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The Flames of My Burning Heart

Summary:

Booker has been a grieving alpha for longer than he can remember and his ruts have been mild, if not non-existent, since the death of his wife. But it's the turn of the century and his body is coming alive again... which would be fine if he could stop himself from constantly challenging Joe for Nicky.

Inspired by a kink meme prompt here.

Notes:

So- word to the wise, there is some mildly dubious consent here. Mostly because omegaverse is what it is and if your mind is hormone-addled then consent becomes iffy. Joe also does beat Booker up a little bit here, but nothing during sex.

Also, I prefer male omegas in omegaverse to be intersex because I think it makes more sense. Your mileage may vary.

(PS Shamlessly took the "libretto" nickname from "though you are alone and not quite beyond loneliness--" by Dialux. Which is great you should check it out here.) For all your Booker redemption needs.

Please enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

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It wasn’t a problem at first.

For over forty years Booker had been a mated Alpha and now he had been a grieving one for even longer. Adding to his dilemma was that he had never lived with another Alpha without hierarchy to dictate the terms of the relationship. Growing up with his beta father, omega sister, and alpha mother he had known his place.

When he’d made a family with his omega wife, his darling Emilie, he had been the dominant alpha of the house. His youngest son Jean-Pierre had known his place (...though he had challenged him on his sick bed, and Booker in his grief and despair felt no need to check him). In the army, the pecking order had been clear from the very beginning and forgery gave few opportunities to be in long-term intimate contact with foreign alphas.

After the death of his youngest son, he’d taken up Andy, Joe and Nicky on their offer to live and travel with them, and, at first, his grief had kept any confrontation at bay. Most grieving alphas lost the ability to scent others; their ruts, if they happened at all, were mild inconveniences.  Booker, to his mortification had assumed Andy was their alpha at first and had subtly submitted to her for several decades before Andy casually mentioned she was a beta, just a particularly aggressive one.

She was their indisputable leader in battle, so his confusion was well founded, but the rest of the time, Andy cared extraordinarily little for displays of dominance or submission. If her orders were followed during a mission, she gave no quarrel. The issue was that Joe, Nicky, and Andy all considered themselves family, but in a vague nebulous way that baffled Booker. Although their age differences were staggering, from day-to-day there was no ranking, not even the loose understanding of older and younger sibling. It was heart-warming that they considered him a part of their small family too, if confusing to his modern sensibilities.

Very rarely did alphas outside of their own families or the military cohabitate, and the only examples Booker had heard of were old violent myths. Mostly the stories ended horribly: alphas would go into rut and kill each other, alphas might kill omegas or commit self-slaughter, and sometimes, though rarely, Booker heard it would lead to strange acts of perversion between Alphas. He had never heard anyone talk of the specifics, but Booker was worldly enough to put two and two together.

He had been concerned at first, after he’d met up with the other immortals and they’d invited him to live and travel with them. But his mild ruts had come and gone year after year, unchanging from the time he had first experienced the dulling of his senses after the passing of his wife and then the subsequent funerals he’d suffered. It wasn’t until the turn of the century, that Booker began to realize this wouldn’t always be the case.

It started in Copenhagen, in the winter of 1901, and Booker was cursing their decision to spend the winter in Denmark. They’d just finished a mission in Sweden and were too slow traveling south to make any decent progress to somewhere warmer. Andy had been fascinated by the changes in the city since she had last visited, apparently it had been developed quite a bit since the late 1600s, and the recent installation of electric trams seemed to fascinate her. Booker suspected she also had her eye on some of the local population as well, but he was too cold to care.

He spent most of his day holed up in their tiny flat, spending most of his time with Nicky and Joe after they took in the sights of the city.

“What’s that smell?” Booker asked one day as he sat curled up on their settee, several thick blankets wrapped around him as he read in front of the fireplace.

“What smell?” Joe asked absently from where he was sitting and sketching across from him, sitting at their small dining table.

“I’m not sure…” Booker said as he lifted his head slightly, sniffing several times. “It’s familiar, I think.”

Nicky emerged from the bedroom at this, his appearance uncharacteristically rumpled and groggy. He walked over to Joe without a word of greeting and sat down into his lap, embracing him and nuzzling his neck.

“Ah, my love,” Joe said, easily tossing his sketching tools aside as he cradled his lover in his arms. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Nicky sighed. “I don’t think I’ll be cooking anything tonight.”

Booker felt a sudden wash of cold drip down his back that had nothing to do with the drafty windows. It was the smell of heat, and Booker had spent nearly half the day wondering if one of them had bought a new perfume.

“I’ll make something tonight,” Booker offered, feeling uncomfortable knowing exactly how they would be spending their evening. “As long as Joe doesn’t mind picking up a few things.”

“Not at all,” Joe said, shooting Booker a smile as he kissed Nicky on the side of the head. “Up, I’ll head out now. Go back to sleep, habibi, I’ll see to you soon.”

 

After that it was one incident after another. Booker found himself sniffing at strangers in Cairo, almost embarrassing himself when he accidently followed a nervous omega for several blocks. He knew that their innkeeper in Valencia was a bonded alpha and in Volgograd he’d been propositioned by a young flirty omega who had scented his coming rut.

