Chapter 24
Emerson stared down at Dash in disbelief. He blinked a few times, his heart pounding in his chest like a raw toothache. He couldn’t have heard what he heard. “Heat? You mean rut?”
Dash panted, leaning his weight onto Emerson. “No… I mean heat.”
Emerson shifted his stance, supporting Dash’s flagging body, all while his mind raced.
How was an alpha going into heat?
It was impossible, but as the need to rut rose within Emerson, the ability to use logic grew thinner. He couldn’t ignore his reaction to whatever it was Dash had going on.
It’s just like when we first met… only stronger.
Emerson’s hands trembled as he grasped Dash by the waist.
Dash’s breathing grew even more erratic as he gazed up at Emerson. “Pull the boat out… so no one can hear.” Dash swallowed with difficulty, his eyelids drooping. “Please…”
Protect him!
The desperate need to shelter his mate cleared Emerson’s mind of the immediate urge to fuck, if only for a few seconds.
Seconds were all he needed to shake himself of the pull.
Without another word, Emerson raced outside and unmoored the boat from the dock.
He jumped all but one step up to the pilot’s deck and lunged for the controls.
As soon as he turned the key in the engine, it sputtered… but didn’t roll over.
He turned the key again and got another crank-crank-crank.
Closing his eyes and lifting his head to the stars above, he sent out a prayer to whichever god would hear his plight and offer a little grace.
A mass of dark clouds moved away from the nearly full moon. Night turned to near daylight. Emerson smiled to himself. That brilliant, translucent light had to be a sign if he’d ever seen one. All would be well.
Emerson gave the key another try and…
Nothing.
“Fuuuuuuck!” he bellowed to the heavens above.
He turned his gaze down to the boat itself. “I’ve never asked for much, have I? Turn the fuck over!”
Emerson gave it one more try.
The engine roared to life, sputtered and almost failed, but held on. Emerson let out a howl of victory, thrusting a fist over his head before plopping into the captain’s seat and hitting the throttle.
“Oh, baby,” he whispered to the wheel as he caressed it, grinning to himself. “How could I ever doubt you?”
Emerson pulled out into the bay, passing the lumbering giants filling the shipping lane, and farther out towards the bobbing buoys with their dull, flashing lights.
He neared the spot where he’d anchored earlier in the evening—far from shore, but not too close to the seawall to beg inspection.
As soon as they were in a safe enough position, he cut the engine, lowered the anchor, and ran back down to Dash.
When he opened the door into the living spaces, a thick wall of pheromones slapped him in the face and knocked the air from his lungs. He gripped the doorframe, a rumbling growl vibrating through him.
Claim him…
Emerson had never experienced a full rut, if that’s what he felt. He had nothing to compare against what he was feeling, only the vaguest memories of a teenaged health class description—one which failed to impress upon him the weight of need now racing through his veins.
The whispered voices in his head? Instinct? He supposed it was, but it felt like something more. It threatened to rob him of control and turn him into a mindless beast. Emerson had to hold on… he had to protect his mate.
All while needing to be inside Dash as much as he needed sunlight, air, and water combined.
Only Dash was nowhere to be seen.
Scenting the air again, he drew in his mate’s pheromones. Dash’s scent had always seemed somewhat unusual. Emerson hadn’t questioned it enough before, but now he realized there was a hint of a sweeter, syrupy aroma hidden among the spice—more like that of an omega.
Was Dash, in fact, an omega—hiding as an alpha?
Emerson hung at the door, standing in the threshold, hesitant.
I never wanted an omega…
Yet this was Dash, not an omega. He was a brilliant, handsome man who was nearly Emerson’s equal in size and strength.
Dash was everything Emerson had always wanted.
Did it truly matter if he was alpha—or omega?
He was Emerson’s… and Emerson was his.
Emerson shut the door, locking them both inside with Dash’s primal need. It did not matter, one way or another. Alpha. Omega. Dash was overwhelmed and had begged for his help. He wouldn’t allow his mate to suffer.
Emerson followed his nose, stalking to the back of the boat.
His hard shaft pushed painfully against the inside of his jeans, throbbing to be free.
Peeling his shirt over his head, he tossed it onto the floor and had the button popped on his jeans before he opened his cabin door.
What he found inside nearly took him down to his knees.
“Oh, sweet heavens,” Emerson whispered.
There, on his bed, Dash was already completely bare and ready for him.
Dash knelt on the bed on all fours, his back arched and bottom raised.
The bathroom door hung open, pale light spilling into the bedroom.
