Smut
Summary: Arthur Pendragon was a hopeless romantic. He had dreams of choosing his own mate, someone who loved him and that he would love back in return. A soulmate, perhaps.
But Arthur was the Prince of Wales, and his father was determined he would take an omega from a suitable noble household. Threatened with an arranged marriage, Arthur ran off in search of his destiny. But maybe his destiny would find him instead.
_______________________________________
It wasn’t easy being the Prince of Wales.
For one thing, everywhere you went, you had someone sticking a camera in your face, or asking you deeply personal questions. Or standing next to you, leaning right in your personal space and then taking a photo. Because, like, look! The POW has photobombed me! Lolz!
POW. That was what they called him on social media. It hadn’t escaped Arthur’s notice that it used to be the term for a prisoner of war.
Sometimes Arthur felt a bit like a prisoner. Oh, he had a gilded cage and all the material possessions he could ever wish for. But he wasn’t free to do as he wished, and he wasn’t happy. Worse, as Camelot’s most eligible alpha, he was expected to take a mate soon. That was in fact the topic of most of the deeply personal questions. How much longer? Which of the noble families was he going to choose to breed with? Was he going to exert his royal privilege and take more than one? Arthur was just about done with it.
“Arthur,” his father had said. “We’ll hold a ball, all the country’s most suitable omegas will be invited and lined up before you. It’s time you took a mate, it’s not good for an alpha to be solitary.”
Which was rich coming from King Uther, who hadn’t taken another mate since his beloved omega Ygraine had died giving birth to Arthur twenty-one years earlier. But Arthur had far too strong a sense of self-preservation to say as much.
And so, the ball was held.
It wasn’t really a ball. A ball would have involved dancing and music, and possibly would have been fun. What Uther actually arranged was more like some sort of cattle market where an endless stream of omegas were paraded past Arthur, most of them making some attempt to entice him.
The omegas were beautiful, every last one of them. Even the ones who clearly didn’t want to be there, the ones who barely smiled at him and moved on as fast as they could. Those, in many ways, were the ones he preferred. They weren’t any happier than he was about their being paraded like cattle in front of him. But those were few and far between. Most of the others gazed at him, doe-eyed and appealing. Some obviously hadn’t bathed for days, the ripe omega scent hanging over them more alluring than any artificial perfume ever could be. They’d taken hormone supplements too, most of them right on the edge of their heat to make them even more desirable. It was a heady thing to breathe in and Arthur could see more than one of the palace guards paying far more attention to the omegas than to their job. If ever there was a chance to assassinate the royal family, that would have been it. Arthur knew he could probably have bled out on the floor long before anyone noticed.
“See anything you like yet?” the king asked.
His father had been commenting on the various merits of each omega as he or she passed by. Arthur had mostly managed to tune it out, but when Uther spoke to him directly he had no choice but to acknowledge the king.
“They’re all charming,” Arthur answered. “But this is a cold way of finding a mate. I’d rather get to know them, choose someone I’m compatible with.”
“They’re omegas,” Uther sighed. “The whole point of them is that they’re compatible with you. Any of them will do. Pick one, for heaven’s sake. What about that one?” He pointed to a particularly vivacious blonde girl, who looked far too pleased with herself even before being singled out by the king. She immediately swished forward, nose in the air, shoving another blonde girl out of the way.
“Princess Vivien, your highness,” she told him without waiting to be spoken to. “My father owns half of the western isles.”
“She has an excellent pedigree,” Lord Monmouth agreed. He was one of the king’s main advisers, the royal archivist, and had spent the evening telling Uther about every omega that was put before Arthur. He was the source for the disturbing commentary Uther had been subjecting Arthur to. “The children would be most attractive.”
Vivien glowed with pleasure at the praise and flicked back her shining locks. “Of course they would,” she agreed. “And a crown would suit me well.”
“What are your interests?” Arthur asked, rapidly feeling that she was the last omega in the room he’d ever want to take as a mate.
Vivien blinked at him for a moment, and he wondered if she actually had any.
“Shopping,” she told him. “I have accounts at all the best fashion houses. Oh, and shoes. I collect shoes. I have 429 pairs.”
Evidently they had much in common. “I have a couple of pairs of shoes as well,” Arthur told her. “Thank you. Next.”
“Arthur!” his father hissed angrily, but Arthur had already turned to the girl who had been pushed aside by Vivien. She looked nervous and dishevelled, and almost tripped over her own feet when she realised Arthur was looking at her.
“I don’t like shopping,” she offered, then realised she’d spoken out of turn and clapped her hand over her mouth, obviously mortified. Arthur was really hoping for a male omega, but knew there was little chance of finding one. If he had to take a female then he already vastly preferred this girl to Vivien.
“Elena of Gawant,” he heard Geoffrey say. “Her father’s titled but has little in the way of fortune. The girl has no great accomplishments to speak of. There was a broken engagement last year to Princess Mithian.”
“Next!” Uther roared unkindly.
The poor girl looked as if she might cry. Arthur had just about had enough. “Isn’t this supposed to be a ball, Father?”
He saw his father’s gaze stray towards Vivien. “Yes… you’re right,” he clapped his hands together and the band immediately started to play.
Arthur immediately jumped to his feet, and held out his hand to Elena before Uther could order him to dance with Vivien. “My lady, would you care to dance?”
Elena just looked flustered and slightly terrified, and Arthur had to practically drag her out onto the floor. It was worth it for the look on Vivien’s face.
“Sorry about this,” Arthur whispered once they were out on the dance floor. “I couldn’t stand that any longer. I take it, if Mithian was your betrothed, that you have no more interest than I do in this farce?”
Elena shook her head, still looking stunned. She didn’t smell as strongly as the others and probably hadn’t taken a hormone supplement. Arthur smiled at her kindly. At least he could brighten someone’s evening. “I know you and I never met,” he whispered. “Mith is a good friend of mine, she told me about you. I know she’s still upset about the breakup. You should call her. Try again.”
Elena looked a bit stunned, stammered out something he didn’t catch, and promptly trod on his foot. Arthur tried very, very hard to look as if he were enjoying the dance. He risked a glance across at his father, who wasn’t looking entirely pleased. Elena probably wasn’t his first choice of Royal Omega, and the clumsy attempts at dancing wouldn’t help with that.
Still, Elena was probably the safest one in the room. She didn’t want Arthur any more than he wanted her. They could be allies over the coming months. He stuck with her for the evening, chatting to her about Mithian. Eventually her shyness abated and she chatted back. Sweet and kind, he could see why Mithian liked her so much. He was aware that the news reporters were going to make something of it, but didn’t care. Better Elena than someone like Vivien who would milk it for all she was worth.
Uther, however, didn’t approve.
“Circulate more, Arthur. There are other, more suitable omegas in the room. What about the Sidhe girl, Sophia? Beautiful and elegant, she’ll bear you fine sons.”
Sophia looked far too predatory for Arthur’s liking. Whilst he disliked the omegas being lined up as if they were on show at a market, Sophia looked at him as if he were the one on sale and Arthur really didn’t like the feeling.
“You know, I really would prefer a male omega and you haven’t provided any,” Arthur pointed out. “I’m not taking a female mate, it wouldn’t be fair on either of us.”
Male omegas were rare. As far as Arthur knew, there wasn’t a single one amongst the noble families of Camelot, or in any of the royal families of neighbouring nations.
“You’re being ridiculous,” his father told him. “Once your omega’s in heat, you won’t care about any of that. Pick one, and have done with it. Preferably not that Gawant girl. She’ll make us a laughing stock.”
