Throne of Glass - Aelin, Rowan, and Lorcan Threeway

Part 1: Aelin and Lorcan

Suddenly Aelin found herself pinned, her cheek scraping against a brick surface worn by years of wind. She breathed deeply, taking in the smell of the dark green moss that covered the smooth, cool surface. A rough, calloused hand gripped her left wrist behind her back while another pinned her right shoulder to the wall. Aelin could smell a thick, earthy scent that was unlike that of the must coming from the mossy brick. She had smelled this before, once, but it was not until the small breeze sent a hint of citrus to her nostrils that she was able to place where she knew that scent from. "Hello Lorcan" she said, a wicked smile on her face. "I was wondering when you would catch up to me."

"Aelin", he growled, "that wasn't a very nice trick. If you needed someone else to take care of your problems for you..." He let the thought trail, knowing his point had been made. He considered her weak. The insufferable bastard. Aelin knew his intent was to disgruntle her, force her to make brash decisions based in anger rather than rational thought. Aelin couldn't help herself as her assassin's instincts took over. Gravel crunched beneath her as she pivoted on her toes and kicked Lorcan's foot back with her left leg, causing a slight bend in his knee and giving her just enough space to whirl around so that she was now face to face, sharing breath with the immortal fae male in front of her. Aelin stared Lorcan in the eyes, a defiant smile spreading across her lips.

Lorcan firmly planted both hands against the bricks on either side of her head. "Proud of yourself, are you?" purred Lorcan. He leaned into her close enough that the hair on her neck prickled up with goosebumps. "Maybe I wanted you to turn that pretty face of yours to me." A shiver went down Aelin's back. This was a predator in front of her. Not a mere man, but something more akin to the panther she saw that night outside Mistward. Everything in her being was telling her to run. He let his nose trace her cheekbone as he pulled back, slowly, meeting her defiant gaze with one of his own. Cocky bastard, she thought.

It had been decades since Lorcan had found anyone attractive. Sure, he had worked his way through towns, bedding any female he wanted, but none truly captivated him the way Aelin did. That night when he saw her at Mistward it took more effort than he was willing to admit for him to prowl past her and find Rowan inside that fortress. He had wanted to stop right then and there, in the middle of a gods damned battle field, and fuck her senseless. It wasn't just her physical looks that he found alluring, but the sense of sheer determination and unbreakable will he saw behind her eyes, eyes that were too old and didn't seem to fit the rest of her young face. He knew the mission Maeve had sent him on to track Aelin and retrieve the Wyrdkey would bring him face to face with her. He knew that it would take all his millennia of self-control to keep from pouncing on her the moment he saw her. He had thought of nothing else the entire trip to Rifthold. So when he found himself pressed against her, her firm backside against him, it was all he could do not to fuck her in that alley right then and there.

Rowan had known the minute Aelin's breathing changed that she was going to attempt to leave the bed without him knowing. Naive mortal girl, underestimating his hundreds of years of training and honing his immortal fae senses so that even when he was sleeping his body was aware of its surroundings. Rowan let his Queen believe she had deceived him as he lay motionless on the bed, breathing so shallow it was as if he wasn't breathing at all while she slowly lifted the covers and ever so gingerly planted her feet on the rug. The minute Aelin had made it out of the window and down to the street below, Rowan leaped from bed with an unnatural silent stealth, threw on one of the too tight shirts that Nesryn had given him, and followed her out of the window. He trailed her less than a block before he picked up the deep earth and citrus scent on the wind ahead of him that told him his old friend had somehow already made it to Rifthold and was tracking Aelin. Shit.

He had to get to Aelin, help her, defend his Queen from Lorcan and whatever cruel command Maeve had given him through that blood oath. But he couldn't. He thought through every possible plan in a matter of seconds only to realize that he could not get to Aelin without Lorcan noticing him. So he decided to track Lorcan as he tracked Aelin and hoped that he could get to her in time should Lorcan attempt something foolish.