a/b/o au (for deadlyhairpin)

[intheashes]

They're in a new town for their usual act. The quick draw that gets them enough money to stay in the next town for a bit. Mostly because after they fleece the people, they don't dare linger too long. No one much likes getting conned out of their hard earned money. Sometimes, he felt guilty for it. Most times he did, if he was being honest with himself.

But it worked and he hadn't really had to struggle to get by from town to town since he had taken up traveling with Billy Rocks. A decision he had made quickly one day perhaps a month and a half ago when he had seen the wiry bastard surrounded by alphas. He'd never seen anyone fight like that. Not anyone. Usually, men with that subtle scent he had caught that day would have just rolled over and showed their bellies. But Billy had fought. For Goody, an alpha who didn't really like to fight at all, it had been quite something.

He'd rolled right up after that, affable as he pleased, and carefully whisked Billy away from trouble by heaping it upon himself, claiming that day with a feral glint in his eyes that he had been the one that had done it because someone had challenged his dominance. Once away, he had gone out of his way to prove he wasn't like all those other Alphas. He stayed arms length away, always there the moment some other might start sniffing around, ready to stare them down with cold blue eyes. Better him take care of it than Billy. Billy left bodies because Billy wasn't like any omega he had ever met.

It was part of the draw to their little show after all. No matter how skilled Billy was, no one ever bet for an omega. They were weak, after all. They were there for breeding. Omegas were supposed to be swelled with young or serving their mates, even this far west, not standing in the middle of a ring with a gun in hand. Goody seemed to not care about that distinction. It brought good money. It got them food and shelter in the evenings the next town over. It wasn't honest work, but it was work (even if all he did was promote the game and collect the winnings). But there were times when he had to do it himself. When he had to keep Billy in their room. When he smelled so strongly that Goody could barely contain himself.

It's getting close to one of those days. He can smell it. The aroma that accompanies an omega nearing their season. Goody can tell the bar around them is starting to notice it as well. If he doesn't do something soon, he's going to have to start throwing his weight around. It's something he hates to do. It's easier to just try to avoid it to begin with.

"Billy, we've got a busy day tomorrow. I think it's high time you kicked off upstairs. Don't worry. I'll be behind in a tick." He's trying to control this before Billy's scent catches the wrong sort of attention.

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[deadlyhairpin]

Even in his deepest heat, Billy had always had a thread of tension in him. Something vibrant and hard that he held onto as a way to protest what was happening to his body. Something he could use if an Alpha came around so that he could kill them dead before the Alpha could even think about touching him. He'd had this his whole life. From his first heat to now. Which was why it was so difficult at the present moment for him to let it go.

For a moment, his body tensed, reaching blindly for a weapon he couldn't actually get into his hand. But then Goody is apologizing and it's so completely unexpected that his mind returns to him just enough to stop the panic. To stop it completely and, instead, leave him with his greatest challenge.

To surrender.

"Don't be sorry," he gasps, the scent rolling off of Goodnight enough to make his head swim. He inhales deep, lets his body use that in order to override his lingering resistances. He wants this. He knows he wants this. But years of habit are hard to break. He leans in and scents Goody as best as he can with the man so close to his neck. The bonding site is almost feverishly warm at the attention. Billy moans, feeling it as it pours more hormones into his body. As every atom inside of him prepares for a potential mate.

He exhales in a shaking breath and then finally pulls Goodnight off so he can look him in the eye.

"I am choosing this. Understand? I want this. I want you. So stop saying you're sorry. And don't even think about leaving. Just..." He focuses his entire mind on the problem at hand. And, in slow increments, his body starts to relax. Melt both into Goody and into the bed.

His robe is already starting to fall open and there is nothing behind it but his flesh.

"Please. Goody. Alpha. Just...Just give me what I need."

[intheashes]

Billy pushes him back a little and Goody thinks it means the Omega has decided that he's right. That he's the wrong Alpha for this. He knows that's right. If he left right now...but he doesn't know if his legs would let him. He doesn't know if his instincts will allow it. Not when there's an Omega right there, in heat and waiting for his first breeding.

He looks down at the other man. He wants to kiss Billy again. Wants to do more than that. His hands are shaking and for once it's not from fear. It's from restraint. Goody wants to believe it. That this is Billy's choice, but he knows that heat does things to Omega's minds. They don't truly have the ability to consent. Their hormones take that away and he should leave. But Billy, his Billy, has always been the stronger of them, known what he wanted. So if Billy said he wanted this, then he did, and it had nothing to do with his heat.

