I collapsed onto the inn bed.
Zhi and I have been traveling for about a month now without issue, and it was well into fall by now.
We were in a small city at where the plains officially ended, and the desert began.
Outside the window, I could hear merchants and travelers bustling about, preparing to cross the desert.
I had to sell a few of my treasures to pay for our stay here, but now we should have enough money to last us all the way to the Ice Blades Tribe.
The visit to the Treasure Pavilion had been interesting, seeing the other treasures on display and buying a few ingredients to try doing alchemy.
But now I felt exhausted.
How had that little trip tired me out so much?
We didn’t do much walking today either.
And it was only mid-afternoon.
The door opened.
“Ming?
Got some food here for you.”
I actually didn’t have much of an appetite.
But I hauled myself up to sit at the table with Zhi.
He frowned, seeing my face.
“Are you still not feeling good?
Are you sick or something?”
He placed the back of his hand on my forehead as I scoffed.
“Sick?
Cultivators don’t get sick.”
“But I think you do have a slight fever…” He withdrew his hand then thought for a second.
And grimaced.
“Shit.
It’s fall.
The south never gets cold enough to trigger it, but… let me sniff you.”
He leaned in to sniff at me, as my sluggish brain tried to figure out what he was talking about.
I didn’t figure it out until I gave him a sniff back.
Oh fuck.
He smelled good.
Sexy good.
Shit.
I groaned and face planted onto the table.
That’s right.
It’s fall.
“You’re going into heat for mating season.
Damn.” He rubbed his chin, thoughtful, then sighed.
“We can’t stay in the same room.
Or travel until it’s over.
Or I’ll go straight into rut, and neither of us will be able to think clearly.”
True.
Though this hadn’t started until after we began sleeping together, mating season was when monkeys got together and made babies.
On one hand that meant we didn’t have to worry the rest of the year when sleeping together.
On the other, these next few weeks were going to be torture as everything about Zhi will turn me on, and I’ll ache and itch for him.
It was so frustrating to not be able to satisfy my instincts and urges.
But we couldn’t risk me getting pregnant, and Zhi couldn’t be trusted to not come inside me.
Too much time around me will send him straight into rut, and neither of us will be able to think clearly.
Basically, we would have to spend a lot of time apart and suffer alone in our rooms until it was over.
Back on the mountain, Zhi would just take off for a month and I would spend time with my family to help curb the urges.
With the Tang family, my heat never triggered because it was too warm.
This was going to suck so hard.
I groaned and Zhi sighed and ruffled my fur.
“Hey, it’s not the end of the world.
We just have to wait a few weeks for it to blow over.
I… I need to get out of here.
Your scent’s beginning to get to me.”
He backed away from me, looking away.
Ugh, I wanted his hand back.
It felt so nice on my fur.
Why wasn’t there any birth control here?
There was alchemy that could do incredible, miraculous things, but no birth control.
Why, I should just make some myself…
I sat up.
“Zhi, wait!”
He paused at the entrance of the room.
He took another tentative step back.
“I’m not going to ask you to stay.
I want as many alchemy ingredients as you can find.
Nothing above Foundation Establishment.
If I’m going to be stuck in here, I’m going to be productive.”
He gave me a relieved nod.
“I’ll be back in a few hours with dinner and the ingredients.”
He closed the door behind him, and I summoned my alchemy cauldron that I made myself.
And a few scrolls on alchemy.
It was time for a crash course in creating your own recipes.
And I was going to work tirelessly on it, as I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
And if I finished…
If I actually managed this, I wouldn’t have to worry about my heats ever again.
Okay.
Experiment number… one oh eight.
Start by adding some Yang powder, but I needed to be exact on the dosage.
Next, the blood-blocking root, juiced.
A few herbs with metal alignment.
Okay, now the tricky part.
I closed my eyes and began stirring the concoction, taking it easy.
I paid attention to the effects, praying the one effect I wanted would appear.
God, I was so tired.
