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The Darkling may be patient, but that did not mean he was not possessive.
At this point, Alina was his. They were married and she could openly (privately) admit her love for him.
But she still got that faraway look in her eyes that told him she was thinking about her quiet past life and it frustrated him to no end. She had her memories, but soon they would fade and be replaced by their daily routine of tea at breakfast and afternoon strolls in the garden and cuddling before bed—always together.
They had so much time. He might as well make use of it.
Aleksander wanted to show Alina the world, give her the world. And he would start with Keramzin.
“Where are we going?”
“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve asked, little wife.”
Alina crossed her arms as the carriage rumbled along. “I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve avoided answering a simple question.” She accidentally fell asleep at some point during the ride, so she had no idea what direction they were even going in at this point. Leaning against her husband was annoyingly comfortable.
“I did answer,” he said with mock offense, “I told you you’ll see when we get there.”
“You’re impossible,” she scoffed, but didn’t ask again.
Alina didn’t need to ask where she was when she spotted the orphanage at the end of the road. But she did want to know, “Why in the world would you bring me here?”
“I needed to get your opinion,” he said honestly.
When they pulled up to the front and got out of the carriage, Alina felt as though she had to apologize for the sorry state of the building. “It’s quite run down now.” The orphanage wasn’t necessarily her happiest place, but she didn’t remember it looking
this
weathered.
“I received a note that the very place Sankta Alina once lived had fallen into ruin, and I knew we had to do something about it. The inside also hasn’t been cared for, but we can make it look exactly the same as when you were growing up if you wish.”
“It’s been so long that even Ana Kuya is..” Alina trailed off, getting lost in her head again until the Darkling gently stroked her arm. “Well I do want some changes. First of all, the outside has never been very nice to look at.”
“We’ll repaint it. I wanted to ask you what color you prefer.”
“Make it blue. Light blue.”
“Then blue it shall be. We’ll build and rebuild countless orphanages and make sure the children are well cared for, better cared for than you ever were, my poor, sweet wife,” he said tenderly, resolutely as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Don’t pity me. We’ve both suffered. We’ve both been lonely.”
He hummed. “If only I had found you sooner, my sun summoner.” Then he continued, “We’ll have so many orphanages so children will always have a place to go. Until one day, they’ve grown up and there’s no need for so many because parents are no longer dying in wars. They’ll be replaced by art studios and hotels and restaurants and schools. Whatever you like.”
“Why are you doing this?”
To make you happy. “This is growth. This is healing.”
“For Ravka.”
“For Ravka.”
Alina kissed The Darkling’s hand and told him sincerely, “Thank you.” And he knew he had her right where he wanted when her face broke into a big smile, “But why in the world should I trust you with all these plans, my dear husband?” For all the hardships in his life, he had never been without a parent.
“Show me,” he said simply. “There are many things I have done, places I have seen that you haven’t yet had the chance. This is a place only you know.” This was part of his bid to make her feel that they are truly equals.
“Well, it wasn’t particularly fun to grow up here,” Alina grumbled, taking his hand and leading him forward nevertheless.
“Then perhaps this is a place you want to leave behind?” he tested.
Alina tilted her head thoughtfully. “Not entirely. There were some good parts, I suppose.”
“Show me,” he said again.
“Let’s skip seeing the inside. It’s probably full of rats or something anyway,” she said quickly. She often thought of botched Grisha testing and the forever unanswered what if? Maybe she would have grown a little taller if she grew up in the Little Palace, using her powers and eating their modest but plentiful food.
They went around the building instead and ended up walking through a meadow. The meadow.
“Huh. I could have sworn it was bigger when I was a kid,” Alina said with that apologetic tinge to her voice. Yellowing and dry, the meadow certainly didn’t look like the vast safe haven she had sought comfort in as a child.
“When the world is yours, that happens sometimes.”
They walked out to about the center of the meadow and Alina bit her lip, hesitating before telling him, “I used to come here. With Mal. We thought maybe we could run away from the Grisha testers and just be together forever.” She had never felt more naive in her life.
