Lexa stormed inside her rooms, tugging the scarlet sash off her shoulder pauldron with an angered snarl. Her steel-backed gloves were next - she sent them flying into a corner of her bedroom's anteroom without a second glance, before attacking the clasps and straps holding the chest piece of her armor in place with a gnashing of teeth.
Once she was free of the armor, she briskly strode into her bedroom, stopping only to shuck off her boots, and then she let herself fall on the furs, not caring that she was smearing warpaint all over the pelts.
Lexa buried her face into the furs and screamed, angrily fisting the pelts until her lungs were empty, raising her head long enough to fill herself with air again before repeating the process, until she felt that her throat was scraped raw.
She hated days like these, where everyone from Titus to the lowliest of her Ambassadors seemed to pull in any direction save the one she wanted, but such were her duty and her burden.
Sometimes she just felt like she was leading a bunch of unruly children and regretted not being able to just shout them all down.
Pushing onto her elbows with a tired groan, Lexa rolled over and off the bed, stretching the sore muscles of her back as she walked to a small table holding a pitcher of water and a basin chipped by use.
Both objects had belonged to her mother and as always when she used them, calm descended over her, a sad smile tugging at the corner of her lips as the day's tension slowly began to trickle away.
Lexa used the corner of a wet cloth to wipe her face clean, then went back to her bed, dropping onto the floor next to it in a cross-legged position.
She closed her eyes and took slow, deliberate breaths, mind running through relaxation exercises she knew by heart, until no thoughts stirred inside her head.
Just as tension left her shoulders, her mind drifting towards a half-daze that would guarantee rest without dreams, the barest knock came from the door, so timid it was almost a scratch. Lexa uncoiled and stood with a huff, annoyed that her handmaidens couldn't even make sure she rested undisturbed for a couple of hours. She went to the door just as the wretched girl was knocking again and yanked it open, a rebuke forming on her lips.
Words of disapproval withered on her tongue, and for the space of a heartbeat she was rendered speechless by the nightly apparition hovering just outside her door, eyes widening in surprise.
"Klark," she managed weakly after a moment, voice as cracked as if she had spent months wandering the arid wastes far to the south. She had wanted the blonde's company, yearned for it, but they had parted ways before she could find the nerve to ask as she had done on other nights, for she had seen her own exhaustion reflected in Clarke's blue eyes when she'd murmured her goodnights.
But here the blonde was, dressed in a shimmering nightgown of midnight blue that left her shoulders bare, exposing a generous expanse of creamy skin to Lexa's open scrutiny. The Commander couldn't help but take Clarke in, from the way the gown clung to the curve of the blonde's breasts to the way her hair - which Clarke had brushed out until they shone - fell down her back in a soft waterfall of molten gold.
Clarke had come to her rooms at night before, in fact making a habit of it, but never like this, and Lexa had to swallow a few times before she could speak past that first, pitiful croak.
"I-is there something you want Klark?" she inquired softly, tearing her gaze from the shadowy hint of the blonde's cleavage with supreme effort. She wanted to call herself all kinds of fool as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Of course Clarke wanted something or she wouldn't have crossed half the Tower's floor at this time of night. Hopefully she wanted into Lexa's bed although, truth be told, the brunette would be more than happy with simply cuddling her to sleep.
What Clarke did next sent Lexa back a step, mind reeling. The blonde cast her gaze to the floor between them, face open and demure, and she dropped a perfect curtsy bending her neck with a grace she had seldom been willing to show Lexa in public despite the Fleimkepa's insistence for obeisance.
"I am here to serve Heda, however she requires." The low burr that hung to every syllable turned the words into a languid sigh and the Commander shivered, body tingling in anticipation. Of what she was not entirely sure.
Clarke stilled, waiting for her reaction and Lexa reached out to grasp her chin, tilting her head up so that their eyes could meet. A fiery spark danced in Clarke's blue depths, gone in a flash, and yet it was enough for everything to click inside Lexa's agile mind. The blonde was offering her the submission she had had to rip from her Ambassadors with bloody claw all day long, and in doing so reinforcing Lexa's own battered convictions in her abilities as Commander.
She wanted to pull the girl flush into her body for it, and kiss her senseless. Instead she withdrew her hand, face distant and eyes a jade wall no amount of rope could climb, turning on her heels and gliding inside her rooms, with the assured arrogance that where the Commander went Klark would follow.
