Liam listened to the phone ring, feeling stupider and stupider by the moment. Gunnar had specifically said he wasn't good company, and he wasn't going to call, and Liam should've respected that. Now, he was coming across as pushy. But the text had seemed so sad.

On the fifth ring, just as Liam expected it to go to voicemail, Gunnar picked up, "Hello."

He sounded exhausted.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called. You said you didn't want to talk to me."

"I wanted to talk to you. I'm just… It's work stuff. You don't want to hear about it."

"You can tell me if you want to. If it's not classified. You don't do classified, do you?"

Gunnar's voice softened, and though Liam was probably just imagining it, he heard the alpha smile. "No. But there are things we can't talk about. Specific names or details about cases. I thought you might be out."

"No. Not tonight." And Liam certainly wasn't going to admit he been sitting on his sofa, catching up on veterinary journals while desperately hoping for the phone to ring. "What happened?"

"You know Olivia and I are relatively new to the area, right?"

"Yeah, she said you had moved here and bought a new house."

"A part of why we moved is because a case went bad. Some evidence was misplaced, and the murderer was acquitted on a technicality."

"I'm so sorry," Liam remembered his first year in residency when he had misread one of the files and overdosed a dog on tranquilizers. Thankfully, the dog had survived, but Liam understood that gut-wrenching guilt and fear.

In comparison to what Gunnar had to be going through, it seemed foolish to bring up something so trivial, but Liam wanted the alpha to know that at least in some small way he understood. So he told the whole story. It was the first time he had confessed the entire situation out loud. "I still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes, seeing the owner's faces as I try to explain it was my fault the dog had died. I mean, he didn't, but it was close. I know it's not the same thing, but – –."

"Thank you," Gunnar said. The alpha's voice caught. "Really, thank you."

"I'm glad I could help."

"I meant what I said. You've been a lifesaver. And not just for Puff. Olivia was so dejected when her friend Simon caught a stomach bug and wouldn't be able to make it tomorrow to the carnival, but she perked right up when she met Erica. It was a stroke of genius for you to introduce the two of them."

"Sometimes, all you need is a push. I remember how hard it was in elementary school." And in middle school. And high school. Liam had not been especially popular outside of the science and nature clubs.

"I'm not happy our kitten got sick, but I am happy that led me to you."

Liam's face grew warm. "Yeah. Same thing. How's Puff doing?"

"He's curled up with Olivia now, sleeping. We put the litter pan and the food and water in her room. Do you think he'll be all right for a couple of hours on his own if we check on him through the day?"

"As long as he keeps eating and he gets his medication, he should be fine."

"The little guy is eating like a house on fire. I guess that's what he was supposed to be doing before."

"I'm glad to hear that." Liam wasn't sure what else to say. Gunnar was suffering, and it certainly wasn't the right time to bring up what happened last night, or how much Liam wanted that to happen again. Or more.

"I'm really glad you called."

"I'm glad I called to."

"And I'm really glad you let me kiss you today."

A shiver of desire passed through Liam as he remembered how Gunnar had taken control, teasing his lips open and wrapping his strong arms around Liam's waist and torso as he leaned against the locked door. "I've never done anything like that, not at work."

"I'm glad to hear that. I hate to think making out with your clients with a regular occurrence."

Liam felt brave enough to tease. "Only with the good-looking ones. Rugged, law-enforcement types. It turns me on."

"Funny, I found I have this doctor kink. What are you doing now?"

"Sitting on the sofa. Lucky and I went to the shelter for a couple of hours before I came home."

"You volunteer at the shelter after a full day at the clinic?"

"Just once or twice a week." Sometimes three or four times a week if Liam got especially lonely. "I like it."

"I'm walking to my bedroom. Did you want to come with me?"

Liam stood up. On the sofa cushion next to where he had been sitting, Ferrous looked up from his nap and gave Liam an annoyed meow. Ferrous was just going to have to suck it up. Liam said, "I'm walking there now. I mean my bedroom. I'll close the door. Did you want me to take off my clothes?"

"Not yet."

