Work Text:
Jack had his doubts when he booked himself a week at the Pittsburgh Heat and Rut Aid Clinic, but it doesn’t feel sterile like he thought it would when he walks in. He expected it to be cold, clinical, like the hospital. No. It feels…warm. Clean and professional, yes, but homely.
Or maybe that’s just his upcoming heat doing the talking, convincing him that this is a safe place. He wonders what mix of pheromones they put in the air here.
As he stands in the lobby, taking a slow breath with his backpack slung over his shoulder, he reminds himself exactly why he’s here. That he’d stretched the limit of how long he could be on suppressants as long as is safe, past it, even, and he needs to go through a heat in order to come back to work. Healthcare standards.
But he doesn’t have to like it. He made the mistake of bitching about it to the omegas on night shift, and the younger residents, the ones who have more options now than they ever have, told him about clinics like this. Discreet, free, safe, well staffed. No humility or judgment involved. It sounded too good to be true, but Jack figured he’d take his chances.
Even he’s not stupid enough to try to wait out a heat at home, alone, with no alpha and only a few toys. He’d be a danger to himself. For once, he can take the advice he gives out to patients.
“Hi there, honey,” says the clerk at the reception desk, a kind eyed woman whose nametag reads Dana. “Welcome. Do you have an appointment with us?”
“Yeah,” Jack says, clinging to the strap of his bag. “I sent here for the, uh, scent thing. Selection.”
Dana takes his stammering in stride, just nodding and pulling up his appointment when he gives her his name. While she works, Jack takes another nervous look around the lobby, the way it splits into two wings, one for alpha clientele and one, on the right, for omegas. He swallows, nerves returning in full force, wondering exactly what he’s signing himself up for.
Dana keeps typing away. “Last heat?”
Jack says gruffly, “Decades.”
She nods, no judgment, just a kind smile over her glasses. “Okay, sweetheart, why don’t you take this,” she says, and hands him a tray, “and step into that scenting room there. Come back once you’ve made your pick, and I’ll give you the key to your room and inform the alpha.” She smiles.
Jack takes the tray of unmarked scent bottles and takes it into the room she indicates. He filled out a form about the kind of alpha he likes—firm but not cruel, not afraid of letting the omega be in control, yet loving and soft. An equal match for him, basically.
Although a large part of him still believes he’s going to be simply thrown to an alpha like lambs to the slaughter, that he’ll have no control on whatever his alpha chooses to do to him. Jack will be in heat, after all, maybe even restrained, he won’t have much of a choice but to comply.
Jack takes the five scents—contributed by many of the alphas who work here, anonymous so that looks don’t influence anything—and breathes each of them in. Some are fine, some are off putting, and one—one smells like warmth. Like pine, thick and rich, but not cloying. It smells like safety.
It’s the kind of scent where Jack wants to spray it on a blanket that’s fresh out of the dryer and wrap himself up in it, warm and safe. Pad his nest with it. Or better yet, wrap himself in the arms of the alpha it belongs to.
He wants that alpha. He’ll do anything to get the alpha, he knows that now.
“This one,” he says, presenting it to Dana, almost salivating in his eagerness.
Her eyes widen a bit when she looks at the number on the label. “That one hasn’t been chosen in a long time…but of course, we can do that for you. Let me get him for you.”
She does a few more things, hands him a room key, sends him on his way, telling him that his alpha will be in in a minute.
Jack takes another breath and reminds himself that this place is just a hotel. He checks into his room down the east wing of the place, sliding the keycard in.
Jack takes a look around his room for the next week. A large, circular bed rests against the wall, best for nesting. Right now, it has just a white sheet covering it, with an open linen closet against the far wall stocked high with a variety of sizes of pillows, blankets, comforters, teddy bears, a large stack of towels, some basic clothes, all the best materials for nesting beyond someone’s own clothes.
Jack was expecting the room to feel clinical and sterile, perhaps smell of cleaning products, and while it certainly smells clean, it doesn’t smell uninviting, certainly not like the hospital. It smells warm, welcoming, lived in, like a real room that exists beyond its one and only purpose. He finds himself relaxing as he breathes more of the scent in.
