My fingers trace over his shoulders as I press my palms into the muscles of his shoulder blades and press up, rolling the flesh beneath my greedy hands. His arms are folded, hands under his chin as I straddle his hips, hovering over this glorious man in the pale morning light. 

 Verando hums in appreciation as I rake my nails down his back then drag my palms up once more. The shiny skin of the scars catches the inkling of morning light, glistening in contrast against his skin. 

"Good morning." I purr, enjoying the feel of him under my fingers. "I didn't know that you liked massages."

He exhales, disappointed that I chose to talk over silence. "Me either." His commentary is short-lived in his groggy state as I had robbed him of his morning sprawl. 

I trace down the line in the middle of his back, using both hands to work my way down in circular motions. "The servants use to give me massages in lavender oil after my bath, it was quite lovely I dare to say. I miss it some days, though you do pamper me quite often with foot rubs." 

I feel the tension creep into his body and marvel at how it starts at his shoulders. 

"Mmm... poor love, must have been exhausting." He sounds only partially amused, and I chuckle, bending to kiss the nape of his neck. I drink in his scent, the way his chest rises and falls, and his inviting warmth. "Do you intend to sit on my pelvis all day? I'm not a chair, you know."

Rolling my eyes, I tangle my hand in his hair and give it a gentle tug. "I'm trying to do something nice for you, and I don't weigh much, so maybe you should complain less. Can you blame me?  Do you know how rare it is that I get to appreciate what is mine?" 

I can feel him smirking; it radiates over his whole body. As much as he tries to not allow it to show, he is a vain creature. I drag my fingers through his hair, tangling and pulling, rolling the locks around as my heart rate climbs. I press a kiss between his shoulder blades, then another slightly lower. 

With a rumbling growl, in a smooth motion, he lifts himself, and I slide off unceremoniously onto my hip. Moving to catch my lips, I stop him with my hand placed carefully over his mouth. 

"I'm not done with you yet." It's so tempting to command him, to play my own role in which I'm the dominant for a short amount of time.

It never ceases to amaze me the limits and peaks of my sexuality. 

My entire life I'd played the submissive and yet with this man, the most dominant I'd ever been with, the thought of commanding him gives me such a delicious thrill in the small moments in which it occurred. It was always in service of him, as I preferred, but having him at my mercy was the greatest reward for my continued obedience. 

I place my hand on his chest, warning him with my eyes as I press him back onto the bed and straddle him once more. With a wicked grin, I produce a tie. "Wrists, please, Sir. I don't want you escaping." 

Reluctance clouds his vision, and I know he's concerned about our previous ambush. He'd hardly slept well the past few nights, up at all hours to patrol the house. I reach to touch the darkened circles under his light eyes with my thumb and cup his cheek. 

"If you're too tired... I understand. I'm going to be really offended if you fall asleep when I'm trying to seduce you."

Kissing my palm, he produces his wrists. "No, not tired, frightened. You've been quite bold recently, worried about what you might do to me." 

His tone is light, I have my 'Randy' back. How long had it been since I'd thought of that name for him? In passing, it was always simpler, but it hadn't been lost on me that to Marisol, he was 'Doe' and to him, she was Kitten. Just as I was Nic, yet, his name ebbed and flowed for me, just as he did. 

Expertly, by true accounts clumsily, I bind his wrists to place them over his head to produce the effect I'd come to covet of his flexed arms. "You should be. I haven't had my fill of you." I kiss him, melting my lips against his as I invade his mouth with my tongue and delight in the taste of him. Kissing him was something I never grew tired of, that I'd never get enough of. 

The way his lips moved against mine, the way his tongue rolled against my own, the taste of him. My hips grind against his pelvis as I slowly knead the delicious pectoral muscle. 

I kiss him until I'm breathless before finally moving down his body to tease his nipple with my tongue. He responds by writhing and I place my hand on his chest to pin him. "You know, for someone with so much experience, you shouldn't be so sensitive."

Rolling his eyes at me dramatically, I appreciate the view of my bound warlord gazing down his chest at me. "I normally did the touching, if you recall. It's only you who gets to touch me." 

His breath catches as I lick and suck, rolling his nipple between my teeth. I'd never get enough of him, his body was mine for the taking as I sank my teeth into the meat of his chest, making him groan in frustration. 

"Why?"My hand wraps around the firm cock that presses against me as I trend lower. I slowly move my hand, hoping to be tempted by some truths. 

He exhales through his teeth, "Because I love you."

Music to my ears. 

"Do you know how sexy your accent is when you're hot and bothered? " I bite down on one of the defined abdominals as I move down his body. Kissing a trail of heated skin as I go. I twist my hand as I move, earning a shakey exhale as he threatens to squirm beneath me. 

Sliding my hand up, I pinch one of his nipples between my thumb and forefinger, and he flashes me a warning glance. "You know, I don't often see you like this. I kind of like it."

