Chapter Sixteen #2
I did as he asked, lifting myself out of the pond, lying down for him to do with me as he pleased. My eyes became heavy as he hopped out, water droplets sliding down the perfection that was his body, down his abs, past that V, down his hardened length.
His attractive, heated stare burned into me, and I reveled in how beautiful his ice-blue eyes were. Merrick had been using his gift more frequently, so, to save his energy, he held in his power until we were both ready to come.
He wasted no time, falling to his knees to settle between my legs. My thighs returned to their preferred home, squeezing the sides of his ribs. Or perhaps the sides of his face were my favorite…
I cried out as he slid inside and began to pound into me, whispering filthy words into my ear. He’d become so confident since we first had sex—so sure of himself, knowing that I craved every piece of him.
He withdrew, gripping my inner thighs, eyes dipping down so he could stare at my pussy as he thrust in and out.
But this time was different. When he glanced down, his eyes widened, his movements stalling. “Oh shit!” he exclaimed, pulling out of me.
My brows drew together as I looked where he did, and when I realized what he was reacting to, my entire face heated, my stomach plummeting in utter humiliation.
“Oh, my Gods!” I cried, squeezing my legs together and backing away.
“I-I’m so sorry, I thought that…” I frantically searched the ground for answers until my widened gaze lifted to his. “It’s been thirty-three days…”
His eyes flared. “The contraceptive elixir… it wore off.” He looked down at where his length was covered in crimson. “Well… the odds of you—”
“I’m so humiliated!” I wailed, covering my face. “Oh, my Gods…g-go wash yourself.”
It only took Merrick a second before he grasped my face and kissed me roughly. He leaned back, eyes shifting to charcoal. “There is no need to feel the way you do, Princess. Not even a little bit.”
I shook my head, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. “It’s disgusting, I’m so sorry—”
“Era.” Merrick pushed me back down against the grass, settling himself back in between my legs.
“Merrick—”
He cut off my speech, roughly grasping my throat. The harsh movement took my breath away.
“Look at me,” he demanded, his heavy eyes nearly black. A soft plea trembled in my throat as the lust he felt wrapped around me, that ache between my thighs pulsing, demanding to be satiated. “I was covered in your blood in Faltrun. Did you feel disgusting then?”
His cock brushed against my clit, and I couldn’t break eye contact. It felt too damn good. Still, I went to protest. “But—”
“No, you didn’t.” He drove himself back inside me, and I gasped, my nails digging into his back.
“This blood isn’t a sign of anything wrong, of your life being in danger.
” He rocked his hips back and forth, a masculine groan escaping his throat.
“This is the only blood loss that signifies you’re alive. How could I ever be disgusted by that?”
“Merrick,” I whimpered as he snaked his arm around my head, drawing me upward, cradling me against his chest. My legs draped back around him again, my lids falling shut as he fell into a rhythm.
“Fuck, you feel so good, Era,” he panted. “So fucking wet. Look at me. I need you to look at me.”
There was no room for shame, for embarrassment, as my eyes met his.
Not with the sounds that came from Merrick’s lips as he made love to me, not with the way his heated gaze bored into mine—like I was the most desirable woman in the world.
We could only go for a few moments with broken eye contact, too eager to feel each other’s pleasure again through our locked stare.
The sensation drove Merrick wild, an animalistic urge compelling him to fuck me rougher, harder, faster.
I cried out in ecstasy as skin slapped skin, as his piercings rubbed and teased all the right places inside me. As his fingers wove into my hair, pulling tight.
“Do you like it when I hurt you, Princess?” he asked breathlessly, giving my hair a soft tug. Even though he already knew the answer.
“Yes,” I sobbed breathlessly.
Merrick’s heavy eyes shifted between mine. “I love you,” he whispered as he picked up his pace.