"It pleases me to see that the Skaikru Ambassador seems to remember her place," she said, stifling a small smirk as she heard Clarke follow after closing the door, "now if only the others would follow your example, Ambassador." She added, voice coated thinly with regret.
Clarke stood as soon as Lexa's back was turned, hurrying to follow after closing the door. For a moment, when Lexa had opened the door freezing her mid-knock, she had thought her plan wouldn't work. The brunette had looked adorably helpless, eyes going as round as saucers while they took her in and Clarke's skin had heated up and tingled under the older girl's open-mouthed stare.
But Lexa had recovered quickly and her face had grown distant as the girl was pushed to the back of her mind and Heda took up residence. A shiver of cold fear had raced down Clarke's spine, even as she knew that no harm would ever come to her, and she had thought she'd never get used to the brunette's disarming duality - tender and fragile one moment, cold and calculating the next.
She watched Lexa lean against the far wall, lounging almost, if a wolf could be said to do something of the kind. The brunette crossed her arms over her breasts, waiting for her to approach and Clarke thought she had the same dark, brooding look in her eyes that she wore when sat onto her throne, deciding the fate of men with a word, and making nations crumble with the barest of gestures. Her eyes, usually the color of fragrant sage, were of a gloomier shade, a green approaching black, like that of an untouched forest. Impenetrable and foreboding, Clarke got hopelessly lost within them, body quaking slightly as she underwent Heda's silent scrutiny.
"Perhaps Heda should remind me of my place," she murmured finally, realizing the brunette was waiting for her to speak, "best I err on the side of caution than fall into disobedience as the other Ambassadors have done."
Lexa raised an eyebrow, leaning slightly forward, "oh? Perhaps. Or maybe, Ambassador, you should offer me a display of your loyalty. For example, what are you willing to do for your Commander?"
"Anything." Clarke breathed without hesitation.
"On your knees then," Lexa sneered, finger pointing to the floor, "for that is your proper place." She waited until Clarke had complied, the blonde sinking to the floor deliberately slow, movements accompanied by the soft rustling of silk. "Service your Commander," she added then, moving her hand to card through Clarke's hair. She kept her touch gentle to dull the sting of her words, and her breathing spiked when the blonde's hands went to the strings that kept her pants close without a moment's hesitation.
Clarke sunk to her knees, wincing at the cold that seeped into her flesh from the floor, a sharp contrast to the heat that began to coil inside her lower belly at Lexa's rough words. She undid the laces that held the Commander's pants close, making quick work of them, before pushing them partially down along with the brunette's undergarments.
Lexa's fingers twitched, her hand dropping to the nape of Clarke's neck, pushing the blonde forward and when she felt Heda tighten her hold she moaned low in her throat, clit throbbing, folds starting to slick with her arousal.
She pressed soft kisses to Lexa's bare thighs, licking the day's salt off her skin with a quiet hum, until Heda growled with impatient, fingers tugging lightly at her tresses.
Clarke rubbed her cheek against the silky skin of Lexa's inner thigh, before she nipped her way to the top of the brunette's mound, placing an open mouthed kiss there and smirking when Lexa gave her hair a harsher pull, making her scalp burn slightly.
"Quit skirting around the issue, Ambassador."
Clarke flicked her gaze upwards, meeting Lexa's stormy one with eyes full of innocence. The Commander's frown deepened. "I may start to think you aren't that loyal after a-ahhhh!"
Words died in her throat as she felt Clarke's full lips close around her clit, giving a sharp suck as the blonde's hot tongue unfurled and began to circle it. She had began to drip with want as soon as Clarke had fallen to her knees, her clit hardening so quickly it had been almost painful, its throbbing tip rubbing against the fabric of her tight shorts. When Clarke had removed her clothes, the cool air of the room had only hardened it further and the slick that had been soaking her undergarments up to that point, had started to paint the skin of her thighs, dripping in clear drops towards her knees.
Clarke released her clit with a wet pop, tongue moving lower as she slurped up Lexa's arousal with abandon. When Lexa felt the tip of the blonde's tongue press against her entrance, her hips involuntarily bucked, and she smeared herself over Clarke's chin, her cheeks, across the bridge of her nose.
She heard the blonde groan and tried to still her hips, but Clarke's hands grabbed her firmly, encouraging her thrusts.
"Please Heda," Clarke husked, somewhat muffled, "mark me with your slick."