Liam loved the commanding tone in Gunnar's voice. It made Liam want to stroke himself until he was at the farthest edge of coming while imagining Gunnar's cock pounding him hard and deep until the pleasure was so intense he couldn't even form words. Liam had never truly taken an alpha’s knot, though he had a dildo for heats that was supposed to simulate the experience. It shamed Liam to be in his late twenties still technically a virgin. He’d spent his college years too ugly to be noticed and too focused on his studies to even try, and though he’d had a fling in vet school with another student, a beta, that had been squeezed in between endless studying, exams, practicums and tests. By the time Liam joined the dating rat-race, he’d been many steps behind and embarrassed about his lack of experience.

Then came Damon who had charmed Liam until the cracks in his façade became impossible to ignore.

Gunnar said, "First, I want to feel your cock through your clothes, like today in your exam room. I loved how your cock felt against me, like you could've gotten yourself off before I even put a hand on you."

Liam was getting hard, just remembering. "I wanted you to touch me. And I wanted to feel you."

"Yes. The first thing I would have done was unbutton that doctor's coat and the button-down shirt you are wearing underneath it. Would you like that?"

"Ye-- yes. I want to touch you too. Your skin was so hot, and I only felt a little of it, on your stomach, but your hair is thicker than mine."

"It's a lot thicker on my chest. I love when a man runs his fingers through it."

"That's what I would do. And suck your neck so I could taste your scent. You smell like sandalwood and pine and something else that I just want to taste and taste. I know it's just our brains interpreting the pheromones, but – –."

"Quiet," Gunnar ordered.

Liam's cock thickened, straining inside his underwear and pants.

"I want you to squeeze your cock through your underwear and imagine you pushing against me. What does it feel like?"

"It's – –." He was throbbing, desperate to be freed. He groaned.

"Hard, isn't it?"

"Yes. Oh God." The feeling of impending heat had eased off this morning and through the afternoon, but now, with Gunnar's words going straight to Liam's cock, Liam wondered if maybe he was close. Or maybe, he just wanted Gunnar that much.

"Unbutton your pants and pull them down to your knees."

"Yes."

Liam did as he was ordered, happily. The thin cotton of his briefs was still too constraining. He wanted to jerk himself off, but more than that, he wanted Gunnar to take his cock in hand and let Liam push himself into the alpha’s hot grip.

"Have you done it?"

"Yes."

"I want you on your knees. I want you to suck my cock while you jerk yourself, but I don't want to come until I'm inside of you."

Liam wished he was on his knees in front of Gunnar right now. He could imagine the alpha’s hand in his hair as he bobbed up and down on Gunnar's cock. "I have a dildo in my nightstand. I can't take all of it in my mouth, but – –."

"Good. Take off your pants but leave your underwear on. I want you to wash off the dildo, and while you're washing it, I want you to tell me how you're going to suck me off."

"Yes." Liam loved how direct Gunnar was. He wasn’t embarrassed to say what he wanted, and didn't make flowery statements about Liam’s purity.

Liam kicked his pants off and grabbed the dildo from underneath a stack of magazines in the bottom drawer of his nightstand. It had an electric motor and an artificial knot at the base which would expand when he clenched against it. Liam grabbed it and dashed to the bathroom.

Gunnar said, "I'm stroking myself, thinking of your mouth on me."

"I'm so hard. I love how you tell me what to do." Damon had always wanted to make Liam guess I would make him happy. Liam loved that Gunnar just said what he wanted. Said what he liked. Liam didn't have room in his mind to be awkward or feel afraid. Not with the calm confidence of Gunnar's voice to guide him.

"You have lube, right?"

"I do. But it's not flavored."

"Good. I told you after you'd sucked on me, I wanted to fuck you."

Liam held the flip phone between his shoulder in his ear as he quickly washed the dust from the dildo. Belatedly, he remembered he was supposed to be explaining what he wanted to do with Gunnar’s cock. Liam left the water running as he said, "First thing I want is to lick the head. To taste you." He imagined tickling the slit and the salty-sour taste of Gunnar’s pre-come.

Gunnar groaned.

Liam's breath caught. Gunnar was so much in control, but he wasn't unaffected. He was just as turned on his Liam. That gave Liam confidence. "I'd make sure your head was good and wet before taking the rest of you down as far as I could." Liam's cock was aching. His underwear was damp, especially where the head of his cock pushed into the thin cotton. "I'm going back to my bedroom now. You want me to put it in my mouth?"

