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Ed stayed in bed until the sun set beneath the horizon, until the moonlight illuminated the messy sheets in its glow, washing over Stede’s pale skin. He looked like a fucking angel, like a siren, sent to tempt him further into the depths, to pull him down to the bottom of the ocean. But how could Ed blame him, when he would gleefully follow him into the pits of hell?
They had laid amidst the sheets for the rest of the day, picking at the breakfast that Stede had made for them that morning in between rough bouts of primal need, but even that was long gone now. The routine was set quickly, guided only by biological imperative; the fervent need would rise up in one of them, the other following quickly suit, until Ed slipped back between Stede’s thighs and knotted him. The haze and demand of sleep was quick to follow, heavy-eyed and sated, until they were little more than a tangle of limbs and sheets, blurring one into the other. Rinse. Repeat.
It was easy, natural, fucking magical, really. He’d never pictured himself settling down, and fucking an omega in heat had only ever been a rare indulgence, some dangerous little luxury allowed only on the rare occasion. He couldn’t bring himself to risk such connection, such attachment, not to mention the fear of an army of his bastard children rising up to take revenge for his abandonment.
But then there was Stede.
Peculiar, twitchy, beautiful Stede. With his books and his voices and his gentleness, with the easy way that he made him laugh, with his scent of cedar and vanilla and sweat, Ed had fallen in love faster than he had ever intended. Though, he supposed, intention had nothing to do with it. It had started as mere curiosity, a rumor sparking a fascination, ceaseless fascination sparking something akin to adoration, and then…
He could see a life with Stede, something beyond the battle and bloodshed, beyond the pillage and plunder, beyond the ocean and its horizon. A life guided by leisure and impulse, by good books and better sex, by warm beds and full bellies, by the endless dance of the sun and the moon, by the sleepless cycles of heat and rut. Maybe children, if they weren’t too old for it by now. Retirement.
Ed had counted himself as momentarily lucky when he woke to something other than the painful throb of his cock between his legs, or by the whimpering of his needy omega. Instead, he woke with heavy eyes and a rumbling stomach, and the realization that neither of them had eaten in hours.
It would have been easy, to waste away with him in the locked confines of this room. None of the crew had the balls to so much as knock, let alone tell him to stop fucking their captain long enough to eat. It would have been easy, to devour him whole instead, to be completely sated by the taste of Stede’s slick on his tongue, to starve himself on the tastes reserved for royalty. So unbelievably, undeniably easy.
The idea was certainly tempting as Ed’s eyes found him, moonlight casting against his skin in its pale, blue glow. The light refracted on the water, reflecting through the window and painting his golden curls with the movement of the waves. Eyes finding him sprawled naked across the sheets beside him, Ed counted himself as lucky once more.
But the responsibility that Stede always seemed to carry with him - to maintain the well-being of everyone around him, to keep them well-fed and well-loved - was abandoned the moment his body went into heat. His mind was fogged and far away, demanding only to be filled, his moments of clarity few and far between. Not that Ed could expect anything more of him in such a state, after all these years suppressing it.
There was no bitterness in accepting the responsibility upon his own shoulders. Cock still hanging flaccid between his legs, skin cold and tacky with slick and come and sweat, Ed slipped from the bed as quietly as he could manage, pulling Stede’s robe around his shoulders and drawing the curtains closed around the bed. To care for him, to offer up such little acts of worship, to fuck him full and feed him well… It was holy obligation, his sacred duty, to serve his omega in every hallowed way.
Of course, such obligation lied only with Stede. Whatever responsibility Stede held to the rest of the crew could be sorted out later.
Ed tied Stede’s robe around his waist, preserving some ounce of modesty; the moon was full, and with Buttons at the wheel, he figured that there didn’t need to be two men with their cocks out on deck tonight. He opened the door, softly as he could, cursing each creak of the hinges as he slipped from the consecrated walls of the bedroom for the first time since he’d started rutting. The air was colder outside, an instant chill to leave him frigid to the bone, but he paid it little mind. Might buy him more time, if anything.
His feet didn’t even find the main deck before a rasping, familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. “Having fun with your new play thing?”
“Jesus fuck, Izzy,” Ed swore, the muscles tightening in his neck as he turned to face him. “What, were you eavesdropping again, you nasty little pervert?”
“Hardly counts as eavesdropping when the whole ship sounds like a fucking brothel.” Izzy’s nose turned up, scrunching hard as he inhaled sharply. “Fucking smells like one, too.”
