𝒜 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈 | ᴀᴢʀɪᴇʟ

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Cassian groaned as Arwen threaded her fingers through his hair, the backs of her thighs aching as they pressed against his shoulders. He gripped them hard, his large fingers indenting right through her muscle. She shifted her legs around. "A little to the left." He readjusted his grip but obeyed and moved across. Arwen bit her lip as she grinned towards the ceiling, one arm stretched overhead. "Perfect."

"When you said you had something fun in mind," he grunted, "I thought you meant for the both of us."

"Oh, you can have your drink when I'm done," she told him.

Footsteps warned them of more than one new presence making their way into what was previously the empty cabin. Cassian twisted around, taking Arwen along with him. Rhysand entered his family's cabin first, Mor and Azriel a step behind him. Arwen's lips parted before resettling into a grin. She swayed her hanging feet on either side of Cassian as she held his head. She threw her other arm back to gesture to the hanging lights. "Ta-da."

Rhysand smiled, his brows lifting as he examined the decorated sitting room. It was a late effort considering that it was the eve of Winter Solstice, but they had all been preoccupied until now. "So this is what she swindled you into," he mused with a ring of laughter. "And here I thought you were the only one of us to be able to say no to her."

Mor made a quiet 'humph' and said, "I expected more resilience from you, General."

"Yeah, well, I got tricked," Cassian groused.

Arwen grinned, leaning over his head to speak closer to his ear. "I believe that's what swindled means."

He scoffed below her. "Why are you still on me? Get off, get off." Cassian rolled his shoulders, one of her thighs slipping off him. Arwen let out a sound between a laugh and a shriek, and clawed at his jacket but he kept shaking her. His laughter sounded throughout her family's second home as she landed with a thud on the floor.

Her lungs shook with his. "Ow, you prick." Arwen rubbed the back of her head as she stood back on her feet. Giving a smile across her shoulder to the others to ensure they knew of her and Cassian's good nature, she set off to the kitchen in search of something that would cure her aching backside.

Chatter ensued in her wake, hearty and loud—just the way it should be. Arwen smiled to herself at the thought as she gazed over Rhysand's personal wine collection. Her finger ran over the waxed corks when a second form entered behind her. Arwen glanced over her shoulder. "Do you want one?" she asked Azriel.

He came to her side, settling one hand on her back, the other at her stomach. "I might indulge tonight," he said, and her smile grew as he nuzzled his nose into her hairline near her temple. "That moron didn't hurt you, did he?"

Arwen snorted. "Only my pride." She plucked a label she recognised as Cassian's favoured and a tall glass to pour it into. "How did your gift shopping go?" Of course, he had left it until the last minute. She was well aware of his aversion to gifts so they agreed between themselves to stick to something small.

Azriel loosened his hold on her so she could walk to the bench but trailed alongside. "Mor likes shoes, doesn't she?"

She smothered a chuckle behind pinched lips but the humour still shot through her. "Yes, I think you're safe there," she told him. With a small wave of her hand, the wine's stopper disappeared, and she generously filled the glass. "Did Rhys get all his work finished? I hate it when he brings it to these things."

Rhysand had been invited to a meeting in the Dawn Court come spring. With tensions between Day and Night always fickle, it was a chance to solidify relationships between the solar courts. Rhysand had been drafting up the documents he would need, stealing Mor to help him. He had asked Arwen, but she took one look at what work needed to be done and feigned not understanding what was written. A pebble of guilt still sat in her for that, but she helped see to the more regular work that he dismissed in his new concentration.