#snacmc lovely
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lovely {8}
a @tacmc x @snelbz collaboration
Find previous chapters here: Lovely Masterlist.
Feyre couldn’t do anything but stare across the room. The pure elation at seeing her art, a piece that she’d poured her heart into, hanging in a museum, was snuffed out as she found Tamlin and Ianthe across the room.
“Stay here,” she breathed, barely noticing as a petite dark-haired woman came up beside Rhys. She handed him her wine and was across the room before she processed what she was doing.
Her new friend’s eyes went wide as she saw her walking towards them, but Feyre ignored her, gripping Tamlin by the elbow. “Tam, can I talk to you for a minute?”
A look of sheer surprise crossed Tamlin’s face as he turned and found Feyre standing there. Any notion she may have had that this was planned and she released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. He blinked and said, “Sure,” before turning to Ianthe and saying, “I’ll be right back.”
When she glanced over at her, the friendliness in her eyes had been replaced with ice.
They stepped off to a corner and before he could say anything, she said, “She’s not a good person, Tam.”
He blinked, grass green eyes wholly confused and asked, “Ianthe? How do you even know her?”
“I feel like I should be asking you the same thing.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced across the room, thankful to see Ianthe hadn’t noticed Rhysand. Yet.
Tamlin hesitated, then began rubbing his temples. “Feyre, not that it’s not a joy to see you, but last time we were near each other it didn’t turn out great, so if you’re stalking me-.”
Feyre barked a laugh. “Seriously? You think way too highly of yourself, asshole. Do I need to remind you that you were the one that fainted on my porch not long ago?”
He grimaced as he looked away.
“I’m...here with a friend,” Feyre said, at last.
Tamlin’s lips thinned. “Rhys, then?”
“You need to get rid of Ianthe,” she said, arms crossed, ignoring his question altogether.
To her surprise, Tamlin laughed. “Let me get this straight. You break up my date, while you’re on a date, to tell me that I should get rid of my date...even though you have no feelings for me, whatsoever?”
Feyre blinked. “Yeah, she’s aw-.”
“What gives you the fucking right?” he snapped, his eyes narrowing.
“She has a baby,” Feyre hissed. “And it’s….not a good situation. It’s complicated.” Oh, and by the way, the father is my sister’s boyfriend, and my boyfriend’s best friend. How’s that for complicated?
Tamlin just shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I hear the baby daddy is a little asshole.”
“That’s not true.” Her voice was cold.
He snorted. “Is it Rhys? Wouldn’t surprise me if he couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
“Is there a problem over here?”
Her voice wasn’t nearly as sweet as it had been in the bathroom earlier. Now it was sickly and reminded Feyre of artificial sweetener.
“No, Feyre was just getting ready to leave,” Tamlin said, not taking his eyes off of her.
“You’re making a mistake, Tam,” she breathed.
Ianthe asked, “Wait, this is Feyre?”
The tone made Feyre pause and she turned to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The smile on her face was cruel as she said, “I shouldn’t be surprised. The best gold-digging whores are always the prettiest.”
Feyre wouldn’t have been able to stop the words if she tried. “You’d know, wouldn’t you?”
One day, when Feyre needed to paint a model of rage, she’d use memory of Ianthe’s face.
“Everything okay, Feyre, darling?” Rhysand’s hand settled low on her back, fingers wrapping around her hip, and she knew that he knew Tamlin was watching.
This has become a dangerous game, and while Feyre didn’t want to make a scene, she couldn’t remember a point in her life where she’d been so angry.
Ianthe’s eyes dragged to Rhys and she said, “Oh, look who it is.”
Rhysand ignored her completely. “Tamlin.”
Tamlin nodded to Rhysand, although he wasn’t happy about it.
Rhysand, though, wasn’t phased. His smile was radiant when he said, “Feyre and I have a reservation, we really should be going. Great seeing you. I-.”
“This is your boyfriend?” Ianthe asked, looking from Rhysand to Feyre. “You went from Tam to this piece of trash?”
Feyre’s body stiffened, and Rhysand’s hand around her waist tightened. His voice was still light when he said, “Wasn’t Az supposed to drop Ash off to you tonight? Or, did he just drop him off to your parents, since they’re basically the ones raising your kid.”
The only thing that brought Feyre back down to earth was the look of pure hatred in Ianthe’s eyes as she took a step closer to Rhysand. Even Tamlin reached out a hand to stop her.
“Let’s go, Rhys,” Feyre whispered, her words still hard, but not wanting to start a full on fist fight in the middle of an art gallery.
Without another word, they turned and left, Rhys practically dragging Feyre. He was pulling out his phone, dialing before they’d reached the city streets.
“Who are you calling?” She asked, both of them pausing to breathe as they looked out over the Sidra.
“Azriel.” He put the phone to his ear. “This changes everything.”
—————
Cassian had offered Nesta a drink, but when he opened the cupboard, he found absolutely nothing. Naturally, that meant that a run to the liquor store was a necessity. There was one a block away from his apartment, so he and Nesta were walking, hand in hand, beneath the starlight. She was still wearing that oversized sweatshirt, her hair in a messy-bun on the top of her head, and Cassian was absolutely breathless.
“You’re walking slow,” she said, quiet laughter lacing her tone. She tugged on his hand, but he didn’t move any faster.
“I’m taking my time,” he said, grinning. “Slower I walk, the more time I get to spend with you.”
Nesta snorted. “True, but the faster we get to the store and back to your apartment, the quicker I get tipsy and loose.”
Cassian arched a brow. “Is that you telling me I’m getting lucky tonight?”
She rolled her eyes. “You act like you don’t get lucky every night.”
With a smirk, Cassian decided she was right.
The errand didn’t take long after that, and when they got back to the apartment, Nesta flopped next to Cassian on the couch and said, “I want to take a bath.”
Cassian made a face, which had nothing to do with the whiskey he raised to his lips, and said, “A bath? You want to sit in your own dirt water?”
She raised a brow and said, “I want to get naked, relax and drink wine.” There was emphasis on the naked part.
He bit his lip and thought about his dingy little bathroom. “My bathtub isn’t very big.”
Her lips tilted up slightly at the corners and she said, “Oh, are you taking one with me?”
He sat his whiskey on the table and dragged her on top of him. “You don’t just get to tell me you’re going to get wet and naked and not expect me to want to join.”
She giggled and kissed him before she sighed, “You’re right though. Your bathtub can’t fit us both.” He was about to suggest a shower together when she said, “The hot tub at your pool can.”
He snorted. “Can’t get naked at the pool though.”
“Says who?” She cooed, and stood. Walking back toward his bedroom. When he followed a moment later, he found her tying her bikini strap behind her neck.
He stopped in his doorway and lifted a brow. “You weren’t kidding.”
She quickly spun around, adjusting her top over her boobs. “I don’t kid about relaxing in warm water with wine.”
Cassian chuckled. “You’re not supposed to bring wine down there.”
“Just like you’re not supposed to get naked?” She asked, with an eyebrow raised.
“You’re feeling daring tonight,” he laughed.
She rolled her eyes. “Get in your swimsuit.”
When he emerged from his room in his trunks, Nesta was finishing pouring an entire bottle of wine into a large water bottle he kept for the gym. He laughed quietly and she handed him a cup of his own. He raised an eyebrow and she said, “It’s straight whiskey.”
With a chuckle, he said, “Of course it is.”
He grabbed a couple of towels and they walked down to the pool. At half past eight, in early autumn, Cassian was surprised that it was empty. While he picked a chair up and pulled it over to the hot tub, Nesta was already stepping into the bubbling water, a sigh of contentment leaving her as she settled in.
He joined her, sipping from his travel mug full of whiskey, and draping an arm around her. After about ten minutes, he figured she’d forgotten about her wet and naked claim when she looked around and lifted her hips from the built in bench. She dropped her soaked bottoms along the edge of the water.
Cassian raised an eyebrow and waited as she reached behind her back and untied the strap. The water was just high enough that when she dropped the wet fabric on the concrete, he still couldn’t see anything.
She looked at him and breathed, “Well?”
He blinked, then slowly began to shake his head. “You know, when I met you, I thought you were an uptight piece of work. Now? You’re a wild woman.” He reached into the water, shimmied out of his trunks, and pointedly plopped them down next to the scraps of her bikini.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she crooned, inching closer to him.
He grinned. “I never said that. I’m starting to come to the conclusion that you were a wild woman all along, and now I just get to see your true colors.”
With a quiet laugh, she climbed onto his lap and straddled him. “Our first night together was a drunken fiasco.”
“Oh, I remember it well,” he said, eyes bright, as her arms wrapped around his neck. “But you also bitched at me for ruining your shoes the first time I met you, so my assumptions were valid.”
She scoffed. “They were a one-hundred-and-sixty dollar pair of boots.”
“There’s your problem,” he murmured, leaning up and brushing his lips against hers. “You spent too much on your shoes.”
She snorted but let him pull her into the kiss, lost herself in the way his hands gripped her hips, in the way he tasted like whiskey and how kissing him made her light-headed.
The pool gate creaked and then crashed closed and both Cassian and Nesta jumped slightly, looking towards the sound.
Another couple entered the pool, though they went to the pool, thankfully, rather than the hot tub.
Nesta breathed, “Shit,” and took a large drink of her wine. She reached for her suit, but Cassian grabbed her hand, pulling it back under the water. “What are you doing?”
He smirked and said, “I thought you liked baking a wild woman.”
Her eyes went wide and she warned, “Cass…”
He gripped her hips and ground her into him. The whimper that left her had him grinning.
“Stop it,” she whispered, although her eyes were humored.
The couple was nearing-elderly. If they even knew what was going on, they probably found it romantic, or appalling - either way it could have been worse, but Nesta was still pushing against his chest.
“You got yourself into this mess,” Cassian mumbled. “Now I’m tipsy and too far gone.”
“You’re impossible,” she warned, her fingers running through his hair.
He shook his head, grinning. “Don’t worry. I’ll wait until they’re gone to stick it in you.”
“Stick it in me?” she laughed. “How romantic.”
“Oh, I’m very romantic.” His hands wandered down to her ass and grabbed her, possessively, which made her laugh out loud.
“You know, I’ve had fantasies like this,” she said, feeling that wine coursing through her body, making her lighter, more daring.
“Is that so?” he asked, his hands moving up her sides.
“Yes,” she whispered, cocking her head to the side.
“And what does this fantasy of yours look like?” he asked, quietly.
“Sort of like,” she sat up slightly, gripping him in her hand and sliding down his length. His eyes fluttered shut and she breathed. “You fucking me and me trying my hardest not to get us caught.”
“Nes, they’re, like, a hundred,” he grunted, explaining why they shouldn’t, but gripping her hips and rocking her back and forth regardless.
She didn’t say much else as he head fell into the crook of his neck and her lips found his pulse point. His eyes fell shut and he gripped her ass, urging her to move quicker.
As long as she rocked and didn’t bounce, they should be fine. He was listening to the couple, not really hearing them, but making sure they weren’t suspicious. They should be fine, Nesta was getting close, he could tell by the way she was whimpering quietly and squeezing his cock. But as long as she didn’t bounce, they’d be-.
She reached back and he felt her cup his balls and he couldn’t stop the thrust he slammed up into her or the hiss that left him.
Nesta cried out and he immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to him. He didn’t look over to the couple, he knew they’d be staring, so instead, he buried his face in her shoulder. He was hoping to make them so uncomfortable that they’d leave, and just a minute, later he heard the gate opening again.
As one they turned, finding the pool empty again and Cassian pinned Nesta’s hands to her sides before she could do anything. He slowly pulled out and pushed back into her, breathing “Let’s discuss the fantasies before we act on them next time, yeah?”
A little smirk appeared on her lips. “But what fun would that be?”
His laughter was quiet as he thrust himself up into her. Nesta’s eyes fluttered shut, her lips parting.
“At least then I’d know what I’m getting myself into,” he muttered.
“Is that a complaint?” She asked, breathlessly.
“Absolutely not,” he whispered. “You’ll never hear a complaint from me.”
The bouncing began, Nesta holding onto his shoulders, him holding onto her ass. Cassian’s head fell back against the concrete, his eyes falling shut.
It didn’t take long for the whimpers she’d been fighting earlier to become full-on moans and groans now and he was so thankful the couple had left as he lifted Nesta and pulled her nipple between his teeth.
She hissed through her teeth. “You can’t properly fuck me out here,” she whined.
“Should have thought of that before you jumped on my cock,” he said, face between her breasts.
“Your apartment is twenty yards away,” she groaned. “Pull your cock out of me, wrap it in a towel, run upstairs and then fuck me against your kitchen counter.” She tried to stand, but his hands held her down.
He smirked. “Is that another fantasy?”
“Not getting arrested for indecent exposure when when they come back is,” she said, pushing against his shoulders.
“You’re talking like we’re teachers or something,” Cassian grinned, then it faltered, as he was second guessing himself. “Fine. But when we get to my apartment, all rules are out the window.”
Nesta’s grin was devious when she whispered, “Fine.”
She settled down on him all the same, nestling in as low as she could go. Her eyes were wide, not batting for a second as she eyed Cassian. “Take me upstairs, then.”
“Okay,” Cassian breathed, his hands still resting on her hips as she rocked, back and forth.
A moment passed before Nesta whispered. “We’re alone.”
“Yeah,” Cassian breathed. “We are.”
Nesta groaned and finally stood, quickly grabbing one of the towels and wrapping it around herself, as well as her wine and hurried towards his apartment. He chuckled and did the same, remembering to grab their swimsuits, and when he entered the apartment, indeed finding Nesta lying back on his counter with her legs spread, he locked the door and continued fulfilling any and every of Nesta’s fantasies she would share with him.
~~~~~
Azriel had already closed up his shop for the day. The front door was locked, the open sign had been turned around, and it was only him and Elain, who was sitting in the chair at his station, watching as he finished prepping.
“You look nervous,” he said, glancing up at her through his dark lashes as he put on his black, latex gloves.
She cleared her throat. “I’m...not.”
“You’re a horrible liar,” he chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He asked her to unlock her tablet and one last time, they looked at the tattoo she’d fallen in love with all those weeks ago. “So we want the flowers and the pearls, but no watch? Right?”
Elain looked down at the stencil on her shoulder. She ran her finger along the curve of her arm, of the fall down to the upper arm. “Yeah, but shouldn’t it come down lower?”
He smirked. “What did I say about biting off more than you can chew?”
She blushed as she remembered his words in bed that morning. “I’m not,” she murmured. “I just know I want it on my shoulder and my arm.”
He pressed a kiss to her exposed shoulder, beneath where the stencil ended, and said, “Next session, baby.”
She sighed and nodded, sitting back and staring at her shop across the street. Elain heard a couple of loud buzzes and then Azriel’s gloved hand settled on her shoulder. She glanced up at him and tried her hardest to look brave.
When he snorted and asked, “Ready?” She knew she’d failed but she nodded none then less.
She gasped when the needle touched her skin, and her cringing was so evident that Azriel asked You okay? every thirty seconds. After about half an hour or so, though, her shoulder was numb, and she was finally able to relax.
She watched him as he worked. She could tell he took pride in what he did, and he was amazing at it. His brows were furrowed, the lines of his face hard as he concentrated. Every now and then he would look up at her, just to give her a little smile, before getting back to work.
“Will your sisters be surprised?” He asked.
“Probably,” she confessed. “I’ve never exactly been the type to do such a thing. I was talking to Lucien on the way here and he wouldn’t stop asking me if I was serious.”
Azriel chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence, Azriel’s music playing on his phone behind them. Every now and then, one of them would ask a question and after a couple hours, Azriel was handing her a mirror. “What do you think?”
Elain pulled the strap of her camisole out of the way, though it had been pushed to the side the whole time. “Oh, that’s weird,” she breathed.
Azriel chuckled and asked, “Good weird or bad weird?”
She tilted her head to the side and said, “I like it. How does it look?”
Shaking his head, he began to clean up and said, “I’m a bit partial, but I think it’s one of the best pieces I’ve ever done.” He snapped a few pictures before carefully wrapping it.
“I’ve got a tattoo,” Elain breathed, standing and walking towards the full length mirror hung on the wall.
