fic: Force of Nature
Title: Force of Nature
Rating: NC-17
Length: ~3600 words
Summary: Merlin’s a magical creature who goes into heat, and subsequently has a great deal of sex with Arthur.
Note: I originally wrote the beginning of this for the kink meme, for the prompt Merlin is a magical creature and goes into heat. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so then the rest happened. It’s basically a bit of crack, a bit of the boys being the boys, some porn, and very little else. I’m sorry?
Merlin turning up late was nothing abnormal; Merlin failing to appear at all, without explanation or even an excuse carried by Gwen, was sufficiently odd to send Arthur searching for his errant manservant. He found Gaius’s workroom empty, though there seemed to be more than the usual number of open books spread around the place. Perhaps some sudden emergency had demanded the physician’s attention, and he had needed Merlin’s help? The door to Merlin’s room was closed, though, so Arthur felt he might as well check there. He didn’t bother to knock; after all, Merlin never knocked at Arthur’s door, so if he was starkers or wanking it was his own fault.
Merlin wasn’t starkers, or wanking. He was dressed, curled in a tight little ball on his bed, flushed and sweaty and rocking himself slightly back and forth. His head snapped up the moment Arthur entered the room, and whatever Arthur had planned to say fell straight out of his head at the sight of Merlin’s face. His expression was wild and pained, reminding Arthur of nothing so much as a wounded wolf, and his lips were bitten raw and red, and his eyes - his eyes were swirling blue and gold, unnatural and somehow the most beautiful thing Arthur thought he had ever seen.
“Arthur,” Merlin said, but Arthur heard it twice, like an echo, the word arriving in his head a split-second before it reached his ears.
“What’s the matter with you?” Arthur asked, his voice catching in his throat.
“It’s - you can’t - Arthur, you can’t be here,” Merlin said, each word coming out half-choked. He reached behind himself, gripped the headboard so hard his knuckles went white.
“I’m the crown prince of Camelot, I can be wherever I like,” Arthur said automatically, but he was reeling because the echo in his head was saying Arthur, yes, yes, yes, Arthur, here, now, touch me touch me touch me Arthur please Arthur…
“Arthur, please,” Merlin was practically sobbing, “I can’t - Gaius, Gaius will tell you when he comes back, I can’t-” He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t think I can control myself with you here.”
He had no idea what was going on, but Merlin was clearly in pain, and the litany in Arthur’s head was growing more desperate, begging plaintively for Arthur to come closer, to touch and take. Whatever this was, Arthur had no intention of leaving Merlin to face it alone. He crossed the tiny room in a few short strides, and Merlin started to shrink away from him, but then Arthur reached out to grasp Merlin’s shoulder and suddenly he stilled.
The echo in Arthur’s mind fell silent. Merlin’s features relaxed, just a little, and he leaned unconsciously into the contact before jerking away.
“No, Arthur, you don’t-” but as soon as Arthur wasn’t touching him anymore, Merlin’s whole body began trembling. So Arthur grabbed Merlin’s shoulder again, too tight a grip for Merlin to shake off, and the trembling stopped.
“Tell me what’s happening, Merlin,” Arthur said, quiet and stern, sitting down at Merlin’s side. He tried not to look at Merlin’s eyes, tried to focus on fixing this and not on how utterly kissable Merlin’s mouth appeared. Merlin swallowed, hard, and spoke slowly, each word crawling out of him with great effort.
“You know how some animals can only - they’re only fertile at certain times, and at those times they get very - they have to -“
“Cats in heat,” Arthur said, and even though it still didn’t make any sense, not really, it suddenly did.
Merlin nodded, shifted his legs, and then Arthur could see the bulge in his trousers.
“You’re in heat. How?”
“I don’t know, Gaius has an idea, he went to - but in the meantime I’ve just got to stay here, alone, it’s - it’s almost manageable, when I’m alone, but when someone’s near me-“
“It looks like it’s better when I’m touching you,” Arthur said hesitantly.
“Yes, but-“ The pained look came back into Merlin’s face, worse than before. He sounded wrung out, as if controlling himself was taking all of his concentration and he couldn’t even spare the energy to be embarrassed. “It’s as if - as if there’s this thing inside of me that just wants, and it thinks - it thinks you’re going to give it what it wants. So you have to go, Arthur, you have to - I don’t know how much longer I can-”
Arthur stared at him, at his eyes and his lips and his damp disheveled hair, and thought of Merlin in the stocks for Arthur’s sake, Merlin drinking poison for his sake, and made a decision. Merlin had sacrificed himself for Arthur so many times. And this could hardly even be called a sacrifice, not when the only thing Arthur would be giving up was his own self-denial.
