CHAPTER SEVEN; GLORY TO THE LORD
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                       HER DULL BROWN EYES stared back at her reflection that was pictured in the rippling water, tiny drops of blood was running down her hand as she held the dripping wet cloth. Herminius had excused himself from the room when he couldn't get anything out of her, she just kept staring at the wall with a shocked look on her face; dazed in her own mind.

She could hear the tiny droplets of water hit the tub that was filled up with lukewarm water, the soldiers had brought it in for her. The regular guards who stood outside of her room looked at her with a sort of strange look on their faces, and she wasn't sure if they were afraid or completely turned on with her ruthlessness that had happened just two hours ago. Guards had to clean up the mess that she had made, moving the bodies to be burned later on.

"My queen-" a voice behind her broke Dakota from her swarming mind. She almost didn't catch the voice, it had broke through the silence barely above a whisper.

Dakota rose her head, not looking behind her as tears started falling from her face. "I've brought you some towels, and some fresh clothing. Herminius wanted me to bring them."

She didn't turn around to know that whoever was behind her was just a mere child, from the sound of her soft delicate voice. She could also hear the sudden shake in her voice coming out of her trembling lips.

"Move it over there." Dakota's pained voice was strained, like talking had hurt her throat. The girl behind her took a few steps towards her hesitantly, almost afraid that she would turn around and take her life too.

She could only see the side of her face that was shined upon by the moonlight illuminating through the room. She could see that her cheeks were shining with wetness, but she didn't dare open her mouth. She placed the clothing and towels on a nearby chair and bowed her head slightly before walking out of the room and shutting the door quietly.

It was only until she was finally left alone that she turned her head to see the door shut close and stood up from the chair she was sat upon for an hour, staring a hole into the tub. A breathy sigh escaped her lips as she started gripping at the straps that held her cloak together, letting the fabric fall off of her shoulders.

  It has been awhile since she had been totally submerged into water, since she had been living in the woods after the ordeal with Mount Weather, all she got a taste of unclean water from rivers. Even then, she only stopped to spot clean herself, never stopping to enjoy herself in case she had someone watching her in the distance.

Dakota hung the rest of her clothes on a nearby chair before dipping her foot into the steaming water. A content sigh escaped her lips when she lowered herself, allowing the water to flow over her thighs. The hot water felt incredible against her skin, wrapping itself around her like a warm blanket. She removed her braids before her fingers combed through the knots followed by washing it in the water.

  The scene in the market place, had her mind reminding her of things that took place long ago, things that weren't so pretty, things that she had tried to leave behind but still haunted her till this day. Perhaps she was still haunted from the markings upon her skin, or maybe deep inside, she wasn't truly over what happened to her as a child.

   She wasn't over what happened, she was done with the haunting memories.

Dakota closed her eyes while her head leaned back, hitting the back of the wooden tub and allowing herself to slip further and further, and soon she was under the water. The blood that was crusted on her face, and neck slowly started to detach itself from her skin as she felt her lungs burn from the lack of oxygen.

  Her hands shot out to the sides of the tub, gripping each side until her knuckles turned white and she cut through the water with a gasp for breath. She coughed as she emerged, blinking a couple times while the water droplets fell down her olive skin.

  Suddenly there was a knock on the door which made her wipe at her face quickly, but there wasn't any time to ask who was at the door until the person in question was opening it. Roan walked inside and his eyes widened slightly when he saw her in the bath.

  "I can come back." He said as he held the door open.

A simple shake of her head had him closing true door behind him. "What do you want?" She asked as he walked over to the chairs and sat down. The water had just reached above her nipples, but he could still see the fullness of them, he swallowed before looking her in the eyes.

  "The little ordeal you caused in the market place was uncalled for." He stated and she frowned.

Dakota licked her lips, "you wanted me to make the Ice Nation fear me and I have done that. Whether you like it or not, Roan, I will not apologize for what I've done."

Dakota saw the slight twist on his lips and the breathy chuckle that escaped seconds after. "I didn't think you would. There are men in our ranks who are referring you as Queen now so, I think you succeeded."

It was Dakota's turn to shoot back a smirk. "I'm good at making impressions." Roan licked his lips while nodding, watching her move back towards the back of the tub without breaking the eye contact.

She watched Roan rise from the chair and turn his back towards her and she raised her brow after him. "Enjoy yourself, Dakota." He said before his hand reached the door but Dakota's voice caught him in his tracks.

