Page 34 of Alpha Heat

“No one can.”

“I want to try. You need this?”

“Most humans need sexual release,” Xan said defensively. “Notall, but most.”

“And your omega—”

“Doesn’t interest me.”

Urho cocked his head. “But what of his needs?”

Xan glanced away. “We have an agreement.” He wasn’t about to mention the truth about Caleb. That was Caleb’s secret to share if and when he wanted to.

“I see.”

But Xan could tell that Urho didn’t truly see.

“He has a lover?” Urho asked. “A beta, perhaps? Someone you find unthreatening to your relationship?”

Xan pushed out a breath. “I didn’t come here to talk about him.” Though he had, hadn’t he? In a way? The pills he wanted to ask Urho for were only necessary because of his obligation to Caleb. “I wondered if you’d prescribe something for me. Something for stamina.”

Urho frowned, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Stamina? Sexual stamina?”

“Yes. I have a hard time keeping up with Caleb during his heats. There isn’t another one coming for a few months, but I want to be prepared. I heard there were new pills that allow alphas to last a long time and rebound more quickly.”

“He suffers from nympho—I mean, interminable heat?”

“No. The problem is me.”

Urho’s dark eyes narrowed. “Because what you want isn’t what Caleb offers,” he said quietly. “His pheromones don’t arouse you?”

“They do.” But the smell of Caleb in heat only made him crave being penetrated all the more. He’d been a mess during their first heat together. Horny and full of longing, unable to take care of Caleb’s suffering and unable to fulfill his own needs either. He dreaded it coming round again. He had nearly gone mad listening to Caleb’s cries of pain. “But not in the…right way.”

He shook off the veil of sickening guilt that dropped over him, focused on Urho again, and said, “I need help. It’s hard for me to admit—even harder to ask—but you know our situation better than most, and so I’m asking you. Please, help me.”

Urho’s body tensed, and he closed his eyes, taking a ragged breath. When his lids popped open again, Xan didn’t recognize staid, old-fashioned Urho in the wildness he saw in the depths there. “I can give you the pills.”

“Thank you!”

“But I can offer more than that.”

Xan swallowed thickly. Was he going to suggest himself as an alpha surrogate for Caleb’s heat? He let out a shuddery breath, not sure what he hoped for, but signaling for Urho to continue.

“You can’t continue to see the man who hurt you.”

Xan groaned. “We’ve already—”

“Listen to me!” Urho commanded and Xan’s mouth snapped shut. “If you need this so badly, come to me for it.”

Xan gaped, taking in Urho’s pounding pulse, visible in the dark hollow at the base of his neck. He ran his gaze over Urho’s messy hair and his earnest—so intensely earnest—eyes. He sucked in a harsh breath. “What are you saying?”

“If you need—” Urho wiped a trembling hand over his mouth and then started again. “If you need help with your cravings, come to me instead of that man who abuses you.”

“Come to you for what?” Xan asked, blinking rapidly. “For a lecture? Tea? Medicine of some kind? What exactly do you plan to give me?”

“Sex. I’ll give you sex.”

Xan stared at him, his mind whirring and his heart sprinting madly. “You’llwhat?”