I’ve crammed more alchemy knowledge into my head over the past week than for the past three months.
My room smelled like herbs and metal, dark, and musty.
Just following a recipe is one thing.
Actually understanding the interactions between ingredients and using chi to read the results of an experiment were another thing entirely.
It’s like I’ve gone from a beginner’s course directly to writing a PhD thesis.
The interacting ingredients slowly came together.
Please let this work.
I’m so horny, but I don’t want a baby.
Please, please, please…
The solution finished interacting and… it remained stable.
Okay, the Yang had melded with the metal in the herbs like I wanted, and the blood-blocking root’s effect had been lessened but not erased, like I wanted.
My heart began beating.
Wait.
Did it work?
Only one way to tell.
I grabbed a cup and measured out the dosage.
I took a deep breath before drinking it.
Hmm.
I closed my eyes and followed the interaction inside my body through my chi.
Okay, it was digested alright… the chi from the elixir was settling… by my uterus…
I gave it a poke and it held.
It was working.
It was really working.
Oh my God.
I ran to the wall to my right, where Zhi was staying.
I banged on the wall, letting him know I needed him right away.
I ran to my door and lashed my tail impatient.
Eventually, there was a slight knock at my door.
I yanked it open, and the disguised Zhi reeled back.
“Whoa!
Ming!
Put your illusion on!”
I grabbed him and dragged him inside and slammed the door behind me.
I turned back to him, excited.
“I did it.”
His eyes were wide, and he was backing away from me, slowly.
“Ming, you’ve snapped.
Please let me out, fast.
Your scent is everywhere in here, and I’m beginning to go insane.”
“What?!
No!
Zhi, I did it.
I created birth control!
I can’t get pregnant now!”
He froze.
“Wait… what?!
Like ever?!”
I shook my head and he looked visibly relieved.
“No, it’s only until the elixir wears off, but it should last for the next two weeks if I got the dosage right.
Ugh!”
My legs wobbled and I collapsed on the ground, weak.
Zhi paused for a second before hurrying up to me.
“Ming!
What’s wrong?!”
I rubbed my forehead.
When… when was the last time I ate something?
I looked up at Zhi, exhausted and horny in equal measure.
He was incredibly worried.
“Ming, you look terrible.
Haven’t you been eating the meals I left outside your door?”
“You left me meals outside my door?” Oh… was that what the knocking was about?
“Shit.” He lifted me up and took me over to the bed.
I tried to hold on to him, but he easily pushed my hands away.
He swaddled me up so I couldn’t move.
“Ming, I’m going to get you some food.
Try to get some rest.”
I wiggled.
“Ugh.
No!
Zhi, stay!
I need you!”
He snorted.
“As you are now?
Hell no.
Maybe once you eat some food, get some rest, and coherently explain how you can’t get pregnant right now.
Until then, just take a break.
Why is it so dark in here?!”
He went to the windows and threw open the curtains.
I hissed at the sudden light.
Zhi wasted no time in leaving.
God damn it.
Urgh.
I shivered, remembering his touch and scent.
I hated this.
I hated feeling so weak.
I looked at the strong sunlight filtering into the room.
And closed my eyes, resting them as they felt so strained.
A few minutes later, I jolted awake, smelling food and Zhi.
He closed the door and took off his illusion ring, and he looked so damn good I nearly cried.
He sat next to me on the bed, with some kind of steaming stew.
He blew on the spoon and held it up to my mouth to feed me.
“I can eat myself.
Just unswaddle me.”
“No, you’re immobile for my own safety.
If you were free, you might jump me.”
He was smart sometimes.
I begrudgingly let him feed me, and he didn’t stop until it had all vanished.
Then he set the bowl aside.
He climbed into bed, and I wiggled in excitement, but he didn’t let me out.
He curled around my immobile form, snuggling.
“Sleep.
At least a couple of hours.
You’ll be more clear minded then.”
Ugh, how could I sleep when he was right next to me!
