#Elain
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Azriel: You spent all our money on THIS?
Elain, putting tiny raincoats on ducklings: They live outside. They need this.
#elriel#azriel#elain#elain acotar#azriel acotar#incorrect acotar quotes#acotar incorrect quotes#funny acotar#acotar meme
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A Match Baked In Heaven
Sorry for the long break y'all. Life and all. Here is an update.
Chapter XV
Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be
The beginning of the end started innocuously and unremarkably. There was nothing to suggest that things would be changing. And they shouldn’t have been changing either, because everything was…happiness.
Azriel had disappeared soon after Christmas dinner was over and the last of the trifle was eaten, and Elain couldn’t find him. However, since she couldn’t find Piglet either, she hoped that her boys were together.
She had a fun night, singing carols, teasing Nesta along with Cassian, and risking her wrath, because Cassian was hilarious and Nesta was all pissy since Elain and Cassian teamed up for the first round of games. Then, while drinking after-dinner cocktails, everyone played more games, and Feyre and their father won. Rhys and Elain came in second, but Rhys lamented that Azriel wasn’t around because he’d beat everyone.
“He is wildly competitive,” Rhys whispered to Elain. “Not surprising considering he is a professional athlete, but that man will win any game.”
It was then that Elain realised how much she missed Azriel next to her. After their silly row earlier in the day, things weren’t the same and Elain hated it! She hated that their first Christmas together wasn’t perfect. The fact that she even had him with her here, in Rosehall, with her family, having Christmas with all of them like he was part of the family, part of her, was exhilarating enough! She never thought that it would happen; that she’d be at her ancestral home, with the man she loved, with her sisters, her father, her dog, but here they were. Therefore, while the festivities were still going strong, Elain slipped away from the reception and went to find Azriel and Piglet. Just before she rounded the corner though, she heard Cassian’s voice calling her,
“Hey, petal. Wait up.”
Cassian looked a little buzzed, his jacket off, his white tuxedo shirt unbuttoned at the collar, the bow tie untied and hanging over his neck, his hair flowing just past his shoulders. No wonder Nesta, the icy, prickly Nesta, was all aflutter over him. The man was almost pornographically handsome, in the most primal of ways. This was the man who was going to bend you over, fuck you within an inch of your life, and you’d turn around and thank him. The raw, beasial beauty of him was truly breathtaking.
Elain stopped her thoughts spiralling out of control, because it was probably inappropriate to think of her sister’s new love interest in this manner. But Elain was…horny. Since last night, she was horny (well, she’s been horny and a little desperate for a while now) and the phantom feel of Azriel’s wicked hand inside of her still lingered and offered a pleasant memory by keeping her sore and wet.
Nevertheless, Elain thought that if Azriel wasn’t her soulmate, she’d absolutely give Cassian a lot of attention. Because this man was devastating.
He came closer, propping his arm against the wall. Elain looked up at him, all 6”6 of him and he snickered, “Well, we destroyed them at Pictionary, didn’t we?”
“We annihilated!” Elain agreed savagely, nodding.
Cassian laughed at her, but then his face changed to a more serious expression, and he asked,
“Az treating you good, petal?”
Elain frowned at the strange question and said,
“He is!”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. Why?”
Cassian avoided answering directly, instead, saying,
“He can get a little intense, you know,”
Elain laughed at that.
“You think?” she shook her head.
“Are you okay with that?”
“That he is incredibly intense, barks ‘you are mine!’ and has me saved as ‘Mrs. Night’ on his phone?” she raised her brow at Cassian.
He pressed his tongue into his cheek and after a long pause, nodded at last.
“Yes, that’s what I mean.”
She shrugged,
“He is also generous, loving, unbelievably inappropriate but also strangely gallant. I have to take the good with the bad and the questionable,” she said decisively.
“He is new to all of this,” Cassian reminded her cautiously.
“What?”
Cassian paused again, until he finally uttered,
“Love.”
Elain swallowed loudly, unable to respond.
She and Azriel had never gone as far as the ‘L” word. They’ve exchanged words of tenderness, and Azriel never stopped coming up with new and extravagant endearments for her. But he never said that he was in love with her, and neither did she tell him the same.
“You know his history,” Cassian continued, “he never felt like this about a woman. Never been with a woman long enough to feel much of anything.”
“Cass, I think it’s premature to discuss all of this,” Elain muttered, her tone panicked.
Cassian ran his tongue over his lower lip and said, “Just be gentle with him, Elain. Be kind to his heart. He is not himself because of you.”
“What do you mean?” she demanded, worrying her lip with her teeth.
“Nothing really. Just that he is navigating a wholly new territory. He isn’t as confident as he appears to be.”
“Azriel…he is very special to me,” Elain murmured.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what you shouldn’t tell him,” Cassian warned quickly.
Her brow furrowed, “what, exactly?”
“Special. Don’t use words like that with him. You either confess your love for him and tell him that you are his. Or nothing, He doesn’t do things halfway. It’s all or nothing with him.”
Elain sighed, thinking. What Cassian was saying made sense, though she wasn’t sure how to approach that conversation yet.
“Thanks Cassian. But we are just fine. Brilliant even.”
He grunted something unintelligible and then said, “well, good night then. Happy Christmas, Elain. I didn’t think that that’s where we’d be for Christmas, but I can’t say that I mind it.”
She smiled and nodded, “yeah, I don’t mind it as well. Happy Christmas.”
Elain turned and she was almost out of sight, when Cassian called after her again.
“Oi!”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, watching him rub his chin, looking pensive.
“You been to his flat?” he questioned.
Another odd inquiry.
She nodded, “yes. We went to his yesterday. Why?”
“You liked it?”
“The views were amazing!!” she said enthusiastically. “But Canary Wharf…you know,” she shrugged indifferently.
“Boring, eh?”
Elain grinned, “it is!”
“Did you see a cage anywhere?” he suddenly asked.
“A cage?” Elain looked utterly confused. “What cage?”
“So no cage?”
“Oh, for Piglet? Yes. Az got him three beds and a ton of toys, but also a huge cage! Can you imagine?” she giggled.
Cassian stilled at her words.
“Yeah,��� he murmured thoughtfully. “He was talking about it.”
“Pigled isn’t into cages,” Elain huffed. “He’d bite him if he was put in a cage!’
“That’s what I told him too,” Cassian smiled at her. “Well, good night then.”
“Night Cass!”
-
Elain opened the door to the bedroom quietly and tiptoed inside. It was dim in the room, only one lamp illuminating the spacious, luxurious space. She heard Piglet and his little snores first. Then she found Azriel lying on the bed, dressed in joggers and a t-shirt, his arm thrown over his eyes. He was barefoot and looked comfortable in his sleep, his breathing deep and even. Piglet was sleeping on his side next to his dad, oblivious to everything, not even sensing Elain’s arrival. Or if he did, he didn’t react. Great guard dog he was! But she supposed he was trusting Azriel to protect her from serial killers lurking in the garden. He was apparently ‘off duty’.
She watched them for a moment, until suddenly Azriel opened his arms, but not his eyes. Wordlessly, Elain approached the bed and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and burying her face in his chest. His arms banded around her and he pressed her closer to him. She didn’t care that she was wearing her dress and that her voluminous skirt took up half of the bed. She didn’t even care about wearing shoes.
He stroked her bare back lightly, his harsh, uneven skin and strong fingers sending shivers of pleasure down her body.
“I thought I lost you,” Elain whispered, her voice sounding desperate.
He sighed and drew his hand along her spine.
“No. Not just yet.”
“Yet?” she gasped and looked up at him.
His face was sombre, but then he smiled at her and caressed her head, and then her face.
“Are we fighting?” she asked, knowing how stupid she sounded, but she didn’t even care. She knew that she kind of freaked out at him in the morning and it was so silly–all because of ‘Mrs. Night’ on his phone.
“Do you want to fight?” he asked seriously, watching her closely.
She shook her head.
“No. No I don’t.”
“Alright then. We’ll leave the fighting until after Christmas.”
“But you left,” she whispered. “So you are angry with me?”
He smiled at her gently and lied, “nah, I just have a headache. Pink was also all partied out, so I took him out–sorry, there is a pile of his turds somewhere in the garden–and then we came back here.”
Elain rubbed her cheek against his neck, breathing in his crisp, sharp scent, as she clutched his biceps, feeling her fingers tremble. The stress of thinking that he’d left her, that he got into his car and drove away suddenly hit her so hard, she shivered and felt cold sweat cover her body at once.
“What's wrong?” he asked, feeling her tension and her unease. He tipped her chin up and looked down at her with a frown.
“Nothing,” she said. “All is good,” she stroked his arm. “All is good now.”
She sat up, still straddling him and then cupped his face in her palm.
“Everything is good, Az. Because you are with me.”
He gave her an assessing glance, like he didn’t believe her, and then asked, “is that enough?”
“Yes. For me it is.”
She reached into her bag, which was left by the bed, and took out a small box, wrapped in a blue ribbon.
“I wanted to give you your Christmas gift.”
She blushed at the words and ducked her head shyly, handing the box to him. Azriel sat up, cocking his brow and looked at it with interest, and maybe even surprise. When she attempted to slide off him, he wrapped his arm around her hips, keeping her in place and said, “open it”.
Elain pulled on the ribbon and then opened the box.
He looked inside and then declared with a grin, “yes, yes I will!”
“Wha…”
“It’s a ring! You are asking me to marry you?” he said definitively. “So I am saying ‘yes’,”
“My god!” she swatted at him. “That’s not what it is! You are a madman!”
“Maybe I am, or maybe I am not, but I am now an engaged madman,” he told her. “Put a ring on it, baby,” and he wiggled his finger at her.
Exasperated, Elain sighed dramatically and announced,
“It’s for the headaches you get…that everybody gives you. It’s supposed to stimulate brain activity and specific pressure points and relieve your headaches,”
He stared at her and then laughed out loud, startling Piglet, who looked over his shoulder with a sleepy, bewildered gaze wondering what was happening.
“Sorry little lad,” Azriel patted the pug’s side. “Go back to sleep.”
“This is amazing, beautiful!” he exclaimed then. “And invaluable. Between my teammates and Cass and Rhys, this is the perfect gift!”
Elain smiled happily and added, “it’s not the only thing it does. If you press here,” she showed him, “you’ll get background noise to sleep, or drown out any other noises. I imagine that travelling with your team could get loud at times.”
“Yes, indeed,” he agreed, looking at the ring and pressing invisible buttons.
“It measures all your vitals,” Elain added. “And tells you to sleep if you aren’t sleeping enough,”
“Where did you get this?”
“I had it custom made. Just for you.”
Azriel put the ring on his thumb and twisted his tattooed hand in front of his eyes, admiring the new bring. It was an elegant piece–black, with a silver insert.
“Do you like it?” she asked shyly, rubbing her finger over his thumb.
Azriel cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her closer to him.
His breath fanned over her bare shoulder, when he placed a gentle kiss on it.
“You are magical, Elain Archeron. A little faery,” he whispered. “I am one lucky fucker.”
Elain snorted and scoffed, “your language is the worst!”
“Sorry, pretty girl, you’ll have to live with it for the rest of your life,” he shrugged innocently.
“Oh is that so? The rest of my life?”
He drew his thumb over his lower lip, his expression sobering and becoming more serious.
Elain thought that he’d go on some tangent about marriage and her being his, but instead, he said, “I wasn’t sure if I should give you your present…”
He rustled under his pillow and then pulled out a box. It was much too large for a ring, and Elain, who was waiting with bated breath, wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed. But whatever it was, she was excited to see it.
“Stay where you are,” Azriel ordered firmly, insisting that she remain seated atop of his hips. “You may take the dress off, if you so desire,” he suggested casually.
“I’ll decide once I see what you got me,” she told him firmly and he smiled.
“Well, happy Christmas then,” he murmured and opened the box for her. Elain’s breath skittered over his hands when she beheld a stunning diamond and sapphire necklace displayed against the cream satin of the box. It was a Vacheron Constantin no less–the finest of the finest. Not a trifling thing either–a ‘garden’ necklace of clusters of large diamonds and even larger sapphires, shaped into a chain of flowers. A gift that a husband would give his wife for the holidays (if he were a millionaire footballer that is).
“Azriel,” she sucked in her breath, entranced by the exquisite beauty of the necklace.
He was about to unleash on her for saying ‘I couldn’t possibly’, but she beat him to it and suddenly–to his utter delight–pulled up her long curled hair and presented him with her long delicate neck. “Put it on me?”
Azriel’s head went quiet. There was something profound about this moment, with Elain allowing him to put this visible ‘collar’ around her neck–accepting him, permitting him to do that to her. For her. He moved closer: her breasts, still contained within her structured dress, pressed into his chest, and he loved the feel of them, while he wrapped his arms around her and fastened the lock of the necklace in the back of her neck.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, watching the diamonds gleam and sparkle in the low light.
“Is it too much?” she wondered, as her fingers slid over the stones.
“No. Just enough,” he decided, admiring her. “A little bouquet of diamonds and sapphires for my pretty flower girl.”
Elain's necklace
Fucking beat a crown that Rhys put on Feyre. Damn peacock.
“May I remove this unnecessarily big dress for you?” Azriel offered smoothly, and without waiting for an answer, he found the zipper in the back of her gown.
“Az, we can’t do it!” she hissed in alarm.
“Do what, exactly?” he teased, while he slowly slid the zipper down.
Scrambling and bumbling, she muttered, “you know! that…You know what!”
“That and what, huh,” he chuckled. “It’s not like I’ve been anticipating getting laid tonight, sweetness. I mean, I’ve pretty much lost all hope by now, but,”
“Excuse me!” she exclaimed. “We’ve been dating for 3 weeks!”
“I feel like it’s been much longer, since October.” He corrected her, while opening the dress up in the back and letting it fall away from her body.
“October? October?!?!” she cried. “No way! We only met in October.”
“Well, and I’ve been dating you since I’ve met you,” he reminded her calmly. “Not sure what you’ve been doing.”
“Well, I,”
“Yeah, so it’s pretty reasonable for me to expect to have sex with my girlfriend after three months,” he glared at her.
“I can’t!” she argued weakly. “Not with my dad in the same house…and Piglet right here,”
“Oh, bring dad into this, why don’t you! And Pinky is a dog, who cares?!”
“A dog? He isn’t a dog. He is my son!” she argued fiercely. “I gave birth to him, you know!”
“Uh-uh, did you now? I beg to differ,”
“Why is that?”
“Because I don’t remember making him, and the only son you’d be birthing would be mine,” he stated definitively. “So there is that.”
“I don’t think that’s how it is,”
“I do. But we’ll have fun making ours,” Azriel promised and gently squeezed her nipple between his fingers.
While she was pontificating about being her pug’s birth mother, Azriel managed to bare her to him and now he whistled softly to himself.
A fine pair of full, pear-shaped breasts had tumbled from her gown and they were incredible. Azriel has had his share of peeks and glances, but even last night, when he was fingering her, she was still wearing a bra. Now, the titties were out, and before Elain could make up some excuse, he was dipping his face to them and before she could even gasp, he latched onto her nipple with his lips, pulling hard, and sucking half of her breast into his mouth. His hand wrapped around her neck–not choking her, but keeping her keen and at attention–while he circled his tongue around the nipple, as he held her on top of him firmly. Elain inhaled sharply, watching him, while he crouched in his uncomfortable position, and watched her.