“I’ll need time to think about it,” Arthur attempted.
“We’ll make the announcement in the morning,” Uther warned him. “And if you don’t pick one then I’ll do it for you. First thing tomorrow, Arthur.”
Arthur knew the king wasn’t going to back down. He looked around at all the omegas gathered there, nearly all of them gazing longingly back at him. It wasn’t what he wanted. He doubted that he was what they wanted either, not for himself anyway. They just wanted the status of royal omega. It wasn’t courtship. It wasn’t romance.
It wasn’t love.
Arthur wanted love more than anything. To court someone, get to know them. It had to make the mating so much sweeter when it happened. He wanted someone that he cared about, and he wasn’t going to get that from the stream of fawning omegas at the palace. And he could see his father eyeing Vivien speculatively. She was probably his idea of a perfect mate.
She wasn’t Arthur’s idea of one.
Arthur knew he only had two options. He could stay in the palace and find himself forced to take an omega of his father’s choosing, or he could leave and try to find one of his own. Someone who loved him for himself. To Arthur, that seemed like no choice at all.
---
At four in the morning, unable to sleep, Arthur made his move.
Sneaking out of the palace was easy enough. The guards were concentrating on people trying to get in, not out. He took his least conspicuous car, and drove.
He didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just wanted to get away from his father and whichever omega was about to be foisted on him. So he headed out of the city, driving west, not stopping for hours. He would be missed, of course, his father would start searching for him just as soon as he realised Arthur was missing. The further away Arthur was, he reasoned, the harder he would be to find.
It felt good, being out of the palace. He was his own master for once, not the creature his father was trying to mould him into. And at first it didn’t appear that anyone was following him. He knew that wouldn’t last long.
The royal guard, the knights as his father liked to refer to them, were the finest in the land. Arthur had more respect for some than others. There was Leon, the fair and trustworthy captain, Percival and Gwaine, his strong and loyal lieutenants. But then there was Valiant, whom his father favoured, and who Arthur wouldn’t trust an inch. When the guards came after him, Arthur knew Valiant would be right at the front. Any chance to discredit Arthur.
Valiant was a thug, plain and simple. He made no secret of his designs on Princess Morgana, and Arthur was never entirely sure whether his sister liked the attention or not. You never knew with Morgana. She could take care of herself, but as only second in line to the throne she didn’t have the same pressure to take a mate that Arthur did. Whoever she eventually took would be unlikely to ever become king, not with Arthur in the way.
Arthur thought that somehow, that wouldn’t appear to be an impossible barrier for Valiant. There would be a knife in Arthur’s back faster than Morgana could say ‘I do’. Still, Morgana would never seriously accept Valiant so it didn’t really matter.
Arthur kept one eye on the rear view mirror though, just in case. Someone would come after him, soon enough. His red sports car was too easily recognised, splashed across the papers all the time. Someone would see him, boast about it on social media, and then he’d be found, brought back to the palace to face whoever his father had picked for him. They’d probably be in some chemically-induced heat as well, just to ensure he couldn’t resist. Most of them had been close enough to it already.
He couldn’t have picked Elena if his father was going to rush through a betrothal. Mithian would never have forgiven him, and he really hadn’t liked the others that much. Elena was the only one who had obviously been uncomfortable being paraded before him like a prize animal. The rest were only too happy to be treated that way, and it made Arthur uneasy. He wanted a partner, not some sort of sexual slave.
But he knew, as he pulled into a service station to fill up the car and grab a coffee, that he would have to bend to his father’s will eventually.
There was a CCTV camera at the station. And the boy behind the counter stared at him dazedly when Arthur swiped his credit card. Soon enough, Arthur knew, he’d recover and spread the word. The Prince of Wales was right here in my forecourt. And if not him then the woman who took his toll fare when he reached the Severn Bridge would do something similar. It wouldn’t be long.
It was early Spring, and the sun was bright when it rose, low on the horizon. Arthur was driving away from it, but it was dazzling him in the rear view mirror and making it hard to tell whether anyone was following or not as he drove across the Severn Bridge. He wished he’d thought to bring sunglasses, but it had been a hurried escape and he hadn’t considered anything more than just getting away as he’d sneaked out of the castle under the shadow of night.
Wales had seemed a good idea. Fewer people, larger open spaces, it would be easier to hide. He thought he might go to the Brecons, find somewhere quiet. Maybe ditch the car miles from anywhere and go hiking. Perhaps he wouldn’t be recognised, he could try the scruffy, unshaven look and people wouldn’t realise it was him. It was a slim hope, because his face had been plastered across the papers since the day he was born, and as soon as his flight was noticed that would be across the news as well. He’d been listening to the radio throughout his journey, and the news hadn’t broken yet.
That didn’t bode well. His absence would have been noticed by then and it could only mean that his father had sent people after him already. People that Uther thought capable of bringing him back quickly.
Less than an hour later, Arthur was proved right.
He had reached the mountains and had slowed a little, trying to enjoy the scenery and take his mind off things. He’d turned the music up louder, and wound down the window. The morning air was cool, but far fresher than the pollution of the capital. The sun was still dazzling, particularly on sharp bends when he’d suddenly find it right in his face, so he was driving a little more carefully. And then he noticed that he was being tailed.
Arthur wasn’t sure at first. There was a black car, a long way behind him. He caught a glimpse of it once or twice but it was too far off for him to be certain. Then it seemed to have gone completely, and he relaxed again. They wouldn’t find him, not so soon, even if he had been spotted at the Severn Bridge. It would take a couple of hours to get to the bridge from London, and then locating him out there… no, he was sure that it couldn’t be his father’s men. Not yet. He turned the radio up a bit louder, trying to relax into the music. It was just a black car, after all. There were lots of black cars around. Could be anyone.
And then, suddenly it was right behind him. He could see Valiant grinning at him from the driving seat. The man had to have shot around the last few bends to sneak up that quickly. Arthur put his foot down, trying not to think about the steep drop on the right hand side of the road. He was okay, he was on the left, he could go faster.
Valiant raced after him, tailgating him until the road straightened out for a short distance and widened. Then Valiant roared past, and Arthur realised there was a second car behind him. Bors, who was little better than Valiant, was behind the wheel of that one. He looked almost as pleased with himself as Valiant did. The pair of idiots must have broken all speed limits to reach him that fast, Arthur realised. He’d hoped it would be Leon or his men who caught up with him. Sensible and trustworthy. Nothing like Valiant and Bors.
Valiant had shot ahead and driven out of sight. The road was twisting again up ahead, and Arthur still had Bors right behind him. He slowed slightly, wary of the sharp bends that the road signs were warning him of. It just made Bors drive even closer. Arthur glared at him in the rear view mirror. If Arthur slammed on the brakes Bors would go straight into the back of him.
And it was just those few seconds of distraction that did it. There was a sudden bend, sharper than Arthur expected, and as he turned into it the low morning sun blinded him momentarily. It was just enough that he couldn’t see Valiant’s car stopped there, right in Arthur’s path.
Arthur swerved in an attempt to steer round it but he was going too fast and went into a skid. He saw Valiant as the car turned, the man’s smug face morphing into a mask of shock and horror as Arthur lost control. Arthur’s car jack-knifed across the road, through the safety barrier and then he was falling. There were trees and bushes rushing past him as the car jolted and tumbled down the mountainside.
Arthur’s last thought as his head collided with the steering wheel was that Morgana was going to make a wonderful queen.
---
Everything hurt.
For a few moments Arthur wasn’t sure where he was. Dazed and confused, he stared at the large pine tree that the smashed and buckled bonnet of his car was slammed up against.