Some possessive spark lit in the center of his chest, some manic urge to slit his fucking throat for daring to so much as breathe in the scent of his omega. The jealousy rang heavy in his ears, maybe spurred harder with the firsthand knowledge of what Izzy was like in bed. They’d spent years together, their ruts finding themselves often in sync, the time oftentimes passed together in some bizarre tangle for dominance, one over the other.
Though, it was hardly ever a real fight. Izzy could put up a good one, had pinned him down and mounted him once or twice in the first few frantic frenzies of their shared rut. But as the years went on, and Izzy settled into his position of first mate, the encounters had always ended the same. Izzy’s face buried into the pillows, ass up, grumbling out some pathetic excuse for gratitude. Fucking pathetic. More selfless than Ed, maybe.
But fucking pathetic all the same.
Ed turned sharp on his heel, opting not to give him the satisfaction of being slammed against the wall or having his fucking teeth knocked out. He had come out here on a mission, not to be distracted by inferior men, inferior pirates, inferior alphas. He had holy ground awaiting him, and he intended to lay up offering.
“You sure it’s wise, Captain?” Izzy’s voice trailed behind him, footsteps following suit.
“He’s a better lay than you, that’s for damned certain,” Ed muttered, making his way down toward the kitchen. It was dark below deck, the moonlight not so merciful here, but Ed had long memorized his way toward the stores of Stede’s favorite foods, even blind.
“Breeding your co-captain,” he hissed, contempt ringing in his voice, some twinge of jealousy echoing behind. “It could have unintended consequences.”
Ed let out a huff of laughter, pulling an orange from the barrel and slipping it into the pocket of his robe. His eyes rose to meet his first mate, face cloaked in shadow, the only sparing moonlight shining through the cracks in the deck. “Like what, Izzy? You think I’m gonna accidentally knock him up? I think we’re a little old for that.” He paused, then corrected himself. "Probably."
“I fear that you may become…” Izzy paused, long enough for the silence to echo in the space between. “attached.”
“And so what if I do?” Ed asked, closing the space between himself and Izzy near the bottom of the staircase. A wry smile tugged at the corners of Ed’s mouth at the realization of what it meant, of Izzy’s objection. “Are you jealous?”
Izzy’s silence betrayed every secret, the sneer across his lips proving everything. Even more damning, Ed stood close enough to smell him, hanging thick and heavy in the air; like gunpowder and jasmine and smoke. His scent had always been harsh, harsher still when their pheromones had found themselves in sync. It was familiar, just a few months removed from his memory, the same scent that had nearly smothered them both the last time Izzy had gotten on his knees and presented himself.
Ed let a cruel laugh escape his throat as he stepped closer. “Oh my fucking god, Izzy, are you rutting?”
Izzy’s eyes turned down, shame rising up behind them as his face flushed hot, so red that Ed could see it through the shadows. No fucking hiding it now, betrayed by the sneer pulling at the corners of his mouth. Ed’s lips parted into a toothy grin, another harsh laugh drawn up from his throat.
“So what, you’re jealous because you don’t have an omega of your own, begging you to breed them too? Pissed because you’ve gotta knot your own fucking hand?” Ed interrogated.
Izzy turned his head and spat, missing Ed’s bare foot by mere inches, nose scrunched tight at the accusation. “Please,” he scoffed, sneer pulling ugly across his lips. “I’m not so fucking petty.”
The rage boiled up against Ed’s ribcage, a snarl prompted from his lips as he slammed his arm against Izzy’s chest, shoving him hard against the wall behind him. A near-delirious smile spread across his first mate’s lips, eyes turning up toward the heavens, as though thanking god for some answered prayer.
“Oh, I get it,” Ed scoffed. “You’re just mad because you’re not the one I’m fucking anymore.”
The sigh that followed was all the confirmation that Ed needed, and all the excuse to wind back a pointed hand, delivering a swift jab between his balls. Izzy doubled over as Ed took a step away, a manic laugh tearing from his throat as Ed spat back down at him, aiming for the shoes. “Atta boy,” Izzy croaked out, clinging to his stomach, eyes glinting wide and wild where they caught in the moonlight, savoring in the pain.
“Stop fuckin’ laughing, or I’ll cut one off next time,” Ed grumbled, turning back toward the stairs. Better things to do, better places to be, better to leave Izzy to rut by himself. “Stede says you can suck eggs in hell, by the way.”
