The issue of trans women being sent to men's prisons isn't brought up as being a monstrous thing because of the misgendering, it's monstrous because we're sent there to be legally sex trafficked.
That's what V-coding is. That is why they are so adamant about sending trans women to men's prisons, because sex trafficking trans women within the men's prison system is an essential part of that system. Being misgendered by this isn't even an issue that's on our radar!
His arm draped across your body, and warm breaths tickling your shoulder. Every now and then soft murmurs of adoration and comfort slip out, revealing his sleepiest thoughts.
Getting up would be impossible. The slightest movement from you and his arm locks up, pulls you closer, and into that position where your frame slots perfectly into his like a puzzle piece.
Locks of pale gold feathered across the pillow the two of you are now sharing, sticking up at all angles after a long night. You’d never tire of seeing him like this – shirtless, messy, voice deep and gravely from sleep – a warm embrace constructed in a way that made you feel safe, like no one else could enter.
"Good morning starlight," he whispers, pressing his lips into the back of your neck.
You can feel his long limbs stretching for a moment before they wrap around again, telling you that you’re not getting out of bed any time soon. Not that you’d want to anyways.
"I don’t feel like sharing you with the world today. That’s ok, right?"
You sigh contently when a languid kiss finds its way to that delicate spot on your neck. The lack of space between your barely clothed bodies makes it impossible to miss his hard length rubbing up against your rear.
Being married to Xavier feels soft in a way that sneaks up on you.
At first, people might think he is distant because of how calm and sleepy he seems sometimes, but loving Xavier means discovering how deeply attentive he truly is.
He loves quietly and once you become his wife, you realise something very quickly.
Xavier is absolutely devoted to you.
He Becomes Even More Attached After Marriage
Xavier already likes being near you
Marriage somehow makes it worse (or better)
Now he has an actual excuse.
“You are my wife. Of course I am here.”
Follows you around the house
Sits close whenever possible
Finds reasons to touch you casually
He just likes being with you.
He Is Extremely Affectionate in Private
This man is clingy when no one else is around.
Not in an overwhelming way.
But in ways such as...
resting against you
wrapping an arm around your waist
burying his face into your shoulder when tired
pulling you into his lap without warning
Physical affection becomes second nature to him.
He Sleeps Better Beside You
Xavier is someone who carries exhaustion deeply.
But beside you? He rests easier.
Sleeps closer than expected
Subconsciously searches for you in his sleep
Likes holding you or your hand under the blankets
Sometimes you wake up and find him wrapped around you like he moved there unconsciously.
Husband Xavier Is Surprisingly Domestic
He likes peaceful routines with you.
Especially...
grocery shopping together
lazy mornings
cooking (he mostly watches you)
folding laundry while talking quietly
slow dancing in the living room
He enjoys ordinary life because it is with you.
He Loves Calling You “My Wife”
Dangerously loves it.
You notice he says it whenever possible.
“My wife likes this one.”
“My wife is waiting for me.”
“I should ask my wife first.”
Every single time, there is this tiny softness in his expression.
Like he still cannot believe he gets to say it.
And he loves it just as much if not more when you call him husband.
He Is Protective
Xavier is gentle.
Until something threatens you.
Then suddenly he becomes...
more alert
sharper
impossible to move away from your side
He never raises his voice unnecessarily.
But the atmosphere around him changes instantly.
He Memorises Tiny Things
Not just important things.
Tiny things...
your favourite side of the bed
which foods you steal from his plate
what expression means you are upset even when smiling
the exact tone your voice takes when tired
He notices constantly.
Even when he seems half asleep.
Lazy Days With Him Are Dangerous
Because neither of you leave the bed.
At all.
You planned to be productive.
Instead...
tangled blankets
sleepy kisses
soft conversation
him pulling you back every time you try to get up
“Stay a little longer.”
And honestly?
You always do.
He Gets Jealous
Xavier jealousy is subtle but emotional.
But you know immediately.
He becomes...
More clingy afterward
Wants your attention more
Holds your hand tighter
Watches people carefully
His tone gets harsh. Just not with you.
And if someone flirts with you too openly?
He slides beside you and says something devastatingly simple like:
“She is married.”
Very calm. Very effective.
He Loves Taking Care of You
Especially when you are tired or sick.
He becomes incredibly attentive...
brings water
makes food
checks your temperature
stays close without hovering too much
And if you try to insist you are fine?
“You do not have to pretend with me.”
That line destroys you every time.
Xavier Is Softest at Night
Late nights with him feel intimate in a different way.
He gets quieter.
More honest.
Sometimes you catch him just looking at you.
Not saying anything.
Just… appreciating that you are there.
When you ask what he is thinking about, he usually answers,
“You.”
Like it is obvious, because to him, it is.
Arguments With Husband Xavier
He hates hurting you. Truly hates it.
So arguments with him are...
quiet
emotional
honest
If he realises he upset you unintentionally, you can visibly see the guilt settle in.
He always wants to fix things.
Always.
He Is Secretly Very Romantic
Not in a flashy way.
But deeply heartfelt.
Things like...
stargazing dates
sleepy forehead kisses
keeping things you gave him
remembering random comments from months ago
getting you flowers
His love feels gentle and enduring.
Underneath Everything…
Xavier loves like someone terrified of losing time.
So he cherishes...
ordinary moments
closeness
warmth
your presence beside him
Marriage with him feels less like dramatic passion and more like,
You had made a mistake. The mistake being having ordered more Lumiere merchandise and forgetting to schedule it on a day where your boyfriend wouldn’t be home.
So here you were now, sitting beside a very sulky Xavier as you tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to work.
“Oh c’mon Xavier, its just merch, Lumiere is just, he is just so adorable.”
Wrong move, all that earned you was a deeper frown and an even more prominent pout from your boyfriend who just crossed his arms and looked away.
What a baby.
Fuck, he was so cute.
You try your very best not to show him how excited this adorable behavior of his got you as you come closer, and obviously he doesn't move away.
Xavier loved you. He loved everything about you. If anyone asked him what his favorite thing in the world was his answer would be immediate.
You.
You on the other hand didn’t seem to share the same feelings as him, because clearly you loved someone much more than him, that thought only makes the silver haired man frown even more.
“Xavier please. Stop sulking.” You truly wanted your boyfriend to stop being sad, but if anyone peeled the truth out of you, they would know that deep down you wanted him to continue on and act even more spoiled.
And that’s exactly what he does. Gosh he was truly so lovely.
With a side glance at you he speaks up. “If it were Lumiere who was sulking you probably would be kissing him and telling him how he is the best.” He juts out his lip and you stop yourself from biting it.
You smile, a mischievous idea coming to you.
With a nod you lean your body closer at first, your voice dropping to a sultry tone. “Yes, Lumiere is the best.” You watch as he looks at you with faux anger as you slowly straddle his hips.
Even with his sulking he doesn’t shy away from putting his hands firmly on the sides of your waist, squeezing as you settle yourself on his lap. His blue eyes grow dark as you smile down at him. Even in his frustration he cannot hide his utter devotion to you.
“Lumiere is the best.” You repeat, now leaning closer. Your lips brushing against his ear as you whisper your next sentence. “But Shen Xinghui is my favorite.”
Oh.
Oh.
You cannot even let out the giggle that was bubbling out of you that you are cut off by a rough kiss. Xavier’s hand coming to the back of your head and pressing your hard against him, not letting you escape. Not like you wanted to. You just melt against the large man and let him take what he wants.
