Slow Heat Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  EPILOGUE

  SLOW HEAT

  Leta Blake

  An Original Publication from Leta Blake Books

  Slow Heat

  Written and published by Leta Blake

  Cover by Dar Albert

  Formatted by BB eBooks

  Copyright © 2017 by Leta Blake Books

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and locations are either a product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious setting. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or people, living or dead, is strictly coincidental or inspirational. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written consent from the author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  First Digital Edition, 2017

  Kindle Edition

  ISBN: 9781626227637

  Other Books by Leta Blake

  The River Leith

  Smoky Mountain Dreams

  Angel Undone

  ’90s Coming of Age Series

  Pictures of You

  You Are Not Me

  The Training Season Series

  Training Season

  Training Complex

  Co-Authored with Indra Vaughn

  Vespertine

  Co-Authored with Alice Griffiths

  The Wake Up Married serial

  Gay Fairy Tales

  Co-Authored with Keira Andrews

  Flight

  Levity

  Rise

  Free Read

  Stalking Dreams

  Discover more about the author online:

  Leta Blake

  Gay Romance Newsletter

  Leta’s newsletter will keep you up to date on her latest releases and news from the world of M/M romance. Join the mailing list today and you’re automatically entered into future giveaways. Click here to sign up!

  Leta Blake on Patreon

  Become part of Leta Blake’s Patreon community in order to access exclusive content, deleted scenes, extras, bonus stories, rewards, prizes, interviews, and more. Click to find out more!

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to the following people: Mom & Dad, without whom I couldn’t be following this dream. B & C, my lights to travel home to after visiting made up worlds. My patrons Sadie Sheffield, SB Fournier, and all the wonderful members of my Patreon who inspire, support, and advise me. Keira Andrews for constant cheerleading. Amanda Jean for the amazing editing work. Annabeth Albert for cover advice and general awesomeness. And thank you to my readers who make it all worthwhile.

  A lustful young alpha meets his match in an older omega with a past.

  Professor Vale Aman has crafted a good life for himself. An unbonded omega in his mid-thirties, he’s long since given up hope that he’ll meet a compatible alpha, let alone his destined mate. He’s fulfilled by his career, his poetry, his cat, and his friends.

  When Jason Sabel, a much younger alpha, imprints on Vale in a shocking and public way, longings are ignited that can’t be ignored. Fighting their strong sexual urges, Jason and Vale must agree to contract with each other before they can consummate their passion.

  But for Vale, being with Jason means giving up his independence and placing his future in the hands of an untested alpha—as well as facing the scars of his own tumultuous past. He isn’t sure it’s worth it. But Jason isn’t giving up his destined mate without a fight.

  This is a stand-alone gay romance novel of 117,000 words with a strong HFN ending and a well-crafted, non-shifter omegaverse with alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. Content warnings for pregnancy loss and aftermath.

  For Punny and Mimi, two of my favorites.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Other Books by Leta Blake

  Gay Romance Newsletter

  Leta Blake on Patreon

  Acknowledgements

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Gay Romance Newsletter

  Leta Blake on Patreon

  Other Books by Leta Blake

  CHAPTER ONE

  Definition of Érosgápe

  : an alpha or omega’s biologically and spiritually determined mate

  Example of Érosgápe in a sentence

  : Some alphas and omegas are not just contracted mates, but are Érosgápe, bound deeply by spirit and flesh.

  Origin and Etymology of Érosgápe:

  Old World Greek, literally sexual love (erōs) and spiritual love (agapē) combined.

  First Known Use: Year 32 of Wolf

  The voiceover from the educational video echoed around the classroom. Jason slouched near the back with his best friend, Xan, at his side. Like all the other alphas in the room, they sat in complete stillness, erections aching against the front of their trousers.

  The film displayed a naked omega already deep in heat. He was beautiful with dark hair, pale skin, and long muscles. The film wasn’t of good enough quality to determine the color of the omega’s eyes, but they looked pale, perhaps blue or green. He was exactly the type of boy who caught Jason’s eye. Seeing him on display in the film, eager and vulnerable, left Jason breathless with arousal.

  On all fours, back arched, the omega lifted his ass. His crack and hole glistened with the slick of his arousal and need. Jason’s mouth watered as the omega in the video frantically moved his hand over his swollen dick and cast desperate glances over his shoulder toward his young but thickly muscled alpha. The word ‘please’ was easy to read on the omega’s ripe mouth, as he squirmed and arched.

