Summary: Makaer seeks forgiveness after frightening you during an argument
Warnings: None, just more fluff that has been rattling in my brain 😭
The argument began over something small, so small that later neither of you could remember how it had started.
Rain battered the windows of the tower chamber while the fire snapped in the hearth. You, his young bride stood near the table, hands clenched in the folds of your gown, trying desperately to explain yourself while Prince Maekar Targaryen paced before you like a storm given flesh.
“You never listen,” he snapped.
“I was only trying to—”
“You were told what was expected of you.”
His voice struck the stone walls hard enough to make you flinch. Maekar was not a gentle man by nature. Sternness sat in him as naturally as breathing, and anger came quickly when he felt challenged.
You looked away.
“I did not mean disrespect.”
“But you gave it.”
The words came harsher than he intended, sharpened by exhaustion and pride. He saw your mouth part slightly, as if you wished to answer, but then your expression crumpled instead, and tears welled in your eyes.
You turned away from him quickly, pressing a hand to your face as though ashamed he might see.
And suddenly the room felt horribly silent.
Maekar’s anger vanished so swiftly it left him cold.
Gods.
He stared at your rigid shoulders and realized, with a sick heaviness in his chest, that he had frightened you.The last thing in the world he wanted.
You, his bride, was a bright laughter in dark halls, warmth beside him at supper, soft hands reaching for his when no one watched. You spoke endlessly about little things he never would have cared for before meeting you, and now he listened simply because he loved hearing your voice.
And he had reduced you to tears. Maekar swallowed hard.
“Look at me.”
You shook your head. His chest tightened painfully. He crossed the room slower this time, cautiously, as though approaching a wounded creature. He reached for your hand.
"Please.”
That word sounded strange from him. Rare. At last you turned. Your cheeks were flushed, lashes wet, and you looked so wounded by his temper that shame burned through him.
“I should not have shouted at you,” he said quietly.
You said nothing.
“I was angry, and I spoke cruelly.” He exhaled sharply through his nose. “You did not deserve it.”
Your lips trembled again. “You looked at me as though you hated me.”
The words struck him harder than any blade.
“Hate you?” he repeated, almost disbelieving. “I could never hate you.”
He reached for your other hand slowly, giving you time to pull away if you wished. When you did not, he cupped your face carefully in both hands, thumbs brushing the tears from beneath your eyes.
“I am sorry,” he said again, softer now. “Truly.”
For a long moment you simply looked at him. Then, quietly: “You frightened me.”
Pain flickered across his face.
Maekar lowered his forehead against yours and closed his eyes. “I know.” His voice roughened. “And I swear I will regret it longer than you will.”
Hi can I please request a Zuko x reader where she loves how ripped he is, and how big he is aswell, her hand is always on his bicep and she loves stuffing her face in them and his broad chest
She absolutely loves how strong he is and how he picks her up so easily
oo okay, i'll give it a shot
pairings: zuko x fem!reader
rating: pg
The first time Zuko noticed was during a council meeting.
He was focused on a trade dispute; you were sitting next to him. You should've been paying attention, but you could have honestly cared less.
Your hand found it's place to Zuko's arm, absentmindedly squeezing his bicep through the thick fabric of his robes.
You squeezed again. Then again, fingers digging into his arm slightly.
Zuko paused mid-sentence. The council members continued discussing shipping routes while he slowly glanced down at you and where your hand was on his arm.
He leaned down slightly to whisper to you, breath warm against your ear, "Is there a reason you're doing that, hm?"
You blinked, feigning innocence, "Doing what?" You whispered back, your eyes flicked to the council members to see if they had noticed you and Zuko speaking. They hadn't, yet.
"That." He flexed his muscle under your hand, and your fingers squeezed tighter instinctively.
Your cheeks warmed with embarrassment, glancing away. "I like your muscles."
You hadn't realized your words had come out so loud until the council members went silent, their eyes turning to you.
You wished the floor would open up and swallow you whole.
"I..I think I should go check on Princess Izumi..." You breathed as you awkwardly stood, "Forgive me, my lords." You bowed your head before scurrying off.
Zuko had to pretend not to be amused.
Later that night, Zuko was attempting to read through the high pile of reports and letters he had been putting off.
You wandered inside, hands clasped behind your back. You made your way to stand behind him, draping your arms over his shoulders.
He lowered the paper in his hands, glancing over his shoulder.
