Work Text:
“Waaahhh!”
A cry, thick with tears, echoed down the halls of the Enderson estate.
Erin tensed on instinct, but quickly sighed, shoulders slumped, and rolled his eyes. Then, he sighed again and straightened himself where he stood guard at the end of the hall, because it wasn’t nothing, but it also wasn’t something that had warranted his reaction earlier.
Earlier in the day, when he heard that sound, he had panicked, rushing to the second floor, his mind racing to anticipate what could have happened. Could it have been another traitor? Had Sir Gail managed to charm one of the staff, and they finally turned on the Young Master, all these years later? Or was it—!
But when he had thrown open Arryn’s door, he was met with the young man pressed into a corner of his room, bawling his eyes out for no obvious reason, still in his nightgown, and an odd, heady smell of fermented fruit hanging in the air.
He had tried to go inside and ask what the hell was going on, but a flustered Vessis had quickly arrived, pushed him out, and he was left standing there, baffled, in the middle of the hall. For better or for worse, an equally flustered and anxious Senne soon arrived, carrying a bundle of clothes and blankets, and when Erin expressed his confusion, he got an impromptu biology lesson.
Apparently, there was yet another vital detail the original text left out, concerning the fundamental anatomy of humans here…Erin was willing to entertain that the other changes thus far were omissions necessitated by the medium and pacing of a story, but this had to be something more intentional. How else do you explain neglecting to so much as mention the whole “secondary sex dynamic” thing? That seems like some pretty important world building that would have far reaching implications!
Either that, or thus world was fundamentally different from the original text in…just that one respect? Like a fanfiction trope inserted on top of reality…that…would go a long way to explaining all the inconsistencies…
He was briefly miffed at the original for failing to mention anything like this…but this would have been normal to that guy, not worthy of being addressed. Erin sighed again.
At any rate, it looked like people, in addition to the categories of male and female, were further subdivided into “alpha,” “beta,” and “omega,” with alphas generally being more dominant and virile, and omegas generally being more submissive and…“fertile.”
Erin didn’t really like that word but that was the word used in the textbook hastily shoved in his hands after Senne realized Erin genuinely had no clue what he was talking about. Well, it wasn’t that he had no idea whatsoever, but being passingly familiar with the concept of “Omegaverse” from a few half-hearted forays into fandom was very different from actually having to live with the concept.
It would appear that most people were betas, who were the closest to “average people,” fittingly enough. While all omegas and alphas possessed both sets of physical sex traits (to some extent), betas were a mixed bag, with some having both, and others having just one, and yet others having an unclear mix of the two. Betas didn’t get regular heats or ruts, and didn’t lose their minds over pheromones as much as omegas and alphas did, though they could still sense and react to them. It turned out that Erin, or Riél, was a beta of the male persuasion.
Erin was briefly annoyed, thinking that the cool and powerful protagonist would obviously be a dominant alpha…but quickly decided it wasn’t worth the trade-off of basically being a werewolf but instead of turning into an awesome wolf monster every month you just got insatiably horny for a few days. Beta is better. Most of the Enderson family were betas, actually. The only exceptions were Baroness Catheríne, who was an alpha, and Arryn. Who was an omega. Oh joy.
“Waaahhhahhh!”
Erin jolted, his body tensing up on instinct at the caterwauling. He glanced back from where he was stationed…but there was no point in it, the door was still closed. He sighed and forced himself to relax. Even as a beta, he wasn’t completely free of the instinct to protect and soothe an omega, especially one that reeked of distress. Erin had thought from his first few days in Emor that the scents were strange…but maybe there was just a strong perfume culture? He couldn’t have imagined that he was smelling people’s emotions.
But now, it seemed painfully obvious. How had he ever been oblivious to it before?
The second floor hall around the Young Master’s room was thick with the scents of anxiety and distress. The Young Master Arryn was not happy, and no one could figure out what was wrong. The heat had been unexpected, sure—he apparently hadn’t had a regular one in over a year, so it was more intense than usual—but the Enderson family and staff snapped into full-care mode as soon as they realized what was happening. Arryn had anything he could possibly need, right?
Not that Erin was terribly familiar with what that meant…but judging by the book it seemed simple enough. A familiar space, clothes and blankets from his family, plenty of food…each of his family members had even come to visit and ask if he needed their company. What more could he want?
Erin had even overheard the maid confirming that the…“tools” were clean…
Anyway, there shouldn't be any reason to be this upset, right?
“Waaahhhahhh!”
…but that didn’t change the reality of the situation.
Erin sighed deeply.
Vessis and another servant once again retreated from the room with a rejected dish, defeated. Erin overhead them half-whisper to each other,
“He’s not touching the meat…what’s wrong?”
“Maybe…he’s not in the mood?”
“But he’s been ordering so much from the kitchens!”
That’s for the rats and wolves.
“Well, heat can make a person very picky.”
The servant sighed. “Omegas…like sweets, right?”
Aren’t you the experts here?
“Maybe we could try chocola—”
“Not chocolate.” Vessis cut him off. “We tried that already, it just made it worse.”
That’s because he likes candied fruit, including lemons for some god-forsaken reason, not chocolate. It has a bad association for him.
They both sighed.
Vessis shook her head. “Let’s just stick to bread and broth, for now.”
…hm?
It wasn’t until they had passed him and disappeared around the corner that Erin processed the implication there.
…am I…the only one who knows about the lemon thing?
It wasn’t impossible. Arryn had a habit of loudly complaining about the things he didn’t like, and keeping the things he did like to himself. And after Erin had identified sugared and candied fruits as a weakness, he’d been asking for them from the kitchen himself, leaving them around as peace offerings whenever Arryn was in a mood for whatever reason. Arryn probably hasn’t had to ask for them himself in months.
Of course, the thought crossed his mind,
If he wants candied fruit that badly, can’t he ask for some himself?
But he was vaguely aware that that might be impossible. Annel had come up to check on the state of things just once, wrinkled her nose at the smell, and tsked, muttering something about how he’s “even more feral than usual.” He had thought she was just throwing barbs as usual, but that textbook had mentioned such a phenomenon by that name. Something that could happen to a particularly stressed omega or alpha when they entered heat or rut, causing them to react like animals to an extreme degree…
Erin had learned a while ago that Reader’s Perfect Recall worked on new texts he read here…and he was now debating on if that was a blessing or a curse.
But if everything the book said was true, then asking for the fruits himself was impossible. Could Erin just hand them off to the next person who came around, perhaps?
Thankfully, there was someone coming right at that moment. Like always in this place, Erin smelled them before he saw them, and when he finally recognized the person…his eye twitched.
“Reporting for duty, Sir Solis, sir!”
Berryn and Mellis scrambled around the corner.
“…aren’t you supposed to patrol outside?”
Mellis squawked, as if offended by the question, and Berryn hurried to explain,
“Ah, w-we aren’t ditching! We always get asked to watch the Young Master’s room when he’s in heat!”
Mellis nodded solemnly. “The Young Master trusts us!”
I think it’s because he knows you two are pushovers who never say no to him…
Loyal minions or not, Erin was never going to fully forgive the little sycophants, so he was prepared to tell them off when he was struck with an idea. He wasn’t going to let those two take the candied fruits to Arryn, so he might as well take advantage of having them to stand watch and just do it himself.
Erin nodded. “Perfect. Stand there, don’t let anyone unauthorized near.”
“Of course!”
“You can count on us, Sir Riél, sirrr—huh? W-where are you going?”
He brushed them off and went over to Arryn’s door. He knocked, got no response, and slowly pushed it open. His nose wrinkled as a fresh wave of sheer unhappiness washed over him, conveyed in notes of sour, rotten fruit. Then, he felt himself tense up at a low, whining growl, seeping from the corner of the room, like the warning sound of a particularly angry cat, moments before it decides to hiss and acquaint you with its claws.
