Archive of Our Own

It had been approximately one week since the hunting trip, which meant it had been approximately one week since Jinshi’s entire world had been ruined.

He had barely gotten any work done since getting home. Instead, he had been taking alternative, inconvenient routes around the rear palace and spending his free time digging in the library for all recorded cases of female alphas in the palace’s walls.

Until last week, they had been so rare they’d bordered on legend. Jinshi would have more quickly believed a dragon flew over the rear palace in broad daylight than a female alpha had been securely employed there for going on two years.

And yet, there was the memory of the two of them in that opening of in the earth. Air cold and wet, a small body on top of him, something unspeakable in between them.

In the records he dug up, there were no contemporary records of any female alphas being employed in the rear palace. This wasn’t a shock. They occupied a precarious point in the social fabric. Unable to bear children, but also not preferred to sire them when the capital was overflowing with virile alpha men. Not a chance in hell at serving as a concubine or a lady in waiting, but admissible as a low-level servant. Yet even the maids and laundry girls going back a full 70 years were all neat lines of “F, B” and “F,O.” All beta and omega women.

The first marking of “F, A” he could find in the old employee records was a librarian from 40 years ago, and then two decades after that, a doctor’s assistant. The only other records the library seemed to keep on female alphas were in the mythology section. There were stories from almost eight centuries back of an army of alpha women that conquered half the country’s territory by luring men in with their feminine faces only to reveal their true natures when they got too close.

After days of searching with no greater findings, Jinshi had given up. He had already known the truth the moment the apothecary had landed on top of him in the cave and a hard length had pressed into his leg.

She was an alpha, and she had been lying about it.

He had checked her original employment registration just to be sure, and was greeted with an unassuming “F, B” marker next to her name.

Jinshi should be sympathetic. He was in a similar position. Between his illegitimacy and his gender, he had very limited options for his future, even with his status. It was a small blessing that he didn’t have to hide his gender now. There were few jobs a high-ranked male omega was more suited for than being a eunuch, or at least acting as one.

He had always been drawn to the dominance and natural aura of alphas, an instinct as natural to most omegas as breathing. Of course, that meant he had been attracted almost solely to men up until this point. When he had met her, he had felt himself have two treacherous realizations at once: he was attracted to a woman and to a beta, two brand-new emotions occurring simultaneously. He had spent too many nights wallowing over what that meant about him and his sexuality.

Well. At least that specific crisis was over. Except now, he realized as he left the palace library for the final time, it was replaced with a completely new and more complicated problem.

α Ω

Jinshi allowed himself one more day to wallow before he finally faced the problem head-on. He waited until the sky was inky black and the walkways were silent. The waxing moon and a few hanging lanterns lined his path with light as he plodded from his office to the other side of the palace.

The kitchen door at the Jade Pavilion was cracked open, light and heat radiating from inside. He took a step closer, watching the moving shadows inside, listening to the fall of footsteps. Closer still, and he got a full look at the movement of her tied-up hair, the billowing of her skirt as she chopped something on the counter. She did not even look up as he pushed the door open, revealing her leaning over a steaming pot, her fingertips stained brilliant yellow.

She removed the pot off the flame, rubbing her forehead with one of her sleeves.

“Master Jinshi,” Maomao said flatly, still not looking towards the door. “If there’s something you need from me, I’d prefer you just ask.”

And there it was. Her tone, so free of fear, like this was a minor inconvenience in her day. Maybe it was. She had been busy, he knew that much from the daily reports he requested on her activities. Her comings and goings, her errands from various concubines, her visits to the supply room.

There was no need to waste her time not cutting to the chase.

“You’re an alpha,” he said.

She gave him an unreadable look, as always, her eyes as flat as the shape of her mouth.

“Yes.”

“And you’ve concealed it until now.”

“I am continuing to conceal it,” she corrected. “From everyone, it seems, except for you.”

“And how, may I ask, have you done that?” he asked. “We conduct strict bodily exams on all employees coming into the rear palace, as I’m sure you’ll recall.”

He tried to keep his voice calm, authoritative, to not let it shake. He was acutely aware of the difference in their genders, how it butted against the gap in social status that had previously held him high above her, like a cliff over a river.

“I regret to be the one to tell you this, but the exams conducted on men in the rear palace are far more thorough that those given to women,” Maomao said. “A simple visual exam and a scent test is all we have to do. And I’ve taken a suppressant up until this point.”

