A/N: Thanks again to all my amazing followers and reviewers. Sorry (not sorry) to make you guys suffer before posting this chapter. Hope it makes up for it! Warning for sexy times between Molly and...well, you'll see!
Molly watched, frozen in horror, as Gregor and Victor grappled with one another, lips curled in savage snarls. So this was two Alphas fighting for possession of a ripe Omega; so primal and deadly. Part of her responded to it with a fierce eagerness, her instincts screaming at her to stay well away and allow the two males to demonstrate their fitness to couple with her. The other part of her was screaming as well – screaming at her do something, to stop this before yet another member of Khan's precious family lay dead on the Sickbay floor.
On shaky legs she slipped off the biobed and grabbed a nearby hypo, setting it to the highest dose of the only sedative she knew that would work on an Augment. She rushed over to put herself between the two men, hoping that the element of surprise would work in her favor.
Fortune favored the foolish, it would appear; both men stepped back, stunned at her imposition. She saw them taking great sniffs of the air and knew it was her they were scenting; before they could either lunge for one another or her own self, she jabbed the hypo into Victor's neck, pressing the release with all her strength.
He went down like a felled tree, his eyes rolling up as he collapsed, fully unconscious and breathing heavily. She'd used up the entire contents of the hypo, but before she could fret over having overdosed him, she found herself with another problem: Gregor, with no rival to fight, had fixated on her and was closing in, mouth open as he panted, hands reaching, eyes wild and with no signs of intelligence behind them. Only raging need, as his musky aroma had already told her.
She didn't want him; he wasn't her Alpha, he wasn't Khan, but in the fever of her rising heat she made no move to resist when he grabbed her arms and bent his head down to sniff her throat. She automatically tilted it to give him access, a whine of submission rising from her throat as she did so.
There was no telling how far things might have gone if the sound of a transporter beam hadn't caught Molly's attention just as Gregor began nipping at her throat. Well, no, that wasn't entirely true; things would clearly have gone well down the road that ended with fucking and knotting and very likely Bonding if Khan's shout hadn't cracked the air. "Gregor! Stand down!"
Too far gone for reason to penetrate, Gregor whirled to face the new rival, snarling at the man he'd sworn fealty to three hundred long years gone by, clutching Molly tightly to him. Just as Molly feared Khan would physically launch himself at the older man, he whipped out a phaser and blasted him in the chest, knocking the two of them off their feet to crumple to the floor.
While Molly fought to catch her breath, the adrenaline having temporarily worked to clear her heat-fogged mind, Khan strode across the room, speaking into his communicator. "She's safe. Gregor and Victor are unconscious, but Tomás…" He fell silent as he gazed down at his fallen comrade, whose unseeing eyes were still open. Stooping gracefully, Khan reached out and eased the young man's eyelids shut. "Tomás is dead," he said softly. "Make arrangements. We'll have a formal ceremony once Molly's heat has passed."
She heard Joachim's voice responding, saw the reverent way Khan bowed his head over the younger man's lifeless form, and felt a stab of grief for the senseless way he'd died. Tomás had been pleasant to her, polite and friendly when so many of the others remained neutral toward her, but even if he'd been one of the ones to hold her in contempt she would still mourn him. Not as strongly as Khan clearly did, but then, she barely knew him. Khan, on the other hand, had known him most of his life, and she could see the very real grief he was feeling. She wondered if he would punish Victor for his actions, or if he would save his wrath for whoever had orchestrated this debacle.
Then Khan's eyes snapped up to meet hers, and she felt the breath stealing from her lungs at the intensity of his gaze. He rose to his feet and reached for her, lifting her into his arms, cradling her close as he opened his communicator once again. "Beam us directly to our quarters," he snapped. Then the hum of the transporter surrounded them, and Sickbay faded into nothingness as Molly rested her head against the warmth and solidity of Khan's shoulder.
They materialized in the main room of the suite; as soon as they arrived, Khan sprang into action. After carefully depositing Molly on the plush microfiber sofa – against her protests, he felt so warm and smelled so good – he pressed a lingering kiss to her lips, murmuring his promise to return shortly. Then he opened his communicator, barking out commands to someone – Joachim, she thought hazily as she curled up in to a ball and watched him striding around the room. "No one is allowed out of their private quarters except you, Maria and Gregor, is that clear? This ship was designed to be run by one person if necessary, and once Gregor recovers you tell him to clear the bridge and allow no one but ourselves access."
Joachim's voice came through, tinny and distant. "Yes, my lord. But what of the others who beamed down with us?"
"I said NO ONE!" Khan snarled. Molly flinched at his angry roar, startled, then shuddered as a flush of pure want heated her already feverish form. Without thinking, she began to remove her clothing; it chafed, it was too confining and sticky with sweat and she needed to be out of it, to feel the cool air on her body.
She lost track of the rest of Khan's barked orders, the haze of the heat intensifying with every passing second until her ability to think clearly was entirely lost. Once she'd kicked off her boots and shimmied out of her stockings and knickers, she stood up on wobbly legs and made her way to his side. He'd closed the communicator and was savagely punching in the privacy lock on the door, muttering to himself in some unknown language – Hindi, perhaps – before slamming his fist against the plas-steel door, denting the sturdy material.
