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Oscar calls Zak as soon as he’s back in London. There is no point in delaying it any further because he has to admit the reality of what happened and what it’s going to change.
There is a shock in Zak’s voice that he doesn’t manage to hide when Oscar tells him. Oscar was expecting that. Then, his boss is immediately comforting and reassuring. Oscar was hoping for that.
In the past days, he had done his best to convince himself that what had happened wasn’t going to change anything, that the team would still want and value him, and that there was a part in his contract that protected him. But hearing Zak confirming it removes an invisible weight from his shoulders.
“We are going to reschedule a bit, okay? So you won’t be with Lando at the MTC, at least until we can see with the team doctors how we can make it work.”
“Okay.”
Oscar hates hearing that. “Make it work.” They shouldn’t have to make it work! Because it worked! Lando and Oscar. Alpha and Beta. It worked perfectly well! Even better than anyone had expected. Alpha and Beta, the perfect pairing, the one every team wishes for. The Alpha leads, and the Beta follows but never submits. No power play, no imbalance. A team.
Now, McLaren has the worst pairing they could get… An Alpha and an Omega.
***
Lando enters the MTC and, like it does every time he returns after the break, it feels like coming back home. He smiles, thinking about the mail he got about the upcoming film day to announce his contract extension. Home. That’s what the communication team wants to build around. Lando is at home at McLaren. He’s happy with that.
On his way to Zak's office, he says hello to everyone he crosses paths with. He still wonders why the boss wanted to have that meeting today. An unplanned one called just a few days before.
Lando sent a message to Oscar, asking his teammate if he knew why they were called in, but he didn’t get any answer. Which was a bit unusual, but according to his Insta, Oscar was training somewhere in Spain or Portugal when they got the invite.
When Lando knocks on Zak’s office door, his boss calls him in immediately. They hug and talk about their holidays for a bit. Zak offers some water to Lando. But Oscar is still not there.
“Oscar’s late again; nothing changes!” Lando jokes.
“Oscar is not coming today.” The way Zak says it makes Lando freeze, the smile disappearing from his face immediately.
“What?”
“You should sit down, Lando.”
Fear grips Lando’s heart. Why so serious? Why isn’t Oscar there? Why didn’t Oscar answer his message?
Is Oscar leaving the team? No… Not when they talked about him staying just a few days before as they put the final touches on Lando’s new contract. Is he injured? Is he sick?
“Lando… We… Hum… Oscar encountered some unfortunate and unplanned events during his break.”
“What? He’s not sick, is he?”
Awful images of Oscar being hurt, in a hospital bed assault Lando’s mind.
“No…No. Lando. He’s alright.” Zak immediately reassures him in a much less dramatic tone.
“What then?”
“He… He presented. As an Omega.” Zak finally announces.
The words feel like they’re stuck somewhere in between Zak’s mouth and Lando’s brain. He heard them but can’t process them. Oscar is a beta. Oscar is 22 years old. Oscar presented late. Oscar…Oscar…Oscar…
“Oh.” is all that Lando manages to say.
“We will make this work, of course, but we had to reschedule a bit so you two won’t be here together at first. Team doctors are looking for the best way to approach that situation, but…”
“You’re not going to fire him, are you?” Lando asks, his tone cold. Something is rumbling inside of him. An instinct. Protective.
“No, we aren’t. Oscar is part of the team, of the Papaya family and his biology won’t change that. But we should make sure things work as smoothly as possible. For you two and the team.”
“But things are working already!”
“Lando. He’s an Omega. An unmated one. You’re an Alpha. We can’t act as if things haven’t changed.”
Lando hates to admit it, but Zak is right. Whatever his relationship with Oscar may have been before, it won’t be the same anymore. Because of those fucking smells and instincts.
“Ok,” he says, defeated.
Lando hates changes.
***
When Oscar hears his phone ping with a notification, he's convinced it's Zak telling him how the meeting with Lando went.
He's not expecting a message from Lando himself.
“Can I call you?”
Oscar knows that, before, Lando would have called. Without asking first, without the apprehension of how Oscar could react to an Alpha imposing something on him.
Things have changed already. Oscar doesn’t like that.
Oscar looks around at his apartment. Yes, things have changed. Lily is not there. She's staying with a friend of hers. A break. She asked for it after a week of being awkward around Oscar. He had seen the worry in her eyes when he started to have symptoms of his upcoming presentation heat. He noticed how she wasn't coming close to him after. She ended up telling him it was because of his smell and how different and unfamiliar it was. She hasn't managed to hide the little disgusted frown.