“You do,” he smiled, coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her neck, on the side that wasn’t throbbing currently. “You look pretty damn sexy if you ask me.”
“Is that so?” She asked, smiling faintly at their reflection.
He nodded, his kisses trailing down her shoulder. “It suits you.”
She turned to him, her hands sneaking behind his neck. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he whispered, and kissed her, softly. “Let me shut everything down and we can grab a bite to eat?”
“Can it wait five more minutes?” She asked, pressing her body up into his.
His grin was radiant as he picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, and took her to his desk in the back where he plopped down in his spinning chair and kissed her, slowly, sweetly.
He took a hell of a lot longer than five minutes.
_____
As Rhys and Feyre we’re pulling up in front Elain’s house, Nesta was climbing out of Cassian’s truck. He walked around to the passenger side and waited with her, talking quietly until the other two reached them.
“I know that we’re the least likely daughters he’d explain things to,” Nesta mused, “but do you have any idea why we’re having a good, old fashioned, family dinner tonight?” She quoted the text Isaac had sent to his daughters, asking them to meet him at Elain’s and to bring their significant others, if they had one.
“I have no idea,” Feyre mumbled, as they began to walk towards the door. “But Elain texted me twenty minutes ago. Az had to bring Asher, Ianthe dropped him on her last minute.”
“Dad’ll have a field day with that,” Nesta muttered, as she walked up the porch with Cassian, the others just behind them. She didn’t bother knocking as she pushed open the door, falling into the living room, where Azriel was lying on the floor, talking to a babbling Asher. He looked up as they all entered and slipped off their shoes.
“Hey. Elain’s in the kitche-.”
“It’s about time!” Isaac swept into the room, cutting off Azriel’s greeting. He went to Nesta and gave her a hug, then Feyre, both of whom stood there half frozen. They definitely noticed that Isaac completely ignored Azriel, and when he caught sight of Cassian, Isaac’s head cocked to the side.
“You work with my daughter,” he said, plainly.
“I do,” Cassian said, holding out his hand. “I’m Cassian.”
Isaac slowly looked down at Cassian’s hand and blinked, dismissing it completely. “And you must be Rice?”
Feyre’s eyes slipped shut and she sighed as he said, “Rhysand, actually, but most people call me Rhys.”
Nesta was already walking away from the door, heading straight for the kitchen, though for Elain or the wine he knew was chilling in the fridge, Cassian wasn’t sure. He sidestepped Rhys, clapping a hand on his shoulder as passed and headed for the living room.
Asher turned at the incoming steps and his face lit up as he beheld Cassian. “There’s my favorite little dude,” he crooned, picking him up and holding him against his chest. Asher continued to babble as he patted his chubby hand against Cassian’s face. He turned and reached toward Azriel, before turning back to Cassian, babbling some more. Cass raised an eyebrow and said, “Pretty sure he almost just said dada.”
Azriel nodded and stood, bending over to brush the fuzz and lint from his black jeans. “Yeah, we’ve been teetering right on the edge for about a week.” He stood and walked over to where Cass held Asher and said,“It’s okay though, because you know what he won’t say?” He looked at Asher, and in baby talk, said, “Ash, say dada.” The baby babbled excitedly, but couldn’t quite put the two sounds together. Azriel smirked and said, in the same playful tone, “Can you say mama?” Asher stared up with his big, hazel eyes and blinked. Cassian snorted as Az took his son and tried once more, “Say mama, bud.”
Cassian chuckled and said, “You get way too much joy out of that.”
“Nah,” Azriel shrugged. “I get just enough.”
“What is that?!”
Cassian’s head turned to the kitchen, to Nesta’s elevated voice. Azriel picked up the beer bottle sitting on the side table and said, “Well, I guess Nesta’s seen Elain’s tattoo now,” and put it to his lips.
Cassian lifted a brow as Feyre hurried into the kitchen, Rhysand joining them in the living room. “Elain got a tattoo?”
Rhysand halted. “Seriously?”
Azriel grinned as Asher grabbed onto his nosering. “Ow.” After gently removing his infant’s fingers from his jewelry, he said, “Yeah, gave it to her last night.”
A throat was cleared and all three men turned around, where Isaac stood, watching them. “You did that to my daughter?”
Azriel hesitated. “Yes. I’m a tattoo artist.”
There was a few seconds of silence as Isaac looked at Azriel’s arms, his hands, his neck, all covered in ink, and then he said, “Of course, you are.”
Rhysand’s eyes met Cassian’s, then to their own skin, which bore nearly identical markings to Azriel’s. And rightfully so, seeing as his own scarred hands had done all of the work on Cassian and Rhys and most of his own.
Azriel was going to let it go, was going to keep the peace for Elain’s sake, just like he’d done when Rhys had called him on the way home last night. But he couldn’t do that.
Clearing his throat, Rhysand asked, “I’m sorry, but what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Azriel’s voice was quiet, but the hard warning was there. “Rhys.” Drop it.
Isaac scoffed, gesturing to him. “I don’t think it needs explaining.”
“I think it definitely does,” he said.
Azriel tried once more. “Rhys.” Let. It. Go.
The older man looked around the room at the three of them, made a decision and said, “The tattoos, the piercings, he’s a single father, and a tattoo artist? Because that’s what a man dreams of for his daughter one day.”
“Listen, you can dislike the way he looks without being a dick,” Cassian began carefully.
Isaac turned to him, and he knew immediately where Nesta’s short fuse had come from. “Oh, this is coming from the one who apparently has sex with my daughter at her - and your - place is employment?”
Cassian really wanted to make a joke about listing all the places he’d had sex with Isaac’s daughter, but decided the list was too long. Instead, he smirked and said, “If that’s the reason you hate me, that’s fine. But calling me out like that isn’t going to rile me up. Good try.”
Isaac opened his mouth to say something, but then Elain was calling from the kitchen, “Food’s ready! Everyone in the dining room!”
The men all stared at each other for another moment, the silence stretching on, but then Asher started fussing.
“Excuse me,” Azriel muttered, before hurrying into the kitchen to make Asher a bottle while the others went into the dining room, where the three sisters were piling dishes filled with food on top of the gray tablecloth.
The tension must have been clear, because all of their smiles faded.
“What’s wrong?” Elain asked. “Where’s Az?”
“Kitchen,” Rhysand mumbled, looking down at his empty plate as he sat. “Asher’s hungry.”
She nodded, looking at each of them, before backing into the kitchen.
She found him stirring up the contents of the baby food as Asher sat in his chair, holding his bottle, as he drank from it. He was gazing at Elain as she walked closer.
“Hey,” she breathed, running her fingers first through Azriel’s dark shaggy hair and then Asher’s. “What’s wrong?”
Azriel shook his head, taking the bottle from Asher’s chubby hands and holding the spoon in front of his mouth. He took a tentative bite and shook his head, reaching for the bottle that was sitting off to the side. “Sorry, Ash, I know you hate them, but you gotta eat them.”“Here, let me,” she said, sitting next to him and smiling. She held her hand out for the spoon.Az glanced from her waiting hand to her face and then back to Asher. “It’s fine, baby. Go eat with your family.”Elain could still see the look on his face, she could still tell something was wrong. She tried to make a joke. “Az, we both know I’m better at feeding your kid than you are.”He scoffed. “Great, he’ll think I’m a shitty, deadbeat dad, too. Add that to the list.”With a blink, Elain asked, “List? What are you talking about?”Azriel sighed and handed Elain the spoon. “Your dad is a dick,” he said, quietly, while Elain miraculously got Asher to eat his mashed peas.She sighed, refusing to meet Azriel’s gaze. “I knew it. He said something to you, didn’t he?” Azriel didn’t answer, and Asher was oblivious to the tension as he blew a raspberry, spewing peas down his chin. Elain looked over at him.“He talks without thinking,” Elain said. “And he’s judgmental. It won’t be a long night, okay? But, he seemed excited about this dinner-.”“He hates me,” Azriel interrupted. “He hates all of us. You should’ve seen the look of utter disgust when he found out I’m a tattoo artist. Then, of course, Rhys had to say something, and then Cassian got in trouble for fucking Nesta at work-.”“What?” Elain asked, trying to follow what he was saying as she wiped the food off of Asher’s chin. Just as Azriel was about to go on, Nesta peeked her head around the corner. “You two coming? It’s awkward, and we’d really love to shove our mouth’s with food so we have something to do aside from sit in silence.”
Elain nodded. “We’re coming.” She turned back to Azriel as Nesta disappeared. “Az-.”
“It’s fine,” he sighed, taking Asher out of his seat and holding him close to his chest with one arm, the other picking up the chair. “Carry his food for me, please?”
She wanted to talk it out, to ease his worry, lift his mood, but she only nodded.
Elain followed behind him, trying to listen into the conversation coming from the dining room. Only to realize there was, indeed, nothing but silence.
Azriel saw that the only seats open were to Isaac’s immediate right, which meant Asher would have to sit between the two of them. Or so he thought.
Elain stepped around him and took his son, re-situating the chairs so Asher’s high chair could fit snugly between their own chairs, as long as Elain sat next to her father.
Cassian cleared his throat. “El, that tattoo looks badass.”
Nesta and Azriel both closed their eyes and sighed, knowing Cassian always had to poke when he knew he shouldn’t. Rhys was smirking.
Elain’s cheeks turned the softest shade of pink. “Thanks.”
“I, personally, think you’re too pretty for tattoos,” Isaac said, plopping potatoes onto his plate.
“Pretty girls don’t usually get tattoos?” Cassian asked, taking a bite of chicken.
“No,” Isaac answered, simply.
“Can we just,” Nesta began, angrily cutting up her chicken, “eat in silence?”
“Family dinners aren’t meant to be silent,” Isaac said, shaking his head. “Besides, your friend there has a big mouth. I doubt he knows how to be silent..”
Cassian only grinned.
“That’s true,” Nesta muttered.
“So,” Feyre began. “How long are you in town for, dad?”
“Not long,” he said. “A month or two, maybe. It all depends.”
Rhys muttered something about leaving as soon as possible under his breath and Feyre stepped on his foot under the table.
Asher began to fuss and before Azriel could put his fork down to do anything, Elain was handing him his bottle. “Here, buddy. You can handle that while we eat, right?” He grinned up at her, chewing on the nipple of the bottle as he cooed.
Azriel couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched her lovingly gaze at his son.
“So, Azriel,” Isaac began. Az glanced up at him, honestly surprised he knew his name. “I can only assume his mother isn’t in the picture.”
Azriel took a swig of his beer and said, “No, sir, she isn’t.”
“Might I ask why?” He asked.
The table grew uncomfortably quiet, but Azriel just nodded, slowly. “We just...didn’t fit together.”
Isaac watched Azriel for a moment as the rest of the table picked at their food. “How long were you with his mother?”
Azriel cleared his throat. “Um, not...long.”
“Ah,” Isaac began, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork. “So, you knocked up some random, poor girl then?”
“Dad,” Elain snapped.
“No, it’s fine,” Azriel said, quietly, although his hands were clenched into fists on his lap. “Yes, I made a mistake, and she got pregnant. I don’t regret it or find shame in it, though. Asher’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Hmmm.” Isaac’s eyes narrowed. “I assume you don’t get to spend a lot of time with him.”
It wasn’t necessarily his words, but the way he had said them.
Elain’s face was in her hands.
Azriel’s words were hard as he said, “No, sir, I don’t. But I take advantage of every spare moment I get with him.”
Isaac opened his mouth to say something else, but Feyre said, “That’s enough, Dad.” He turned to look at his youngest daughter. “We came here to all have a nice family meal, but all you’ve done is...harass our boyfriends and make them feel extremely unwelcome.”
The smug look on Rhysand’s face, his arm draped around Feyre’s shoulders. It infuriated him.
Isaac slowly set down his fork. “I’m just making sure my daughters are well taken care of.”
“Oh, they are,” Cassian said, unable to stop the words as they flowed out of his mouth, unable to stop the sensual tone that went along with it.
Nesta jabbed him in the ribs. “You’re no help.”
“We’re grown women, dad,” Feyre said, ignoring both comments from across the table. “We can take care of ourselves and make our own decisions.”
“Is that so?” Isaac said. “Because last time I was here you were dating Tamlin, who was incredibly successful, if I may add, and you two were planning a future together. Now? You’re dating this…” He gestured to Rhysand, who only lifted a brow. “Bar-owner covered in tattoos who thinks far too highly of himself. Nesta is with that manwhore, and Elain…” He shook his head, looking over at his middle daughter. “A single dad? Tattoo artist? You’re getting tattoos! You, Elain! Is this really the best you can do? What happened to Graysen, huh? Clean-cut, well-educated, making six figures!”
Azriel’s body tensed as the room fell into silence. For a moment, nobody said a word. Then, with shaking hands and in a tone he’d never heard from her, Elain said, “You cannot come into my house and say-.”
Isaac began to cough, cutting off her words, and then it became uncontrollable, that cough. His hand gripped the edge of the table, the other pulling the napkin off his lap and holding it up to his mouth.
“Dad?” Elain breathed, her eyes going wide as the napkin became splattered with blood.
Seconds passed as Isaac tried to calm himself. Everyone was watching him, waiting, all anger and frustration and sarcasm fading away.
“Dad?” Elain repeated, quietly.
Isaac cleared his throat, crumbling the napkin in his hand. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure when a good time to tell you all was, but I guess this is it.” He picked up his glass of water and took a sip before continuing, quietly. “I’m sick, girls. And they caught it too late.”
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what's ur opinion on the infamous "rhys climaxing after imagining his child" scene in acofas? btw love cossss snacmc are trUe SMuT qUEeNS
I think it is completely misinterpreted by most. He did not climax because he imagined his child. Feyre showed him that she wanted to have his children, which, when you’re in love, is like....something that really says “I am so fucking in love with you, I want to create something that is wholly yours and wholly mine, a human being. Half you, half me. I want to start a family with you, because you are my soulmate, the love of my life.” It is one of the ultimate ways to tell someone “i love you”, and sex is kind of how you make babies happen, and it was that love that pushed him over the edge.
Just my take on it. x
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No chapter updates today, guys!
I’m feeling pretty sick still and @tacmc is camping with her kiddos. We’ll be back with your regularly posted chapters on Monday, if not late tomorrow evening!
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Isn't She Lovely {8}
Summary: Cassian, a single father, tries online dating for a one night stand and gets more than he bargains for. Nesta, a former professional ballet dancer, opens her own studio in her new hometown of Velaris and finds that she knows one of her students’ fathers from a night of utter regret.
Warnings: Mature content throughout. Language, sex, drinking, etc. NSFW.
A collab with @theladyofdeath.
It took her nearly an hour to run home from Cassian’s shop, barely stopping to breathe, not even thinking to grab her keys from him. The second he asked her to come home with him, every thought, every noise in her head eddied out.
She wanted to. She realized she wanted to go home with him, to not have to run out after he’d given her another mind-numbing orgasm, to lay there and bask in the post sex haze. She’d wanted to spend time with him, not just orgasms. It terrified her.
After the kiss they shared in Rhysand’s kitchen, after they hadn’t spoken in five days, Nesta was slowly accepting that it wasn’t just about the sex anymore. She wanted to know what it was like to fall asleep in his arms, to know what it was like to wake up to his peaceful, sleeping face. Did he snore or did he like to cuddle?
And after they’d had sex in her car, Nesta was even more lost in her own head and in her heart.
Because even if it seemed like it could be easy, even if it seemed like they could give each other a try, it wasn’t just about the two of them.
They had Arya to think about.
She was still sitting on her front porch, locked out, when Cassian pulled up in front of her house with her car thirty minutes later.
“I don’t remember giving you my address,” she said, smiling softly.
He didn’t return it as he climbed out. “Called your sisters. They were more than willing to pass it on to me.” With slow footsteps, he walked up the wooden porch stairs, his boots thudding heavily. “What’s happening here, Nes, huh? What’s going on between us?”
He didn’t sit next to her.
He stayed standing a few feet away, his arms crossed.
He didn’t look like the carefree man she’d come to know, the man that made her laugh when she didn’t want to.
He was angry.
Confused.
