Heat

There was something off about Sara Ryder.

The past six months had been wonderful, of course. Jaal had never imagined that he would find himself falling in love with an alien, let alone find out that that alien returned his feelings; even with everything being as hectic as it had since the Milky Way arks had come to the Cluster, he was certain that he hadn’t been this happy for years.

Then the dreams started. They were barely even dreams, really — just flashes and feelings and the faintest undercurrent of strangeness beneath the whole thing. He’d wake up rock-hard and unable to think of anything but HER, her smile, her touch, her scent. Especially her scent. He needed to be near her, even more so than usual. She’d even commented on it, laughing and gently accusing him of being “handsy” when he held her close.

But there was something very unusual about this, and he’d found himself keeping his distance from her for the past few hours, if only because being around her was simultaneously amazing and unbearable. He couldn’t help but feel doubt gnawing at his insides as he poked his head into the med bay.

“Dr. T’Perro?”

Lexi was standing at her console, apparently deep in thought as she thumbed through her notes. She let out a little “oh” upon hearing him and turned around.

“What can I do for you, Jaal? Is everything all right?”

“Yes. I think.” The confusion was apparent on the asari’s face and he turned away, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks. Normally discussing something like this wouldn’t fluster him so, but it was more out of uncertainty than embarrassment. “How much do you know about the angaran reproductive process?”

“Only what I’ve picked up from textbooks and Resistance medics,” Lexi said apologetically. “Estrus cycles, is that right? You're unique compared to many of our galaxy’s sapient species in that regard. I’d love to learn more, given the opportunity.”

“The impulse is strongest between partners, but…” he trailed off. “That’s only when a woman is involved. It doesn’t happen otherwise.”

Lexi’s brows raised in dawning comprehension.

“You said this wasn’t normal in the Milky Way. Humans… they don’t go into heat?”

“Human women ovulate roughly on a monthly basis, but no, that’s not quite the same thing,” Lexi explained. “I don’t know how angara are ‘supposed’ to react sexually to other races, though, and there’s not nearly enough data to establish whether or not your case is unusual. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. It was still worth asking,” he replied simply.

“I would recommend you tell Ryder about this. As soon as possible, if you’re having difficulty being close to her right now.”

“It’s not that. I just…” He sighed. “I just don’t want to do anything rash without knowing she’ll be all right.”

“Jaal, you were thoughtful enough to see me about it. Whatever comes of this, I think she’ll be fine. You both will,” she added with a reassuring smile.



Wet persistent slap slap slap of flesh on flesh and squeezing wringing him hungry for more touching her soft naked body everywhere he could reach fuck so close knot swelling locking into her spasming under him begging to be bred —

Jaal woke up in a cold sweat. Huffing in frustration, he swung his legs over the edge of his bed, trying to ignore the need currently thrumming through his lower half.

The Tempest was almost always silent around this time, and he gladly took advantage of that fact, half-sneaking into the kitchen to avoid waking anyone up. He wasn’t exactly hungry, but he was determined to take his mind off of Sara one way or another, even if it was only long enough for him to start thinking more clearly. He pulled out the first container he saw, which happened to be full of strawberries.

Sara loved strawberries. She’d requested them personally once she’d heard they were being grown on the Nexus. Jaal wasn’t fond of them — they were bland like most human food and had an odd, coarse texture besides — but he hadn’t missed the delight in her eyes when the tiny box had finally shown up in the Tempest’s inventory.

So much for taking my mind off of her, he thought as he idly rolled one of the little fruits between his thumb and index finger. Lexi was right, he’d have to talk to her. For once he just wasn’t sure what to say.

The soft whoosh of the door sliding open was the first signal that he wasn’t alone. The second was when he looked up and saw Sara smiling at him, and…

Oh.

He froze as her scent hit him with the force of a freight train. She smelled good. TOO good. If it had been hard to ignore before, it was impossible now. She was ready. His cock practically jumped out of its slit and strained insistently against his suit, every cell in his body screaming at him to knot her and knock her up with a litter of his own, to well and truly mark her as his.

No. This is Sara. You have to be better than that.

He clenched his fists in his lap, hoping that he didn’t look too obviously aroused.

“Well, you’re up and about pretty early,” she said. “You aren’t sneaking around on me, are you, Jaal?”

“Sneaking? No, not at all,” he blurted out, maybe a little too readily. She sashayed towards him, sending another wave of that incredible scent his way and making him bite his lip to avoid groaning.

“Just wondering,” she purred, plucking a strawberry from the container and putting it to her lips. “Because you’ve been kind of distant since yesterday, and I was starting to feel pretty lonely…”

The way she emphasized “lonely” would’ve gotten his attention by itself, but then she slowly pushed the strawberry into her mouth. A single bead of pink-tinted juice clung to her fingertip, and she looked him dead in the eyes, watching his jaw drop as she sucked it clean, her full lips pillowing around the digit.