A break. Oscar knows it's a softer way to break up definitely. Omega and Omega. It can't work. It never does.
She hasn't taken all her things with her, yet. So her sweet smell still lingers. But it feels strange. Like the smell that remains after a party or the one that stays when you’ve finished cooking and eating. Not bad, but a bit unpleasant. Like it doesn’t belong anymore.
Oscar touches Lando’s name and calls him.
“Ozzie!” The Brit says as he takes the call. Oscar hates that nickname. Lando knows it and uses it to tease him, and that suddenly feels normal. Oscar feels some of the tension leave his body.
“Lando!” He answers, mimicking his teammate's enthusiastic tone.
“So… How are you?” Lando asks, stopping the teasing already.
“I mean… Alright.” Oscar lies. But Lando is having none of it, of course.
“Oscar… How are you? Really!”
Oscar takes a deeper breath. Lando’s voice is familiar enough to make him believe that not everything has changed. And he takes hold of that to find the courage to be completely honest. Until then, he has tried to stay positive. To reassure his parents he was alright and to make Zak believe he was coping. But he isn’t sure he does.
“I don’t know. It’s… Frightening. I still can’t comprehend it, you know.”
“Not really but… I can imagine. It’s huge.”
“Yeah. It is… I’m just realising how much things are different now and… I don’t know if I like it.” Oscar admits.
“When did it happen?” Lando asks, before he adds: “If you’re okay to talk about it, of course.”
“Lando… You… You can stop asking permission for everything you know.” Oscar says because he knows this is going to drive him crazy.
“Oh fuck! Yeah… Was afraid of not doing things right.”
“It’s okay. I’m… I mean… I’m still…”
“Still Oscuh?” Lando provides, in that specific way he has of pronouncing Oscar’s name.
“Yeah… I think so. It’s strange you know. I feel the same, but… not really.”
“Hum.” Lando acknowledges what Oscar has just said, but he lets him continue.
“It started the day after Christmas. Didn’t understand what was going on at first. But… Yeah… And now it just feels like my world has been tilted. All I knew about myself is being questioned.”
“I can’t imagine how that must feel, but… You’re still Oscuh.” Lando repeats.
And it helps to hear that. He knows that it’s true, at least partially.
“We…We’re on a break with Lily.” He says then because that feels important.
“Sorry.”
“S’okay.”
They stay silent for a bit. They often do that, Oscar has noticed. Like they just wait for something to come, for one of them to start again. When he first met Lando, Oscar was pretty sure the guy was never silent. Through the months they spent together, he learned that wasn’t true.
This time, it’s Oscar who talks first.
“It also feels right,” he confesses.
That’s a feeling that has been there since he regained his mind after his first heat. Something that he had no idea how to cope with. Something he hasn’t told anyone about. Until now.
“Yeah, makes sense, I suppose.”
Of course, Lando doesn’t make a big thing out of it.
“So… Hum… Did Zak tell you about the rescheduling?”
“Yeah… They’ll send us the new schedule soon, and… They’ll keep us updated with whatever solution they might find. Looks like we won’t see each other soon…”
“I’m sorry,” Oscar tells Lando.
“Why? I don’t care about some changes of plans you know, but it sucks that I’ll be alone at the MTC. It’s way more fun when you’re there. Can annoy someone else than Jon.”
“Thanks, I suppose.”
They laugh at that, finally relaxing. They keep talking for a while, Lando telling Oscar about his plans for the last part of the break, Oscar telling Lando about the last series he watched. It feels normal, and when they hang up, Oscar feels better than he has since he presented.
***
Lando receives the updated schedule just before he flies off to Vietnam. There aren’t many changes in the end, and Lando wonders if they mostly changed Oscar’s. He doesn’t like that idea. He feels bad for Oscar, worried, too.
They talked over the phone every evening for the past four days. Not about Oscar’s new status. Not after the first call. Just about their days and whatever was happening in their lives.
Lando wants Oscar to know he’s there, supportive. As a teammate and perhaps also as an Alpha. That is a new feeling. Lando has never felt overly protective of Oscar before. Just a bit, when they first met, as Lando was the older and more experienced of the two, he had thought that he could offer Oscar some kind of brotherly protection. He soon learned that Oscar didn’t need it.