Booker felt flustered and confused at why the relief from his biological needs had suddenly ended after nearly six decades of nothing. In the end it didn’t matter why. What did matter was his newly intensified ruts. Booker spent days sweating alone in his hotel room or a rented cottage, aching and desperate as he fought the urge to hunt for relief. Booker found that taking something of Nicky’s, something small and easily missed, soothed him a little. The smell of a familiar omega close was comforting and Booker was happy that his biology was able to accept the gentle man as family.

The comfort didn’t last, however, when Booker found himself growing irritable in Joe’s presence. Not enough to show just yet, but Booker was sure Joe would notice sooner or later that he often left the room when the other alpha entered it. How Booker couldn’t be near the two of them during their rut and heat. He felt as though he was slowly losing control of his mind as well as his body. He began to snap at Joe, even Nicky on occasion, and he couldn’t help rubbing his hands against Nicky’s coat, subtly sinking his scent into the omega’s clothing.

Booker went to bed each night mortified as he recounted the ways he had behaved throughout the day and was beyond grateful that the two of them and Andy had the good grace to ignore it. It only escalated further the week they were staying in Vienna. Nicky had been cooking in the evening, as was his habit, and Booker had found himself leaning into the man’s neck smelling him before he noticed what he was doing.

“Um?” Nicky grunted softly, looking over his shoulder, confusion painted plainly on his face. “Did you need something, Booker?”

“No,” Booker managed to choke out. “Just… wanted to see how dinner was coming along.”

“It’ll be done soon,” Nicky said with a smile as he turned back to the stew. “Go tell Joe to clear the table.”

“Right,” Booker said as he retreated from the room as politely as he could, trying not to look like he was running away.

 

The worst happened in the middle of a mission; they’d been fighting the Spanish and the French along the coast of Morocco as tensions between the two powers escalated and the small villages there suffered the effects.

The conflict was over, the village they had assisted was grateful but weary and the plan was to move inland to Marrakesh once they rested for the night. Booker would later blame leftover aggression from the battle and walking too close to Joe in the aftermath. All it took was Joe swaying in Booker’s path for him to growl and shove him out of the way. Nicky was walking ahead of them with Andy, the scent of the sea and the other two swept past the alphas and Joe whipped his head around to glare incredulously at Booker, nostrils flaring and before Booker could blink he was shoved face first into the side of a stone wall. 

“What the fuck!” Andy shouted at them.

Booker struggled against Joe’s grip on the back of his neck and the hands holding his wrists tight to the small of his back, growling as he did.

“Don’t look at me boss,” Joe panted into Booker’s ear as he kept him still.

“It’s not a surprise, Andy,” Nicky said quietly, though loud enough for Booker to hear him. “The signs have been there for some time now.”

“Since Cairo, at least,” Joe said calmly, confusing the fuck out of Booker.

“Valencia, surely,” Nicky countered.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Andy said shortly. “But figure it out between yourselves. Meet me in Bombay when you can work together again.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Joe said.

He finally released Booker who had finally stopped trying to pull away, laying his face against the cool rough brick and panting hard.

“I’m sorry, it was nothing,” Booker said when he finally managed to turn around, although he couldn’t bring himself to meet any of the other’s eyes.

“Hmmm,” was all Joe would say, and Booker couldn’t read the look shared between Nicky and Joe.

 

Andy left them before they’d even reached the city, simply striking out into the desert with a pack on her shoulder, her labrys strapped to her back. Booker watched her go with a feeling of despair, wondering what sort of conversation was waiting for him back in the rooms he was renting for the month with Joe and Nicky. He had no rational explanation for his behavior; he couldn’t understand it himself let alone explain it to other people. It was just an itch under the skin that he couldn’t scratch. Intrusive thoughts taking up space in his mind until it drove all others away.

He knew that he was trying to challenge Joe for Nicky, something he didn’t even truly want. Well, not really, nothing beyond the vague attraction he had to him as an alpha would have for any attractive and attentive omega. But he didn’t want another mate, no one could replace his wife. However, all this was nothing in the face of Booker’s alpha hindbrain that whispered into his ear every night that he could satisfy Nicky through his heat better than Joe ever could. He could plant his seed where Joe had never managed to. He’d already fathered three children; he was proven virile.

Never mind that Booker was perfectly aware, intellectually, that all immortals effectively became sterile after their first death, though it did little for the cycle of rut and heat. All Booker had to do was endure it, he was sure. It would pass, eventually. It had been so long since he’d experienced normal cycles that his body was overcompensating, and Booker completely ignored the little voice in the back of his head telling him what he really needed.

 

Booker ignored the sidelong glances Nicky and Joe gave him in the days following. He’d rebuffed every attempt at deeper conversation much to the exasperation of the two older immortals. Booker took to staying out late at night, drinking by himself at the fringes of the city where they would be less likely to find him and coming home late enough that they had already retired for the night.

They let him get away with it, never pushing him when he occasionally saw them in the morning, and he felt like dirt every time Joe or Nicky’s concerned gaze found him.

It was the end of the week, just when Booker was certain he could tell them he’d returned to normal that Booker came out of his room around noon, and a cloying scent filled their apartment. He was dressed only in his belt and trousers; his shirt had been abandoned some time during the night.

Booker felt a red haze fall over his vision as he shuffled over to the other bedroom, inhaling with deep breaths, bare chest heaving as he tried to locate the source.