Hurt.
“I don’t-.”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t know,” he interrupted, eyes ablaze. “At this point, that’s an unacceptable answer. If you don’t feel the way that I do, Nesta, then tell me. Alright? Don’t string me along and make me think that there’s more happening here than there is.”
If you don’t feel the way that I do.
Nesta wanted desperately to ask what it was that he felt, but what came out instead was, “This was just supposed to be about sex.”
He laughed, a low humorless sound. He didn’t meet her eyes as he shook his head. “This stopped being about sex when you let me kiss you in the kitchen.”
For me, it was before that. She couldn’t tell him that though. Instead, Nesta dared to ask, “Why?”
Cassian just shook his head. He ignored her question and said, “I need you to tell me how you feel and what’s going on here. I need to know.”
For a moment, Nesta didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. She stared at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. It was getting difficult to breathe, difficult to hold back tears. It was only supposed to be sex, to feel good, to get off. It wasn’t supposed to turn into anything so complicated.
But it had.
When it was clear he wasn’t getting an answer, Cassian dropped her keys and huffed, making is way back down the front porch steps. Her keys clanged as they landed on the wooden boards he’d vacated before making his way toward the sidewalk with a thud.
He was going to walk back.
He’d come here with her car to have a meaningful conversation. He wanted to come see who they were, what they were, if they maybe had a future.
Nesta frowned, frustrated.
Why couldn’t she at least give him an answer?
It had never been one of her strengths.
But no one had ever made her feel like Cassian had, either.
She ran off her porch, catching up with him. “Cassian, wait.”
She gripped his hand and he stilled, standing in the middle of her little front yard.
“It’s not just about sex for me anymore either,” she said, breathlessly. “At first, it was. At first, it was just about the release, but then it became about you. I craved you, not just in the physical sense. I wanted to be near you, to talk to you. And I don’t like giving anyone that power over me. It scares me. You…” She released a shuddering breath. “You scare me. The way I feel about you terrifies me.”
“And how do you feel about me, Nesta?” He asked, turning towards her, voice as quiet as the night around them. She was quiet and apparently it was a beat too long, because he leaned down, letting his brow rest against hers. “How do you feel about me, sweetheart? Tell me.”
The gentle touch of him alone had her heart nearly about to beat out of her chest.
“I…” She began, but the words were stuck on her tongue, barricading behind her lips. “You don’t know how I feel after that confession?”
Cassian let out a soft laugh, his breath warm against her lips. “I want to hear you say it.”
She hadn’t said those words in a long time. Even now, she had only known Cassian for a couple of months, had jumped into his bed so quickly that it had surely pushed along her emotions, but was it still too early to say such earth-shifting words?
She didn’t know.
She had no idea what the timeline was on falling in love, but she knew what she felt, how she felt.
“And if I say it, then what?” she asked, quietly. What happens after I pour my heart out to you?
Cassian was quiet for a moment, his brow still pressed against hers, his fingers trailing up and down her arms. He said, “Then I’d tell you I’ve been falling in love with you, too.”
So much emotion flooded throughout Nesta that she had to blink back tears. With every word that came out of his mouth, she knew he meant it, knew he was genuine, knew he was speaking from his soul.
He was watching her eyes, surely noting every emotion that passed through them. His hands swept up her arms and cupped her face. They were so close, so intimate, she was so stripped down before him even though she was wearing far more around him now than she typically did.
“I’m falling in love with you, Cassian,” she breathed, the words feeling right as they came out, but it still sent chills down her spine. “And I don’t know what to do about that.”
“You don’t do anything about it,” he replied, voice low. His eyes had fallen shut, his lips brushing against hers, a whisper of a kiss. “You just let it happen.”
Nesta couldn’t take it, couldn’t stop herself as she leaned up on her toes, throwing his arms around his neck, and kissing him with everything she had.
He caught her, just like he always had, like she knew she could always trust him to. His tongue danced along the seam of her lips and she opened for him, nearly groaning at the taste of him, the feel of him.
His hands found her ass and he lifted her, heading back towards her house. He carried her up the porch steps, and reached for the knob, ready to ravish her, to get her naked on the first surface he saw and make love to her-
The door knob was locked and Cassian pulled away, looking at Nesta.
“My keys,” she said, panting slightly.
He put her down, letting her scoop the keys from where he’d dropped them, and realized he’d never been to her house. He had no idea where he was going or how exactly to get to her bedroom. Not that he was picky. He didn’t care where they ended up, as long as he was inside her, as long as he was making love to her at the end of the night.
She unlocked the door and he followed her inside, pausing in the softly lit entry. The rest of the house was dark, but he didn’t give a shit about what her decor looked like. She turned to face him again and he knew she felt the same.
“Arya?” Nesta asked, and he knew she wasn’t asking about the future with his daughter. They would have to take that a day at a time.
“She’s with Mor, having a girl’s night,” explained, reaching for her hand, playing with each of her finger tips. He brought that hand to his lips and kissed the pad of each of her fingers. “I called her on the way over and asked if she could stay the night with them.”
“Thinking you would be staying was a pretty big assumption,” she smirked, watching him.
“I had high hopes,” he admitted, chuckling. “But I’d also decided if you weren’t willing to talk, I’d walk my ass to the closest bar and get absolutely hammered.”
“A very mature way to handle this,” she teased, and tugged on his hand as she backed up towards the staircase leading to the second story.
“We just had sex in a car,” Cassian explained, happily being dragged away by her. “Maturity has gone out the window at this point.”
Nesta couldn’t help but laugh in full agreement as they made it to the second floor landing. He swept her into his arms, once again, and kissed her, slowly.
Nesta melted into his arms before leaning back to say, “Last room on the left.”
Cassian nodded and made his way down the hallway, holding onto Nesta, refusing to let her go. He nudged her door open with the toe of his boot and swept inside, not bothering to turn on the light. It was dark, but the moonlight through her thin curtains and the lights from the streetlamps along the sidewalk provided enough light for Cassian not to run into anything.
He laid Nesta down on top of her blankets and observed her. Her hair was a mess and her face had been practically wiped clean of her makeup, both from the rainstorm that morning and the few tears she had shed, he assumed. She was still wearing that damned shirt from his garage and the leggings she’d had in her dance bag.
Cassian had never seen her look so beautiful.
Without a word, Cassian toed off his boots one by one and pulled off his shirt before climbing on top of Nesta and kissing her. He did not kiss her with urgency, but his tongue swept between her lips as he kissed her nice and slow.
Nesta’s hands were his face, his neck, his shoulders, his back. She couldn’t settle on a place to touch him. She finally got to that perfect ass in those tight jeans and he broke the kiss to bury his face in her neck.
“I love you,” he murmured, pulling her tighter against him, despite the fact that he was lying on top of her.
She didn’t hesitate as she brought his face to hers and let him see the truth of her words in her eyes. “I love you, Cassian,” she breathed. “I’ve been in love with you for far longer than I was willing to admit to myself.”
Anything else she might have wanted to say, any other thoughts she had were lost as Cassian’s lips found hers again and he rolled them, until Nesta’s body was draped across his. He inched her shirt up, pulling it off and tossing it across the room. Her bra followed and his mouth was as back at her breasts, tongue and teeth swapping from one peaked nipple to the other.
“One day, I’m going to worship these like they deserve. I’ve got plans for them.” He tugged on her nipple with his teeth and she moaned quietly. “But tonight… Tonight, I need to be as close to you as possible.”
Nesta already felt like she was about to combust as she felt the truth of every word he spoke. She wanted that too, wanted it so desperately. She wanted to be close to him tonight, every night, wanted to know what it was like to wake up wrapped in his arms each morning.
Nesta calmly reached between them and unhooked his belt, the button of his jeans, the zipper. She pushed herself up on her knees as she helped him shimmy out of his jeans, his boxer briefs. Then, she did the same to herself, kicking off her leggings and her panties. When she laid on top of him once more, it was her skin, soft and warm, against his, rough and scarred and inked.
Utter perfection.
She kissed him then, and his hands ran up her back and into her hair. They were so close, could have easily crossed that line that they had crossed a hundred times before, but didn’t, not yet. Nesta dwelled at the comfort she felt in his arms, with her body pressed tightly up against his. Each of her hands were on his stubbled cheeks as she kissed him slowly, tenderly, and then he was rolling them over yet again, and her legs wrapped around his waist.
She wanted to say it a million times, over and over again, I love you, I love you, I love you, but she put those emotions into her actions instead and hoped he realized how much it was true.
Every time they’d been together was frenzied and rough and that beautiful type of pleasure with the slightest edge of pain. This, Nesta realized, would be different, as Cassian gently unwound her legs from his waist and let her weight settle against the mattress. They’d teased each other about foreplay, but she wouldn’t have stopped his hand’s deliberate path up her thigh no matter how long he drug it out. She whimpered as one of his long fingers slid inside of her, before he added another.
Sitting up on her elbows, she looked down at where those fingers kept disappearing inside of her. At the muscular, tattooed arm those fingers were attached to, at the man they belonged to, devastatingly beautiful above her and Nesta couldn’t wait. She couldn’t take another second without him.
His eyes trailed from his fingers up to her face, where they lingered on her eyes. His unspoken words flooded her and she whispered, “I want you now, Cass. I need you.”
He slowly pulled his fingers out of her and climbed up her body. He cradled one palm beneath her head, and his other swept up her thigh and swung her leg around his hip.
With his eyes on hers, he slowly pushed his cock inside of her.
Nesta gasped, quietly, and held onto him as he filled her.
His eyes never left hers, and that had Nesta’s stomach going wild. There was something so intimate about holding his gaze as he thrust himself in, pulled out, and did so again. He kept his pace slow, steady, even, but he filled her to the hilt with each pass.
Nesta’s lips parted and her hands shook, her body full of emotion, that intimacy consuming her soul.
She was struck again by just how different this was, how she could feel every word he’d wanted to tell her, punctuated by every thrust of his hips.
How different it was…but how utterly right it felt.
With every rock of Cassian’s hips, Nesta came closer and closer to the edge, closer to ecstasy, and he watched it build. He watched it until Nesta was panting with the need to cum, release shimmering on the other side of the ledge she was on.
Without warning, his thrusts became harder. Rather than a slow roll, he snapped his hips against hers and Nesta came, her head thrown back in sheer bliss, as she cried out, so loud the neighbors had to have heard. Cassian’s lips found her exposed neck and he sucked, hard enough to leave a mark, but he wanted everyone we saw to know she was his and he was hers.
She was still cumming when he rolled them, pussy still clenching around him as she sat up and rested her hands on his chest. Cassian’s hands gripped her hips and waited for her to come down, watched as she still quivered atop him.
She was so fucking beautiful.
Her uneven breaths faded and she looked down at him as she rocked her hips, back and forth, side to side. Her legs were still shaking, if only just a little bit, reminding him that he’d just succeeded in pleasing her and would do so again before they were finished.
But they would never be finished. There would always be a next time, Cassian would make sure of that.
Once she began to bounce, Cassian’s fingers dug into her hips a little tighter and he cursed, quietly. “You feel…so good…”
Her eyes lit up as she smiled, bouncing a little quicker. Cassian’s hands swept up to palm her breasts as they bounced.
“Come here,” he breathed, and she did, her mouth falling into his. She continued to ride him as their kiss deepened, as Cassian began to groan and Nesta responded with a little noise of her own.
His hips lifted and they met her bounce with a thrust and he swallowed the cry of pleasure she made. His arms wound around her waist and he repeated the motion, snapping his hips, his cock pulling almost all the way out before he plunged it back in over and over.
Nesta moaned, shattering around him, screaming his name, pulling him over the edge with her. He stilled with his cock buried inside her, each wave of his orgasm stronger than the last, until he had nothing left to give her and was well and truly spent.
They laid there for a moment, not saying anything, just purely existing together in their own world. Cassian’s fingers idly dragged up and down Nesta’s back. It gave her goosebumps and she turned her head to look at him. He was already smiling down at her.
“What?” she whispered.
He laughed, quietly, and all he said was, “Fuck.”
Nesta’s laughter was a little bit louder as she nodded and buried her face into the crook of his neck. “Yeah. That was…”
“Yeah,” Cassian agreed, and she knew he was thinking the same exact thing that she was thinking.
I’d never experienced anything like that. Sex had never been that phenomonal before. ‘Phenomenal’ wasn’t a good enough word. It was something beyond that, something unworldly, something that could only happen when you met your one true match.
Nesta slowly slid off his cock and Cassian frowned but didn’t protest. The look on his face, however, had her biting her bottom lip to keep from grinning.
“Where are you going?” he asked, pushing himself up on his elbows to watch her as she got off the bed.
“Just to make sure the doors are locked,” she promised. “Since you’re staying with me tonight.”
Staying.
Cassian nodded, his eyes light and his body relaxed. She left, hurried down the stairs, and locked the front door feeling lighter than she had in a long time.
——
When Cassian woke up, the first thing he noticed was how well rested he felt. He settled back into the pillows, ready to doze back off when he realized Arya hadn’t come to wake him up, like she did every Saturday morning.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he remembered why he wasn’t at home and had gotten to sleep in an extra two hours of sleep on a Saturday morning. He remembered why he had slept so well, as he looked at Nesta’s beautiful sleeping face.
She was curled into him, the two of them having never stopped touching even in their sleep, and he couldn’t help but tighten the arm around her. She made a contented noise, settling into a deeper sleep, and Cassian was content to marvel at how truly gorgeous she was until she woke up on her own, but it seemed that his stomach had other things in mind.
It made the most god awful growl that had the cat sleeping at Cassian’s feet jumping off the bed. When he looked back up from the surprise mystery cat making its exit, he found Nesta awake, eyes on him, with an amused look on her face.
He cleared his throat and gestured towards the door and the hall beyond. “I didn’t know you had a cat,” he said, awkwardly.
Her smirk had grown into a full grin and she leaned up on his chest and brought her mouth down to his. “You never asked.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong there.
“Good morning,” he murmured, lips still moving against hers.
“Good morning,” she muttered, and kissed him again. “And the cat’s name is Ember. You will call her as such.”
“Noted,” he promised, and kissed her again.
He didn’t think he would ever tire of that.
Kissing her.
Waking up next to her.
“How’d you sleep?” She asked, her cheek falling back against his chest.
“Better than I have in a long time,” he confessed.
“Me too,” she whispered, draping a leg over his.
“It seems I worked up quite the appetite last night, though,” he continued.
His stomach growled again to prove his point.
Nesta chuckled and sat up, stretching as she did so. Cassian watched in wonder.
“Stay here,” she said. “I’ll be back.”
She hurried away before he could say anything and once she came back, a TV tray of goodies in hand, still gloriously nude, he had sunk back into the comfort of her pillows.
“This is not the diet I expected you to have,” he chuckled, opening a shiny package of brown sugar and cinnamon pop-tarts.
“I don’t eat like this every day,” she defended, bumping his shoulder with hers. “This is from my cheat day cabinet. Besides, I had a very strict diet for almost ten years of my life. It’s nice to decide what I want for breakfast sometimes.”
“And what do you usually have for breakfast?” He asked, holding out his pop-tart and letting her steal a bite of it.
“An egg white omelet with turkey sausage and black coffee.” He raised his eyebrows but before he could tease her, she asked, “What about you? What’s on the Cassian Nazari breakfast menu typically?”
He snorted. “Whatever is on the Arya Nazari menu. Typically, pancakes and bacon. Sometimes sausage and cereal. Really just depends on her mood.”
Things got quiet for a minute.
Finally, Nesta asked, “What are you going to tell her about me?”
Cassian took another bite to allow himself to think before answering. “I figured that I would keep it simple for now. Let her know that you’ll be around the house more. That I care about you.” He looked at her and she watched him with a small smile. “She’ll ask questions and I’ll answer them honestly.”
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but the little frown on his mouth wasn’t it. She asked, “What’s wrong? Is that a bad thing?”
Cassian shook his head and gave her a gentle smile. “I just haven’t really dated since she’s been old enough to get attached to anyone.”
Before he could say anything more, Nesta said, “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
His smile deepened as he laced his fingers through hers. “Good.”
