Summary:

When the night grows cold and his demon interferes, the dawn will always be on the horizon and with it a new day. Reiner meets Mikasa halfway and his blade is finally finding its way home inside her sheath.

WARNING: Contains prelude to graphic smut

A/N: For my new readers, I bid thee the warmest welcome to my humble story's universe. I know this story's been more than one year already and though it's been a while, I too really, really hope to see some of my earlier readers again when this story was first published in August 2018. If you're still reading this story, hello!

Moving forward, I've been working on this chapter during my country's restricted movement control period a.k.a partial lockdown due to COVID-19. (Btw, our family's fine here so let's hope humanity perseveres through this ordeal. Together we can do this. Be kind be safe!)

To be honest, I would have wanted to elaborate more on the last scene of chapter ten but I feel like I couldn't rob the ending. Therefore, we'll continue exploring what happens next in this chapter.

I would have to forewarn my readers that there is originally a full graphic smut in this chapter but has to be removed to adhere to FFN's rules. So, if you're keen to read the full version, do check out my Ao3 profile.

I know some readers hate long chapters because they couldn't catch a break. I'm sorry, this is what happens my brain gets into hyperfocus; I don't know where to stop. So, please use the chapter breaks to rest if it gets too much. I love you guys, ok!

Happy reading! Do share your thoughts or favorite moments in the comments section.

As You Are

Chapter Eleven

Sweet Dreams (are made of this)

Amatsukaze en route to Marley

Main Seas

She was genuinely hoping that he would be truthful about what actually took place after Annie's awakening straight from his own mouth. Her hopeful thinking was not lost in mere disenchantment even though she wasn't prepared to hear the brutal, ugly truth that happened in Trost the day before they officially graduated five years ago. The attack on Trost, without a doubt, had been premeditated by the Marley Warriors and Marco's death, to their suspicion at some extent had some relations to Annie but little did anyone know that Reiner was the one who called the heartless shot to silence the unfortunate recruit.

Jean had every right to be angry for Reiner's actions. He was Marco's closest friend during the three years of training.

If it was Eren who died by his hands, she believed that she would have been enraged even worse.

But here they are, with her arms around the former titan holder's broken, dejected body and his tears flowing freely for the sins he had committed in the past. Sins that he had to keep to himself, that haunted him as long as he's still breathing. As a Marley Warrior, he was a trained cold-blooded killer but with every single sin, piece by piece of his sanity shriveled into ruined fragments, his conscience trapped in a moral purgatory - no different than hell on earth.

Is Eren in that same dark place ever since?

She never asked him. She had listened to but she had never truly understood the cryptic words that hid the vengeance within. Was she that ignorant or in denial towards Eren's turmoil that had caused his drastic measures? Did her silence cause him to walk away from the only group of people he ever called family? Was it the fear of being honest with her own feelings that had caused his irredeemable actions in Liberio and later on the whole world?

Was she only seeing the ideal version of Eren - the one that only exists in her head and not the real person in their painful reality?

The desperate heaving of lukewarm breath against her skin drew her back from the dark recesses of her mind. Her right hand brushed gently against the back of the man burrowed within her arms and his head buried between the crooks of her neck, her warmth a reassurance in the cold night air that somehow found their way through the tiny opening on the chamber's window. The hand that held his head against her own thumping chest, found its fingertips entangled with the wet blonde tresses as the natural male scent emanating from his body heat sparked an unusual feeling from inside her own. A hint of heady, fresh pine from his earlier bath reeled her senses in, awakening a foreign sensation she had only experienced once albeit briefly before. That same feeling she had felt back when they were at the execution grounds in Paradis. Except that it was a lot stronger than before and her chest felt like it would burst open just from the sheer thought of finding out what it really is.

She was also very aware that he could hear the incessant, accelerating thumping from inside her chest.

"If he had told someone about us, we would have been executed and our families would have to face the consequences of our failure. I can't let them kill Gabi my mother. I had no choice….I'm really….really sorry….… Mikasa." Reiner's words cracked between his tears, muffled by the soft fabric of her night shift. The deep, baritone voice of his that called out for her name became a taunting echo inside her ear; an accompanying symphony that harmonized too well with her own heart's rhythm.

He wanted to be judged, he wanted to be punished and he wanted to be executed.

