A.N: There is sad shortage of smut in this fandom, and I am doing my part to correct the problem. I'm 100% open to requests, but updates will be highly irregular. This chapter is ~2 months before the wedding.

I sigh as I set my book down on the small bedside table. I can never focus on nights that I don't see Maxon. To be fair, he is the king. I don't hold it against him. But he nearly always finds time to slip up and at least kiss me goodnight if he has to miss dinner. But a few times a month, he simply doesn't have the time. He's in meetings and briefings into the early morning hours, then immediately to bed. Presumably, once we're married, I'll be in that bed, waiting for him. For now, though, it's lonely, being on the third floor all by myself.

My family is nearby, but I can't spend every evening with them. Anyways, they have their routines and I'd only disrupt them, even though they'd be happy to see me.

I flick my light off and flop back heavily onto my pillows. An entirely un-princesslike movement, but there's no one here to see it. Not even a guard outside my door, now that I'm in the Queen's rooms on the third floor, where there are guards at every stairwell. Maxon had to fight Silvia to get me into the Queen's room before the wedding, but I gently suggested that, since we'll be married in just over a month, it didn't make sense to renovate both sets of rooms. She obliged after that, though she keeps the key to the door between the King's and Queen's suites.

I turn over, folding my pillow in half and tugging my blankets up to my chin. The beds in this palace really are disgustingly comfortable. I pull another pillow out from under the covers- if I leave it under while I read, it warms up. I managed to convince Mary to get a bottle of the cologne Maxon uses when everything settled down, so it smells like him, too. I can't sleep without it on nights like this.

I squeeze my Maxon-substitute tight to my chest, willing myself not to cry.

You can go one night without kissing him goodnight, America, my mother's voice chides in my mind. I make a face at the thought of her interfering, but smooth it away before Silvia's voice can intrude on my evening as well.

I gaze out through the doors out to our balcony. There aren't many stars, but I can see the moon hanging over the gardens. We're not allowed to leave our windows open at night, for safety reasons, but what I wouldn't give to feel the breeze.

A knock interrupts my self pity.

"Come in," I call, pushing myself up to sitting and switching my light back on. Mary must have forgotten something.

"Love?" Maxon peeks his head in.

"Maxon!" I grin. "I thought I wouldn't be seeing you tonight."

Maxon smiles tiredly, unwinding his tie and leaving it on my vanity with his suit jacket. "You very nearly didn't, but I managed to cut a meeting short. I'm exhausted; we weren't going to solve the Swendish butter shortage tonight."

"Butter- butter shortage?"

Maxon shakes his head as he crawls into bed with me, his hand quickly finding its way to unraveling my braid as I curl onto his chest. "It's a long story. Essentially, it's a small thing now, but could snowball into an international economic crisis if we don't keep an eye on it. Nothing to- why does this pillow smell like me?"

I blush and hide my face in his neck. "I missed you."

"So you stole my cologne?"

"I did not! I very politely asked Mary if she could get some, without telling anyone," I protest.

"Ah," he nods. "You had your maid steal it for you."

"Give it back." I arch up to snatch it back, but Maxon holds it out of the way.

"You have me now, you don't need this," he argues with a smile. I snag a finger in the corner of the pillowcase and yank it back towards me.

"I win!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Maxon murmurs, eyes fixed on where my nightgown has fallen down off my shoulder.

"Sorry." I pull it back into place and set the pillow down on my side of the bed.

"I'm not." Maxon pulls the fabric back down, kissing my shoulder softly and sending chills down my spine. The mood of the room shifts very suddenly. "Cold?" he asks, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, very," I say, just as wickedly. "I think I need you to warm me up."

"I live to serve," he says, gently cupping my face and pulling me in for a kiss.

I wind my arms around his neck, holding him to me as we sit on our knees in the middle of my bed. Maxon slides his hands down my hands, running his thumbs briefly over the sides of my breasts and coming to clutch at my hips.

We breathe each other's air, tongues twining together as we desperately try to get as close as we can. Maxon gasps as I twist my fingers into his hair, so I do it tighter.