They ate in a comfortable silence, holding one another’s hand. Afterwards, Cassian gave Arya a call while Nesta cleaned everything up and dressed.
Cassian was still in bed talking on the phone when she returned from the kitchen.
“I know you love Aunt Mor, but you have to come home some time,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Nesta chuckled. She could hear Arya’s protests on the other end of the phone. “Alright. Let me talk to Aunt Mor.”
As soon as Mor took the phone, she asked, “So did you have fun last night?”
Cassian’s eyes slowly trailed to Nesta’s. “Very much so.”
Nesta’s cheeks turned pink as she laid down on the bed next to him and rested her cheek on his bare chest.
“Me and Em were thinking about taking her to the zoo if that’s okay with you,” she said. “I’ll be sure to drop her off when she’s nice and tired so that she’ll be too exhausted to throw a fit.”
He laughed, but said, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you later.”
“Have fun!” He heard Emerie call from the other end of the phone. Nesta buried her face in Cassian’s chest as he hung up and he chuckled before he kissed the top of her head. “Looks like we’ve got quite a bit of time to kill.”
“Do we?” She smirked, leaning up to press her lips to him.
They got lost in each other’s arms again and as Cassian rolled off of her an hour later, panting, he muttered, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve cum so many times in the past 24 hours that I don’t know if I have anything left in me for a while.” He glanced down at his cock, still gleaming with their mixed releases. “I mean, look, my dick is practically raw.”
“Poor baby,” Nesta crooned, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “So does that mean you don’t want to take a shower with me?”
He had let his head fall back into the pillows, but he perked up and looked at her. “That’s not what I said at all.”
“Then come on,” she smirked, heading into the small attached bathroom. “I promise, I won’t touch your poor, little-.”
She squealed as he picked her up, not having heard him jump from the bed and approach before he wrapped his arms around her. He set her on the counter and kissed her, stepping between her parted legs. “Again, I don’t remember asking you to do that.”
“But you said-.”
“Fuck what I said,” he breathed, kissing her. “I don’t ever not want your hands on me. All day, every day. I’m yours, baby.”
She wasn’t sure if it was the pet name or the tender tone of his voice, but she nodded and kissed him again. “To be honest,” she said, cringing. “I’m pretty sore down there, too.”
“I’m sure,” he chuckled. “She’s taken quite a beating in the past day.”
Nesta scrunched her nose. “It’s my pussy. It’s attached to me. It’s not a she.”
“It is a she,” he said, dropping to his knees between her legs, spreading them, and pressing a kiss to her sex. “And she loves me, and my cock, just like you do.”
He stood and turned on the shower behind them. Nesta released the breath she’d been holding and asked, “Who said I loved your cock?”
“You did, actually,” Cassian smirked, looking through her cabinets until he found a couple of towels for them. “Multiple times last night, actually.”
She scowled but didn’t correct him. It was true, she had screamed the words again and again. She did love his cock.
Nonetheless, when he came back she shoved against his chest and he laughed before trying to approach her again. This time she allowed it and let him pull her into the shower.
When they were beneath the steamy water, he said, “We can take a break. How about we spend the day out?”
Nesta arched a brow. “Out?”
He nodded. “It’s about time I took you out on a real first date. And considering last time we went to dinner and it didn’t go so great, maybe I’ll have better luck taking you somewhere…adventurous.”
“Adventurous?” Nesta asked, her other brow meeting the one that had neared her hairline. “And where would we go that’s so adventurous?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You just have to say yes.”
Nesta looked at him for a moment, pretending to weigh her options. But when he was clearly growing impatient, she laughed. “Alright. Fine.”
They washed and then Nesta got dressed and ready. Cassian made it a point that he would have to stop at his apartment considering all he had was his dirty work clothes from the day before.
He also convinced her to let him drive there. She sat in the middle of the old bench seat, leaned against him. His right hand was on her thigh where it had been since they’d started the drive.
“Have I ever told you,” he murmured, glancing over at her, “that you drive my actual dream car?”
Her eyebrows raised slightly. “When would you have ever told me that?” She chuckled. “No wonder you wanted to have sex in it.”
“Oh, I’d been planning that since I first walked you out and saw what kind of car you had,” he admitted. “But fucking in front of your house or in my parking garage didn’t seem like a good idea. Wasn’t worth the indecent exposure charge we’d both likely get slapped with.”
She laughed but then looked up at him. “Wait. Did it really take all day then or did you do that so we’d be alone in the shop?”
“It was just pure luck that it took all day to track down the part,” he replied, eyes on the road in front of them.
The smirk told her that may not have been entirely true.
“I’m convinced that you’re full of shit,” she muttered.
His smirk turned into a full on grin.
They arrived at his apartment and she began to snoop as he changed. She was looking at Arya’s pictures on the fridge as he came back in jeans and a t-shirt.
“She was a beautiful baby,” Nesta said, looking at a picture of an infant Arya. “She looked like you even then.”
“My genes are definitely dominant, but when I look at her, I see so much of Tanwyn.” He was leaning against the door frame, smiling at the picture. “But when she was a baby, she was absolutely perfect.”
“She still is,” Nesta smiled, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “But you already knew that.”
“Yeah,” he grinned, kissing her again. “And so are you.”
He cut off any debate she may have to that claim by slipping his tongue between her lips and lifting her up onto her counter. She melted into the kiss until the incessant throbbing between her legs reminded her that they should probably stop before they didn’t leave the house for the rest of the day.
“So about this surprise,” she said, pushing on his chest lightly.
He gave her room and grinned, holding out his hand.
“I think you’re gonna like it.”
#snacmc collabs#nessian isl#isn’t she lovely#cassian x nesta#nesta archeron#cassian#daddy cassian#acotar#acomaf#acowar#acofas#acosf#acotar 5
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Isn’t She Lovely {4}
Summary: Cassian, a single father, tries online dating for a one night stand and gets more than he bargains for. Nesta, a former professional ballet dancer, opens her own studio in her new hometown of Velaris and finds that she knows one of her students’ fathers from a night of utter regret.
Warnings: Mature content throughout. Language, sex, drinking, etc. NSFW.
A collab with @theladyofdeath
Cassian was regretting getting Arya an ice cream cone as it melted down her dress in the backseat.
“Daddy! It’s sticky!” she whined. “Are we there yet?”
Cassian sighed as he pulled onto Rhysand’s street. “Almost. You have to eat it faster and it won’t melt.”
“But it’s too cold,” she shot back, licking her cone nonetheless.
By the time Cassian pulled into Rhysand’s driveway, they were the last to arrive and Arya’s pink dress was covered in melted chocolate ice cream.
The sun was still hot, being so late in the afternoon, and Cassian had been dying to jump into the pool all day. He’d had to work that morning but only for a few hours. Arya had gone with him to the shop and talked to all the customers as they came to drop off or pick up their vehicles.
As he got Arya out of her carseat, he cringed. “I should’ve brought a change of clothes.”
“It’s okay, daddy, I can put my swimsuit on,” she said, smiling brightly at him as he set her on the sidewalk.
Cassian chuckled and took her hand as they walked to the front door, swimsuits in hand. He didn’t bother knocking on the front door as he threw it open.
“Party’s here,” he called, tossing Arya’s bag on the bench by the door. She yanked her swimsuit out of his hand and hurried up the stairs to change.
“Nice of you to finally show up,” Rhys said as Cass made his way into the kitchen. He was pulling two beers from the fridge and handed one to Cassian.
“Someone wanted to stop for ice cream and ended up wearing it,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s upstairs putting her swimsuit on now.”
Rhys chuckled as he popped the top on his can and took a drink. “Sounds about right. Everyone else is out back already. Girls already drank too much.”
“Feyre and Elain? Drunk? Never,” Cassian joked, having seen the two a little tipsy on multiple occasions since Rhys started dating Feyre.
“Her other sister came, too,” Rhys nodded. “She can’t hold her liquor any better than the other two.”
Cassian just shook his head as Arya darted into the kitchen and towards the backdoor.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rhysand said. “No hug?”
Arya rolled her eyes but giggled as she gave her uncle a hug and zoomed out the backdoor.
Cassian sighed. “Mind helping her get her swimmies on while I go get changed?”
Rhysand grinned. “Before you became a dad, I never imagined you saying the word swimmies.”
Cassian shoved him out the backdoor before going into the bathroom to change into his swim shorts. There was a time when he never thought he’d be saying words like swimmies, either. There was a time when he didn’t want to be a father. In fact, there was a time when he had vowed to never be a parent.
Now, he couldn’t imagine being anything but Arya’s dad.
WIth his shorts on and his beer in hand, Cassian headed toward the back door.
“Daddy, watch!” Arya didn’t wait to make sure he could even see her before she jumped off the side of the pool in Azriel’s waiting arms. Her floaties kept her above water, but just in case, Uncle Az was there to catch her.
“That was awesome, baby,” he said, dropping down into the chair next to Rhys.
“She’ll be an Olympic diver by sunset,” Azriel said, lifting her up so she stood on the edge of the pool, ready to jump again.
“I’m not a diver, Uncle Az,” she said, little hands resting on her hips. “I’m a dancer.”
She proved it by going through five positions she’d been taught through her first few dance classes. She was loving dance as much as Cassian hoped she would, though he wasn’t surprised. It was in her blood.
“You know, our sister is a dancer,” Feyre said, lifting her sunglasses off her face.
Cassian looked around, wondering where the illustrious third Archeron sister was. He’d been looking forward to meeting her, ever since she moved to Velaris a couple months back. Every time Elain and Feyre invited her to come out or have dinner with them, she was always busy. And the few times she had come, Cassian had to work or Arya didn’t have a sitter. His network of sitters pretty much consisted of his family, and if they were all together, then he had no one to watch her.
“Speaking of, where is she?” He asked, reaching into the cooler for another beer.
“Pool house,” Elain replied, pointing to the small house on the back of the property with pink-painted toe nails.
Cassian looked up at the pool house just as the third Archeron sister stepped out. She wore a navy blue bikini with a boujee logo that covered one of her breasts.
The swimsuit left very little to the imagination.
Not that Cassian had to do much imagining.
He had seen that body naked before.
He cursed. “Nesta?”
Her head snapped up and she slowly removed her sunglasses. Those fiery blue eyes of hers narrowed. “Cassian?”
“Miss Nesta!” Arya shouted, clapping her hands with glee.
Nesta’s annoyed expression turned to one of forced, albeit believable surprise. “Hi, Arya. How are you?”
She tried to keep her voice kind, neutral, Cassian could tell, but it was really just full of confusion.
“I’m sorry,” Rhysand said, looking back and forth between Nesta and Cassian. “You’re taking Arya to Nesta’s studio?”
Of course. That was the logical explanation. Cassian just nodded. “Uh, yeah. Arya loves it there.”
Nesta, remembering how feet work, continued to walk down the little stone path to approach her sisters.
“I didn’t mention Nesta was Feyre and Elain’s sister when I told you about the dance classes?” Mor asked, sitting in a lounge chair with Emerie’s feet in her lap.
“No,” Cassian said, watching Nesta as she came closer. “Must have slipped your mind.”
“Well, now you know,” Rhys said, getting to his feet. “Cass, Az, wanna help me carry the rest of Elain’s punch out?”
Cassian’s eyebrows bunched together. “Why do we need to-?”
Rhys was already heading in the house and Az passed Arya off to Mor as he hopped out of the pool and dried himself off. They followed Rhys inside.
“Where’s the punch at?” Cassian asked, looking around.
“Feyre, Elain and Nesta drank it all,” Azriel said, pulling a fresh beer out of the fridge.
He blinked. “Then why-?”
“Because I saw the way you were looking at Nesta,” Rhysand interrupted. “Specifically her tits, and for the sake of my relationship, she is one hundred and fifty percent off limits.”
Cassian hesitated.
Rhysand saw that hesitation and said, “What?”
Cassian blinked. “What?”
“You look guilty,” Rhysand observed.
Cassian scoffed. “I do not.”
“I’ve known you my entire life, Cass, you look guilty,” Rhysand protested.
“I don’t look guilty!” Cassian argued.
“You look a little guilty,” Azriel muttered, taking a drink of his beer.
Cassian gaze Azriel a withering glare.
Rhysand swore. “The hell did you do?”
“What makes you think I did something?” Cassian asked, voice raised.
“I can see it in your eyes!” Rhysand yelled back.
“Unless you want everyone hearing this conversation, I suggest you keep your voices down,” Azriel said. Always the voice of reason.
Cassian sighed and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Look, I didn’t know she was Feyre’s sister.”
Rhysand stared at Cassian for a moment before asking, once again, “Cass, what did you do?”
Cassian started rubbing the back of his neck. “The blind date I went on last month?”
“One night stand,” Azriel mumbled.
Cassian opened his mouth but nothing else came out.
Rhysand, even in his tipsy state, put two and two together. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I didn’t know she was her sister!” He repeated, keeping his voice down after a pointed look from Azriel. “And I didn’t even initiate it, she did. She said the date was going shitty and we should go to back to my place and bang. I had a sitter for the night,” he said, gesturing to Rhys. “And I wanted to get laid. So we did.”
Rhys rubbed his temples. “This is bad. This is very bad. Feyre and Elain can’t know.”
Azriel finished his beer. “You know as well as I do that she’s out there telling them the same thing right now.”
“She better not be, not in front of Arya,” Cassian mumbled.
Rhysand scoffed. “Arya is too busy being a fish to pay them any mind.”
Cassian’s lips thinned, but he supposed Rhysand was right. Either way, he wasn’t a fan of being talked about in such a manner in front of his child.
Before he could say anything more, Rhysand said, “If this ruins anything-.”
“What could it possibly ruin?” Cassian interrupted, grabbing another beer out of the fridge. “We’re adults, Rhys. We can fuck and be civil afterwards.”
“Can you?” Rhysand asked. “Because you just looked like a deer caught in the headlights.”
“I was caught off guard,” Cassian said. “I’m sure she was, too. If I can sit through Arya’s dance classes, I can sit through a day by the pool with her there.”
Rhysand looked at Cassian for a long moment.
Azriel looked between the two of them, not saying a word, drowning his beer.
“Behave yourself,” Rhysand said as he headed for the back door, pointing a finger at Cass, who threw his hands up defensively.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” He called, as he walked out.
Azriel still hadn’t said much, which wasn’t out of the norm for him, but Cassian needed to know what was on his mind. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re adults,” Azriel replied. Cassian was about to open his mouth to thank him for his rational thinking, but he wasn’t done. “But you don’t do anything halfway, Cass. And it’s been a while since you’ve been with anyone.”
“Yeah,” he said, heading for the door. “Hence why I needed to get laid.”
“If you say there’s nothing there, I believe you,” Azriel said, following him. “But be careful.”
“I’m not going to break her heart,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “It was casual sex and it won’t happen again. She’s not going to get attached.”
Opening the fridge, Azriel grabbed two fresh beers and handed one to Cassian before heading outside. “It’s not her I’m worried about. It’s you.”
Cassian didn’t move as Azriel left. He stood alone in the kitchen, dwelling on those words.
It’s not her I’m worried about.
He cracked open his new beer but didn’t drink it.
It was true that it had been a while since he’d been serious with a woman. And, on top of that, he’d only had one night stands with a handful of women. One of the last being Arya’s mother.
It’s you.
Cassian sipped from his beer and told himself that Rhys and Azriel were being ridiculous.
Even if they weren’t.
~
Nesta watched the boys go inside knowing fully well what they were discussing.
“Nesta?”
She blinked, looking at her sisters who were watching her with concern.
Mor had gotten in the pool with Arya and Emerie was sitting on the edge, taking pictures of the pair.
“What?” she asked, eyeing Feyre. It was annoying how her sisters always knew that there was something on her mind.
“You were having a good time ten minutes ago,” Feyre pushed. “Now you look like you’re going to puke.”
“I’m fine,” Nesta snapped, even though she wasn’t.
“That’s not the look you give one of your dance parents,” Elain said, sipping from her nearly empty glass. “When we bumped into that dance mom the other day, you acted like you were best friends.”
“Well, he isn’t a dance mom,” she bit out, careful to keep her voice down so Arya didn’t hear. She may have been drunk, but she wasn’t going to be a bitch to someone in front of their daughter. “And I don’t like him. So.”
