Page 39 of A Promise so Bold and Broken (Compelling Fates Saga #2)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

M errick traced circles on her skin as they watched the stars wink outside the rounded window beside the bed, and she sighed happily as she pressed closer to him, lining every inch of her naked body with his.

Her heart rate had finally slowed, its steady thumps beating in rhythm with Merrick’s, and when she sensed the warmth of his gaze traveling across her face, she shifted so she lay on her back, allowing her to look up at him.

“Hi,” she whispered as he only stared at her, his eyes still nearly pure silver, those flecks dancing in the light from the lanterns placed every few feet of the room—on the nightstand and in the windowsills, and one right at the door leading into her own room.

“Hi.”

His lips lifted into a smile, and whatever words had begun to form in her mind melted away like the ice on the cliffs beneath the windows in spring at the sight of it.

Lessia couldn’t help but lift her fingers to his face, tracing them over the fullness of his lips, up toward his high cheekbones and the forehead free from lines.

He looked so… happy.

“I am happy.” Merrick’s hands moved to her face, cupping it as he bent down to kiss her again.

Lessia had to catch her breath when his lips left hers, those waves of heat rolling through her once more as she rasped, “Are you reading my mind?”

One of the corners of his mouth curled. “No.”

Lessia popped a brow. “Then how did you know that’s what I was thinking?”

She fought a shudder of pleasure when his fingers traced a path from her cheeks down her neck, then caressed her chest, moving farther down until thrills of delight shot up her spine.

“Merrick,” she moaned as her eyes shut. “Are you trying to distract me?”

His teeth scraped her ear as he bent down to whisper “Would that be so bad?”

She blinked as another surge of need welled within her.

No.

No, it wouldn’t.

Lessia let out an involuntary sound when his touch left her, but then he shifted so he lay atop her, his arms caging her as they rested on either side of her head, holding most of his weight off.

“I feel your emotions.” Merrick’s eyes were immediately there when she opened her own. “Always have, but it’s even clearer now. And after… after watching you for so many years, I am pretty well versed in your different facial expressions.”

He kissed her, and this time it wasn’t a gentle brush but a more urgent one—his lips fusing with hers, his tongue demanding as it danced with her own.

Her eyelids fluttered closed as she responded, whimpering into his mouth as an overwhelming need overtook her, making her limbs heavy and eager—all at the same time.

“I need you to know,” Merrick whispered into her mouth, and she stopped her writhing when the pain in his tone broke through the need. “I wish to die every time you hurt. And when it’s because of me… Fuck, I nearly jumped off a cliff when they made me torture you. I—” His voice broke. “I can’t say how sorry I am for what I’ve done to you.”

“Merrick.” Lessia placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing his averted eyes to hers. “It wasn’t your fault. Raine told me what Rioner did—that he knew about us… I am sorry you hurt for so long.”

“You’re sorry…” Merrick shook his head so violently her hands dropped from his face. “You’re too damn good for me. You’re all fucking light and goodness and life. While I’m all darkness and evil and death. I don’t understand how you were chosen for me.”

Placing her hands on his rumbling chest, she dragged her nails down his taut muscles until he shivered above her and some of the pain faded from his eyes. “That’s because you’re a damned idiot.”

Lessia grinned when Merrick’s brows flew up.

“A.”

Her fingers reached his hips, and she slid them over the sharp angles, a fire building within her core again.

“Brooding.”

She traced farther down, savoring the groan falling from his lips.

“Damned.”

She gripped his hard cock again, and Merrick growled so deeply the bed shook from it.

“Idiot.”

Squeezing him from root to tip, she glared right into his glazed eyes. “And I love every single inch of you.” Her eyes dipped down. “Maybe especially these ones.”

Merrick inhaled sharply when she slowly pumped her hand up and down again.

Before she could react, he reached down to grip her wrists, and with one deliberate movement, he lifted her hips and thrust himself inside her again, her cries mingling with his groans as he filled her.

“You’re going to be the end of me,” Merrick rasped as he pulled out, only to slam into her again, any words and responses leaving her mind at the feeling of him—the delicious thickness of him—completing her, consuming her every thought and sense.

The slap of his hips meeting hers echoed through the room, and she dragged her nails down his back, ignoring that the scratches from earlier had barely healed.

She wanted him closer.

Wanted more.

Just… wanted him.

“I want you more,” Merrick growled as heat flooded her core, and when she clenched around him, he cursed again, the words barely reaching her ears as he thrust into her with such force the bed thudded against the wall.