~~~~~~
The sheets were cold.
The bed was empty beside him, and the room suddenly felt so woefully freezing. His body had woken before his mind, sleep-drunk and searching for the heat of his lover, finding nothing more than silk and linen. His eyes opened, blurred, and focused, sweeping the room for any sign of life, for any proof that it all hadn’t been some fervid dream, some grand delusion.
The curtains had been partly drawn around him, the rest of the room standing quiet. There was a stillness that had settled over the ship, the buzz of life dulling to a whisper, chests rising and falling with the crashing of the waves. It was quiet, as most nights were on the ship, after the stories had been read and the crew had all fallen asleep. Nothing new, nothing solid.
Dread began to rise in his throat. He could still the echoed promise ringing in Ed’s voice around his head, vows that Stede wouldn’t have to suffer through the consequences of his own biology alone, the promise not to leave. Had Ed been so cruel to suffer him as a fool? Or had it ever been real to begin with?
As he shifted his weight, he could feel the slick and come slide between his legs, all the proof he needed found tacky and wet against his hole. He could vaguely recall the occasional push and pull of his limbs, Ed’s hands cleaning the sweat and the slick from his body, but he’d been ever so intentional in leaving his hole a mess, wet and easily available for him to take.
He lay stark naked beneath the sheets, robe disappeared from off the floor where it’d fallen, Ed’s boots and clothes still discarded in the corner. A promise in itself of return.
It was real. He was real. This was real.
Stede pulled himself upright, feeling the hollow stir in the pit of his belly start again, the nagging voice whimpering in the back of his mind. Stede had surrendered himself to the jaws of his own heat, and it would not spit him back out so quickly, the fervent need sure to rise up within him again and again, with every waking moment, for another few days at least. Confined to this room, to these sheets, to his back…
It wouldn’t have been so bad, if not for the stillness in the bed beside him.
Stede let out a stifled groan as it welled up and over, pulling him back down amidst the pillows, burying his face into the space between. He could still smell Ed, all seasalt and honey and sweat and smoke, lingering in the silk beneath him. Strong, heavy, the pheromones of his rut hanging in the air around him, egging on the whining beast inside of him, the desire to be consumed by it stiffening between his thighs.
It was furious, gnawing at the iron bars of his ribcage, demanding the glide of Ed’s cock down to the hilt, to be knotted and filled and bred, to be touched in his entirety. He could feel himself falling, drowning in the thought, biological impulse ruling above all. The pills, still scattered across the floor, contained all the control that he had so willingly surrendered, with no hope of picking them up again from the comfort of his bed.
He moved without thought, without regard for how it might look should anyone walk in and see, propping himself up onto his knees. Proper position for an omega, hole presented and ready to be mounted, but the thought hardly occurred to him as his fingers slipped behind him, probing at the taut muscle of his rim. It was nothing more than easiest angle.
It was pathetically unsatisfying even still, the first one, two, three fingers sliding seamlessly inside. He’d been stretched out and ruined by Ed’s knot five times already, had slipped so effortlessly between his alpha’s cock and his own unconsciousness, the hours all blurring together. Even Ed’s fingers alone had felt like magic between his legs, such sweet torture in his fingertips; Stede’s fingers contained no such magic, though. Only the ghosts of something better. Only the ghosts of…
”Edward,” Stede whimpered.
Ed could hear his omega’s mewling from behind the door as he approached the threshold of his room. He wasted no time in throwing it open, slamming it shut behind, eyes scanning the moonlit room until his eyes found the space between the curtains, the sliver of a sight of heaven in his bed.
Stede’s golden curls looked nearly silver in the moonlight streaming through the window, disheveled and sticking to the back of his neck with the sweat. His back arched obscenely, face pressed between the pillows, four fingers pressed between his thighs in some desperate attempt to subdue the demand of his heat. He sounded damn near delirious, Ed’s name falling from his tongue like a prayer, eyes not so much as turning to meet him, not so much as acknowledging his presence in the room. How could his mind be turned toward anything, when so lost in his begging to a higher power?
Ed could feel his knot pulse between his legs at the very sight of it, some echoed demand in against his skull. Mount him.
The weight of the oranges stuffed into the pockets of his robe were enough to weigh him down, enough to keep him from pinning Stede’s arms above his head and fucking him into the mattress. It had been hours since they’d last eaten, and the rumbling in Ed’s stomach was enough of a clue as to Stede’s own state. They needed more than the taste of come and slick and lips and teeth to sustain them through til the morning.