Elain and Feyre glanced at each other. “No one asked you to like him, but you’re going to be around him a good bit,” Feyre said. “He’s Rhysand’s best friend, they literally grew up together.
“Azriel, too,” Elain added, hiccuping. She repeated what Feyre had just said. “So he’ll be around. He’s nice, Nes.”
Rolling her eyes, Nesta waved them off. “Yeah, he’s nice, he’s gorgeous, he’s got the body of a god, and fucks like one, too, but I don’t see why I have to be anything more than civil with him.”
Elain had dropped her glass in the pool and Feyre was staring wide-eyed at her eldest sister.
Nesta realized what she’d said a moment too late.
“Not that I’d know-.”
“He was your dating app date?” Feyre whispered, taking a step closer to keep their conversation down.
Nesta looked over her shoulder at the back of the house, at the kitchen doors that were still shut. When she looked back at her sisters, she nodded.
“I obviously didn’t know who he was,” Nesta hissed. “I didn’t know he’d be strolling into my dance studio two days later, either.”
“What are you going to do?” Elain asked, covering her mouth with her hand. Nesta knew she was trying to hide her building smile. Elain was never good at hiding her emotions, especially while she was drinking.
“I’m going to treat him like I do the rest of my dance moms,” she said, letting her hair fall out of the bun she’d had it in on top of her head. “Professional, respectful, and-.”
“Are you going to go out with him again?” Feyre asked, sitting on the edge of the pool and slipping back into the water.
Nesta did the same, reaching for her drink. “Absolutely not.”
“But you said he fucks like a god,” Elain squeaked, sitting on the edge of the pool and letting her feet hang in the water.
Nesta sucked down the rest of her punch before replying. “Regardless of that fact, absolutely not.”
“Why not?” Feyre pushed.
“Just because!” She shouted, which caught the attention of Arya, Mor, and Emerie. She gave them a quick smile and said, “Sorry.”
They went back to playing.
“There was no chemistry,” Nesta said. “He’s rude and conceited and I don’t want to sit through such a horrid dinner again.”
“Sounds about right,” Elain muttered. “There’s never a second date with you.”
Nesta scoffed. “Excuse me?”
But the kitchen doors opened and Rhysand came out, plopping down beside Feyre. A moment later, Cassian and Azriel followed.
Nesta suddenly became very interested in her drink.
It was quiet, except for the sound of music playing through Azriel’s Bluetooth speaker and Arya splashing as she played.
It was also really fucking awkward.
Mor and Emerie glanced around and then at each other. Finally, Mor asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up,” Rhys said, smiling broadly, silently telling his cousin to shut up.
Emerie seemed to get the message, and even took it a step farther, saying, “Arya, I think I saw a few popsicles in the freezer if your daddy says you can have one.”
Her hazel eyes widened and she looked at Cassian. “Can I have one, daddy? Please?”
He leaned over and lifted her out of the pool, resting her on his hip. “I thought you didn’t like popsicles. I thought you only liked ice cream. That’s what you said on the ride over here.”
She sighed, far more dramatically than any four year old should be able to, and said, “Ice cream is too melty.”
He rolled his eyes but set her on her feet and she took Emerie’s hand, following her into the house.
Once they were gone, Mor pushed, “Okay, now will someone tell me why it got really weird really fast?”
“So nosey, Morrigan,” Cassian said, crossing his broad arms.
Nesta snorted.
Mor shot her a look.
Nesta looked away and knocked back her drink.
Mor looked back at Cassian.
He quickly averted his eyes from hers.
“I’m sorry, do you two know each other?” Mor asked, pointing between Cassian and Nesta.
“No,” Nesta snapped, just as Cassian scrunched his nose.
Recognition lit Mor’s eyes and a wicked grin spread across her lips. “Oh, you two know each other.”
“I need a drink,” Nesta muttered, and disappeared into the pool house.
Cassian was staring at Mor, lips thinned.
“What?” Mor laughed. “Judging from everyone’s faces they already knew.”
“Moving on,” Cassian said, jumping into the water right next to Mor, splashing a heap of water right into her face.
As soon as he found his footing, Mor was climbing onto his back, cursing his name and trying to push him back under.
Cassian just wrapped her in a hug and took her under water with him. They stayed there for long enough that Nesta came back with a new drink.
By the time they came back up, Mor was grinning and Cassian was sputtering and coughing. He pushed his wet hair back off his face and faced her.
“How the hell can you hold your breath for that long?”
“2007 Camp Velaris Underwater Handstand Champion, thank you very much,” she beamed.
“That’s a very specific and weird accomplishment,” Cassian replied, still coughing.
“You can’t take that pride from her,” Rhys said, from where he lounged in the float he’d stolen from Feyre. “It’s the only accomplishment she’s ever gotten.”
She dove back under the water and flipped Rhys out of his float. She smiled as he came back up and crooned, “Asshole,” flipping him off
“Incoming little ears,” Emerie announced as she carried Arya, covered in blue popsicle back out of the kitchen.
“I thought you liked popsicles cause ice cream was meltier?” Cassian asked, crossing his arms as Emerie set her down at the edge of the pool.
“Popsicles still melt, daddy,” Arya said, leaning down so her face was even with Cassian’s.
Cassian chuckled. “Alright, come on. Let me see your tongue.”
Arya smiled as she stuck out her very blue tongue. Cassian slowly shook his head. “Uh oh. A blue tongue can’t be healthy. I think something’s wrong. Better take you to see the doctor.”
“No!” Arya laughed, falling into Cassian’s open arms.
He caught her and sunk into the water as Arya wrapped her little floaty-covered arms around his neck. He swam her around the pool, Rhysand and Mor still bickering and calling one another names in the shallow end, as the rest of the crew dove in.
All but Nesta.
From the look of her still perfectly curled hair, Cassian assumed she hadn’t been in yet. Or, at least, hadn’t gone in past her waist. Yet she had dismissed herself twice more to refill her cup.
“Not a swimmer?” Cassian asked, after throwing a giggly Arya off his shoulders, into the pool.
Rhysand was now swimming around with her on his back.
Nesta shrugged, sipping from her cup. “I like to swim.”
“Then come on in,” Cassian suggested, knowing full well that both of her sisters were watching the conversation.
“I think I’ll wait,” Nesta said, dismissively.
Cassian lifted a brow and splashed water over the edge of the pool, sending water flying up over her perfectly tanned legs.
“I said, I’ll wait,” she repeated, sharply, adjusting the sunglasses on her face and looking up towards the sun. A pure dismissal if he’d ever seen one.
Good thing he was a determined son of a bitch.
“Come in. It’s way more fun than laying on the deck and tanning.”
She ignored him.
“Come in, Miss Nesta!” Arya chimed, as she swam from Rhysand to Azriel, a few feet away.
Nesta, with an annoyed expression, slowly pulled herself up out of her chair. “Only for Arya.”
Cassian grinned as she headed for the stairs and slowly made her way into the water.
She still held her drink.
Cassian couldn’t help watching her body as it disappeared beneath the surface.
Her sisters instantly flocked to her and Nesta seemed to loosen up, just a little bit.
“You’re staring,” Emerie mumbled as she swam past him.
Cassian flipped her off and Arya gasped, having caught him in the act.
“Daddy, that’s naughty,” she said, bringing it to everyone’s attention.
Cassian narrowed his eyes at his daughter. “I’m never naughty.”
“Yes you are,” she said, stepping on the stairs and putting her hands on her hips. “You say naughty words all the time.”
Cassian scoffed. “I do not.”
“Yes you do,” Mor agreed.
Emerie was nodding, too, as she swung Arya around.
“Don’t ever argue with a woman, Cass,” Rhysand noted, tossing his arm around Feyre’s shoulder. “Even a little one. You’ll lose every time.”
Cassian didn’t argue with that. Arya was going to be a force to be reckoned with when she was older. She had her father’s stubbornness and her mother’s sass.
They swam until the sun began its descent in the sky. Arya was starting to yawn as Rhysand and Feyre started making supper, refusing to let anyone else help. Elain and Azriel stayed in the pool with Mor and Emerie while Arya snuggled up in a chair, wrapped in his towel, watching a show on Cassian’s phone.
Once he made sure she was comfortable and resting, he gave her a kiss on the top of the head and went into the pool house, looking for a spare towel.
He didn’t find one.
He did, however, find an unopened case of beer in the minifridge that sat in the corner and helped himself to one.
As he bent down to grab a can, the door behind him opened and Nesta walked in.
She may have been a bitch, but he had been inside of her. And her body had been driving him wild all day, thinking about that night.
She hesitated by the door, but then crossed to where the bar was set up along the back wall. She didn’t say a word to him, didn’t spare a single glance his way.
Cassian watched her, and made his way over to lean on the bar next to her. It occurred to him then that this was the first time they’d been alone since she’d called for a car to take her back to the restaurant and left him in his bed.
Not that he’d minded at the time. He was content with never seeing the woman he’d had such earth shattering sex with again.
Until he found out he’d be seeing her constantly in Arya’s dance classes.
Even more so, now that he knew she was Feyre and Elain’s sister.
“Can I help you?” She snapped, still not looking at him.
Her sunglasses were long gone, so Cassian was able to see just how gorgeous the stormy blue-gray color of her eyes was. It was offset by the slight sunburn across her cheeks and nose. Those eyes just looked brighter.
“You don’t think we should talk?” Cassian asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew he was an intimidating male, based purely on his size, and knew how to hold his body to accent that.
Nesta Archeron clearly didn’t find him intimidating at all.
She turned towards him, an annoyed look in her eye and a hand on her hip.
Cassian grinned. This was going to be fun.
“Why would we do that?” she asked. “We already talked at the studio, I think we covered all the bases then.”
“We weren’t alone then,” he replied. “We can actually talk here, without Arya or the snooty other moms listening in. Or your sisters.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Each word was clipped, terse.
Cassian clicked his tongue. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“I’m perfectly capable of having a meaningless one night stand,” Nesta said, her chin lifted high. “It seems you are not.”
“So you didn’t enjoy that night?” Cassian asked, his voice dropping an octave. “At all?”
He couldn’t help his eyes as they drifted lower, to the neckline of her bikini top, and back up. She knew, too, tracked that movement and clenched her jaw.
When she didn’t answer, Cassian’s grin widened. He shook his head, and chuckled as he said, “Look, I just don’t want things to be weird, alright? I can handle myself perfectly well, but I don’t know you all that great, and I don’t want to ruin anything between Feyre and Rhys because you and I can’t be in the same room together.”
“I can be in the same room as you,” Nesta snapped. “And be pleasant.”
“Because you’ve been so pleasant so far today?” Cassian asked, brow raised.
Nesta took a deep breath and said, “I didn’t expect to see you today. I was a little thrown off.”
Cassian nodded then gestured to the empty cup in her hand. “That didn’t help put you back on track?”
Nesta looked down at her empty cup and frowned before pulling a bottle of tequila off one of the shelves and filling her glass halfway. She filled the other half with club soda before getting a lime wedge out of the fridge and dropping it into the cup.
Cassian blinked. “I don’t think you made that correctly.”
Nesta rolled her eyes and took a drink. “What are you, a bartender?”
Cassian chuckled. “At one point. It got me through college before I took over the shop.”
“Of course,” Nesta said, sighing. “Is that how you got so good in bed? Taking women home from the bar after a long night at work?”
Cassian’s head fell to the side as he eyed Nesta. “Good in bed, huh?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know that I enjoyed myself that night.”
“Oh, I’m not,” he replied, taking a step closer, closing the space between them. “It’s hard to fake four orgasms in a row.” They were sharing breath now, and Cassian could hear the subtle catch in Nesta’s. Still, he leaned forward and breathed into her ear, “Has anyone else ever given you four orgasms in a row, sweetheart?”
Her answering silence told him enough.
“I didn’t think so,” he chuckled and pulled back just far enough so that he could see her face. “So I’ve got a proposition for you.”
The lust that had made her eyes go molten vanished suddenly and her gaze turned wary. “And what’s that?”
“You don’t like me, that’s pretty clear. And to be honest, you’re far too stuck up for me to ever be able to see anything lasting longer than a few weeks-.”
“I’m not going out on another date with you,” she interrupted, crossing her own arms. The move did nothing but perk her tits up higher.
Cassian pretended not to notice. “And I don’t want to go on another date with you. Like I said, it would be a waste of time. Why bother with the small talk and overpriced meal when we could skip straight to what we both want?”
Nesta blinked. He couldn’t be asking what she thought he was.
He continued, his eyes staying firmly on hers. “I don’t have a lot of spare time for dating, not running the shop full time and raising my daughter. Something tells me you’re the type who works more hours than you need to. We’re both busy. But you can’t tell me the other night wasn’t amazing.”
Nesta nibbled on her bottom lip. “And you’re wanting to set up an…arrangement of sorts?”
His eyes tracked the movement, remembering what those teeth and that tongue felt like against his own, on his neck, on other parts of his body. “Of sorts. There’d be rules, of course. No sleepovers, for instance.”
“Right,” she breathed, nodding. “And we have to respect the others' schedules. If one of us is busy, too bad.”
“Fair,” Cassian agreed, and he could no longer help his wandering eyes. “If you’re coming to my place it has to be after eight. Arya’s out cold by then. She never sees you there.”
Nesta let out a breath. “Agreed. And if you come to mine, I suppose you’ll need my address. You can text me. My number is on the card I gave out from my studio.”
Oh, he knew. He’d kept that card just in case. “Anything else?” He asked.
“No cuddling,” Nesta said, pointedly. “Cuddling means catching feelings which is also not allowed.”
“Deal.” Cassian held out his hand, though there wasn’t much space between them. “We can either make it official with a handshake or a kiss. Your choice.”
He held his breath while Nesta leaned up on her toes, her lips just barely brushing over his. He was about to capture her lips with his own, see what he could do about getting rid of that navy bikini so he could enjoy what was beneath it.
But suddenly her hands closed around his cock and she squeezed, but it didn’t fill him with pleasure like he would have hoped.
He groaned and dropped to his knees as Nesta took a step back and headed for the door. “Text me. I’ll send you my address from there.”
Cassian could only watch as Nesta walked out of the pool house and into the house proper. He also couldn’t help but wonder what he had just gotten himself into.
#snacmc collabs#isn’t she lovely#isl#nessian#acotar#acomaf#acowar#acofas#acosf#cassian#nesta archeron#daddy cassian#snelbz x theladyofdeath
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“A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” Proverbs 27:9
@tacmc
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Tempting the Fates {Chapter 9}
Summary: It’s the final semester of Aelin Galathynius’ collegiate career and she is so beyond ready to be done. Her schedule is packed full of nursing classes and labs designed to test her knowledge and hone her skills for the real world and her “big girl” job. However, she needs one last elective to graduate, so she decides to study a subject she’s always been fascinated by: Mythology. Who would have thought that a class about gods and goddesses living complicated lives would end up complicating her own in such an unexpected way?
A @snelbz X @theladyofdeath collaboration.
Word Count: 3378
Chapters will be posted every Wednesday.
Tempting the Fates Masterlist
Shelby’s Masterlist
Tara’s Masterlist
***Announcement! ***
After the completion of I’ll be Seeing You and Tempting the Fates, all of Tara and I’s joint fanfiction will be posted on a separate blog that we run together > @snacmc. Be sure to follow the new blog as we will start posting on there soon!
Hestia
– Goddess of the hearth, home and family
Mondays and Wednesdays always seemed to drag.
Thanks to her lack of Rowan in class, Aelin’s classes were boring and she found herself thinking of other things, rather than the notes she was supposed to be taking. Like the way Rowan’s eyes had been on her as she went down on him in the shower earlier than morning.
At his insistence, she’d begun using his shower for more than just sex purposes, as she’d so eloquently explained to him the week before. She was regularly staying over, getting ready for her own classes in the morning, just as he was. But whenever one of them followed the other into the tiled shower, it was used for practical reasons.
As well as sexual ones.