However, she let him grieve, she let him exhale and she let him break down out of his own accord instead.

Everything he had done was because of the same desperate need to survive and to protect his family just like everybody else.

Kami...both he and Eren are just two different sides of the same coin.

His sins and his mistakes were not hers to forgive but maybe, just maybe her compassion could halt him from treading down the deadset path of eternal perdition.

Mikasa clasped the sides of Reiner's chiseled jaw and lifted his head up, gazing darkly into those sunken, heartrending amber irises though the light of the candelabra only served to magnify their mesmerizing gold-hued glow. The pads of her thumbs began to wipe away the relentless warm tears that were still running down his grief-stricken face - the face was that of a man with nothing left to lose in this world; who had grown tired and weary of living.

"I know…." She responded softly, closing her eyes before leaning her head against his, their foreheads touched tenderly with no spared distance in between. "I know…..," the words repeated in a wistful whisper, yet her words resounded loudly in the still of the night. Her punctuation was followed by the continuous striking of thunders and the shy yet steady drizzling of a torrential downpour hitting the sea transporter.

They were both standing on the sandy dunes, overlooking a cluster of open-air refugee camps seeking asylum and mercy on the lands of Marley, after losing everything to war. Eren seemed to have slipped away from the group's temporary base at the Azumabito embassy residence while they were in the middle of discussing a potential peace effort at an international forum taking place the next day.

From across the distance, she could observe the silhouette of a man and a child who seemed to have taken notice of their unexpected presence.

"Eren?"

It had not gone unnoticed that Eren had been crying by the time she found him - from the way he hurriedly brushed the sides of his face with a sleeve - but back then she wasn't sure of the reason why. She had suspected that it might have had some relations to the young boy who had cheekily picked the Captain's coat pockets for money.

"That's the boy from the market earlier. Did something happen?"

"Not yet." Was the short, obscure reply. It took Eren a while before he continued his observation. "These people are just like us, who lost everything by force, whose freedom was taken away from them within a day."

She understood that and she naively believed that she understood Eren - the real Eren - more than anyone at that time.

"Mikasa…." He kept his head straight but she could feel him looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "Why is it…. that you care so much about me?"

His words caught her off guard and speechless.

"Is it because I saved you when you were a kid? Or is it because I'm family?" Eren's relentless questions pushed her towards the edge of her own logic - she could risk falling into the pits of the unknown if she ever dared herself to take another metaphorical step further.

'How could he even ask her that question?'

"What am I to you, Mikasa?" he asked out of nowhere, with an expression that she couldn't decipher and she couldn't -- wouldn't have the courage to look inside her heart for the answers. She loves him, she really does. They've been through so much together because that's what families do. She couldn't possibly tell him that she had been secretly desiring him to be something more than family when she knew he had given his heart to somebody else back home?

"W-well, " her words faltered mid-sentence. "You're famil--"

The sudden appearance of a foreign man, who seemed to be related to the boy from the market, provided a timely interruption towards their conversation and that was the last moment they ever had with each other.

Still, Mikasa found herself asking, what if on that day, she had chosen a different answer instead? Would it have changed anything?

No, it wouldn't have.

But if there was something she had grown to understand from that night was that maybe she should have been more honest with herself and her own feelings. Even if she had come clean to Eren about how she truly felt about him, there was nothing concrete that could have pointed to a possibility of it changing the direction nor the ramifications of Eren's decision, his clandestine love for Historia and the birth of Ymir.

If she had not chosen to wed an enemy as a way to unite the two warring nations, did she think that she could have stayed with Hizuru or Paradis and have her happy ending with Eren, raising his daughter like her own and having another family together while constantly living in fear of when the next attack will happen to the island and the people she cared about?

She looked back at the man who had to carry the burden of war on his back, with more than just a mother he needed to protect and had as much at stake. He would have been the one executed - his mother would have lost a son and Gabi would have lost someone who was more of a brother than a cousin to her. That little girl would have been forced down the same dark path as Eren did and when would that cycle of bloodshed ever end?

No, she made the right decision.

