ACOTAR One~shots [Discontinued, Will be deleted]

Sensory

As if in answer to my growing distress, I sensed my mate's imminent return with triumphant glee and put down the book I had been trying to read. His glittering, ebony power enveloped me as I walked to the edge of the balcony to meet him. Rhysand swept in gracefully from the sky - a shadow in the moonlight - and touched down near me. His great wings beat a wind across the landing, blowing my hair and silk dress. Cassian and Azriel on his heels, flew in on the other side of me. Cass greeted me with a quick grin before following Azriel into the foyer.

Rhys purred at me playfully, and I fell into his embrace the same moment he leaned in to wrap me close.

I nuzzled into his chest and felt his heart beating rapidly from the effort of flying. Breathing in his scent calmed the stalking wolf in my mind that had been pacing restlessly ever since they had set out.

I felt the same kind of buzzing beast in his mind calm through the link as he inhaled deeply into my neck. But then I felt his breath catch, and he chuffed a deep baritone sound that stilled my bones.

"Never in my life have I smelled such overwhelming temptation." he whispered. His eyes gazed at me ravenously as I shrugged. "..it's making my mouth water."

I replied by kissing him; his hands catching in my hair and stroking my back. "Maybe you're just hungry." His deep chuckle soothed my soul and he leaned his forehead against mine. Both of our eyes closing.

His thoughts wrapped around me in a warm embrace, tinged with dark desire, but exhaustion won out as he pulled me along with him into the foyer and collapsed on a long, open-backed couch with a sigh. His wings splayed out like long curtains of night.

Further away in the room, Azriel had gone over to the bar and was already midway through a drink. Cassian had slinked deeply into an armchair by the fireplace near Amren. She put down her notes and started a grumbled conversation with him.

I scooted into Rhys's lap on the couch, leaning into him as his arms encircled me. His chin rested against my neck, and we both stayed silent as we basked in each other's scent. Soft images and strokes were sent down the bond. Words weren't needed. I could feel his powerful muscles throbbing through the sliver of mental shield that he always left open for me. It made me wince at the intensity of it, as the pain was centered mostly around his wings. I noticed that the veins were more pronounced in them. Likely still rushing with blood from the long flight.

"I missed you" We both said at the same time. I felt a silly grin light up on my face and his answering smile took my breath away. He opened his eyes and they glittered like dark pools of Amethyst.

I searched his mind and he let me see glimpses of the various terrain that they drove their aerial army through. Dawn, Day, and Winter court landscapes flashed through my eyes. The beasts they hunted also flashed through. A glimpse of a feral and thrashing Attor being impaled with Illyrian blades in mid-flight. The gore sent a wave of raw emotion through me. Even after everything we had been through, everything I had been through, the vision of that snarling maw could still leave me breathless.

Rhys reacted with a soothing stroke down the bond.

His thoughts calmed my anxiety, but redirected my attention to the throbbing pain in his body. My mate's wings were precious, and his pain bothered me more than my mind rationally told me it should. A spike of protectiveness gave me an idea. I murmured in his ear, "Rhys, do you mind if I try something?"

He was too tired and replied with a barley perceptible grunt. I slid out of his arms and stood up, despite his protest at the loss of my warm weight. He sat straighter though when I maneuvered around the couch to sit directly behind him.