Chapter 107
*Two warnings
1. NSFW
2. I am not good at NSFW so please take this then forget it ever exists.
The dress she had chosen for the night was a tight, black thing. But with Rhysand's warning of what the night would entail ringing through her head of what the night beheld for her, she changed into a deep, river-blue dress with a skirt that flowed like water. Clearing the expanse of her vanity, Arwen sat perched on it, feet propped on the chair as she fiddled with her bracelet, waiting for Azriel to return from downstairs.
When he did, she was met with a smile. "This is one of my favourites," he said. At the tilt of her head, he clarified, "The colour. It's not a match, but it makes your eyes look alive."
"As opposed to when I look dead?"
The humour the tease was supposed to bring fell short on them both. Swallowing away the sudden dryness in her throat, Arwen rested her head on the side of his shoulder, finding comfort in the way his rested atop hers. He let her stay there for a while, let the moment be shed and forgotten.
His fingers ghosted her spine. "Here."
He placed something wrapped in thin paper into her lap. Arwen quietly peeled the tissue away, revealing the sea of diamonds inside. At first, she thought he was literally giving her a pile of them, perhaps to do as she pleased with, but realised as she picked one up that they all came with it. It was almost a ladder of some sort. Diamonds hung across thin silver chains from side to sideâaround ten lines of them. They were all connected by another chain that weaved through the middle of them like a spine. On the ends of each row were small slip-clips that would snag onto even the thinnest of material.
Azriel picked an end up. "You can wear it on your dresses. The backless ones." He idly traced shapes on her back.
Arwen delicately folded the gift back into the wrappings. "Thank you." She loved the gift, and more importantly, she loved him. But she did not love her scars and the story they told. Decorating them would not hide what she felt. "Are we ready to go?"
Placing the gift aside, she planted her hands on the lip of the vanity and began to push until hands on her face kept her still. Azriel kissed her, soft and only once. She lifted her hand, fingers skimming his jaw but he leant away before anything else. "Ready."
~
"Come on!"
Cassian shook his head, resisting her eager tug. "Can't sweetheart, hurt my ankle yesterday."
The music thrummed through the Rainbow, lanterns with glass coverings of all colours painting the plaza in a way that matched its namesake. "You are such a liar!" But in good nature, she laughed. "I want to dance with you. You danced with me on your birthday."
It was hot. The back of her neck was clammy and she was sure if it weren't for her new perfume, she would have smelt horrid by now, but the night felt... Right. Having gotten over the shock of the day.
Cassian nodded to his side where Rhys had hobbled to, sinking down into the metal seat moments before Cassian returned with his drink. "Dance with Rhys."
"I just did," she whined. "Now he's complaining about his feet hurting." Rhys winced through a smile. Cassian looked at him, then back at her, the widening of his eyes saying And now you want to do that to me? "It's my birthday, Cass."
"I gave you more than enough presents," he proclaimed, twisting their hands around so he gripped hers insteadâputting himself in control. "Where's Az?"
Arwen grinned to herself. "Said he was getting something to drink but he's going back for that painting I liked." For a spymaster, he was a terrible liar. She let it slide for both their sakesâhis face when he would give it to her would be worth the pretend. "Dance with me, please."
"I'm not drunk enough to be dancing."
"Lucky for you," said Mor, sweeping into Arwen's side, arm hooking around hers, "I don't need to be drunk to have fun."
Arwen shook her head at Cassian in disappointment, which he only winked at, and let Mor drag her into the throng of dancers. They danced and galloped around, their laughter becoming a melody with the music. Feyre joined them and Arwen spotted Amren join the Illyrian congregation off to the side. The party which Arwen knew as the best, was the one where the guests were happy. And here, the entire city was happy. She didn't know if this festival had carried on each year or if this was the first in many. Looking back through her memory, Rhysand never came down to it again so it was impossible to know without asking.
By the time they were panting and hobbling back as Rhysand had been, Azriel had returned looking particularly happy with himself. Arwen fell into his chest, stealing the drink he had been holding and gulped the remaining half of it down.
