#christmas nessian

[lib-arts]

Merry Christmas guys ❤️🎄

Cassian and Nesta Archeron from a court of silver flames, characters belong to Sarah J. Maas

art by me

[c-e-d-dreamer]

Not to alarm anyone, but the most wonderful time of the year starts in mere hours! 🙌

[slytherhys]

12 Days of Christmas - ACOTAR Edition

In the spirit of the Holidays, I will be writing & posting short stories about the ACOTAR characters for the next 12 days. Please note that some will be shorter than others and that this is simply meant to be a fun time for everyone that loves these characters as much as I do!

PS. I'm open to requests.

AO3

1st day of Christmas - Christmas Decorating

New Traditions (Modern Elriel AU)

Living with Elain Archeron, Azriel had found, implied a great many things. For starters, there wasn’t a windowsill that wasn’t peppered with colourful vases, the leaves green and luscious all year around. The kitchen, now covered in all kinds of baking supplies he couldn’t even begin to name, was constantly in such a state of disarray that the simple task of getting a glass of water easily turned into a hefty task. He couldn’t complain – not when every day he was greeted by a different kind of pastry his girlfriend was eagerly trying for the first time.

These, however, were details Azriel had been expecting when he first asked Elain to move in with him. What he hadn’t expected, however, was the sight of the enormous garland covered in berries, orange slices and small pinecones, hanging on their front door. Nor did he expect the tiny, chubby snowman sitting on it, staring at him with unwarranted joy. Azriel scowled.

It was the first day of December.

He opened the door, briefly wondering if Bing Crosby’s voice was crooning from their neighbour’s living room and not theirs. If the sweet voice singing along wasn’t his girlfriend’s – who couldn’t possibly be decorating on the 1st day of December – and belonged to Mrs. Allis instead.

Such wishful thinking was short-lived.

The house, Azriel noticed, smelled distinctively of ginger and cinnamon, and the wooden table in the foyer, usually covered in random knickknacks and their house keys, now sported entirely too many candles and a knitted reindeer wearing a Christmas sweater, welcoming him home with an innocent smile. Azriel settled his keys next to it, feeling oddly disturbed.

Azriel eyed the kitchen with concern. He wouldn’t go in – not yet at least – but he could glimpse Elain’s baking supplies on the counter, as well as a plate filled with red velvet brownies. Azriel swallowed a groan, fighting the urge to eat one – Elain knew how much he loved red velvet, but this felt premeditated. It felt like a bribery. 

He kept walking, following the sound of Elain’s voice as he pointedly ignored the gingerbread house kit on the kitchen table (and the fact it remained unopened). Apprehension coursed through his body as he eyed the mistletoe hanging in the archway leading to the living room. As it was, Azriel usually decorated on the week before Christmas, and that was if Cassian nagged him enough that he’d just give up and put up whatever crappy decorations he had gotten throughout the years (read an old, plastic Christmas tree and a few random Christmas ball that didn’t really look good together). Azriel rarely spent Christmas in his own house, so it had never made much sense to decorate in the first place.

Elain, however, clearly had different plans.

Sure, this was their first Christmas together, but he couldn’t say he had expected this much…dedication on her part.

Azriel stopped in his tracks just as he reached the living room, eyes widening as he took in every single detail. Their once cosy living room was no longer. Their couch, a beige, dull thing by default, was covered in a fuzzy, checkered blanket, white pillows dotting its cushions. The usually empty mantelpiece was now covered by a green garland, dotted with fairy lights. Hanging from it, two stockings – one with an A stitched into it, the other with an E (if he seemed to smile at the sight of it, it was purely a muscle spasm).

He fought the urge to groan, side-eyeing the checkered blanket with horror once again. At least, he thought, there were no knitted animals in the living room.

Needless to say, he wasn’t entirely convinced on the Christmas decorations.

His girlfriend, however, was a sight to behold. He crossed his arms, fighting to not let his amusement show as he watched her. Even in her pyjamas and frowning at the tangled Christmas lights in her hands, Elain was lovely. Her cheeks were slightly pink, lips pursed in concentration as she appeared to fight the knotted mess in front of her (it seemed to Azriel she was losing, but he refrained from commenting on it). There was an old Christmas hat on her head, one Azriel faintly recalled taking home from one of Cassian’s holiday parties. It was entirely too big on her head, but it only made her all the more charming.

She was sitting on the floor, right next to a very tall, very bare Christmas tree. More boxes littered the floor around her, but Elain remained humming, unconcerned and completely unaware of Azriel’s presence in front of her.

Azriel hated to ruin her peace, but the checkered blanket seemed to mock him from the couch. He cleared his throat, face stoic ever as Elain yelped and looked up, eyes widening as she blushed.

“You’re home!” She greeted, standing up as she unceremoniously dropped the Christmas lights on the floor. Azriel raised an eyebrow, watching her as she turned down the volume of the music.

“What are you doing?” He asked, briefly wondering if this was one of those times Nesta had accused him of taking himself too seriously. Whatever that meant.

Elain, however, wasn’t deterred by his seriousness. She smiled prettily. “Decorating.”

Azriel made a show of raising both eyebrows. “It’s the 1st of December.”

“Yes.” She simply said, as if that explained everything.

“It’s the first of December.” He said again, not sure she had heard him correctly the first time.

“I’m aware.” She said, pushing the beanie away from her eyes. She did look adorable. “I’m in a festive mood. I wanted to do some light decorating.”

“Light?” He was vaguely aware he sounded like a crabby old man. Elain was too if the twitch in her lips was any indication. “Isn’t this all too much?” He still asked, eyeing the blanket.

He truly didn’t like that thing.

Elain blinked. Then she blinked again, taking in their living room. The couch, the tree, the mantle garland. Then she frowned. “Are you messing with me?”

Azriel scoffed. “Why would I be messing with you?” He took a step in her direction and Elain eyed him suspiciously. “There’s a gingerbread house in our kitchen.”

“No, there’s a gingerbread house kit in our kitchen.” She explained very slowly. “We’re going to build it together.”

“No, we’re not.” He chuckled, but his smile quickly fell away at her raised eyebrows. “We are?” He asked, frowning even as she walked towards him, a pretty smile on her lips.

“We are.” Elain said, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “But I made you red velvet brownies as a reward.” She whispered.

Azriel groaned, pressing his head against her neck, making her squeal as his beard tickled her skin. “You can’t distract me with brownies.”

“Are you sure?”

Azriel chuckled, wrapping his arm around her waist as he pushed the Christmas hat away from her eyes. “I am.”

“Well, can I distract you with something else?” She asked, her fingers playing with the hairs on the nape of his neck. Azriel hummed, pressing his nose against her neck, taking her in for the first time in hours. He was almost distracted. Almost.

“Can we at least get rid of that blanket?”

Elain frowned, eyeing the couch. “What’s wrong with the blanket?”

Well, its very existence was wrong, in his opinion, and he opened his mouth to say just that.

“Nesta gave it to me.”

He promptly closed his mouth. The blanket was staying, then. Mother’s tits.

He cleared his throat. “And the tree?” He asked instead, trying to swiftly change the subject. Elain eyed with him a cheeky smirk, making it clear she was fully aware she had won the fight before it even begun.

Gods, he loved her.

“Were you going to start decorating it now?”

“Oh, well. No.” Elain turned shy, chuckling nervously. “I actually wanted to decorate it with you.”

“Right.” He nodded. “On the 1st of December?” He asked. Just to be sure. Elain chuckled, playfully pushing him away even as he tightened his hold around her.

She looked at the tree, avoiding his eyes. “I just wanted to give you a new tradition.” She shrugged. “Our own tradition.”

Oh. Oh.

He was an absolute fool.

Azriel looked at her, his heart beating wildly inside his chest. “You did, love?”

She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “If you want to, that is.”

It was all he could do not to drop to his knees and show her exactly how much he did.

He kissed her instead, his tongue seeking hers, his hands roaming around her body. He groaned at the taste of her, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist. Elain smiled against his lips.

“Is that a yes?” She asked, gasping as his hands found her ass.

“How could I ever say no to you?” And little did she know how much he really meant it.

Which would explain why, merely hours later, Azriel could be found wearing a stupid Christmas hat, ignoring the stupid checkered blanket, and helping Elain put up the last of the ornaments on the too big Christmas tree. And if he had a smile on his face…

Well, that had everything to do with the girl in his arms.

[shedoessoshedoes]

No okay but imagine a pre-nessian, pre-elriel modern au where the whole archeron family’s spending the holidays together, and Rhys and Feyre are sharing a room. There are two other rooms and Cassian refuses to sleep with Azriel because he’s worried Az is going to steal his snowball fight battle plans, so Cassian and Elain share and Nesta and Azriel share. And they all know Cassian and Nesta and Azriel and Elain are in love but no one’s confessed yet so it’s just Elain listening to Cassian talk about how perfect Nesta is, and Cassian bugging Elain about needing to ‘be a strong independent woman and ask Az out,’ and Nesta and Azriel just barely speaking but each night before they go to sleep in their separate twin beds one of them asks ‘did you tell them today?’ and the other one just very quietly says ‘no. did you?’ and then they just sigh and go to sleep. 

[oversizedbats]

WHERE is my hot dumbass of a man dragging me to a holiday party and bringing me peppermint tea and bragging to his friends & family about how good I am at hurting men and giving me the gift of music after the party and fighting with me when I say I’m not good enough for him and then proceeding to rail me all night while we promise each other forever

[theladyofdeath]

The Holiday {5}

Ships: Nesta x Cassian / Aelin x Rowan

Written alongside @snelbz

Trope(s): Christmas, fluff, love at first sight, enemies to lovers

Summary: Nesta has just been dumped. Aelin hates her job. Both women need an escape from reality and with Christmas quickly approaching, it's the perfect time for a getaway. After discovering a trend where people can swap houses for a non-traditional vacation experience, these two women decide to spend the holidays in each other's homes. With their houses comes a series of unique experiences and a couple of handsome suitors. It's time to see just how much a change of scenery and two weeks of Christmas solitude and romance can change a person.

A/N: We're halfway there! Thank you all for reading! x

Rating: M for mature - language, smut, substance use, etc. 18+.

Inspired by The Holiday (2006).

Nesta was curled up on the couch, burger half-eaten on the coffee table, proofreading the chapter she’d been working on, when she heard a knock on the front door. She snapped her laptop closed, as she always did when she was writing, and froze. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was after eleven.

Fear shot through her for a split second until realized who it likely was.

Getting to her feet, Nesta felt the bottle of wine she’d drank in the two hours she’d been home. It may not have been the best idea to edit while drinking, but she’d go back over it in the morning.

Hugging the sweater she was wearing tighter around herself, Nesta headed for the door, murmuring something about egotistical assholes under her breath.

Before opening the door, she rose up on her toes to look through the peephole, confirming her suspicions. With a sigh, she turned the lock and braced herself for the winter night.

Cassian was standing on the top step, his arms tucked underneath each other to fend off the cold.

“It’s late,” Nesta said, before realizing it was not the best version of hello.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he replied, although he didn’t look sorry at all. He held up a scarf that Nesta found familiar. “You left this at the bar. I told Gwyn and Em I’d get it back to you.”

“And it couldn’t wait until morning?” Nesta asked, brow arched.

“I’d probably forget by then,” he confessed with a grin. “Honestly I’m surprised you’re still up.”

Nesta scoffed. “Why? It’s eleven. Surely I don’t seem that boring.”

She didn’t bother to mention that she was usually in bed at such an hour, but judging from the gleam in Cassian’s eyes, he already knew as much. 

“Forgive my assumptions,” he said, and his tone was aggravatingly mocking. He held her scarf out once more and Nesta snatched it. “So what did you think?”

Nesta blinked. “About what?”

“Tonight,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “My set.”

She hadn’t expected him to be so direct, which was ridiculous, considering who she was talking to. Crossing her arms, Nesta shrugged. She could snap and bite, but she would never intentionally downplay someone’s talent. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was talented. “It was pretty good.”

Cassian rocked back on his heels, eyes going wide. “Was that an actual compliment?”

Rolling her eyes, Nesta turned, ready to close the door in his face, but he caught it. 

“Wait, wait,” he chuckled. “I’m sorry, I was just messing with you. Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

She longed to go back inside, to reclaim her cozy spot by the fire, but there was something about his warm, hazel eyes that captivated her. She wanted to talk to him, wanted to stay here and verbally spar with him…and that scared the shit out of her. The whole point of this vacation was to get a break from men. This trip was about her.

But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to go back inside. “Why don’t you play more of your own songs?”

He made a face, shaking his head. “Drunk people don’t want to hear my originals. They want to hear Wonderwall and Freefallin’.”

Nesta scrunched her nose. “Which are the opposites of all the songs us sober people want to hear.”

Cassian chuckled. “Pretty sure I saw you down a drink or two.”

“Yes, but I can hold my liquor,” Nesta crooned, eyes narrowing. It was so easy with him, this quick witted banter.

“I respect that,” Cassian said, and there was something in his eyes, something in his tone that made her toes curl and her stomach fill with anxious nausea. 

Nesta cleared her throat. She was caught somewhere between wanting to invite him in and wanting to tell him to get the hell out of her sight. She did neither. Instead, she blurted, “I’m sorry.”

That little sensual grin on his lips faltered. “For what?”

“Threatening to beat you with a frying pan,” she said, quietly. 

The laughter that tumbled out of the man before her was glorious. “It’s enlightening to find a woman who can protect herself. No apology necessary.” Nesta wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Instead, a chill swept over her body and she shivered.

Cassian caught the motion. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. It’s late. Goodnight, Nesta.”

Nesta nodded, her bottom lip sucked between her teeth. “Yeah, goodnight.” He had barely made it down the front porch steps before Nesta called out, “Hey, about those originals.”

Cassian stopped to look over his shoulder.

“Who cares what the audience wants to hear,” Nesta said, keeping her eyes on the falling snow instead of Cassian’s intense gaze. “You should play them anyways. I have no doubt they’ll continue to show up to watch you play whether you’re playing the world’s most overplayed songs or not.”

His eyes softened and he smiled. “And what do I have to play to convince you to come back?”

She was sure there was a similar smile on her own face. “You’ll have to figure that out on your own.”

Before he could say anything else, she closed the door and made her way to bed, proofreading and edits long forgotten.

<.><.><.><.><.><.>

Bored.

Aelin was so very bored. She’d looked through Nesta’s bookshelves, finding quite a few books from her favorite author, but she’d read them all before. There were only so many times she could refresh Facebook before she felt like she was going crazy and Nesta’s movie collection was embarrassingly slim.

So Aelin was bored.

The sun was starting to set and not only was Aelin bored, she was hungry.

She could go for another burger, maybe a plate of onion rings, and there was a certain someone she wouldn’t mind splitting that plate of onion rings with.

But when she scrolled through her text messages, looking for the contact she’d saved as Delivery Boy, she couldn’t find it.

She couldn’t find any of her recent text messages she realized. It was like her phone had reverted back to a previous backup.

With a sigh, she tossed her phone aside. He had told her to let him know if she wanted company, and now she couldn’t even do that. Nesta’s note with his number on it had gone out in the trash the day before, and she wasn’t desperate enough to go dumpster diving.

She didn’t mind a little hunt, though. 

This town was tiny and someone who was out and about had to know where he was. Maybe she would still find him at the tree lot or maybe he was already sitting alone at the diner. There were only so many places to go in the little town and with the heaps of snow falling from the sky, she couldn’t imagine that he would leave the town limits. 

After hopping in Nesta’s car, Aelin drove at an alarmingly slow rate to the town’s heart, but when she pulled up in front of the tree lot, it was closed.

It wasn’t even 6:30, but Aelin had a feeling that things didn’t stay open as late here as they did in the city.

Her next stop was the diner, and although it was busy and full of life, there was no Rowan. Aelin sat down at the counter and ordered a grilled cheese and a cup of soup with another delicious chocolate milkshake. 

The same server from before was waiting on her and when she stopped to drop off a few extra napkins, Aelin asked, “Do you know how I can get in touch with Rowan?”

The woman lifted a brow, her eyes bright. “May I ask why?”

Aelin felt her cheeks burn. “I had his number but lost it. I was…hoping to get more firewood delivered. You know, so I don’t freeze to death.”

