Archive of Our Own ^beta

“There’s a village halfway down the mountain,” Lan Zhan said. “They have a pharmacy.”

“I can’t go,” Wei Ying said, “I can’t move, I can’t leave the room, everyone will know.” She started shuffling backward on the bed, flattening her back against the headboard as if worried Lan Zhan would drag her out.

“I’ll send Nie Huaisang,” Lan Zhan said.

“No!” Wei Ying said. “You can’t tell anyone! I’ll die, Lan Zhan, you have to promise not to tell!” She knew vaguely that she was being annoying, that Lan Zhan wasn’t her alpha and she hadn’t yet earned the right to demand all this, but still she whined, “What are we gonna do, Lan Zhan! How do I fix this, I don’t know what to--” and another wave of heat rolled through her, making her gasp, making her shove the heel of her hand against her clit and hold it there, eyes squeezed shut, cotton of her underwear sodden against her skin.

“I will go,” Lan Zhan said. “It won’t take long.”

Wei Ying jumped forward, shaking her head, the fleeting instinct to pull away from Lan Zhan replaced by another, much more persistent instinct to crawl into her lap. She wrapped her arms around Lan Zhan’s waist. “No,” she said. “Alpha. Please. You can’t leave.”

Lan Zhan was sitting on the edge of the bed with her feet on the floor, and Wei Ying lay beside her, head buried in Lan Zhan’s lap and arms tight around her waist and Lan Zhan’s hands in her hair. Wei Ying could smell her, Lan Zhan’s scent reacting to her own, the overwhelming musk of Lan Zhan’s arousal. She dug her face deeper into Lan Zhan’s crotch, not caring how ridiculous and slutty she must look, not caring that the metal zipper of Lan Zhan’s Levis was cutting into her nose. She could feel Lan Zhan getting hard, her dick growing under Wei Ying’s desperate breaths, and Wei Ying wanted it. She needed it.

“You can’t spend the whole weekend like this,” Lan Zhan said. “Wei Ying. Let me help you.”

“Just fuck me,” Wei Ying said, rolling over so that her head was tipped in Lan Zhan’s lap, staring up into Lan Zhan’s face. She reached for Lan Zhan’s hands, trying to pull them to her tits, press them to her peaked and aching nipples. “Help me, Lan Zhan, fuck me, give me your dick.”

Wei Ying could feel Lan Zhan’s dick still growing beneath her, like a hot iron bar pushed up against her skull, and she arched her back up until her hips were lifting off the bed, and pulled down her underwear. Had they locked the door? She couldn’t remember. She didn’t care.

“Wei Ying.”

“No,” Wei Ying whined, twisting her underwear off of her left foot and tossing it somewhere on the floor. “Don’t call me that, call me, call me--”

“Omega,” Lan Zhan said, and as Wei Ying sighed with pleasure, Lan Zhan used one big hand to massage Wei Ying’s aching tits and the other to clamp over Wei Ying’s mouth, keeping her quiet. “I am going to walk to the pharmacy. You are going to stay here and wait for me. You can have it when I’m back.”

“Give it now,” Wei Ying pleaded, muffled against her hand, “why not now, why not both, Lan Zhan, alpha,” and she widened her eyes so far that they started to water, tears pooling and then streaming steadily down her cheeks. It was her final weapon, and normally her most effective. But Lan Zhan was determined. Through the tears Wei Ying had started licking at Lan Zhan’s hand, some desperate urge to taste her, and Lan Zhan took her hand back and set it on the bed.

“If I fuck you now, we won’t be able to stop,” she said.

“Don’t have to stop,” Wei Ying said, “Never stop, Lan Zhan, just keep fucking me forever--”

“All of our colleagues are here,” Lan Zhan said. “We are supposed to join them for dinner in two hours.”

Wei Ying groaned, twisting again so she could push her face into Lan Zhan’s stomach, the soothing warmth of her belly. Lan Zhan was just so hard, throbbing, and it was that more than anything else that made Wei Ying relent. Lan Zhan wanted her; Lan Zhan was not trying to escape this. She just wanted to help Wei Ying, and Wei Ying had to let her, if she was going to survive this weekend.

“Go quick,” Wei Ying said. “Be really fast, Lan Zhan, promise you’ll be quick.”

“I’ll be quick,” Lan Zhan said. She stroked over Wei Ying’s hair again, down her spine to her lower back, where Wei Ying’s grey tank top was already dark with sweat. “Wei Ying must be good and keep quiet.”

“I know,” Wei Ying said, “I will,” but at the same time she was dragging herself up onto her knees, first just to chase the feeling of Lan Zhan’s hand on her back but then so she could position herself more effectively in Lan Zhan’s lap, lying across Lan Zhan on her stomach with her ass up in the air. Lan Zhan made a low, irritated noise, and Wei Ying delighted in it, couldn’t help the fresh trickle that slipped out of her pussy. Lan Zhan’s erection was digging into her stomach now, but it wasn’t enough, Wei Ying wanted to feel it the other way, wanted Lan Zhan to be fucking into her so she could feel it poking into her belly, see the bulge it made when Lan Zhan pushed up through her insides.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said. “Stop. Let me go.”

The command only made Wei Ying feel more undone, more desperate to keep Lan Zhan close. “Can’t,” she panted, “can’t let you leave, changed my mind, please, you can’t make me--” and then Lan Zhan spanked her. One stinging slap to her ass that made Wei Ying’s whole body shake, the loud snapping sound reverberating across the room, and Lan Zhan hit her again, and again, big palm covering Wei Ying’s whole asscheek and Wei Ying bucking and moaning and begging her to be nice. She tried lifting her head but Lan Zhan pushed her back down against the sheets, hand on the back of her neck, forcing her still.

Lan Zhan gave her ten strikes and then paused, taking deep, measured breaths, but she seemed more self-possessed now, calmer. Her scent was back under control. When she spoke her voice was low and even.

“You will wait here,” she said. “You will be good. You will be quiet.”

“Alpha,” Wei Ying whimpered, and Lan Zhan hit her again. “Okay! Okay, Lan Zhan, I promise, promise to be good.”

“Stand,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying did, pulling herself up with limbs that were weak and trembling. Once she was off of Lan Zhan’s lap, Lan Zhan stood too, and pulled back the bedcovers. “Get into bed,” she said, and Wei Ying obeyed her. She had forgotten how much a heat affected her mind; the physical aspects were familiar, the rolls of hot desire and the pulsing swell of her clit and the ache for something to fill her up. But she had forgotten the mental aspects, the cloud of need that came over her, the way she couldn’t think about anything other than alphas, an alpha’s mouth on her skin, an alpha’s dick stuffing her full. The way it made her desperate for orders, for pain, for anything that her alpha wanted to give her.

Lan Zhan took off her sweatshirt - washed out navy blue, an old and comfortable one she had worn for the drive up here - and pulled it over Wei Ying’s head, helping each of her arms into the sleeves. Wei Ying sighed, drinking in Lan Zhan’s scent, tucking her nose down against the collar.

“Bed,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying fell down onto the pillows and let Lan Zhan tuck a blanket over her. “Less than an hour,” Lan Zhan repeated. She leant over Wei Ying, pressed a kiss to her fevered brow. “I promise.”

“Are you sure,” Wei Ying whispered, “alpha, are you sure that you should go?”

“I’m sure,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying let the weight of those words sink through her, allowing herself to coast on Lan Zhan’s certainty.

“Okay,” Wei Ying said. “Be quick.”

“Good girl,” Lan Zhan said, and pulled her coat from its hook by the door, and then she was gone.

Wei Ying had always tried to maintain a semblance of dignity around Lan Zhan. Even after they started fucking and Lan Zhan got her face down ass up four times a week, she had so far managed to avoid anything approaching mortifying ordeal material. But her heat had really fucked things up.

It came on so suddenly, when they were already three hours into the four hour drive to this stupid mountain resort town where their work retreat was taking place. She had been trying to ignore the signs all day, the rising tension in her gut, the tenderness in her nipples and how wet she was this morning. She had assumed it was just the anticipation about seeing Lan Zhan, being alone with her in a car for that amount of time and then the whole weekend cooped up together in this grand hotel, sneaking in and out of each other’s rooms, locking eyes across the table at every meal.

She woke up this morning from deep, searching dreams and found that she’d missed three calls from Lan Zhan and just received a message that read wake up wei ying. When she got out of bed and looked out the window Lan Zhan was waiting outside her building, leaning against her car with one foot kicked up behind her, black boot resting on the fender. When she saw Wei Ying in the window she tilted her chin up in greeting and then tapped her watch, and Wei Ying grinned and ran off to shower and was only mildly surprised by her drenched underwear, the way that the hot water tingled against her skin.

For the whole drive she thought the throbbing in her clit and the light sweat on her lower back was just a Lan Zhan thing, but when they were approaching the mountains and the first drifts of snow were starting to fall, a sharp cramp had seized Wei Ying’s lower belly and all of a sudden she knew what was coming, and she must have made a distressed noise, or maybe it was evident in her scent, because Lan Zhan asked if she was alright, and Wei Ying found that she couldn’t reply because the only two words in her head were not now not now not now. But the heat sank over her like a cloud.

Lan Zhan returned to the hotel room 45 minutes later with flakes of snow in her hair and on her clothes. She shrugged off her coat and paused to dust herself off but Wei Ying was on her before she got the chance, leaping onto Lan Zhan’s back and clinging to her shoulders, thighs around Lan Zhan’s hips.

Wei Ying was drenched in sweat and had already come three times while Lan Zhan was gone, twisted up in the heavy hotel sheets with Lan Zhan’s sweatshirt rucked up under her armpits, the hem of it shoved into her mouth as she touched herself, partly to silence herself and partly just for the taste of it. Now she chased the same taste on Lan Zhan’s skin, pressing kisses along her neck, licking and nipping when kissing wasn’t enough.

Lan Zhan’s hair was straight, sleek, and cut short just below her ears, so there was always a nice bare stretch of neck between the ends of her hair and the collars of her shirts. She wore a cloud pendant charm on a silver chain and a mild cologne that did nothing to cover up her scent. Wei Ying drank it all in, codifying it, silver and cotton and cold, skin, alpha.

Lan Zhan hadn’t spoken yet but Wei Ying was vaguely aware that they were moving, Lan Zhan was walking backwards toward the bed. When they were close enough she pinched Wei Ying’s arms, hard enough to make her yelp and let go, falling back onto the mattress in surprise. She opened her mouth to whine, already coming up on her elbows to launch herself at Lan Zhan again, and then Lan Zhan turned around and unzipped her jeans, shoving them down just enough to take out her dick and sink it into Wei Ying, all the way up to the hilt.

Wei Ying couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She arched up into it, felt all of her muscles giving way to Lan Zhan’s, and she started to howl but Lan Zhan was there to clamp a hand over her mouth. Lan Zhan didn’t tease. The bed was high enough that Lan Zhan could stand between Wei Ying’s legs and fuck her hard like that, so hard that Wei Ying bounced back on the bed and Lan Zhan had to drag her back, dragging her omega back onto her dick with a rough, demanding urgency.

Wei Ying was strung out on her own relief. She came almost immediately but she barely registered it, just a frisson in her lower belly and a shudder of release and then she was whining again, scrabbling her hands at Lan Zhan’s shoulders as Lan Zhan fucked her through it, climbing onto the bed and bracing herself over Wei Ying, cupping her face in her hands. Wei Ying’s mouth was hanging open and whatever noises came out of it were not her doing; Lan Zhan forced them out of her, a scraping cry for every fuck of her hips. Wei Ying was desperate for Lan Zhan to come but too strung out to beg for it so she just squeezed tight instead, hoarding as much of Lan Zhan’s dick as possible inside of her, squeezing her thighs where they were draped around Lan Zhan’s waist.

Normally just before coming Lan Zhan got this severe, determined look in her eye and tightened her grip on whatever part of Wei Ying’s body she happened to be pinning down, but this time Lan Zhan’s hand stayed soft, thumbing at the sweat that trailed down Wei Ying’s temples. Lan Zhan stared down at her and there was a crease to her brow like she was worried. It was only right at the moment of her orgasm that her face straightened out again, face swept briefly clean and blissful as she spilled inside of Wei Ying and murmured her name as Wei Ying squeezed tight around her again, wanting to make sure she got all of it, not wanting any of her alpha’s come to go to waste.

You’re on birth control, some sober voice in her brain reminded her, doesn’t matter if she comes in you or not, and it gave Wei Ying a strange pang of sadness to think so. Strange because Wei Ying was not sad to be on birth control, was in fact deeply relieved that she was, because she wasn’t interested in becoming some alpha’s baby machine. It was just the heat making her loopy and tricking her into thinking Lan Zhan was her mate, or that she wanted Lan Zhan to get her pregnant, or something.