"I'll forgive that on account of the date," he muttered, swinging an arm around her stomach as she leant back against him.
Arwen laughed breathlessly and placed the empty glass aside. "I will fetch you another after I catch my breath." They eventually dropped into a seat that Mor abandoned as she and Amren went to go see a few more vendors. She sat on Azriel's lap, occupied with the way he traced shapes on her leg, and with the way that Cassian silently watched the exchange. It was not a jealous look, but... curious.
Rhysand yawned. "Tired, Rhys?" she inquired.
"Admittedly." His voice was muffled by the hand to his mouth.
"Well, you do not have to stay out for my sake, if that's what is keeping you here."
Dark-ringed eyes met hers. "You don't mind?"
Arwen rolled her eyes. "No, I'm sick of you. Go home so I don't have to look at you anymore."
Feyre on his other side shot her a smile of gratitude and together they rose and bid them farewell. Rhys gave Arwen's chin a soft pinch as they passed. Cassian, Arwen and Azriel remained in their seats, observing the parade of music and light.
Eventually, she said, "As much as I'm enjoying the night, I'd love to wind down with some quiet before bed."
Within the span of a few minutes, they had left the bright world of the Rainbow behind for the quiet streets of the city, and the even quieter side of the Sidra. Arwen walked hand-in-hand with Azriel, his wing tucking her into his side. Cassian walked on the other side of that wing.
"Particular reason you're staying with us and not heading home or staying out with the other two?" Azriel asked him.
Cassian shrugged, his steps light and loose. Moonlight gleamed off his polished leathers and the small silver latches and buckles that kept it tight. "I live alone at the House now. Gets lonely. Don't feel like being alone tonight."
Azriel made a noise that went unheard by the general but earned him a look from Arwen. They reached the empty townhouse, all the lights dim until she entered when they lit on command, with no sign of Elain. Perhaps she had joined in on the celebrations at the Rainbow with the wraiths whom she had grown fond of.
Heading to the small cellar room, she pinched three glasses between her fingers and grabbed a new bottle from the rack that she had a taste for. Azriel and Cassian had sat themselves down on the floor in the sitting room facing one anotherâa choice she thought was peculiar but didn't question
She poured them both a glass, handing the first to Cassian, the second to her mate before filling her own.
Azriel reached for her hand as he placed his flute to the side and Arwen let her fingertips graze his. She stopped in front of him, her knees bending as she lowered to sit with him, before swiftly changing course and landing between Cassian's outspread legs instead. She laughed at her mate's insulted expression, leaning back against Cassian whose chest rumbled with his own amusement.
Extending her own leg, she let the back of her foot nudge Azriel's calf. The corner of his mouth tipped up and he rested his hand on her ankle, squeezing.
Arwen leant back on her hand which was planted on the outside of Cassian's leg. "A card game?" she asked. At their agreement, she summoned a well-used deck, the ink on them beginning to fade. Choosing their game, she dealt out two hands, Azriel taking one, Cassian taking the other.
Cassian splayed the cards in front of them both, resting his forearm on his tented knee that she could almost lean her side against. Azriel played first. "I've been getting better," Arwen assured her teammate. "I swear it."
"You'll need the two heads," Azriel murmured, his smirk evident, poking over the top of his cards as he sorted through them. He made a small, cupped stroke along her calf. "If you want any chance of winning."
"At least I know which of my two heads to keep blood at," Cassian said and without looking, she knew his lips were set in a wide smirk cutting across his cheeks. "She knows your weakness, Spymaster, and I intend to use them to the fullest extent."
Azriel's eyes were as sharp as the dagger on his thigh and the hand on her leg paused. Arwen nudged his knee again with her foot, imitating the way she had a few nights ago when they were eating dinner alone, sitting across from one another at the table. It had been one of the only times when he'd let her taunt him.
