Their Fireheart

Chapter Twenty

Rowan, who had taken the kettle from Rhys and was now pouring himself an apparently much-needed cup of tea, merely shrugged, unrepentant and a bit too fucking smug if you ask me.

Aedion threw his hands up, huffing loudly. "Anyone could have seen you two. You know Arobynn has eyes on her."

At this, Rowan finally looked at him, smiling coldly. "Not anymore. If you think I'd allow anyone to see my mate like that, then I haven't made myself clear." Setting down the kettle, he turned to face my cousin head-on. I tensed, preparing for a fight. "Aelin is ours, our mate. Ours to love, ours to protect, and yes - ours to fuck. Nothing and no one are going to keep us from doing just that."

Damn, that shouldn't be sweet - why did I think that was sweet?

Thankfully, Aedion just turned back to the skillet in front of him, grumbling under his breath and cursing the gods as to why his cousin had to be mated to such psychotic bastards - which we all pretended not to hear.

Deciding to interject now before things got too out of hand, I said, "If you ladies are done prattling on, do you think you could hurry up with breakfast? I'd rather like to eat something before the day is half over."

The mock snarls and growls of protest were music to my ears as I turned on my heel to get dressed properly. What? Cassian wasn't the only one who enjoyed baiting others, and it was their own fault for being so easy to rile.

Still, my chest warmed when I emerged once again from my room to find a fully set table, my mates and cousin seated around the small table, waiting for me to join before they began eating.

The apartment was filled with the lively, jovial sounds of my family as we ate, the males swapping light-hearted jabs and cracking jokes. The congenial atmosphere settled something within me, and I allowed myself to just exist, ignoring the threats I was facing, the pressure of all I had to accomplish - enjoying the way my cousin blended with us seamlessly.

It was everything I'd ever hoped for. All that I hadn't dared to imagine.

So of course, it couldn't last.

We'd nearly finished breakfast when the front door opened and Lysandra breezed in with a chirped hello, and I smirked as the males released the weapons they'd grabbed. I don't think I'd ever tire of Lysandra's remarkable ability to unnerve even the fiercest of warriors.

"How do you do that?" Aedion demanded as she glided into the kitchen.

"I suppose this is marginally better than the miserable excuse for a meal you cobbled together last time," was all she said, not even bothering to look at the demi-fae warrior.

I snorted, not missing the way my cousin's eyes didn't waver from the pretty brunette. "Breakfast, apparently, is the only meal any of us are half-decent at."

I made some room for her on the bench as she sat down on the end, leaning forward to snatch one of the only remaining breakfast pastries clear from Aedion's plate. It was all I could do not to laugh aloud at his open-mouthed gaping, and the sputtered protests that followed were pure comedy.

Who would have thought that stealing food was what my cousin classified as an unforgivable crime?

Meanwhile, my mates were less than impressed with my description of their cooking skills, if their narrowed eyes were any indication.

"Yes," Azriel drawled with a brow raised in challenge, "because you were so instrumental to the preparation of this morning's meal."

I sniffed haughtily, pretending to fluff up my hair. "Some of us are above such menial labor."