This was just torture!
I closed my eyes to try and fake it to satisfy him.
I didn’t wake up until the next morning.
And the smell of food was what woke me up.
My eyelids fluttered open, and I was no longer all swaddled up.
“Morning Ming.
You look a lot less crazy today.”
Ugh.
The smell of breakfast, rice, eggs, bacon, and fruit mixed with his smell.
I shifted in bed, uncomfortable, sitting up gingerly, wincing a little.
Why was my body like this!?
Ugh!
“Now, are you going to eat?
Or do I have to swaddle you up again?”
Bleh.
I held out my hands and received the food.
I looked around.
The room no longer smelled like herbs and alchemy.
I guess he aired it out.
And the elixir inside my cauldron had been bottled and the cauldron cleaned.
I took a few bites of food before my appetite began to wane.
I sighed, just tired, but still more lucid than yesterday.
I’ve been in mad scientist mode for the past week.
I never slept or ate, and only drank my failed experiments.
I probably looked terrible.
I forced a few more bites down before sighing.
“I can’t eat anymore.”
Zhi took my plate and set it on the table before sitting next to me.
“Do you always run yourself into the ground every time you go into heat?”
I shook my head, massaging my temples.
“No.
But this one is bad because I’ve been on my own.
No other monkeys around to complain or eat with.
All I’ve done is work on that elixir.
I think I’ve crammed years worth of alchemy knowledge into just a week.”
“Right.
The elixir.
It prevents you from getting pregnant?”
Ah.
I closed my eyes and checked it real fast.
It was still stable, and working how I wanted it to, blocking outside Yang energy from getting into my uterus.
I reopened my eyes and answered.
“Yeah, it does.
Oh, but not permanently!
And it doesn’t hurt me or affect my body at all.
It’s entirely chi based.”
His tailed flicked.
“Good.
Although I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how reckless it was to test potions on yourself, while you were alone.
If you collapsed, I wouldn’t have known for… I guess for another two weeks.
By the way, the waitress who brought your food up has been fired.
Apparently, she’s been eating it all herself.”
I sighed.
“I know.
But… I think I’m still a little insane.
You don’t understand Zhi, I just ache so bad.
And I can’t hardly sleep or eat, and I feel shaky and—”
Zhi grabbed my shoulders, keeping me steady.
“Whoa!
Whoa, Ming.
I know I usually avoid you to keep from going into rut, but I thought you would at least be able to take care of yourself.
Is it really that bad?”
I whimpered.
“The only thing I can smell is you.
Zhi, you being this close without touching me is almost physically hurting me.
I can’t get pregnant now, so please.
I need you.
I need you so badly.”
His tail was lashing now, his eyes laser-focused on me.
“Ming, I’ve been taking care of you since last night.
I’m going into rut, hard.
Are you certain you won’t get pregnant?”
“Yes!
Zhi!” I lunged up, circling my arms around him and kissing him as hard as I could.
I needed him.
I felt the growl in his throat as he began to push me down on the bed.
Finally, we can just be together.
I purred into Zhi’s chest, utterly satisfied.
The past two weeks were in the running for the best two weeks of my life.
It turns out, being in heat could be a very beautiful thing.
I got so much more sensitive, and Zhi went completely feral for me.
His rumbling gradually faded and he gave a contented sigh.
“Mmmm.
Ming.
My rut may be fading, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you.”
“Me either.
We need to make sure I have the ingredients on hand for the potion next year.”
“Absolutely.
You’re sure you’re not pregnant?”
“Nope.
I drank some more potion when it started running out, so I’m sure.
I’ve been careful about it.”
“Mmm.
Okay.” He snuggled me deeper.
Mmm.
He still smelled good, but it was starting to lessen.
This has been the best heat ever.
And the promise of being able to start right when I went into heat next year was even better.
I just had to make the potion again…
How… how did I make the potion?
I remember the rough ingredients, but what was the exact recipe?
Shit.