Suppressing a whine as she thought of the way Rowan had pinned her up against the cool tiles that morning, Aelin crossed her legs and checked her watch. Only another twenty minutes and then she had her break between classes. She wasn’t hungry, thanks to the protein bar she’d eaten just before this class started, and she was close to the gen ed building, so she decided she would drop by her mythology professor’s office. She had a few questions about the homework he’d assigned yesterday and face-to-face was always better to her than an email.
Once her anatomy professor was wrapping up, Aelin was tossing her books into a bag and hauling ass across campus. Rowan’s last class was wrapping up, too, and she didn’t want to miss him before he hurried off to do whatever else.
She could’ve texted him to stay put, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise.
She made it to his building and dodged by those who were hurrying off to their other classes or their beds, and stopped at Rowan’s office door before giving it a halting knock.
It took him a second to answer, but when he did, he was handsome as ever.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up, the button down tucked into his trousers. When he saw it was Aelin at his office door, a silver brow lifted.
“Aelin,” he began, clearing his throat. “How may I help you?”
“I have some questions about the homework,” she began, voice low, even though no one else was around. “Can I come in for a second?”
Rowan moved aside before she had finished her question. With one last glance down the hall he shared with a few other first-year professors, he shut the door, sealing them into his office. The blinds were open, but on the third floor, it wasn’t like anyone could see the private meeting he and his student were about to have.
Even if he didn’t know what kind of meeting it was about to be.
“Are you on your lunch break?” She asked, leaning back against his desk.
He nodded. “Didn’t plan on taking lunch, but I’ve got a couple hours before my next class. Was going to work on some grading. Why?”
He had stepped closer, pausing beside one of the chairs he kept in front of the desk for students to sit in.
Aelin clearly had other ideas of where to sit though. With a smirk, she reached out and lightly gripped his shirt, pulling him towards her.
“You had questions about the homework,” he breathed, leaning away as she tried to kiss him.
It wasn’t that he wouldn’t kiss her. He just wanted to see her squirm.
And squirm, she did. “You know very well that I turned in the homework yesterday afternoon.”
She tried to kiss him again, but he fell away, even though his arms were around her waist.
“I don’t recall that,” he taunted. “Maybe you could remind me.”
“I turned it in just before I did this,” she crooned, and her lips found his.
Aelin kissed him, slowly, her arms snaking around his neck. She swore she would never tire of the feeling of his mouth on hers.
“Oh yeah,” Rowan muttered, against her lips. “Now I remember.”
It only took him a second to grab her hips and set her on top of his desk.
There was a clattering of something tipping over, probably a cup of pens or paper clips from the sound of it, but neither of them cared. Not as he gripped the outside of her thigh where her legs were wrapped around him, or her hand found its way into his hair. He was both frustrated and very glad she’d worn leggings today. While he wished she was wearing something with a bit easier access, it was probably a blessing in disguise that he couldn’t get his hand between her legs.
Or his mouth.
Or any other body parts.
That wasn’t stopping Aelin from rubbing against him, looking for friction, as their tongues battled and teeth occasionally clashed. She let out a quiet moan and he tugged on her hair, pulling her lips from his.
“We’re not fucking in my office,” he breathed, looking her in the eyes. “It is way too dangerous.”
She nodded, knowing and accepting the fact, but it didn’t mean she was done kissing him.
“Was this morning not enough?” He smirked, trailing his lips down her throat instead of returning to hers.
“It’s never enough,” she gasped. “Every time I’m away from you…”
Her words trailed off as their lips met. It was true. It was never enough. She was so fulfilled with Rowan, and the second he was gone, she longed for him.
“Come over tonight,” Aelin begged. “Stay with me tonight.”
Rowan groaned as his tongue slipped between her lips.
They stayed at Rowan’s nearly every night. The only times Aelin stayed at her own apartment was when she had an exam or homework she had to work on, without Rowan distracting her. Lysandra and Aedion had met Rowan over dinner a few nights before, though Aelin had insisted take out was much more her friends’ speed than a fully home cooked meal. However, Aelin had a lab due the following morning, so after dinner, Rowan had gone back home.
Alone.
“We have class tomorrow,” he replied, lips still on hers.
“So we’ll make sure we get up early.” Dragging her teeth across his jaw, she gripped his shoulders. “Bring over everything you’ll need to come straight to class.”
Rowan hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“We don’t live on campus,” Aelin said, quietly. “It’s not like I live somewhere surrounded by students.”
Rowan pulled back and met her gaze. “It’s important to you?”
Aelin nodded, arms still wrapped around the back of his neck. “I love being cooped up in your apartment. I really do. But, sometimes I wanna be cooped up somewhere else, too.”
Rowan huffed a laugh. “Alright.”
“Yeah?” Aelin asked, a soft smile painted across her light pink lips.
Rowan couldn’t help his own smile forming as he leaned forward and pulled Aelin closer to him as he kissed her, softly. They went on like that, dwelling in those slow, prolonged kisses. There was something personal, something exceptional about a long, slow kiss. Something sensual that made Aelin’s stomach feel like it was going to explode, even though it lacked that animalistic passion they had come to find within one another.
A quick knock at the door had them jumping apart, Rowan dragging a quick hand through his hair, not having a chance to reply before the door opened.
“Hey, Rowan, I was hoping you could— Oh.”
The pretty woman froze in the doorway, taking in the scene in front of her.
It was innocent enough, though Aelin’s lips were swollen from their kisses. That could easily be explained away, especially as her teeth found the bottom lip and gnawed on it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had an appointment,” she said, eyeing Aelin, who had thankfully gotten off the desk before she’d entered.
“It wasn’t officially booked,” he explained, slightly stepping in front of Aelin to keep her shielded. “Miss Galathynius had a few questions about the homework I assigned in class and about an upcoming project. She stopped by during her lunch break, since her schedule is so busy.”
Silence built in the office, and after a second, Rowan cleared his throat. “Did you need something, Remelle?”
“Maeve sent out an email about a mandatory department meeting for Thursday night,” she said, slowly, still looking at them both suspiciously. “A couple of us in the building were going to get drinks after, wanted to know if you wanted to come.”
Rowan cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. Sure. I’ll plan on it.”
“Good,” Remelle said, a little too quickly. “And check your mailbox in the office. It’s full.”
With another look at Aelin, then at Rowan, Remelle left and the door fell shut behind her.
Silence enveloped the room.
Rowan slowly turned around to look at Aelin, whose face was pale.
“You couldn’t have locked the door?” she whispered.
Rowan scoffed. “Yeah, because that wouldn’t have been suspicious, being locked in here with a student.”
For some reason, the word student felt like a jab coming from him in that moment. Aelin’s back straightened. “I wasn’t aware that the receptionist randomly barges into your office. If a student found it locked, they probably wouldn’t think it was weird, at all. Offices around here are locked all the damn time.”
Rowan sighed and nodded. He stepped towards her and ran his hands up and down her arms, pressing a soft kiss to Aelin’s forehead. “You should go. There’s only so much we can talk about homework.”
Nodding, Aelin wrapped her arms around his waist, and he wrapped her up in his own. “I’ll see you after class?”
“I’ll run by my place to grab some things and pick up dinner on the way,” he promised, tilting her chin up to look at him. “I’ll see you later.”
She nodded and rose up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. Grabbing her bag from the chair, she adjusted her messy bun, which was only a little messier than it had been before and slipped out the office door.
Leaning back on the spot Aelin had just been sitting in, Rowan took a quick moment to breathe before setting his desk to rights and heading down to check his community mailbox. It wasn’t full as Remelle had implied, but there were a few things in it, mostly department memos and notes from other professors. He ignored her suspicious look as he made his way back up the stairs to his office and settled behind his desk to work on the grading he’d planned to do during his lunch.
He was halfway through an essay from one of his upperclassmen when his email dinged on his laptop. It had gone off a few times since Aelin had left, but he’d ignored them, assuming they were automatic replies to Maeve’s email about the meeting.
Tapping on the track pad of his laptop to wake it up, he kept reading over the essay as his email came to life, but he waited until he was done to look over at the most recent notifications.
Freezing, Rowan’s eyes flashed over the subject of the email from Maeve three times before he actually had the nerve to open it.
Meeting in my office after your final class of the evening.
We need to have a talk.
*
Aelin felt as if she had been holding her breath for hours.
Which was exactly how long it had been since she had received her text from Rowan.
As someone who was not nervous or paranoid by nature, she hated the feeling of being so freaked out that she was nearly about to vomit. She had already cleaned her apartment once, and was pouring herself a glass of wine as she was deciding what she could clean next. Maybe she would clean out the fridge.
After downing her glass of wine, she did just that, throwing open the refrigerator door and emptying out what had been in there for over a week.
She didn’t even hear the front door open, nor did she hear her roommate and cousin walk into the kitchen.
“Ace?”
Aelin yelped, jumped, and spun around, nearly knocking over her glass of wine on the counter nearby. “What the hell?” she yelled. “You can’t just sneak up on people like that! Doesn’t anyone realize how fucking rude it is to just barge in?!”
Aedion’s brows shot up as Lysandra stepped forward. “Uh, everything okay?”
Aelin’s face fell into her hands as she leaned against the countertop. “Does it look like everything is okay?” she asked, words muffled.
“What happened?” Lysandra asked, gently prying Aelin’s hands from her face.
Her eyes were still shut, as if she could shut out the world. Taking a deep breath, she released it, answering in one, quick burst. “I think Rowan and I got caught.”
She heard something hit the floor, clearly dropped by Aedion, but Lysandra’s hands went slack on her wrist. “What do you mean?”
Letting her head fall to the countertop, she groaned once before standing up straight and looking at them. Aedion had indeed dropped the bag of pretzels he’d pulled from the cabinet.
“We both had long breaks today, so I stopped by his office to see him for a minute. I didn’t mean for anything to happen. I mean… Yeah, I kinda did. I kissed him first.”
“I don’t need to hear about this. Lys can fill me in,” Aedion muttered, scooping the bag of pretzels off the floor and heading for Lysandra’s bedroom.
“We didn’t fuck or anything,” Aelin sighed after he left. “But we did make out on his desk a bit. It was barely even PG-13.”
“So what happened?” Lysandra asked, getting another glass down and refilling Aelin’s glassed wine and filling one for herself. “How did you get caught?”
“The secretary walked in,” Aelin said, staring at a spot on the hardwood. “She didn’t see anything, we broke apart before the door opened, but… I don’t know. She sounded suspicious, looked suspicious.” Aelin took a sip from her glass. “I mean, seriously, who knocks but doesn’t wait for a come in before they open the damn door? It’s rude as hell.”
“I don’t wait before coming into your room,” Lysandra said.
“That’s different, we live together,” Aelin said, unable to control her chuckle.
Lysandra smiled, but it faded as she shook her head. “That man needs to learn how to lock his office.”
“That’s what I said!” Aelin agreed, and topped off her glass before it was even halfway empty.
“So, what?” Lysandra went on. “She came in but didn’t see anything. Maybe she just always looks suspicious. I’m sure nothing will come out of it.”
Without another word, Aelin took her phone out of her pocket and slid it across the counter. Lysandra slowly picked it up and read Rowan’s text.
Got an email from Maeve. I have to go to her office tonight. Says she needs to talk to me. Sounded urgent.
Aelin had texted back. Did she say what it was about?
No, Rowan had replied. But it doesn’t sound good.
“Have you heard from him since he sent these?” Lysandra asked, setting the phone down.
“No, but we’ve both been in class.” Aelin let her head fall to the countertop again. “He’s supposed to come over after he gets out. But now I’m wondering if that’s such a good idea. What if someone sees him getting here?”
“It’s not all students, and we’re not exactly social butterflies. We don’t know any of our neighbors,” Lysandra said, clearly trying to soothe her.
Aelin just shook her head. “I like him, Lys. A lot. I can see a future with this guy, but… What if this is all too much? It’s too dangerous. We’re jeopardizing our futures.”
Lysandra’s eyes softened. “The secretive part of your relationship is only temporary. Besides, he’s head over heels for you, too. Would it really be worth it to give that up?”
“What if Rowan is about to lose his job?” Aelin shot back. “Lys, I would never be able to forgive myself. I have to do something.”
“Always the hero,” Lysandra muttered. “Look, the best thing you can do right now is stay here, drink wine, and let it all play out. Rowan is a big boy. He can handle himself.” Aelin said nothing, so Lysandra went on. “I just want to see you happy. Does he make you happy?”
“Beyond. Happier than I’ve been in a long time,” she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the counter. “I know it’s only been a few weeks, but… I care about him.”
“And it’s pretty damn clear that he cares about you, so sitting and waiting sucks, but that’s what you’ll have to do.” Lysandra crossed the kitchen and wrapped her best friend up in a hug. Aelin’s forehead fell to her shoulder. “I can send Aedion to get more wine if you want.”
Aelin nodded.
Lysandra chuckled and said, “Then that’s what we’ll do. Why don’t you—?”
A knock on the front door had Aelin’s head snapping up and she hurried from the kitchen. Throwing open the door, she found Rowan standing on the other side. Before he could say anything, she pulled him inside and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. “Gods, I’ve been so fucking worried.”
To her surprise, he laughed quietly, and it only caused Aelin to lean back, eyes wide. “What could possibly be funny right now?”
“I’m not I’m trouble,” he whispered, arms going around her waist. “We’re safe, we’re fine.”
Aelin blinked, all anxiety fading from her body only to be replaced with confusion. “Why did Maeve call you into her office, then?”
“She just wanted to check how things were going.” He shrugged. “Being new, and her nephew, she just wanted to check in.”
“Gods, Rowan!” She shoved his chest, lightly. “You couldn’t have texted me that? I’ve been a nervous mess!”
“She’s not exaggerating,” Lysandra mumbled from behind them. “Hi, Professor.”
Rowan rolled his eyes. “Hi, Lysandra.”
As Lysandra headed towards her room, he looked down to where Aelin was staring at his chest. He tilted her chin up until she was forced to look at him. His brow furrowed and he was surprised to see silver lining her eyes. “Everything is okay, baby. Why are you crying?”
She shook her head and blinked, but wasn’t able to stop the single tear that spilled over. He wiped it away with his thumb. “I thought we got caught, that I had ruined your life.”
His heart nearly broke. “Aelin…” He wrapped her up in his arms again, holding her as tightly as he dared, as if he could keep her from falling apart. After a second, he leaned back so he could look at her, but didn’t let her go. “Being together isn’t a decision that just one of us has made. We both went into this relationship knowing the consequences. If something were to happen, if someone finds out, you aren’t ruining my life.”
Aelin snorted, and framed his face in her hands. “So we’d both be ruining your life?”
“No one’s life will be ruined,” Rowan promised. “I’m going to be with you, Aelin. Now, and when you graduate, we can have a normal relationship, whatever the hell that means. If you’ll have me, I’m not going anywhere.”
“That’s a big promise to make so early in our relationship,” Aelin breathed, running her thumbs across his cheeks.
“I have a good feeling about us,” Rowan followed, melting into her touch.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers, but pulled back and smirked. “But maybe I’ll start locking my office, just in case you decide to make another unexpected visit.”
Aelin threw her head back and laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck as she rose up on her toes to kiss him again.
The day had stressed them both out, but throughout it all, there was only one thing Rowan could think about: he didn’t know what his future held, but there was one thing for sure.
He wanted Aelin in it.
#rowaelin ttf#snacmc ttf#tempting the fates#throne of glass#aelin x rowan#rowan whitethorn#aelin galythinius#snacmc collabs
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Tempting the Fates {Chapter 8}
Summary: It’s the final semester of Aelin Galathynius’ collegiate career and she is so beyond ready to be done. Her schedule is packed full of nursing classes and labs designed to test her knowledge and hone her skills for the real world and her “big girl” job. However, she needs one last elective to graduate, so she decides to study a subject she’s always been fascinated by: Mythology. Who would have thought that a class about gods and goddesses living complicated lives would end up complicating her own in such an unexpected way?
A @snelbz X @theladyofdeath collaboration.
Word Count: 2752
Chapters will be posted every Wednesday.
Tempting the Fates Masterlist
Shelby’s Masterlist
Tara’s Masterlist
***Announcement! ***
After the completion of I’ll be Seeing You and Tempting the Fates, all of Tara and I’s joint fanfiction will be posted on a separate blog that we run together > @snacmc. Be sure to follow the new blog as we will start posting on there soon!