Cassian kissed her cheek in praise for the tactic and she gave a sly smile to her mate as Cassian whispered words of advice into her ear. Plucking a card, she leant forward and placed it on the growing pile between them.
Azriel took a long breath and focused back on his own cards. Despite the dangerous expression mere seconds ago, he resume toying with her exposed leg. Placing his choice of card down, his smile was shrewd. Arwen inspect the choice and went back to her shared cards.
Pointing silently at one, she waited for Cassian's approval. His chin brushed against her temple as he shook his head, mouth dusting her ear as he spoke into it. "Play a lesser card this time. He's trying to draw you out too early."
"Well, what is the point of playing if you don't play your best?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Do you trust me or not?"
The question had a lot more weight to it than required for a simple card game. It was that thought that had her reaching for her wine and downing the last third. In the wait for her response, the flat of his palm rested against her stomach, gentle and warm even through her chiffon dress. The movementâthe tenderness and heat of itâsent something through her that made her look to Azriel.
The sensation was something she had become so familiarised as associated with him. "I do," she eventually said when Azriel only looked back at her. Leaning forward, she picked a lesser card and played it on the pile.
In the corner of her eye, Cassian smiled. She leant past him as Azriel considered his hand, refilling her glass. The hand on her stomach curled as she settled back down, his fingers falling into a pattern of stroking up and down.
"Are we winning?" she whispered.
"Considering it's been over a minute, and he still hasn't played, I think one of his heads has gone too light," Cassian remarked. Arwen took a moment to understand what he meant.
Azriel pulled a card from his hand, playing it. Hazel eyes lifted, meeting Cassian's, then Arwen's. She found them... intrigued. Examining. "I could say the same about you, Cassian," he murmured.
"Is that a problem?"
"It's not me that you need to ask."
Arwen had only been paying half attention, going back to selecting her next card of choice. She pointed at the one on the edge, but Cassian's confirmation did not come in words. Lips pushed against the slope of her shoulder. They were just as hot as his handânothing like Azriel's burning coldness that made her shiver. Her eyes flew open, quickly seeking out her mate as lips that were not his kissed her skin.
Azriel remained steady and seated, watching and still holding her ankle. The hand on her stomach drifted higher, fingers outlining the bottom of her ribs. Cassian's mouth moved higher with it, trailing his lips along the length of her neck.
Azriel's wings twitched tighter as Arwen made a startled flinch. She gasped as Cassian kissed hard at the spot under her ear, rocking her slightly with the pressure. Blindly, she placed her wine aside on the floor and gripped his thigh.
"Is this okay?"
Heat pooled in her at the husk voice. She felt Azriel's eyes on her, lingering on Cassian's touch that was rising higher along her body with each second, lingering on his lips against her skin, on her faceâasking the same question she was. Neither of them made move to stop anything. So she whispered, "Yes."
A single finger hooked over her chin, tilting it to the side. He looked into her eyes as if searching again for her answer, to see if she meant the consent she had given. When he found what he was looking for, Cassian pressed his lips to hers. Arwen tasted her favoured wine on him. His mouth worked fiercer against hers than Azriel's ever had. He grew more eager, more explorative, pulling her closer to his chest. One arm remained hooked over the low of her hips, keeping her in place, the other venturing higher, his palm smoothing over the hills of river-blue fabric.
The feelingâit was new. Dangerous. It didn't feel Right in the way it did with Azriel. That Right feeling would only belong to him, but this definitely ignited something inside her.
Faintly hearing the flutter of abandoned cards, her lashes parted as he pulled away, giving a sweep of his tongue over her lips before he did. Cassian looked at her mate. "Are you going to join or watch?"
She was almost scared to look at him, not sure if what she was feeling was guilt or pleasure. Azriel simply said, "I'll watch for now." The familiar scent of arousal began to fill the room, one she was accustomed to, the other still new.
Managing to anchor her hand against the trunk of his thigh, Arwen pushed herself back, arching her spine until she pressed herself hard into his lap, accompanying it with a kiss to his neck.
