Page 5 of Curtis & Jae (Mate Match #1)

Five

Jae

Shit! Shit! Shit! Could there be a worse time to go into heat? I had to force myself to take a breath and calm down. Panicking about my situation was going to help no one, especially me. How could I freak out when I felt so safe with Curtis?

Throughout our date, he had given me all the green flags.

The eye contact, the conversation, his honesty, were all so appealing.

When he’d cut a large piece of his burger and given it to me along with more than half his fries?

I was done for. There was no one sweeter than him.

He made our date so effortless even when I hadn’t been feeling all that great.

In his Mate Match bio, he said his friends told him to add that he was a soft alpha, apparently not understanding the appeal. The man was a natural caretaker, and it was just so damn attractive it had sent me into heat weeks early. That or his potent pheromones. Likely a combination of both.

At a young age, usually our early teens, when we presented with our secondary gender, omegas were taught that overpowering pheromones indicated a strong alpha.

Curtis’ weren’t massively intense, they just wrapped all around me like a warm hug.

They gave a feeling of safety unlike anything I’d sensed before in an alpha.

That’s just what it took for my system to lie down and beg to be impregnated, I guess.

There was no other reason I could think of for me to go into heat so early.

My cycle had never been so off! This was weeks earlier than usual when I could usually set a clock by my heats.

Ever since they’d begun at nineteen, they’d been regular.

Curtis, naturally, handled it perfectly. Of course he had. I shouldn’t have expected anything less. When he embraced me, reassured me? I knew trusting my gut about him was right. Asking him to take me through this felt good.

Well played, Mate Match, well played. Their algorithm knew its stuff for sure. I had to remember to leave them a good review, no matter how things turned out between me and Curtis. They’d done their part, everything from now on was between me and him.

“Would you rather we go to a hotel or my house? Mine isn’t far and there’s a drugstore open late on the way. I’m not going to suggest your place. I want you to feel free to leave at any time if it’s not working out. Your safety is important.”

Where had this angel come from? He was almost too good to be true, though I could see the strain around his eyes over holding back. My pheromones were affecting him, yet he thought only of my comfort first, even while he struggled.

“Wow, um, wow. Your place would be better.” The heat was making thoughts hard, and other things harder.

All I wanted to do was strip off my clothes and have Curtis fill me over and over until my heat broke.

That primitive part of my brain wanted him to leave something behind, so he would always have to take care of me.

Giving over control to an alpha I barely knew probably wasn’t smart. My friends would have something to say about it. Which reminded me.

“Oh! My friend is here.” I suddenly remembered Brady had his date in the same place.

I knew I had to tell him where I was going.

He would be so mad if I left and went MIA all weekend.

I had no clue how long this heat would take either.

“You need to come with me. Tell him where you live. He needs to feed my cat.”

Percy, my Maine Coon, would be furious with me if I left him for a couple of days with whatever crunch he had left in the bowl. I’d be unable to relax and enjoy my heat while worrying about him.

“Okay, where is he?”

I pointed out Brady to Curtis, who wrapped an arm around me, keeping me steady as we walked across the restaurant towards my friend.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Curtis said in a polite tone as we reached the table. “Jae would like Brady to take care of his cat for him while he is at my house for the next day or two.”

Not shouting I was in heat gave him big points. “Here.” He gave Brady both his phone number and address with a friendly smile. “I promise to look after Jae right. Will you manage to take care of Percy, or should I—?”

For his part, Brady was subdued as he took in my alpha’s words. He cut Curtis off with an assurance about Percy. He loved my cat. “It’s no problem. I’ll check in on him tomorrow.” Brady had a key to my apartment for emergencies.

He tapped away on his phone. Mine buzzed in my pocket. Curtis stepped away so I could get it. Now that the wave of heat had ebbed slightly as it prepared for the next wave, I felt steadier, clearer headed.

Brady

Are you sure? Will you be safe?

Jae

100% Curtis is perfect. I trust him

Brady

Really? After everything, I thought you’d be more wary. Check in with me please

Jae

I will

“Ready to go?” Curtis asked once it was clear we were finished with our private conversation.

“I’m ready.” While I was also a little nervous, it wasn’t about my decision to be with Curtis. Him, I was sure about. It was just the first time with a new person nerves.

“Have fun!” Brady called with a soft smile.

Curtis took my hand as we left the restaurant. It was only then I realized Brady’s alphas didn’t say a word during the entire thing. I frowned.

“Sorry our date got interrupted,” I said, the faint prickle of another wave bringing me back to the moment.

“We can always have another.” His smile was so genuine and kind it took my breath away.

Most drugstores carried emergency contraceptive kits alongside the more traditional types of contraceptives.

When we had evolved, there was a leap in research leading to breakthroughs in medicine.

It had helped doctors cure many medical conditions, including all STIs and STDs, which was lucky since there was a protein in an alpha’s ejaculate that an omega needed to get through their heat.

Some omegas, like me, didn’t react well to the synthetic kind which could be bought for omegas who either did not have or did not want a partner to take them through their heats.

There were contraceptive pills you could take in the run up to your heat if you had notice. Barrier methods like condoms where you would ingest the synthetic protein instead. Hormonal implants, heat blockers, all sorts of ways to prevent a pregnancy or even a heat.

