There are a few things I'd like to mention before moving onto the chapter.

First of all, this chapter contains sexual content (what a surprise, eh?)

Secondly, THEY HAVE USED PROTECTION. I wrote that in capitals on purpose. The problem is, I don't find it aesthetic to mention the usage of condoms while writing a sexual scene (or a smut, whatever you like to call), hence you will not be reading anything regarding the protection-topic. After all, we don't want any double-Shadow-Summoner-plus-Necromancer baby Darklings roaming inside the Little Palace, do we?

PS: I have made some research: The first rubber condom was produced in 1855. Considering the advantage of the Materialki in the GrishaVerse, I don't find it unrealistic for them to produce condom-equivalent products to avoid unwanted pregnancies and the spreading of sexually transmitted infections.

A silent moan left my lips when the Darkling sucked on the skin right above my collar bone. I moved my right hand to the back of his neck, I could feel his soft, jet-black hair under my fingers. Meanwhile, the Darkling's hand that rested around my neck went down to my shoulder and gently pushed down my black, silk robe. The cloth silently fell onto the floor and I shivered as the cold air inside the room licked my exposed skin.

"Aleksander," I breathed out. "Please take off your kefta."

He chuckled against my neck, then he slowly straightened so that he was looking down at me. With slow movements, he unbuttoned his black kefta and during the whole time, he looked into my jade-green eyes. The only sound to be heard inside the room was our breaths.

Once the kefta was fully unbuttoned, he took it off and placed it on the chair standing next to us and for the first time, I saw him in… usual clothes. He had a black shirt and black trousers underneath his kefta –again, he was all in black. When he realised that I was eyeing him, a small smirk formed on his lips.

"So, do you want me stop with the kefta?" he asked with a cocky tone as he held me from my hips. "I recall you were allergic to naked men."

I rolled my eyes at his words but my hands were already holding his black shirt. "I am not allergic to naked men," I muttered as I pulled out the edges of his shirt, which were neatly tucked inside his trousers.

The Darkling tilted his head. "Then it is me you're allergic to." he said, he clearly enjoyed messing with me. I looked into his slate-grey eyes, my hands were still holding the edge of his shirt.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

Alright, I didn't want to see him giving me the cocky smirk, hence I stood on my fingertips and pressed my lips against his in the blink of an eye. However, when he immediately returned the kiss, I realised that this was exactly what he wanted me to do. He could tell all my moves and it was rather disturbing.

But that was probably the last thing I could think about when he was kissing me with such hunger and desire.

Just as he had done back in the banya, he turned me inside his arms with a swift movement and then, he lifted me up to make me sit on the dresser. I spread my legs so that he could stand closer to me and he moved one of his hand to my neck as his tongue slid into my mouth.

My head was literally spinning because of how hard the kiss was but still, I managed to move my hands and unbutton his shirt without having opened my eyes. Once the shirt was unbuttoned, I pushed it off his shoulders and he grunted when he felt my hands wandering on his bare chest.

He moved his left hand, which had been holding me from my hips, to the edge of the silver nightgown and I shivered the moment his fingers began to trail on my inner thigh. He probably felt me shiver as well, hence he parted our lips for a brief moment. "Are you sure?" he asked with a low voice. "Do you want to go all the way?"

I gave him a quick nod. The intense look inside his slate-grey eyes was making my skin burn. "Don't stop." I whispered against his lips and captured his lower lip to suck on it.

Soon, my nightgown joined the Darkling's black shirt on the floor along with his trousers. His hands were everywhere as he carried me to my dark-sheeted bed but still, I couldn't get enough of him. He traced my curves, kissed my neck, kneaded my breasts –and I didn't feel insecure at all. He didn't let me feel insecure.

Once my back hit the soft sheets of my bed, I was completely naked –we both were. His lips closed on top of mine and this time I slid my tongue into his mouth while I moved my hands on his back filled with muscles. After a while, his lips moved to my neck, then to my chest, then lower and lower… As his mouth and tongue did wonders on my body, all I could do was to cover my mouth with one of hands to mute my loud moans –the walls were not soundproof, after all.

I could feel his excitement when his lips returned to mine once more and I knew hearing the sounds I had been making played a hugged part in that. As he parted our lips and looked at me for permission, his eyes were darkened with lust. I nodded at him. A silent grunt left his lips as he thrusted his hips forwards –we had become a single body, a single breath, a single heartbeat.

[Time Skip]

Once again, I covered my mouth with my hand.

"Don't," the Darkling whispered as one of his hands left my hips and took my hand away from my mouth. Then, his hand returned to its previous place and he helped me fasten the movement of my hips.