“What if I don’t want to go, Merlin?” he asked. Merlin met his gaze then, with an expression of such shock and disbelief that Arthur was afraid he’d made a mistake, that the echo in his mind before hadn’t been Merlin at all but only the thing inside him. Arthur coughed, said, “That is, if you want me to - I’d never think to take advantage of your affliction, I only meant to-”
“Do you really want to stay?” Merlin asked. There was a thread of hope knitted into his tone alongside the strain, an eagerness in his eyes that was nothing like the cold desperation that had been there before, and that was enough. In answer, Arthur raised his free hand to Merlin’s cheek and leaned in to press his lips to Merlin’s.
The gold in Merlin’s eyes took over completely then, drowning the blue, and Arthur could have sworn that it poured out to drown him too. Before he knew what was happening, Merlin had him pinned to the bed, tongue halfway down Arthur’s throat, fingers scrabbling at his clothes. Too-hot skin everywhere, Merlin’s body sweaty-slick under his hands - what happened to his shirt, no, it didn’t matter, better this way, more to touch - and lips burning, bruising, scorching wet trails all over Arthur, making him dizzy and demanding of more, more, more.
Arthur had always imagined that, if he ever got to do this with Merlin, it would be like the rest of their relationship. That Arthur would boss and Merlin would bristle and they’d argue and laugh and come to some kind of working compromise without ever quite realizing it, giving and taking in equal measure regardless of what their respective positions were supposed to be. But this, now, this was nothing like that. There was no question of Arthur trying to take control, even playfully, of pushing or complaining. No question either of stopping to ask about what happened to all their clothes, and certainly no question of denying Merlin anything he wanted to take.
It was all Arthur could do to just keep up in the face of Merlin’s overwhelming need, to cling tight as Merlin rutted against him, suddenly naked groins grinding together, the motion rough and inelegant and shockingly good. Arthur buried his face in Merlin’s shoulder, nipping and sucking at the flushed salty skin there, biting down harder than he meant to when Merlin’s hand wrapped around both of their erections and squeezed. It made Merlin’s gasps and groans dissolve into a low keening cry, and Arthur realized that the voiceless animal noises ringing in his ears were his own.
Completely lost to the pleasure of it, to Merlin’s glowing golden eyes and firebrand flesh, Arthur dragged his hand away from Merlin’s neck, pushed it down between them to cover Merlin’s, unconsciously matching his erratic rhythm. Merlin’s breath came in short sharp stutters, his hips bucking wildly against Arthur’s, and Arthur couldn’t even think enough to realize how close he was until Merlin’s mouth was back on his, drinking his soul out of him, and then Merlin spilled hot over their hands and Arthur followed him over.
When Arthur came back to himself, he found Merlin sprawled boneless across his body. Every inch of skin between them was damp and sticky with cooling sweat and seed, but it didn’t occur to Arthur to try to move.
“Merlin?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Are you…?”
Merlin lifted his head, peered at Arthur with eyes that were their normal hue again but just as beautiful as before. “It got what it wanted,” he said, still half-breathless.
“I did too,” Arthur murmured, unaware that he was speaking aloud until Merlin’s face bloomed into a bright, bright smile, every bit as intoxicating as the earlier fire in his eyes, and then Arthur could only smile back.
Then Merlin planted his hands on the bed on either side of Arthur’s chest, pushed himself up, and ducked his head to brush his lips against Arthur’s. It was light, tentative, everything like a textbook first kiss despite the fact that they were both completely naked with their come drying between them, despite the fact that Arthur was going to be wanking to memories of this morning for weeks.
Arthur responded in kind, sucking gently at Merlin’s lower lip, relishing the slow delicacy of this after the overpowering urgency of just a few minutes ago. Eventually Merlin broke off and pressed his forehead against Arthur’s, still catching his breath. Arthur remained too dazed and sated to consider going anywhere, but then Merlin’s eyes widened comically and he jerked upright.
“Oh, hell, Arthur, you have to go,” he said, a sentiment which might have been more effectively conveyed had he not been straddling Arthur’s thighs at the time.
“I think we rather firmly established that I can and should be wherever I want to be,” Arthur said, trailing his fingers over Merlin’s hip.
“No, I mean - Gaius. Gaius is going to be back soon, and I’m going to have to explain to him why I’m,” he gestured vaguely, “you know, ok now, and trust me, that is not a conversation anyone should be subjected to unnecessarily.”
Which was a point Arthur had no desire to argue. He levered himself into a sitting position, kissed Merlin again quickly, and then let Merlin clamber off him. Their clothes were - Arthur honestly could not even remember removing any of their clothes, let alone flinging them with any force, but apparently they had - their clothes were spread all over the room. Arthur’s trousers were on top of the cupboard, Merlin’s shirt dangled from the doorknob, and a boot was perched on the windowsill in defiance of all logic.