"Mer," he gasps. "I love you," he breathes, anchoring his mouth to mine again, sweeping his tongue across mine. I can taste the tea he must have had at his meeting, and I wonder for a brief moment what I taste like to him.

The thought, however, is interrupted when I pull myself closer to Maxon and feel something hot and firm against my hip through my shift.

"I'm sorry," Maxon gasps again, moving away from me. "I didn't- I don't expect-"

I bite my lip, noticing how Maxon's eyes fix themselves on my mouth when I do, and I take stock of the heat between my own legs. I move back close to him and gently lay my hand over the bulge that I can see in his pants.

"I'm not," I whisper, pressing a kiss just under his ear. His breath hitches as I trail kisses down his jaw. "I don't expect it," I continue, licking at the base of his throat and squeezing just a bit at the length of him, "but I wouldn't mind," I finish with a fierce kiss to his lips, nipping at his lower lip.

Maxon appears to have short circuited as I intentionally press my hips to his, wiggling slightly, just to get a reaction.

"We can't," he moans, but he kisses down my neck all the same, sliding his hands to cup my behind and pull our hips closer together.

"Why not?" I tilt my head back to let him more easily brush kisses along my collarbone. "You're the king, who's going to arrest you?"

Maxon flushes against my breastbone. "There could be… other consequences."

I catch his meaning. "No, actually," I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck again to fall backwards and pull him on top of me. "First of all, there are… other things we could do," I say discreetly, running my hands down his chest and kissing him deeply. I love kissing Maxon. The warm, cinnamon-y scent of him, the feel of his muscles under my fingers. I especially like the feel of one very specific part of his body, at the moment.

"Second of all," I murmur, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. "I've been taking a certain type of tablet for the last few weeks, to prevent such consequences."

"Oh?" The noise is strangled as I let my legs fall open a little wider and he settles further onto me.

"Mhmm." I reach the last button of his shirt and push it off his back, fisting his undershirt in my hand to pull him down so our torsos are flush together.

Maxon resists and pushes himself up to hover over me. "What do you want right now?" he asks, more than a little breathless.

I smile softly. "Anything you want, Maxon. Anything you need."

Maxon smiles back and dips down to kiss me softly. "I want everything with you, America, you know that. You don't want to… wait? For our wedding night to be special?"

"It will be special, regardless of what we may have done before," I say firmly. He nods in agreement. I pause for a moment, considering my words. "I'm not entirely looking forward to… the pain, on the night we get married, so I wouldn't mind… taking care of that, beforehand, I mean. I can do that on my own though, I think," I finish hurriedly.

Maxon's expression turns stormy for just a moment. "If you are going to be touching yourself in that way, America Singer," he says darkly. "I will be there to watch."

My insides twist and my mouth goes dry. "Alright," I rasp. Maxon chuckles and bends down to kiss me. This time, it's filthy. He licks into my mouth, pinning me to the bed with his body.

"Is this alright?" he asks, bringing a hand to my breast and rocking our hips together.

I moan in response as he rubs a thumb over my nipple and he presses himself against the bundle of nerves at the apex of my thighs. He laughs and presses a kiss under my jaw. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Hold on a minute," I gasp. Maxon immediately holds himself above me and moves his hand to stroke my cheek.

"Are you okay?" he worries.

I nod, pleased with the flush on his cheeks and the heaviness of his breathing. "I just thought… What if we leave the lights off?"

"If that's what you want," Maxon agrees without hesitation, though I see the question in his eyes.

"We can save the looking for our wedding night," I explain timidly. "If you want, I mean."

"That sounds perfect, America," he says gently, his kiss barely a whisper against my lips. He rolls off of me to stand up. "Curtains too?"

I nod, sitting up and wrapping my arms around my knees. Maxon's hair is a disaster, though I'm sure mine is worse. My nightgown is stretched over my shoulders, and there are wrinkles on his undershirt where I gathered it in my fists. He pulls all the curtains shut, then turns and rakes his eyes down my body.

I watch as Maxon strips off his undershirt, running my eyes over the muscles that stretch over his abdomen.

He quirks an eyebrow. "I thought we were saving the looking," he teases.