He only breaks the kiss when you tap him for air.
Fuck he was so pretty, cheeks flushed, lips pink and swollen from kissing you, and light silver hair mussed from where you had pulled during your makeout.
However the cutest part were the little light particles that were floating around him, betraying his true feelings even if he was still frowning at you.
So he was no longer mad huh.
“Say it again.” He demands, and you giggle.
“You can’t fool me, I know my pretty boy is no longer mad, he is glowing like the brightest of stars right now.” You giggle and he pouts, burying his face in your neck.
“Shen Xinghui will always be my favorite. No one could ever replace him.” You say, kissing the top of his head.
When he looks up you think you fall in love with him all over again, the most happy hopeful look has taken over the features of your lover and you wonder. Would a spring wedding be better or an autumn one?
Aight folks, first time posting on tumblr, kinda need more xavier fics
Ran out of chapstick, + Xavier keeps hiding them..
You sigh as you dig through your purse, rummaging around looking for your chapstick. Ok like you knew you lost a while ago, but now your lips are getting super dry and it’s hurting.
“Xavi have you seen my chapstick?”
“..no”
You glance over at Xavier who has freshly applied chapstick, and is currently pretending to read a book. How do you know he’s pretending? The book is upside down.
“Well.. Xavi can I borrow your chapstick?” He doesn’t move, keeping his gaze on the book.
“I lost it..”
You hum, looking suspiciously at his freshly applied chapstick…
“Ah, alright. Then could I borrow some from you?” He immediately perks up, trying (and failing) to look nonchalant as he sits up. He shrugs with a nod, ears turning a bit pink as you get closer.
You lean down and begin to kiss him, Xavier immediately gets wrapped up in the kiss. As he does you start to reach in his pocket, you stand up separating both your lips.
“Thank you Xavi.” You hold out his chapstick from his pocket and stuff it in your pocket. Xavier pouts a bit and pecks you on the lips.
“…I dunno how that got there..”
—
Over the next week, you proceed to keep losing your chapstick. And Xavier just happens to be there every time with freshly applied chapstick.. And every time you take one of his chapsticks, you can’t find it the next morning!!
So you did the only reasonable thing.. buy lip tint chapstick..
Then the next morning as you expected you look through your bag seeing no chapstick. So when you go out in the living room you see Xavier with bright pinkish red lips. Xavier looks at you with no shame trying to play dumb.
“…. My lips were always this color..”
Of course this ends with Xavier’s face surrounded by this pinkish red color all around his face. (You kissed him a lot.) And as soon as you sneakily take your chapstick back..
You kick him out the apartment, as punishment for being a thief who steals all your chapsticks.
(He gathers all the stolen chapsticks and buys some boba in order to be let back in your apartment.)
LADS MASTERLIST
———————————————————————————
I haven’t written in a while 🧍well I mean I have but I have been leaving them in my drafts because I got nervous…
xavier x reader, fluff, teasing, playful, not proofread. wc. 403
a/n: two works in one day! the other one is a yandere caleb fic called "Obsession's Embrace" if you'd like to check it out. also, this is a gift to the wonderful @aiycnlyme, whose conversations always enlighten me <3
dividers by @pixopix
“Has anybody ever told you how annoying you are?”
Xavier, who’s settling on the couch as you ask the question, freezes in his tracks. He turns to look at you, trying to decipher the emotion behind the harsh question, only to see your teasing smile.
“Annoying?” he asks before turning back to his book.
“Yeah, like when you read your book while I’m speaking to you.”
Xavier shuts his book immediately, even when the plot twist is just a page away. “Sorry. I’m listening now.”
Now that the book isn’t on his lap, you take the opportunity to replace it. You settle comfortably on it so that the uncomfortable feeling of looking into your lover’s starry eyes isn’t so daunting.
“You’re annoying,” you tease, poking his chest with a smile on your face.
He’s looking up at you now. Hands on your hips, attention all on you. “Indulge me. How else am I annoying?”
“Well, the way you disappear and reappear unexpectedly, especially when I need you.”
Xavier eyes you, confused. That’s annoying?
“Or the way you take all of my snacks when I leave them on the table.” That one is personal, so you give him a poke harder than the ones before it. “Those are expensive, you know!”
“And very delicious,” Xavier says, earning him your scowl with a smile that tries not to escape.
“I also think your closet is annoying to navigate.”
Xavier tilts his head, blue eyes meeting yours with laced amusement. “Don’t I only have a few outfits? My closet isn’t full.”
“It isn’t full of clothes, yeah,” you huff. “Degrees, however…”
Your beloved smirks.
“God, how do you even have so many?”
“I have my ways,” he says with a laugh. It’s loud, full of life, and you freeze at the sight. How pretty of him.
But what comes out of your mouth instead is, “So annoying.”
Annoyingly perfect.
Xavier pulls you closer to him, his hands tightening on your hips, his eyes enamored and engraved in his love for you. A love that transcends lifetimes and harmless jabs.
“I like being annoying to you, my starlight.” He places a kiss on your cheek and your lips that have now fallen speechless. “I like being yours.”
He laughs again when he sees your petulant frown coated in a pink blush. Your annoyingly lovable partner, as frustrating as he can be, is hopelessly in love with you.
any form of interaction is appreciated. take care! :)
smacking xaviers butt anytime you walk past him to the point he gets soooo used to it he pouts when you walk past him and don’t slap it and immediately asks if you’re mad at him or if you still love him
summary: To take the throne, you must also take a husband. When you meet the knight to have your hand, he is faceless, nameless. He hardly ever speaks, and never removes his armor. Every attempt to get to know him is to no avail. Frustration continues to take hold of you at your marriage to this stranger, until the tension reaches a breaking point on your wedding night.
★pairing: knight!xavier x queen!reader
★wc: 9.5k
★content: arranged marriage au. knight in armor xavier who doesn't take his helmet off. tension that comes with marrying a stranger. fluff & mild angst. smut, faceless sex, oral (f receiving), fingering, piv, loss of virginity. he guides you through it and frequently checks in. brief misunderstanding that's quickly cleared up. talk of marital duties and if you want an heir. slow romance. xavier has scars.
★a/n: I disappeared for a bit because writing this consumed me. also shoutout to @asiatic-apple for encouraging me to do this idea hehe ty ivy!!
★masterlist
You were barely past twenty two summers when your elder sister died, thus declaring you the next queen of your kingdom.
As the only other descendant of your family line, you had been prepared for the possibility of taking the throne since childhood. But while other prospective heirs across kingdoms longed for the day their own flesh and blood may meet an early end, you mourned for the loss of your kin.
Though you were not left to mourn for long. You wore the colors of it, but soon enough you were rushed through preemptive royal proceedings, readying you for a future that you had never quite believed could truly be yours.
Now that you were to be queen, there were things you must have. An overhaul of your entire wardrobe, for one. Gowns, jewels and perfumes must be custom tailored for your image alone, befitting your grace and power, and all the hope you embodied for a kingdom.
You must have ladies in court to accompany you and offer counsel, carefully interviewed and hand-selected to support you. You must have protection at all times, ready to die for you at any given moment.
And a queen must have a spouse, a stalwart partner to support her and all her decisions in a long, blessed life.