Elain was warm and soft, and her sublime tit was like melted butter on his tongue–silky and soft and rich. She felt so good in his arms, shivering every time he gave her little swollen bud another suck, his thumb stroking her lovely neck, his fingers brushing against the cold of her new necklace. He also liked the way the ring looked on his thumb. Black and sexy.
He pulled away from her breast and then licked her other nipple, nipping on it with his teeth, before biting roughly. She yipped, but he only drew his thumb over her mouth, quieting her down.
“I am not gonna fuck you tonight,” he whispered, sucking on the other nipple as well, making it nice and puffy, “only under one condition,”
“What?” she breathed sharply, her eyes wide, her skin hot in his hands.
“You are sleeping nice and naked. Next to me. Don’t care about Pink here, don’t care about dad, or anyone else. You’re sleeping naked and I am jamming my dick into her bare arse.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Ellie. Although of course you may wear the necklace.”
“Ohhh, you are so magnanimous!” she scoffed, though her fingers tangled in his hair and she very clearly enjoyed what he was doing to her. He kissed each lovely globe with small, tender kisses, then he licked around the nipples, soft and slow, savouring every bit of her skin. Elain panted and rubbed against him, the thin material of his joggers getting pleasantly damp against her pussy.
“I am that,” he nodded in agreement and then fell back on the pillows. “Go clean up and I expect you next to me, nice and naked and wet, sharpish. Got it?”
Elain rolled her eyes, but climbed off of him and walked to the bathroom, dragging her dress around her hips, while he was chuckling an evil laugh.
While Elain was in the bathroom, Piglet woke up for a few minutes and then demanded that Azriel spoon him. Azriel moved away a bit, and Piglet moved closer, then Azriel moved again, and Piglet sidled up to him. Once Azriel got the message, he tugged the pug closer to him, but the moment he removed his hand, Piglet put his paw on his hand, indicating that he better be snuggled right this minute. So Azriel had no choice but to cuddle the dog next to his body, and Piglet put both of his paws over Azriel’s forearm, keeping him in place. Piglet was going to take full advantage of this situation–he wasn’t allowed to sleep in the same bed with his Elain and while he could nap in her bed–which he often did–sleeping overnight wasn’t permitted. Here, today, he knew he was going to sleep with her and Az, and he was going to require full-on snuggles while he was at it. As soon as he had Azriel in his possession, Piglet fell back asleep.
“Close your eyes!” Azriel heard.
He laughed.
“Absolutely not!”
“Fine, I am not coming out then.”
“You gonna sleep in the tub, Ellie-girl?”
“If I have to!”
He snorted and then said, “fine. My eyes are closed.”
“Truly?”
“Absolutely. Come on, come out.”
Elain tiptoed into the bedroom and gasped, because Azriel was snuggling with the sleeping Piglet, and had his eyes WIDE open.
“I hate you,” she moaned.
But Azriel’s big hazel eyes lit up at the sight of her and she gushed, “you are so fucking gorgeous, Ellie. I can’t believe my stupid luck.”
Elain blushed at his words and wrung her fingers nervously and she silently walked across the carpet. She had kept her word–she was completely nude except for her new gorgeous necklace.
“You’ll have to be the biggest spoon, baby,” Azriel told her. “I’ve been made to spoon the fur son. He was cross with me when I attempted to move,”
Elain chuckled, secretly enjoying how his eye devoured her. She never considered her body to be anything remotely perfect, but the way Azriel was looking at her made her think that maybe she’d been too hard on herself. Maybe seeing her through his eyes was all she ever needed, because he saw the beauty in her that she never allowed herself to acknowledge.
She got in bed next to him–his massive body warm and firm, exuding his innate strength, but also calmness, all the while brimming with power. It felt good. Like she was in the safest place in the world.
“Did you like Christmas?” she asked quietly, kissing his shoulder.
“It’s a good Christmas,” he stated simply. “You and me and the dog. Well, and family, I guess.”
She laughed at that. He was very nonchalant about the ‘family’ bit.
…Surprisingly, even though there was a naked Elain in bed with him, Azriel fell asleep quickly and without any usual struggles. Perhaps, her gift was already working? Or perhaps he was in the place where he always meant to be.
When Azriel opened his eyes, bleary sunlight was already streaming through the windows. From where he lay, he could see the muted pink sunrise, pale light tentatively touching the ground in the vast park of the estate.
He could get used to it, he thought. The life of a country gentleman: caring for his manor, a bunch of dogs and horses on the grounds, a glass of whiskey at night by the fireplace, his Elain tending to her gardens, being the lady of the house, running charities and organising their social calendar. Yes, he wouldn’t mind that at all. Wouldn’t mind railing her on the daily either.
Elain’s gorgeous naked body was outlined by the morning light, the lovely curve of her bottom so sumptuous, Azriel had to bite his lip to keep himself from groaning out loud. She stood by the window, her foot tapping softly behind her, her long hair cascading down her back. Azriel was pleased to see that her nipples were still nicely plump and swollen from all the attention that he’d paid them overnight.
Gently setting Piglet aside Azriel rose swiftly and sat up on the bed, rubbing his face sleepily. He inspected his leg–it looked normal now and therefore, he knew that his little holiday was coming to an end. After the new year, he was going back onto the field. His last checkup was going to be on December 28th. If he was cleared to return to playing, his first game was going to be the first week of January. And it’s not that he didn't want to return to the game–he’d missed it: his team and his boys and the thrill of the game–but he also knew that his time with Elain and Pinky would suffer once he got back on the road. And that made him sad.
He looked at Elain again, silently observing the sensual heaviness of her breast, the pretty curve of her belly, the softness of her shoulder. With sudden, acute clarity, he also saw her standing in the same spot, but this time, with her stomach round and heavy with his baby.
Fuuuuuck. He was feeling broody.
He rubbed his face again, trying to shake off the image. But somehow, it was seared into his brain now. Elain glorious nakedness didn’t help him clear his mind of dreams of impregnating her and watching her get round with his son.
At last, he stood up and walked soundlessly towards her, startling her when he brashly cupped her warm bare pussy in his hand.
“Az!” she gasped.
He kissed her neck softly and murmured, “that’s my name, baby. Good morning, my Ellie.”
She melted against him almost immediately, her sweet arse moulding into his cock just like he wanted it. Pink didn’t budge the whole night, and as much as Azriel tried, he couldn’t spoon Elain, because the dog was in the way. Even when Azriel released him a couple of times and tried to turn on his other side, Piglet growled and then crawled over him and planted himself between their bodies. There was no escaping him.
“Our first Christmas morning together,” Azriel whispered, and buried his face in her neck, gently stroking her soft pussy, while he cupped her breast in his palm and teased her nipple lazily.
“Oh…” she breathed blissfully, “this feels so good…”
“I am here to make you feel good, Ellie. That’s going to be my full time job. Fuck football!”
She laughed and patted his hand, “not yet. I want to have a brawny footballer as a boyfriend for a little while. Before you get all old and become a coach,”
“Old?!” he exclaimed, outraged. “I am going to be 30!”
“Yeah. Old.”
“No respect for your elders,” he shook his head.
“Oh, look, look,” Elain pointed outside, and then bounced on her toes with excitement.
Azriel looked out, seeing that the garden was covered in fresh snow, just in time for Christmas. Out in the cold, Nesta Archeron was running laps. She was thin, ramrod straight, her hair tied in a severe ponytail.
“She runs every morning,” Elain sighed, shaking her head. “She never misses a day. Can you imagine?”
Azriel didn’t want to remind her that he also ran every day, and exercised for a few hours too, so he simply said, “she is very dedicated.”
Elain huffed, muttering, “well, I’d rather have a cup of coffee and a croissant.”
Azriel did not doubt that one bit. But he only kissed her shoulder and her neck and caressed her silken breast in his palm. He liked his soft and plush Elain, where he could touch and squeeze her lush body to his heart’s delight, and feel her supple flesh and not a pile of bones.
“Ohmygod,” Elain gasped. Azriel looked to see what got her so excited and then smirked with amusement.
There was his brother, in a pair of joggers and a sleeveless hoodie, his long hair tied into a topknot, running behind Nesta.
Cassian pounded the ground steadily and when Nesta heard him, she turned around and was clearly surprised to see him. He greeted her indifferently, like this was what he did every day. And he did–Azriel knew that Cassian ran too. But he was quite sure that Cassian wasn’t so dedicated that he’d normally run on Christmas morning. No. This was a ruse. Cassian wanted to run with Nesta.
Elain watched the two with rapt attention and then turned swiftly in Azriel’s arms and asked, “do you think he fancies her?”
“Yeah he fancies her,” Azriel confirmed simply and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure. Can’t you see?”
“You know, she never dates!” Elain exclaimed in frustration. “Never ever. And…well, I like Cassian,”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I think he would be good for her. He is warm and funny and good.”
Azriel agreed. And Cassian would be the right person for Nesta too. He could handle her. He liked a challenge, but he was also emotionally intelligent enough to know what a woman like Nesta needed.
“Alright,” Azriel decided, hauling Elain up in his arms, “let’s go back to bed and make out.”
-
Piglet was overheated.
Which is why he was presently lying on the cool stone tiles of the palace and was being fanned by Feyre and his Elain. They sat next to him with magazines in their hands and were frantically trying to cool him off.
“You couldn’t have been more careful?” Feyre hissed at her husband accusingly. “And you?!” she snarled at Nesta.
“Okay, Feyre darling, in my defence,” Rhys said pacifically, “I am not well familiar with a pug’s internal cooling system in a snowball fight,”
Elain couldn’t help but snort a laugh.
Azriel was observing all of this with a disdainful look on his face, as he shook his head.
“This damn pug is more of a diva than Mariah Carey!” he crossed his arms on his broad chest, watching the two girls on their knees, fanning–literally–over the panting dog. “Just in the last 48 hours, he ran into a wall and knocked himself out, then he attempted to poison himself with some flowers, and now he is overheated from a snowball fight. Whatever will the next 48 hours bring…” he pondered.
Dad was being mean of course, but Piglet didn’t even care. Because whatever. He had so much fun during the snowball fight that he’d do it all over again. Hey, yolo and all!
-
So this is what happened:
When Piglet woke up in the morning, it was because dad and his Elain were doing something that looked a lot like wrestling on the bed. They pushed at him, and he woke up, only for the big man–Cass–to burst through the doors the next moment and scream ‘snowball fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Then all hell broke loose, because dad yelled at Cassian, who already left the room, for seeing Elain naked, and Piglet didn’t know what all the fuss was about, because he saw his Elain naked all the time and it was no big deal. He escorted her to the loo and to the bathroom pretty much all the time, just to make sure that she was okay and didn’t need his help, or that she didn’t just disappear somewhere.
Everyone had gathered downstairs soon after. There wasn’t even breakfast! Piglet only got some water and a banana, which he had to eat in a hurry, so he trotted to the gathering holding it in his mouth.
“Couples can’t be together!” Cassian declared loudly.
“Why not?” Feyre demanded instantly.
“No. That’s not how it works. You can’t be with Rhys. And I can’t be with Nes,” he continued.
“We aren’t a couple,” Nesta reminded him coolly.
“But I want to be with Azriel,” Elain whined, clutching Azriel’s hand.
“Yeah,” Azriel nodded, “I wouldn’t mind being with Ellie too,”
“Like I said,” Cassian rolled over all the objections, “no couples.”
“So what do you propose we do?” Rhys demanded, tapping his fingers on his bicep impatiently.
Piglet watched the humans negotiate for a good ten minutes, while he chewed his banana and rolled his eyes. They were slow and indecisive and kind of annoying too.
“What about Piglet?” Elain exclaimed at last.
Piglet looked at all of them, challenging them with a wordless yeah, what about Piglet, indeed?
“He doesn’t have thumbs,” Rhys reminded her. “He can’t make snowballs.”
At that, Piglet huffed.
Cassian rubbed his chin and said, “whoever gets him will have a distraction, for sure. He might come in handy actually,”
At least somebody was talking sense.
Piglet got onto his hind leg and suggested that maybe Cassian take him on his team. But, naturally, as luck would have it, Piglet ended up on the worst team ever–with Nesta and Rhysand. They picked the short straw which egregiously meant him.
The final breakdown was Cassian and Elain, Feyre and Azriel, and Nesta and Rhys and Piglet.
And so it began.
Rhys had the audacity to ask Nesta “does he understand commands?”
“Yeah, when he wants to,” Nesta scoffed. “Usually when there is food involved, he is all ears. If not, then they are for decoration only.”
Piglet was upset that he wasn’t on the team with Cassian, who was hidden behind a tree with Elain, designing an honest to god tactical warfare plan. But it didn’t matter because Piglet was gonna show Rhys that he could be an important addition to the team. And he didn’t do everything for food. Like for example right now. He didn’t even have breakfast, but here he was, rushing across the field, distracting everyone, while Rhys sprung on Azriel and pummelled him with snowballs.
Piglet crawled between bushes and then destroyed stockpiles of snowballs that Elain had made, incurring Cassian’s wrath as the big man bellowed ‘you wily little bastard!’
Elain wailed ‘I can’t believe you did that!’ but Piglet only rolled in the snow, completely obliterating her work, before running away.
As far as he was concerned, all was fair in love and war.
Azriel chased Nesta with snowballs, wiping her out, and while Rhys valiantly attempted to defend her, Feyre rushed across the field and kicked all of his snowballs, flattening them ruthlessly, and then ran back, followed by Rhys’s mournful scream ‘you are my wife!!!’
She shrugged and saluted him, while Cassian sprung on her and dumped heaps of snow on her head. She screamed hysterically, as the snow fell into her coat, and unsuccessfully fought back the attack.
Meanwhile, Azriel sprinted towards Elain, and basically tackled her, landing on top of her in a heap of snow. He managed to half-bury her in the pile, before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. Azriel melted at once, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her back, which allowed Cassian to sneak up on him and toss a bunch of snowballs at Azriel’s head.
“Sorry, petal!” he bellowed, since some of the snowballs landed on Elain as well, but she gave him a thumbs up and laughed wildly.
“I can’t believe you did that!” Azriel fake-gasped, wiping his face.
“You are defeated!” she announced.
“Never!
With Piglet’s help, Nesta and Rhys certainly had the upper hand. Piglet kept pretending to fall, or be struck by snowballs, he howled and rolled around, he also repeatedly rushed various people and successfully took them down, because they lost footing as they didn’t want to step on him.
As much as Cassian tried to insist that the couples stay apart and not couple, by the end of the fight, Rhys found his way to Feyre, Azriel to Elain, and even Cassian draped his arm over Nesta’s shoulders (and she didn’t shrug him off).
That’s when Piglet collapsed for real, panting within his red Arsenal jacket.
Feyre saw him in the snow and hurried to pick him up, crying loudly, ‘Piggy don’t die!! He is going to die!’
Elain was much calmer about this and told her distraught sister, ‘He won’t die. He is just hot. But we’ll need to fan him.’