"I am well acquainted with your abs, Maxon Schreave," I point out, and he nods in acknowledgment as he reaches the bed, crawling towards me. He kisses me, smiles on both our lips.

He pulls back to sit down after kissing my nose. "Light?"

I nod and reach over to the switch.

One press of my fingers, and we are plunged into darkness.

There's not a sliver of light in the room. Not from under the door, not from the windows. None. I know I'm looking towards Maxon, since I haven't felt the bed move yet, but I can't see him at all. I hear his breathing, but other than that and the slight slope of the mattress toward him, there's not a single indication that I'm not alone.

An idea strikes me, and I slowly shift to my knees, pulling my nightgown over my head as quietly as I can.

"Now," Maxon purrs, and I can feel him moving slowly towards me. "Where were we, love of mine?"

I reach out, finding his shoulder. I follow it down to his hand and twine our fingers together. Maxon reaches his other hand to my waist, and swears when he finds bare skin.

"Eager, are you?" I can't see him, but I would bet a fair amount of money that his face shows an equal mix of laughter and wild arousal.

"Maybe a bit," I admit, sidling closer to him. "This is probably jumping ahead a little, but this seems a good place to start as any." I move our hands between my legs and take mine away to tangle in his hair, and he swears again.

"Good God, woman," he gasps, grasping my ass in one hand, the other swirling in my wetness. "I think you're missing something." He seals our lips furiously, teeth clacking together in his rush to be close to me.

"No," I breathe, rising closer to him. "I've never seen the point of wearing underwear to bed."

Maxon chokes. "You mean- every time I've been in here after you've gotten ready for bed-"

"No panties," I confirm.

"I love you," he says. "I don't know what to do-"

"Just touch me," I moan as he brings a hand up, skimming against my side to grab at my breasts.

"Tell me," he breathes into me. "Tell me how you like it."

I gasp as he slides his finger up, circling that little bundle of nerves. "There," I moan. "Circles, like that."

Maxon pants into my ear, pressing kisses around my jaw, pulling my ear lobe delicately between his teeth. I cry out as he runs his finger directly over the tip of my clit. I pull him back down so he's laying on top of me and let my legs fall open.

"You're so beautiful," he gasps, taking over the circles with his thumb and letting his other fingers play around my entrance. Dipping in, and out, but never deep enough. Teasing.

"You can't see me," I say with a laugh, brushing my hand over his pecs and down to unbuckle his belt.

"Don't need to," he mumbles to my collarbone as he presses open-mouthed kisses along the ridge. I pull his belt from his pants and cast it off the bed. "You're always beautiful, especially when you're dripping for me."

My hips surge at his words, and my insides twist.

Maxon huffs a laugh into the skin between my breasts. "Do you like it when I talk to you?"

"Yes, I- oh." My words cut off as Maxon's mouth finds the tip of my breast, his tongue playing with my peaked nipple as deftly as it usually twines with my own tongue. "Oh, Maxon, please."

"Please what, my love?" he asks, his fingers still teasing my wetness, sending shivers across my body every few seconds.

"More," I beg, trying to wrap my legs around him to pull him tighter to me. I feel his smile against my breast as I fumble with the button of his pants. We push them off his hips together, along with his boxers, but as I try to grasp him in my hand, I catch nothing but air.

"Not yet, America," he chides, finger slipping a fraction of an inch deeper into me. "I'm going to come as soon as you get your hands on me, and I want you to come on my hand at least twice before that."

"You're going to have to try a little harder, then," I gasp, scrabbling around in the darkness to hold onto him. I find his bicep and use it to pull myself up and spread my legs over his lap.

"Oh, I'm being lazy, am I?" Maxon says, his voice suddenly right by my ear, his free hand wrapping around my back to hitch me closer. "Maybe I'm just biding my time. Maybe I like the noises you make when you beg."

Oh. Okay. "Please, Maxon, please, put your fingers in me," I whisper, rolling my hips over his hand. He removes his hand entirely, moving to cup me with his palm. "No," I moan.

"I just don't know if you're ready yet," he says, licking into my mouth again, swallowing my moans as he squeezes, putting pressure on my clit, but not nearly enough. "I think I should make you wait a little longer."

