Chapter Nine #3
Her cries made me wild, animalistic with need. I tightened my grasp under her knees and began driving myself into her harder, faster. But I only lasted like that for a few moments before I lowered myself, capturing her lips with mine.
She kissed me like she was starving, her hand raking through my hair, gripping tight. Her other arm wrapped around my back, joining her legs, to clutch my ass. I grabbed her hip, fucking into her harder as our tongues danced.
Our kisses grew more primal, more frantic, with every moment our bodies chased that final high. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she breathed into my mouth, rocking her hips forward against my pelvis.
My hands lingered at her waist, tightening ever so slightly as I whispered, “Then tell me to stop.” I fucked into her harder. “Tell me you don’t want this, Era.”
She kissed me harder. “Never,” she huffed. “Merrick…it feels too good…” Her head fell back, her cries growing louder.
“Look at me, baby,” I urged. “Look into my eyes and come.”
Her beautiful gaze found mine, saying so much with that expression alone…saying so much with her heart. And then she lifted her hand to cup my face.
“I love you,” she breathed.
Gods…
My eyes burned at that moment. “I love you,” I confessed as my forehead rested against hers, keeping my pace steady as I moved in her.
“And I know it’s wrong, but I don’t fucking care.
I don’t care that you’re spoken for, I don’t care that you’re married.
You could be taken by Valor himself, and I’d be fighting the God of Death for your hand. ”
Her eyes began to sparkle, and I fervently pressed my lips against hers in a promise. “You,” I panted as my mouth broke free. “It’ll always be you.”
With a few more passionate thrusts, the prettiest cry ripped from her Era’s throat, her inner walls clenching around my length tightly as she orgasmed.
The sight—the feeling of her euphoria, had me spilling at the same time.
I grunted, my movements becoming irregular as cum jetted out of my cock, filling her pussy with my release.
I rested my sweaty forehead against hers, the two of us out of breath. I was still inside her, not wishing to leave her just yet.
“Gods…” she panted. “Thank you…”
“The pleasure was all mine…Princess.” I kissed her forehead, then her cheek. “Was it…was it good?”
“Good?” She shook her head, chest heaving. “Incredible. Outstanding. Perfect.”
Feeling the truth in her statement, I sighed happily, allowing my gift to shut off, Era's eyes returning to that stunning shade of brown. Using that power for so long, paired with the most intense release of my life, made me desperate for sleep.
I carefully slid out of her, and as I lay on my back, I hauled her onto my chest.
She was still catching her breath when she quietly said, “I’m sorry if I pressured you into saying you loved me. I…I just had to say it.”
“Hey.” I grasped her chin, forcing her to look at me. “You didn’t pressure me, not at all. I’m in love with you, Erabella. I have been for a long while now.”
She sucked in her shaky lip, her face threatening to crumple, and I pulled her back against my chest.
We lay there for a while in comfortable silence, our hearts gradually returning to a regular pace.
“He…he never cared for me like this,” Era admitted quietly.
“Not once did he offer me intimacy this…intense. Not even close. He never craved me…was never wild with need.” Her saddened eyes met mine. “Will you grow bored with me?”
I held her face, and one more time tonight, her eyes churned dark to match mine. “Never. I promise.” I grinned. “You feel that? That tingling along your collarbones?”
Her brows furrowed, and she nodded.
“That’s what someone telling the truth feels like.”
Her cute smile gave me butterflies. “How about a lie?”
“Hm…” I gave her a mischievous smirk. “That sex was terrible.”
She blew out slowly, her hand going to her neck. “Wow…”
“Right? A lie feels like a burning in your neck, like the sensation when you hold in a cry.” My fingers drifted down her back. “You are so beautiful.”
She beamed at me as her fingers brushed her collarbones in response to my statement. “You are a gift, Merrick. The only positive of this war is that it brought you to me.”
I gazed at her affectionately and really took a moment to bask in how much had changed since Ames was overrun. Since I first saw her, anxious and hesitant as we escaped Fort Laith on those horses. Since I trained her for the first time on that mountain.
Never would I have guessed I’d fall in love with her.
A human. A princess.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded sleepily, gazing up at me lovingly. I noticed the guilt lifting from her, not gone but diminished. “You can’t help who you fall in love with, even if it’s wrong…” she murmured, brushing a hand down my stomach. “Even if you can’t have them.”
I kissed her temple, whispering in her ear, “You have me, Era.”
Era’s attention drifted, and she sat up quickly. “Merrick,” she breathed, and my eyes followed hers to my nightstand.
On it lay a brass key etched with an Angel wing.