Goody slowly lets his hands slide down that feverish body, just touching him. His hands are so cool compared to that heated flesh. "If you are sure. I won't hurt you. I don't do anything you don't want me to do. I won't...bite you. I promise. Just... forgive me." Even as he says that, he leans down to kiss the man again, soft at first. Gentle. Careful. Caring. At least until his hormones take over and it grows harder and hungry, hands never stopping their movement over Billy's bared flesh, just leaning him, trying to see what touch made him arch the most.

[deadlyhairpin]

Being touched feels like heaven. Billy's never had cool hands running over his sensitive skin, before. It's too much and not enough at the same time. And he arches up, into it, needing Goody to just not stop. Never stop. Never, as long as he lives. "Goody," he gasps, eyes shutting as his body takes control. So that, when Goody kisses him, he's more than willing to let it turn hungry. Famished. He opens his mouth to exploration and exploring in return. His moans pass right between their lips as the scent of heat grows more pungent by the second; Billy's body has realized that there is a mate, finally. It's planning to take advantage of the rare opportunity.

Billy's fever grows as they touch, a wet spot developing behind him that would be embarrassing if he were capable of more coherent thought. As it is, he's barely able to do more than moan and beg. And he's surely not going to get much better as the night progresses.

Swallowing hard, he pulls back and looks at Goody in the eye as he yanks off the robe and leaves himself on there, shining with sweat and utterly naked. His body almost shakes with his own, building need. "I forgive you," he promises. "I...know you won't hurt me. That's what this needs to be you. I need it to be you. No one else can have me."

Without Goody at the door, he knows he can hear people moving. Scratching. People pressing their nose and eyes to the hole in the door, trying to see what's going on, beyond. But now, instead of the scent of an Omega in heat, they're now getting subjected to a claiming. He can hear the whines of agony as they wish to be where Goody is. But they never will. No one ever will be, again. Bite or no bite, it is Goody or it is no one. He knows already that this is true.

"Please, Alpha. Please," he begs finally, pressing up into Goody for attention. "I'm yours. Take me."

[intheashes]

Billy is gorgeous. He's strong and graceful. He's the sort of mate Alphas would kill for. He's utterly beautiful and Goody would think that even without the pheromones doing things to his head. All that does is drive him on, tell him that it's just natural to want Billy as much as he did. To need him. That this is the mate he'll have forever and he's more than okay with it. Even when Billy figures out that there are stronger, better Alphas, Goody won't ever find anyone else. This will be it. His first, his only.

As soon as that lithe body is bared, he starts to run his hands over Billy. More. He can't stop touching him. He wants to feel that burning skin, taste his sweat, replace that scent with his own. Imprint his scent on Billy so everyone would know that this man, this beautiful perfect Omega was his. His hands drift down and he cups Billy's ass, pulling him closer. Pulling that fevered flesh against his still clothed body, fingertips already feeling the sweet dampness where Billy's body was already preparing itself for him.

He doesn't often throw around his weight or his status, but as soon as Billy says those words, he's all but rushing to get the man onto the bed and into a better position while also trying to get his clothing off. In his frustration to mate, buttons fly everywhere and he's certain he's just destroyed his only clean pair of trousers. None of that matters in the face of Billy Rocks needing him.

"Billy...help me with this..." He growls his frustration out and it's nearly an Alpha's order. Only there's none of that press of dominance there. He's just asking because he's struggling too much. Struggling because he can't get naked quickly enough and he also can't stop touching Billy, one hand already sliding between the other man's legs to start touching him, teasing his cock and tracing the underside until he can tease that leaking hole. Unlike other Alphas that would just accept that wetness to be enough, he's going to sink fingers into Billy and start slowly moving them around, just letting him feel what it's going to feel like on a much smaller level.

[deadlyhairpin]

Billy doesn't need the command. He's already rushing forward, helping Goodnight's clothes to come off as quickly as humanly possible. Because the sooner they stop worrying about that, the sooner his Alpha can touch him again. Touch him and tease him and finally fuck him. He's never known what it could be like, having an Alpha during a heat. But the knowledge that the time is close at hand almost has him soaking through the entire mattress at the prospect alone.

