We know how they got engaged - now we jump ahead to their wedding night. It's been almost a year since I got back into fanfic in general and Samcedes specifically and one of the first pieces I wrote then was a wedding night for them in the Dancing With Dreams 'verse. While I'm still not much of a smut writer - I wanted to challenge myself to write a more complex wedding night piece. I hope I've pulled that off while still not quite crossing a line to being overly explicit. Let me know what you think!

September 5, 2020

They were both quiet on the short ride from the event center to the Lima Holiday Inn, which put them on the right side of town to shorten their drive to the airport the next day, just a little bit. Plus the hotel's breakfast bar made for one less thing to worry about on their way out of town.

Mercedes kept looking over at Sam as he drove and he kept looking at her, both of them grinning when they'd 'catch' the other.

'My husband,' Mercedes kept thinking. "He's my husband now.'

She said as much to him as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. And it hadn't seemed like it could be possible, but his grin got even bigger in response.

"I know," he said, sounding just as excited and awed by it as she did, as he hurried to get out of the car and around to the passenger side to help her and her full-skirted dress out of the car. Sam had brought all their luggage and stuff over and checked them in earlier that afternoon, before the ceremony, so they only had themselves to worry about getting into the building. Mercedes had even handed over her phone, purse and carry-on bag to her brother that morning, who was sworn to deliver them to Sam.

"Martin did get my stuff to you, right? My phone and everything?" she asked him now as they headed inside, his arm around her, hand on the small of her back.

Sam nodded. "Yup, it's upstairs."

"Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek as they stood waiting for the elevator.

"Of course," he replied, squeezing her against his side as the doors opened. It only took a few seconds to reach the third floor and only a few more to find their room.

Once inside, Sam immediately shrugged off his suit jacket and yanked his tie the rest of the way off before he threw himself on the bed while Mercedes sat down on the little couch to pull her shoes off her tired, aching feet.

"What a day, huh?" Sam said, turning his head to look at her and she laughed.

"Understatement of the year," she said.

He couldn't stop grinning. "'Cedes," he said, his tone serious. "We're married."

Mercedes laughed again. "Yeah, I know. I was there when we said 'I do.' And when the minister said 'I now pronounce you husband and wife.'"

"Oh good," Sam said with sarcastic cheerfulness. "I married a smartass."

It had been too much of a day to come up with a smart retort for that, so she settled for just sticking out her tongue at him and reminding him, "Um, you knew that going in. Too late to back out because of that now."

He scoffed at her as he sat up. "As if I would."

"I hope not," she said softly, smiling at how he was looking at her like he couldn't quite believe this was real.

"It really did go well, though, didn't it?" she said and Sam nodded.

"Other than our grandmas trying to take each other out over the bouquet toss, yup," he agreed and Mercedes burst out laughing at the memory of the two widows going full out trying to catch her bouquet.

"You know I was trying to aim for Tina – she says she and Artie don't want to get married, but just in case – and then she got so distracted by the two of them, Marley ended up catching it without even trying!"

Sam shook his head. "Well, I did see her dancing with Jake quite a bit, so maybe there's some re-kindling happening there and another wedding to attend eventually."

"I noticed that too – they're sweet together. Her dress was super-cute too."

Sam shrugged. "Do you think I have any idea what any other woman besides you was wearing?"

Mercedes laughed. "You're my husband now, you have to say that."

Sam laughed too. "Maybe, but, seriously, babe – you looked – look – gorgeous. When I first saw you coming into the church, I almost couldn't breathe for a minute. I was just like, wow."

"I thought I saw you saying something!" Mercedes said triumphantly and Sam laughed again, as she stood up and did a little twirl, playfully holding out the sides of the skirt. He held his hand out to her and she took it, moving to stand in between his knees. With their height difference, this actually put them almost eye-to-eye, and she looped her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer to him.

"I love you, Mrs. Evans," he said, leaning in to kiss her and she smiled against his lips.

"I love you, too," she said after they broke apart. "And I'm glad you liked my dress, but I'd kind of really like to get out of it now."

Sam wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Not wasting any time here, huh?" he teased and Mercedes swatted at his arm.

"That's not what I meant – I mean, not totally, but – it's just a LOT of dress and then the under pieces and also, I'm kind of hungry. All that time picking out the menu and I barely got to eat any of it."

"Yeah, me neither."

"So if I'm gonna eat anything, I don't want to spill on the dress. Do you think we can get anything delivered this late?"