Her server chuckled. “Unfortunately, I don’t have his number. But I do know where he lives.”

Aelin blinked, eyebrows raising. “O…kay?”

The woman, more than a few years her senior, read the expression on her face and howled with laughter. “Oh, honey, nothing like that. He’s far too pretty for my taste. This is a small town, remember? He lives a few minutes up the mountain from my cousin.”

Aelin nodded, chuckling to herself, though she didn’t disagree that Rowan was pretty. “Great, could you tell me his address?”

“Don’t have that either,” she said, heading for the counter where a customer was waiting to pay. “Just look for the house with green shutters about halfway up the mountain.”

Before Aelin could thank the woman, she was greeting the father and his son and asking how their meal was. Finishing up her own meal, she glanced at the check and left cash on the table, with plenty left over for a tip. With a wave to the helpful server, she was out into the snowy Orynth night.

It wasn’t until she had passed Nesta’s cottage and continued up the mountain that she realized the unexpected flaw in her grand plan of hunting down Rowan. What if he wasn’t home? What if he was busy? Or out on a date? He hadn’t been very forthcoming when they’d talked about relationships. She hoped she wasn’t reading into things too far, but at this point, she was approaching stalker territory as she tracked him down, so she decided to see it through to the end.

However it ended.

Her nerves increased as she drove a mile, then one more, before spotting a white, two story house with green shutters. She wasn’t sure how popular green shutters were, but it wouldn’t hurt to ring the doorbell.

Aelin cut the engine and trekked through the snow. She peeked into the garage off to the side and saw Rowan’s truck. Good, she had the right place and it looked like he was home. 

With a deep breath, she ascended the stairs and rang the doorbell. When no one came, she knocked.

This time, she caught a tall shadow through the glass window and before she could form a complete, rational thought, the door was opening.

It looked like Rowan had been in the middle of laughing but when he spotted her, his smile faded into surprise. “Oh, Aelin. Hi.”

She wasn’t sure how he would respond to seeing her, but her heart sank. Feeling foolish, she said, “Hey. I’m…sorry to bother you. I just…I lost your number and the server at the diner told me—“

Rowan stepped out onto the porch and cracked the door behind him. “No, no, it’s fine. Is everything okay?” 

Aelin nodded, trying her best to come up with a random excuse. “Firewood.”

Rowan arched a brow. “Firewood?”

“I need more firewood.”

“You already went through that entire pile? It was supposed to last until you left.”

“Yes, well, I like to be warm.”

The sound of glasses clinking came from inside and it was then that Aelin realized soft music was playing, too.

Foolish.

She was so damn foolish.

“Oh, gods, you have a date,” Aelin said, backing back down the stairs. “I am so sorry.”

“No—”

“Don’t worry about the wood,” she rambled. “I’ll manage.”

“Aelin—”

“Have a good night, Rowan.” With shaking knees and cheeks that felt like they were on fire, Aelin stepped off the bottom step and into the snow with a crunch.

She had just turned her back to him when she heard, “Dad?”

Aelin froze before slowly turning back around. Behind Rowan in the now open doorway was his spitting image in leggings and a high ponytail. She couldn’t have been older than seven, and Aelin suddenly felt even more foolish as the child’s green, curious eyes studied her.

Rowan had hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at Aelin with a breathy laugh. “You, uh…caught us during our tea party.”

Aelin was stunned. Shocked. Honestly, she’d expected literally anything but this.

Rowan turned back towards the door. “Sutton, why don’t you grab us a couple more snacks from the kitchen and I’ll be right back in, yeah?”

She nodded, her eyes still on Aelin, but did as she was told. The door clicked shut and Aelin could have sworn it was the loudest noise in the world.

Rowan’s hands were shoved in his pockets and he cleared his throat. “So…”

“You have a daughter,” she said, slowly.

“I do,” he said, his voice suddenly guarded.

She took a step back towards the house and then ascended the steps again. “You never mentioned you had a daughter.” She paused as she reached the top, pausing in front of him. “You also never mentioned you had a wife.”

“I don’t,” he replied, and she immediately picked up on the note of grief she could hear in his voice. “I’m a widower. She died when Sutton was two. Car accident.”

“I’m so sorry, Rowan,” Aelin breathed, wanting to reach out and take his hand. She didn’t though, she just stood there looking up at him.

This night had taken a turn she wasn’t expecting. Not that she had a crazy amount of expectations, she really was looking for someone to spend some time with. The cottage down the mountain was cozy as could be, but she’d realized how lonely she’d been feeling.

The shrug he gave her was irreverent. “Like I said, it’s been a while.”

“I’m sorry for intruding on your night, I just thought— nevermind, it doesn’t matter.” Aelin turned, hurrying down the porch stairs again. “Goodnight, Rowan.”

“You’re leaving?”

Once again, she froze. His voice sent chills down her body as she turned to meet his gaze and that humor that had returned to his eyes. Aelin blinked. 

“At least tell me why you really came before you go,” he said, and his tone had gone quieter. 

Aelin hesitated. 

“Because we both know you have plenty of firewood,” he went on. Gods, he was taunting her. With a chuckle, he opened his mouth to say something else, to surely pick on her some more, but the front door slowly inched open again. Sutton gave Aelin a shy look before motioning for Rowan to bend down. He did, and she whispered something into his ear. 

They both looked at Aelin, who rocked back on her heels, and Rowan whispered something into his daughter’s ear.

It was clear they were talking about Aelin, and she didn’t like it one bit. But, after a minute had passed of them going back and forth, Rowan rose to full height and Sutton asked, “We’re just about to make dinner. Do you like pizza? We’re making our own and you can make one too, if you want.”

Aelin started. Once again, she wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but that wasn’t it. 

Aelin looked to Rowan who was watching her with a small smile. He mouthed, Sorry. You can say no. 

But Aelin took a step forward and ascended the stairs, once again. “I love homemade pizza.”

Rowan opened the door wider and beckoned her forward. “But first we have to finish our tea party.”

Sutton was hilarious. She may have looked like her father, with her green eyes and silver hair, but her bright laughter, the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, Aelin could see hints of someone else.

She found herself wondering about Rowan’s late wife as he and Sutton closed out their tea party and then they all three made their way into the kitchen. Even as Sutton bombarded her with questions about who she was and why she was here and Does the sky really sparkle in Velaris, Aelin kept thinking about Rowan’s nameless wife.

“I think that’s enough cheese,” Rowan said, raising an eyebrow as Sutton added a fourth handful to her pizza.

“You’re making yours and I’m making mine.” Her sweet voice was full of sass and Aelin already adored the little girl after spending only about an hour with her. “And mine is a cheeeeese pizza.”

Aelin met Rowan’s gaze just as he sighed, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it. The smile on his lips gave him away. “Why don’t we compromise and put half of the cheese back and add something green?”

Scrunching her nose, Sutton shook her head. “Gross. Just cheese.”

“Miss Aelin has peppers and olives on her pizza,” he said, gesturing to where Aelin was assembling her own dinner. “If Miss Aelin is eating it, I bet it’s really good.”

With a wary expression, Sutton looked over at Aelin’s pizza. “Are the peppers hot?”

“Nope,” Aelin replied, popping a slice of raw bell pepper into her mouth. “They’re actually kind of sweet. Want to try?”

The little girl pursed her lips before stretching out her hand. Aelin placed a small piece into her hand and she examined it. Looking between her father and Aelin, she asked, “You promise it isn’t spicy?”

Aelin squatted down so she was on the same level where she sat at the kitchen table. “I pinky promise.”

She held out her fist to Sutton, pinky extended, and held her breath. After a moment, Sutton reached out and wrapped her pinky around Aelin’s, then she popped the pepper into her mouth.

After chewing for a minute, she made a face. “It’s not spicy but I don’t want it on my pizza.”

“You gave it a shot and that’s all that matters,” Aelin smiled, holding out her hand for a high five. “Good job.”

Sutton smacked her hand in a high five and then looked at her father. “Can I go play with my dragons, daddy?”

He ran his fingers through the length of her long ponytail. “Of course, sweetheart, I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

She bounded away and Aelin couldn’t help her chuckle. “She’s feisty, but adorable.”

He groaned, rubbing his hands up and down his face as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. “You’re telling me. The teenage years are going to be horrible.”

Aelin groaned, too. “Being a teenage girl…” She shook her head. “You couldn’t pay me enough to relive that.”

Rowan took a deep breath. “May the gods help me.”

Aelin laughed and watched as Rowan put all three perfectly made pizzas into the oven. She continued to watch as he closed the oven and slowly turned back to face her. He leaned back against the counter and said, softly, “I’m glad you stayed. We don’t get a lot of new people around here and Sutton has never been so intrigued with a stranger. I’m sorry if you thought the offer was weird.”

“I didn’t think it was weird,” Aelin said, stepping toward him. “And I’m glad I stayed too.”

Rowan’s eyes flickered down the hall before remeeting Aelin’s gaze. “Are you ever gonna tell me why you randomly showed up on my porch?”

“I—”

“If you lie about firewood one more time…”

Aelin huffed a laugh. “I think you already know the answer.”

“Maybe,” he confessed, “but I wouldn’t mind hearing you say it.”

Aelin sighed then shrugged. Her heart was racing and a nausea that she didn’t seem to hate was filling her stomach. “I guess I wanted to see you.”

His smile was something to behold as he said, “I wanted to see you, too.”

“You did?” Her voice was high and breathy, but as he pushed off the counter and approached her, she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

“I was actually planning to call you tomorrow,” he said, pausing in front of her.

She squeaked. “You were?” Apparently, she was unable to speak more than two words at a time.

“I was.” He looked down the hall again, listening for approaching footsteps. “Sutton is staying the night with her grandma tomorrow night. I know you’re having dinner with me tonight, but I thought it might be nice to go to dinner tomorrow night.”

“Like a date?” Aelin asked, breathless.

He nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. “Yeah, like a date.”

Aelin swallowed. “You do realize that I’m only here for another week, right?”

“I do,” he said, quietly, his head cocked to the side. “And I’d still like to take you out, even if it’s just this once.”

There was something spontaneously romantic about the idea of a one time date, of a night where two people could go all out because they may never see one another again. And this man before her, this gorgeous man who was weakening her knees, could without a doubt give her one hell of a night.

“Pick me up at seven?” She asked, and she had the urge to step close to him, to take his hand, to brush her fingertips along his cheek, but she wouldn’t, not tonight when his daughter was just down the hall.

“Seven,” he breathed and nodded, just as the oven timer went off.

[snelbz]

The Holiday {2}

Ships: Nesta x Cassian / Aelin x Rowan

Written alongside @theladyofdeath.

Trope(s): Christmas, fluff, love at first sight, enemies to lovers

Summary: Nesta has just been dumped. Aelin hates her job. Both women need an escape from reality and with Christmas quickly approaching, it's the perfect time for a getaway. After discovering a trend where people can swap houses for a non-traditional vacation experience, these two women decide to spend the holidays in each other's homes. With their houses comes a series of unique experiences and a couple of handsome suitors. It's time to see just how much a change of scenery and two weeks of Christmas solitude and romance can change a person.

A/N: It's December, which means the holiday season has officially begun! This one has been a blast to write, we never write such fluffy stuff. We hope y'all are enjoying it, too!

Rating: M for mature - language, smut, substance use, etc. 18+.

Inspired by The Holiday (2006).

The hour-long Uber ride was not what Aelin was expecting when she got off the plane at nearly ten o’clock at night, but it was sure as hell what she got. Her driver, a blessedly quiet man named Ilias, asked her what kind of music she liked, found a Pandora station dedicated to it, and they were off. After traveling all day, she knew there was no reason to be as exhausted as she was, but keeping her eyes open was proving to be a challenge as he left Orynth proper and drove up into the mountains.

Thankfully, just as she thought she would really doze off, the car came to a stop. A blast of cold hit her as he got out and popped open the back hatch.

It was frigid in Orynth, a different kind of cold than she was used to in Velaris.

After unloading her suitcase and ensuring she had both her purse and backpack, Ilias bade her farewell, backed out of the drive and headed down the long, single-lane road that curved along the mountain. They’d passed another cabin coming up and she knew more were likely farther up, but all she could focus on was the one before her.

Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she checked the screenshot of the information Nesta had sent her. She’d warned there could be spotty cell service the farther into the mountains you went and she hadn’t been wrong. Thanks to the wifi password she’d already memorized, she knew she wouldn’t be without TikTok or Facebook for long.

After locating the key under a bucket in the front porch, Aelin unlocked the door and walked in.

Only to immediately shiver.

“By the Wyrd, how is it colder in here than it is out there?” Aelin murmured, snagging her bags from the porch and pulling them in. She closed the door, walking deeper into the cottage.

“Cozy mountain cottage, my ass,” she muttered, walking around the living room, looking for the small pad on the wall to control the central heating.

After searching for nearly two minutes, she still hadn’t found it.

The cottage wasn’t big by any means. It was certainly cute and meant to be homey, if only there was warmth of some kind. She had no idea how this woman hadn’t turned into a popsicle or died of hypothermia. 

There was a main room, which held a tv, a little sitting bench by a massive window, and walls lined with bookshelves. Reading — it was an apparent hobby that Aelin shared with Nesta. She made a mental note to check out the shelves of books as soon as she wasn’t freezing her ass off. 

Luckily, all the lamps she tried worked beautifully, lighting up the small space. There was a short hallway off of the kitchen where the bedroom and bathroom were. After tossing her bags on the neatly made bed full of blankets and pillows, Aelin made her way back into the living room. The space was far too cold for the heat to only have been turned off when Nesta left, which meant that there was no heat in this place at all.

Who the hell survived in the mountains with no central heat?

Aelin felt very strongly that such a fact should have been on the vacation listing. 

With a frustrated, exhausted sigh, Aelin turned to face the fireplace. There were no logs in the fireplace which meant that she’d have to make her way outside in the snowy darkness to try and find some. Being almost midnight, it was the last thing she wanted to do.

She wanted to sleep.

Maybe have a snack.

She wanted warmth. 

Gods, she was freezing.

After turning on the flashlight on her phone, Aelin threw open the front door.

And screamed.

A giant figure stood at the threshold, his fist raised to knock. He didn’t look startled in the slightest as Aelin cursed, her heart racing. Instead, he simply raised a brow, his green eyes scanning Aelin’s face. He was covered in layers, all of them black or dark green. Snow dusted the coat on his shoulders and his knit beanie, which stopped just above his thick brows.

“What the hell?” Aelin yelled, one hand bracing the door to keep herself steady. “It’s the middle of the night! Who the hell are you?”

Once again, he was not phased by Aelin’s outburst. Instead he tossed a thumb over his shoulder. “I brought wood.”

Aelin blinked as she scoffed. “You brought wood? At midnight? You brought wood at midnight? Is that when this woman usually gets her wood? At midnight?”

The euphemism wasn’t lost on Aelin but she didn’t say anything about it. Thankfully, neither did he.

The fist he would have used to knock with slowly fell back to his side. He shoved those hands into his pockets. “No, usually I’m here promptly at ten every couple of days, which is when I would have been here tomorrow…which is also when I thought you’d be getting here, not today. I was on my way home when I saw the lights on and knew I’d gotten the day wrong. Thought you might be cold.”

She was. Gods, she was. “I’m fine.”

She swore she saw his lips quirk as he looked over her shoulder at the dull, empty fireplace. “I’m guessing Nesta didn’t mention that you’d have to heat the place yourself.” 

“Look,” Aelin began, taking a deep breath as her fingers tightened on the door. “I’m tired. I’m grumpy. A little hangry, even. All I want to do is climb into bed, close my eyes, and hopefully wake up in the morning to not regret this decision I’ve made. So, if you would, get the hell off my property so I can make that happen.”

“It’s not your property, but I admire your conviction,” he said, and Aelin hated how he wasn’t even the slightest bit phased by her. “Why don’t you go get ready for bed, unpack your shit, and I’ll start a fire for you?”

