It was absolute torture.

It was the only way that Dron could describe what he was feeling as he clenched all of his muscles down against the chair that he was sitting in.

All he had to do was wait for Tempest to be finished with her morning routine, and they would be off. Out of the house and putting on a show for everyone.

The only problem was that he had to get through this morning routine. One where he could smell her desire and arousal wafting through the air like a beckoning call.

The longer she stood in the shower, the more intense the delicate aroma.

He did his very best not to focus on what she was doing in there, but after he first heard her gasp and moan, he couldn’t pay attention to anything else.

She was touching her body. There was no other explanation.

She was touching the body he so desperately wanted to be touching again. They hadn’t talked about the fact that they had come so close to mating, and he would rather not be the one to bring it up. Still, it wasn’t something that he would soon forget, if ever.

The way her body seemed to nearly beg for his. The warmth and tightness. How she moaned and whimpered under him. The kissing. All of it was like one blessing after another.

Dron nearly killed the intruders outside not only for being a threat to Tempest but also because they’d stopped something that would probably never happen again.

Not probably. Dron knew it would never happen again. It was just a small lapse in judgment on both their parts. He couldn’t bear another session with an Omega where he’d be used and then discarded before he’d had a chance to finish.

He’d never get that chance. It was better that he didn’t tease himself.

Dron closed his eyes and tried to picture what exactly Tempest was doing in the shower. He wondered what she liked. How she wanted to be touched. If only he could be in the room with her. He’d learn so much.

"Stop it!" He reprimanded himself and then pushed off the chair to go outside. There was no use in staying in the house at that moment. Not when it was clear that Tempest needed some time. At least outside he would be able to breathe in some fresh air. Maybe clear his mind a bit.

Dron pushed the door open harder than he needed to. In fact, he pushed so hard the heavy wooden door swung and banged against the back wall. When he examined the door after cringing, he noticed that there was a small crack in the corner.

Dron had destroyed more things in his home since Tempest had been there than he ever had in his life. She caused him to be destructive when he spent so long trying to appear calm. The funny thing about it was that no matter what he did, she didn’t shy away from him. There was no fear in her eyes when she looked at him. It was almost as if she expected and understood that he had to act like that from time to time. It was nice not to have to wear a mask all the time.

Dron walked over, looking out into the trees just to make sure there were no threats that he needed to take care of. All was quiet...unfortunately. He would really love to expel some of this energy he had right now by pounding in someone’s face.

He stayed out of the house for what seemed like a long while until he heard Tempest grunting on the other side of the door.

She really couldn’t open the door. It was a simple motion, but it truly was too heavy for her. Dron got up from where he was sitting and walked over to open the door for her.

She was wearing a simple purple dress. It was long in the back and short in the front. He’d never seen a dress on any of the other Omegas that looked like that. The cut of the fabric confused him, but he couldn’t deny that it did make her legs look downright delicious.

He wanted to feel those legs wrapped around him. Wanted to feel them tremble as he pounded into her.

Dron squeezed his eyes shut before he snapped his head away so he wouldn’t have to look at her anymore.

"Is everything okay?" Tempest asked.

"Fine. Let’s go." Dron snapped at her. There was no reason for him to be short with her besides the fact that he was having a hard time with his own self control.

"Jeez, you were in a much better mood earlier. Maybe you need to have some coffee for yourself." Tempest huffed as she walked by him.

"And maybe you need to find different activities for the shower." Dron answered and immediately felt like a fool for saying it. So much for not wanting her to know that he knew what she was doing in there.

Tempest whirled to face him. Her face changing to a deep red color.

"You didn’t... were you spying on me?" The octave of her voice rose.

"No. I didn’t see a thing." Dron walked a little further away from his home so as to give the transport a place to land.

"So how do you know what I was doing?"

"I may not have watched you, but my ears and nose work just fine." Dron smirked at her before averting his eyes to look upward.

"Oh crap...well, that’s embarrassing." Tempest spoke softly.

He shouldn’t be making her feel bad about this. It’s not like he didn’t perform a little self pleasure from time to time. He was just mad he missed out on the fun.

"Not embarrassing. I just felt a little left out. It’s okay. I’m a big boy. I’ll live." Dron offered.

Tempest’s mouth dropped open, and she squeaked as if she had a response, but she said nothing.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to stand there for too long. The transport slowly descended from on high.

Dron stood back, offering Tempest his hand so she could step up onto the small transport.

"So where are we going?" she asked, and Dron knew it was her way of changing the subject.

"I figured we could go to the military class. That way I could see if there is anyone there who stands out when it comes to those who would want to harm us. Also, the people there could see that you are not out to take anything from them. We could also visit with Clik, I think you might like him. He is sure to like you."

Tempest grabbed onto the side of the seat as the transport rose. "Why are you so sure he’ll like me?"

"Because he seems to be incredibly interested in earth and everything from it. I’m sure he hasn’t had a chance to meet any other humans. He’ll probably have a million and one questions, which I’m sure he’ll ask in one long sentence. Be wary, he’s a bit strange."