"OH!" Sam said suddenly. "I totally forgot – my mom got us this fancy, like, cheese and cracker thing – she said she and dad didn't get to eat anything at their wedding either and ended up at like, IHOP, at one in the morning in their wedding clothes – " as he was talking, he got up and opened one of the cabinets on the dresser, which was actually concealing a small refrigerator. He pulled the box of charcuterie out and presented it to her with a flourish. "Look – cheese, crackers, meat, fruit, almonds – this looks awesome."

"Your mom is an actual angel and I love her," Mercedes said happily as she took the box from him and sat down on the bed to open it and then popped a piece of cheese into her mouth.

He laughed. "What happened to getting out of the dress?" he asked, snagging a cracker and piece of cheese for himself.

She shrugged. "This shouldn't be too messy. Besides, Quinn is picking the dress up before we leave in the morning and taking it to the cleaners. And getting your tux to return too, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," Sam said, his voice muffled as he leaned back into the fridge and then turned back towards her, brandishing a bottle as he did so. "They gave us a bottle of champagne too."

"Awesome. Let's stick that in a suitcase and save for Florida though, okay? I've been trying not to drink too much today." At Sam's quizzical look, she went on to explain, "I want to be able to remember this night. I've waited too long to have it be some drunken blur."

Understanding dawned on his face and he nodded, stepping towards her, cradling her cheek in his hand. "I promise," he said gruffly, "I'm going to do everything I can to make it memorable for you."

"I know," she whispered, heat flooding her face (he could feel it under his hand) as their eyes met, the desire clear in his. She wondered if he could see in her eyes how much she wanted him too. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

She closed the lid of the charcuterie box, her eyes never leaving his as she did so and then handed it to him. "I think we should put this away for now. I'm suddenly not very hungry anymore."

He nodded as he turned around and put the box back in the fridge. He turned back around to find her standing up too.

"If we had a cheesy script to follow, this is where I'd say something about slipping into something more comfortable, right?" she said with a nervous giggle and he chuckled.

"Yeah, that sounds probably about right," he agreed.

"See, the thing is – I can't go change into anything else 'cause I can't get out of this dress without someone to help me."

Sam grinned. "Well, that sounds like an excellent task to be my first husbandly one," he said as she turned around, giggling again, and he took a step closer to her. "Oh, I see, all these tiny buttons – "

"-Are a pain in the ass, yeah," Mercedes finished the sentence for him.

He laughed as he went to work unfastening the damnable little things.

"This is also why I kept ignoring Santana when she was trying to convince me I needed trashy lingerie for tonight," Mercedes said over her shoulder.

Sam grinned. "I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to trashy lingerie…if you ever do want to get some."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said lightly. "For tonight, I just figured you were gonna have to get me out of this dress – what would be the point of taking it off just to put on some other complicated piece for you to have to deal with? I've always figured that ending up naked is kind of the point, right?"

Sam grinned again. "Right. And I am definitely not opposed to going straight to naked," he said softly, lowering his head to kiss the back of her neck as he kept working at the buttons.

She laughed, even as she also shivered a bit at the touch of his lips. "Somehow, I didn't think so."

"All done," he said as he reached the last button and she grabbed his arm for balance as she carefully stepped out of the dress and then the underskirt and tossed them both on the couch. She tried to ignore her pounding heart as she stood there in front of him in her strapless bra and slip shorts.

"You weren't kidding about the layers," Sam said, eyes roaming over her appreciatively. "How many more things do we gotta get you out of?"

"This is pretty much it," Mercedes said, gesturing at herself. "I think you need to catch up first though; this feels kind of unfair."

"Well, then, I think it's also only fair that you help with my buttons," he countered and she stepped closer to him and began unbuttoning his shirt with hands that were only the slightest bit shaky. He still noticed.

"You okay, babe?" he said softly and she nodded as she reached the last button.

"I'm good. Really. Just – adrenaline. And anticipation." And arousal, she thought to herself, continuing the alliteration, but she didn't feel quite bold enough to say something like that out loud yet. She slid her hands along his chest, up to his shoulders, pushing the dress shirt off and down his arms as she did so. He pulled the shirt the rest of the way off as her hands went to the button of his pants and he bit back a groan as her hands brushed against his stomach.

"Better let me get the zipper," he said.

"Oh. Okay," she replied, sounding a little confused as she looked up at him. "Am I not - "

"No, no, no," he hastened to explain. "You're fine. You're perfect. I just don't want this to be over before it even gets started. And your hands, in that area – "

"Ohh," she repeated herself as understanding dawned and a borderline smug smile crossed her face. "I barely touched you."

"Doesn't matter," he said, brushing his lips over hers before unzipping his pants and going to push them off.

