A court of shadow and spying (Azriel X OC)

the spy

Az and I lay together on the sofa and watched the fire crackling in the fireplace. A blanket was swung around my legs, as I was still wearing only one of Azriel's shirts and a pair of panties, but it was just more comfortable that way. And faster, of course, should we fall back into the frenzy that had brought us to the bathroom a few hours ago. I buried my face in Az chest to hide my smile as I thought about it.
'Where are we, anyway?', I asked, because it had only just occurred to me. 'I've never been here before', I elaborated, looking up at Azriel. His shadows were caught in my hair and seemed quiet and calm. His gaze found mine and Azriel smiled slightly.
'We're in my apartment', he said, as if it were nothing.
'In your apartment?', I blurted out and leaned my hands on his chest so that I was looking down into his face. But he just nodded, with a little grin playing around his lips.
'Why didn't I know about it?', I asked, looking at him scrutinizingly.
'No one knows where it is, except Rhys. Sometimes I just need a little rest and now that Nesta and Cassian have been occupying the House of Winds for a while and Feyre and Rhys are in the River House..', he shrugged.
'Elain and Mor usually stay in the townhouse, so there's always someone somewhere when I want my peace. Therefore I bought this place. Most people think I'm on a mission when I'm here. If I told them, they would just want to know where and get on my nerves all the time. There, even here, my peace and quiet won't do me any good if they're constantly at the door.'
I nodded and lay back against his chest and his arms immediately wrapped around me as he ran one of his hands through my hair and stroked it back.
'Thank you for showing it to me', I said, and my hands traced circles over his bare chest.
'Well', Az said softly, pulling me closer to him. 'This one's for you too', he said, grabbing my hips in wonder as I sat back up with a flourish and a grin took over my features.
'Really? Us, together?'
Azriel nodded and a small smile played around his lips. I leaned down to kiss him and the kiss deepened as Az pressed his hand to the back of my head, savouring our kiss. Our lips moved against each other in harmony and I gave a sigh of pleasure as he let go of me.
'But then I will need most of the closet', I said in seriously thinking and looked around the open room.
'And a few more pictures couldn't hurt, you know, maybe some plants on the shelves, oh and of course a full fridge, we'll be cooking together from now on-'
Azriel's hand quickly snuggled around my neck as he turned my face to his and kissed me passionately. Slow and full of love, it took me to lean against him and put my arms against his chest. When he let go of me, his eyes were full of joy and happiness. It pained me to have seen this emotion so rarely in his eyes, but there were still so many centuries ahead of us that we would spend together, so this would become one of his emotions that I saw more often. I put my hands to his cheeks and traced the features of his jaw.
'What was that for?', I asked softly, looking at him. But Azriel shook his head and pressed another tender kiss to my lips.
'Because I love you', he whispered, and an amorous smile spread across my face as he said it.
'I love you too', I whispered to his lips and kissed him again.
'You know what, why don't we go shopping now? I'm going to need some new things and new furnishings...'
The look on his face made me laugh, I could tell he would rather stay here, with me. I caressingly stroked down his chest again.
'You would get a reward too', I said softly, looking up at him as innocently as I could. He hummed in agreement and looked me up and down as best he could.
'What kind of reward would that be?', he asked harshly and my breath caught.
'You'd get to rip my new lingerie off my body', I murmured against his ear,
'I think you'd enjoy that', I laughed softly to myself and as I pulled back, I saw his dreamy expression.
'Definitely a nice view, it's true', he said and gently pushed me off his lap.
'Go get dressed and we can go', he said and stood up and I grinned at him as I pulled away from him.
'You won't regret it', I said and disappeared into the bedroom. I was still gathering my clothes when I heard voices from the hallway and made my way back outside to see who was there.
'Az?', I called out and looked out the door, but I saw him standing at the door. I walked up to him and smiled when I saw Rhysand and Cassian at the door. So much for Az and his calm.
'Hey', I said and leaned against Azriel's side, his arms immediately wrapping around me and he pushed me back a bit, like the others were a danger.