But since he learned about Oscar being an Omega, the need to protect him reappeared. It’s different now; it’s instinctual; it’s Lando’s Alpha talking here. And Lando can’t help but wonder how he will react when he sees Oscar again…
He types a short answer, letting the team know he’s okay with the changes, and finishes packing his suitcase.
When he comes out of the cave in Vietnam five days later and finally reconnects his phone, he has another email from Zak.
They have apparently found a solution to Oscar’s situation and a safe way to have Lando and Oscar meet again now that their “biological instincts may create tension between them.”
Lando gives a sour laugh at that. What does it really mean? That they are afraid that Lando will boss Oscar around? That Oscar would submit to Lando’s every whim? Wasn’t that already their dynamic? Or do they think it might escalate into something toxic?
And then something just dawns on Lando… He knows what they are afraid of. What if they become the next Nico and Lewis? An Alpha and an Omega… In a relationship but rivals on the track. Unable to manage their instincts and the competition at the same time.
Lando knows they wouldn’t end like that, but a part of his mind wonders about the relationship part for a bit too long…
***
When Oscar lands in Barcelona, he feels apprehensive. Not about finally getting back in the car, even an old one. But about the meeting scheduled for that evening.
He’s not sure meeting is the right word to use. But is there a word to describe being forced into a pack room with your teammate for the two of you to get used to each other’s smells?
That solution seems a bit crazy, but according to the team doctors, it could work. Lando and Oscar would have to spend some time together in a neutral environment—hence the packroom—to get accustomed to each other’s scent. The room is equipped with an alarm that they can ring if either of them feels overwhelmed or at risk of losing control. At first, the idea is for them to spend around half an hour together, and if it goes well, they would try again back at the MTC for a bit longer… And so on. Until they’re used to each other smells and the risk of any instinctual behaviour has decreased enough.
Oscar can’t help thinking it looks like a bad scientific experiment… But it’s still better than the other solution. If this doesn’t work, if they can’t be normal and focused around each other, then Oscar will have to take scent blockers.
He knows about those… Everyone does. How it affects your smell but also makes you less able to discern Alphas’s scents. How it leads to an endless list of side effects that some Omegas never get accustomed to.
So, as he walks through the airport, he hopes that Lando and he will find a way to stay in the same room without it getting weird.
***
Lando closes the door softly behind him. He spots Oscar, sitting on the couch, a few feet away. But before his mind can register anything else, he’s assaulted by the most delicious smell ever. Hot chocolate, like the one his Mum prepared after those long afternoons spent karting in the cold and the rain. Something fresh—not exactly minty but not far away. And then a hint of summer—warm sand, warm skin under the sun.
Lando lets his back hit the door; he needs the support. He needs to get a grip on himself before he just runs to Oscar to smell him.
***
Oscar hears the door opening and lifts his eyes from his phone.
Lando is there. He’s wearing some jeans and an oversized hoodie that looks so comfy. Their eyes meet, and then Oscar sees the change of expression on Lando’s face. He sees his pupils dilating, he sees how Lando leans against the door… But he doesn’t understand why… Until he can smell it.
Lando always smells good. Something about the three or four perfumes he likes to mix every day in different proportions. But this is different. This is Lando’s Alpha’s scent.
It’s woody, deep and dark. Like the ground after a summer rain. There is something else. Lighter, harder to catch. Caramel? Honey? Something like those waffles he loves so much. And there is a hint of citrus, too. It’s complex and changing, like Lando himself.
Oscar realises he’s gripping the edge of the couch. His whole body is tense, and he only wants to get closer to Lando.
He’s never felt like that. Like his instincts are trying to take control. Like he’s going to relent.
***
“Oscuh…” Lando says, and he can hear how needy it sounds.
Oscar looks back at him, and Lando notices he’s affected, too.
This is not what he had expected. He never imagined he would react like that to his teammate’s scent. He thought he could get a bit attracted, perhaps, or that he would feel overly protective. But not this. Not that pull that seems to be anchored so deep inside.
It’s not the first time he’s been around an unmated Omega but he never felt like that. He never felt like he needed to touch, smell,… to claim.
He should get out or ring the alarm because he’s clearly losing control here.
***
“Lando…” Oscar answers when he sees Lando moving his hand towards the door handle.
He can’t let him leave, not when Lando feels like the only thing he needs, like water in the middle of the desert.