Perhaps they spray the room with some universal alpha pheromones to comfort the omegas; this is the omega customer wing of the building, after all.
Besides the bed, there’s a window to let the sunshine and fresh air in, table and two chairs, a soft rug under his boots, a sparkling ensuite bathroom stocked with even more towels, and a little tray of essentials on the bedside table.
Several little bottles of lube in different flavors, scents, and lack thereof, as well as boxes of condoms in various sizes, and a basket of toys, all sterilized and fully charged. Jack hasn’t heard of many omegas who require lube or want condoms during heat, but it’s nice that this place offers. They’re very thorough.
The room is everything an omega would need for a good heat. It’s small enough not to feel overwhelming, enough to trap a scent and establish a perimeter, establish a feeling of safety when that deep heat sickness has struck. Jack pictures himself spending his heat here, for the first time. He pictures his heat for the first time.
Until now, it’s been hard to fathom that he’s going to have his first heat in almost thirty years. It’s been daunting and too frightening to truly picture, but this room makes it seem a little easier. He’s more and more grateful he took his friends’ advice and checked into this place instead of trying to tough it out alone at home.
It’s perfect. All it’s missing is an alpha, the scent of whom from the bottle is still lingering in Jack’s nose, addictive and dizzying.
And then, right on cue, there’s a knock on the door. Jack can smell the alpha before he enters, and he appreciates that the alpha actually waits for Jack to say, “Come in,” before entering.
He’s hit with a blast of the scent first, of course. Just as good, better than it was in the bottle, much stronger here.
“Hi, Jack,” the alpha says, holding a tablet, dressed in soft and casual clothes. “I’m Robby. A pleasure to meet you.” He smiles. He’s handsome and tall, and he smells so good. Jack is salivating.
Jack takes the hand he offers. “Yeah, but I think there was a mistake. My heat’s not supposed to start till tomorrow, but I was told to come in today.”
“That’s on purpose,” Robby chuckles, with the tone like he gets that question a lot. He takes a seat.
“I want to fill out your intake form now,” Robby says, taking out a tablet, making Jack tense up again. But Robby’s reassuring smile and the continued warm pine scent calms him down a bit. “This is about consent, your likes, your dislikes, that kind of thing.”
Jack’s throat clicks. “We’re not doing anything yet. I’m not in heat yet.”
“Exactly,” Robby says. “It’s important that we fill this out now, while you’re clearheaded and fully able to consent and more importantly refuse everything I ask or suggest. There will be many ways you’ll be able to refuse consent while you’re in heat, of course, and we’ll go over those thoroughly, too.
“But for now, just know that I know all the body language and the nonverbal cues of an omega in heat,” he adds with a smile, “and the most important thing you can remember is that you’re not giving your power away when you come here, nor your autonomy, nor your consent. You’re not giving me blanket permission of your body.
“You’re still going to be in control, even in the depths of heat. This entire experience is about you, about you feeling safe, comfortable, and enjoying your heat. I am just your servant in that regard. Okay?”
Jack swallows again, one fist unclenching. He can’t deny that sets his heart at ease a bit, smoothing back some of the restless anxiety about what coming here might mean. The room is nice, the scent of the alpha is nice, but it would all turn to horror if it meant complete and total submission the way he feared it might. Giving himself over to a strange alpha and hoping they’d know what to do with him.
This is…far beyond what he imagined.
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s go over what your preferences are,” Robby says, and begins reading a few questions. They should sound clinical, things like top or bottom, dom or sub, if any, what his kinks are, whether he prefers praise or degradation, what he likes best for aftercare…although omegas in heat only want one thing in one specific place, Jack appreciates that Robby doesn’t assume anything.
Even though the bedroom is where Jack chooses to shirk his leadership, challenging someone to take him out of his alert headspace. To take him out of the leadership he performs every day, he feels comfortable in, even if yeah, maybe he’s compensating a bit for what people assume about omegas.