Erin forced himself to relax, sighed, took out the fruit, and went over to the angry cat.
The corner of the room was specially made to hold a “nest.” It was sunk into the floor slightly, and framed by the tall headboard of the bed and a solid armoire. The gap between them, facing in towards the room, served as the entrance and exit and was curtained off.
As Erin drew closer, the growling grew louder. And louder. He was tempted to just toss the bag in and go, but if there was one thing that both Senne and the textbook felt the need to emphasize, it was that you did not enter or mess with the nest without permission. So, Erin knocked on the armoir, got more growling, sighed, and uncinched the bag of fruit.
The smell of cherries, lemon, and sugar slowly drifted through the air, and gradually, the growling dwindled and dwindled until it completely petered off.
“May I come in?” Erin asked dryly.
“Mrrp?”
…really like a cat.
He vaguely remembered a lot of wolf imagery around “alphas” and “omegas” in his past life, and couldn’t help but question it.
He lifted the curtain, and saw Arryn. The nest was a chaotic pile of thick blankets, coats, socks, and a smattering of inner shirts, hair ties, and…was that Vessis’s glove? And a cloth Annel used for weapons maintenance? And…
He shook his head. There were almost too many trinkets to count.
The Young Master was sitting in the middle of all that, still in his nightgown, cheeks red, eyes dilated and locked onto the small bag with the candied fruits.
Definitely a cat.
Erin held out the bag. “Here. This is what you wanted, right? Now will you stop yowling and leave this poor guard in peace?”
Erin watched in fascination as Arryn’s nose twitched, pupils adjusting against the light to stay focused on the bag of treats, as he ever so slowly leaned forward, lifted his arm up, reached out a single, delicate hand towards the offered bag of candies, gradually drew closer, and, in one, smooth, powerful motion, grabbed Erin’s wrist and pulled him into the nest.
“Wha—!?”
Erin just barely managed to catch himself so that he didn’t directly collapse on top of the Young Master. He ended up on his knees, barely avoiding kneeling on Arryn’s feet, one arm braced against the armoir, the other still held in a death grip by deceptively slim fingers.
“A-Arryn, what are you—?”
Erin tried to pull himself back, but a short waul of discontent and a sudden sharp scent froze him in place. The moment he stopped struggling, the wauling was replaced by a low purr, and the sharp smell of fermented fruit softened into something richer and sweeter.
Erin stared at him in confusion.
“You…want me to stay?”
In response, Arryn forcefully pulled at his arm again, drawing him closer. Arryn pulled him down into an embrace, locking his arms around Erin’s back and placing one hand on the back of Erin’s head, holding Erin against his own shoulder.
Arryn sniffed at his hair, and made another sound of discontent.
Well, sorry but I didn’t really expect this kind of inspection today—
Erin’s thoughts abruptly cut off when Arryn decided to remedy the situation by licking the side of his neck.
When situation bothered to register past the haze of shock, Erin felt his stomach drop. He was…fairly sure that this was not supposed to be happening. The textbook had explained in great detail the location of the scent glands and the unique importance of the ones on the neck. On reflex, he tried to push himself up and away again—but a short, absolutely venomous hiss again froze him in place.
With his prey(?) successfully contained, Arryn seemed to be completely satisfied, licking away like Erin’s neck needed a full makeover and purring like a motorboat.
“Aaarrriieee!”
All of a sudden, the door burst open, and Senne swept into the room, crying, “A-are you alright!?”
Oh thank god, maybe the siblings could rectify this.
A mildly irritated growl answered him.
The curtain was still half-open, so Arryn could also level him with a unimpressed glare, and Erin watched with some genuine pity as Senne wilted before their eyes.
“You…you don’t want to nest with your brother anymore…? Like when we were kids?”
Elise came in behind him, and consoled her older brother…who really should be the one doing the consoling now that he thought about it—
“Now, now, dear brother, we knew this moment was coming.”
Senne sniffled pathetically. “But…but…!”
Elise patted him on the shoulder. “He’s chosen a nesting partner outside the family. We all know what that means.” She looked at them with unspeakable fondness and gave a sigh worthy of an aging father watching his only daughter walk down the aisle, “Our little Arrie’s all grown up now…”
Aren’t you younger than him!?
“Come on, let’s leave them to it.”
With that, Elise pulled her brother up from where he’d crumpled to the ground, and escorted him out the room. The door clicked shut behind them and…
…wait, you’re just leaving me here with him? And that’s okay???
With the interlopers gone, Arryn returned to happily scenting him as much as humanly possible. He moved to the other side of Erin’s neck and under his jaw, persistently licking at every inch of exposed skin. He kept one hand on Erin’s shoulder, firmly holding him in place, and with the other, he started running his wrist over Erin’s clothes with no small amount of force, pressing long stripes of his own sweet, slightly floral scent down his arms, chest, and back, like he had a personal grudge with the way Erin usually smelled.
“It’s not that bad, is it?” He muttered perhaps a little less jokingly than he’d meant to.
“Mrrp.” In response, Arryn chirped and nipped at his nose. Erin blinked in surprise, and Arryn made sure to meet his gaze, effortlessly conveying, You’re a dumbass, before continuing to attempt to lick a hole in his skin.
…cute.
The thought came without permission and warmth swelled in his chest before it could be dismissed and Erin knew he was screwed. Perhaps literally.
…well, it was essentially just an exercise in letting Arryn manhandle him for a while, right?
There are worse fates in the world, I guess.
Finally, Arryn was satisfied with the scenting, and decisively pulled Erin forward as he flopped back onto the plush mess of a nest. Arryn locked his arms around Erin’s back, nuzzled against the side of his neck, and closed his eyes, purring louder than ever before. It would appear that Erin had been recruited as a heated, weighted blanket, whose only task was to lay there in a warm, dark nest that smelled of sweet fruits and flowers that reminded him of summer.
…yeah, it could definitely be worse.
It was dark. It was warm. The first thing that registered in his foggy consciousness outside of that was a certain smell. It was nearly overwhelming, so it wasn’t really possible to not be aware of it, but as he slowly woke, what he had of his focus crystallized around that scent.
It had an edge of fermentation like before, but this time, there was no strong sour note. Instead, it was rich, full-bodied, and heady, like a fine, sweet wine, tinged with a strong undertone of hydrangeas. He could taste it, without any exaggeration, coating his mouth and filling his lungs. He wondered if that was why he felt so…warm and fuzzy. Maybe it really was wine, and he’d already drunk his fill.
Without thought, he opened his mouth to inhale it deeper, a quiet rumble of contentment stirring in his chest. The warmth in his arms shifted a bit, and a small frisson of pleasure ran down his spine as he felt how soft it was. Soft and warm and plush, he held it close and it fit perfectly in his arms. His hands absently kneaded at the plush warmth, and it squirmed in his hold, pushing against him like it was trying to meld them together. That would be fine. He’d always wanted to keep the things he liked inside him.
Suddenly, in all their shifting around, he realized that there was a place where the scent was thicker than anywhere else. He honed in on it quickly, and buried his face against it. He breathed it in. Deeper. And deeper. And. It was good. It was really good. Like the best meal he’s ever tasted. His head was spinning. He didn’t notice the drool that slipped from the corner of his mouth. It was just really good.
He heard he low, ragged moan and it took several moments to realize that it came from himself. It should probably have been embarrassing but he…didn’t really care? He was too lightheaded for something like that to matter. He heard another soft moan, directly in his ear, and his eyes fluttered open as a shudder wracked through him.
He realized that he had his head buried against someone’s neck…Arryn, against Arryn’s neck. Which meant that Arryn was the warm, soft, plush thing in his arms. The information washed over him passively. Far and away the most important thing was keeping his face pressed against Arryn’s neck, so he wouldn’t be parted from that scent.