Athena
– Goddess of wisdom, reason, intelligent activity, literature, handicrafts and science, defense and strategic warfare
Rowan felt ridiculous.
He had spent the last hour cleaning his apartment and was currently pulling all of the food out that was meant to be prepared for dinner.
Steak, carrots, green beans, potatoes, a wide range of spices.
Thanks to the internet, Rowan knew what to do with them all.
It’s not like it was that big of a deal - Lorcan and Elide were joining him and Aelin for dinner.
And although he had hosted Lorcan and Elide a million times for dinner, Rowan had never cooked, nor had he introduced them to someone he was crazy about.
And he was crazy about Aelin.
She didn’t have classes on Fridays, something he wished he had been smart enough to plan when he was in college, so she’d done his grocery shopping while he was teaching all day. When he got home, he was expecting her to still be there. But his apartment was empty.
I have to get ready, she’d explained when he called her. I wasn’t expecting Lorcan the other night, but I have to impress Elide.
“You could have gotten ready here. You shower here all the time.”
We have sex in the shower, I don’t use it for functional purposes. Not yet anyway.
So here he was, laptop open to a recipe for pan-seared steak, making sure he had everything he needed.
Aelin had promised she’d be here before Lorcan and Elide, and he had been hoping to impress her with his skills in the kitchen, too, even if they were rough.
Now he was hoping not to set the smoke alarms off as he turned the stove on and put way more butter than he was used to using in the cast iron pan.
As it began to melt, he was already considering his meal a success.
Just as he was dropping the steaks into the pan, the front door opened and Aelin was letting herself in.
“Follow the sound of the sizzling,” he called, and Aelin came into view a second later.
She whistled, brows raised. “I like a man in the kitchen.”
Rowan laughed as he met her halfway, giving her a kiss. “Hopefully you still like it after you eat what I make.” Another kiss. “You look beautiful.”
She scoffed. “I’m wearing leggings and a top.”
“And you look beautiful in them,” he replied, turning back to the stove. “Just like you do in everything.”
“You’re a shameless flirt,” she said, beginning to chop the vegetables. But he saw the blush creep across her cheeks and ears.
Although they were cooking a homemade meal, he’d made sure she knew this wasn’t going to be anything fancy.
Elide would never let me live it down.
Rowan had always got along well with Elide, although he had absolutely no idea how she ended up with Lorcan. Rowan loved his oldest and closest friend, but he was a natural asshole.
Elide was the opposite.
“I have to confess,” Aelin began, nibbling on her bottom lip. “I’m a little nervous.”
Rowan’s brows rose. “Why?”
“Well, these are the people we’re going to be spending a lot of time with, I assume, since they’re two out of four people that know about us.” She gestures between the two of them. Their unorthodox relationship. “If she’s as sweet as you say she is, I’m worried my sarcastic ass will offend the woman.”
Rowan couldn’t help the laughter that shook his body. “Do I need to remind you that she’s been with Lorcan for the last five years?”
Aelin whistled. “Five years and still no ring? That gives me good material to ruffle Lorcan with.”
He froze and glanced over a shoulder at her. “Maybe don’t bring that up.”
Aelin was instantly grateful she had mentioned it now, and not in front of Lorcan directly. “Why?”
“Lorcan is…” Rowan trailed off as he flipped one of the steaks over. “He’s complicated. He’s not great with commitment. Elide is the only girl he’s been in a real relationship with as long as I’ve known him.”
“And how long is that?” Aelin asked, transferring the chopped veggies into a baking dish.
“We’ve been best friends since elementary school.”
Aelin’s eyes widened. “Oh. Wow. Okay, I won’t bring up anything to do with weddings or babies or any other lifelong commitments.”
“Good idea,” Rowan chuckled. “It may not seem like it, but as of now, Lorcan likes you. Imagine how cranky of an ass he would be if you got on his bad side.”
“Almost as bad as it is for someone who gets on mine,” Aelin grinned, and that mischief sent a thrilling chill down Rowan’s spine.
He opened his mouth to respond, to say something along the lines of lets do it right here, right now, before they get here, but a single knock sounded on the door.
Aelin whistled. “Even Lorcan’s knock is grumpy.”
“It’s also early,” Rowan mumbled, setting the tongs he’d been using down beside the stove and heading for the door. On any other occasion, Lorcan would have let himself in, like usual, but he knew how important this night was. Or at least was to Rowan.
He opened the door and found Lorcan grimacing, while the petite girl with dark hair was bouncing from foot to foot.
“Is she here?” Elide asked, grin growing. “Or do I have time to grill you about this alone before she shows up?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to grill us both,” Aelin said, appearing from the kitchen, a smile on her face.
As Rowan shut the door behind them, Elide’s mouth popped open into a little O and her eyes narrowed.
Aelin’s grin grew. “Hello, Elide.”
“Aelin,” she breathed. “Aelin Aelin? As in…Aelin?”
“I’m guessing it was the same Elide,” Lorcan mumbled, carrying a covered dish into the apartment. “Elide made dessert.”
With that, he was going into the kitchen to place it on the table.
The two women ran towards each other and embraced. Rowan kept his mouth shut as he watched the scene unfold.
Elide stepped back. “You don’t seem as surprised as me. Why don’t you seem as surprised as me?”
“Lorcan told me where you were from and how you moved around last time I was graced with his presence.” Aelin shrugged, that grin remaining. “I had a hunch, but wasn’t sure. Besides, if it did end up being you, I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
Elide turned and glared at her boyfriend. “A little heads up would have been appreciated.”
He was already halfway to the fridge, heading for a beer he knew Rowan would have restocked for them. “What she said. I didn’t want to get the story wrong or your hopes up.”
Rolling her eyes, Elide looked back to Aelin. “Men.”
Ending up back in the kitchen, Aelin finished up the veggies and was putting them in the oven when Elide asked, “So Aelin, how exactly did you two meet?”
Aelin glanced at Rowan and then back towards Elide. She was sipping her wine as she leaned against the counter, looking like the picture of innocence. Lorcan was shaking his head where he stood next to her.
Clearing her throat softly, she took the safe route. “In class.”
Elide’s eyes lit up. “So he really is your professor.”
“I thought that had been established,” Rowan mumbled, covering the steaks with foil to rest before they ate.
“I wasn’t sure if you two were just trying to mess with me again,” she said, eyeing Lorcan and Rowan. Turning to Aelin, she said, “I’m so glad I won’t be the only girl anymore. You have no idea how awful it is being the third wheel with these two.”
“You’re the third wheel with these two?” Aelin asked, brow raised.
Elide barked a laugh. “Absolutely. The more time you spend around these lovebirds, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Their bromance is out of control.”
“Bromance, huh?” Aelin grinned as Rowan rolled his eyes.
“It’s cute, really,” Elide said, then slowly shook her head as she met Aelin’s eyes. “Wow. I just can’t believe it’s you. It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” Aelin said, and Lorcan cleared his throat from where he stood on the other side of the room.
“Are we done with sappy pleasantries?” He asked. “I came to eat.”
Elide pointed to the oven, where the vegetables were still roasting. “Five more minutes in the oven, but you and Rowan can set the table if you don’t feel like hearing us talk.”
She gave him a brilliant smile, which he scowled at, but Rowan indeed clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and led him from the room.
“Are you still close with Aedion? How is he?”
Elide asked, perching on one of the bar stools as Aelin refilled their wine glasses and stirred the pot of mashed potatoes on the stove.
“Yeah, he practically lives with me,” Aelin replied rolling her eyes affectionately. “He’s dating my best friend, and graduates in the spring, like me.”
“What’s he studying?” Elide asked, then added. “I thought he was older than us.”
“He is, by two years. He took a year off to find himself,” Aelin snorted, holding up air quotes. “Then he changed his major twice, which gave him a few unexpected setbacks. But he’ll have a degree in sports medicine and will be going back at some point to get his specialization in physical therapy.”
“I remember him being big into sports,” Elide nodded. “Good for him.”
“And you?” Aelin asked, leaning her elbows on the counter. “College not the path for you?”
“Oh no,” Elide said, chuckling. “I went for a few months before deciding it wasn’t for me. I started serving and making good tips, so I didn’t pursue anything else until recently. About a year ago I started getting really into pottery. I started my own little business a couple months ago, that I do for just a little extra cash and for the hell of it.”
“Really?” Aelin asked, brow raised. “That's incredible. What do you make?”
Elide opened her mouth to speak, but it was Lorcan that said. “Vases, mostly. She’s incredibly talented.”
Aelin hadn’t even heard them come back in, but as if on cue, the timer behind her went off. She turned to pull the vegetables out of the oven, but glanced back over her shoulder and Elide, who was smiling softly at Lorcan. “You’ll have to show me,” she said, setting the baking dish on a trivet. “I’d love to buy one.”
Elide’s smile was almost as radiant as she was.
*
“Okay. No more ordering in when we come over,” Elide said, setting her fork and knife down on her nearly empty plate. “You’re cooking from now on, Rowan.”
Everything had been delicious, even if the potatoes had been instant. Rowan was pretty damn proud of himself. “Aelin helped,” he said, his hand finding her knee under the table.
“Then you better keep her, because that was delicious and take out isn’t going to cut it anymore.” Elide sipped from her wine and winked at Aelin from across the table.
“Even I can’t protest that,” Lorcan said, throwing his arm around the back of Elides chair.
“And I didn’t help that much,” Aelin said, holding her hands up. “Rowan started cooking this afternoon. I just put veggies in the oven.”
“Well, either way, it means Lor and I are on clean up duty. You two go relax,” Elide said, and rose, beginning to pick up plates.
Lorcan groaned but followed his girlfriend’s lead, nonetheless.
Aelin laughed quietly as she took Rowan’s hand and pulled him into the living room.
“I like the hold she has over him,” Aelin said, once they were alone. “It’s inspiring.”
Rowan hummed as he put an arm around her and pulled her against his side. “That’s a great way to describe Elide. Inspiring.”
Aelin thought of the murky memories she had of the young girl. She’d moved to Perranth right around the time Aelin’s own parents had died. Sadly, that move had been prompted by the same reason. Elide’s parents had also passed and her uncle had received full guardianship of her, and he lived in Perranth. Rather than uproot his life, he decided to uproot Elide’s. She had been too young for a cell phone, so there had been no way to stay in touch at the time, but Aelin was glad to see her back in Orynth. She was sure Aedion would be happy to hear about it, too.
“I think she likes you,” Rowan murmured, his lips by her ear.
Her laughter was soft as she rested her head against his shoulder. “I’d hope so. She’s known me since we were children.”
Rowan scoffed. “That means nothing. I’ve known
Lorcan since we were children and half the time
I hate him.”
Aelin’s head fell back as she laughed a little louder. “Well, that’s understandable. But me? I’m a peach.”
“Yeah, you are,” he whispered, and kissed her, softly. She held onto him a little bit tighter, and she couldn’t help but think how perfectly the night had gone.
If only the people who currently knew about their relationship would be the only people that knew about their relationship, Aelin wouldn't mind it. At least, not for a while.
“Elide was right, though,” Aelin muttered. “Your food is delicious. I’m continuously impressed by you.”
He shook his head and laughed quietly. “Thank the Internet. I can just follow directions well.”
The two fell into silence as they listened to Lorcan and Elide’s banter from the kitchen, and Aelin couldn’t help but laugh. It was clear they had been together for a while, with how comfortable they were, and Aelin was happy for them, if not a little bit jealous. She knew it was something that couldn’t be rushed, but feeling like that with someone, like that someone was home, was something she hadn’t experienced in a while.
“He’a different around her,” Aelin quietly mused as Lorcan’s deep rumble of laughter reached them from the other room.
Rowan nodded slowly. “Their story isn’t mine to tell, but… He helped her out of a dark place, but she also saved him, in her own way.”
She understood that. Hopefully, she and Elide would become close enough that she’d feel like she could open up to her.
It’d be nice to have another girlfriend, like Lysandra.
“You should come over one night this week,” Aelin said, looking up into his face. “So you can get to know Aedion and Lysandra.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “I think Lysandra and I got a good start on that in class.”
Aelin grinned as she framed his face with her hands. “She’s a little extra, but so am I, so you shouldn’t mind that too much.”
Rowan scrunched his nose but sighed. “I guess that would be fine…considering they already know about us.”
“Kind of hard to hide from my best friend and roommate,” Aelin muttered. “And obnoxious cousin.”
“We could always go up north for a weekend, too,” Rowan suggested. “With Lor, Elide, and Lysandra and your cousin. I have a cabin there.”
“Of course you do.” Aelin rolled her eyes. “Spoiled, rotten rich kid.”
There was a flash of hurt in his eyes, but before she could ask about it, or even begin to apologize, Elide was sweeping into the room. “Dinner is all cleaned up and I still have room for dessert. Anyone else?”
“Depends on what it is,” Rowan smirked, his arm still around Aelin. That hurt was gone and Aelin wondered if she’d imagined it. “Not your attempt at a crockpot apple pie again, is it?”
“That was one time and had too little liquid. My crockpot was too large,” she huffed, but crossed her arms. “It’s a triple chocolate cake, actually.”
Aelin’s interest was immediately piqued. “Oh, there’s always room for chocolate cake.”
Elide grinned and took her hand, pulling her off the couch and into the kitchen. Lorcan took a seat on the other side of the couch and sighed.
“The two of them together is terrifying.”
Rowan smiled. He was sure they could get into some trouble, but it was nothing he and Lorcan wouldn’t be able to handle.
He was happy, he realized, trying to shove back the dark memories he’d accidentally dredged up. He was happier than he’d been in years, and Aelin was the reason.
He just prayed nothing happened to end that happiness.
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Tempting the Fates {Chapter 7}
Summary: It’s the final semester of Aelin Galathynius’ collegiate career and she is so beyond ready to be done. Her schedule is packed full of nursing classes and labs designed to test her knowledge and hone her skills for the real world and her “big girl” job. However, she needs one last elective to graduate, so she decides to study a subject she’s always been fascinated by: Mythology. Who would have thought that a class about gods and goddesses living complicated lives would end up complicating her own in such an unexpected way?
A @snelbz X @theladyofdeath collaboration.
Word Count: 3260
Chapters will be posted every Wednesday.
Tempting the Fates Masterlist
Shelby’s Masterlist
Tara’s Masterlist
***Announcement! ***
After the completion of I’ll be Seeing You and Tempting the Fates, all of Tara and I’s joint fanfiction will be posted on a separate blog that we run together > @snacmc. Be sure to follow the new blog as we will start posting on there soon!
Artemis
– Goddess of the hunt, virginity, archery, the moon, and all animals
Rowan’s weekend had been completely and utterly perfect, and he owed that fact to Aelin.
They’d spent the entirety of Saturday and Sunday in bed, watching movies and eating and talking and making love. When Monday came, Aelin snuck to his apartment and they’d had dinner, which Rowan had cooked for her and served over candlelight.
Now Tuesday morning, nothing could kill his mood. He’d just gotten a coffee and was hurrying across campus, about to be late to his own class.
He didn’t care much, except for the fact that Aelin would be there and even though he couldn’t outright declare his adoration for her, he could sneak a couple glances from time to time.
For now, it was enough.
He burst into the classroom, which caused the murmuring students to hush down.
“Good morning, guys. Thank you to everyone who sent your essays in over the weekend,” he said, his back to the class. He was setting up his laptop, getting it connected to the projector. “For those of you who didn’t, congratulations, you’ve learned that you get one instance of grace from me over the entire semester. And you’ve already used it, so I hope it was worth it.”
He turned, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t help his eyes from immediately falling on Aelin.
Gods, she looked gorgeous. Just as gorgeous as she had in his bed the evening before, her blonde hair sprawled out on the pillow behind her, lips swollen from his kisses, face twisted up in pleasure.
But then he noticed the dark-haired beauty next to her, and how attentive she was for his early morning class. Almost immediately, he knew this must be Lysandra, Aelin’s best friend and roommate, who she’d made very clear was very invested in their budding relationship.
Almost as much as Lorcan was, but his best friend wasn’t showing up in his classroom to monitor him.
