Chapter 23
twenty-three
MERRILY
We fell into a rhythm, after Grayson went back to the vampires.
He would work through a solid chunk of the day, leaving me at our apartment, where I either worked from home or went out to do something with my family. He never worked past six again, and was usually back earlier than that.
We spent our mornings and evenings together, getting to know each other a little more with every passing day. We also experimented in bed, getting as close to knotting as physically possible without actually going through with it.
I hadn't pushed him on it at all. He knew I was willing to try, but both of us needed to decide we were ready if it was going to happen.
Darius was still refusing to consider if Rae was his mate, and we were still waiting to decide whether to get involved.
Rae asked me and Grayson about him a little more every time we saw her, which seemed like a good sign.
After a month and a half of dealing with the vampires, Grayson surprised me by coming home early one afternoon. He stepped inside and leaned against the apartment's doorway, taking me in for a few long moments.
"Hi," I said, fighting a smile.
"Hey."
"I assume today went well?"
"The vampires finally decided on another leader."
"Are they as bad as Leon?"
"She's worse, probably. She won't touch me, though. Everyone knows who I belong to."
"We'll figure out how to deal with her eventually. For now, we could head over to Fae Row early, if you want. Liv's planning on dragging Darius along for the movie night, so—"
"I canceled the movie night. I'm taking you to the Honeymoon Hotel tonight. We're spending two weeks there, Love. No one but us."
I blinked. My brain short-circuited just a little. "I didn't plan for that, Gray. I have work to do, and—"
"I talked to your assistants. All of them. We got everything ready."
"You made a plan? For me?"
His lips curved. "I did. You're not the only one who can plan, and I figured I owe you an abduction.”
"What's the occasion?"
"Isn't our honeymoon enough of an occasion?"
I lifted an eyebrow.
"If you still want to, an attempt at knotting is on the table. I warned Darius. If you do, I'd rather try before we go, so we can spend the weeks with you resting and recovering if it doesn't go the way it should. If it does, we have two weeks to just… enjoy each other."
I gave him a small, slow smile. I swear, my heart fucking swelled. “Yes. Absolutely. Come here." I waved him closer.
He flipped the lock on the door and crossed the apartment, sinking to the cushions beside me. I slipped onto his lap, and his magic rippled over me. All I had on was a simple matching lounge set, without a bra or panties.
A gradual wave of need rolled through me as Grayson's magic set in.
"Fuck, you feel good," I breathed.
"Not as good as you. I can't believe I'm even fucking considering this."
"I know. It's a lot. It's going to work, though. We've never had a problem with it."
"You've never really taken my knot."
"Knot yet."
Grayson snorted. "Wow."
"I know. We'll take it slow, though. You can start by touching me."
"Can I?" His voice was playful.
"Yeah. it's your lucky day."
He chuckled, slipping his hand into my shorts. "Already wet for me, huh?"
"Always." I bit back a moan as he dragged a finger over my clit just the way I liked.
My hips arched as he continued stroking me. Teasing me, lightly. Just enough to make me feel crazy.
"I want your knot," I breathed. "I've been thinking about it for weeks."
"We're going to try." His fingers went still on my clit. "But I want something in exchange."
"Okay."
"You have to tell me things I don't know about you.
I know how you like your decaf lattes. I know how your eyes look when you're trying not to get mad at me.
I know how much you love your family, revenge, and taking out people who the world is better off without.
But I still don't know your favorite color. "
I blinked again.
He had once again caught me off guard.
His hand remained still on my clit, his gaze expectant.
"Green," I said. "All shades of it, really. Partially because of your eyes. Mostly because green is peaceful. I rarely felt peace, before."
"Before me?"
"Before you," I agreed. "What's your favorite color?"
"Blue. Like the sky, when it's not raining." Grayson peeled my shorts down my thighs slowly. "Keep going. I want more of your favorites."
"Which ones?"
"All of them. Whatever comes to mind. Your favorite book. Favorite memory. Favorite dream we shared. Favorite blanket. Favorite car. Anything. Everything. And take your shirt off for me."