Arryn whined in a wordless, needy tone, and he felt another shudder pass through him. He gradually became aware that the warm body in his arms was moving. Plush lips panted into his ear, hot breaths ghosting along his skin, and further down, Arryn’s hips pressed flush against him, rolling forward and back in rhythmic gyrations.
While his sluggish mind spun its wheels emotionally, hardly reacting at all to the revelation that the Young Master Arryn Enderson was currently straddling his lap and grinding on him while moaning in his ear, his rational mind helpfully provided the information gleaned from the textbook he’d read last night.
When safe, an omega who is of sufficient age and independence to establish their own pack will actively seek sexual stimulation while in heat. Responding to and fulfilling this need is vital in maintaining the balance of the bodily humors. There is a particular physical process triggered by the sensation of receiving an alpha’s knot that is most effective in this. However, when a trusted alpha is unavailable, other forms of stimulation will suffice.
Omega in heat? Check. Seeking sexual stimulation? Check. Trusted alpha? Nope. “Other forms of stimulation” will have to do. This can work. He hasn’t fingered someone before, but. It can’t be that hard.
He started to reach down, and paused. He…probably shouldn’t be putting his whole, unwashed glove down there. He tugged it off with his teeth and Arryn immediately made an adorable little Mrrp? sound and zeroed in on it, so he handed it over.
Arryn held it tight in his hand, even as he looped his arm back around Erin’s shoulder, and gave it a few experimental sniffs, staring at it like it was fascinating. Then, he even rubbed it against his cheek while giving a stuttering purr.
In the meantime, Erin hiked up Arryn’s nightgown and lay a hand on Arryn’s thigh. Arryn sunk into the touch, lashes already fluttering. He rubbed the glove against his face like he was obsessed, and purred in earnest again. Erin felt him shudder, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Arryn’s mouth fall open, a thin line of drool falling onto the glove. Small, pearly teeth bit down on the leather, muffling a low grown, and Erin felt slick wet his lap. The sheer anticipation was palpable in the scent of it, coming as another heady wave of sweet wine and hydrangeas.
His hand slowly slid up Arryn’s thigh, appreciating the smooth glide of skin on skin…then he stilled. He…also hadn’t washed his hand, had he? And he definitely was not going to get up and leave the nest to do that.
But…he had fire, right? Something something the Divine Flame purifies, right? It’ll be fine.
He let a wave of flame wash over his skin and continued his slow and steady encroachment on the dip where the leg joined with the thigh. This was Erin’s first time doing this, after all. He wanted to to at least be a little bit careful…but then Arryn started making small noises of frustration while bucking his hips, apparently unsatisfied with the current speed of proceedings.
Well, if he was going to be a brat about it, then he would only have himself to blame for the results, right?
In a single motion, Erin pushed them both up so that they were sitting upright, earning him an adorable squeak of surprise, even as Arryn immediately clamped his thighs to the sides of Erin’s waist. He smiled against Arryn’s shoulder as he shifted his hands. His right hand settled on Arryn’s hip, steadying him. With his left, he drew a line up Arryn’s inner thigh with two fingers, gathering slick. Then, those fingers found the warm, wet folds of an omega’s cunt, and with only a single breath’s worth of hesitation, pressed inside.
Arryn’s spine stiffened and he gasped breathlessly, just barely managing to close his mouth in time to hold onto the glove. His body seemed to hang in suspense for a moment, lifted slightly off of Erin, before he groaned, low and needy. His body sunk back down onto Erin’s, face tucked into the curve of Erin’s neck, and he deliberately ground his hips onto Erin’s lap, thighs clamping tighter to Erin’s body. Erin’s fingers were pushed deeper in and they reflexively twitched in response. And the sound that earned him…
…Erin honestly wasn’t sure what he was feeling. It was just. A lot. But not in a terrible way? He wasn’t sure it was something he liked, but there was at least something in those sounds that he wrung out of Arryn with his own hand that gave him a deep sense of satisfaction. Could he get more of them, somehow? And even more of that warm, trusting weight?
Erin deliberately flexed his fingers and Arryn mewled, tightening his embrace on Erin’s shoulders. A few more slow, careful motions got him low moans and Arryn nuzzling against his neck as his lashes fluttered and he drooled over the leather glove. But Erin could tell this wasn’t enough. There was still a note of dissatisfaction in the scent that hung in the air, like a sour note in a sweet wine.
Erin frowned in concentration (which was quite hard, thanks to the haze lingering in his thoughts), and adjusted his hand to get more leverage, pressing his fingers firmly against the outer wall as he also ground up and inward with his palm, putting pressure on the small cock at the top of the slit.
A detached quote from the textbook drifted through his mind, something about how alphas and omegas would still have both sets of genitalia, but only one would be “functional,” with an omega’s penis being more analogous to an enlarged clitoris…that’s what was written, and the cock beneath his palm still valiantly stood stiff, and the breathy gasp he got from pressing both in and out at the same time was the best yet. He even got Arryn to dig his nails into his shoulder.
He kept grinding down in small circles with his palm while rhythmically pumping his fingers into that welcoming warmth, and that seemed to be the right thing to do. He didn’t know if fingering someone was supposed to feel good for the person doing the fingering, and if he was being honest, he still didn’t really know what “feeling good” meant, or if it was even something he wanted. But, feeling the weight against him, kneading the soft skin of Arryn’s narrow waist, hearing the gasps and moans in his ear, feeling the trust in letting his hand—a swordsman’s hand—reach inside his liege’s very body…he could so easily hurt his liege like this. He could tighten his grip and let his blunt nails dig into the delicate flesh. He could ignite his body and sear the fragile skin that cling to him so desperately. If he wanted to, he could take apart this person in his arms. Wholly destroy them. And they would be powerless to stop him.
“Ng…”
The thought made his head swim. His lashes fluttered for a moment. He could imagine it. Just letting his instincts get the better of him. Plunging his hand deeper and deeper into the viscera until he managed to grasp the core of whatever made Arryn Arryn. Reckless and caring and bold and cowardly and stubborn and the bravest person he ever knew and cruel and kind and soft and sweet and beautiful and delicate and fragile, fragile, fragile the skin on his neck was so thin and perfect and fragile—
He bit down.
The cry of pleasure in his ear made him shudder, and he groaned at a sudden wave of feeling as he felt Arryn clench around his fingers for a long moment. It was almost overwhelming…it suddenly felt like everything was too hot, his skin was too tight, he was panting, his eyes were wet. He managed to force them open anyways, and through blurry vision, saw beads of red clinging to parts of the bite mark. That…that was a precious substance, from his most precious person. Blood was life. Making this person’s flesh a part of his own…
He leaned down, opened his mouth, and slowly, thoroughly swept his tongue over the bite, carefully gathering every drop of crimson ichor. Tasting the tinge of iron on his tongue, and knowing that this was his favorite person…he only one he was allowed to hurt like this…
His eyes rolled up. He felt something in his core snap, and all at once, the building pressure released and for a moment, he was senseless. There was nothing but this moment of pure white non-existence.
When he returned to awareness, he found himself leaning on Arryn’s shoulder, panting, face wet with tears of pleasure, and he realized, somewhat distantly, that he’d just climaxed. Hm. Ugh. Embarrassing. And because of Arryn? Specifically licking up Arryn’s blood? He was never going to live this down. Thankfully he was pretty sure that he’d also felt Arryn cum earlier, so maybe Arryn had been too busy to notice and maybe he’d fall straight asleep, with that low stamina of his, and Erin could pretend that—
—hm? Arryn had seemingly not calmed down at all. After Erin was still for a moment too long, Arryn made a frustrated whine in the back of his throat and set about trying to fuck himself on Erin’s hand.