He managed to get the clothes. That vest and pants and, "Oh...fuck," he hisses as the scent of Goody comes rolling off in waves. Overpowering and pungent now that there's nothing to buffer it. Billy leans toward it. Mouth open as he presses kisses to every inch he can. Tongue dragging over the pock-marked skin and teeth biting here and there, claiming as though he were the Alpha, here. He honestly can't help himself. "You smell so good," he moans, the words sounding just a bit more hysteric than they had the first time. This must be what going out of one's mind feels like, he hypothesizes. But what a way to go.

He lays back down, legs spread as the emptiness inside him grows all the more insistent. "Goody, please," he demands as much as begs. "Please. Make it stop. Fill me." His heel digs into Goody's waist, pulling him closer as best as he can. "Make me yours."

[intheashes]

His body burns with a need of his own. The scrape of teeth so close to claiming though it should be he that claims his mate. But that's what makes Billy so different from other Omegas. He's strong. Demanding. A distant part of Goody knows the man will have to be if he's stuck with an Alpha like himself. Someone who couldn't really protect him like he should. But that's such a distant thought to the hungry stiffness between his legs and the desperate burning need that strong scent brings him.

"You look so good. I'll give you what you want." His hand remains between them, moving to push into that soaking opening. He thrusts the fingers a few times. Thrusts them as his mouth moves, pressing hot open kisses to whatever he can reach. Instinctively, he wants to shove Billy over. He wants to push the man's face down in the pillow and grab hold of his hips. He wants that, but he wants to look at Billy more. See his face, watch it.

"It'll stop soon, mon coeur, I promise." He leans down and swipes his tongue down the heated column of Billy's throat. He won't claim. He won't trap the poor Omega like that. He's the only one that needs to be locked into this. "Be patient." He licks again and the hand that had been playing against Billy's ass lifts it up, gently getting a good angle for him to line himself up.

He feels that wetness at the tip of his cock, just waiting for him. That little lick moves back to Billy's mouth and he kisses. He kisses hard and hungry, using the thrust of his tongue into the omega's mouth to distract from the thrust into that heated body under him.

[deadlyhairpin]

No Alpha would have prepared him. None of them would have waited this long to bite his neck. None would keep him on his back or listen to his commands so tenderly. Not one of them would kiss him like this and speak such loving words in the throes of heat, knowing they would be wasted on someone like Billy who barely knows English, let alone whatever that was.

Goody was not like anyone else. And that was the only reason that Billy kissed back, feeling him start to line up and allowed him--the first Alpha in his entire life--to push inside.

His mouth tore away from the kiss as he cried out, almost blinded by the pleasure of a first penetration. Wetness soaked into the bed as his body arched up and into his Alpha, Billy too overcome to realize he'd climaxed for the first time during his heat. The first of what would be many times, surely, and in what was undoubtedly a compliment to Goody already.

It took a moment for him to return to his mind. For the haze to pass and for a small amount of sanity to return. "More," he demands, that first orgasm not enough to end the first round of heat. Not enough to fill the emptiness. He needs the knot for that. But this is a perfect start to it. The hysterics are gone and are replaced with burning, greedy need. Nails claw into Goody's shoulders as he pulls him closer. Legs wrapping around his waist and gripping.

"Feel perfect. My Alpha," he groans, mind fading back into instincts. "The only Alpha...Mine."

[intheashes]

He feels that wet, tight body pulse around him with that first orgasm. He hadn't been ready for it. He feels a bit cheated that he hadn't been able to watch Billy's face the very first time he came, but Goody would make up for this small slight. Even if it was a compliment, he wanted to see it. He wanted to see the face of the man he was now attached to forever as he was caught in the throws of pleasure.

He waits until it subsides, even though every fiber of his being says for him to just go for it. To fuck Billy hard and fast even while his first orgasm is still crashing down on him. He won't rob the man of that first. Instead, he growls a little, trying desperately to hold on before nature sweeps him away. He won't be able to resist much longer and that sharp pain down his shoulders and that tight grip about his middle is enough to give him the push. Billy claiming him as his, it topples him right over the edge.

Billy wants more. Goody is more than happy to give it to him and then some. It's like some dam has been broken within him. Everything he's ever kept back, locked away within himself, breaks free. The Aplha that had lost his will to be dominant and demanding rears his head and grasps that part of himself again. His hips snap forward quickly as he loses himself to the rutting, in the near mindless pleasure of thrusting in and out of that soaking hole that he has made his and his alone. Thrusts so hard that the bed slams against the wall with each push, a harsh and desperate counterpoint to just how soft and loving his hands are as they roam the body under him, petting and stroking whatever flesh comes in his pathway.

