Author's Note:
Sorry for the long wait! Life keeps me rather busy, but I'm determined to see this to the end. Looks like it's going to be 4 chapters. This story has grown a mind of it's own, and apparently wants to draw itself out. Talk about slow burn. Working on chapter 4 now though, so hopefully it won't be nearly as long in between.
*I do not own The Seven Deadly Sins / Nanatsu no Taizai.
That damn title was going to be the end of him. He was a prince when he was owned by his commandment, and he was a knight when he was owned by his rage; he was nothing but a sinner who had murdered many under the direction of his father and murdered even more under the direction of his own wrath. And here was his mate, his precious goddess, who found him worthy enough to taint herself with his skin. He could feel her internal sense of inadequacy more clearly now through their burgeoning mate bond, a sour note within her tantalizing arousal.
He gently inhaled and exhaled her alluring perfume: grassy meadows, clear skies, the clean smell of rain, the zing of magic, and the tart fruitiness of pomegranate. "You are the last person who should be addressing me with titles in tow, my goddess, my mate, my Elizabeth…"
Meliodas drew his face back a hair's breadth to gaze down on her mussed countenance. Between the darkened room, her magic, and the way the moonlight dancing on her sweat-slicked skin, his mate positively glowed. She was the epitome of holy perfection and he was only a sinner come to her temple to worship. He was loving her in an ancient, universal language and still his mate could not see. A stubborn lump had formed in his throat, but this was Elizabeth. She above all else deserved to know these things in all clarity.
"Elizabeth I…" Damn he was never good with words. He licked his lips, and dual-colored eyes followed the motion hungrily underneath him. The air was stolen from his lungs in a whoosh, and the fearsome demon swallowed again.
"Elizabeth, my precious mate…" Damn it again even the demon in him couldn't possibly vocalize it. The goddess trapped blissfully underneath him squirmed slightly, unknowingly rolling her scarcely-clad hips against his very naked length. Meliodas gritted his teeth, the motion blooming the most delectable pleasure in his groin. Oh what he would give to be inside her already, thrusting hard and fast and mercilessly. No, he had to lock it down. This wasn't something you did just because. This was making love to his one and only mate. She deserved to know that this wasn't a one-time thing, that he had loved her for thousands of years and would love her for forever. She had to know she was worth that love. She deserved at least that much.
Before he knew it, he had dropped closer to her, pressing every inch of himself against her and nuzzling his face into her hair. She squeaked quietly underneath him, drawing a grin to the lips he pressed against her ear. Her arms wrapped around him instantly, unquestioning but pliant with need. His arms had gone rigid, completely encompassing her waist. He could feel the buttons of the shirt she wore press against his abdomen, focused on it and on the smell of pomegranate buried deep into her hair.
The words were whispered pleadingly against the shell of her ear as if confessing at an altar. "Elizabeth… I love you."
The words whispered against her ear were unmistakable. Elizabeth's heart froze somewhere in here throat and she fought to breathe past it. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true, but it must be true because her knight had spoken. And Meliodas was not one to lie, especially about these things.
"I…" the words were quiet and stuttered as she fought to speak them into existence. Elizabeth turned her face to nuzzle against her knight's wild blond locks. Saying them felt so inadequate after his confession to her, but she still needed to tell him. "I love you too… Meliodas."
A delighted purr rumbled in his chest, vibrating against her nipples through the thin fabric of her open shirt. Her lover pulled back slightly, propping himself above her so she could see the brimming joy in his darkened emerald eyes. Oh, what she would give to see that look more often.
She leaned up to kiss the corner of his jawline celebration of his joy and his love, only to be intercepted by his lips instead. He was languid and pliant against her, kissing her slowly and deeply. His tongue was dragging along hers unhurriedly, his teeth tugging against her lips, his breath fanning against her cheek. It was a heady, thankful, reverent kiss. She melted against him with a long, needy sound, trying to move her legs to relieve some heat building in her core only to find they were pinned underneath her knight. A low rumbling reverberated from the demon on top of her, and Meliodas placed one hand against her bare abdomen. He would love her thoroughly and unhurriedly. The thought had her squirming even more against the restraining hand.
"I love you." The pronunciation this time was in her demon's voice, a deep growl shaping the words against her lips. His teeth carved downward against her jawline, her neck, savoring her skin and her quiet moans like they were something delectable or divine. Meanwhile, the hand on her stomach became coated with darkness and edged upward against her body, tracing languid lines against the dip of her belly button, the swell of her rib cage, the seam between her breasts. There, the demon paused his ministrations and cast a hooded gaze at her, waiting.
Elizabeth waited in hot agony, panting slightly and pressing her legs together where her core was starting to ache. When she made no move with the pause, the demon placed his fingers gently against the edge of the white unbuttoned cotton shirt that was still barely covering his lover, then looked meaningfully up at her again. Asking permission, she realized with a lust-glazed mind. Oh. Her ability to make words seemed to have escaped her, she wasn't even sure if her tongue remembered how to form them in the first place, so the princess settled for a nod.
The look on her demon's face was equal parts awed, heady, and wicked. Meliodas ever so gently drew one half of the shirt apart, bearing a creamy breast to the moonlight. He paused again, staring and not moving, presumably drinking in the sight. Elizabeth shifted underneath him, a blush crawling from her cheeks down towards her chest. The movement seemed to call her knight out of his moment of awe. He shifted down to press a gentle kiss near the top of her breast.