'Hey little Jen', Cassian said and smiled at me, but the very next moment Azriel's growl filled the air. I looked up at him questioningly, but dismissed the thought as I pushed myself in front of him, albeit with some protest because Az wanted to keep me behind him. His arms wrapped around my waist and lingered on my abdomen, making my heart pound again, but I focused on the two visitors.
'Why are you here?' I asked, eyeing them. They didn't look tired or exhausted, so it didn't seem to be anything too important. Both of them gave me a somewhat smile and I didn't quite understand the background.
'Well- Azriel's spies brought some information about the Hewn City and on the other hand, now that you're officially part of the family-'
I raised my eyebrows and felt redness shoot up my face, it was a bit embarrassing. I cleared my throat and looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at the two of them. But they wore happy, proud looks and I was glad that they accepted me into their family.
'Listen, why don't you come inside? We can make tea and-'
Azriel pulled me closer to him and his hands went to my hips and to the hem of the shirt I was wearing. I thought he was going to pull it up, but he tugged it down so that less of my thighs were visible.
'Just come in', I said, and tried to push Azriel backwards and press my pelvis against his so that he would move, but nothing happened.
'Az-move for once', I muttered, looking up at him in exasperation as he stayed where he was like a stone. Rhysand's and Cassian's amused glances flitted between us and I sighed in annoyance. I wriggled out of his arms and turned to face him, but he didn't seem to pay any attention to me, his fists clenched as he looked at the other two, his brothers. His gaze was cold and with a jerk I was behind him again.
'Are you serious?', I shouted from behind and heard Cassian laughing, but Azriel wouldn't let me get through to them.
'Let her come to us, I'm sure it will be funnier than it already is', Cassian teased, and before I knew it Az's fist collided with Cassian's jaw. Confused and shocked at the same time, I followed the action and quickly scurried out of the way as Cassian and Azriel moved their fight into the living room.
'What are you guys doing? Are you stupid?', I exclaimed, but I was overheard and ruffled my hair as they rumbled Az and my apartment. Rhysand came running towards me and raised his hands towards Azriel as he stood at least two meters away from me, thus putting a stop to Azriel's cold stare. I frowned, was this about me? I looked at Rhysand for help and he gave me a confident smile before grabbing my hand as quickly as he could and we disappeared into nothingness.
We ended up in the living room of the townhouse and Rhysand disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving me standing there confused, in only shirt and panties. For a moment, I just stood there, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. My eyebrows drew together as a wave of anger welled up inside me for leaving me standing there like that.
'Hey!'
I whirled around and almost fell over the chair, which had been in front of me a short time before. My hand pressed against my heart as it thumped violently, and I looked over at Mor and Feyre, who had made themselves comfortable on the opposite couch. Their grins told me that they too were in the know about the situation that was unfolding. With a sigh, I settled into the chair behind me and looked at them both, stunned.
'What is happening right now?' I asked out loud, burying my face in my hands. This situation was so hilarious that I started laughing.
'Why are they fighting anyway? Az and I were just about to go to town and there's Cass and Rhys at the door and Az is acting weird and the next they're fighting in our living room, I mean what the hell is going on? That's stupid, or do they do that kind of thing a lot?', I said, slapping my hand to my forehead before laughing softly and looking at the other two questioningly. They were still grinning and that told me enough about it that it would be better soon.
'Well, when you accept the mating bond it is usually very hard for the man not to become possessive. And since it's worse with the Illyrian warriors on everything else than it is with the rest, Cassian and Rhys are fighting with Az right now to get some tension out of the air. That's not to say that Az won't continue to be somewhat, well, possessive and domineering when it comes to men and contact with others. It's usually not so bad with women, but you may experience some tension as well, so just let me know if we need to get our butts kicked too.'
I looked at the two of them in disbelief, but it made sense what they were telling me. Then I laughed out loud.
'No, I don't think we'll have to beat each other up', I said and sighed.
'This was really one of the dumbest situations I've ever been in. I'm sitting here in just a shirt and my panties waiting for my mate and his brothers to finish fighting... Over me.'