It will be a while before he even starts to swell. He might go all night and into the morning, unleashed as he is. His teeth long to make contact and forge the mating bond but he had promised in his sane moments that he wouldn't do that to Billy. He wouldn't trap Billy with him like that. So instead, he turns his face away and bites against the pillow whenever the need gets too strong for him. Better destroyed linens than a forced bond that Billy doesn't want.

[deadlyhairpin]

The first snap of Goody's hips opens a whole new world of pleasure for Billy. And it shows in the way he trembles hard and cries out his lover's name, overcome from that alone. But, thank God, Goody doesn't stop. Doesn't do the gentle thing and take it easy on him. No, he's ruthless. Alpha through and through as he ruts into Billy and gives him exactly what he needed. "Fuck, yes," he cries, over and over, obscene with the bed's creaks and the banging against the wall. He remembers, distantly, a night when they had been sleeping next to an Omega during their time. He remembers hearing the woman scream and cry and beg for more like it was the only thing she could think of. Billy had thought it was absurd, at the time. But now he sympathized entirely as he gave himself over to his instincts, fully.

Outside, there are growls and hisses from Alpha who can smell Billy's sweet, pure, virginal scent souring with Goody's influence. Even after this is over, that untouched sweetness he'd had his whole life will never return. The burden of it will be gone forever; a piece of Goody forever with him as the Alpha who claimed him first.

"Harder, Goody," he cries, losing track of time as his lover ravages his body. It could have been seconds. It could have been an hour. He could have climaxed multiple times or none at all. The pleasure is searing, transformative, as he satisfies his heat for the first time.

"Deeper," he demands, some of the dominating force of his voice melting into a more pleading tone. Billy had always thought that mating with someone would be an embarrassing, exposing event. But that couldn't have been farther from the truth. He feels free. He feels utterly protected, here in the bed. Able to do what he pleases and knowing Goody will accept and love him for it, all the same.

"Feel so good," he groans, head tilting back on instinct, baring his neck to Goody. The Alpha is fighting so hard and the Omega isn't making it any easier. "You feel so good. Mine. All mine, now. More, Goody. Give me everything."

[intheashes]

Though the woman who had been meant to be his mate back home has questioned his verility, called him neutered, right now he is nothing of the sort. It is like all that strength and dominance that he refused to show had broken loose. Billy wanted and needed a strong and passionate Alpha. He needed it hard and fast and desperate. Goodnight was more than willing to give this man everything an Alpha could be.

Everything but the binding bite. He can barely keep his head with the way Billy cries out and begs him for more. His nose swims with their mingling scent. Goody can't help but press his sweating chest against Billy, run his hands over every bit of flesh. Anything, everything, to leave his scent heavily on the Omega. So that any Alpha who comes to close could smell his claim.

He continues to push. Some Alphas finish quickly. He's not some Alphas. He knows it will be hours. He knows because he's a Robicheaux Alpha and they are said to go all night.

His hands stop at Billy's hips, to hold still. His mate and demanded everything. He slams in deeper, knot starting to swell slowly within him. It makes thrusting harder and passage tighter. It takes even more strength and effort to move and the shoves even more roughly, using the feeling to distract him from the temptations Billy is offering.

[deadlyhairpin]

The blossoming of the knot makes Billy lose all grasp of English. A string of moaned Korean comes out of his mouth, incomprehensible for Goody, which was probably a good thing because he'd be ashamed of what he was saying. He's sure the gist comes across, all the same. It's written all over him in the way he goes suddenly, sweetly pliant against his lover. How his body curls toward him, legs caging him in and shifting with the hard thrusts, hands holding him tight. Goody is by far the most incredible Alpha Billy thinks he's ever known. He has no idea how he got so lucky as to have him.

He cries out again, trembling hard as he crosses over from 'pleasured' to 'out of his mind, constant bliss. And the most incredible part is that it lasts for ages. The two of them joined together, rocking and pounding together and Goody showing no sign of needing to stop. No sign of stopping any time soon. Billy shudders hard, head thrown back as he gives a few short pants and climaxes again. Was that just the second time? It's felt like he's been wrung dry by now.

"Fuck...You're... Incredible, Goody," he pants when he comes back enough to remember how to speak English. "Fucking incredible. Never letting you go." He tilts up, a messy, open-mouthed kiss pressed to Goody's lips before it's interrupted by a moan and Billy is gone once more. "Yours," he finally says in English, breathless and desperate. "I'm all yours. Thank God, I'm all yours."