“Booker,” Joe’s voice came from the other end of the hall, a note of warning in his voice. “Come away from there.”

Booker found he couldn’t respond, merely growling as he turned his head to glare at the alpha challenging him. Joe simply sighed, setting down the basket of food he must have just gathered from the kitchen. Booker tensed, anticipating a fight, and was vindicated when Joe lunged for him, knocking Booker to the ground with the force of his body slamming into Booker’s.  

The alphas struggled against each other, Booker on his back as he attempted to shove Joe off of him, trying to gain some space so he could take a swipe at him. Joe was having none of it and kept Booker pressed firmly to the floor, his hand already grasping the hair at the nape of Booker’s neck to pull his head back.

“I don’t have time for this,” Joe growled, his own rut clearly getting the best of him as he punched Booker in the gut, making the younger alpha double over, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

Joe released him as he attempted to recover and whipped his belt out of his trousers. He smoothly captured Booker’s hands, flipping Booker over so he was on his stomach, face mashed against the wall and Joe wasted no time tightening the belt around Booker’s wrists. Booker wriggled and growled, his hands flexing as they were pressed tightly to the small of his back by Joe.

“Listen, Booker,” Joe said, shaking Booker as he sat firmly between the other alpha’s legs. “Listen to me. I am going to take care of my omega first, and then I’m going to take care of you. You’ll have to stay put until his heat is done.”

Booker couldn’t seem to hear Joe, and the older alpha sighed, standing up and dragging Booker up with him. He opened the door to the alpha’s bedroom and threw him onto the bed. Booker bounced, shocked for a moment before he started to get up on his knees. Joe sighed again, closing the door before he grabbed a pair of trousers from the ground. He climbed up onto the bed behind Booker, keeping him held down as he used the trousers to tie Booker’s bound hands to the headboard.

“Hmm,” Joe hummed, before he unbelted Booker’s trousers too, using the other’s belt to tie his legs together. “I’m sorry, Booker, we’ve neglected this for too long and there’s no time to address it. I’ll come in to check on you when Nicky’s napping.”

And with that Joe left Booker tied tight to his own bed, his arms and legs immobilized as he thrashed against the bondage. The haze of rage and lust overtook him as he screamed into the empty air, whimpering after a handful of minutes when the scent of pleasured omega filled his senses. A voice kept telling him to take him, to fight the unworthy alpha that had mated him, to fuck and knot the omega that was within his grasp.

It was a few hours later that Joe kept his promise, coming back to Booker’s room to check on him. Booker perked up from where his face buried into the pillow as he laid listlessly on the bed, trying not to focus on the smell of heat and rut permeating the apartment from the bedroom next door. Booker began to growl as Joe approached the bed, a light robe the only thing covering the older alpha and doing nothing to hide the smell of omega slick coating him.

“None of that now,” Joe admonished as he crawled up the length of the bed to Booker.

Booker noticed for the first time that Joe had brought food with him, a bit of bread, hard cheese and a water flask. He stilled as Joe held out some of the food, glancing between the hand outstretched and the other alpha’s worried face. Joe sighed.

“You’ll not make this easy, will you?” Joe asked, clearly not expecting a response as he tore off some bread and cheese, placing it against Booker’s lips.

Booker kept them firmly pursed, turning his head away from the food and ignoring the growl in his stomach as he did so. It must have been longer than he thought if he was this hungry, but he refused to eat from the hands of his rival alpha. Joe sighed again and gripped the back of Booker’s head again, pulling the hair tight enough to make Booker gasp from the pain. Joe took the opportunity to shove the food in, using his other hand to cover the younger alpha’s mouth so he wouldn’t spit it back out.

Booker glared but finally gave in and began to chew, his hunger and desire not to choke on a piece of bread overcoming his reluctance.

“Good boy,” Joe said with a smile as he released the back of Booker’s neck and stroked the sore scalp instead.

He waited until Booker had swallowed before feeding him again, glad when Booker allowed it and even let him tip the flask of water into his mouth to wash it all down.

“Do you need to use the wash closet?” Joe asked, staring down at Booker once he’d finished everything. “Or can you wait a few hours? I must be getting back to Nicky.”

Booker only glared before snapping and trying to bite Joe’s hand. Luckily, Joe seemed prepared for the action and shuffled out of range before he could be injured.

“It’ll have to wait then,” Joe said wryly as he lifted himself off the bed. “I’ll think of something.”

Booker stared despondently at the wall, the cycle of heat and rut starting up again to his dismay, and his own rut burning uselessly through him in sympathy. He settled back into his pillow, closed his eyes and dozed as best he could.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he was jerking awake, a large warm hand pulling him over to the edge of the bed.

“Come on, Booker,” Joe sighed, sounding more worn out than he had before. “Let’s get this over with.”

Booker realized his legs had been freed and tried to jump up to his feet to attack but Joe pulled the bit of rope that had replaced the belt around his wrists. He choked when he discovered the rope was attached to his throat as well, and Joe used it to maneuver Booker up and out of the bed. Joe kept Booker’s back to him as he corralled him out the door, past the other bedroom and into the tiny wash closet.

“Do your business,” Joe said, reaching around Booker to lift up the toilet seat.