You had expected a prince, beloved by his people and low enough in the inheritance line of his own kingdom to allow him to wed you. Or perhaps a duke, well-liked with his handsome features and intellect. You would've even taken a general, an irreplaceable asset in talks of strategy.
What you had never anticipated was for your intended spouse to be a silent knight.
"He is to be my husband? Truly?" you ask your lead lady-in-waiting as she assists you in undressing your extravagant engagement gown. "Him?"
"The court has deemed him as such," Tara says as the velvety fabric the color of rich wine pools at your feet, moving to unlace the ties of your corset at your back. "Why? Is he truly so terrible?"
"I would not know," you say, laughing humorlessly as you think back to how still and stoic he had been. "He spoke naught for the entire engagement talks. He hardly moved, nor did he even remove his helmet."
Tara's fingers pause. "Truly? Even in the presence of his queen?"
"Not a soul made a comment on it," you huff, taking in a lungful of air when relief rushes into the release of your bosom from the corset's restraints. "And I am not queen until the ceremony which makes me his."
"It will make him yours, milady," Tara corrects gently, removing the undergarments from your weary form. "You will rule this kingdom. He is just a formality."
"He's a suit of armor," you scoff, irritation blooming into anger as you lower yourself into the steaming bath basin brought in after the long day. "I could not pick him out from any of the ones that line our halls."
"Then he is a decoration," Tara corrects as she rests her head on her elbows on the edge of the basin. "Hopefully a pretty one!"
She knows how you prefer to bathe yourself, and stays for conversation, even as you scrub at your own skin in jerky, annoyed movements.
"Only the gods know," you mutter, head tilting back as you sink further into the heated water. Your brows furrow as you stare up at the ceiling, tracing the intricate, swirling patterns there with your gaze. "Is he to always keep the armor on? Am I to marry him like that? What of our wedding night?!"
Tara coughs, cheeks an adorable pink at your blunt words, and you stifle an affectionate snort.
"Maybe he will draw the curtains?" she suggests, giggling at the thought, and you can't hold in your own laughter now at the ridiculous mental image. "And tell you not to look?"
You groan, holding your breath as you submerge yourself in the bath in favor of facing your daunting future of being married to a man hidden away from you in metal.
There is a very brief engagement period, more for show than anything else.
You suspect it also gives ample time for the court as they rush through preparations for the wedding itself. They were eager to put you on the throne as soon as possible, unwilling to leave the kingdom wanting of a ruler for much longer.
And being courted by your chosen fiancé is…well.
Courting is hardly a suitable term.
Sitting across from each other as you sipped at your tea, and he refused to lift his visor to partake in his own? Making idle comments on the weather, the color of your wedding dress, what flowers were being arranged, only to be met with stone cold silence from your husband to be?
Lovely.
You are all too well aware of the attention of your court chaperones in the parlor with you. As you are also aware of any tantrum you may want to throw not being tolerated.
You were no longer just a princess to be spoiled and entertained. You were to be queen, and to be married to a taciturn knight, who seemed to hold no possible interest or regard for you.
At one point, you swear you hear snoring coming from inside that helmet, but then his head is lifting the next.
"Am I to at least have your name?" you finally ask at one point, unable to keep all the bite out of your tone when you do.
There is an echoing hum of disapproval behind you, and your eyes slide away from the silvery helmet, gazing at the wavyleaf sea lavender dancing in the breeze through the window.
"It has been decided that it would not be for the best," one of your advisors says from behind you, and you lift your fingers to your lips, hardly muffling the bitter laugh that slips through.
"It has been decided," you repeat slowly, balling the fabric of your gown in your lap, frustration hidden underneath the tablecloth, "that it would not be best for me to know my own husband's name?"
Silence.
"That…is correct, Your Highness."
You turn your sharp gaze onto your fiancé, a smirk tilting up behind your hand when you hear the creak of his armor when he straightens a fraction under your attention.
"And does he agree to such conditions in our marriage?"
"He does," your advisor replies.
"So he will never speak?" you intone the statement, exasperated beyond measure.
"Ah…that is up to him, Your Highness," they say, and you glance off to the side again.
"And his face?"
"Again, it is not in your best interest—"
"Then I have heard enough."
You rise from your chair, delicately smoothing out the wrinkles you'd caused in your dress.
With tight-lipped smile, you nod towards the future companion of your life as he sits motionless, faceless, nameless. A complete stranger for all your days.
To hell with no tantrums. The least you could do before bearing the weight of the crown was show a little bit of how furious you were.
"Well then," you say, grinning with thinly contained malice. "I look forward to our matrimony and life together. I am sure we will be so very happy."
You ignore the sharp cries of your advisors behind you when you leave, and force yourself to keep going even when you hear the armor creak again, the chair pushed back.
You keep walking, and refuse to take any visitors for the rest of the day.
You have not looked back towards your ever present, stoic statue for your walk through the gardens.
You do not remember at what point he had slipped in behind you. It had been a lovely day, the scent of the lavender on the breeze calming enough to lure you out of your royal chambers. And with the wedding day fast approaching, you'd take any moment of solitude you could get.
It may have not even come to your attention that he had joined you if it wasn't for that telltale creak in the armor on your third bout around the garden.
You paused, and so did he.
For a long moment, you stood there, your dress the color of a slow approaching dawn fluttering in the floral breeze. The rose and lilac shades of the skirt tighten in your grip.
"Were you sent to follow me?" you ask finally.
Another moment passes, steeped in silence.
You sigh, ready to march back within the castle walls, desperate for as much time away from him as you could manage before you were bound to him forever.
Then, you hear a gentle voice carried to you on the wind.
"No, Your Highness," the knight says, and you freeze. "I was not."
His voice is…oh.
It is much softer than you had imagined. It carries with it a calm that almost washes over you, if you weren't so irritated by his existence in the first place.
You wait for him to say something, anything else.
He doesn't.
Slowly, you begin to walk through the gardens again.
You are acutely aware of his presence now as he follows behind you.
"May I have your name?" you ask finally, unable to curb the curiosity, the uncertainty of the unknown that gnaws at your insides when it comes to him.
"You may not."
You school your expression, head held high as ever, well-practiced at hiding your frustration when you truly wanted to.
You just liked to make it be known when you could afford it.
"Will you answer any of the questions I ask?"
He does not reply.
"Why do you hide your face?"
He is quiet. When you glance back, the knight is gazing off to the side.
You're certain he will not answer you now either, and you begin to move away.
"I was instructed not to offend Your Highness."
Your brow twitches, attention snapping back to him. "Offend me?"
He nods, finally turning back to you. The helmet still renders him unreadable as he states plainly, "I am well aware of the customs of court. Typically, a member of it with a face such as mine would quickly be expelled and hidden from your sight."
"I—"
You gulped, your anger at the situation ebbing in favor of a strange sensation by the tone he uses to speak. His voice is ever soft, nonconfrontational despite what he claims, and it gives you pause in confusion.
His face?
You glance over his armor, noting he did not don a ceremonial set that day. This one did not appear ostentatious, but practical, well-crafted for durability and protection. It appeared as if it had seen battle, bearing the dents and scratches that showed of a life paved with violence, steeped in blood and victory.
It greatly contrasted the gentle way in which he spoke, and the grace with which he carried himself, even as he was six feet in armor.
Your head tilts, wondering what battle-hardened visage may be hidden underneath that helmet.
"You are scarred, then," you say aloud with the realization.
He merely nods again.
You frown.