Lexa's will crumbled at those words and she could do nothing but comply, sex rocking into Clarke's face, the blonde's mouth sucking her clit whenever she stilled long enough for her to latch onto it. She let out a guttural moan, Clarke's tongue lashing her at slit without mercy as her thighs began to quiver and her abs clench and not long after her legs buckled, and she would have fallen if not for the blonde's hold.
Wave after wave of her slick washed over Clarke's face, drenching her hair and the front of her nightgown and she could dimly hear the blonde moan as she drank her fill, before her mouth moved away to press calming kisses against Lexa's belly.
"Is Heda satisfied?" Lexa watched Clarke's pink tongue flick out to gather droplets of arousal and she groaned, gently pulling her lover to her feet. She closed the distance, licking traces of her own arousal off Clarke's lips, the blonde's mouth parting eagerly to allow her entrance.
Their tongues tangled, sliding slowly against one another, then Lexa sucked harshly on Clarke's, pulling it into her mouth. Her hands grabbed a hold of the blonde's nightgown and she ripped it down the front, breaking away from the kiss to murmur reassurances against Clarke's lips as she felt them twist into a pout.
"I'll buy you a prettier one on market day." She promised softly as she pushed Clarke onto her bed, before sliding Heda's mask back in place.
"I will not be satisfied until I have your surrender, Ambassador," she stated, shaking her head when Clarke tried to lay on her back, thighs falling open for her.
"Have you already forgotten your place?" The brunette asked, faking disappointment and relishing the way Clarke's cheeks turned to a delicate pink at the mild scolding.
"No, Heda," Clarke swallowed, feeling herself gush and knowing she was making a mess on the pelts under her ass. She turned swiftly, resting her weight on hands and knees before Lexa decided to punish her for it, sort of hoping that she would.
The slap fell heavily across her left butt cheek as she raised her ass in the air, and the blonde pushed her face into a pillow with a strangled yelp, hips jerking into empty air.
She expected the bed to dip with Lexa's weight, but the brunette moved away, taking her sweet time to putter around the bedroom. She took so long that Clarke began to think she was planning on leaving her like that all night, empty and aching to be filled. When her muscles began to ache she decided she'd had enough and started to lift, wanting to see why Lexa was taking so long, but a second slap landed right over the first and she gasped at the unfairness of it.
"No peeking, Ambassador. If you are as loyal as you say, you'll simply trust my judgement."
"Sha, Heda." Clarke nodded once, before lowering her face back into the pillow, and then there was no more room for words. Lexa's calloused fingers parted her sex roughly, teasing and stroking her glistening folds, before pressing her clit firmly. She wanted to rock back, to urge Lexa to rub harder, but even before she could really think of moving, the Commander's other hand closed around her hip, nails digging crimson welts into pale skin.
And then two of Lexa's fingers plunged inside her, and air left her chest in one big woosh. They twisted into her depths, curled against her front wall as Lexa dragged them almost all completely out, before plunging them back inside and pushing until she was knuckle deep.
Clarke's tight hole was spread to the point of burning, her walls stroked and caressed, the pads of Lexa's fingers coaxing ever more wetness out of her and just when black began to creep at the corners of her vision, the Commander withdrew completely, ripping a desperate cry of loss from Clarke's chest.
Pressure returned a heartbeat later, but against Clarke's smaller starburst. It wasn't Lexa's fingers however, even though whatever object Heda was using had been coated in Clarke's hot slick. Still, it was cold and hard against her flesh and she gasped even as the tight ring of her muscles gave way eagerly. She felt Lexa ease it inside her ass, inch by inch, pausing every few moments to allow her to adjust.
And when it was inside her to the hilt, her ass never having been so full, Clarke felt the Commander's fingers return to her clit, pinching and rolling it between her fingertips.
"Now you will give me everything Ambassador." Heda whispered into her ear, before her fingers sheathed again inside Clarke's wet heat. She didn't expect a reply, completely satisfied with the increasingly louder moans falling from the blonde's gasping mouth.
She pumped her fingers harder, adding a third just before Clarke's wall began to clench, effectively trapping her inside. Lexa basked in the feeling of the blonde's strong walls milking her fingers, taking in the way her lover's hips jerked up, the base of the glass plug she had filled Clarke's ass with shining weakly in the candlelight.
When she felt the mad flutters of Clarke's sex slow, Lexa quickly moved to wrap her free arm around the blonde's waist, just in time to ease her gently onto her side, fingers sticky with Clarke's cum finally released.
She rubbed the blonde's spasming belly gently, murmuring a string of praise in the blonde's ear, hand moving down between them to ease the small glass rod out of Clarke's tight ass.