Her firm yet delicate hands began to cup his warm, grief-stricken face and her lips began to move out of its own will, seeking its mate, longing to be one again. The light feathery touch of her lips against his forehead began to move downwards towards the tip of his sharp distinctive Marley-born nose, then a cheek to the other cheek, inhaling in the strong raw, masculine scent from his body. She could taste the remnants of his salty tears as her lips ghosted tingling kisses against the heat of his skin, all while loving the sudden intake of a deep breath that he took; signifying his surprise towards the rather unexpected course of action. The hands that remained feeble on his sides froze, his fingers clenched too tightly against his palms - he was refraining himself from laying any of his hands on her out of respect.

Mikasa really wouldn't have an inkling whether he was fighting off her touch because she was too forward or because of something else. His body still trembled from the earlier breakdown, perhaps?

She wasn't sure.

Little did she know that her lord consort was shaking due to a rapidly growing desire from within, the degree of its intensity was becoming too unbearable for his own inexperienced body to control. He, who was already in her arms and kneeling in between her legs, needed not to do more than succumb to his own desires yet chose to still remain a respectable gentleman despite having an uphill internal battle, his desires trying to wrestle control from his guilt.

Though Mikasa didn't need him to be a gentleman that the Hizuru or Eldian empire would be proud of at this point, she only needed him to be Reiner Braun, the fearless Warrior who would do whatever it takes to perform his duties well.

She was now his duty that he needed to deliver until the end and it could never have been the right time or the right decision to have him as her consort even though he wasn't her first choice.

For the first time in her life, Mikasa would take that leap of faith down towards the unknown with nothing but intrigue that overshadowed all the dreads and doubts she ever had. Like the steady burning of the candles, from the first stroke of the flint that slowly consumes the wick, it was his humility and sincere honesty that had triggered the first spark of desire inside her like no other man had ever done.

It is the real human being inside this grown man - concealed too well and far too long behind his guilt - who had humbled her pride and conviction. She had her guards up the whole time ever since the day they exchanged their vows, swearing she would never open herself up nor surrender herself to him yet he had somehow slipped through her defenses without even trying, and here she was, stretched on the edge of the bed, submitting herself to him willingly.

She had let anger and disappointment cloud her senses too hard that she was forced into denial towards the young boy who had grown into a physically attractive young man after all those years. Now that they are finally in a space without anyone else in sight, she could finally admit that though the broad shoulders and his strong back - ones who had been carrying the weight of the wars and filial responsibilities - and the face that seemed to be in constant hurt and exhaustion; they all make up an almost perfect shell of a man but it was his imperfections within that is alluring beyond words to her.

Mikasa nipped on Reiner's thin upper lip, her tongue begging, urging for access just like the way he did with her on the deck. She had been craving to explore what could -- no should have happened if they were never interrupted. Not that she would allow anyone to know that the taste of his tongue and his lips had been inside her mind the whole time ever since.

She felt ridiculous that she had to avoid having made any eye contact with him at the dinner table - like they were young kids trying to hide a silly crush or that they did not just share a stolen kiss on the ship's deck away from prying eyes. She thought it was just a passing feeling but even her own body could not help but respond to the visual stimulation presented to her the moment he walked out of the bathroom door, clad in nothing but a thin cotton towel.

Reiner's breath hitched once before it became one with hers as their lips met yet again in a searing wet kiss, their eyes closed in unison and her hands clutching tightly around his nape comparable to latching on a lifeline that could help her brave the impending stormy seas of emotions. Almost losing her breath and her control, she began to feel a slight throbbing within her nether regions, causing her to distract the kiss by nibbling against the trim of light hair framing his sculpted jaw. She dusted butterfly kisses against the column of his neck, absolutely loving the way he grunted nervously in response towards her action. She bit softly at first, relishing in the oddly enticing combination of the salty sea breeze and his own perspiration, then sucking in a spot of skin too hard, that it might have left a telltale mark behind.

If he couldn't tell yet how badly she wanted him from the way she was writhing against his body, she wouldn't know what else she could have done.

Eyes widened, either in disbelief or delirium, lips parting with heavy breaths in between, Reiner finally relented to the already burning red-blood desire he'd had somewhat discarded in his grief. His firm hands found the courage to seize her lithe body by the curves of her slender waist, their skins separated by only the flimsy silk in between.

He saw the way her taut figure bent forward, molding perfectly against his own body. He too was more than aware that the two hardened nubs on her soft breasts - their shape stood out painfully against the fabric of her shift - would sooner become too much for his self-control to take and he could hear the same self-control walking out of the door, shutting it behind without care, allowing his inner devil full reign of its master.