“One of those Grisha testers caught up with you,” he said with humor dancing in his eyes as he squeezed her hand. Internally, he felt the uglier parts of him stir at the mention of the tracker. No matter. He had plans. She would eventually come to know the true meaning of being together forever.
This was not the first time he had tried to overtake her memories of another and replace them with thoughts of him. He had taken to leaving her sweet notes—love letters—around the palace for her to discover. He always knew when she found a new one because she would become shy and more quick to smile.
He knew he had reached a breakthrough when she left him a note with only a faint kiss mark.
He loved her playful energy as much as he loved her total submission. He was a greedy, greedy man and he wanted it all.
He had read her old letters to the tracker and thought that he would bring her to the meadow if she wanted that so badly. Yes, he would bring her and remind her who she belonged with, who she belonged to.
“Shall we have a picnic?” he asked, already unbuttoning his kefta for them to sit on. “No sense in making the trip all the way over here just to turn around already.”
“A picnic? With what food?”
He pulled a small packet of sweets from his pocket. “I always try to come prepared.” He felt pride swell in his chest when Alina looked openly delighted and impressed.
The spread out kefta provided just enough space for The Darkling to sit with Alina between his legs and leaned up against his chest. She twisted around and offered him a bite of her candy.
“No, it’s all for you.” He loved feeding her and watching her eat, always pushing her to take more and indulge her gluttonous streak. Even as she spent more and more time living in the Little Palace, she was easy to impress with flaky pastries and fresh fruit.
“Are you sure?” she asked with a slight furrow to her brow.
“Ah, I’ll have a taste,” he acquiesced. He swooped down and kissed her, probing his tongue into her mouth and reveling in her little noise of surprise. “Sweet,” he remarked.
Alina turned around quickly. It was so easy to embarrass her when they were alone. There was no one to act tough for, and he loved it.
When she finished, she asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have any water in those pockets would you?”
He chuckled and she enjoyed the feeling of his chest rumbling against her back. “No, just sit and relax and enjoy.” He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and stroked her arm. He periodically laid loving kisses to the top of her head, eventually parting her hair to get to her neck as well.
A few minutes passed and he knew Alina was starting to get restless. “Aleksander,” she said softly with hesitation.
“Yes, my heart?”
“Did you just want to sit here?”
“I wanted to see where my Alina grew up. I’ve seen it, so now we can do whatever you want.” He planted a kiss in that special spot behind her ear.
“Oh.” Without even seeing her face he knew she was biting her lip in contemplation. Then she shook her head as if clearing away the bad thoughts he loved to plant and encourage in her mind.
“So milaya, will you tell me?”
“It’s,” she said as he watched the back of her neck bloom red, “not entirely appropriate. It’s nothing really.”
He unwrapped his arms from around her and ran his hands up and down the outsides of her thighs. “Hm, whatever you’re thinking is probably not nearly as bad as what I’m thinking.” He was goading her and playing to her competitive nature while also playing his role of the villain of her life.
She took the bait. “And just how do you know that?”
He nibbled on her ear and whispered, “Because I’m thinking completely evil thoughts like how badly I want to stuff your pussy with my cum. Not very saintly of me, wouldn’t you agree?”
She never answered because she turned herself around in his arms and pulled him into a needy kiss. He returned in kind, opening his mouth to taste her better. The wet and sloppy sounds of their kissing made for a lovely symphony with the sounds of nature around them, little birds trilling in the distant trees.
Eventually, Aleksander could sense that Alina was getting impatient. He managed to flip them around once again and lower her so she was laying on her back. He trailed hot kisses down her neck as he worked her clothing off her. A growl made its way out of his throat when he felt Alina’s small, needy hands removing his clothing at the same time. It helped that he had already removed his kefta.
He hovered over her, his form blocking the sun in the sky and casting a long shadow across her. He moved down to put his mouth to work on her core, but she stopped him. “No, don’t. Then the sun will be in my eyes. And I’m ready, I swear.”
The Darkling smirked, looking quite smug. “Are you now? Have you just been wet and waiting for me this whole time?”