 My masochistic warlord. While I wasn't willing to beat him, I could indulge in this minimalistic way. "How long could I keep you like this?" My rhythm is inconsistent, teasing him, swirling my thumb over the head of his manhood before lazily stroking. There was no way I'd let him get anywhere close to completion until I was fully satisfied.

"Are you going to talk all day?" He challenges me, encouraging me. 

I raise an eyebrow at him. 

Squeezing him firmly in my hand produces a sultry growl that is almost my undoing. I'm not going to last much longer if he keeps responding this way. "If I so please. This is me taking care of you, remember?" I drag my tongue over the tip of his length, "Ask me nicely."

"Use me however would satisfy you, darling." His husky voice makes me shudder, and I take him in my mouth, shivering at the moan I'm rewarded with. "Fucking hell." He murmurs breathlessly, I smirk as I swallow as much of him as possible. 

Savoring every inch of him with my tongue. I'd effectively given him permission to let go, to respond in ways one can't when they're in a position of power. "Choke on it." He groans as I relish in the shudder of his hips as I work him with my mouth. From here, I can see why he is so generous with his oral participation. 

Watching him come apart from this angle put me closer and closer to the edge. I hum against him as his breathing quickens, and he grips the pillows over his head. 

Just before he can finish, I stop, leaving his panting but smirking wickedly at my horrible manners. "Foul creature." He manages, making me chuckle as I kiss the tip of his length. 

"You're driving me crazy with all these sounds you're making. I'd almost mistake you for a bottom." I tease as I climb his body to straddle his hips.

 Verando shakes his head at my vulgarity, and I kiss him once more as I grind my hips against his. "Is this what you want?" I speak against his lips, my own body on fire and pleading for release.

 Grinding back against me, he catches my lip in his teeth, and I know I'm losing control of this situation. The desperation in which he kisses me, the heat burning in that sultry gaze, I want him to and I'm at my limit as I reach across him to grab the bottle of lubricant. 

Leaning over him was a mistake as he kissed my chest, worshiping me with his mouth wherever he could. Groaning, I hover over him as I expose my neck to this sinful man. "I love when you kiss my neck." I manage, clutching his hair, grinding against him as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder. 

Straightening myself, I press my hands firmly against his chest and position myself over him. "Must you always bite me?" I demand, applying lube to my fingers before trailing my hands down to stroke him. "Did nobody teach you manners?"

"You're incredible. Gods, I want you." Verando breathes, gritting his teeth at my relentless teasing. In my head, I'd planned to tease him, to make him scream and beg, but that's not what I wanted from him. That wasn't our dynamic. I use my fingers to prepare myself, letting him watch as I support myself on his abdomen, before lowering myself onto him.

 As he fills me, it's easy to lose myself and forget all other plans beyond pleasing him. I start to move, rocking back against him desperately as my body ignites, whimpering as he bucks his hips back against me. 

"Randy!" I plead, only to hear him curse as his hands come up to wrap around my neck and yank me down to him. I stare at him wide-eyed, panting and overcome with this remarkable man. 

"We're in Marisol's house, love. As much as I'd love to hear you, best if we keep it quiet." 

Ever the responsible one. I chuckle sheepishly as I kiss him and start to move once more. Reaching back behind my head with one hand, I untie his hands, and he slides one down my body to rest on my hips as he moves against me. 

I bury my face in his neck so he can hear me as I plead with him. "Say you'll marry me." He growls against my ear. I could feel the inkling of restraint, being careful with me, knowing my body was not at one hundred percent. But simultaneously, he needed to reconnect as badly as I did. We almost lost each other in that fire; I needed him, gods did I need him. 

I can't help but smile at the demand. It's as if he wouldn't believe me until it happened. 

"Not even the end of the world could prevent me from becoming Mr.Mercer." 

I start to quicken, and he flips us over, pinning me beneath him as he takes me. My body feels hot and sticky; my legs feel like they belong to someone else as I ride out the waves of my completion. His lips stifle my cries; I cling to him, dragging my nails across his back, scratching and clawing as I'm unable to control how I roll against him.

"Fuck, Nic." He manages, finishing inside of me, making me shiver as he moans low in my ear. I take his breath away, and that's incredibly satisfying to me. I kiss him lightly, smirking up at him as he plasters my face with gentle pecks, then brushing his nose affectionately against mine. 

 Untying the remainder of the tie from his wrist, he tosses it on the nightstand, and I grunt at the motion, rolling lazily onto my side while clinging to him to ensure he wouldn't be moving any time soon. The digital clock buzzes a careless 7:45 AM, almost as if it's taunting me. 

"I love you," I tell him simply. 

Kissing the top of my head, he trails his fingers up and down my side in quiet appreciation. "I feel thoroughly loved. I love you, too." It's something we never say often enough, a quiet agreement between us that is almost common knowledge. 

