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Y/n

It started with a liplock and ended with her getting thrown on Jimin's bed.

A gasp wrenched out of her as her back hit the mattress and Jimin's body enveloped hers. Their lips met once again, and it hurt like fire but tasted like bliss. Her eyes screwed shut as her legs wrapped around his waist with her dress rising up her thighs. The cloak came off long ago, discarded somewhere in the corner. Next came the strings holding up her attire. The corset popped off and slumped to the ground as Jimin's callused hands caressed her waist and coaxed her dress down.

"You're so..." Jimin broke off to pant, pressing soft kisses down her cheek, jaw, and neck. "I don't care what they say. I don't care if they kill me. You're... I want you. I need you."

Never in her life did she think she'd hear anyone so breathy and desperate for her, let alone the prince of her rival. Yet there she was, listening to his scratchy noises as he positioned his body above hers and used those cracked, plump lips of his to pleasure her.

His himation came off, followed by the rest of the barriers between them. Somehow, a kiss had escalated into... whatever that was. Y/n's mind numbed with ecstasy, and it transported her away from the moment. That meant she had no time to process how the physical touch escalated from a kiss to their bare figures pressed against one another's.

Jimin gasped and heaved as if he were in battle, and she watched as he hovered over her with his nose skimming by hers. His beautiful eyes scanned over her before, once again, he eliminated the gap between them. Those rough lips touched hers with more gentleness than ever, and she sunk into the feeling without complaint.

"You're beautiful," he whispered after parting from her, kissing down her face again and holding her waist. "Please, I want you."

"My prince, was I not the one who came to you asking you to kiss me?" She chuckled and brought his head back up to meet her gaze. "Do you hear any protests from me?"

"I do not, my fair princess." He kissed her forehead and stayed close to the point where their breaths tangled together like their legs. "But I do not hear the answer I wish to hear."

"And that is?"

"That you want me, too."

"Did shoving my tongue down your throat not prove it, my prince?" she asked with a quirked brow, and he snorted.

"My princess, please, humor me. The most beautiful woman in the kingdoms is in my bed, so maybe it is selfish to ask for more, but I yearn for it anyway. Please..."

She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, brushing her thumb back and forth on his skin. "I want you, Park Jimin."

And without further ado, he took her. They kept it down for sake of not alerting others to Y/n's presence, but she couldn't stop the small whispers of his name, or the soft moans as he kissed her neck and was careful not to leave bruises her family would see, or the heavy breaths from his proximity. The time slipped away, and soon enough, they both found ecstasy.

Sweat coated Jimin's chest and head as he rolled beside her and motioned for her to join. She needed a moment to recover from the intensity of the past ten minutes, but she managed to do so when she saw his gorgeous hickory irises staring at her with wide pupils.

Her hand relaxed on his shoulder as she hoisted herself on his chest. She didn't mind the stickiness there. As long as it came from him, she didn't care. Perhaps that sounded off, but that was yet another thing she didn't care about. Rivals, enemies, whatever else anyone wanted to call them, it didn't matter—she adored him. If not for those alluring eyes, then for his charms that could sway an entire kingdom to his side.

"You're incredible," he said, breathless. "So beautiful... so..." He kissed the top of her head. "What did I do in a past life to deserve such a fair princess like you, hm?"

"Try for peace between our kingdoms, I'd assume." She paused to peek up at him, and he returned it with a soft smile as he brushed his hand through her hair, never looking anywhere than at her. Y/n cherished the moment for longer than she probably should, and then continued. "I didn't know you believed in past lives."

"ხეთა ხე," he said, and she stiffened.

"What?"

He threw his head back to let out a squeaky laugh that showed off the chipped front tooth he had. When he came back to her with his lips parted and the tooth still on display, he shook his head at her. Dark locks fell in his face as a result.

"You're the cutest little thing, princess." He stopped so he could press his nose against hers to tease her, and then he backed up to continue speaking. "It means Tree of Trees. Kayira believes in the Tree of Life."

"Kayira believes, but what do you believe?"

Jimin's smile grew as he peered at her. "I believe, too. I want to, anyway. The Tree of Life is at the center of our world, and it connects all living things through every cycle of life: birth, death, reincarnation, and whatever waits beyond. It determines whether you reincarnate or ascend to the afterlife, and we must protect the Tree with all our heart and soul."