He stood up, intending to face you to see what it was that you needed but once he turned you were pressing yourself up against him, face buried in his chest.
He raised a brow, hand moving to rest on the back of your head.
"Are you alright?"
"You're comfortable." Your words were muffled against his chest.
"Comfortable? I'm not furniture." Despite the annoyance he tried to put into his tone, he was smiling.
He wrapped his arms around you, lifting you up and putting you over his shoulder.
"A-ah!" You squeaked, "What are you doing?"
You felt heat rise to your cheeks, but you were more flustered than embarrassed this time. He picked you up so easily, like you weighed nothing. It made warmth bloom in your chest.
Zuko laughed, gently tossing (more so placing) you down on the couch. He sat down as well, opening his arms, "Come here, then."
You pushed yourself upright and moved closer to push yourself against him, sighing contentedly when his arms wrapped around you.
"You know," He muttered, "most wives compliment their husbands normally." There was no real conviction in his tone, only the warmth of affection.
You only hummed in response.
Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya
I'm starting a book series of portraits of all Targaryen married couples (and unions with more people). Kings, queens, princes and princesses, all marriages both within and outside the family. This work will take a long time, but I'm ready to do it 💪
─ summary: Your desire and drive for your husband often outpaces his own. Never once have you said no. Imagine Maekar's confusion when you finally do.
─ pairing: Maekar Targaryen x wife!reader
─ word count: 2.5k
─ content: 18+ MDNI | fluff | pregnancy | domestic fluff | misunderstanding | a woman at her absolute limit | husband fearing for his life
─ a/n: We are almost at the end for my favourite couple on this blog. Girlie is ready to pop. This is also quite literally the opposite of this ask so I apologise for that — but this is what came to mind when I read it. Thank you always for reading and interacting. 🖤
Maekar stepped into the dimly lit bedchamber and pushed the door shut with his shoulder, exhaustion deep in his bones. It had been a miserable succession of hours, filled with petitions, disputes, and the endless, grinding bureaucracy of his station. His head throbbed with a dull rhythm behind his eyes, and his shoulders felt as though they were bearing the weight of the entire castle's stone.
He stood still for a moment, allowing the silence of the room to wash over him. Usually, by the time he managed to escape his duties, the chambers were dark and cold, the fire reduced to a pile of grey ash, and you, his wife, long lost to the world of sleep. It had been this way for days; a cycle of missed connections and silent beds that left him feeling more like a visitor in his own life than a husband. He had braced himself for the same sight tonight, for the loneliness of undressing in the dark and sliding into cold sheets alone.
But the room was not dark.
Two candles still burned on the bedside table, their flames casting a warm, golden glow against the stone walls. And there you were, propped up against the mountain of pillows, your eyes open and fixed on the heavy tome resting on your rounded belly.
Maekar let out a breath he felt he had been holding since sunrise. He crossed the room, his boots making little sound and stopped at the edge of the bed.
"You are awake still?" he asked. His voice was rougher than he intended, scraped dry by the day's use.
You lowered the book slowly, your gaze lifting to meet his. You looked tired, the skin beneath your eyes shadowed, but the candlelight caught the warmth in your irises. "I am."
A simple statement, yet the way you said it, the slight flatness of the tone, the tightness at the corners of your mouth, sent a subtle warning signal through him. He knew that tone. It was the sound of patience worn thin, a rope fraying, pulled taut by the discomfort of carrying another life. He had learned over the past months that the landscape of your moods had shifted; once open paths were now mined with irritability. It was best to tread lightly.
"I am glad. I feared I would miss you again."
You offered a small, tired smile that did not quite reach your eyes. "I was too uncomfortable to sleep."
As you shifted, adjusting your position against the pillows, and pushed the covers off of you, the candlelight illuminated more than just your face. Maekar's breath caught in his throat.
He had been prepared for a nightgown of heavy linen, something modest and practical. What he saw was something else entirely.
The garment you wore was barely a garment at all. It was made of a sheer fabric that clung to your skin, doing almost nothing to hide the body beneath. Two thin straps of the same translucent material were the only things holding it up over your shoulders. The bodice was cut low, the fabric so fine that the dark flush of your areolas was clearly visible through the weave. Your stomach, heavy with the child you had made together, pressed outward, the sheer cloth stretching tight over the magnificent curve, leaving nothing to the imagination.