"So I am never to see you, my intended husband, due to scars."
"It was believed the best course of action would be to hide my face from you," the knight informs calmly, not showing a hint of discomfort or annoyance in his tone as you peer so closely at him. "So as not to offend your sensibilities."
You almost laugh, the bitter sound sticking in your throat.
"Ah, yes. My delicate sensibilities."
As if you were not the one would ensure the well being of an entire kingdom, overseeing all the good and ugly it had to offer.
"And when the queen orders you to show your face?" you counter, arching an eyebrow in challenge.
"You are not yet queen," he replies bluntly, his voice still soft, ever calm as he meets your challenge readily.
You laugh, loud and sharp, sending the birds nesting in a nearby tree fluttering away.
"What a unified front we will be, my beloved," you hiss through gritted teeth before marching past him.
He catches your wrist.
You whirl around, eyes blazing at the action.
"You dare to—"
But he's letting go in an instant, and you look to your hand that he had grabbed in confusion.
In your fingers is a single, small bunch of blue-petaled flowers.
"I am aware this is not your choice," the knight says softly, and the breeze picks up, brushing between you with the gentle scent of lavender once more. "And I am sorry. If I could…"
He trails off, and after a moment of holding your breath, he bows to you.
"Your Highness," he murmurs, and you watch as he departs, disappearing back within the castle walls.
If he could what? you think all day and into the night.
You wonder it in the days to come before the ceremony, gazing at the forget-me-nots you had pressed into a favorite book of poetry.
If he could not wed me? If he could show his face? Tell me his name?
Time before the crown would be yours passes by with your unanswered questions. The nights are restless, any moment alone spent pacing.
And each morning, you wake to a small, freshly picked bouquet of baby blue flowers sitting outside your doors.
The night before your wedding, it feels hard to breathe.
You toss and turn in your bed, sleep eluding you. The knowledge of sharing it at this same time tomorrow leaves you restless, and you sit up with a sharp groan, kicking the thick blankets off.
"I just need some air," you whisper to no one, pulling your dressing gown over your shoulders and tying it tight.
You evade the guards stationed through the corridors with practiced ease, feeling a familiar rush to when you would sneak through the halls as a child with your sister, out way past your bedtimes.
The thought of her makes your chest ache, like a corset pulled impossibly tight, cutting off your ability to breathe.
Your bare feet pad across the cold floors and into the grass when you exit the castle into the gardens. You suck in a lungful of the fresh night air, breathing out a sigh of relief when the scent of lavender surrounds you.
Pacing through the flowers, you let your fingers dance along the petals, reciting the names of each species and color in your mind to calm your nerves. Your heart begins to calm in its relentless pacing.
And then pain surges through your foot.
"Argh!" you yelp, hopping back on one foot as a dull thud rings in the air from whatever you had ran into.
"Mm?"
You jump, covering your mouth to smother a surprised screech at the unexpected, distinctly human sound.
Staring down at what your poor toes had collided with, you witness the sabatons of a polished set of armor shifting.
You follow the leg into the shrubbery, pulling aside leaves and baby blue flowers to see a familiar helmet facing up towards you.
"Oh," your fiancé's soft voice emits from inside of it, and you nearly throw your hands up into the air in exasperation. "It's you."
"What are you doing?" you hiss.
You glance around you, suddenly paranoid that you would be found with him like this, just one night before when you were actually supposed to be alone.
He's quiet, and you stare down at his large frame while he awkwardly perches himself up onto his elbows in the flowers.
"Napping."
You stare at him.
And stare.
"Do you not have a bed for that?" you whisper scream.
Gods, you were going to lose your mind married to this man.
"The lavender smells nice," he replies in the most tranquil, sleepy voice you have ever heard from a man of his size and caliber, helmet turning to gaze around at the gardens. "And the sky is clear."
Your mouth opens and closes, searching desperately for a witty, scathing response.
But they all fail you when he turns back to you and asks calmly, bluntly, "Are you eloping?"
You scoff. "With who?"
His pauldrons lift and drop, metal creaking in the silliest looking shrug you have ever seen.
"A lover."
You shake your head, turning away when you mutter, "Lucky for you, I have none."
The silence that falls between you feels like an ocean separating you from one another. Once again, you are reminded that you are no better than strangers, and tomorrow…
"There is nowhere I could run," you murmur, clutching across your chest to hold your shoulders, bracing against the night's cool breeze. "I wouldn't even know where to start." You laugh humorlessly. "As if they wouldn't find me within hours anyway."
"There's a nice seaside town at the northern edge of the kingdom," he says quietly, almost sounding wistful, and you turn back to him. His armor gleams in the moonlight, his helmet tilted up towards the stars. "The people are kind, and welcoming to strangers. I think it would take them about a week to find you there."
You blink, at a loss for words once again. It's a talent that your strange fiancé seemed to have just for you, on the rare occasions he did speak.
"I can lend you my horse," he keeps speaking, the tranquility in his soft tone slowly relaxing the tension in your shoulders. "She is a kind beast. It will give you a head start."
"Do you wish to be rid of me that much?" you whisper, choosing to believe anything other than the cruel hope that you may actually have a choice for yourself.
He shakes his head, moonlight catching off the steel of his helmet.
"I made no such claims," he says, his voice steady, resolute.
This, you actually do dare to believe, and to your own bewilderment, it softens you.
"Sit with me?" your future husband asks, offering an armored hand up to you. "The stars are beautiful tonight."
You hesitate, then slip your hand into the leather. His glove beneath the gauntlet is warm with his body heat, and he helps you sit, looking away for your decency as you adjust your dressing gown to cover yourself completely before lying back.
You hate to admit it, but the strange, stoic knight is right. There is hardly a cloud in the sky, and you can see the constellations clearly, shining brightly for you in this quiet, stolen moment.
When he says nothing for a while, you assume he has fallen asleep again.
"Why do you leave me flowers?" you whisper the question that has haunted you, relying on the certainty of him not hearing.
He shifts beside you, and you nearly jump out of your skin.
"Do I need a reason?" he asks, clear and awake.
"Well—" Words fail you, and you find yourself hating that he can manage to rob you of your gift of talk and charm, the one thing you had always relied on in your life of court politics. "I suppose not."
"Do you not like them?"
You turn your face away so he cannot see how he's flustering you.
"I made no such claims," you mutter his own words from earlier.
"So you do like them."
"Be silent," you snap, more bashful than as seriously annoyed as you have been, restlessly pulling your dressing gown tighter around yourself.
Your ears perk up when you hear the most quiet, melodic giggle.
Head snapping around, you stare at the knight, who quickly shuts his mouth.
"I said silence!" you repeat.
"My apologies, Your Highness," he replies smoothly, distinctly not following your order, and you swear you hear a smile in his voice.
You huff, throwing your head back into the flowers.
"You look ridiculous," you mutter, shifting restlessly, "by the way. Wearing your armor, lying in the garden. Napping."
"Thank you," he says serenely.
You snort, a genuine sound of amusement that slips past your lips, and you cover them with surprise.
His armor creaks when he turns to look at you.
You turn back, staring wide-eyed into the reflection of yourself in his shining helmet.
And for just a moment, you think you see a glimpse of wide eyes staring back through the visor.
You think they might look just like the starry sky above you.
Then he shifts again, and the image is gone.
You both lay your heads back once more. The atmosphere of the moment shifts, a tension different from the one haunting you for weeks making your heart flutter, your stomach lighter.