I slipped it over my head, abandoning it beside me. "Alright. Your shorts have to go, too.
Grayson ditched them and lowered himself between my thighs, opening me up. "Fuck, Love. Look at you."
"I'd rather look at you."
"Watch how much I enjoy you, then."
He dragged the tip of his tongue over my clit, and I moaned, arching my hips.
His gaze met mine expectantly, waiting, his tongue flicking slowly over the sensitive bud.
I knew what he wanted.
A favorite. Any kind of favorite.
My mind scrambled for an answer, just so he'd give my body what it wanted.
"My favorite books are romances with fae in them, written by a human.
The Forbidden Mates trilogy. They're Rapunzel retellings.
There's a magical jungle. They can't control their magic, and—" I gasped out a curse, nearly arching off the bed as he licked me again, working my clit just the way I needed him to.
Then stopped.
"My favorite dessert is mini cupcakes."
He rewarded me with another stroke of his tongue. Only one, though. "I knew that already. Try again."
"My favorite ice cream comes from this cute little dairy a few miles from the orchard. Ollie's."
He licked me again.
I didn't wait until he stopped this time, forcing myself to come up with more of my favorites so he would keep going. I was full-on rambling, by then, but I didn't care. I'd ramble if I had to.
"I love the fuzzy pillows on our bed the most, even though the smooth ones are easier to lean against. I love the light green blanket on the couch more than the dark green one.
I love the way dew used to gather on the outsides of my windows some mornings, but never made it to the ground because of the spells.
I love the way a house smells when someone's cooking something, even though I've never really been able to cook. "
I went on.
And on.
And on.
Until I was soaked and desperate, and Grayson was practically glowing with the lust he'd taken from me and given me.
"Shift," I breathed, and he did. My hands gripped the horns that grew on his head, and when I dragged my thumbs over the tips, he growled at me.
I did it again.
He dragged me off the couch and pinned me to the thick, soft rug beneath him, like he had when I made him fight me all those weeks ago.
"Tell me you're sure, Mer." His voice strained, his eyes an electric shade of green that I'd never seen anywhere else before. It was deep and bright at the same time, energetic and calm and powerful.
"You asked me about my favorite dream," I said. "It was the one when you lost control. After everything went to shit with your family. When you fucked me like you couldn't hold back anymore. I wished it was real so badly that I woke up in tears, wishing you were there with me."
He clenched his jaw tighter. "We have to take it slow."
"We will. As slow as you want."
"Do you have your phone? In case it goes wrong?"
"It's on the couch."
He lifted his head, locating the device before he looked back at me.
"I want you," I whispered. "I want everything with you. I accept that it could go poorly, even though I don't think it will. What are you afraid of?"
"Fucking this up again."
"Again? You haven't fucked anything up."
A rough laugh escaped him. "Sure."
"I'm serious. Maybe I'm the one who's been messing this up for a hundred years. If I had just tried to touch you..."
"Not possible. You don't make mistakes. The whole city knows it."
I rolled my eyes, but his lips tilted upward. Just slightly.
"Tell me your favorite fantasy, Gray. The one you would come back to after our dreams ended, over the last hundred years."
"You don't want to know."
"I do."
"It's not sexy."
"It is to me."
He sighed. "In my favorite fantasy, you would show up at the front door of my house and tell me you wanted me. When I kissed you and took you to bed, you'd tell me you were mine, and I'd fuck you slowly. We'd fall asleep in each other's arms, and you wouldn't leave. Ever."
My throat swelled as he spoke, and I stared up at the man above me.
The man I'd spent a century's worth of nights with.
"Gray," I said quietly, and his eyes met mine.
"Yeah?"
"If I told you that love was the most important part of a mate bond to me, what would you say?"
His eyes fucking burned me. "I'd say it was the most important part to me too.
And I'd tell you that I love you more than I fucking know what to do with.
You're in my lungs, in my mind, in my soul.
You have been for a hundred years. I love you, Merrily.
I don't want to hurt you. I can't. Nothing is worth losing you. "
"I love you too, Grayson. And you're not going to lose me. Not for anything." I dragged his mouth down to mine, and kissed him.