“Stede? Love?” Ed called, voice hanging just above a whisper as he crept closer to the bed, pushing the curtains aside.
Stede’s head whipped sharply to the side, turning to face him through the cover of the pillowcases, brown eyes meeting his in such wide-eyed lust, coherence slipping fast from behind them. His fingers pulled sharply away from his hole, bracing the sheets beneath him, presenting himself to be fucked and bred without so much as a word. He was damned near gone, reduced to a quivering, sopping mess before him.
“Ed,” he breathed, a quick correction spilling sharper from his tongue. ”Alpha.”
“I’m here, sweetheart,” he assured, the gentle weight of his palm settling at the small of Stede’s back as he knelt down at the edge of his bed, coaxing his knees downward.
“I wanted to be good for you,” Stede confessed on shaky tongue, the resistance holding tension in his thighs, refusing to lower himself against the bed. He needed to hold himself up, to feel Ed bury himself down to the very hilt, to feel the seed spill hot into his belly, to keep the angle sharp. “I-- I wanted to be ready for your knot when you came back.”
“I know, darling, I know, you did such a good job for me,” he sighed, inhaling deep, the scent of vanilla and cedar hanging thick in the air, enough to fucking choke on, enough to fucking drown in. “But you’re gonna starve yourself if you don’t get something in you soon.” Stede’s eyes were hazy and unfocused, but his ears caught on the words ”something in you soon,” eyes meeting him with some eager sort of clarity. Ed rolled his eyes, pulling an orange from his pocket. “Food, Stede.”
He made a noise in protest, wriggling his knees further apart, spreading himself open wider, needy and fucking debauched. “I’m not hungry.” A wandering hand swept from the bed, blindly tangling through Ed’s silver hair, down through his beard, tugging him desperately closer in some blind, frenzied lust. It would have been easy to simply give in to his omega’s wanton demands, to climb up into bed and fuck him deep, to fill him full enough to fucking taste it… “Just want you, Ed.”
“Well, I’m hungry,” he lied, peeling the orange quickly, splitting apart its slices and popping one into his mouth. The grumbling of his stomach had been swiftly overpowered by the twitch of his cock and the pulse in his knot at this point, but he held his desires close to his chest and smothered them; at least for the time that it took to feed his stubborn omega.
Stede let out a whine, rocking back and forth on his knees like an impatient child, discontented in such cruel procrastination. Ed’s hand found itself again heavy against the small of his back, the pressure more forceful this time; not enough to hurt, but enough to make his trembling legs fall weak. His knees tucked themselves beneath his chest, cock pressed between parted thighs and the mattress beneath him, straining and wet at the tip.
Ed’s hand migrated slowly down his back, down the curve of his ass, tracing the mess of slick and come that filled the space between. He pressed his fingers just past the entrance of his omega’s hole, still leaking with his seed, and savored in the thought of it. The thought of Stede, filled by and dripping with him for the entirety of his heat, some part of him lingering in the pit of his belly for days after… For weeks after… For months…
It was enough to make him fucking delirious with it.
“You be good and eat for me,” Ed coaxed softly as he ignored his aching knot, bringing a slice of orange to the corners of Stede’s kiss-swollen mouth as he slid two fingers past his twitching rim. His omega's lips parted around a shuddered moan, wide enough for Ed to slip his fingers past his teeth, leaving the fruit against his tongue. "Then, I'm gonna fucking mount you."
A wrecked noise escaped his chest as Stede bit down, its bitter sweetness spilling between his teeth and dripping down his throat. It was cool against his burning throat, easing the hollow in his stomach, the hunger satiated as Ed’s fingers moved easily, expertly inside of him. He could nearly taste the honey and seasalt hanging in the air around them, mingling with his own scent, the aroma akin to that of the Promise Land. There was no resistance in his bones, no trembling or desperate clawing, making it all look easy as Stede’s unfocused eyes settled on his alpha in the dim moonlight.
He was beautiful, ethereal. That familiar, manic look in his eyes had tamed with concern, as though Stede was the only thing in the world worth caring for, the only thing worth protecting. Stede could see the stark outline of his cock through the silk of his robe, even from where he lay on the bed, hard and straining through the fabric. Even still, clinging to his control and concernment. Ed’s hands moved steadily, setting firm pace, enough to offer relief but not much else. There was compassion in it, without the scrutinous attention to his prostate, sparing him the white hot spark of lighting ignited in his belly.