Tempest pouted a bit before she nodded her head.

The rest of the ride went on without any more conversation between the two of them. Dron wished he had more to say to her. Wished there was a way to help her with what she was about to do. He couldn’t. After all this was her idea. If there was anyone who needed the extra support, it was him.

He wanted people to believe that they were a good couple and that he was a worthy mate, but he wasn’t too fond of the idea of just parading about every day. Once or twice for events should have been more than enough for him.

Not much time had passed before the transport was coming to land in the middle of the land occupied by the military class.

Dron inhaled deeply. The smell of burning fabric and hot metal soothed him. There was mud and dirt and everything that reminded him that he was a soldier. Even the clanging of metal swords was music to his ears.

"Are you sure this is the best place to start?" Tempest whispered as she got off the transport behind him.

"I’m not but we’ve got to start somewhere right?" Dron shrugged a shoulder before gesturing with his hand that she should walk in front of him.

She didn’t walk in front of him, instead she threaded her arm with his and they walked side by side.

Within an instant they were the center of attention. Many people stopped what they were doing to see the two of them walking about. Dron even notice one man drop his sword completely when he spotted them.

Dron’s alpha instincts began to flare. Everyone in the military class could be seen as a threat. Maybe Tempest was right. This might not have been the best place for them to start.

"This will do. Is it alright for me to talk to the people training?" Tempest questioned and gestured with her chin in the direction of two men who were making it look like they were training with staves.

They were just moving the stick from one hand to another, their attention was clearly on Dron and Tempest.

"Sure. They are allowed to talk."

Tempest took the lead, nearly dragging Dron in the direction of the two men.

"May the goddess bless you." Dron greeted them as he and Tempest got closer.

"And you." The younger of the two replied while the other simply grunted in response.

"Sorry to disturb you. I just was interested in seeing how you all train. It’s amazing to me." Tempest spoke up.

Dron gruffed a little. Was she really interested in fighting techniques or was this all for show. If she was interested there was no one more fitting for her to see than him. After all he was the second highest in the military and it wasn’t because he was popular.

The younger man stared at Tempest for a second before he opened his mouth to speak, "Sorry, this is the first time I’m having to use Earthling on my translator. It’s a little strange."

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that." Tempest replied bashfully.

"Would you like to see us duel?" The younger one asked, and Tempest nodded quickly. It confused the young man. He didn’t know what the gesture signified.

"Yes, I’d like that." Tempest finally caught on.

"Okay, just stand back. I wouldn’t want an omega to get hurt."

Dron narrowed his eyes at the man. As if he would stand by and let anything hurt Tempest. It was just unheard of.

"Are we just going to sit around and talk or are we going to finish training?" the older of the two men spoke and got into his fighting position. Dron could see just from the stances of the two men that the younger one had no chance. He was unbalanced and wasn’t even holding the staff correctly. It should be a quick match.

Tempest oohed and ahhed with every strike. She clapped and pointed after every swing of the staff. Before long, Dron realized the two fighters were just putting on a show. Doing extra elaborate moves just to show off for the new omega.

It bothered him more than he’d like to admit.

Finally, with a quick move that he should’ve been able to do several blows into the match the older man disarmed the younger one and tripped him. He pressed the staff to the man’s neck and waited for him to yield.

Tempest clapped and looked on with happiness.

"That was spectacular. Truly a sight to see."

"Don’t they have a military where you are from?" The older man asked.

"Oh yes, but it’s all top secret, meaning they don’t share much with the public. And there’s not much hand-to-hand combat nowadays. It’s all done by gun or bombs."

"Bombs?" Dron and the other two men all said at once.

"Yes, large devices that are dropped on land with the aim to destroy as much as possible." Tempest sighed as she looked between the three men.

Dron shook his head and swallowed hard, "That’s horrible. Why destroy all that nature? What about the civilians who live there? How is it possible without loss of life?"

"It’s not. Unfortunately, that is what the people on earth call collateral damage." Tempest looked sad for a moment.

"There is no honor in killing a man you can’t look in the face." The older man spoke up.

"Here all of our battles are done on the field, face to face." Dron explained.

"That must be scary. How old do you have to be to join the military?" Tempest asked, and soon they were all off on a tangent talking about life in the military and how it differed from what happened on Earth.

A while after that the conversation shifted to what life was like in the military class, and Tempest had gotten a small crowd. Her plan was working. People weren’t scared to ask her questions. In fact, more people were around Dron than ever. None of them seem to concern themselves with his curse and the proximity of him. Still no one dared to touch him, but they were all willing to get as close as possible to Tempest. She was like a bridge.

When he answered, no one looked away or talked down to him. When he gave his opinions, they weren’t immediately shot down. He was being treated like everyone else. And it only happened because Tempest was there with him.

Could this be what life would be like? If she stayed with him, would more and more people begin to accept him as part of the community? Dron didn’t know for sure; the novelty of her being here could fade, and they could go back to treating him like a leper.

Or the unthinkable could happen.

He could become one of them.