“Oh and by the way, Feyre and I won,” Azriel shrugged innocently.
“I beg to differ!” Cassian argued at once.
“Yeah, according to who?” Nesta snarled at Azriel, her hands on her hips.
“Okay, let’s reassess what has taken place,” Azriel offered calmly and all of them headed back to the manor, arguing loudly about who’d actually won.
Piglet felt like he’d won.
-
Piglet was very pleased with his massive haul of Christmas presents.
He received not one, not two, not three, but FOUR sticks!! Four. Excellent sticks.
As expected, dad gave the best presents: in addition to one of the sticks, dad also got him a pack of used padded Amazon envelopes, two pairs of socks, a whole bunch of toys, a Chelsea ball and a small plush tree decorated with shiny balls, which were also soft. All for him to destroy.
The rest of the gifts consisted of bags of treats, chewys, more balls, and piles of outfits.
Christmas lunch was incredible and he ate ham and roast beef and then came to the conclusion that Christmas was his favourite.
Now, after closely supervising the loading of all the gifts into the car, including all four sticks, Piglet lay in his seat, having been hugged and kissed by everyone about a hundred times. He was heading home and he was hoping that everything would go just as well as it’s been going.
-
January 6th was a surprisingly sunny day. Warm for this time of year, the apricity of sunshine dispersing the gloominess of the winter chill. The feeling in the air was almost…innocent. Full of expectation and new tidings. A new year indeed.
That didn’t stop Piglet from being put in air jail, and he was being carried by Azriel. On their morning walk today, Piglet tripped Elain by wrapping the lead around her ankles, then, once in the park, he barked and scared a baby, and then ran with some big dogs, chasing them loudly, until they turned around and began chasing them, and he dodged them, but fell off a retaining wall. After that, Azriel picked him up and now carried the pug like a baby.
Now they were seated at The Ivy Canary Wharf and having brunch. Piglet agreed to be quiet and discreet and in return, Azriel fed him ham under the table and strawberries from the fruit salad.
“I’ve been thinking,” Elain said slowly, sipping her Rhubarb Bellini.
“About?” Azriel sliced into his eggs and looked at her.
“Him,” she nodded towards the dog under the table. “His leg. When we went to that vet here,”
“Yeah, I remember,” Azriel nodded.
When Piglet fake-poisoned himself on Elain’s birthday, the vet that they took him to worked in a fancy private practice. It cost Azriel 1,300 quid to get Pinky to take a laxative, but the vet told them about a new experimental treatment for dogs with missing legs. It was a robotic leg, which would sense his movements and respond accordingly, effectively working just as well as a real leg.
“So what about it?” Azriel pressed.
She didn’t answer right away, and the pause felt somehow important, pivotal. He wondered if Elain was going to ask him for input and they’d make a decision together.
Truly, it should’ve been a family decision.
He and Pinky were tight. They were besties.
“It would be good for his joints,” Azriel told her. “Right now, his hips and shoulders are stressed because of the extra pressure that he places on them. Since you’ve been pumping him full of longevity shots, he might be living for 20 years for all we know, and you don’t want him to struggle with his joints.”
Azriel spoke from experience. He’s been running for 20 years.
Elain pouted and muttered, “I am not pumping him full of longevity shots…”
He chuckled.
“It’s expensive,” he added quietly.
“I can pay,” she said quickly. “It would be worth it.”
He shrugged and offered an ambivalent nod.
At that moment, Elain’s phone pinged with an incoming message.
It wasn’t her regular phone, but her work one, and while they typically didn’t use their phones at the table, she smiled at him apologetically and he nodded.
Who had a matchmaking emergency on a Saturday morning?
Azriel didn’t really give a shit. His mood soured and he was playing with his eggs listlessly, internally annoyed. What did he need to do to fucking make her understand that they were a pair? A couple? What did he need to do to make her yield? It was exhausting and he was irritated and angry and dark thoughts swirled in his mind. What would it take for her to consider him her man? Her partner? Did he need to force sex on her? Steal her away? Lock her in the cage?
“...I’ll see what I can do, Gwyn,” Elain said into the phone.
Azriel had been so absorbed in his unhappy thoughts that he didn’t even notice Elain speaking to this Gwyn.
“No…I understand. I think it will be a bit of a challenge on such short notice, but I will definitely try,” Elain promised, grimacing.
Piglet looked up at Azriel from under the table, tilting his big round head back and forth, assessing Azriel’s mood and feeling that it had changed. Azriel stroked the floppy black ears and smiled at the dog. Pinky was the only one who understood him. Pinky was the one other being obsessed with Elain besides Azriel, but Elain was also devoted to the dog, and wasn’t devoted to Azriel quite as much.
She put the phone down, her brows knitted.
“What’s going on?” he queried, taking a sip of his coffee.
Elain waved her hand and replied, “oh nothing. Just a client, in a bit of a bind,”
“What kind of bind can you be in as a matchmaker’s client? That you need to ring on a Saturday morning?” Azriel was actually genuinely curious because it sounded so ridiculous.
Elain leaned back in her chair and explained, “she is a client and I’ve been having the hardest time matching her with anyone,”
“Why? She ugly? A psycho?”
“My god. Not everyone is an ugly psycho, you know!” she seethed.
“I feel like most people who use a matchmaker probably are,” he noted callously, still annoyed about the robotic leg situation.
“Are you an ugly psycho?” she snapped.
He shrugged and looked at his mangled hands, considering for a bit, before saying, “not ugly. But definitely a psycho.”
“Anyway,” Elain grunted.
“Tell me. I want to understand this matchmaking emergency! Indulge me,” he beckoned, smirking.
Elain scoffed at him and his attitude, but nevertheless, began explaining,
“She is a lovely person, really. Very smart,”
“Sorry baby, but this is not a selling point,” he huffed an amused laugh. “You come at a bloke with a ‘I’d like to match you with a very smart woman’ and he immediately starts wondering just how smart she is and would he measure up?”
“So what you are telling me is that you are intimidated by smart women?” she crossed her arms on her chest and glowered at him. “Only airheads for you?”
He drank his coffee lazily, enjoying her anger and then said, “Nah, baby. I ain’t intimidated by nothing. Bring on all the smarts. See, you ain’t an airhead and I am dating you. So I think that I am all good. What about this lass though? What does she do?”
“She is pursuing her PhD in Classics and Philosophy at Cambridge,”
“Jesus,” he breathed. “No wonder you can’t set her up. She sounds like a bundle of laughs.”
“You are so judgy!” she gasped.
“You have no idea,” he confirmed, smiling widely. “And yet it doesn’t stop me from being with you–the Queen of Pearls and Cardigans.”
Elain rolled her eyes and muttered, “I hardly ever wear cardigans! And my pearls are heirlooms, are worth a ton of money and will be passed on to my daughters,” she told him in a firm and decisive tone.
Azriel shrugged and said, “That's fine by me, as long as I get to make these daughters with you, you may give them all the pearls.”
“No comment.”
“So no one wants to hook up with the Cambridge scholar then?”
Elain sighed deeply and gulped on her drink, “she is very picky! And not even so much about the men…but how they’d fit into her life. She isn’t moving from the university and she is very determined to finish her degree–which I absolutely understand. But that makes everything very challenging, because there aren’t many men who want to give up their own lives and careers to be with a woman. Because she’d definitely end up in academia for the rest of her life with a degree like that. So, it would have to be someone who is so completely independent that he wouldn’t care. Or another Cambridge scholar.”
“You are running short on those?”
“I know you are joking,” she was shaking her head in defeat, “but it’s very difficult. She’d need a man like you: someone whose career isn’t stationary and who wouldn’t depend on her.”
“Running short of available footballers too?” he teased. “But what does she need from you right now?” he insisted, making a show of the bustling Ivy on a Saturday morning.
“She has an event that she needs to attend. She is a keynote speaker. It’s a formal gala,”
“Let me guess, she needs a man by her side? To show she isn’t a lonesome singleton?” he laughed.
“Basically. Yes,” Elain confirmed.
“So I guessed correctly.”
“And how the heck am I supposed to find that?”
She sighed dramatically and added, “I am almost ready to give up on her and tell her that I am unable to find her a match…It would be my first,”
“I’ll go,” Azriel said suddenly.
She started and looked at him wide eyed, “What do you mean?”
He shrugged and repeated, “I’ll go. I’ll go to the gala with your boring scholar. I’ll wear the tux and I’ll escort her around and shit…”
“But,” Elain began, sounding uncertain. Azriel was pretty blase about his proposal.
“What? What’s the big deal? Besides, don’t I owe you one last fake date or whatever?”
“They weren’t fake dates!” she protested.
“Nuala was okay,” he allowed. Then shuddered demonstratively and murmured, “Mor, not so much.”
Elain thought about his offer. She wasn’t crazy about it–he was her boyfriend, after all. Or was he still a client? Or both? Gah! This was so frustrating. Even thinking about Azriel escorting another woman, even one as romantically clueless as Gwyn, made Elain uncomfortable and genuinely jealous. It was crazy, of course. Azriel was totally devoted to her, and absolutely paid no attention to any other women. Even right now, in the restaurant, some very pretty women walked by and while other men gave them a once over, Azriel only had eyes for Elain and for Piglet, who was now sleeping on his shoe.
“Jealous, beautiful?” he snickered.
“No! I am not!” she argued defensively.
“Think about it. I am your failed case, so is she. Your two failures, fake-dating for one evening. Face it, it’s kind of poetic.”
“You're not my failure,” Elain glared at him, but her tone was soft and loving.
“No?”
“You are…you are actually my,” she swallowed hard.
He was watching her closely, waiting.
“My win,” she concluded. “My reward.”
-
Gwyneth Berdara.
27 years old. PhD candidate in Classics and Philosophy at Cambridge University. Part-time lecturer at Cambridge, otherwise previously unemployed. Moved to London from Inverness, Scotland to attend university.
Attended a Catholic preparatory school. Initially intended to become a nun.
No previous relationships.
Hobbies: yoga, meditation, pilates, travelling, reading
Azriel read the profile while sitting in Elain’s office. He exhaled a long breath, internally cringing. A nun? A fucking nun?
Supposedly Elain wasn’t a virgin–he was yet to check on that–but this one…yeah, this one definitely was. Not that he cared, but it made him wonder how he was getting set up, even for one evening, with such odd specimens.
Frankly, this girl needed someone like Elain. Because otherwise, how was she ever going to find a boyfriend? What would be the opening line? ‘Hello, my name is Gwyn and I wanted to be married to Jesus!”
Anyways, he wasn’t here to judge. He was just getting instructions.
Elain was plenty jumpy as it is, so he wasn’t going to aggravate the situation.
As it turned out, Gwyn was a keynote speaker, she was also receiving some scholarly award (Azriel didn’t care, so he didn’t ask for any details). The gala was being held at the Museum of Natural History, the dinner was cooked by some of Britain's best chefs and it promised to be quite the event. There would be dancing, a silent auction and all the proceeds were going to go to some animal sanctuary. Azriel hoped that it was going to go to some pug sanctuary.
Elain had informed him that there weren’t many pug sanctuaries out there, which, Azriel, felt was an omission.
Azriel kept most of his comments to a minimum. He knew that it was ridiculous, but somehow, this whole proposal now sounded a bit like cheating. And he regretted having come up with the idea. It was stupid, and he shouldn't have done it, but now, it was too late to back out.
“Okay, you will pick her up at 4:30 pm on Saturday. She needs to be onsite earlier than the rest of the attendees,” Elain was explaining, “because she has to prepare. Cocktails are at 6 pm, and then dinner is at 7 pm.”
He nodded.
“You know you are my girl, right?” he asked suddenly, and when Elain glanced from her tablet at him, his expression was almost…desperate. Pleading.
She smiled softly at him and nodded,
“I know.”
“I probably shouldn’t be doing this,” he muttered.
“It’s okay. I am not jealous,” she assured him. “I trust you.”
-
But maybe Elain shouldn’t have? Trusted him, that is.
-
The next time she spoke with Gwyn Berdara was on Sunday morning following the gala.
‘How did it go?” she inquired, once Gwyn picked up the phone.
“Elain, it was wonderful!” Gwyn chirped excitedly. “I had a brilliant time! Thank you for setting me up with Azriel. He was–is–incredible!”
Umm
Setting her up?
Did she not understand that this was a one-evening only sort of a deal? Elain thought that she’d been clear about this arrangement. One gala. One evening. That’s all.
“I mean, I am not a footie fan,” Gwyn continued saying, “but even I’ve heard of Azriel Night! And honestly when you told me that it would be him, I was unsure. But he was…’ she seemed to be lost for words. “Well, he is lovely, isn’t he? Great manners. Excellent dancer!”
Yes, Elain didn’t argue, he was all of those things, but didn’t Gwyn understand that it was an act? Azriel was rough around the edges, with a potty mouth, a dry, taunting, sarcastic sense of humour, full of abrasive comments and inappropriate innuendo. That’s how Azriel was. He wasn’t some dark gallant knight. Yes, his manners were fine, and he could hold his own in any company, and he knew how to dress smartly and hold a conversation, but Elain knew the ‘real’ Azriel. And she loved the real Azriel.
“Gwyn, I…” she began saying, but Gwyn interrupted her.
“Thank you, Elain. I didn’t think it was going to happen, and that you’d be able to find someone for me, but you truly are a miracle worker!”
“Gwyn, are you sure that Mr. Night is…interested?” Elain didn’t know how to ask her politely. She didn’t add ‘in you’.
“Well, yes! I know we initially thought that he’d just be there for the gala, but I want to see where it will go. I don’t know yet, it’s so new, but,”
“I don’t think he is available!” Elain blurted out, feeling confused and anxious.
“Oh, I know. Not now,” Gwyn laughed. “He is playing today! I am going to watch the game–for the first time,”
She didn’t even like football!
Piglet trotted into the room, wearing his Arsenal shirt. He was ready for the game too.
“Well, thanks again,” Gwyn said, “I’ll keep you posted on how things go.”
As soon as she hung up, Elain frantically texted ‘ring me!’ and then she added more ‘!!!!!!!’
She knew that Azriel was prepping for the game right now and wouldn’t be available right away, but he’d ring right before, so she could wish him a good game. And she always sent him a photo of Piglet in his kit.
Only this time, Azriel did not call back.
#elriel#elriel fanfic#elriel fanfiction#ACOTAR fanfiction#a match baked in heaven#fanfic update#my writing#chapter 15#azriel and elain#pro elriel#elain x azriel#elain archeron#acotar#elain#azriel#Modern AU#my fanfiction
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Dancing? Dancing.
Even if one's partner is barely tolerable. Meet me at Rita's if you dare...
Excerpt from Chapter 23
“Running away again are we?”
“Oh!”
The smug reflection of Cerridwen glanced at Elain as she brushed the curls of her hair into an intricate updo, suitable for an evening of reels and jigs across the dance floor at Rita’s.
“She’s not running away, she’s running straight into his arms,” teased Nuala as she appeared next to her sister.
“I used to think it was my family who were busybodies. Seems it's a Fae trait,” scowled Elain, slamming the top of her jewelry box while the twins giggled.
“Oh, we’re just having some fun,” snorted Nuala.