Ah, yes, he’d nearly forgotten. This was a heat cycle. An omega wouldn’t be satisfied with just one round. He knew that part of the proper procedure was stimulating whatever pressure points were supposed to be hit by a knot…but his casual skimming of that textbook didn’t tell him where such a thing was, and—as he’s been saying—this was his first time doing this. He didn’t want to jump straight into just sticking his whole hand up in there and feeling around. What if he damaged something important?
But what else…
His gaze drifted down and to the side and…right. The “tools” that the staff had gone to such lengths to prepare. These were literally made to hit all the right places, yeah? He should make use of the hard work that went into crafting and cleaning them.
He removed his hand from Arryn’s cunt…or, tried to. The moment he moved in a way that implied he might pull out Arryn made a low cat’s growl and pressed his whole weight down on him, holding him in a death grip using his whole body while awkwardly pinning Erin’s wrist at his own waist.
Erin frowned. “I’m trying to help you, you know?”
Arryn growled again, somehow tightening the hold of both his arms and legs.
Erin sighed. There was no reasoning with him in this state. He just had to clumsily shift them both so he could reach around with his off hand and grab one of the “tools.” Said “tool” was, of course, a dildo of remarkably reasonable size. Though…were knots supposed to be that small? There was a bulge carved into the base of the shaft, but it wasn’t anything remarkable. Weren’t knots supposed to function, biologically, like mating plugs? To increase chances of successful fertilization? But maybe he was just imagining the anatomy wrong.
After all, Erin had honestly had the impression that this whole “omegaverse” set up was something that must have been transplanted somehow from a pornographic fanfiction version of the world, and so “petite omega takes monster cock with 8” knot” would just be an accepted rule in this universe…but maybe when it was made “real” the more extreme elements were tempered? That would make sense given how little it affected the rest of the narrative.
A line of inquiry for another time. He still had a very needy little bastard clinging to him that he needed to fuck the brains out of right now. Why was this his job, again? He was just a beta…
…well…he could suppose it was better him than someone else. He didn’t even want to imagine someone else being able to…
Put it aside put it aside he couldn’t burn something here, in the nest.
He also didn’t want to overheat the toy…it was smooth emberstone, meant to be warmed via an injection of mana first, but if you used too much it could burn. Especially with his nature as a being of fire, emberstone was very reactive to his magic. He had to be careful to only drip a little mana into it.
Of course, this was not helped by the fact that Arryn was grinding on him again, making sounds of frustration that rumbled in his chest as he shoved his face against the scent glands on Erin’s neck. Erin appreciated the enthusiasm but he really wished Arryn could save it for later. Erin’s brow twitched in his own frustration and he closed his eyes to try and focus. He only needed a little mana. Just the smallest of drops. That was all it would take to reach a comfortable temperature…
!!!
A jolt of pure electricity went through his body and it took a moment for it to actually register that Arryn bit him. Hard. Right in the scent gland.
That did seem to soothe Arryn’s frustration somewhat. The movement of his hips slowed down a bit, getting more deliberate, as if luxuriating in the feeling, and he languidly licked at Erin’s neck. He laved over the bite mark before moving on to licking and nipping at random places, occasionally chuffing as if to scold him for some perceived imperfection.
…this little brat, he wanted to use Erin as a fuck toy but still couldn’t help but criticize him?
…but, again, there was no reasoning with him right now, so Erin sighed dramatically and forcibly relaxed the tension lingering in his frame from the bite. Whatever, if Arryn wanted to treat his hand like a toy while ignoring the actual toy Erin was holding, that was his choice. Without bothering to drop the toy, he lay his hand on Arryn’s thigh, and—
“Nyagh—!?”
Erin flinched. In an instant, he’d withdrawn both his hands. That wasn’t like the other sounds. That was surprise. Pure reflex. A pain response. What happened? The skin on Arryn’s thigh was red. What…?
As he leaned away, he kept his hands lifted in the air, away from even accidentally touching Arryn, and his eyes drifted to the toy still in his right hand.
Ah. Shit, the emberstone. The bite had distracted him and he’d put too much damn mana in the emberstone and fucking hurt him. Goddamn it.
Arryn hung off his shoulders, head bowed, panting heavily, his whole body trembling slightly.
Shit, fuck—did it actually really hurt? The reaction was kind of cute but that wasn’t important right now.
“S-sorry, I—”
It didn’t look too serious, but if it was actually like, a 2nd degree burn, then he needed to get a potion. Like, right now. But did that mean dislodging Arryn from where he was clinging to Erin’s shoulders? That would cause distress, but it would have to be done—
…hm?
Purring?
Layered over the sound of panting came an unmistakable purr. And…where there should have been the sharp, bitter scent of distress, there was instead…something so thick and sweet underlain with such a strong note of alcohol that he almost hesitated to put a name to it. But then Arryn lifted his head slightly and there was no mistaking it. Pupils blown wide, eyes heavy lidded, gaze hazy, face flushed like the dawn, mouth hanging open with a steady line of drool…that scent was deep, utterly captivating arousal.
Erin belatedly noticed that Arryn’s legs had fully relaxed. They no longer clung to his waist, but instead spread themselves for him. The half-removed, half-soaked nightgown did little to hide the view of a twitching, dripping cunt and clit, wet with a fresh wave of slick. Erin noted with some detached intrigue that his bush was a similar color to his eyebrows, more grey than white.
Erin’s eyes scanned over him again, taking in every inch of his debauched appearance. His eyes were hazy with lust, as if already delirious with the mere promise of transcendent pleasure, every part of his body begging to be fucked even more senseless.
…luckily one of the two people here still had their wits about them.
Sorry, my liege! No matter how much you stare at the literally hot emberstone dildo while the muscles in your lower abdomen twitch, and no matter how wide you open your mouth while your little cock jumps at the thought of getting railed on either end by it, it is currently too hot to be safely inserted inside you. Tragic. Deal with it.
But the way Arryn looked at him so dreamily, so unguarded, like he would let Erin stick this burning hot piece of stone down his throat, if he really wanted to…
…he couldn’t quite help himself, and slowly, gradually, lowered the tip of the dildo towards Arryn’s mouth. Arryn’s eyes lit up, and he held his mouth open wide, head tilted back, tongue sticking out. Adorably, he kept trying to focus enough to also flatten his tongue, but kept getting distracted watching the hard cock get closer and closer until he was cross-eyed, and…
Okay, a part of him wanted to scold Arryn for once again proving that he had no self-preservation instincts, but there was another, much louder part of him that couldn’t help but find it really fucking endearing.
Just—god. He would. He really would. He would let Erin fuck him with a piece of burning stone. He trusted Erin that much. And Erin kind of hated it because it was making the idea sound really, really tempting. It would hurt so much, but would it also feel good? Knowing that he was the one doing it? Would that be the ultimate proof that he was special? Being able to, allowed to, given permission to inflict that much pain? He…
…he took a stuttering breath, and lowered his hand. Arryn made an adorable little sound of confusion when the dildo disappeared from his line of sight, his mouth still hanging open. Erin sighed, his chest tight with a sort of helpless fondness, and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on Arryn’s forehead. Arryn made another adorable little mrrp?, and Erin’s still-filthy left hand twitched, resisting the urge to cup the back of his head.
“I have to get permission first.”
Arryn nipped at his nose, as if saying that he already had permission, so hurry it up!
“Not now,” Erin chided, “later. The textbook said that heat is like being drunk. I’m already doubting that you’ll forgive me for going along this far when you’re done, I can’t add burning your throat to my list of crimes, here.”
Arryn huffed, eyes narrowing in judgemental disappointment, but at least he didn’t growl.
