On Thin Ice: Azriel x OC

Chapter 18

Dinner went by quickly, half the inner circle deciding to head out to the bar after.

Nesta and Elain left, Azriel declining the offer to prepare for his mission the next day.

Rhys had been hostile at first, but Mor had already convinced Feyre, so there wasn't much he could do except come along.

"You coming?" Cassian asked Nova when he noticed everyone getting up and ready to leave, and she still sat at the dining room table.

"I'm tired, I better stay in tonight," Nova said, Cassian looked over to Azriel before looking back to Nova, giving her a small smile of understanding.

The group left the townhouse, leaving Azriel and Nova in the dining room alone.

Azriel leaned up against the doorframe in the opening between the living room and dining room, facing Nova who stood across the table, behind the chair she had previously sat in.

Azriel crossed his arms, "You stayed."

Nova laid her hands on top of the chair in front of her, "I didn't want to leave you to stress about tomorrow alone."

"Well then," Azriel pushed himself off the doorframe, taking a step into his shadows and Nova quietly gasped as he reappeared a mere second later standing barely a foot away from her.

He uncrossed his arms, letting his left arm drop to his side, reaching his right hand out to hers.

"If we have the whole townhouse for a few hours, we might as well make ourselves comfortable," Azriel said as Nova dropped her hands from the chair, putting her left hand into his outstretched one.

Azriel turned and started walking back towards the doorway he had been standing at moments before, letting the hand holding hers drift behind him, leading her into the living room, as his thumb absentmindedly began brushing the back of her hand.

Approaching the living room, Azriel led Nova around the couch, moving to the far corner.

He sat, still holding her hand, and she looked down at him, confused.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Azriel's lips curved into a smile and he gestured to the open space next to him, "Well, lay down."

"Lay down?" Nova asked, feet planted on the floor, still confused.

Azriel moved his hand to the side, gently taking her hand and body with it.

Two small steps left Nova at the edge of the couch, letting go of Azriel's hand before she turned and sat next to him.

She looked over and raised her eyebrows at him before scooting over and turning, facing away from him, lifting her legs to rest on the armrest, then laying back, her head lining up with the center of his thighs.

She placed her hands on her stomach and looked up at him, "Care to tell me why?"

"Because I want to play with your hair," Azriel said, Nova's confused face turning blank and he quickly added with small panic, "If that's okay with you."

Azriel swore he saw something sparkle in her eyes before she started laughing in disbelief.

He couldn't keep a straight face as she laughed, which quickly subsided and he asked, "So, is that a yes?"

"Yes Az, do what you wish to my hair," Nova smiled as Azriel's amusement showed all over his face.

Azriel's hands traced the back of her neck, gathering every strand of her jet-black hair, which normally fell to just below her collarbones.