“If you really must know,” she began, head tilted to consider earring options, “he is my good friend. And unlike my family, or you two, he does not pry.”
“Oh, I’ve heard he can pry alright,” Cerridwen murmured with a thrust of her hips before the twins burst into laughter.
“Well, when you decide to come clean, Cerridwen and I will be waiting for the details,” Nuala laughed before the twins bid their goodbyes and winnowed away.
“Busybodies… good for nothing…” she mumbled under her breath as she grabbed her shawl and smoothed her skirts.
In her mortal years, the village’s Samhain celebrations were often a mild, uneventful affair, usually more of a gathering to give thanks for the harvest instead of a festival to honor the more tenebrous and occult energies of the Earth. The courage, whether inherent or liquid, of villagers who snuck off into the woods to conjure spirits for amusement delighted and fascinated a placid, polite Elain. But cowardice always seemed to win when she watched young girls clad in nightdresses run barefoot into the forest to dance naked beneath the yellow moon.
Oh, how close the moon was to bear witness to her bare breasts tonight.
Samhain was Azriel’s birthday, and its carnality hung in the air as a promise to those who partook would be rewarded with such pleasures, mainly the joys of imbibing in the flesh. Of course, the Prince of Hewn City would be born on such a night. Perhaps, if she were lucky, she’d get to see him at work.
Each night, the Seer and Spymaster found themselves in dance halls across Velaris, more often in each other arms than other willing and amiable Fae partners. A few weeks ago, Az took her into the skies of Velaris, and since then, the two could barely dance without liquid courage and a dip into dangerous territory.
She had two birthday gifts for Azriel: a salve for his wings, and what lay underneath her cobalt skirts.
The suspense of poorly concealed affections tortured her mercilessly, and she decided to offer herself to him because the want had bloomed into something too strong to ignore. There was always some sort of pull to Azriel, but now, she needed to know if he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
As her cobalt-slippered feet rehearsed jigs and reels on the cobblestone streets of Velaris, a voice from the shadows caused her heart to leap in terror and titillation.
“Found you,” Azriel whispered as he wrapped his arms around her waist and neck.
The marriage of a heady cedar and honey scent caused a small moan to escape from her lips, her arousal slightly intensifying when to her delight, she discovered he was already drunk.
Very drunk.
“One of these days, you won’t be able to find me,” she teased as he lifted and spun her around. When he sat her down, she finally turned to face him.
She doubted she could ever forget his face. Tonight, he was just as handsome as ever, and perhaps a bit more devilish given Cassian and Rhys celebrated all last night, and apparently, this morning, too.
“You underestimate how easy you are to find,” he taunted as he tucked a curl over her ear.
“For you,” she whispered and reached into her pocket to present his gift in her open palm. His eyes fluttered from her lips to the salve and gifted her a smile while he examined the tin.
“Happy birthday, Azriel.”
A blush crept over his cheeks while her lips faithfully formed his name, as they did so often alone under her bedsheets, and had only once before in his presence. Perhaps, if she were lucky, her throat would scream it tonight.
“For that wingspan I hear everyone talk about,” she teased.
“Careful Lain. That’s not something to joke about with an Illyrian,” his eyes darkened as a low laugh colored his warning.
“So you confess?”
“What?” he teased as he played with the ribbon that fluttered over her shoulder.
“That it's only a joke, not fact? Tsk, tsk.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Her heart raced, and suddenly she didn’t care for dancing.
“Show me then.”
In one movement she was slung over his shoulder while the two shot up into the sky.
“Big enough for you, Lady Lain?” he cried over the wind and her screams of delight.
“I guess it’ll do- AHHHH!” He shrugged as she fell from the skies, dropped for her cheekiness.
“Sorry, my wingspan wasn’t big enough for you to ride,” he sighed as he flew next to her while she fell.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! You have the biggest wingspan!”
“Who has the biggest wingspan?” he questioned.
“You! You!” she screamed reaching for him, but he only gave her an evil grin.
“Azriel has the biggest wingspan!” As her hand skimmed the water of the Sidra, strong arms broke her fall, and they glided upward into the skies.
“You look very pretty by the way.” Her scowl softened for only a moment before she turned her head away.
“You’re not getting my first dance.”
“Many apologies, Lady Archeron. May I have the second?”
“Hmph.”
“What if I promise you all my dances, and I buy a bottle of whiskey?”
“Maybe.”
“What if I told you this is my favorite color on you?” he whispered into her ear.
“Two bottles of whiskey.”
“Deal.”
The crispness of the late autumn air was replaced by the smell of liquor and sweat as Elain trailed behind a towering Azriel, guided by their interlocked fingers through the crowd.
“First dance, Miss Archeron?” he asked over his shoulder as the fiddle started to play, and in response, her touch lingered on the silken skin of his wing, innocently tracing its veins as she passed.
“Only if you promise not to drop me,” she murmured. After a blissful shudder, scarred hands grabbed her waist, and her eyes were greeted by lush lips before her lashes raised to meet the Shadowsinger’s ravenous face.
“When? Dancing? Or something else?” he asked as the two started to spin fast around the room to the lively music.
“How much have you had to drink, Shadowsinger?” she teased as he lifted her into the air.
“Not nearly enough to get what I really want for my birthday.” Lids heavy and scent heady, the whiskey and cedar merged to cause the pulsing need in her belly.
“Is my present not enough?”
“Oh, Lain, I didn’t say that.” Not a drop of alcohol on her tongue but one taste, and she could be drunk.
“Maybe you just need someone to put it on you,” she drawled as she spun into him, and let her ass lewdly roll against his hips.
“Switch partners!” cried the fiddle player.
She extended a polite hand to a handsome Fae male, and shot a coy look over her shoulder, only to find she had won. Brown eyes faithfully watched the wide pupils and parted lips of her previous partner while he slowly stalked the skirts of the room to follow each spin and step she took with a new male.
“What’s your name?” cried the Fae as he spun her out.
“I’m E-”
A scarred hand grabbed her outstretched arm to pull her into his embrace, the two now still in a vast sea of dancers, and the tip of their noses touched as he leaned forward to let his lips brush the shell of her ear.
“Careful, lovely fawn. There are fanged beasts who would love nothing more than to devour you," he whispered. The gentle pull of his fingers coiled around her curls and pulled to expose her neck. Absolutely wild and ready to devour.
Her eyes fluttered shut. Offer and permission.
“Az!” The two snapped their heads to see a flash of red and blonde hair push through the crowd.
“Mor!” The warmth of his body vanished as he strode to greet the blonde.
Suddenly, the heat of the dance hall merged with a jealous fury she pushed down before joining a vibrant Azriel and bubbly Mor.
“Oh, Elain! How sweet you look tonight!” Her cheeks turned as red as Mor’s revealing dress, and suddenly the decision to wear a long-sleeved silk gown and weave bluebells into her hair seemed like the silliest idea in the world.
“Happy birthday, Az,” Mor beamed.
“Thanks, Morrigan,” he replied with an arrogant grin. She was two things: a fool and an idiot. From one glance at the cockiness that radiated off his wide wings, Elain and her stomach sunk into the floor.
“I’ll go get us some drinks,” Elain offered, desperate to shake the shame from her earlier actions, and turned from the pair.
“Wait! Here.” Mor grabbed her shoulder to place several gold coins in her palm.
“Thanks, Mor, just wine?”
“You know me so well! Thanks, El.”
���Just wine, Mor? If I seem to remember correctly, there was a time you liked something a little harder,” he smirked.
Azriel was a vicious, licentious, rakish flirt who was going to feel wrath like no other if he dared to-
“Whoops!”
The push of another dancing couple sent a flustered Elain tumbling onto the floor.
“Careful, Lady Lain,” Az laughed and dove to help her, but another hand reached for the fawn.
“Come here often?” Oh great, giant fiddlesticks.
“Hello, Lucien,” she gulped. The candlelight glittered off of her mate’s golden eye, his handsome smile wide as she apprehensively raised her hand to accept his help, but, the fox’s grin faded as a strong arm tightened around her too-tightly corsetted waist to lift her off the floor.
“Lucien!” Mor’s tense smile did nothing while Lucien growled at the Shadowsinger. The three stood between waltzing couples, Azriel’s arm tight around a nervous Elain and stare lethal at an infuriated Lucien.
“May I join you?” Lucien blurted out.
“It’s Azriel’s birthday,” she replied dumbly.
“It’s my birthday,” Azriel echoed with a murderous expression.
“Happy birthday,” Lucien spat at the Spymaster.
Foxes hunted fawns, but fanged beasts devoured any threats, perceived or confirmed.
On lapping lake waves in warmer months, feelings about the bond were finally unearthed when an outstretched wing drew a wince after a brush against sore ribs.
“Oh Gods, I’m sorry,” Az said quickly.
“No, no. It isn’t your fault,” she murmured between a few deep breaths.
“Does it hurt?” he asked quietly. Her only response was a sad nod.
“Do you know who your mate is?” Dusk lulled over the lake’s horizon as ribbons of pink hues fluttered into deep purple hazes.
“I don’t have one,” he replied after a long while.
“You’re lucky. It’s a curse,” she admitted.
She waited for him to tout Lucien’s good character, but rather, that brave confession saved her from countless unfortunate circumstances. Whispered messages would announce unprompted visits moments before a knock rapped on the door, or the tendril of a shadow would save her from tea services set with an extra saucer beside her seat. As the summer faded into fall, the Autumn Court male spent more time with the Band of Exiles than in Velaris, and her ribs softened into a welcomed silence.
But now they screamed.
This is beyond fiddlesticks, she thought.
“Elain was just getting us some drinks. She could use a hand?” Mor wondered aloud with a wink at Elain.
“Oh yes, do you like ale?” asked the fox.
“I like whiskey-”
“She likes whiskey,” Azriel interrupted. Somehow his chest was broader, height taller, and bravado even more spine-chilling in its understated delivery compared to a fiery Lucien’s blazing eyes.
“You two go ahead, we’ll wait here,” gritted Mor and pushed him away from the mates.
“Shall we go?”
Ribs weren’t supposed to ache, were they?
~
“What in the hells was that?” Mor chastised a brooding Azriel in the corner of the dance hall.
“Elain doesn’t like him.”
“Elain is his mate.”
Two years ago, the thought of those rich brown eyes and blonde tresses within arm’s reach at a dance hall would have been his only birthday wish. Now to welcome another year of immortality, he yearned for a pair of gentle brown eyes and honey-kissed hair. Mor was his friend, and the flame he kept alive for almost five centuries was easy to kindle when conversations skirted around awkward silences with Cassian tempering the two. He idolized her, but he never knew her, truly. Now, he realized how little his infatuation was rooted in what sort of love he ached to hold.
“I said, she doesn’t like him.”
“Well, Elain’s got some growing to do and-”
“She’s not a child, Mor. We all need to ask Elain what she wants.”
Mor’s red lips parted in surprise and annoyance at the rude quip, but a ferocious hazel stare led her to find Lucien and Elain at the bar. After a tense laugh, Elain’s gaze drifted over to Azriel, who did not hesitate to step forward.
The truth was revealed.
“Azriel. You cannot be serious.” Her red skirts swished to stop the leather-clad Spymaster.
He gave no reply.
“Cauldron, Az. She’s a mated female.”
“And?” he sneered.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Perhaps I am,” he admitted as he pushed past her.
“Azriel-” After 541 years, Mor’s hand held his, and nothing more than the heat of her warm skin sat on his scars. It did not soothe, it did not sear, it was not the touch of something very precious. It was not Elain.
“He’s a good male, Az. You and I both know that. She’s so, so young. It’s been only two years into her immortality. She might not want him in this century, or even the next, but with a bond as strong as that, it's only a matter of time.”
“And what about what she wants?”
“What about you, Az? Huh? What are you going to do if your mate shows up ten, twenty, or even two hundred years from now? Would that be fair to her?” Az looked at her hand wrapped around his wrist, the red nail polish so bright against his golden skin.
“Don’t you want to be with someone who is your equal? You deserve that-” Azriel stilled.
“You think Elain is beneath me?” came his terrifying reply.
“You need someone who will challenge you. Hells, she barely could handle being on the battlefield, she’s… she’s too soft Az.” He leaned into Mor so close her eyes widened in fear.
“I used to think there was no one else for me, but you. The battles we fought side by side, the trials we endured throughout the centuries, I was in love with you. And then, I met Elain. And in two years, I’ve felt more than I’ve ever felt in five hundred.” He dropped her hand.
“But, you aren’t Elain’s mate. Lucien is.”
Upon a look at the fox and the fawn, it dawned on him.
Azriel always loved the light, whether it was the sun’s prideful rays or the soft wicks of candles. Light cast on flesh conjured shadows, or banished blindness. It was a gift. Lucien’s aura blazed with that flame Autumn Court males warmed rooms with, their natural ease and quick wit entertaining and charming all those who basked in its glory. The two stood at the bar, the glow of their bodies bright against the crowds of Fae. Despite all the restless nights and curses at the stars, he understood. The Cauldron gave Elain to Lucien because she was the light, and Lucien could ignite. Like called to like.
They were mates, and who was he to steal her from that happiness?
Elain held his gaze, desperation in her eyes as she begged him to save her from Lucien, but he decided to save her from himself. Mor was right, they were not equals. She deserved better.
“Good night, Mor.”
“Happy birthday, Az.”
When the music of the dance hall faded into the eerie air of Samhain, Azriel took to the skies.
Another year into immortality, another year losing to fate.
A03
~ A Court of Bones in Bloom
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I Do Bad Things with You - Part 47
Hello my lovelies. 😍 The next part is here. Only 2 more and an epilogue to go!! 🎉
My fanfic account: @tswaney17fics
My ao3 account: tswaney17
Please let me know what you think about this update. I love getting your feedback. Constructive criticism is always welcome. 💕
Catch up here.
Credit to @featherymalignancy for Cassian’s nickname, Cash. 😘
Trigger warnings: violence, sexual assault , language, NSFW (minor descriptions)
Word Count: 6,988
Azriel reached across the center console to take his wife’s hand. At his touch, she turned her head and offered him the most brilliant smile.
They were on their way to look at the house Amren found, his stomach a tangle of knots and nerves. When they bought the house in the Summer District, it was more about convenience and nice haves. It wasn’t a house they would live in for long periods, so it didn’t matter if it lacked certain things—though there was very little he would change if he were being honest with himself.
But this house was to be their home. This would be where they lived for a good portion, if not, their entire lives. This would be where they raised their children. Unlike their vacation home, this house had some requirements. Okay, extensive requirements, but he couldn’t put a price on the happiness of his family or their safety.
“Are you nervous?” Elain asked, sweeping her thumb over the backside of his fingers.
He glanced at her before returning his eyes to the road. “A bit. I want this house to be perfect.”
She laughed a breathy sound that made him fall in love with her more and more every time he heard it. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that the perfect house truly exists.”
“It can be updated to be perfect,” he told her, feeling her questioning gaze on his profile. “If we decide to buy this place, I need you to tell me about anything and everything you want to be changed or modified. I have a team on standby to make updates.”
Elain’s hand ran over her rounded belly. “I don’t think we’d even have time for that, get moved in and settled, build the nursery—”
“They could have it done in a matter of days, love.”
