Quinn had always known deep inside that this was only going to be a temporary situation. He knew it, he'd just refused to look it fully in the face.
He knew somewhere in his mind that Michel wasn't the man that he had known as a child. He knew that Noah had been trying to tell him that for years, even during their university days. He knew that Noah had especially ramped it up after Quinn had slept with Michel the first time.
Noah was just a good friend, who saw the forest for the trees. Quinn was the one who was blind and stupid, especially when it came to this man. Maybe that was why Quinn had agreed to come three days before the end of the year party.
To the same stupid hotel because Michel didn't want to sleep with him at Quinn's home and didn't want to be caught with a beta in his own home. Michel hadn't said it outright to Quinn, but Quinn had been unfortunately able to read between the lines. He still forced Quinn to pay for the bill for this absurd hotel that should have been out of his price range but Quinn made good money working for Michel's family.
It would have been better if he hadn't slept with Michel, but that was okay. Quinn had let it happen, he was partially to blame.
That was what he told himself as he lay on his stomach, his body and guts in turmoil as Michel got off of the bed and headed for the bathroom. He was always like this. He had his way with Quinn, was good in the moment, but as soon as he came as much as he wanted, he left Quinn to clean up.
He never used condoms with Quinn, and didn't care about them. Why would he? He'd told Quinn to his face that he couldn't get pregnant, so that wasn't his concern. Why would he spend money on something that didn't feel good? He couldn't baby trap him after all, so he wasn't going to use protection if he didn't have to. Plus, he knew that Quinn liked taking it up the ass like an omega, so he should just be grateful that he got to experience it.
Quinn swallowed, the air in the room feeling strange today. His arms held onto the pillow under his head, his body aching. He was sure that his butt was going to bruise again from how hard Michel had hit it. He'd gotten into spanking and hadn't stopped, even when Quinn had asked him to.
Michel had said that he liked that Quinn would have to think about him for days after they slept together. It had sounded romantic at the time, but as Quinn heard the shower turn on and took stock of how messy the hotel room was, he wondered what the hell he was thinking? Why was he still doing this?
He always had to pay the extra cleaning fee, always had to make sure to clean himself up. Michel rarely even spent the rest of the night by Quinn's side. He'd only done it twice in the year that they'd been doing this, and damnit if that didn't sting as much as his ass did right now.
Quinn couldn't move onto his back, his hips aching, his muscles screaming because Michel liked to bend him like a damn pretzel. Toss him around because he could. He was still a little dazed when Michel came out of the bathroom, towel low on his hips. He was drying his hair with another. Quinn turned his head to look at him, watching him quietly. There was one thing that Quinn could never complain about. Michel was always easy on the eyes.
When he stared at Michel, he noticed that smug, satisfied look in his eyes. It was the same one he'd had when he'd found out his secondary traits as a child. Quinn wasn't sure why, but it sent a shiver down his spine.
"Quinn," Michel's voice was soft. Too soft. Michel never spoke to him like that. Quinn felt alarm fill him.
"Yes?" Quinn answered, watching as Michel's gaze scanned his body from head to toe. When his dark eyes met Quinn's, Quinn knew that something was wrong.
"This is the last time." Michel said. Quinn felt his body freeze.
"What?" Quinn couldn't comprehend what he was saying. Michel smirked.
"This is the last time we're doing this. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm getting to a marriageable age. My dad's been breathing down my neck to settle down and stop bringing down the family name. Remember how I had to reschedule our usual last week?" Michel asked.
Quinn's mouth filled with saliva. It felt like he was going to throw up. This felt…familiar. Too damn familiar. It was like he was watching a t.v. scene play out, not his real life.
Quinn nodded, unable to speak past the saliva pooling in his mouth. He couldn't even swallow. His throat felt swollen and sore. Michel's smile when Quinn nodded was sweet. Too sweet. Michel was never sweet.
"Well, it's because I was meeting with an omega from a family my dad wants to form a connection with. We're announcing our engagement at the year end party." Quinn felt the news like a blow. Quinn had to swallow or else he was going to drool on himself. It hurt, especially after all that Michel had done.
"W-What? Why are you only telling me this now?" Quinn asked and Michel, callous, foolish Michel, had already dropped his towel and was grabbing his clothes to put them back on.
"I gave you a three day notice. Isn't that enough?" He asked and for a horrifying, clear moment, Quinn knew that he meant it. He meant the words he was saying. He truly thought that this was all Quinn was owed.
The sound of fabric rustling filled Quinn's ears as the man who had forcibly brought Quinn into his life again smashed it to pieces all over again. Quinn wanted to laugh. At himself, at the horror of this situation, all of it.