Arthur allowed himself a moment to appreciate the view as Merlin shuffled around, collecting the garments, and then cleared his throat loudly.
“You don’t expect me to get dressed like this, do you?”
Merlin blinked at him, and Arthur gestured imperiously to the mess on his stomach.
“No, right, of course,” Merlin agreed. For a split second Arthur entertained the notion that Merlin might decide to clean Arthur off with his tongue, and then Arthur could return the favor, and - Gaius, Arthur thought firmly, willing down the stirring of renewed interest between his legs. Gaius, any minute, and a discussion Arthur really didn’t want to have. Still, he couldn’t help the slight twinge of disappointment when Merlin passed a damp cloth over and turned away to wash himself.
Once they were both dressed, Arthur made for the door but paused awkwardly on the threshold.
“Um. I’ve a review of the knights soon, and then lunch with my father and Morgana, so I won’t be needing you until after the meal,” he said.
“Ok,” said Merlin, his expression unreadable.
*
It should have been awkward, when Merlin finally appeared in Arthur’s rooms. Arthur wasn’t sure where they stood, whether Merlin expected things to go back to the way they had always been now that whatever had possessed him was past, whether this morning was all Arthur was going to get. He knew he couldn’t push, couldn’t make any demands if he wanted to keep Merlin’s friendship at least, but all his worries were allayed when Merlin burst inside and started babbling before Arthur could say a single word.
“Look, I know this morning was mad, and I’m just your servant and all, but you said you wanted it and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all day and I’d really, really like to do it again, and regularly, if that’s alright with you.”
Merlin took a deep breath and watched him, hopeful. Arthur couldn’t think of a single thing to say in reply that wouldn’t be soppy and sentimental and entirely unbefitting of a prince of the realm, so instead he just dragged Merlin into his arms and kissed him.
And then they did it again.
And regularly.
*
Somehow Merlin never got around to telling Arthur what Gaius thought had caused Merlin to go into heat in the first place. Somehow Merlin seemed to find other things to occupy his mouth every time Arthur tried to bring it up, other things like Arthur’s tongue and Arthur’s cock and - so, ok, maybe it really wasn’t that important afterall.
Then, about a month after the first time, it happened again. Merlin was late, again, and Arthur went looking for him, again, and he found Merlin flushed and aroused and golden-eyed in his bed.
This time there was no conversation, though, just Merlin’s hands and lips everywhere, rough and untamed, manhandling Arthur like a hurricane.
The conversation came when it was over.
“Why didn’t you just come to me, you idiot?”
“What, I was supposed to go through the castle like that? Did you see what I looked like?” Which would almost have been enough to spark another round, if not for the pounding on Merlin’s door.
“Merlin!” Gaius shouted. “Merlin, put your trousers on, and sire, please do the same, we need to talk.”
Which was how Arthur found out that Merlin was magic. There were a few minutes of confused shouting after that, but Arthur couldn’t really stay angry after Merlin and Gaius methodically recited all the times Merlin had saved Arthur’s life with magic, and anyway, Merlin had this hickey that was terribly distracting and - Anyway, all told, Arthur took it pretty well, and Merlin was quite relieved when he got done being annoyed with Gaius for just spilling it like that after all the admonitions about secrecy, and then they moved on. As it turned out, some creatures with powerful natural magic went into heat on a regular basis, and Merlin was apparently such a creature, and, basically, this was going to happen roughly once a month henceforward. And Gaius just thought it would be better for all concerned if Arthur knew. And also if they did something about soundproofing Merlin’s room.
*
All in all, things really didn’t change all that much, except for the fact that Merlin and Arthur shagged quite a lot and Merlin didn’t have to lie about his magic anymore. And once a month, Merlin’s eyes went gold, his skin got unnaturally warm and flushed, and Arthur got incredibly hot and bothered about it.
*
“You know,” Arthur said conversationally, trailing his fingers through Merlin’s sweat-damp hair, “It’s typically the female of the species that goes into heat, in order to facilitate pregnancy.”
“So?”
“So maybe it keeps happening because your magic wants you to get knocked up. I always knew you were a girl deep down.”
Merlin rolled out of Arthur’s arms, glowering.
“You know, the magic wants me to have sex, but it doesn’t need to be sex with you. I could always leave you and get someone else to take care of it. That new stableboy’s been making eyes at me, and there’s Matilda in the laundry-”
Arthur huffed, frowning, and drew Merlin back to him. “They would all be woefully inadequate. You’d be back in my bed begging for it before you could-”
Merlin just laughed, said “Still an arrogant prat, even when you’re naked,” and kissed him into silence. Arthur rolled them so Merlin was underneath, pinned him and plundered his mouth, then dragged his tongue across Merlin’s jaw, down his throat, and sucked hard enough to bruise at the base of his neck, feeling shamefully possessive. Nothing much had changed, but at the same time, everything had. He knew it was a just joke, but the thought of anyone else touching Merlin made his chest ache. The thought of anyone else getting to have him while he was in heat, wild and wanton and awash with his power, was enough to make Arthur want to lock Merlin away somewhere safe so no one but Arthur could even look at him.