What they assume him to be when they find out he’s an omega. The oh my god, I thought you were an alpha! makes him preen a bit, he won’t deny. But here is not the place for it. And Robby isn’t acting like that. He’s just treating Jack like a person.
Robby smiles and puts his tablet aside once they finish the questions. “Now that that’s out of the way, I think it’s time for us to get to know each other better.”
He takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “That’s also what the extra day is for. For us to get to know each other, get used to each other’s scents, get to know each other as people so you know you can trust me during your heat. Or at least, that’s the goal.
“How about you just come here,” Robby says, patting the space in front of him, “and cuddle with me for a few minutes. Just let me hold you.”
Jack wants to put up an air of resistance greater than the weak whimper of need he lets out at the thought of getting closer to this scent, but it’s a losing battle against the need that bubbles up. He goes to the bed. Even though it’s missing a nest, he settles in happily, taking off his shoes, cuddling up.
He wonders what Robby would say if he built a nest, if Jack would be praised for it. Jack rather likes the idea of Robby praising him so.
Robby folds an arm around his waist and pulls him close, chest to back, breathing with him softly. He’s so warm, and his voice is soft in Jack’s ear. “When’s the last time you cuddled with an alpha?”
Jack turns his head back into Robby’s neck, nuzzling the hints of his scent he can get, not answering for a moment. “Long time.”
“Yes, I can tell. You smell so…lonely.” It’s not cruel, just soft and true.
Jack can’t deny any longer how much he missed this. The warmth, the weight, the safety, the comfort, the closeness. The intimacy of sharing his body in this way, in some ways more intimate than the thought of giving Robby his body during heat.
Robby squeezes his hand. “How does this feel? Do you trust me?”
Jack appreciates each soft check in of consent, each careful word. “Yes.”
“Good,” Robby murmurs, a word that runs down Jack’s spine like wildfire.
“I haven’t been with someone through their heat in a long time,” Robby confesses, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of Jack’s neck, another test. Jack keens, a sound that makes his own cheeks flush as soon as it’s left his mouth, but Robby only seems happy. “No one’s chosen my scent from the mix in a long time.”
“Why? You smell so good, alpha.”
Fuck, that slipped out too. If ever there was a sign that Jack is getting closer to heat, losing his inhibitions…
But again, Robby just seems fond and caring. “Well, when you’re the owner of a place like this,” he chuckles, “you tend to focus on other responsibilities."
Jack turns to face him. “You’re the owner?”
Robby looks a bit startled, blushing. “Yes. I hope that’s alright.”
“It’s fine, man, I just wouldn’t have guessed.” Jack feels some vague smugness. That he, he was enticing enough to bag the owner.
Jack starts shifting and squirming on the bed, now aware of how bare it is, how unsafe it feels, even with Robby in it. “You want to make a nest?” Robby whispers, already picking up on Jack’s scent changes.
“Yeah.”
“Well, then go make a nest,” Robby chuckles, squeezing his waist. “I can leave.”
“No,” Jack says quickly, when Robby’s arm leaves his waist. “I want you to stay. Watch me build it.”
Fuck, the heat is really lowering his inhibitions. He can’t believe he’s saying all this.
“Okay,” Robby says, soft and warm. His eyes sure enough stick close to Jack as he assembles a nest from the materials in the cabinet, acutely aware of every second with Robby watching him. Just like Jack told him to. He didn’t fight, didn’t even argue for the sake of seeming alpha. He just agreed to Jack’s small request.
Can it really be that easy?
Jack completes the nest quickly with Robby standing to the side of the bed, watching with his arms crossed, humming in approval with every piece Jack adds, arranges just so, until his instincts are soothed. This is the nest where he’ll have his heat. This is the nest he’ll be sharing with an alpha—this alpha, the tall, dark, and handsome one in the room with him right now, smelling better than sin.
Once it’s done, there’s only one thing missing. One scent among the mix of Jack and this clean clinic smell. He takes a look at Robby, wondering how to ask.
