I crawled under the covers. After a month of sleeping on the couch, it felt almost strange to be in my own bed again. But I didn’t mind letting Mason sleep here at all, especially now when he was ill so frequently.
He sighed contentedly as I settled into bed. “Thanks,” he murmured. His eyes were closed as he sunk into the pillow. Soon he was asleep again. He must have been exhausted.
I laid there, just watching him. His eyelashes laid gently against his cheeks. His chest slowly rose and fell with every calm breath. I had the urge to reach out and stroke his face, but I didn’t want to disturb him.
Slowly, I drifted off to sleep as well. The last thought I had before falling unconscious was thinking about how lucky I was to sleep in the same bed with someone I cared about so much.
***
I woke with a shock to an overwhelming, all-encompassing desire.
I sat upright quickly. Beside me, Mason was already awake. His eyes were wide and glazed over. A strange, almost hungry expression crossed his face.
“What…?” I muttered, still groggy.
Then it hit me. The scent of Mason’s heat. It filled the air, thick and syrupy sweet and musky and oh Moon I need himright now.
But I couldn’t just launch myself on him, as much as my body was screaming at me to. I stared at him. Surely he knew how strong he smelled right now. Judging by his slightly parted lips and heavy breathing, he knew. And not only that, but he felt the same way.
“Mason, are you…?” I asked breathlessly.
“In heat,” he confirmed. “Yeah.”
We stared at each other, our eyes shining in the darkness. The scent of his musk was overwhelming and I felt my cock twitch inside my boxers.
“I can go,” I offered. “I should go.”
My mind knew I should get up and leave and leave Mason alone during his heat, but my body didn't want to budge. All it wanted to do was sink into Mason and -
I shook my head. None of those thoughts.
“I guess I’ll be downstairs,” I said.
His hand shot out so fast I barely registered it. It clamped down on my wrist.
“Don’t go,” he muttered.
I swallowed hard.
“Something… I smell something,” he mumbled, looking me over. “I’ve never scented anything like this before.” He frowned in frustration. “Is it you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice hoarse. He smelled amazing, I knew that much - but I don’t know what he was smelling. I wondered if I smelled as good to him as he did to me right now.
But then I noticed it. Underneath the scent of musk and sex, there was something else…
“Do you know about fated mates?” Mason asked quietly, like he was sharing a secret.
“Yeah,” I said. Everyone did. Supposedly every alpha and omega had their own fated mate waiting for them somewhere in the world. And you could find them by -
I gasped. I realized then what it was that I was smelling, and Mason must have noticed the same thing. It wasn’t just the hormones of Mason’s heat driving us crazy - it was the scent of our fated mate.
Each other.
Mason and I stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity.
Then, at the same time, we crashed into each other wordlessly.
Instantly I pushed Mason into the pillow and crushed my mouth against his. He moaned into my mouth as our tongues slipped against one another. Everything was hot and wet. Mason grabbed my hair, threading his fingers in it aggressively as we made out.