*
They had never managed to actually fuck while Merlin was in heat. Merlin was always too desperate, the need too raw for him to try anything more finessed than grasping and grinding. And the current would catch Arthur, sweep him along like the tide so he couldn’t concentrate on anything but Merlin’s eyes, Merlin’s mouth, Merlin’s skin, couldn’t do anything but ride the waves of Merlin’s want until it crested and ebbed and left them, wrung out on the shores of their own selves.
It didn’t bother Arthur; they did all of it on their own time and it was amazing, and frankly the sight of Merlin’s eyes swirling blue and gold was in and of itself enough to get Arthur hard and leaking, so any touch at all was just an additional gift. But he did wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to have Merlin inside him while he was crackling with such elemental strength.
As the months went by, Merlin got better at telling when the heat was going to hit, so he could make sure to spend the preceding night in Arthur’s bed. Which was a great relief for Arthur, because after April Arthur had been half-ready to move himself into Merlin’s sad little room just to make sure Gaius never had to fetch him out of a dinner with his father on some flimsy excuse ever again. (Various events had conspired to keep Arthur and Merlin out of each other’s company for two days; the heat had come on in the morning of the second day, and by the evening Merlin had been ready to take up with the stable boy just to get some relief. Merlin had pounced on Arthur before Gaius was even out of the room, and taken altogether it was pretty much the most mortifying experience of Arthur’s life, spectacular sex notwithstanding.)
One evening Merlin told Arthur he would be in heat in a few hours, and Arthur had the next morning free so they spent the rest of the night having truly obscene amounts of anticipatory sex. Somewhere around the fourth round, when Merlin was facedown on the bed with Arthur buried balls-deep, Merlin came with a soft grunt and passed out from sheer exhaustion while Arthur was still thrusting. Arthur might have had something to say about that, had he not followed Merlin into sleep ten seconds after his own release.
Arthur woke up to the sensation of Merlin suckling at his nipple. He looked completely ravished, hair sticking up everywhere, lips incredibly red, the gold just starting to swim up in his eyes. The flush had barely begun, only a slight pink glow in his skin, though he was already hard, pressing into Arthur’s thigh.
“Merlin,” Arthur croaked, and Merlin grinned, bright and wild, crawled up his body and kissed him, deep and thorough. By the time they broke for air, Arthur was hard too, and Merlin was drawing rough panting breaths, rubbing his erection against Arthur’s hip, well into the throes of the heat. He reached down between them but Arthur stilled and grabbed his wrist.
“What-”
“In me,” Arthur grunted. Merlin stared at him, golden eyes blank with lust, rocking his hips unconsciously, and Arthur almost abandoned the whole notion, but - no. It wouldn’t take anything at all, he was still slick and loose from before, and Merlin wasn’t that far gone yet, surely he could manage the little bit of coordination it would take to-
Merlin swallowed, finally understanding. “No control, don’t wanna hurt you-“
“You won’t,” Arthur growled. He shoved Merlin off him, pulled his own legs up to expose his hole, and that was all it took. Merlin was back on him with the almost supernatural speed he managed when he was like this, shoulders under Arthur’s legs, pushing inside with one solid stroke. Arthur always tried to keep his eyes open during these times, to see everything there was of Merlin, take in all his savage beauty while he was too preoccupied to be self-conscious, but he couldn’t this time. Not when he felt the magic sparking off Merlin’s skin, not when Merlin was pounding into his already aching arse, moaning and grabbing at Arthur’s hips and shaking with the force of it. Arthur couldn’t even be bothered about his own cock, just clutched at Merlin’s hands, the skin hot and trembling under his fingers.
It didn’t last long, it never did. Arthur’s orgasm hit him like a thunderclap, shattering him to pieces, and he was still seeing lightning behind his eyelids when Merlin crashed to completion inside him, shouting something incomprehensible that Arthur knew, somehow, was meant to be his name.
“You’re wonderful,” Merlin mumbled into Arthur’s shoulder, some time later.
“I know,” said Arthur, and, “You’re not so bad yourself. Best worst manservant I ever had.”
“Think I’m gonna be late for work today.” Arthur could hear the grin in Merlin’s voice.
“I think I can excuse that. Just this once.”
“Oh, good.” And then Merlin fell asleep again, snoring softly, and Arthur held him close and dreamt of summer storms.