"But someone might hear me," I breathed out, both of our hair was pretty damp because of the sweat. I could swear I didn't sweat this much during my combat trainings –sex had to burn some serious amount of calories. "I'm too loud."

As soon as I said that, a loud moan escaped from my lips to prove me right.

"Everyone is fast asleep." the Darkling said, then I heard him swearing under his breath and his hands around my hips tightened –he probably left marks but I didn't really care. "You look like a Goddess up there."

The edge of my lip curled upwards and as a response, I leant into his lying figure and crashed my lips into his. He kissed me back with such hunger that made me feel dizzy, then I found myself moaning into his mouth as he made me move my hips faster against his. I didn't know how much that act affected him –he became frenzied every time I moaned into the kiss.

After a while, I began to grow tired –we were both close to the edge but I wasn't able to keep up the fast pace, hence with a swift movement, the Darkling put me on my back as he made us roll. I realised that as much as I liked being on top, I loved the way his raven hair dangled when he was above me.

He quickly picked up the previous pace, which made me began to moan loudly again and apparently, I was really loud so that the Darkling captured my lips after a few moments. However, it didn't take me long before I hit the edge. "Aleksander," I moaned his name as I parted our lips, then I covered my mouth with one of my hands while the other one clutched the dark sheets of my bed. "Oh fuck!"

I knew he was close as well because his movements had become sloppy, he was breathing heavily and his fingertips were sinking deeper into my skin after each passing second. As he came, he grunted my name against my skin, his head buried to the crook of my neck.

For a while we simply lied like that –the Darkling breathing heavily with his head resting against my shoulder and me running my fingers through his hair to help him drop his pulse. During that time, I thought about everything that had happened that night –my mind was finally free from the clutches of the desire.

I had slept with the Darkling.

He had whispered me that he had dreamt about me every night while he was away from the Little Palace.

He was lying in my arms.

I didn't know whether it was because he was quite experienced, or because he was a Shadow Summoner just like I was, or because he was an Amplifier but there was something definitely different in his touches. Even though I had only had one partner before, I had gained some non-negligible experiences while I had been with Evan –which meant that I knew how certain things should feel like. However, with the Darkling, almost everything was different.

I had found myself wanting more and more of him when we were a tangled mass of limbs just a few minutes ago –even though it was the closest we could get; it still wasn't enough for me. His touch made my skin burn and the way he grunted my name simply drove me crazy.

I wanted so hard to believe that all of these were a consequence of the fancy I had taken to him but it was obvious that there was more to it –my stupid heart had managed to do something foolish, as always.

However, I wasn't going to let myself sink into the ocean of thoughts inside my head while the Darkling was still inside my arms.

With slow movements, he got off me and rolled onto his back –his breathing had returned to normal. Then, he turned his slate-grey eyes to me, "That was definitely something," he spoke with a low voice as I sat on the bed. "I wasn't expecting you to be able to hold back this long."

Well, I could imagine that he had assumed to find an inexperienced girl because I gave that impression, therefore it did take him by surprise when he saw that I could restlessly hop around for almost longer than one and a half hours.

I winked at him. "I'm Fjerdan, we tend to do surprising stuff."

He laughed silently at my words as he watched me stand up from the bed but I turned back to look at him upon hearing cursing under his breath. "Shit, that wasn't in the plan."

"What wasn't in the plan?" I asked, then I followed his slate-grey eyes and saw the bruises on my hips. I shrugged carelessly, I had already seen that coming. "No one sees my butt, so don't worry."

The Darkling also stood up from the bed, "Valkyrja, you use the banya with the others." he reminded me, which made me stop on my tracks as I was walking towards the bathroom.

"In that case, I won't use the banya for a few days." I said, then I shook my head upon seeing the look in his eyes. "No, I'm not seeing a Healer just because you held my ass too tight –it's ridiculous!"

He threw his head back and let out an attractive laughter.

After using the bathroom, I returned to the bedroom and wore my underwear and my silver nightgown as I waited for the Darkling –he had gone to the bathroom right after I came back. I took my black robe from the floor and placed it on one of the armchairs. When the Darkling returned, he also wore his underwear as first thing but a frown appeared on my face when he reached for his shirt.

"Won't you stay?"

He turned back to look at me, "Do you want me to?" he asked. I was taken aback –I thought he already knew that, hence I didn't feel the need to express it explicitly. With quick steps, I walked towards him and took the black shirt from his hands gently.

"Of course I do," I told him as I hung the shirt to the chair in front of my dresser. "I… I thought you already knew that."

I felt his long fingers wrapping around my wrist and he pulled me against his bare chest, "Perhaps I wanted to hear it from you," he whispered against my lips as he leant into me. We shared a short, soft kiss –it was probably our very first kiss that didn't contain a burning desire. It felt pure and it felt full of… love.