She looked at him then. “What if I wanted a wall taken out to open up the floor plan and an entirely new floor put in throughout the whole house?”
A grin turned up his lips. “It’ll be done within four to five days.”
He didn’t need to look at her to know her jaw was hanging open. “You have an atrocious amount of money,” she muttered.
At that, he chuckled, bringing her hand to his mouth to kiss the back of her knuckles. “We,” he corrected, “have an atrocious amount of money.” No matter how many times she’d call it his, Az would correct her immediately. Maybe one day she’d get out of that habit and remember that everything he owned, especially now that they were married, was hers too. Both mentally and legally. Frankly, Az started viewing the penthouse as her home the day she moved in with him before they were even together. But until that day, he would just continue to remind her that what was his was also hers.
Elain huffed in exasperation.
They drove out past the city limits where houses became few and far between. One of the things Azriel had requested was privacy and security. He wanted the home to not be in close range of neighbors. “Everybody is always in everybody’s business,” he had said and his wife agreed. Next was security. The home needed some defensible space and was fenced off in some manner. Security cameras could be added to monitor the yard, and a private entrance to even get onto the property was also necessary.
He pulled the car into the drive of a closed, rod iron gate, rolled down his window, and typed the code Amren had given him into the little keypad. Groaning, the metal doors slid open, allowing the car to pass through. The entire property was protected by a concrete, sound barrier, which did a lot to ease his anxiety about letting his kids run free in the yard.
“It’s beautiful,” Elain breathed, leaning forward to take in the massive trees that lined the driveway. Branches over-reached in the canopy, creating an arch-like effect leading up to the sprawling, two-story home.
She gazed at him in awe as they pulled out in front of the house, parking behind Amren’s sleek-black car. Their realtor stood at the bottom of the wrap-around porch; a small force of nature that very few barely five-foot people could obtain. Amren had a way about her that made even the scariest of men cower.
They climbed out of the car, Elain moving slower at six months pregnant, while he unclipped Kaden from his car seat, setting him on the ground and taking his small hand in his.
“Where are we, Azweel?” his son asked, looking up at the dark blue door and side windows. His big green and gold eyes glanced up at him like he was the most important thing in the world.
Azriel’s heart soared in his chest from that look alone. “We’re looking at this house to see if we want to live here.” He squeezed his small hand, hoping to send his excitement down to the little guy.
But Kaden took one look at Amren and immediately tucked himself into Az’s leg, his fingers clutching the denim of his jeans.
Chuckling at the dramatic effect Amren had on him, he lifted Kaden onto his hip, his son burying his face into his neck and wrapping his arms around him in a vice-like grip. He was much heavier now than when they first brought him home, having packed on some healthy weight. It brought him such joy to see Kaden eating like a growing child should, asking for seconds when he cleaned his plate of everything they put on it. He was turning into such a curious kid too, always questioning things. Azriel loved being his father, even if he still didn’t call him as such. However, something in his gut told him that he was close to blessing Az with a fatherly name.
Elain waddled up to his side and took his hand in hers, noting how their son was reverting to his old habits in Amren’s presence. It had been years since the two women had seen each other. Amren wasn’t always present during their get-togethers in high school and went off on some adventure after graduating. To this day, he still couldn’t tell you where she went, only that she wound up with a realtor’s license and had been owning the industry ever since.
She eyed his wife, from her make-up-free face to her rounded stomach. “Elain. Good to see you again.”
Elain smiled. “You as well.”
“Amren,” he greeted, having been ignored completely. “Pleasure as always.”
Those slit eyes finally settled on him. “Family life suits you, Azriel.”
The statement took him by surprise, but he nodded his head in thanks anyway.
“The house,” Amren waved her hand behind her, “was built in the 1950s. It’s your traditional, white-picket-fence home, perfect for growing families. It’s been with the same family since its establishment and has gone through extensive remodels in the last ten years, the most recent being just over a year ago. The inside is modernized but still has the touches of originality in a bit of the structure.” She began walking up the front porch steps, indicating that they should follow. “The security wall was completed last year, which provides ample privacy and protection, as per your request. While the gate is rod iron, it can be updated to something solid to prevent any prying eyes.”
Elain glanced at him. “I kind of liked the gate, myself. It gave it some old charm.”
“I agree,” he said, running a thumb over the back of her knuckles.
“Now,” Amren turned to unlock the front door, “inside has a grand entryway—”
“Pardon me, Amren,” Elain spoke, interrupting whatever their realtor was about to say. “I don’t mean to be rude, but do you think we could tour the house by ourselves? Kaden is a bit nervous around strangers and I’d like for him to be a part of this process.”
He saw the snipe on the tip of her tongue, but before she could voice it, he spoke her name, the warning clear in his tone.
Amren sighed. “Of course. I’ll be in the backyard when you’re ready to go over things.” She opened the door, disappearing inside.
Once they were alone again, Azriel slid Kaden back to his feet between them, each taking one of his hands. He leaned over to kiss Elain’s cheek. “Ready, wife?”
Her answering smile stopped and restarted his heart. Fuck, he loved that woman.
They entered a large open foyer. Gorgeous grey, wooden floors greeted them, extending throughout the house. The walls, white featuring wainscoting gave off that originality vibe that Amren had discussed and Az was sure the house had been built with it. Just off the entryway was the staircase, which separated the living areas with the kitchen, living room, and formal dining room on the right side of the house, and then the den, library, and game room on the left.
Elain stepped forward, taking him and Kaden with her. “It feels so open,” she murmured, looking up at the wooden banister that lined the second-floor landing and hallway.
“The half bath is under the staircase,” he indicated with a nod of his head. “The six bedrooms and three full baths are upstairs.”
They toured the first floor of the house, finding the pristine, white and blue kitchen with a full breakfast bar, and a nook for a round table that they would eat at as a family. A large fireplace dominated the living area, creating this cozy vibe that Azriel knew Elain loved. After making rounds through the other rooms it was decided that Az would take the den as his home office.
“I plan to be working more from home after I return from my paternity leave,” he had told her.
Elain couldn’t mask her surprise. “You want to remote?”
He nodded. “I know we’ve discussed extensively about getting a nanny to at least help watch the kids once we’re both fully back at work, rather than sticking them in daycare, and I think I’d be more comfortable being present even if they’re vetted to the fullest extent.”
She ran a hand over her pregnant belly. “I can’t say I’m surprised by that, truthfully. Or that I’m opposed. I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about letting someone else care for the kids, especially with the life we live.”
Az cradled her face in his palms. “Believe me when I say our children will never be left alone with somebody we did not fully trust. Any person who wants to be a part of our lives will go through various background checks, rounds of interviews, and be bound by a contract. Their safety is my utmost priority, my love.”
He meant it too. Azriel would burn the world to ashes when it came to his wife and children. He didn’t care who went down with it just as long as they were safe.
Like Elain could read his every thought, she tucked herself into his body, kissing him softly.
As they moved further along and up the stairs, Kaden began to get more comfortable, running into each of the bedrooms.
His wife smiled at their son. “Which bedroom do you want, sweetheart?”
He turned to look at them, tapping his chin in contemplation. And then promptly pointed to the double doors at the end of the hallway, proudly announcing, “That one!”
They both laughed, Elain reaching out to ruffle his unruly hair. “Sorry, sweetheart. That’s Momma and Daddy’s bedroom. What about one of these?” she asked, pointing to the other rooms that were not the master.
Little feet took off down the hallway, inspecting each of the smaller, though not small at all, bedrooms. And then he peeked out of the doorway from one of the rooms next to theirs. “Can I have this one?” His lower lip jutted out in that puppy-dog look that Azriel could not resist.
“Of course, you can, son,” he said earning a shout of glee before Kaden disappeared into the bedroom again.
Elain waddled over to the room across, glancing inside. “I think we could make this one the nursery. I was thinking it might be better to do one nursery for them both, separate cribs, of course, but then everything is centralized. I don’t want to have to go from one room to another to nurse them in the middle of the night.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist, palms spreading along the underneath side of her belly and gently lifted.
His wife moaned at the relief in her back, head falling against his shoulders. “Az.” Her breath turned heavy, the sounds she made making his cock hard in his pants. It should not turn him on, but Az knew Elain’s body ached a lot and when he did this for her, she turned into a mewling mess as if he was pleasuring her.
Pressing his lips into her neck, he began to slowly lower her pregnant stomach back down, but she gripped his arm, nails digging into the scarred flesh. “Just a few more seconds,” she whimpered, taking every ounce of relief she could get.
He kissed her sweetly, giving her what she wanted. “I got you, love,” Az whispered into the shell of her ear, delighting in the way goosebumps broke out across her soft skin.
When she finally gave him the okay, he carefully released her, his hands catching on the swells of her hips and squeezing. “I think a joint nursery is a wonderful idea. Then we can turn the next two rooms into their bedrooms once they’re toddlers and need their own space.”
She went languid in his arms, leaning heavily into his embrace. “We could put the cribs in either corner over there,” she pointed. “And then the changing table between them under the window. A rocking chair in that corner.” Elain twisted slightly, reaching out to brush her fingers along the wall. “And a dresser here.”
Azriel grazed his lips over the curve of her jaw. “And the color scheme?”
Elain was still looking at the blank wall where she indicated the dresser should go. “Actually, I was thinking perhaps Feyre could paint something for us. Maybe something forestry with cute animals peeking out behind the trees. At dusk, the sky shaded in beautiful blues, pinks, and oranges.
His smile pressed into her neck. “Like our wedding,” he said.
Her fingers ghosted over his arms, still wrapped around her. “I thought it might be a sweet testament to us in here too.”
“I love it. It’ll be perfect.” Turning her in his arms, Az brought her lips to his in a slow, sweet kiss. She melted into him, sighing into his mouth in bliss. It was tender and gentle and full of so much love, it felt as if his heart would beat its way out of his chest.
He could’ve spent the rest of the day standing there, kissing his perfect wife, but the sound of little feet followed by a “Momma!” pulled them apart, just in time to see Kaden dash into the room.
Elain tucked herself into his side, facing their son. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Momma, there’s a pool!”
Her face morphed into astonishment. “There is? Well, let’s go see it.”
Az chuckled at his wife’s antics, taking her arm by the elbow and following their son down the hallway. “Kaden, can you swim?” he asked, genuinely curious. There hadn’t been an opportunity to determine that since his adoption.
The little guy turned on the step. “No.”
Elain glanced at him. “He’ll need to take swim lessons soon.”
But Azriel was already pulling his phone from his pocket, going to the notes section where he kept track of things and added a comment about swim school. He used it to monitor Kaden’s progress in school, already seeing a huge difference since he started class and working with his speech therapist. There were reminders for teacher conferences, and appointments, links to things he wanted to buy for his birthday that were more appropriate once they moved, and things he needed to look into.
Brown eyes peeked at his phone, the corner of her mouth lifting. “You’re an excellent father, Az,” Elain whispered, kissing his cheek once they reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way out to the backyard.
The words were still sometimes a shock to hear, both because he never thought he’d ever get to be a father, and that he’d be good at it. “Don’t get too close to the pool, Kaden,” he shouted when his son got near the edge.
Ever the good listener, he took a step back, peering closely at the turquoise waters.
“We’ll definitely need to get him into those lessons sooner rather than later,” Elain said quietly, watching how their curious son inspected the pool.
He grunted his agreement, taking in the entirety of the backyard. The back patio was covered by a structured overhang, large enough to house an entire patio set including outdoor couches and a full table. A huge yard awaited them down the single step from the patio deck. The pool was surrounded by concrete to fit multiple lounge chairs and featured a rock waterfall and diving board.
Carefully, Az guided Elain onto the grass to get a better view.
“We could put in a play structure over there,” Elain said with a point of her finger toward the small patch of grass on the other side of the pool. Her head twisted to look in the direction of the yard. “I know the kids will want to eventually put a treehouse up in that tree there. And a tire swing,” she smiled. “Oh, I think they’d love that.”
Azriel kissed the side of her head. “What else can you picture?”
Her eyes landed on the small shed. “That could be expanded a bit to become your working shed.” She looked up at him then. “I know you used to love tinkering around when you worked at the mechanic’s shop in high school. It’d be great for you.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Love, everything you just said was for either the kids or myself. What, out here, would you like for yourself?”
Elain’s head cocked to the side, her confusion shown in the furrow of her brows. “I have everything I could ever want right here.” The words were spoken so softly, that he almost missed them, but he understood her intent. Them—meaning him and the kids—were the only things that mattered to her.
And he just couldn’t accept that. “El, this is your home too. I want you to have a space just as much as the rest of us.” When he saw the rebuttal forming on her lips, he silenced her with a look, taking her hand, fingers lacing, and walked her through the yard towards the side of the house. “When we sat down together and discussed our needs and wants for the house, I was surprised that there was not something specific on the list for you. Something I truly expected to see. So, when we finished, before I sent the list to Amren, I added something for you.”
They reached a small gate, coming up to just below the chests. Az reached over to unlatch it, opening the door for her and escorting her into, well, it was a dirt patch with two raised planter boxes.
Elain gasped, hand reaching out to cover her mouth as she realized what he was showing her.
“In high school, you had always said you wanted a house with a garden that you could maintain. So, I made sure to add a gardening area to the list and brought it to the top as a requirement.”
“Az,” she breathed, looking at him with tears shining.
He guided her over to the large, concrete-built boxes. “I thought these could be used for growing vegetables, herbs, and spices,” he told her, having already imagined what she would build. “You could line the wall with roses. And perhaps a garden path in the back. There’s plenty of room for it. Even a water fountain of some sort if you’d like.” He turned to face her, cupping her cheek in his scarred palm; his thumb brushed away a stray tear. “I know we’ve got a lot going on right now, and that this may not be a project to tackle till after the twins are born, but this area will remain untouched until you decide what to do with it. As long as it’s for you. I don’t want you to try and expand the kids’ area here. They have plenty of room. This is solely for you. Whatever your heart desires, it’ll be yours, Elain.”
She was full-on sobbing now, clutching him as much as her protruding stomach would allow. “Azriel, I love it,” she cried. “I love this house. I love the property. But most of all, I love you, for even thinking about me like this. For gifting this to me.”
His grip on her face tightened. “You have given me everything, Elain. You, and Kaden, and the twins,” he laid his hand on her belly, just in time to feel one of the babies kick, “you’re my everything. And I want this to be our home where we raise our children.”
Elain was already nodding, a grin overtaking her beautiful features. “I want that too, Az.”
He smiled softly at her, bringing her mouth to his for a sweet kiss. “Then let’s go put in an offer.”
~~~~~
Two, short weeks later, they got the keys to the house. Since the day they put in an offer, everything had been a whirlwind. Amren had told them the owners already received three offers prior to their showing, so Azriel being Azriel, swooped in with one at fifty thousand more than the asking price. Elain still had whiplash with how quickly he placed it on the table, not even having determined what the other bids were for.
“My wife wants this house,” he had said to their realtor. “We’re going to get it.” And that had been the end of it.
The sale closed and they were moving in. Or had been the last few days. Since their offer was accepted, she and Azriel had been non-stop packing at the penthouse, going through things that they could get rid of, and determining what they needed to purchase.