But, just like the other times, Robby seems to know without Jack having to say it. Robby takes off his zipup hoodie, letting Jack see how toned he is through his tshirt, but more importantly, how soft. What a perfect place for Jack to rest his head, to cling on, to curl himself around for safety and warmth. The greatest thing an alpha can be is soft and broad, giving an omega all the space necessary to rest.
Jack adds it to the nest, resisting the urge to bury his nose in it and inhale, because he still has some of his mind left, and he knows he should wait until he’s mindless to perform that kind of behavior. Once the nest is done, he turns to Robby for approval.
“Gorgeous,” Robby purrs, and it sounds like he’s talking about much more than the nest. “Gorgeous nest.”
Jack grins; he’s preening. He crawls up into the nest and takes his leg off, feeling the preheat fatigue and his own chronic pain catching up to him. He sighs and snuggles down to rest.
When he opens his eyes after a moment, Robby is smiling at him so soft and fond Jack thinks he must be putting it on. “You look so soft and cuddly,” Robby whispers, two things that Jack knows he is very much not, and he would take offense to in most other situations…but now, his inner omega purrs at being called such a thing. Yes, good. Alpha is impressed with me.
“Join me?” Jack murmurs.
“I have a few more things to do around here before I can lock myself in here with you for good,” Robby says, “but I promise, I’ll be back tonight. If you want anything to eat, just use this, and they’ll bring it to you. Complimentary.” He pats the little ordering menu by the door. There’s an intercom button there, too.
“Alright, see you,” Jack says, wanting to cry out come back as soon as Robby’s left his sight from the window in the door.
#
Jack’s nap extends into the evening, and he stirs when Robby slides into the nest behind him, curling an arm around his waist and dragging Jack against his chest, heavy and warm.
“Hey,” Jack murmurs, snuggling back. This feels so natural, so easy. How easy would it be to wake up like this every day in his bed at home?
Easy. It’s probably just his preheat brain taking over.
“Hey,” Robby replies, kissing the back of his neck. Jack took his shirt and pants off to sleep, leaving him only in boxers, but Robby is careful and chaste. His touch is almost reverent over Jack’s skin, tracing the freckles on his shoulders and biceps.
“So, this is it?” Jack whispers. “You’ll be my alpha for this heat? It’s official?”
"Yes," Robby whispers into the back of Jack's neck, pressing a kiss to his nape, the words low in Jack's ear. "I consent to be your alpha for the heat. I wouldn't dream of anything else." He pulls Jack closer against his chest, his big spoon in the bed of this heat clinic.
Something within Jack clicks and melts, like a switch being flipped. Warm syrup starts to flow through his body. There’s an alpha holding him. He’s safe and warm and protected, held tight, almost naked. The puffs of Robby’s hot breath against his neck are driving him wild.
Like a flood, it begins. "Alpha," he pants, starting to squirm as liquid heat pools in his stomach. "Alpha..."
"Shh, shh, is it starting?" Robby hushes. "Fuck, that was fast. You needed me, didn't you?"
Jack just whines, tilting his head down, as if he's not already vulnerable enough. Robby is a working alpha, he's not going to give Jack a mating bite no matter how much he begs, that's why they have bite protection on—but Jack's hindbrain doesn't know that.
"Shh, shh, I'm here," Robby whispers, rolling Jack onto his back so he can kiss his mouth, quieting his whines. "Alpha's here. I've got you. I'm here, sweet omega, just follow my voice. Going to take care of you." He starts easing Jack's sleep shorts down.
Jack whimpers, baring himself for Robby to see, to admire, to praise. It lights him up when Robby praises, "Gorgeous omega,” and leans in to kiss his chest. His neck. Jack looks down at him, wanting to be kissed on the mouth. He’s been wanting it since he first laid eyes on Robby.
"Shh, I'll take care of you," Robby soothes, kissing him on the mouth, swallowing Jack's eager moans. Jack is squirming, his instincts telling him to present for his alpha, but Robby pins his wrists down over his head--Jack told him in the questionnaire earlier that he likes a bit of forceful holding, manhandling--and Jack goes limp. He can't stop whimpering, and as he squirms, he can feel the way he's leaking slick over them both. Robby moans softly, struggling out of his tshirt and pants.