When he gets up, Oscar nearly trips over his own feet, and immediately Lando moves towards him.
They meet in the middle. Oscar falls into Lando’s arms, and Lando welcomes him there.
From that close, Lando’s smell is intoxicating. It’s too much and still not enough. Oscar moves his head so his nose is just in the crook of Lando’s neck.
“Osc… Oscar… We… We…”
Oscar has no idea what Lando tries to say, and Lando stops trying to talk. He just hugs Oscar closer and moves them back towards the couch.
It takes some uncoordinated movements, but they end up cuddling there, as close as they can be. Oscar is bathing in Lando’s scent, and it feels good. He feels calmer, and more content. Like he’s regaining some control over himself and his instincts now that his need for contact has been satisfied.
***
Lando feels good—fucking fantastic. Oscar’s firm body enclosed in his arms, the delicious smell completely enveloping him. He has no idea what to do with that. With that feeling of perfection that is taking over his whole being.
He’s heard about the instinctual and sexual attraction that can sometimes happen between an Alpha and an Omega. He knows that the way they depict it in those films and books is exaggerated. Most of the time, both of the people aren’t completely drunk on desire; they are just very horny. He remembers Daniel telling him about him and Max feeling like that when they met. And still, they managed to wait before doing anything.
This, with Oscar, is different. It’s instinctual; it’s deep, but it’s not sexual. Even if Lando realises he wouldn’t mind taking things that way, he’s also content just to cuddle his teammate.
Oscar moves a bit in his arms, and Lando lessens his grip so Oscar can turn a bit more easily. They are looking at each other now, and Lando sees incomprehension in Oscar’s eyes. He’s sure his own eyes are mirroring that.
“Lando… What’s happening?” Oscar looks happy but also younger and a bit lost.
“I’m not sure.”
Oscar puts his head back against Lando’s neck.
Lando realises they don’t need to understand what is happening to enjoy it.
***
They stay like that, cuddling on the little couch for what feels like an eternity. The sun has set outside, and the room has plunged into darkness.
Oscar knows they should move; they can’t stay there. They need to eat and sleep. He needs to get ready for testing, and Lando has to go back to Monaco.
“Lando… We should… Move,” he says, lacking some conviction.
“I know. I don’t want to.”
“Me neither.”
“Oscar… I want more of this. I mean… Not just know. But later… tomorrow… the day after.”
“Me, too.”
It’s a deep confession, and still, it feels easy and natural. They want each other, they need each other. It’s evident.
“Lily?” Lando asks.
“She’s not in the picture anymore.”
“Ok… So… Your room or mine?”
Oscar tenses up a bit. He’s not an idiot. He knows that the need they are feeling won’t be satisfied by cuddles in the end, but he’s not sure he’s ready for more tonight. He’s still unsure about his body’s reactions now that he’s presented.
Lando’s hand gently strokes his back in a calming gesture.
“To sleep, Oscar! You’re driving tomorrow.”
“Oh… Hum… Mine? I’ve made… a nest.”
A strange sound comes from Lando’s mouth, a soft rumble.
“You… You know I was offering to sleep with you?” Lando clarify.
“Yes.”
“And you want me to sleep in your nest?”
“Yes.”
“God…”
Another rumble. Oscar can feel the vibrations where their torsos are touching and he can’t help but purr in response. It’s the first time it happens and it feels… relaxing.
“Ok… Ok… let’s go then.”
***
Lando looks at the nest in the middle of the bed. His arm is still around Oscar’s waist, where it has been since they left the pack room, because Lando can’t let go of Oscar. And Oscar doesn’t seem to want to walk away either.
“It’s beautiful.” He says, sincere and soft. Oscar relaxes; he feels it. “Is that…My hoodie?” Lando asks when he spots the white garment amongst the cushions. He had completely forgotten about it, but now he remembers that he had disappeared after the weekend in Mexico…
“Hum… Yeah. Forgot to give it back to you and… I don’t know, it looked good in my nest.”
Lando turns to face Oscar, putting both his hands on the Aussie’s hips.
“Oscar… Are you aware of what’s going on?” Lando asks because he needs to know he’s not alone in this and that he’s not imagining things. But since he regained his senses in the pack room, he had thought about what had happened, and there is only one explanation.
Oscar nods. That is not enough.
“Say it, Oscar.”
“You…You’re my Alpha.”
“And you’re my Omega.”
They hug. So tight it hurts a bit.
