Chapter 24 Merrick
Merrick
He could barely believe that the brave, beautiful, loyal, strong female in his lap had just agreed to what he’d thought was but a foolish dream.
Merrick had to keep his eyes open as he kissed her to ensure she wouldn’t just disappear, that she wouldn’t just use that magic of hers on him and take off once more.
But Lessia only snuggled in closer as he ran his hands over her back, sneaking them under her tunic to run over her soft skin, and her breath stuttered when he slowly trailed a finger down her spine.
Pulling back, Merrick shifted her so that she straddled him.
Fuck, he loved her so much. Maybe too much, if there was such a thing, because he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Why?”
Lessia’s face lit up with a small smile, one that reflected the moonlight streaming in through the glass doors behind her. “Why, what?”
He couldn’t believe he was fucking asking this.
Did he want her to go back on her agreement?
But the words still tumbled from Merrick’s lips. “Why did you say yes?”
She took her time to respond, her eyes drifting over his face until he regretted that he hadn’t just pushed her down on the bed and had his way with her, but then she finally opened her mouth.
“Because I want to live.” Her smile widened, probably because she saw the surprise that crossed his face.
“I never wanted to die,” she continued. “I did what I did that day because I thought there was no other way. But I’ve realized it was selfish.
I didn’t listen to anyone else. I didn’t consult anyone.
I didn’t think anyone could help. And… I didn’t realize how much pain I’d cause.
” Her hand brushed one of his stray strands of hair out of his face.
“You… you always give me a choice, Merrick, and I love you so much for it. This time… I’ll listen to you—to them. So I’ll go with you.”
He just stared at her.
What had he done to deserve this selfless fucking deity? Yes, he might have given her a choice today, but he’d brought those letters to sway her, and she damned well knew that and loved him for it anyway.
“Marry me,” Merrick blurted out.
Lessia laughed. “What?”
He pulled her closer so that the tips of their noses brushed. “I said, marry me.”
“Why?” she asked, her tone playful, but he could hear the emotions building behind it.
Merrick almost laughed. Why?
“Because I am selfish. Because I want you in any and all ways I can have you. Because I love you so much, it feels as if my heart will burst out of my chest. Because I want to be your family. Your husband. Your friend. Your lover. Your future and your now and your yesterday. Your everything. I don’t want to wait any longer, Lessia. I want you. Please, marry me?”
The smile she shot him should have lit up the entire night sky. “Of course I’ll marry you. I’ll do it here and now if you want to.”
He could have died right then, and it would have been fine.
But the Death Whisperer didn’t. Instead, he kissed her until they were both breathless.
“We’ll need to stop in a few towns on our way to the next realm.
I promised Kerym I’d help spread the word on the south side as we traveled,” Merrick said when they came up for air.
“One of the towns is close to where I grew up. It’s nothing fancy, but…
there is a special place there, and I’m sure we can find someone to handle the formalities.
Unless you envisioned something else? I know it’s not a grand wedding, but with everything going on—”
Lessia kissed him again, shutting him up. “I would marry you in the damned cellars beneath this castle, Merrick.”
It was like taking a strike to the chest, remembering when he’d seen her that first time. When he’d realized who she was, what she was.
Merrick clutched her closer. “That’s one choice I will not be giving you. I say we destroy the fucking things before we leave in the morning.”
Lessia stared at him. “Can… can we do that?”
One side of his mouth lifted. “We can do whatever we want. It’s your castle, and I might already have asked every guard and staff member to gather the valuables—of course, ensuring they get their share—during the night and take them to the house in town where Kerym, the others, and I used to stay.
Kerym is overseeing everything, ensuring that the gold, gemstones, and weapons are distributed equally to the people of Vastala.
Especially to those who need it the most.”
“I love you so much.” Lessia almost strangled him with her hug, and her scent invaded his nostrils, telling him she meant every word.
He didn’t have anything else to say. There was nothing to describe the fucking happiness exploding through his veins—because that’s what that strange feeling within him was, it was pure fucking joy—nothing that could explain how he felt right now.
