Chapter Text
“Do you ever think we should just stop doing this?”
Zoya froze, letting her head hit the mattress. “What?”
Nikolai hovered above her, his arms resting on either side of her. In the dimly lit room, his eyes seemed very dark. “Hiding,” he said. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why, you suddenly think presenting your Grisha mistress to the world is a great idea?” Zoya turned her head away, Nikolai’s breathing now grazing her cheekbone.
She didn’t need to see his expression to know he was rolling his eyes. “I don’t care for that term,” he replied, voice suddenly weary.
Zoya huffed, still refusing to look at him. “Mistress? What would you prefer to call it?” She had been called far worse.
Nikolai suddenly grinned, his fingers grazing her chin as he tilted her head upwards so she was forced to face him again. “I would prefer fiance,” he said quietly. “But you weren’t impressed by my proposal.”
“Perhaps I would have been more impressed if you hadn’t emptied ten glasses of wine beforehand.”
Nikolai chuckled, his lips grazing the edge of her jaw. “I can ask you again sober if that lightens your mood.”
Zoya felt his lips tracing her skin, along her throat, down the side of her neck. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the touch calm her nerves. “You’re insufferable, your Highness.”
“You didn’t seem to mind last night,” Nikolai commented, spreading kisses over her collarbones.
Zoya escaped a sigh, arching her back slightly to get more contact. She could feel Nikolai’s cocky grin against her skin when he noticed. “I hate you.”
He kissed lower, almost having reached her chest. “I don’t believe you.”
She was going to strangle him. Zoya exhaled sharply as his lips suddenly caught her nipple, sucking at the sensitive skin. She bit her lip to stifle a sound, fingers curling up in the bedsheets as she searched for something to hold onto.
Nikolai laughed in response, his warm breath caressing her skin as he continued to work her nipple with his tongue, nipping and biting his way downwards.
Zoya arched her back as his lips skimmed over her stomach, shuddering under his touch. She hated to show him that she was even affected by his actions, that it took so little effort from him to make her weak.
“Still hate me?” Nikolai remarked, kissing the inside of her thighs.
Zoya tried to steady her breathing. “Even more than before.”
Nikolai’s laugh sent a shudder across her skin, his lips finding their way between her legs.
Her breath caught in her throat as his tongue flicked against her entrance and she let out a small whimper, buckling her hips to get closer.
Nikolai was grinning, pinning her down on the mattress again. “Patience,” he muttered, clearly very much enjoying every second of this.
Hadn’t she been so occupied, Zoya might have had another insult ready, but she couldn’t think straight like this. “ Nikolai ,” she warned instead, but it came out more like a plea. She hated herself in these moments.
His tongue circled around her clit and Zoya moaned, too aware that she was giving him exactly what he wanted. He had the audacity to smirk before pushing one finger inside her, moving so desperately slow that she had trouble even breathing. The ache between her legs didn’t find any release.
Nikolai’s kisses traveled across her stomach again, nipping at the skin, and then his lips were pressed against her own, parting them. His tongue flicked against hers and then he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, slipping a second finger inside her.
Zoya’s head was spinning, but she eagerly complied, pressing her hips up against his. His skin was hot to the touch. Her entire body seemed lit on fire.
“Still hate me?” Nikolai breathed against her lips, quickening his pace, driving her closer to the edge.
Zoya pressed her lips together to avoid making a sound, meeting his eyes in defiance. “You’re not that good.”
Nikolai’s grin was ecstatic. His attention returned to her neck, teeth softly grazing the skin as he kissed his way down.
He was going to leave marks, but Zoya wasn’t in the right mind to care. Not when his thumb suddenly circled along her clit and even all her hard-earned self-control couldn’t help her anymore. Zoya cried out when she came, digging her nails so hard into Nikolai’s shoulders that it was sure it would hurt. She was panting, letting her head drop back against the pillow, trying to regain any composure.
Nikolai left a kiss against her jaw, this time almost gentle. “How about a little bet?”
Zoya had the strong feeling that she wasn’t going to like what he suggested. “Keep going,” she said all the same.
Unsurprisingly, Nikolai was grinning. “If I manage to give you another orgasm tonight,” he lowered his lips, brushing across the shell of her ear, “then you’ll consider the proposal.”
Zoya huffed. “One orgasm? That’s not very ambitious.”