The Darkling parted our lips and I began to trace his features with the fingers of my right hand. "You will not be leaving this time, will you?" I asked with a timid voice. He shook his head.

"Don't worry, moya lyubova," he told me with a small smile on his lips. "I'm planning to stick around for a while." As my fingers reached his lips, he kissed each one of them, causing me to giggle.

We put out the oil lamps around my bedroom before getting under the covers. The Darkling pulled me against his bare chest as he wrapped his left arm around my body. I placed my head on his chest, I could feel it rise and fall with each breath and I could hear his heart beating.

Wrapped in his embrace and in his scent, I fell asleep inside the Darkling's arms as I listened to his heartbeats.

[Time Skip]

Sunlight crept under the curtains and into the bedroom, they disappeared as they touched the Darkling's jet-black hair. With a small smile on my lips, I watched him sleep with a peaceful expression on his face. My sleep had never been deep –unless I was exhausted –hence I had faint memories of the Darkling muttering in his sleep. I couldn't recall what he had said, though.

I knew it was unfair for me to wake him up since he had just returned to the Little Palace after a long time; however, I couldn't contain the urge to touch his hair –it looked simply perfect under the sunlight. With imperceptible movements, I began to run my fingers through his hair.

Of course, the moment my fingers met his hair, his slate-grey eyes opened slowly and in the blink of an eye, the sleepy look inside his eyes disappeared. A small smile formed on his lips as he spoke. "Have you been watching me while I was sleeping?"

"Good morning to you, too, moi soverennyi," I spoke with a sarcastic tone, which caused him to let out a small laughter and pull me against his chest. He was lying on his left side. We shared a small kiss. "You murmured in your sleep."

"An old habit," he said as he planted a small kiss on my lips. "Did it disturb you much?"

I shook my head, "Not at all, in fact I could get used to this." I said and added upon seeing the confused look his eyes. "Hearing you talking in your sleep at night, waking up to the sight of your face in the morning."

The Darkling pressed his lips against mine once again and this time, the kiss didn't stay innocent. I pushed him from his shoulder to make him lie on his back and he parted our lips for a moment to straighten and lean against the headboard of the bed as I climbed on his lap, straddling him. Then, his lips captured mine and he continued kissing me the same hard and passionate way while his hands slid down under my silver-grey nightgown. However, this time his hold on my hips was gentle since he didn't want to leave any more bruises on my pale skin.

My left hand was wrapped around his neck and the right one cupped his face as I slid my tongue into his mouth –I didn't let him take the lead that time, which he clearly enjoyed as he pulled me even closer. I could feel the muscles on his naked chest against the fabric of my nightgown.

Then, he sucked on my lower lip to steal a silent moan from my lips. Taking the advantage of me leaving his lips for a slight moment, the Darkling moved his lips to my neck and I almost instinctually let my head fall back upon feeling his tongue against the sensitive skin of my neck.

At that moment, the white doors of my bedroom were opened.

My eyes widened with shock, I had frozen with the realisation that I had forgotten to lock them the previous night. But, please, how could I have remembered something like locking the doors when the Darkling had me having stars in my eyes all night long?

"Val, I have great news for you –the Darkling has returned to…" Celina began to speak in an excited manner as she closed the door behind herself; however, when she saw me on the Darkling's lap –who was half naked and was literally sucking my neck –her brown eyes widened. As I turned my head to look at Celina, I could feel the heat rushing to my face but Celina was worse than me–she looked like a real tomato with those red cheeks. Quickly, she turned her back to us. "Forgive me, moi soverennyi, I wasn't expecting to you find here."

I got off the Darkling's lap and pulled the covers up until his chin but he didn't look disturbed at all. He was absolutely laid-back, as if the working class inside the Grand and the Little Palaces walked in on him every single day while he was making out with his partner in a half-naked state.

"You were simply fulfilling your duties, Celina, there is no need for you to worry." the Darkling spoke with a calm voice as he ran his right hand through his raven hair. "It was wrong for us to leave the door unlocked in the first place. You may turn around."

When Celina turned to us, her cheeks were still as red as the kefta of a Corporalki.

She sent me a naughty look and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to avoid the laughter from escaping my lips. "Valkyrja was curious about your arrival, moi soverennyi, hence I came to inform her." Celina's eyes were fixed on her boots as she spoke. "But apparently, she has already been informed. Now, if you excuse me,"

Celina raised her head to look at the Darkling for approval and he gave her a quick nod. The blonde left my bedroom almost running and once the white doors were closed, I threw my head back and let out a loud burst of laughter.

Aah, I loved writing this chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it as well, don't forget to leave reviews!