6. Promises #2
Tino witnessed three more couples making love and climaxing before Oswald decided it was time to go. He helped Tino dress and left a generous tip for the staff.
The alpha from the triad opposite them stood and approached them just as they were about to leave.
“Do you want to join us in our hotel room for the night?” he asked bluntly.
Tino could imagine spending the night with the two beautiful omegas and their alpha, but the prospect of being alone with Oswald after this extensive foreplay was just as appealing. He looked up at Oswald.
“It’s a very tempting offer, thank you, but not tonight. We already have plans.”
The alpha smiled at Tino. “Pity.”
Then he turned away.
At Oswald’s suggestion, they walked back to the hotel, taking a detour along the beach.
The esplanade was lined with palm trees and well lit, while the beach itself disappeared into darkness.
Tino felt a little like he was walking under stage lights.
Holding Oswald’s hand, he felt seen and admired in the best ways.
A doubt niggled in his mind, though. After a few minutes, he gave up trying to figure it out on his own and asked.
“Why did you say no to that man?”
Oswald didn’t pause, seemingly unsurprised by Tino’s question. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Tino’s hand.
“Sometimes, I want you to myself. And I like knowing that I can say no. Are you hungry? Did you want that man to fuck you?”
“I’m fine.” There was something Oswald wasn’t telling him, but Tino knew better than to push.
They walked in silence for a while. The waves were gentle, the sea merely whispering in the night.
“I want to keep you to myself all week.”
Warmth bloomed in Tino’s middle. He liked hearing that more than he should. Then again, he’d learned that he truly preferred quality over quantity.
“Whatever you wish,” he said, glancing up at Oswald’s profile. Oswald’s expression was impenetrable for most people, but Tino flattered himself that he knew this man better than anyone.
Looking ahead, Oswald spoke again, sounding casual as if they were discussing breakfast preferences. “Will you find it difficult?”
Tino thought about it. It was important that he give an honest answer.
“No,” he finally said.
“Why not?” Oswald prompted.
Tino couldn’t say too little, but he was afraid to say too much. He needed Oswald. He’d tried to make do without him before, and it hadn’t gone well.
“I haven’t felt hungry once since you’ve been taking care of me. I… crave the desire you feel for me. Especially in this form.” He gestured to his young human body. “It sustains me.”
Oswald was quiet for a long while after that, walking leisurely. They passed a lamp, another, and a third, and Tino grew worried. What had he revealed that Oswald hadn’t already known? Five streetlamps, eight palm trees. Why had he begun counting them?
Under the ninth palm tree, his alpha paused and turned to him. His eyes glowed with reflected lights, his eyebrows drawn together with determination.
“I’d like to marry you.”
Tino stared up at Oswald with his mouth open. What?
“I’d like you to be my husband,” Oswald said, as if his previous statement needed clarifying.
“Not… your pet?” Tino stammered out.
“You will still be my pet. But I want you as my husband, too. A good obedient omega boy who will love me.”
Tino blinked. His human heart was beating double-time, and his knees felt weak. This would have been much easier to comprehend and handle in his true form.
“I’ve never thought I’d want a marriage,” Oswald continued. “It seemed like an unnecessary hassle. Too much work. But you…”
Oswald stepped closer and cupped Tino’s jaw. He brushed a thumb along Tino’s chin, tilting Tino’s face up. Oswald’s eyes didn’t plead. They willed Tino into surrender.
“You do love me, don’t you? I feel it. I want to hear you say it.”
Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of men had wanted Tino. Not a single one of them had wanted to keep him, knowing what he was. Not a single one of them had the audacity to claim him.
“Why?” he finally breathed.
Oswald smiled with tenderness, his other hand playing with the soft hair on Tino’s nape.
“It’s simple. You are the most beautiful, most dangerous, most fascinating creature on Earth, omega. I want to own you.”
A slow smile spread on Tino’s face. Oswald’s passion for him seeped through his pores, filling him to the brim, and at that moment, it felt like he’d never be hungry again.
“I love you, Oswald.”
“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“I will be your husband. I love you,” Tino repeated.
It was true. Maybe the love he felt was different from human emotions—he couldn’t know that. But he knew that nobody made him feel as fulfilled and content as Oswald Sandoval.
Oswald leaned down and kissed him tenderly, just a chaste brush of lips. “Good.”
The wedding was in September.
Tino’s papers were fake, and if someone were to scrutinize the marriage legally, it wouldn’t hold up.
But who cared? Tino was getting married.
He was twenty according to his ID, but he looked even younger. Ringlets of his golden hair framed his glowing face, and he wore silk pants and a long-sleeved lace top with bare shoulders, so the stunning choker Oswald bought him in France would stand out.
A naive omega groom, glowing with excitement and hope, gazed back at Tino from the mirror. Wrapped in pure white, his impeccable body was all virginal, youthful and tight, just like his alpha liked it.
He smiled at himself then grabbed the armful of white lilies.
There was no one to give him away. He was giving himself to Oswald, all on his own, of his own free will.
The music swelled as he walked down the aisle, and the crowd of Oswald’s friends and important acquaintances all gasped in unison.
Tino knew he looked great.
Oswald’s eyes burned with possessive lust as Tino walked toward him.
“I will marry you in front of everybody. We’ll have an old-fashioned wedding, opulent, with many guests.
So many eyes on you. Let them take pictures.
Let the gossip magazines have a field day.
I’m going to show you off, my little demon.
And, yes, you’ll look like the perfect omega groom for me; young, guileless, and sickeningly in love. ”
Tino didn’t have to pretend. He felt naive and sickeningly in love. He recited the most archaic omega vow he could get away with, promising his alpha unlimited obedience, giving him his soul for safekeeping, and offering his pure body to be consumed however and whenever his husband required.
He played the part of the blushing virgin so well. His alpha seemed pleased. The guests radiated discomfort at Tino’s outrageously submissive promises, but Oswald’s smile grew smug.
He slid the ring onto Tino’s finger and kissed him.