Wei Ying needed heat suppressants.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, sweaty and breathless, “how did - hey, no, no! Alpha! Don’t!”

Lan Zhan was easing out of her, moving backward on the bed and clearly doing her best to make it bearable, not moving too quickly or roughly any more. It was not bearable at all. Wei Ying was burning up, pain seizing her abdomen as Lan Zhan slipped free of her and the desperate yearning returned. Nothing inside her, nothing touching. Wei Ying started shivering uncontrollably and clawing at Lan Zhan’s shirt.

Lan Zhan’s dick was already receding and Wei Ying watched tragically as she zipped her jeans back up, tucking her shirt in again. Wei Ying tried to sit up but she felt too weak, feverish, and she lay on her back heaving deep breaths while Lan Zhan fetched something from her jacket and sat down beside her.

“Please,” Wei Ying said, “please don’t leave me alone again.” She wrapped her arms around Lan Zhan’s midsection and was only distantly surprised when Lan Zhan allowed it, and didn't push her away. Instead Lan Zhan stroked Wei Ying’s arms through the sweatshirt, her desperate clutching fingers where they were balled up in Lan Zhan’s shirt, and waited for Wei Ying to calm down.

When Wei Ying had relaxed her hold enough, Lan Zhan gently unwrapped Wei Ying’s arms from around her waist and rearranged them so that Lan Zhan was sitting on the edge of the bed with one knee tucked up under her and Wei Ying was lying on her side, her head propped on Lan Zhan’s thigh. Wei Ying was sweating so Lan Zhan helped peel the sweatshirt off of her. Wei Ying took deep, careful breaths to stop herself from crawling fully into Lan Zhan’s lap.

“They did not have suppressants,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying whined and felt Lan Zhan’s wide palm sweep down her arm, soothing, but even the lightest touch sent sparks to Wei Ying’s belly and she realized that she was whining not because she really wanted the suppressants but because it felt wrong to her, that her alpha was trying to help her suppress her heat.

But that was - how it should be. Wei Ying didn’t want to be in heat and she did want Lan Zhan to help her. Also, Lan Zhan wasn’t her alpha.

Lan Zhan was still talking.

“They offered to order some in but the whole town is cut off from the snowstorm.”

Her palm was sweeping, slow and warm, up and down Wei Ying’s arm. It was too much, making the hairs on the back of Wei Ying’s neck stand up, so she caught Lan Zhan’s hand in hers and dragged it down between her legs and clenched her damp thighs around it. Lan Zhan’s face did something serious like she was re-calibrating, but she didn’t pull her hand away and after a second she went on, in the same calm tone as before.

“The pharmacy didn’t know when their supply truck would get through. We can’t leave until the roads have been cleared.”

This time when Wei Ying groaned she was upset about the right things. Trapped up a fucking mountain in heat with no access to suppressants and no way to leave and a hotel full of co-workers all around them. Wei Ying rocked against Lan Zhan’s hand where it was still resting between her thighs, just to feel some pressure against her clit, and Lan Zhan’s fingers curled, like maybe she was trying to resist pulling away. Wei Ying needed to say something, quickly, before she started crying.

“I’m,” she said, and realized that she was panting, had to take a second to catch her breath. Finally: “I’m going to kill Huaisang for making us come here.”

Lan Zhan’s mouth got that tender slant. Wei Ying stared up at her, fascinated. She squeezed her thighs again and felt Lan Zhan’s hand twitch between her legs.

“I was able to buy scent blockers,” Lan Zhan said. “It will make it harder for people to tell.”

Wei Ying closed her eyes. “Scent blockers are alpha privilege,” she said. “Of course the bougie ski resort town with the spa hotel only sells the kinds of meds that mean I won’t disturb other alphas. Lan Zhan, this is such a fucking mess, I have to - have to -”

Lan Zhan nudged Wei Ying’s thighs apart enough to slip two fingers inside her. She didn’t fuck them in and out but instead held them inside, not as thick as her cock but heavy and settling all the same, something to tighten around. Wei Ying closed her eyes. “Please,” she said, and Lan Zhan crooked her fingers, massaging inside, and it felt weirdly clinical but intimate all the same, as if Lan Zhan was tending to a wound. Wei Ying relaxed into the mattress a bit, one hand cupping her lower stomach where her skin felt fiery and sore.

“I could ask someone from HR,” Lan Zhan said quietly. “Maybe there are supplies of some kind -”

“No,” Wei Ying said, “no no no, Lan Zhan, HR hate me enough as it is and they’ll ask all these patronizing questions and imply that it’s my fault - it is my fault, Lan Zhan, I should have been tracking my cycles better, it’s just that I think regular sex kind of, fucks up my cycle for a bit, and before you I hadn’t, for a while, or ever actually--”

Lan Zhan’s eyes widened and Wei Ying gave a high, sweaty laugh. “No I mean, I had sex before you, but never, like, repeatedly, with the same person.”

Never with anyone where she couldn’t stop. The first time they fucked Wei Ying had thought that it would be another one night stand, another night with a random alpha, only more ill advised than usual because she worked with Lan Zhan and their professional relationship wasn’t that good to start with.

Lan Zhan was second-in-command on the legal team while Wei Ying kicked about in Community Outreach and initially their paths never crossed except to argue about copyright disputes and occasionally when Lan Zhan shot down some of Wei Ying’s more out there fundraising ideas, citing liability issues. Wei Ying argued that liabilities were the whole reason why they had a legal team, so why didn’t the legal team just do their job and deal with the fallout of her plans rather than cutting them off at the source?

During one of these exchanges Lan Zhan got so mad she snapped a pencil in one clenched fist right there in the boardroom. It was enough to break Wei Ying’s flow, mouth hanging slightly open, staring at the shards of wood in Lan Zhan’s hand and her heavy knuckles, her whole body like a series of sharp lines, her jaw and her shoulders and her mouth, the veneer of control and something more potent lurking underneath. She noticed for the first time that Lan Zhan’s scent had taken over the room, smokey and severe, giving Wei Ying some weird impulse to - fall, or pause, or something, but she was furious at the idea of it so instead she put her hands on her hips to cover up their shaking and said “If you can’t control your impulses we have an isolation booth where you can calm down,” adding sweetly, “No judgement, alpha. You should take care of yourself if you’re agitated.”

Lan Zhan had walked out without saying anything else. “First door on your left,” Wei Ying called. “We can wait!”

She hadn’t meant to start sleeping with Lan Zhan.

She definitely would not have, if Lan Zhan hadn’t tricked her into sharing a cab home from the summer gala together. In the backseat with the partition rolled up Lan Zhan had ended up ripping open Wei Ying’s dress, tearing out the hooks that ran all the way down her back and yanking her fully out of it, which would’ve been hot - was hot - except for the fact that the dress was a rental. When Wei Ying got charged for it she left the bill on Lan Zhan’s desk, because alphas deserve consequences for their actions.

Lan Zhan never said anything but the rental shop didn’t harass Wei Ying further so she guessed the bill must have been paid. The next time Lan Zhan cornered Wei Ying she made a big silent show of very carefully unbuttoning Wei Ying’s shirt and folding it neatly before she moved on to gently unzipping Wei Ying’s skirt and easing it down her hips until Wei Ying shoved at her, exasperated. Lan Zhan shoved her back. They were in a supply closet and there wasn’t much room to tussle; Lan Zhan took her pressed up against the door, hand over her mouth to keep her quiet and the other on her hip to hold her still.

Tell no one about this, Wei Ying said, and Lan Zhan seemed to take it to heart. Wei Ying had mostly meant it as a dig, but she found that she preferred keeping what they were doing a secret. She couldn’t openly date a lawyer, and an alpha lawyer at that, even if Lan Zhan had quit her cushy well paid job at her uncle’s firm to slum it at a civil rights org. Mom would have a field day if she heard Wei Ying was involved with a Lan, and Yanli would want to meet her, and then Wei Ying would maybe have to return the favour and offer to meet Lan Zhan’s friends or, god forbid, her family. The more people that knew about them only extended the chain of awkwardness and upset when they finally had to pull the plug, for whatever reason, probably the same reason Wei Ying had never been in a long-term relationship, a combination of being high maintenance and unable to properly commit, unwilling to feel like she belonged to another person. It was easier if nobody knew about Lan Zhan. It helped to avoid instances of collateral damage.

They had been secretly fucking for a few months now. Initially Wei Ying had called it hate-fucking but she gradually became less sure that the aggression in their sex life was rooted in any kind of anger or animosity between them. Lan Zhan fucked Wei Ying like she wanted to subdue her, held her down so hard she left marks on her hips and wrists. Once she took Wei Ying by the ponytail and ground her face so deep into the hardwood floor of her apartment that Wei Ying got a nose bleed, and she always fucked Wei Ying like she was sincerely trying to scramble Wei Ying’s internal anatomy, but - it wasn’t hate. Lan Zhan didn’t treat her like an enemy. Lan Zhan had actually been weirdly nice to her, now and then, guided by impulses that Wei Ying could not begin to understand.

Examples included: Lan Zhan bringing her breakfast after they’d fucked for slightly too long the night before, finding Wei Ying yawning at her desk and dropping off a muffin and coffee or boba just the way she liked it or, on crueler days, fruit salad and mineral water, without sticking around long enough for Wei Ying to finish her yawn and say thank you.

Or: Lan Zhan competently defending Wei Ying at the all-hands meeting when ratboy Jin Guangyao called her latest proposal overly ambitious - as much as Wei Ying hated to admit it, Lan Zhan did command a room well when she chose to speak, even if she was one of those annoying lawyers who acted like everyone was beneath them and wore loose fitting jeans to meetings with their Managing Director like she didn’t give a shit.

Or: Lan Zhan offering to drive her to the company retreat up a mountain so she didn’t have to sit in a bus with all the interns and accountants.

Or like now, when Wei Ying’s heat descended out of nowhere on the first day of said company retreat, and Lan Zhan ventured out into the snow on foot to find a pharmacy, and even when she couldn’t get emergency suppressants and they were snowed in and couldn’t drive further afield or leave, she came straight back to find Wei Ying, not abandoning her, not trying to act like it was some omega problem beneath her concern, saying instead: “I am here.”

She made Wei Ying come again with her fingers, quick and quiet, moving with Wei Ying when she kneeled up on the bed and demanded one kiss after another, ignoring her pleas for more than just two fingers. Lan Zhan’s scent was hot and present, another thing keeping Wei Ying close and still, like a hand on the back of her neck.

Once Wei Ying had collapsed back onto the damp sheets, Lan Zhan said, “Tell me how to help you.”

Wei Ying breathed in deep. The second orgasm had done something to ease the burning but her chest still felt so tight, probably because of how sensitive her tits were, her nipples throbbing. When she put her hands on them and twisted to try to ease the ache Lan Zhan looked away like it was rude to watch, even though she’d already seen Wei Ying come twice that evening. The embarrassment would not be a problem for long, Wei Ying knew; soon she would be too far gone to care, to do anything but beg, and so she had to act now, while she could think. This whole situation was - unsustainable. Wei Ying had to be clear about what she wanted.

“I can say that you’re sick,” Lan Zhan said. “We can stay up here and in the morning it will stop snowing and we can leave.”

“I can’t do that,” Wei Ying said immediately. “You’ve got your big speech tomorrow, I’m not gonna ruin that for you. It’s not that bad. I can just... deal with it. I’ll have to deal with it. Anyway, they’re so obsessed with pushing the team building shit, I’ll get in trouble if I don’t attend.”

Recently their Managing Director had made a big deal about bridging some of the animosity between different departments; she had made eye contact with Wei Ying as she said so, which made Wei Ying think that her frequent debates with Lan Zhan were being referred to in particular. Either that or they had caught her making faces behind Jin Zixuan’s back. “Give me the blockers, it’ll be enough. We should get ready for dinner.”

“You need rest.”

“We both know that’s not what I need,” Wei Ying said. She was lying back on the pillows and she inhaled sharply when Lan Zhan leaned over her, propped up on one hand, her face close enough to Wei Ying’s that Wei Ying could count her eyelashes, wet from the snowflakes that had caught on them outside.

“Let me say that you’re sick,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying felt slippery, wavering on the side of giving in. Maybe she was sick - maybe it wouldn’t even be a lie to let Lan Zhan say so, and to hide out up here instead of going down to face everyone. It didn’t mean giving in or being claimed. She could let Lan Zhan look after her, this once.

Lan Zhan saw her hesitating, and pushed her advantage. She lowered her voice to that deep, commanding tone she almost never used and put her hand on Wei Ying’s jaw, cupping her chin. “Wei Ying.”