  His alpha, dark and powerful, stood to the side of the bed, his massive cock engorged, and fixed his omega with a commanding stare. As he climbed on top of the boy’s straining back and pushed inside, the voiceover droned on:

  “When in the throes of heat, the omega presents himself to his alpha shamelessly. Instinct pushes him to be bred, and he will go to any length to achieve his biological goal. It’s important to remember an omega in heat without an alpha to meet his needs is a danger to himself. If you must restrain your omega to prevent him from running, do so. This is applicable to a cont
racted mate as well as an Érosgápe mate.”

  Jason’s cock leaked pre-come against his boxers, and he didn’t dare move for fear of spontaneously orgasming in the middle of his first college-level Alpha-Omega Relations class. He glanced toward Xan and was relieved he wasn’t alone in his consuming arousal.

  Xan shifted subtly in his seat, big blue eyes glued to the screen, as a trickle of sweat slipped down the side of his flushed face. His dark hair had gone limp in the humid stillness of the room, and his long, pale fingers, normally moving or tapping, were still on his desk.

  Jason smelled Xan’s pre-come and the spicy quality of his pheromone-drenched sweat. He was familiar with all the sensual qualities of Xan’s arousal from the three years they’d bunked together at St. Marjoram’s Prep School for alphas. And after two months apart over the summer, he’d eagerly reacquainted himself with them over the last four days in their shared dorm at their university, Mont Nessadare.

  Practice made perfect, and they’d both agreed to practice a lot with each other in preparation for the day they’d meet their omegas. If they met their omegas. While over sixty percent of alpha/omega Érosgápe pairs did eventually find each other, forty percent of each group never met their bond-mate. Jason went cold imagining an unbonded future without his Érosgápe. Though a contracted omega would still be better than no mate at all.

  Because no matter how much he and Xan practiced together, they’d never reach the heights of ecstasy the alpha and omega in the educational film had already achieved. And the heat was just beginning.

  Over the course of the class, they’d be presented with educational films of omegas at all stages of heat, pregnancy, and delivery. He’d heard from older alpha friends, a grade level above him at university, that the films of omegas in Stage 2 and Stage 3 were so intense that alpha students regularly ejaculated in class. Rumor had it they provided tissues for cleanup and advised the alphas to bring an extra pair of underwear to change into.

  “Omegas are capable of multiple orgasms of a variety of types—oral, anal, uteral, and penile—but the omega will climax both with his penis and with his receptive cavity most commonly. If his womb has descended and opened, then he can reach states of unbearable pleasure. Expect your omega to be overcome by ecstasy, especially as his womb takes the crown of the alpha’s penis in preparation for Stage 2 and the beginning of insemination.”

  Jason’s balls clenched and he closed his eyes, reluctant though he was to miss a second of the filmed omega’s pleasure and the alpha’s strong command of it.

  “That’s all, class. We’ll see more after we’ve learned more about Stage 1 in alpha and omega breeding. In the meantime, are there any questions?” Professor Shriner’s voice was high-pitched for a man, and it cut through the room shrilly, shriveling Jason’s desire almost as effectively as a splash of cold water.

  “Yes, Mr. Monhundy?” Professor Shriner pointed at Wilbet Monhundy in the second row, tall and muscled, a dreamboat of an alpha if Jason had ever seen one—the exact opposite of his own scrawny, lanky, c’mon-puberty-give-it-another-shot body.

  At least Jason had some hope for a brighter future in his swooping blond hair that lay across his forehead like a fall of wheat, blue eyes that reminded people of the sky or cornflowers depending on what colors he wore, and a pretty face that his father swore would grow into a handsome visage of alphahood eventually. Still, what Jason wouldn’t give for Wilbet’s biceps and abs.

  “Go on, Mr. Monhundy, speak up.”

  “Why does the omega shoot from his dick?” Wilbet asked with a leer. “He can’t impregnate anything. The come is just made of the same slick as from his ass, right? So what’s the point?”

  “Language, Mr. Monhundy,” Professor Shriner scolded. “The omega climaxes with his penis, ejaculating an amount of liquid similar to that of the human men of yore. Before the Great Death, there were no alphas or omegas, just human men and the females of the species, known as women, and they engaged in intercourse in a similar, though not exactly the same, fashion as we do now. Human males ejaculated into a human female’s orifice, known as a vagina, and impregnated her in the muscled, robust womb she carried within. The amount of the ejaculation was much less than today’s alphas, but similar to the ejaculate expelled by betas who copulate for pleasure but never produce offspring.”

  “But why do omegas do it?” Wilbet asked again. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s hot, but why?”

  Professor Shriner rolled his eyes. “I should no longer harbor even a tiny bit of surprise at the things you ripening alphas will say.” He heaved a sigh. “The omega’s ejaculation is a holdover from our forefathers. But don’t underestimate its power. The pleasure it brings to the omega is great, though not as powerful as some of his other orgasm potentials—of which there are several. He will relax afterward though remain eager for more. More importantly, it signals his womb to descend and soften, so it will open and accept the crown of the alpha’s penis for insemination.”