It was just like their wedding night all over again; his larger frame pressed her body forward onto the mattress with gentle preciseness of a trained soldier, hands still clenched tight around her waist, reveling in the way her chest heaved, her lips panting, seeking for air that she had lost earlier. The view of her sprawled figure, her short dark tresses splayed against the crimson sheet, the blossoming blush on her face, with her slightly parted shift, revealing the smooth strip of pale skin - a fascinating symmetrical line in between her two mounds, leading to the carved muscles of her abs - underneath the enticing moonbeam peering through the ship's windowpane, was akin to that beautiful painting he had once seen from the windows of the only art gallery in town when he was a young boy.

It was a short glance but that painting was imprinted on his mind ever since.

It was a painting of a celestial figure - an angel, was what one of the women at the market had once told him. A pale, ethereal beauty in blue gossamer, reaching for the heavens above. Back then, he believed that angels exist and they are sent to look after good people.

If there ever were any angels, Reiner knew he was looking at one now with his own two eyes.

He could always be lost in the enticing depths of her deep granite irises. Like a work of art, she had the power to pull him into a trance and he allowed her spell, as well as her hands to guide his own from the curves of her waist and to slid up her whole torso with the gentlest of caress until it hovered on top of her mounds.

Touch me, her eyes pleaded to him with a demure persistence.

And touch her he did, his inner heat seeping through the silk like a raging blaze in the maddening wind. He began to knead the flesh tenderly, causing the breath that she inhaled earlier to come out in a small whimper instead.

His breath became heavier the moment his palms tasted the friction of soft fabric against his callous skin….and the hardened nubs in between. Oh God, he moaned, she's so much more beautiful and even more amazing to his touch.

Her half-lidded eyes were in a daze as they watched the movement of his hands with heated exhilaration, biting her lower lips in anticipation.

Just like an angel.

Mikasa could be someone's angel and she was meant for a good person.

He was anything but.

The light left his eyes like the earlier spark was prematurely doused by a huge wave of stormy waters. He couldn't touch her. Not like this - like he was using his guilt and breakdown to fish for her sympathy.

He always thought that as a man, he would be ever ready to perform his marital duties to his bride but Mikasa….she was no ordinary woman. She was more than a royal blood that needed to reproduce. She was--is someone who was more than a duty to him.

He was not her friend but she is someone to him.

He would be regretting this but it would be better for him to stop now than for her to regret it in the morning after she realizes that she had made a terrible mistake by allowing him to take advantage of her kindness and compassionate nature.

"Mikasa….," he struggled to breathe while hopelessly fending off the burgeoning lust within, forcing himself away from her, shoving himself on the other end of the bed, flinching as if his hands were on literal fire. "I-I can't-...I shouldn't…… I don't even deserve to touch you. I'm sorry……" He apologized profusely, eyes closing in shame and his head dropped low into his hands. He couldn't even dare himself to look at her.

She lifted herself up from the bed, her head filled with so much confusion. Was it something she did? Her eyes dropped down immediately, unbeknownst to the young man who had assumed that it was out of hatred or disappointment instead of sadness.

"Don't worry, I'll take the floor when I come back. I just need to get some fresh air." He said quickly, without even giving her a glance nor a chance for her to respond before heading straight for the door.

Mikasa shifted to a corner of the berth, adjusting her shift, fastening the ties of the shift even tighter to her own body.

The room suddenly felt too cold and too large for her.

She felt a rush of unpleasant memories and feelings surging through her brain as if a trigger had just been pushed unwillingly.

The same heavy ache inside her chest resurfaced and the first time it ever happened was the day Eren proclaimed with his own lips that he has always hated her.

Is this another sign that she could never keep what isn't hers no matter how badly she wanted it?

Meanwhile, Reiner, who had just walked out of the room, rested himself against the door behind him, feeling angry at himself and at the powers that be for cursing him.

It was their wedding night all over again and he truly felt that the universe is working against him.

He traces the eerie, ghastly steps across the dark hallway, not knowing where he had begun nor where he would end. The dark red tapestry and the dark wooden interior of the ship emitted an ominous vibe - too dark, too profound. The flashing of lights disappeared as quickly as it appeared, followed by the sounds of crackling thunder in pursuit. He is clueless about where he should be heading.