His gaze traveled downward, following the line of your body. The hem of the nightgown had ridden up with your movement, stopping scandalously high on your thighs. It was so short that it served almost no purpose. He could see the full, lush curve of your backside where it pressed into the mattress, and the space between your thighs where the fabric failed to cover you at all. You were, for all intents and purposes, naked.
The exhaustion that had been weighing him down vanished, replaced instantly by a hot, sharp rush of blood. Every frustration of the day, every petty argument he had endured, every scroll he had signed dissolved. There was only the sudden, overwhelming need to be inside you.
He stood frozen for a moment, his hand gripping the bedpost until his knuckles turned white. He wanted to touch you, to run his hands over that sheer fabric and feel the heat of your skin beneath. He wanted to bury his face between your thighs until he could not think straight.
But he restrained himself. The warning in your voice echoed in his mind. He took a long, steadying breath and forced himself to move, to break the spell of the visual before he did something foolish.
"I will wash," he said, his voice sounding strained to his own ears. "And then join you."
He turned away from the bed and moved toward the basin on the table across the room. The water was cold, but he barely felt it as he splashed it onto his face, trying to cool the fire burning under his skin. He could feel your eyes on him. He reached for the towel, drying his face with rough, jerky movements.
Behind him, the sheets rustled.
"Must you do that quite so loudly?" you asked.
Maekar paused, lowering his hand slowly. He had not thought he was being loud, but then, his senses were currently overwhelmed. To you, perhaps the sound of splashing water and the scratch of cloth seemed like a clamor.
"My apologies," he said, turning back to you once more. He noted, with a twinge of self-deprecation, that he had been apologizing a great deal lately.
He began to undress, making a conscious effort to slow his movements, to be as silent as a shadow in the room. He pulled his tunic over his head, the fabric sliding over his skin, and removed his boots, setting them down with exaggerated care. He unlaced his breeches, letting them fall.
He stood in his smallclothes for a moment and looked at you again. You were watching him, your expression unreadable, but you had not looked away.
"Has the day been kind to you?" he asked, trying to bridge the gap between you with conversation. He walked back to the bedside, checking on you as he always did, needing to know you were comfortable, that you were well.
You sighed, a small, weary sound. "The day was long. The babe is heavy. He feels like he is sitting on my bladder and kicking my ribs at the same time."
Maekar reached out, his hand hovering over your stomach before he gently placed his palm against the sheer fabric. He felt a shift beneath his hand, a hard elbow or knee pressing outward against his skin. It was a strange, powerful sensation, feeling the life you had created moving inside you.
"He is strong," Maekar said, his thumb stroking the taut skin gently. "Like his mother."
You huffed a soft laugh, leaning your head back against the pillows. "He is stubborn. Like his father."
"Perhaps," Maekar allowed, a small smile touching his lips. "But he is lucky to have you."
You looked up at him, your eyes softening just a fraction. "And I am lucky to have you. Even if you are loud."
Maekar chuckled. He leaned over and blew out the two candles on the table. The room plunged into darkness, save for the pale silver light of the moon filtering through the window. It cast long, spectral shadows across the floor, but it was enough.
He moved to the side of the bed and lifted the heavy fur coverlet to crawl in. The mattress dipped under his weight as he moved on hands and knees over you, careful to keep his bulk suspended above you. He paused there, hovering in the dark, looking down at your face illuminated by the moonlight.
He lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek. It was a test, and you did not push him away. Encouraged, he leaned in further and placed a soft, lingering kiss on your lips. Still, you did not protest.
He moved his mouth to the sensitive skin just below your jaw, kissing a slow trail down the line of your throat. His hand moved of its own accord, sliding up your side to cup one of your breasts through the sheer fabric. It was heavy in his hand, the weight of it changed by the pregnancy, the nipple pebbled against his palm.
"Maekar,"
Your voice was not sharp, but it was firm.
"Hmm?" he murmured against your skin, not stopping, not yet.
"I am not in the mood."
Maekar went still, his hand froze on your breast, and his lips remained resting against the pulse point in your neck. The words did not make sense to him at first. For over a year, since the beginning of your marriage, your desire for him had been a constant, a burning fire that often outmatched his own. There had never been a time when you had turned him away.
He pulled back, lifting his upper body so he could look down at your face, even in the dim light. He felt adrift, suddenly unsure of his footing.
"Oh," he said. The silence stretched between you awkwardly.
"Is... is everything all right?"
He searched your face for some sign of distress, some clue to what he had done wrong.