This was an act of service, Ed’s display of adoration; to fill him just enough to sate the gnawing hunger until he’d eaten his fill, ignoring the own apparent need between his legs. His own little act of love.
Ed coaxed another cry from his lips, fingers twisting just enough to graze lightly against that electric spot inside of him, lips parting just enough to slip another slice of orange between. Those gray-brown eyes rolled back, teeth nipping at Ed’s fingertips as they pulled away before closing around the fruit, swallowing it down quickly. Stede’s mouth fell open again without enticement or seduction; an act of simple obedience, deserving of praise, deserving of reward.
“Good boy,” he praised softly, another slice drawn up to his omega’s teeth. His fingers quirked downward as Stede swallowed it down grateful, drawing another tortured whine from his throat as he buried his face in the pillow. His hips rocked back hard against his palm, begging to be taken down to the hilt as his fingers worked against that torturous little spot inside of him. ”Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay… I’ve got you, sweetheart. You just keep eating, let me do the work. Just three more bites for me, okay?”
It was the holy mission of a man traveling through the pits of purgatory, to be close enough to touch but not to taste, to feel the warmth of his body without the mercy of being consumed by it. Ed picked another slice of citrus, placing it carefully against his omega’s eagerly-waiting tongue. He swallowed it down quickly, just as hurried to get this all done and over with, to skip straight to the fun part.
Stede’s mouth fell open again, melting into the quick routine of it, forcing his yearning bones to still and obey. His eyes fell shut, savoring the sensation of Ed’s fingers moving inside of him, of the taste of the fruit and the salt of Ed’s skin on his tongue, hoping to hold to such a moment, praying that he might remember how this felt come morning.
Ed pressed a third finger past the rim of his hole, spreading him open enough to fit his length, to accommodate his knot. Stede could feel another moan rise up against his throat, choked down only by another slice of fruit and Ed, voice trembling around the fingers in his mouth as his hips slowly rocked back against his alpha’s hand, grazing over that oversensitive spot inside him with each movement, drawing soft moans from his parted lips.
Such insatiable desire was calmed, eased by the pumping of his fingers, the rhythmic glide of slick-soaked digits brushing up against his prostate. His heat had long began to wear at the sharp edges of his mind, dulling the parts that cut to something softer, melting away beneath the touch of his alpha. Ed pulled the last slice of orange from its peel, tucking it against Stede’s tongue before redoubling his efforts inside, hole eager to take whatever was offered up. Faster, harder, enough to make him squirm, enough to make him fucking squeal.
Greedily, his muscles contracted around his fingers as they plunged deeper inside, down to the very base of his knuckles, drawing a cry from Stede’s lips loud enough to wake the crew. It was nearly all too much, Ed’s cock aching between his legs as he gingerly pulled his fingers from his hole, rather opting to graze down the backs of his thighs, smearing the slick along the tender flesh. It sent tremors up Stede’s spine, the entirety of him shaking with the loss of contact, the cold air brushing against his exposed, wet rim. Hollow and unpleasant and aching to be filled.
The sight of him, laying so pliant and needy beneath his touch, sent a jolt through Ed’s core, cock throbbing painfully, enough to nearly send him doubling over with the force of it. His knot ached, his head clouding with the thick of his rut, slowly losing the fight over his own self-control. He could feel the pull of instinct, of biological demand, made ever worse by Stede rising back into position, knees propped up and cunt presented.
Fucking magical.
“Fuck, baby,” Ed murmured, rising from the place where he’d knelt at the edge of the bed, taking a step back to simply stand and behold him. All his glory, all his elegance, divinity laid out so beautifully before him. Never the fortunate son, with a taste for a life that God had so long denied him; but lying before him in the dim moonlight was all that he had ever prayed for and more, sprawled across sheets of silk and rather exquisite cashmere. “Fucking hell.”
“You promised,” Stede whimpered, hips shifting uncomfortably in the air. “I was good, I did what you said, you-- you said you’d…”
A smiled pulled across Ed’s teeth, sliding into the bed behind his mewling omega, pulling the robe from where it was tied around his waist. His cock hung thick, heady, pulsing between his legs as he lined himself up with Stede’s rim, the taut rim twitching around his cockhead, the slick pulsing against him at the very graze of his touch. Ed grasped himself firmly at the shaft, giving a few cursory pumps as he steadied himself between Stede’s knees before draping himself over his lover, humming kisses all the way up his spine.