This is crazy. What were the chances of Oscar presenting late? What were the chances of him being Lando’s destined Omega?
They slowly move towards the nest. Lando helps Oscar remove his clothes because they need more contact. Soon, they are only wearing their underwear and their bodies are touching everywhere.
“Feels good.” Oscar murmurs from where he’s nestled against Lando.
“Feels perfect.”
***
Oscar feels more relaxed than he has been in weeks. In his nest, in Lando’s arms, he feels like he’s where he’s meant to be.
As a Beta, he has never really thought about the bond that exists between Alpha and Omega. About the special feelings they share when they are together. Now that he’s experiencing it, he realises that it’s simply indescribable.
In the past weeks, since his presentation, he had tried to understand what being an Omega really meant, what it was going to change for him, and for the people around him. And he hasn’t found many things to rejoice about. In between the heats, taking suppressants not to have those during the season, some people thinking less of him, the way his instincts would take the lead sometimes… Oscar hadn’t been happy about his new designation.
Now, all of these downsides seem inconsequent compared to the overwhelming feeling of happiness surrounding him.
“What are you thinking about?” Lando asks, as he gently strokes Oscar’s back.
“How I had no idea what being an Omega would be… Especially this part.”
“The finding your destined Alpha part?”
Oscar nods and he notices the pride in Lando’s eyes.
“How does it feel for you?” he asks then.
“Wonderful.”
“And?”
“You know I’m not good with words!”
“Try.”
Lando huffles.
“I’m… I feel like I’m… complete. Like I found something that I wasn’t even looking for and…” Lando stops and brings his hand from Oscar’s back to his neck. “And I’m so happy I found you…”
Oscar feels that he’s blushing. He doesn’t care. He wants Lando to know how his words are affecting him.
“Me, too.”
“Do you think we could have foreseen that?” Lando asks then, a little frown appearing on his face “Like… You keeping my hoodie and how you looked at me all the time…”
“And you always wanting to touch me but backing away at the last second?”
“You noticed?”
“Yeah. And wished that you wouldn’t stop yourself… But… I was…I thought I was a Beta back then so nothing meant much…”
“True.”
“But… I think I like that we ended up here.”
“In your nest?”
“In your arms.”
Lando smiles at Oscar then with that very dopey expression he gets when he’s really happy and Oscar can’t help the little purr that comes out of his chest as the realisation he’s the reason for that smile.
“Love when you make that sound,” Lando says as he leans a bit more towards Oscar. “Can… Can I kiss you?”
“Please.”
Lando’s lips are a bit chapped but warm and they fit perfectly against Oscar’s. That first kiss is soft and tentative. Oscar feels that Lando is reining himself in and he doesn’t want that. So he lets his left hand grip Lando’s neck to bring him even closer.
Lando gets the hint as his tongue comes out to slowly lick Oscar’s lips and Oscar allows him to deepen the kiss then.
If the hugs and cuddles were wonderful, the kisses are mind-blowing and Oscar hopes that Lando doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
***
Lando wakes up feeling a bit too hot and it takes him a few seconds to realise why.
He can live with being hot like that, though. Because having Oscar plastered against him, holding him so tight feels really good.
Oscar moves a bit in his sleep and Lando takes his time to admire him. He’s beautiful like that. Face relaxed, dishevelled. It still feels a bit crazy to have him there, to think that Oscar is his Omega.
Lando has never been impatient to find his Omega. He has always thought he would meet the right person in due time, whether it would be a Beta or an Omega. He has never even thought about being lucky enough to find his true mate. He left that to his sisters and their romantic aspirations about soulmates.
But here he is… He smiles at the realisation that his mate had been there, next to him, for a whole year. There had been something between Oscar and him, from day one. An immediate understanding. Both at work and outside of it. They were different but easily found a middle ground where they could meet. Being Oscar’s teammate had felt easy and natural and Lando wonders if, instinctually, a part of him had recognised his mate already.
Probably… That would explain a few things… But never, during all those months, had he thought he would end up there, holding Oscar in his arms, feeling content and relaxed, surrounded by a smell that already felt familiar even after only one night.
***
Oscar laughs when Lando looks at the banana with an adorable pout.
“Why are they all so yellow?” the Brit laments.
“Because that’s how normal people like them.”
Lando huffs and takes an apple before going back to their table. Oscar grabs a yoghurt and follows.