And then, somehow, he got his foot tangled up in his pants and he lost his balance completely, toppling sideways onto the bed.

"Ow! Shit!"

"Oh my God, Sam, are you okay?"

His shoulders were shaking and for a moment she was terrified he had hurt himself and was sobbing in pain, but thankfully she quickly realized he was just laughing.

"Nothing hurt but my dignity," he said ruefully, kicking off the other pant leg. She watched him for a minute and then burst into laughter herself.

"I guess I should be flattered that you were that eager to get naked with me?" she said between giggles and he rolled his eyes.

"Hush and come here," he said, reaching for her hand and pulling her onto the bed with him.

"I'm sorry," she said, as she moved up the bed to lie beside him. "I really didn't mean to laugh at you."

He shrugged, running his hand up her arm. "I mean, I was laughing at me too, so it's all good."

She nodded, her giggles subsiding as he captured her mouth with his, pulling her up against him. She could feel herself relaxing at this motion; kissing him was so familiar by this point, making out like this was comfortable. And yet, there was something exciting about it too, lingering just under the surface, the knowledge that there wouldn't be a point where one of them would call a time out.

She could feel his hands on her back, working at the hooks on her bra, and she giggled again as he muttered, "God, how many are on this thing?"

"A lot," she replied, grinning as he rolled his eyes and said, "Smartass." He'd gotten her bra undone before, from under a shirt even, as the 'rules' were relaxed during their engagement to allow for under-the-shirt-without-a-bra-on touching, but that was a regular one, with the standard three or four hooks, not this fancy bra-slash-corset thing that had about seventeen.

She started to ask if she could help, but then she felt the material go loose around her, followed by his triumphant sounding "Got it!" and she shifted a little so he could pull the bra out from in-between them and then hissed out a breath as he pulled her back against him, her breasts pressed into his chest, skin meeting skin for the first time.

"Still okay?" he asked and she nodded, bringing a hand up to run through his hair.

"I'm good – I promise," she said softly. "You don't have to keep asking."

He looked the slightest bit sheepish. "I know – or, well, I guess I don't know," he said quietly. "I just – I want you to be comfortable and have this be good for you and – "

She gazed at him for a minute. "You really are more anxious than you let on, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," he admitted.

"Remember what you told me yesterday? It's just you and me, figuring it out together, right?"

He nodded and she smiled. "You know how they say the three important words are 'I love you?'"

"Yeah," he said slowly, sounding not at all sure about where she was going with this.

"I think there's two other sets that are more important." She met his eyes, held his gaze. "I trust you," she said softly, but firmly, and he smiled.

"Okay. I trust you too," he replied. "What's the other?"

She grinned, rolling to her back and pulling him with her so that he was on top of her. "I. Want. This," she said, even more firmly, as she let her hands roam his back. "I want you, Sam. I'm a little nervous, but I'm not scared, if that makes sense at all, and I'm not a fragile little girl, I'm a woman who's just never done this before but I'm not going to fall apart, okay?"

"Jesus," Sam breathed as he looked her, gazing up at him with a grin on her face.

"What?"

"That's really fucking hot," he said, grinning back at her as she laughed happily and he started planting kisses down her neck and across her collarbone.

The laughter faded to soft sighs and the occasional gasp as his kisses moved lower, lavishing attention on her breasts for what felt like a delicious forever, for once Mercedes trying not to think, just to let herself enjoy the moment. Eventually he moved lower still, until his hands were at her hips, toying with the waistband of the slip shorts she still wore. He looked up at her, the unspoken question in his eyes and she lifted her hips in response, reaching down to help him pull them off.

He tossed them aside somewhere and settled back between her legs as she wondered why he hadn't taken his own boxer briefs off. She only had a moment to think about it though, before she was giggling at his facial hair tickling her inner thigh and then the giggle turned into a gasp as he moved back up her body just a little bit and then suddenly his mouth was on her, hot and wet, and making her feel things she'd never even imagined.

"Oh, God, Sam," she breathed and she could have sworn she could feel him grinning against her and she gave herself over to the sensations he was bringing her, a tiny part of her brain wondering what the sounds she was hearing were and then realizing as she flew over the edge, Sam's name on her lips, that oh, it was her making those sounds but she was in too much of a breathless, floaty haze to care.

It took her a few minutes to come back down to Earth and she barely registered as Sam kissed his way back up her body, nuzzling her belly and breasts as he did.

"Oh my God," she whispered as she opened her eyes, turning her head to see him lying on his side next to her, propped on his elbow, his other arm spread across her waist, his hand idly stroking just below her breasts. He was wearing a grin that was just a touch self-satisfied.

