept darting around the club.
At the bar, the dark-haired man clocked every person in his vicinity. The other man waited at the high-top table and did the same thing.
Valentin felt it the moment the red-haired beta’s gaze landed on him. He glanced up, fixing his eyes on the window, and Valentin was helpless to do anything other than stare back.
His husband returned to the table carrying water bottles. Seconds later, they both looked up. Valentin slunk into the shadows.
The couple had obviously been searching for something among the clubgoers. But what? His cock stiffened further within the confines of his boxer briefs, as though in hopeful reply.
He considered the possibility that the husbands were in an open relationship.
Valentin had witnessed it before. Couples seeking thirds. While polycules still carried some social stigma, the practice of couples finding other men to share a night or two with wasn’t particularly frowned upon. As long as no one discussed it in polite company.
He smiled wryly. If the beautiful betas were seeking a third for a bit of bedroom fun, he would gladly volunteer for the assignment. This was the first spark of attraction he’d felt in months, and he wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass, assuming it was what they were after.
Only one way to find out. Even if it meant enduring Xan’s stupid eyebrow.
Valentin pictured the couple moving together on the dance floor.
He wanted to be part of that, if only for a night.
Perhaps they had come to his club because the universe knew his inner alpha needed to come out and play.
Perhaps he could lose himself for a while.
Let go of his past for five fucking minutes to bask in pleasure and primal instinct.
He’d scribbled a few sentences on a piece of paper for Xan to show the couple, hoping his missive successfully navigated the line between mysteriously aloof and desirable and too much of an alphahole to consider.
Pacing in the shadows so he would not be visible, he watched his guard deliver the note. The dark-haired beta seemed skeptical at first, but then he saw his husband’s fiery look. Valentin hadn’t been mistaken. They’d made a connection tonight.
The men followed Xan to the staircase.
Moments later, a knock sounded at the door.
Xan poked his head in. “Here are the gentlemen you requested to meet.” With a sardonic expression, he added, “I explained that you probably wanted to ask their opinion on the music.”
Rolling his eyes at Xan, Valentin stepped back as the couple entered the office. They were even more incredible up close. His alpha buzzed beneath his skin.
“Walkie if you need anything,” Xan said. “I’m going back on the floor, so the upstairs is all yours.” He backed out and closed the door with a snick.
A heavy silence descended.
“Oh,” the tall beta said, stumbling slightly. “It’s super soundproofed up here.”
“Yes,” Valentin drawled. “Soundproof and entirely private. The other offices are downstairs.”
The dark-haired beta folded his arms across his chest. “Your security guard wasn’t clear on why you wanted to see us.” He looked at Valentin with the ghost of a smile, tempered by caution. “You wanted our opinion on the deejay?”
Valentin’s lips turned up. “That wasn’t the reason, but now that you’re here…” He waved his hand in a circle, stepping closer.
The man ran a hand over his scruffy chin. “Honestly, I don’t have an opinion. My husband and I can dance to anything.”
“That’s true,” the red-haired beta said. “But the music downstairs was very, uh, enjoyable.”
“I see,” Valentin hummed. “Glad to hear it. I noticed you two on the floor…enjoying the music.”
The man blushed, showcasing freckles Valentin hadn’t noticed from far away. “We don’t get out very often,” he said. “Babysitters are tricky to find for late nights.”
Valentin paused. These men were fathers. Interesting. It solidified that, whatever this was, it could only last for tonight. Good.
“Then I’m glad you were able to find someone and come out for Beta Night. I’m Valentin, by the way. The Cracked Heart is my club.”
He stretched out his arm. The dark-haired one shook his hand. “I’m Wes, and this is my husband, Assa.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
Valentin appreciated the roughness of Wes’s fingers as their palms pressed together. The betas couldn’t smell him, but he was sure his smoky sage scent was going crazy.
Quick breaths escaped Assa’s mouth as he watched Valentin rub his thumb back and forth across Wes’s knuckles.
“What are we doing here, Valentin?” Wes rasped, dropping his hand back to his side.
By the catch in his voice, Valentin was confident the three of them were on the same page. He inched closer, moving into the couple’s space until they were practically touching noses.
When neither beta stepped away, he grew bold.
“Like my note said, I saw you dancing. I couldn’t stop watching.
The way you moved together. It’s not my general mode to be so forward with my guests, but I was wondering if perhaps you were open to having a little fun with a lonely alpha.
If not, no harm done. But I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to inquire. ”
“You are confident,” Wes stated, although he didn’t seem mad about it.
“Not always,” Valentin replied honestly. “But when I saw you, it seemed worth the risk.”
“You don’t have a boyfriend? Or a husband?” Assa asked, eyeing Valentin’s bare ring finger.
“Married to this club.”
“Why us?” Wes asked. “I mean, why did you think we’d be amenable?”
Valentin shrugged. He didn’t want to explain his fascination, how he’d been transfixed by the look in Assa’s eyes and the way Wes had moved behind him. It seemed like too much of an admission to let on that he’d watched them so closely.
“I didn’t,” Valentin replied. “I took a chance when I sent Xan down with my note. But I know what I want. Even if others may have been amenable, you’re the only ones who interested me.
” He reached up slowly so the betas could step back if they wanted to.
They didn’t, allowing him to rest a hand on each of their arms. “But you’re here now, so maybe I was right? You’re curious?”
Valentin began kneading their shoulders.
Wes licked his lips and let out a hoarse laugh. “We’re more than curious, alpha. Obviously. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.”
Assa nodded his head enthusiastically, even as his cheeks grew pink.
Valentin was drawn in by Assa’s blushes, but there was also something about Wes’s candor he found intriguing. He imagined touching him, making him cry out and softening his tough exterior.
“You’ve been with other men in bed before? As a couple?” Valentin asked.
“It’s been a while, but we’ve been looking for a man to get us back in the game,” Wes said bluntly.
Valentin grinned. “At your service.”
Wes raked his gaze over him. “I think you might be right.”
“Me too,” Assa agreed.
“And why do you think that?” Valentin asked.
To his surprise, Assa stepped closer and mashed their bodies together.
Wes looked on approvingly as his husband looped his arms around Valentin’s neck.
“Because I sensed something from the moment I saw you in the window. A pull I’ve been waiting to feel for a long time, and now that I have, now that Wes has, I don’t think we should waste this night. ”
“Fuck,” Valentin whispered reverently as he gazed into Assa’s amber-colored irises. He cursed again when he felt Wes’s hand on his ass.
“Alpha—” Assa carded his slender fingers through Valentin’s hair. “If you want me, you can have me.” He looked over at his husband. “You can have both of us.”
Valentin’s cock jumped as he stared at the man’s plump pink lips. At Wes’s nod, he leaned down and kissed Assa with everything he had.