“A suppressant,” Jinshi repeated. “And how, may I ask, did you get your hands on such an item?”

“I made it, of course,” her right eyebrow twitched the slightest bit upwards. “Do you think so little of my skills that you assume I can’t make a simple suppressant?”

“Right. Would you, ah, care to tell me the details of how you make it?”

“It’s a combination of two, to be exact,” she said. She tilted her neck, tapping the side of it, where it met her shoulder. “An oil applied to the glands to suppress scent, and an oral tea taken twice a month to curb rut symptoms. Both are made with very simple, every day ingredients that might be found in a garden or kitchen.”

Jinshi gulped, forcing his eyes to move from the juncture of her neck back to her eyes.

“Have you provided this suppressant for anyone else since you’ve been here?”

“Of course not,” she frowned. “The tea has similar components to a birth control tonic, which I occasionally make when I visit home. But no. Any suppressants I have made here have been for me and me alone.”

“Ah, that’s good,” he nodded. He had looked the other way many times as she’d whipped up home remedies for burns, sleeplessness, impotency. But allowing another alpha to lurk, concealed, in the rear palace would be a crime even he could not spare her from.

“Am I fired?” she asked, and the question quickly ripped Jinshi from his own thoughts.

“What?”

“Surely you’re going to report me and have me thrown out,” she said. “I mean no harm and never have. But I know how it looks for an alpha to be so close to the consorts the way I am.”

He blinked, and could have sworn her eyes swam slightly with emotion for the first time that evening.

“No. I mean – well. For one, there are no explicit rules against alpha women serving in the rear palace. And second, if I were to report you, I would have to offer an explanation for how I made such a discovery.”

He faltered, his fingers tapping against the crook of his elbow.

“As you can imagine, I am not eager to tell the truth in that regard.”

“Yes, I can imagine,” Maomao echoed.

“I – that brings me to why I’m truly here. I want to apologize,” he said. “For...for the trip.”

“Oh,” she said. “There’s no need. I’m the one that owes you an apology, Master Jinshi.”

“Well, it was my idea for you to stand on my shoulders in the first place, so allow me to take part of the blame,” he sighed. “I’m truly sorry if I made you uncomfortable on the trip, and if that discomfort has worsened this past week.”

She nodded, and her face shifted slightly with the ghost of a smirk.

“Are you also going to apologize for ignoring me this whole time?”

“I have not. I’ve been busy,” he said quickly, easily.

“Really,” she said, and her mouth twitched again. The smirk bigger, unmistakable. “The other day I saw you across the courtyard and you sprinted in the opposite direction at the sight of me.”

“Well, I – I’ve been taking time to gather my thoughts, that’s all.”

“I see,” she said. She brought her hands together, ducking her head behind her wide sleeves. “Well, I accept your apology, Master Jinshi.”

“I’ve never met an alpha woman before,” he blurted.

The apothecary dropped her arms and lifted her head, eyeing him with a curious gaze.

“And how do you find the experience?” she asked, flat and indifferent as if she had just asked if a tonic she had mixed was too bitter.

“I guess…” he started, and then stopped. You’re not that different from other women. That was what he was supposed to say, what he had meant to say. But that would be a lie too bold for even his insincere lips. She was different. Regardless of her gender, he’d never met anyone quite like her.

“I guess it makes no difference,” he tried again. “With clothing on.”

He had meant for it to come off teasing, but Maomao’s entire body jolted, and then her brows crashed down, her eyes narrowing.

God, why did he ever open his mouth, ever?

“Oh, really,” she said. “So that’s why you’re really been avoiding me, huh? You’re been thinking about one thing and one thing only.”

Well, it wasn’t a fucking frog, was it, he thought, but nipped the edge of his tongue to keep himself from saying it.

“If you’re that curious,” she huffed. “I can just show you.”

Jinshi’s eyes widened, his jaw opening instinctually so his teeth released his tongue.

Surely she didn’t mean…

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Sure you can,” she shrugged. “I don’t answer to you directly anymore. You’re not my employer, for the time being. There is no problem with that imbalance of power.”

“I’m still your superior.”

“That’s true,” she titled her head. “But that’s only a problem if you tell anyone about this.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“You truly don’t intend to tell anyone about this, Master Jinshi? About any of this?”

“No,” he said immediately, “I mean. I won’t tell them about you. Your true nature. Or anything else pertaining to it.”