Aelin nearly gaped. “You want me to let you, a man that could be a murderer for all I know, in here? Who shows up at midnight—”

“I’m trying to be helpful,” he interrupted, clearly getting frustrated. “If you prefer to chop your own wood and light your own flame, that’s fine. I have places to be.” He turned his back to her and slowly descended the stairs, back to the snow covered path to his truck. “Nesta said she left a note letting you know how to reach me when you need wood. Call, I guess, if you don’t want to freeze to death. I’d hurry. It’s only getting colder tonight.”

By the time Aelin remembered how to speak, he was climbing into the cab of his truck, which was still running, and gunning the engine. Up the mountain he went and Aelin grumbled something about unpacking her shit and went to retrieve the bundle of wood he’d set down at the top of the staircase.

Closing the door, and locking it for emphasis, Aelin found the instructions Nesta had left for her, including a phone number for Rowan, who she could only assume was her new friend. She hastily lit the fireplace and wood burning stove in the back bedroom, and before she knew it, the cottage was nearly as cozy as it’d been in the listing.

She connected to the wifi and sent a text to Lysandra, letting her know she’d safely made it and settled in. 

And then she checked her email.

There were nearly thirty emails and Aelin was almost positive twenty-five of them would be from Arrobyn. She had ignored his texts throughout the day, going so far as to send him to voicemail as she was boarding her flight to Orynth, something she’d never done. None of them were letting her know she’d been fired, so whatever Nox had done had appeased their boss, though he was already making demands for her to be at the office bright and early the day she was back in town.

With a groan, she turned her phone off and reminded herself she was here for a break. From Arrobyn, from life in Velaris, from everything.

There was a bottle of wine on the counter, near her note with Rowan’s phone number, with another note tied around the neck. It had another number on it, in the same feminine scrawl.

Give me a call if you need anything at all! Hope we both get the escapes we need.

Nesta

Although Rowan had pissed her off, Nesta seemed welcoming…even if Aelin had a slightly warmer idea of what welcoming meant. Nonetheless, Aelin hoped they both got their escapes, too. In the morning, she would make sure that she got her relaxing vacation. She wouldn’t accept any other fate.

Just after one, Aelin poured herself a small glass of wine and snuggled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. She had only drunk half of it before she fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

<.>.<.>.<.>

Since arriving the night before, Nesta was scared to touch anything.

Aelin’s townhouse was immaculate. Everything was sleek and modern, and fell into the white, gray, calming blue color scheme. From the second she had opened the door, she felt like she had walked into a magazine. Only one thing looked out of place, and that was the Christmas tree. Sitting in the living room, it was tall and green and covered in ornaments. It was a nice, cheery sight. Nesta couldn’t remember the last time she’d help put up a Christmas tree. It hadn’t been since her childhood, certainly. 

Although their tastes were different, Aelin did have a good collection of books in her bedroom. Nesta spotted some romances and thought she’d spend a couple days diving into the pages.

Not today, though.

Today she would explore the city. 

She’d arrived in Velaris around eight the night before. The drive to the townhouse was less than twenty minutes and Nesta instantly made herself comfortable. The fridge had been recently stocked and the liquor cabinet was full. Judging from that and the look of her townhouse, Nesta had no idea what Aelin did for work but she decided that the woman did fairly well. There was no way Nesta would be able to afford anything close to this on her author’s salary. Although her books had begun to do well in the last few years, money went fast. 

Having been asleep by ten, Nesta was wide awake before eight, surprising herself by how well she was adjusting to the time change. Maybe the jet lag would hit her later. She needed to take advantage of her time before that happened.

It was snowing outside but wasn’t too cold. The second the flakes hit the sidewalk, they’d melt. It was a nice change from trudging through feet of snow like she did back home. Considering the heart of the city wasn’t far, Nesta decided she would walk. After putting on her boots and coat, she grabbed her purse off the bar in the kitchen and slung it across her body before locking Aelin’s door behind her and strutting toward the city. 

Velaris was beautiful.

Not only the starlight, which Nesta had admired the night before in awe, but the city itself was stunning. The skyscrapers were massive, the people were cheery, and the shops were busy. Everything was decorated - every building, every bus stop, every park bench. The light poles had ribbons wrapped around them like presents and the statues were surrounded by string lights and holly. Nesta had never seen anything like it. With the city so big and so much to do, she was afraid even two weeks wouldn’t be time to see it all.

She didn’t want to waste a single second and before she knew it, it was lunch time and she’d stopped at a restaurant whose windows were open to the hustle and bustle of the streets outside, despite the temperature. Thanks to a roaring fire in the hearth, Nesta was cozy as could be as she sipped her tea and ate the most amazing BLT she’d ever had.

“Everything good over here?” Her server, Emerie, stopped by, a stack of plates in her hand.

“It’s all lovely,” Nesta replied, giving the dark haired woman a polite smile. It was more than she usually offered those around her, but this trip she’d decided to try and be nicer to people. Unless they deserved it, at least. Starting with her sweet waitress was easy. “Thank you so much.”

Emerie’s brows bunched together before she said, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to ask. Where are you from? I’ve been trying to figure out your accent, but I can’t.”

Nesta’s own eyebrows raised, not realizing she even had an accent, but she was a long way from home. “I’m from a small town just south of Spring, but I’ve lived in Orynth for years.”

“Orynth? In Terrasen?” Emerie’s eyes were wide. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. And cold.”

Nesta couldn’t help but laugh. “That it is.”

“What brings you to Velaris?” Emerie asked, a bus boy coming and taking the dirty dishes off her hands. “Are you visiting for the holidays or did you just move to town?”

Shaking her head, despite the fact that she’d been asked two questions, Nesta said, “Just needed a vacation from life. Thought the City of Starlight was the place to do just that.”

“Well, if you’re looking for suggestions to start this vacation of yours, I can give you a few places to check out,” she suggested, and the offer was too kind to decline. Five minutes later, Nesta had a long list on her phone of places to enjoy, starting with the Rainbow.

It was a strip of local artists in shops and vendor carts. Sculptures lined the streets and murals covered the brick walls. As soon as she started exploring the Rainbow of Velaris that afternoon, Nesta decided that Feyre would be in heaven there. In fact, she picked up a few pieces to bring home to her sister for Christmas. There was a painting, a landscape piece of something called Starfall that Nesta was mesmerized by, and a tiny clay sculpture of an ancient being with dark, incandescent wings that caught her attention. Feyre would love both.

She spent hours there, admiring the art, exploring the street. By the time the sun began to set, Nesta was exhausted, but feeling fulfilled. She also found a set of glass roses for Elain. Although Nesta would be missing Christmas with her sisters, she would come home with unforgettable presents. 

Realizing she was starving and not wanting to test Aelin’s kitchen out just yet, Nesta checked the list that Emerie helped her create. There was a little bar and grill not far from Aelin’s that Emerie gave a glowing review. Apparently it had live music, which was always a plus. By the time she made it back to the townhouse, however, Nesta’s feet were killing her and she almost cursed herself for not wearing more practical shoes. The boots looked cute, but they’d been worth it. After dropping off her sister’s gifts, she decided they were cute enough to be worth it again.

A drink would help her forget about her aching feet, surely.

It only took her a few minutes to reach the Illyrian from the townhouse and when she arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to find it busy. It gave her a chance to watch people, to imagine the stories and lives the people around her led. There was a lone table open, thanks to the gloriously chaos of open seating and Nesta found herself sitting before a small stage.

The bartender came, a handsome man about her again, with eyes a color of violet she’d never encountered before, and promised to return with a Jack and Coke and the best thing the kitchen had to offer.

As she waited, she began to relax. She spotted a couple at the bar, happy in love, then another couple a few spots down that couldn’t seem to stop fighting. There were a few loners there, too, surely hoping to find love or at least love for a night. Nesta wondered what people thought about her, sitting at a table alone, but quickly realized that she did not care. 

Especially not as her drink came.

She sipped her Jack and Coke, continuing to watch those around her. Fifteen minutes passed before her waiter returned with the biggest bacon cheeseburger she’d ever seen, with homemade chips, and she ordered another drink to go along with it.

As she took the first bite — the first glorious bite — a man came out on the stage with a guitar. In a matter of seconds, a hush fell over the people in the restaurant and a group of women ran back to their table, giving him their full attention.

Nesta rolled her eyes.

He was one of those.

He cleared his throat as he sat down in the stool, leaning forward to speak into the microphone. “What’s up? Y’all know the drill. You want a song, I’ll play it if I know it. And if I don’t, I’ll pretend I do.” The gaggle of girls laughed far more enthusiastically than they should have. “Relax, have a drink, and tip your bartenders, unless it’s that asshole.”

He pointed at the violet-eyed man who was, in fact, the one serving her and was rolling his eyes, and started strumming.

Nesta was surprised at just how mesmerizing his voice was. It was husky and sensual and matched his rugged good looks. He wore a dark gray henley, jeans, and boots, and his hair was tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. There was a day or two’s worth of stubble along his jawline and his hazel eyes were bright in the stage lights trained on him. Most of the songs he played were covers, though he’d tossed a few original songs in now and then. Original songs that weren’t too bad.

He had just finished a request from one of the fan girls sitting at the table next to her own when she realized he was…looking at her.

She wasn’t sure how to take it, wasn’t sure how to handle his piercing stare. He must’ve seen the hesitancy in her body, because he chuckled as he started singing once more. 

Started singing directly to her.

She liked it and hated it at the same time. There was a thrill that shot through her along with the dread and panic that had settled in the pit of her stomach. A couple of the fan girls shot disgusted looks her way and Nesta couldn’t blame them. There she was, sloppily eating a burger by herself while getting serenaded by a guy they were obviously obsessed with.

He was handsome.

He also liked the attention and Nesta could tell. He was the type of man that thrives on a woman’s attention, the kind that used it to his advantage and ran with it.

She wondered which of these groupies he’d be taking home tonight. Nesta looked pointedly at him as she took the last bite of her burger and that stupid grin appeared again as the beautiful words streamed from his mouth.

She suddenly realized he was singing Your Body is a Wonderland and scoffed, pulling enough money out of her wallet to cover her tab and tip her server.

With a final look at the stage, finding his eyes still on her and a smirk still on his handsome face, Nesta turned and left.

She couldn’t shake the feeling his gaze was on her the whole way home.

[rhysiedarling]

🎁 Happy Yulemas 🎄

Here's an artwork done by the great @madschofield

I absolutely love this piece & all the little details in it!

[whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk]

Begged & Borrowed Time (viii, ao3)

(Chapter eight: On a frosty and foggy walk into the village, more barriers are broken down and Nesta and Cassian *finally* touch.) (Prologue // previous chapter // next chapter)

He had watched as Nesta followed the outline of that star stamped in wax, and all he could think was… Carynth. It’s called Carynth.

He could feel the question she left unasked, the curiosity unvoiced. As she turned her face away and rang the bell for the housekeeper, Cassian longed to tell her… everything. As she made her excuses to Mrs Laurent, giving false apologies as she recounted how she’d been mistaken and she couldn’t wait for her sister after all, he was altogether desperate to tell her what that mountain was called. What it meant, and how it had almost killed him, once. He wanted to tell her what those stars meant, what they meant to him in particular. He wanted her to ask— needed her to know.

And he wasn’t just wondering what she’d look like, be like, in Velaris now. As Nesta had traced the mountains of his home embedded in wax, he’d thought of her in Illyria, too.

And it was the most reckless, stupid thing he’d ever done, but… he’d stopped caring. Ceased, the moment he’d lifted a hand to her cheek and almost - almost - touched her.

It had almost shattered him. Almost broken him completely as he had unravelled before that window, telling her the darkest parts of his history. His hands were so bloodstained that there was never any hope of getting them clean, but she hadn’t so much as blinked as he’d confessed to murder, and it… It broke him apart in the most beautiful, brutal way.

So even though Rhys wanted him home, even though he had things to do in Velaris and Windhaven… he pushed it all aside. Every single one of his responsibilities was left by the wayside, shunned in favour of walking Nesta into the village. As she led the way out of that quiet sitting room, Cassian thought of how Rhys had done the same, turned down Rita’s for walking Feyre home. Some deep, hidden, part of him clanged with understanding, with clarity, but Cassian refused to acknowledge it. Refused to think about why walking down that cold and frozen road suddenly felt so… vital. 

Outside, the fog that had been slowly gathering before had descended completely, shrouding the land in a veil so dense that even Cassian struggled to see far ahead. It was freezing fog, the kind that turned the sky murky and made it impossible to see where the earth ended and the horizon began. Lost— they were swallowed, engulfed, by mist as they walked down that curving driveway, little more than two souls adrift on an endless sea of grey, no end in sight. Even the lowest branches of the trees were cloaked, and the sun was masked, shining weak and thin, illuminating the swirls they created as they walked, the shifting current in the fog like waves pushed towards shore with every one of their footsteps.

Frost coated the road, the grass, and frozen cobwebs stretched, rope-like, between the branches he could see, a silver and glistening web catching the light and glinting. He might have thought it pretty, might have seen the beauty, had it not been so damned treacherous. 

He sidestepped a patch of black ice and… How could he leave her now, to walk this road alone?

He let a small smirk cross his face as his excuse for walking Nesta into the village presented itself. It wasn’t a lie, was it? When he told Rhys later that he couldn’t very well let her walk by herself, it wouldn’t be a lie. She could have slipped on that patch of ice and broken her neck, and who would have posted their letter then?

She looked chilled to the bone already.

Her cheeks were pink with cold, the tip of her nose red, and her thin cloak was doing nothing at all to ward against the weather. As they slipped through the iron gates of the Archeron estate, Nesta tucked her hands beneath her arms to preserve some warmth, and Cassian wondered how angry she’d be if he ignored her wishes entirely and slit her husband’s throat anyway. For letting her shiver, for wasting her money and leaving her with a threadbare cloak… For that alone, the wretched bastard deserved it. 

Gods, the winter air almost ripped Cassian to shreds. It had cut through both his flying leathers and the shield he’d had up when he’d spent the best part of an hour waiting for her on the lawn that morning. He shuddered as he looked at the thin fabric of her cloak again, and something within him started to keen, to ache. 

He wasn’t fool enough to pretend he didn’t have a weakness where she was concerned. Wasn’t going to pretend that seeing her cold didn’t bring it all back for him, all those winters he’d spent shaking and cold too. And oh, he was still murderous. Still incandescent with rage as he remembered all she’d told him in that sitting room, but… Nesta shuddered too as the fog brushed her skin, and Cassian broke apart anew. 

“You can…” he began slowly, clearing his throat as he fought for the words, ones he knew damn well he probably shouldn’t say. “You can have this, if you want.” 

He tried to make it sound casual. Tried to make light of it as he plucked at the lapel of his leather jacket, offering it to her as if it were nothing, as if it held no significance whatsoever.

“I told you once before that I don’t want your pity,” Nesta said blandly, tucking her arms tighter to her chest, her fingers burying in the worn fabric of her cloak. Her steps slowed as she navigated more ice underfoot, and Cassian huffed bitterly, his fingers falling away from his leathers. 

When the Attor had attacked, she’d seen the softness in his eyes and thought it pity. She’d scorned it, scorned him, for daring to look at her with sympathy— with empathy, as though it were worse than any of the insults he could hurl at her.

As though it were more dangerous— as though, if she let it, that softness might just cut her deeper than any blade.

“And I told you its not pity,” he countered flatly.

But Nesta shook her head, sending that cotton and lavender scent to him on a fresh wave, right to his head. She didn’t look up, didn’t meet his gaze, only kept her eyes down, down at the road covered with frost beneath them. Silence settled, and Cassian’s jacket remained on his own back, even though he knew it should have been on hers. Gods, she was so fucking stubborn.

He admired it.

And cursed it too, because she was so desperately cold and yet still too proud to take his damned jacket. So Cassian did the only other thing he could— he drew up whatever fragments of power he had left in his seven siphons, letting them burn as furiously as they could given the limitations of the wall. The shield he wove around them was thick, muffling all sound from the forest beyond and keeping the worst of the cold at bay. It wasn’t much, and he could feel the strain pulling at each of his muscles, the wall shrouding his power as much as the fog shrouded the road ahead. No, it wasn’t much at all, not compared to the depth and breadth of power he could call on back at home— but it was enough to warm the air around them, enough to stop Nesta shivering as the wind brushed past, to stop it’s frozen bite from kissing her cheeks.