He can sense the eyes of all the team members sitting around him. They made quite an entrance earlier, holding hands. But Lando had been adamant that they had no reason to hide their bond with the team. And Oscar wasn’t sure he would have been able to.
He feels how much he needs Lando. He knows it will get better but at the moment, Lando feels like a buoy in the middle of a raging sea.
Andrea and Zak aren’t there yet, luckily as Oscar isn’t sure he could have faced them before breakfast.
Oscar sits in front of Lando and starts eating his porridge while Lando rolls the apple on the table for a bit before getting up again. He comes back quickly with a hot chocolate.
“Here you are,” he says as he puts it in front of Oscar.
“How did you know?” Oscar asks when he realised that he had indeed forgotten to take anything to drink while at the buffet.
Lando shrugs like it’s just a normal thing. Oscar isn’t sure it is but he can live with that.
***
“Oscar?” Lando asks as soon as they’re back in his room.
“Uh?”
“I would… I mean… I could stay today.” he says. He’s thought about it since they got up. He was supposed to fly back to Monaco in a few hours but the simple idea of leaving Oscar makes his stomach churn.
He knows about that need for closeness that follows a newly formed bond but he doesn’t want to follow his instincts if Oscar isn’t okay with that.
“Stay?”
“Yeah. Reschedule my flight and spend the day at the track with you.”
Oscar comes closer and Lando welcomes him in his arms without thinking about it.
“I’d love that. More than anything. I was going crazy thinking about letting you go.”
“Same… And so we can be together if people ask questions.”
“Together,” Oscar repeats and he purrs again and Lando knows he’s never gonna get tired of hearing that sound.
***
When they enter the garage, they are walking so close that their shoulders are touching. Holding hands is a bit too much when there are a few journalists around.
Being back in that work environment after what had happened the evening before feels a bit strange. Oscar still can’t really comprehend what has happened. Lando is his mate. The Alpha meant for his Omega. His future. His forever.
It’s frightening. It’s exhilarating. It’s mind-blowing.
But Oscar can’t get distracted by that. He had to get back in the car today. Even if it’s the older one, he has a job to do.
Lando offered to stay, though, and spend the day around. Oscar had nodded enthusiastically before he could even realise it.
He’s not sure he really likes that part. How needy he is already. From what he knows about mates, it should become easier. When they are actually mated and when the bond between them is sealed in their flesh.
“Osc? Are you okay?” Lando asks.
“Yeah… Just…”
They’re interrupted by Andrea coming towards them with a large smile.
“It went well, then?” he asks.
They both nod in unison.
They will have to let the team know about what happened. Zak will be relieved. If all the teams are dreaming of having an Alpha-Beta pairing, there is something even better than that. A mated pair. Two drivers who will know each other by heart, who will be attuned to each other's needs and wants, who will support each other.
“Great! Lando, you’re staying?”
“Yeah, change of plans, my plane is delayed.” he lies.
Andrea nods.
“OK. Oscar, go get ready and we’ll brief you about the program for today.”
“Alright.”
Oscar waits for Andrea to leave before he grabs Lando’s hand and leads them to the changing room.
“Scent me,” he asks, not caring about being needy anymore.
Lando groans and grabs Oscar's hips to pull him closer.
“Anything for you.”
***
Lando joins Oscar and Tom near the pit wall. He wants to take Oscar in his arms but he can’t. There are too many people around.
He had seen the gazes earlier when they came out of the changing room, dishevelled and happy after their little scenting session. He had seen Tom's surprised look when Oscar had gone to Lando as soon as he got out of the car. He had seen Kim watching them with more intent than usual.
People are noticing that something has changed between them.
Lando notices how Oscar is making himself smaller when Lando comes closer. He doesn’t want that. Not now. So he decides to sit on the floor, showing Oscar’s Omega that this is not the time for him to surrender to his Alpha.
The smile he gets from Oscar tells him he’s done the right thing.
They talk about the laps Oscar did earlier and Lando realises it’s like nothing has changed. Apart from the fact that he plans to ask Oscar to come back to Monaco with him that evening because he just can’t imagine being far away from his mate…
***
They’re lying in Lando’s bed. The whole place smells like Lando, and Oscar loves that. It feels like being in a cocoon of Lando. So when Lando offered to let Oscar make a nest in the apartment, Oscar didn’t feel the need for it. Not when the whole apartment felt like a nest already.