“Alright,” she said. “So, if you don’t tell anyone, and I don’t tell anyone, then there’s no issue.”

“You would…show me?” he asked, and he hated how his voice cracked, the visage gone. He had stumbled off the cliff and into the river’s rushing maw.

“If it will make you act yourself again, yes,” she said. “On one condition.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“You already promised that,” she said. “My condition is I get to see you as well.”

Jinshi froze, his mouth opening fully open at that. He was expecting…well, not that. Another wild goose chase for some rare ingredient he could handle. But that?

“You mean…” he started, and then let the sentence trail off, the unspoken portion of it painfully loud between them.

“Like you’ve never seen an alpha woman, I’ve never seen an omega male,” Maomao said. “You’re not the only one curious.”

“Never?” he said. “Even where you’re…from?”

“There are male omegas in the pleasure district, yes. It’s one of the few well-paying careers for those born into a low rank. But I grew up in a house that specialized in female omegas. So I’ve never seen one fully.”

She shrugged, like this was an easy conversation. And maybe it was for her. Maybe she had been at ease this whole week, flitting around the grounds hunting for herbs and mushrooms while Jinshi tossed and turned in between fitful sleep.

“So, if we’re both willing to indulge each other’s curiosity, we can call it all even,” she finally said.

“I – “ Jinshi swallowed, his entire throat suddenly so dry, and his skin so hot. “Fine. I’ll agree to your terms, to settle all of this.”

Maomao smiled. Jinshi felt the rush of the river crash over him, the safety of the cliff a distant memory.

“So,” she said. “Where and when?”

α Ω

Jinshi wanted the meeting to be on neutral grounds, or at least as neutral as possible. His own rooms were out of the question for that reason. After pulling a few strings, he was able to get the main key for the officials’ baths, on the opposite side of the palace from the consort and servant baths. He asked her to meet there late at night the following day, past peak hours. Once he arrived, he locked the doors from the inside to prevent any late-night stragglers from bursting in.

He pulled off his everyday robes in one of the changing rooms, swapping them for a thin bathrobe instead. He tied his hair back with a spare ribbon, trying to calm his breathing as he looped the fabric over itself.

When he padded out to the main area, the apothecary was already seated at the edge of one of the pools, her thin legs dangling in the water. Her hair was down and her makeup was off, revealing the fine features of her face. Jinshi’s mind flashed back to his readings on the ancient armies of alpha women, strikingly beautiful and equally deadly.

She lifted her head, the ends of her hair brushing against the fabric of her bathing clothes.

“Good evening,” she said.

“Good evening,” he returned. “How’s the water?”

“A little cold, actually,” she shrugged. “But it’s after hours, I’m not surprised.”

“We can move – “ he started, but she shook her head.

“You don’t always have to fix everything,” she said. “May I make a request of you?”

“Of course,” he said. You can ask me for anything.

“Sit down, please,” she said, waving her hand towards the adjacent side of the pool.

He did so, crossing the slick floor, lowering himself down and sliding his own feet in the water. If they both held their legs out, their skin would touch.

“You’re right,” he laughed. “A little cold.”

The water shifted as Maomao slid her legs out from the water, going to stand. Oh god, did he offend her, somehow? Did he sit too close?

Jinshi barely had time to process anything of before she was moving to untie her top.

“What are you doing?” he squeaked, and she gave him an equally confused look.

“Well, we’re not here to take a bath,” she said flatly. “Unless you changed your mind?”

“No,” he said, trying to make his voice more even. “Not at all.”

“Well, no point waiting around for the water to get ice cold on us,” she said, and continued to undress.

Most things about the apothecary were small. Her hands and feet, her height, her frame. As she shrugged off her clothes, he could see her shoulders were narrow, nearly half the width of his own. Her waist and hips were both slender, her silhouette bordering on boyish. His face heated as he took in her breasts; pale compared to her tan face and arms, centered with dusky pink nipples and small enough they would barely fill his hands. From his frantic research, he had learned most alpha women were at least as tall as beta men, and often rivaling their male peers in height and bulk. Another way the woman in front of him seemed to beat all odds.

He knew, of course, plenty of things about her were not small at all. Her personality, her wit and her intellect were all gargantuan.

And, apparently, he could add her cock to that list.

He tried to keep his expression poised as she slid off the wrap and underwear that concealed her lower half, leaving her truly bare. But he could not control the widening of his eyes, the parting of his lips.