[intheashes]

That Korean ringing in his ears drives him a little mad with lust. It's so beautiful. It sounds like song. He doesn't care that he doesn't understand the words. All he care is that it sounds so perfect. It sounds so amazing and he's the one that causes it. Just like he causes that body to react so well to him.

With his knot swelling, it's harder to thrust. It doesn't stop him from it. In fact, it just spurs him forward, feeling those walls clench and tighten around each and every movement. His thrusts pushing himself harder and deeper until he can hear the slap of his balls against Billy's ass with each hard movement forward. His growling moans a counterpoint to Billy's shouts.

He feels Billy climax but he still doesn't stop. Not yet. Not yet. Not until he can't move at all. Not until he's locked in place. His mouth tears at Billy's with each kiss. His mouth sliding down, tongue lathing over that spot. He's certain that Billy can feel his shaking, fighting the instinctual urge. Billy says he's all his. He could make that reality. "I'm yours." He murmurs against that spot and turns his mouth away once more as he locks into place completely, biting against the pillow again as he starts to flood Billy.

[deadlyhairpin]

Nothing has ever felt quite as good as a proper knotting. Billy's climax as he feels Goody start to spill is enough to blind him. Enough to have him screaming out, loud enough for the whole building to hear. Loud enough for every Omega to be jealous and every Alpha to feel inadequate. Because he's sure not one of them could possibly have made their lovers as satisfied as Goody has with him. He can't even process what a bad idea it was for them to do this without a shred of protection against a child. All he can do is hold on for dear life as he feels his entire body light up with bliss and then, finally, flop back onto the mattress exhausted and entirely satiated.

"Fuck, Goody," he moans, voice hoarse from all the shouting he's done. One glance out the window makes him realize they've been at this for longer than he felt like they had. But he can't even be bothered by that. Not with a thick knot inside him and the warm, deep heat of his seed. "Fuck... That was...that was incredible." He's not entirely back, but Billy's getting there in short order. He lets out a short laugh, running his hands down Goody's back. "I can't feel my toes. Jesus, Goody. You have no idea how good that felt." His hand strokes into the short hair, pushing the sweat-dampened strands away from his forehead.

From his mate's forehead.

That's right, he realizes slowly. With a dawning sense of dread; Goody was tied to him, now. His neck might remain bare, but Goody...he mated for life. And he was Billy's now. Forever.

His hand stills, the drowsy smile on his face dimming just a little.

"You...didn't bite me."

[intheashes]

He hadn't been thinking about that at all. Not really. Of course, that's part of the drive. Part of what makes an Alpha an Alpha. He just pours into Billy for what seems like ages. He could probably keep going to after he's done. Keep fucking him and filling him with seed, for days. Had he been in Rut while Billy's heat was there, he might. He'd go for days. For days until the heat is passed and he knows for certain his child is in his mate's belly. But he's not in Rut. He's not so he falls forward, panting.

He can't move yet. Can't pull out. He's locked. He's locked and it's going to be a while before he can pull out again unless he wants to risk hurting Billy. He just lays there, looking at where his teeth had ripped the pillow case where he had bit it instead of Billy. His hands slowly run over those sweating sides and he turns his head to pepper loving kisses to whatever he can reach.

"I promised you I wouldn't. I promised you I wouldn't trap you like that. I swore. I keep my promises." Just like he would keep his word that today, Billy would stay inside. He would stay inside and recover and Goody would earn their money today. And every day until his mate was ready to go out. Until his mate's heat had ended for the season.

[deadlyhairpin]

The answer has Billy turning his head and looking over at Goody in utter awe. He's always thought highly of the man. Always thought he was a good friend and an even better companion on the road. Now he knew from experience that he was also an incredible lover and the best Alpha Billy had ever met in his life. To throw away your chance for a mate like this? To accept that the one you bonded to might bond another? No Alpha would ever allow that. But Goody would. Goody who could never see his own worth.

Who put himself dead last in every situation.

Billy said nothing. Simply cradled Goody's jaw in the palm of his hand and gave him a long kiss. Something loving instead of lustful. Sweet instead of needy. And when he pulled back, his eyes were filled with admiration and affection. Enough to drown inside. And, indeed, Billy thought that he might.