The kitchen in the house now featured brand-new state-of-the-art appliances. They ditched the leather couch in favor of something more family-friendly and comfortable, especially with Elain now seven months pregnant. Azriel would do anything to make sure she was as comfortable as possible, which was difficult since she was a beached whale with legs.
They unpacked essential rooms first, the kitchen, Kaden’s, and then their own. While they hired an official moving company for the furniture, the unboxing was up to them.
Moving was such a chore, but moving while heavily pregnant, well, Elain was over it hence why she was “taking a break” in the grey rocking chair, per her husband’s request while he worked on putting together the few things they had purchased for the nursery.
She ran a hand over her protruding belly as she watched Azriel attempt to build the first crib. He was sitting on the floor, his tool kit spread around him, looking so out of character that she couldn’t help but giggle.
The noise had him glancing up at her. “What’s so funny?” he asked, cocking a curious brow at her.
She grinned. “You look so out of sorts right now. I’ve never seen you so disorganized.”
He huffed a laugh. “I’m pretty sure these directions are in a different language.”
“I’m sure Cassian could’ve helped you. He put together Sutton’s crib and it was fairly similar, if not the same, as these two.”
Azriel glared at her affectionately. “I don’t need Cassian’s help. I’m perfectly capable of putting together the cribs for my children.”
Elain rolled her eyes, muttering “stubborn man” under her breath.
“I heard that,” he said, not bothering to look up from the document in his hand.
“I wasn’t trying to be subtle,” she admitted, pushing herself up from the rocker. The world swayed and Elain felt her knees start to give out on her.
Azriel dropped the screwdriver from his fingers, jumped to his feet to grab her by the elbow, and drew her into the safety of his arms. A swear word passed his lips, attracting the attention of their son who had been driving his little trucks on the floor, oblivious to the world.
“El, love, are you all right?” Worried, hazel-colored eyes, flecked with strands of green and gold, peered down at her.
Azriel’s level of fussiness since she had gotten pregnant amplified ten-fold. And while it normally made her huff in annoyance—she was carrying two babies, not an invalid—this time, she was grateful for it, knowing she would’ve hit the ground if he didn’t have the reflexes he possessed. “Just got a little lightheaded is all.”
His eyes flicked over her face. “Maybe you should lie down for a bit.”
It wasn’t a question.
“I’m fine, Az,” she told him, attempting to pull herself from his embrace, but he refused to let go.
“If the doctor thought you were fine, she wouldn’t have ordered you off work and recommended bed rest already. This doesn’t look like bed rest.”
Elain sighed in frustration, knowing he would’ve used that against her. Her blood pressure had risen too high and her OBGYN was concerned about preeclampsia, which, all right, was a valid concern. But it didn’t negate how much they still had to do before the babies’ arrival. Not to mention the baby shower coming up next month.
“Azriel, there’s too much to do,” she all but whined. “There’s still nursery furniture to put together, and then determine what else I will need to purchase tomorrow at the baby store. I have two boxes of baby things that need to get unloaded in the dresser once it’s finished.” She had begun nesting over the last two weeks, buying an assortment of items for the twins already. “Kaden has a box of summer clothes that need to be put away. I’ve got two boxes in the kitchen still waiting for me. And—”
“All of which,” he interrupted, “I can take care of. The furniture shouldn’t take me too much longer, then I’ll start unboxing things while you nap.” Az brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I know you want it to be finished, love. I get that. But rushing to do it this instant isn’t going to help with your blood pressure.” He leaned in for a soft kiss, effectively melting away her desire to rebuttal. “Everything will be done before their arrival. I promise you.”
Elain knew he was right, but it was that motherly instinct growing inside of her that wanted to get things taken care of now.
Before she could voice her insistence, Azriel said, “I’m not asking you, Elain. I’m telling you.”
Her gaze narrowed at the command, hating that he knew she’d comply when he used that tone with her. She huffed out an exasperated breath. “Fine! You win. Only for an hour though.”
His grin turned infectious and it took all her willpower to resist its charm. “Of course. Only an hour,” he repeated unconvincingly as he guided her from the nursery and toward their bedroom.
“I mean it, Azriel. One hour. Singular. I want you to wake me up after.”
“Promise.” The glint in his eye told her he was lying and she muttered some curse words under her breath knowing there was no chance in hell that he’d be waking her after an hour if she was still soundly sleeping. He pulled the sheets back, tucking them over her once Elain climbed into their bed, curling up on her side. “Sleep well, my love.”
But she was already gone; the raging storm outside pulling her into a blissful slumber.
~~~~~
Azriel was finishing up getting ready for bed, his wife already lying down and waiting for him. He spent the majority of the day building the nursery and unpacking the kitchen so they could eat a proper meal. Despite how much their son loved eating pizza the last two nights, he knew his wife and the children she carried needed proper nutrition.
A smile turned up the corner of his lips at the thought of how Kaden had been so concerned over his mother earlier that day. Bless his heart. He followed them into their bedroom when Elain went to lie down for a nap, concern shining in his green and gold eyes. “Is momma sick?” he’d asked him as Azriel lifted him into his arms and carried him from the room.
“No, bud. Momma’s just tired. She’s growing your brother and sister in her tummy and it makes her sleepy.” He kissed his dark hair, dropping him off in his bedroom to play while he finished up his work.
When Az went to check on his wife later, he found their son curled up against her chest, sound asleep.
Rain crashed heavily against the windows, lights flickering in response.
“The storm is getting worse,” Elain mentioned as he entered their bedroom. Her eyes were on the balcony doors, lightning flashing across the sky. “I hope it passes by morning so I can get to the baby store. I want to finish the nursery by this weekend.”
Winter was in full effect if this storm was anything to go by. “I wish I could go with you guys tomorrow.” Azriel had a check-in with Tarquin and a planning session with his executives tomorrow that he was unfortunately unable to get out of. The Moonbeam twins would be escorting Elain and Kaden to Hewn City so she could purchase the last of the nursery items, and he hated the fact that he could not be there with them, especially with them going into Hewn City territory.
She turned to look at him, hearing the unspoken thoughts running through his head. He was worried, of course, he was. His wife was seven months pregnant for fucks sake and Kaden was going with her without his protection. It put him on edge. She reached out a hand for him. “C’mere, my love.”
He went willingly, crawling over her body and kissing her first on her belly, and then again on her lips. Az had taken to kissing all his babies goodnight recently, including his wife. “You need to be safe tomorrow. Anything you feel is off, come straight home.”
Elain’s lips quirked up. “You’re so fussy,” she teased, kissing the corner of his mouth. “We’ll be fine. Fen and Con are both nearly as protective as you over me and Kaden. Nothing’s going to happen, but I promise you we will come home if anything feels off.”
“Nobody is as protective of you two as me, but that does make me feel a smidge better,” he said, making her chuckle. Az attached his mouth to the junction where her neck and shoulder met, letting his tongue swipe over her sensitive skin. As predicted, her body shuddered, a delicate moan slipping past her sweet lips. “Fuck, you sound so pretty when you make little noises like that,” he groaned, nipping at her throat.
Her fingers traced up the swirling ink of his biceps.
They had only been able to christen the new house a handful of times since they moved in, Elain being far too tired in the evenings for anything other than sleeping. But it seemed that her nap earlier that day abated her need for sleep that evening as she arched her body into his.
“Azriel,” she sighed when he licked the sensitive spot behind her ear. She slid her hands into his hair, mussing the dark locks at his nape.
Slipping his shirt from her body—they’d become a staple for her to wear at night this late in her pregnancy—Az used his mouth to map her pale flesh, dutifully avoiding her breasts and nipples knowing they were extra sensitive now and typically caused more pain than pleasure.
He kissed his way down the valley of her breasts, over the swell of her stomach, growing with life, until he reached just above her slit, groomed to her liking with his help. And just when he was about to taste the sweet wetness between her thighs, they heard it.
The sound of Kaden’s door opening and his little feet padding quickly to their bedroom door.
Azriel glanced up at his wife with his mouth hovering over her just as their doorhandle jiggled—thank god he locked the door before crawling into bed.
“Daddy!” Kaden called out.
Az was pretty sure his heart stopped at the name. Kaden just called him Daddy.
Elain was staring at him with tears glistening in her eyes.
Stunned, it took Kaden’s next cry to snap him into action. Because that was a cry of distress. “Daddy!”
Shoving himself off the bed, Azriel grabbed Elain’s t-shirt and tossed it to her. “I’m coming, buddy,” he called out.
“Hurry!”
Panic flooded his blood, filling him with an overwhelming need to remove whatever had terrified his son. He quickly made his way to the bedroom door in his boxers, unlocking and throwing it open.
His son crashed into his legs, face wet with tears. “He tried to grab me!” he burst out, clinging to Az’s knee.
He wasted no time in sweeping him into his arms, shutting the door, and relocking it. “You’re okay, Kaden,” he cooed, patting his back. “You’re safe.” He met his wife’s fearful gaze, carrying their son onto their bed. “What happened Bubba?” he asked, voice soft.
Kaden sniffled, burying his face into the crook of Azriel’s neck, his tears dampening his bare skin. “He tried to grab me,” his son repeated, terrified.
“Who, Kaden?” Elain asked, reaching out to rub his back.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I saw his hand.” His head tipped back and he peeked up at his father’s face. “Don’t let him take me,” he cried, lower lip wobbling.
Lightning cracked outside illuminating their bedroom and causing Kaden to whimper in fear, tucking himself further into Azriel’s embrace. He hugged his son, comforting him and whispering words of encouragement into his hair. “Nobody is going to take you away from us, buddy. I promise you, you’re safe here.”
Azriel had no desire to step away right then, knowing that his son needed him and his presence, but he needed to confirm there wasn’t anyone in the house. He looked at Elain who nodded in understanding and reached out to take their son from his arms.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
Kaden went willingly into her embrace, Elain shuffling him in her lap so his head was faced away from Azriel while he opened his nightstand drawer, tapped his four-digit code into the small gun safe he kept there, and pulled out his nine-mil, clipping in the magazine.
“I’m going to sweep the house,” he said, grabbing the bedroom key and making his way to the door, gripping the handle. “Stay here.”
Azriel started in Kaden’s room, checking every nook and cranny for anything amiss, but found nothing. The window was shut tight and locked, the closet empty of everything but clothing and boxes, nothing under his bed but a stray toy or two. Then he moved to the nursery, followed by the other bedrooms that were currently being used as storage and the bathrooms.
He made his way downstairs, sweeping the entirety of it. Az knew nobody had slipped out through a door or window, all of them were set to chime if opened and he would’ve heard that. Confused, he slipped the gun into the back of his boxers, returning to his son’s bedroom to determine what, exactly, had set him off. He stood for a few minutes, listening to the rain crash outside, and just as he was about to leave, he heard it.
The branch from the tree outside smacked into the window from a gust of wind, scraping against the glass. Lightning flashed, lighting up the room and he caught the shadow of the branch on the wall above Kaden’s bed. It looked like a disfigured hand reaching out. Realization dawned on him at what had terrified his son.
Slipping back into their bedroom, he found Elain still cradling Kaden to her chest.
She looked up at him with worried eyes and he shook her head, easing her concerns. Casually, she placed her hand on the side of Kaden’s face, covering it while Az removed the clip from his gun and replaced it in the safe.
They both agreed that if he kept a gun in the house, which, they needed given the threats they still faced, it had to be unloaded and locked away somewhere where the kids would never be able to get into. Azriel had picked a random set of numbers as the combination and verbally spoke them to Elain should she ever need to open the box. They had gone back and forth on the location of the small safe, but ended up deciding closer access to the bed was likely more ideal in an urgent situation.
“I promise you that he will never see it unless we’re under some sort of attack and I have to defend this family.” He cupped her face between his palms, letting his touch soothe her anxieties. “But I will do everything in my power to make sure that Kaden, and the rest of our children, will not be exposed to the violence my life brings. That is my promise to you.”
“There’s nobody in the house,” he said, closing the drawer of his night table. Padding his way around the bed, Az lifted Kaden into his arms, kissing his temple. “I want to show you something,” he murmured, carrying his son out of the room and back to his.
Kaden’s hold tightened around his neck and shoulders.
“You’re safe, son,” he breathed, tucking him closer to his chest as he made his way to the window. “Do you see the tree outside?” he asked, tipping his head down to confirm whether his son was listening.
Those green and gold eyes, still wet with tears, were looking at the swaying tree just outside the glass panes.
“The branch scratched the glass. And then when the lightning flashed, it illuminated the shadow of the tree branch to look like a hand reaching out for you.” He ran a hand down his back. “Nobody was trying to get you, bud. It was just the storm playing tricks.”
Not a second after he finished speaking, lightning flashed and a gust of wind sent the branch raking down the glass.
Kaden shrieked in fright, throwing his arms around Az’s neck and burying his face into his warm chest.
He carried him back to the master bedroom, repeating that he was safe and that nobody was going to hurt him.
Elain was leaning up against the headboard when they returned, a knowing smirk on her face letting him know she knew their son was going to be coming back to sleep with them. “What was it?” she asked as he settled onto the bed, sliding Kaden down his chest to lay more comfortably on top of him.
“The branch outside his window. I’ll call somebody to come remove it in the morning.” Grabbing his phone, he armed the motion sensors in the house, just in case. They typically kept them off, worried Kaden would creep downstairs in the middle of the night for some unknown reason and set it off. But with him in their room for the night, he decided it would be okay to leave them on.
Dropping his device on the table beside the bed, Azriel flicked the light off, tugging a pliant Elain closer to his side. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he whispered into the darkness.
Even without being able to see her, Az could feel her gaze on him, assessing his words. “Why are you sorry?”
He sighed. “Because I wanted to make you feel good and I didn’t get to finish. I know we haven’t really gotten to take advantage since the move and I just wanted to show you my appreciation.”
She huffed a laugh, feeling her reach out to thread her fingers into their son’s hair—the boy already sleeping peacefully to his father’s beating heart. “Az, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our life will be nothing but constant interruptions from now on. Please don’t apologize for having to step away and be a father. Because that’s what you were doing tonight. Being a father and taking care of our child who needed you. I will never begrudge an interruption like that.”
Azriel snagged her fingers, bringing her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. “It’ll take some getting used to not being able to enjoy ourselves like that whenever and wherever we want.”
Her palm spread across his cheek. “We’ll figure it out like everything else.” Elain let her thumb swoop across his stubbled skin. “I love you, Azriel.”
Wrapping an arm around Kaden and cradling the back of his head, Az leaned over to kiss her softly, tucking her against his side so that her swollen belly rested on him. “I love you more, El.”
Az fell asleep that night with his family wrapped around him and dreamt of the future he couldn’t wait to see come to life.
~~~~~
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Listen I'm all for women empowerment but what the hell is wrong with people when they say they want to see kinky scenes with Gwynriel in the LIBRARY??
You mean the library the NC has set up solely to serve as a safe space for women who have been victims of SA?
A place where men aren't usually even allowed without permission?
This is why I just can't take that crackship seriously. There's just such a poor understanding of not just the characters themselves, but the entire concept and setting and storyline SJM has set up.
