Page 95 of Slow Heat
Before Urho could introduce another topic or carry on with the current one, they arrived at Alamanga Avenue and split up to get their own lunch from the different food booths of their choice. They’d agreed to grab Mox’s crew’s orders and Vale’s sandwich after they’d eaten their own, so it would all still be warm when Jason arrived back at Vale’s house. The street was colorful and hectic, with alphas, omegas, and betas bustling between booths, hawking goods on blankets and in stalls on the streets, and dashing in and out of stores on their lunch breaks.
With a pineapple steak-on-a-stick in one hand and a bag of sweet potato fries in the other, Jason followed Urho to a bench set back from Alamanga Avenue on a less bustling side street. The calls of vendors echoed around the corner, but for the most part, they were alone.
“Vale’s bucking hard, is he?” Urho said around a bite of his beet salad.
Jason shrugged, popping a sweet potato fry into his mouth and chewing slowly. He took his time replying. “He seemed open to the idea of contracting until yesterday. Then everything at the negotiation table went wrong. My father was in a terrible mood and was short tempered. Vale tried to talk me into taking a surrogate.” Jason gestured sharply with his steak-on-a-stick. “I don’t want a surrogate. I want Vale.”
“In all likelihood, he can’t have children,” Urho said matter-of-factly. “If you want children, then you should take a surrogate.”
Jason groaned. “I’m nineteen. What do I know about what I’ll want in the future? Children seem great and all, but right now, I want Vale.”
Urho nodded. “And he knows all of that, of course. He knows you can’t predict what you’ll want and that you’d choose him right now. He wants you, too. That’s the way of it.”
The steak was delicious, perfectly flavored with pineapple and tender as could be. Jason took some time to chew and swallow before he said, “It doesn’t seem right that we can’t choose each other, the way wolf-god wanted, and deal with a family later.”
“In the old times, there were so many babies that some were killed or left alone to be raised by whatever kind soul came along,” Urho mused. “Now children are so precious it’s against the law to end a pregnancy, much less abandon a child. It’s chilling to think of a world where so many were unwanted.”
Jason thought of his pater, who definitelywantedand yet couldn’t have more children. He thought of Vale who, from what he understood, faced a future that was much the same.
“Are alpha condoms really so bad?” he asked softly. “Would impregnating a contracted surrogate make up for turning my back on the bond with Vale?”
“You’reÉrosgápe. That won’t ever go away. You’ll suffer without him, period. Perhaps a child would make up for it, but I’m childless so I can’t speak to the experience personally. To be truthful, having been bonded with Riki, I can’t imagine walking away from that for any reason at all. Not even for my own life.”
Jason swallowed hard and shoved the remainder of the steak-on-a-stick into the bag of fries. He’d eat it later.
Urho went on, speaking casually between bites of his beet salad. “As for alpha condoms, the ones the government hands out do dull sensation to a degree. But sex is still pleasurable. Much of the enjoyment is emotional—seeing the omega you’re with delirious with pleasure, the various orgasms they enjoy, and knowing that you’re doing that to them.”
Jason’s fists balled up, but he held back the urge to punch Urho. He hated knowing Urho was thinking of Vale in that moment, remembering the pleasure he’d brought to him. He squeezed his eyes against the jealousy, reminding himself that it was better Urho had helped Vale than for Vale to have ever suffered.
Of course, Urho had helped him between heats, too.
A lot, from what Jason could tell.
But who was he to determine what a grown omega did with his sex life? Hadn’t he just been mentally railing at the rules around sex? He’d have to work harder not to be a hypocrite.
“If you choose Vale over a family, I don’t know that you’ll have regrets.” Urho frowned. “You will likely outlive him, of course. If, at that point, you feel you’ve missed out on a family, you could contract with a younger, widowed or uncontracted omega and reproduce with him. No one would blame you.”
Jason felt sick at the very idea. “Why haven’t you done that?” he asked, curious. “Do you not want children?”
Urho’s shoulders slumped, and his eyes glinted with pain. “Riki wanted children very much. It was his dream to give me a beautiful son. We struggled to get pregnant. He wasn’t as fertile as some omegas. But when he did conceive, he was ecstatic. I couldn’t share that with someone I didn’t love. Not having been so close to perfection.” He sat his salad aside, his face grey.
Jason was quiet a few moments before he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Urho shook himself. “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s in the past.” He turned to Jason, his expression all business now. “So what will you choose? Vale or a surrogate? I’m sure your parents want you to take a surrogate. Carrying on the line becomes so important to men as they age. They forget, I think, the way the bond consumes.”
“Pater wants me to choose Vale, I think. And Father wants me to take a surrogate, but that’s because he doesn’t want Pater’s suffering in having me to be in vain.”
“You’re going to choose Vale,” Urho said knowingly. “And that will be a beautiful choice. He’s a good man. He’ll make you happy. Though he won’t clean the house. You can give up on that right now.”
Jason laughed softly. “I do want to choose him, but he has to choose me, too. He’s having doubts about signing the contract.”
Urho huffed. “That sounds like him. He’s not accustomed to commitments. He’s been on his own a long time. Even our relationship wasn’t a committed one. He had other dalliances.” Urho rolled his eyes. “Not that he suffers from nymphomania,” he clarified. “But he’s never liked to feel locked in. For years, he had used the excuse that he couldn’t let himself get too attached because he never knew when his alpha might turn up. But then he let go of that idea and claimed to simply enjoy the freedom. I think, deep down, Vale doesn’t think he deserves a commitment. He sees himself as damaged goods.” Urho gazed at Jason meaningfully. “But surely you’ve realized that by now?”
Jason nodded. “How do I reassure him?”
“What you need to know about Vale is that he really wants to be taken firmly in hand.”
“What do you mean?”