Still, as consolation, maybe…the emberstone should have cooled down enough to not cause any serious injury to the outer dermis, so…
He brought it around to Arryn’s back, and, after a moment’s hesitation, placed the tip of it at the base of Arryn’s spine. Arryn made a short waul of surprise at first, then his eyes fluttered and he relaxed, tilting his head back in enjoyment. Getting a positive response, Erin slowly dragged it up Arryn’s back, taking the opportunity to undo the ties of the poor, abused nightgown along the way.
Erin dragged the emberstone over Arryn’s shoulder, and finally removed the nightgown. He then let the tip of the heated stone phallus trail over Arryn’s delicate clavicle and down to his chest as Arryn purred, marveling at the red line left in its wake.
He let it draw a line down one of Arryn’s small, soft breasts, slowly, gradually approaching the areola. The stone caught on the stiff nub of his nipple for a moment before falling against his ribs. Arryn yipped at the sensation, drawing away slightly with a flash of a sour scent. Hm, not a fan, then. Erin cupped his other breast and laid a kiss over the red mark as an apology, and Arryn responded with a purr to indicate his forgiveness.
His hand slipped around Arryn's delicate rib cage to his back for stability as he continued downward, trailing over the subtle curves of Arryn’s stomach. There was a bit of give there, defined by a layer of fat that had built now that things had calmed down a bit and he could actually eat and rest. It made a warm satisfaction curl in Erin’s chest. Arryn quietly gasped as Erin prodded him, then slowly, slowly dragged the toy down to again rest on Arryn’s thigh.
Arryn made a needy sound in the back of his throat and tried to buck forward, but Erin held him firmly in place with his other hand.
Erin smiled.
“Patience.”
Arryn whined petulantly and kept trying to move his hips closer, but Erin stubbornly held him still. Though, he did take the time to move the toy along Arryn’s thighs, using the slick already there as convenient lubricant. The toy was cooler now, but still far too dry. Arryn watched it move up, closer and closer to his cunt…before it pulled away, still trailing the sensitive skin of his inner thighs. On the third time, he finally lost his patience.
Arryn made a short, clipped waul of anger and nipped harshly at Erin’s chin, hard enough that Erin flinched.
Damn, that actually hurt.
And it felt kind of warm…did he break skin?
Erin sighed. “Little bastard…I’m trying to make sure I don’t chafe you, you know?”
Arryn growled at him and tried to buck his hips again.
Erin knew, of course, as previously noted, that there was no reasoning with Arryn like this, but…that nip hurt just enough for Erin to feel petty about it.
He clicked his tongue and stopped moving entirely.
“If you’re going to be a brat about it, then I’m not giving you what you want.”
Arryn made various noises of complaint, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t shake off Erin’s grip from either his hip or the toy enough to move either of them himself. After several failed attempts to paw Erin’s hand away from the toy, he eventually seemed to realize that this wasn’t going to work. So, what would be his next step?
Arryn stilled, his head bowed. Slowly, he brought his hands away from Erin’s own, and back up to Erin’s shoulders. He wrapped them back to Erin’s nape around in a loose hug, and his scent shifted into something…softer. More innocent. He then gradually lifted his head, revealing the single most pathetic, round-eyed expression, eyes sparkling with tears, perfectly conveyed by the words “wet, bullied kitten”, that Erin had ever seen.
And…yes, he knew this was on purpose. Arryn was, no matter how lust-drunk, very deliberately making himself look pathetic in order to tempt Erin into appeasing him and…it was working.
Erin squinted , fully skeptical, but eventually sighed with no small amount of fondness and leaned forward to lay a kiss at the corner of those pleading eyes.
“I suppose it’s good that you know how cute you are.”
Mrrp?
He chuckled at the sound as he let his right hand move the toy closer to Arryn’s entrance.
He leaned his forehead against Arryn's own.
“It would be worse if you had no idea, going around making faces like that at just anyone. But no, you only do it when there’s something you want.”
He gently laid the toy against the soft lips of Arryn’s cunt, and Arryn made a sound of interest,
Mrr~rrp?
Erin laughed. “You really are like a cat, begging for treats. And, well,” he sighed, “when it comes to cats, I guess I’m the type who can’t say no.”
He slid the cock inside. Not all the way—the textbook had said that an omega’s passage wouldn’t be ready for the knot right away. It was best to bring them to orgasm on just the shaft first, which would naturally relax the lower vaginal passage and allow the knot to sit more comfortably. So, Erin gripped the part just above the knot firmly, not letting it enter quite yet.
But even just the shaft was still enough for Arryn’s spine to snap straight with a startled cry. For a moment, Arryn was completely stiff and silent, and Erin wondered if it had been too much too quickly…was he have supposed to have done more to prepare? Had it hurt? …but then, Arryn’s eyes rolled up slightly, his lashes fluttered, his body gradually relaxed, and, from deep in his throat, he gave a long, loud, ragged moan.
Erin watched, fascinated, as Arryn started panting, eyes unfocused, mouth hanging open, body soft and pliant. Erin loosened his grip on Arryn’s hip as he felt Arryn try and rock back and forth on his own, letting him do as he pleased. Arryn groaned as he felt the stone cock shift inside him, then shifted to trying to lift himself where he still knelt, straddling Erin’s lap. After a few shaky attempts, he found his rhythm, and all Erin had to do was hold the cock still and watch as Arryn fucked himself on it.
Watching as Arryn’s body swallowed the rosy emberstone again and again was almost mesmerizing. The way the soft flesh molded around it, being pushed open wider as it sunk down, only for even the hair to cling to the cock as it pulled away, and the way the emberstone glistened with the proof of their joining.
…beautiful…
Almost without thinking, he brought his other hand up, letting his fingers glide up Arryn’s leg, trace over the dip of his hip, and down over where the cock thrust into him again and again. He let his touch linger there for a while, still captivated by the sight and the sound of each moan that Arryn punched out if himself, before belatedly realizing that he had been neglecting Arryn’s clit. That, of course, wouldn’t do, so he wrapped it with his left hand and pumped it in time with Arryn’s thrusts.
The moment Erin gripped his cock, Arryn gave a strangled cry of pleasure and his movements stalled, falling heavily onto Erin’s lap. But after taking a moment to catch his breath, he started to lift himself again, and when Erin responded by stroking him in turn, Arryn shuddered, made a sound between a mewl and a moan, and fucked himself with renewed enthusiasm.
Erin watched as Arryn’s expression lose more and more of it’s already non-existent composure. Eyes rolling up, tears of pleasure falling freely, mouth open, tongue lolling, with a steady line of drool dripping down to his chin.
Erin’s eyes fixed on the tears and drool, before drifting down to the bite mark still visible on Arryn’s neck. Riél wasn’t an alpha, so it wouldn’t be permanent mating bond…but that was. Fine. For now. At least. Least for now, Arryn was his.
Erin shuddered. He kind of wanted to lean forward and lick…something. Or bite. Or both. It was an oddly foreign urge. Not the biting so much as the licking. Probably part of how lust manifests in this universe? Both were important for pair bonding, after all. But even if he wanted to indulge the impulse, with the way they were positioned and how Arryn was moving his weight, Erin would throw them off balance unless he steadied Arryn with one of his hands, which…were occupied at the moment.
As Arryn’s pleasure continued to build and build, his voice pitched higher and higher. His breathing turned quick and shallow. His head tilted back. His thrusts lost their strength and rhythm. His voice broke into a high pitched whine.
Arryn sobbed as he came, clenching hard on the cock inside him as slick coated Erin’s glove, pressed close against his entrance to keep the knot out. With gasping breaths, Arryn buried his face against Erin’s neck, and again, bit down at the scent gland there.