"Fuck." The hand at her breast squeezed painfully tight, enough to elicit an inaudible gasp that he swallowed with his mouth. His other hand went lower, latching onto the flesh of her thigh, pulling her leg open and draping it over his extended one. Clearly sick of the fabric, he balled it in his fist and yanked it up and up until nearly her entire leg was bare and his hand was able to find the skin that had been hidden beneath. This wasn't just for himâit was a display for Azriel.
Arwen continued to pepper small kisses along his jaw as he focused on her chest. She could feel him now, hard against her tailbone. Her hand slid high along his thigh, intent on touching him. Through the leathers of his pants between them, Arwen pushed her palm into his length. He tilted his hips into her hand, grunting lowly. As he rocked against her and continued fondling her chest, she sought out Azriel again. He stared at her intently, his cards abandoned and a hand resting in his lap, the occasional flex in his bicep telling her that he was intermittently placing pressure on his crotch.
From a stranger's view he might've looked calculativeâcold. But she could read the desire in his eyes, the knowing of control he had despite not being the one touching her. His eyes only dropped away from hers when the hand on her leg began to move. While his mouth moved to her neck and shoulder, Cassian's fingers slowly but surely crept closer to her body, fingertips dancing at the inner skin of her thigh.
Her lips began to part as he reached that point, ghosting over her underthings, but she was left with a sudden coldness as his hand retreated. It took her a good few seconds to realise that she could see Azriel shaking his head. An order. One that even Cassian in the middle of his ministrations picked up. Not yet, he seemed to be saying, and Cassian obeyed.
Cassian's arms slithered around her, turning her, pulling her hand away from his own lap and the hardness that still lay hidden. Arwen shifted to her knees to face him, arms winding around his neck. She felt safe there, being held by him. She always had.
"Youâ" he pressed a hard kiss to her mouthâ "are fucking beautiful." The flattery was oddly unexpected.
Arwen bowed her head away with a sudden coyishness but he drew it back and brought her into another heated kiss. As his lips worked her mouth, his hands moved to her shoulders where he inched her sleeves down. The dress slowly slipped from her chest and sank around her stomach. The wet touches of his lips trailed down her neck, tracing along her collarbone and eventually settling around a peak. He flicked his tongue, once, twice. Snapping her arm tighter around his neck, she held him close, willing him to do anything he wanted, as long as it continued that feeling.
"She likes being bitten." Her stomach twisted at Azriel's low voice. "But if you slap her, you'll lose the hand you slap her with."
The scrape of Cassian's teeth along the slope of her breast tested Azriel's observations. Her fingers threaded through his dark hair, keeping him ever closer. She spread her knees wide on instinct, using his shoulders to push herself higher and closer, whimpering slightly as she felt the friction of him against her core. Her eyes fluttered closed as Cassian swapped sides.
"Any other rules?" he murmured, hot breath against her hot skin.
"Only the ones she makes. Remember though, Cass, it's her birthday. This night is about her, not you."
Arwen jolted, the voice so close. Before she could look around, her mate's touch was at her back. Scarred fingers trailed down the upper part of her exposed spine before reaching the bundled fabric of her dress. He unlatched the buttonhooks with such a casual grace that it felt no different from the dozens of times he had done it each night when she had been too lazy or tired to do it herself. Just another show that everything happening here, even if he declared it was for her, yielded to him. A single snarl would have Cassian backing off. But having him there, his touch, released the last bit of hesitancy she held on to.
Azriel kissed her cheekâa simple one like he always did when they passed in the hall. His arms slipped around her front, latching under her breasts which were still at Cassian's mercy. "You know, don't you?" he asked.
Arwen nodded. She knew what to say if it was too much. They had tested boundaries already, both ones that she found too much and others that she enjoyed thoroughly more than she had expected.
One of his hands slipped down between her and Cassian's bodies, burying beneath the piled material of her dress until it found that spot he had denied Cassian. She writhed against his fingers, fingers balling, nails scratching Cassian's leathersâscratches she knew he'd have to buff out later.