Curiously, Nesta eyed the siphons that were flickering now, giving off a meagre ration of heat. She stepped closer, and Cassian didn’t know whether it was conscious on her part or not—he only wondered why he hadn’t tried it sooner. Why he’d not done it the moment they’d left the manor, if it meant she’d be walking so close to his side that he could feel her arm brush against his.

The red glow from his hands illuminated her skin, turning her almost ethereal in the mist, and she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Around them, the fog swirled, dancing as they moved through it, and with everything else muffled… All Cassian could see was her. All he could hear was her, all he could think of was her.

But her eyes were still on his siphons, a silence settling between them that was broken only by the sound of their footsteps crunching through the frost. 

Cassian heard the whisper of breath before she spoke. 

Heard the slight hesitation, as if she were second-guessing, before she said, “You mentioned your mother.” 

Her words were quiet, but she glanced up at him as if tentative, as if this were a wall she wasn’t sure she wanted to break down. Not from fear or from apprehension, but because… Because, he guessed, she didn’t know what it would mean for her to be curious about him, his past. Didn’t know what it would mean for him to answer. 

After a beat of silence in which Cassian could hear her heart, she asked, “What happened?”

He shrugged. “It’s not a pretty story.”

“The ones worth knowing rarely are.”

A breath— one that stuttered in his lungs.

He was a being possessed of preternatural grace, blessed with predatory instincts he’d spent all of five centuries honing— but all of that immortal ease instantly surrendered, gave way to this twenty-something mortal woman as her words hit him like a blow, a physical touch that knocked the breath from his chest.

He wondered if she realised what she’d just said, what those words meant— that she found something about him, about his life, worth knowing.

He wondered if she could understand what it meant, to have someone find value in his past, when for a large portion of his life… He’d thought all of it worthless. All those days in Windhaven, scorned for his birth, all those years in the cold knowing he would spend his long, long life confined to the lowest rungs of Illyrian society… He hadn’t thought there was anything worth knowing back then. Still found it hard to believe, even now.

Cassian felt his throat dry, and all those murderous instincts, all of that anger he’d felt before… All of it melted away as he cast a glance at her, ensconced in mist, blue eyes expectant. 

“I don’t know where to start,” he admitted quietly. At the end? With how he’d slaughtered the men who had pushed his mother to her death? Should he begin there— with the blood and the horror?

“The beginning is usually best,” Nesta said with a shrug, a tartness leaking into her tone that made him smile despite the weight that had settled in his gut.

“Smartarse,” he muttered, but it was softly teasing, a tentative jest. He shook his head, tilted his head to the sky and looked in vain for clouds, for anything but oppressive fog. 

Nothing, there was nothing, and even his fae eyes couldn’t see the sky beyond. He looked back down to the road ahead, to the few feet he could see of the track winding between the trees. 

“I was born a bastard,” he said at last. “I don’t know… I don’t know whether my mother went to bed with my father willingly or not, but…”

A pause, a heavy silence, and Cassian had to force himself to carry on, to remind himself that it wasn’t those in Illyria he was telling this story to now. It was Nesta, and some part of him needed her to know, needed her to understand every little piece of him, every part of his past, even when it ached, even when it was raw and pained.  

He cleared his throat.

“Either way, she bore me ten months later.” He shrugged. Nesta’s brow furrowed, but he carried on, the words crawling up his throat as he went. “Illyria isn’t kind to unmarried mothers. My father cast her out, and she was left to seek refuge with others like her. We lived in a tiny, falling-down house for a while with a group of others like my mother, and widows too. All those that lived on the brink of Illyrian society, shunned…” Another shrug. “It was the only place they could go— the only place we could go.”

It flashed in his memory— a house that sat at the edges of the camp he’d been born in, battered by snow and wind and rain. Little more than a ramshackle structure, Cassian didn’t know how many families tried to scratch out a living beneath that roof, but he knew it was more than one. More than two, more than three. A cruel and bitter existence, the earliest years of his life had been defined by such poverty but… But he thought of nights spent crowded around a fire, when every soul beneath that roof would gather in one room for heat and company. He thought of the widows, the stews they would make at night. Of the other babes, ones he barely, barely remembered— tiny wings stretching in a crowded room.

He wondered where they were now. If they’d been taken away to different camps too, parted from their mothers and abandoned.

“When I was deemed old enough, the camp lord plucked me out of there and sent me to Windhaven for training.”

At his side, Nesta was a steadying presence. With something like horror on her face she asked, “How old?”

Cassian shrugged. “Five, maybe. Maybe a little older.”

He didn’t look at her face. Couldn’t bear to see her blanch.

“They dumped me in Windhaven with nothing— nothing but the clothes on my back. It’s a test,” he continued, voice dropping, growing raw with pain and anger he’d harboured for centuries. “To see if we can survive. I got hold of a canvas tent and made that my home on the mountain side. For years, it was all I had.” He offered her a soft, lopsided grin, as if to ease some of the tension, but he knew it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I know as well as you what it is to be poor.”

And wasn’t that the crux of it?

The heart of it all?

He’d felt so protective over Feyre the moment he met her, because he so rarely met anyone above the wall who really knew what it was to starve, to shiver. Nesta understood— she understood the parts of him that ached the most, the pieces of him that were broken and shattered and refused to heal, even after all this time. She understood because parts of her were the same, as if she were a mirror to him. As if she were the other side of his shadowed coin.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice desperately quiet as Cassian fought to keep his steps even, to keep moving even as he poured out his soul.

The mist continued to dance around them, and for all the world, Cassian could have believed they were the only two souls left. Not a sound, not a whisper, could be heard for miles, and wrapped in the veil of that fog… He wanted to reach out and touch her, the way he almost had done in that sitting room.

He shook his head— against her apology or the desire to reach for her, he wasn’t certain. 

“When I was old enough,” he said, picking up the thread he’d dropped. “I went back. I tried to find my mother but they— they wouldn’t tell me where she was. What had happened to her.” He bit back against the memory, the rising grief that surged as he recalled how he’d fallen to his knees in the snow, how he’d been so coldly furious, and how that raw, terrifying killing power had rushed through him and sustained his every heartbeat as he slaughtered every warrior who had caused his mother pain. “It took a long time,” he said, “but eventually, one of them in that camp told me they’d pushed her so hard that she…” He trailed off. Shook his head again. “They killed her. So I killed each and every one of them in return.”

Something like pain glimmered behind Nesta’s eyes, caught in the blue-grey that reminded him so much of a storm breaking over an Illyrian sky, over distant oceans or foreign lands. He ignored it— ignored it because if he focused on it, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop himself from reaching for her, and although every single part of him was begging him to close the distance between them, he knew that he shouldn’t. Azriel’s words from Rita’s echoed inside his head— she’s mortal too, Cass, and he knew that his brother was right but… Gods, how could he carry on, without knowing what she felt like beneath his hands?

He didn’t look away. He knew he should but… He didn’t.

“You meant it, didn’t you?” she asked softly. “About Tomas.”

Cassian let out a bitter laugh. “Yes,” he said, turning to face her more fully. Their steps slowed so that they were barely walking at all, all but standing motionless on that frozen path. “I’d kill him in a heartbeat.”

“Brute,” she whispered, but somehow… somehow it wasn’t derogatory this time. There was a smile just barely pulling at the corner of her lips, and Cassian was mesmerised by it, still couldn’t look away. He knew it was a smile saved for him alone— a thing of beauty, given cautiously as he promised to spill her husband’s blood.

“Witch,” he shot back, nudging her with his shoulder. He let his wings spread out behind her back as he knocked into her, and if his wing curled around her shoulders just slightly… If he didn’t pull away as quickly as he should have… Neither of them said anything. Neither of them acknowledged it.

Wordlessly, he swallowed. Looking down at her, he didn’t dare to hope she felt the same but gods, she looked up at him and he could have sworn he saw the same regret flickering in her eyes. He thought of how he’d felt her reach for him in that sitting room, her hand extending as though she wanted to press her fingertips to his shoulders. Did she regret it as much as he, that missed touch? That lost moment? His fingers had been so close to her cheek when he’d reached for her before, and all he’d wanted was to feel her skin beneath him. He longed to learn what it felt like, what she felt like, and… He wanted to kiss her. Wanted to kiss her the way she deserved to be kissed, the way he doubted her husband had ever kissed her.

And yet… Still, they remained. Close enough to touch, and yet distinctly apart.

It was Nesta who cleared her throat this time. Who looked to the village that loomed ahead, almost visible now through the shrouding fog, and took a single step to the side, widening the distance so that her arm no longer brushed his as she walked, so that his wing was no longer curling around her shoulder.

The village approached, and silence fell between them as Cassian checked his glamour. Just like last time, he followed as she led the way to the post office, five aching steps behind. With every footfall he longed to be closer, longed to feel her proximity soothing the edge in him worn raw by the wall and the dampener on his power. But five steps behind he stayed, and just like last time, he remained at her back as she entered the post office and handed the letter over, the coins Rhys had given her glinting as she slid them across the counter, shiny and new.

And when it was done, and they were back outside in the fog that still lay thick upon the village, Nesta turned and walked towards the road that led south, the one that would carry her home. She didn’t look back, but… She didn’t tell him to leave either, and so Cassian followed her. She took a handful of steps down that road, just enough to take her out of sight of the village and then…

Then she stopped.

Blinked, and looked around as if making certain they were alone. Still surrounded by fog, she cast a cautious glance at the woods on either side of them before she took a single step closer to him. Cassian smirked and folded his arms, as though he were completely in control of the situation even though it felt like he was falling apart, because she looked at him and her eyes sparked, and he’d sworn he wouldn’t let her get away without saying goodbye this time and…

And here she was, apparently thinking the same.

“Goodbye then, Cassian.”

Oh, the way she said his name.

He knew then that he’d go to the ends of the earth to hear her say it again, would walk miles and miles and miles to hear it fall from her lips. It was soft on her tongue, and… beautiful. She made his name beautiful. He smiled, and dared to step forward— dared to take her hand. He reached for her and didn’t pull away this time, and neither did she, as her fingers slipped easily into his palm. He brushed his thumb over her fingers, feeling them curl around his tighter, as though she didn’t want him to let go. As though she’d been waiting for this, longing for this, as much as he.

It did something to him, the way her fingers pressed his into the centre of her palm. Throwing caution to the wind entirely, Cassian lifted their twined fingers to his lips and pressed a kiss to her freezing knuckles. 

It was the first time… The first time he’d touched her properly.

There had been that day with the dagger, when his hand had wrapped about her wrist, and there had been the times that Nesta had hit him in the chest, but this… This was the first time he’d meant to touch her. The first time she welcomed it, embraced it, and he meant to savour it. This time it was a touch fuelled by something other than anger, something far more fragile and yet far, far more capable of shattering him completely. 

And he never, ever, wanted to pull away again.

He let his lips linger for far too long against her skin. Far too long to have been considered proper or polite. She was so soft against him, the brush of her divine— something reverential, and gods, he had only kissed her hand. The pulling in his chest had turned frantic, frenetic, as though it were rejoicing, celebrating, worshipping the press of his lips against her skin. 

And it was just her hand.

He wondered what it would be like to kiss her lips, her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. Her wrist, her palm, her hips. All of it— he wanted all of it, wanted to feel the softest parts of her skin against his lips, his teeth. Her fingers tightened further still around his own, and Cassian almost groaned, almost moaned her name, as he settled, instead, for another kiss to her knuckles.

He could hear her heart hammering - or maybe that was just his - but as his lips brushed her skin for a second time, his eyes lifted to meet hers and— Cauldron boil him.

He would gladly drown in her. Drown and drown and let himself be lost forever in the depths. Gladly give himself up for her.

It felt like only seconds, but it must have been minutes - several of them - before Cassian finally found the will, the strength, to lift his mouth from her hand.

But he didn’t let go of her fingers. Not yet— not just yet.

He wanted to remember how it felt, to have her touch cradled in his own. He wanted to commit every facet of it, of her to memory, and as he held her fingers in his palm, he felt her thumb brush the back of his fingers in a mirror of how his had just brushed hers. As though she, too, was letting herself be lost, swallowed by the fog. Letting it hide this moment from the rest of the world, keeping it between them for as long as they were able.

But at long last, Cassian swallowed and felt her fingers slip from his grasp, leaving a void behind. Nesta looked at him with unreadable eyes, and as he nodded slowly at her, taking a single step back, he said, at last, 

“Goodbye, Nesta.”

Taglist: @hiimheresworld @highladyofillyria @wannawriteyouabook @infiremetotakeachonce @melphss

[wildlyglittering]

I have some time off over the next three days and am up for writing some Nessian drabbles.

If anyone wants a Nessian drabble based on one of the above prompts let me know and I’ll do my best 😂

3. Advent Special Prompts

OTP Christmas Prompts 💕

Two co-workers and friends can never hold a relationship over the holidays, so they have the tradition to be each other’s plus ones for every event, starting with the christmas office party and “usually” ending with the firework on New Year.

Ice skating sounds like a cute idea for a first date with lots of hand holding, but not if they both can’t actually skate and are lying more on the ice than anything.

Trapping the other with someone else under the mistletoe has become a highly competitive sport. But who wins if both get trapped together?

After spending Hanukkah with the parents and then Christmas with the in-laws is a lot of fun and full of love, but it’s also nice to finally have some alone time as a couple.

Every country has different traditions for Christmas when it comes to food: trying something new when they have always eaten the same dishes for the holidays feels wrong at first. But when it’s cooked with love by their favourite person, it can sure taste like new traditions.

Celebrating the first Christmas with the in-laws is not easy, especially if they’ve only met via skype before. But receiving the obligatory family Christmas sweater with their own name stitched on the front as soon as they enter the house makes all the worries vanish.

Every year it’s the same struggle: finding the perfect Christmas tree. This year, finding it in less than a minute feels wonderful. The problem is, another person has claimed the same tree and it doesn’t seem like a compromise will be found anytime soon.

[slytherhys]

12 days of Christmas - ACOTAR Edition

You can find all the stories I wrote for this series down below.

Enjoy and happy holidays!

1st day of christmas: christmas decorating - New Traditions (Modern Elriel AU)

2nd day of christmas: hot chocolate - Sweet & Spice (Nessian Drabble)

3rd day of christmas: mistletoe - Unsuspected Kissing (Feysand)

4th day of christmas: ice skating - Better Safe than Sorry (Elriel Drabble)

5th day of christmas: cookie decorating - It's just cookies (Archeron Sisters)

6th day of christmas: ugly christmas sweater - Proof of Love (Nessian AU)

7th day of christmas: christmas shopping - Frozen Fingers (Feysand Drabble)

8th day of christmas: gingerbread house - No Crying Over Spilled Icing (Elriel NSFW)

9th day of christmas: solstice - A life by your side (A Feyre Archeron Celebration)

10th day of christmas: gift giving - Nyxmas (Drabble)

11th day of christmas: secret santa - On pretty daggers & ambigous flowers (Elriel)

12th day of christmas: christmas dinner - A Blessing. All of it. (Rhys Drabble)

[ae-neon]

Okay, ramble about Feyris (part 1?)

Please keep in mind that this idea isn't tailored to your or sjms versions of the characters but more the concepts and themes of the books as well as what would have made for a more sensible and cohesive work (imo)

The concept of acomaf as a whole was the transformation of Feyre as well as the "reveal" of Rhysand's character. I say reveal tho I think it was also more of a transformation, because we're gonna respect what the work was TRYING to do

Eris actually has the better set-up for an enemies to lovers, villain is misunderstood, villain wins etc arc

Whatever fans might say, TAR is still the first installment of the series. It matters.

And while Rhysand himself is pretty well established as one of the main characters, he plays an awkward role - a complex, morally ambiguous character caught up in a very black and white plot. In terms of worldbuilding the night court is not given much and almost everything Rhysand does is retconned later anyway. He's interesting, yes, but it's almost painfully obvious that sjm had a change of heart halfway and a lot of the plot is retroactively built around him being endgame

Eris is not in TAR or at least appears very minimally (it's been years, forgive me) but the strings that might later connect him to Feyre are very solidly established in book 1 : her friendship with Lucien, her being helped utm by LoA and Beron being the first to offer his power to revive her. Even her being with Tamlin but I'll come back to that.

