Page 27 of Slow Heat

“I didn’t mean to scare him.” Jason sat down on the sofa, letting Pater drape a warm arm over his shoulders. “I didn’t plan to talk to him at all.”

“What were you planning?”

Jason’s ears burned. “I was going to, uh, look in the windows and, well, see if I could…I don’t know. I just wanted to know something about him.”

“I understand.”

“When he seemed scared, I tried to reassure him, but…”

“I’m sorry I accused you earlier. I’d been entertaining horrible thoughts for over an hour, afraid the police would show up on our door saying you’d assaulted the poor man. It’s instinct. And imprinting is no laughing matter, love.”

“I know. Did you know that he’s all alone in the world? His parents are dead.”

“I see.” Pater frowned. “That will complicate our contracts. It’s not customary to deal directly with the omega. But in this situation, maybe that’s right. It’ll prepare us for things to come.”

Jason’s mind went back to when he had stretched out his hand, vowing that Vale wasn’t alone in the world anymore. “I told him that I was his family now.”

Pater laughed softly. “What did he say?”

“He said I should go home.”

Pater squeezed Jason’s shoulder. “Romantic declarations will be more welcome when things seem less uncertain.”

“He didn’t hate me, though. He said I had a good heart and he thought, eventually, we could be good together.”

That hadn’t been exactly what Vale had said, but Jason had to believe that was what he meant.

“We’re going tomake sureyour future is good, okay? We’ll do everything in our power.”

“Father’s already considering a surrogate.”

Pater shook his head. “Shush. We aren’t going to discuss that now or, with any luck, ever.” He withdrew his arm but patted Jason’s knee and smiled, his lips wobbling. “But definitely not now. I’m too tired for it. I’m sorry.”

“Your last heat was bad again?”

“My heats grow more intense as I age. But it’s the pills that keep me from conceiving afterward that are the real problem.”

It was slightly embarrassing to discuss this, but if he was going to be a good alpha to his own omega, he couldn’t shy away from these topics. “I don’t understand what you mean. In class they said alpha condoms should prevent unwanted—”

Pater shuddered. “I hate them.”

“But why? The professors said they don’t noticeably reduce pleasure for the omega, just keep them from getting pregnant.”

Pater sneered. “Your professors leave out the fact that pleasure is about more than sensation. Instinct sees insemination as connection, as intimacy. Besides, I’m allergic to the government-approved condoms and the black-market ones are impossible to find anymore.” Pater’s eyes darkened. “They don’t actually want us to control births, you understand.”

“I know, Pater.” He’d heard it hundreds of times when his pater had a little too much to drink and started ranting about omega rights.

“If it was only for a single round, then I could manage. But by the fifth or sixth knot, I’m swollen and bleeding. After five days of multiple rounds of intercourse? Well, I’d probably tear and go septic.” He patted his pocket again, seeking the cigarettes, but Jason took his hand to still it.

“It’s okay, Pater. You don’t need to smoke.”

“You hate it,” he said apologetically. “I know. It’s a terrible habit.”

“You only do it when you’re sad. Or scared. Or unhappy. And that’s not that often.”

“Usually just around heats, yes?”

Jason gripped his hand. “So when you say you take drugs to keep you from conceiving, you really mean that you’ve most likely already conceived and…”