I think I might cry as I fall forward, burying my face in the crook of his neck. I start to kiss my way up to his mouth, sucking bruises into his skin.

"Please, Maxon," I moan when I reach his ear, scraping my teeth over his jaw. "Please, make me come, I want to come for you, I promise, I'll do anything-"

"Hmm," he considers, scraping his stubble down the column of my throat to pull my breast back into his mouth. He doesn't say anything else for a long while. He just sucks on my nipple, biting softly, bringing it to a firmer point, then repeating the process on the other side.

"I want to see you," I gasp, arching towards the ceiling on a particularly hard nip. "Maxon, I want to watch." Not being able to see him, not knowing what he'll do next is torture.

"Not tonight, darling," he whispers into the lower curve of my aching breast. "I think you're ready for my fingers now- what do you think?"

"Yes," I nearly sob.

"Alright," he says, kissing my cheekbone. He sighs, a frustrated sound. "I was aiming for your forehead. I missed, right?"

I laugh and lean my head against his shoulder again. "Yeah, you got my cheek."

"Close enough," he shrugs. "Lay back, my love."

I fall back onto the bed, moving my hair out from under me and spreading my legs.

I hear Maxon breathing, but he doesn't come closer.

"Are you waiting for something?"

"I'm trying to picture you," he says frankly, and I feel the bed shift. It seems like he just sat back on his heels. "How are you- describe yourself to me."

I flush. "Um- I don't- I'm just laying down…"

"I want to know everything," he says gently, sensing my discomfort. "I can't- if I touch you, I'm going to lose control, I need to take the edge off."

I hear a soft, rhythmic stroking noise, and let out a squeak when I realize that Maxon is stroking himself. "Are you touching-"

"Hell, yes," he grunts. "You're laying out naked in front of me, just waiting for me to make you come, and I can't even see you, of course I'm touching myself." I hear him take a deep breath, and the next time he speaks, it almost sounds like he's begging. "Where's your hair?"

I laugh, startled. "Of all the choices, you want to know about my hair?"

"I love your hair," he says breathlessly. "I'm sure it's a mess right now, and I want to know how much."

I smile. "At first, I had it all pulled out behind me, so I wasn't lying on it, but that pulled too much. I just have it pulled over my shoulder now. Left shoulder," I add, knowing he wants details.

"Good," he says. "Your right shoulder has more freckles."

I shake my head. Honestly, this boy. "I have my left arm over my stomach," I continue. "Right arm is up over my head. I'm all the way up at the pillows."

"Do you have freckles everywhere?" he presses.

"Not really," I apologize. "There are a few scattered around, but not as many as on my shoulders and my back. There are a few on the sides of my- um, breasts, and one really dark one on the inner left side-"

"Really?" he pants. The stroking sounds haven't gotten any faster, but Maxon sounds desperate.

"No, I'm lying."

He scoffs. "You'd better not be. I'm going to worship that freckle when I can see it."

I laugh again, softly this time, staring towards him. I can see a vague outline of him, but not much of one. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"I'm going to hold myself to it," he mutters in the darkness. "Legs?" he begs.

"Spread," I say shortly, his answering moan doing things to my insides. "My right leg is hanging off the bed, and my left is bent, knee up. You'd fit nicely between them-"

Maxon lunges forward, slotting himself between my thighs, just as I hoped he would, and kissing me furiously. He grinds into me, his hardness rubbing against my clit and his hands attacking my breasts. He seals his lips over mine and I clutch his face closer.

"I love you," I groan, sucking his tongue into my mouth. "You're perfect, I love you," I gasp as Maxon trails his hands down my sides, never stopping the rolls of his hips.

"Can I-" he breathes, holding me tighter to his chest. "Inside?"

"I thought I was going to come all over your hand?" I remind him, wrapping my legs around him.

"Oh, God," he moans as I twist my hips to slip him between my legs. He slides through my wetness easily, but rips himself away before I can get too carried away. "Hand first," he pants, bringing the pads of his fingers back to my clit.

