Page 129 of The Heart of Winter

"You didn’t see any drones or helicopters, did you?"

What was there to say? He already knew the answer. There was no point in making him dwell on it.

We sat there for a while, and with Sariel staring into the water, I had time to study him in the flickering light of our small fire.

There was something about him, some kind of wild charm that pulled me in. The more time I spent with him, the harder it became to ignore. Before, I had fought the urge to examine my feelings toward him, but now… something had shifted. I found myself wondering, if we made it out of this alive, would whatever had started between us survive in the outside world?

Of course, there was no chance of us having a long-term relationship. I wasn’t naive. But maybe… just maybe, we could havesomething. Fleeting, but still exciting. Something that would bring us both a little bit of happiness, something worth remembering, to look back on for years, with a smile… or maybe even a tear.

On impulse, I reached out and touched his cheek.

He trembled slightly, and again, that pleasant shiver ran through me, the one that always came with touching him. It was almost like sizzling discharge of energy, caressing my skin.

His gaze lifted to meet mine. My fingers drifted from his jaw to the side of his neck. As a beta, I had never paid much attention to scent glands, but I knew they were important to him. His were different from mine, especially now, during his heat. Swollen, flushed pink, firm yet springy to the touch.

There was something about them that intrigued me. I stared, knowing that if I bit him, he wouldn’t feel pain, only pleasure.

Fascinating.

Whoa. Why was I even thinking about biting him? Silly.

Either way, I couldn’t mark him. My mating teeth lay dormant beneath my gums.

Sometimes, I would absently run my tongue over them, feeling their hard structure just above my normal teeth, hidden deep. I had often wondered what it would be like if I could extend them. Sariel could—whenever he wanted. Outside of a state of strong arousal, it was said to be painful, since the thin teeth were piercing the skin over the normal canines.

Absentmindedly, while moving my tongue over the bumps on my gums, my fingers simultaneously brushed over his glands, lightly teasing them. Sariel’s breathing quickened. He leaned into my touch like a cat seeking affection, tilting his head slightly, so… submissively, as if he indeed wanted it, waiting for me to sink my teeth into him.

I exhaled, realizing with a flicker of surprise that my body was beginning to crave more.

"Let’s move to the mattress," I murmured, my voice low.

He immediately nodded, his enthusiasm radiating as he pushed himself up on one leg.

We stepped out of the water, drying off with the blanket. Well, it didn’t stay dry for long. But at least we had another one, fresh and clean, to spread over the mattress.

Sariel lay down on his side, clearly protecting his injured leg. I saw it in the way his face twisted slightly with every small movement, he was in a lot of pain, despite the fact that another pill was missing from the painkiller blister. The bruises and swelling hadn’t gone down at all. If anything, they looked even worse. I wondered if soaking in hot water had only worsened it. But I didn’t say anything. Not now, when my blood was getting hotter.

Suddenly he shifted onto his stomach. I had the chance to really look at him again, and I was starting to like doing that.

His body was long and lean, well-proportioned, but still held onto a certain youthfulness.

I let my hand drift lightly down his back, my fingertips tracing over his skin, watching the way tiny shivers ran through his body. Slowly, I followed the path of his spine, from his shoulder blades, down past his lower back, until my fingers reached his hips and the curve of his ass. He had a thin waist, but still had a pleasant roundness to his small, firm ass cheeks. His hips were very narrow, his build was that of an alpha or a beta not an omega.

He was surely an anomaly, being a mix of unusual physical traits.

Sariel’s eyes were closed, his breathing deep and steady, as he surrendered completely to my touch.

Encouraged by this welcoming energy, I went on exploring his body, starting with gently spreading his ass cheeks and gazing at his hole. I was surprised; it looked almost identical to an omega's! I'd been in relationships with two omegas, though they lasted only a few months, but I remembered how it all worked while aroused, the sphincter would become a bit thicker and softer, and now Sariel’s was slightly open too, glistening with slick.

I leaned in and gently kissed his buttock, then lightly nipped it with my teeth, eliciting a soft mewling sound from him. I continued to leisurely mouth around his hole, keeping him on edge, my tongue making unhurried, swirling motions, teasing his rim but not going deeper. I also noticed that Sariel's freckles weren't limited to his face but spread across various parts of his body. I found it incredibly cute; he truly was a unique being.

I had the impression that even his rim seemed to have a slightly pale blue hue, perhaps only during a heat, but some kind of pigment his body produced seemed to manifest here too. As I stretched his hole a bit more by spreading his cheeks, Sariel whimpered, trembling with anticipation.

My tongue was now making circular motions around his swollen ring. Sariel moaned louder, tensing a bit. His beautifully shaped ass cheeks tightened as I squeezed them lightly with my spread fingers, kneading them at the same time. Meanwhile, my tongue massaged and caressed his rim with slow, sliding, corkscrewing motions, then burrowing into his hole.

"Winter, this feels so good," he murmured, his pelvis tilting back as if inviting penetration, which was yet another omega-typical instinctive behavior during heats.

There was something else that surprised me. Despite having sex just an hour and a half ago, my body was shockingly eager to merge with his again.

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