“Hmm, I can’t seem to recall,” Ed teased. “What exactly did I say I would do?”
”Mount me,” Stede barked back, words coming out as more of a command than an answer.
Ed’s hands gripped tight around Stede’s hips and pulled, dragging him down around his cock, sinking deep into the tight, wet heat of his omega. Their moans rang out in wrecked harmony as he bottomed out inside of him, stilling for only the time that it took Ed to catch his breath, a soft chuckle hanging in his throat as his teeth nipped against the lobe of his ear. “Aye, Captain.”
There was no such mercy left for such a demanding omega, Ed not offering him so much as the time to catch the air in his lungs. He draped himself over Stede’s writhing, wriggling body, hips pistoned as he began to thrust, setting brutal pace. All self-control lay abandoned at his feet as he chased his own high, his own pleasure, his own desire to fucking knot him.
Stede’s voice came out unrestrained, words that he couldn’t quite comprehend himself spilling from his mindless tongue. Words chanted and cried out loud enough to wake the ocean echoed against the walls as Ed drilled against his prostate, his cock hardening painfully between his legs. His thighs trembled and his fingers grasped desperately at the sheets, and there was only one coherent thought that he could pull from the noise in his head.
Edward Teach was going to milk him dry.
And Stede would be his willing victim, eager to lay subject to whatever Ed had in mind. He wanted it; wanted to be drained of himself, to be filled by his alpha, to take his knot, again and again, until they were both utterly spent in a tangle of limbs and come and sweat. He wanted to lay there boneless beneath him, knotted and fucked so hard that he wouldn’t be able to tell sea from sky.
The pressure of Stede’s body around his cock was enough to drive him past the point of no return. True conjointment, without barrier, without restraint, with nothing more than slick and frenzied need between them. Ed buried his face into Stede’s neck, breathing him in, the cedar and sweat, pleasure and pain, a gnawing agony in his moans, spurred on by the growing need. Louder still, though, were the little noises of gratification brought by the very presence of Ed’s bare cock sheathed inside of him.
It was fucking intoxicating, better than any booze to ever burn its way down his throat. The feeling buzzed around his skull, vision blurring as he settled up against his cervix, savoring each twinge of his body. Again and again, Stede found ways to bring him to new heights.
Ed pulled out slowly, hips snapping back in hard to the hilt, slamming hard against Stede’s hips, filling the room with the obscene slap of skin against skin. His omega’s cries grew hoarse, filled with need and relief as his alpha picked up speed inside of him. It was fucking irresistable, the feeling of hot slick leaking around his cock, dripping down Stede’s thighs, down the fronts of his own.
Stede’s face was buried hard against the mattress, muffling the sound of his incessant moans. He was a noisy lover, without shame or regard for what may await him once he stepped outside the confines of this room. Of course, everything had already changed, the pills still strewn underfoot serving as a lingering proof of his reckless abandon. What more could he possibly have to lose?
But even still, Ed noted the consideration in the willful muffling of his voice, some vain attempt to let the crew rest. Always one to put their needs above his own, even if he had some funny ways of showing it. Considerate, even in the throes of heat.
Luckily, Ed was not such a considerate captain.
A hand dragged roughly through his golden curls, pulling him up from the mattress, forcing him up on hand and knee. It wasn’t so rough as to hurt, but enough to certainly make the point, Stede falling in rapt obedience as Ed breathed hot against his neck, delivering a sharp thrust against his prostate. The cry drawn from his throat was unintended, but loud, ringing against the glass of the windows around them, coaxing a low, satisfied growl from the pit of Ed’s chest.
“I want the whole fucking ocean to hear you.”
Who was he to deny him? Edward’s name tumbled clumsily from his tongue, the words spilling without thought or coherence from his tongue as he cried out in such impetuous obedience. Stede could feel the tugging of Ed’s knot pressing up to his rim, swelling with its need to catch, begging to pin him down and breed, to fill him to the brim with his white, hot seed. He could feel the slick pulse between his thighs, instinctual and involuntary, but welcome all the same. It felt all so natural, so instinctive and innate, as though he had always been meant to find himself here, predestined by the heavens to be fucked and bred by Ed’s cock. Like he was made for this.
And perhaps this was precisely what he was made for. Created to devolve into heat, created to take his alpha’s knot, created to be filled, to be bred, to bear his children. Ed let out a low growl at the very thought of it, burying himself deeper into Stede’s neck, taking in his scent like oxygen. He was sweet, and sharp, and fucking fertile.