There was something wet on his face, and when he reached up to wipe it away he saw it was blood. His blood.
Suddenly it came back to him. Valiant and Bors had been chasing him and they’d caused the accident. They’d almost killed him, and at any moment they could arrive at the crash site and finish off what they’d started. After all, whether it was an accident or not they weren’t going to want to leave him alive to tell any tales.
Valiant’s car had been in the middle of the road… he’d tried to avoid it… he didn’t remember much after that. Except now he was sitting in what was left of his own car, which smelled as if something was burning.
Burning.
Arthur scrabbled to release his seat belt, then struggled with the door. It was bent out of shape and jammed shut. The passenger door was gone, completely ripped off, so Arthur crawled across and more or less fell out of the car on that side. His chest hurt, he guessed he’d hit the steering wheel on the way down, and his head was still bleeding. His left ankle was agonizingly painful when he tried to put any weight on it.
Arthur had no choice though, he had to get away from the car before either it burst into flames, or Valiant turned up on the scene. Neither scenario could be good for Arthur.
The one single good thing about the crash was that it had wrecked the tree that had finally stopped Arthur’s car. There were branches scattered everywhere, and some of them looked strong enough to support his weight. He struggled over to the nearest one and used it as a clumsy, makeshift crutch, trying to protect his injured ankle. It helped him move a little faster, even though it was nothing like as fast as he wanted to go.
He hobbled away from the car, heading towards the shelter of other trees. The valley where he had crashed seemed to be mostly woodland. Arthur knew he was lucky to be alive, if his car had hit the tree any harder he probably wouldn’t have been able to get out. He didn’t look back, not wanting to think about how his life could easily have ended.
There was no immediate sign of Valiant or Bors, but Arthur supposed it would take a little while to get down into the valley by conventional means. That thought kept him going, though he wasn’t sure how long he could stay upright. He felt light-headed, dizzy, and everything hurt.
Suddenly he heard voices, and froze, fearing he’d been found by Valiant.
“Over here!”
“No, it’s smoking, don’t go near.”
Two men, but neither sounded remotely like Valiant or Bors. They both had strong Welsh accents. The sound appealed to Arthur, one of their voices sounding sweeter than anything he’d ever heard. An omega probably, he realised. Arthur knew he should stay away, avoid the temptation. But he needed help, and anyone had to be better than either waiting until he collapsed, or until Valiant arrived. He turned, and saw them. Two young men, one a little on the stocky side, one tall and slender. The taller one was the omega, Arthur was sure of it. He could feel the pull. And perhaps he wasn’t the only one, because the man turned then and looked right at him. And stared.
Maybe they would have stayed staring at each other until Arthur collapsed, but the other man was less impressed, saw where his friend was looking, and immediately headed towards Arthur.
“Hey! You okay? You come from that?” he hooked a thumb at the wreck of Arthur’s car.
It broke the spell. “Help me,” Arthur gasped, and both men ran over to him.
“You’re hurt!” the omega breathed. “Will, he’s hurt!”
Will rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I can see. Mate, is there anyone else still in the car?”
“No,” Arthur told him. He felt weaker, now that there were people there to help him and he didn’t have to manage alone any more. “Just me.”
“You’re a mess,” Will told him. As if Arthur didn’t know. “Come on, we’ll get you to hospital.”
“No! No hospitals!” Arthur insisted. “They’ll find me.” He was feeling more lightheaded by the moment. There was the risk that he’d pass out, be taken to a hospital, recognised and be put under guard.
Under Valiant’s guard.
“Please, if they find me... I can’t…”
Will looked suspicious. “You in some sort of trouble?”
The omega was still gazing at him. “We could help him, Will. Uncle Gaius is retired but he was a good doctor.”
“Someone ran you off the road?” Will asked. “What did you do? Who’s after you?”
Arthur was finding it hard to concentrate on the questions. There were so many, and every part of his body hurt so much. His head felt as if it were going to burst. “Nothing. Please…” He swayed, and the omega reached for him. His touch felt good even in Arthur’s weakened state.
“Careful, Merlin,” Will warned. “He’s an alpha.”
The omega, Merlin, shook his head at his friend. “We’ll help you,” Arthur heard him say in his sweetly lilting accent. “You’re safe.”
Arthur wanted to smile. He wanted to reach out to that beautiful man and cling onto him, never let him go. But Arthur could barely keep upright, and as Merlin’s hand closed over his own Arthur felt the world seem to tip up. He was falling again, and this time he didn’t stop.
---
Days passed.
Arthur was only vaguely aware of that time. He drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes he half-woke to find an older man peering down at him, eyebrow raised in apparent disapproval. Occasionally there was a woman who spoke to him in soothing, gentle tones.
But always there was Merlin. Arthur could sense the omega with him even during the times Arthur was barely conscious. It was a warm, comforting presence. And on the day that Arthur properly regained consciousness, Merlin was there.
“Hi,” Merlin said softly, and gave a shy little smile. “You’re awake.”
It was the sweetest, best medicine of all. Arthur was still in a lot of pain, and his head was thumping fit to burst, but he managed to return the smile, just about. “Hi,” he tried to reply, but his throat was dry and all that came out was a hoarse croak.
Merlin poured him a glass of water from a jug on the nightstand, went to hand it to him then immediately snatched it back. “Ah, no, I don’t know if you can have any yet.”
Arthur was desperate for that water, his throat parched and dry. He reached for it, but Merlin swung it out of reach.
“I’ll call Uncle Gaius,” Merlin told him. “Stay right there.”
As if he could have done anything else. Arthur watched as Merlin darted out of the room, then returned a few moments later with the woman and the older man who had to be Merlin’s Uncle Gaius.
“He’s awake,” Merlin told them. It was the second time he’d said it and if it had been anyone else Arthur would have rolled his eyes. But Merlin had been there with him for however long he’d been out, and was so sweet and attractive that Arthur just smiled weakly at him.
“So we see,” Gaius commented. “So, young man,” he said to Arthur. “You realise you’re lucky to be alive?”
Arthur started to nod his head, realised how much that hurt, and hoarsely whispered a reply instead. “Yes.”
“Merlin, get him some water,” Gaius instructed.
Arthur couldn’t help the slightly smug look he directed at Merlin when the young man handed over the glass, and it was Merlin’s turn to roll his eyes, though he smiled when he did so. Arthur found that smile enchanting.
“Merlin tells us you refused to go to a hospital,” Gaius told him. “If there’s anything illegal going on, we’ll have to ask you to leave as soon as you’re able. We can’t have any trouble.”
“No!” Arthur had no intention of going anywhere, not with Merlin right there and so desirable. “No trouble. I was run off the road, I just need to hide out for a while. Please, there won’t be any trouble.” He hoped that would be true. Looking up at Merlin, he silently pleaded with him to agree.
“We didn’t see anyone when we brought him back,” Merlin agreed.
“They were probably scared by what they’d done and fled,” Arthur managed. His voice was improving with the water and use but it still sounded croaky. “I’m awake now, they won’t come anywhere near us.”
“Hmm,” Gaius looked at the woman. She looked worried.
“I don’t know…” she began.
“Oh please, Mum,” Merlin begged. “He’s a good man, I can feel it.”
“You don’t know anything about him,” Gaius pointed out. “We don’t even know his name.”
“Arthur,” Arthur put in quickly. “My name’s Arthur.”
“He’s Arthur,” Merlin repeated. “You see, we know something already. Come on, he’s hurt, what harm can he do?”