She was soft, he could tell that much, which somehow made it more impressive just how large it was compared to the rest of her small frame. It rested nearly to the middle of her thigh and was the same pale color as the flesh there, save for the dark pink tip. Sweat accumulated at the back of his neck as he took in more details. Two thick veins running up either side. Framed by a nest of wild, dark green hair. No foreskin.

Maomao cleared her throat, and Jinshi snapped his head up, his cheeks burning. How long had he been looking?

“Can I ask about your prior experience seeing nude alphas?” Maomao asked.

“Not particularly extensive,” he admitted. “I’ve been largely separated from them since I was a child. But during some of my martial arts training, I was allowed to be in changing rooms with them as long as I had a chaperone.”

He waved his hand vaguely.

“Most of them had, ah – nothing removed.”

“Ah, right,” she nodded, looking down at her lap. “My father took it upon himself to make sure that part was removed when I was a baby. It’s more sanitary, but people have their pride over keeping it.”

She kept her eyes down, her feet kicking back and forth under the water.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Was it…how was it, growing up?” he asked. “Were…were you okay?”

Normally, he would expect her to roll her eyes at a question like that, but she just kept her gaze down and shrugged her narrow shoulders.

“They knew I was an alpha at birth, of course. But I was never treated differently from my sisters growing up, even though the madame tried to bar me from some rooms as I got older. I didn’t have my first rut until I was 15, which is late anyways. Maybe there would’ve been more stress about finding a mate for me if my adopted father had been someone who cared about those things.”

She lifted her head, then, and reached up to tuck her hair back.

“What about you?”

“It was…complicated.”

What a small word to encompass the endless meetings with the entire royal family and their advisors over the most suitable marriage to arrange for him. Debates of his dowry as early as his third birthday. Gown fittings where his grandmother mumbled about how it would be easier for everyone if he had been born a girl, her voice lifting just enough for him to hear.

He looked down at his own lap, which was still clothed in his robe.

“Ah,” he said, his voice coming out a bit shaky. “It’s time for me to hold up my end of things, isn’t it?”

“Master Jinshi,” Maomao said. “You can make up your half of the bargain in a different way, if you’d like.”

“No,” he said immediately. “I mean, ah, it’s only fair.”

He stood up a bit too quickly, his feet wobbling as he did so. He closed his eyes, trying to still his hammering heart and he untied his robe, letting it fall to the wet floor, and then slipped off his waist covering. He kept his eyes closed as the steamy air washed over him, making him sweat and shiver simultaneously.

He was aware of how he looked undressed. He had spent hours of exploring himself, one hand holding up a small, polished mirror to watch as his other hand played with his cunt.

Still, he could not help wonder how he looked from her perspective. He resisted the urge to look down, to catalogue his own familiar features. Groomed violet hair framed plush lips, which parted to show the conch-shell pink of his flesh. Where a clit would be on a female omega or beta, there was the sharp jut of his cocklet. The appendage was rosy pink and half his thumb in length, and pushed apart his lips at their top juncture.

He opened his eyes, preparing for her expression to be filled with either curiosity or revulsion.

What he did not expect was to see the apothecary had moved from the edge of the pool and into the water, and was now right in front of him. Her hands gripped the side of the bath and her eyes were wide, gazing at him carefully, her lips parted. It was not in lust, he realized quickly. She was eyeing him up like he was a rare mushroom to examine and categorize.

“So you really can’t get anyone pregnant,” she said.

“No,” he breathed. “I got the other half of that bargain.”

He rested his hand against the flat plane of his belly. If he pushed hard enough, he’d be met with the curve of his womb, nested right above his hips.

“So you must take some form of birth control?” she prompted.

“Yes, along with my own battery of suppressants,” he said. “I use an ointment, similar to what you might use, although it only dampens my scent so it’s not a distraction. And then a birth control tonic and another one to shorten my heats and make them less painful.”

She hummed, tilting her head.

“Do you remember what’s in them?” she asked.

“I can’t say I’ve seen it made,” he said. “Maybe next time I can bring you a sample.”

“I’d like that. I can compare it to what my sisters use, see if they are equally effective.”

She nodded, as if satisfied by her observations, like she had just performed an autopsy on a rash.

“Well,” she said. “I suppose that ends our agreement.”

