Innocent - Roe Horvat Page 0,37
nest of love and passion for days on end and wait for Zana to return. Zana would be leaving for work, Navid would study, but they’d always return to each other.
“Don’t be sad, my love. Enjoy your days and think of me. I’ll be thinking of you all the time.”
Their good-bye kiss was passionate, and for a long time afterward, Navid tasted Zana on his tongue.
The tires crunched on the gravel, and then it was quiet.
With a sigh, Navid hurried upstairs to pack his bag for the day at the university.
Monday flew by in a blur of lectures and group assignments. Navid came back home at five, mentally drained. He went running along the beach, Geoff on his heels.
After eating dinner alone, he took a bath and, finally in bed, opened a book. His eyes were already drooping when the phone on the nightstand rang.
He fumbled with the curling cable and pressed the receiver to his ear. “Yes?”
“Good evening, Navid, love.”
Navid smiled widely. “Zana. Where are you?”
“Just arrived at the hotel. The dinner was awkward. Good thing you weren’t there. You would’ve died of boredom.”
“No. I would’ve watched you struggle not to roll your eyes. I love it when you try to keep a straight face. It’s like the most exciting game of roulette.”
Zana laughed, his voice crackling in the phone. “God, I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“What are you doing?”
“Reading.”
“What?”
Navid flipped the book and read the cover. “Crisis Intervention: A Therapeutic Approach.”
“May I remind you, my darling, that you’re a first-year student?” Zana’s tone was teasing.
“I saw it in the library, and the summary sounded interesting.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
Navid shrugged, then slapped his forehead. Zana couldn’t see him. “The introductory courses are basic. I’ve read half of the books we’re going through. But I like developmental psychology. The professor is amazing. He’s an omega. But he’s a professor and the head of the department.”
“Of course he is.”
“My father worried about this very thing. But I like it, Zana. For you, it’s nothing new, but for me… An omega can speak out in class, and my classmates, even the alphas, listen with respect.”
“That’s how it should be. You already know my financial director is an omega. More than half of his direct subordinates are alphas. It’s his expertise that makes him an authority. Nothing else should matter. How are the other students?”
“I haven’t talked to many yet, but I had coffee at lunch break with another first-year student. His name is Aiden, and he’s an omega too. He’s twenty-five.” Should he even tell Zana? But he had to. He had no secrets in front of his husband, and this felt important. Navid took a breath and then blurted out, “He’s a single father.” He felt guilty he hadn’t managed to hide his shock when Aiden had mentioned it casually, in a passing conversation, as if it were nothing. “His parents babysit for him, and his son goes to preschool when he has classes.”
At first, silence met him, and Navid’s stomach clenched. But when Zana spoke, he sounded simply curious. “What do you think about it?”
“I think…I feel sorry for him.”
“Does he seem unhappy?”
After a second of hesitation, Navid answered, “No.”
“Why do you feel sorry for him?”
Navid smiled. Zana made him rethink and realize things about himself and the world. “I compare to how I’d feel in his place.”
“But he’s not you, and you’re not him.”
“Exactly.”
“Did he tell you his story?”
“He sold his heats.” Navid bit his lip. What if Zana forbade him to speak to Aiden after this? But he couldn’t imagine Zana doing anything like that. “He wasn’t eligible for a student loan. So he sold his two first heats. To strangers. The second man, a rich older man from Spain, offered to triple his pay if Aiden would allow unprotected breeding. The money was enough to provide for him in case he got pregnant, so he took the offer. The man didn’t want a child. He just wanted to breed a young omega in heat.”
Navid was all jittery, telling Zana things he’d never dare to speak about with anybody. Sex for money, heats outside of marriage, breeding… When Aiden had told him, Navid had felt both a little dirty and excited. Aiden was so open about these things, unashamed. And they’d sat there on campus, where students mingled and talked freely. Sometimes, Navid couldn’t tell if someone was an alpha or an omega because they dressed interchangeably, and unless he was close enough to catch a scent, he just couldn’t