Morning light filtered through the tent canvas in thin gold lines.
Cassian woke already hard, the air thick with the residual mix of their scents from the night before.
Vane sat on the edge of the pallet, bare-chested, dark energy lines faintly visible under the skin of his left side like black veins that refused to fade.
“On your knees between my legs,” Vane said without looking up.
“The first real alignment starts now.” Cassian pushed himself up.
His body ached in places that still remembered the stretch of the General’s fingers.
“You already took what you wanted last night.” “I took a fraction.” Vane’s golden eyes lifted, steady and hungry.
“The affliction feeds on imbalance.
Your scent has to match mine completely before the deeper transfer can hold.
That means you stop fighting the pull and let your body answer.” Cassian’s jaw tightened, but he moved.
He settled on his knees between the spread of Vane’s powerful thighs.
The Alpha’s cock was already half-hard under the loose cloth of his sleep trousers.
The scent rolling off him was heavier this close, dark smoke and steel and raw dominance.
Cassian’s own scent flared in answer before he could clamp it down, sweet and open.
Vane’s hand settled on the back of his neck, thumb pressing the sensitive gland there.
“Breathe me in.
Don’t hold it.” “I don’t want your scent in my lungs.” “Your cock is already wet for it.” Vane’s free hand pushed the cloth aside, freeing his thick length.
It rose heavy and flushed.
He guided Cassian’s face closer until the Omega’s mouth hovered a breath away from the tip.
“Inhale.
Deep.
Let it settle in your blood.” Cassian’s resistance cracked under the sheer weight of the pheromones.
He drew in a long breath.
The Alpha’s musk flooded him, rich and overwhelming.
Heat pooled low in his belly.
His hole clenched, slick gathering fast.
A soft, involuntary sound escaped his throat.
“That’s it,” Vane murmured.
“Again.” Cassian obeyed.
Each breath pulled more of that dark scent into him until his head swam and his cock throbbed untouched against his stomach.
Vane’s thumb rubbed slow circles over the gland on his neck, coaxing more of Cassian’s own perfume into the air until the two scents began to braid together, sweet and sharp and heavy.
“Feel how your body softens for me,” Vane said.
“Your scent is shifting already.
Matching.
The energy will follow.” Cassian’s voice came out rough.
“I hate that it works.” “Hate it while you take what I give you.” Vane’s hand tightened on his nape and guided him forward.
“Open your mouth.
Taste it.
Full alignment needs more than breath.” Cassian’s lips parted.
The broad head of Vane’s cock pressed against his tongue, hot and already leaking.
The flavor of the Alpha flooded him, bitter-salt and pure dominance.
He moaned around the thickness as Vane pushed deeper, slow and controlled, until Cassian’s nose brushed the base and the heavy scent of him filled every corner of his senses.
“Good,” Vane growled.
“Suck.
Let your throat open.
The more you take, the stronger the match.” Cassian’s hands braced on Vane’s thighs.
He sucked, cheeks hollowed, tongue working along the underside.
Every bob of his head pulled another pulse of Alpha musk into his lungs.
Slick ran down the inside of his thighs.
His cock ached, neglected and dripping.
The healing energy stirred low in his core, answering the contact, warm and bright against the dark lines under Vane’s skin.
Vane’s fingers threaded into his hair, guiding the rhythm without forcing.
“Look at me while you do it.
I want to see the moment you stop fighting.” Cassian’s eyes lifted.
Golden ones stared back, half-lidded with pleasure and something darker.
The General’s hips rolled once, shallow, pushing deeper into Cassian’s throat.
Tears pricked at the corners of Cassian’s eyes.
He took it, throat working, scent pouring out of him in thick, sweet waves that mixed with Vane’s until the tent felt saturated.
“Your body is submitting,” Vane said, voice low and rough.
“Even while your mind spits poison.
Feel how wet you are.
Feel how hard you are just from having my cock on your tongue and my scent in your blood.” Cassian pulled off just enough to speak, lips shiny and swollen.
“This is still just healing to you?” “It is whatever I decide it is.” Vane’s thumb brushed the wet corner of Cassian’s mouth.
“Right now it is alignment.
Later it will be more.
Keep going.” Cassian sank back down, taking him deeper.
The dual assault of taste and scent cracked the last of his restraint.
His hips rocked forward against nothing, seeking friction.
Vane noticed and smiled, sharp and pleased.
“Touch yourself,” the General ordered.
“Stroke that pretty cock while you suck me.
I want you coming with my scent locked into every part of you.” Cassian’s hand wrapped around his own length.
The first stroke dragged a broken moan around Vane’s cock.
He worked himself in time with the shallow thrusts into his throat, slick fingers flying, the wet sounds of both ends of his body filling the tent.
The energy transfer sharpened.
He felt the dark lines under Vane’s skin pull at him, hungry, drinking the bright pulse of his gift through every point of contact.
Vane’s breathing grew heavier.
“You’re close.
I can smell it.
Don’t stop.” Cassian couldn’t have stopped if he tried.
The overload of scent and cock and his own desperate hand pushed him over the edge.
He came hard, spilling over his fist and the rug, throat tightening around Vane’s length as the orgasm ripped through him.
The healing surge flared bright and strong.
Vane cursed low and followed a moment later, flooding Cassian’s mouth with thick pulses of release.
Cassian swallowed what he could, the rest spilling from the corners of his lips.
They stayed locked like that for long seconds, Cassian’s mouth still full, Vane’s hand still in his hair, both of them breathing hard.
The air between them smelled perfectly matched now, Alpha and Omega braided into something that belonged to neither alone.
Vane finally eased him back.
Cassian’s lips were red and used.
A thin trail of come clung to his chin.
The General wiped it away with his thumb and pressed the same thumb between Cassian’s lips so he would clean it.
“First full alignment complete,” Vane said.
“The affliction quieted.
Not gone.
We will do this again.
Longer.
Deeper.
Until your scent lives under my skin the same way mine now lives under yours.” Cassian’s voice was wrecked.
“You’re turning the healing into a chain.” Vane leaned down, mouth close to his ear, still half-hard cock resting against Cassian’s cheek.
“The chain was forged the moment your scent betrayed you in that square.
Every time you open for me the links only get tighter.
Get used to the weight.” He stood, pulled Cassian up by the arm, and steered him toward the sleeping pallet again.
“Lie down.
I am not finished with the transfer.
This time you take my fingers and my mouth on that sweet cock of yours until the energy settles properly.” Cassian’s legs trembled.
His body already ached for the next touch.
He stretched out on the furs, thighs falling open without being told, and watched the General lower himself between them with open intent.
The scent of them together filled every breath.