One of my personal gripes with the standard romantasy couple where the FMC is introduced to a new world is that she is socially cocooned, which diminishes her as a character. And yes, Feyre has her sisters and for 0.5 points out of 10, I'll count Isaac Hale but her parents, her village, her whole fucking country go unnamed. The worldbuilding around her is almost nonexistent. So her having these connections to Eris, through these third parties, creates a social web that while not completely isolated from him, still BELONGS TO HER. the connections she forms with these people might be influenced by him but they are established outside of him

The same cannot be said from the IC and Rhysand which is why it's sad but unsurprising they betray her to her possible death. They BELONG TO HIM and no amount of boozed up Christmas montages is gonna change that.

And mind you I said Eris had the better SET-UP and that Rhysand would have benefitted from being in the book less. The set-up being that Feyre's best Fae Friend Forever, Lucien - someone the audience won't question and feels for - vouches that his brother is a power hungry monster. Eris as the endgame would leave MAF more room to explore because we are still setting him up as a villain AND subverting that with Moments™ or inconsistencies, interactions etc

Whereas in canon, halfway through TAR Rhysand shows up to the party and immediately reveals he isn't "actually" evil - which disqualifies MAF from the Villain Wins AND slow burn categories. Their romance is also immediately hinted at by the flirting and Rhysand's YOURE MY MATE 😱 moment at the end so it's not like we even enter MAF with any real guesses on what's gonna happen. By WAR all the tension in the series sits on Nessian moments, the idea that something might happen to Feyre in Spring and the hope/dread that one of the IC might die. None of those things happened btw. WAR was anti-climactic trash

But Imagine WAR including some autumn scheming, hinged on Eris betraying Beron in the thick of the war and getting away with it, or setting up his brothers to die in a way that didn't implicate him so his mom wouldn't hate him - all this while Feyris is still in their will they won't they stage

And like I said in the other post Eris unlike Rhysand actually has the material conditions necessary to create and maintain this Mask of cruelty. He is under the thumb of his father, he cannot trust his brothers, he does not want to lose his mother, the place where he lives is not some locked away liberal paradise but a cutthroat and ruthless Court - making a pawn out of then falling in love with The Cursebreaker™ on top of all of that would be INTERESTING and stressful

Rhysand post TAR is just fucking around?? Every plan he has is objectively stupid because he creates his own hurdles?? and fails?? which retroactively kills his mysterious scheming mastermind vibe. Most powerful HL and can't even get an artifact from his own subject, MIND YOU HES A DAEMATI!! Oh but let Keir say whore and suddenly it's easy to control him, SHUT THE FU-

ANYWAYS

Imagine part of MAF or WAR being Feyre and Lucien deepening their friendship because she bridged the divide between the first and last born Vanserras? That's meaningful character content for all three. Not like a 4 page coming out to a girl you've known for 6 months because you apparently can't trust your "family" of 500 years...

Rounding this back to Tamlin, sorry but the Spring vs Night family feud is boring and I don't care about it because we don't know anyone involved. Oh his nameless, faceless mom and sister died? Oh...😕 Well...

But with the Lucien, Jesminda, Vanserra bros etc we at least have Lucien who is alive and BOTH THE AUDIENCE AND FEYRE care about independently from Eris

That would make Feyre trusting Eris so much more of a risk and maybe even an initial betrayal to Lucien - putting her friendship at risk. REAL STAKES, REAL WEIGHT BEHIND HER DECISIONS

The Vanserras relationships are also a good parallel for the complicated feelings Feyre has about her own family, which would help her dark maga moment feeling like she belongs in Autumn and not Spring feel more organic and rooted in her character and worldbuilding rather than just switching aesthetics to fit in with her love interest

*

ADD and tiredness kicking in but I think I'll post about them again sometime soon

[danikamariewrites]

For Nessian maybe something cute and fluffy with fem reader where the decorate for winter solstice or halloween. And the girls just want to make it extra special for Cass. Maybe the reader also takes the chance with the holiday to tell them she's pregnant 🤔

New Traditions

Nessian x reader

Notes: I love fall but Christmas is my fav and I’m ready for the holidays. Also I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t include the pregnancy part. I feel like a lot of my Nessian x reader stuff is pregnancy so I wanted to give that a break.

Warnings: none

Cassian heaves the last box labeled ornaments on to the couch. Clasping your hands in front of your chest you smile. The sitting room looked like a mess, to you it was organized chaos. Nesta, who was picking through boxes, called it a mess.

When you moved to Night from Winter you absolutely had to bring your solstice decorations. You knew they didn’t decorate like those in Winter and were worried you wouldn’t find anything new in Night. After moving in with Cassian and Nesta they were shocked that everything took up an entire spare bedroom at the House of Wind. To them it was worth the space if it meant your mats got to see that smile on your face.

“What do you want to start with?” Cassian put his hands on his hips, surveying the room and forming a battle plan in his mind. Getting the boxes efficiently unpacked and their contents into piles was the General’s specialty. You hum, tapping your chin in thought.

“Let’s do lights and greenery first. Then the wreathes and tree.” Cass nods in agreement and Nesta starts ripping open boxes. It’s been four years of this. Living and decorating with your mates. In those four years you were hoping to find a special ornament for them to put on the tree. No shops in the city had any and when you visited home you could never find one perfect enough.

It frustrated you to no end. All the ornaments were yours, consisting of ones your mother gifted to you or were family heirlooms. It wasn’t fair that they didn’t have one.

Letting the thought go you get to unpacking the wreathes, handing the big one to Cassian to hang over the mantle.

You and your mates rush around the room, only pausing for quick kisses, as the symphonia plays softly. Two hours later you were down to one box. Ornaments. Giving the box a sad smile you gently pull the lid off. With two of your favorite ornaments in hand you turn to your awaiting mates. Their excitement to hang the baubles on the tree infectious. You hand the first one to Nesta who practically skips over to the tree. Handing Cassian the second you grab another and follow him to tree.

Getting through the box and hanging the last ornament you let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?” Nesta rests a comforting hand between your shoulder blades. You lean into her side you wrap your arms around her waist. “I just feel bad that you and Cass don’t have any. It’s been four years, I just feel like a bad mate.”

Nesta clicks her tongue at you. “Nonsense, my love. And if you haven’t noticed we haven’t gotten one for you either.” That doesn’t make you feel any better. You bury your face in the crook of her neck and sigh.

“Wait, there’s one more,” Cass pulls one wrapped in tissue paper from the box. Tilting your head you give him a curious look. You catch Nesta’s smirk out of the corner of your eye. “What did you do?” She shrugs nonchalantly. Cassian holds the object out for you to take.

Ripping the tissue paper you find an ornament of three figures, one a male in a black suit and two females in gowns. A closer look shows you that the figures under the arch resemble you, Nesta, and Cassian from your mating ceremony. Tears form in your eyes as you hug the ornament to your chest. “It’s perfect.” Grabbing your mates you pull them into a hug. They hold you close, each kissing the top of your head.

“You’ve shown us new traditions and brought a new light into our lives we didn’t know we needed. Now we want to add to this one.” Cassian says, holding your chin between his thumb and forefinger. “We love you, y/n. So much.” “I love you too.” You wipe at your eyes looking back down at the ornament.

“Why don’t you go hang it,” Cassian suggests. You nod, placing the ribbon on one of the top branches, making sure the figures face the room. Stepping back you smile to yourself, deciding that this Solstice was going to be the one where you gift Cassian and Nesta the perfect ornament.

[moodymelanist]

meet me at the altar (in your white dress)

happy day 3 of @sjmromanceweek everyone! of course I had to get some Nessian in here, you know me!! title from Let's Get Married by Jagged Edge (the remix is much better than the original IMO)

Summary: Nesta and Cassian elope to help take the edge off planning their big, official wedding.

Word Count: 3k

Read on AO3 here!

Summary: Nesta and Cassian elope to help take the edge off planning their big, official wedding. 

♡♡♡♡♡ Nesta

Nesta held in another scream as she clicked through yet another florist’s website, holding back the urge to start banging her head back against the wall. All she’d wanted was to come home from a long day at the office and relax, but instead of being able to destress with a book on her Kindle, she’d ended up dealing with more wedding stuff.

“You really should consider going with more hydrangeas,” her mother was saying. Rhea had called Nesta and essentially ambushed her with more wedding planning; today’s topic of choice was the floral arrangements. “I mean, what even is a ranunculus?”

“They’re a classic wedding flower, Mom,” Nesta replied through gritted teeth. She and Cassian had gotten engaged right before Christmas, and they were in the full swing of things planning wise. No matter how many times she emphasized that this was their wedding, though, it hadn’t stopped Rhea from being her usual, controlling self. “They look like peonies.”

Cassian appeared at the edge of her vision, his face twisted up adorably in sympathy as he came into their bedroom. He’d been as hands on as he could with wedding planning, but there was only so much he could do with Rhea as his future mother-in-law.

Cassian waved to get Nesta’s attention and once she looked over at him, he mouthed, You want me to give you an out?

Yes please, Nesta mouthed back. God, she loved him so much.

Nesta watched from her position on the bed as Cassian came around the corner of the mattress and reached for her nightstand, opening and shutting the drawer loud enough for Rhea to hear it on the phone. To the untrained ear, it sounded similar enough to a door opening and closing, and it was the perfect excuse to get off the phone and take her Friday night back.

“Sorry, Mom,” Nesta said immediately, cutting off whatever tangent Rhea was going on now about the flowers she’d had at her wedding. “Cassian just got home from work. I have to go.”

Rhea was silent for a few seconds. “Fine. I’ll speak to you about this later.”

“Okay. Have a good night,” Nesta replied. Rhea echoed the sentiment, and Nesta immediately tossed her phone away from her. “Holy shit, she drives me crazy.”

“Watching you deal with her is driving me crazy, Nes,” Cassian said. He leaned down to where she was reclining against the headboard and pressed several hello kisses into her lips. “What if we just got married tomorrow or something?”

“What?” Nesta said back, not quite sure she was hearing him correctly. She pulled back to look up at him, but he looked like he was being completely serious, which could not be a possibility right now.

“I said,” Cassian replied, speaking slowly to make sure she caught every word, “what if we just… got married tomorrow?”

She stared at him for several seconds without blinking. “You’re joking, right?”

“No jokes here, sweetheart,” he answered. He stood up to his full height before walking to the edge of the bed and sitting down, resting one of his warm hands on her ankle. “I feel like it would help.”

“How would throwing away months of planning help?” she responded, doing her best to stop her eye from twitching. Once they’d settled on a venue and secured their date, it had been divide and conquer between reaching out to caterers, bakers, florists, makeup and hair stylists, tailors – you name it, they’d talked to someone about pricing and dates and menu options and color schemes. 

“We wouldn’t be throwing away months of planning,” he told her. “I can be an idiot sometimes, but not that big of an idiot.”

“...Okay.” Nesta closed her laptop and gave him her full attention, hoping that he’d eventually tell her something that made sense instead of just confusing her further. “Explain what you mean then, because I don’t think I’m following you.”

“Just hear me out, okay?” Cassian asked. Once Nesta nodded her assent, he started rubbing gentle circles into the delicate skin of her ankle. “Maybe this is dumb, but I was just thinking… maybe it could help take the edge off things. I know your family is breathing down your neck about this being perfect, and I know how stressful this whole thing has been for you. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be us.”

God, he was good at this. He always knew exactly what to say to cut her to the core in the best way, and his words combined with the way those hazel eyes were trained on her made her want to give in immediately. Even though they would be surrounded by loved ones when they got married, something in her had always cringed at the fact that they’d be putting their relationship on display for everyone to see. She loved Cassian, she did, but the idea of having a wedding as big as theirs was shaping up to be felt almost performative. 

If they did what he was suggesting, there wouldn’t be anything performative about it. It would be something for just them; they wouldn’t have to go through any of the hoops that their huge, ornate ceremony was shaping up to entail. Just her, Cassian, and whoever they needed to talk to for it to be official.

“Yeah,” Nesta eventually answered, suddenly fighting back tears at how well he knew her. Even after all these years with him, he still managed to catch her off guard with how thoughtful he was. “

“Yeah?” Cassian echoed. He started to smile and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “Let’s do it.”

♡♡♡♡♡

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to sort everything out. Cassian booked a hotel for the weekend in Atlantic City while Nesta dug around for a white dress in her closet, and by the time she’d found a suitable enough option, he’d also started the process to get a marriage license.

“It doesn’t take that long to get a New Jersey marriage license,” he told her as they packed their bags for the weekend. “I mean, we’ll still have to sort out the paperwork for when we get married again, but that’s a problem for future us.”

“Okay,” she replied, feeling much lighter now that the pressure for their huge ceremony was suddenly off her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out then.”

It didn’t take them much longer to finish packing, and before Nesta knew it, they were in the car and on their way to Atlantic City. It wasn’t far – roughly two and a half hours – but they stopped for dinner along the way, so they made their way into the hotel lobby about three hours later. The air conditioning was going strong, and Nesta didn’t hesitate before leaning against Cassian’s warm side while they checked into their room.

“You want my jacket?” Cassian asked once they were all squared away and heading to the elevators.

“No, I’m okay,” Nesta answered, leaning into him again while they waited for the elevator to come to the lobby. Besides, he was holding both of their bags; she wasn’t going to make him essentially play Tetris with them to get the damn thing off. “We can just turn the AC down when we get upstairs.”

Their hotel room had all the usual accommodations, including a king-sized bed, and they both showered and changed into pajamas before getting into it. Cassian made sure their room was locked up tight and the AC wasn’t blasting before they got into bed, but even though it wasn’t as cold in the room anymore that didn’t stop Nesta from cuddling up to her fiancé.

“Thanks for going along with my crazy idea, Nes,” Cassian said into the quiet darkness of their room.

“It wasn’t that crazy once you explained it,” Nesta replied softly, reaching up and pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “But you’re welcome.”

He just laughed softly, the sound of it vibrating gently against her cheek where she was laying on him. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby. See you in the morning.”

♡♡♡♡♡

Nesta woke up the next morning wrapped around one of the hotel pillows instead of around her husband-to-be. She experienced a brief moment of panic once she realized she was alone in the room, but it quickly dissipated once she recognized Cassian’s familiar handwriting on one of the hotel’s notepads. She reached for it where he’d left it on the end table and quickly scanned the note he’d left her.

Hey sweetheart, he’d written. Don’t freak out, but it’s bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day, and I’m all about avoiding bad luck. Everything else is getting taken care of (I promise!!) so you just have to bring your gorgeous self to the altar. 

Love you

xoxo,

Cassian (aka your future husband)

Nesta laughed softly to herself as she set the note aside, her heart rate immediately slowing down after she’d read it through a few times. Cassian knew how tired she was of making so many wedding-related decisions and it was such a relief to not have to make any more — for the moment, anywhere. Even if they weren’t doing things the ‘right’ way, he was still looking out for all the little details, and it was stuff like that that made her want to fall in love with him all over again. 

Lucky for her, she’d get to fall in love with him every day for the rest of their lives. 

Nesta let herself lounge in bed for a few more minutes until she couldn’t wait any longer. She took her time getting ready, the hot water from the surprisingly strong shower head waking her all the way up, and she was thankful she’d packed her good blow dryer after she realized the hotel one wasn’t up for the task. Cassian had always loved her hair down, so she carefully smoothed half of it up and left the other half down. 

By the time she finished with her makeup and got dressed, it was almost time to go. She put on her wedges and threw the essentials — lip gloss, powder, room key, phone — into her purse before heading downstairs. She’d missed breakfast, but she managed to snag some Pop Tarts from the convenience store while she waited for her Uber. 

It was a quick ride to the hotel where they were getting married, and Nesta just followed the signs for the wedding area until she found a woman holding a sign with her name on it. She was tall, with dark hair and light brown skin that looked amazing even under the strange hotel lighting.

“Hi,” Nesta said, walking right up to her. “I’m Nesta.”

The woman perked up immediately. “Great! I’m Deirdre, I’ll be officiating the wedding. Cassian handled pretty much everything he could without you, so all you have to do is follow me.”