It made Wei Ying’s whole body shudder. “Don’t,” she said, recoiling, “don’t do that, that’s not fair, you can’t pull alpha shit on me like that, you can’t force me--”

She drew away to the other side of the bed and was revolted by the wave of desperation that came over her, too far from her alpha, needing to be in reaching distance, needing to be held. This was why Wei Ying hated heats and always had, a stupid biological hangover that made her irrational and vulnerable. But up until now they had at least been a solo affair, something she suffered through alone on the rare occasions when she couldn’t suppress it.

She felt shivery and her emotions were all over the place. She wanted to kick Lan Zhan out of the room and at the same time she wanted to barrel across the bed into her arms. She wanted to laugh and pretend that nothing was wrong and she wanted to scream and howl with frustration. She wanted to do exactly what she was told, to give up any desire except the desire to be good. She could feel herself tilting forward, like a magnetic force was dragging her to Lan Zhan’s side.

Lan Zhan was standing now and clearly trying hard not to come over to her which made it worse, both of them subjected to the irresistible pull of something neither of them really wanted to do. Wei Ying started making these awful plaintive noises, like she was crying, except her eyes felt hot and dry.

“Alpha,” she whispered.

Lan Zhan’s hands were both clenched into tight fists but they hung docile at her sides and she did not move closer. “We will go to dinner,” she said. “We’ll eat fast and say that we’re tired.”

“Thank you,” Wei Ying said, falling forward onto the bed. “Thank you, Lan Zhan, that’s what I want,” and she was crawling across the mattress but at least she wasn’t crawling on the floor. She had reached the limit of how long she could spend on the other side of the room and now she needed to be close again. “Thank you, Lan Zhan, can you touch me again, just once more before we go -”

“We need to take the scent blockers,” Lan Zhan said, but she put her cool gentle hand on the side of Wei Ying’s face. Wei Ying nuzzled into it, couldn’t keep her tongue from slipping out and running over Lan Zhan’s fingertips.

“We have time. I want to use my mouth, want the taste of it, you were gone for so long.”

“Wei Ying…”

“Five minutes,” Wei Ying said. She stared up at Lan Zhan and couldn’t imagine how she looked. Her pupils must be blown out, her hair sticking to the sides of her face, mouth like something overripe and bursting. “Please don’t make me beg for it.”

Lan Zhan nodded.

She put Wei Ying on the floor between her knees and took her dick out - Wei Ying didn’t know when Lan Zhan had gotten hard again but there wasn’t time to wonder at it, and instead she swallowed it down, as much as she could manage. She felt hyper-aware of the time limit and she was frantic to get Lan Zhan off before they had to leave, to be able to go downstairs with the taste of Lan Zhan’s come in her mouth, the satisfaction of it pooling in her belly. Lan Zhan grunted as Wei Ying choked herself on it, eyes tightly shut, bobbing her head furiously like someone was yanking her by the hair and drawing off only when she absolutely had to breathe, thick saliva running out of the sides of her mouth.

“Slow down,” Lan Zhan said, voice strained, and Wei Ying felt furious and chastised at once. Disparate responses battled in her head, how dare you tell me how to treat my alpha vs how dare you talk to me like you’re my alpha, but instead of saying either, Wei Ying kept going. She had one hand at the base of Lan Zhan’s cock but she wasn’t doing much with it because it felt so much better to only use her mouth, something like being full. She was swallowing more than she knew how to and she was going to hurt herself, but she didn’t care about that.

“Give me your hands,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying held them up above her head without taking her mouth off of Lan Zhan’s dick. Lan Zhan squeezed Wei Ying’s wrists, holding them tight against her chest, and didn’t let go even when Wei Ying made a frustrated noise.

It was uncomfortable, to have her shoulders wrenched up and her hands above her head while she tried to keep her head bowed down. Held like this, Wei Ying couldn’t choke down too much. Lan Zhan’s dick kept slipping out of her mouth because it was so wet and she had to chase it, straining against the hold to catch the head of Lan Zhan’s dick with her tongue and slide back down onto it, pre-come spurting into her throat like a reward when she could get it down just far enough.

At some point it stopped feeling overwhelming and started to even out. Wei Ying found a rhythm. It smoothed her edges down, to kneel like that with her hands held up and her mouth fully occupied. Lan Zhan started kissing Wei Ying’s fingers, still filthy from fucking herself while she was alone, licking and sucking on them while Wei Ying moaned and suckled on her dick. When Wei Ying spread her own legs further apart she jumped at the touch of leather against her knees, until she realized that Lan Zhan still had her boots on.

For the first time today Wei Ying felt like they had got it right. She was in the right place and she was doing what she should be doing and her alpha had her back under control - except that wasn’t right. That wasn’t what it meant. Wei Ying closed her eyes.

Lan Zhan put her in the shower and when she asked if Wei Ying could wash on her own, Wei Ying said yes. Lan Zhan was barely out of the room, though, her hand still on the bathroom doorknob, when Wei Ying bleated her name.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I don’t know why it’s so - it hurts when I can’t see you.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lan Zhan said, and pulled her own shirt up over her head.

They showered together. In a normal mood Wei Ying might have been afraid that somebody would notice them both coming down to dinner with damp hair, but as it was she barely spared it a thought. It took so much concentration to achieve even the smallest task. Lan Zhan tried to hurry them along but her focus was slipping too, and when Wei Ying turned around in the shower and put her cheek against the wet tile and said please Lan Zhan didn’t tell her off. She didn’t flip the water onto cold, which was what Wei Ying deserved, something to shock and upset her out of her hazy needy state. Instead Lan Zhan adjusted her position, lifting Wei Ying’s hips until she was up on her toes, and fucked into her deep and slow, hands cupping Wei Ying’s tits so that they bounced in her palms, Lan Zhan’s forehead resting on Wei Ying shoulder like she was overwhelmed, too.

She came inside Wei Ying and didn’t act impatient or freaked out when Wei Ying clenched around her, wanting to keep it inside, not wanting any of Lan Zhan’s come to wash away down the drain and whimpering when it did, slick around Lan Zhan’s dick as she regretfully pulled out. Lan Zhan shut the water off and they stayed there for a moment, rivulets of water running over them, until Wei Ying started shivering and Lan Zhan wrapped her up in a towel.

Wei Ying’s bag had been taken to her own room, somewhere else down the hall, and Lan Zhan’s offer to fetch it for her was met with a fresh round of tearful refusal. Wei Ying knew she was just creating more problems for Lan Zhan, but Lan Zhan herself did not seem particularly frazzled. She thought for a moment, peering down into her open suitcase with her hands on her hips, and then picked out a clean dark T-shirt and a plain pair of black underwear.

“Your skirt is okay,” she said, picking the denim skirt up from where it had been thrown, crumpled in the corner. “But your leggings are -” she held them up, and Wei Ying could smell them from where she was perched on the bed, the heat slick drench of her leggings from where she’d squeezed her thighs together so tightly in the car, trying to keep it contained.

Wei Ying took a deep breath. “Okay. I think I’ll be okay without them. It would feel too hot anyway, I can just wear the skirt.”

She dressed herself, but Lan Zhan stayed near the whole time, untucking Wei Ying’s wet hair from the neck of her T-shirt and giving it a cursory rub with the towel, so it was damp but not dripping. She seemed to know without asking that a hairdryer would be too much. Wei Ying mewled at every touch, the gentle scritch of Lan Zhan’s nails against the back of her neck, the warmth of Lan Zhan’s naked body so closed behind hers. She tried to step back into it, press her ass up against Lan Zhan’s crotch, but Lan Zhan stopped her with a palm between her shoulder blades, pushing forward and telling her to fetch her shoes.

Lan Zhan put the same white T-shirt back on with her ever-present Levis. Something about that was relaxing, Lan Zhan dressed in her same old boring outfits like nothing was different. She pulled a tab of pills out of the pocket and gestured to Wei Ying to come closer.

“Scent blockers,” she said, and popped two out onto her palm. “They work for about four hours.”

“Do I need two?” Wei Ying asked. Was her scent really that bad? She knew that it got exaggerated during her heat and Lan Zhan had mentioned before that her scent stood out, called it distinctive one day at the start of a team brainstorm and left Wei Ying spending the whole meeting wondering what that meant, if it was an insult about Wei Ying’s slutty omega scent or if it meant Lan Zhan always noticed her, could have picked her out in a line up based on smell alone.

“One is for me,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying wondered if maybe she thought she’d said something offensive and was trying to save face, but Lan Zhan’s expression was open and honest. Wei Ying could smell Lan Zhan - obviously, it was impossible not to, that sandalwood and rain-steam scent that she knew so well - but for the first time she paid attention to how strong it was. She had assumed it was just her heat making her oversensitive but even after showering and cooling down a little Lan Zhan’s scent was heady, thick, curling through the room and mingling with Wei Ying’s. Lan Zhan was - responding to her. Lan Zhan’s pheromones were firing off like tiny winged messages to Wei Ying’s body: I’m ready. I’m here.

Lan Zhan swallowed her own pill and then told Wei Ying to open her mouth and put the second one on her tongue. Gulp of mineral water to get it down. Good.

They had to wait ten minutes for the effects to kick in, and Lan Zhan took Wei Ying into her lap and kissed her while they waited. Wei Ying let all of her muscles go lax until she was slumped against Lan Zhan’s chest, face hidden in the crook of Lan Zhan’s neck, mouthing noiselessly over her scent gland. They had to be careful not to get Wei Ying too wet, but the denim was dark enough that it wouldn’t show too badly if she did overspill and the kissing worked to dispel the tension a little. The minutes until they had to leave the sanctity of the hotel room were ticking slowly away. Their scents were dissipating slowly and Wei Ying felt tragic about it, as if Lan Zhan herself was disappearing. But it helped to be close and be touched and have the reminder of Lan Zhan’s presence, her arms wrapped in an iron lock around Wei Ying’s waist.

“We should probably have some rules,” Wei Ying said reluctantly. Her voice was scratchy from so much whining. “Since we’re not paired, and this is kind of, intense, I’m probably asking way too much of you already.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying felt her mind wanting to comply, willing the worry away just because Lan Zhan commanded it. She struggled on.

“Okay, but you know this is only the beginning, Lan Zhan. I’m gonna be a mess all weekend. And with you here… You’ll probably have to - take over, a bit. Because I can’t really think like this, I can’t make the right decisions, and normally I would just build a nest and hide on my own and it wouldn’t matter but like this it’s--”

“Wei Ying.”

Lan Zhan’s voice was strained and at first Wei Ying thought she was just exasperated and wanted Wei Ying to shut up. But then Lan Zhan squeezed her hips hard and Wei Ying realized she’d started grinding in Lan Zhan’s lap, unconscious jerks of her pelvis, her denim skirt rucked all the way up her thighs and the fabric bunching up under her ass. Her mouth fell open and she stopped moving, let her muscles go loose, but that meant she sank deeper into Lan Zhan’s lap and she could feel Lan Zhan’s dick half hard beneath her. Her eyes widened and when she looked up Lan Zhan was staring right back at her. Wei Ying rolled her hips forward again, consciously grinding on Lan Zhan’s dick, her mouth still hanging lax and heat coursing through her abdomen, her pussy throbbing, and Lan Zhan was getting harder, dick filling out nicely for Wei Ying and it would be so easy to pop the button on Lan Zhan’s jeans and line herself up and--

“Shit,” Wei Ying hissed, trying to keep her voice even, forcing herself to shuffle back until she couldn’t feel Lan Zhan anymore. She had to take several deep breaths before she could speak again. “See what I mean? This is not under control. We need rules.”

Lan Zhan didn’t answer; her eyes were cast downwards at Wei Ying’s bare thighs, the soft cushiony expanse of them, muscles still tight with the effort of keeping still. One of Lan Zhan’s hands was trailing down Wei Ying’s side, over her hip and further, thumbs probing of their own accord toward the softest stretch of inner thigh, except luckily her hands were cold and Wei Ying yelped at the sensation, shocking them both awake again.

“Rules,” Wei Ying repeated.

Lan Zhan nodded. Her eyes were so dark. “What do you suggest?”

“Okay, well, the first thing is, this would be the absolute worst way for people to find out about us. So we should be careful and not do anything public. Okay, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Zhan said, “Okay.” She looked slightly dubious, but Wei Ying decided to ignore that for now.

“So that means no marks, too, nothing where people can see. And no drinking, that goes for both of us. And - you probably shouldn’t bite me at all, to be safe. So no marks and no biting.”

Lan Zhan said, “Are you sure about that?”

“What? Drinking?”

“Not that.”

“The biting? Of course I’m sure, I don’t like biting anyway.”

Lan Zhan didn’t say anything.

“I don’t, Lan Zhan!”