ETA: Now with sequel! After the Deluge
Rating: NC-17
Length: ~3600 words
Summary: Merlin’s a magical creature who goes into heat, and subsequently has a great deal of sex with Arthur.
Note: I originally wrote the beginning of this for the kink meme, for the prompt Merlin is a magical creature and goes into heat. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so then the rest happened. It’s basically a bit of crack, a bit of the boys being the boys, some porn, and very little else. I’m sorry?
Merlin turning up late was nothing abnormal; Merlin failing to appear at all, without explanation or even an excuse carried by Gwen, was sufficiently odd to send Arthur searching for his errant manservant. He found Gaius’s workroom empty, though there seemed to be more than the usual number of open books spread around the place. Perhaps some sudden emergency had demanded the physician’s attention, and he had needed Merlin’s help? The door to Merlin’s room was closed, though, so Arthur felt he might as well check there. He didn’t bother to knock; after all, Merlin never knocked at Arthur’s door, so if he was starkers or wanking it was his own fault.
Merlin wasn’t starkers, or wanking. He was dressed, curled in a tight little ball on his bed, flushed and sweaty and rocking himself slightly back and forth. His head snapped up the moment Arthur entered the room, and whatever Arthur had planned to say fell straight out of his head at the sight of Merlin’s face. His expression was wild and pained, reminding Arthur of nothing so much as a wounded wolf, and his lips were bitten raw and red, and his eyes - his eyes were swirling blue and gold, unnatural and somehow the most beautiful thing Arthur thought he had ever seen.
“Arthur,” Merlin said, but Arthur heard it twice, like an echo, the word arriving in his head a split-second before it reached his ears.
“What’s the matter with you?” Arthur asked, his voice catching in his throat.
“It’s - you can’t - Arthur, you can’t be here,” Merlin said, each word coming out half-choked. He reached behind himself, gripped the headboard so hard his knuckles went white.
“I’m the crown prince of Camelot, I can be wherever I like,” Arthur said automatically, but he was reeling because the echo in his head was saying Arthur, yes, yes, yes, Arthur, here, now, touch me touch me touch me Arthur please Arthur…
“Arthur, please,” Merlin was practically sobbing, “I can’t - Gaius, Gaius will tell you when he comes back, I can’t-” He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t think I can control myself with you here.”
He had no idea what was going on, but Merlin was clearly in pain, and the litany in Arthur’s head was growing more desperate, begging plaintively for Arthur to come closer, to touch and take. Whatever this was, Arthur had no intention of leaving Merlin to face it alone. He crossed the tiny room in a few short strides, and Merlin started to shrink away from him, but then Arthur reached out to grasp Merlin’s shoulder and suddenly he stilled.
The echo in Arthur’s mind fell silent. Merlin’s features relaxed, just a little, and he leaned unconsciously into the contact before jerking away.
“No, Arthur, you don’t-” but as soon as Arthur wasn’t touching him anymore, Merlin’s whole body began trembling. So Arthur grabbed Merlin’s shoulder again, too tight a grip for Merlin to shake off, and the trembling stopped.
“Tell me what’s happening, Merlin,” Arthur said, quiet and stern, sitting down at Merlin’s side. He tried not to look at Merlin’s eyes, tried to focus on fixing this and not on how utterly kissable Merlin’s mouth appeared. Merlin swallowed, hard, and spoke slowly, each word crawling out of him with great effort.
“You know how some animals can only - they’re only fertile at certain times, and at those times they get very - they have to -“
“Cats in heat,” Arthur said, and even though it still didn’t make any sense, not really, it suddenly did.
Merlin nodded, shifted his legs, and then Arthur could see the bulge in his trousers.
“You’re in heat. How?”
“I don’t know, Gaius has an idea, he went to - but in the meantime I’ve just got to stay here, alone, it’s - it’s almost manageable, when I’m alone, but when someone’s near me-“
“It looks like it’s better when I’m touching you,” Arthur said hesitantly.
“Yes, but-“ The pained look came back into Merlin’s face, worse than before. He sounded wrung out, as if controlling himself was taking all of his concentration and he couldn’t even spare the energy to be embarrassed. “It’s as if - as if there’s this thing inside of me that just wants, and it thinks - it thinks you’re going to give it what it wants. So you have to go, Arthur, you have to - I don’t know how much longer I can-”
Arthur stared at him, at his eyes and his lips and his damp disheveled hair, and thought of Merlin in the stocks for Arthur’s sake, Merlin drinking poison for his sake, and made a decision. Merlin had sacrificed himself for Arthur so many times. And this could hardly even be called a sacrifice, not when the only thing Arthur would be giving up was his own self-denial.
