Starving, Darling
Chapter 1
Rating: Mature
Read on AO3
Cassian
The three males had reached the age Rhys’ father liked to call “the age of fighting and fucking.” At least Cass and Rhys had. Even though Azriel was older, he only ever seemed to be interested in the fighting part.
It wasn’t for lack of female interest either, Azriel was all lean muscle and lethal grace. He was far prettier even than Rhys, which gained him plenty of attention. The few dates Az had been on, he had stormed back into the house hours too early and locked himself in his room. Neither Cass nor Rhys could get him to talk about it, stubborn as he was.
So, when he finally broke down and told them what was going on, they were shocked, to say the least. They were shocked, but it was Azriel, and after everything he’d been through, it was a wonder they didn’t figure it out sooner.
Azriel was resistant to any kind of physical affection – to any touch, really. Now that Cass thought about it, training (or outright brawling) was the only time Cass’ skin had ever touched Azriel’s.
In the years they had shared a home in Windhaven, Cass had always been affectionate with Rhys and his mother. Hugs, a clasp on the back, and friendly punches were just part of how he communicated with the only family he had ever known. He learned quickly, though, that that was not something he could do with Az.
The few times he had gone in for a hug or a friendly nudge, Az had flinched. The response pained him enough that he avoided that sort of contact with him.
The time he struck an arm out in an amused punch to Azriel’s shoulder, he landed flat on his back, wings flared out awkwardly before he could even make contact.
Cass had seen Az talking to Ezra’s sister, Maya, earlier that day. When he disappeared after dinner, he mentioned it to Rhys who gave him a knowing smirk.
Maya was pretty with long, dark eyelashes set against high cheekbones and softly curling black hair that fell nearly to her waist. Her pale green eyes were in stark contrast to her dark skin, and freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. She was gorgeous. He could see why Az liked her.
But only an hour after he’d left, he returned, the front door slamming behind him, shadows writhing angrily. His face was as hard and emotionless as always, but the twitch of his wings and his coiling shadows gave him away. Az was wearing denim pants and a pressed black shirt, a rare change from his fighting leathers.
Cass was tired of Az angrily shutting himself away anytime he met with a female. He needed to know what was upsetting him so much. Azriel was his best friend and Cass hated to be shut out.
Before Az could make it through the kitchen and up the stairs, Cass launched himself in front of him, arms and wings spread wide, blocking his path.
Cass really miscalculated. The spot he threw himself into was only a few inches in front of Azriel and he…flinched.
All the air and determination went out of him as Az’s hands came up in front of his face, mangled scars in plain view, and for probably the hundredth time, he wanted to murder Azriel’s father and stepbrothers. Az was good and he deserved so much better than the hand life had dealt him.
Cass took a step back but kept his wings spread to block the way to the stairs.
“Az,” he said. “Just tell me what happened. I care about you.” I care about you. They were Illyrians. Mean and brutish and good for little except fighting and fucking. But they made a pact. To be brothers. To have each other’s backs no matter what. To care.
All at once, the hard, irritated line of Azriel’s shoulders fell. The tightly held fold of his wings that Cass knew still felt unnatural drooped down. His carefully blank face fell to reveal his frustration.
At this sudden change in body language, Rhys stepped closer toward them. Cass had forgotten he was standing near the window, ostensibly watching the snowflakes as they fell and collected on the ground.
“What’s wrong, Az?” Rhys asked in a velvet voice meant to soothe.
Azriel stepped back to slump into a chair pulled out from the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. Like he couldn’t look up at his friends. It was several long seconds before he spoke. Several long seconds in which Cassian could only hear Az’s stuttered, forced breaths as he tried to calm himself.
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with me!” The frustration in his voice panged through Cassian’s chest. “No one can just touch me! I freak out every time!”
Oh. So that’s what this is about.
“What do you mean?” Az looked up when Rhys spoke, revealing watery hazel eyes and a vulnerability Cass had never seen in him before. That pang in his chest sank and curdled into a protective fury. He just wanted to tug Az into his chest. To slaughter everyone who had ever hurt him.
“Today, with Maya, I went to her house. I’d talked to her a few times, and I guess she wanted to fool around when I went over today. When she reached out to hug me, I flinched! And she got this sad look in her eyes, but that wasn’t even the worst of it.” Az just sounded so defeated. Cass could tell he was trying not to let tears fall and he had never seen Az so vulnerable. Not even when he admitted he couldn’t fly.