“Oh,” Jinshi said, and hated how his entire body felt cold and rejected. “I suppose it does.”

But Maomao made no movement to swim to the other side of the pool, or to get out at all. She just kept starting at him with those luminous eyes, so full of curiosity.

“Lord Jinshi,” she said, her voice low and even. “Can you sit down? It’s hard to talk to you when you’re all the way up there.”

He laughed and lowered himself back down to sit on the edge of the pool. He clasped his knees together, like it made any difference. She had already seen everything.

Jinshit took her in as she stood in front of him, water obscuring her body from the shoulders down, her long hair floating freely around her.

What would they do after this? Redress and go back to their respective stations, never to speak of this? Would he ever be this close to her again?

He was already in the river. Was he going to let it rush over him or was he going to swim?

“Apoth – Maomao,” he said before he could stop himself. “I desire you. Greatly.”

He rushed on, lowering his gaze. If he looked in her appraising eyes now, he would stumble and lose his words.

“You don’t have to say anything. We can pretend this never happened. But I need to tell you. I have desired you for a very long time, far before I knew the truth about you. And – after tonight, I’m afraid I will desire you even more.”

He gripped the edge of the pool so hard his knuckles clicked, his gaze still glued to the water between them.

“You never have to see me again if you don’t want to. I can assign you somewhere else, or I can buy out your contract and send you home. I’m very sorry. But it would haunt me to my grave to never tell you.”

He held his breath in his chest so long it ached, his eyes watering a bit with the pain. He couldn’t face her, couldn’t break these precious moments between his confession and the consequences of saying it out loud.

“Lord Jinshi,” Maomao finally said. “Can you please look at me?”

At her words, the spell was broken, and his head snapped up to look at her. Immediately, he searched for any difference in her face – new loathing and resentment, maybe – but instead only found that same wide-eyed curiosity.

“I want to ask you something,” she said. “But I don’t know what you’ll do.”

“You can ask me anything. Regardless of my rank. I mean that.”

“Are you a virgin, Lord Jinshi?”

Of course he was. An omega’s virtue was everything, particularly if it could be sold for a price.

“Yes,” he breathed out. At some point in the evening, all the air had been sucked from his chest.

“So am I.”

She was quiet, then, just staring at him, a parade of thoughts flickering behind her eyes.

“I am curious about something,” she said. “But it involves the full consent of two people.”

His expression creased in confusion, and she continued.

“It’s not intercourse,” she said quickly. “As I’m sure you know, the ladies of the Verdigris House are acclaimed for their ability to pleasure guests without compromising their own virtue. And my sisters have taught me a great deal on the topic.”

His brows pushed down further. What was this? Was she ignoring his confession on purpose? And what on earth was she talking about?

“There is one thing they would practice on clients in very good standing, for a high price. I’ve always been curious about it, but of course, the opportunity has never arisen to test it for myself.”

She tilted his head, and briefly, her eyes shifted. And ah, there it was. That uncertainty, that vulnerability, flashing over her features so quickly anyone less attuned to reading her would have missed it.

“If you consent, we can try it together. At no cost to your virtue, of course.”

“I – “ he croaked, only to be interrupted again.

“I am free of all disease. You have my word,” she cut in. “And, of course, my discretion.”

Even if he didn’t like it, he understood. This was her way of returning his words, for making herself as vulnerable and exposed as he had been a moment before.

And as always, she had a way of saying things that made him lean in and want to know every detail of her thoughts.

“Do we – do we need to go somewhere else for it?” he asked. His mind flashed to a way to smuggle her into his bedroom undetected. Maybe she could hide under the hem of his robes.

“This is fine, if you are comfortable,” Maomao said. “I’ve grown used to the water temperature. How do you feel?”

“Fine,” he said. The tile under him was heated by the constant hot water running under the bathhouse, and his skin had grown used to the lukewarm water that surrounded his legs.

“Good,” she shifted forward, closer to the wall where he sat. The water was only a few chi deep there, allowing her to stand fully. Water rushed from her body and revealed her full form again. Her breasts, her stomach, and –

Oh, god. Her half-hard cock.

She leaned forward, bracing her hands on Jinshi’s knees as he stared hopelessly at the excited length. Was it bigger now? Fuck.

“Lord Jinshi,” she said. “I apologize, but I need you to open your knees.”

“Oh,” he said. “Of course.”

He followed her instructions, briefly cataloguing every decision he had made to lead him here, spreading his finely bred knees for a laundry maid.