Erin jolted with a grunt, the sensation shooting right to his own crotch, and he couldn’t help but frown a bit as he felt his own dick twitch. It was always a weird sensation to him, even though it wasn’t a bad one. His own arousal had always just sort of been one of those things he dealt with more than anything. Coming down from an orgasm was never as fun as cleaning up after a fight, if he was being fully honest.
For Arryn, that was clearly not the case. Arryn most certainly had his own hangups about it, ones that Erin had reluctantly accepted that he would never understand the full extent of, but he certainly had people he was attracted to and wanted to have sex with. It took a while for that attraction to manifest, but when it did…well, let’s just say that, after a very embarrassing mind reading session, Erin had a lot of questions to answer from Lapis. Like “why are some humans ‘hot’ if they are not made of fire?” And “what does ‘pin down’ mean for humans?” And “why does the soft white human never relieve his libido? It’s causing him stress.”
Erin couldn’t say that he knew the answer to the last one, but others made for an entertaining conversation.
But maybe there was something in that unknown answer that would have told him why, now, in this moment, Arryn was still crying on his shoulder, hiccuping with sobs even as he kept biting and biting the same spot on Erin’s neck, causing the residual zings of instinctual pleasure to be overwritten by pain. The impression that Arryn was doing this because it was fun had faded 30 seconds ago, when the sweet scent that had been wrapping them like a blanket was suddenly tinged with a sharp note of fear.
It was almost like…like he was trying his best to mark Erin. Permanently. Even when he knew the mating bond wouldn’t last. It just couldn’t. They didn’t have that kind of compatible chemistry.
But even so, he bit down, sinking his teeth into Erin’s skin and staying there, causing Erin's nerves to flare with pain that made him tense to resist the urge to push Arryn away. He stayed there, holding the bite, sobbing, his whole frame shaking with fear. Fear of what? Fear of…losing him?
Was…was Erin really worth that much to him?
Erin thought about it for a moment. He forced his tense finger to flex. Stiffly, he wiped the worst of the wetness off his left hand, and lifted it to Arryn’s head, sinking his fingers into his hair. Then, gently as he could, he dragged his nails along Arryn’s scalp. He forcibly ignored the pain and tried to come up with comforting words.
“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere, you know? Where would I even go without you? You get hurt the minute you’re out of my sight. How could I possibly leave you alone?”
Arryn choked on a sob, then whined wordlessly, pulling himself even closer.
“It’s okay,” Erin soothed. He ran his fingers through Arryn’s hair, down his spine, and back again in rhythmic strokes. “After all this time, do you somehow think that you’re not my favorite person?”
Arryn made a low sound of upset in the back of his throat.
Erin sighed. “And I won’t run off and get myself killed, either. How could I protect you if I’m dead?”
That seemed to do something. Arryn gradually quieted down, sobs tapering off into sniffles, but he was still tense.
Erin never noticed that his own chest began to rumble with a comforting purr. He simply continued his ministrations, using his other hand to massage Arryn’s limbs while his left continued to pet him and his mouth continued to give uncharacteristically kind words.
“It’s alright…I do like you, you know? Even if I complain about it. I would never let you die.
“I don’t want you to suffer. I think you’ve had enough of that, personally. More than what most people should have to bear in a lifetime, honestly.
“Of course, I’m going to tease you where I can, but if it’s something like this, then obviously I can bear to indulge you. I like you, after all. I…hm, I can’t really think of something you could do to get me away from you, actually. If you suddenly changed your behavior to something that offends me, I’d assume you’re doing it on purpose and investigate the reason…”
Eventually, after a couple minutes of this, Arryn’s body slowly relaxed, and his breathing fully steadied. Arryn’s arms hung loose at his sides, and he leaned his forehead on Erin’s shoulder, breathing deep and even.
Noticing the change, Erin asked, “Did you fall asleep?”
Arryn shook his head.
“Hm. Do you want to sleep?”
A moment of hesitation, but another no.
Arryn’s hands delicately crept up Erin’s arms, and then, he looped his own back around Erin’s neck. Arryn shifted his head away from Erin’s shoulder, bumping against his chin, again like a cat. Hesitantly, like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to, he tilted his head up slightly. And pressed his lips to Erin’s throat.
There, right against his adam’s apple, with in a thin, hoarse, barely-audible voice, Arryn whispered, “Keep going. Please.”
Erin froze. For a moment, his mind went blank. But. Well. There was only one way to answer that, wasn’t there?
Erin’s lips twitched into a smile as he lay a kiss to the top of Arryn’s cherry-red ear and purred, “As you wish, my liege.”
Not giving Arryn a moment to second-guess his decision, Erin tilted them both forward, laying Arryn out on his back while Erin leaned over him.
He wouldn’t know how he looked to Arryn, his grin sharp, his eyes shining with sparks of white and gold, carrying his own brand of want.
In Arryn’s eyes, it was always more like how a fire wants to consume than how a lover wants to romance, but that was fine with him. He’d never liked romantic love, it always proved too fickle, in the end. Dropped when it became too inconvenient. And when it came to this kind of possessive desire, he’d been burnt by it before, but that was why he trusted Erin, or Riél, or whichever name he went by.
Because he’d shown Arryn, time and time again, that he would hold back. He wouldn’t use his own desire as an excuse to bind Arryn and hurt him, saying that he just couldn’t help himself. The only time he even came close was when he was, for external reasons, not fully in control. And even then, he never questioned Arryn’s autonomy, rather, he apologized for not allowing it. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but he remembered the aftermath of that episode fondly.
Riél really beat himself up over it for a while…but that was because he knew that Arryn had trusted him, and, crucially, Riél wanted that trust. He didn’t want to risk losing it, even if it meant getting everything else that he wanted. Not once did he blame Arryn for any of it. That was why this was fine.
Even when Riél’s eyes sparked with white and gold, Arryn knew he was safe. Because even if other people balked at calling it romance, and Riél never named his own feelings as love, lacking as he was in longing glances and affectionate smiles and that intuitive magnetic attraction and lust for anything but the thrill of battle, it was still wanting to be together and wanting to protect each other and trust and respect and joy found in the other’s presence. And for Arryn, that was enough.
Riél would even go so far as to indulge him in this, when Riél himself had never shown any interest in sex. Even now, he hadn’t even bothered to undress, when others would be jumping at the chance to get their dick wet. When Arryn’s head had cleared a bit back there, he’d had a moment of panic, thinking that Riél must hate him for forcing him to go along with something like this…had Riél even wanted to be there? Wasn’t this just Arryn crossing those exact same lines that Riél respected with him?
But Riél’s expression now assuaged those fears. Clearly, he was having fun. Arryn didn’t quite know what could be so fun about sex without the whole getting your dick wet part, but maybe it was just something about having Arryn in his arms like this, ready and willing to take whatever Riél would give him. Or maybe—
“Ngh—!?”
Arryn’s back arched and his thoughts abruptly cut off as Riél gripped the base of the toy and roughly shoved it fully inside. Arryn gasped for air, stars still dancing in his eyes. That. That felt fantastic. As everything had so far. Suddenly, Arryn was pissed.
Fucking hell. He’d really thought—for years—that he didn’t like it rough. But no! He liked the tingly burn on his skin from the hot stone earlier, and he liked the way Riél pushed the whole length in all at once. Turns out, he actually just didn’t like it when some entitled piece of shit didn’t bother to check in with or prep him at all before pulling out a whip and shoving his knot in there.
Great! Thanks! Really good fucking timing on that revelation! Can I get 10 years of my sex life back, please?
[Notice: Role <Riél>, based on current appearances, would gladly take you up on that.]
Oh, fuck off! Don’t remind me that you’re here! Can’t a guy have some privacy!
[Notice: after a series of unfortunate incidents, <privacy mode> is no longer enabled.]
Unfortunate incidents? What the hell?