"Do you believe your tree outside is the one?"

"I'd like to. Dali blesses it, I think. How else would such life persist in a wasteland like mine?"

"Fair point, my prince. My kingdom has something similar, and we know of the Tree of Life since it connects with our Suleti."

"Your... what?"

She kissed his cheek, unable to resist his cuteness. "Our underworld, we call it Suleti, or the Realm of Souls. The souls, or suli we call them, separate from their bodies and go into the afterlife. It's not good, not bad, just a neutral place for souls to rest."

"And you believe it?"

Y/n didn't answer for a long beat, and Jimin didn't pry. She sucked in a sharp breath, the sweat sticking to her an afterthought as she nuzzled a hair closer to her beloved. "No. I want to, but after what I've seen..."

"Hey, my dearest, you don't have to tell me. Please, do not feel pressured to."

"But I do." She kept her hand on his cheek, stroking his skin with her thumb a bit faster than before. "When I... drowned, the souls of the past came for me. They screamed and screamed, louder than any sound I've ever heard. Louder than a ghazhazhila when it dies. Their faces were melting off, but I could not tell who they were, and they grabbed me and... pulled me apart."

"Pulled you apart?"

"Yes." She gasped as she said the single word, and he shushed her and brought her close, kissing her forehead and continuing to brush her hair. That didn't deter her, though. Not when she had never talked about it before. She needed to. At least once. "It was all black with fire. I thought I was dead, but I felt more alive than ever, and I think that was purposeful. So I could feel the pain. The pain of them tearing me apart cell-by-cell. Not piece by piece, no, it went beyond that. They tore every molecule off my bones and flesh. They ate it, too. I watched them devour what was left of me, and it wasn't over until a giant hand came down and put me back together. That was when I woke up in the real world."

"My... my princess." Jimin stopped and rocked her back and forth. His thumb wiped away the tear she didn't know fell. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what that was like."

She clung to him as she allowed herself the vulnerability of more tears. "Awful. It was awful, but what's worse is I don't know what I did. Surely we wouldn't be punished so severely just for existing, yes? Then why did I get such a gruesome fate? Why did I get torn apart? What did I do, my prince? What sin did I commit to deserve it?"

"Nothing. You're perfect, princess. Absolutely perfect."

He smooshed her against him, and she never felt so frail before. Yet, somehow, it wasn't unpleasant. With him, nothing ever was.

"Thank you," she whispered against his chest, leaving a kiss there before peeping up at him. "But I don't want to talk about it anymore. Can we... talk about something else?"

"Of course, honey. What do you want to talk about? Anything you want."

She pried her brain for answers, but not much came; however, after a moment, she realized the entire reason she was there was lost in her ecstasy with him. That had her eyes widening as she locked them on his pretty ones.

"We should get married."

Jimin's chipped tooth showed as he dropped his mouth into an o. "What?"

"To unite our kingdoms. Don't you think a marriage would work?"

Right away, Jimin slid out of bed and, while naked, jumped around his room without a care in the world. He pumped his fists in the air and laughed with his dark hair bouncing on the side of his face.

Well, it wasn't the only thing bouncing.

"Jimin," she said as the man did soft cheers that were like whispers so no one walking by could hear. "Make yourself decent first, hm?"

"Right, right." He chuckled as he came back to bed with her and pulled her on his chest again. "I'm sorry, my love. I did not mean to flash you."

"Oh, I don't mind, it just looks... weird when it's doing that."

He feigned offense with knitted brows and a huff. "You think something on my body is weird, princess? I'm hurt, so hurt."

She dropped her voice to a mumble and averted her gaze. "It certainly felt far from weird when it was insi-"

"Y/n!"

Y/n laughed but didn't have a chance to let more sounds out, seeing as he kissed her, and it ended with him on top of her once more, holding her close and never letting go. When he pulled his lips away, he whispered to her.

"I'm ignoring that for sake of my sanity, of which I have very little." He held up his tiny index finger as if to make a statement before adding more to his words. "But." He poked the baby-like finger on her cheek. "Marriage could work, princess."

Despite the humor of the situation that eased her heart of the burdens of her past—the past she had just shared for the first time in her life—she kept her face neutral. Serious, even. And she fired out the question before she could stop herself.

"Do you want to marry me?"

Jimin didn't so much as hesitate.

"I do."

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