The sound of a metal door opening catches his immediate attention and he turns his head towards the source of light that comes through the barrier. He lets his feet take control of his body, approaching the exit and he finds himself facing the main deck of the mighty sea vessel. On the ledge of the ship's railings, there stood a figure by its lonesome. A figure he has grown to know so well by now.

"Mikasa…." He calls out to her, anxious that she is too close to the edge. Decked in an overflowing black dress, the ends of the fabric flutter wildly in the raging wind and her skin drenched from the pouring rain. His steps falter upon noticing the red skies and the chain of large, looming figures too tall that they reach the skies, all marching towards where the ship is heading to. Marley. They are the Gods of Destruction and they are all heading to Marley.

"No…." He cries helplessly, as he foresees the impending disaster that was about to happen. It is then the figure turns herself around and whispers painfully, "I can't do this life, not without him…….I'm sorry….." The next thing he knows, Mikasa falls over the ledge into the bone-crushing blood red sea below.

"NO!!" He screams and he lunges forward to save her but he is always too late. She was gone. He couldn't see her anymore through his blurred, teary vision.

He curses his own being. Even in his dreams, his fate is still fucked. Why? Why? Why?

"I've told you before, Reiner." A voice next to him makes itself known, only to reveal his former friend yet also former enemy, Eren Jeager. He is clad in an attire just like that night in Liberio. Except for this time around, it is doused in blood. It is his own disgraced, steaming Marley blood from his own hands.

Eren lifts his arm; black, putrid liquid oozing from the cut on his palm and he is surrounded by his pre-shifting sparks. "We both know where she belongs," says the Founding's holder.

The ship erupted into a sea of flames and Eren disappeared amidst the blast of a Titan transformation. All Reiner could do is watch helplessly as the grotesque, demonic face of the Attack Titan lunges towards him with its jaw wide open.

"WAIT!!" His body jolted upwards in a painful awakening. He was out of breath, gasping, yet he felt like he was barely breathing at all. He fumbled with the sheets in his hands, as if looking for the lungs he had somewhat lost in his sleep or the blood he had lost in his nightmare.

"Reiner?" The same tender voice he had heard and had lost in his dreams asked with urgency. Her face held the same palpable expression, a stark contrast to the emotionless face that had been haunting his recurring dreams.

Mikasa, who was calmly sipping a cup of warm tea at the nearby writing table, sprang up on her feet when she heard his sudden voice. She approached the bed in three short strides and settled herself on the edge of the berth with concern on her face. However, instead of reaching out to him, a free hand landed on the crumpled crimson sheets instead. Eyes squinting in uncertainty, she repeated his name once again.

Reiner blinked his eyes several times to make sure that this was not another horrible dream and that this Mikasa would not fade away or perish just like the one he had seen so vividly in his earlier nightmare. He pulled the unsuspecting woman deep into his arms, resting his head on her shoulders.

She's real. She's not a dream. She's real. He assured himself, breathing in relief and finding solace in her warmth.

His hold tightened against her and he sighed gratefully, appreciating the comfort emanating from her body. He missed being engulfed in her softness and he breathed in the sweet soothing scent of her natural fragrance.

The room stayed silent and still, only for that particular moment, save for the sounds of the thunderstorm unleashing torrents after torrents of heavy raindrops outside. With no signs of the sun amongst the dark clouds, the window panes became heavy with fog and water.

Mikasa, however, refused to have the same incident happen again just like the night before and decided that it was best for her to set a physical boundary between whatever this thing that they have between them. The sting of his deliberate rejection from last night still ached inside her chest.

It was too early for her to have hopes for anything to change so soon for them.

Rather than returning his embrace, she nudged his body away considerately and offered him the cup of warm herbal tea that was still in her hand instead. "The mint tea helps." She said coldly with an absolute contradiction to the drink she was offering.

Reiner winced, it eventually dawned on him that her feelings were hurt because of his actions last night. He took the cup anyway and downed the whole cup of warm tea in one long swig. He cleared his throat once before saying, "About last night….it wasn't because of you, it's me."

She turned her head sideways, indifferently averting her gaze from him and responded, "Last night has passed. There's nothing that is worth mentioning. Just forget it." Especially the part where she was panting shamelessly like a mare in heat.