“Great,” Nesta replied. Her love for Cassian grew even more once she heard she’d hardly have to do anything. “Lead the way.”

Deirdre and Nesta wound their way through the halls, making small talk until they ended up in one of the back rooms. Nesta picked out a small bouquet of lilies, a short veil to wear as she walked down the aisle, and signed some forms. 

“You’re all set,” Deirdre told her once the last thing was signed. “Cassian said he had the rings, so really you just have to get your beautiful self out there and we can get this show on the road.”

“Okay,” Nesta agreed. She wondered if Cassian was using their actual wedding rings, or if he’d found a less expensive replacement for today. Oh well — she didn’t need to worry about it right now, and wasn’t that a relief. “I’m ready.”

Deirdre clapped her hands together and led Nesta through a different path through the halls, the two of them coming to a stop in front of what looked like a chapel. “I’ll go in first, make sure everything’s ready, and then once the music starts you can come in whenever you want. Okay?”

“Sounds good,” Nesta told her, and then she was alone. 

Nesta took a few deep breaths while she waited for Deirdre’s signal. Maybe if it had been anyone else, she might have been more nervous, but it was Cassian waiting for her. How could she feel anything but excited when they were only a few minutes away from forever?

The music started earlier than Nesta had been expecting, but she took it in stride. She squared her shoulders and walked through the door with her head held high, something inside her settling the second she laid eyes on Cassian. He looked handsome as always, dressed in a white button-up shirt and his nicest pair of jeans, and she could tell he was already crying even from across the room. 

There were a few people seated amongst the pews to serve as witnesses, but Nesta tuned out everyone that wasn’t Cassian. The walk down the aisle was simultaneously too long and too short, and suddenly she was handing over her bouquet so she could grip Cassian’s hands in hers. “Hi.”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Cassian said, his eyes a little wide. “You look so beautiful.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Nesta said back. She squeezed his hands to help steady them both before turning to Deirdre with an expectant look. “We’re ready.”

Deidre must have gone through all the usual wedding talk, but all Nesta heard was that she and Cassian were promising themselves to one another. Good days and bad, they’d show up for each other no matter what, no matter what kind of fancy ways people wanted to describe it. 

Before Nesta knew it, it was time for the vows. Deirdre turned to her expectantly, and she nodded before she took a deep breath. 

“Cassian,” Nesta started, her eyes tearing up at the force of what she felt for him. They’d both promised to not prepare anything — something about it coming from the heart — and part of her wished she had, just for the sheer difficulty of describing what he meant to her. “You’re the love of my life. My best friend in the entire world. You know me better than anyone else, and I’m so — I’m so thankful to have you. You make me so happy even when you’re being a bastard and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She took another deep breath to steady herself, shooting Cassian a watery smile as he reached up to wipe some of her tears. “You’re the one I want to laugh with and argue with and spend all my time with until we’re old and gray. I promise to choose you every day, no matter what. I love the life we’ve made so much, and I promise to fight for us for the rest of our lives. I love you, Cassian. So much.”

“Jesus, how am I supposed to follow that up,” Cassian muttered to himself. 

Nesta laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nes.” He took a deep breath of his own and met her eyes again. “Nesta, I knew from the minute I met you that you were special. Maybe it’s cheesy, but from that very first glare, I knew I’d be chasing after your attention for the rest of our lives. I’ve never been so happy to be right.”

“You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed. You’ve made my life better in so many ways, and I’ll never stop thanking the universe for putting us in each other’s lives. You’re an amazing woman and the fact that you chose me — well. I’ll never take that for granted. It physically hurts me when we’re apart, so the fact that you’re agreeing to be tied to me forever makes me feel pretty damn good. I promise to choose you every single day, to always respect you and cherish you and all the other things that you deserve. I love you so, so much, Nesta. You’re my world.”

They were both crying now, and Nesta squeezed Cassian’s hands so hard it was a miracle he didn’t lose circulation. She swore she could feel the thread that connected them wrap around them even tighter; there was no telling where one of them began and the other one ended. It was just them, and it was beautiful.

“Those were wonderful,” Deirdre told them. “Now, the rings.”

It seemed Cassian had brought out their wedding bands early after all. Both of their hands were shaking as they exchanged rings, but they managed to get through it without dropping anything or putting their rings on the wrong fingers. 

“With that…” Deirdre took a deep breath and beamed at them. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Cassian didn’t need to be told twice. Nesta barely had any warning before he was grabbing her and dipping her, but he was so strong that she didn’t think he’d drop her for a second. She just threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, clutching him to her as tightly as she could and not planning on letting go for a good long while.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Deirdre said, smiling brightly. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Cassian said with a wide grin once he’d brought Nesta back up. He was so beautiful when he was happy, and part of her still couldn’t believe she was the one to consistently put that smile on his face. “Hey, wife.”

“Hey, husband,” Nesta said back, smiling just as widely as he was. “You ready to get out of here?”

“Like you even have to ask,” he told her. He offered his hand and she took it without hesitation, squeezing tightly as they made their way back down the aisle.

tag list: @perseusannabeth | @bookstantrash | @charming-butt-insane | @oversizedbats | @melphss | @sv0430 | @podemechamardek | @autumnbabylon | @live-the-fangirl-life | @julemmaes | @that-little-red-head | @jmoonjones | @sayosdreams | @thewayshedreamed | @hiimheresworld | @brieq | @pearlfortears | @swankii-art-teacher | @nerdperson524 | @snickerdoodlechittybangbang | @imsointobooks | @nesquik-arccheron | @sweet-pea1 | @champanheandluxxury | @dustjacketmusings | @mrs-shadowsinger04 | @unlikelypersonalknight1 | @goddess-aelin | @arinbelle | @talkfantasytome | @simpingfornestaarcheron | @duskandstarlight | @letstakethedawn | @vidalinav | @c-e-d-dreamer | @dealfea | @katekatpattywack | @burningsnowleopard | @thatsowlmazing | @avidromancereader | @a-little-disguised | @kale-theteaqueen | @talibunny30

[theladyofdeath]

The Holiday {3}

Ships: Nesta x Cassian / Aelin x Rowan

Written alongside @snelbz

Trope(s): Christmas, fluff, love at first sight, enemies to lovers

Summary: Nesta has just been dumped. Aelin hates her job. Both women need an escape from reality and with Christmas quickly approaching, it's the perfect time for a getaway. After discovering a trend where people can swap houses for a non-traditional vacation experience, these two women decide to spend the holidays in each other's homes. With their houses comes a series of unique experiences and a couple of handsome suitors. It's time to see just how much a change of scenery and two weeks of Christmas solitude and romance can change a person.

A/N: I hope you're all enjoying the fluff! x

Rating: M for mature - language, smut, substance use, etc. 18+.

Inspired by The Holiday (2006).

It had been a long time, possibly even years, since Nesta had gotten such a good night’s sleep. Although Aelin’s townhouse lacked a certain…warmth, her bed was the most comfortable thing she had ever laid on. It felt like a pile of feathers sitting on top of a cloud and it made Nesta rethink every financial decision she had ever made. She could have spent years saving up for such a relaxing masterpiece, but no…she had bought necessities instead. What a waste.

It was almost ten by the time she woke up but she stayed in bed until eleven, until she grew so hungry that it was nearly unbearable.

With her stomach growling, she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and walked downstairs to the kitchen. She quickly found some fresh, cut up fruit and a carton of eggs that she set out on the counter. She’d just located a frying pan when the front door of the townhouse opened.

That frying pan quickly became a weapon. She heard the front door close then heavy footsteps in the entryway. Nesta raised the frying pan in her hand high as she neared the corner and peeked around, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. 

The intruder was massive. His back was to her as he fished for something in his pocket. She couldn’t get a good look at him, couldn’t see anything under his black hoodie. Nesta felt like she was going to puke, her fear turning into nausea, as she took a few wobbly steps into the foyer and screamed.

The man spun around, screaming profanity as he jumped and threw his hands in the air in surrender. 

Nesta’s scream died in her throat at the man now facing her. He yanked down his hood, chest heaving, and asked, “What the fuck?” The fear in his eyes was real. He wasn’t expecting Nesta to be there. With a hand clutched to his chest, he eyed the frying pan that Nesta still had lifted in the air, ready to attack. “You gonna use that on me?”

“If I have to,” she snapped, not lowering the pan, despite how heavy it was. She blinked as recognition slammed into her. “You’re the guy from the bar last night.”

The man raised an eyebrow and then the same infuriating smirk he’d given her last night slid onto his face. “Burger girl.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nesta demanded, ignoring the fact that he’d just called her burger girl and lowering the frying pan to her side. She didn’t think she was in any imminent danger, but she wasn’t putting it down, just to be safe.

The man scoffed and gestured to her and her weapon. “I could ask you the same thing.”

For a moment, Nesta hesitated. She’d been a little too forthcoming talking to Emerie yesterday, but she felt like she could trust the girl’s kind face. She may not have known her, but she was a member of Nesta’s own. This man was a complete stranger…who she was standing in front of in nothing but her tank top and a pair of men’s boxer shorts she liked to sleep in.

With a sigh, she admitted, “I’m on holiday. I did a home exchange with the woman who lives here. She didn’t mention any roommates though.”

The musician stood in front of her, analyzing Nesta’s words with a glint of humor in his hazel eyes. When he didn’t say anything, Nesta shifted on her feet. 

“What?” she snapped. 

He shrugged. “Aelin would tell me she’s going out of town but not tell me the whole story. Although, she’s about to get an earful from me considering I was trying to be nice and water her damn plants while she was gone.” Nesta wondered if he was trying to mention something that would make Nesta confess that she was breaking and entering, that she was a con, but she had nothing to hide. “But I assume that if you’re staying here, you’ll be watering the plants.”

“I will,” Nesta said, lifting her chin, although she felt very little dignity. “I think I’m perfectly capable of watering a few plants.”

There were more than a few, but she didn’t need to tell him that. Apparently he knew how many plants were in the house or he wouldn’t be there.

Then the thought occurred to Nesta. “Oh, shit, is Aelin your girlfriend?” 

The laugh that came out of the cocky bastard was thunderous. “Hell no. Neighbors. I live next door. Aelin’s a good friend, but don’t worry, nothing more.”

Nesta began to nod until his words registered. “Don’t worry? Why the hell would I be worried?”

He shrugged. “I saw how you were watching me while you shoveled that burger in your mouth.”

He somehow made that sound like an innuendo, making Nesta’s lip curl. She couldn’t tell if he was messing with her or if he was really that full of himself. Either way, she wanted to slap that grin right off his face. 

“I’m Cassian,” he went on, when Nesta’s gaping wasn’t answer enough. 

“I don’t care,” Nesta said, considering she hadn’t asked. “You’re an intruder, actually. Pretty sure this little stunt falls under breaking and entering.”

“It's a crime to water a friend’s plants?” he pushed, rocking back on his heels. “Well, shit. Sue me, I guess. Besides,” he added, fishing into his pockets and pulling out a set of keys. “Don’t think it counts as breaking and entering if you have a key.”

She’d researched quite a few things as she wrote her books, but she’d never looked into the legality of letting yourself into someone’s home with no intent to harm, so she couldn’t even argue with him with confidence. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest, still holding the heavy, cast iron pan. “Well, if that’s all, I’d like to return to my breakfast.”

His gaze left hers and dropped to her crossed arms and, once again, she was acutely aware of the fact that she was wearing a tank top.

And no bra.

Turning to head back towards the kitchen, Nesta heard him say, “I’ll be playing at the Illyrian again tonight.”

“I’m busy,” she said, crossing the threshold, which was a lie. She hadn’t decided what she was doing that evening, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to be watching him get ogled by his fangirls again. Even if it was the best burger she’d had in years and fell asleep with his sensual voice in her mind.

Her dreams hadn’t been bad, either. 

As Nesta walked back into the kitchen, annoyance had her tensing as Cassian’s footsteps followed a few feet behind her.

“I don’t remember inviting you in,” she grumbled, setting the frying pan back on the stovetop. 

“I was already in,” he reminded her. “Key, remember? So, the Illyrian—”

“I’m busy,” Nesta repeated, turning on the stovetop. 

“I don’t believe you,” he crooned, stopping at the entrance of the kitchen and leaning against the threshold. “Come on. I’ll make Rhys serve you free drinks all night.” Nesta scoffed. “Making someone serve me free drinks? Sounds like another illegal stunt of yours.”

“Well, when you own the place you can do whatever the hell you want,” Cassian said.

Nesta froze, and looked over her shoulder with a lifted brow. “Own the place?” “Rhys does,” he clarified. “Owns the place. Works the bar when they need the extra help. He mixes a better drink than most of his bartenders, anyway.” He shrugged. “He’s my brother. So free drinks.”

“Free drinks don’t appeal to me,” Nesta said, turning back to the stovetop. She stood up straighter, wondering if he was looking at the back of her, at her ass and her bare shoulders. Some part of her that she tried to ignore really hoped that he was. The idea made her cheeks turn pink. 

“Liar,” he said, but pushed off the frame. “I’ll keep a table open for you if you change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

“You might.”

“I’m busy.”

“Liar.”

“You can’t accuse me of lying, you don’t even know me.” After dousing the pan in oil, she turned to Cassian, arms crossed over her chest. “I’m sorry that I have better things to do than listen to you woo girls with your covers all night.”

His lips quirked. “Woo?”

He was so sure of himself, so confident in the way he stood, the way that he watched her. His smile was lazy, but his eyes were bright. Even in his hoodie, she could tell he was well-built. She wondered how many hours a week that he spent in the gym, toning himself up to impress his groupies. His hair, although untamed and way too long, fascinated Nesta. It gave him a sense of adventure and rebellion. He stood with a sense of authority. He watched her, all-knowing of every thought that ran through her mind.

“Shouldn’t you be going?” Nesta asked, turning back to the stove. “I probably should, before you call the cops on me,” he said, and he took a few steps back. “But if you’re not coming to watch me play, at least grant me your name.”

Nesta cracked an egg in the skillet. “You seem to know plenty of women’s names. There’s no need to know mine.”

“Sounds like jealousy to me.”

Gods, this asshole was insufferable. “Nesta.”

“Nesta,” he repeated, and his tone had her damn near quivering. She loathed him. “Well, Nesta, if you change your mind…your table from last night will be waiting for you.”

Nesta said nothing more, and Cassian didn’t say goodbye as he showed himself out, shutting the front door behind him. 

Nesta burnt the eggs.

<.>.<.>.<.>

Getting down the mountain was easier than Aelin had expected. There was a sporty blue SUV in the garage and after making sure her car insurance would protect Nesta in the case of an accident, Aelin snatched the keys off the wall and backed out of the driveway.

If she found a tree down in Orynth, she’d have to be able to get it back to the cottage. Not that she’d be able to get it into the house after that, but that was a problem for later.

Cursing the weather, Aelin carefully made her way down the mountain, thankful that she was used to driving in the snowy conditions Velaris usually dumped out in the winter.

Granted, there was never this much snow, but she decided some experience was better than nothing.

When she finally made it down to the city, she stopped at a shop called The Christmas Village.

She was sure Nesta had decorations somewhere, but she wasn’t about to start snooping through her host’s closets.

Even if she had borrowed her car without permission.

Aelin lived by the law that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It was an ideology that got her in trouble when she was younger, but pushed her ahead in the world once she had gotten older. 

Her tree at home was pretty specifically decorated. All of the ornaments were silver and white. As she walked into The Christmas Village, she didn’t think she would be able to buy silver and white ornaments in bulk. In fact, there were lines of ornaments, every single one of them unique and different.

Aelin found it charming. 

It only took a half hour to fill her basket. She had ornaments of all different colors, shapes, and sizes, each with their own unique beauty. It was kind of freeing, getting ornaments that didn’t match or coincide with one another. She had snowflakes and snowmen, candy canes and little sweaters, glittery balls and one shaped like a stack of books. She had even found an ornament shaped like a piano, which she adored as it reminded her of her youth.  

Other than ornaments, Aelin had found a couple of garlands and candles, and a series of lights to string all over the cabin. Maybe she was going overboard, but she was feeling festive.

All she needed now was a tree. 

As she checked out at the counter, she gave the elderly man a smile. “Do you know where I can find a good tree?”