He kissed me back, slowly.
Deeply.
Every stroke of his tongue against mine dragged me deeper in love with him, the way every day we spent together had.
I wanted him. Us. All of it.
I lined his cock up against my entrance, and he groaned against my mouth. "Love..."
"I want this," I breathed. "Please."
He grabbed the back of my knee, parting my legs wider, and I felt the slightest touch of his magic. It didn't make me more desperate for him—it just made me slicker, and hotter. "I'm yours, Mer. Any time. Any place. Anything you want. Even this."
"I want everything."
He leaned a little more of his weight over me, driving the head of his cock just inside me. My lips parted, my hips arching at the insane stretch I could already feel. His knot was swollen a little, his emotions running so high I couldn't have separated my lust from his if I tried.
With a hand on my ass, he let me take more of him, until he was buried deep inside me.
He dragged his thumb over my clit lightly, and I detonated.
My cries were loud and frantic. I bucked and arched and moved, burying my fingers in his hair and gripping so tightly it had to have been painful.
"If you don't knot me today, I swear," I began, panting and trembling.
"What'll you do to me?"
"I don't know," I moaned, my fingers tugging on his hair as I rocked. He changed the angle as he drove into me slowly, and the sound I made was pure desperation.
I couldn't stay still.
I couldn't stop moving.
I came again, with a needy cry of pleasure that someone could've heard all the way from the street.
Grayson's voice strained. "You're so fucking hot."
He filled me again, and I pulled his hair tighter.
The pleasure was unreal.
His lust and devotion and possessiveness bled through the bond, melding with my own bliss and need and love as he fucked me slowly. "Last chance to change your mind."
"Give me what I want, Darke."
He swore viciously.
It felt like I gave another piece of my soul to the demon king as he lost control inside me, filling me with his release as his knot inflated completely.
There was a moment of pain.
A brief, tight second where I had to breathe through the sudden intensity. Grayson's panic flared in response, but I forced myself to stay calm.
It didn't hurt.
Not really.
It just felt... big.
"Tell me you're okay. I don't feel your pain anymore. I—"
"I'm fine, Gray," I breathed. "I'm still adjusting, but it actually feels good. It's a lot, but I like it."
The groan that escaped him was nearly feral. "If you're lying to me..."
"You'd feel it if I was lying to you." I tilted my hips just a little, but his knot didn't budge.
He snarled as his cock swelled thicker, and his magic crashed into me like a fucking tidal wave.
I came with a scream, grabbing one of his horns for support as I clung to him, arching and rocking as the most intense orgasm of my life burned through my entire body.
For the first time in centuries, I lost control of my magic completely. Death spiraled out from me in deep, intense waves, but rather than radiating outward, they all hit my mate.
I felt the way it impacted Grayson, through the bond.
The power wasn't death. Not for him.
It was life. Energy, and bliss, and overwhelm in the very best way.
Grayson roared as he came with me again, his knot throbbing with his loss of control, driving me straight into another climax.
His magic flared even stronger, and we were both lost to it.
The power.
The pleasure.
The need.
The lust.
We came together until I forgot everything other than the feel of his body in mine.
I was dazed as we caught our breaths when his knot eventually loosened. He didn't slide it out of my body, and I didn't want him to.
"Guess I'm in the lucky seventy percent," I said.
He chuckled against my hair. "Guess so."
The sound was so easy and lighthearted, it made me smile.
"I'm so fucking glad you talked me into that," he admitted.
"Best sex of your life?"
"By a long way." He kissed my cheek. "God, I love you."
"I love you too. We might need a shower before we head to the Honeymoon Hotel, though."
"And another round of that."
"And a few cups of coffee, to survive after another round of that."
"I'll make yours slightly caffeinated this time."
"My hero," I teased.
"It's hard work, but I'm trying."
I snorted, and he chuckled before he kissed me. I could still taste myself on his lips when he did.
After a hundred years of shared dreams, I still wanted Grayson Darke.
Something told me that was never going to change.