He called me a slut, and I am. I am the definition of the word. Open for use by appointment only. And Kris keeps my schedule busy. I don't care about that, either. I've been perpetually in heat for longer than I can remember. At this point, my entire life is an unfocused blur.
 
 The only thing I can clearly remember is the look in his eyes when I chose this life because I was too weak to let go of it. Brooks tried. He tried so damn hard. But I was too far gone by then. I hadn't truly seen myself in a long time when he told me I had to choose, and I chose wrong. I know that now, but it's too late.
 
 The Alpha, whose name is supposedly Aaron, slides one of his hands to the back of my head and the other down to wrap long fingers around my neck. “Good,” he grunts. “Just like that. Nice and loose for me. I can feel my dick in your throat. You like that, slut?”
 
 I don't care about that anymore than the rest of it, but I make the expected sound of approval, letting it sputter around when he pulls back for his next shallow thrust. He isn't trying to hurt me, not yet. From what I can remember from my previous evenings with this Alpha, he doesn't usually get much more violent or rough than this.
 
 They always wait until I'm good and gone on thermogen-R before they get rough. I can always tell when things are about to go in that direction when they push me to do more and more R. Right now, I'm floating through an almost constant state of a mild heat spike. If I take just a little more R, the chemicals will trick my body into behaving like I'm in the beginning stages of heat, except one of the additives in the compound makes it feel, for lack of a better adjective, delicious. The fever, the cramps, the pain associated with being in heat are muted by the insane amount of euphoric pleasure that R gives you.
 
 It started out as a party drug or something to experiment or play around with when you do go into heat. The heat comes on faster, harder, without any of the misery between rushes of pleasure. The dark side of it is if you do it and you don't have an Alpha willing to fuck you until it wears off, the misery is multiplied as exponentially as the pleasure.
 
 And that's how they get you.
 
 “Swallow,” the Alpha fucking my needy throat raw orders, and I obey. I'm a good slut, after all.
 
 Yeah, that's how they get you. You'll do anything to ease the agony of a solitary heat in the best of times, but a false heat is a hotter hell than anything you'll ever experience. The first time a person does R, they decide in that moment if the astronomical amount of instant pleasure is worth the misery of the comedown, because the comedown is so, so bad, and you always come down.
 
 Unless you don't.
 
 And then you discover that you're a slut.
 
 I'm addicted to the pleasure. The way it makes me forget everything that weighs me down. I don't have to think about all the awful things I've done or let people do to me because I don't have time to remember them when I'm constantly climbing and sliding between various levels of pleasure. The only time I think about it is when Kris lets me go too long without. That doesn't happen too often, though.
 
 “Again,” the Alpha grunts.
 
 I swallow around his dick again and reach down to squeeze my own. He'll take care of me. He always does. I just have to give him what he wants first.
 
 All of my clients are like that. Give them the thing they've been thinking about the most, and then they'll ease the raging fire burning through my veins.
 
 “You like this?” he asks, pushing a little deeper and causing me to swallow around him again before I nod.
 
 “Yeah, you do,” he continues. “You want me to fuck you, don't you?”
 
 I nod again, blinking rapidly up at him. Letting him fuck my mouth and throat is nice and all, but I need more. I always need more.
 
 “Yeah, well, you're going to have to convince me to go against your Alpha's orders,” he says, voice thick with lust and regret. “She said I'm just supposed to get you warmed up. She said I'm the perfect appetizer for the feast she has planned for you tonight.”
 
 I pause, my brows bunching together. Kris didn't say anything about appetizers or a feast. She said she was going to take care of me tonight, and all I needed to do was let her do it. The way she was looking at me when she said it made me half-believe that she was going to fuck me herself. She wouldn't do that. The cozy little symbiotic relationship we have only works if she benefits from my pleasure, and she only gets those benefits if I get what I want first. It's an even trade.
 
 Normally, I don't care what happens to my body when I'm riding the waves brought on by R. If the clients get out of hand, that's a problem for later. And Kris always stops them from going too far, so I'm relatively safe in whatever scenario she lines up for me. But there's always a discussion first about what's actually going to happen.
 
 Usually.
 
 There's usually a conversation.
 
 But this time she didn't tell me anything after she tied off the tourniquet. She told me that her friend Aaron was going to come take care of me. That's it.
 
 “Oh no,” he purrs. “You look confused. Don't worry, slut. I didn't have enough of what she wanted for me to be your main course, but I know who did. You're going to have a fun night.” He grips my hair and thrusts so deep that his balls lie heavily against my chin. “Stay just like that. Be a good boy and I'll give you my cum before I leave. You want that, don't you?”
 
 I'm only capable of a slight nod. I do want that. The hot, tight feeling in my stomach is starting to feel like the echo of a pinch. I want his release inside of me one way or another. My thighsare soaked with the slick that's been dripping from me since he walked into the room. I need relief. He can give it to me.
 
 “Don't move,” he says, and I catch the movement out of the corner of my eye just half a second before I feel the pinch in my bicep.
 
 “There you go.” He tosses the syringe toward the bedside table. “That's going to make sure you're good and ready. You want some cum while that kicks in?”
 
 I do. I can't nod because his hands have moved to hold my head steady, but I want it. All I can do from here is relax my jaw and let my eyes roll back as the wash of heat pulls me into oblivion.
 
 Chapter Five