Merlin’s mother looked at her son sadly. “Quite a lot, I suspect.” She sighed, then smiled kindly at Arthur.
“I suppose you can stay.”
“Thank you,” Arthur replied, though he’d barely heard her. He was too dazed by the brightness of Merlin’s delighted smile. He would, he thought, happily look at that smile every day for the rest of his life and never, ever get tired of it.
He smiled back, wondering if he’d already found what he was looking for, right there in that room.
“I can sit with you for a while, if you like?” Merlin offered.
Arthur thought he’d like that very much. But there was one thing he wanted to check first.
“You don’t own 249 pairs of shoes, do you?”
That was when Arthur realised that Merlin looked adorable when he frowned in puzzlement, too.
---
Arthur found later that Merlin and his friends and family lived in a small commune in Ealdor valley that was mostly cut off from the rest of the world. They didn’t own televisions and had never heard of the internet. The group were largely self-sufficient, living off the land, and rarely ventured far from their own community. It meant that none of them had any idea who he was.
Will and Merlin had brought Arthur back in the truck they’d been using to collect firewood. There were only two vehicles and a single telephone. Arthur really had landed in the back end of nowhere, but he didn’t mind. They seemed to think he was probably some sort of criminal, and apparently there had been a lot of arguing when he’d been brought in, but Merlin had dug his heels in and Arthur stayed. He was put up in the home Merlin shared with his mother, which meant that the place smelled of omega, all the time. Heady stuff. Arthur could understand how weaker alphas might just rush at the omega of their choice. He’d never been around one for so long before, not constantly.
There were different scents all through the day. Weak in the morning after Merlin had washed. Strong after he’d been outside working and there was sweat drying on his skin. And sometimes, at night, Arthur would catch something else, something almost unbearably desirable, drifting through the house from the room where Merlin slept. It was difficult then, not to go to him. But Arthur had always sworn that he wouldn’t take an omega unless it was for love, and he stuck to that resolve. He wanted to get to know them first. Arthur was getting to know Merlin, and he liked what he was seeing. He liked it very much.
Hunith, Merlin’s mother, kept shooting Arthur worried looks when she saw him with Merlin. He had no doubt that she could tell exactly what Arthur was thinking. She was kind and sweet, like her son, but as the days passed and Arthur regained his strength, she started talking about when he might move on.
“You won’t be able to stay here forever,” she said over dinner a week after Arthur had arrived. “You must have people who miss you.”
“Just a little longer,” Arthur pleaded. He glanced at Merlin, and heard Hunith sigh sadly. “I can’t risk leaving until I’m stronger.”
He’d explained how he’d been run off the road by his father’s men because he’d refused a marriage, and that he wasn’t any sort of criminal but just needed to be somewhere safe for a while. The tiny community of Ealdor had accepted that, but Arthur knew they would be wondering about him. He hadn’t actually lied, but he felt guilty for deceiving them. And the way Hunith and Will looked at him sometimes… he had no doubt that they could see exactly how much he liked Merlin.
Arthur’s ankle had only been sprained, not broken, so he could walk around. Soon enough he made himself useful, working alongside Merlin and Will with some of the lighter tasks around the place. His chest still hurt, although according to Gaius it was only badly bruised and would improve as long as Arthur took it easy. Arthur wasn’t keen on taking it easy though, not when Merlin was outside working. He wanted to help. Moreover, he realised very quickly that seeing Will there working hard next to Merlin was kicking in Arthur’s competitive streak, despite Will only being a beta. Being told to pick lettuces while Will was repairing a broken fence just wasn’t good enough for Arthur.
“Don’t overdo it,” Merlin urged him when Arthur started trying to construct a small trellis for the rapidly growing row of pea plants at the back of Hunith’s cottage.
“Oh, he’ll be overdoing it soon enough,” Will grumbled, and then muttered “Bloody alphas,” under his breath and shoved the fence post into the hole in the ground with far more force than was necessary.
A faint blush stained Merlin’s pale features but he kept his head up, jutted out his chin defiantly and carried on working. “Pity you don’t overdo it, Will. You wouldn’t have to mend that fence if you’d done a better job on it last year!”
Will responded, maturely, by scooping up a handful of wet mud and flinging it at Merlin, who retaliated in kind. Arthur laughed, and immediately received a face full from Will in response. He hoped it was only mud.
“Oh, you’re for it now!” Merlin gasped.
Arthur joined forces with him and within a few minutes the three of them looked as if they’d taken a mud bath. Will had by far the worst of it, but he’d given almost as good as he’d got and was laughing harder than any of them.
“S’pose you’re all right,” Will told Arthur grudgingly. “Not quite so posh and stuck up as I thought.” He looked down at himself. “Jesus, Mum’s going to kill me if I go home like this. I’m going down to the river, you two coming?”
“What for?” Arthur asked, and immediately regretted it when they both started laughing at him.
“To wash this off,” Merlin grinned. “Will’s right, you are posh.”
“And make sure none of you come anywhere near my home until you’re clean again!” Hunith’s voice rang out through the kitchen window. “Honestly, sometimes I think you’re still five, Merlin Emrys!”
Mud fights and washing in the lake! Arthur had never been permitted to do anything so undignified, even as a child. He loved living in the tiny community, and had never felt so free. He wished he could stay there forever. He wanted to stay with Merlin forever, certainly. He just wondered how Merlin was going to react to the truth.
Merlin was fascinating. Arthur had never met an omega who could stand up for himself like that. Beautiful and headstrong, he was everything Arthur had ever wanted. It was as if fate had brought them together. Fate and Valiant anyway. The pull was so strong that Arthur didn’t see how he would ever be able to bear to be apart from Merlin again.
Even filthy and covered in mud, the omega still seemed perfect. Arthur walked down to the river with him, Will rushing on ahead of them.
“Too slow!” he heard Will call back, followed by a loud whoop and a splash as Will jumped into the water.
“You can run on if you want to,” Arthur offered. He wasn’t ready for yet another lecture from Gaius about taking care of his ankle. Though truthfully, he was just enjoying walking with Merlin. “I just slow you down.”
“I don’t mind,” Merlin told him. “I like being with you.”
That was all Arthur needed to hear. He took Merlin’s hand.
“In case you fall?” Merlin asked.
“I’ve already fallen,” Arthur assured him, enjoying the blush that comment earned him. Merlin didn’t pull his hand away.
They walked on down to the river together. When they got there, Will was almost out of sight. He was evidently a strong swimmer, and the river seemed calm enough. Still, Arthur was enjoying having Merlin to himself and didn’t want that to end.
“Sit with me awhile?” Arthur asked.
“We’re filthy.”
Arthur shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Better than sitting here shivering after we’ve come out of the river.” He sat down on the riverbank, looking up at Merlin expectantly.
Merlin, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down just in front of Arthur, then cheekily pushed his way between Arthur’s legs, leaning back against his chest. Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin, pulling him close. He pressed his face into Merlin’s hair, breathing in the sweetly alluring scent of him despite all the now rapidly-drying mud.
They sat like that for a while, watching Will swimming up and down.
“It’s so peaceful here,” Arthur commented.
“Too quiet for you.”
“I like it.”
“But you can’t stay here forever,” Merlin sounded sad. “Whatever you’re hiding from, you have to go back one day.”
“I wish I could just stay here,” Arthur admitted. “I’d stay with you.”
Merlin made a little sound that was almost a purr. He had to sense the bond too, Arthur thought.
“Can you feel it as well?” Arthur asked, needing to be certain. “As if we’re meant to be together?”