This show of his superior strength brought a desperate whimper from Molly's throat; Khan whirled to face her, pupils dilating and nostrils flaring as he took in the sight of her naked form. She was swaying a bit on her feet, leaning heavily against the wall a few feet away from him; in two quick strides he was with her, once again lifting her easily in his arms. Molly twined her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to meet hers for an intense, desperate kiss. He responded with equal ferocity, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as she slid hers between his lips. His body felt cool against the feverish heat of her own, but more than that, it felt right, in a way none of the other Alphas she'd encountered today had.
Khan was hers, she might not be able to think clearly, but she didn't need to think in order to understand that basic, primal truth. He was hers, and she was his. And even though neither of them had chosen this moment, even though they had been ruthlessly manipulated by some person or persons unknown (Janice? Irena? One of the others who were less vocal in their distrust of Molly?), it didn't change anything but the timing.
This moment had been inevitable, Molly understood that now. And in her understanding, she pulled her mouth from Khan's and tilted her head, offering him her throat, not only for scenting, but in tacit permission for him to mark her. To bite her, to tear the flesh with those perfect, white teeth, mixing his saliva into her blood and her blood into his saliva and Bonding them together for the remainder of their lives.
oOo
When Khan saw Molly sagging against the bulkhead, naked and glowing nearly scarlet as her heat continued to accelerate, he went from alarmed to aroused – further aroused, as her scent had already tipped the scales in that direction back in Sickbay – in the time it took him to pull his fist from the now-dented door. He pulled her into his arms before he'd even realized he'd moved toward her, exulting in the smell and feel of her, feeling his reasoning abilities shutting down as she pulled him into a searing kiss. And when she ended the kiss, tilting her head submissively, clearly signaling her desire for him to mark her, he thought he would completely lose his mind – but not just with lust and need, no, but with the unexpected wave of fierce protectiveness that rolled through him at the sight of her offering herself so trustingly to him. Yes, it was partly the heat, the overwhelming pull of biology between compatible partners, but it was more than that; it was Molly, his Molly, finally giving herself over to him entirely, heart, body and mind.
He hadn't planned on sharing a heat with her until she made the decision to do so, but someone had taken matters into their own hands. Someone, he vowed as he lowered his head and inhaled deeply of the enticing scent emanating from Molly's body, who would pay dearly for not only doing this to his mate but for the consequences of those actions. Especially the death of Tomás at Victor's hands. Oh, it was possible that Gregor had killed the younger man, but Victor had always been far too aggressive toward perceived rivals, whereas Gregor had always managed some restraint no matter what the provocation, a quality Khan envied in his friend.
The sound of Molly moaning out his name brought Khan back into the moment with a vengeance; instinct brought his teeth to her throat, but he fought against the urge to tear into that tender flesh. No. He wanted this, desperately, more than he'd wanted anything in his life, but Molly needed to be fully aware of what she was offering him before he would accept that offer.
After their first coupling, she would be able to think clearly again. And if she offered her throat to him then…well. That would be an entirely different matter.
Instead, he contented himself with sucking a dark, purple mark into her throat, treasuring the feel of her rapid pulse beneath his mouth. She was gasping and writhing in his embrace, and his cock reacted by jerking against the tight black trousers he was wearing. Trousers that, like the rest of his clothing, needed very urgently to be gone from his body. He needed to feel his Molly beneath him, her sweat-slicked flesh against his, and he hurried into the bedroom, his mouth once again covering hers.
He lowered her to the bed and ripped his clothing from his body – literally in the case of his shirt, not bothering with the clasps that held it shut at the neck. The fasteners on his trousers were ruined in his impatience, but he couldn't care less about anything other than the woman lying on the bed before him, her eyes dark with desire as she waited for him. He kicked off his boots and landed on the bed, kneeling over her, lowering his head to take her breasts into his mouth, licking and suckling and feeling a surge of deep satisfaction as she moaned and keened beneath him. Then she reached up and tugged on his hair, her fingernails digging into his scalp encouragingly, and he heard her gasping his name, begging for him to fuck her. She wasn't demanding his knot, but then, she had no idea how much pleasure she was about to receive from that aspect of his Alpha biology.
But she would. He could hardly wait to see the expression on her face when he filled her, when her Omega body opened for him and they were locked together as his seed pumped into her. Just thinking about it made his cock twitch; with a groan he took himself in hand and pressed the blunt head of his aching member against her slick opening.
oOo
Molly gasped as she felt Khan's cock pressing against her entrance. He wasn't fooling around, but she was so desperate for him that it didn't feel rushed; rather, it felt like exactly what she needed. Him, inside her, moving with her, his body on hers. She pressed hard on his shoulders and raised her hips, encouraging him to fully enter her body, knowing she was more than ready for him. She'd been almost painfully aroused ever since Sickbay, and having him this close and yet not close enough was a sweet torture.
