Princess Snow and the Empress

Bonus: Wedding Night (Part 3)

*This is the last part! I hope you've enjoy my maiden attempt at romance! It may sound like they're going somewhere but... Read on to find out 😄*

"Looks like we had an audience," Snow said when she re-entered their chambers.

"What? An audience?" Erden said from the bed, his cheeks blushing violently.

"Yes. We should have chased each other around the room and given them a good show."

"Ha!" His eyes crinkled with mirth as he covered his smile with his hand.

Moments later, the shame-faced ladies came in with a pot of wine and plates laden with snacks and pastries. Snow suppressed her laughter when she saw Erden sitting upright on the bed like a gentleman, with the back of his robes spread over the bloodied spot to hide it from view. As the ladies set the table, he maintained a cool demeanor, with one bandaged hand behind his back and one leg crossed over the other. She did not have the heart to tell him that he still had smudges of lip paint at the corner of his lips.

After the attendants left and she made sure there were no more voyeurs lingering outside, they fed each other snacks and drank until the wine ran out.

The moment finally came. Erden circled the room a little unsteadily to extinguish the lanterns and red candles save for one. After drawing the sheer curtains around the bedframe, he crawled into bed with her. 

"Are you ready, my love? I'll be very gentle," Erden said slowly, and he looked at her longingly through half-closed eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat. Well, I did say he can do whatever he wants with me, though the wine still hasn't gone to my head yet. After what he has done for me, I'll just bear with it.

She nodded, and he pulled her by the waist into his lap. She loved the feeling of his firm thighs underneath her, and the way he gazed deeply into her eyes, even as their faces drew closer to each other. His mouth fumbled over hers and she could taste the wine on his lips. She slid her hands up his muscular arms and intertwined her fingers in his long hair.

Gods, I love your hair so much, she thought as her kisses became more urgent. She gripped his hair close to his scalp and he gasped beneath her mouth. They stared at each other for a moment, before Erden kissed her hungrily, one hand holding the back of her head and the other roaming south of the small of her back.

For a moment, she thought about all the times she yearned for him over the years, and how even just brushing her sleeve against his or accidentally touching his fingertips made her feel like she could soar to the moon. Now, she was his, and he was hers to cherish, and they were completely lost in each other's arms and ardent kisses.

They pulled back from each other, both of them panting like they had just run a race. His gaze went to the buttons on the front of her dress and with trembling hands, he tried to unfastened them. For once, Snow was quicker than him and she managed to yank off his sash belt and pull open his robes in seconds. She bit down on her lip as she feasted her eyes on the bare chest and well-defined abdominal muscles in front of her.

Seeing that he was having trouble with her buttons, she pushed him onto his back. "Let me do it," she said, and he laid back with his hair spilling all over the pillow. An eager grin spread across his face.

She struggled with the front of her dress. These buttons are impossible! And there are so many of them, she thought, her impatience mounting.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she unfastened the last button. She was about to slip the top of her dress and her inner robes off her shoulders, and let Erden see his wife's body in all its naked glory, when she looked up to find him with his eyes closed.