It’s not his first time at Lando’s place. He came for a teammate dinner during the Monaco GP weekend but of course, this is different. Last time, Lando hadn’t pushed him against the wall to kiss him senseless as soon as the door was closed behind them. Last time, they hadn’t made out on the couch. Last time, they hadn’t hand-fed each other their pizza like two teenagers sickenly in love.
Lando moves a bit, bringing Oscar back to the present time, to the tanned arms circling his waist, to the lips he can feel against his nape.
“Want to kiss every mole on your body,” Lando says like he says all those random thoughts out loud, with no care about how it affects Oscar.
That part of their bond is still an uncharted territory. They cuddled, hugged, kissed, moved their bodies against each other but this is the most intimate they’ve been. In their underwear, cuddling under the duvet. There is a tension between them that is becoming hard to ignore.
“You’d let me?” Lando asks.
“Yes.”
Oscar feels the first kiss on his shoulder and another one, a bit lower and another one… Lando is methodical. Each kiss feels like a burn against Oscar’s skin. He’s never been so sensitive before. Now that he knows his future in the team isn’t compromised, this is probably the most frightening part of his new status. He has no idea how his body is reacting… Of course, he had read a few things about Omega’s biology. He technically knows about slick, heat, sexual needs… But it’s only theoretical and the little self-explorations he had tried weren’t really satisfactory.
Here, in Lando’s arms, with the Brit's mouth all over his back, that’s another thing completely. There is something new awakening deep inside his belly. A need that wasn’t there before.
Lando’s mouth is reaching his lower back and Oscar lets out a giggle when the last kiss lands on a tickly place.
“You smell so good,” Lando says as his mouth stops just above Oscar’s boxers.
Lando puts his hand on Oscar’s hips then and he plays with the waistband of his underwear. Having Lando’s hands so close to the places that matter makes Oscar feel hot and that need nestled deep inside him grows. A need to belong. A need to be taken. A need to be filled. And Oscar’s body reacts to that. He can feel his hole relax and something warm pooling there. He’s getting wet. But it’s not like it was during his presentation. It feels more pleasant.
“Lando.” he moans because he knows that Lando is what he needs. “Please.”
“Tell me Oscar, what do you want?”
“You… Touch. Touch me.” Oscar tries. He’s not sure he really knows what he wants precisely. Not when his mind is clouding with Lando’s smell and the obsession of having him closer.
Lando’s hand moves slowly. Towards his cock that he brushes. Oscar realises he’s hard but that is not as important as it was before. That’s not where he wants Lando’s hand.
“Behind…Please,” he asks.
Lando groans and Oscar feels the tension in his mate’s body.
“Are…Are you sure?”
“Yes. I… I want to feel your hands there… Your fingers.” Oscar says and he realises he’s way less ashamed to say it out loud than he thought. Expressing his wants to Lando feels natural, he knows Lando won’t judge him.
“God… Want to touch you so bad.” Lando admits when he finally removes Oscar’s boxers. “Oscuh…” Lando sounds breathless when he lets his hand hover on Oscar’s ass, he’s caressing his skin gently, a barely-there touch.
“More.” Oscar encourages and Lando gives him what he wants, fully kneading his cheeks. Lando kisses his neck and shoulders again as his hands explore and when Lando finally puts a finger against Oscar’s rim, they let out echoing moans.
“So wet already…” Lando says, his voice low and rumbling. Oscar purrs reflexively. “So wet for me…For your Alpha.”
It’s a long moan that comes out of Oscar’s mouth then. The first of many more when Lando finally let the tip of his finger go past Oscar’s rim. The feeling is strange, unusual but not unpleasant and Oscar forces himself to relax. He trusts Lando. He trusts their instincts.
It takes some time, some slow moves, some more kisses and deep breaths but soon Lando is properly fingering him, searching for what Oscar likes, for what makes him moan a bit louder. And when he finds it, he becomes a man on a mission. Oscar feels the determination in the way Lando doesn’t give him any respite. A finger becomes two. Oscar can only moan and repeat Lando’s name over and over in a pleading litany.
Oscar feels his body opening up, more slick making Lando’s movements even easier. The need in his belly ebbs away as he finally feels full enough. A third finger and it feels perfect. Lando covers his upper back with kisses, licks and bites.
“Close…” Oscar warns when he feels the wave of pleasure increasing.
“Come… Come for me, my Omega.” Lando tells him when he speeds up and massages Oscar’s prostate with the tips of his fingers.