Lan Zhan leant forward, pulled at the neck of Wei Ying’s T-shirt so she could graze her teeth over Wei Ying’s collarbone and Wei Ying was shiver-shaking, nerve-endings on fire.

“A-a-alpha, no, stop. Stop!”

Lan Zhan stopped. Wei Ying tried to get her bearings but it was hard to think straight. It was a mean trick of Lan Zhan to play when she was supposed to be on Wei Ying’s side. But Wei Ying was starting to think that Lan Zhan was struggling too, to keep all of her impulses in check. It was Wei Ying’s own fault, she knew, it was her heat that was making them act crazy. But they both needed to get a grip.

“You really can’t,” she said. “I know you bite me all the time but right now it makes me feel like you’re... claiming me. Like you’re saying I belong to you.”

“And you don’t,” Lan Zhan said. No inflection, so Wei Ying couldn’t work out if it was a question or not. She didn’t want to leave a shadow of a doubt about it.

“I don’t,” she said. “But Lan Zhan, listen, I might ask for this stuff later. I might, like - I really, really want you to bite me right now.” Lan Zhan made an interested noise, leaning forward, and Wei Ying hurried on, “But I also don’t want it! I don’t actually want you to do it, it’s just my heat making me loopy, so I might beg you to do stuff like bite me or - hit me and choke me, really hurt me, even though normally I don’t like that.”

Lan Zhan’s scent was fading fast now as the blockers kicked in, but Wei Ying could still taste a trace of it in the air. They were so close together, mouths only inches apart, like they were sealed in a bubble of pheromones and body heat.

“Wei Ying is lying,” Lan Zhan said.

“What! How! When did I lie?”

“Lied that you don’t like being hurt.”

Wei Ying flushed. “I don’t!! That’s - that’s all for you, Lan Zhan, I never ask for that.”

Lan Zhan tangled her fingers in Wei Ying’s hair and tugged her closer, until their noses were almost touching. Wei Ying’s breath caught.

“Only because you don’t have to ask,” Lan Zhan said.

“Ha,” Wei Ying said.

Okay, maybe sometimes she did like to be hurt. When Lan Zhan slapped her dismissively like she was batting away a misbehaving pet and it meant Wei Ying got to respond in kind, rising up to swipe at Lan Zhan until Lan Zhan got her by the wrists and held her down and maybe slapped her again, neat backhand across the face for her trouble. Maybe that was enjoyable, in the right mood. Or sometimes when they were fucking and Wei Ying was on her back with Lan Zhan caged over her, sometimes Lan Zhan’s hand would get wrapped around the column of Wei Ying’s throat. Even slight pressure there was enough to make her choke and gag a little and it hurt, too, constrictive like a heavy iron ring around her neck. If Lan Zhan squeezed harder she could cut off Wei Ying’s air supply and make her flounder, helpless, vision blurring and Lan Zhan’s dick so deep and tight inside her while she gasped for breath. Sometimes Wei Ying liked that. But that was it, really!

Obviously Lan Zhan was also always pinching her and nipping at her and pulling her hair, and maybe she was rougher than any alpha Wei Ying had been with before, but Wei Ying was fucking Lan Zhan in spite of all that, not because of it. Lan Zhan should know that by now, especially with how much Wei Ying complained about the rough treatment afterward, grumbling in Lan Zhan’s arms and pointing out each and every bruise so that Lan Zhan could apologize and kiss them. Sometimes she would drag Lan Zhan into an empty meeting room at work so she could unbutton her shirt and they could examine the hickeys across her chest together, the purple-yellow marks blooming like flowers and then gradually fading, unless Lan Zhan chose to freshen them up which had happened more than once and always left Wei Ying wet and sore and hungry for the rest of the day.

The timer on Lan Zhan’s phone went off, which meant the scent blockers had taken effect and also that they were officially late to dinner. Wei Ying was wet again, something about the conversation spurring her body on, so Lan Zhan carried her to the bathroom where she could clean up a little before they went downstairs. The walk to the elevator wasn’t too bad, with Lan Zhan’s hand on her lower back guiding the way.

The elevator was empty but there was no telling who might jump in at the next floor, so they stood relatively far apart, Wei Ying with her back up against the glass mirror and Lan Zhan across from her, just looking at each other. Wei Ying could hear the electric whirr as they moved downwards, feel the hum of machinery working beneath her feet. She was hyper-aware of every stimulus, everything her skin touched, every person she could smell, a day’s worth of residue in the elevator surrounding her with the scent of strangers, and Lan Zhan right across from her who didn’t smell of anything at all. It felt weird. It felt wrong.

“One more rule,” Wei Ying said, when they were almost at the ground floor. “You can’t knot me.”

Lan Zhan blinked. “I know,” she said. “We’ve talked about that.”

“Right, but just to like, reiterate. You really, absolutely can’t, no matter what happens. No matter what I say later. I’m telling you now because I’m -” Wei Ying faltered as the elevator doors started to open. “I’m probably gonna beg you for it.”

Lan Zhan was staring at her again, mouth parted. She might have been about to speak, but then Nie Huaisang called to them from the lobby, saying he had been sent to search for them, they were the only two people missing, what had they been doing up there? Wei Ying startled at the question and turned to Lan Zhan, who said smoothly, “Prepping for my presentation. Wei Ying had some notes.”

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes. “Wei Ying, really? You don’t even have anything to do with Lan Zhan’s speech. You’re supposed to use this weekend to show that you’re a team player.”

“How does helping Lan Zhan not make me a team player,” Wei Ying said, but her voice was so cracked and faded that Huaisang frowned at her and said, “Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lan Zhan said. “We’re late.”

There wasn’t a formal seating plan, thank god, and Huaisang had saved them two spots at his table in the back corner, closest to the bar. She and Lan Zhan were both slightly underdressed, Wei Ying realized. She had brought a dress with her to wear to this dinner, a shimmery silver slip that looked great on her but also served as a private dig at Lan Zhan, who had once drunkenly claimed that Wei Ying’s eyes had a silver tint to them. Wei Ying had hooted with laughter at that one and taken to wearing silver around Lan Zhan, now and then, to remind her how hopeless and cheesy she was. Lan Zhan always got the joke.

As it was, they were both just in T-shirts, denim and sneakers, while everyone else was in more formal wear. Luckily they had arrived late enough that nobody seemed to notice or care, especially on this back table in the dark. There was an atmosphere of cheerful anticipation and around them people were giggling and clinking glasses back and forth. Wei Ying guessed it was slightly nicer than the standard Friday evening pizza parties. Their scrappy little organisation generally couldn’t afford fancy events like this, but Jin Guangyao from HR had coerced the hotel into a favourable deal. Still, Wei Ying thought the general air of merriment was overkill. She didn’t know why everyone was so excited to throw their weekend away on a glorified team building exercise, held hostage by the mundane glamour of Event Room 3.

She muttered all this to Lan Zhan while they waited for their first course, low so nobody else could hear, and rather than disagreeing or calling her a brat Lan Zhan simply nodded and allowed her to keep complaining. It helped, to sit and seethe and know that Lan Zhan wasn’t going to make her stop - it made it easier to ignore the mounting tension in her gut, the ticking stopwatch in her head that was counting the minutes since she’d last had Lan Zhan inside of her. At least forty five minutes had passed since their shower. But thinking about the shower was a bad idea, how it had felt pressed up against the cool tiles with Lan Zhan’s fat dick sliding up and in and her hands kneading possessively at Wei Ying’s tits, everything slippery and imprecise, Lan Zhan’s scent mingling with the shower steam… Now was not the time to think about that.

She scowled at the plate in front of her. “Fucking crab cakes,” she said. “This food makes me feel sick.”

“You should try to eat something.”

“But not this, Lan Zhan. This tastes like ass.”

Someone across the table tittered and Wei Ying glared at them, fingers tightening around her butter knife. Lan Zhan’s hand appeared on her thigh.

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying felt that hand all over her body. As if Lan Zhan had caught her ankle while she was running and tripped her onto the floor. She bowed her head down, trying to contain herself, fighting the urge to drop to her knees under the table and put her cheek against Lan Zhan’s thigh. When she looked to Lan Zhan for reassurance Lan Zhan’s hand tightened, fingers digging into the denim of her skirt. Heat shimmered between them like hot desert air.

Finally Lan Zhan said, “Drink some water.”

Wei Ying picked up her glass and drained it, ice cubes and all, crunching them between her teeth. When she was done she opened her mouth, just enough that Lan Zhan could see that it was empty.

“Good,” Lan Zhan said. She was using her just-us-two voice, low out of the side of her mouth so no one else could hear her. “You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. We can order room service later.”

Wei Ying pushed her plate away without another bite. Neither of them spoke again for a while, and instead Wei Ying took more tiny mouthfuls of water and tried to echo the word good in her head, herding it through the mazework of nerves and impulses and trying to get it to stick. Huaisang was darting curious looks at her every so often, probably perplexed by her choice to drink water when there was an open bar right behind them. It didn’t matter; he seemed to be downing enough wine for the both of them and probably wouldn’t remember this in the morning.

The main course was even worse than the appetizers. It was all Western hotel food with complicated garnishes and absolutely no seasoning, and Wei Ying wasn’t even close to hungry and she knew she was starting to look spoiled and rude to the people around them, but she could barely bring herself to care. It was becoming physically painful not to be able to smell Lan Zhan. They were both just dull clouds of nothing and in the void they created other people’s scents filled the gap, stink of other omegas that made her furious and other alphas that made her tense, on edge, wishing there was a way to make it clear she was Lan Zhan’s without having to actually admit it.

Wei Ying was sweating now, and she knew she must look flushed and unhappy. She wanted to excuse herself to the bathroom but there would be no subtle way for Lan Zhan to follow her and she couldn’t go alone, she needed to be within Lan Zhan’s reach at all times. Lan Zhan’s hand against her thigh was the only thing keeping her together.

Lan Zhan wasn’t very hungry either, and only took enough bites of her meal to be polite. There was a conversation about some new policy directive and everybody had an opinion to share so it was easy for the two of them to stay quiet, although every so often Lan Zhan would say something smart and concise and the rest of the table would straighten up and look respectfully mollified. Once she was sure Lan Zhan was done eating, Wei Ying slipped her phone out of her pocket, opened the Notes app, and wrote pls. She slid her phone under Lan Zhan’s nose. She wasn’t even totally sure what she was asking for.

Lan Zhan shook her head.

Wei Ying took the phone back and amended her message: please alpha.

This time Lan Zhan confiscated Wei Ying’s phone and slipped it into her own pocket. Wei Ying stared at her and then lunged for it, throwing herself almost into Lan Zhan’s lap in the process, and it would have been a fully-fledged spectacle if Lan Zhan hadn’t kicked her calf under the table, rough toe of her leather boot slamming into Wei Ying’s bare skin and making her gasp and then fold up, back in her own seat, hands flat on the table in front of her. There was a round of applause around them; someone was onstage, about to speak. Everyone’s eyes were on the podium.

“Bathroom,” Lan Zhan muttered, and walked away without checking that Wei Ying would follow.

The bathroom was empty - the first and only stroke of luck Wei Ying had had all day. Lan Zhan turned on her heel to face Wei Ying as soon as the door closed and said, “Let’s go back upstairs.”

“Okay,” Wei Ying said. She was barely listening, eyes fixed on Lan Zhan’s mouth, the fine sheen of sweat on her upper lip, the flash of her teeth as she spoke. Then she remembered where they were. “Wait, no, we can’t, Lan Zhan. We have to stay for the speeches, at least, everyone will be talking about it tomorrow, it’ll be too obvious if we miss it.”

“I am taking you home tomorrow,” Lan Zhan said.

“What?” Wei Ying stared at her. “I didn’t agree to that! You can’t leave, you’ve been working on that stupid presentation for weeks, and the roads will still be blocked, and anyway we can’t both run off together. Everyone would know!”

Lan Zhan’s fists were clenched. She spoke with forced composure. “Wei Ying. You are being--”

“I’m being realistic, Lan Zhan! I’m being smart! I can handle this. We’re snowed in and we can’t escape, so why won’t you just fucking help me, why do you have to be such an alpha about it?”

“I am trying to help you. You don’t know what you want.”