For some stupid reason, Rowan grew nervous.
He cleared his throat, and sat up on his desktop. “With that being said, for those of you who did turn in your essays, keep up the good work. I’ll have your grades posted online by the end of the day. And, if you didn’t turn it in, your next missing assignment will be a zero, and, trust me, if you fail this ridiculously easy class, the rest of your time at university will be a major kick in the ass.”
A round of snickers flowed through the room, and Rowan noticed that Lysandra leaned over and whispered something into Aelin’s ear that made her laugh, quietly.
Rowan wondered what it was.
He began his lesson, and he swore that every five minutes, Lysandra would whisper something into Aelin’s ear. Even though his curiosity was about to make him combust, he didn’t let it show, even if it did make the hour go by a lot slower.
Towards the end of class, he couldn’t stop himself as she leaned over to Lysandra and whispered something to her instead. Her friend chuckled, which was a little bit louder than all of Aelin’s quiet laughs, and he paused in the middle of his lecture.
“Miss Galathynius, is there something funny you and your friend would like to share with us?”
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline and she blushed, but he saw the smirk that formed. She could tell he wasn’t mad, that she’d been paying attention the whole class, regardless of Lysandra’s presence. “No, sir, Professor Whitethorn.”
Hearing her reply with No, sir made him want to respond to her in about twenty different ways, but none of them were appropriate in class.
“Are you sure?” he pushed, cocking his head to the side. “How about you, friend of Miss Galathynius? Do you have something to share?”
Lysandra didn’t blush. Instead, a grin spread wide across her lips. “I was just enjoying your class, Mr. Whitethorn. I find mythology fascinating.”
Rowan watched her for a second, unsure of how to respond to Lysandra. He only knew what Aelin had told him, and judging by the light in her eyes, Aelin had been right - she knew how to have a good time, and she knew it.
“And what has been your favorite part of my lesson?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at the clock. “Don’t rush. We have twenty minutes left.”
Lysandra chuckled, quietly. “You reflect on Aphrodite so well, I don’t want to ruin it with my lowly thoughts. Although, I find it amusing you chose to share Aphrodite so early in the semester. To please the masses, is it?”
Apparently Aelin had told her best friend about the popularity of Aphrodite in his class. Then again, Rowan suspected Aphrodite was the most popular among young women. He’d at least gotten that hint as he read through his classes’ essays.
“It’s true, most people are familiar with Aphrodite, even those who aren’t all that familiar with mythology,” Rowan stated, crossing his arms as he leaned back against his desk. “Do you care to share with the class what you know of the goddess?”
Lysandra gave him a challenging grin. Aelin just looked back and forth between the two, chin propped on her fist, perfectly amused.
“I know that she’s the goddess of love and fertility,” Lysandra said. “So, basically she’s the goddess of sex.”
This caused a round of chuckles.
“True,” Rowan said. “But, she’s also a goddess of war, as well as a goddess of the sea. So, why do you think it is that she is strictly known as the goddess of sex?”
Lysandra opened her mouth to respond, but it was Aelin who said, “Maybe our generation is more interested in sex than war and water.”
He didn’t miss the fact that she said our generation. While there had been plenty of conversation and time spent together over the past few days, most of that time he’d been buried inside of her. After the unexpected, second time, they’d had the birth control talk, where Aelin assured him she took her pill on a very, very regular basis. Rowan was hesitant to go without a condom again at first, but after hearing her multiple alarms go off to remind her, he’d decided she was responsible enough to remember.
Plus it felt so much better without a condom.
“I see,” Rowan said, at last, as if her words had not affected him whatsoever. “And how many of you agree with Miss Galathynius and her partner in crime?”
Nearly everyone raised their hands, and some of the girls in the front row gave him their most notoriously girly giggles.
“Fair enough,” Rowan said, chuckling. “That leads us to tonight’s assignment, due before Thursday.” A round of groans. “Write a short, five hundred word essay on what Aphrodite should be known for, and why. Turn it in. Remember, if you missed last assignment, this one is a zero, and I don’t recommend going there in an introductory elective. I’ll give you the last ten minutes to get started.”
Without any hesitation, Aelin opened up her laptop, and Lysandra rested her cheek on Aelin’s shoulder to see what she would write.
Rowan sat behind his desk and fiddled on his own laptop, but he only ended up constantly sneaking glances at Aelin until time ran out.
He was proud, and mildly surprised, to see her hard at work, typing away. She must have been slamming through the essay, because Lysandra had pulled out her phone, like some of his actual students had, forgoing the head start he’d given them to browse social media.
His own phone buzzed from within his pocket. Usually he wouldn’t have checked it during class, but since he had given them time to work on their assignment, he slipped it out of his pocket. He was surprised to see a text from Aelin. He hadn’t even noticed her use her own phone, yet a notification awaited him. Even if her contact wasn’t saved under her real name.
Are we allowed to use outside sources for this assignment? My boyfriend would be a plethora of knowledge to help me out.
He tried not to roll his eyes or even a look at her before he replied.
I’m afraid you’ll have to do this one on your own. No help from your boyfriend, but I bet he’s very knowledgeable on the subject. However, the internet could be quite useful.
He swore he could hear Aelin chuckle from across the room. But we all know that the internet is full of shit.
Rowan couldn’t help but snort as he replied, Fair enough. Looks like it’s just up to you and your textbook, then.
A rolling-eye emoji was her only response.
Then a kissing face.
When he saw the time, he abruptly stood and cleared his throat. “It’s about that time, so remember this assignment is due before you walk through the door on Thursday and I’ll see you all then.”
Everyone began to pack up their belongings and slowly make their way out of the classroom, and back out onto campus. Just after Aelin walked through the door, his phone vibrated, once again.
I’ll see you tonight, professor.
*
They’d both agreed to forgo the gym, thanks to all the extra exercise they’d been getting, so when Rowan’s evening class let out, he was hurrying home to his apartment. He wished he could take Aelin out on a legitimate date, but it was too risky. If someone recognized either of them, or worse, they ran into another student, professor, or, gods forbid, Maeve, it would jeopardize both of them. And they both agreed they weren’t willing to risk that.
So movie nights and take out it would be for the time being. Aelin promised she didn’t mind, but it didn’t stop him from racking his brain for a way they could spend time together outside of his apartment. He’d suggested they could swap off at her place, too, but she’d reminded him she lived in a small two-bedroom with a roommate and her cousin. At least here, they could have privacy.
And fuck on every surface in his apartment.
Which they nearly had.
At quarter to seven, a knock on the door had him hurrying to the door, expecting it to be the pizza she’d told him she’d been thinking about for hours.
Instead, Lorcan stood on the other side.
“Hey, man,” he greeted Rowan, clapping him on the shoulder before stepping around him and entering the apartment.
“Hey,” Rowan said, slowly, shutting the door behind his friend.
“Game starts in fifteen,” Lorcan said, heading for the fridge for a beer. Instead he found a bottle of white wine. “Where’s the beer?”
Rowan hesitated. “Honestly, I forgot the game was tonight.”
Lorcan spun around and blinked. “It’s…Tuesday, of course the game is on. And if it was a home game, we’d be in the stands. Now, where’s the beer?”
Rowan began rubbing the back of his neck, and it was all Lorcan needed to groan. “You’re about to kick me out for a date, aren’t you?”
“Aelin is-.”
“Aelin?” Lorcan interrupted. “If Aelin is coming over, I think I’ll stay.”
“I don’t think you’ll want to stay when we start doing what we do when she comes over,” Rowan promised. “Besides, isn’t Elide home tonight longing for your attention?”
“No, she went to trivia with Manon and Asterin, just like she does every Tuesday.” Lorcan sat down on the couch. “Because I came here to watch the game, just like I do every Tuesday.”
Rowan opened his mouth to reply when another knock sounded. He sighed, but crossed the room, opening the door and being greeted by the pizza delivery guy. After paying him, Rowan carried the boxes back into the apartment and set them on the counter.
“You even ordered pizza?” Lorcan asked. “For a girl and a date, but not me?”
“Do you remember how much you blew me off when you and Elide first got together?” Rowan asked, turning to lean against the counter and cross his arms. “I didn’t see you didn’t see you for almost three weeks.”
“You were also in class and studying all the time,” Lorcan defended. “Now you’re in class and teaching all the time, so I have to take what I can get.”
Rowan stared at him.
Lorcan stared back.
Another knock at the door sounded, and Rowan began walking toward it. “You can stay, but I’m not telling Aelin to leave.”
Lorcan muttered something incomprehensible but fell onto the couch, nonetheless, and began searching through the channels for the game.
Rowan opened the door to find a smiling Aelin who quickly made her way inside.
She stopped when she saw Lorcan sprawled out on the couch. He gave her a wave. “What’s up.”
Aelin blinked. “Hi.”
Rowan sighed, shutting the front door. “Aelin, Lorcan. Lorcan, Aelin.”
Lorcan had turned back to the TV, having found the preshow for the game, and was pointedly ignoring the two of them.
Even though he was in Rowan’s home. Crashing his date. Even though Rowan had technically forgotten about their Tuesday night tradition.
Rowan was staring daggers at the back of his head, about to say something, when Aelin said, “I don’t see how the Wastes have a chance of beating the Staghorns. Their defense was a mess last time we played them.”
Both Rowan and Lorcan slowly turned to look at Aelin, who was pulling slices of pizza out of the box and putting them on three plates. She went to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of white wine Rowan had chilling for her and found them staring. “What?”
It was Lorcan who spoke. “You keep up with hockey?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I like it, but my cousin loves it. He plays on the university’s team. He’s hoping to go pro one day, so it’d be rude of me to not follow what could be his future career.” Pausing to rummage around in Rowan’s kitchen drawers, she asked, “Baby, where’s the bottle opener?”
Lorcan’s dark gaze dragged to Rowan when Aelin turned to check another drawer and he mouthed Baby?
He whispered, “Shut up, asshole,” and assisted Aelin in locating the bottle opener and carried the pizza to the living room while she poured herself a glass of wine.
Lorcan helped himself.
“So, Lorcan,” Aelin began, sitting on Rowan’s lap in his recliner. “What do you do?”
“I’m a bartender,” Lorcan said, drinking from his newly poured glass of wine. “This tastes like shit, by the way.”
“Then don’t drink it,” Rowan muttered.
Lorcan poured himself more.
“You should bring Elide over one night,” Rowan said. “We can all hang out.”
“Why can’t we all go out?” Lorcan asked.
Rowan shot him a look.
Lorcan grinned.
Aelin ignored it. “Who’s Elide?”
“The only person that Lorcan isn’t a dick to,” Rowan said.
“Girlfriend?” Aelin asked, though that was pretty clear.
Lorcan tore into a piece of pizza. “Yep.”
She asked Rowan, rather than Lorcan, “Is she nice?” Lorcan’s head turned towards them and she added, “Nicer than him at least?”
Rowan smirked. “She’s very nice, sweet even. Don’t ask me how he convinced her to go out with him, but she did. I think you’ll like her.”
Lorcan just flipped Rowan off.
“I went to school with an Elide when I was younger,” Aelin said, chewing thoughtfully. “She moved to Perranth when we were in elementary school though.”
That got Lorcan’s attention. “Elide moved back to Orynth from Perranth after she graduated high school.”
Aelin smiled at him, and thought it was kind, Rowan could see the sass beneath it. “Small world, maybe my Elide is yours, too.”
“She’s not yours,” Lorcan said, tensely. “She’s mine.”
That smile grew. “We can share.”
“It may not even be the same Elide,” Rowan said, interrupting the most unexpected pissing contest he’d ever heard, smoothing his hand up the outside of Aelin’s thigh.
That got her attention. She leaned into him before taking a bite of his pizza.
Rowan scoffed and held it far away from her. “Get your own.”
“Why would I do that when I can just eat yours?” Aelin asked. “Getting my own is so much work.”
“You two are ridiculous,” Lorcan mumbled. “Disgusting, even.”
“Feel free to head out at any time,” Rowan muttered, pressing his lips to Aelin’s.
“I’m trying to watch the game,” he muttered, which had indeed finally started. “Is this what you two do every time she comes over?”
They looked at each other for a second before he shrugged. “We have dinner, we talk, sometimes we watch a movie, then… Other things take place.”
Lorcan’s nose turned up. “You’re sickening.”
“So you and Elide don’t do other things?” Aelin asked and Rowan squeezed her knee gently. He knew she was trying to rile Lorcan up, but she didn’t know how easy that was to do.
“We do, but we don’t show it off or tell anyone about it.” His eyes were firmly locked in the TV screen, but he drank the rest of his wine in one big gulp.
She snorted, but pressed a kiss to Rowan’s cheek and got up. Grabbing her bag she’d dropped by the front door, she refilled her wine and headed for Rowan’s bedroom.
“Where are you going?” He asked, half tempted to leave Lorcan out here and follow her in.
“You guys have boy time, I’ve got a few assignments to work on,” she said, smiling over her shoulder.
He knew one was probably the rest of her essay for his class, and he wanted to tell her to ignore the deadline. But that would blur the lines they’d been very clear about. She didn’t want any sort of special treatment from him and he didn’t want to do anything that would be seen as unfair.
Except for the orgasms.
He knew she had long labs to work on, too, and she very well might need to focus on those.
“Don’t tell me your girlfriend just left to work on homework for your class,” Lorcan said, eyes still on the screen. “Because that’s weird as shit.”
“It’s not weird,” Rowan argued, even though he was fully aware of how weird it was.
Lorcan snorted and poured another glass of wine, nearly emptying the bottle before he said, “Maybe I’ll bring Elide over on Friday.”
Rowan looked at his oldest friend and lifted a brow.
Lorcan shrugged. “Elide’s sassy-ass would love her.”
Rowan just shook his head and grabbed another slice of pizza as the game fell into full swing.
Aelin sent him a text that read, Aw, did I just hear Lorcan give me a compliment?
Rowan chuckled as he typed back, It’s as close as he comes to a compliment, yeah.
She texted him back a laughing face, then wrote, As soon as he’s gone, you better haul ass back here. It’s hard to focus on your bed without you.
You think I’d make it easier to focus? I think I’d be one hell of a distraction.
I’d rather have the distraction. One of my professors has me writing about fucking Aphrodite.
Rowan couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and Lorcan’s eyes snapped to him. “Are you seriously texting her from the other room?” He shook his head, then muttered, “Fucking honeymoon stage.”
Honeymoon stage indeed, Rowan thought. He hoped they’d stay this happy for a while, that things would be this easy.
But he couldn’t shake the feeling that they wouldn’t be.
#snacmc ttf#tempting the fates#rowaelin ttf#throne of glass#rowan whitethorn#aelin galythinius#rowaelin#modern au#college au#professor au
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I love seeing other fic authors doing collabs with their friends, but I have to let you guys know that the two of you are the best and most iconic. I can never tell where one of your writing ends and the other begins, it’s seamless. Keep being queens, we love you. All hail Snacmc.
Thank you so much! This is so sweet! 💕
@theladyofdeath
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AAAAAA OMG OMG you are pregnant!!! i am so excited and happy for you, i know you will be an amazing mother <3 the snacmc school-unofficial- club (we're trying to make it a fanfiction club XD) is super excited by the news. hopefully you're okay and the sicknesses aren't too bad, have an amazing day <3333
I know this is old, but I just deep dived in my asks and found this! Thank you, sweet snacmc’s, we love you and Lane does, too. 🥰
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my teacher created a "snacmc discussion board" so we could move the 700 posts there AND ITS CRASHING BECAUSE OF COS WE SNACMCS (our fandom name) LOVE YOU GUYS
S N A C M C S OMFG I LOVE IT
@tacmc IT GOT BETTER LOOK
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great. my teacher created a "snacmc fanfiction discussion board" so we could move everything to there (the 700 posts) AND ITS CRASHING BECAUSE OF COS EVERYONE'S FREAKING OUT WE SNACMCS (thats our fandom name) LOVE YOU GUYS
OMG WE HAVE A FANDOM NAME
@snelbz
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All the Ranch updates this week made me cry and I had to explain why I was crying to my dad. It was an awkward convo. But bless u guys @snacmc
hahahaha SORRY DAD i love it
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