And when Lessia whispered “Can I take your name?” only a groan left him, and he flew to his feet, laying her down on the bed and pressing himself against her as he nestled his face into her neck.
“You’re mine,” he hissed against her heated skin. “I don’t know how I was lucky enough to call you that, but you are. I’d be the luckiest fucking male in any realm if you took my name.”
She moaned as he made quick work of getting her out of the tunic and breeches she wore, remaining hovering on his elbows to just take her in.
“So fucking beautiful,” Merrick growled. “I’m going to take such good fucking care of you.”
She squirmed beneath him, and heat traveled within his body to his groin, his cock hardening as blood rushed to it.
Leaning on one arm, Merrick used his finger to draw a trail from her neck, down her collarbone, over her breasts, down her stomach—not shying away from the marks marring her skin—until he stopped right above the hill leading to her already glistening pussy.
“I love every inch of you,” he said roughly. “Every part of your body and soul and mind.”
She shivered under his touch, but he refused to speed it up.
They had time now. Perhaps limited, but there was time.
She would live. He would make sure of it, even if it required his own last fucking breath. They’d find whatever or whoever it was she needed to balance out her powers, and after that? He’d love her for all eternity.
Lessia’s eyes held his as he slowly traced his finger down her pussy, sliding it between her folds until her mouth opened in a silent pant as he slid it up and down, keeping the pace excruciatingly slow.
“Elessia Morshold,” Merrick mumbled. “Fuck. I like that.”
“S-so do I,” Lessia breathed. “Please…”
“I’ve told you before, you do not beg for anything,” Merrick rasped as he circled her entrance, watching her back shoot off the bed, her beautiful body curving up toward the gilded beams lining the ceiling. “You tell me what you want, and I will make sure you fucking get it.”
“I want you,” she whispered, her eyes still holding his.
Fuck. He would never tire of hearing that.
Merrick groaned as his finger slipped into her warmth, her walls clenching around him.
She was so ready. So fucking needy.
Merrick couldn’t help himself: He added another finger. Watching her meet his thrusts was almost hypnotizing, her beautiful body lifting off the bed, meeting him every time, taking whatever she wanted.
“So good,” Merrick praised. “Always fighting for what you deserve.”
Lessia whimpered as he started moving faster, his two fingers driving in and out of her pussy while his thumb pressed against her clit, the wet sounds reverberating through the castle bedroom and lighting his entire body on fire as he thought about how his cock would soon get to feel the same silky warmth.
He could tell she was already starting to get close, her walls clamping down harder around him, and he was about to curl his fingers to help her find her release when her hand moved down to stop him.
His entire body froze, every muscle coiling when she gave him a lazy, dizzying smile.
“I said I want you.” Lessia threw a pointed look down his still-clothed body. “I want you, Merrick. I want us to be one.”
Fuck. She didn’t have to ask twice, and Merrick committed to memory the sound of her light giggle as he got out of his clothes faster than he’d ever done before.
“You like that?” he asked, his voice hoarse as he lay himself down again, hovering over her, still not letting their bodies touch even if it was fucking killing him to see her full breasts, the nipples drawn in tight, and her pink pussy open and ready for him.
The smile he’d bitten down tore free when she nodded, her own grin widening as her hand wrapped around his long, stiff shaft. “I like this very much.”
“Fuck,” Merrick swore as he leaned down to claim her mouth, everything in him turning into liquid fire, flames licking his stomach and groin until his cock strained against Lessia’s hand.
As her little hand started moving up and down, he murmured “Fuck” over her lips again, moving his hips to meet her pumps and groaning when his balls tightened, the fire within him burning so hot he had to nip at Lessia’s mouth to keep himself sane.
Nudging her legs apart, Merrick traced his tongue over her bottom lip, opening his eyes to her glossed ones, and shook his head. “How did I get so fucking lucky?”