"Roan?"

He turned his head at his name being called by the woman behind him. His cold blue eyes, staring at her like the winter's breeze, chilling her bones. "Take off your clothes."

Roan eyed her for a second, his gaze darkening on her naked frame as her arms rested on either side of the tub. She watched him with a heated gaze as he turned around without saying anything and started removing his fur coat, his fingers skillfully working at the straps, removing weapons from hidden places as he kept their eye contact.

His shirt soon made contact with the floor, joining his fur cloak before he started to untie his pants. It wasn't the first time she had seen him shirtless, but even then, it was under different circumstances. Her brown eyes gazed down towards the healed wound that Clarke had inflicted on him months ago. How different things were between them now, he had betrayed her and delivered her to Lexa for his own gain, but It wasn't a secret to neither of them that something was starting to develop between them.

Dakota knew it wasn't love that was beginning to come between them, because her heart belonged to someone else, even thought she didn't realize that.

Dakota's brown eyes had darkened when his pants started sliding down his thighs and her gaze lifted towards his face as he started walking towards her and into the bath on the opposite side. Now, they were sitting closer than ever, their knees almost touching as they sat there naked. Dakota felt her throat tighten and she licked her lips before letting her teeth sink down into her bottom lip.

"Is that better?" Roan asked, his lips turning up into a smirk while his brow raised and she smiled. He moved further down and soon she felt his hand travel up her calf, and towards her knee. Dakota's brown eyes flickered with lust as she stared over at him before moving slightly forward, their faces just inches apart causing his breath to lightly fan her face. Dakota placed her hands on Roan's shoulders and maneuvered herself into a sitting position on his lap, straddling his waist. His larger, strong hands instantly moved towards the small of her waist, enjoying the way her soft olive skin felt beneath his fingertips.

    They didn't need to talk, their eyes and their body language spoke for the both of them as they stared back into each other's eyes. Roan pushed her closer, feeling her hard nipples against his chest which only caused him to harden quicker. Dakota's breath hitched in her throat as Roan's hand wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled her closer towards him, their lips lightly brushing against one another. She let out a shaky breath before brushing her core against his. A groan escaped Roan's lips as she sat down on his groin, he felt her warmth against him and another groan slipped past his lips as she started to rub herself on him, back and forth.

Dakota soon stopped with her actions and pulled herself away from him, capturing his burning gaze as she lifted herself from the tub and leaving Roan confused behind her. She didn't bother to cover up her naked and wet body as she started walking over towards her bed, stopping in her place as she heard Roan rise from the water behind her.

She could feel his presence behind her and he placed a hand on her waist again and pulled her back against him as he rested his forehead against the back of her neck. Roan moved his hand to her breast, giving it a slight squeeze which made her let out a small moan. His free hand removed her long hair from her right tattooed shoulder, before letting his lips kiss her soft skin.

Despite the soft gesture, she felt exposed with her scarred back towards him and she felt herself growing more self-conscious with such ugly scars staring back at him. This only furthered when she felt his free hand softly run down her back, stopping at one of the diagonal scars that laid on her skin.

The scar wasn't soft, it was bumpy and still raised against her olive skin and he felt himself wondering how she happened to obtain such a nasty scar, but it wasn't just one scar, there was plenty of them scattering her back.

Was she lashed?

  Dakota turned around and placed her lips against his again, their lips molding together. Roan bent slightly before picking her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he started walking over towards the bed only to place her down and hover above her. Dakota's breath started to get shallow as he made his way down, his lips sucking on her collarbones before moving further down her chest. Her hand gripped his shoulder harshly as he sucked on her nipples. His lips continued to travel down, pressing his lips against the smooth skin of her stomach.

Dakota bit down on her lip when she felt a deep knot in her stomach set her nerve endings on fire as he took one of her legs and put it over his shoulder before placing his mouth between her legs. Her mouth fell open and her eyes rolled back.

  She couldn't focus on anything but how his tongue skillfully worked around her bundle of nerves over and over. Dakota placed her hand in his shoulder length hair, and Roan looked up at her. His hand traveled up to greedily grab onto her breast.

Everything happened so fast, the pleasure was too much, and she came with a loud moan as her eyes were seeing stars at this point. She didn't even realize Roan was hovering over her until his lips pressed onto hers again, taken by surprise, it took her a second to mimic his actions and kiss him back.