He wasn’t quite sure how he ended up on the floor with Sara underneath him. She was yelling something about jumping over the table, the confusion and fear in her eyes warring with arousal, but all he cared about right just then was getting rid of the last barrier between him and her body. He all but tore her loose pajama shirt off, followed closely by her pants and underwear.

Sara, for her part, was almost too shocked to speak at this point. Jaal hunched over her, pupils blown wider than she’d ever seen, looking far more predatory than the sweet, gentle angara she knew and loved. Whatever protest she could’ve thought to make died in her throat as he smashed his lips against hers. It was rough, unpracticed, far too short, and he drew away only to pepper kisses down her jawline and neck, nipping lovingly at the sensitive flesh.

“Pathfinder, I am detecting abnormal levels of sexual arousal in Jaal at this time,” a mechanical voice piped up in the back of her head.

“Kind of figured that out myself, SAM, thanks,” she muttered, her tone probably too breathy to convey the irritation she was going for as Jaal stroked and licked his way down her front.

“This arousal is consistent with the angaran reaction to estrus in their females, referred to in common parlance as ‘heat,’” SAM continued, clinically detached as ever. “It would appear that being in a sexually intimate relationship with you has caused him to unconsciously physiologically sync with your ovulation over time, thus provoking the same changes in behavioral patterns as being within close proximity to an angaran female in heat would.”

Sara’s eyes widened. She lifted her head up to look at her lover, who was currently dragging his tongue along the inside of her thigh.

“Jaal, are you…?”

“Need it,” he groaned, his voice strained as he pressed his mouth to her skin. “I need you.”

If he was expecting her to reply, he didn’t wait long. Sara squeaked as he flipped her onto her stomach, and she heard him fumble with his belt for a bare moment before he yanked her hips up toward his, dragging her onto her hands and knees. She felt something thick burning hot like a brand between her thighs and… oh, fuck, was that his dick?

Something in some quiet corner of Jaal’s mind was telling him that this wasn’t really how he’d wanted this situation to turn out. But there was Sara, wide open and dripping in front of him, and everything else felt foggy and meaningless in comparison. He fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her head back as he hilted himself in her, uttering a low growl at the way her inner walls wrung his shaft.

He set a brutal pace right out of the gate, thrusting urgently and artlessly. This wasn’t the tender lovemaking she was used to, but fucking, pure, simple, and animalistic. Already she was shuddering in orgasm underneath him, but it wasn’t enough.

He leaned over her and hooked his arms around her to give her breasts a harsh squeeze. Static flew half-unbidden from his fingers, causing her to gasp and writhe at the sudden sensation as he kneaded her soft flesh.

“Beautiful,” he purred in her ear. “Mine.”

“J-Jaal — oh!” Another wave of electricity hit her and turned whatever she was about to say into a wordless cry for more.

“Gonna fuck you, breed you, such a good girl, look so amazing with a belly full of kittens,” he went on, almost to himself, so focused on the tight cunt in front of him that he didn’t even slow down as the words spilled out of him seemingly at random. Sara was too overstimulated to respond or even really register what he was saying, and she could only moan and squeal as he pounded into her, the sheer force of his movements triggering another sudden climax.

Before long Sara felt him slow slightly, but that turned out to be a very short reprieve when her pussy was suddenly forced wide. Her eyes bulged. The base of his cock was starting to swell and it was BIG, bigger than it had ever been before. He pressed against her a little harsher with each thrust, each time a little closer to tying her, gripping her hips with both hands as he sank his teeth into her shoulder. Part of her wanted to say no, to beg him to take her somewhere else, to wait until they were somewhere private, but even as she was coming down from her second orgasm she was feeling a third approaching and if he could just —

With an obscene, wet pop, Jaal’s knot slid into her.

Sara trembled and bounced as she was hit with overwhelming, nerve-frying pleasure, her arms going numb and giving out beneath her. Jaal pushed down on her and let out a muffled groan into the crook of her neck; he jerked once, twice, and then he was filling her, shooting hot, thick ropes of his cum into her waiting womb. She felt the dregs of another climax sparking through her at the feeling of being packed so full, but was too insensate to do anything but mewl weakly.

Jaal rolled onto his side, taking Sara with him, anchored together as they were. She could feel his heart still pounding from exertion and residual lust, but he was much more relaxed now as he held her. He murmured soft praises as he caressed her gently, his touch feather-light, as if he was afraid to mark her more than he already had.

“So, is this going to be a regular thing with you now?” she finally managed to ask.

“It’s possible,” he replied, planting an apologetic kiss on her temple. “I meant to tell you before…”

“After that performance, I think I can forgive you,” she said with a weary laugh.

A sudden clattering noise broke the silence, however, and the both of them glanced up to see Liam standing at the kitchen door with a look on his face like a deer in headlights, an empty cereal bowl at his feet.

“I was, uh, looking for… um… I’lljustgonowsorrytobotheryou,” he quickly mumbled before taking off down the corridor.