You let out a breath, shifting slightly beneath him. "Everything is fine. I am just... I am tired, Maekar. I ache. My back hurts, my feet are swollen, and I just want to sleep."
With some effort, you rolled over, turning your back to him. The movement was slow and clumsy, hampered by the size of your stomach. You settled with a huff, pulling the covers up to your shoulder.
Maekar remained frozen on his hands and knees above you for a moment longer, the rejection settling over him like a cold draft.
"Alright," he said finally, his voice quiet.
He climbed off you and moved to his side of the bed. He lay down on his back, staring up at the dark ceiling, the moonlight catching the edges of the stone beams above. He stared straight ahead, his hands clasped over his chest, trying to will his body to relax, to let go of the tension that had coiled in his muscles. He felt exposed, his arousal still a heavy, insistent presence between his thighs, trapped in the fabric of his smallclothes. He felt ridiculous.
Then, he felt the mattress shift as you moved. He turned his head to see you rolling back toward him. You were looking at him, your eyes wide and questioning in the gloom.
"Are you not going to hold me?" you asked.
Maekar blinked. He looked at you, then down at the obvious tent in the smallclothes he still wore, then back at you. He was painfully, throbbingly hard. Holding you now, spooning your body against his, would be a unique form of torture. It would take every ounce of his self-control not to grind against you, not to try to coax a different response from you.
"Well..." He hesitated, warring with himself. "Alright."
He rolled onto his side, facing you, and opened his arms. You scooted closer, settling your back against his chest. He wrapped one arm around your waist, his hand resting on the swell of your stomach. He bent his knees, tucking his legs behind yours, trying to find a position that did not press his hips too tightly against you.
It was impossible. As soon as you settled back into him, your soft, ample backside pressed firmly against his groin. You were essentially naked, the sheer fabric doing nothing to cushion the contact. You felt it immediately; the hard, hot length of him against you.
"Maekar."
Your voice was sharp now, laced with brittle energy; the sound of a woman who had reached the end of her rope.
"Please," you said, pulling slightly away from him. "What is the matter with you?"
Maekar tightened his arm around your waist, keeping you from pulling away completely, but he froze his hips, mortified.
"With me?" he asked, his voice incredulous. "Wife, look at you. He gestured vaguely toward the sheer nothingness of your nightgown. "You are lying here practically naked. How else is my body to react? I am a man, not a statue."
You let out a groan of frustration, thumping your head back against the pillow. "I am not dressed like this for you, Maekar. My blood feels as if it is boiling constantly, my skin feels too tight, and I am enormous! None of my other gowns fit anymore. This is all I have that does not make me feel as if I am being strangled."
You stopped, taking a ragged breath. "I am not trying to tempt you. I am simply trying to endure."
Maekar lay there, the words washing over him. The heat left his face, replaced by a flush of guilt that was far more uncomfortable than his arousal. He felt foolish. He had been so focused on his own desire, on the sight of you, that he had completely ignored the reality of your suffering.
"I am sorry. I was not thinking. I only saw... well. I did not see how uncomfortable you were."
He shifted his body back slightly, creating a fraction of space between you, trying to relieve the pressure against you. He adjusted his arm, moving it from your waist to stroke your hair gently, his fingers combing through the thick locks.
"You are a wonder," he whispered into the dark. "I know it is hard. I see you, I truly do."
He felt your body relax against him. The tension in your shoulders seemed to melt away under the gentle rhythm of his hand in your hair.
"I love you," he said. "More than I can say, and I mean every word when I say that you are still so beautiful. More beautiful now, perhaps."
You turned your head slightly. "I snapped at you," you murmured, your voice thick with tiredness and a sudden wave of emotion. "I am sorry. I did not mean to be cruel."
"You were not cruel," he assured you, kissing your temple, his lips lingering on the soft skin there. "You are tired. You have every right to be cross. I should have known better."
"I love you," you whispered back. The words were a sigh, a final release of the day's tension. You settled deeper into his embrace, your back pressing against his chest.
"Sleep now," he said softly. "I have you."
Your eyes closed. He could feel the heavy, even rhythm of your breathing begin to slow, to deepen. Your body, usually so restless and uncomfortable, went slack against him. The babe shifted once more, a slow roll beneath his hand, and then stilled.
Maekar held you, warm and round and heavy, in the circle of his arms, and for the first time in days, you both found contented rest.