Alina squirmed under him. “It’s your fault, it happens when you’re all close to me and I can’t help it.” It might be a tight squeeze at first, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Waiting any longer seemed far worse than the slight stretch and burn.
“I’m almost always close to you,
solnishka.”
He had made sure that she could always feel the way their powers sang to each other.
“ I know . Now are you going to fuck me or not?”
Aleksander could barely conceal his excitement. Now he had her asking for it. He reached down and pumped himself a few times before lining up with her entrance.
“Wait. Are you sure?” she asked quickly with uncertainty. A bug had buzzed by, slightly shaking her out of her lust-driven state.
“I am. Are you sure?”
“Yes but i-it feels a bit weird, that’s all. Since we’re, you know, here.” It seemed like she was re-registering their surroundings.
She would put up a weak fight in the Little Palace sometimes, complaining that someone could easily hear them or see them (he knew she secretly loved the thrill), but right now they were truly alone. Just her and him.
“Shh, just focus on me, lapushka . There’s nobody around to hear you.” She nodded and showed him she was finally ready by wrapping her legs around his waist. He groaned as he pushed into her wet heat. He panted as he took a moment to gather himself.
Alina Starkov was undoubtedly a powerful woman. She burrowed her way into his heart. She made him do absolutely batshit insane things. She made him plot and seethe and scheme. This was her fault.
At least, that’s what he told himself every time he felt like he didn’t deserve the innocent trust shining in her eyes.
He pulled out and went back in slowly, deliberately. “I love you,” he told her honestly. That earned him a squeeze of her pussy around his length.
“You belong with me. There’s no one else who can ever love you the way I do. My one and only.”
Alina tangled her fingers in his hair and mewled, “Aleksander.”
“Look at you, taking me so well.” She hadn’t been lying when she said she was ready for this. It made sense, considering, “It’s like you were made for me.” If her cunt wasn’t already wrapped so perfectly around him, he would reshape it to fit his cock. With the amount of times he bedded her, one might think he was going for that anyway. Every part of her was his.
Alina was preening. Her praise kink and his sweet, filthy words would be the death of her. The feeling of rightness was so strong when they were joined like this. She caught his lips in a kiss then begged, “Faster please.”
His hip bones knocked against hers as he started rutting into her harder and faster. He knew bruises would form and that sent an electric shock of pleasure down his spine. Alina cried out and tightened her legs around him. She needed him close.
“Say it.”
He was only met with his wife’s whimpers. As flattering as it was that Alina had all but lost her head, he needed to hear it. He sucked on her bottom lip to get her attention. “Say it,” he ordered again.
Her brain was too hazy to articulate much, but she knew more or less what he wanted. “I love you, Sasha,” she said between hot, sweet pants, “I’m yours.” It had taken her some time to admit it, but they belonged together.
His balls tightened and his hips stuttered once, then picked back up. He leaned down to suck harshly on the column of her neck and Alina shouted, feeling herself teeter on the edge of an orgasm.
“ Mine,” he growled into her neck as he unloaded ropes and ropes of his cum into her. And Alina, his best girl, his sweet, perfect angel, came on his cock at the feeling of the hot seed painting her insides. “Mine, mine, mine, all mine,” he repeated as he held her close while they rode it out.
The sunlight was warm on his bare back, but the space between his and Alina’s body was burning . “Is that,” he asked between firm kisses, “what you had in mind?”
“Even better,” Alina sighed in contentment. They laid there for a while longer, kissing and cuddling like newlyweds until the breeze turned too sharp for comfort.
He had fucked her so hard that her body had been moved up the length of the kefta and her hair had gotten tangled in the brush. “Now I’m all dirty,” she whined as they shakily got up and brushed themselves off. She quite liked her hairstyle that day.
He steadied her and brushed some of the larger pieces from her hair. “We will have a nice hot bath at home, lyubimaya moya . I promise.” He would never relent. They would bathe together and get into bed together and he would keep her close forever and ever.
This placated her enough to curl up in his arms and sleep the rest of the carriage ride back. Sleep, he thought, sleep and dream of me.
Alina was right where she belonged. She just needed to settle in.