Lessia laughed at him when he shoved at her, anticipation flitting over her skin as she picked up on why urgency swirled in his gut, and Merrick teasingly snapped his teeth when she turned her head over her shoulder to look at him.
He stored the playful yelp she let out amongst hisother favorite memories of her, and as she continued climbing to the spot atop the mast, towering over the ships, Merrick waited for a beat, just watching her radiate happiness and life and contentment.
This was what he’d dreamed of when he’d first seen her.
Perhaps not on a warship in the middle of the fucking sea, but that was their life—that was the outcome of the choices and decisions they’d made themselves.
He’d known the chance she’d follow him to another realm—to leave everything behind—was minimal, and so Merrick had wanted… no, he’d needed to ensure it was her choice, and hers only.
When she called his name, he shook his head, and skipping over every other rung, he pulled himself atop the rounded lookout, coming up behind Lessia as she stared out over the ships beneath them.
“How long do you think this will last?” she whispered as Merrick circled his arms around his wife, resting on the wooden railing on either side of her as he pressed his nose into her neck, making sure he’d never forget the scent of home mingling with pure and utter joy.
Fires flickered over people’s faces when he made himself follow her gaze, and Merrick doubted anyone would return to their rooms until dawn, when the fragile rays of the sun would be too revealing—when what could hide in darkness and shadows had to come to light.
But right now? Right now, everyone could pretend they’d been friends and allies all along. They could cheer and dance and sing, feigning ignorance of the long roadahead, like they ignored the evil waiting just behind the bend of the horizon.
“Hopefully long enough,” Merrick mumbled as he dropped a hand to her side, pulling up her silver skirts as he dragged his fingers up her thigh. He hardened against her when she let out a shuddering breath in response.
“You did this, you know.” Merrick let his lips trace along her neck as she rested the back of her head against his chest, while his hand found her hip, a finger slipping into the lining of her undergarments. “You made this happen, Lessia. All these people? That they’re now dancing shoulder to shoulder like they’ll stand beside each other in war—that’s on you.”
She moaned as he dipped his hand entirely into her already soaked underwear, and Merrick cupped her before sliding his fingers between her folds, the tip of his middle finger playing with her entrance as she melted against him.
“Continue looking,” Merrick demanded, his cheek lining up with hers as he slipped his finger further in. His cock strained against her back as her heated wetness welcomed him, drawing his finger in until he groaned at how easily she took him.
“You did this,” Merrick whispered as he began thrusting his finger in and out. “You, and you only, made everyone here tonight fight for the same thing. You brought the creatures that will help us win. You made Fae and human and shifter stand together for the first time in our history.”
Merrick added another finger, and as he started pumping her, harder—faster—she gasped, her head fully rolling back onto him, and he couldn’t help claiming her perfect mouth, forcing her head to the sideas he sucked on her bottom lip, sinking his fingers deeper into her hot pussy until she cried out into the kiss.
Fuck, every time he heard her noises, it was as if he could die the next moment, and it would be entirely fine.
The way she’d fucking surrendered to him from the first time they did this?
It was everything he could have ever asked for.
There was so much trust in her, but it was the fight—the one that had her whining again and trying to shift the pace on her own, riding his hand—that drove him nearly mad.
Fuck. He needed to be inside her. Now.
“Spread your legs wider,” Merrick rasped as she moaned again, her walls clenching around his fingers—already so close to strangling them.
“Wider, please,” he begged. “I need to fuck you, my beautiful wife.”
He gritted his teeth as she did exactly as he said, and Merrick quickly freed his hard cock, his mouth swallowing Lessia’s protest as he pulled out his fingers.
When she tried to turn to face him, he gently cupped her chin, moving her face forward again as he fitted his cock by her entrance, trying not to die at the wetness already making his tip slide in.
“I want you to look,” Merrick ordered. “I want you to be so fucking proud of yourself.”
He thrust in another inch, his hand flying up to cover her mouth when she cried out, holding her against his heaving chest as he tried to stop himself from shoving in to the hilt in one stroke for how perfectly she took him.
“I want you to feel like the queen you are,” Merrick growled. “I want my wife to know how fucking incredible she is.”
His cock sank in farther, the silky heat enveloping the first inches of his dick almost already too much.
Using the hand not quelling her cries of pleasure, Merrick fixed her skirts so that if someone looked up, they’d see nothing of what was going on.
His cock twitched within her at the movement, making them both moan, and he thought the entire world could fucking look on as he sank into her—claimed her—made her his entirely and fully.