His lips wouldn't move.
Michel didn't say anything as Quinn laid there, shocked into silence. When he noticed that Quinn hadn't spoken for a long time, he halted. He stared at Quinn for a long, thoughtful moment, before he sighed.
"Quinn." There it was again, that damn softness. Something Michel never was, hadn't been with Quinn since he'd first met him. Quinn flinched. "You knew that this had a time limit. It was never going to become serious. You're a beta. I can't be with a beta if I want to have a family and continue on the Baxter line. You knew that, and agreed to this." Quinn wanted to argue.
He wanted to protest, throw a fit. Hell, he just wanted to open his mouth and say anything, but he couldn't. He was frozen in place as Michel said the one thing that would hurt him deeply.
It was all because he was a beta. Beta this, beta that, fuck secondary traits and all of their damn bullshit! Why did it always come back to that? Quinn hadn't had a complex about being a beta, not right away, he was just disappointed that he couldn't help Michel out properly when he was a kid and that he would bring him down.
Now? After watching Michel be surrounded by more powerful people, more attractive people when all he had wanted was a chance to be near him without looking strange? Now he had a complex. It was the same with Noah too, but on a different scale. Noah at least went out of his way to make sure that Quinn didn't feel like scum on the bottom of his shoe but Michel?
God, why had Quinn been so stupid? So dumb? Why hadn't he noticed that this arrangement was coming to an end? He knew that something was wrong, something wasn't quite right. Sure, Michel had made plans with Quinn and stood him up or cancelled them last minute before now. He had no regard for what Quinn was up to, but this?
"Why didn't you tell me that you were planning to get married?" Quinn finally asked after Michel had spoken. Michel paused.
"Why would it matter? It's not like we're friends anymore. We're acquaintances at best, Quinn. This was just a convenient arrangement for both of us. We know each other well enough that I knew our compatibility would be good for a fun time, not a long time. Or, were you expecting something else from this?" That hurt. That really hurt.
Quinn dropped his head into the pillow, hiding the way that his face was twisting. Michel didn't need to see that. No, he didn't want him to see it. He didn't deserve to see how much he was hurting Quinn with his words.
"Oh, I'll pay for the hotel this time. After all, you've taken care of it all this time. Think of this as a present from me." He chuckled, like that was a kind thing to do at the end of all this. "You'll be at the end of the year party, right? I noticed you rsvp'd. I want to introduce you to my fiancé."
How could someone be so callous? Here Quinn lay, on his stomach, full of the other man's cum and he was talking about his damn fiancé? Did they even know what Michel was like? What he was up to? Did they know and not care? Because he was a beta?
Quinn let out a small squeak, thankful that it was muffled by the pillow.
"I'll be there." Quinn replied, knowing that Michel hated it when he asked a question and got nothing in return. Quinn flinched when he heard Michel approach the side of the bed. It was only made worse when the man placed a hand on his head, ruffling his sweat damp hair.
"Good. This was a great time, Quinn. Thanks for having me." Quinn felt sick to his stomach. He waited, listening to Michel walk away. The door opened, shut, and Quinn sat in silence for a long, long time.
When he finally felt like moving, he glanced at the clock on the nightstand and noticed that an hour had passed since Michel had left. In a flash.
Quinn reached for his phone, fumbling. He hadn't realised that his hands were shaking, his vision blurring now that some of the shock had worn off. He knew it was late, knew that this was weird for him to do, but he had no one else to turn to.
He couldn't reach out to his Mom. She didn't need to know what he was doing, what he was going through. As far as she knew he was an accomplished beta working in a top tier company. She was proud of her son. She didn't know what he was doing. Who he was spreading his legs for.
He held the phone up to his ear, hoping that Noah would answer while also praying that he didn't. He wanted him to continue to sleep. It would give him a reason to not include him in this grief. He'd already burdened him enough.
"Quinn? What's wrong? Why are you calling me at this hour? Are you okay?" Quinn let Noah's voice wash over him as he closed his eyes. He shook, the sob escaping his lips against his will.
"Noah, he's getting married." Quinn sobbed. Silence on the other end. Quinn almost worried that he'd hung up on him, or the line had gone dead. He would have deserved it. Instead, he heard the soft shuffling of sheets. It sounded like Noah was getting up.
"Fuck. I'm so sorry, Quinn." Noah's gentle voice washed over Quinn and he sobbed harder. This was what he needed to hear, but damn it, he hated being so weak constantly around Noah. He was a bad friend to him.