"Mother of- inside, Maxon," I whine, writhing on the bed.

"Are you sure?" he worries. "We don't have to-"

"I'm to one who suggested this, Maxon," I moan, too turned on to roll my eyes. "Do it already."

He leans down to kiss me softly, gently stroking between my legs. "Ready?"

I nod against his lips. "Please, Maxon."

"We're going to have to do this more often," he says, still kissing me. "I've heard those words more tonight than the entire time we've known each other, I think."

"Shut up and make me come," I demand, reaching down his chest to run a finger over the length of him, lingering on the tip. It's smoother than I expected, and softer somehow. Maxon shouts and shove one finger into me, not quite all the way.

He immediately pulls it back, but I grab his wrist to stop him.

"I'm so sorry, Mer, I didn't mean to- you startled me- oh fuck," he curses as I wrap my hand fully around him and start stroking.

"It's okay," I murmur in his ear, moving my hips against his finger. "It hardly hurt at all." It really didn't- more of a pinch, or a scratch than anything.

He flexes his hips into my hand, gasping as he starts to move his finger in me. "Good?" he breathes.

"Mhmm." I am far too distracted for anything coherent. "Oh- yes, Maxon."

I scoot down to get a better grip on him and his hand stutters. "You're so tight on my finger," he says, and I clench down. "Oh, holy shit, you can do that?" he marvels as I laugh and bite at his earlobe.

"More, Maxon," I beg as he curls his finger inside me, his thumb back to rubbing circles on my clit.

"Mm," he acknowledges, breathing harder as I hold him tighter in my hand. "There's just- I want to find-"

He brushes against something side of me that clenches every muscle in my body, and I nearly scream.

"That," he says into my mouth. "I wanted to find that."

"Congratulations," I moan. "Now do it again."

"What's the magic word?"

"Maxon Schreave, I swear to- God, yes- like that, oh yes," I go insane as he adds another finger, curling them to stroke that spot over and over and over again. My hands halls away from his length, and he moves farther away from me to settle between my knees.

"Do you have any idea how badly I wish I could see you right now?" he groans. "How badly I want to know exactly what shade of porcelain matches your breasts, how wild your hair must be for me. I want to watch your hips wriggle on my hand for me, I want to see your clit stick out from those pretty pink lips between your legs, I want to know what color your nipples are- more brown or pink, America?" he asks, pressing kisses to said nipples as he begs. "Tell me, please."

I moan as he adds a third finger. "Oh, yes, so full, just like that." I grind my hips against his hand, but he pins me down with his forearm.

"Oh," he says wickedly. "I felt that, Ms. Singer. Do you like being held down? We've already established that you like it when I talk to you like this, but maybe you want more than that?"

He presses me further into the mattress, groaning as he feels me clench around his hand again. "Shit, America, you're going to be the death of me."

"Please," I beg, nearly crying from need. "Please, Maxon, please make me come. I need it."

"Hm," he stalls, sucking my nipple into his mouth again. "That could be an interesting experiment. What if we did this every night, my love, and I didn't let you come? Get you all hot and bothered and then leave you needing me for the next day?"

"Oh, Maxon, no," I plead. He keeps time with his finger in my core, stroking deep inside me with three fingers, tapping out a staccato beat on my clit, laving at my breasts.

"You're so soft," he moans, flexing his hand against me. "I'll let you come if you tell me what color they are." He slows, moving just enough to keep me on the edge, but not enough to send me over.

"I- Promise?" I beg. He speeds up for a second, proving to me that he can make me come whenever he wants.

"Promise," he pants. "Please, Mer, tell me."

"Both," I say, too lost in the things Maxon is doing to me to be self conscious. "Brown around the edge, and they get pink on the tip."

"Beautiful," he gasps, plunging his fingers back into me and attacking my nipples so viciously it's almost painful. Almost.

"Come for me, America," he pleads. My legs are wrapped around his hips and I feel him pressing into the mattress, as desperate as I am for friction. He frantically presses against that spot inside me and circles my clit and oh God I'm going to come I'm going to come I'm gonna come I'm-

"Please, Mer, come on my hand, I want to feel you come on me please," he begs into my stomach, where he's kissed his way down.