Coupled with it was moonlight filling the portholes, giving Emerson all the light he needed to see how beautiful his mate was.
Dash’s gaze flew to his. His face twisted into anguish before he mewled, arching his back even more.
A silent invitation.
Sweat dotted Emerson’s brow as he lowered his hand to unzip his jeans.
It shook on the way down, the urge to claim his mate stronger the closer he approached.
There were questions—so many questions—but he no longer had the bandwidth to ask or process a single answer.
Every inch of him had been claimed by the instinct.
Once he was as bare as Dash, he ambled closer to the bed, holding his mate’s gaze. Dash crawled back, away from him, as if wary.
Emerson paused, worried he’d misread the signs. He tried not to take it personally. Dash was in a vulnerable state and considering Emerson struggled with his control, the man had reason to be cautious.
He held out a hand, slowly growing closer, until he rested it gently on Dash’s stubbled cheek.
Dash watched him for a few seconds before he turned his face towards Emerson’s touch, trembling.
“I’m sca—” Dash whispered before screwing his eyes closed tight and shaking his head. When he reopened them, Emerson could see panic in the depths. “I’ve never…”
“We don’t have to,” Emerson whispered.
Dash scoffed. “Where do you think either of us can go now?”
Emerson frowned, the instinct roaring in his mind. “I’ll toss myself into the bay if I have to.”
It would be the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he’d manage it somehow—if that’s what Dash wanted. A few seconds ticked by without an answer. Emerson couldn’t breathe as he stood there waiting for it.
Dash shook his head, his panic shining in his eyes. “Don’t leave me. Please.”
Emerson caressed Dash’s cheek, releasing a held breath. “If you want me here… I’m yours.”
He’d never been with a man in heat and had no idea if he could handle what came next, but by the gods, he’d protect Dash with his very life if he had to. Dash needed him and that’s all that mattered. Together, they’d figure things out.
Dash inhaled a shaky breath and looked up at Emerson again. His pupils were blown, the gray so pale and thin it blended with the white in the moonlight—if it was there at all.
“I need you,” Dash moaned, rolling his hips.
The honeyed scent of slick filled the air.
Emerson couldn’t help himself; he had to see Dash wet with desire.
Slowly, he crawled onto bed, giving Dash long, gentle strokes along both flanks.
He crept farther back towards Dash’s round bottom.
Once he’d moved behind his mate, he spread both cheeks apart, eyeing the puckered entrance dripping with glistening slick.
Emerson groaned, his cock heaving forward, eager to slip inside. Instead, he slid two thick fingers into Dash’s hole, testing the opening. Dash’s hole stretched around his fingers with ease, widening like Emerson had been told an omega would for his alpha. He easily added a third without challenge.
“Alpha… please…”
Emerson dragged his gaze away from his fingers knuckle-deep inside his mate. Dash stared over his shoulder, watching with his lips parted and eyelids heavy. His entire body swayed with each panting breath.
“What do you need?” Emerson asked.
“Don’t,” Dash growled angrily. “You know…” His brows furrowed, his anguish clear. “You know what I need.”
Emerson gripped the base of his cock and rubbed the glans across Dash’s hole.
“Yesssss,” Dash hissed, his head listing to one side, exposing his neck.
Claim him…
Emerson surged forward, impaling Dash in one, slow, steady stroke.
Dash’s low groan reverberated through them both as his body took Emerson deep.
He covered Dash’s body with his own, biting into the corded muscle at the base of his mate’s neck.
Dash roared, bucking back against Emerson, before stilling under him.
“Em…” Dash said, trembling under him. “Fill me with your seed, my alpha.”
Emerson’s eyes widened.
Dash shook his head. “What the fuck did I just say?”
They were the whispered words of an omega in heat. They were part of the instinct, uttered even if the omega didn’t wish to become pregnant, or so he’d been told.
Pregnant?
Could Dash become pregnant?
Emerson pulled out and scrambled to the head of the bed. Dash’s head whipped over and glared, accusation in his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Give me a moment,” Emerson mumbled, his hands trembling from the earth-shaking need to rut.
“Nooooo…” Dash keened, rolling his hips.
Emerson glanced over and saw a bead of slick slide down Dash’s inner thigh, beckoning him to return.
“Emerson…”
Emerson dragged his gaze away from the temptation of his mate and rummaged in the nightstand. He rarely used them, but he was sure there was a box of condoms somewhere. After finally fishing a foil pack out, he struggled to get it open and on with his hands trembling.