"You...Wouldn't trap me," he said honestly. "Having you as a mate would never be a trap. I asked you for this. I offered it to you knowing you wouldn't be able to turn away. You...Are a stronger Alpha than any in here to take me in those conditions and not bond. Stronger man than I was to even be able to stop."

He kisses him again. The feeling is nice. Warming. He could get used to it, if he had the opportunity.

"It wouldn't have been a trap, Goody. It would have been a privilege."

[intheashes]

He knows it's strange and he knows it's part of why he'll never be considered a proper Alpha or a strong one. But that's just how he is. He would rather love Billy and know the man was happy with a proper mate than force him to forever be with the likes of him. There was always just too much of a chance that they might meet someone in their travels that would appeal to the Omega and he would want to settle down and raise a family with. He just didn't think it would be him, ever. He's not worth that.


He kisses back softly and shifts his hips a little trying to get comfortable while they are still stuck together. His face is full of warm hope but also worn out tiredness. "Billy... if you really mean that, then wait. Wait and tell me it again when the heat isn't affecting you." Because he knows. He knows that during heat, Omegas say things. At least that's what he's already heard. That they weren't in their right minds and would say anything to get knotted. He wants to bond with Billy, but he also knows that so long as Billy might be compromised by his heat, he can't do anything rash.

"Can you promise me that? Just wait until the urges go away. So that way I know for sure..." Not that he's going to question Billy's desires too much. But he has to make completely certain. "For now though...please don't tempt me. I'm trying to do right by you."

[deadlyhairpin]

Goody is perfect inside of him. Just what he needed and Billy leans into him, kissing his miraculous lover and friend as tenderly as he possibly could. He's perfect. Everything about him is perfect. And it's a crime that the man can't see it through the lenses he sees himself.

"I promise you, Goody. When this is over and you know I am myself again. I will say it again." They'd have to wait months before they were able to make it official, of course. But at least Goody would know that he had someone. And Billy...Billy would have the only Alpha in the entire world that would treat him the way he'd always wanted to be treated.

He would have the best Alpha he'd ever known. All to himself.

But that was for another day.

That night, they spent hours in each passionate embrace. Making love until the sun crested over the houses and then falling asleep utterly satisfied until the saloon owner rapped on their door and reminded them of their commitments. It was with reluctance that Billy let Goody slip out of him. His heat was more or less satisfied after the previous evening, but the need inside of him to scent and adjust to his new mate hadn't abated.

Not to mention his fear over letting Goody into the ring, once more.

But in the end, there was nothing for it. Billy let him go and curled up on the bed, sending some special tea down to the kitchen for brewing that would hopefully prevent any additional travelers joining his and Goody's team. He was still drinking the foul stuff hours later, grimacing with each swallow as he watched the door, hoping with an intense fear that all had gone well.

[intheashes]

The ring had been harder than he liked to admit. He didn't like having to shoot at all anymore. But now he had a mate to help support. And if Billy was unable to do it than it was up to him to swallow his fears, force the shaking to stop and pull the damn trigger. Of course his were different from Billy's. It wasn't a contest of speed, but of accuracy. Betting on what he could and couldn't hit. It didn't garner nearly enough money because so few people bet against him and he couldn't make himself miss. But it got him enough to continue paying for room and board until such time as Billy's heat was over and they could be on their way again.

He is certain that even from the inn, Billy would hear the echo of his rifle as he takes his shots in such rapid succession. And he's certain that his mate will smell the spike of anxiety that rolls off of him from before he even reaches the door. He swallows it down and lets himself in, pale faced and sweating a little.

He jerkily makes it to where Billy is sipping something that smells utterly putrid and sits heavily on the bed to start dividing his win in half. "Here you go, cher. As always, this is yours. I know it's not much, but I'll do better for you tomorrow."

[deadlyhairpin]

Billy puts his hands over the money and pulls it out of Goody's shaking hands to rest it on the night table. "I don't care about this, Goody. Come here." He can feel the pull, muted, but there. Enough for him to know that he is Goodnight's mate, even if Goodnight is not his.

There's enough heat still in his blood for him to be a bit foggy-headed, but on the whole he's back to normal. He puts the tea next to the money and pulls Goody close to him, knowing his scent will start to calm the other man down. "I can go back out, tomorrow. Short heats. Family trait. I'll be fine by tomorrow and I'll smell mated so there's no reason to squirrel me away for more."

He strokes Goody's hair, turning his head to look at him. "Relax. You did well, Goody. Be here with me, again. Alright? Breathe." It's nothing he hasn't said before. But now it feels so much more intimate. Which makes sense with all that had happened between them. All the things they'd need to talk about sooner rather than later.

