Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,2

lie down right now and let Jasper take him—hungry to seek out Jasper’s cock behind its wall of black leather and suck it down, to present himself to be fucked by it, to let it own him. Elias was respectful and Saul was sweet. Jack Henry could guess that Jasper wouldn’t be either.

“That omega’s taken.”

Jack Henry tore his eyes away from Jasper to see who was butting in, and of course it was Lon. Lon, the lout. Lon, the last person on earth he wanted to be claimed by.

“Hasn’t been a race yet,” Jasper said, smooth as silk. He didn’t even angle his body toward Lon, as if Lon wasn’t worthy of his consideration.

“Yeah, but he’s promised, aren’t you, Jack Henry? He’s got an alpha, name of Elias.”

“That so?” Jasper rocked back on his heels, removing the delicious odor of alpha out from under Jack Henry’s nose. What was he supposed to say? He hadn’t made Elias any promises. He didn’t know if Elias thought he had or if that was just a story Elias had told Lon because he knew how Jack Henry felt about Lon. Probably the latter.

If Jack Henry told the truth—that there was no such promise—he’d be undoing the work Elias had done to keep him safe, but if he said he was promised, Jasper might not pursue him. Neither would Saul, if word got around. Then he’d end up with Elias for sure, and while that wasn’t bad, it was just… insufficient. Especially now that he knew about Jasper. So he stood there, silent and stuck.

“Well.” Jasper smacked his lips as if Jack Henry were a tasty treat he was thinking about eating. “I’ll take that under consideration. I’ve always been a bit of a renegade, though. I want what I want, and what I want, I usually get. Think on it, Jack Henry.”

He moved away before Jack Henry could come up with a response. Jack Henry watched him continue down the line, checking to see if he acted the same way with every omega, but he only gave Ashton a short once-over before moving on. Jack Henry couldn’t watch him walk the whole line, but he wanted to. He wanted to mate with Jasper right there, before the race even started.

But that would mean no Elias. And no Saul. It would mean gambling on a man he knew nothing about. Jasper’s sneery good looks were hot enough to get his scent glands smoking, but that didn’t mean he would make a good mate. It would probably be better if he chose…

Oh hell, he didn’t know. He just didn’t know.

“So you’re not promised?” Lon hadn’t left when Jasper did, was still standing there in front of him.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t promised.”

“You think I’m stupid? All this time I respected Elias’s claim on you, and it turns out he’s been lying to me. You’re up for grabs, little omega. May the best alpha win.”

Jack Henry definitely hoped the best alpha won. He just had no idea who that was.

JASPER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jasper finished strolling down the line for form’s sake, but he already knew who his target was. He’d spent years hitting up every heat race in traveling distance, searching for the perfect omega. Omegas might be in short supply, but that didn’t mean he was going to settle. He figured he could out-race and out-fight any alpha anywhere, and he would compete when he found someone worth competing for. Jack Henry was it.

He was about average-sized for an omega, lean but with a pleasant plumpness to his ass that suggested he would fill out in time, dressed in nothing but a pair of easily torn track pants. He had light hair with bangs that fell too long over dreamy grey eyes, but it wasn’t the color of his eyes that’d convinced Jasper this was the omega for him. It was what he’d seen in those eyes. That omega wanted to get fucked. He wanted it bad, and he wanted it to be bad. To be dirty and raw and endless. And he hadn’t even gone into heat yet.

Once heat hormones started racing through Jack Henry’s body, he was going to be mindless for it. Which meant Jasper needed to catch him early. The omega seemed clever enough, but he wouldn’t be so clever once the moon rose. He’d be easy game for any alpha who wandered into his quadrant. And smelling the way he did? So ripe and ready and fresh? He wouldn’t be hard to track.

The