Her cry split the air as he angled himself to get even deeper.

“I want to fuck you until every inch of your body smells like me.” Merrick slammed into her again, and her eyes rolled back into her head.

“I want to fuck you until I’m so deep inside you you’re never getting rid of me.” His lips collided with hers, and when he drove into her—merciless, unforgiving—she bit his lip until iron touched her mouth.

“I want to fuck you until everyone in Havlands realizes you’re mine.” Another ruthless thrust.

Lessia’s hands tangled in his hair as his words pushed her over the edge, and she barely heard him growl “You’re so fucking perfect. So fucking perfect” as he pushed up inside her once more.

Merrick held on to her as she shook from the aftermath of the pleasure, his cock still buried deep inside as her eyes flew open.

“Do you have any more in you?” he rasped when she gave him a soft smile, and she could barely believe it when that scorching heat blasted within her again, pangs of pleasure shooting up her spine as he shifted inside her.

A corner of Merrick’s mouth lifted before his lips clashed with hers again, and he ordered, “Wrap your legs around me.”

A silent pant dropped from her lips as she did what he told her, and she swore she saw stars when Merrick purred “Good girl” as he moved them so that she straddled him, his back against the wall and feet planted on the floor.

She moaned his name when his hands landed on her hips, guiding her back and forth, the position somehow driving him even deeper.

“Hold on to me,” Merrick rasped into her ear when she cried out again, desperate for the release, desperate for him to get deeper, desperate for him.

For everything.

All coherent thoughts left her as she locked her arms around his neck, and he thrust up into her, faster, harder, deeper than she’d ever experienced.

“You.”

Merrick’s hands squeezed her hips as he pulled out of her, his tip teasing her wetness, leaving her nearly feral when it danced over her entrance.

“Are.”

A hand dipped between them, immediately finding her most sensitive spot.

“So.”

Her eyes slammed shut with pleasure when his thumb pressed against her clit, the other fingers gliding farther down, hovering right above where his cock still taunted her, nudging but not entering her.

“Fucking.”

His other hand trailed over her stomach until it found one of her aching breasts, pinching the hard bud until she gasped.

“Good.”

Her head fell back when Merrick thrust into her, and that warmth in her core exploded into a wildfire, consuming her every nerve—her every thought.

Only because Merrick’s arm wrapped around her, holding her up, didn’t she fall into a heap of satisfaction as his warm release followed right after her own, his chest vibrating from the curses he let out, ending with her name falling from his mouth.

Merrick leaned his forehead against hers, and the Death Whisperer kept her eyes hostage as their hearts hammered so hard against each other that she was surprised neither of them cracked a rib.

“That…” Lessia had to pull some air into her lungs before she could continue. “Was fucking amazing.”

A smug smile spread across Merrick’s face, and he cupped her face as he kissed her, tugging at her bottom lip with his canines until she couldn’t help but moan again.

“That.” He trailed his lips across her cheek until he reached her ear, his whisper prickling across her heated skin. “Was nothing.”

She couldn’t believe it when another rush of anticipation roiled in her core.

He was still inside her, for the gods’ sake.

Merrick’s hot breath moved from her ear down to her throat, and when his canines sank into her skin, not breaking it, his lips only sucking—teasing her like a sublime promise—she squirmed so much his cock hardened within her again.

He laughed hoarsely when her eyes widened. “Let’s never leave this room.”

Lessia was about to agree when Raine’s voice floated through the door. “I am so sorry to do this, but you need to leave the room.”

Nestling his face into her neck, Merrick groaned. “Go away.”

“Trust me,” Raine called. “I want nothing more. But Alarin sent my eagle back, and Loche received a note from Rioner. It’s not good.”

Lessia stiffened.

But if Alarin had been able to send an eagle back, could it be that bad?

He wasn’t imprisoned, so maybe Frelina wasn’t in Rioner’s claws.

Unless he’s killed her…

Lessia shook her head as the thought popped into her mind.

She couldn’t be dead.

There was no way.

“That fucking king,” Merrick hissed under his breath as he gently shifted Lessia onto the bed. “I swear I’m going to kill him.”

Lessia believed him when she met his eyes.

And she knew it was wicked, but another thrill whispered over her shoulders as Merrick jerkily pulled on his clothes and growled to Raine that they’d be right there.

Rioner needed to die.

And with Merrick by her side, it was more likely to happen.