“Yes I fucking do,” Wei Ying snarled, and she came at Lan Zhan in a running leap just as she’d done up in the hotel room when Lan Zhan came back, wanting to wrap herself all around Lan Zhan’s body and bring her down, get her to her knees where it would be easier for Wei Ying to convince her - except Lan Zhan stayed upright and caught her. She turned them around so Wei Ying’s back was against the wall and Wei Ying was pounding her fists against Lan Zhan’s shoulders and howling something awful, there was no way they wouldn’t be heard, and Lan Zhan was saying something harsh like shut up, be quiet, but it only made Wei Ying angrier, sure in her bones that all of this was in some way Lan Zhan’s fault. Lan Zhan was trying to get a hand over Wei Ying’s mouth to shut her up but Wei Ying was ducking and bobbing away from it as best she could, until she jerked back so far that her head slammed against the wall and made her cry out louder from the pain and her rage. The shock of it gave Lan Zhan the opening she needed to plaster her hand over Wei Ying’s mouth and without thinking Wei Ying bit her, sharp little teeth cutting into Lan Zhan’s palm and her fists still pounding ineffectually at Lan Zhan’s torso, and then Lan Zhan bit her back.

She went for Wei Ying’s shoulder, over her T-shirt, hooking the flesh between her teeth and biting down hard with her hand still firm on Wei Ying’s mouth, not letting up but keeping her teeth clamped in the same place and grinding her teeth down deeper and deeper, the sharpest points of her canines fully bared, a searing wave of pain that got stronger and stronger until finally Wei Ying yielded.

She stopped trying to bite Lan Zhan’s hand, just left her mouth open against it, the familiar taste of Lan Zhan’s fingers on her tongue. She gave up on punching too and let her arms fall limp at her sides. Lan Zhan was breathing hard, great heaving rises and falls of her shoulders, trying to get herself back under control. She unlocked her jaw from Wei Ying’s shoulder and then set her gently down on the ground.

Wei Ying swiped her hand across her face, catching tears and sweat in her palm. Her shoulder was throbbing, she could feel the indentations that Lan Zhan’s teeth had made and she knew without looking that there would be an angry bruise coming up. Lan Zhan was breathing heavily again and Wei Ying hated it, hated what she was putting Lan Zhan through, hated that she’d made such a mess of things. Lan Zhan wasn’t touching her at all now and Wei Ying felt icy cold and she knew that she deserved it.

Lan Zhan said, “Pull out your pocket.”

“Huh?”

“Pull out the pocket of your skirt.”

Wei Ying turned out her left pocket, letting the old ticket stub and end of a pencil that were in there fall to the floor. Lan Zhan took the inseam in her hands and ripped it neatly the whole way along, until there was a hole in Wei Ying’s pocket large enough for Lan Zhan’s hand to slip through. Then she pushed it neatly back in. Wei Ying put her hands on her hips.

“Wow,” she said, “thanks, Lan Zhan, I never would have thought of destroying my clothing as a coping mechanism.”

Lan Zhan didn’t reply. Instead she turned Wei Ying around until her back was to Lan Zhan’s chest and she could feel the curve of Lan Zhan’s tits against her shoulder blades. Lan Zhan snaked her hand into Wei Ying’s pocket and through the hole and suddenly she was touching Wei Ying’s thigh, skin to skin. Wei Ying sighed and almost keeled over just from that, flopping forward so that Lan Zhan had to be quick to catch her, one arm locked around Wei Ying’s waist, her other hand hidden between Wei Ying’s legs.

“That’s against the rules,” Wei Ying said weakly. “Nothing public, we said.” This close Wei Ying could feel Lan Zhan’s heart beating hard.

“Do you have a better idea?”

Wei Ying bit her lip. She felt so upset, and she was still angry, too, and embarrassed and guilty and sore, but the worst part was being here right now, alone with her alpha and with her alpha’s hands on her, Lan Zhan’s fingers so close to where she needed them. The worst part was how good it felt.

By the time they returned to their table dessert was being served, and everyone’s attention was on the front of the room, the podium on the stage where the first guest speaker was about to begin. Huaisang was up there too reading his introduction from an index card like he wouldn’t remember who the guest was otherwise, even though the guest was his own sister. The Nie family were one of their organization’s largest donors.

All the omegas at work had a crush on Nie Mingjue, which made sense in some ways - for a wealthy alpha politician she was quite rugged, disarming, remembered everyone’s names and sent them all personalized gifts every holiday. Today she was dressed in a crisp white shirt with the collar unbuttoned, shirtsleeves rolled up to her elbows, her hand on Jin Guangyao’s shoulder while she waited for her cue. Wei Ying wondered if she was pissed about the snowstorm too - probably Nie Mingjue had only come here for the photo-op and planned to go home straight after dinner and now she was trapped here with them for the duration.

Her speech was mostly just pretty words spliced through with bullshit, the sort of lip service Wei Ying would have enjoyed tearing apart, hissing her criticism in Lan Zhan’s ear, trying to goad her into a whispered argument. But tonight Wei Ying couldn’t talk. As soon as they were seated Lan Zhan’s hand was there in her lap beneath her skirt, cupping Wei Ying’s pussy through her underwear. Wei Ying couldn’t even think about how wet she was. There was going to be a dark spot on her skirt when she stood up, slick all over Lan Zhan’s hand.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lan Zhan murmured. “I have you.”

Wei Ying did her best. It did feel better this way, even though it was torture not to buck up against Lan Zhan’s palm. It felt somehow safer, the familiar kind of torture, like when Lan Zhan decided that Wei Ying wasn’t allowed to come yet, or when she made Wei Ying touch herself and put on a good enough show to earn Lan Zhan’s dick. Lan Zhan was such a meanie, Wei Ying thought, and pursed her lips, blowing out a breath. She managed a few bites of dessert, coconut ice cream melting on her tongue, and when she pushed the half-empty bowl away Lan Zhan said, “If you finish it, you can have one finger.”

“Guh,” Wei Ying said. She picked up her spoon and emptied the bowl in three bites.

She got what she had earned. One thick-knuckled finger slipping inside, jolt of sensation in her belly, squeezing around it, knees knocking together, and Lan Zhan fucked in and out so slowly that nobody even noticed her arm moving. Wei Ying’s hips rose out of her seat, trying to get Lan Zhan deeper, but Lan Zhan murmured “No,” and Wei Ying’s body obeyed, slumping back down and opening her legs as wide as she could in the narrow skirt. All eyes were on the podium still and Lan Zhan’s finger was nowhere near enough and she was fucking too slowly but the rhythm was almost hypnotic, lulling Wei Ying, steady like a pendulum swing. Wei Ying synchronized her breathing with the in and out drag. It felt like they were the only two people in the room, like this was the only thing in the world that was really happening. When the slow-build finally broke and Wei Ying came, sweating, biting down hard on her lip to keep quiet, nobody even glanced their way.

At midnight the snow was still falling and Wei Ying lay in a shifting pile of blankets and pillows on the bed in Lan Zhan’s room. Her head was thrown back and her legs were splayed open and her hips were tipped up, arching off the bed against Lan Zhan’s mouth. She wasn’t sure how long they had been like this - Wei Ying curling her toes and whimpering while Lan Zhan sucked and mouthed at her clit, an indeterminate number of fingers crammed in Wei Ying’s pussy, her muscles a disorienting combination of rigid and numb, entirely awake and totally strung out, like the moment after being choked out when her throat was free again and she took deep, racking breaths, unable to control her heaving lungs.

They had stolen all the bedding they could from Wei Ying’s room and, when they got back here and found that it wasn’t nearly enough, broken into the linen closet on the floor below and raided it for every soft thing they could find. Lan Zhan had wanted to undertake this mission on her own but Wei Ying couldn’t bear to let her go and so she trailed along in Lan Zhan’s wake, hand balled up in the back of Lan Zhan’s T-shirt, steering them when the tower of pillows in Lan Zhan’s arms meant she couldn’t see anything in front of her.

Lan Zhan dumped it all on the bed and then stood back and let Wei Ying arrange everything into a rough circle, like a den with a hollow centre for them to lie inside, rising walls of pillows at the edges to keep the outside out. Wei Ying was sweating. It reminded her of trying to cook while she was too drunk, her hands not quite responding the way she wanted them too, physics turning on her and making her clumsy, fumbling when she tried to shake more blankets out so Lan Zhan had to step in and do it for her, unfolding four or five in a row and piling them on the desk chair for Wei Ying to pick out and rearrange as she liked.

At home she had a whole trunk of nesting supplies; Yanli took her shopping for the basics as soon as she hit puberty and Wei Ying had been adding to her collection ever since. Soft things, warm things, coverlets and quilts and cushions that smelled like home. She still had the original canopy that Yanli had paid for, slightly worn with age but still adequate to string up and create a roof over her bed.

Wei Ying had always found the concept of nesting objectively embarrassing, but going through heat without a safe and warm nest to retreat into was much, much more trouble than it was worth, even if Wei Ying did wish she was stoic enough not to need it. She tried not to feel self-conscious building the nest in front of Lan Zhan, but it was difficult to think about anything other than Lan Zhan’s presence, when Lan Zhan’s whole being was taking up the room, poised, waiting, ready to take over as soon as Wei Ying gave her a signal. Wei Ying had never nested with an alpha before and she wasn’t totally sure what the etiquette was. Should she invite Lan Zhan to help her with the set up? She wasn’t going to, anyway, even if it was rude. Wei Ying liked her nest to be slightly messy, haphazard piles of bedding that she could wriggle into and get tangled up in. Lan Zhan would probably get caught up making sure the whole thing was symmetrical and tidy - she was probably disgusted at Wei Ying’s fumbling handiwork.

But when Wei Ying glanced over at Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan didn’t look disgusted. She didn’t look judgemental and she wasn’t surveying the nest with a critical eye. She was just watching Wei Ying. She was hard already, Wei Ying could see the bulge in her jeans and she whimpered, doubling her efforts, wanting everything to be perfect. Normally it was easy to tell when a nest was finished, but the impersonal hotel linens and the weight of Lan Zhan’s gaze on her were throwing Wei Ying off. She was desperate to drag Lan Zhan into the heap of blankets and make do, but she knew that it wasn’t quite right. On top of the yearning and sweating there was an itching under her skin, a craving to burrow down deeper, to take her alpha somewhere hidden away where they couldn’t be found.

“We could hang a sheet,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying had been fumbling, crawling around in circles on the bed, but when Lan Zhan spoke she straightened on her knees and went still.

“Like a canopy,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying sank back onto her heels. “How?”

Lan Zhan moved sharply into action, digging a bedsheet from the small pile of cast-offs on the floor. She considered for a moment and then went to her suitcase and pulled out two lengths of white rope. Wei Ying had collapsed in her nest now and was already pulling her shirt off but when Lan Zhan came back over she paused, eyes on the ropes, and her mouth fell open.

“Why do you have that?”

Lan Zhan didn’t look up from her work, her practiced hands tying the first rope to one corner of the headboard. But her mouth was curled at the corner, and when she finished the first knot she glanced up at Wei Ying and winked.

“Lan Zhan!!! Were you gonna ambush me on the work trip?” Wei Ying sank back down against the blanket and undid her fly. She slipped a hand into her underwear and sighed, shakily. “Lan Zhan,” she said to the ceiling. “Do you have absolutely no chill?”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan said, distracted now, and Wei Ying rolled over onto her stomach to watch Lan Zhan fix the two ropes down the length of the bed, a knot at each corner, like two guy ropes running parallel a few feet above the mattress. She threw the white sheet over the top and suddenly Wei Ying was under a roof, secret, alone. She rocked down against her own hand, rubbing her clit to try to soothe the ache.

“Alpha,” she said, and then Lan Zhan was by her side in the nest, already stripped out of her jeans. She’d left the lamp on outside so there was a soft glow of light. Wei Ying let Lan Zhan peel her T-shirt over her head and shimmied out of her skirt, already purring, rubbing her face against the blankets beneath her to spread her scent around, wanting everything to smell familiar. She wanted Lan Zhan to scent the nest too but there was no casual way to ask for it, and anyway Lan Zhan’s scent was strong enough already, radiating from her like she was the core of the room.

Lan Zhan stroked Wei Ying’s back while Wei Ying made the finishing touches to her nest; there was nothing that really needed doing but it felt so good to be nesting around Lan Zhan, making a home for her, for an alpha, so she shifted a few pillows around and straightened the sheet above them while Lan Zhan’s fingertips skated up and down her spine. When Wei Ying started arching up into Lan Zhan’s hand instead of doing anything productive, Lan Zhan used her nails too, scritching down Wei Ying’s lower back and making her go floppy and collapse on her belly. Wei Ying was momentarily speechless, her body vibrating, entirely compliant as Lan Zhan eased off her soaked underwear and tossed them and the rest of Wei Ying’s clothes out of the nest as something she was no longer interested in.

“Your scent is back,” Wei Ying said dumbly. She was still on her belly and she could feel Lan Zhan hard against her hip, dick thick and ready for the night ahead. “Blockers wore off.”

Lan Zhan hummed in agreement and dropped her face to Wei Ying’s neck, breathing in deep while her hand smoothed over Wei Ying’s ass and dipped one knuckle, teasing, against her asshole, making Wei Ying squeak and spread her legs further apart.

