Page 69 of Slow Heat
Jason rang thedoorbell at Vale’s house three minutes past the time he’d been asked to arrive. He straightened his tie and used the reflection in the tall window by the door to make sure his hair looked all right. The extra alpha quell he’d been dosed with before his parents would let him out the front door left him feeling distantly calm, like there was a space between his excitement and his experience of the excitement. He could almost step into that space, dance a waltz in it, hum a tune, and then return to himself before the emotion touched him. It was weird.
Still, hewasexcited. He hoped that he’d arrived before the others, but he doubted it. Not only had he spent too much time with Xan, but he’d gotten waylaid by Wilbet Monhundy and his pals again on his way to meet the car that waited to drive him home.
They’d teased him, of course, mocking his omega as sad and ‘used up’. But with Vale waiting for him, he hadn’t let them get under his skin. Vale was much more important than idiot alpha schoolyard posturing. He wasn’t going to be late because he got into fisticuffs with some dummies who didn’t understand what it meant to imprint yet.
The door swung open, and much to Jason’s disappointment, Vale’s friend Yosef stood in the doorway. His smile was wide and welcoming.
“Jason! Happy Autumn Nights!” He stuck out his hand and Jason took it, his fingers enveloped in a warm, dry palm. “Vale wanted to greet you, but Zephyr tripped him on his way down the stairs earlier.”
“Is he all right?” Jason’s heart leapt into the space between his feelings and the alpha quell.
Yosef released his hand to wave away his worry. “Oh, he’s more all right than not. Rosen’s coerced him to elevate his twisted ankle while Urho’s forced him to ice it. It’s all been very loud and dramatic.” He tugged on his beard and smiled. “The usual for our group. Come on in.”
As Jason stepped into the foyer, dust motes swirled around him. Piles of books were lined against the baseboard to the right, and dusty ceramic figurines of alpha-omega pairs paraded around on a table to the left. Voices rang from deeper in the house, one of them Vale’s, full of laughter and annoyance, the other two clearly Urho and Rosen disagreeing with him.
A silver streak darted across the hallway while Yosef relieved Jason of his coat and scarf.
“That’s Zephyr,” he said calmly, hanging Jason’s things on a rack near the door already laden with many coats and scarves. “Demon cat. Only likes Vale and Rosen. Bites Urho whenever she gets a chance. Tolerates me.” His eyes twinkled at Jason. “I’ll be curious what she makes ofyou. This way. They’re in the kitchen.”
The ruckus from the back of the house seemed to have calmed. Jason tried to take in as much of Vale’s home as he could—everything from the rose-patterned wallpaper in the hallway, to the furnishings in the rooms he glimpsed looked dated and out of fashion. In a darkened room they passed, there was a piano and a guitar. He wondered if there might be an opportunity to play for Vale tonight. Pride puffed in him at the thought, pleased with himself that he’d been practicing more often.
Everywhere and everything was dusty. The rooms were stacked with newspapers, magazines, and books. As they passed an open door there was even a giant pile of what looked like socks and underwear next to another pile of clothes—dirty or clean, Jason couldn’t tell. But Yosef rapidly shut it as they passed, saying, “Vale won’t want you seeing his laundry room just yet.”
Then they passed an open room near the back that Jason recognized as Vale’s study, the one he’d seen from the window. They turned down a short, warm hallway, covered in dusty photographs of various tourist destinations and two men Jason didn’t recognize, but both of whom looked enough like Vale for him to assume they were his pater and father.
“I’m fine, Urho. Back off before he comes in. He doesn’t need to see you looming over me like this.”
Jason bristled beneath the alpha quell, but in the space where there was room to dance, he kept it from showing as he stepped into the kitchen.
Rosen was at the stove, adding seasoning to a pot. Vale sat in a chair with one long leg hooked up on top of the rectangular dining table taking up much of the kitchen. His ankle above his bare foot was smothered in a small bag of ice. On the floor by his other bare foot, his black socks and shoes were abandoned.
Urho hovered behind him but moved away when Jason flicked a hard look at him.
Vale was beautiful, of course, but different, too. He obviously hadn’t shaved in a few days, possibly not since Jason had last seen him at his parent’s house. The beard was coming in scruffy, and Jason’s fingers itched to touch it.
Jason slid his gaze over Vale entirely, noting his nicely tailored aubergine pants and the much lighter purple shirt he wore with the shirtsleeves rolled up, exposing a tantalizing glimpse of a tattoo on his right arm. Small dark hairs gathered beneath his collarbones, visible where his collar was left open.
A quick glance around the kitchen showed that everyone else was dressed similarly—tailored pants and relaxed shirts. Jason fidgeted with his suit jacket and wished he’d known the dress code was going to be so informal.
“Are you all right?” Jason asked Vale, eschewing greetings to make sure his omega was safe. He started forward and brushed Urho’s shoulder as they passed in the narrow space between the counter and the head of the table.
Vale’s pale skin on top of his foot and his pink sole looked soft, except for the callus on the big toe and pinky where his shoes must have pinched over the last thirty-five years.
“I’m fine,” Vale said, rolling his eyes. “Zephyr tripped me and my friends overreacted.”
Jason leaned close enough to smell Vale’s skin and shampoo, and his heart rang with pride when he scented the musk of Vale’s slick, too. Just a small amount, subtle. But released for him all the same. It hadn’t been there until he’d drawn close.
He wished he could run his hand through Vale’s hair. It seemed absurd that he didn’t feel free to touch yet when they were meeting with attorneys in a day and a half to negotiate a contract to fuck, mate, and be bonded together until death.
He cleared his throat. “May I?” he asked, indicating the ice on Vale’s ankle.
Vale smiled. “Certainly, have a look for yourself. Oh alpha, my alpha.” It was a tease, but it brought heat into Jason’s neck and a smile to his lips.
Jason lifted the ice off Vale’s ankle, noting the redness of the skin beneath. He touched the slightly swollen place beneath the bumpy anklebone, and he ran his finger along the skin there, testing it softly. “You twisted it a bit.”
“Yes,” Vale said, but his voice had gone breathy and the smell of slick intensified.
Full of pride to have garnered such a reaction from so simple a touch, Jason added a few more fingers to his cautious probing. He slipped them over Vale’s skin, allowing the black hairs of his leg to scratch against his fingertips. “Yes, it’s twisted,” he said again.