Merlin looked back at him, then away. “Do you believe in soulbonds?” he asked. His voice was very quiet.
“They’re a myth.” Arthur felt Merlin slump a little in his arms, and added; “I’d always thought so, but I’m not so sure now.”
Merlin twisted his head to grin back at Arthur delightedly. Arthur loved that smile so much.
“They happen. They’re rare, but they do exist. My parents had one.
Merlin never spoke of his father, and Hunith had never mentioned him either. Arthur had wondered about the man, but as he had a big secret of his own to hide, he didn’t feel that he had a right to pry. Still…
“Aren’t they supposed to be exclusive to magic users? Your mother doesn’t seem to have magic.”
“My father did.”
Did. Past tense. “Ah. And as I don’t have magic that would mean that you…”
Merlin twisted in his arms again until he was sideways on, looking nervously at Arthur. “I was born with it. It’s not been illegal for centuries. Is… is it a problem for you? Some people don’t like it.”
People like Arthur’s father. But he’d have to live with it. “My sister has magic,” Arthur assured him. “She hides it from our father, but not from me. She knows I’m okay with it. More than okay.”
Arthur could actually feel the tension fade from Merlin’s body as he spoke those words. The smile Merlin was giving him, full of hope and love, was a little daunting. It made Arthur wonder how he deserved to have anyone look at him like that, as if he’d hung the moon and stars just for Merlin. And he would, he realised, if he could. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Merlin.
“I’d like to meet her,” Merlin said.
“She’d love you,” Arthur assured him. “She will love you, when you do meet.”
Merlin gave a little sigh of happiness at that, and if it was possible his smile widened still further. “You never talk about your family.”
No, and there was a good reason. But Merlin had spilled his own secret and Arthur knew he had to do the same. It was important that there was nothing hidden, nothing that could sour their relationship later. No matter what Arthur did, how fair he tried to be, his omega would be bound to him. Merlin was not to have any regrets about doing that.
“My father,” Arthur said carefully. “He’s the king.”
Merlin tensed, probably thinking he was being teased, so Arthur pressed on.
“You don’t see the news out here, but it’ll be full of my disappearance. At some point they’ll find the car and track me here.”
“But you…. You’re Prince Arthur?”
“Yes. Does that make a difference?”
“Of course it does!”
“I accepted your magic,” Arthur reminded him.
“This is different. This… Arthur, you have to take an omega from the nobility, you can’t be with someone like me.
“That’s what I was running from. My father…”
“You mean the king!” Merlin pointed out.
“The king, yes. He tried to arrange a marriage to an omega I’d barely met. I don’t want that. I want to get to know the person I’m bonded to. I want… I want you, Merlin. I want to stay here longer, know you better, and then when we’re both sure, I want to seal the bond properly. You have magic so you can do that. But I want to court you like betas do. And then… you’d have to agree to be the Royal Omega.”
“Me?”
“Only if you were willing,” Arthur assured him. “I know it’s a lot to take on. And we hardly know each other.”
But Merlin had turned round completely to face Arthur and was kneeling up between his legs. So, so close. The smell of his sweet omega scent was almost overwhelming.
“I want all those things,” Merlin assured him. “Maybe I wouldn’t choose the Royal Omega bit, but if it’s the only way then it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s with you. I don’t feel like we’ve only just met. I feel as if I’ve always known you. It’s like we’re meant to be.”
“Hormones…” Arthur knew how omegas reacted this close to an alpha. They couldn’t help themselves. He couldn’t allow himself to be fooled into thinking it was anything else.
“Yes. But it wasn’t hormones that first day when we found you. I made Will go down into that valley, something was drawing me there. We’d never been there before, Will was complaining the whole time about how we’d get arrested if we tried to chop down any of the trees there because it’s some sort of national park or something. But I knew I had to go there. It was because of you, Arthur. We’re meant to be together.”
Arthur didn’t need to hear any more. He pulled Merlin into a kiss, leaning back until he was lying down in the grass with Merlin on top of him. Merlin tasted of everything good, and felt warm and right as he kissed Arthur back.
“You’re so beautiful,” Arthur murmured into his omega’s mouth.
“Not a girl,” Merlin protested between kisses.
“I noticed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be beautiful,” Arthur insisted, rolling Merlin over so that Merlin was the one underneath instead. Now Arthur had him there, he wanted to touch him all over. His face, his hair… Arthur started to pull up Merlin’s mud-covered shirt and run his hand over the pale skin beneath.
“Oh for god’s sake get a room!” Will yelled as he walked past them. It was like a bucket of ice water.
Merlin looked up, then just grinned at Arthur happily. His hair was sticking up at all angles where Arthur had been mussing it up while they were kissing. Arthur wanted nothing more than to grab him again, roll him in the grass and have him there and then. He didn’t give a damn about Will standing there. But he did give a damn about Merlin and wanted everything to be perfect for him.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Arthur sat back up and reluctantly managed to edge away from Merlin a little.
“We should get cleaned up and go back,” he sighed. “If we carry on, I’m not going to be able to stop myself.”
Merlin pushed himself far too close again, that sweet, cheeky smile right in Arthur’s face. “I don’t mind.”
But Arthur did. He was determined to stick to his principles. “I want you to always know that I chose you because of who you are, not because of our alpha/omega hormones.”
“I know,” Merlin agreed. “Can we go back to the kissing?”
“No.” Arthur got to his feet, trying to ignore the hugely disappointed look on Merlin’s face. “We should take things slowly.”
Behind him, he heard Will snort with barely contained laughter.
“Shut it, Will!” Merlin scrambled upright and glared at his friend before turning his full attention back to Arthur again. “You seriously want to take things slow?”
“I respect you,” Arthur said as quietly as he could, aware of Will blatantly eavesdropping. He leaned in to whisper in Merlin’s ear so that Will couldn’t hear what was being said. So close, there was that overwhelming scent of Merlin to contend with again. But Arthur was determined. “Please let me do this.”
Merlin frowned, then looked down at the ground for a moment. When he met Arthur’s gaze again he didn’t look happy.
“You hate the idea.”
“No,” Merlin reached up to kiss him again. “The idea’s fine. But the reality… You’re an alpha, Arthur. You people just don’t work that way. Soon enough you’ll change your mind. Or I’ll change it for you.” If that wasn’t enough of a warning, Merlin then gave Arthur a sly look. “Hey, weren’t we going to go and wash together in the river? We’ll need to take off our clothes…”
Merlin, Arthur could tell, wasn’t going to make the whole staying celibate thing easy.
---
Arthur recovered quickly. It was partly due to spending time out in the fresh air, partly due to good home cooking, partly due to Dr Gaius’ care. But mostly, Arthur knew, it was due to Merlin.
Merlin claimed his magic wasn’t any good at healing, but Arthur could feel it around him all the time. It felt like a protective shield, keeping him safe, and the closer the two of them became, the more Arthur could feel it. Merlin’s magic loved Arthur almost as much as Merlin did. It made Arthur confident that he was doing the right thing and making the right choice of mate. Also he was glad they were waiting, certain that the final bonding would be so much better with love there as well as desire.
Still, it was difficult keeping his vow. All his alpha instincts were screaming at him to just take his chosen mate and have done with it. There were no unmated alphas in Ealdor, which was fortunate because Arthur didn’t think he could have stopped himself driving them off if there had been.
A week passed.
In some ways it was the longest week of Arthur’s life, when all he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside his chosen mate and lay claim to what was his. In other ways the time flew past, late Spring days spent out working alongside Merlin (and Will, but no situation was perfect), and evenings sitting with him, just talking and getting to know everything about him. Courting. Arthur could imagine how long and loud his father would have laughed at the concept of that.