[Special message: sometimes contractors getkilled during sex ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ dont worry, nothing i havent seen before!!]
What is that supposed to mean?!
“Hnng~!”
His thoughts were cut off again when Riél pulled the toy halfway out and shoved it back in to the hilt.
“Are you talking to that thing again?”
Arryn barely had the presence of mind to register his mildly displeased tone. Damn the light of heaven itself, was sex supposed to feel this good?
But then his mind did register the displeased tone and he couldn’t hold back a petulant whine.
“Hnnn~ i-it’s not my fault!”
Damn, he sounded really pathetic. A part of him tried to be embarrassed about it, but it was losing to the part that really really wanted that cock to start moving again. Come on, God, fuck, he could feel it. Right there! Not doing anything!
He didn’t even notice that he was trying to shift his hips up until Riél’s hand pinned him to the floor. The reminder that Riél was, physically, several times stronger than him made his gut swoop like a wave of vertigo and his head briefly blurred into a wordless soup excitement, anticipation, and pleasure.
He managed to blink himself back to awareness somewhat, but had clearly missed something that Riél had said. Riél smiled, his expression doing that thing where his eyes still looked cold, but Arryn could tell this was one was genuine.
“You like that, do you?” He kneaded Arryn’s waist, the warm touch and the low, purring voice sending shivers down his spine. “Knowing that I could take you apart?”
Yes. God, yes.
“I could break you, end you, tear you open and eat you, if I wanted to.”
He could! But he wouldn’t. After all…
“Did you know?” Riél tilted his head, eyes sparkling with mirth. “One of the most fragile parts of the human body is the neck.” A gloved hand rested on the column of Arryn’s throat. “Even mild pressure can cause delayed fatal swelling in the airway. And any damage to the carotid artery is practically a death sentence.” Fingers brushed along his pulse. “That’s not to mention the possible side effects of stimulation to the vagus nerve, or the potential to break the vertebral column of the spine…”
And though each threatening word was accompanied by a shifting touch, Arryn didn’t flinch. Because he knew that Riél wouldn’t act on it. Not without Arryn’s say-so. No excuses and no flattery. Just…pure obedience.
Arryn slowly lifted his own hand, laid it over Riél’s, and pressed down.
Riél stalled for a moment, his whole body freezing in place, as if he wasn’t actually expecting to get permission for something like this…but he recovered quickly. With a smile, he started making gentle thrusts with the toy in one hand, while the other gradually, carefully, applied more and more pressure to Arryn’s neck.
Arryn moaned at the feeling of the warm cock moving inside him, his legs caught between watching to clamp around it to feel it better, and wanting to spread further so it could somehow go deeper. The pressure on his neck was a comforting weight, reminding him that this was all at the mercy of his favorite person. Then, the pressure reached a tipping point, and he struggled to breathe.
His body instinctively flinched, eyes widening, heart racing, but he forced himself not to recoil. Still, he couldn’t fight the instinct to try to breathe, panic building in his chest as each breath choked and failed, the intensity of it mixing with the pleasure to make his vision spin. He went lightheaded. Tears gathered in his eyes. He couldn’t see straight. He kept trying to breathe but he couldn’t. His vision blurred. His thoughts dissolved. He couldn’t breathe. Spots danced in his vision. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t. He couldn’t—
He could breathe.
His head was spinning. He still couldn’t see straight. He still felt light, like his mind was floating. Everything was bright. And wonderful.
“Huh, you really liked that.”
Yeah, he did. He was still, liking it, actually. Everything was fuzzy and bright and good.
Arryn nodded absently.
Riél laughed and pumped the cock in and out of him again while caressing his neck, Riél’s fingers applying ghosts of pressure to different places that made his heart skip a beat or caused Arryn’s surroundings to go fuzzy again.
“So, this is the time when you’re most honest with me, huh? When I have you under me, fucking you within an inch of your life?”
Arryn nodded again. Yeah, that sounded about right.
“Should I do this more often, then? Wrap one hand around your neck and fist you ‘til you cum every time I need you to answer a question?”
He nodded, desperately slurring out, “Y-yes!” God, yes, that sounded so good. He wanted to feel this way more. And more. And more.
Riél barked a laugh. “You really are…”
Riél didn’t bother finishing the statement. That was fine. Arryn wasn’t really registering the words anyway. All he knew was that this was the best thing that’s ever happened to him and he never wanted it to stop.
Then, Riél leaned in close, and lay another, much more deliberate bite on his other scent gland. A proper mating bite. Arryn’s body locked up. His head went blank. For a long moment there was nothing but bliss. Utter bliss. And pleasure. And bliss.
God. God. That was good. That was so good. He was in heaven. He was never going to die. He wanted this to go on and on and on and on…but as the high edged off, he noticed that there was still something missing. Some deep seated instinct that was still unsatisfied. What could it be? What the fuck could it possibly be? This was already the best sex of his life. What else was there?!
[Notice: omega heat is generally unsatisfied until penetrated with <an inflated knot>.]
…inwardly, or maybe outwardly, he groaned in frustration. Because the damn thing was right. He was still missing that feeling, wasn’t he? How long was this guy planning to hold out for, anyway? This was Arryn’s, what? Third? Fourth orgasm tonight?
Heat doesn’t equal unlimited stamina!! Hurry the fuck up and activate the sigil or else you’ll have to deal with me being horny and starving!
Arryn forced open his misty eyes to see what the hell was taking so long. Was this guy just enjoying himself that much?
But, against all expectations, what he saw was Riél looking at him with some genuine surprise.
“You’re still not done?”
Not funny.
Arryn kicked his heel against Riél’s back.
Hurry it up!
But Riél just frowned in confusion.
“What was that for?”
…did this guy…not know about the sigil?
Arryn sighed. His throat was sore. He didn’t want to waste his breath explaining. He…also didn’t want to have to be the one to do this to himself…but…between that and having to verbally tell Riél to put a knot in him…he’d pick the former.
The dregs of whatever pride he had left had to cling to something, right?
So, he slowly reached between his legs with his own hand, firmly refusing to look Riél in the eye, while embarrassment threatened to burn him alive. He pressed a finger to the base of the toy, and passed a small amount of mana into the closed sigil. And instantly—
He gasped.
There was no gradual expansion, and the sudden fullness knocked the wind out of him, turning his thoughts to mush again. There was an overwhelming feeling of rightness and goodness and yes yes yes yes.
After a few moments, he regained a modicum of awareness, registering that he was crying and clinging to Riél again, but this time it was fine. He wasn’t scared. He was just so, so, overwhelmingly happy. Through the heat and the haze of pleasure, a thought crystallized—this is how it should be.
He was happy. Nesting with his precious person. Filled with proof of their love and devotion. And that pressure stretching the walls of his cunt made him feel so good. So wanted. So needed. So loved. It was proof. It was proof that the person he loved did really want him back. That he wasn’t just indulging Arryn, that he cared. And it made Arryn so, so, so very happy.
A warm hand lay low on his abdomen, just above his clit, and pressed down, feeling the curve of the knot, and Arryn cried out because he could feel it too, pressing into every inch of him, like it should be, and it felt so, so good. So, sooooo good and right and he wasn’t scared he was doing it right. He was doing something right because it felt sooooo so good and good and right it felt like he was floating but it was good and right and so so good and…
Riél watched with some fascination as Arryn continued to shudder and moan with with blank, mindless pleasure, as if still cresting an orgasm that simply refused to end. An intriguing concept, but it sounded exhausting. Erin suspected this was the real reason why omegas generally needed a heat partner, even if they had no intention to make a mate bond…Arryn’s limbs were probably going to be jelly after this.
Still, Erin liked seeing Arryn like this. Just completely blissed out. Unguarded. Leaving himself at Riél’s mercy because he knew he’d be safe. It…honestly, somehow, made Erin really…happy? Yeah, happy. This made him happy. For some reason?