He then unbuttoned the front of Booker’s trousers and pulled his sensitive cock from them. Joe ignored the growling, waiting patiently for the other man to relieve himself, cock held loosely in his grip. He pressed his weary head between the other alpha’s bare shoulder blades and closed his eyes. It had been more stressful than he’d thought taking care of Nicky and getting up to take care of Booker too. Joe wouldn’t leave his omega while he was still awake, so it was currently three in the morning and Joe had denied himself the pleasure of curling up with his lover twice already.

Fortunately, they didn’t need to wait too long, and Booker finally succumbed to the needs of his body instead of trying to deny the other alpha what he wanted. Joe pet the soft skin of Booker’s back in appreciation, shook Booker off a few times when he was done and then tucked him back into his trousers.

Joe swore as Booker jerked his head back, skull crushing his nose as Booker twisted out of Joe’s grip.

“What the fuck, Booker?” Joe scowled as he scrambled to grab the wily alpha.

It was easy enough, Booker had nowhere to go in the tiny room and Joe was blocking the only exit. Joe punched Booker in the stomach again, harder than before, and kicked him to the ground. Joe grabbed the rope tied around his neck and dragged him out of the wash closet, ignoring Booker wheezing and kicking out behind him as he pulled him all the way back to his room. Joe pulled him up again when he closed the door behind him and threw him back onto the bed.

“That was a dumb fucking thing to do, Booker,” Joe growled, his own patience running thin. “If you would stop being a stubborn bastard and just submit it would be easier on everyone, you know?”

Booker merely scowled in response, still too winded to growl like he wanted to. Joe quickly tied Booker to the headboard again, not bothering to tie Booker’s legs together this time since he was tied much more securely with the rope. Joe squinted down at the glowering alpha before changing his mind, grabbing the edges of the other man’s trousers and pulling them down to his ankles.

“That should slow you down if you manage to escape,” Joe muttered as he turned and left the room again, leaving the now fully naked alpha to growl and struggle on the bed.

 

“Hmm, tesoro mio,” Nicky sighed as Joe climbed into bed behind him. “How is he doing?”

“He broke my nose,” Joe griped as he threw an arm around his lover. “Fucker doesn’t know when to quit. I might have to knot him.”

“Well, it should be easy enough with the timing,” Nicky said reasonably as he ground back against Joe.

Joe shuddered and moaned, dragging his hand down the front of Nicky’s body, pumping Nicky’s leaking cock a few times before reaching back behind his balls to the slick cunt awaiting him.

“Are you ready to go again, habibi?” Joe asked with a grin pressed to the back of Nicky’s neck, his fingers sinking straight into that tight embrace.

“Ohhh,” Nicky moaned, lifting his leg up to give Joe more space.

Nicky reached behind him to untie Joe’s robe and shove it out of the way, grabbing his lover’s cock and guiding it to him. He rubbed the cockhead against his clit to the back of his balls before pressing it inside him. Nicky let go once it was in far enough, tilting his head back for Joe to nibble on his neck, and braced himself for the firm thrusts setting him ablaze from the inside.

“I- ah, I should be done by morning,” Nicky reassured Joe. “You’ve done, mmm, a very good job this time, my love. I feel very satisfied.”

Joe merely moaned in response and thrust his hips harder, his knot pressed up against the lips of Nicky’s cunt.

“Is it Booker that has you so excited?” Nicky teased as he pressed back into Joe’s thrusts. “Do you want to put him in his place? Fuck him into submission until he’s clenching tight around your knot?”

Joe moaned harder, hips going wild as he fucked desperately into his omega. He bit into Nicky’s mating gland causing the other man to go silent from the overwhelming pleasure. Joe managed to shove his knot into Nicky’s needy cunt, pushing his lover’s hips down flat to the bed with the force of it. Joe yelled at the intense pleasure. His knot was clenched tight in the welcoming embrace of his omega, and he jerked his hips as his seed planted itself firmly inside once again.

“Very good,” Nicky purred as he wiggled his plush behind against Joe’s hips.

Joe laughed breathlessly as he helplessly thrust the last of his orgasm into his mate, his knot keeping him plugged.

“You’re merciless, you know that right?” Joe asked as he pressed wet kisses to Nicky’s neck, working his way over to those tempting lips.

“I know,” Nicky said, surrendering to Joe’s claim. “But I’m right.”

“Yes, my dear,” Joe sighed as he broke the kiss and rested on his side, hips still pressed firmly to Nicky’s ass as his knot tied them together. “You’ll help me in the morning, won’t you?”

“I’ll do my best,” Nicky mumbled as he drifted off back into sleep.

Joe gently brushed his hand up and down Nicky’s bare side, letting his fingertips travel the smooth path from his lover’s hip up to his shoulder and back down again. He sighed, kissing the beauty mark on his lover’s cheek and tucked his face into the crook of Nicky’s neck to catch as much sleep as he could. He was going to need it.

 

 

“Habibi, wake up.”

Joe groaned, pressing his face deeper into Nicky’s neck, inhaling deeply as he pulled Nicky tighter into his embrace.

“Give me five more minutes, my love,” Joe whispered, his eyes still welded shut.

He hadn’t gotten nearly as much sleep as he would have liked, but he felt at peace in the warm hazy nest he’d made with his mate, their combined scent surrounding them, making Joe drunk with satisfaction.

“I can hear Booker from here,” Nicky said calmly as he stroked the hand clasped around his waist.