Merlin wasn’t too impressed with it either. He kept finding excuses to touch Arthur, to stand up close to him so that Merlin was all Arthur could smell. It was so hard to resist him.
One evening when Hunith had gone off to bed, Merlin was being particularly tactile, snuggled up against Arthur on the sofa in the living room, sneaking little kisses whenever he got the chance.
“Don’t,” Arthur pleaded. “You have no idea how hard it is to resist you.”
“Then don’t,” Merlin laughed at him, and tried to climb up into his lap.
Arthur wrestled him away. “God, you’re a pushy little omega, aren’t you?”
But it wasn’t like the ones at the palace ball. Merlin looked at Arthur with love, not with the blind, dull gaze of someone who had been dosed with hormones so that they wouldn’t care which alpha took them, just as long as one did.
Merlin lay back on the sofa, lifting up his legs to rest on Arthur’s lap. Arthur knew he should probably push them away but his resolve was weakening with every passing day.
“Soon,” Merlin told him, his gaze never leaving Arthur’s face. “My heat will start up. Another week, two at most. Your worthy romantic notions won’t stand a chance.”
“I could leave,” Arthur offered weakly. He was getting tired of waiting too. With every passing day that he spent with Merlin it got more difficult to resist. He found himself snapping at people for just the most minor annoyance, making mistakes on the simplest of tasks.
“Don’t you dare,” Merlin warned. “I’ll hunt you down. You know I can.”
“Psycho,” Arthur said fondly, pulling off one of Merlin’s shoes. His omega seemed to be getting more ticklish as each day passed, and Arthur unashamedly loved to watch him squirm and writhe under Arthur’s touch.
“You can talk…. Ah! Don’t! No!” Merlin wriggled furiously and managed to pull his foot free, curling up into a ball and glaring at Arthur. “Torturer! I bet this is how all you people at the palace treat your omegas.”
Arthur didn’t want to think about anyone at the palace. Valiant had never reappeared, which was hopeful, but sooner or later Arthur knew he was going to be found and would have to go back. It was another reason not to wait any longer.
“Tomorrow,” he said softly. “I think we’ve waited long enough.”
Merlin gazed at him for a moment, then sat up, eager and alert. “Definitely.”
“Is there somewhere private we can go? Away from your mother’s house?”
“There’s an old barn on the edge of the village. I could put down blankets in the hayloft.”
“A cosy little nest,” Arthur commented.
“Not up to your royal standards, oh Prince of Prats?”
“Wales. Prince of Wales,” Arthur corrected because Merlin called him things like that far too often. His father was going to hate it. “You know, your country. Or are you saying you’re all prats?”
“Must be,” Merlin agreed. “Look what I’m settling down with.”
Precious omega or not, Arthur wasn’t averse to smacking him with one of Hunith’s cushions for his cheek.
Yes, there was no doubt the king would not approve. But there would be nothing he could do about it.
---
The following day dragged like no day Arthur could ever remember.
They spent most of it loading up the truck with spring vegetables that Will was going to take to a farmer’s market and sell the following morning. It was how the community paid for essentials that they just couldn’t produce themselves. Afterwards Merlin vanished for a while and Arthur tried not to imagine him up there in the barn making up a bed for them both.
Instead he busied himself helping Hunith, chopping fresh firewood for her and then painting the side door to her house. He felt guilty, taking her son away, as if he was betraying her kindness and hospitality. It seemed a poor way to pay her back.
“You’re both so quiet today,” Hunith commented over dinner that evening.
“Busy day,” Merlin told her. “And I’m not finished, I have to go back out later, I think some of the fences need patching.”
Hunith said nothing, but gave Arthur a pointed look. She wasn’t stupid, and sure enough at the end of dinner when Merlin hurried off, she asked Arthur to help her clear up.
Arthur had hardly eaten a thing, too busy thinking of the night ahead. Hunith took his plate, and frowned.
“Fence patching always made me hungry,” she commented. “See, Merlin’s cleared his plate. I don’t think he actually stopped to taste even one mouthful.”
Arthur didn’t know what to say. “I’ll put it out for compost,” was the best he could manage. He turned towards the door, fumbled the handle and managed to drop the plate on the hard stone floor. It smashed, and the wasted dinner went everywhere.
Hunith sighed heavily, and started to pick up the broken pieces, swatting Arthur away when he tried to help. “No, you’ll just end up cutting yourself and you’re barely recovered from your accident.”
“But I want to.”
“That’s nice, dear, but really my dinner set isn’t big enough to cope with any more breakages. Why don’t you run along and find Merlin?”
“But…”
Arthur must have looked guilty at that point, because she started to laugh. “Oh Arthur, I’m pleased you’ve been trying to be respectful to him, and I know you’ll treat him well, but just put us all out of our misery. Shoo, go on! Go!”
Arthur found himself bustled out of the house, the door closed behind him before he knew what was happening. Hunith was a bossy omega as well. He could see exactly where Merlin got it from. Still, she’d pretty much given Arthur her blessing, so they weren’t going to have to sneak around in the morning.
Smiling to himself, unable to help it now that Merlin was going to finally be his, Arthur hurried down to the barn where he knew Merlin would be waiting. It was getting dark and there was nobody around. They wouldn’t be disturbed. Arthur ran the last part, pushed open the barn door and went inside.
The barn smelled of sweet hay, and overwhelmingly strongly of Merlin. Arthur closed the door behind him, and put the bolt across for good measure.
“Merlin?” he called softly, and was answered from somewhere above him.
Eagerly Arthur climbed up to the hayloft two rungs at a time. He climbed over the top of the ladder, and onto the wooden boarded floor of the loft. The roof was low over his head and he had to crouch a little, wincing at the way the wood creaked under his weight.
Merlin had made a bed up there. He’d flattened the piles of hay down and laid sheets and blankets over it. There was a camping lantern hanging from a hook on one of the beams, bathing the space in a warm glow. Merlin himself was lying bare-chested in the bed, blankets pooled at his waist, waiting for Arthur. He reached out a hand in invitation, a nervous smile playing about his lips.
“Is this okay? I’m not good at seductive.”
Merlin was the single most seductive thing Arthur had ever seen in his life. Even fully clothed he was, but spread out enticingly for Arthur alone he was something more. Arthur wondered if Merlin was completely naked under those blankets.
“It’s okay,” Arthur assured him, giving a little cough as his voice came out slightly higher than he intended. “It’s more than okay, it’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
He knelt down on the edge of the makeshift bed, reverent, his eyes drinking in the sight before him. If he hadn’t fled the palace when he did, he could have been married by now to any one of those other omegas. He would have taken them in a proper bed, on expensive sheets, serviced them as he was supposed to, given in to his basic alpha instinct. It would have been a cold and empty union. None of them would have made his heart fill with love like Merlin did. He took the hand Merlin offered and lovingly kissed each finger in turn before leaning down and kissing Merlin’s mouth.
As the kiss deepened, Merlin shifted back a little, making room for Arthur. Arthur kicked off his shoes too hard and heard one fall onto the ground below.
“Hope the cows haven’t been in,” Merlin grinned. “Bet that was expensive.”
“I don’t care about the shoe,” Arthur growled, pulling his hoodie over his head and then stripping off the t-shirt he had on underneath it. He threw those aside too. “We don’t need clothes.” He tugged at the blanket covering Merlin. “Are you wearing any?”
“Maybe.”
“Take them off immediately.”