“What if I don’t want to go, Merlin?” he asked. Merlin met his gaze then, with an expression of such shock and disbelief that Arthur was afraid he’d made a mistake, that the echo in his mind before hadn’t been Merlin at all but only the thing inside him. Arthur coughed, said, “That is, if you want me to - I’d never think to take advantage of your affliction, I only meant to-”
“Do you really want to stay?” Merlin asked. There was a thread of hope knitted into his tone alongside the strain, an eagerness in his eyes that was nothing like the cold desperation that had been there before, and that was enough. In answer, Arthur raised his free hand to Merlin’s cheek and leaned in to press his lips to Merlin’s.
The gold in Merlin’s eyes took over completely then, drowning the blue, and Arthur could have sworn that it poured out to drown him too. Before he knew what was happening, Merlin had him pinned to the bed, tongue halfway down Arthur’s throat, fingers scrabbling at his clothes. Too-hot skin everywhere, Merlin’s body sweaty-slick under his hands - what happened to his shirt, no, it didn’t matter, better this way, more to touch - and lips burning, bruising, scorching wet trails all over Arthur, making him dizzy and demanding of more, more, more.
Arthur had always imagined that, if he ever got to do this with Merlin, it would be like the rest of their relationship. That Arthur would boss and Merlin would bristle and they’d argue and laugh and come to some kind of working compromise without ever quite realizing it, giving and taking in equal measure regardless of what their respective positions were supposed to be. But this, now, this was nothing like that. There was no question of Arthur trying to take control, even playfully, of pushing or complaining. No question either of stopping to ask about what happened to all their clothes, and certainly no question of denying Merlin anything he wanted to take.
It was all Arthur could do to just keep up in the face of Merlin’s overwhelming need, to cling tight as Merlin rutted against him, suddenly naked groins grinding together, the motion rough and inelegant and shockingly good. Arthur buried his face in Merlin’s shoulder, nipping and sucking at the flushed salty skin there, biting down harder than he meant to when Merlin’s hand wrapped around both of their erections and squeezed. It made Merlin’s gasps and groans dissolve into a low keening cry, and Arthur realized that the voiceless animal noises ringing in his ears were his own.
Completely lost to the pleasure of it, to Merlin’s glowing golden eyes and firebrand flesh, Arthur dragged his hand away from Merlin’s neck, pushed it down between them to cover Merlin’s, unconsciously matching his erratic rhythm. Merlin’s breath came in short sharp stutters, his hips bucking wildly against Arthur’s, and Arthur couldn’t even think enough to realize how close he was until Merlin’s mouth was back on his, drinking his soul out of him, and then Merlin spilled hot over their hands and Arthur followed him over.
When Arthur came back to himself, he found Merlin sprawled boneless across his body. Every inch of skin between them was damp and sticky with cooling sweat and seed, but it didn’t occur to Arthur to try to move.
“Merlin?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Are you…?”
Merlin lifted his head, peered at Arthur with eyes that were their normal hue again but just as beautiful as before. “It got what it wanted,” he said, still half-breathless.
“I did too,” Arthur murmured, unaware that he was speaking aloud until Merlin’s face bloomed into a bright, bright smile, every bit as intoxicating as the earlier fire in his eyes, and then Arthur could only smile back.
Then Merlin planted his hands on the bed on either side of Arthur’s chest, pushed himself up, and ducked his head to brush his lips against Arthur’s. It was light, tentative, everything like a textbook first kiss despite the fact that they were both completely naked with their come drying between them, despite the fact that Arthur was going to be wanking to memories of this morning for weeks.
Arthur responded in kind, sucking gently at Merlin’s lower lip, relishing the slow delicacy of this after the overpowering urgency of just a few minutes ago. Eventually Merlin broke off and pressed his forehead against Arthur’s, still catching his breath. Arthur remained too dazed and sated to consider going anywhere, but then Merlin’s eyes widened comically and he jerked upright.
“Oh, hell, Arthur, you have to go,” he said, a sentiment which might have been more effectively conveyed had he not been straddling Arthur’s thighs at the time.
“I think we rather firmly established that I can and should be wherever I want to be,” Arthur said, trailing his fingers over Merlin’s hip.
“No, I mean - Gaius. Gaius is going to be back soon, and I’m going to have to explain to him why I’m,” he gestured vaguely, “you know, ok now, and trust me, that is not a conversation anyone should be subjected to unnecessarily.”
Which was a point Arthur had no desire to argue. He levered himself into a sitting position, kissed Merlin again quickly, and then let Merlin clamber off him. Their clothes were - Arthur honestly could not even remember removing any of their clothes, let alone flinging them with any force, but apparently they had - their clothes were spread all over the room. Arthur’s trousers were on top of the cupboard, Merlin’s shirt dangled from the doorknob, and a boot was perched on the windowsill in defiance of all logic.
