A/N: This chapter is rated E, and is an alternate universe where Mare didn't leave. Mostly self-indulgent PWP
So long as we're together.
Maven has long left my bed, off to scheme for his crown without me. It shouldn't sting. I know I will always come second, no matter how I worm my way into his heart. Still, I need to gaze at his face in the morning, to know that someone will never leave my side. A feeble fantasy. Even now, he can't be there for me.
"Hey."
My ears perk despite myself, thighs clenching in anticipation. Maven glides onto the bed, his arms perching on either side of my head. "Did you miss me?"
Fuck, I'm already wet. "I was asleep."
"I missed you." He massages the swell of my breast. "Paperwork is so boring. I wanted to ravish you the entire time." His face nestles between my tits, a smile creeping past his lips. "May I bite a nipple?"
"Eager, aren't we?"
He grins. "They're hard."
"Are you?"
His hips arch atop mine. "Feel for yourself."
I want to. I want to feel the supple leather of his crotch, to make him moan and beg at my feet. "I'm leaving today."
"So you say." The words are lazy, with a hint of fear. "I sensed you were slipping last night. I thought I'd remind you why you're here."
"Is she?"
Maven stills.
"Is Elara here? Is she whispering to you now?"
"My queen." His fingers dance along my arm. "I am still your king."
"And my whore."
He parts my legs, snuggling between my thighs as if they were home. "I'm good at being your whore, aren't I?" His breath feathers against my core, voice trickling up my spine. "And you just might be mine."
I'm too breathless to disagree. Maven nibbles my thigh as he chuckles, a light graze of his teeth that deepens to a bite. I arch, gripping his hair and yanking him to no avail. He daws back, eyes lidded. "You're beautiful when you cum."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"For your confession." He licks a long stripe along my leg, lifting my ankle to savor the flesh. His other hand stays steady on my thigh. "You love me, Mare. Accept it."
"Never."
"Keep telling yourself that." A finger tickles my folds. "One day, I might actually believe it."
Maven stares at me, steady and silent, two blue flames flickering in time to my heartbeat. He could slice me open, spill my secrets, etch his name into my bones where they will lie forevermore. I lean back. "Fuck me."
"As you command." His fingers pry my folds apart, rubbing, delving past my entrance to the pleasure beneath. My blood pulses with each swirl, each pinch, each tender trace of aching core. "I'll break you if I must."
I bite back tears. "You already have."
"No." He licks the edges of my clit, biting my folds until I write against his lips. "I make you whole. I make you more. I'd marry you if I could."
"You wouldn't. The politics–"
My heart thumps, a rabbit's, ready to burst as his voice caresses my ear. "I've called you my queen. Are you ready to make it real?"
I don't answer, sliding down until I am the one nestled between legs. He opens for me, a soft moan, growing louder as I drag my down his pants. The head is glistening with pleasure, and I chuckle. "How hard does that idea make you?"
Maven digs into my hair. "I'd never be happier."
I tear the band of his underwear, snapping it off with my teeth. He shudders as I lick, teeth grazing, a thick band of flesh I can't wait to devour. I ease him in, heart clenching, something I can't name welling in my eyes. His eyes mist too, his smile a sunrise, faint glimmers of peace we can rarely find. When he streams down my throat, he sighs. "Your turn."
I wipe the excess from my mouth before he pins me down again, a devilish smile tracing his lips. "Twist and writhe for me, darling. But you only cum if you say you love me."
My teeth sink into his shoulder. "Like you could stop me."
"I make you wet, Mare. I hadn't even touched you, and you were already holding back moans." His gaze has gone feral, rubbing himself against me like a cat in heat. "I give you pleasure, and I can take it away."
"How generous." My voice drips with condescension. "You're a pretty face, I'll give you that. Shame there's nothing underneath."
He strokes my chin. "Nothing but love for you."
"An empty soul." I lean into his ear. "Filled with nothing but greed."
"Oh, I'm greedy, all right. Jealous. Selfish. Monstrous." He savors each word. "I need all of you, Mare. I won't be satisfied until I own your soul."
"What a shame I have none to give."
Maven cocks his head. "I've ruined you, haven't I?"
"I don't feel very ruined." I scoff. "And I still don't love you."
"Say it."
"No."
"Say it."
"No."
"Say it."
"No." I lower my voice. "My king."
His eyes go wild, undressing me even as I lie naked before him. He might crawl inside my skin to make me say it. He might fuck me until I can't close my legs. The possibilities make my toes curl. How far would I go to keep him looking at me like that? To keep me drunk on the power of his attention?
"Finish it." Maven presses my fingers to his chest, the flesh still tender from my lightning. "Please."
My hands shake. To make him mine, and mine forever. Our matching marks, side by side, tokens of affection and something more. Sparks tingle beneath my skin and
I
Let
Go.
Something breaks forever as I trace the half M on his chest, making it blister and crackle anew. Silver veins raise beneath his skin, and my hand leaves me for a distant dream. He chokes, on the verge of tears, but I keep going. It's what's best. What makes my soul sing in the deadest of caverns.
Maven blinks into existence again. "That was–" He trembles. "I love you. You know that?"
"And I love you." The words are so simple, chains across my chest. "Never leave my side, Maven. If you do, I'll kill you."
He laughs. "Likewise."
"Can I cum now?"
"Give me a moment." Maven kneels before me, parting my thighs. His tongue dances along the edge and swirls, a prayer by any other name. He's taking far too long.
I scowl. "I should put you on a leash."
He slaps my pussy, slick coating his palm, rubbing it on my breast with a firm hand. I rut against his cock until I slip onto it. My hands press him onto the mattress, fondling his throat, riding his cock as if it could ease the pain.
Maven shudders. "Choke me."
"Say 'please'."
"I beg you, Your Majesty. Throttle me until I can't take it anymore." He rolls his hips. "Consider it a gift."
"A gift." I squeeze, pulse galloping beneath me. "I would be a fool to rescind it."
Maven closes his eyes as I fuck him, gasping a sweet symphony with each press of his windpipe. He did this to me, once. Held me by the throat and seared himself in my flesh, tying us together forevermore. I can't even be mad about it.
"That's enough." I force him upright. "I am not carrying you to a healer."
"You're right." He leans forward, entranced. "Not without making you cum."
Whatever words I had leave me with his mouth, a question murmured against my skin as his fingers toy with my clit. Beautiful. Love. Darling. Meaningless words, but for the question around them, and the answer I can't deny. "Yes." I can't hold it in. "Yes, I'll marry you."
"My queen," he whispers. His cock twitches inside of me, so hard I almost cum on the spot. Another thrust, and I melt into fine caramel, the sweet bliss of heat and orgasm. We lie together, panting, tears on the pillow and steel in our hearts. Maven untangles. "Do you–" He swallows. "Do you want to start making heirs soon?"
I hesitate. "You can start now." It's barely a whisper. "It cements my place, doesn't it?"
"You know." Maven touches my cheek. "I've always wanted to cum inside you."
"And the children . . . they'll be Red." I lie back, letting him move to insert himself best he can. "Red princes. Red princesses. A Red queenstrial."
He kisses me for the first time. "It would be my honor to raise them with you."
I say nothing. I can't help but wonder what his game is. What he plans to do with me, once I'm fully in his grasp. If he'll let me leave the palace . . . or clasp tighter than ever before.