“Royal command?”
“Yeah. Performance to follow.”
Merlin, without access to a TV, probably wouldn’t get that reference, Arthur realised. He also wasn’t making any move to take anything off, so Arthur’s hope that he was naked under those blankets wasn’t a false one. Wriggling out of his jeans and underpants, Arthur dived beneath the blankets. It was cold in that barn. Not that he was expecting to be noticing that for much longer. He reached for Merlin, his hands finding only warm soft skin.
“Thinking of starting without me?” Arthur purred, rolling over so that he was lying pressed up close to Merlin’s side, and leaning over to kiss him again.
“Well you were pretty slow,” Merlin complained. He opened his mouth to say something else so Arthur slipped his tongue inside. It shut Merlin up very effectively. They kissed for a few minutes, until Arthur pulled away and started to explore Merlin’s neck, trailing a line of kisses down his throat, ending at his pulse point where Arthur marked him, sucking a bruise that it would be hard to hide in the morning.
Merlin whimpered and arched towards him. Arthur could feel Merlin’s erection pressing against his thigh. There were all too many things still covering his omega, getting in the way.
“Let me look at you,” Arthur murmured, whipping the blankets away from Merlin.
“Cold!” Merlin complained, but it was a token protest. His hands fluttered for a moment, and Arthur knew he was considering trying to cover himself. Instead he tilted his chin determinedly, and gazed back at Arthur. Arthur reminded himself that Merlin would be a virgin, and that for all his bravado he was probably quite nervous. It just made him all the more desirable.
Arthur stared down at the omega beneath him. Merlin was slender and pale, yet years of hard outdoor work had left him toned but not muscular. There was a little faded bruise on his hip, standing out starkly against the creamy skin. A little happy trail ran down from Merlin’s belly button to spread out at his groin, where his cock stood up proudly amidst a nest of dark hair.
“Ah,” Arthur told him. “Beautiful.”
Merlin tried to pout, but couldn’t hold it and giggled. “Still not a girl,” he protested.
“No.”
“And still cold.”
“We’ll do something about that,” Arthur assured him, climbing on top of Merlin and bracing himself so that he wasn’t crushing him. “I’ll warm you so much you’ll think your heat’s come early.” He pressed their groins together and ground against Merlin, loving the little whimpers of pleasure that produced from his omega. “Oh, you like that?”
Merlin made a little noise again. His scent was growing much stronger, and a few moments later Arthur felt moisture on his thigh. Reaching down between Merlin’s legs, Arthur found he was already wet and ready. That had taken no time at all. It was all Arthur could do not to flip Merlin over and mount him immediately. All his urges were telling him to do so and he had to fight against it. It didn’t help that Merlin was twisting beneath him, lifting his hips helplessly, wanting Arthur.
“Look at you, so wet and eager for me,” Arthur breathed. He lifted a finger to his lips and tasted the moisture. It was salty and tangy and he wanted more. Merlin stared at the finger in Arthur’s mouth, looking completely mesmerised by it.
“Please,” Merlin begged. “No more slow.”
“That’s not even English.”
“Just fuck me!” Merlin growled. He reached down to finger his omega hole then brought his wet hand up to Arthur’s face, running the moisture over Arthur’s lips and letting him nip at his fingers. “Do it!”
Fine. The taste of Merlin was intoxicating and Arthur just gave in. He grabbed hold of Merlin and flipped him onto his front. Merlin gave a little cry of triumph into the makeshift pillow then a squeak of surprise when Arthur buried his face in the wet omega hole and started to use his tongue.
“Oh god! Arthur!”
“Good?” Arthur reached for Merlin’s cock, wrapping his fingers around it.
Merlin groaned helplessly as Arthur worked him. His cock was thrusting and leaking in Arthur’s grasp and he twisted back to look over his shoulder. “Knot me,” Merlin begged desperately. “Oh… I’ll come if you don’t stop, I want you inside me... please... oh please...”
Arthur wanted to continue playing, exploring his mate. But Arthur’s cock was straining against his stomach, pre-come dribbling from the tip. He couldn’t wait much longer, already the thick knot at the base was beginning to swell very slightly. Once it grew, it wouldn’t be able to pass the entrance to Merlin’s virgin hole. He pressed a kiss to the small of Merlin’s back, then urged him up onto his knees. Pushing Merlin’s legs apart, Arthur knelt between them and lined up the tip of his cock against Merlin’s entrance, gripping the omega’s hips to steady himself.
Merlin gave a little sob of pleasure as Arthur pushed his thick cock carefully inside him, moving as slowly as he could until he was fully seated. Merlin’s hole was slick with juices, and the passage felt easy to Arthur. But it was Merlin’s first time, however right it felt, and Arthur had to fight against the urge to just slam in and start fucking him hard.
“Okay?” Arthur whispered, leaning over so that he was covering Merlin’s back.
“Move,” Merlin begged. “I’m not made of glass.”
Arthur pulled halfway out, then thrust in again. Merlin made that little noise again, half-sob, half-groan of pleasure.
“Faster.”
Still so bossy. Arthur didn’t care. He thrust again and again, a little harder and faster each time until he’d worked up a good rhythm. His knot was growing, swelling, and he could feel it hitting the hard ring of muscle around Merlin’s entrance.
“Can feel it,” Merlin moaned. “Oh… Arthur…”
Arthur thrust harder, faster now that they were good and tied together. Merlin clenched around him a few moments later, coming with a cry and spurting clear omega fluid over the sheets. Arthur continued to fuck him, riding Merlin through his orgasm and right through the sensitivity afterwards. He could feel Merlin’s legs trembling on either side of his own, and gripped his hips more firmly, trying to help support him. Arthur’s knot was huge now, and his thrusts were short and rapid as he neared completion.
“So big,” Merlin groaned beneath him. “So good…”
Arthur leaned forward instinctively, his mouth finding Merlin’s neck and biting down, claiming the omega as his mate as he spurted inside him. Merlin groaned and sobbed, coming a second time impossibly quickly. Arthur didn’t know if it was the mating bite or a natural phenomenon to encourage the omega to bring his alpha to orgasm.
As his orgasm subsided, Arthur pulled his lover close, kissing him gently on the spot where he’d bitten down. It looked red and angry, painful.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“Didn’t hurt,” Merlin assured him. “Felt so good when you did it. Love you so much.”
“Love you more,” Arthur assured him, kissing him again.
“Not a competition,” Merlin purred, leaning back against him.
They were tied together, so it took a little manoeuvring to get into a lying down position. Carefully Arthur rolled them both over so that they were lying on their sides. He held Merlin close, resting his chin on Merlin’s shoulder, still kissing at the bite mark occasionally.
“You were naked when I got here,” Arthur commented idly.
Merlin snorted at him. “Not a lot gets past you, does it?”
“What if someone else had come in?” Arthur grinned, though he thought he might possibly rip their throat out if they had come anywhere near his omega. It was, he realised, probably best not to tell Merlin that.
“I’d have kept very, very quiet,” Merlin assured him.
“First time for everything,” Arthur teased.
“Yes,” Merlin sighed, and Arthur realised he was thinking of something else entirely. “Yes there is. But second times, and third…”
“And all the times after,” Arthur whispered, pressing a kiss into Merlin’s neck and unable to quell the surge of satisfaction he felt at seeing the mark he’d left on his omega’s skin. “You’re mine now, Merlin.”
“Mmm,” Merlin wriggled a little on Arthur’s knot then clenched down. Arthur gasped. The sensation felt amazing. “And you, Arthur Pendragon, are mine. Don’t forget it.”
