"I love you," Merlin whispers. His voice is scratchy and rough in Arthur's ear, and so low that if it weren't for the stillness of the night, Arthur wouldn't have heard it.
Merlin brings a hand to cup Arthur's face and tilt his ear to Merlin's lips, his breath ghosting just slightly over the skin before kissing it.
"I love the way you look," He murmurs, "I love the way you sound, and the way you act, and the way you think. I love all of you, Arthur Pendragon."
Sleepy and sated, Arthur lets Merlin's words wash over him. He basks in them and the afterglow of his orgasm, allowing Merlin to pull him, loose-limbed, into his arms. Piece by piece the stresses of court are falling away, with every movement of Merlin's lips the aches in Arthur's body fade and dissolve into nothing.
"I love they way you love," Merlin says in between light kisses at Arthur's temple, "How you give your everything to the ones around you. When you love you love blindly and completely and honestly. You love with your entire being."
Merlin starts kissing a line across Arthur's cheek, stopping at the corner of his mouth to whisper again, "I love how your hair shines in the sunlight and glows in the firelight, and how soft it feels between my fingers. I love how your skin is smooth and firm and bright. It's like you're made of light itself."
Arthur sighs, his eyes fall closed. With a smile playing on his lips he revels in Merlin's touches and kisses and sweet words. Merlin's voice acts like a lullaby, soothing him until Arthur feels himself starting to drift off. He pulls himself back from the edge, not wanting to slip into sleep and miss out on this moment.
"I love how you love Camelot more than anything else," Merlin kisses into Arthur's cheek, "I love how you would lay down your life for your people without a moment's thought. Your people are your world, and although you may be a prat sometimes you would never hesitate to help a subject in need."
"And I love the way you love me," Merlin whispers, so faint that Arthur wonders if Merlin might be falling asleep as well. "Camelot gets your days but I get to have your nights, when you take the crown off of your head and I get to call you Arthur, my Arthur, my one and only king. You've given me everything you can give: your heart, your soul, your body. You demand that I give the same to you and there's no one else I would rather give myself to, I love you with everything that I have. All that I own, all that I am, is yours."
Merlin might continue talking after that, but Arthur doesn't hear. The lull of Merlin's voice, the tender touches and the warmth from the blankets and the fire and Merlin's skin gently pull Arthur away from the world of the waking. When he hears Merlin's declaration Arthur sighs and lets himself fall into sleep, absolutely content.