"Maxon," I cry, arching off the bed, finally coming as Maxon presses as deep as he can into me, just wiggling his fingers and vibrating his thumb against my clit, how the hell-

"Fuck, you're gorgeous," Maxon breathes, resting his forehead just under my navel. "You even smell good, I want to know-"

I honest to God scream as Maxon licks a wide stripe up my core and sucks my clit between his lips.

"What are you doing to me," I moan. He presses two fingers deep into my while he flicks his tongue on the tip of my clit. "Oh, Maxon-"

I squeal when moves to lick into me, his thumb doing that thing-

And I shatter again.

I grasp his hair and hold his mouth onto me, pressing his tongue deeper into me while I ride the waves crashing over me until I collapse back onto the bed. My ears are literally ringing.

"And there's the second," Maxon whispers as he gently kisses his way back up my body, sucking little bruises into the curves of my breasts. He comes to my lips, sweeping his tongue between them and swallowing my sobs of pleasure.

He doesn't taste of tea anymore.

I moan at the reminder of what his tongue had been doing just a moment before, and Maxon returns the sound with one of his own. He wraps his arms around my back and I know he could throw me across the room, but he always holds me so gently.

Now, I think I might want him to throw me around a bit.

"You have no idea," Maxon gasps over me, "how in love with you I am."

"I'd like to think I have some idea," I answer, holding him to me and settling back against the pillows. I still can't see him, but I almost don't care.

Until, that is, I feel him against my thigh.

I shift my leg, under the guise of getting comfortable, and Maxon hisses when I press him between our bodies.

"We can stop, if you want-"

"Maxon," I interrupt. He doesn't speak, so I assume he's looking at me. "Whose idea was this?"

"Yours," he admits, ducking his head to kiss my jaw. "Continue, then?"

"You'd better." I pull my legs up to frame his waist and press myself up against his hips. "Ready when you are, Your Majesty."

Maxon hooks a hand around my thigh and hitches it higher on his waist. "Well, then." I feel his breath dust across my face just before he kisses me. "I'd better get started."

His hand moves from my thigh, and then I gasp as the head of him thuds against my clit.

Maxon huffs a breath. "I don't- I can't see-"

"Here," I offer, running my hand down his stomach to cover his hand with mine, pulling another hiss from his lips. I tilt my hips up and Maxon presses into me.

I throw my head back, holding my moans as he fills the deepest part of me, inch by inch, stretching more than I thought possible in the best way.

"I want to hear you," Maxon says through gritted teeth. "If I can't see you, I'm damn well going to hear the noises you make because of me." I feel his hips pressed tight to mine, and I am utterly consumed.

He swivels, rubbing against my clit and deep inside me, and I can't help myself.

"Oh my God," I moan, clutching his shoulders. "Oh my God, you're amazing."

Maxon pulls out a little, and pushes firmly back in.

"So are you," Maxon gasps, and I can practically see his eyes screwed shut. He leans down, and we are as close as two people can possibly be. Maxon flexes his hips again, drawing moans from both of us, though mine is louder as he draws the peak of my breast into his mouth again. "You like that, do you?" he murmurs, pulling my nipple between his teeth again. He grinds deeper into me, drawing another cry from my lips.

"I asked you a question, America," he says, pulling out further and thrusting back faster, drawing a moan from me every time. "I can hear you moaning for me, but I want you to say it."

"Yes," I moan, taking my hands from his head and grasping the pillow I lay on. "Yes, I like it." I arch my breasts up into his mouth, and Maxon groans.

"What are your hands doing now?" he demands and he moves to my other breast. "I want to know everything you're doing when I can't feel it."

"Pill-oh," I moan. Maxon moved a hand down to my clit and it feels exquisite. "Yes, please, like that." I frantically rock my hips against him, but Maxon pins my hips down in his wide hands and pushes into me as deep as he can. Then freezes.

"I asked you a question," he says flatly.

"On the pillow," I say hurriedly, locking my ankles around his back to try and get him to move. "Holding the sides-shit." Maxon pulls out of me and pushes back in, rising just a bit to rub the tip of my clit with his body.