"Were you truly asleep just now?" you mumble, adjusting your dressing gown as a breeze slips past, the aroma of lavender washing over you and your faceless fiancé as you lay together in the bed of flowers.
"Mhm."
"And were you asleep when we had tea?"
"…Yes," he answers quietly, and you bite your lip to stifle a laugh at how bashful he sounds. "Just for a bit. I am sorry, truly."
A giggle escapes you, and you cover your mouth with both your hands. Still, it doesn't hide the way that you fall into a fit of laughter, all the nerves from the weeks of stress leading up to the wedding lifting from your muscles.
There's a soft, nervous chuckle echoing from inside the helmet beside you, and you turn back to your fiancé.
Who would become your husband come tomorrow.
You suck in an unsteady breath, pressing a hand to your face to hide it from him.
"Are you alright?" he whispers, shifting beside you, and you can feel the intensity of his gaze upon you even with his face completely hidden. "Are you feeling sick?"
"I am fine," you say quickly, smoothing out your dressing gown again. "Just…nervous."
Your voice gets quieter when you admit it, and you keep your face turned away. You couldn't help but feel helplessly vulnerable around him, when he could see you, and you could never read his face, could hardly ever hear emotion in his voice when he rarely spoke.
"I am too."
The whispered confession makes your heart clench, and you turn back to him.
"Truly?"
He nods, and you feel the anxiety in your chest ease, just a fraction.
"I am sorry that it's me," he murmurs, and it makes your eyes sting, something aching deep within you at how honestly apologetic he sounded.
This wasn't as fair to him as it was to you, you realize with sudden clarity. You are both the same.
You sniff, wiping at your burning eyes, and find yourself shaking your head.
"Well, you are better than some spoiled prince," you say in a choked voice, and he huffs a laughs under his breath. "I may not see your face, or even know your name, but…you have been kind to me tonight."
The warm leather of his gloves grazes across your fingers in the grass, and you hold your breath when his own fingers gently intertwine with yours.
"I only ever want to be kind to you," he whispers to you, sounding so brutally honest, the waver of his gentle words as vulnerable as you feel, and it nearly pulls a sob from your throat.
"Well," you sniff, years of training to gain control of your emotions triggering in a split second to suppress them. "If I never see you, I can pretend you look as handsome as I please."
He laughs, a gentle chuckle that has warmth rolling through your chest, and you smile.
"You should return to your rooms," he says kindly, and you see his shining armor in a new light when you let him help you sit back up, and then stand. "It will be a long day tomorrow, you need rest."
"Yes, of course," you mumble, brushing grass and stray flower petals off your dressing gown.
You gaze back up at the visor in his helmet, at the darkness within, wondering what color eyes were peering back at you.
The knight takes your hand in his once more, and you watch as he lifts it to his helmet, resting the back of it against the cool steel, where his lips would be beneath.
Your heart skips a beat, and you hold your hand close to your chest when he gently relinquishes it.
"Good night," he bids you, and you drop into a curtsy by habit.
"Good night," you whisper, "my knight."
Your wedding feels a solemn affair.
And, yes. Your groom dons armor for the event.
It is a ceremonial set, unmarred by battle. Unlike the one in the garden, when you had felt for the first time there was a human inside the armor.
His wedding armor is decorative, floral and star motifs engraved in the shining silver. There is a lovingly crafted depiction of the moon and its phases across the cuirass, and the helmet has golden wings coming out from the sides.
You must admit that it is beautiful, shimmering in the light of the chandeliers above you.
Even with the understanding you had felt the night before, you still would have preferred seeing the face of the man you were about to be bound to for the rest of your life and rule over your kingdom.
You commit to your vows, as he does his. To be wife and husband, queen and prince consort, until one of you may meet the end of your days.
The celebrations that follow are stifling. There is no parading through the streets, no addressing the masses just yet. Though the weight of the crown is now on your head, there will come another official ceremony for the people to witness. Tonight is purely for the union of the queen and her new beloved.
There are guests from other kingdoms as you wine and dine, though your husband eats nothing. He is still silent, and now present, unwavering from your side through the evening and into the night.
You only part when darkness falls, your ladies-in-waiting ushering you to your bedchambers to ready you for your wedding night. They bustle around you, speaking in hushed, excited tones, and only Tara runs over things with you directly.
"I know, my dear," you sigh, smiling at her as she tells you again where it goes, how it feels, how it may pinch or hurt but to not be afraid, it would be over quick. "I'll be fine."
You're undressed and freshened up in the tittering of excitement. The only request you dare to make is for your lavender bath oil, which you take time to rub into your skin as it thrums with a tingling, heated energy.
"I will be here first thing in the morning," Tara says as she hugs you tight, taking one last moment to fix the white lace of your delicate shift. "And remember, the candles—"
"Must be blown out, yes, I know."
You sit on the edge of your bed in the silence that follows, the first time you've caught your breath since the night before.
You think of the knight, how the glove of his hand had been warm in yours. How sweet he had sounded when he admitted to being nervous too.
Gazing at the last candlestick alight next to your bed, you lean forward to blow it out before you lose all your confidence.
Time seems to stretch on endlessly before you hear the tentative knock on your doors.
"Is it my husband?" you call out, willing your voice not to shake as much as your hands trembled where they gripped your blankets.
There is silence for a beat.
"It is," his soft voice replies, and you grip the sheets tighter.
"You may enter."
When he does, it is with no clanking of metal, no armor. Only the whispers of fabric and soft footsteps, and your heart races in your chest. You force yourself not to look towards where you feel him lingering at the door once he closes it.
It's not like it would matter. The room was dark, the curtains drawn, as you and Tara had once joked about.
Nothing seemed funny now, with the nerves nearly eating you alive.
"We don't have to do this," he whispers, and you shiver from hearing his voice so clearly without the helmet, in the intimate silence of your private rooms this late at night, knowing what was to come. "If you do not want to."
"It is my marital duty, as it is yours."
"But if you do not desire—"
"Do you not desire it?" you counter, finally pushing yourself up to sit.
The question left unspoken hangs in the still, tense air between you.
Do you not desire me?
He was kind the night before, but had always been detached before. Even if he was polite, it did not mean that he wanted this. That he wanted you.
Why do you so badly wish for his desire?
You gaze aimlessly towards your doors, where the shadow of him hovers on the precipice of confirming the last step of your marital bond, and you swear you can feel him hesitate.
"I do not want you to be uncomfortable."
"Then do not make me uncomfortable," you reply easily.
Tara's advice echoes through your mind, and you shift forward onto your hands and knees, emboldened as you crawl to the end of your large, plush bed.
"Men are supposed to enjoy it," you murmur, gripping onto one of the posts at the corner of your bed. "I see no reason why a woman cannot as well."
The knight lets out a heavy breath.
"A woman can enjoy it," he assures you, his gentle voice suddenly low. "A gentleman will ensure his wife enjoys it."
Something burns inside you with the sound of his voice, ringing so clear in the privacy of night, so dark with intent. The tension that has lingered between you goes to your head, and turns into a heat simmering low in your stomach, your thighs squeezing together.
You know now why you crave his desire.
"Then show me," you whisper.
You desire him.
And he finally moves with the sound of that desire in your voice when you call for him.
Your knightly husband approaches the bed slowly.