"Mika-"

"I'm sorry about this." She cut his words off while she reached out for his military identification that was left hanging on the nearby wooden bedpost and placed them into his unsuspecting hands, exchanging them for the cup. The metal tags were back to their original shapes with no evidence of them to have ever been skewed or bent by her incredible strength. "I have no right to do what I did."

Reiner shook his head, clutching the dog tags in his palm. Their weight suddenly felt too heavy in his hand thus why he wasted no time in placing it around his neck again. "You have the right to be angry at me."

Mikasa snapped back, "No, I don't have the right to be angry FOR you!" There was no mistaking the pools of unshed tears contained by those sad gunmetal orbs.

Reiner's eyes widened upon the sudden realization. Oh god, he was being foolish, ridiculous and pathetic. "I'm sorry, I'm a worthless ma-"

Her agile hand was quick to clutch the side of his face and shook her head in disagreement. "Stop apologizing". He would only make the pain she is feeling stung more than it should be. Her eyes closed in weariness, as she felt the beginning of a heavy feeling in her head began to make its presence known again as if foreseeing this to be a daily torturous occurrence in the next several days, weeks and even months.

He's too damaged, she said to herself.

But she's damaged too.

She took in another deep breath before reaffirming her stand. "What would it take for you to stop thinking about dying and start thinking about living instead?".

Their day had not yet begun but it already felt that she had gone through so much.

"What happened to meeting each other halfway?" she asked, her words burdened by her grievances but it was more to herself than to him. Believing that she was powerless to help make the current situation better, Mikasa decided that they both had to put a stop to this exhausting cycle of blame before it even begins, and before she took her leave, she awkwardly tried to offer her consolation by giving him a friendly pat on his shoulder instead.

Like he was a poor, unfortunate stranger.

She might as well punch him in the guts.

We both know where she belongs, the same haunting voice taunted Reiner's broken psyche, further dealing a metaphorical low blow to his conscience. It resonated loudly in his mind that Eren might have been standing next to him in this very room, jeering at the former Armored Titan holder's pitiful state.

His nightmares should remain as nightmares. Eren made his choice and Mikasa made hers.

Mikasa chose to stay married to him.

Reiner's hand was swift in grasping the hand that retreated from the sheets, holding her in place as she stood next to the bed. He shifted from the bed and stood behind her, while gathering the courage to wrap an arm around her waist, despite it being rigid due to her earlier dejection yet she never resisted his touch. He rested his head next to hers, his right hand took the earlier cup that was still in her hold and placed it on the bedside table before returning back to the now-empty hand, caressing the ink on her wrist and pulling it closer to his lips.

Her breath hitched when he kissed the inside of her palm, causing her to falter in her speech. "W-what are you doing?"

His response was in a deep breath and a voice that became deeper with a strong desire. "Meeting you halfway….," There was a pause in his sentence as he ran his lips against the back of her hand, languidly tracing the outline of the Azumabito family symbol on her skin. "-only if this is what you want because I have no right to deny your needs last night." He wanted to do it right this time but he needed to know that she'd really want the same.

And you have no idea how badly I've been wanting you too, he said to himself with a shameless resolve.

"I… " Her chest heaved with a berating ambivalence. "Don't think now's the right time." It was slightly after dawn, people would have been up and about! Despite her inner conscience resisting, her eyes fluttered nervously and her heart jumped when the coarse hair on his jaw grazed against her skin, igniting a thrill, far more heightened than what she had felt hours before.

The dawn will always be on the horizon and every day is a new beginning.

His breath was a taunting, ghostly tingle against her neck. "Just say the word. Everything that I am is yours."

Like the moon that gave way to the sun, now it seemed that their roles were also reversed from the night before and Mikasa ended up becoming the one who was self-conscious instead.

"Will you have me?" He whispered in her ear, while that agonizing hand of his began to trace the curve of her waist, making slow circles in its path, moving towards the middle of her abdomen, admiring the solid contours of her muscles that could be felt even through the silk shift.

Just like the night before, he couldn't refrain himself from savoring the feel of silk against the callused skin on his palms, a beguiling sensation to his mind.

"Will you let me touch you?" He ran a finger from his other hand along the strip of skin in between the collars of her night shift, starting from her neck and all the way down her chest, tracing the strings on her chemise very carefully avoiding the two curves of her breasts. Even in between the sounds of a raging shower outside, she could still hear the sound of his low, husky voice flowing into her ears.