“How did I?” she responded as she removed her hand to wrap her arms around his neck—even before he asked her to like the good fucking girl she was—letting his cock slide against all her wet heat.
They both moaned as he pressed against her, coating his length in her wetness, and he continued to stare at her as he crowned her entrance.
“Thank you,” Merrick said, his tone lowering into one of seriousness.
He knew she was about to ask What for? so he quickly continued.
“Thank you for making me the happiest fucking person or thing ever to exist.”
Merrick gripped her hip with one hand, using the other to ensure he wasn’t crushing her with his weight.
“Thank you for loving me even when you’ve seen every dark and twisted part of my soul.”
The tip of his cock pressed into her pussy, and a pleading cry left Lessia, but she seemed to understand he needed to take his time, her body remaining still even as the scent of her intensified, the wetness teasing his shaft growing hotter.
“Thank you for doing me the absolute fucking honor of becoming my wife.”
He thrust harder, a groan falling from his lips as more of her perfect, hot pussy wrapped around him.
“Thank you for staying alive for me. For all of us.” His words turned into wanton growls the farther in he pushed, and Merrick had to fight to keep his eyes open at how fucking hot and tight she was.
“Thank you for everything,” he rasped.
Then he pulled out, almost entirely, before thrusting in, sinking all the way inside her.
“Fuck,” Merrick swore as her pussy swallowed him, sucking him so deep he knew he’d always feel it in his soul.
Lessia’s hand moved to his face as he stilled for a moment, just taking in how perfectly they fit together, and he focused his gaze on her golden one as she replied, her voice steady, “Thank you, Merrick. Thank you for leading me out of the dark. Thank you for being my friend when I needed it, my lover when I wanted it, and my everything when I chose it. I am the one who is honored to be your wife and to call you my husband.”
He could fucking die again when her pussy emphasized her words, coating him with more wetness and softness and so much heat it shot through him like lightning.
Lessia’s hand remained on his face as he began moving again, slowly and deliberately sliding in and out of her, keeping his eyes on her face, watching every emotion and sense cross her features.
Her breasts pressed against his chest, and he moved his hand from her hip to run across her hard nipples, his mouth catching every moan and cry leaving her.
It was as if there were too many emotions within him—all the love he had for her rushing through his body, driving them both to the brink of crazy.
He felt as if he could cry and laugh and scream at the same time, everything in him wanting to love and protect and care for this female more than anything in the world.
Merrick’s nerves lit on fucking fire when she lifted her hips, allowing him to slide that final bit into her as her walls clamped down around him, and he growled, “I’m going to love you forever if you let me,” as he started thrusting harder—deeper.
Her fingers wove into his hair as she nodded. “And I you.”
Her pussy contracted as he groaned, pushing up into her again and again, and he knew she’d come undone soon.
So would he. Merrick growled as he pressed both his hands into the mattress beside her head, looking down as he drove into her, watching his cock slick with her wetness slide in and out of her perfect fucking pussy.
Her eyes followed, and he saw damned stars when she whimpered at the sight, her walls strangling his cock, making him work even harder to thrust into her, his name tumbling from her lips as she came apart.
Heat filled his gut, his cock throbbing inside her pussy, and Merrick growled again as he pounded fiercely into her.
Again and again until that heat made his blood rush and he spilled deep inside, her eyes keeping his until he could breathe again, until he could see just one Lessia lying beneath him—happy and content.
Gently shifting off her, he pulled her to him, nestling his face into her damp neck. Turning toward him, Lessia kept her arms loosely around his neck, her eyes darting between his own, and something surged in his gut when her face twisted with a serious expression.
“What is it?” he asked, fear tensing his muscles so much that Lessia’s eyes dipped to his stomach before coming back up.
“Do you think people will start calling me Mrs. Death Whisperer?”
He stared at her for a moment, and while he realized she was serious—that it genuinely was a worry of hers, and that the cute wrinkle between her brows deepened with every silent second—Merrick threw his head back and laughed like he’d never laughed before.