The man chuckled. “Less than a week until Christmas, and you still don’t have a tree?”

There was no judgment in his voice, only humor. Aelin shook her head. “No, not yet. I’m in desperate need of one.”

“Luckily there’s a lot just around the corner,” the man said, smiling as he wrapped each of Aelin’s ornaments. “Owned by a local tree farmer. Great selection. I’d start there.”

Aelin thanked him and was on her way.

It didn’t take her long to locate the lot, and judging by the number of other cars parked there, she wasn’t the only one behind in picking out a tree it seemed.

After only a few minutes, she found the perfect tree. It was only a foot or so taller than she was, which was ideal, since she couldn’t remember how tall the ceilings were in the small cottage. It wasn’t too skinny, but it also wasn’t too wide at the base, and the color was the most beautiful color of green she’d ever seen.

As she was looking at it, wondering exactly how she was planning to get a six foot tall tree into the cottage by herself, she heard, “If that’s the one you want, I can help you load it onto—”

Aelin turned and there stood Rowan.

He was just as handsome as he’d been the night before, not that Aelin had been fixating on that since their midnight encounter, maybe even more so that she could see him in the sunlight.

He’d clearly been out in the brisk wind all day, if his red cheeks were any indicator, but now she amended her earlier thought about the tree being the most beautiful color of green she’d ever seen.

His eyes were clear and crisp, the color of the trees around him. They stood out against the stark tattoo that ran down one side of his face and neck. She hadn’t noticed it the night before, possibly due to the lighting, possibly due to the fact that she was dead on her feet and jet lag had already been kicking her ass.

“Hi,” she said, stupidly.

He replied, “Hi.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Aelin asked, “So you’re a tree farmer and a lumberjack?”

To her surprise, he chuckled. “Yeah, I’m a tree farmer…and I chop wood, so I guess so.”

Aelin looked back at the tree before her. “How long has it taken this tree to grow?”

Rowan shrugged. “A few years. These are some of my favorites. They’re so full, and the branches are so thick. I have one in my own living room. It’s beautiful.”

Aelin looked at him and tilted her head. “You’re being awfully kind for someone I bitched out after midnight.” 

His grin was mesmerizing. He looked away as his smile spread. “Yeah, well, if a stranger showed up at the place I’m renting at midnight, I would’ve been a little moody too. I promise my intentions—”

“The wood you left kept me warm all night, so I have to thank you,” Aelin said.  “If you hadn’t shown up, I’m sure I’d be frozen in place on the couch right now.”

Rowan huffed a laugh. “Happy to help. I can bring another truck full in the morning that should last your whole stay. I know I didn’t leave very much, it was just what I had left from my stops yesterday.” 

“And the tree?” “The tree?”

Aelin gestured to the tree behind her. “When you drop off the wood, could you drop off this tree, too?”

His eyes fell on the tree and then bounced back to her face. His eyes were bright, despite the cold around them. “I don’t normally do deliveries, but since it’s on the way, I can drop it off on the way home tonight.”

Aelin beamed. “That means I can decorate it before bed.”

“You really like Christmas, don’t you?” He chuckled, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Of course, it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” she said, not caring that she sounded like a Hallmark movie.

Shaking his head, Rowan couldn’t help but smile. “That it is.”

As Aelin was walking back to Nesta’s blue SUV, Rowan called after her, “Nesta told me she was leaving you my number in case you needed more firewood, but I don’t have yours. If you’d like, I can call you when I’m on the way with the tree.”

Turning, Aelin met his gaze, one eyebrow raised. “Is this your way of asking for my number?”

Rowan’s lips twitched as he hesitated. “Don’t get too cocky, I’m only trying to help.”

“In the city, we call that flirting,” Aelin said, and didn’t hate the way her chest felt a little lighter when he smiled. 

“Is this the city way of you telling me no?” Rowan asked, amused as he crossed his arms across his broad chest.

Aelin laughed, shaking her head. “I’ll text you as soon as I get back to the house. Then my number will be all yours.”

“Hmmm,” Rowan contemplated. “Still sounds like a rejection. What if you forget?”

Aelin had to bite her lip to keep from grinning like a fool. “I won’t.”

“And if I don’t believe that?” He pushed, eyes bright.

“Then I guess you’ll have to wait until I prove you wrong,” Aelin said, shrugging. 

Rowan’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. He started walking back towards the herd of customers as he said, “Don’t wait too long.”

With one last smirk in her direction, Rowan disappeared and left Aelin watching him go. There was something about him that captivated her, something mischievous that she couldn’t place her finger on. Maybe she was just dwelling in this little village that felt like Christmas, feeling the holiday’s joy and peace.

Either way, the second she got back to Nesta’s, Aelin found the note with Rowan’s number and sent him a text.

See you this afternoon, delivery boy.

[nikethestatue]

Breed Me

Happy Valentine's Day!

A little one shot of pure smuttiness for all of you to enjoy today. Also, blame @tswaney17 for this! She sent me a video in IG of a pink cookie being decorated with the words 'Breed Me'. She said 'Elriel'. I said 'I have to write this'. So here you are.

This is an Elriel and Nessian smut

(Generally speaking a bonus set in the world of A Match Baked In Heave, but is a standalone)

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuckety fuck fuck.

She knew it. She just knew it. She knew that she’d forget. And she did. She even forgot to set the reminder not to forget.

Valentine’s Day.

Their first Valentine’s Day together. 

The only excuse she managed to come up with was that they’ve been together for almost a year now. They began properly dating right around the last V Day, and therefore, it’s been some time and Nesta was allowed to forget. Or so she told herself. But she was the worst girlfriend ever. She didn’t even have a card for him!

The problem was that Nesta Archeron, barrister extraordinaire, successful, beautiful, admired, and well-put together always, did not possess a romantic bone in her body. Romance just wasn’t how she operated. Nesta liked to go to Michelin starred restaurants, she enjoyed good wines, she adored interesting trips, and she got emotional when walking down the streets of Florence overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and history of the place. But romantic, she was not. At least, not in the sense that people came to expect someone to express their romantic side–chocolates, flowers, jewellery, horrid chocolate lava cakes and even more terrifying public marriage proposals with the ring being dropped to the bottom of a champagne flute. If her boyfriend Cassian ever did that to her, she’d break up with him. Though that wasn’t exactly his style–he’d probably propose on a mountain peak, or looking out at some terrifying squall, or, if she were lucky, at night, on the streets of Florence, when no one was looking and it was the two of them.

But, enough about proposals and romantic gestures. 

She’d leave that to her sister Elain. Her other sister, Feyre, had an even less romantic attitude than Nesta, if that was even possible. Feyre was hopeless in the romance department. Good thing her husband Rhysand was romantic enough for the two of them, and then some. If Rhys could gift Feyre the Moon on a string, he would. 

That left Elain. The only one who was a romantic at heart, and per Feyre ‘romantic on steroids’ who adored V Day and began prepping for it in advance, the way others prepared for Christmas. 

Nesta never enquired about Elain’s Valentine’s Day plans, because she was frankly, a bit scared. Though the Archeron girls were all girls, and close in age, they weren’t the types to discuss their sex lives with each other. They weren’t the types to change clothes in front of one another, and Nesta couldn’t remember when she saw any of her sisters naked. That’s just how they were. And Nesta preferred to keep it that way.

But today, she was desperate. And she was close to Elain’s house. 

Unannounced pop-ins weren’t a thing that the sisters did either, but Nesta was always close to Elain and now, she hoped that Elain wouldn’t mind it. Besides, it was only 2 pm. What could Elain possibly be doing?

Just in case, though, Nesta sent a warning text “I am in the neighbourhood. And need to stop by. Are you decent?”

The last part would’ve seemed like an overkill, but it wasn’t. Because Elain, and her husband Azriel, were known to get it on frequently and at any time of day or night. Nesta had to get her eyes bleached by now, considering how many times she either overheard them or walked in on them. Azriel was a damn exhibitionist, who loved semi-public sex, and what’s more, the man’s had some peculiar interests, which made being in their company a veritable minefield of strange sexual encounters. Elain…well, she was in love. She was love-drunk, dick-drunk, and sex-drunk most of the time. 

Nesta hurried down the street, before rushing up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. True to Elain’s character, the white columns beneath the awning were decorated with pink, white and red roses. Love was in the air.

Nesta banged on the door and heard ‘it’s open!’

She entered the foyer, toed off her boots and almost ran to the open concept first floor kitchen and sitting room. 

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” her sister asked, worry etched on her pretty face.

Elain was wearing a pink dress with red flowers and a wide pink headband, which struggled to contain waves of her thick curls. The dress accentuated her growing stomach, which was just beginning to round and pop at 4.5 months. Of course, Elain made the prettiest pregnant woman in the world. Shiny hair, sparkling eyes, clear skin, a wide smile, gorgeous boobs, no weight gain other than in her stomach, and the most perfect pregnancy–no violent sickness, explosive vomiting, sickening cravings or swollen ankles for the middle Archeron sister. 

“I am brilliant!” Nesta put on a fake smile. “Just need a few ideas,”

Elain eyed her with a disapproving look and then said, 

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Ummm, forgot what?” Neta decided to play stupid.

“Don’t play stupid,” her sister snapped. “You forgot about Valentine’s Day and now Cassian doesn’t have a gift, does he?”

Nesta plopped on the stool by the marble bar and announced with pretend excitement,

“No. But that’s where you come in!”

“Oh, is that so?” rolled her eyes and then picked up a pastry bag, and curled over the counter. “Am I expected to get your boyfriend a Valentine’s Day gift?”

“No, no, no,” Nesta assured her breezily. “Nothing like that. Just…ideas. Give me some ideas. I will execute!”

Elain thought for a second, absorbed in whatever she was doing with that pastry bag, and then explained,

“Men don't care about presents. Not for this type of holiday,”

“They don’t?”

“No! Cass doesn’t want a box of chocolates!” she laughed. “He’d just have to work it out longer at the gym.”

“So then…?” Nesta’s voice trailed as her brows knitted in confusion.

“You are hopeless!” Elain sighed. “Romance. Seduction. That’s what he wants. Seduce him…”

“O-kay…As in?”

“I have to teach you how to seduce a man?” Elain demanded.

“I don’t need to seduce him. He is already seduced!”

“Expand your repertoire,” Elain all but ignored Nesta’s reasoning. “Do something you don't normally do,”

“What, whips and chains?”

“Why must you go that far? Unless you want to be chained and whipped?” 

“No thanks.”

Nesta knew for a fact that that was more of an Elain and Azriel thing.

“Then what?” she asked again.

“What about sending him a sexy video?” Elain proposed. 

“I am not sending nudes,” Nesta stated firmly. “If that ever gets out,”

“You think he is going to share your nudes?”

“Phones get hacked. Next idea?”

Elain sighed and then leaned back against the fridge, and crossed her arms on her chest.

“Have you tried introducing some whipped cream? Strawberries?”

“I don’t like mixing sex with food,” Nesta told her.

“Oh god. Well, what do you like?”

“My choices are nudes or rolling around in greasy sheets?” Nesta demanded crossly. 

“Play a game,”

“What kind of game?”

“Like a sex game. You tell him one of your desires, and he tells you one of his, and you both do it,” Elain proposed.

Nesta chewed on her lips, thinking about it. It wasn’t a terrible idea.

“What else?”

“Try having sex in an unusual place,” Elain suggested. “Not in bed or a shower. But somewhere you don’t usually do it in,”

“Hmmm. Okay.”

This was giving Nesta ideas.

“We have a book,” Elain began but Nesta shook her head, 

“No. Please no. I don’t want real-life examples from your sex escapades!!!”

“All I wanted to say,” Elain pouted, “was that if you have a sexy book or a magazine, you can open it to a random page and act out whatever is there…”

“Oh. Hmmm. That’s not bad. You’ve done that?”

“You just said no real-life examples!” Elain reminded her dryly.

“Yeah, true.”

Giving her a meaningful look of pure judgement, Elain added, “wouldn’t hurt if you dressed in something other than your smart clothes and your suits.”

“Lingerie?”

“It’s been known to help.”

In the next moment, Nesta exclaimed, “Oh my god, what is that!?!? Elain?!”

Elain glanced at the MASSIVE bouquet of pale pastel flowers that Azriel had given her earlier today. It wasn’t unusual that Azriel would give her flowers, so she didn’t quite understand Nesta’s reaction. 

But Nesta was staring, wild-eyed, at what Elain was doing, and she saw a whole array of sugar biscuits, which were already shiny with icing, and upon which Elain was writing.

Writing such as:

Lick Me

I Lick You

Butt Play

Toys

Anal

Reverse Cowgirl

Pearl Necklace

Blindfold

Breed Me

Outside

Car BJ

69

And many others, which Nesta couldn’t even make out.

“What the hell is this?!” she cried out.

Elain began to scramble pathetically, trying to turn the biscuits over, but it was too late. Nesta’s seen enough. 

“Elain! What the heck are you two up to?”

“Okay, whatever,” Elain was redder than the icing on the bakes. “It’s a game, okay? We are going to play a game too!”

“What kind of game is this?!”

“I think it’s obvious,” Elain hissed. 

“Not really…”

“My god,” she rolled her eyes and threw her head back dramatically. “It’s a very simple game, Nesta. There is a platter of biscuits–you select one or two, and read what it says. Then you do it.”

Nesta’s eyes bugged out,

“So you are going to do anal?!?! Or a car BJ!?”

“I don’t know!!!!!!!!!!!” Elain screeched, all flustered and red. “Maybe! Maybe we’ll do anal,”

“You are pregnant,”

“You can have anal when you are pregnant. Also, I am not discussing this with you anymore. I’ve given you ideas. That’s it!” she stomped her foot. 

Before the conversation could escalate even further and end up in a potential screaming match, the front door opened and Azriel’s deep, highly masculine and unabashedly sexual voice announced,

“Two jacket potatoes, coming up. Baby, I hope you are naked, because I am fucking gearing up to eat your pussy like a bulldog eats cereal.

“Also, they made me run three sprints today–though I told him that I am an old man with a wonky knee–but per your request, I am still sweaty. So have your way with me, lick it up.”

Nesta made a gagging noise deep inside her chest.

“We are not alone!” Elain screamed frantically.

“Who are we with? The dogs don’t count.”

Elain and Azriel had four dogs. The oldest, who was Elain’s originally, and then he had three sons–Benny, Churchy and John Boy–whom Elain and Azriel also kept. So, the dad and the three sons ran around together, and caused mischief and were four of the cutest dog potatoes ever.

When Azriel stepped inside, holding–by the looks of it–Churchy and Benny in each arm, both of them were dressed in red sweaters, it dawned on Nesta what he meant by ‘jacket potatoes’. Because it was kind of unbelievable that Elain and Azriel would dine on jacket potatoes for Valentine’s Day. Nevermind that Azriel was planning on dining on something else entirely.

“Oh, Nesta,” he muttered, without an ounce of excitement.

“Don’t worry, I am just leaving,” she got up from her seat, scowling. “I don’t need to be hearing about all your perversions,”

“Perversions?” Azriel smirked. “Judgey much?”

Elain was still squirming from embarrassment, but Azriel didn’t seem to care that his sister-in-law became privy to some seriously serious sex talk.

“The boys are knackered,” he announced, dumping the two pugs into their beds. They didn’t even wake up. Both were outfitted with heart-shaped headbands, and red jumpers with white hearts. 

“Nesta, something you need?” he asked, “or,”

“Definitely not! The last thing I need to see is my sister licking your sweat or whatever the fuck you implied she was going to do to you.”

He laughed, while Elain buried her face in her hands.

Azriel was abnormally handsome–in a way that was almost unnatural, and his handsomeness allowed him to get away with a lot of nonsense. 

“Let me guess, you forgot it was V Day and didn’t get my brother anything,” he suggested, stepping behind Elain and wrapping his arms around her.

“Ha! Not even close!” Nesta lied. 

“All right then.” Azriel clearly didn’t believe her. “Then off you go, ice princess. I need to fuck my wife.”

“Az!” Elain moaned helplessly, while Azriel turned her around and cupped her face in his hands.

“What?” he smiled, while his tongue traced a line against her lips. “Let’s make Nessie so uncomfortable, she’ll run out screaming!”