"Yeah?" he pants. "Does the feel of me inside you too much, so you have to hold on to something?"

"Yes," I moan again. "Yes, Maxon, please, harder."

"I love it when you say my name," he pants into my neck, pumping his hips faster now. He hits something inside of me every time, it makes me want to scream.

"It's so good," I cry out, my voice shaking as Maxon brings my legs over his arms, thrusting into me furiously.

"Fuck yes, it is," he growls, shoving his tongue into my mouth to lick at me messily. "I'm the one making you feel like this, it's my cock making you scream loud enough to bring the guards," Maxon grunts into me, punctuating every phrase with a harsh shove into the deepest part of me. "I'm the one who gets to feel your tight little pussy clench around me when I make you come, I'm the one who gets to suck your tits into my mouth, you're mine," he growls. "Say it."

"I'm yours," I moan. "Oh, Maxon, I love you I love you I love you," I chant as I spiral closer and closer to another climax.

"Yes," he hisses. "I'm going to make you come again, but on my cock this time. And I'll come with you, because you're going to squeeze me so tight that I won't be able to help it." He reaches down to nudge at my clit with his fingers, the sensation at odd with his quick thrusts, but I sigh at the pleasure all the same.

"I want to see you," he whispers again, never ceasing the relentless pulses of his body inside mine. "I want to see the faces you make when I touch you, when I'm inside you. I want to see where I'm inside you," he moans and I match the noise, clenching down on him.

He speeds his fingers up against my clit and his thrusts start falling out of rhythm. "Shit," he hisses, burying his head against my neck. "I'm going to come, Mer, I'm going to come in you, please tell me you're close, I need to feel you come, please."

"Mhmm," I whine, plucking at my own nipples, furiously writhing against Maxon. "Oh!" He pulls me up and sits up, never pulling out of me, yanking me to sit on his lap.

He drops his head to suck at my breasts, twining his tongue around my finger. "How long," he asks, pausing to suck my finger into his mouth, apparently distracted from his rising climax, "have you been touching yourself without telling me?" He twitches inside of me, and my eyes roll back into my head at the sensation, especially as he viciously thrusts up into me, with gravity pulling me back down, and now I have more leverage to sink into his lap, desperate to come.

"Only a second," I gasp, interrupted by every time our hips collide. Maxon keeps a nipple in his mouth, burying his face in my chest, but moves his hands to my ass, pulling me down to meet his thrust, and closer into him, rocking his abs against my clit.

"What did I tell you," he demands. Down, closer, up.

"To tell you," I whimper, so close to orgasm I can taste it. Down, closer, up. "Oh! To tell you what- ah- I'm doing if- oh, please- you can't feel it- Maxon, please!"

Down, closer, up.

"That's right," he grunts. "You make me harder than I knew I could be," down, closer, up, "and I want to know every-" down, closer, up, "fucking," down, closer, up, "thing your body does while I'm inside you."

"Please!" I beg again.

Down, closer, up.

"Please what?" he says through gritted teeth into my chest.

Down, closer, up.

"Make me come!" I plead, winding my fingers in his hair and holding him to me. I'm so close, my entire body is locking up.

"With pleasure," Maxon snarls, moving faster and faster-

Downcloserupdowncloserupdowncloserupdowncloserupdowncloserupdowncloserupdown-

I seize as I come, falling forward and pushing Maxon back onto the bed. I cry out, arching my back to push my body closer to his as he pulses his hips up and pulls mine down, moaning unintelligibly until he finally calls my name, loudly, as he comes inside me.

I moan one last time at the sensation of Maxon twitching and spilling within me, falling forward onto his chest. He caresses my back, coming back to my ass as he flexes shallowly a few more times, nearly whimpering as I dust kisses across his chest and up to his mouth, leisurely brushing our lips together.

Maxon pulls back to lean his forehead against mine as he pants. "Good?" he whispers. I doubt he could be any louder even if he wanted to.

"Could've been better," I shrug, chest heaving, relishing the feeling of him softening inside me. "We can try again later."

He laughs breathlessly and pinches the small of my back, though his breath hitches when I clench my inner muscles.