Arthur allowed himself a moment to appreciate the view as Merlin shuffled around, collecting the garments, and then cleared his throat loudly.
“You don’t expect me to get dressed like this, do you?”
Merlin blinked at him, and Arthur gestured imperiously to the mess on his stomach.
“No, right, of course,” Merlin agreed. For a split second Arthur entertained the notion that Merlin might decide to clean Arthur off with his tongue, and then Arthur could return the favor, and - Gaius, Arthur thought firmly, willing down the stirring of renewed interest between his legs. Gaius, any minute, and a discussion Arthur really didn’t want to have. Still, he couldn’t help the slight twinge of disappointment when Merlin passed a damp cloth over and turned away to wash himself.
Once they were both dressed, Arthur made for the door but paused awkwardly on the threshold.
“Um. I’ve a review of the knights soon, and then lunch with my father and Morgana, so I won’t be needing you until after the meal,” he said.
“Ok,” said Merlin, his expression unreadable.
*
It should have been awkward, when Merlin finally appeared in Arthur’s rooms. Arthur wasn’t sure where they stood, whether Merlin expected things to go back to the way they had always been now that whatever had possessed him was past, whether this morning was all Arthur was going to get. He knew he couldn’t push, couldn’t make any demands if he wanted to keep Merlin’s friendship at least, but all his worries were allayed when Merlin burst inside and started babbling before Arthur could say a single word.
“Look, I know this morning was mad, and I’m just your servant and all, but you said you wanted it and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all day and I’d really, really like to do it again, and regularly, if that’s alright with you.”
Merlin took a deep breath and watched him, hopeful. Arthur couldn’t think of a single thing to say in reply that wouldn’t be soppy and sentimental and entirely unbefitting of a prince of the realm, so instead he just dragged Merlin into his arms and kissed him.
And then they did it again.
And regularly.
*
Somehow Merlin never got around to telling Arthur what Gaius thought had caused Merlin to go into heat in the first place. Somehow Merlin seemed to find other things to occupy his mouth every time Arthur tried to bring it up, other things like Arthur’s tongue and Arthur’s cock and - so, ok, maybe it really wasn’t that important afterall.
Then, about a month after the first time, it happened again. Merlin was late, again, and Arthur went looking for him, again, and he found Merlin flushed and aroused and golden-eyed in his bed.
This time there was no conversation, though, just Merlin’s hands and lips everywhere, rough and untamed, manhandling Arthur like a hurricane.
The conversation came when it was over.
“Why didn’t you just come to me, you idiot?”
“What, I was supposed to go through the castle like that? Did you see what I looked like?” Which would almost have been enough to spark another round, if not for the pounding on Merlin’s door.
“Merlin!” Gaius shouted. “Merlin, put your trousers on, and sire, please do the same, we need to talk.”
Which was how Arthur found out that Merlin was magic. There were a few minutes of confused shouting after that, but Arthur couldn’t really stay angry after Merlin and Gaius methodically recited all the times Merlin had saved Arthur’s life with magic, and anyway, Merlin had this hickey that was terribly distracting and - Anyway, all told, Arthur took it pretty well, and Merlin was quite relieved when he got done being annoyed with Gaius for just spilling it like that after all the admonitions about secrecy, and then they moved on. As it turned out, some creatures with powerful natural magic went into heat on a regular basis, and Merlin was apparently such a creature, and, basically, this was going to happen roughly once a month henceforward. And Gaius just thought it would be better for all concerned if Arthur knew. And also if they did something about soundproofing Merlin’s room.
*
All in all, things really didn’t change all that much, except for the fact that Merlin and Arthur shagged quite a lot and Merlin didn’t have to lie about his magic anymore. And once a month, Merlin’s eyes went gold, his skin got unnaturally warm and flushed, and Arthur got incredibly hot and bothered about it.
*
“You know,” Arthur said conversationally, trailing his fingers through Merlin’s sweat-damp hair, “It’s typically the female of the species that goes into heat, in order to facilitate pregnancy.”
“So?”
“So maybe it keeps happening because your magic wants you to get knocked up. I always knew you were a girl deep down.”
Merlin rolled out of Arthur’s arms, glowering.
“You know, the magic wants me to have sex, but it doesn’t need to be sex with you. I could always leave you and get someone else to take care of it. That new stableboy’s been making eyes at me, and there’s Matilda in the laundry-”
Arthur huffed, frowning, and drew Merlin back to him. “They would all be woefully inadequate. You’d be back in my bed begging for it before you could-”
Merlin just laughed, said “Still an arrogant prat, even when you’re naked,” and kissed him into silence. Arthur rolled them so Merlin was underneath, pinned him and plundered his mouth, then dragged his tongue across Merlin’s jaw, down his throat, and sucked hard enough to bruise at the base of his neck, feeling shamefully possessive. Nothing much had changed, but at the same time, everything had. He knew it was a just joke, but the thought of anyone else touching Merlin made his chest ache. The thought of anyone else getting to have him while he was in heat, wild and wanton and awash with his power, was enough to make Arthur want to lock Merlin away somewhere safe so no one but Arthur could even look at him.