He wasn’t likely to. Still, if Merlin wanted to make things into a competition, Arthur was up for that.
Merlin, Arthur already knew, was ticklish. He was also trapped on Arthur’s knot for probably an hour or so and couldn’t get away. Arthur wondered just how much wriggling and clenching he could get out of Merlin and just how good it would feel.
Only one way to find out…
“You prat!” Merlin gasped, panting and desperately struggling in vain to escape a few minutes later, though he was laughing as well and that just spurred Arthur on. “You total, complete and utter prat. Oh my god… No!”
Despite all the shrieking and protests, Arthur could feel Merlin getting hard again.
Arthur was fairly confident he’d won.
---
It was early afternoon when Arthur and Merlin emerged from the barn. They sneaked back into Merlin’s home to wash, then Merlin made them sandwiches and they sat out in the yard eating them. Arthur finished up, and was wondering if they could head back to the barn for another round.
That was the moment when Will arrived back at Ealdor. He’d been on his weekly trip to the Farmer’s Market in one of the larger towns with far too many consonants in its name. He honked the horn of his truck as soon as he spotted Arthur and Merlin, and stopped right in front of them.
“They’ve found your car, Mate,” he announced without any preamble as soon as he got out of the truck. “Whole area’s cordoned off. I had to go round the long way. Took bloody ages.”
Will, Arthur noticed, was holding what looked suspiciously like a newspaper, rolled up like a stick. He didn’t look happy.
“And you know what else? I stopped at a petrol station, needed to refuel after all those extra miles. Thought I’d go in and grab a snack. Guess what I found in there, all across the front pages of the papers? Any idea, Arthur?”
“You found Arthur’s the Prince of Wales and half the country’s out looking for him,” Merlin told him. “Or something like that.”
That obviously threw Will. “You knew? Why didn’t you say something?” He took a step towards Merlin, then stopped when Arthur immediately stepped between them.
“I don’t need defending against Will,” Merlin protested, but Arthur wasn’t really listening. He found that having anyone even slightly angry around his omega brought out the protective instinct in him. But it was Will, and Will was Merlin’s friend. Arthur took a deep breath, trying hard to calm down.
“Of course I told him,” Arthur said. “I offered him the choice.”
“People like you don’t offer omegas choices,” Will accused. “And look at this!”
He held up the paper so that they could both see the headline and the pictures. There was a huge photo of Arthur, and a smaller one of Uther outside the palace looking tired and drawn. Arthur snatched it and flicked through to the main article. There were shots of his burned out car, pages and pages of theories about what might have happened and where he might be.
“They think you burned up in the crash and some freaky royal fan’s stolen your corpse,” Will supplied helpfully. “Or that you staggered away and died in the undergrowth. That’s why nobody can get near the site. They’re searching. We’re nearly ten miles away, but they’ll get here eventually.”
Arthur was still reading the paper. There was a photo of Morgana and Leon on page 5. She was hurrying away from the cameras and he was trying to protect her from them. Her head was bowed, but Arthur could see she’d been crying. He felt a sudden twist of guilt, realising that he hadn’t even considered how his disappearance would affect those who loved him.
“I need to go back,” Arthur realised. “And I need to call my sister.”
There was probably no signal in the remote community even if there was any charge left in his phone when he switched it on. And it would identify him instantly on the receiving phone and put Morgana in danger if she answered when Valiant was nearby. So Arthur used the community landline, and didn’t risk contacting Morgana at all.
The head of Uther’s guards, and the one Arthur trusted implicitly was the person he contacted in the end. Merlin stood with him, listening nervously.
“Leon, don’t say anything unless you’re alone right now. Pretend it’s someone else.”
“Arthur? Arthur, is that you?” Leon’s normally calm voice sounded almost frantic.
“Yes. There’s nobody nearby who can hear you?”
“Oh thank god! I’m in my car, I’m coming down to help with the search. Where are you? Everyone’s been worried sick! That accident…”
“It wasn’t an accident,” Arthur growled. “Valiant and Bors ran me off the road.”
“No… they wouldn’t…”
“If it was an accident why have you only just found the car?” Arthur asked. “They knew where it was. If they were innocent they’d have told you. No, Valiant stopped right on a bend, where I couldn’t possibly see him until it was too late. Where is he now?”
There was a pause. “Valiant’s been in a strange mood ever since you vanished. He’s been saying you’re probably overseas and insisting we’re looking in the wrong place. He’s gone so far as to volunteer to lead the search over in France. He claimed they had a sighting, but that was before your car was found.” Leon gave a heavy sigh. “I haven’t heard from him since yesterday.”
Arthur nodded. “That’s not such a bad thing. If he’s got any sense he’ll stay abroad. I’ll give you my location and you can come and fetch me.”
“Hang on, I’ll pull over so I can jot it down.”
While Leon was occupied for a moment, Arthur relayed to Merlin what was happening. Merlin looked relieved at the news that Valiant had fled abroad. He’d probably been worried the man would turn up in Ealdor to finish what he started.
“Leon’s coming here now, you’ll like him. He’s a good man, he’ll take us back to the palace.”
“I heard that. Who’re you talking to?” Leon’s voice came down the line.
Arthur smiled at Merlin, who was looking nervous again.
“Well,” he told Leon. “You know how my father was hoping I was going to settle down with a suitable omega…?”
---
Leon arrived within an hour. He’d been a fair distance away, and had probably broken every speed limit.
“Another posh twit,” Will grumbled when Leon drove up. Hunith tried to shush him but Will just glared at Arthur and then at Leon too when he got out of the car.
“Shit, he’s tall!”
“Will!” Hunith hissed. She had taken the news about Arthur’s identity quite well, having long since accepted that Arthur was going to take her son away with him at some point anyway. “He’s head of the royal guards.”
“Posh bouncer,” Will grumbled, but too quietly for Leon to hear.
“Arthur, thank god,” Leon exclaimed, striding over to him. There was no hug, because Leon was far too proper, but he was smiling broadly, relief written all over his face. “We thought you were dead.”
“No such luck,” Will commented. Hunith swatted him on the arm, but he looked unrepentant.
Leon looked at Will a little worriedly. “Arthur, this isn’t your omega?” he asked hesitantly.
“Bloody cheek!” Will grumbled. “I’m a beta.”
“Definitely not,” Arthur assured Leon. Merlin was standing back a little, uncertainly. Arthur took his hand and drew him close. “This is Merlin.”
Whatever Leon might have thought, it didn’t show in his face. Faultlessly polite, he offered his hand to shake. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Merlin saved me from the crash site,” Arthur explained, then when Will appeared to have a coughing fit, added, “and Will helped him a bit.”
Leon regarded them both, nodded to Hunith, then turned his attention fully to Arthur. “Did you call Morgana?”
“Yes.” There had been tears, and so many questions. It had been all Arthur could do to stop her following Leon down there. “But not my father. We thought you could claim the bounty.”
“There’s no… Oh, very funny.” Leon glanced at Merlin, then back at Arthur. “You’re on your own with your other news though. The king still hopes you’re going to marry one of those omegas he paraded out for you.”
Arthur gripped Merlin’s hand a little tighter. “Not a chance. I’ve made my choice.”
“Well… he’s probably going to be so glad you’re safe that it won’t matter.” Leon took a deep breath, then picked up his phone and made the call.
“Your majesty? It’s Leon. I’ve found your son…”
Arthur stood in the afternoon sunshine, his mate at his side. His father would probably rant and rage for a while, but they could take whatever he threw at them. Together.
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By Clea2011 on ao3