Joe perked his head up at that, ears straining as he finally heard the soft thumping noise coming from the other room. Joe sighed, kissing Nicky’s cheek and reaching down to quickly grope him before getting up.

“Time to take care of him now,” Joe sighed again, readjusting his robe but not bothering to put on proper clothes; there wasn’t really a point when he had a strong feeling he’d have to fuck Booker into calming down.

“We’ve let it go on too long,” Nicky said as he lounged in bed, completely naked and tempting Joe as he stretched his arms above his head.

“Well, it hasn’t been a problem for so long,” Joe said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

It wasn’t an excuse really. Booker was young and the era he’d been born with left many entirely ignorant to the social dynamics between alphas outside of family relationships. When they’d foolishly let Booker return home to his family, they had decided to put the conversation off until he’d rejoined them, but then when he had… Booker had been in no fit state to talk about anything, never mind a scenario they couldn’t even demonstrate to him in his own grief-suppressed state. And then that state just never ended, for decades they waited until it was already half a century. By the time Booker’s hormones came out of dormancy, they had no plan in place to address it.

“I hope he’ll forgive us,” Joe said, staring at the door with a concerned look on his face.

Nicky sat up, attuned to his alpha’s distress, and he reached over to hug his alpha’s waist from his position on the bed.

“Let me come with you,” Nicky said, looking up at Joe from underneath his eyelashes. “It’ll go easier with me to calm him down.”

“Not at first,” Joe said wryly. “He’ll go wild if I don’t have him pinned.”

“Hmm,” Nicky hummed, pondering as he rubbed his face gently across his lover’s stomach. “You go in first and restrain him. I’ll come in after you and hold him in place so you can get to work.”

“Sounds like a plan, habibi,” Joe said with a smile, grabbing Nicky’s face so he could lean down and kiss his forehead. “Wait outside his door and come in when I give the all’s clear.”

 

 

Booker’s head shot up as he heard the door open and he growled when the other alpha stepped inside the small bedroom. Booker had been trying to slip the ropes around his wrists for the better part of the morning and he’d resorted to yanking at the lead with his hands. The result was raw, bleeding wrists that continuously healed around the rope fibers and opened again when his struggling renewed.

Joe hissed when he saw the pool of dried blood behind Booker’s back and climbed up the bed, ignoring Booker’s wary eye tracking him as he leaned over Booker to remove the ties from his gore-covered wrists.

Joe placed his knees on Booker’s hips as he removed the ties so he wouldn’t be able to escape. Booker let him, though he watched him carefully, eyes narrowed and a low growl rumbled in his throat, barely audible.

“I know you won’t believe me, but this really is for the best,” Joe said, pinning Booker down, arms above his head, and watching in satisfaction as his wrists healed properly.

Booker responded to this by bucking up in his grasp, trying and failing to use his legs to throw Joe off him.

“Now,” Joe called out, focusing on keeping Booker secure to the mattress.

Joe could tell the exact moment Nicky entered the room just by looking at Booker’s face. His features froze as the other alpha caught the omega’s sweet post-heat scent, so fresh it was still as tantalizing at it had been the day before.

“Sit back, my love,” Nicky told him, and Joe dutifully scooted back, releasing Booker’s arms and putting his weight on Booker’s thighs.

Booker attempted to fling himself at Nicky, hands reaching to grab him, but Nicky kicked him in the chest, throwing him back onto the mattress before he climbed up onto his chest. He immediately grabbed Booker’s wrists, keeping him restrained enough for Joe to travel further down Booker’s legs until he was parting them wide so he could slip between them.

“Ah, I forgot the oil,” Joe cursed, knowing it would be impossible to leave now without significant set back; he was happy that he’d at least had the foresight to remove the man’s trousers.

“Use me, Joe,” Nicky said, lifting his hips up and back to expose the slick still dripping from him under his short robe.

“...okay,” Joe said, voice breathy and soft, eyes wide as he gazed lovingly at the sight his omega presented for him.

Booker was still now, breathing heavily and chest heaving as he feasted on Nicky with his eyes. Joe smirked, happy for him to do so as long as he stayed put. He reached up and sunk two fingers into his beloved’s welcoming heat, groaning at the feel of it, but dutifully slicking his fingers so that he could press them to the other alpha’s tight pucker.

“So cute,” Joe said with a smile as he prodded the little rosebud, trying to get it to unfurl for him.

Booker jerked in alarm as he strained his neck, looking beneath Nicky to see what Joe was doing. Nicky shushed the alpha, lowering his hips to block his view.

“Be calm, libretto,” Nicky cooed gently. “This will help, I promise.”

Joe steadied himself, doing his best to ignore the throbbing of his cock and the hard, twitching length in front of him as he worked one finger and then two into their young friend.

“Mmm, how does he feel, Joe?” Nicky asked as he swayed back and forth, slick dripping onto Booker’s stomach, he was so wet.

“Tight,” Joe said, voice straining as he reached up with his left hand to re-apply the slick to Booker’s rim. “Unbearably hot, I can’t wait to feel him gripping my knot.”

Nicky moaned at the touch of his alpha and then at the pretty imagery flashing before his mind’s eye.

“He’s probably never had anything up there before,” Nicky whispered to him, as if Booker wasn’t there to hear the secret. “You’ll be his first.”