"Exactly the way you said you would do it, and touch yourself. Stroke your cock, slowly. I don't want you to come until I'm inside of you."

Liam wasn't sure he'd have the self-control to stop himself. He was already so turned on. What would it be like in Gunnar's arms? His scent. He wanted Gunnar to mark him with his teeth and tongue.

This was wrong.

Liam was supposed to want something safe. A beta. But no one else had ever made Liam feel this way. And they were only talking on the phone.

"Is your floor carpeted?" Gunnar asked.

"I have a throw rug."

"Take one of the pillows from your bed and put it on top of that before you kneel. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Gunnar's thoughtfulness was almost Liam's undoing. He closed and locked the bedroom door, just in case Lucky or Ferrous tried to get inside. Then he took the pillow, put it on the floor, pulled off his underwear, and knelt. "I'm ready," Liam said. It felt dirtier in a way than if Gunnar had really been in front of him.

"I want you to stroke yourself, but not too fast."

Liam took his cock in his hand. The friction was sweet and delicious. Waves of pleasure washed through him. "It's good," Liam said.

"Can you put the phone on speaker?"

"Yes." How long had they been talking? Being off the grid meant he paid for minutes as he needed them. He'd recently put a hundred minutes on the phone, usually enough to last him a couple of weeks considering the only people he spoke to for any length of time were his parents- but now, he and Gunnar had done this twice.

"Liam, are you okay?"

"I'm good." Talking about his phone minutes on his incredibly crappy phone was certainly one way to spoil the mood. He glanced at the keypad, and there was a button with an icon for the speaker. He pressed it. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, now put the phone down, close to you." Gunnar's voice was a little scratchy through the phones tiny speaker, but it still held that silken note of command mingled with care.

"I'm going to lick your head now," Liam said boldly.

"Do it."

Liam ran his tongue over the smooth head of the dildo. It tasted like a mix of rubber and plastic, and Liam wanted more. He wanted Gunnar's cock. For real.

How had things gotten so intense so quickly?

As much as Liam wanted to go faster, he kept his strokes slow and even. Even so, he was still getting closer and closer to the edge. He was whimpering on the dildo, spit pulling at the back of his throat and from his lips as he sucked his cheeks in, wanting to take the dildo in deeper. He'd never been able to stop his gag reflex, and he hoped Gunnar wouldn't be disappointed when and if they did this in person.

Through the speaker, Gunnar said, "I'm close."

Liam pulled the dildo out of his mouth and said, "Me too."

"Want to fuck you so bad, but not like this. Want to give you my knot."

"Yes."

"Forget the fake cock. When I do this, I'm going to do it for real. I want you to come with me now. Together. Are you ready?"

Liam couldn't talk. He felt too good, and in spite of himself, he was stroking himself faster. He let out something between a yes and a moan.

"Good. Faster now. I'm going to, with you." Gunnar cursed and then said, "Now!"

"Now," Liam repeated, and then the orgasm erupted from him, his cock pulsing as his world lit with pleasure and he said Gunnar's name again and again.

Eventually, Liam caught his breath. "Gunnar?"

Silence. Liam wiped his come sticky hand on his already damp underwear and then looked at the phone. He'd run out of minutes. Of course.

He'd have to call the number to buy more minutes. Until then, the phone would only receive texts.

Liam got off of the floor and sat down on the bed. The phone vibrated once. An incoming text. "That was amazing. Let me make you dinner. Call me when you can."

Yes, Liam had definitely gotten in too deep. But it felt good. Gunnar was nothing like Damon. Gunnar made Liam feel things he only ever hinted at vaguely in fantasies. And Gunnar didn't try to get Liam to do things Liam didn't want to do. Gunnar cared, and not just when he thought people were watching.

An omega could easily fall for an alpha like that.

Liam pushed that thought from his mind as quickly as it surfaced. He cleaned himself off, got dressed, called the number and added another two hundred minutes to the phone. Then, using the keypad to text letter by painstaking letter, he wrote, “I'd love dinner. And dessert.”