His words came out in a rush. “We were fooling around, just kissing a little and…and I was shaking. She kept asking me if I was okay, I kept brushing her off, but my…my hands were shaking so bad. It was just so much, and then she was kissing me and her hand slid down, and I…”
Az dropped his gaze to the tile floor and moved his arms, so his lap was now visible.
Cassian’s jaw nearly dropped at the wet spot on Azriel’s thigh. He looked at Rhys, the same expression of soft surprise mirrored on his face.
“I just ran out of there. She looked at me so surprised.” Az’s gaze remained fixed on the floor.
Az had come in his pants. From barely a touch.
“Az, there are far worse things than coming in your pants. I doubt Maya even really cared.” Rhys saved them from the silence.
Az only gave him a skeptical look.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Cass said. A half-baked plan began to form in his head. “I think…we could help you.”
“Help me?” Az only sounded more skeptical.
Rhys seemed to pick up on where he was going with this. “If you’re overly sensitive to touch, if you flinch when people get too close, you just need to get more used to it. With people you trust.”
The doubtful stare didn’t let up.
“You trust me, right? Trust us?”
His gaze shuttered. “Of course, I do.”
“Then let us help,” Rhys said, his calm, velvet timbre doing wonders to broach the topic to Azriel.
“Okay.” The trust in his eyes made Cass smile. “How…exactly do you plan to help me?”
“We can start with you letting someone take care of you for once. We can get you cleaned up and then go from there.”
Azriel nodded and his gaze flicked back and forth from Rhys’s captivating violet eyes to Cassian’s hazel ones.
“Can I touch you?” Cass pitched his voice low and soft and stepped right in front of Az where he sat on the wooden chair.
He nodded, and Cass reached out slowly. He ran his fingers through the silky soft strands of Azriel’s hair. He brushed away the yet unmelted flakes of snow and scratched his blunt nails lightly across his scalp. Affection swelled heavy and warm in Cassian when Az’s eyes fluttered shut and he leaned ever so slightly into Cass’ touch.
He trailed his hands down to grasp Azriel’s scarred ones, pulling him up from the chair. He had never had so much contact with Az in his life. At least not outside of grappling in the dirt.
“Come upstairs. You can take a hot bath,” Cass said. He knew that while Az may never admit it, he was rather fond of bubble baths ever since he had discovered them.
Rhys led the way and they all walked up the stairs to the bathing room they shared. Rhys waved a hand and the bath, at least big enough for two Illyrian warriors, filled with hot, soapy water. The male didn’t have his wings out today, which Cass thought was a good thing considering the size of the bathing room.
Sinking to his knees, Rhys held eye contact with Azriel.
He kept all his movements slow, deliberate. Rhys began to unlace Az’s boots, never once breaking eye contact, telling him with his eyes and his actions exactly how he intended to help him.
Cass understood what Rhys was trying to communicate. He was heir to the Night Court. Kneeling to anyone was not in his nature. Rhys communicated through action, and this, this supplicating reverence begged Azriel to trust him, to allow him to take care of him, to show him that there is more to the world than pain.
As Rhys made his way to the ties of Azriel’s pants, Cass unbuckled straps and undid buttons on his leathers. He gently eased the sleeves down his arms, oh so careful to avoid his wings. Cass pressed a gentle kiss to the warm, tan skin of his chest. He just couldn’t help himself.
“Is this okay?” The soft, shuddering sigh from Azriel at the contact told him that it was, indeed, okay, but he wanted to hear him say it. Cass’s gaze flicked up to Az’s. His lips were parted in soft shock, as though he couldn’t believe anyone would ever touch him like this.
“It’s…it’s good.” His voice shook a little as he spoke and as Rhys gently removed his pants from where they were tangled around his feet, Cass pressed another soft kiss to the side of his jaw, where the barest beginnings of dark stubble tickled his cheek.
A sigh escaped Az’s lips and as they made eye contact, he could see the nervousness he was trying to hide. His scarred hands shook where they were clenched at his sides and his shoulders and wings were tight with tension.
Rhys stood and pressing his hands to the sharp bones of Azriel’s hips, he nudged him over to the bath.
“Relax,” Rhys said, pressing a tender kiss to Az’s shoulder. “Bathe. We’ll be right here.”