Unfortunately for me, I was sort of allergic to the implant and heat blockers. The hormones upset my stomach and gave me chronic headaches, so I had to avoid them. Meaning not having my heat just wasn’t possible and a synthetic protein just plain didn’t work on me, leaving me miserable.

I was what was called a dominant omega because of that.

My pheromones could be particularly alluring to alphas, especially dominant ones, like I suspected Curtis was.

Had he ever been tested? It wasn’t standard to check.

You either presented as omega, alpha, or stayed a beta.

I was only checked for my hormone levels when I began heats and had problems with the contraceptives.

My dominant presentation shocked everyone since I was late starting my heats.

Most dominants presented later and started heats pretty soon after, but I had presented as normal at fourteen, slowly changing and developing until my heats turned up at nineteen.

It had taken me a couple of years to figure out what worked for me. If I’d had more time to prepare for my heat, the pill would have worked fine. I could deal with the headaches for a week or so, as unpleasant as it could be.

My impromptu heat had robbed me of time to protect myself. Luckily, there was an emergency option.

I pulled Curtis to a stop just before the drugstore. I could see the sign was lit up, telling me it was still open.

“Are you okay with taking DuoStop?” The popular last minute contraceptive from AlphaPharm worked on slowing an alpha’s sperm and preventing the omega’s egg from implanting. It was sold in liquid form to be injected into a person’s thigh no less than thirty minutes before sex.

Apparently, some alphas didn’t like taking it because their orgasms weren’t as strong on it. You’d think they’d be more concerned with not having to pay child support, but whatever. I just hoped Curtis was on board.

“Oh, I thought you’d want to use condoms. Either is fine with me.” He gave a careless shrug, the movement jostling me slightly since we were closely pressed together. His pheromones wrapped around me comfortingly.

I briefly explained my situation along with the surprise heat limiting my options.

It was embarrassing, though necessary, to be so candid about my medical history and heats with someone so new to my life.

Yet not telling Curtis felt unfair. How could he be expected to take care of me properly if I couldn’t communicate my needs?

“Whatever you want is fine with me.” He scrubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I’m not the best with needles. D’you think you could stick me with my dose?”

“Sure.” I grinned, happy to have such an easygoing alpha with me. There was no way Hwan would have been so calm about the situation.

The next wave rose, bringing with it a flush to my skin.

Sweat broke out all over my body. I really wanted a shower before Curtis got anywhere near me.

My stomach cramped as my hole clenched. I could feel the slick in my underwear.

I was grateful for the absorbent layer to the briefs I’d picked out.

Designed for omegas, they kept me feeling dry even with the surge of hormones creating slickness to ready my ass for sex.

We entered the drugstore and Curtis asked for the DuoStop, but I paid for it, feeling bad he’d already paid for dinner and now we were doing this.

There was a good chance I was interrupting his entire weekend.

We were given our dosage pens, and the attendant told us how to inject ourselves.

Like those epinephrine auto injectors, we did it through our clothes.

I did mine quickly, trying not to wince at the sting, so I didn’t put Curtis off.

It hurt, though, making me reluctant to hurt Curtis with his.

“Is it okay if I do his?” I asked the person behind the counter.

“Not good with needles?” the attendant asked sympathetically. “We get that a lot. You’d be surprised at how many people just don’t like needles.” They rounded the desk between us. “I can do it while you distract him if both of you are okay with that?”

Curtis’ eyes met mine. “I’d much rather look at you while you don’t have that thing in your hand.”

I handed over the pen with my thanks and while they got in place, went onto my tiptoes to kiss Curtis.

He made a gasp of either pain or surprise before kissing me back.

His hand cupped the back of my neck in the barest of touches, fingers brushing over my scent gland where an alpha bite would go if he wanted to be my mate.

The bites were incredibly difficult to remove.

Stimulating the gland, particularly during sex, helped the alpha/omega pair bond, which led to a greater likelihood of a pregnancy.

The feeling of our kiss was electric. It held the promise of great chemistry in the sheets, but also genuine affection. I took in more of his pheromones, the scent fizzing through my system, leaving a pleasant warmth behind it.

We parted with a smile to find the attendant looking at us.

They were grinning so widely I was almost embarrassed for the show we gave them.

“You two are so cute! Sorry! I shouldn’t have said that.

” They blushed, made their way around us to return behind the counter, then packaged up the remains of the box folded with the relevant information.

“Please, keep this for your records just in case you need to seek medical attention because of a reaction. Duostop is ninety-nine point five percent effective. I have to remind you of the legal stuff. Don’t forget to wait thirty minutes. Best set a timer now.”

“Thanks. I understand.” I took the packet and tucked it into the inner pocket of my jacket while Curtis played with his phone before showing the ticking timer to the attendant, earning him a pleased look.

Curtis held out his hand. “Ready?”

“Yes.” I took his hand eagerly. Grateful for the grounding touch.

Together we said goodbye and left the store for Curtis’ home.

Nerves plagued me as we walked. Was I doing the right thing?

I could go home and be miserable for three to five days while my heat played out alone.

It would be shorter with an alpha, but that wasn’t the only reason to pick Curtis.

I wanted to be with him. My heat was a convenient excuse.

He had such a soothing presence about him.

I really didn’t want to go it alone. He made me feel safe and desired at the same time.

One look at him keeping pace with me despite his longer legs, a concerned expression on his handsome face, and I knew I’d made the right choice.