“Fuck,” Lan Zhan said, and it was so unusual to hear her swearing that Wei Ying raised her head.

“Huh?”

Lan Zhan’s hand trailed down further until she was stroking Wei Ying’s flushed pussy, wet lips twitching beneath her fingertips. “Did you know your scent changes when you’re in heat?” Lan Zhan asked. Her voice was languid, almost relaxed in comparison to the tense way she’d snapped at Wei Ying in the bathroom. Like she knew they were safe now and there wasn’t any cause for concern. Like she was starting to enjoy herself. She found Wei Ying’s clit and pinched.

“Ah!” Wei Ying squeaked. “N-no?”

“It’s stronger. Sweeter. And you taste different, too.”

Wei Ying twisted her head to try to look at Lan Zhan but they were pressed too close, Lan Zhan’s cheek hot against her own, with Lan Zhan draped against her side and whispering darkly into her ear.

“What kind of different?”

Lan Zhan dragged her hand up Wei Ying’s body, smearing slick along her back, and then stuck her fingers into her mouth with a loud, unselfconscious sucking noise. She seemed to consider her answer.

“Taste like a slut who needs to be bred.”

Wei Ying buried her head back in the pillow. “Stop it. Don’t say such things.”

“In the shower you cried because you couldn’t keep my come inside you.”

“I - I -”

“You let me fuck you at the table in front of everyone we know.”

Wei Ying shook her head desperately, eyes closed, just barely aware of Lan Zhan moving around her in the nest, dragging her up by her hips until she was on her knees with Lan Zhan caged over her. There wasn’t enough room under the canopy but it didn’t seem to matter as Lan Zhan lined her dick up, pausing with the head pressed against Wei Ying’s entrance like she was waiting for something.

“P-please,” Wei Ying tried. “I’m sorry, alpha, I’m really sorry--”

Lan Zhan made an indulgent noise. She leaned forward until she could hook two fingers in the corner of Wei Ying’s mouth, forcing it open and pressing down on Wei Ying’s tongue so that she couldn’t talk any more.

“No need to apologize,” Lan Zhan said. “You are a slut and you’re in heat. You can’t help it.”

“Ungh,” Wei Ying said and sucked down on Lan Zhan’s fingers, tasting her own slick and sweat and unable to beg any longer but she didn’t need to, anyway, because Lan Zhan was already inside her. Lan Zhan’s dick felt bigger than it had ever been and she fucked in hot and slow and raw until Wei Ying was drooling, clutching at pillows and rocking her ass back against Lan Zhan’s hips, feeling split open from the inside. She did taste different, she noted distantly, the trace of her scent on Lan Zhan’s fingers so much headier and more desperate than normal, but Lan Zhan liked it, Lan Zhan wanted her this way, hot, yearning and, and breedable.

Wei Ying came with a loud yelp, biting down on Lan Zhan’s fingers, but she was too weak to actually hurt her.

“Fuck,” Lan Zhan said again, pulling out and flipping Wei Ying onto her back. “Need to taste it,” she said, as if Wei Ying had the capacity to ask for an explanation. She got her head between Wei Ying’s thighs and put her mouth on Wei Ying’s pussy, long possessive licks like she was claiming territory.

She stayed there for a long time, until Wei Ying lost track of how many times she came. The high was so constant and long-lasting that it made Wei Ying wonder if she’d ever really gone through heat before. Everyone always said it was different with alpha but the difference was totally unprecedented and at this point Wei Ying was losing her mind. She couldn’t remember where they were, couldn’t tell how long Lan Zhan had been sucking at her clit, tonguing inside her, she couldn’t even tell how many fingers were fucking her right now. Lan Zhan was purring, and the vibrations were almost unbearable and Wei Ying was floating down like a feather beaten out of a mattress, sinking deeper, giving up, letting go.

She was non-verbal by the time Lan Zhan finished eating her out. She was faintly aware of Lan Zhan crawling up her body and putting her on her side, spooning up behind her and slipping her dick back in easily. Wei Ying gave no resistance; she let Lan Zhan put her where she liked, accepted Lan Zhan’s filthy fingers back into her mouth, arched her back to give Lan Zhan better access, let her fuck in deeper. The blankets beneath them were drenched and the air was hot and close. It must have been two or three in the morning. The only light was from the desk lamp and it felt so quiet, like they were hidden in a cave, hibernating, like Lan Zhan had stashed her away for the winter for her own personal source of energy.

Somewhere in the midst of this Wei Ying started moaning for Lan Zhan’s knot. Not with words, because she still didn’t feel capable of them. Just plaintive yowls for something more, for something deeper and harder, but she knew that Lan Zhan knew what she was asking for. She could tell Lan Zhan wanted it too. Her grip on Wei Ying’s hip got so tight her knuckles went white and her scent was so clearly agreeing, enveloping them warmly and encouraging Wei Ying’s pleas, soothing with a silent promise that she would get it if she just worked hard enough. Wei Ying squeezed around her dick, begging with her hips, wholly focused on her alpha, on the long uphill climb toward morning.

Lan Zhan made her get up and shower before they fell asleep. It was easier, this time, to wash up on her own. She was no longer terrified of Lan Zhan leaving the room. So she showered alone without scrubbing hard, just to clean off the surface sheen of sweat and slick. When she came back out wrapped in a towel Lan Zhan was freshening up the nest, dragging out the dirtiest blankets and making a laundry pile in the corner. Lan Zhan was naked and her body looked golden in the dim light, muscled stomach and the trail of fine hair that ran from her navel to her crotch. Her dick was still half-formed as if it was reluctant to fully retract and when she ran a hand back over her head Wei Ying could see that her hair was damp with sweat, tips of her ears still pink from exertion. Wei Ying’s mouth was open; she was staring.

Finally she said, “They’re gonna hit you with such a big cleaning bill.”

Lan Zhan paused from where she had been re-hanging the canopy, considered this, and then shrugged. “I can afford it.”

“You’re the worst,” Wei Ying told her, “this is the problem with lawyers, you think you can just pay your way out of every--” and then Lan Zhan was upon her, picking her up by the backs of her thighs so she lost her grip on her towel and let it fall. She wrapped her legs around Lan Zhan’s hips and let Lan Zhan shove her against the wall, one of Lan Zhan’s hands against her mouth to shut her up and Lan Zhan’s mouth on her left nipple, wet and clean from the shower but still hard, straining into Lan Zhan’s mouth.

“Alpha,” Wei Ying said, muffled against Lan Zhan’s palm. “Please--”

Outside it had finally stopped snowing. Everything Wei Ying could see was covered in white, like someone had tipped a bucket over them from high above. Cars, buildings, trees - all totally buried in the snow. Wei Ying felt buried too, as she let Lan Zhan carry her back into their nest and settle her in the midst of clean sheets and pillows that smelled overwhelmingly of them. Lan Zhan flicked the light off before crawling in beside her and lying down on her back, beckoning Wei Ying closer. She put her cheek on Lan Zhan’s chest.

“Can you sleep?” Lan Zhan asked, and Wei Ying yawned widely. Lan Zhan stroked over the top of her head.

“Maybe,” Wei Ying said. She wasn’t sure how she felt now. She was still deep in her heat but she didn’t feel as anxious as before, not with Lan Zhan so close and present and with the rest of the world so far away. She wrapped her legs around Lan Zhan’s thigh, thick muscle providing something solid to grind against. “What time is breakfast? We should make sure we’re not late.”

Lan Zhan’s hand paused in her hair. “Wei Ying…”

“I can handle it, Lan Zhan. It’s just breakfast and team-building and then in the afternoon I get to watch your speech, huh? I’m excited, I’m gonna sit in the front row and heckle you!”

She managed to keep the cheerful lilt in her voice but she was faltering, slightly, even just thinking about the day that was coming. Lan Zhan hadn’t even had a chance to practice her speech since they got here. Wei Ying knew it wasn’t necessary - she had already read it several times and made several suggestions which Lan Zhan had incorporated. But she was aware, all over again, of how she had derailed this weekend, making them drift so far from how they had originally planned to be. The worst part was that Wei Ying couldn’t detach herself, even now, couldn’t hold back from rocking steadily on Lan Zhan’s thigh, keeping the pressure on her clit

Lan Zhan’s hand was still in her hair. Finally she said, “I will wake you up in time for breakfast.”

“Thank you,” Wei Ying said. She couldn’t bring herself to look up at Lan Zhan’s face. “I’m sorry.”

Lan Zhan’s arms wrapped around her, dragging her over until she was fully on top of Lan Zhan, straddling her lap. Like this it was easier to grind down and Wei Ying jerked her hips forward. She could feel Lan Zhan’s dick growing beneath her and she rubbed her pussy against it, scooting helplessly back and forth. Lan Zhan grunted, palm wrapped around the back of Wei Ying’s neck like she wanted to calm her down.

“I hate being a burden,” Wei Ying muttered against Lan Zhan’s collarbone, “I know I’m making this harder for you and it’s shitty anyway, to have to take care of an omega you don’t even - you aren’t even--”

“You are not a burden,” Lan Zhan said.

“But I know you’re just trying to look after me and I’m sorry I can’t let you do it properly, I’m sorry about the rules, I’m sorry we can’t tell anyone but I’m like, so scared, Lan Zhan…”

Lan Zhan put her hands on Wei Ying’s hips and squeezed, trying to still her. “Scared of what?”

“I don’t know! I just feel like, whenever I look at you, it feels like -- it’s just so much, it feels like too much, it’s just something I don’t really want to share with anyone else, I feel like I can’t talk about it with anyone else, I feel like I’m gonna ruin everything--”

Where was all of this coming from? All of it felt true but most of what she was saying now were ideas she hadn’t even allowed herself to think in the privacy of her own head, things she’d avoided even considering for months now. This heat was fucking crazy. She almost wished Lan Zhan would shove her off, tell her to stop being stupid, that she was just a heat-drunk omega who didn’t know what she was talking about.

Instead Lan Zhan kissed the top of her head. “Don’t want to share you with anyone either.”

Wei Ying shivered and angled her hips up, just enough that she could reach back with one hand around the base of Lan Zhan’s dick and guide her inside. They both sighed, she could feel Lan Zhan’s warm breath against her forehead, and she said, “Y-yeah, why, Lan Zhan, why don’t you?”

Lan Zhan was rocking her pelvis up gently, grinding her dick into Wei Ying, hands still on her hips with her thumbs digging into Wei Ying’s belly. Wei Ying groaned, could feel her exhausted muscles fluttering around Lan Zhan, so relieved to have her back inside, and she craned her head down until she could mouth at Lan Zhan’s chest, sloppy kisses against her tits, relishing the hiss she drew out of Lan Zhan when she lathed her tongue over Lan Zhan’s nipple. Without looking up she said, “It’s because I’m yours, right? Lan Zhan?”

“Yes,” Lan Zhan agreed. She put her hand in Wei Ying’s hair and forced her head up. Lan Zhan’s eyes were so bright it almost hurt to look at her. “Wei Ying is mine. My omega.”

“Fuck,” Wei Ying said and started bouncing on Lan Zhan’s dick, so hard she almost pulled the roof down on top of them, her ass slapping against Lan Zhan’s thighs while she fucked herself desperately and demanded, “Again, say it again.”

“Mine,” Lan Zhan said, “you belong to me,” and Wei Ying started purring, couldn’t help it, still impaling herself erratically on Lan Zhan’s dick until finally Lan Zhan got tired of it and flipped them over so Wei Ying was on her stomach. Wei Ying buried her face in the pillows to taste their mingled scents and Lan Zhan was inside her again without her even having to ask for it, mouthing at the curve of Wei Ying’s ear, her tongue tracing down to the lobe and making Wei Ying cry out.

Lan Zhan came inside her again, but by this point there wasn’t very much left and so it was only a soft trickle and she pulled out, breathing hard. Wei Ying could feel the come leaking out of her immediately and she sniffled, trying to squeeze her thighs together while Lan Zhan was still in between them. Lan Zhan made a soothing noise and gathered some of it up with her fingers, bringing it up to Wei Ying’s mouth so she could swallow it. It felt better, knowing that the last of Lan Zhan’s spend was deep inside her, collapsing back down against the pillows with the taste of Lan Zhan on her tongue.

They rearranged themselves one more time so that Wei Ying was cradled in Lan Zhan’s arms, a cocoon within a nest within a locked room.

“Sleep,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying tried. She really did. At first she thought the exhaustion would be enough on its own. Her head was so heavy and her eyes couldn’t stay open. She still had Lan Zhan’s fingers in her mouth and she suckled on them lazily and waited for sleep to overtake her. But it didn’t. She felt worn out but her pussy was still hot, stomach tight with need, ass twitching back against Lan Zhan’s pelvis, searching for her dick.