*
They had never managed to actually fuck while Merlin was in heat. Merlin was always too desperate, the need too raw for him to try anything more finessed than grasping and grinding. And the current would catch Arthur, sweep him along like the tide so he couldn’t concentrate on anything but Merlin’s eyes, Merlin’s mouth, Merlin’s skin, couldn’t do anything but ride the waves of Merlin’s want until it crested and ebbed and left them, wrung out on the shores of their own selves.
It didn’t bother Arthur; they did all of it on their own time and it was amazing, and frankly the sight of Merlin’s eyes swirling blue and gold was in and of itself enough to get Arthur hard and leaking, so any touch at all was just an additional gift. But he did wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to have Merlin inside him while he was crackling with such elemental strength.
As the months went by, Merlin got better at telling when the heat was going to hit, so he could make sure to spend the preceding night in Arthur’s bed. Which was a great relief for Arthur, because after April Arthur had been half-ready to move himself into Merlin’s sad little room just to make sure Gaius never had to fetch him out of a dinner with his father on some flimsy excuse ever again. (Various events had conspired to keep Arthur and Merlin out of each other’s company for two days; the heat had come on in the morning of the second day, and by the evening Merlin had been ready to take up with the stable boy just to get some relief. Merlin had pounced on Arthur before Gaius was even out of the room, and taken altogether it was pretty much the most mortifying experience of Arthur’s life, spectacular sex notwithstanding.)
One evening Merlin told Arthur he would be in heat in a few hours, and Arthur had the next morning free so they spent the rest of the night having truly obscene amounts of anticipatory sex. Somewhere around the fourth round, when Merlin was facedown on the bed with Arthur buried balls-deep, Merlin came with a soft grunt and passed out from sheer exhaustion while Arthur was still thrusting. Arthur might have had something to say about that, had he not followed Merlin into sleep ten seconds after his own release.
Arthur woke up to the sensation of Merlin suckling at his nipple. He looked completely ravished, hair sticking up everywhere, lips incredibly red, the gold just starting to swim up in his eyes. The flush had barely begun, only a slight pink glow in his skin, though he was already hard, pressing into Arthur’s thigh.
“Merlin,” Arthur croaked, and Merlin grinned, bright and wild, crawled up his body and kissed him, deep and thorough. By the time they broke for air, Arthur was hard too, and Merlin was drawing rough panting breaths, rubbing his erection against Arthur’s hip, well into the throes of the heat. He reached down between them but Arthur stilled and grabbed his wrist.
“What-”
“In me,” Arthur grunted. Merlin stared at him, golden eyes blank with lust, rocking his hips unconsciously, and Arthur almost abandoned the whole notion, but - no. It wouldn’t take anything at all, he was still slick and loose from before, and Merlin wasn’t that far gone yet, surely he could manage the little bit of coordination it would take to-
Merlin swallowed, finally understanding. “No control, don’t wanna hurt you-“
“You won’t,” Arthur growled. He shoved Merlin off him, pulled his own legs up to expose his hole, and that was all it took. Merlin was back on him with the almost supernatural speed he managed when he was like this, shoulders under Arthur’s legs, pushing inside with one solid stroke. Arthur always tried to keep his eyes open during these times, to see everything there was of Merlin, take in all his savage beauty while he was too preoccupied to be self-conscious, but he couldn’t this time. Not when he felt the magic sparking off Merlin’s skin, not when Merlin was pounding into his already aching arse, moaning and grabbing at Arthur’s hips and shaking with the force of it. Arthur couldn’t even be bothered about his own cock, just clutched at Merlin’s hands, the skin hot and trembling under his fingers.
It didn’t last long, it never did. Arthur’s orgasm hit him like a thunderclap, shattering him to pieces, and he was still seeing lightning behind his eyelids when Merlin crashed to completion inside him, shouting something incomprehensible that Arthur knew, somehow, was meant to be his name.
“You’re wonderful,” Merlin mumbled into Arthur’s shoulder, some time later.
“I know,” said Arthur, and, “You’re not so bad yourself. Best worst manservant I ever had.”
“Think I’m gonna be late for work today.” Arthur could hear the grin in Merlin’s voice.
“I think I can excuse that. Just this once.”
“Oh, good.” And then Merlin fell asleep again, snoring softly, and Arthur held him close and dreamt of summer storms.
ETA: Now with sequel! After the Deluge