Joe slapped Nicky on the thigh, ignoring the omega’s laughter as he groaned and concentrated on squeezing another finger inside as he thrust into the loosened pucker.

Soon enough Joe deemed Booker ready enough to accept his throbbing cock, and he grabbed the alpha’s hips to drag both Booker and Nicky down the mattress so that Booker’s hips were at the edge, legs spread wide and his feet hovering over the sides.

Joe gripped his cock in his hand, stroking only twice to slick up his cock before he pressed his fat cockhead against the clenched hole. It slipped once, then twice before he managed to aim true, the skin on his length bunching up as he crammed himself into that narrow passage. The breath Joe hadn’t realized he was holding releasing as the flared edge of his knob slipped in.

Nicky tightened the grip he had on Booker’s arms as the alpha struggled in his hands, shifting weakly against him. Nicky whispered filhy reassurances into Booker’s ear, too low for Joe to hear, but Booker’s panting moans were more than enough to guess what his mate was saying. Joe spread Booker’s cheeks with his hands as he slowly crammed more of his cock inside, the two of them ignoring Booker’s needy whines as he tried to move his mouth closer to Nicky’s neck. 

Nicky’s legs were spread wide as his cock and slit rubbed streaks of slick against Booker’s chest. Once again Joe dipped his fingers into Nicky’s cunt from behind to lube up his cock and Booker’s rim. 

Booker bucked and growled, trying to dislodge Joe as he drove deeper and deeper inside him, the thick veiny length pressing mercilessly against the edge of his hole. Joe groaned as his cock sunk into Booker nearly all the way, cheeks kissing the top of his knot and the ring of his pucker stretched hot and tight around his length. It had been a while since he’d fucked someone other than Nicky, and fucking another alpha was its own special pleasure. The ancient act of dominance at the tail end of a rut after satisfying his omega was sending intense bursts of ecstasy through him. 

“Habibi, let him taste you,” Joe ordered as he held himself still, pressing into the young immortal as far as he dared. “He’s been behaving a little better, he deserves a reward.”

Nicky raised an eyebrow at Joe over his shoulder but laughed and shook his head. He scooted up Booker’s chest to press his sopping wet cunt to Booker’s hungry mouth. 

The younger alpha melted as soon as he buried his lips into Nicky’s lower ones. He groaned low in his throat as he breathed in omega pheromones, the vibrations making Nicky’s thighs quiver and grip Booker’s face. 

“Oh!” Nicky gasped as he let go of Booker’s wrists to grab his hair in a tight fistful. 

Booker kept his wrists in place above his head, and Joe stroked Booker’s side to show his approval. Joe remained unmoving, buried inside Booker and watching with fascination as Nicky began to roll his hips fast over Booker’s face, the obscene sucking sounds Booker produced making his knot throb. Joe’s mouth hung open, moaning as he watched Booker gulp his omega down like he had been dying of thirst. 

Eventually it was too much, and Joe started to shift his hips, testing the wet tightness still choking his dick. Joe scooped up some of the leftover slick left on Booker’s chest, pulled his cock out just a fraction before smearing it over Booker’s hole and his cock for the last time before pumping back in. 

Booker groaned again, but this time in response to the thick hot cock plowing into him. Joe grabbed Booker’s hips, tilting them up as he rocked in and out. Slowly his thrusts began to pick up speed as Booker started to relax around him. 

Nicky threw his head back, crying out as his hips lost their rolling rhythm and began to shudder back and forth in jerky uneven movements. Joe groaned at the sight and smell of his omega riding wave after wave of pleasure. After Nicky slowed his hips, Joe gasped and called out his mate’s name, the desire to see his love’s face burning through him. 

Nicky turned himself around on shaky legs, cunt still firmly planted on top of Booker’s mouth but now facing Joe as his alpha continued pounding into Booker, pace unrelenting as his balls smacking against the cheeks of Booker’s ass with loud wet slaps. 

Joe leaned forward, curling Booker’s hips up more, and Nicky tilted in to meet him, their lips and teeth mashing together desperately, faltering slightly from the frantic rhythm of their fucking. Booker began to moan harder, and Joe broke the sloppy kiss to smile down at the hips he had clutched firmly in his hands. At this angle he must have found Booker’s sweet spot, the little-known pleasure center that existed in all men whether they were omega, beta, or alpha. 

Booker’s hole relaxed further, and it was Joe’s turn to groan as the edge of his knot slipped further and further inside with every wet smack of his hips. 

“You’re almost there,” Nicky said, mesmerized by the same sight as Joe, though it was unclear if he was talking to Joe or Booker, who was still vigorously eating Nicky out. 

Joe noticed that Booker had moved his hands up to grasp Nicky’s ass, but couldn’t bring himself to mind as Nicky rode Booker’s face harder, building up to another orgasm.  

Joe moved his hands to cup Booker’s plump ass as it bounced from the force of his thrusts. He hooked his thumbs in along the edge of the tight rim, pulling him just a little wider as he fucked him quick and hard. He coaxed his knot in bit by bit and tried not to get too excited lest it expand before he managed to jam it all the way into the other alpha. 