But for now...

"Just breathe. You're safe, here."

[intheashes]

Billy's scent has always been a calming one, even before he claimed the man. But now that he has mated with the omega, that smell just doubles in the feeling of warmth and security he feels. He buries his nose against the crook of Billy's neck and breathes him in. That scent grounds him. Puts him at ease. He's no longer in the past, surrounded by the sounds of battle. He's no longer trapped by death all around him. He's with his mate. His strong omega.

"I'm sorry I'm no good to you." he means it too. He wishes he could do better for Billy. His mate needs an Alpha who can provide, even if it's only Goody that's locked into this and not Billy. "I'd rather we just go soon. Get out of here. To a new town. Too many people talking about the Angel of Death now. So one more day. You go out there and show everyone how amazing you are, then we go....If you want." Because he'll never boss Billy around.

He'll never boss him around but he'll certainly nuzzle against the man's neck. He won't bond him though. It's just seeking the comfort the man's scent brings him.

[deadlyhairpin]

There Goody went again, showing up every single Alpha Billy had ever met in his life. What other man would still be avoiding a bit to Billy's neck? What other Alpha would be careful to never push his demands into his voice, letting Billy act on his own volition? There was no Alpha like that. Just Goody.

Billy leaned in and kissed the side of Goody's cheek before starting to undo his vest. He'd done it before, once in awhile. The moves were familiar. "Let's get comfortable," he suggests, peeling off the vest and then going after the shirt. He has enough heat inside him still to want to straddle Goody's lap once he's bare and ride him into another satisfying knot, but that's not the goal of all of this. Not right now.

Right now, he just wants to show his appreciation. That, and help Goody to look just a bit less haunted. But that Billy's been working on for awhile, now.

"Goody, you're good to me. You're....better to me than I ever expected to have. My neck is bare even though you're tied to me for the rest of my life. How could you possibly be better than that?" He slides the shirt off, bending to kiss his shoulders. The tops of his biceps. The column of his neck.

"You are good, Goody. There is a reason I took you into my bed. And I haven't regretted it yet, alright?" He smiles a bit, pulling him closer. "Now. Just breathe and relax, Goody. One more day and then we're going to be out of here. I promise."

[intheashes]

He lets Billy strip him of his vest and shirt. He presses against those soft kisses because he needs them. He needs the gentle touch of his mate. He needs to surround himself in Billy, wrap himself up in Billy's scent. He wraps his arms around the man as he's pulled and shifts their weight so that he can lay down pressed against the other man.

Pressed and nuzzling warmly. "One day more." It's almost like a prayer to him. With how badly his flashbacks could get, with how jumpy he was, one day more was almost a motto. Just get through one day more. But now that he had a mate to look after, to take care of, he could focus on that instead of just forcing himself to get through to the next sunrise.

"And then we can run wild again. Just you and me. We can run wild and we can talk about this." Because he wasn't going to talk top Billy about this new relationship until he was certain that the heat wasn't bothering him any. So he could explain how he wants to badly to tie Billy to him but will refrain out of respect for the man's freedom and ability to get at someone he might really want.

[deadlyhairpin]

For the next six months, 'run wild' is exactly what they do. Just as they had before, they travel from town to town swindling the good people out of their money with alley matches and the occasional card game when the whether was too bad for everyone to head outside. It's normal. Just what they had done before.

Before they had slept together, that is.

Before they'd slept together and just...hadn't stopped.

The conversation Goody had wanted to have simply hadn't come. He'd tried to, poor man, but Billy wasn't interested at all in hearing it. He knew what Goody would say; that he was free to do as he pleased and Goody would just...be there. Tied to this man who had used him as a living sex toy and had taken the best Alpha that ever lived as his own without returning the favor. Billy was simply too ashamed to have that conversation. Too humiliated with his own weakness to hear Goody actually say those words and prove him right. So instead, he'd simply waved the conversation off the first night his friend had attempted it over their modest fire.

"It's fine, Goody. It's fine," he assured. Even though it wasn't. It never would be. But he'd do his best to rectify it however he could.

So they traveled together, Billy steadfast making sure their friendship was not impacted the slightest by what had happened. They may have been a bit closer (and Billy might get echoes of Goody's fears through the half-bond when he concentrated on it hard enough), but that was all. Billy still pretended to be an Alpha and Goody still covered for him when he needed it.