“Lan Zhan? Are you awake?”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan replied. Her voice was low and rough as if maybe she had been asleep.

“Can you - I need - I’m sorry -”

“Don’t apologize,” Lan Zhan said, and she put her hand on Wei Ying’s stomach and pulled her in closer, grinding against Wei Ying’s ass with firm, efficient movements until Wei Ying could feel her dick growing again. Wei Ying tried to help, reaching behind to give Lan Zhan her hand, but Lan Zhan slapped her out of the way and said, “Keep still,” and so Wei Ying tried her best to be patient, arching her neck back so she could nuzzle at Lan Zhan’s chin, her firm jawline and the silver smell of the chain around her neck.

It was better once Lan Zhan’s dick was inside her again, filling her up. Wei Ying thought maybe she could fall asleep that way but she’d been fucked too much already and her pussy was hopelessly wet, sloppy, and every time she got close to dozing off she felt Lan Zhan slip out of her. The third time it happened she started panicking. The darkness in the nest was turning bluish and they couldn’t be more than an hour away from dawn and Wei Ying hadn’t had a minute’s rest. She didn’t know what to do, except she did know, and Lan Zhan knew it too.

Lan Zhan was already fucking in again, pulling Wei Ying tight against her. Wei Ying started rutting back and Lan Zhan didn’t stop her, let Wei Ying work herself back on her dick until Lan Zhan came again with a short, stuttery groan. Wei Ying focused all her energy on squeezing down, tightening her pussy as much as she could and she could almost feel it, the slow swelling at the base of Lan Zhan’s dick, the ghost of her knot beginning to form, the sharp hot stretch of her pussy making room for it, but then Lan Zhan inhaled sharply and pinched Wei Ying’s side, making her yelp and let go. She could hear Lan Zhan’s heavy breathing behind her as she forced the knot back down and pulled out completely.

“Please,” Wei Ying whispered.

“Wei Ying.”

“We broke all the other rules! Why can’t we break this one?”

“You told me specifically.”

“I was being stupid!”

Lan Zhan kissed her ear. “Wei Ying is never stupid.”

“I need it,” Wei Ying said. The kiss had made her angrier, somehow, insulted by Lan Zhan giving her tenderness when she wanted force. “Why are you being so cruel? What kind of alpha are you that won’t give your omega what they need?”

“I am doing as you asked,” Lan Zhan said. She didn’t sound angry but there was a new edge to her voice, gritty, and Wei Ying seized on it.

“How can you say I belong to you, Lan Zhan, how can you say I’m yours if you won’t take me properly?”

“Stop.”

“I can’t! I can’t sleep, I can’t think, Lan Zhan, please, I need your knot, please,” and she rolled over in Lan Zhan’s arms so that Lan Zhan could see the tears in her eyes. She had another litany of pleas ready but something about Lan Zhan’s expression made her stop and go quiet. They stared at each other, and through the fog of heat and need Wei Ying willed Lan Zhan to see that she wasn’t just dick drunk, she wasn’t exaggerating. She saw it the second that Lan Zhan’s resolve started to crumble. It was quick - a cool clear moment of certainty, that Lan Zhan had to do it and Wei Ying was going to let her, and Lan Zhan’s mouth parted and she nodded.

She put Wei Ying on her back, crawling between her legs and fucking into her nice and deep and slow.

“Thank you,” Wei Ying purred, “thank you, Lan Zhan, I’ll be so good for you.”

Lan Zhan kissed her, licking into her mouth, putting one hand on her chin to hold her still while she sucked on Wei Ying’s tongue. Lan Zhan was already close to coming again, Wei Ying could tell, and she wrapped her arms around Lan Zhan’s neck and gave her mouth over and suddenly the reality of what was about to happen hit her hard. Wei Ying had never taken a knot in her life before. She had vaguely thought she never would. And this was Lan Zhan, the lawyer she was hate-fucking, and Lan Zhan had said mine but it was hardly a reliable sentiment. They were both sleep-deprived and out of it and maybe they were making a huge mistake. Wei Ying started to whimper under Lan Zhan, shifting her hips restlessly, out of time with Lan Zhan’s movements.

“Shh,” Lan Zhan said, kissing her again. “Just once, just this time, it’s okay. You can take it.”

“I can’t,” Wei Ying gasped, “I can’t, I’m scared,” and she could feel Lan Zhan’s tongue on her cheek. She realized she was crying, and Lan Zhan was licking her tears away, still murmuring, “You can, Wei Ying, be my good girl, my good omega.”

Wei Ying was stuttering, helpless, and she felt Lan Zhan come inside her one more time and then the swell of her knot. Just a quiet pressure at first but it kept on growing, bigger and bigger, another last gasping moment of panic where she tried to scramble away, was convinced she couldn’t take it, and Lan Zhan just matter of factly yanked her hips back down until Lan Zhan was lodged fully inside her and Wei Ying wasn’t sure if she could breathe. She couldn’t feel her limbs. She couldn’t think of words. She could barely remember her own name - just the stretch, the fullness, the feeling of Lan Zhan’s body completely taking over her own. She felt like a bowstring pulled as far back as it could go, the moment before the arrow was released, the bend before the breaking.

Her eyes were rolling back and she felt weightless and stupid, stuffed so full she couldn’t speak any more. She had stopped crying but her shoulders were shaking and her whole face felt hot and wet. Lan Zhan’s scent was so strong now it felt like drowning. She was aware of Lan Zhan staring down at her but she couldn’t make her eyes focus. Her tongue was lolling out of her mouth until Lan Zhan pushed it gently back in with her thumb.

“Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying tried to make a noise, but she couldn’t even do that.

“Blink three times if you’re okay,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying summoned her last remaining strength to blink, one two three. Lan Zhan growled, pleased and possessive, and kissed Wei Ying again, more forceful than she had been before, sucking and biting at her bottom lip like she wanted to draw blood to the surface, nipping down her neck and then sucking a dirty bruise onto Wei Ying’s collarbone, another mark forming under her mouth, and Wei Ying’s whole brain was just hot white noise and there was nothing else left to think about.

When Wei Ying woke up it was snowing again. The makeshift canopy had fallen down in the night and so she could see out of the window, the eerie grey light of the blizzard, a thousand tumbling snowflakes. It would be pretty, she thought, if it wasn’t reinforcing the trap they were in. Lan Zhan was still asleep, plastered along her back with both arms wrapped around her waist. It was long past Lan Zhan’s normal wake up time, but Wei Ying guessed she had tired her out.

Wei Ying felt hot, uncomfortable and sticky, but she couldn’t drag herself out of Lan Zhan’s arms. She pressed one hand between her legs, heel of her palm against her clit, and hissed out through her teeth. The heat was still there; she could feel fresh slick on her thighs and her pussy was aching like she could still feel Lan Zhan inside. Lan Zhan’s scent was everywhere, layers of it built up on Wei Ying’s skin, so much so that Wei Ying wondered if Lan Zhan had scented her while she was asleep. The thought made her stomach fizz, the idea of Lan Zhan marking her territory. Wei Ying is mine.

It was because of the heat, of course, just Wei Ying’s pheromones making Lan Zhan possessive. She might even take it back later and say she hadn’t meant it, and yet. When had Lan Zhan ever said something that she didn’t mean to say? Wei Ying nudged her hips back, pressing her ass up into Lan Zhan’s crotch. Her dick had retracted but maybe Wei Ying could get her hard again just like this, grinding back gently, and if Lan Zhan woke up she could pretend that she was asleep and hadn’t known she was doing it. Lan Zhan probably wouldn’t believe her, though, so maybe she ought to just go for it and turn around, wriggle down until she could get her mouth on Lan Zhan’s clit and suck, feel it grow on her tongue…

But that wasn’t fair, Wei Ying thought. She was already taking so much from Lan Zhan, and no matter what Lan Zhan had said in the night, they weren’t a bonded pair. She couldn’t just take whatever she pleased. Lan Zhan had already given her so much, looked after her all night, even knotted her. She owed it to Lan Zhan to get herself under control today, to put a brave face on and go join their co-workers like everything was normal. She would start with a shower - she could jerk off in there without disturbing Lan Zhan and then wash off the worst of the sex smell. The idea of that was faintly tragic, like a betrayal, but she shoved the bad feeling aside.

She started to lift Lan Zhan’s arm where it was clasped around her but Lan Zhan immediately tightened her grip. Awake after all.

“Ah-- Lan Zhan! Good morning! We should probably get up, it’s coming up to breakfast time.”

“No,” Lan Zhan said. She was speaking into Wei Ying’s hair and her voice was rough and low. She squeezed Wei Ying closer and tilted her hips up, rocking against Wei Ying’s ass and making her gasp.

“I can take first shower,” Wei Ying tried, “give you another ten minutes rest--”

“No,” Lan Zhan said again, this time with force, and she pushed Wei Ying’s legs apart with her knee. She had one arm wrapped around Wei Ying’s chest to keep her still and she brought her other hand to Wei Ying’s mouth, tapped two fingers against her dry lips. “Suck.”

Wei Ying opened her mouth meaning to protest but she obeyed instead. Lan Zhan’s fingers tasted like rain and she pressed down on the softest part of Wei Ying’s tongue, almost obnoxious about it, pushing both fingers in up to the second knuckle. Wei Ying made a troubled noise, throat contracting, and Lan Zhan pinched her nipple and said, “You can take it.”

She drew her fingers out and while Wei Ying was still gasping for breath she pushed them, glossy with spit, into Wei Ying’s pussy. Rather than fucking them in and out she swiped them around, probing, like she was taking stock of what was hers.

“How do you feel?” she murmured.

Wei Ying was shivering and her brain hadn’t yet caught up with her body. She moaned as Lan Zhan curled her fingers, dragging the rough pads of her fingertips against a more tender spot, deep inside.

“Sensitive,” Lan Zhan said. It wasn’t a question. “You took my knot so well but you’re tight again now.”

“Guh,” Wei Ying said. “Stop.”

“Does it hurt?”

Shouldn’t Lan Zhan sound more concerned? She just sounded interested, like if Wei Ying said yes, it hurts she wouldn’t stop. Maybe she could tell that Wei Ying wouldn’t want her to stop. But Wei Ying had already taken so much from Lan Zhan. She couldn’t let Lan Zhan lose the whole of today in their nest as well.

“Please! I really think we should get up, Lan Zhan!”

“So it doesn’t hurt,” Lan Zhan said, and forced another finger in beside the first two, pushing in deep so that Wei Ying’s pussy made an obscene, sucking sound around her knuckles. Wei Ying yowled.

“Lan Zhan, it’s too much, I won’t be able to stand after and we can’t be late again--”

“We’re staying here.”

“But-” Wei Ying’s hips were stuttering, the first flushes of panic starting to surface in her chest. “But Lan Zhan, your speech is today! You spent all week on it, ah, ah!”

Lan Zhan had pulled her fingers out and forced Wei Ying onto her back. She maneuvered Wei Ying easily, almost carelessly, like Wei Ying was no harder to rearrange than a doll. Normally it was easier to resist Lan Zhan - more than once when she was being wrestled into place like this Wei Ying would wrestle back, tussling with Lan Zhan and using her nails and teeth when her muscles couldn’t compete, and Lan Zhan would need to backhand her to shock her into submission. But today Wei Ying couldn’t summon the energy to fight it and conversely, Lan Zhan’s energy seemed almost unbounded, every movement refined, every muscle toned and glowing in the cold winter light.

Lan Zhan put her hands on the backs of Wei Ying’s thighs and pushed her legs up until she was folded in half, her knees just grazing her shoulders and her pussy totally exposed. She was soaked - she’d been wet all night but by now she was gushing again and Lan Zhan was staring down at her, eyes raking over her bite-strewn tits and the handprints on her waist and her swollen clit, throbbing so hard now that it must be visible, Lan Zhan must be able to see the blood pumping beneath her skin.

“Stop looking,” Wei Ying whined.

Lan Zhan glanced up at Wei Ying’s face. “Impatient,” she said lightly.

Wei Ying flinched at the reprove. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, “I meant stop everything, we have to, I won’t let you miss this -- ungh,” as the tip of Lan Zhan’s dick breached inside. It was so big and Wei Ying was so sensitive after almost 24 hours in heat that in her mind’s eye she could see it, the delicate ring of muscle and Lan Zhan’s dick the perfect size to fill it. Wei Ying’s eyes rolled back in her head but she did her best to push up on her elbows and plead. “Lan Zhan, I’m serious, it’s not your responsibility,” but the last syllable got drawn out into a mewl as Lan Zhan pushed in up to the hilt.

