Page 63 of Hammer & Gavel

Blinking away sleep, he turned his head and licked his lips, which was when white-hot pain lanced through his teeth. He yelped, clamping his jaws shut. There was blood on the sheets.

Gasping, he sat up and pulled back the blanket that was half covering the alpha. He checked them both over, relieved to find that neither of them appeared injured. Lucas only groaned, pulling the blanket over himself as he slipped back into a deep sleep.

Oliver realised the blood was coming from his own mouth, the taste of it metallic on his tongue. Crawling to the edge of the room, he knelt in front of his mirror. He grimaced when he realised that he looked—to quote Nancy—absolutely fuckingshagged.

“Shit,” he whispered, finger touching the dried blood on his cheek. Something must have happened during the night, because he had absolutely no recollection of sustaining an injury. Tentatively, he prodded his lip, finding that it was tender to the touch. Pressing the pad of his thumb to his cupids bow, he carefully opened his mouth—eyes going wide when he discovered two gleaming white fangs protruding from his bloodied gums.

FOURTEEN

SEXUAL BLACKMAIL

“Incredible,” Lucas uttered, poking the tip of one of Oliver’s newly acquired fangs. “Do you feel different?”

“No,” Oliver replied, tilting his head out of the alpha’s grasp. “Just tired. And hungry.”

But that wasn’t quite true, because he did feel different.Very different,in fact—like the strained tightrope of his life had finally snapped, and he had solid ground beneath his feet for the first time in years. Despite the heat still addling brain, as he sat with Lucas in the middle of his bedroom he had never felt so anchored in his own body. Like he was finally living fully in the present.

Nodding, Lucas rubbed a thumb across Oliver’s cheek. “I’ll go to the shop in a bit.” The alpha sucked his own lip, as though carefully considering his next words. “Reed, without dredging up old memories, has anything like this happened before?”

Oliver ran his tongue across his teeth and glanced down at the giant koala squashed between his knees. He wanted to say—yes, somethingdidhappen the only other time he’d been knotted—nothing he wanted to talk about, but something that had been playing on his mind ever since he saw Patrick’s name on the business card.

“I—yes and no. It’s difficult to explain.”

It wasn’t difficult to explain. In fact, it was the easiest thing in the world to ‘explain’. The doctors had even given it a name. Post-traumatic heat suspension.

“I didn’t—thisdidn’t happen,” he said, gesturing to his mouth and groin. “But I didn’t experience heat for a long time afterwards. It took three years for estrus to come back. It really messed with my equilibrium, if I’m honest.”

Lucas swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he looked at Oliver through dark lashes. “Do you think it’s happening again?”

A deep blush spread across Oliver’s chest, over his throat, and across his cheeks. Groaning, he buried his face in Roger’s furry head. Lucas’ nostrils flared as he leant forward to grasp Oliver’s upper arm. “What is it?” He said, the blankets falling away. “Another heatwave?”

Oliver only gripped the koala tighter as the alpha tried to wrangle it from between his arms. “N-No,” he said, “It’s not that.”

Lucas huffed, finally pulling the animal free. Pushing Oliver onto his back, he tugged a blanket over them both, blocking out the light and sound until the world outside was nothing more than a quiet hum. “Tell me,” he whispered, dropping onto his side as he nuzzled into Oliver’s neck.

“It’s…”

“Embarrassing?”

Oliver chuckled and threw an arm over his face. “Something like that.”

“Reed, I have told you plenty of embarrassing things since we met. I think it’s time you returned the favour.”

Which was true, wasn’t it? Lucashadbeen honest and upfront about his feelings since the moment they met, and Oliver had been…well, a bumbling, blushing idiot if he was being honest with himself. He’d rebuffed the alpha’s sincerityat every turn because it was easier than letting himselffeelsomething…anythingthat wasn’t denial of his own desire. He twisted to bury his face in the alpha’s endless chest.

“I hate you,” he huffed, settling himself in Lucas’ armpit. “But if you must know…no, that isn’t happening again. In fact, it’s the opposite.”

Lucas hummed deep and low, sending a tremor of delight straight up Oliver’s spine. Wriggling, he pressed his thighs together. “Stop that,” he whispered, the words breathy.

“Continue,” Lucas said, caressing Oliver’s hip.

“I…uh…well…I’ve been having these phantom heat symptoms pretty much since that first night at the kickboxing club. I’ve been smashing a load of Matteus’ suppressants to try and keep everything under control…but…well, here we are. It’s why my mood’s been so fucking erratic, and why I…well, let’s just say accepting hand jobs from colleagues isn’t exactly part of my day-to-day.”

Grinning, Lucas pressed his face into Oliver’s hair. “So what you’re saying, Reed, is that you like me.”

Oliver squirmed in the alpha’s embrace, face burning with red-hot mortification. “I think you’re a pain in the arse,” he said, refusing to meet Lucas’ gaze.

Prying the sigma’s face out of his armpit, Lucas pressed his fingers into the nape of his neck “But I could beyourpain in the arse,” he said, nipping Oliver’s lower lip.

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