"Lay back," he commands you, gentle but firm, and you should be irritated by it. You were to be ruler, not him.
But something in the way this gentle knight waits patiently at the edge of your bed, stripped of the armor that protects him, has you heated with anticipation, shifting slowly to lay yourself out for him.
"You know what happens?" he breathes the question out, still hovering on the edge of something more. "In the marital act?"
"Yes."
One of your hands fists into the sheets by your head, the other in the soft fabric of your wedding shift.
"Do you know you should be readied first?" he breathes, the bed finally dipping beneath his weight.
You find it hard to breathe when you feel him climbing up the bed towards you. Your husband, faceless and nameless but yours, and gods that shouldn't excite you so much. But it has your core throbbing, thighs clenching together in search of some relief.
"Answer me, Your Majesty," he murmurs your new title, low voice dripping with sinful promise, and you jump with a gasp when his fingers graze lightly along your knee.
"No," you rush out, shaking your head even if he cannot see it in the darkness of the room. "I was not aware of that."
His hand curls around your knee, lifting your leg up slowly, easing your thighs open until they fall apart.
"Before I give you my cock," he whispers, pressing a kiss to the inner part of your knee, and you whimper quietly at the filthy words. "I use my fingers."
The knight brushes his lips a bit higher, then stops.
"Do you permit this, my queen?"
You blink rapidly, surprise melting way to a warm feeling of awe that he's asking for permission, and how he uses your title with reverence. It gives you a moment to think as he waits patiently for your honest answer, and the tension through your muscles begins to ease.
"Yes," you admit in a hushed whisper, the truth a breath from your lips. Then you confirm, louder, "Yes, I do. I…want it."
His hand is bare on you, large and warm, and you feel the slick on your thighs when you rub them together subconsciously.
You suck in a breath, and correct yourself quieter, a confession, "I want you."
He lets out a shaky exhale, grip tightening on you. Your knight nods against your thigh, and slowly kisses up it.
"Have you done any of this before, my queen?"
"No," you breathe out, gripping your shift for purchase when he slips the fabric up over your stomach so you are bare to him. "I—well, I have touched myself, out of curiosity."
Your voice trails off with the admission, and you cover your face with your arm.
"Have you felt a climax?" he asks, unashamed.
You bite your lip, flustered. "Once or twice, yes," you whisper, and he hums in approval against your inner thigh.
He kisses it softly, rubbing circles into your other thigh with his fingertips. You can feel the callouses on each one, and you wonder how he looks when he wields a sword.
Does he fight with a shield, or in a dueling stance? A longsword or a greatsword? Is he graceful and elegant, or aggressive and relentless?
When he kisses your skin again, he whispers against it, "Would you give me the honor of touching you now?"
You nod, then remember he can't see you either, and say, "Yes." In a quieter voice, you add in a whimper, "Please."
Seconds pass while you hold your breath, watching for his touch where you need it most.
Then, your breath escapes you in a long whine when his rough fingertips barely graze against your slit.
"Oh!" you gasp in surprise at the sensitivity from him touching you intimately in the darkness, even if just barely.
Your hips twitch and jerk up, and his palm finds your thigh, pressing it down by instinct.
The way he wields control is graceful, heady and addicting to be under, and you decide his fighting style must be elegant. Precise, measured.
Is he just an esteemed knight, or a general? Or perhaps of royal blood, a bastard of some far kingdom thrown into military service? How long has he trained? Where has he lived? Who has he fought?
"Do you want me to keep going, Your Majesty?"
Your lashes flutter, and you nod rapidly. "Yes, please."
His fingers press against you again, confident and gentle. They trace along your slit again, collecting your slick, all the way up to where you have found you are most sensitive.
"You are already wet," the knight murmurs, sounding surprised and…pleased?
It makes your sex clench, and you whine, wiggling your hips impatiently.
He presses down on your thigh more firmly, keeping you parted for him to collect more of the slick dripping from your entrance.
Then his touch trails up, pressing firm, slow, tight circles into that bundle of nerves and oh.
"There you are," he whispers, pressing kisses into your inner thigh as you moan quietly, hips rolling up into his touch. "How does it feel?"
"It feels like—" you break off with a choked gasp when his thumb flicks across it, then rubs it faster, making your mind go blank for a moment. "Hot. Tight. Good. Like pleasure."
He kisses your thigh again, and you swear you feel his lips tilting up against your skin.
Is he…smiling?
"I can use my mouth as well," he informs you, his voice calm, almost innocent, and your eyes widen at the thought. "Would you like me to try?"
You bite your lip as you try and imagine what he would look like with his face pressed to your sex, if only you could see it. What colors eyes would be peering up at you as he tasted you?
But somehow, the thought of him still being invisible to you as he kisses the most intimate part of you has excitement coursing through your veins.
"Do it," you murmur, the nature to command coming as easily to you as it does to him.
He needs no further instruction.
His hot tongue licks a long, flat stripe up your core, and you gasp, hips bucking up.
"Oh gods—"
His lips close around where his fingers were just driving you mad, and he sucks the bundle of nerves into his mouth, tongue circling it as he plays you like a beloved instrument, like he was a talented musician as well as a soldier.
It has you whining, thighs closing around his head as the pleasure grows hotter, sharper. It builds up quickly in the pit of your stomach, and you try and get impossibly closer.
When he pulls back, you whine in disappointment, and his answering chuckle has you trembling.
"I need to prepare you," he whispers, the tips of his fingers prodding at your entrance, and you stiffen by reflex. His other hand strokes gently at your thigh, easing your legs back open. "Relax for me. I want you to feel that climax you've felt before. Do you want that too?"
You suck in a deep breath.
"Yes, I do."
The knight slowly dips the tip of one of his fingers inside you, and you bite your lip.
But he pulls back out, testing just his fingertip a few times, before sinking it in further.
You hiss in a breath at the unfamiliar sensation, and he pauses.
"Do you not like it?"
"It's—" you steady your breath, adjusting to the feeling of his thick finger a few inches deep in you. "It's different."
"Do you want me to continue?"
You roll your hips in a test, and you both gasp when your cunt sucks him in further, clenching around him by reflex.
The knight groans quietly into your thigh, and you answer, "Yes. Keep going."
He carefully thrusts his finger in until he's completely inside you and, gods, it's long. The calloused tip strokes at your tight walls, and you moan, parting your legs further for him.
"You're so warm," he breathes against your skin, brushing his lips down to your sex again to attach them back to that pleasure spot.
It has you gasping, thrashing gently when he circles his tongue around it, his finger slowly pumping into you.
"Oh gods that—"
He hums against your core, and your lips fall open in a soundless cry from the added pleasure of the vibration of his soft voice there.
"Pleasurable?"
"Very," you moan, bucking your hips into his face when he slowly prods another finger into your tight hole.
The longer he thrusts his fingers into you, the less tense you feel. Your body relaxes, accepting him, sucking him back in whenever he began to draw back for another thrust of his fingers.
And when he begins to curl them, and brushes those calluses against somewhere that makes pleasure spark hot down your spine, you cry out softly.
"There," he mumbles to himself, and strokes that spot again.
"Y-you—"
Words escape you for the first time in your life, and you reach down by reflex, your restless fingers tangling into his hair.
You gasp softly at the same time he moans, his fingers thrusting into you with fervor. Your eyes roll back as you stroke our own fingers through his hair, impossibly soft, longer than you had imagined.