“I thought you hated me?” Nikolai replied, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “Shouldn’t be a challenge, then.”
Zoya clenched her jaw, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Fine.” She had the faint suspicion that this was a losing battle, but rejecting the challenge felt like admitting defeat right away.
Nikolai looked much too pleased with himself when he leaned down to catch her lips with his again, parting them and slipping his tongue inside. Zoya sighed when she ran her fingers over his shoulders, only half aware that she was supposed to not enjoy this right now.
She had already lost.
Nikolai positioned himself between her legs, pushing them aside with his knees, gripping her hips. Zoya’s breathing hitched in anticipation, her lungs already struggling to take in air.
What was he doing to her?
Her eyes fluttered shut when Nikolai kissed along her neck, sending shudders down her entire body.
And then Nikolai sank into her, and Zoya gasped, already so much closer to that dreaded orgasm than she would ever admit. She really did hate him.
Nikolai smirked at her eagerness, kissing the edge of her jaw while rolling his hips, pushing deeper inside. Zoya moaned, wrapping her legs around his torso, craving more contact. She really was a hopeless case, apparently. Her head dropped back into the pillows as she tried to breathe, arching her back as Nikolai’s hands ran along her thighs, fingers softly digging into her ass.
“You’re not playing fair,” Zoya gasped, a shudder running through her entire body at the touch.
Nikolai chuckled, tightening his grip a little in response. “I didn’t say that I would,” he breathed against her lips, the look on his face so smug that she was tempted to smack him. He had picked up a quicker rhythm now, and Zoya wasn’t sure how much longer she could deny herself the truth that she was for sure going to lose this bet. She buried her fingers in the sheets, trying to hold onto the bed as she fought her orgasm, trying to think of something else than Nikolai buried inside her.
Naturally, she failed.
His hand disappeared between her legs, now stroking her clit, and Zoya hated herself when she lifted her hips, trying to get closer. Another moan escaped her, and she felt herself slipping already. Her entire body was on fire.
Zoya whimpered as Nikolai’s thumb pressed down on her clit and she was slipping over the edge, despite her best efforts. She dug her nails into Nikolai’s shoulders if only to punish him a little, her lids fluttering shut at the sensation.
Nikolai was panting, but the cocky grin never wavered. “Changed your mind about me?” he commented, his fingers softly running along her ribcage, brushing over the skin.
Zoya glared up at him, trying to catch her breath. “I hate you.”
“Enough to marry me?”
She kicked him then, although not hard enough to make it hurt.
Nikolai chuckled, in response rolling off her. “You lost the bet, you know. Quite impressively.”
Zoya huffed. “I said I would consider it, not accept.” Being Queen of Ravka had been something she hadn’t allowed herself to think about for too long just yet, especially not since they had started to pick up this little routine.
“ Have you considered it?” he returned the question, because he knew her too well, and therefore knew that she hadn’t.
Zoya met his gaze, not allowing herself to shy away. “Yes.”
“Then why say no?” He leaned in closer, lips almost brushing hers.
Zoya took a deep breath, feeling herself shivering under the brief touch. “Because you need to make an alliance through marriage.” The truth.
She had expected him to roll his eyes and protest, but instead, Nikolai was grinning. “Did you just confirm that politics are the only reason you’re not interested in me?”
Zoya had meant to respond, but she didn’t get to, because suddenly he was kissing her again. She yielded to his touch without a second thought, parting her lips under this and allowing his tongue to flick against hers. Nikolai placed his hands on either side of her face, brushing along her cheeks as he deepened the kiss, pressing her further into the pillows.
Zoya didn’t have the willpower to break free.
“Without the very unstable political situation,” he muttered against her lips. “Would you agree?”
Sadly, Ravka without unstable politics wasn’t Ravka. “That’s wishful thinking,” Zoya replied as she broke free, Nikolai’s lips now hovering just in front of hers again. She could still feel his breathing on her face.
“Would you agree?” Nikolai repeated, now more urgently. His gaze never left her. It was magnetizing.
Perhaps that was the reason she said what she said. “Maybe.”
This time Nikolai smiled, a real smile, and the kiss which followed was much softer. “Halfway there already,” he whispered. “I’m very persuasive.”
Zoya rolled her eyes. But she didn’t object.
Because perhaps, she did want to be persuaded.