"Witch," he laughs, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Mm," I agree, settling against his chest. "You love me though."

Maxon laughs shortly. "If I didn't before, I certainly do after that."

We lay in silence and darkness for a few moments more, tracing patterns across each other's bare skin, content to bask our nearness. The two of us, alone and quiet, is not something we are often able to experience.

"I want to see you," Maxon says after a few minutes, one hand tangled in my hair and the other swirling along my spine.

I smile against his skin. "So you said."

"No," he says, and I can hear the eye roll. "Well, yes, but I meant normally. Let's put clothes on and turn the light back on?"

I nod, knowing he'd feel it, and raise myself off him. We both lose our breath for a moment as we separate, and I feel around to find where on the bed we are.

Turns out, we're right in the center.

I pause for a moment, considering the best way to go about this. We'll never be able to find our clothes with the light off

"Both of us turn around, I'll get under the sheets and turn the light on, then you get dressed and hand me my nightgown?" I suggest.

Maxon agrees, and I feel around for the top of the sheet. I am hindered, however, by Maxon's wandering hands, trying to grab and tickle whatever part of me he could find.

"Cut it out!" I squeal when he finds a particularly ticklish spot on my side.

"Sorry," he laughs, though I know he's anything but.

I finally find the covers, thrown over the side of the bed and twisted so badly it takes the both of us to untangle them.

"Okay, that's enough," I give up. I burrow under the blankets, reaching my arm out to find the light switch. "Ready?"

"Ready," he confirms. I switch the light on, yanking my arm back into my cocoon. I don't trust Maxon to see any part of me and keep his hands to himself right now, and I feel a little self-conscious now that I know he could see me.

"Incoming," he says, and I feel a gentle thud above my head. "I'm decent and turned around, you can come out."

I stick my head out, blinking at the brightness, and see him turned away from me in the corner, just in his boxers.

"I know several people who would not call that decent," I comment, pulling my nightgown over my head. I stand up to let it fall to the floor, then start straightening the covers now that I can see them. "You can turn around."

I hear Maxon walk towards me, but before I can turn to him, he wraps his arms around me from behind, kissing beneath my ear.

"You, my dear, are anything but decent," he murmurs as he nips at my ear, splaying a hand across my belly to pull my body against his.

"Your what?" I push his arms off me to turn around with my hands on my hips. "If you ever want- did I do that?" I gasp. There are ten small crescent shaped cuts on Maxon's pectorals, red but not quite bleeding. That must have been when I pushed him down.

"Yes, you did," Maxon says with a grin. "I'm quite fond of them."

I peer closer. They're really no more than scratches, so I'm not too fussed. "I'm sorry," I say. "But not enough to forget that you called me that."

"I bet I could make you," he teases, trailing kisses down my cheeks.

I shove him away. "Help me straighten these out."

"Yes, Your Highness," he says with a mocking bow.

I roll my eyes and climb into my usual side of the bed. I am more than a little surprised, however, when Maxon gets in bed with me.

"Are you staying?"

Maxon nods. "You thought I wouldn't?"

I prop my head up on my hand, stretching out on my side. My lips twist when I notice Maxon's eyes fix on where my nightdress stretches over my breasts. "I didn't think you could."

He strugs, holding my gaze. "I can do what I want. I folded up all my clothes, so it doesn't look like it was a… spontaneous decision. And I want to look at you more."

I blush. "Well, I'm going to sleep." I brush my hands through his hair, kissing him chastely. "I love you."

Maxon hums into my mouth. "I love you, too."

I reach over to turn the light off, but Maxon stops me. "Please don't."

I look back and I can't resist the puppy dog look on his face. "Fine."

I roll back over, sprawling across him and smushing my face against his chest to block out the light. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Maxon says, sliding a hand to the small of my back to pull me closer. "Oh, America?"

"Mm?"

"I was right- your hair is a disaster."

Maxon yelps when I pinch his hip between my nails, but settles when I press a kiss over his heart.

"Goodnight, Maxon," I grumble.

"Goodnight, my love"

It's the best night's sleep I've ever had.