Page 42 of Slow Heat

Jason paused in his thrusting and Xan went still beneath him.

“I didn’t—” Xan started, his breath harsh and wet.

“Don’t. Shh.” Jason smoothed back Xan’s dark hair and kissed his shoulders. “Of course you love me; you’re my omega. And I’m gonna knock you up.” His own throat clogged with tears, and he pressed his face to Xan’s back.

A hard knot of resolve gripped his guts. This was the last time. It had to be. Because Xan loved him…and not as a friend. As a true lover, and that fantasy had to end. For both of them.

“Please make me come,” Xan whimpered. “Please. I wanna come. Help me.Make me.”

Jason hitched Xan’s hips into position so each thrust jammed against his prostate. Holding back his own emotions, he fucked Xan hard and fast, forcing him to take his cock to the base. Just the way Xan liked it best.

“Fuck!” Xan cried, his asshole stretched impossibly wide around Jason’s dick. “I’m gonna—!”

“Do it!” Jason urged. He wanted to flip Xan over, see his face one last time as he came. “Show me how you love my dick.”

Xan convulsed, his entire body warping with the grip of orgasm. A cry wrenched from his throat and he pulsed around Jason’s cock. Jason closed his eyes, imagined a descended womb he could punch up into, and he pumped his ecstasy into Xan for the final time.

When the trembling high wore off, he nuzzled Xan’s neck, kissed his shoulder, and pulled out slowly. Xan collapsed against the mattress, spent and still shaking. Jason’s come slipped from his gaping asshole, and Jason had a strange urge to use his fingers to shove it back inside. Instead, he grabbed a towel from his dirty clothes hamper and handed it over.

“Was it good?”

Xan nodded, his cheeks flushed from tears and his chest red with exertion. He wiped at himself and then stared at the wet stain on the bed sheet. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. I’m the one who made you come, so I guess it’s my fault.”

Xan dressed himself shakily, and Jason did the same. Their unusual silence weighed between them. Normally, Jason would be talking again by now trying to stave off Xan’s descent into guilt, or they’d chase Xan’s darkness away by making plans for the next time.

“I need to get back to school,” Xan said quietly once he was dressed, his bow tie askew and his eyes downcast.

Words stuck in Jason’s throat. There was a lot he needed to say, but he didn’t know how to start. All that came out was, “Yeah.”

Finally, Xan glanced up to meet Jason’s gaze. “I’ll see you in class?”

“On Monday.”

At the door to Jason’s room, Xan stopped him with a hand on his chest. “I’ll see myself out.” He swallowed hard, tears welling in his eyes again. “This was the last time, wasn’t it?”

Jason nodded.

“You’re different now. He’s made you different.”

“It’s not him. It’s because…we’reÉrosgápe.” He didn’t know how else to explain.

“I understand.”

But Xan didn’t sound like he understood at all. In fact, he sounded like he was going to cry some more, and guilt mixed with Jason’s own sadness.

“About what I said during…” Xan cleared his throat. “It was…”

“It was part of the game,” Jason lied for him softly.

Xan’s eyes darted to the floor. “Right.”

Jason tilted his face up, stroking his chin with his thumb. Xan’s mouth crumpled as he fought tears.

Jason tugged him into a hug. “I’m sorry. When you find yourÉrosgápeor find the right omega to contract with, this hurt will go away. I promise.”

Xan tugged out of his arms and cleared his throat. “Yeah. Whatever, right? We’re friends helping each other out. That’s all.”