"Watching you build a nest with my hoodie," he breathes, "nothing like it. You're just the sweetest thing, aren't you? Big and strong, but with the right alpha paying you attention, you melt like butter for me." He nuzzles into Jack's neck. Robby himself is wearing a clear silicone collar to prevent Jack from biting into his scentgland in the depths of heat, but Jack is wearing no such protection. Yet he trusts Robby utterly. Trusts him to only kitten lick over the sweet oil pouring from Jack's scent gland as Jack whines and kicks his good leg in the air, squirming and thrashing.
"Shh," Robby soothes, insisting on being gentle and slow and quiet, the darkness of the room at nighttime illuminating them both. He keeps kissing Jack like he can't stay away, but he gets himself naked and groans as he tastes Jack's slick in the air.
The first round of any heat is a necessity, a simple animal drive, and Robby clearly knows this. Jack is swimming in hormones and this alpha's pheromones, moaning out only, "Alpha, need you," and some combination of those words. Robby shushes him again and carefully sinks inside him, not bothering to test with fingers first. Alphas know when their omegas are ready for them, just as Jack knows the ache inside him can only be soothed by Robby's big cock sliding deep.
He wishes it were daytime with the lights on so he could see that glorious cock for himself, but just feeling it suits him fine right now, too. He clings to Robby's shoulders as he's fucked, as Robby takes gentle thrusts in and out, soothing Jack with his voice and his scent, though his words go a bit garbled in Jack's mind. All he can make out is Robby, alpha, Robby...
Robby makes him come first, one hand around his aching cock, so warm, using the tasteless and scentless lube from the table. Nothing to interfere with their scents mingling in the thick, heated air, nothing to distract Jack from the alpha who has Jack's legs spread around his hips. Robby takes him gently on his back, whispering praise into his mouth while he strokes his cock, and Jack can only whimper his thanks.
He cries out as Robby makes him come, shortly followed by Robby groaning into his shoulder, holding him even closer, and coming inside him. Knotting him, stretching him wide, keeping him satisfied. Giving him exactly what he needs. Jack's head is swimming for a different reason now.
Robby collapses on Jack's chest as they afterglow together, Jack's heat briefly satisfied. Enough for him to be lucid and murmur Robby's name while tugging at his hair, running his hands through it. Robby purrs the way only alphas can, nuzzling into Jack's chest, soothing him with the sound and the feel. Their bare skin feels so good together. Robby crawls up to kiss him gently, slow and sweet, the opposite of controlling or intimidating.
The impish, eager, predatory side of Jack, the type that would fight off any alpha he didn't want during heat, the type that would tear through other alphas with his claws to get to this one--that side of him wants to know what Robby sounds like when Jack's riding him, holding him down, teasing Robby until Robby can't stand it any longer and slams him onto his front to fuck him proper. Make him present.
The idea gives Jack a little shiver of heat, fresh slick leaking out of him, but he's able to wait. He just smiles down dopily at Robby when Robby looks up, smiling right back at him. The moonlight catches the glitter in Robby's brown eyes. They cuddle up in Jack's nest to sleep again, to recover from this round and prepare for the next.
At breakfast, Robby has to get up long enough to order them food from the intercom. The door is locked and sealed at the edges to keep the scents in and foreign scents out, but the mere thought of Robby talking to someone else, let alone another omega right now, makes Jack want to growl and tear his way through whoever is stealing his alpha's attention. It's hard to make himself understand that Robby is doing this for him, ordering food for him, accepting it from a staffer at the door who clearly wants to leave as much as Jack wants them gone.
Jack stays curled around Robby the entire time, biting at his neck and clawing at his chest, making Robby stutter and blush and laugh, but he doesn't falter in the words he's saying. Jack tugs on his tshirt sleeve hard enough to finally earn Robby’s attention back, earning a fond chuckle and one of Robby’s sweet blushes.