“I love you,” I replied in a moan, crying out as the hoop in his tip repeatedly brushed against that sweet spot. “I’m going to come…”
“Shatter around me, beautiful girl,” he rumbled low in his throat. “Please, please…”
At the desperation in his voice, I screamed, stars bursting behind my eyes as my body constricted and pulsed—as wave upon wave of pleasure surged through me. Merrick’s orgasm came at the same time, his groan loud and strangled as he emptied every bit of his release inside of me.
My heated face trailed down both of our wet bodies as I caught my breath. “I…”
He held my face with both hands, eyes darkened so I could feel his truth. “No part of you will ever disgust me,” he panted. “Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I love you,” I said again.
The corners of his mouth raised, and he kissed me softly. “I love you more.”
I laughed gently, eyes sparkling with tears—I could feel it. Feel that beautiful tingling along my collarbones. “Not possible.”
Merrick gradually withdrew, helping me to my feet before lifting me in my arms. “You’ve never had sex during your cycle?” he asked as he walked us back to the cabin.
“No, never.”
Merrick grinned. “Good.”
I would’ve never guessed when I first met him—this standoffish, Mage man who scowled at most everyone, would’ve had such a big, beautiful heart. The love he so freely gave me… it was like a dream I never wished to wake from.
I had to hold in my tears the entire time he washed me afterward. I’d never been cared for like this. Not by my mother. Not by my husband. But Merrick loved me as easily as he breathed, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
After we cleaned ourselves off, Merrick brought me to bed, scavenging the house for something I could use. Upon finding nothing but a closet full of cotton clothes, he decided to create a makeshift menstrual cloth.
I nestled into his chest that night. “Thank you for taking care of me,” I whispered as he rubbed languid circles into my back. “I feel bad.”
“Why? It’s an honor to care for you, you know.” He placed a kiss on my head. “I love you.”
I swallowed, my face heating as I spoke my next words. “I love you, Merrick. You’re…” I trailed off, my words getting lost.
“Tell me,” he encouraged gently, kissing me softly.
I sniffed, then lifted my palms to hold both sides of his face.
“You’re my fairytale,” I uttered quietly, and then I laughed through my tears at the cheesiness of the expression.
“You’re the man I dreamed of saving me, the one I wished for my whole life.
Turns out he wasn’t a prince after all, but a reserved man with magic.
The closed-off man who smoked and had piercings…
turns out he has the most beautiful heart of anyone. ”
Tears welled in his eyes. “You’re going to make me cry, damn you,” he joked, pressing his lips to mine again. “I don’t want to turn you off with all my tears.”
I barked a laugh. “I just bled all over you. I think we’ve eliminated the possibility of either of us being turned off from each other.”
Merrick hummed, holding me close. “I’ll always crave you,” he murmured. “Thank you for seeing me, Era.”
I squeezed him tight, holding him close. After several minutes of comfortable quiet, I spoke again. “So…now what?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well.” I tilted my head up. “Once the monthly bleed is over, I can become pregnant, yes?”
His jaw flexed, and he sighed. “Shit…yeah, I guess so.” His thumb snatched my chin, and he pecked me, smiling over my lips. “I guess we’ll have to get our money’s worth while you’re bleeding still.”
I bashfully shook my head, settling into his side. “Do you ever want children?” I asked quietly a few moments later. My stomach dropped at the intimacy of the topic, and I quickly added, “Not now, obviously. I just meant in general.”
He didn’t need much time to answer. “Honestly? No, I don’t.
” A part of my heart cracked, and he added, “I’ve never had the urge to be a father.
Maybe that’s because I loathed my own.” He anxiously toyed with his lip ring when I lifted my gaze, then shrugged.
“I had no example of a healthy home growing up. What makes me qualified to raise a child?”
I was silent for a few moments. “I didn’t have a good example either…but I still wish to be a mother one day.”
He nervously glanced down at me with a guilt-ridden stare. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know.” I smiled sadly. “I know.”
But he was right. After what I did, did I deserve to be a mother? Did I deserve to have the life I dreamed of?
I didn’t want to accept the answer I knew to be true.
I didn’t.