Cassian reacted just as violent, biting the peak of her chest and jerking his hips when she rocked hers, meeting that second friction just below her mate's fingers. She didn't know whether to lean back of forth, only that she wanted more. But fabric and leathers still separated her from feeling Cassian entirely and Azriel didn't move his fingers any lower, leaving that territory for Cassian.
Azriel gently pulled her away from Cassian. She rested against his chest, falling off her knees and into his lap. He took a moment to examine her, to just hold her as she gathered her thoughts. His dark eyes flicked back to Cassian. "Undress her."
Obediently, Cassian began prying the loosened dress down over her hips, watching her with each second, waiting for any sign of protest. Azriel held her weight as Cassian slipped it from under her. He hooked his finger around her underwear and with no sign of resistance from Azriel or Arwen, disposed of those too. She lay reclined, completely exposed. Cassian drank in her body and if it weren't for Azriel's touch, which had explored every inch of skinâand the only true opinion that she cared forâshe would have been self-conscious under his eyes.
Arwen twisted her upper body as Azriel ran his palms over the plain over her torso, not investigating, just casual intimacy. She kissed his jaw, unable to reach his lips and he didn't seem to want to lean down and meet her halfway. Like the master of the room, he was making sure everybody else was doing their job.
The distraction of her mate meant that when a hot tongue licked between her legs, she wasn't at all prepared.
She gasped, knees snapping inwards but Cassian was quick to keep them pushed open. Mouth continuing to hang open, all she could focus on was the tightening in her stomach at each flick, suck and stroke he made. No matter how hard she squirmed, even just to wrap her legs around his head, he would not let her go.
One hand threaded through his hair, the other reaching back and grasping onto the shorter strands at the back of Azriel's head. However, her eyes moved on to Cassian's wings, her hand slowly following. It was a boundary she wasn't sure he wanted to be pushed, so she skimmed the pads of her fingers across the membrane, ardently listening and feeling for his reactions. A growl of pleasure vibrated against her as well as a sharp flare of his wings: permission and encouragement. So she did.
It was her mate that growled encouragements at the general, using her rising sounds as a guide, reminding her just how well he was in tune with what she wanted. He whispered into her ear at her first release, treating it as if it were by his own doing.
"Gods," she muttered, slumping slightly. Azriel nuzzled her cheek with his nose, his fingers dipping to her core where he idly felt the evidence of her undoing, as if showcasing his pride that it wasn't something new to him.
Cassian sat back on his knees, a smirk adorning the lips which he licked clean. "How was that, sweetheart? Is my performance in question any longer?"
She laughed breathlessly, resting her head back against Azriel's shoulder. "No," she rasped. "I hope Elain isn't home."
Azriel gave a low laugh as Cassian arched a brow and glanced over his shoulder.
Azriel's fingers moved in and out of her now, their pace slow, meant to work with the ebbing sensitivity. Cassian's eyes dropped to watch.
"You know," she said, still panting slightly, "I didn't think you'd actually want this. I gave the offer more to... distract you. See how you'd react."
He rubbed his chin, eyes glowing bright, still high on whatever he felt from that. "It doesn't hurt that you're gods-damned gorgeous, princess, but it's more than your beauty." Not a proper answer, but she supposed she never asked a proper question. "It's a shame I know Az doesn't like sharing permanently"
Azriel gave her jaw a nudge with his nose, an agreement with the statement.
Something flickered in those hazel eyes, simmering the heat inside them to something lowerâbut hotter. Like a flame moving from red to blue. Cassian licked his lips again, but this time the movement was not on purpose, not a calculated movement to draw her attention to what had been glistening on them last time.
"When I found out you were mates, I wasn't jealous," he said after a moment.
Azriel's fingers left her core and settled instead over her womb, reading that this was not the moment to be edging her into her next high.
"I think I told Az as such years ago, that I wouldn't have known what to do if it were me." He let out a shaken breath. Azriel's arms tightened around her. "Now with Nesta... Life never liked giving me the easy way, but with you it always has been simple. I'm jealous that it wasn't you. That it's not easy."