"Just a minute, omega," Robby says, kissing his forehead and turning back to the staffer handing him the food. Jack grumbles, but hearing his designation in Robby's soft voice appeases him a bit. He follows alpha back to the nest to eat it with him.
#
Heat is about much more than just the sex. Jack has to give this same gentle lesson to his omega patients all the time, when they come in worried about their heats. about how it’s about the closeness, the vulnerability, the uncovering of omega instincts. How there will be large breaks in the sex, where they’ll want to cuddle their bedmate and be close, get to feel like an unadulterated omega with no restraint. It's intermittent around the sex his body and his instincts crave.
When one of these soft, cuddly periods comes, Robby wraps him up into a blanket that smells oh so sweetly alpha musk and warmth and safety, something Jack inhales with a happy sigh. Robby tucks him into it, draping it over his head, just a hint of his hair peeking out.
He cradles Jack in his lap in the nest, giving him a hug out of affectionate necessity with a soft grunt before arranging Jack in his arms. Jack’s alpha is so big and broad and smells so sweet, Jack nuzzles into his neck yet again.
Jack grunts softly, asking for one of the peach slices Robby has on the tray in the nest beside them. Still holding him with one hand, Robby happily feeds him, making Jack’s eyes flutter shut, his head resting on Robby’s shoulder. His alpha is holding him up, holding him close, letting Jack sink into the thoughtless omega headspace where he can pass everything off to his alpha.
“How’s that, sweet omega?” Robby whispers, petting Jack’s hair, earning himself mindless chirps and purrs. “Good?”
Jack nods and opens his eyes to smile at him. Robby smiles right back, kissing his forehead, stroking warm thumbs over his cheekbones. Jack snuggles up a little closer, throwing his arms around Robby’s shoulders, ready to lay his cheek to Robby’s beating heart and doze.
#
Jack wakes up to the pitch darkness of a room. He squirms, heart pounding, confused about the pitch darkness, because his room at home always has a nightlight—
But then he turns his head and runs into a warm body, and exhales with the realization of where he is. In his nest at the clinic with Robby at his back, holding him, softly sleeping against him, skin to skin.
“Baby?” Robby murmurs, stirring, and Jack whimpers. He hates to have woken him up, but the way Robby is holding him close is more comforting than he can say.
“You had a nightmare?” Robby breathes. “Oh, you smell so scared.” His voice is rough with sleep, a little confused, but he pulls Jack closer and nuzzles him. Jack turns his head back and is hit with a wave of Robby’s warm pine scent, and it’s something so tender and comforting that he can’t put it into words. It floods Jack with immediate relief, immediate safety. He shifts in Robby’s arms to face him, to bury his head in Robby’s chest, not that he can see him right now.
“Shh, shh, omega,” Robby whispers, kissing his head. “Let your alpha take care of it. I’ve got you.” He wraps Jack up in his arms, covering him in the blanket, warm and safe and that scent thick in Jack’s nose. Perfect.
“Just close your eyes,” Robby says, running his fingers slowly and reverently through Jack’s hair. “Just relax for me, omega.” It’s a dirty trick, using Jack’s title in that soft yet firm voice to get Jack’s shoulders down, but Jack is already fucked out and hazy and floating in that submissive headspace where Robby can make all his decisions. All Jack has to do is go along with them, putting arms and legs where Robby bids them.
All he has to do is lean back against Robby’s middle, since Robby is seated on a stool behind the tub, murmuring sweet nothings and cooing praise as he washes Jack’s hair. Jack wishes he was naked, wishes he could smell his scent unfiltered, feel his warm skin and chest hair, but this is nice, too.
It's almost morning, Jack thinks dimly. Robby notices it too.
“We need baths, don't we?" Robby murmurs. "I’m going to take care of you,” Robby says, like he hasn’t been doing exactly that since he and Jack first met. His fingers are giving Jack a gentle scalp massage, as if working shampoo through his curls. “I’m going to draw you a bath and wash you from head to toe.” He leans down to drop a kiss on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m going to lotion you and massage you after, make you feel nothing but safe and warm. And if you need something else from me after, I'll be happy to oblige."