“I hope you’ll forgive my lack of tact. I do not have the practice my sisters have,” Maomao said as she took her length in hand. She moved forward, pressing her body between his knees. Jinshi took a sharp breath.

“Please try to relax,” she said, positioning her slender form right against him. Her small breasts rubbed against the firm skin of his torso, the top of her head brushed under his chin, and after a bit of positioning, the underside of her cock rubbed against his cunt.

He gasped, tossing a hand over his mouth at the feeling. It wasn’t particularly dissimilar from his own fingers petting the flesh. But her cock was bigger, and velvety soft, compared to his slender, calloused fingers.

“Oh,” she panted, and a flush crept over her cheeks. “Ah, and then I…”

She shifted her body, moving her hips so the length slid up, rubbing his cunt and bumping into his sensitive cocklet. He groaned, nipping at the palm that still covered his mouth. She moved her hips again, dragging them down, making a flash of lightning climb his spine at the feeling.

“That’s…that’s really all there is to it,” she admitted, her cheeks red again. “Should I keep going?”

“Yes,” he moaned, and finally dropped his hand from his mouth. “Maomao, please, do not stop.”

She nodded, and her blush spread further across her face. He had never seen her like this. Unsure. Embarrassed.

“Lord Jinshi,” she gasped. “You…I consent for you to touch me, if you wish.”

Immediately, he lifted his hands, grabbing onto her waist. She was so slender, he could fit her entire body between her palms. He ran his hands up, over her chest, cupping her breasts in his grasp. Her nipples pebbled against his touch, and she groaned as he massaged them in careful circles. He’d never touched a woman’s chest before, and suddenly felt like a schoolboy, unpracticed and sloppy.

Between them, her movements seemed to mirror his own certainty. She moved her hips up and down, one hand braced firmly on his thigh and the other guiding her own length. Her cock slid over his flesh, sometimes pressing firmly into the folds and other times barely brushing him. He was leaking a steady stream of slick, helping her movement. Every time her cockhead bumped his swollen cocklet, he whimpered.

“Oh,” he moaned as she did it again, and folded his face into her shoulder.

“Can – “ Maomao began. “May I touch you, Lord Jinshi?”

“Of course,” he said instantly. “Do as you please.”

He kept his face buried in her skin as her hand moved off his thigh and over his chest and his torso. She pushed experimentally against his skin, her touches more of an assessment than a caress.

“Can I touch lower?” she said, her voice hushed.

“Yes, please,” he gasped. Before he could think, he lifted his head and grabbed her hand, moving it between his legs. “Please, touch me here.”

Her eyes widened when she touched his cocklet. She put her thumb and forefinger on either side of it and rubbed, making his hips jerk.

“It’s like a clitoris,” she observed. “An interesting part of the body, intended solely for pleasure. My sisters tell me many alphas and betas have trouble finding it on an omega women.”

He groaned at the way her fingers began to move in tandem with how her cock continued to drag through his cunt.

“I don’t think anyone could miss yours.”

“Ap – Maomao, please,” he gasped.

She bucked her hips while keeping one hand on his cocklet, and he kept one hand on her waist and the other sliding between her breasts. Their voices collapsed into shared gasps and moans and she slid against him, her length becoming coated in her slick.

Maomao leaned her forehead against his shoulder, and suddenly, the expanse of her neck was right against his nose. Jinshi inhaled, taking in the smell of her. Around the palace, she always smelled like antiseptic and medicinal herbs, but now, her scent was softer. Sweeter. Like a rare treat from a foreign land.

Chocolate, he realized. She smelled like chocolate.

In an instant, her scent and her pheromones flooded his brain, making his thoughts turned wild.

He imagined her sharp teeth marking the porcelain column of his throat, claiming him as her own. He would allow her to fully fill him, to lock him against her knot. He would welcome his belly swelling with her child.

He would cross a point they could never come back from, would allow her to ruin his virtue, his dowry, his entire life in exchange for a moment of bliss. There would be no power divide between them. There would only be him, a man stripped of his titles and an omega beholden to his alpha’s desires.

He cried out, electricity zipping through his body. His cunt clenched and throbbed, and he felt himself gush with slick, his cocklet hard and pulsing.

He whimpered, partially in ecstasy and partially in embarrassment, but his own noise was quickly swallowed by Maomao moaning. She grinded her hips against him and held her cock in hand, rubbing the head into the pool of slick pouring from his body.