Oscar comes. Hard. His whole body tenses up. The wave of pleasure crashes over him, leaving him breathless and battered. The feeling lasts. Like the aftershocks of an earthquake.
Lando’s fingers leave him but he feels the Alpha coming closer and hugging him. The hardness against his ass is unmistakable and it brings Oscar back to his senses.
“Lando… You?”
“It’s okay.”
“No… Want… you to come, too.”
“Osc…”
“You can rub,” he says. He doesn’t feel like he can move but the warm hardness of Lando’s cock against his ass feels right.
“Really?”
“Go on,” he confirms and Lando obeys. He pushes his briefs down and moves his hips against Oscar in short and rapid back-and-forth thrusts.
It doesn’t take him long to come all over Oscar’s back.
It’s filthy but Oscar can’t help but feel proud of how he made his Alpha come like that.
“God.” Lando breathes out as he lets go of Oscar and falls on his back. Oscar rolls over to cuddle, not caring about the cum covering their bodies and the sheets. Lando kisses him and they stay like that until Lando regains the ability to stand up and he helps Oscar to get out of the bed, leading them to the shower.
***
When Lando wakes up, the space next to him is empty. He had hoped for some morning cuddles but apparently, that’s not on the menu.
Some sounds are coming from the kitchen confirming that Oscar is already up.
It’s so domestic to hear someone else in the apartment, and that feeling only increases when Lando gets up and joins his boyfriend.
“You made pancakes?” Lando asks as he spots the plates on the table.
“Yeah. It’s one of the only things I can cook apart from salmon so…”
“God, I love you.”
Lando freezes when he realises what he just said. Oscar looks at him like a deer caught in headlights. Lando hadn’t meant to say that, even if he knew the feelings were there. Even before all that Omega stuff. But even if they acknowledged they were mates, even if they explored each other’s bodies for most of the night, this is another step altogether.
“I…”
“Do you mean it?” Oscar interrupts.
“Yes.”
“Then don’t dare say you didn’t plan to say it or something like that.”
Lando watches Oscar put down the spatula he was holding and comes closer until they can feel each other’s breath on their faces.
“I love you, too,” Oscar says before he leans in and kisses Lando.
This feels like the perfect way to wake up.
***
Oscar feels a bit self-conscious as he gets out of the car. He adjusts his jacket a bit and, for once, he’s grateful for the English weather. It’s grey and rainy in Silverstone and that rain jacket is perfect to hide the very obvious mating scar that adorns his neck.
He’s not ashamed of it, not at all. But they are here to launch the car and he’d rather not have everyone talking about him and Lando mating two days before.
He had wanted to wait a bit at first. Not because he wasn’t impatient to seal that bond between them but he knew that the bite would be obvious for a few days…
Still, they weren’t able to wait longer. Not when Lando had him pinned to the bed, looking at him like he was the only existing thing in the whole universe. Not when the feeling of Lando’s lips just grazing his mating gland made him feel like he was flying. Not when all the moments they had spent together since that time in Barcelona had been leading them there.
So they had just gone with the flow, letting their instincts guide them and mated.
Oscar still shivers when he thinks about the overwhelming feelings that assaulted him the moment Lando bit him.
Oscar feels a hand on his back and leans into it. He knows it’s Lando, doesn’t even need to check. Then he feels a hand fiddling with his collar.
“Let them see, Ozzie.”
That fucking nickname again… Oscar might start to like it a bit more, though.
“Lando…” he pleads.
“Want everyone to know how lucky I am.”
The pride in Lando’s eyes hasn’t left since he looked at Oscar that night, admiring the angry red bite on his neck, their bodies covered in sweat and come. Alpha pride is a strong feeling apparently.
“Whatever.”
If Oscar is completely honest, he’s quite proud, too. Proud of having found his mate. Proud of having such a handsome and caring Alpha. He’s just a bit less obvious about it than Lando.
As they walk towards the main building, Lando’s arm circling his waist, he thinks back about the car launch the year before. It had been a bigger thing, at the MTC, more of a show. And then he thinks about himself, how hesitant he was, how overwhelming everything has felt. Lando had still been a complicated equation to solve.
Everything is different now. Him included.
Still, he wouldn’t go back to that time for anything in the world.
“Hey, Oscar,” Lando calls just before he pushes the door open.
He looks at his mate and Lando smiles at him before leaning in for a kiss.
He’s definitely happy with how his life changed.