What a fucking thought it was, too. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Ed swore that he could fucking smell it on him, the pheromones heavy in the air around them. No fucking doubt, Stede would walk away from this with Ed’s seed in his belly, some part of his very essence to be tucked away and carried within his womb, their dirty little secret until there was no more hiding it beneath his well-tailored linens.
Biology, or some long-smothered fantasy, Ed couldn’t quite tell. In the end, he couldn’t quite figure out whether or not it even mattered.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you, sweetheart,” Ed coaxed softly, something akin to a purr rising up in his throat, releasing the sharp grip of his fingernails digging into Stede’s hips. He pressed the pads of his fingertips in their place, memorizing the way the imprinted crescent moons left behind felt stretched across his soft, pale flesh. “I want to hear that pretty mouth of yours.”
“Not this again,” Stede whined, face seeking pillows to bury itself between, but Ed’s hands steadied him forcefully upright, not granting him such easy mercy. Instead, Ed reached beneath him, fingers curling tight around the shaft of his cock and giving it a firm pump, drawing another wrecked mewl from his throat.
“Oh, yes, this again,” he teased. Stede could hear the devilish grin in his voice. “I was lenient with you last time, love, it being your first heat in god knows how fucking long and all…” He delivered another pointed thrust against his prostate, already memorizing all of the ways to take him apart, with his fingers, with his cock, from the inside out. “But now, you’ve had all day to adjust to this,” his hips pistoned back again, and snapped in again, knot tugging just hard enough against Stede’s rim to sting. “And I want to hear you say it.”
“I can’t,” he panted, breathless as Ed’s stroking picked up speed around his cock. “I can’t think, Ed, I just-- I need-- Fuck, Edward, please.”
His grasp tightened firm around the base of Stede’s cock, tight enough to block any hope of orgasm, the very consummation of his pleasure held within the palm of Ed’s hand. There was something dizzying in the control possessed within his fingertips, damned near tipsy off his own power. Still, though, he couldn’t bring himself to be quite so cruel as he had been with the ones to come before.
Only a little cruel.
“Words, Stede, words. Use them.”
“I want-- fuck, I want your knot, Ed,” he choked out, the words easier to find with the repetition of the thought. “I want you… I want you to knot me.”
“Well, I could have figured that much.” Ed’s cock sank in to the hilt and settled long enough for Stede to feel his knot twitching at his rim. He was close, Stede could feel it, but his voice betrayed no such vulnerability, holding steady and controlled with every word. “No repeats from earlier, sweetheart. New thoughts, full sentences, paragraphs, grammar, syntax, whatever the fuck. Tell me what you want of me.”
Some instinct or impulse clawed at the tissue of his lungs, in the pit of his belly, demanding that the nagging hollow be filled, mind stuck on the idea of his knot. To be filled, to be bred, to carry some part of Ed inside of him for just awhile longer.
He allowed his mind to follow to its logical conclusion, and the idea of what might come after. It wasn’t as though there were any forms of protection on the ship, certainly nothing reliable when it came to heat and rut. Even if there were, how could Stede ask for anything but what was laid out right before him? He didn’t want to take his knot through the barrier of a condom, would curse any barrier between flesh and flesh. Damn the risk, damn the consequence.
“I want you to breed me,” Stede shuddered out, gripping tighter to the sheets beneath him. “I want you to come inside me. I want-- I want you to fill my belly with your seed.”
Stede sounded fucking debauched beneath him, wanton and needy, positively wrecked. It was damn near enough to send him over, right then and there, but there was more that he wanted to hear before Ed was through with him. “Good boy… What else?”
A high-pitched whine escaped from his throat in protest, met with another torturous thrust and a tighter grasp around the base of his cock. The words failed to meet his tongue, reduced to little more than the incoherent noises falling from his lips.
“What comes next, sweetheart?” Ed offered him a moment of compassion, his hand releasing it’s grip from his omega’s twitching, throbbing prick. Instead, he settled it just above, resting against the gentle swell of his belly, fantasizing about what it might feel like nine months down the line, such filthy, taboo imaginations running wild. “I want you to say it.”
Suddenly, it clicked in Stede’s mind, exactly what Ed was hoping for. And how could he deny his own fantasies of what came next? His mind could hardly imagine what would come once they braved the rest of the ship, once they set foot outside of this room, let alone the coming months to follow. But his body craved it, eager to accept his seed, some gnawing desire to let it take root in his womb and grow there. Surely, it would be a gift divinely bestowed to carry some part of his lover within him, to hold and protect it within the very core of himself. How could he deny himself such primal desires as this?