“Fuck,” she gasped as she pulled her fist over her length. Even in his post-orgasm haze, Jinshi felt dizzy watching her. Now he would have an image of her doing this alone in her quarters at the Jade Pavilion, chasing pleasure at the end of a long day.

She gasped, her grip tightening for a moment, and then she pulled away from him as thick ropes of semen burst from her cock. Her release splattered into the water between them, and she panted and pulled on her length, ensuring the last of it was gone. She dropped her hand with a huff, and Jinshi watched in interest as the base of her cock twitched and swelled for a moment before quickly returning to normal.

Maomao lifted her gaze, looking between him and down at her own body, as if reading his mind.

“Knots only fully inflate inside the vaginal chamber,” she answered his silent question. “I’ve never had one inflate fully for that reason.”

She ran her arm over her face, her chest still heaving. She was red and flushed, her wet hair laying wildly over her naked shoulders. Her half-hard cock bobbed out from her body, flushed with blood flow and still wet with Jinshi’s slick.

“I – I should – “ she said, and turned away, looking towards the edge of the pool.

“Wait,” Jinshi got out. His entire body was spent, and his legs were still spread, cunt wet and debased.

The apothecary turned, blinking those big blue eyes at him, and his chest tightened.

“Maomao. I’m sorry for asking more of you. But…what I said earlier, about how I feel for you. Can you please give me some kind of answer?”

“I’m not a courtesan,” she replied, tilting her head in her appraising way. “Do you think I would have done that with someone I don’t feel desire for?”

She waded back over to the bath’s edge and braced her hands on his open knees. Her cock had softened, and a bit of the flush had left her face, but she was still blanketed in that sweet chocolate smell, inviting and warm.

She leaned forward, lifting her body a bit until her lips were so, so close to his own. He could feel her breath on his mouth as she spoke.

“Lord Jinshi, may I?”

“Yes,” he breathed out, and in the next moment his words were stifled by her lips on his own.

His heart hammered at the movement of her mouth, unsure and careful on his own. He tried to match her movement, but his lips slid over her chin and against her cheek, his teeth brushing the corner of her mouth. Sloppy, unpracticed.

It was his first kiss. Was it hers, too?

“You – “ she murmured against his lips. “You smell like lotus flowers.”

He lifted a hand, ready to brace the back of her head and pull in her closer, but she pulled away, putting distance between them once more.

“There,” she said. “I’ve read omegas’ hormones settle easier with an alpha’s affection after intimacy. Also, ginger tea will help. Have some when you return home.”

She frowned suddenly, like her own words had reminded her of something.

“Will you be alright going home?” she said. “In your state?”

Her question made him float back down to reality, and how he would have to settle himself back into his familiar, protective façade. It was a fair question. He absolutely stank of omega pheromones right now, even to possibly attract attention he was normally able to skirt during the day. Even if the rear palace typically had no alpha men wandering around aside from the emperor, it was always a good idea to stay cautious.

“I brought my suppressants with me. I’ll reapply thoroughly before I go home.”

“Good,” she nodded. “I – I need to be going. I’ll scrub off in the changing room.”

She pulled herself out of the bath, water splashing down her waist and legs as she climbed out and retrieved her bathing clothes from the side of the bath. Jinshi collected his own robe, pulling it back over his body and covering himself once more.

He watched as Maomao tied up the straps of her bathing top and opened his mouth, ready to say something else. To ask, what now? What’s next? What do I do when I see you tomorrow?

But what was he supposed to ask her? Will you keep me company in my next heat? Will you come to my office and scent me when I become anxious? Can I touch you more, learn every detail of your body and allow you to learn the same about mine?

Maomao turned and retreated back towards the changing rooms, on the opposite side of the bathhouse.

“Uh – I’ll leave after you. I’ll lock up,” he called.

She turned, glancing over her shoulder, and smiled.

“Okay,” she said. “Good night, Lord Jinshi.”

“Good night, Maomao.”

She disappeared into the next set of rooms, leaving him alone. He pulled his soaking wet legs from the water and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top of them. His heart was still hammering, his skin burned, his lips ached with the loss of her touch.

In the morning, he could climb back up the cliff and look down on the river, his rank and his birthright placing him over her once again, as if nothing had changed.

As if he would not happily fall back into the roaring current as many times as she wanted.