“Already there,” Nesta hissed. 

With Elain’s back to her and Azriel occupied with the kiss, Nesta quickly swiped a bunch of biscuits from the counter and dropped them in her bag. She can play the game too!

“Bye, you degenerates!” she cried out, and ran out, hearing Elain’s soft ‘byeeee’ on the way out. 

-

Nesta and Cassian

“Happy Valentine’s Day, handsome,” Nesta cooed. “Do you want to play a game?”

“Any game you want, sweetheart,” Cassian offered, his voice thick and husky, “I’ll even lose, if you’d like me to,” he promised. His normally bright hazel eyes were dark and satiny, glistening with want and lascivious desire, as they skimmed over Nesta’s stunning lushness, presented to him in all its glory.

She greeted him in their kitchen, when he stomped inside like a big bear, dripping with February rain. He sure didn’t expect to find her there–wrapped up like the perfect candy box of Valentine’s chocolates for him to unwrap. Truthfully, he thought that she’d forgotten about it today–this holiday wasn’t her jam. But, oh how wrong he was. 

Nesta was splayed on the white quartz countertop, dressed in nothing but blood-red silky lingerie, which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. The panties were little more than a piece of tissue paper, covering literally nothing, and the bra, which was tasked with containing Nesta’s lavish cleavage, was hardly anything more. 

The bra was held together by an innocent looking rose, which nestled at the juncture of her soft, plush tits. While the same rose was attached to the top of the panties, just below her belly button. 

“Well, that won’t be necessary,” Nesta assured him breezily, slowly, but intentionally crossing one long leg over the other. To complete the festive look, she wore gravity-defying red Louboutin heels. “I think we can both be winners in this game.”

She slowly walked her manicured fingers down the countertop, to an assortment of heart-shaped biscuits which were laid out in a…heart shape. 

Cassian was a bit shocked. Not just from watching the gorgeous body and the spectacular set that she was wearing, but also from all this wild Valentine-ism that she went out of her way to do. He wasn’t expecting it. This was more of an Elain thing to do.

But he’d lost his ability to speak anyway, so it was a moot point. He was trying to wrap his mind around everything that he was seeing. There were only harsh, primal sounds coming from his gut. Very caveman-like. 

“Pick a biscuit,” Nesta offered, tapping her finger next to each one.

Cassian shucked off his sodden jacket and his brogues, tossing his suit coat on the floor, uncaring. Slowly, like a lion stalking a lioness in the wild, he approached Nesta, trying to appear unaffected.

“What do we have here?” he finally managed to ask, licking his lower lip slowly. Nesta tracked the movement and shifted her body, so that her breasts almost spilled out of the flimsy bra cups, her nipples straining against the transparent lace. 

“A gift for you,” she offered, batting her lashes at him.

“And what will it say?” he pondered, slowly untying the topknot of his long, black hair. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted innocently. “But whatever you pick, you get to do to me…How does that sound?”

“Sounds like I am up to the challenge,” he promised, watching her bite her lower lip. 

His cock stirred within his trousers, while he watched her full lips glisten with a smear of bright red gloss. What a trail it would leave on his cock. The thought alone made him harder. 

Absently, he picked up one of the biscuits and then turned it, to see the message.

“Hmmm,” he hummed, cocking his brow.

Nesta craned her neck to sneak a peek, but he tsked and shook his head. 

“No, no, Miss Archeron, a deal is a deal. Whatever it says, I will do.”

“But what does it say?”

“Something very interesting, and something I am very in the mood to do,” he told her and then slipped the biscuit in his back pocket.

She pouted, but it didn’t last long, because Cassian leaned over her and kissed her. Grasping her slim wrist in his huge hand, he brought it firmly to the swell of his cock. 

“Must have been an interesting message,” she murmured into his mouth, but he wrapped his lips over her soft, pouty mouth and pried the sticky red lips apart with his tongue. Her thin fingers groped his dick firmly, just like he liked it, and a satisfied moan slipped from his lips, landing on Nesta’s tongue. She still sprawled on the counter, but despite the awkward position, Cassian put his big, warm hands on her thighs, travelling slowly over her soft skin toward the gossamer coverage of her panties, until his thumbs traced the warm wet slit beneath the material. 

Nesta moaned into his cheek, biting the skin on his jaw, as she squeezed his shaft harder, working it over with her expert hand. She smelled incredible, her expensive Chanel perfume tickling his nose, as he inhaled deeply, while thrusting his palms under her ass cheeks and palming her hard. He caressed her tongue with his, opening her further up to his kiss, kneading the soft bare skin of her behind. She breathed hotly into his mouth, letting go of his cock and winding her arms around his neck. The loss of her hand on his erection was tragic, but that also allowed Cassian to pull her to him, making her grand tits press into his chest and the warmth of her pussy into his dick. She rubbed against him impatiently, murmuring ‘sorry for ruining your trousers’ to which he replied, ‘feel free to ruin all of me, sweetheart’. 

She nodded, her long leg wrapping around his calves and pulling him even closer. The lips of her pussy stretched around the base of his erection, and she ground on him firmly and confidently.

“What’s my present for V day?” she teased, stroking his long hair and the back of his neck.

“Also a fun game,” he said, dragging his tongue over her mouth, kissing her lazily and with obscene sort of tenderness, indulging in her scent and her taste.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A version of whack-a-mole.”

“Are you the mole?” she queried.

“I am the whacker and the mole,” Cassian told her confidently.

-

Azriel and Elain

“Where was I?” Azriel murmured, watching Elain’s arched body in front of him. “Oh yes,” he remembered, “spreading your legs…”

He was behind her, his scarred palm rough on her hip, as he parted her thighs further. She was panting loudly, and he smiled, caressing her hair lovingly, “my little pillow-biter”.

“Mmm,” was all Elain managed, while the head of his hot, heavy, hefty cock prodded at her entrance, but he didn’t push inside. Instead, his hand slipped under her and stroked her round belly, while he whispered, “he good?”

She nodded yes. “He is good.”

“Ask for my cock, wife,” he then ordered. 

She wiggled her round ass against his groin, the underside of his hard cock landing between her butt cheeks, but didn’t do as he asked. 

He tsked and then slapped the heavy pole over her folds, making her gasp and clutch the sheets harder in her hands.

“Be a good girl, and ask,” he encouraged her, but she shook her head, stifling another moan when he smacked his cock over her pussy. 

“Oh god,” was all she managed, because while it hurt, it also felt so good.

“I am waiting,” he sang, gripping her breasts in his hands and painfully twisting her nipples. 

“Mmm–nooo,” she argued like a brat, shaking her head stubbornly.

Azriel sighed and contemplated for a moment, as he casually fondled her tits, half-seated on her hips. 

“Last chance, beautiful. Ask for my dick,” he told her.

She shook her head and remained silent. 

The thrill of punishment made her even hornier, as she didn’t know what he was going to do.

Flipping her over on her back, he kneeled on one knee over her and cupped his balls in his hand, lazily stroking his shaft. When she made to touch it, he said, “nope. You didn't ask for my cock like a good wife should. Now you are not getting it until I am ready to give it to you,”

He traced his lips with his thumb, while still rubbing his shaft, smearing precum over it, before sliding down and straddling her chest. Gathering her heavy breasts in his hands, he then spit on his dick and firmly pushed her breasts together. “Get ready, sweetness,” he warned, before thrusting his thick cock inside her cleavage. “Now, you are going to take my cock like my good girl, swallow nice and deep, while I fuck your pretty titites,” he instructed, pumping slowly between her breasts. “Tongue out,” he ordered, and Elain stuck her tongue out for him. The smooth head of his cock immediately landed on it, and she burrowed the tip into the sexy little slit, licking on it, tasting him. “That’s a good girl,” he approved, smiling down at her, as he quickly fluffed a pillow behind her head, so that the angle was just right. He squeezed her breasts even harder, and she gasped, especially when he tweaked her nipples, but he didn’t stop thrusting steadily, his movements precise and firm, so that the head of his cock remained inside her mouth for her to lick and suck on. 

“Eye contact at all times, my love,” he reminded her, smiling at her, before pushing deeper in her mouth. Elain watched him obediently, her mouth full of him, her lips stretched around the thickness of the shaft, as she panted loudly around him. He jiggled her tits playfully, keeping them wrapped around his base and his balls. “Now you’ll have my cock in your mouth for as long as I want, naughty girl,” he pinched her nipples, “start sucking, baby.”

Elain submitted, immobilised beneath his weight, sucking scrupulously and hard, as she watched him like he wanted. 

She wanted to be here too, in this place, in his position. She enjoyed being dominated, and Azriel dominated her well. She didn’t crave pain, though when he spanked her, or choked her, or slapped her with his dick, she loved it, but she needed to submit to his desires. She loved taking his cock any way he told her to, loved to serve him in bed, loved to give up control. 

So she sucked sloppily, while he pumped her tits and worked his heavy balls up and down her chest. 

“Is that good, pretty girl?” he asked. 

She nodded, gasping for breath when he pushed his cock deeper. He didn’t stop, and pressed further, whispering “choke on it, beautiful. Come on!”

She sputtered and choked, her eyes pleading with him silently, as tears ran down her cheeks, but he shook his head. 

“No. Swallow. And choke,” he ordered. “Open up. Wider,” and as she did, he plunged further, into her already trained throat. 

After they got married, for three months all she did was suck his cock multiple times a day, learning how to train her gag reflex, learning how to truly suck dick, falling in love with it. 

He released her tits from his grip, and she noticed the blossoming of bruises on her skin, while he propped himself on his arms, before starting  to fuck her mouth greedily and obscenely.

Elain relaxed under the onslaught of his expertly delivered thrusting in her mouth and while he still choked her, she was also enjoying herself. She loved her husband more than it was rational or describable. Azriel fulfilled every dream, every hope, every desire, every need that she had.

Elian hummed against the hard, hot pole in her mouth, which made Azriel feel drunk, particularly when the sound reverberated in her throat, tickling the head of his shaft. He lovingly brushed his thumb over her cheek, watching her bob up and down and meeting every push of his shaft. The noises that she was making–sloppy, wet, explicit–were an erotic symphony in his ear. If he could listen to her gag on his dick for the rest of his life, he probably would.

“You are so good to me,” he whispered. “My Ellie. But, I promised you a gift.”

He eased his pounding of her mouth and resumed his spot on her chest, sliding his shaft back between her breasts. Her breathing eased and she put her hands on his firm, muscle-corded thighs, stroking him slowly, running her fingertips through the nest of pubes around his cock.

His balls tightened and this member twitched next to her sternum, while she squeezed his rock-hard ass cheeks in her hands, digging her nails into his skin. Just like her, he liked a bit of pain as well. 

He pulled out of her mouth just in time for the warm jets of cum to land on her lips, her neck and her chest.

“Mmmm, more,” she finally moaned, licking the familiar salty outpouring from her lips, while he kept coming, until it was dripping down her chest. He scooped some with his fingers and let her lick them off the sperm.

“Beautiful girl,” he purred lovingly. “With a beautiful pearl necklace.”

She laughed and touched her neck. There, beneath the globs of cum, was her new pearl necklace, her Valentine’s gift and the present for her pregnancy.

Azriel collapsed on the bed next to her and then handed her a glass of water. She chugged it down gratefully and he took the biscuit from the nightstand. On it, in pretty script it was written ‘Pearl Necklace’.

Elain got up, amidst his protests and skipped to the bathroom, where she washed off her V Day gift and brushed her teeth.

Then, she quickly returned to bed and collapsed into the embrace of her husband.

“I love you, you know,” he said seriously, spooning her from behind.

“I do know that,” she smiled and kissed his hand. “And I love you. More than you’ll ever know.”

He kissed her shoulder gently and then arranged her against himself, before spreading her pussy with his fingers and nudging his already-hard dick inside. He thrust in slowly, filling her gradually and completely. She sighed contentedly.

“Are you hungry?” he worried.

She shook her head and made herself comfortable on his bicep.

“But I am happy.”

“I am happy if you are happy,” he said to her, and kissed her cheek.

Elain yawned. 

Incredibly, of all the biscuits that she would have selected, she randomly chose ‘cock warming’--her very favourite thing to fall asleep with. It’s almost like she…cheated.

-

Nesta and Cassian

Nesta rolled her hips, seated on Cassian’s knees. Her own knees were tucked against his thighs, pressing tightly into him, holding him immobile.

“You look delicious, Nes,” he ground, his voice choked, as he ran his thick fingers through her long silky hair, though now it was tangled against her back.

Her pussy was dripping his shaft, each fold splayed prettily to accommodate his considerable girth and he couldn't get enough of the sight. Especially with the red of her panties pulled aside haphazardly, reminding Cassian of how impatient she was with him. 

A lock of hair bounced over her round breasts, still covered by the bra cup, but it didn’t stop him from putting his mouth over her puckering nipple and biting.

“Fuck me, Cassian,” she grunted through gritted teeth, holding onto the back of his neck. She ground down on him, taking him inside her gorgeous body wholly, tempting tits swaying freely next to his face. He bit her nipple again, sucking on it through the material, and her head fell forward, pressing into his forehead.

The wet, hot friction between them was almost unbearable, but Cassian held her firmly by the hips, fucking up into her and making her take all of him again and again. It was pure, glorious heaven.

“Gimmie a kiss, sweetheart,” he told her, as he fucked her with rough, deep strokes. This was his favourite Nesta–weakened and compliant, her lips pink and glossy, when he took her mouth in a messy, wet kiss. She keened into him, allowing him full control of her body, sucking on his tongue like he wanted her to–soft and sighing with pleasure. He rocked her steadily, his thrusts deep and punishing, as he caressed her arched back and the peachy cut of her ass. She took him breathlessly, her mouth forming an almost shocked ‘O’ every time he hit that perfect spot inside of her, angling her body just so and making her cry out loudly again and again.

“Cassian. Cassian. Cassian.”

Her head lolled to the side and she closed her eyes, her grip on his neck and shoulders easing, and he held her closer, allowing her to relax and know that he had her. 

“Good fucking girl,” he murmured into her hair, pressing his thumbs into the divots above her ass. “Letting me fuck and breed this perfect pussy.”

At that, Nesta exploded. The squelching sounds of her dick pushing inside her became a staccato of explicit, sultry melody. 

“GOD. Cassian. I love you,” she squealed, as he huffed and grunted with adoration at her words.

The walls of her pussy squeezed him tightly, holding him in an almost painful vise-like grip, as she climaxed all over him, melting into a loud, needy scream. She fell into his chest, pumped continuously and nestled her face into the crook of his neck, sucking on it with desperation. 

Only then did Cassian let go of his iron self control and came inside of her, letting her milk every drop of his seed.

“Beautiful, Nes,” he babbled in her ear. “Take it all. Finally.”

This was perfection.

The way she gripped him and how her pussy pulsed all around his dick was incredible.

Nesta was severely allergic to any hormonal contraceptives, and non-hormonal IUD didn’t work for her, causing constant bleeding and extreme discomfort. So they practised the ‘natural method’ and he never came inside of her. Until tonight. Finally. It was amaz-

“Cassian!!!” she cried out. “What the hell?!? What did you do?!”

She pushed against his chest and stared at him with a horrified expression.

“What did I do?” he exclaimed, alarmed.

He was in fact, still orgasming inside of her.

“What?!” he repeated.

“You came!” she accused him pointlessly.

“Well, yes,” his brow furrowed.

“Inside!” she stated the obvious, like he wasn’t aware.

“Well, yeah. You wanted me to!” he reminded her, as he kissed her lips.

“What? When did I want you to?”

“Nesta,” he sighed. “I know you are blissed out, baby, but you asked me to,”

“Asked you what?!”

“To come inside of you. Calm down, sweetheart.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. 

“Stop freaking out. It’s going to be okay.”

“When did I ask you?!” she repeated again.

“The cookie.”

“What cookie?!?!” she screamed.

“The biscuit. That you told me to choose.”

“What about it??!!!” she wiped her face.

“It said Breed Me.”

She stared at him helplessly, mouth open.

Cassian kissed her again and pumped into her deeper, making everything seem inevitable.

“So I bred you,” he shrugged, looking proud of himself. 

-

Fucking Elain and her fucking biscuits.