Was it brown? Blond? Perhaps a more fantastical color that hid under his helmet?
The wet sounds of his hand smacking against your skin with each thrust of his fingers into your soaked cunt is obscene, and has your toes curling, grabbing onto his hair tighter. Hot pleasure keeps growing in your gut until you feel yourself about to burst with it.
He moans again when you subconsciously yank at his hair. He's still stroking that spot each time you suck him back in, his tongue rubbing against you, and you climax against your knight's face with a nameless moan for him.
It's a high pitched cry, loud, restless, and mellows out with quieter groans as he works you gently through each wave of pleasure.
His soft kiss against your overstimulated nerves makes you twitch, and he smiles against your stomach.
"You should be ready now," he murmurs, and your mind spins at the thought of more. "If you still…?"
"I still want to," you confirm breathlessly, tugging at his hair, and the answering grunt is delicious, sparking more desire in your soaked cunt, a longing to be filled by him completely.
He pulls himself up over you, and you hear the rustle of fabric, then him grunting quietly, wet slaps echoing, before you feel it.
You jump as the head of him slips through your slick. It's curved, bigger than his fingers, and you clench in anticipation of taking it all.
It catches on your entrance, and you whimper when he begins to slip in.
"Tell me if it's too much," he whispers, his voice suddenly shaky as he lowers himself onto his arms over you. "My queen?"
"Yes," you breathe, trembling as he begins to sink into you.
He does it in short thrusts, rolling his hips to almost slip out of you before slowly easing himself back in, giving you time to adjust.
And gods, he is big. Impossibly long and thick, throbbing deliciously as your body welcomes him in.
A part of you can't help but be glad that you can't see it, knowing you'd be overwhelmed by both seeing the size of him, and being under his sharp gaze as you squirm beneath him.
When he bottoms out, his hips flush against yours, you both sigh in unison.
Your knight gives you another moment to adjust. His hand finds your thigh, stroking gentle circles into it with his thumb, and you wonder if he even realizes he's doing it.
Then he thrusts into you once, filling you completely, and your eyes flutter shut.
When he does it again, a whimper escapes from your throat, and he promptly stops.
"Does it hurt?" he asks, hushed in the darkness.
You fingers flex and clench into the sheets above your head multiple times, trying to find the words he'd stolen from you along with the breath from your lungs.
"…No," you answer honestly after a tense moment. Even if you cannot see his eyes in the night, you still find yourself gazing off towards the side in shyness. "It…feels good."
Your knight—no, your husband—pauses above you.
Then, ever so slowly, he rolls his hips, grinding his pelvis into that spot above your folds that makes your toes curl.
"And this?" he whispers, dark and intense, and you bite your lip.
"G-good," you stutter out, breath hitching loudly when he bucks into you once with an obscene sucking sound, and then does it again.
"This?"
"Good," you gasp, grabbing at your pillows, head thrashing to the side when he keeps bucking into you.
Your skin slaps together with each deep thrust, loud and wet, the sound filling up your large chambers along with the scent of sweat and musk. He's impossibly deep, picking up speed, making it hard to think clearly.
"Very good," you breathe, voice shaky with mounting pleasure.
"Truly?" he breathes right next to your ear, his lips grazing it.
You whine loudly, your hand flying up to try and find purchase on his back.
But his skin is bare, no hinges of metal to hang onto. It's soft, smooth, only for your fingers to run across the occasional raised skin across his shoulders, down the span of his broad back.
Scars, you think, and wonder what each one looks like as you blindly trace them.
Your mind spins with the knowledge of him, this strong and silent man, being exposed to you at last, only for you not to see one bit of him.
But he's all around you, deep inside of you, utterly consuming you with every thrust and grind of his hips against yours. Your fingers curl against his back a few times, desperate to ground yourself.
When your nails scrape against him, and he lets out a quiet grunt, your scattered thoughts fizzle out.
Do it again, is all you can think when your mind comes back to you, even as you can't find the words to tell him. Make that sound again.
You eagerly dig your nails into his back, and he spasms above you, pulling out almost entirely only to thrust back into sopping cunt, bottoming out and bucking up into you rapidly.
"O-oh," you moan breathlessly, both hands coming up to grab at him.
You dig your grip into him at every spot you grab, leaving marks you'd never see. Your back arches off the bed each time he grunts and moans quietly into your ear from the sensation.
He feels good, you think distantly, more drunk off the knowledge than the finest of wines you'd consumed on your wedding night. All the opulence and celebration pales in comparison to this moment, when you and your husband were one—faceless and nameless as he is, he is yours. You're making him feel good.
His chest presses to yours as he leans his weight into you, his arms wrapping around your torso to hold you tight to him. He breathes against your ear, quick and shallow, as he makes soft, broken sounds.
Too distracted by the deep grind of his hips into yours, stimulating you right where you need it, you don't realize for a few moments that the broken sounds he makes are the syllables of your name.
You come apart for him with a sharp cry that breaks halfway, mouth open in soundless pleasure while your cunt spasms around his cock, drenching him in your sweet release.
"You—" he gasps, dull nails digging into your hips as they lazily thrust up to meet his own, riding out the waves of your climax. "Did you—"
He breaks off with a strangled moan, and gives a few last, deep thrusts before he's suddenly gone.
You whine at the loss of him when he slips out and away so easily. Your eyelashes flutter as you force your eyes open, transfixed by the dark shape of him over you as his hips jerk, hand moving quickly while grunting quietly, and your thighs are coated in something warm and wet.
"What…?" you breathe, your mind slowly playing catch-up, blinking rapidly. "Why did you…?"
Your thighs twitch when he runs his fingers across them, collecting his release with yours, and smearing them onto the sheets below you.
"Your maids will deliver it to your court advisors in the morning." How he still manages to sound so calm while catching his breath, you have no idea, and it makes something dark and ugly twist where pleasure just bloomed in your gut. "For proof of the marital duty being fulfilled."
"But you didn't—" you breathe heavily, pushing yourself up onto your arms as he shifts off the bed. "You were supposed to finish inside of me. There is no fulfillment unless you do so."
"It is close enough. They cannot tell the difference."
You watch his shadowy figure move, hearing the rustle of fabric.
"And now you are leaving?" you snap. "Just like that?"
"Not yet," he answers, his hushed, unbothered tone only infuriating you further.
He moves through the dark, towards the direction of your vanity, and you turn to stare at the wall. Anger stews in you, your body tense despite the lingering pleasure, knuckles tight in the sheets as you hear the pitcher of water being poured.
You don't want to look towards him.
You don't.
But you give into that inexplicable temptation anyway, that curiosity that lingers for any impossible glimpse of him, only for your breath to catch in your throat.
While you had been expecting the same tall figure drenched in shadows, you were graced with a sliver of moonlight peeking through your curtains to fall across his back, still turned to you.
His skin is pale and smooth, with a dusting of a pink flush across his broad shoulders. There is a long, faded scar across the back of the right one, nearly covered up by the hair that falls past them. The soft strands appear white, perhaps silver. Or maybe it's just the pale moonlight that makes it appear so.
When your husband begins to turn back towards you, you quickly look away, eyes readjusting to the darkness once more while he approaches.
I should have kept looking, you think when you feel the edge of the bed dip under his weight. What color are his eyes, I wonder? How sharp or soft is his brow? Are his lips full? Thin? Is his nose—
You jump at the cool cloth that presses between your thighs, a sharp hiss escaping through your teeth.
