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For a small eternity, they lay joined together until their hearts slowed and their breathing evened out. Gentle touches of hands traced skin as a content silence spread over the room.

When Herrick felt Maude shift, he looked down to see her watching him as he had dozed. Their eyes met, and the hazy aftermath of their sex dissipated, ravenous hunger sparking in its place as they became aware of their naked bodies pressed together.

Herrick knew then that there would never be anyone else for either of them.

He tucked a strand of Maude’s hair behind her ear before kissing her slowly and intently.

Feeling himself harden against her, he watched Maude become aware of the pressing matter against her abdomen.

Her eyes took on a wicked gleam at the sensation, his echoing grin sparking that fire he loved so much in her deep emerald eyes as he pulled himself over her, deepening their kiss.

Maude’s legs were still wrapped around him as they settled into a slower, softer pace, and Herrick felt he was finally home.

Maude had no idea how satisfied and unsatisfied her body could be at the same time until she had met Herrick.

Even after they had wrung all the pleasure they could from each other, they both savagely pounced for more soon after.

She could get lost in his body for the rest of her life, never having to leave this room for anything.

They had spent most of the day tangled up in each other, only surfacing for food now and then. Herrick had returned from the tavern downstairs with enough food to feed an army, and Maude laughed when he said he had no intention of leaving her side again so soon, just in search of nourishment.

When they weren't diving into each other's skin, they talked about everything and nothing.

Maude told him about her sister and how they would fight as children but always makeup when it came time for supper.

Herrick told her about what it was like to grow up in Veter and the responsibility of becoming the general of their armies.

When they were tired of words, they would get lost in each other.

Maude had not been prepared for the sheer size of Herrick, but the way he fit in her was a pleasure that bordered on pain.

He stretched and filled her the way she desperately craved.

Only frenzied reactions were pulled from her the deeper he got.

Herrick had wanted to see her when they had joined the first time, and the intimacy of it had made her hesitant, but she was glad to have seen how she undid him just as thoroughly as he undid her.

After the first time, they had gone slower, his movements more intent than before when they were all passion and teeth.

This was a new experience for Maude, as any coupling in the past had been about satiating a base need, but with Herrick, her need for him never ended.

She was lying on his chest, her leg thrown over his and tangled up in the thin sheet that covered their naked forms when he broke the brief silence. His hand was tracing patterns on her back, fingers following the phases of the moon that she had inked on her spine.

“Why did you get this tattoo?” he asked .

“The moons?” she replied, drowsy after their most recent joining.

She had ridden him while he lay on his back, his hand gripping her thighs so hard she knew there would be bruises on them later. The thought made her smile. He met her stroke for stroke every time like they were fighting.

“Yes, I always thought it was odd for the Heir of Flame to have the moon phases on her back,” he said, running his fingers up and down her spine in a way that made her skin come alive.

She was quiet for a moment while she tried to choose the right words. Herrick waited patiently for her response, moving to play with her hair.

“I guess I’ve just always been drawn to the moon,” Maude finally said. “The way she changes in the sky every night and becomes something new for a time while remaining who she is at her core. Through each phase we see, there is a part of her that goes unseen but is still present.”

Herrick was quiet, perhaps sensing that there was more to her story and allowing Maude to decide if she was going to continue.

“I guess I see myself that way too,” she continued, now tracing the phases of the moon onto Herrick’s bare chest. “I’m so different now than how I used to be, but I suppose I’m still the same person I always was. I hope so, anyway.”

“How very Elven of you,” Herrick joked. “They spoke of the moon the same way you are now.”

“I know it’s silly,” she chuckled. Herrick gripped her chin and tilted her head up to look at him.

“It’s not,” Herrick said gently. “It makes sense. And I know you are that same person you were before; I see it every day in the little things you say and do.”

Maude’s eyes burned as her throat thickened.

“We’re never done growing or changing,” he continued, stroking his thumb across her lips. “It’s all part of living. ”

Not having any response to that, Maude kissed him instead.

Herrick groaned and sank his fingers into her hair, pulling her closer.

She straddled him, letting her hair fall over them like a curtain that separated them from the rest of the world.

She felt him grow hard underneath her, his cock already teasing her entrance; at the same time that she felt her core become slick, her lower belly going molten in the most delicious way.

She ground her hips into him, forcing another groan from his lips that she felt deep inside of her already.

Herrick’s hands trailed up her waist to cup her breasts, which she brought to his mouth so he could nip and suck.

She let out a breathy moan as she guided his cock to her entrance and sank onto him deeper than before.

“Fuck,” she breathed, beginning to move her hips slowly.

“Gods,” Herrick groaned. “You take me so well.”

Maude surged forward, pinning the hands that were wrapped around her waist above Herrick’s head. Her red hair fell around their nearly touching faces, the morning sun beaming through it and casting ruby hues over his beautiful features.

“Gods? There are no gods here, beast,” she whispered as she trailed kisses over his jaw.

Maude bucked her hips forward and savored the growl that burst from his throat. She couldn’t swallow the moan that escaped her at the sensation; Herrick would be her complete undoing.

“There is only me.” Maude nipped at his throat again, her voice more ragged than before. “There is only us.”

Herrick then flipped them so Maude was on her back, his large body blocking out every other thing in the room. He angled her hips up as he slammed into her, forcing a guttural moan from her parted lips as he sank himself impossibly deeper .

“Then you are my goddess.” Herrick withdrew and pounded into her core again, earning another sound. “And my salvation.”

He slammed into her again, his fingers gripping into the swells of her hips. “And I am here to worship you.”

Herrick gripped her wrists in a tight hold above her head, the same way he had bound her at the temple in Ljosa.

His hand free to roam her body, Herrick quickly explored every curve and dip of her flesh while he continued to pound into her at an unrelenting pace.

The bed beneath them shrieked, threatening to collapse under the force of their joining.

Maude became all sensation, the world around her falling away, leaving only her and Herrick. His teeth scraped against her neck, and she arched into him, his mouth still wondrously soft despite his bite.

She was close, her release gathering in her core until it became almost unbearable.

The pressure continued to build until she couldn’t bear it anymore.

His free hand trailed its way to where they were joined, his fingers teasing her clit.

Shockwaves of intense pleasure overwhelmed her as his skilled fingers worked her while he continued to move inside of her.

Just when she was about to detonate, Herrick spoke. “Eyes on me, minn eldr , I want to see you when I make you scream.”

Her eyes opened, and she looked directly into his golden brown irises, the love for her that shone in them becoming her undoing as he pressed down on her clit with his thumb.

She shattered, and Herrick followed her, pumping into her at a relentless pace as she cried out his name.

He kissed her, absorbing her shout as they both tumbled over into oblivion, becoming everything and nothing together.