Another line of inquiry to be examined later, he supposed. For now, he focused on soothing Arrryn so that he didn’t get completely overwhelmed and the pleasure turned into panic like it did earlier. He ran his bare hand over Arryn’s skin, attempting a grounding touch. And while hesitating on what to do with his other hand, he remembered that Arryn had really liked the leather glove.
He experimentally placed a finger in his mouth. That seemed to be a well-received move, and Arryn happily licked, chewed, and sucked on two of his fingers. He could have just taken off the glove like he did earlier…but maybe he could admit that he also got some satisfaction out of watching the young master drool over his fingers like they were the hottest thing in the world.
They should be. He was literally a god. If anyone in this universe should be unfairly hot, wouldn’t it be him?
But eventually the trembling stopped and the little moans and mewls petered out and, while maybe not quite all there yet, Arryn’s eyes regained a bit of clarity.
Erin smiled and couldn’t resist using a patronizing tone to ask, “There now, is that all better?”
Still a bit hazy, Arryn nodded honestly.
Riél laughed. This was really the most amusing side effect of the whole thing. To think that this was all it took for Arryn to drop the pretenses around him!
Ah, but even as the cuteness it made him want to sink his teeth in and take advantage, knowing that Arryn had his limits held him back.
He sighed. “You’re lucky I actually like you.”
Arryn nodded again. And that. May have hit something somewhere between his ribs. He really…such effortless trust…
…at any rate, they should probably clean up. The textbook said to leave the knot in for a few hours, up to overnight, but he could clean up the rest in the meantime. He couldn’t do much about the wet fabrics at the moment…but he could at least move them so they had a dry place to rest. But that wouldn’t last long without them both getting a wash first…hm…
“Is the worst of it over?”
Arryn nodded.
“Will you freak out if I take you out of the nest to wash up?”
Arryn shook his head.
With each motion, he didn’t take his eyes off of Riél. His pupils were still wide enough to nearly swallow his irises, shining with pure, unbridled love, as if Riél was the single most important thing in the entire world…and…he…should feel flattered, and he was, but there was still a part of him that doubted if the affection he felt in his own chest could ever match the feelings held in that gaze…did it matter?
This was his favorite person, and if anything happened to him, the whole world would pay. Was that love? He still didn’t really feel the urge to be in Arryn’s body…at least, not in that way, even though he thought Arryn was cute and pretty. Did that kind of attraction need to factor into love in the first place? Maybe the whole “I kind of want to tear open your skin and eat you” thing was enough?
Whatever. Who cares? What was important was that this was his favorite person in the entire world, and so Erin was going to take care of him and keep him safe, by any means possible. …well, safe and, hopefully, sane. His mood still soured thinking about that one time…
Put it out of mind, there’s more important things to attend to. Like picking Arryn up to carry him to the bath. Erin wrapped one arm under Arryn’s thighs and used the other to support his back. Arryn instantly leaned his whole weight into Erin, clinging to him and purring so loudly Erin could feel it in his own chest.
He carried Arryn to the bath, and turned on the spigot. As they waited for the bath to fill, he sat on the bench by the tub, grabbed the bathing ladle and dipped it into the stream. It was a new custom for Erin at first, to wash up with the ladle first then enter the bath second, but it made sense. He was more used to showers, anyway, so he often skipped the bath. After all, the only temperature of water he could truly relax in was boiling…
Anyway, it was at that moment that, for the first time, he truly took in the sorry state of his own clothes…he sighed, and set about painstakingly removing Arryn’s grip from his clothes so he could strip himself. After one too many failed attempts, he clicked his tongue and said,
“Just relax and let me undress, will you?”
At that, Arryn finally stilled, and graciously let go. Erin quickly stripped himself and settled in behind Arryn, not really catching onto the way Arryn’s eyes roamed his body.
(But Arryn, too, held himself back, know that they were both fatigued and Arryn probably didn’t have the stamina for another round…but…the idea of climaxing so hard he passed out…did have a certain appeal…forget it, for now. Considering everything that’s happened in the years since they met, Riél probably had his own hangups about seeing Arryn faint…)
Arryn squirmed a bit as Erin matter of factly dragged a soapy washcloth over his skin while rinsing away the sweat and blood and the general goop of things, and it was a bit cute, but nothing dramatic happened. The only thing of note was that he noticed that the line he had drawn on Arryn’s skin with the emberstone was already a bit raised, beginning to become inflamed. He traced up the line with a light touch and felt Arryn shudder. He stalled. This was…technically an injury. But a light one. It would be healed with a simple potion without even leaving a trace. But…
“…do you want to keep it?”
Arryn stilled. Erin watched as Arryn’s ears turned an even deeper shade of red. He nodded.
Erin smiled.
“Alright.”
He cleaned them both thoroughly, paying special attention to the bite marks. Could you imagine? Letting your mating bite get infected? The whole biting thing seemed kind of counterintuitive, to be perfectly frank. Wasn’t the whole point of this set up to increase fertility, not increase dying by sepsis? Whatever.
When that was done, he dried the area and put a temporary patch over it so he didn’t have to worry about getting a bandage wet while they relaxed in the bath.
Once Erin had deemed them both sufficiently rinsed off, the tub was full, and Erin stuck his hand in the water to heat it. Technically, there were sigils to heat the water carved into the tub as well…but it was faster this way. Once it was warm (by Arryn’s standards, not his own) he lowered them both into the water. It was a bit of a tight fit, and Arryn’s bones were indeed all jelly at the moment, so he had to awkwardly lean over the side of tub to hold himself upright. But it was fine.
Erin picked up a random body oil off the conveniently placed shelf near the tub, warmed it slightly, and and began to knead it into Arryn’s skin. He’d definitely improved his technique by now, and felt no small amount of pride in how Arryn seemed to instantly melt into a puddle, closing his eyes with a contented sigh and purring as loud as ever. He worked his way across Arryn’s shoulders and down his back. It was a bit too cramped to do his legs…but that was fine, he could save that for later. For now, he reached over to grab the hair oil…and noticed that there were also a couple varieties of healing potion stocked among the vials.
…were those always there? Or…did the staff know…did they just know it was going to turn out like this…
Whichever it was, he was still going to use it. Who knows how the family would react if they walked in the next day and saw Arryn had strangulation bruises on his neck…he shivered just thinking about. That was one conversation that did not need to be had.
He poured a bit into his palm and worked it into the delicate skin of Arryn’s throat. Amusingly, the purring didn’t abide for even a moment, as if any gentle touch counted as worthy of affection. Erin wasn’t going to ask him to hold the bottle, so he tipped Arryn’s head back himself and coaxed his jaw open. Arryn let him manhandle him without any resistance, and drank the rest of the potion without even opening his eyes. Belatedly, Erin realized that this would probably heal the welt on his back as well…but if that was the case, he’d just have to make another one.
He finished treating Arryn’s throat, worked some rose oil into his hair, and pulled them both from the bath. By this point, Arryn had relaxed enough that he was hovering on the edge of sleep. His expression remained utterly peaceful as Erin dried them off with a bit of magic, wrapped them both in soft bathrobes, and carried him back to the nest. He had to do a bit of arranging, but within moments, they were laying on fresh, clean blankets. Erin lay on his side, keeping Arryn tucked in his arms. Even practically asleep, Arryn still snuggled closer to his warmth.
…if Erin was being honest, there were a lot of things he was still unsure about. There were things he wanted to know about Arryn, about himself, and things he wanted to try now that he realized that this kind of intimacy was even something that could be enjoyable. And in that moment, for perhaps the first time in his life, Erin, or Riél, or whoever he was now, felt like he could rest assured in the knowledge they would have time to explore all of it.
Together.