By some miracle of the hot water or of Rhys’s soothing whispers, some of the tension in Az melted away as he settled into the bath. Az dunked his head, wetting his raven’s feather curls. Cass watched the water trickle down his face, the little bit of stubble filling in around his jaw, the corded muscles of his neck.
Rhys trailed feather-light fingers down his spine, and Cass watched, enraptured, at how his eyes fluttered shut, at the shiver he tried to suppress.
As Az scrubbed his body, Cass stepped forward to run shampoo through the male’s hair. His chin tipped back, and he didn’t even try to keep his eyes open this time. Az just relaxed into his touch.
Cass didn’t know how to feel. He had never seen Az this open before. He was relaxed, enjoying himself, even. His shadows were settled along the stretched-out curves of his wings and pooled around his legs. He thought if they could purr, they would be doing just that. Hell, maybe they could, and he just didn’t know.
Rhys never stopped running a soothing hand down the ridges of Az’s spine. Scars littered his back, another reminder of the male’s cruel past. He didn’t stop the calming motion until Az stepped from the bath, and Rhys wrapped him in a fluffy towel.
The water dripped in little rivulets from his lightly curling hair and down his face. Az always had a haunted look about him, like maybe the only thing beneath the masks he wore, beneath the cold fury, was a scared little boy still trapped in his father’s dungeon. But now, wrapped in a cream-colored towel, water dripping from his eyelashes, his rage seemed to have melted. He looked almost innocent…cute even.
They followed Rhys to his room. His bed was thankfully big enough for three winged Illyrians. Cass darted to his own room to grab a change of clothes for himself and for Az before returning.
Cass handed Az a pair of underwear and a soft sleep shirt that was just a tad oversized on him. He and Rhys slept shirtless, but he knew Az preferred clothing.
As they all sat on Rhys’ oversized bed, Rhys spoke, “Azriel, I want you to know that you have all the control here. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Just say the word and everything stops. If you want to slow down, if you want to do something different, all you have to do is say so, okay?”
Az nodded, and when his too-vulnerable gaze flicked over to Cass, he said, “Do you want to do this? Do you want us to take care of you? Do you want our help with…this?” Cass’ questions betrayed his nerves, but he so desperately wanted Azriel to say yes. He so desperately wanted to show him the care he deserved, the care no one had ever bothered to give him before.
“I…I want this, but there have to be some rules.” Az had a kind of shyness in his eyes, in his voice that Cass had never seen before, never thought he would see.
“Of course, what do you propose?” Rhys asked.
Cass couldn’t understand how Rhys was so level-headed and calm. He wanted this, yes, but it also felt like their whole dynamic could change completely and some fear that their relationship could change forever made his hands shake just slightly, made his heart beat just a little faster in his chest.
Rhys, however, seemed entirely unruffled. His violet eyes were clear and the way he sprawled against the dark wood of the headboard was cool and confident and relaxed. Rhys was always better at hiding his emotions than Cass was, though.
“I think we should keep this,” Az motioned between the three of them, “confined to the house. We can’t bring any of this to the training ring.”
“I agree. Is that alright with you, Cass?”
“Yes, of course. I really don’t want to know how Devlon would feel about an arrangement like this. Anything else?”
Az shook his head.
“Stay here tonight? With me?” Rhys asked.
Cassian nodded, but Azriel’s eyes widened, full lips parted.
“I’ve…I’ve never…I,” Az stammered.
“I know Az. That’s part of this. You don’t have to; we can always try another night.” Rhys’ voice was low and smooth and already tinged with sleep. It was quite late, and they were all tired and still processing the day’s events.
“No, I…I want to. I’ll stay.”
Rhys smiled, eyelids drooping slightly with his need for sleep. Cass smiled at Az, too, pride lacing his features. He knew this was a big step for Az. He knew how hard he tried to hide his nightmares, how often his past still kept him awake.
Rhys made himself comfy on one side of the oversized bed, wings still tucked away to create more space. When Az settled in the middle of the bed, Cass threaded an arm around his waist, slowly and not too tight, allowing Az to push him away if he wanted to. But he didn’t. He seemed content with the contact and Cass draped a wing over their bodies, cocooning them in warmth.
Cassian wanted to stay awake. Even as Az’s breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm, he wanted to stay awake just a little longer. To make sure he was okay, to be there if he woke up. But the steady hum of their combined breathing and the warmth enveloping them lulled him into an easy, dreamless sleep.
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