And if, on occasion, they happened to have sex, well. That was no one's business but their own.

It was after one such night (just a few weeks after the rather exhausting time of Goody's rut) that Billy woke up feeling satisfied and warm in the bed they'd splurged to share. Goody was pressed against him and the sun just started to peek through the drapes. The early morning light always favored a sleeping Goodnight. Billy had learned that over the last few months. But even having seen it a few times, it still managed to make his stomach flip in these few, small hours.

Except, this time, the flipping wasn't really stopping. Billy frowned, trying to figure out just what was going on, down there, about two seconds before the cause became evident. It was all he could do then to scramble, naked, out of the bed and rush over to the water basin, emptying the little bit of food he still had in his stomach into it.

He hated this. He'd hated throwing up since he was a child and a low, pitiful sound filled the room as his stomach quailed once more at the smell of burning breakfast below. He heaved once more, nothing but acid left to be expelled, and moaned again, a bit louder at the unease in his stomach.

"I knew that woman couldn't cook," he complained to himself seconds before he was bent over again, the nausea almost worse than the vomiting itself. It had been years since he'd been sick like this. Trust it to happen in a small inn in the middle of nowhere because your friends insisted on you eating his fish.

[intheashes]

Honestly, the sex was great. It was amazing. He had no complaints when he could manage to get the beautiful Omega into his bed. He never pressured Billy for it though. Never demanded. It happened when it happened. Naturally. Organically. They might be getting ready for bed or Billy might be fresh from a bath. Or they might have laughed under the stars about a particularly funny thing that had happened that they remembered. Then there would be kissing and, next thing he knew, he was buried knot deep in Billy, giving him all the loving kisses he could while they waited for hsi knot to go down enough for him to pull out.

At no time had he forged the soulbond between them. At no time had he staked his claim to this amazing Omega in his life. He left Billy along and unmarked. Let him have the freedom he deserved, certain that some day, he really would meet an alpha he wanted and needed over Goody. And at that point, Goody would let him go. It would kill him, but he only wanted Billy's happiness. Still, his rut had been a very close call. He had been so out of his mind with need and lust that he'd nearly lost himself and done it. He's only barely managed to fight it though what had been actual days of near constant sex. Now even weeks later, he still wanted to apologize for how close it had been and he hard and desperately he had fucked the Omega...and the things he had said in his wild state.. Things about making Billy his and other dirty filthy Aplha things about filling Billy with his young.

They didn't talk about it. About the things he said when he was crazy with the rut. About how possessive and overly dominant and domineering he had been. It's just another in the long long list of things they didn't talk about. And that was fine. It was fine because so long as they didn't, he could lay there in bed next to Billy and sleep like they were mated.

Only, suddenly, there's coldness as Billy leaves the bed quickly. He wakes quickly. For Billy to jolt from the bed at this hour meant danger. He sits up, reaching for his rifle, only to see the naked man bent over the washbasin looking a bit gray. "Billy...mon ange...what's wrong?" The worry he feels is evident. He's never really seen the other man sick. A part of him can't remember if he saw Billy drink that god awful tea after that almost four days of being constantly filled but he's not yet going there.

[deadlyhairpin]

'Mon ange' is a new one. Billy remembers the endearment (it certainly sounded like an endearment) from the time of the rut. It had come easily, in between grunts of 'cher' and 'amour'. Billy hadn't thought to ask, afterwards. Indeed, afterwards he hadn't thought to do much at all. Certainly not talk. Especially since, during those days, he'd felt better than he had in years. There was something oddly freeing in it. The same way that he had felt oddly free in the middle of his first satisfied heat; not needing to act any way. Not feeling like he was being used but rather cherished. Billy had had no way to work that through in his head, so he'd clammed up, instead.

Also, he'd been so thoroughly exhausted, he'd barely even been able to eat anything. Or drink anything, for that matter. But he's not even able to process thoughts on food, at the moment. Not until his stomach stops rolling.

It takes another second for him to settle down and pull himself away to go over to the wash bin and rinse out his mouth with some of the water in the basin. He spits it out the open window and scrubs his mouth hard, finally feeling just the slightest bit better as he moves back toward the bed.

"I blame you," he grumbles, laying back down. "That fish. Had to be the fish..."

On instinct, he curled toward Goody, the smell of his lover helping a bit to drown out whatever was being cooked down below. "Ugh. And now she's burning the coffee. Is our room right above it?"