  There was nothing sexy about hearing these words from Professor Shriner’s mouth, and Jason’s dick softened rapidly. He shifted in his seat, able to breathe again and strangely grateful for Professor Shriner’s long nose, bald head, and harsh voice.

  “In addition, the scent of the omega’s ejaculate during heat is strong. Between that and the noises of pleasure he emits, an alpha will enter full rut as soon as his omega’s fluids spurt from his penis. He will not stop until he has deposited his semen as deep and as far into the omega’s womb as he can.” Professor Shriner’s jowls shook as he spoke, and his cheeks flushed.

  Jason grimaced, his cock going utterly flaccid. Hopefully their teacher wasn’t getting aroused talking about these things. He was too old now to rut and inseminate and own, wasn’t he? If Professor Shriner’s omega still lived, if he hadn’t died in childbirth as so many of the older generation had, the poor thing must be far too elderly to bear children now. Professor Shriner surely hadn’t dealt with an omega in heat in over twenty years.

  But perhaps he remembered it fondly.

  Jason’s nose wrinkled.

  Professor Shriner motioned toward his helper, a chubby beta in his forties. “Open the windows, Robston. The smell in here is pure lust. These boys are balls of hormones and my nostrils are burning with their pheromones.”

  Jason had to agree. While he could still easily pick out Xan’s familiar scent, he was also flooded by the smell of the other nine alphas in the room. Their pheromones were sharp and challenging, egging him into a state of mild aggression, ready and willing to fight should his omega come onto the scene.

  Though, of course, no omega would.

  Only older omegas, either already bonded or past the age of hope, were allowed on Mont Nessadare’s campus. The young omegas, from whom Jason, Xan, and the others could hope to locate their Érosgápe, were kept until the age of majority at Mont Juror’s campus the next county over.

  In two years—wolf-god, it seemed forever from now—they’d go to meet the latest crop of omegas. Ideally, they’d imprint on one, a biological response that marked the omega as their Érosgápe, and a contract would be struck. If not, they’d try again the next year and the year after that, before they’d choose to contract with unmatched omega.

  If, however, he found his Érosgápe, the omega would be weaned from the heat suppressant used during adolescence, and once he was itching for a mate, greedy with need, and all sense of self-protection or self-interest dampened by the excruciating lust burning him from the inside out, they’d consummate the imprint.

  Jason had heard whispers that his parents had consummated their imprint in the antechamber of his grandparents’ attorney’s office home shortly after his parents had signed their contract. But time and loss had quieted Father and Pater greatly, and the men Jason knew now were beyond pragmatic about their physical relationship, while maintaining a deep Érosgápe love.

  For his omega’s first time, though, Jason wanted to hustle him back to his own room at his
parents’ home to take his time exploring the man’s needs and wants. He didn’t want it to be some animalistic, semi-public event. Still, he wasn’t foolish enough to assume if his omega begged him on the steps of the courthouse itself that he’d have the power to deny him.

  Everyone knew that despite their passive position in the act of creation, omegas held great power over alphas. That’s why there was an old saying: a dissatisfied omega will be an alpha’s noose.

  “Wolf-god, you’d think they wanted us to jizz ourselves,” Xan said as class broke up. “C’mon, let’s get back to the dorm. I need to do something with all this energy before I lose my mind.”

  Jason slung his backpack onto his shoulder, admiring Xan’s tight ass in his dress pants and the way his shoulders stretched the perfectly tailored blue oxford shirt on his back as he followed behind. Yes, getting back to the dorm was a great idea. Xan was usually full of those.

  Xan tossed his backpack onto the desk on his side of the dorm room and immediately started on the buttons of his shirt. “Don’t make me wait,” he hissed. “I’m so horny, I think I could turn a beta into an omega if I fucked him hard enough.”

  Jason admired Xan’s hairless chest as it was revealed, his own cock waking up again. He worked open his belt buckle and kicked off his new-for-university leather loafers before asking, “How will we do this?”

  Xan smirked. “Like you’re going to offer up your ass?”

  Jason laughed. “Never.”

  “I can’t deal with just hand jobs today and I don’t want a mouthful of your spunk.”

  “Sounds like you wanna play my omega again.”

  Xan’s pale cheeks flushed, the light freckles on his nose glowing with his skin. “Make me.” He toed off his own shiny shoes and shoved his pants down. “I want to see you try.”

  Xan was good at playing the greedy, inciting omega. His wide blue eyes and sweetly shaped red mouth, as well as his hungry asshole, were perfect for the part.