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starting on concept art for something i'm writing :)
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𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼: 𝓔𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷 & 𝓛𝓾𝓬𝓲𝓮𝓷 🌺
My lovely friend @melphss and I were able to commission with insanely lovely art by @jjflorentina
The artist did such an incredible job showing Elain and Lucien in a sweet embrace.
@melphss thought this quote from Elain in ACOWAR reminded her of a quote from Jane Eyre so I attached both of them. I thought it was a lovely correlation.
Elain: “It felt.. strange, like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib?”
Jane Eyre: “I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap. And I have a notion that I'd take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, you'd forget me.”
Link to Instagram post
Characters belong to Sarah J Maas
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Template by @/shinkxart
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All I’m sayin is that we’ve had a lot of broody, dark-haired love interests. It’s time for the ginger to have his moment in the sun. Yes this is about Lucien. Rise up, king.
#please and thank you#let the red heads rise up#there are so few of them#Lucien#tharion#who else#sarah j maas#sjm#acowar#acomaf#acotar#a court of wings and ruin#a court of mist and fury#a court of thorns and roses#a court of silver flames#acosf#a court of frost and starlight#ACOFAS#elucien#pro elucien#pro lucien vanserra#lucien vanserra#Elain
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Elain: You risked your life to save me?
Azriel: And I'd do it again! And perhaps a third time! But that would be it.
#elain#elain acotar#azriel#azriel acotar#azriel acosf#elriel#incorrect acotar quotes#acotar incorrect quotes#acotar funny#a court of thorns and roses#acosf#a court of silver flames#acowar#a court of war and ruin
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𝘼𝙯𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚, 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨. 𝙃𝙚, 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙧, 𝙀𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣-𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨.
𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙩, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧.
𝙀𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝘼𝙯𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮.
⊱❊⊰
⤞ art by @lamonyo (💜)
⤞ commissioned by me
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please do not repost.
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Rainy Season - Part 4
All You Ever
Azriel reflects on his past mistake including the night with Elain. Cassian makes a huge mistake.
A/N: Before reading this chapter please know that I am not condoning cheating or the actions of Azriel or Elain. I do not feel sorry for either of them in any way. I simply enjoy adding a little complexity to the story and selfishly love sprinkling in chaos. Also this is not proofread, I’m exhausted.
And for cauldron’s sake, please just trust the process before yelling at me!!! This is just one chapter from the two biggest idiots involved, not the whole story.
Part 3 Part 5
Warnings: Not proofread, Alcohol, Language, Unintentional ingestion of an aphrodisiac leading to sex
Azriel
He may have been a fucking idiot but Azriel’s self-awareness was painfully acute. His scar riddled hands were forever tainted with the essence of blood that even her plush lips couldn’t kiss away, his angel mate. What a cruel joke the cauldron had played the day that bond snapped between them. She was resplendent in sun shrouded glory and he was the devil who dragged her down. Just selfish enough to ignore the warning bells that he’d one day fuck it all up, just selfish enough to pull her away from her home and covet her within the walls of Velaris. In the beginning, he’d fought so hard to deserve her though she’d never asked him to. She wanted only him and knew he was unworthy of her, he always had been. It was exhausting - the mask. Constantly trying to hide from her that dark, sadistic side of him that was everything opposite of what she was.
She saw through it, of course. She always had. All she wanted was him, all of him. Begging him to show her beyond the good of him at surface level, she wanted all of his self-proclaimed bad too. She’d told him that dozens of times over the years but dropping that mask meant unpacking so much - so much more ugly than even he was prepared to reveal to himself.
At some point he began to resent her and he knew it wasn’t fair. He resented his perfect, pure, untainted mate. Wasn’t it ironic that she’d shown him everything beneath her own surface numerous times, unveiled that she herself was not the Angel he placed her on a pedestal as. She’d shown him everything and he still viewed her through that near-holy lense.
If only he could have put his stubbornness, his self-loathing aside and realized she would have done the same for him. It was too late for that now.
And now I'm without you, and it took distance to see that losing you, means losing everything
————
Something had been wrong for a while. He ignored it assuming that perhaps it was a mental blockade erected by a combination of fatigue and work tensions. He’d slowly distanced himself from his mate. He knew it hurt her, it hurt him too. His intentions were genuine, sparing her the pain of his own inner turmoil by distancing himself while he worked through it. He was simultaneously aware that he was a fucking bastard for doing so, she deserved an explanation but he couldn’t give it to her yet. He justified it as the lesser of two evils.
Unsurprisingly, the mating bond is a fickle thing. As he distanced himself, a chasm of emptiness opened within him that he’d desperately tried to fill with missions and various courtly duties. Training with the Valkyries helped, being there for Elain through her own struggles….
He took his duty to help her seriously, though it technically was not a duty even assigned to him. A distraction. It was a distraction. Ever the spymaster he spent their initial time together observing her, the things that brought a little bit of life back to those once bright eyes.
He’d sun his wings while she gardened and read across from her in the study, little things so she’d know she wasn’t alone. Eventually she began talking again. At first just a comment here or there but then there was communication, getting to know each other, small talk eventually becoming deeper topics. He learned of her resentment of the choice she felt was ripped from her, left with no time to mourn the loss of her mortal life or consider the implications on her relationship with Graysen because of it.
Not to mention the shock that one of the faces she blamed for being damned to the cauldron, one of the first faces she saw coming out of it was her mate and she was just supposed to accept it? Over time, Elain became a friend. A bright spot to the numbness created by the self-imposed gap between he and his mate. His mate….
It had taken some time to realize that he wasn’t feeling her through the bond, when was the last time he’d felt her? It was becoming fainter and fainter, more faint than it even should be with distance. He’d send feelings to her on occasion. A little spark of joy when he saw a lovely sunset or the moments when his desire for his mate heated his blood so thoroughly he had no choice but to excuse himself for relief by his hand.
He needed her to know he cared, he desired her, he loved her. A little time and space to collect everything he needed to bring to the surface, to give her all of him. He left her feeling like she wasn’t enough but she was everything. He just needed space.
Until she gave him space.
The devastation on her face the day she asked him to leave. Gods, damn him and the hurtful things he’d said. They’d be ingrained in his mind for the rest of his days along with the sound of her sobs as she fell apart before him. He’d done that to his mate. He was responsible for those tears. All because he’d been too selfish and prideful to share all of himself with her.
So, he left. She’d allowed him so much space, he could give her this.
I wish I could love you and make you believe it. It’s all you ever wanted from me
———-
The night with Elain
He couldn’t make it through dinner sober. Rhys insisted everyone get together at the River House for a friendly night of debauchery. Pouring himself a double shot of whiskey, he considered telling Cassian to send Rhys his regards and hole up in the house of wind for the remainder of the night. It was either, go to dinner and deal with all of the questions of “Where is y/n?” and “Why isn’t y/n here?” or deal with Cassian’s well-intentioned but annoying attempts of pressuring him into going, followed by a pout when he’d stand his ground on staying in, and then the inevitable intrusion from Rhys inquiring why he wouldn’t come to dinner.
He loved his chosen family dearly but they were busybodies through and through. All he wanted was to pass the time until he saw his mate tomorrow.
Begrudgingly he threw back his glass, poured another double, then headed to the River House.
Time moved slowly when all there was to do was dwell.
What had happened? He flew slowly to the River House. Going out of his way to circle far overhead of his true home, where his mate was. Was she waiting for him inside? Was she in town? Why couldn’t he feel her? Silence. Just as it had been for months. But the emotions he’d seen in her, they were so real. Shouldn’t they have sparked something in the bond?
As Azriel approached the River House he’d come to the conclusion that tonight he’d inform Elain he’d no longer be able to visit with her as he had been. He’d neglected his mate for far too long, this past week had given him the clarity needed to go home and give his mate his all. He could slowly open up to her, he could do it.
He just needed to make it through the night.
The night went by as usual. Good food, laughter, flowing liquor. He heavily indulged himself in the liquor anything to numb the impatience in waiting for tomorrow.
Feyre and Rhys sat closely together on a lounge, Feyre leaning into him, staring up at him like the stars in the sky.
Cassian and Nesta spent the entire time making bedroom eyes at one another, Cassian whispering dirty promises into Nesta’s ear that made even the queen of smut herself blush, Nesta taking any opportunity to brush her body against his in passing.
Gods, they were so in love it made him sick.
“Home.” He told himself.
“Soon.”
As the evening wound down, Cassian insisted everyone do shots to close out the evening. He was drunk enough that he stumbled carrying in the tray of shots and let out a battle cry of victory over the fact that he managed to not spill any of the liquor.
Azriel should have flown back to the House of Wind a while ago but he needed to talk to Elain.
Nuala and Cerridwen had been on duty with Nyx for the evening, compensated well to work overnight in case he awoke, giving Rhys and Feyre the now rare opportunity to go out to Rita’s. Mor, of course, drug Emerie along and went with them. Given that Amren would rather stick pins in her eyes than go out, she and Varian opted to go back to her place.
Azriel should have gone there, gone back to the River House, gone home and slept in the doorway until his mate let him in.
But he was so drunk. There was no way he was flying anywhere tonight.
Cassian and Nesta brought out a final round of shots. Elain winced, scrunching her nose as she threw it back. Azriel thought she’d be able to take her liquor better by now. Cassian and Nesta waggled their eyebrows suggestively at eachother before throwing theirs back. And damn, if Azriel didn’t wince when he took his shot too. That shit was awful. Had they drank through all of Rhysand’s good liquor? Did Cassian dig this out from the bottom shelf?
Once Cassian and Nesta left for the House of Wind, Azriel took the empty glasses to the kitchen, cleaning up a few of the remaining dishes throughout the seating area on the way. He barely made it into the kitchen before his head began spinning. That last shot had done him in. He couldn’t even remember the time last he’d been blackout drunk. Two centuries ago, maybe?
He still needed to find Elain.
The stairs felt longer and far less steady than usual, taking him more time than he cared to admit to make it up them. His hands felt tingly on the banister and damn, it was hot in the River House. No, he touched his face, flushed and hot to the touch. He was hot.
The tingling was simultaneously uncomfortable and pleasurable, spreading over his body with haste as he neared closer to Elain’s room.
He caught a glimpse of her and her scent hit him like a ton of bricks. Had she always smelled this good?
His breathing increased, nostrils flaring as he took in her scent and fuck - he was hard. It was too late to not say anything now as she stared at him expectantly. The stars in his vision cleared and all he could see was her, zeroed in on her fluttering pulse, those delicate features.
He needed to leave.
He just needed to - shit, what had he come here to say?
Azriel’s shadows whirled reminding him of his mate. His mate. He needed to go to his mate.
He needed to tell Elain something. He couldn’t think straight.
“Elain…”
And that was when she lunged at him.
Well is it too late, and are you too far to turn around and let me be
——————————
Elain
There was nothing the Cauldron loved more than Elain Archeron.
There was nothing the Cauldron hated more than Elain Archeron.
A thin line between the two, really.
She’d spend the rest of her life groveling for what conspired on that night. She never intended to sleep with him. She never, ever intended to hurt Y/N.
She remembered drinking more than usual.
She remembered Azriel finding her in the hallway.
She remembered a sudden rush of warmth, first from her chest, seeping outward through her extremities, low into her stomach and lower, lower.
She remembered Azriel having something important to tell her. She could feel nothing but heat. Her heart racing, breath becoming rapid.
Azriel’s pupils were blown wide, his nostrils flaring. Like every single sense was hyper aware of her state. His arousal wafted through the air, his irresistible cedar and chilled mist scent clinging to her like an expensive cologne.
They were so very intoxicated.
They couldn’t do this. If she’d been sober and unaffected by whatever was running through her veins, she would have left. Immediately.
She wasn’t one to wreck a home and Azriel loved his mate so, so much. The way he talked about her, it made Elain jealous. Not of them, not of her. Only jealous that Elain herself had struggled so hard to feel anything toward her own mate for so long. Lucien who played a role in her loss of humanity, Lucien who would do anything to make it up to her, Lucien who never meant for it to happen, who tried so hard to help her, to connect with her, who wanted nothing more than to love her. Lucien.
Then why was it Azriel? Azriel who was standing in front of her clearly affected by her, trying his damndest not to be. Why was she so drawn to him? A mated male.
Was she sweating? It was so hot. Her breasts ached and her blood thrummed through her veins so voraciously that she was certain she’d bleed out at any minute. And if Azriel could see beneath her gown right now, he’d see how tightly her thighs were squeezed together. How desperately she needed release and by the tightness in his pants - she knew he was in the same state.
“Elain…” Azriel spoke. His breath ragged.
And all it took was her name rolling off of his lips for her to close the distance. One kiss. She just needed one kiss to remind herself that this was wrong. To run the other way.
And it only took one kiss to remind her how much the cauldron loved her. How much it hated her.
The moment when she felt the mating bond snap between her and Azriel.
The alcohol, the liquor, the heat, the bond. A lethal combination leading to the biggest mistake of her life.
The night she’d fucked Azriel.
She could never let him know about the bond.
—————————-
Elain woke up with a brutal headache. She would have killed for some headache power. Her room was dark, shadows deepening the onyx black of night as slivers of moonlight lined the edges of her curtains. Still nighttime, then.
Her surroundings slowly came into focus, awareness sharpening as a soft sound caught her attention. Swiftly she turned her head to find Azriel asleep on the other side of her bed.
Oh no.
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
This couldn’t have happened.
What had she done?
She threw on her dress and tip-toed out of the room in a state of panic. She was a sensible female. She knew too well the pain of losing Graysen, a human male, not her spouse, not her mate. But still, his rejection had hurt like hell. Elain would never sleep with another woman- female’s mate. No.
She paced through the library, back and forth, back and forth, praying she didn’t wake anyone up. The walls were closing in on her. This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be.
Oh gods.
And the mating bond. How?
Her chest was tight, she couldn’t catch a full breath. She needed out.
Before she could stop herself, Elain fled into the empty street with no destination in mind. Anywhere but here, anywhere but the bed where she’d likely obliterated a marriage. She’d certainly obliterated her dignity.
The starlight illuminated streets of Velaris were endless, winding through alleys and lanes. In her panicked state, Elain had no clue where her feet were taking her as she blindly followed her gut. It wasn’t until she was in front of the door that she realized her heart had made its choice. It knew exactly who to go to, she only prayed it wasn’t too late.
She took a shaky inhale and raised a hand to knock but the door flew open revealing a shirtless Lucien, his bare, muscled chest heaving. “I felt you coming.” He gasped. “Through the bond.”
—————-
Azriel
The sun’s rays illuminated the edge of the curtains. Azriel’s stomach was tight, nausea from the previous night’s alcohol overwhelming him. His bed felt colder than usual, more stiff.
He looked around to find that he’d never left the River House. He was…
He was in Elain’s room.
“Oh, fuck!” He sobbed to himself as the previous night came pouring back to him. Setting his face in his palms, he cried. What the fuck had he done?
Azriel bathed, desperately scrubbing Elain off of him. By the time he was through, his skin was an angry red. He snuck out of the River House, flying to a grassy knoll high above Velaris. The spot where he and Y/N had first made love, where the bond snapped, where he’d proposed. He shifted uncomfortably as he tried to get comfortable, the unease settling in. It was blasphemy to desecrate such a sacred spot with his shame.