I had never allowed myself to be loved and he'd never loved anyone, it was a subject neither of us was comfortable with and the silence alone spoke the words we so rarely could utter. 

"I love you beyond any fathomable reach of this universe. I bare all to you, my heart-" He takes my hand and kisses it. "My soul." He kisses my fingers. "My body."

I stretch in delight, shy at the admissions of adoration. "Mmm, your body I'll take." I muse playfully. "You can be so romantic, you know." He scoffs, and I press my cheek to his chest as I watch him trace my fingers just as I had earlier. 

"What were you looking at? Before?"

I place my hand over his, showing him the size difference in that his palm and fingers were longer. While I did have long fingers, I had smaller palms, which caused his hand to almost dwarf mine in width and length. My hands weren't meant for the labor that he had endured. 

"When I met you, you had calluses. But now, they're smooth. I was thinking about your life before and was happy you were with me. I know you don't like pity; I'm just glad that the marks of my father's curse are slowly being lifted one by one. Besides the fact that your hands are huge." 

I tap the space on his ring finger. "Not much longer, and you'll be a married man."

Verando grows quiet, taking it all in, slowly stroking my side in a calm rhythm. "I've never wanted anything more in my entire life than to belong to you, and you belong to me. I've never... owned.. anything. I've stolen stuff, of course, but it's easier not to lay claim on things that can be taken away quite easily. Fires, disasters, theft, it's all temporary and can be taken at any moment, but this-" 

He slides his hand out of mine to catch my chin and tilt my head to meet his gaze. "You. You are mine. You are all I will ever want, all I will ever need. If I have you, I am whole. I wish it hadn't taken me losing you so many times to realize that." 

I feel my eyes well up as I prop myself on my elbow to look down at him.  

"Who are you?" I demand with a laugh, brushing my nose against his. "What changed?"

"Seeing you dead in that damned ocean because of me and knowing that you had to do all of that on your own because of my damn pride and selfishness. I will never do that to you again-" 

I interrupt him with my lips and find that I'm falling for him all over again. As I kiss him, I lose myself in him, and we tangle once more in something that I can only describe as lovemaking. As I surface from the afterglow and the unconsciousness that followed, I curse at the time and scramble to get ready as he laughs at my frantic behavior. 

Even though I'm ungodly sore in more ways than one, with my back throbbing from the abuse, I was thoroughly satisfied.

We shower, though I request that he doesn't shave. Getting dressed in semi-formal clothes, I'm unsure how one dresses for a family holiday. We're greeted by a very pregnant Marisol, who looks increasingly uncomfortable every day. 

He kisses her cheek as she snacks on a waffle and grumbles at our laziness for sleeping in. I'm unsure if she didn't hear us or was just too disgusted to say anything, but I accept it for what it's worth.

 "Are we sure we want to go over there?" She sighs, adjusting her kinky hair. "It's going to be damn depressing."

Verando gives her a look, "Yes. Especially because it's going to be depressing, they lost their mother. They need us. Familia."

She rolls her eyes in typical warlord fashion and elbows him as she grumbles in Spanish. "Sometimes I dislike you. Just for a little bit, then we come home and eat real food. So much food." 

"I'll make you whatever you want," I reassure her, figuring her good side was the best place to be on, considering our lack of a home at the moment. "We'll just spend a few hours, and then we'll be right back home. You don't even have to be pleasant."

Grumbling, she snags a jar of pickles and effectively maces my warlord as she opens the jar. 

I had always wondered what it took to make that man's stomach flip; considering the amount of death and gore he partook in, I had imagined that the item didn't exist. Sure, he got seasick, but nothing that made him do more than pale. 

The jar of green, pickled cucumbers made him retch and back away from her as if she had the plague. She and I exchange glances at the theatrics as he holds his hand over his mouth and tries to come to terms with his new existence in the land of suffering.

 "Wow, Doe. Really? Pickles? Did they give you a vagina while we were in that hospital, as well?"

"That is vile, Kitten. Put the lid back on that; it is not going in my car."

Sticking her tongue out at him, she wrenches the lid back on and gives him a sarcastic sneer as she puts it back. "Quite dramatic. Are you sure you're not the pregnant one?"

"I've spent years training my nose to recognize scents; perhaps you should be more considerate." He snaps back in annoyance, making me scratch my head as I try to decipher if they hate each other or were actually in love at one point. "That can't be healthy for you."

"They're low calorie! I'm watching my figure!"

"Do what? Expand-" He pauses, and she glowers as he holds his hands up in defense and surrender. "I acknowledge that that was poorly phrased."

I wonder how long she'd torture him before she killed him and if I'd be able to save him in time as she turns on her heel and storms out of the house for the car. Growling in frustration, he gives me a stern look. 

"You're never getting pregnant. I know it's physically impossible, but no. No. No. No. And no." 

"What did I do?!" I demand, and he shakes his head as he guides me out of the house and locks the door behind us.