Joe felt the sweat pouring from his back and forehead as he kept up the pace and held their position; Booker’s legs bent in the air and swaying from the force of their momentum. All at once, the thickest portion of Joe’s knot shifted inside of Booker and Joe pressed hard, groaning with relief as he finally sunk in and Booker’s wet heat swallowed his entire length. Joe held himself firmly against Booker, his hands gripping those wriggling hips to hold the alpha fast to him. Joe shifted, thrusting in tiny increments, just enough to stimulate his knot and help it expand and lock into Booker’s tight hole. His rim, battered and stretched so thin it was nearly white, fluttered weakly against the hilt of Joe’s cock. 

Joe rocked in one more time, tugging gently to make sure his knot was secure before he slumped over, resting his head against Nicky, curls tickling his lover’s neck as he pumped his release deep into Booker. Searing hot come poured out of his twitching cock in thick ropes, his balls pulsing as they pressed tightly against the seam of Booker’s ass.

Booker felt his head begin to clear as he continued sucking absently on Nicky’s sweet cunt. His tongue lovingly circled his lower lips before thrusting into the sopping wet hole, his nose pressed right against Nicky’s perineum. Joe was filling him up to the brim with overwhelming warmth. He could practically feel the hot sticky come gushing inside of him as his alpha pressed his comforting weight onto him, locking him in with his heavy knot.

Booker felt calm for the first time in months, the itch at the back of his mind and the voice spilling nonsense into his thoughts finally disappearing.  

Joe finally sat back up after a few minutes, hips still pressed tight to Booker’s ass, his knot pulsing every so often. He leaned forward to kiss Nicky properly, nibbling softly on his beloved’s lips as he rocked his hips, chuckling as the younger alpha whined. Joe looked down and laughed when he saw Booker’s weeping length dripping freely against his trembling stomach. 

“I’ve neglected you, my dear,” Joe said as he took Booker’s hefty cock in hand, smearing the fluid budding at the tip with his thumb.

He worked the thick length with long, steady strokes and Nicky reached down to grasp Booker’s knot. 

“Come, libretto,” Nicky cooed as he squeezed the knot in his hand mercilessly, the alpha sighing with a high-pitched whine from underneath him. 

Joe stroked Booker faster and harder, pre-come spilling out of Booker before he finally tensed up and proper seed came gushing out of him hard and fast. Joe continued jerking him through the orgasm, panting as it made Booker groan and clench down hard onto him. Nicky held Booker’s knot firmly, massaging it and whispering encouragement to him as Booker twitched and jerked, letting the waves of pleasure wash through him.

“Joe, Nicky, I-“ Booker said, his voice strangled as he came to his senses and mortification coursed through him.

“Hush,” Nicky said, lifting himself off Booker’s face and laying down next to him, curled up to his side as he laid his head on Booker’s shoulder.

Joe leaned down to rest his head on Booker’s chest, just above the pool of come on his stomach.

“I need a nap,” Joe moaned, twitching his hips into Booker as his knot pulsed again, making Booker moan in sympathy as he clenched down onto him. “Noooo, stop that, Book. I won’t survive if you keep squeezing me like that.”

“Please, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I- “

Nicky shushed him again, reaching up to place a finger on his lips. Nicky dropped his hand once he was sure Booker wouldn’t start apologizing again and he ran a hand through Joe’s curls. Not once did he lift his head from Booker’s shoulder or open his eyes.

“Time to sleep,” Nicky said softly, already dozing off.

Booker sighed, he stretched his legs out from their position above Joe’s head and shifted to set them down on the bed. Joe groaned again, smacking Booker on the side as the maneuver tightened Booker’s ass further around him.

“Stop wiggling,” Joe said, shifting his thighs under the other alpha’s, essentially draping the lower half of Booker’s body over his lap.

“It’s a little- I’ve never been knotted before,” Booker said with a blush, trying not to focus on the hot cock burning him from the inside, “I’m going to shift around...obviously.”

“Shh, less talking, more sleeping,” Joe said, settling his head back onto Booker’s chest and began snoring just a moment later.

Booker sighed as he looked down at the dark curly head on his stomach and the dark blond one resting on his shoulder. Soon enough he drifted off himself, wondering what the hell had just happened.

 

Booker woke slowly, a mellow heat uncurling inside him as he stretched, feeling better than he had in… actually Booker couldn’t recall feeling this way ever and he smiled, still sleepy and tired as he blinked, eyelashes fluttering as he looked to the window and the weak evening light.

“Huh,” Booker huffed, sitting up on his elbows, and then looking at his naked form before freezing.

He… didn’t normally sleep naked as he hated any chill. He sat up, inspecting his body and of course saw no signs of what might have happened the night (or morning?) before. His head jerked up as he heard movement outside in the main room of the apartment and Joe’s low laughter filtered through to him. Booker froze, sitting up naked in bed as the memories of the past day or so struck him. How could he have? He nearly…. Booker groaned and leaned forward to cradle his head in his palms. He was so confused.

Never before had he wanted to mate Nicky, respectful of the loving and affectionate relationship between his new brothers. And what Joe had done… Booker felt his face burn as he remembered being knotted, the smell of Joe’s spend mixed with his and Nicky’s reaching him as he shifted his bare ass against the covers.

“Booker!” Joe called, fully dressed for once as he opened the door to the bedroom, his joyful smile a bright splash of white amidst his dark beard. “Finally, you’re awake. Come, we must have something to eat and then talk.”