“What do I do now?” He asked aloud, the only response the whipping of the wind around him. He didn’t understand what had overcome him. He’d never been so “effected” before, even in his drunkest moments. Once Elain’s lips met his, his brain had shut down, nothing else mattered but the feel of skin on skin. His body needed release and acted on pure primal instinct.
And now, he had a decision to make. He could go home and lay it all out, slightly easing the guilt of holding in his greatest sin while completely and utterly destroying his mate.
Or, he could go home. Show his mate all of the love that he had been withholding for too long now, sweep her off her feet, take care of her and start opening up. Give her his all, even the ugly parts that he kept so deeply hidden.
Gods, she’d given him so many chances and he’d let her down at every turn. There were no excuses for the way he had treated her.
All she’d ever wanted was him, all of him, including those sides he’d never wanted her to see.
Now he could only go home and love her. Love her with everything he had and pray she believed it.
———————-
6 months after Y/N left
Azriel looked in a hallway mirror on his way to Rhysand’s study. Dark circles hallowed out his under eyes. The drink he’d had prior to flying down here did nothing to numb the violent ache within his heart. Would it ever quell? Would this puncture wound ever heal?
It wouldn’t. And he didn’t know if he wanted it to. He was a bastard and deserved every ounce of this isolated misery. Trapped in a prison of his own making. The ache in his chest a constant reminder of the love he’d squandered. And for what? A meaningless night with a pretty female. Had he not had enough of those nights in his life?
Not that Elain would speak to him. Though she had apologized, countless times. It didn’t matter. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one to blame. Occasionally he’d catch Lucien’s assessing glare, an infuriating blend of contempt and pity etched into his features. Azriel didn’t know which he hated more, he didn’t deserve pity.
Azriel’s skin had sallowed. Had he ever been this pale before? And the bargain tattoo on his arm. Fuck, he hated it. After his third attempt to infiltrate the Summer Court, Rhysand gave Azriel the option of a cell in the Hewn City or a bargain.
Ironically the bargain served as a prison of its own. He was not allowed to go anywhere near the Summer Court or communicate with Y/N in any way. The only method of communication he was able to find a loophole with was the tugs on the bond. He’d pull and pull, nothing.
If only he could try to explain, apologize, anything.
Breaking his gaze from the shell of a male in the mirror, Azriel stepped toward the study.
Cassian’s booming laugh barreled through the cracked open door.
“Trust me, Feyre will love it. I’m sure you guys could use a little spark at the end of the day. You’ll be rolling in the sheets all night.”
Rhys only chuckled.
Cassian continued, “Tastes nasty as hell though. Here’s an extra vial, just in case. The first time Nes and I tried it, it didn’t work. Not sure why.”
Azriel let out a huff, stepping into the study. Cassian and Rhys ceasing their conversation in his presence. They’d been painstakingly obvious in not talking about their mates or anything relationship related in front of him since his mate had left. He refused to speak to anyone about why she left, too embarrassed to admit to this bed of his own making. They knew it was his fault and that was all that mattered.
Azriel scowled. “You don’t have to stop talking about your mates just because I’m around.”
Cassian awkwardly raised his arm, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry brother. We just don’t want to make things harder for you than they have been.”
“Considerate.” Azriel sneered, jerking his head toward the vials. “What are those anyway?”
Cassian smirked, “Oh, just some aphrodisiac potions from a new apothecary in Velaris. Really powerful shit. Nes and I-“ Rhys elbowed Cassian. A warning to not take the conversation too far. They could talk of their happy relationships without absolutely rubbing Azriel’s face in it.
Cassian quieted for a moment before continuing. “It tastes gods awful but the payoff is totally worth it. Remember those shots we took after everyone left dinner several months ago? We mixed it into Nes and I’s glasses and didn’t notice the taste. Didn’t work either though. Must’ve been a dud. Lady at the shop gave us a replacement vial the next time we were in and…. well, let’s just say we keep it in stock at the House of Wind now.”
Azriel went preternaturally still. His shadows growing angry as he ground out, “The night you two did a parting shot with me and Elain?”
“Uh…… yeah?” Cassian replied.
And before Cassian could realize what he’d done, Azriel pummeled him. Hauling him out the study doors and onto the lawn, not even making it to the sparring ring before his fists met Cassian’s face - the two Illyrians disappearing into a frenzy of fists and feet and glowing siphons.
The only sound over the impact of their hits and feral growls was Cassian’s confused, booming voice. “What the FUCK, Az!?”
————————————————
A/N: I am sorry for giving you an entire chapter of Azriel and Elain content but I will make it up to you with fluffy Eris and reader content in the next chapter!!!
@going-through-shit @kalulakunundrum @lisanna2000 @fxckmiup @sheblogs @emryb @one-big-fangirl @historygeekqueen @isa1b2h3 @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @theravenphoenix26 @sidthedollface2 @i-am-infinite @caraaaaugh @evergreenlark @darkbloodsly @piceous21 @anxious-study @chessebookgirl @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @crazylokonugget @mysticalfuncollectorus @starsinyourseyes @b0xerdancer-writes @inloveallthetime
#sarah j maas#acotar#a court of thorns and roses#azriel#a court of silver flames#a court of frost and starlight#a court of mist and fury#a court of wings and ruin#azriel shadowsinger#azriel x reader#eventual Eris x reader#Elain#Cassian#Nesta#nessian#acotar x hunter hayes#inspired by a Hunter hayes song#all you ever#rainy season
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༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
“𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝑜; 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂.”
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
✮♱✮ art by @luxury_banshee
✮♱✮ commissioned by me
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
𝖣𝖺𝗒 5: 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖱𝖺𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗒𝗉𝖾
I hope everyone is doing well today! I’ve got my participation in Azriel with this absolutely breathtaking Sleeping Beauty Elriel by the amazing, talented, and amazing @luxury_banshee! Banshee never fails to deliver on every detail, and I’m more than happy with how this stunner turned out! We all know I’m an absolute sucker for Elriel and Sleeping Beauty, and I’m been dying to see my love @luxury_banshee have a go at this idea, so what do y’all think? I really do hope we get a sleeping beauty retelling for Elain and Azriel, it would be so perfect for the both of them😍 @azrielappreciationweek
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
✮♱✮ characters are Elain Archeron and Azriel from A Court of Thorns and Roses.
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
✮♱✮ likes, saves, and shares are always appreciated!
✮♱✮ no reposts allowed.
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
#acotar#elain archeron#elain#elriel#bookish#my commissions#azriel acotar#azrielappreciationweek2023#sleeping beauty
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For the love of god, please stop putting Elain’s arc on Azriel! It’s NOT about HIS choice. It IS about HERS. Elain, who has had every decision made for her. Elain who has never gotten to voice what she wanted. Elain, who’s own mother used her as a pawn to wed off one day so they could live well.
ELAIN’S ARC IS ABOUT MAKING A CHOICE FOR HERSELF. 👏👏👏
There is no love triangle between Elain, Az, and Gwyn. There is no love square between them three and Lucien. It is Elain’s love triangle between Az and Lucien. Her choice between what the Cauldron shoved at her or what she truly wants.
Ship whoever you want. But stop changing the narrative that the next book is about Azriel picking between two women (because really? Ew.).
Elain: the female who’s never had a choice.
Azriel: the male who’s never been chosen.
It’s literally right there!!
Fuck, okay. Rant over.
#elain archeron#elain#elriel#Elain’s arc#azriel#azriel shadowsinger#pro elriel#anti gwynriel#anti elucien#this fandom is so far gone I swear to god
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can i request an Azriel x reader where Elain and Azriel get too close and reader get's jelous so sits on the opposite end of the table and he has to apologise and everything. Thankss
(u dont have to do it )
It's always going to be you
(I've changed abit of it but there's still "apologising and everything") also if u see any mistakes NO YOU DIDN'T. :) xx
Summary: You and Azriel spend less time with each other and soon it seems he spends more time with Elain- apologising and fluff
Azriel x reader
I watched, holding my breath as Elain let out a small laugh at something Azriel said, her hand coming up to rest on his arm. Did she need to do that? No, she probably didn't. But I let it go because she was getting better now. Her smiles were more frequent and if she found my mate funny then fine. I wouldn't be jealous about it.
Another week later and Elain and Azriel were walking the streets of Velaris. I had paused in my tracks to watch them, their heads bent together talking about something important it seemed. It felt like I hadn't gone shopping with Az in so long let alone have a nice conversation that lasted longer than a minute. They seemed comfortable together. Fine. As long as they were both happy there was no reason for me to jump to conclusions.
It was game night and Elain and Azriel had paired up. Yes, they were playing chess against each other but they chose each other and left me on the side lines, merely part of the audience. I wasn't even give a second glance. "Y/n? Aren't you going to play?" Cassian asked from where he was sat on the sofa, one arm around Nesta the other holding a glass of wine.
I shook my head "I'm tired. Maybe next time" I turned to look back at Azriel because like usual I was drawn to him. It seemed he was unaffected by our bond now because he hadn't even looked at me once throughout the entire day. The longer I stared the harder it was to fight back tears. I stood up and mumbled an excuse to leave, Nesta being the only one who listened to my made up excuse. I walked out the house and rubbed my hands together, my feet taking me to the bench I had sat on so many times. Luckily I was smart enough to grab hold of a thick shawl before leaving. The Sidra was as beautiful as always, lights glowing around the area, Fae spilling out of different bars across the street.
I pulled the shawl closer to me and tried to enjoy the sight in front of me rather than my mind going back to things I didn't want to think about.
Where are you?
Y/n? Are you okay? Where are you? Tell me where you are.
Sweetheart please. Are you allright?
Azriel's voice, panicked and full of fear in my mind. The spiteful thing to do would be to ignore him and build a barrier between the both of us but because I was never able to see or hear Azriel worry for so long I replied with
I'm fine
I went home for the night, enjoy yourself
I blocked him out. I didn't want to think about anything right now. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him.
Of course if someone asked if I still loved him I would have replied with a "yes" in a heartbeat. Maybe we just needed space. Or maybe I was being dramatic. It's not as if I had walked in on them kissing or something.
"Fancy seeing you here, y/n" Someone said. I had to blink away my sleepiness and try and find the source of the voice. It was Keller. A friend who I usually had lunch with when I was in town or needed someone to help me translate a piece of text.
I gave him a warm smile, his blonde almost silver hair shining in the street lamps.
"Is there a seat free?" He gestured next to me at the empty bench but before I could answer a loud thud was heard behind me and without having to turn around I could tell who it was. He must have hidden his scent because otherwise I would have known he was coming this way earlier.
"Apologies, but the seats taken. You should get going now" Azriel's voice was tight and full of anger, one wrong answer from Keller would result in things that were too gruesome too think of.
Still, he hesitated, looking between me and Azriel who was behind me and probably sending daggers at him.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice night" I gave him an awkward smile, trying to reassure him.
"Right. Enjoy your time." And with a nod "Shadowsinger" He walked away soon disappearing behind a corner. I didn't bother turning around and instead waited for Azriel to show himself. His footsteps were light as his form came into view, blocking the scene of the Sidra. He stood there for a good minute or so evaluating every inch of me with his piercing eyes. His shadows moved away from him, coming to brush against me as if they were checking if I was ok as well.
"Are you all right? Your not hurt are you?" His voice was soft, a great contrast to the tone he was using with Keller a second ago.
I sighed "Physically, yes"
He took this as a chance to sit down next to me, making sure there was a small distance between us. As if he wasn't sure what I wanted. I wasn't sure either. I wanted space but I also wanted him to wrap his arms around me and tell me everything would be alright.
"I didn't know what happened to you. I thought you had been taken. I thought I wouldn't see you again" Azriel's voice was quiet and almost broken in a way. I turned to look at him, to see if he was the same Azriel as a few weeks ago.
"What's happened to us?" I asked. I didn't know either but there was one thing I knew and that was something had changed.
As soon as the words escaped me, Azriel froze. His breathing coming to a stop and his eyes focused completely on me and my breathing. For the first time in my life I heard him stumble over his words "what...what do you mean?" He asked, his voice so quiet and full of worry. His shadows paused their constant movement around me and froze as well, their touch now cold.
I wrapped my arms around me, the shawl suddenly not doing much to block the cold out properly "Don't you feel as if we've grown apart? Like...maybe we aren't as close as we used to be?"
I couldn't look at him while saying that. Instead I let my head fall back so I could look at the comforting sight of the stars. Something that was always there. I felt a slight shift to my right where Azriel moved closer to me, his wings coming to wrap around me.
I looked at him, opening my mouth to thank him for the warmth but before I could say anything his shaky voice interrupted me "I love you. I will always love you. I am so sorry you felt as if I wasn't giving you enough time. I know you deserve more than I could ever-"
I put my hand up to stop him "It's not about that. It's about you always being with Elain. Tell me, Azriel. How long has it been since we've been shopping together? How long has it been since you've come home when I'm not asleep because it's the middle of the night? How long will this go on? This back and forth of me waiting for you while you go off with Elain doing who knows what"
I felt his heart beat increase with every word I said and as I let it all out I felt full of guilt. I was being irrational and dramatic. And Azriel didn't deserve it. We had been through so much and I was complaining about him not spending time with me
"sorry. I didn't mean that. I just...got carried away" I looked away from him. He looked heartbroken and I had done that to him.
A silent minute passed before Azriel broke it by picking me up and winnowing us to his room
"what? what are you doing?" I asked, disoriented from the winnowing. I sat on his bed, trying to get used to the soft lighting in his room.
He sat next to me and held my hands in his, warmth seeping through me "I could never cheat on you, sweetheart. I'd rather shred my wings than hurt you. You understand that...don't you? There is nothing between me and Elain and there never will be. I'm sorry you felt that way" He pressed a kiss to my hand, his eyes golden in the light. The way he looked at me made me think, how could I have doubted him?
"I know you aren't cheating. Of course I know that but why does it feel like you spend more time with her than me?" I ask quietly, afraid of the answer. Maybe it's because I've become boring now after all these years.
"My love, your the one who told me to help her. You told me spend time with her because she seemed to like my company. I did it for you, sweetheart. Don't you think I'd rather spend my time with my beautiful mate?"
His hand moved up to cup my cheek, brushing away a tear that had escaped. "It's always going to be you."
I leaned into his comforting warmth and let my doubts and fears wash away. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Az"
"you had every right to" He mumbled back, his arms now encircling me completely. I felt safe and wanted in his arms, like nothing could ever go wrong.
(KEEP IN MIND I LOVE ELAIN EVERYONE. my personal opinion is she should end up with lucien)- as usual not proof read
#azriel fanfiction#azriel fanfic#azriel x reader#azriel shadowsinger#azriel acotar#azriel#azriel x you#acotar fanfiction#acotar#a court of thorns and roses#azriel spymaster#azriel supremacy#fluff#apologising#berryfics#azriel shadowsinger x reader#azriel x y/n#elain#azriel x oc#acotar fic#berryreplies#acomaf#acowar#nesta#cassian#nesta archeron#azriel x reader angst#acotar x reader#azriel imagine#azriel x reader fluff
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