"Sorry," he whispers as he gently wipes away the evidence of your coupling from your sensitive flesh. "I tried to warm it between my hands."
You soften slowly, the tension held tightly throughout your body melting away as he cares for you. The act has something warm curling up inside your chest, your eyes suddenly hot and heavy.
"Why didn't you do it?" you whisper, still gazing off to the side, even when you feel his gaze upon you in the dark. "Why did you not fill me?"
His hand slows in wiping down your thigh. Instead, his thumb swipes across it, and you shiver at the light, calloused touch.
"Do you want children?"
"I am expected to have an heir," you answer quickly, automatically, the duty of it instilled in you.
"But do you want one?" he presses. His insistence is gentle, yet unwavering. "And do you want it now? Right as you have become queen of a kingdom that needs your guidance?"
You turn fully onto your back, gazing at where he hides from you in the shadows.
But even though his face is unknown, his name still a mystery, his voice is a comfort. It is a warm balm to your soul, when you didn't even know it was aching under the pressure of your new position.
"I was never given the choice," you whisper, unsure.
"I am giving you the choice now," he answers, strong and gentle at once.
You swallow thickly, allowing yourself the precious moment he had given to you. A wedding gift greater than any other, to be able to think and dream only for yourself.
"Not yet," you admit, quiet and intimate, for his ears alone.
"Then I will not fill you," he confirms, rubbing his thumb in gentle circles into the sore muscles of your thigh, and your eyes flutter shut with a sigh. "Not yet. Not until you ask me for it, if you ever do."
You push yourself up onto your arms.
"Then you will do what I ask of you?" you breathe, a hope inside of you suddenly blooming.
"You are my queen." It is a repetition of his oath, only for you to hear now. His soft voice is a caress to your senses, as much as his hands that find your waist, stroking lightly up your sides.
It's quieter still, intimate with devotion you hadn't dreamed of receiving from him when he adds, "And you are my wife. I will do as you command me."
You shake your head.
"What I ask of you," you insist in correction, feeling the need to give to him what he had given to you. The same grace, equal footing to stand on. "As your wife, I merely ask it of you."
He moves closer, leaning over you, the bed dipping further under your combined weight when you lay back again.
"Then what do you ask of me?" he whispers, blindly feeling for your hand in the sheets.
When he brings it to his mouth, he presses a lingering kiss to the heel of your palm, and your heart skips a beat.
His voice is unbelievably tender, the moment reminiscent of a stolen secret, just like the night before, when he adds softly, "My wife?"
You let out a shuddering breath, reaching for him. Your hands palm up his chest and down his stomach, feeling it's soft but toned, the muscles jumping under your touch.
"Let me see you?"
You feel him stiffen above you at your hushed request, and you reach blindly for his face.
"Please?" you ask, your fingers meeting his skin, gingerly tracing a few inches of his jaw before you pull them back.
You lose your breath when he catches your hand in his.
Slowly, he brings it back up to his face. His long fingers direct your palm open, and you let him guide it to his cheek. A soft, keening noise leaves your throat when you feel him sink into your touch.
"Do you truly wish to see me?" he asks, breathless and unsure. "You may not be pleased."
"Yes," you answer instantly. Swallowing thickly, you add, "I wish to see my husband on my wedding night."
He drops your hand, and you almost feel disappointment before he's leaning over and past you.
Then, a moment and a match flaring to life later, your room is suddenly awash in the warm, gentle glow of candlelight.
You blink rapidly, gazing across his chest once your vision adjusts.
Scars litter across otherwise unblemished skin, and your fingertips dance across each one, down to the soft roundness of his stomach that was hidden underneath that heavy armor.
Your heart is lodged somewhere in your throat when he slowly leans back, letting you see all of him.
And, gods above, he is beautiful.
You suck in an unsteady breath, glancing over his face. You're overwhelmed by all of him all at once, more so than when he had been inside of you in the dark, in awe of how ethereal he was in the lone flickering candlelight.
Your husband's eyes are blue, bright like a spring's sky, calm as the surface of a lazily running river. His brow is both soft and sharp, his nose handsome. His cheeks are soft and flushed when his gaze shies way from your scrutiny, and his lips so full, so pink.
And his hair was long, a color of which you'd never seen the likes of before. You had thought it was white, perhaps silver-toned in the moonlight, until the candlelight cast it golden, creating a glowing halo effect around his head.
"I know," he murmurs, and you blink out of your daze. "The scars are unsightly. I am sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"No," you say quickly, cupping his face eagerly, and his eyes widen, shooting back towards your own.
Glancing over them now, you can't imagine why anybody would call his scars such. The faded red of the raised skin did nothing to eradicate the ethereal beauty of his face. To keep such a handsome, angelic visage hidden away forever seemed more than a shame, it felt like a crime.
You trace the pattern of the first scar, how it splits into two through his eye. First, you graze your touch up into his light brow, where the light hair won't grow back from the healed skin. Then you follow the line down across his elegant cheekbone, to the edge of his jaw.
Moving gently, your thumb brushes up along the raised edge of the next scar jutting from his bottom lip, and you feel his breath stutter on a shaky exhale right against your skin.
"You are beautiful," you whisper, breathless with honesty, caressing the corner of his lips with your thumb.
You watch with held breath when you graze it along his bottom lip, dizzy with how he willingly parts it for you.
Your hands come up to cup his face, and you peer up into his eyes.
The blue is impossible to see now, swallowed up by his dilated pupils. Even so, there is an emotion that wavers in them, in how his eyes flicker across your face, the thinnest shred of restraint held in the tension of his arms resting on the bed around you.
"And you are my husband," you breathe against his lips.
You recognize the emotion when he looks down at your own lips, his calloused thumb brushing up under your chin, grazing along your jaw.
Longing.
"Will you give me your name?" you breathe, fingers trailing down his nose, tracing the shape of his lips, addicted to mapping out the sight of him, in case you never got the chance again. "My husband?"
He exhales, the sound shaky as you feel the warmth of it against your fingers. His eyes are so deep and blue just in the candlelight, and you find you cannot wait to see them in the light of day.
"Xavier," your knight without his armor whispers, and you feel warm with an indescribable hope when he leans in. "My name is Xavier."
reread this last night and it's literally just as amazing as i remember!! i love this so much! i love the world you created here starry!!!!!!! i love how authorative and headstrong reader is. i like how xavier is more shy and honest and throws her a curveball with every sentence he speaks. the ending intimacy is also really sweet! in awe like i have no words to describe just how much i love this fic🥹🥹
People trying to do character analysis on OFDO(I'm guilty too) are putting in more work than the writers on the show. Could I believe Arnold and Dean were really tempted by each other? Sure but it was never shown or given attention so it doesn't land. Do I find Arnold knowing about Tua's feelings all along believable? Sure but there's no depth because there's no depth to ARNOLD. There's no real depth to Raffy and why he wants Jack so badly. I can fill in the details because I've read the book and can create my own head cannons. Rome is just there? Like do we know anything about him other than he likes fucking Raffy, is Jack's step brother, and likes music? Dean and Jack aren't any better. I'm supposed to believe Jack is a recently recovering alcoholic but he has alcohol in his home and goes out drinking regularly. Dean seems to want Jack just to mess with Raffy half the time? Can't believe they delayed this for so long when the real issue(writing) was never going to be fixed with a long post production.