Booker didn’t have a chance to protest as the other alpha corralled him into a robe- the same one Joe had been wearing the night before- and then out into the living room. Nicky had already settled himself on the floor of the room, several plush duvets blanketing the cold wood and there was a wide spread of food spread on top. Fruits, cured meats, cheese and olives as well as delicate pastries and fresh bread, Booker felt his stomach growl as he remembered he’d barely had anything to eat beside what little food Joe had managed to force into him.

“Sit,” Joe ordered as he pushed Booker down next to Nicky.

Nicky lounged languidly against a large couch cushion, a fresh robe covering his modesty as he idly picked at some grapes. Booker did as he was told, sitting stiffly and maintaining a careful distance between himself and the omega. Nicky smiled, a gentle thing that would have helped Booker relax if not for the heat in his eyes.

“Eat something, libretto,” Nicky urged. “You must be starving.”

Nicky sidled up close to Booker, barely a fingers width between them and he held out one of the grapes for Booker to eat. Booker cast his eyes about wildly, looking for a way out before Joe plopped down next to him, shamelessly plastered to his side as he took the grape from Nicky and pressed it against Booker’s lips.

Booker finally opened his mouth to accept the offering and chewed mechanically, still tense as he kept glancing between the two men flanking him.

“You must have questions,” Nicky said as he reached forward to take a piece of cheese from one of the heaping plates. “We tried to talk to you before but…”

“But you are a stubborn one, Book,” Joe said with a laugh as he reached around Booker’s waist to press him tightly to him. “I hadn’t realized how bad you’d gotten before it was too late.”

“What…” Booker began, voice breaking, and he had to cough through it before continuing. “What happened exactly? Why was I… I’ve never been like that before in rut. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Hush,” Nicky said as he pressed the cheese and chunk of bread to Booker’s lips, smiling as Booker opened his mouth obediently this time to accept it. “We know. It is your instincts that overwhelmed you and through no fault of your own.”

“Yes, we were caught off guard by the suddenness of it, but not by it happening,” Joe said as he carded his fingers through Booker’s hair, soothing him and helping Booker to relax back into his embrace.

“I forget how much the modern world has decided to forget,” Nicky confessed as he fixed them a plate and leaned back into Booker's other side. “The imbalance of hormones was a common enough problem back in our day.”

“Blame the protestants,” Joe said with a grin.

“Mmm, many of the ‘enlightened’ thinkers were eager to throw away years of wisdom and label it senseless myth,” Nicky said. “I blame the French really. Booker never stood a chance.”

“So, it is because of me and Joe?” Booker parsed out from all this, pausing to open his mouth and accept an olive. “It was an imbalance of hormones between us?”

“Yes, and I needed to prove to your alpha mind that I was the more dominant,” Joe explained. “So that you would not be insulted by my bond with Nicky. Sometimes shallow demonstrations of dominance are enough, me besting you in a fight and pinning you down would have been fine if you were anyone else.”

“But after such a long mourning period and my sudden heat, a more extreme measure needed to be taken,” Nicky continued. “Hence the knotting.”

“So that was just if nothing else worked?” Booker asked with a frown, his stomach churning in a swirling pit of emotion as he tried to make sense of it all. “A last resort?”

“Hmm, well, no, not really,” Joe said as he tilted Booker’s chin up to look at him directly. “If that did not work, we would have tried our best to comfort you until your rut passed and then we would have figured it out from there.”

“I see…” Booker said, slipping his chin out of Joe’s grasp to pick at the plate of food. “So everything is settled now? No need to worry about this happening again.”

Booker felt the look shared by Nicky and Joe, the weight of it palpable over the back of his neck.

“That’s up to you,” Joe said softly, his breath heating Booker’s ear as he grasped Booker’s wrist to curl their fingers together. “I wouldn’t mind it happening again in a more controlled setting. Are you interested in trying?”

Booker looked up, blue eyes wide and startled as he was pinned by Joe’s scorching eyes, a spike of heat piercing through the tension inside him. His head turned to Nicky by the omega’s firm hand, and he followed it willingly.

“I had a very good time, libretto,” Nicky said, his intense gaze dark with desire as he claimed Booker’s lips in a kiss.

Booker melted into it, moaning as his cock twitched, and he leaned further back into Joe’s arms. Nicky pressed against him and straddled his thigh, breaking the kiss with a moan of his own as he rubbed himself against Booker. Joe quickly turned Booker’s head back to him and dove to seal their lips together in a rough, filthy kiss. Booker grasped at Joe’s arm, feeling his body turn to liquid at the overwhelming feel of his claim.

“I wouldn’t mind trying,” Booker admitted once Joe released his lips, panting heavily and hips twitching against the knee Nicky was holding against his groin. “It was, ah, it was good.”

“Good, we have a few weeks more before we should go meet up with Andy, so we had better make the most of it,” Joe said with a smile as he dipped a hand inside Booker’s robe to grope his chest.

Booker threw his head back with a laugh that quickly dissolved into a moan.

“Yes, okay."

 

Notes:

Annnnnd possible relationship at the end? Maybe just friends-with-benefits? I'll leave it to your imagination.

Hope you enjoyed my own headcanon stuff about how grief and power dynamics effect alphas and the way society has treated them through the ages. I think at the heart of it, Booker is confused at how the Old Guard lives outside the confines of the patriarchy lol.

 

If you want you can say hi to me on tumblr @ sholeh675.

Extra Note:
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