“It is my responsibility,” Lan Zhan said calmly, and her dick nudged against a sweet and tender part inside, somewhere between Wei Ying’s stomach and her spine, hitting the spot like she was pressing a button. Wei Ying yowled again, back arching, and came in rolling shivers around Lan Zhan’s dick.

“Good,” Lan Zhan said. “Again.” She fucked in hard and thumbed at Wei Ying’s clit at the same time. Wei Ying’s hand were flailing somewhere around their hips but she didn’t have the coordination to hold Lan Zhan back and so she had no choice but to come again, jerking up into Lan Zhan’s touch, with sweat streaming down her temples. It was too much and she was sobbing dry tears, strung out and defenceless. Lan Zhan sat back on her heels without pulling out, finger and thumb wrapped around the base of her dick, drinking in the sight of Wei Ying like she’d been dreaming about this all night.

Lan Zhan’s phone started to ring.

They both turned at once, Wei Ying frantic and Lan Zhan with an idle sort of interest.

“Th-that’s probably Huaisang,” Wei Ying said, craning her neck around to see where the noise was coming from. “We’re late again, Lan Zhan, we should pick up and tell him we’ll be right there.”

Lan Zhan shot Wei Ying an almost derisive look - the closest she would ever come to an eye roll. Wei Ying recognized it from their conference room sparring matches and for some reason it calmed her down to notice that. It felt so familiar, nothing scary about it, just her Lan Zhan being annoying and a control freak, as usual. She narrowed her eyes defiantly.

“If you won’t talk to him, I will,” she said, and gave a quick wriggle of her hips that made Lan Zhan slip out, clearly not expecting this burst of energy. Wei Ying guessed that Lan Zhan’s phone was probably charging on the desk, only a few steps out of the nest, and so she lunged across the nest meaning to snatch it and hit answer before Lan Zhan could stop her. She made it about halfway.

Then Lan Zhan’s hands were on her hips, inexorable, grasping her with very little effort and dragging her up onto her knees. Lan Zhan’s dick was inside her again before she even had the time to protest. She fucked in slow and deep, like she was relishing this, enjoying the fact that Wei Ying wanted to escape.

“I have no intention of leaving,” Lan Zhan said, drawing her dick in and out in a lazy, steady rhythm that was somehow even worse than a fast pounding fuck. It was overwhelming like the recurrent beating of a drum, wave after wave of hot pleasure shooting all the way down Wei Ying’s back, hot lines of electricity down her limbs, her nipples almost unbearably sensitive when they brushed against the blankets, saliva pooling on her tongue. She fisted her hands in one of the pillows at the edge of their nest and tried in vain to drag herself forward.

“Lan Zhan,” she said, “Lan Zhan,” and she was still pleading but she was starting to lose track of what for. She could feel the knot before it arrived, the quickening of Lan Zhan’s breath before she came, the gradual swell at the base of her dick and the way Wei Ying’s pussy was already preparing for it, spreading itself open, every muscle welcoming her in, Wei Ying’s whole body begging for it even when she was shaking her head, with her flushed cheeks half-hidden against a pillow.

She mewled again when Lan Zhan came inside her, this delighted, animal sound that Wei Ying didn’t recognize herself in but nonetheless sprang out of her throat. Lan Zhan’s knot formed fast, urgent, and she thrust her hips forward roughly like she wanted to make sure it would take.

“No fair,” Wei Ying managed, helpless with wet cotton against her mouth, and Lan Zhan made a sympathetic noise. Wei Ying scrabbled helplessly at the blankets around her, searching for something solid to grab onto, but it felt like digging through concrete and she couldn’t move her legs, anyway. Lan Zhan didn’t try to stop her. She didn’t seem concerned about what Wei Ying tried to do anymore. She palmed Wei Ying’s ass, smearing some of the slick and sweat around and digging her nails into the roundest part.

“Mine.”

Wei Ying had given up scrabbling and was instead running her fingers over the blankets, soft scratchy feel of the fabric and the scent of Lan Zhan’s satisfaction all around her, heavy waves of alpha approval all directed at Wei Ying, at the way her body had given itself over.

“Huh?”

“Wei Ying is mine.”

Wei Ying nodded dumbly to herself. “Yuh- yeah…yours… Lan Zhan… you really mean it?”

She heard a huff that might have been Lan Zhan laughing. “Would I lie?”

“I just - we’re so out of it, you shouldn’t say it if it’s just cause of my heat. If it’s not real.”

“Mine,” Lan Zhan repeated, and bent over Wei Ying until she could wrap her hand around Wei Ying’s throat, hauling her back until Wei Ying was upright with her back to Lan Zhan’s chest. She could feel Lan Zhan’s hands all over her, palming across her belly, groping roughly at her tits, long fingers wrapping around her throat and squeezing until she gagged and coughed. Lan Zhan kissed her cheek, grazed her teeth against the shell of Wei Ying’s ear, murmured, “It’s real.”

Locked inside Wei Ying with Wei Ying mouthing happily at Lan Zhan’s shoulder, Lan Zhan drew up a new list of rules for them to follow. No more interacting with others. No more pretending things were okay. Lan Zhan would be in charge of food and sleep breaks; Wei Ying did not need to leave the room for anything.

Once her knot had dissipated Lan Zhan fetched her phone and sent off a few messages, making their excuses for them. Wei Ying curled up in the nest with Lan Zhan’s bare foot clutched in her arms, mouthing thoughtlessly at her ankle bone while Lan Zhan sat at the other end of the bed with her back against the headboard. Lan Zhan had put the sheet canopy back over them and Wei Ying had lost track of the time of day, the place or date, the things they were supposed to be doing. She traced her fingertips up and down Lan Zhan’s calves, drawing invisible patterns on her skin.

After a few minutes, that got boring, and Wei Ying started to whine, shifting around until she could wrap her legs around Lan Zhan’s thigh, grinding her pussy down until she heard Lan Zhan toss the phone aside.

“Come here.”

Wei Ying crawled into her lap obediently, purring when Lan Zhan’s hands settled on her hips.

“Wen Qing will do the speech for me,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying hummed, wrapping her arms around Lan Zhan’s neck, trying to snake a hand between them so she could feel for Lan Zhan’s dick. Lan Zhan took her by the chin and studied her face, mouth crooked in an almost smile. Wei Ying didn’t know what she looked like but she knew how she felt; flushed, floppy, and deep under. Lan Zhan said, “You don’t even care about it anymore, do you?”

“About what?” Wei Ying said, voice raspy, and Lan Zhan huffed another short laugh and ran her thumb along Wei Ying’s bottom lip. Wei Ying chased it, trying to suck the tip of Lan Zhan’s thumb between her mouth, but she wasn’t fast enough. She bounced on Lan Zhan’s thighs and made a petulant noise.

Lan Zhan was still smiling. “I’ve come inside you so many times already,” she said, “but it's never enough, is it baby?”

“Nuh uh,” Wei Ying agreed. “Please, can I have it again? Please?”

Lan Zhan said she could. They fucked like that with Wei Ying in Lan Zhan’s lap, bouncing on Lan Zhan’s dick while Lan Zhan kissed her messily, tongue fucking into her mouth, Lan Zhan’s canines sharp on her lower lip, the taste of her hot alpha breath. Wei Ying was whimpering like she couldn’t help herself, “Uhn, uhn, uhn, alpha, please don’t stop--”

“Not going to stop,” Lan Zhan told her. “I don’t think you’ll be satisfied until I fuck a baby into you.”

Wei Ying shivered once and then again until she was just shaking, slumped against Lan Zhan’s chest with Lan Zhan’s dick sunk as deep into her as it could go and she stuttered, “Y-yeah, breed me, knock me up Lan Zhan, I want it, wanna have your baby, be your sweet little housewife,” and she started to laugh but it wasn’t mocking, more sincere than that, out of breath and overjoyed by how ridiculous this whole thing was, and then she yelped in surprise when Lan Zhan came hard with a rough groan, her come filling up what little space was left inside.

Lan Zhan’s knot was already swelling and she grabbed at Wei Ying’s belly, squeezing a handful of flesh and groaning like she was going to come again while Wei Ying stared at her glassy-eyed.

“It’s yours,” Wei Ying whispered, “belongs to you, Lan Zhan, you can do whatever you want with it, put whatever you want in me.”

Lan Zhan pinched her side, hard, and then her nipple, twisting it sharply so Wei Ying whined and clenched around her knot, scrabbling weakly at her shoulders.

“Ah, I’m sorry, is it bad? Should I stop saying it?”

“No,” Lan Zhan said, “I like it.” She smoothed her hand over Wei Ying’s belly; Wei Ying wondered if Lan Zhan could also see the slight bulge there, the swell where she was still so full. “This is mine,” Lan Zhan said.

“Yeah, all yours, please.” It wasn’t technically possible to bounce on a knot but Wei Ying gave it a good school try, grinding her hips in tiny circles and panting with the effort. The first time she took Lan Zhan’s knot she could barely think but she felt more used to it now, still overwhelmed but satisfied too, claimed and sated and full and distinctly, deliriously happy.

That night, it rained. The snow melted away on the roads and the valley below so that at dawn Wei Ying looked down from the window and for the first time saw the view, blue mountains and the winding asphalt of the road, the peaks and dips free from the blanket of white that had flattened everything and made it all the same. Wei Ying stood by the glass for a moment to watch, the blue light of early morning and the beginning hum of activity below.

She’d stumbled out of sleep and into the bathroom to pee, and it was only when she was washing her hands that she looked up at the mirror and saw her face, calm and clear-eyed, looking back at her, and realised that the heat had passed. She was still sensitive, her skin almost humming, but she could feel the strain now too, the way the heat had blanketed over her aching thighs and the bitemarks throbbing on her chest and her pussy, tender and swollen. And she could stand alone, away from Lan Zhan - she wasn’t desperate to stumble back into Lan Zhan’s arms, she wasn’t keening from being out of reach. When she went back into the bedroom Lan Zhan was still asleep, face tucked against the pillow, and Wei Ying stood at the window stealing glances at her.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said after a moment, and Wei Ying didn’t jump, turned slowly. It would have been too good to be true to wake up before Lan Zhan. Wei Ying didn’t think going through a heat and falling in love was enough to change certain basic facts about the universe.

“Lan Zhan,” she said. She was grinning dopily, walking a little awkwardly back to the bed and then watching Lan Zhan’s eyes narrow as she noticed and leaning into it more, allowing herself to limp and put on a pitiful face. “Lan Zhan, I’m so sore! I’m wrecked, Lan Zhan, I’ve never had a heat that bad, I hurt all over--”

Lan Zhan sat up in bed and reached out, took Wei Ying by the waist and hauled her back down on the mattress. Wei Ying’s wrists wrapped in one big hand, fingers grinding at her wrist bone, the other hand running along Wei Ying’s arms, her chest, her tits, thumb lingering along Wei Ying’s jawline. Moving her arms, testing their strength -- testing where it hurt, how badly Wei Ying was roughed up, Wei Ying realised, and felt her heart go a little funny.

“Let me go,” she demanded, squirming, “I’m not in heat anymore, can’t you smell it’s passed, Lan Zhan? You don’t need to be so grabby, I could even go back to my room--” Lan Zhan released her wrists, hands moving down to slide over Wei Ying’s belly, her hips, and Wei Ying wound her arms around Lan Zhan’s neck and nuzzled against her cheek and wriggled closer, “--see, it’s perfectly fine, it’s all back to normal--”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan said, and flipped Wei Ying over, hands on her ass. Wei Ying squeaked.

“Lan Zhan! This is an extremely inappropriate way to treat your colleague--”

Lan Zhan bit her ass, sinking her teeth into the tender rise of Wei Ying’s cheek and Wei Ying hissed, letting her face drop against the pillow, arching up against Lan Zhan’s mouth.

“Alpha,” Wei Ying murmured, blurry and happy. “Alpha--”

Low hum in the back of Lan Zhan’s throat. She licked her way up Wei Ying’s spine, nosing in at the nape of her neck.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said to the pillow. “I was wondering, ah, if you maybe want to go on a date? When we’re home? Or like, a series of dates? Do you wanna date me?”

She felt Lan Zhan pause and consider this, breathing softly. Then a new feeling, rumbling from Lan Zhan’s chest, playful sparks of her scent, the feel of her mouth curling up against Wei Ying’s skin. She was laughing.

“What’s so funny!” Wei Ying demanded, and Lan Zhan kissed her shoulder and hummed.

“You ask me to get you pregnant with no shame,” she said, “but when you ask me on a date you can’t even look at me?”

“That’s not an answer,” Wei Ying said sulkily. Lan Zhan grasped her by the chin and forced her to turn her head, cheek against the pillow. Lan Zhan was smiling at her.

“Yes,” Lan Zhan said. “Thank you for asking.”