"I love you so much…" These words were gusty, quiet, disbelieving, a prayer whispered against the sensitive skin of her untouched breast. The announcement was followed by a gentle kiss, and another further down, as her knight slowly drew his lips from the top to the underside of the immaculate round, then back up towards a dusky nipple. A soft gasp was pulled from her throat as he at last placed his lips against the peak. Once was chaste, then he returned to languidly press his lips against the pinkened circle. The slow friction was tantalizing as her knight dragged lips, tongue, teeth against the sensitive flesh. The gentle wetness of his mouth against her there was causing noises to catch in her voice, hitched breathes and mewling sounds that she was sure she couldn't duplicate under any other circumstances.
One quiet moan jumped in octave at the feeling of his other hand dipping under the other side of her shirt. Meliodas palmed the yet untreated breast, his fingers dipping into the inside valley and the back over the peak. Another pass, and the demon switched his attentions, nosing aside the last remaining scrap of shirt to dart his tongue out over her moonlit skin while his opposite hand played with the other, moistened breast. Goddesses, she was coming undone and Elizabeth knew it. Her skin felt hot. Her heart was hammering. The delicious treatment of her breasts was making heat pool at the apex of her thighs. And the cause of it all…
"Meliodas…" He was drawing his fingers back up towards her shoulders now to guide the sleeves down and off her arms. The knight paused in his ministrations, drinking in the sound of his name and only his name on her lust-laden voice. She knew he must love that, but the suddenly darker gleam to his eyes and the black flames shifting impatiently over his skin told her that he was determined to do even better. If she could still form a complete word, well he wasn't doing things right now, was he?
The thought passed through her as she shimmied out of the sleeves of the shirt she had borrowed from his dresser not long ago. As soon as the cotton was off her, he was against her again, more fervent than before. His tongue was in her mouth, demanding, dominating all over again, pulling moans from the crevices of her being. The princess's skin felt alive all of a sudden as their bare chests pressed together, soft breasts against hard muscle. His hands were running up and down her sides, tracing symbols into the dip in her waist and the swell of her hip. One snuck around to fully grasp her backside, encouraging her with a squeeze to arch closer to him. And she did, raising against him to seam their hips together and press his hard naked length into a warm moist dip in her panties.
The feeling of him pressed against her in her most intimate area was like a streak of white light through her being. This time her moan tumbled into his own vocalized need, a viscous growl that sounded more stifled than before. She pushed against him again, chasing the sensation that she had unknowingly been craving with every squirm and clenched thighs. She was rewarded with another streak of heat racing from her core outwards, all the way to the tips of her fingers. The sound she strung from Meliodas was an even greater reward.
"E-lizabeth…" Her name was spoken in a whispered moan. Something in her loved that she could elicit such a response from the big bad demon. As if sensing the rogue thought, her demon steadied his grip against her hips, fingers pressing her firmly against every inch of his body, and thrust purposefully against her covered core.
She forgot to breathe as the feeling of heat ripped through her again, stronger this time. She clung to his shoulders as he did it again, surrendering herself to the sensation at his will. Goddesses, she would follow him to the ends of time if he would just give her more. As if sensing the desperation in his princess, the demon ceased his actions, going completely still. Elizabeth whined plaintively, concerned suddenly with the unfairness of it all. Why would he just stop like that?
"Elizabeth," his voice was husky and commanding. The feeling of his dark voice against her sent her arching against him again, but uncompromising hands held her fast.
"Elizabeth, look at me," he demanded. She was not one to resist. The princess peeked through messy silver bangs with cerulean and citrine eyes, a gaze heavy and glazed with unyielding need. She was met with the blackened gaze of her demon. Her mate.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" A hint of green swirled against his void-black eyes, as one of his fingers toyed with the hem of her underwear. "I… I don't know if I'm strong enough to pull back."
The princess struggled to process what her knight was saying. Licking her dry lips, she pressed into him again. The friction was delicious against her core, drawing a demonic hiss from her lover. In a moment she was pinned more firmly again, hands on her hips unyielding.
"Elizabeth, stop for a moment, you have to understand." She paused at his command, spellbound by the concern in his dark emerald eyes and the shape of his lips. "I… if we go much farther, we may, well, go all the way. I'll try to stop if you tell me to, honest, but I'm not sure how much control I really have over him. I… I, we, I mean, we-"
Elizabeth watched transfixed as more and more green bleed into his eyes, the black beginning to fade completely for the first time since he'd come into the room commented on her pomegranate bath oil. And she could feel it, somewhere in her soul: Meliodas was clamming up. He was shutting her out again, after he had told her he loved her and everything. Did he regret it? Had he shown her too much?
She was laying underneath his naked body, completely bare but for the panties he still was fiddling with. They could never go back to the way things were before. And she wanted this now. She wanted him. The princess swallowed carefully, trying desperately to conjure words past the insatiable need that was still smoldering unquenched between her legs.
"I love you, Meliodas," Elizabeth murmured, drawing her hands up his naked chest and neck to rest against either side of his chin. "I love all of you. And I want this. I want you. I want all of you. Please, Meliodas. Please, mate…"