Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat (Larry Stylinson)

five

H a r r y

The end of an alpha's rut was typically marked with the reinstatement of conscious awareness. It was less like waking up from a coma and more like coming out of a trance. It didn't wipe his memory clean of the past few days, though, and he could remember snippets of what happened, bits and pieces that were out of order and challenging to pinpoint.

The haze dissipated and finally he could think clearly. At least somewhat. Dreamlike memories flooded his mind, snapshots of the events of the past few days. The feelings were easier to place than the events themselves, mostly a mix of lust and pleasure, protectiveness and possessiveness. Something settling deep in his core, the instinct of mating.

Harry rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles before opening them to peer out at the world. Sunlight bathed the room in gold, the particular brightness indicating it was either just after dawn or just before dusk.

He had no idea what day it was, and maybe he would be more inclined to check his phone to get some sense of time, except his nose was twitching at the inhalation of the most mouthwatering scent he had ever smelled.

He squeezed his eyes shut and then reopened them to peek beside him. An omega was curled up, lying on his stomach and clutching a pillow to his chest. The bedsheets were tangled around his waist which meant the tan skin of his bare back was on display, warm and inviting.

Harry couldn't help himself. He pressed his hand between the omega's shoulder blades just to touch him. Only when the palm of his hand met soft skin, did he remember: this was Louis.

His heart rate picked up but he kept his hand there because he couldn't fathom losing the skin-on-skin contact. It was glorious.

He inhaled deeply and let the fantastic scent in the air calm him down. Then it dawned on him that this was the scent of him and Louis together . The product of them fucking non-stop for the past three days.

Despite everything that had happened recently, despite the fact that he was an alpha and shouldn't be embarrassed by these things, Harry blushed.

He had never had this sort of connection with someone before. It was all new. He didn't know how to deal with the burning feeling in his gut that told him to sink his teeth into the back of the omega's neck. He had felt the typical instinct to mate and bond before but it had never, ever been this strong.

Harry closed his eyes again and gave himself a minute to get his inner wolf back in line. This is a one-time thing, Harry told his wolf sternly. We just got lucky. Louis was being a good friend, not even for our sake, but for Niall's. So we're gonna have to let him go. Give it up. We have no right to be clingy.

The longer Harry stayed there, unmoving, as Louis slept, the creepier he felt. Wasn't he taking advantage, if his rut was over but he still had the omega in his bed? He knew he should probably wake him up and let him know he was clear-headed now.

Feeling awkward and not sure how to wake him up, Harry couldn't help but stroke his back once before giving his shoulder a little shake.

"Mmf, ten more minutes Hazza, please . 'M sore..."

Hazza? Louis had never called him that before.

"I was- It's over, I think," he stuttered, cringing. Thank god Louis was facing away from him.

Louis tensed, his biceps tightening as he clutched the pillow closer to his chest. "Oh, um. Okay. Do you want me to leave?"

"What? No." The answer was out of his mouth before he could think about it. "I mean, only if you want to-"