"Good?"

"So good," she said, pulling him into a kiss. "But what about you?" she asked after breaking the kiss. Glancing down, she realized that he had taken his briefs off and her mouth went a little dry at the sight of him. "Do you want me to, um – return the favor?"

His eyes went an even darker green at her words. "Eventually, if you really want to, yeah, I definitely want that."

"Eventually," she echoed. "Why not now? And of course I want to," she added before he could answer. "I don't know what to do, exactly, but I'll figure it out."

He smiled. "I have no doubt that you will. But," he said, moving his body over hers again, her legs instinctively opening for him to settle between, "If I let you do that now, then I'll probably come already and it'll be a while before I'm ready to go again and I really just don't want to wait any longer to actually be in you."

Mercedes had no good answer for that beyond "oh," said in a slightly dumbfounded voice. "Okay," she added, placing kisses at the base of his neck.

"Okay," Sam echoed as Mercedes took a deep, slightly shaky breath and buried her face in his neck. And then she could feel him, hard and insistent, sliding slowly into her body. She was grateful to discover that it really didn't hurt. It was kind of weird, someone else being inside of her, but it was a good weird. And the groan that Sam let out as he filled her was an unexpected ego boost of sorts.

"God, you feel so good," he mumbled, almost incoherently, and she smiled, nipping at his shoulder.

"You do too," she admitted.

"Yeah? Not hurting you?"

She shook her head, her hair tickling his chest as she did. "No, it's good." Acting on instinct, she rolled her hips a little, grinning when he groaned again. It was all the encouragement they both needed, as they began to move together, finding a rhythm, Mercedes almost surprised when she realized another orgasm was building in her, again crying out Sam's name as she came, Sam reaching his own release a few moments later.

The weight of his body on hers as they lay there afterward was deliciously heavy and Mercedes was almost sad when their bodies disconnected and Sam rolled off of her and onto his back beside her. She was wondering if he felt it too when he reached for her hand and brought it up to his face, kissing her knuckles.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Better than okay," she said, smiling as she scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I feel so good right now."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he joked and she laughed.

"You should," she said, her voice turning more serious. "I've never felt more loved and cherished than I do tonight."

"Same," he said and even in that one word, she caught the choked sound of his voice.

"How about you?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, rubbing his hand over his face. "Yeah. I think. I just – I knew it would be different with you. I guess I just didn't realize – how the difference would hit me? Like – " here his tone turned teasing, "it was definitely great sex –"

"Oh my God," she muttered, face flushing and he laughed a little before continuing, his voice serious again.

"- but it was almost like – like knowing how much it meant for you, for us, made it that much better? More intense? More connected to each other? I dunno." He laughed suddenly. "Seriously, I dunno. I just had amazing sex with my gorgeous wife, I don't know half of what I'm saying right now."

Mercedes' laughter vibrated through his chest where her head was laying. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too. So much. And I promise I do know I'm saying that!"

She laughed again as he kissed her. "You tired?" he asked.

She considered the question for a moment. "No, not really."

"Good. 'Cause now I'm starving. Wanna take a quick shower and then we'll eat that cheese and cracker thing?"

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

Clean and refreshed, they did just that, eventually drifting off to sleep in each other's arms. The morning found Mercedes awake first, just like the day before their wedding, and she lay there watching him sleep for a minute, thinking back on the last twenty-four hours or so. It was funny, she thought. She didn't really feel different at all in some ways – and yet, somehow she also felt completely different.

Sam's voice broke into her thoughts. "You're staring at me again, Mrs. Evans."

She laughed. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"How you need to get naked so we can fool around before we have to get up."

He obliged.

Later, as Sam was getting dressed and she was sitting on the bed, putting lotion on her legs, she said, "Got a question for you, babe."

"Shoot."

Mercedes grinned. She'd been waiting for this opportunity. "You once said that hearing me sing was better than sex. Now that you've had sex with me – is that still true?"

Sam's face was dumbstruck as he spluttered out, "Oh my God, that's a completely unfair question. Total wife move to ask a question like that."

She laughed. "That's not an answer."

He thought for a minute and then smirked. "Hmm. Okay, well – I've heard you sing hundreds – maybe even thousands of times. We've only had sex twice so far. I'm gonna need a lot more sex with you before I can make a fair comparison."

She laughed again, mock sighing. "Okay, fine. Luckily for you, that's what a honeymoon is for."

Sam grinned, walking over and giving her a kiss. "I can't wait."