"My love," she cooed softly, their little game coming to a close, "you did so well." Clarke let herself be pulled under warm furs with a happy sigh, and Lexa protectively tucked her lover's head under her chin, dropping small kisses against her hair.
"Thank you, Klark," she cupped the blonde's cheek tenderly, Clarke's eyes rising slowly to meet hers, blue already dimmed with sleep.
"It was my pleasure, Heda," the blonde smirked, pecking her lips tiredly, "although I hope you won't start requiring such services from the other Ambassadors." They shared a quiet chuckle, then settled down to sleep, bodies sated and hearts becalmed as the trials of the past day were slowly forgotten.
One floor below Heda's chambers, the communal space that housed her guards was quiet and mostly dark, only a few embers glowing weakly in the wide hearth. Thany tossed and turned, tugging irritably at her blankets, woken by a feeble sound she could not place.
She frowned as she heard it again, trying unsuccessfully to place it, then sat up as the noise echoed against the walls, more distinct this time.
She was sure it was a moan.
"Stop fidgeting and go back to sleep," Je'Saris grunted from the cot next to hers, "we have guard duty in a few hours."
"Did you hear it?" Thany looked down to her fellow warrior who rolled her one open eye and huffed, giving an annoyed shrug.
"It's just the wind."
"It sounds suspiciously like the skai prisa."
"Oh please!" Je'Saris hissed, sitting up, but careful to keep her voice low, trying not to wake the other warriors slumbering next to them, "she can't be that loud!"
The sound came again, and this time there was no doubt that it was a woman's voice, loud and strained with her release.
Everyone was awake now, some of the warriors whispering to their neighbour, others snickering quietly.
"Enough!" Je'Saris kicked her blankets off the bed with a snarl and stood, casting a baleful glare around the room, "everyone back to sleep!"
"Well Je'Sa," Callum sniggered from the other end of the room, "we'd love to, but we ain't the ones making a racket!"
Je'Saris was about to launch in a long tirade about Heda's privacy and their duty to safeguard it, Thany had no doubt, but before the other woman could get a word out, she placed a restraining hand on her forearm, a thought flashing through her mind and making her chortle.
"What?" Je'saris glanced at her in irritation, trying to pull away, "what's so funny?"
Thany had to take a deep breath before she could answer, sides shaking with mirth. "I mean…" she sniggered, "imagine...if we can hear them…" tears began to roll down her cheeks, "Titus' chambers are on the same floor!"
The whole room exploded in laughter.
They laid in bed hours later, limbs entwined and pleasantly heavy with sleep. Lexa ran her fingers along Clarke's spine, and the blonde shivered, pressing back into her with a small grumbling sound.
The brunette pulled the furs over them, before wrapping an arm around Clarke's waist to spoon her. She dropped soft kisses along the blonde's shoulder blades and the other girl sighed happily.
"Klark?" She inquired after a while, a thought she'd been thinking for some time taking form inside her mouth. Her heart began to hammer against her ribs.
"Hmmm?" Lexa smiled against Clarke's skin at the sound, the skai girl sounding almost exactly like a small bear.
"Marry me." She breathed it before her courage faltered, so quietly she thought Clarke wouldn't hear. Perhaps part of her hoped that the girl wouldn't hear for fear of a refusal. But Clarke twisted around, suddenly wide awake, mouth gaping so that Lexa would have laughed in any other circumstance.
"Excuse me, what?"
"Marry me." Lexa repeated, her voice gaining strength, arm tightening around Clarke, "I want you to be my houmon, my wife."
"The clans...Titus…" Clarke stammered weakly, evidently taken aback by her words.
"Fuck. Titus." Lexa spat the unfamiliar curse with relish. She'd learned it from Raven when she had asked her help on how best to propose to Clarke along with several others, and she had been dying to try them out. It felt good actually, as the Fleimkepa had been insufferable in regards to Clarke.
The tension she had felt gather in her lover's body dissolved bursting like a bubble of soap, and Clarke broke down into a fit of giggles, nuzzling against her chest.
"Of course I want! Oh Lexa!" Clarke threw her own arms around her neck, flipping her onto her back and laying on top of her, peppering her face with kisses, "I want to be your wife. I am tired of sneaking into your rooms at night. I want the world to know I love you"
"Well," a slow smirk spread across Lexa's lips, even as her cheeks heated with a blush, "I doubt that it would have been much of a secret after the way you screamed tonight!"