Page 64 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

Merilyn exhaled. "It will not be easy."

Impatience flashed across his face. "Tell me."

"Your semen. And a great deal of it." Merilyn could feel the heat creeping up her neck, but she cleared her throat and pressed on. "You must spill outside of her and then… reintroduce it with your fingers. Encouraging her to swallow, will also help. You need to do whatever is necessary to bringyourself to release as many times as possible, and introduce it into her body. Through your semen, her body may recognize you again."

King Daemonikai mulled over her words. "I am not the kind to climax quickly."

She had already deduced as much.

"That is why I said it will not be easy," she replied. "Yet you must find a way to make it possible. Do whatever you must. Keep these instructions in mind, and more than anything… simply be yourself."

"Listen to her body, notice even the smallest details… Then listen to your own and simply be yourself," he muttered.

Merilyn tilted her head. "Huh?"

"The Oracle. Those were the words she spoke to me. She claimed that to be the only way I could help Emeriel during this heat."

Merilyn considered this, then gave a slow nod. "That makes sense."

Then, she rose, carefully easing the princess’s head back onto the pillows. Emeriel shifted slightly but remained in a deep, troubled sleep.

"I will take my leave now," Merilyn said, pulling the covers over Emeriel’s naked form. "She will not remain asleep for long."

"You know a great deal about this," the grand king assessed her closely. "It has happened to you."

Merilyn's finger clenched in the folds of her skirt, her eyes going toward the closed door.

King Daemonikai followed her gaze. "It was with Vladya, was it not?"

"After our bonding ritual failed." She admitted, looking away from the door. "I could not believe it was over—just like that. After everything we had endured."

She gave a sad, fleeting smile. "Those were dark times. While trying to deal with the heartbreak, I went on heat suppressants. Vladya… he was an even greater mess than I was. And let us just say—our intimacies then were for all the wrong reasons, and they reflected that."

"When I went off suppressants six months later, my next heat with him was… a challenge." She shook her head, pulling herself out of the memory. "I daresay he has forgotten entirely. It was over a millennial ago, after all. But some experiences, a lady does not ever forget."

King Daemonikai nodded.

"I am delighted he has found happiness. That we both have. Our future was so bleak then… and now, here we are." She gave a soft chuckle. "And now I am rambling. Forgive me, Your Majesty—I will leave you to your duties."

“Thank you, Merilyn.”

She dipped into a graceful bow and took her leave.

***

Daemonikai remained lost in thought, pondering all Merilyn had said while watching over Emeriel’s restless sleep. He should have awakened her by now, but after the turmoil of the day she had endured, he lacked the heart to rouse her.

His rut had finally loosened its hold on him, granting him the clarity he needed to steady his thoughts and determine his next course of action.

Emeriel stirred. "My Beloved..."

That name, coming from her lips, always did something to him. For a name he had heard countless times over the course of his long life, there was something uniquely beautiful about theway it sounded coming from her. Everything with her felt new, different.

"It burns… I am burning," she cried, rolling restlessly to the side.

From beyond the chamber walls, Aekeira’s cries of bliss rose again. Daemonikai’s senses, amplified by his rut, picked up every detail. The wet sound of skin meeting skin, the murmured filth of passion.

He forced himself to tune them out, focusing solely on Emeriel.

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