Jack's made all his own fantasies come true, riding Robby silly, making a tease out of himself, earning the way Robby makes him present and submit, because Robby knows he likes to be challenged by an equal--and poor Robby isn't in heat. Jack's not sure how he's keeping up, but he hasn't complained once, hasn't made Jack feel like too much once. How many days has it been? Jack can't remember.
"Right now, you’re my omega, and that means I take care of you, okay, honey?”
Jack hums out some vague agreement, as Robby’s hands sweep down his chest. Is it his imagination, or does Robby hug Jack to his chest for just a moment, like he can’t stand not squeezing him?
#
“Alpha—”
“Shh.”
“Alpha, alpha—”
“It’s okay, shh, be quiet, omega, I’ve got you. I told you, we’re taking it slow right now, so just stay down on your stomach and let me set the pace. How does that knot feel? Can you feel it rubbing against you? How does my cock feel? Giving you what you need?”
“Alpha, please—”
“Quiet, omega. … Good, omega, good. That’s much better. Got you all nice and scruffed, all quiet for me, docile. That’s better. That’s exactly what I need. Just a good omega, taking what I give you, letting me fuck you nice and slow. Nice and slow.”
“...”
“Yeah, honey, I know you can’t speak with my hand on your neck like this. That’s alright.”
#
Jack wakes to Robby’s head pillowed on his chest, softly purring, cuddling his sides and his middle. Jack smiles down at him, petting his hair, turning towards him to cuddle. He’s hit with a blast of mental cold water as he realizes today is his last day. His heat is over. He goes home today, he leaves Robby behind today.
Every part of his being is screaming no.
How do people do this? How do they spend a week together being intimate in every way, and then simply wave goodbye and go back to their normal lives with no attachments?
He’s had Robby in every way—cuddling, scenting, nesting, he’s had Robby inside him and his hands on him and his voice purring in Jack’s ear and his presence soothing Jack the way only an alpha can. How is Jack supposed to forget that ever happened and simply move on? The thought of moving from this bed with Robby in it makes his inner omega want to scream, want to claw at the walls to keep Robby there.
“What’s wrong?” Robby murmurs. Jack realizes how sour his scent must’ve gone from that thought.
"I go home today," Jack says. "I leave you behind. I won't..." I won't see you again.
Robby shrugs, looking a bit closed off for the first time since they met. “There will be other heats.”
Jack barks a laugh. “As good as your dick is, I don’t plan on repeating my heats. I can’t afford to take a week off work every three to six months.”
“What would you say to your patients denying their heats?”
Jack points a finger at him. “That’s not fair. Medically necessary heats every three months is one thing, but this would be purely for pleasure. I did my once a decade heat. I’m good now. I can’t justify it.” He sighs. “It’s not exactly easy on the body, either, at my age.”
Robby just kisses his cheek. Part of Jack wants to tell him not to do that, but he’s too weak to resist.
"You don't have to be in heat for me to see you," he suggests, carefully, like he's afraid of what Jack will say.
Jack cracks a wry smile. "I bet you say that to all your omegas."
"I don't have any other omegas," Robby says gently, but firmly. "I told you, I haven't been picked by an omega in a long time. There are some alphas who work here who have omegas come to them every six months like clockwork, they have three or four of those regulars...but I just train the staff and do the paperwork and oversee everything. I'm not usually this hands on." He kisses Jack's chest again. "And then there was you."
Jack snorts, but Robby continues. "It's not just your fucking delicious heat scent convincing me," Robby promises with a soft laugh, that sweet blush Jack has come to be so fond of. "It's you. An omega who acts like an alpha. You're..." He shakes his head. "I realize it's far too soon, that we haven't known each other when hormones weren't flying, and maybe I'm completely batshit wrong. But maybe I'm not. Maybe you're not."
Jack looks at him again, realizing he's being wooed by an alpha.
"Maybe we could see each other again?" Robby asks, bright eyes, and oh, hell, what is Jack supposed to say but yes?