He moved, the muscles in his back flexing beneath her palms, and with one smooth thrust was inside her, fully seated, stretching her with that delicious burn she'd come to love. He felt larger, somehow, and she vaguely wondered if it had to do with her being in heat. Then he moved again and the ability to think was entirely destroyed at the pleasure stealing through her body. His mouth was on hers for a desperate kiss, then his lips moved to her earlobe and slid down her throat, once again sucking hard at her throat. It was wonderful, but it wasn't enough; she wanted more, wanted his teeth in her flesh, and turned her head to nip at his throat in an attempt to encourage him to do the same to her.
Khan growled and bucked against her. "Molly," he said in a strangled voice, "do you know what you're doing to me? For God's sake, woman, try to control yourself!"
She growled right back and dug her teeth in deeper. She didn't want control, not from herself and certainly not from him. But he resisted, keeping his mouth closed tightly as he rested his forehead on hers and gave another thrust of his hips. That distracted her into a pleased gasp, and then there was no more trying to get him to bite her and only the sensation of their joined bodies moving together in an urgent rhythm as old as time.
Her orgasm – the first of many, as she was about to discover – came over her unexpectedly, as Khan pounded into her. She cried out in pleasure, a series of sharp mewls as her body contracted around his, her fingernails once again digging into that perfect alabaster flesh and her heels pressed hard against his sculpted arse. She could feel his chest against hers, sliding damply as she sweated and arched against his body; with a shudder, she went limp beneath him, breathing hard as her heart raced and spots danced in front of her eyes.
Khan stopped moving as soon as she did, and she felt his gaze on her, hot and heavy as a summer wind. When she was able to move again, she thrust her hips up in a silent demand that he continue, and gave a contented sigh when he did so. He lifted her left leg and held it by the thigh, altering his angle of penetration and somehow managing to find exactly the right spot to send her spiraling toward a second orgasm; when it burst over her, she cried out his name, then gasped as she felt his already engorged cock seeming to thicken even more. Was this the knot she'd read about? It must be; the glandular ring at the base of his penis was enlarging in response to her Omega hormones, and she felt him forcing it inside her as his thrusts shallowed and shortened. He grunted with effort, she gasped in mingled pain and pleasure as he pushed himself even deeper inside her, and suddenly Khan gave a great shout, shuddered, and called out her name as she felt his hot seed pouring into her belly.
They lay together, Khan's weight kept off hers as he rested on his elbows and pressed soft kisses all over her face, ending on her lips. She kissed him back just as softly, feeling limp and content, and then feeling the onset of another orgasm even though neither of them were moving. She stared up at him with a gasp, eyes wide, as she felt the rising rippling moving up, up and exploding over her; he followed with a sharp gasp, eyes screwed tightly shut, then snapping open as the moment of unexpected pleasure passed.
"Is it…is it always like this?" Molly whispered, finally understanding what Maria had meant when she'd described knotting as the most amazing sensation she and Khan would ever go through.
He chuckled, low and deep, before pressing another kiss to her lips. "Not always this intense, my love, no," he replied, nuzzling her throat, dabbing at the mark he'd made with his tongue. Molly gave an inward hiss of pleasure at the feeling, and once again the aching need for more filled her. She arched her neck and Khan growled, a feral, possessive sound, before raising his head and staring down at her. "Molly," he said, his voice raspy and desperate, "if you don't stop doing that I won't be able to stop myself from biting you. And I have to know that you actually want us to Bond, that it isn't just the heat compelling it from you. Because Bonding is for life, you do know that; I know you've researched and spoken to others about it."
She nodded, caught up in that dark gaze; his pupils were still blown far back enough that there was very little of his blue-green irises to be seen. "I know what it means," she said, swallowing down a sudden surge of doubt. He'd already told her he loved her, but the context had been somewhat confusing; did he love her the same way he loved the rest of his crew, but with sexual attraction thrown in as a bonus? Or was he in love with her? Was he resisting the idea of Bonding with her, not because he was concerned about her feelings, but because he actually didn't want it, or had changed his mind about it?
"Molly, stop it," he snarled, bringing her attention back to him. She bit her lip, gnawing at it uncertainly until he leaned down and kissed her. "Stop doubting me. I told you I love you, and I meant it. You're part of my family now, but more than that, you're part of me now. You own my heart. You're my mate, the only woman I'll ever give myself to even if we don't Bond. But if you're willing, then yes, Molly, that is exactly what I want from you."
He was giving her time. Time to think, while she actually could think. Time to consider options she'd long been mulling, to make a decision she'd known she'd have to make one day. A decision, she was coming to understand, that she'd already made. So what point would there be in putting off the inevitable? Yes, someone had sabotaged her heat suppressant, forced this on her and Khan, but in the end it would have come down to the same thing: Bond, or not. Give herself over to him fully and freely, tie herself to him for the rest of her life, or hold onto the illusion of freedom saying 'no' would give her.
In the end, as always, Molly Hooper chose reality over any attempt to delude herself.
She met Khan's eyes and slowly, deliberately, tilted her head and exposed her neck to him.
"Do it," she whispered, and gasped as he immediately lowered his head and dug his teeth into her throat.
