"Yes,” I said. "Unfortunately, my heat began early."
Something crossed Nishiki's expression. He nodded slowly. "Oh."
He went silent, and it occurred to me that he had probably never been in this situation before and didn't know what to do.
"I probably won't be of use to you for a couple of days," I admitted. "I'm sorry. I'll need to take care of this."
He continued to stare at me, like he was only half hearing my words. I absentmindedly licked my lips. Being under his intense gaze like that made my skin tingle.
“Is there… anything I can do to help?" Nishiki asked quietly.
The question almost made me want to scream.Yes, you're probably the only thing thatcanhelp, I thought.
But I didn't want to make him uncomfortable by suggesting that. This wasn't his responsibility.
"It's fine," I said.
Nishiki visibly swallowed. "Um… Are you sure? I don't mind, um..."
I stared at him in disbelief. Was he suggesting what I thought he was, or was my brain so addled with hormones that I couldn't think straight? Maybe I was hallucinating.
But as his words hung in the air, they committed to reality. There was no possible way to misinterpret what he said. He was offering himself.
"All right," I said so quietly it was almost a whisper. I left it up to him to decide if he wanted to hear it or not.
Nishiki approached me hesitantly, like he was walking up to a wounded animal. My breath caught in my throat. My skin tingled. It felt like Nishiki was disrupting the very air around me with his presence.
And he was a much-needed disruption.
He kneeled in front of me, giving me a healthy amount of space, though I didn't want or need it. Unlike some omegas, I wasn't a complete disaster in my heat. I retained enough clarity of mind not to jump on any alpha in front of me.
Though Nishiki was starting to feel like an exception to the rule.
His dark eyes were glazed with what I could only assume was lust, but he was still trying to hold it back. For an alpha with no experience interacting with in-heat omegas, he had a surprising amount of self-control.
"Um," he said quietly, his gaze slipping down to my legs. "May I...?"
I didn't know what exactly he wanted but I would've been okay with anything. I spread my legs for him. It struck me that he might not know exactly what he was seeing.
He sucked in a soft breath of surprise. "Oh. It's wet," Nishiki said, confirming my suspicion. He didn't sound confused or judgemental, just intrigued.
"Yes," I said. I forced myself to keep my breath steady, although it was inching towards impossibility. "My body is preparing itself for—"
Penetration.I couldn't say it. I wasn't shy at all about biology, but something about this situation was different.
Something aboutNishikiwas different.
Too many alphas I'd been with were too eager to jump on me. That promptly ended my interaction with them, no matter how many layers of clothes I was already missing. It wasn't enthusiasm for real intimacy—I knew from the distant gleam in their eyes that they only wanted a hole, and I happened to provide one.
It wasn't like that with Nishiki. Even now as the flames of my heat were fanned by his closeness to me, he held back. He wasn't trying to hump me like a dog. His respectful restraint only attracted me to him more.
I wordlessly took Nishiki's hand and placed it on my thigh. He was close enough to my sensitive areas to feel my body heat flaring up there, but far enough that he still had to make the decision to come closer by himself.
Nishiki let out a small, adorable sound of surprise. His eyes met mine, shimmering with emotion.
"Go ahead," I told him.
"Okay."
His hand slipped lower.