She was already struggling with her logic to cite a coherent sentence at that point and he took the opportunity of her losing grip to nibble on her ear, causing her to stutter an excuse - more of a futile attempt to reinforce false propriety than turning down his advance. "Some-...one would be looking for us."

He turned her head to the side and he murmured into her lips, "It's still early. We have time…..." and he sealed his words with another kiss while his roaming hand took the liberty to slip in between her shift and into her camisole, cupping an ample mound in his palm, the tip of his finger teasing the already hardened nub of the soft flesh.

Mikasa pulled herself away from his torturous lips and threw her head back against his shoulder on impulse upon the sudden sensation, eliciting a heavy moan from her already shivering lips, which only served to encourage her lord consort even more with his conquest. His mouth latched on to a spot on her neck, sucking in the supple skin with enough force to leave his own mark.

She turned her body around to face him, trying to make sense of his actions and found herself pressed down against the bed instead, her legs dangling freely over the high mattress. Her eyes reflected the apprehension in its granite shade as she looked up at the tall and powerful stature of a man, conforming to the gallant strength within, whose dominating presence was a far cry from the broken man that she had consoled at night. It made her feel vulnerable, all her fragile strength and defenses crumbled like ashes amongst the morning embers; the second she got lost in the depths of the pools of his golden eyes, she knew she was already in a losing battle when she was supposed to be one conquering his loyalty on the bed. The way those sharp gaze, whose colors reminded her of the beautiful sunrise, fixed into her vision, seeped straight into her core as it shook her like nothing she's ever felt before. He reinforced that feeling when he stroked the side of her face tenderly, a thumb running along the scar under her right eye - the mark that was indirectly caused by Eren's titan - worshipping the mark of her imperfection. The person that Eren failed to truly see yet Reiner is seeing it right now; even clearer than ever.

She lifted her own hand and laced her fingers with his, her eyes closing in, at peace with his touch.

Mikasa's imperfections are what made her even more desirable to him.

If someone told him five years ago that he would find himself being enraptured with the girl standing next to him on graduation night, he would have laughed himself off at the mere thought. But now, the joke was on him because he does not deserve said girl but the young woman she has grown into believed otherwise.

Dark, amber eyes with a steely gaze fixed into her alluring granite irises. "Whatever happens, I will never let you go." That was a promise he has never made to anyone nor did he ever allow himself to make to anyone in his life before.

That morning, his blade had finally found its way home inside her sheath.

The increasing rhythm of their bodies, the creaking of the bed, the chiming of clashing metal tags and the low, guttural moans of their coupling made up the most sensuous harmony as they resonated against the wooden walls of the chamber, accompanied by the sound of the steady rain. The beads of sweat dripping down their entangled limbs and bodies were no different than the rainwater drizzling down the foggy window panes as they both seek solace and comfort inside their private sanctuary.

Too lost in their growing rapture, none of them had heard the knocking on the chamber door. Whoever was on the other side was getting very impatient as the knocks grew louder.

"Reiner, I heard you! Don't pretend that you're still asleep!" Came the energetic voice from the other side of the rather fortunately locked door. "Are you ignoring me?"

Shit.

Reiner looked at the flushing physique of the young woman underneath him, who also happened to realize that his little cousin was at the door. A hint of a smile on her blushing face only made her even more irresistible in his eyes.

He raised his voice slightly, hoping that his cousin would just give up. "Gabi, it's too early!"

"Is Mikasa still sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Liar. She doesn't sleep after dawn."

Crap.

"I'm coming in!" The door was thrown open immediately.

"GABI, NO!!"

On that day, Reiner and Mikasa both received a grim reminder that they should ALWAYS, ALWAYS lock their bloody door.

A/N: Before you guys throw your pitchforks at me for the chapter's end that is like 'eh?' Let's face it, Mikasa is Gabi's favorite person now hehe

I'm really enjoying the process of laying down the groundwork for our newlyweds so far. I want to explore how these two hot-blooded young adults would manage their newly-discovered lust for each other especially in front of the others. They're young, they're in a honeymoon mood that was delayed.

Next chapter preview:

He began to see the beauty of life through her eyes but the appearance of a long-forgotten face would sooner threaten what hasn't even begun.