"Easy," Arwen said carefully, "is not a word I'd use to describe any portion of our lives. Not even us, Cass."
They shared a mirror, small smile.
His eyes flicked to Azriel. "You're lucky. She's worth fighting for and I'm glad you did, brother."
She smiled wider, head tipping as Azriel nudged her harder with his nose. Arwen didn't expect him to say anything so hearing his quiet, "I am," had her heart going faster than it had all night. "She also tastes divine."
Cassian chuckled with a smile that spoke his agreeance. Arwen flicked Azriel's chin. "Way to ruin the mood."
"No, I'm re-establishing the mood," he said. "We're not finished for the night. But I think we'll all be more comfortable on a bed." He pulled her to her feet, kicking her dress like the discarded piece of fabric it was to the side.
To save herself the awkward, naked shuffle to the other end of the house, Arwen reached out to take Cassian's hand, and winnowed them upstairs. Her hands immediately went to work on their leathers, hunting down the buckles and straps, swapping between them as her body was laid with kisses, both hot and cold.
Arwen gasped, the sound muffled as her open mouth bit into Azriel's muscled shoulder, nails clawing into his back. An act which she knew he loved, thriving on the pain, the way he told her it intensified everything he felt. Her held her with one arm wrapped around the low of her back, the other adjusting himself as he slipped inside her, Cassian settling up behind her.
"Ready, sweet thing?" Azriel whispered into her ear. She nodded wildly and he gripped her under her thighs, providing her enough support, considering she had little other than their bodies, to move. Cassian swore behind her.
Between them both, her body was like the heart of a fire, burning and full.
~
Arwen was the first to wake, the golden sun kissing her face. It was a beautiful moment, the entire house silent. She watched the dust hanging in the air, lit by the sunlight. Azriel held her from behind as he usually did, his wing laying over them both. In front of her, taking up a good portion of the bedspace, was Cassian. He laid on his stomach, head burrowed deep in her softest pillow. Both fast asleep.
She smiled at the foreign sight, gingerly running her fingertips along the tanned, muscled skin of his arm and back.
Slowly, Arwen peeled Azriel's arm off her and sat up. Creeping over top of them both, she fell silently to the floor and pulled on her silk gown, stepping over the discarded leathers. Sitting at her vanity, she rubbed at her eyes. Exhausted. There were plenty more words to describe how she felt, but that one topped them all. She sat there for a while, running the brush through her hair and pulling off the jewellery she had kept on overnight by accident then cleaning the kohl smeared under her eyes. She had little luck with the latter without cleansing oil that was in the washroom and some water.
On that trail of thought, Arwen rose and headed to her door. The brass knob was cool in her palm as she twisted it open.
Feyre stood on the other side, holding a large piece of fabric that was very familiar.
"Oh, I wasn't sure if you were awake," the High Lady said with a smile. "I was going to ask Elain if she wanted to go for a morning walk and thought I'd bring this up for you. It seems you might have had fun and I didn't think you'd want my sister..."
Feyre trailed off as her eyes went past Arwen to the room behind her. The mess of leathers on the floor. The two Illyrians on her bed. Naked Illyrians.
"Oh."
Arwen stood frozen.
Feyre grinned.
"Don't tell Rhys."
Feyre covered her mouth, laughter slipping through. She held out the dress in her other hand. "I'm not sure I want to be holding this."
Arwen snatched it and blindly tossed it behind her before slipping out of the door and shutting it behind her before Feyre's growing amusement could awaken either of them. Lips sealed tight, she stared at the ground, cheeks aflame. "On second thought, don't tell Mor either."
Feyre slipped an arm through hers. "I will abide by both those requests in exchange for the details. I think Elain could do with more of a sleep-in. My first question, since I've shared my bed with one Illyrianâdo the size of the wings matter?"
Arwen made it to the stairwell before she burst into laughter, nodding wildly.