I looked over at them and grinned.
'But I guess I should get used to that huh?'
They nodded and the next moment they pulled me to them on the sofa and squeezed me in between them. It was like a giant hug of sorts, yet not really comfortable unless they let go of me soon and gave me the air I needed to breathe.
'Welcome to the family Jen! Not that you weren't part of it before, but of course now it's even more official that you're one of us', Mor said, kissing both of my cheeks before leaning back serenely, her eyes sparkling. I knew what she wanted. Details, lots of details, the kind I wouldn't give her. I shook my head.
'At least tell me how much', she said, looking at me pleadingly, but waiting for the gossip behind it.
'Twice', I said, and Mor looked really disappointed, as if she had expected something else from us.
'For several, very long hours', I added, and her mouth twisted into a dirty grin, to which I could do nothing but jump in. I also leaned back against the sofa and looked at Feyre.
'What does your darling Rhysand say, are they almost done?'
'Are you missing him again already? You've only been here ten minutes', Mor complained, but I waved her statement away and laughed when she slapped my hand. Feyre laughed too and listened over to Rhys for a moment before answering.
'Might be a while, I think you're close to having to redecorate Azriel's apartment', she said. Puzzled, I looked over at her, how did she know about Az's apartment?
'I'm the high lady, do you really think Rhys is keeping me in the dark?' she said, as if it was only natural that she knew too and I grinned, Mor on the other hand had opened her eyes and was pouting because she didn't know.
'Well, now that Cassian also knows where the apartment is, I'm sure he'll take you if you want to bother us', I said to Mor and her eyes became devious. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut, too.
'I'm going to get something to drink', I said, and was halfway to standing up when I was pulled back onto the sofa with a flourish and laughed out loud at the inquisitive nature of the two next to me. With a flick of Feyre a bottle full of wine was in front of us, it wasn't what I was expecting but Mor was already pouring.
'So, your place, yes? Does that mean we hardly get to see you anymore?'
I grinned and shook my head.
'Well, if they really do destroy the whole place, I guess we'll be living here again for a while. And it's not like I'm out of the world, if you miss me too much, go outside and yell my name, maybe I'll hear you.'
'Hmm, definitely, if you do nothing else all day but fuck each other to the point of complete senselessness.'
'Hey-' I exclaimed and grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her head, but I couldn't hide the laughter that bubbled out of me. Somehow there seemed to be something right about it and my face turned a little pink, but no one paid any attention as we fell into a pillow fight and feathers shot out of one of the pillows leaving a mess everywhere. Still, it was funny and soon our hair was full of feathers and the living room was a mess. We grinned at each other like idiots and my hair was a mess, but I was glad to be back with them.
The rest of the day we sat together in the living room and gossiped about meaningless things but it was nice to be among girls again. Sometimes I would look out the window into the city and wonder if Az and his brothers had finished beating each other up, but they didn't come back until it was late at night.
I had just set my tea down on the little table when the three of them stood in front of us. They all looked damaged and I looked down to hide my grin when I saw Cassian's black eye. Rhysand was holding his ribs and Az- well, he had a grin on his face, even if his lip looked a little swollen, yet it seemed to have helped him somehow; to get beat up. I was about to squeeze back between Feyre and Mor on the sofa when Azriel's arms were around me and he pulled me to him. With a plop, he dropped us onto the sofa across from them and put his arm around my waist, pulling me to him protectively as he kissed me along my neck as I got comfortable on his lap.
Seems to me you won, I whispered to him about our bond and his grin gave me answer enough before his lips were on mine, I heard Mor groan in annoyance, which is why I let go of Az laughing and turned my attention back to her.
'Is the apartment in ruins? Or can I assume it's still standing and everything looks nice again?'
Cassian shrugged his shoulders and slumped heavily into the chair with a sigh.
'It seems to me that some redecorating certainly wouldn't be a bad thing', Cassian said, grinning in our direction, looking a bit consumed with the violet forming at his eye. I heaved a sigh, but actually I had already figured that.