Dakota could feel him lined at her entrance but she flipped them over before anything could happen, and straddled his waist. A smirk was spreading itself on his lips as he stared up at her with admiration as Dakota's hand racked through her hair, pushing it over her shoulder as she lowered down onto him, both of them groaning. Roan gripped onto her hips as the pleasure filled his body.

Dakota sucked in her bottom lip as she started to move, soft sighs escaping her mouth each time her hips were met with his. Both of them closed their eyes as they picked up their pace, her nails digging into his chest in surprise when Roan flipped them over, now he was hovering over her. His thrusts started getting harder, hitting her deep every time. She groaned and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting herself completely go at the moment.

She could feel his heart beating against her chest, and her heart was beating against his skin helplessly. The more he moved, the more she clawed at his back. "Faster." She moaned out of breath and he obeyed, picking up his pace.

  It wasn't long after that Roan had rolled onto his back, while Dakota laid on her side. Her back was facing towards him as her eyes were looking out of the window, the moon shining into the room. Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth, she was suppose to feel something, but she felt just as empty as she did before.

  The sex was good, of course, but it wasn't him.

  It was only until Roan shifted on the bed and turned to face her back, his finger tips going down her back and his blue eyes trailing across the scars that littered her back. He wanted to know how she obtained her scars, some looked like kill marks but those were near her shoulders, in the middle. But the ones lower, those were the ones he questioned.

  "Tell me?" His usual harsh tone was gone, replaced with a certain softness that caught her off guard. She wasn't even sure what he was talking about until she felt his fingers on her back once again, his thumb going across a scar on her lower back.

Dakota opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't get anything out as the vision of that night flashed before her eyes, making a single tear escape her eye. He heard her inhale sharply, and then letting it go.

"There was once a little girl living in space," Her words caught his attention, and Roan pulled her into him. His hand wrapped around her bare waist as his head found it's way into the crook of her neck. "she was everyone's vision of who they wanted to be, the daughter of a special council member, she wasn't flawed like everyone else.."

  "But little did they know, she longed for attention she had never gotten since her mother had been taken from her.. killed in front of her eyes as she was thrown into the abyss of outer-space. She lashed out, on everyone.. her father, her friends. She closed herself off. Until one day she was seen trading illegal substances to get something for her own gain, the man who caught her thought that turning her in wasn't punishment enough, he and his men locked her into a room, handcuffed her to a table.." Her voice cracked under pressure as tears flowed from her brown eyes.

  "They.. they took something from her, her dignity and they promised her that every sound she made would be inflicted. They lashed her with every scream she made until she couldn't scream anymore and then they left her for dead."

Dakota swallowed after finishing her story, a story that only three people had gotten the privilege of knowing, and Roan was one of them. She wasn't sure why she had the urge to tell him, maybe it was because she trusted her most haunted memory with someone she knew wouldn't judge her.

She felt Roan snuggle into her back, placing a kiss onto her bare shoulder. "Do not disregard or hate the maps on your skin and soul." He murmured against her skin, his lips leaving her flesh burning. "These scars have never diminished your worth, they are the stories that make you whole."

They sat in silence for a few moments, and he knew that she needed a minute to comprehend his words that were given to her. It was only until Dakota began turning around in his arms that he was met with her widened brown eyes once again, but they were shining with flecks of gold scattered within the shades of brown.

It was one of her qualities that he found so beautiful about her, her eyes were brown, a boring shade to everyone that was not looking close enough to see the hidden flecks of multiple colors hidden within. Her eyes were not dulled anymore, and maybe he saw a flicker of hope behind them, something lit within her.

"thank you," Her words were soft and barely above a whisper as she placed her small hands on either side of his face and leaned up to capture his lips.

A/N:

did you miss me?

2 WHOLE MONTHS OF NOT UPDATING. YES HELLO I'M BACK.

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING TRAILER HOLLLYYY SHITTTSSS.

everyone is mentioning how good the trailer was, but i'm over here obsessing what the fuck was in that dudes body moving around.

ANYWAYS, what did you guys think of the trailer, leave me some comments below cause like i'm obsessed rn.

(also, for you roan x dakota anti-shippers. I'm not sorry, also fun fact, my titles are usually inspired by songs. I was listening to Hallelujah while writing this, and who knew that Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means, 'glory to the lord')