The words flowed easily, tumbling from his lips with all foolish disregard as his hands clung desperately to the sheets beneath him. It would come back to bite him in the ass, no doubt, throw a wrench in every plan that he had built for himself. But in the throes of his heat, little more than a slave to his own biological impulse and instinct, some evolutionary demand to keep the populations rising, he couldn’t find a good enough reason to care.
”I want you to get me pregnant.”
Without thought and without forbearance, too drugged by his rut to be bothered with the ramifications, Ed pressed his knot hard past his weeping rim. Stede let out a ragged cry, torn somewhere between pain and pleasure, tears forming in his eyes as Ed split him open, threatening to tear him in half. Ed showed him little tenderness this time, none too gentle with him as he pushed deep inside, bottoming out as his knot pulled past the taut ring of muscle and into the warm, wet depths of his body.
He shuddered and came the moment the slick head of his cock nudged against Stede’s twitching cervix, flooding his womb with his seed as he cried out beneath him, hands sprawling tense against the silk. His hand fell on top of his lover’s, fingers interlocking through the covers. Ed let out a groan as he fell lax against Stede’s body, brutal thrusts turning to slowed undulations as he tried to bury himself deeper, ensuring that his omega was fucking full by the time this was over.
Stede let out a soft, whimpered moan, balls drawn tight and his orgasm following suit as Edward’s seed gushed inside of him, offering such sweet and total relief. Every need sated, every hollow place of him filled, nothing more for him to starve for. He had been mounted, fucked, thoroughly bred, until he could hardly tell sea from sky.
He felt the energy drain again from his weary bones, the temptation of sleep drawing him back toward its inky abyss once more. It was a warm invitation, one difficult to pass up, the chance to fall asleep on his knot, in his arms, and wake again to him once the sky turned light.
Of course, he knew what was certain to follow the rising sun. The need would burn up in him again, demanding that he be taken and filled again, over and over, ensuring that Ed’s seed took inside his belly. It was simple, carnal, primal, a coupling old as the human race itself, maybe even older. Sex and birth and death, the cycle old as time itself.
“Don’t you pass out on me again just yet,” Ed murmured, turning them both onto their sides, dragging the covers up over their shoulders. “I want the time with you while we have it.”
“Hmm?” Stede replied with a half-puzzled hum, eyes turning to meet him with an eyebrow crooked. “You have me. You’ve had me. And odds are, you’ll have me all to yourself a few days longer at least.”
“Yeah, but that’s hardly you, isn’t it? It’s hardly me, that’s for damned sure. The most sexually uninhibited versions of ourselves, maybe, but that’s hardly ourselves, right?” Ed’s arm wrapped tighter around Stede, pulling him tight against his chest. “I want you.”
A smile crept along the corners of his lips, nuzzling deeper into his lover. To be wanted, to be loved, it was truly a rare and wondrous thing. Rejection, that was common, that was familiar, found within the echoing voice of his father in his ears, in the way Mary had once glared at him from across the dinner table. But to be loved, for all he was and all he ever would be, without expectation or reservation… That was something offered to him by none other than his Edward, his alpha.
“Well, not much we can do for now,” Stede teased, wriggling himself up against his hips, squeezing down around his knot. “I can’t help but find myself a bit indisposed.”
Ed’s arm reached up around him, hand sweeping the nightstand beside Stede’s head until his fingers caught along the thick, bound pages. It was an old copy, with frayed edges and yellowing pages, well-loved and well-read over the course of the years. The Divine Comedy, written by some Italian poet that had been dead and buried for nearly four hundred years now.
“You could read to me,” Ed suggested softly. “If you wanted.”
The smile quirking at the edges of his mouth split into a toothy grin, finding no sense in subduing his excitement. “Okay.”
Ed kissed him gently beneath the ear, inhaling him in deeply, lungs filled with the scent of cedar and vanilla and sweat and slick. A warmth blossomed in Stede’s chest, savoring in the kisses that Ed left lined along his neck as he flipped along the pages, searching for where they’d left off the night before.
“The mind which is created quick to love, is responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon as by pleasure it is awakened into activity. Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression from a real object, and unfolds it within you, so that it makes the mind turn thereto. And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that inclination is love; that is nature, which through pleasure is bound anew within you…”