1. Merge without checkouts

The syntax of git fetch for (non-)fast-forward merges

If you want the fetch command to fail if the update is non-fast-forward, then you simply use a refspec of the form

git fetch <remote> <remoteBranch>:<localBranch>

If you want to allow non-fast-forward updates, then you add a + to the front of the refspec:

git fetch <remote> +<remoteBranch>:<localBranch>

Note that you can pass your local repo as the "remote" parameter using .:

git fetch . <sourceBranch>:<destinationBranch>

The Documentation

From the git fetch documentation that explains this syntax:

<refspec>

The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus +, followed by the source ref <src>, followed by a colon :, followed by the destination ref <dst>.

The remote ref that matches <src> is fetched, and if <dst> is not empty string, the local ref that matches it is fast-forwarded using <src>. If the optional plus + is used, the local ref is updated even if it does not result in a fast-forward update.

Examples:

# Merge local branch foo into local branch master,
# without having to checkout master first.
# Here `.` means to use the local repository as the "remote":
git fetch . foo:master

# Merge remote branch origin/foo into local branch foo,
# without having to checkout foo first:
git fetch origin foo:foo

You cannot merge a branch B into branch A without checking out A first if it would result in a non-fast-forward merge. This is because a working copy is needed to resolve any potential conflicts.
However, in the case of fast-forward merges, this is possible, because such merges can never result in conflicts, by definition. To do this without checking out a branch first, you can use git fetch with a refspec.
This use-case is so common, that you'll probably want to make an alias for it in your git configuration file, like this one:

[alias]
    sync = !sh -c 'git checkout --quiet HEAD; git fetch upstream master:master; git checkout --quiet -'

What this alias does is the following:

1. git checkout HEAD: this puts your working copy into a detached-head state. This is useful if you want to update master while you happen to have it checked-out. I think it was necessary to do with because otherwise the branch reference for master won't move, but I don't remember if that's really right off-the-top of my head.
2. git fetch upstream master:master: this fast-forwards your local master to the same place as upstream/master.
3. git checkout - checks out your previously checked-out branch (that's what the - does in this case).

See Also

1. Merge, update, and pull Git branches without using checkouts
2. Git checkout and merge without touching working tree
3. Merging without changing the working directory