My Mate Can't be a Bird! (I swear I'm not into that kind of stuff)

22: Fae Male Nom-Noms Female, Does Not Reccomend

Rowan held back a gasp as he felt a spike in her power; her magic's internet to protect her from harm. It wished to destroy everything.

In a flash, it reached out in a deadly wave of fire, intent on engulfing all it could. Rowan pulled out the air from her lungs, leaving only the barest tinge.

Aelin feel to the ground, eyes wide as she gasped for lack of air. Her magic flared but there was no wind to feed the fire. She panted desperately for any air, and found precious little.

The bond protested against his actions; it was unnatural to make your mate suffer. He released the air back into its natural state.

Aelin gulped down air, shifting back in a flash of light. Then she gave him the nastiest glare, as if she might rip his throat out right now.

Rowan ignored it. "Does your lover know what you are?"

A cold question. What the Wryd, Whitethorn, he screamed internally. He sounded like a scorned husband.

"He knows everything."

Probably a member of the Court in Terrasen. The male still followed his princess despite the situation. "I won’t be biting you again," he told her.

She growled as if the thought was irritating.

“Even if it’s the only way to get me to shift?”

Rowan turned and walked up. The image of Aelin, half-baked and begging him to bite her was too much. But she was an uncivilized brat. Surely she did not know what she was doing...hopefully.

“You don’t bite the women of other males," he explained.

“We’re not—­together." Her voice was small. "Not anymore. I let him go before I came ­here.”

He paused and looked back. “Why?” Flat. Neutral. as if curious. But he knew why.

She needed Rowan—for her scheme. He felt cold fury bubbling underneath his heart.

But Aelin was taking the ring—anethyst and silver—rubbing it like a frightened child would their doll. There was sadness in her scent, and longing.

“Because he’s safer if he’s as repulsed by me as you are.”

Ah.

Perhaps there could be more to this bond than what met the eye.

 “At least you’ve already learned one lesson. The people you love are just weapons that will be used against you.”

Understanding rose in her eyes, and Rowan knew she had already experienced what he spoke of.

He had considered that perhaps Aelin, too could be tricked into this bond—an unsuspecting, or perhaps unwilling, participant like himself. But the idea had seemed too far-fetched.

Perhaps she had regretted her decision to have the bond. Perhaps she was forced to comply. Perhaps she did not even know, and was confused and sad that she may be forced to abandon her lover for Rowan.

She seemed to miss the male, still.

Something told Rowan he should try and investigate what had really gone on from her perspective too.

But more about that later. First: shifting. He switched back to teaching.

"Shift again. This time try to remember what it felt like, when you shifted then. That should help you," he tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, pacing. All the epiphanies at once were just too much. "Once we perfect the shift, we can start on magic. Alright, now shift."

No answer.

"Shift."

Aelin was staring out at the hills contemplatively, completely ignoring him, as she had been for quite a while.

Holding back a growl, Rowan clamped a hand on her shoulder. "Are you even listening?"

Aelin looked at him with steady eyes, dead serious. “Why don’t you just bite me again?”

What the heck. What was wrong with her? Did she think sexual activities with him could somehow get him on her side? Fury raged inside him and he snapped, “Why don’t I give you the lashing you deserve?”

Aelin blinked.

Rowan hoped she would not call him on his bluff. Because if this bond behaved correctly, the only lashings they could give each other would be the good kind.
  
“If you ever take a whip to me," she said, voice shaking with rage, "I will skin you alive.”

A touchy topic for her. Pacing, he tried treating her like a child once more. “If you don’t shift again, you’re pulling double duty in the kitchens for the next week.”

 “Fine.”

Rowan paused his stalking. Children did not get this witty...did they? "You’re worthless.”

That was just about the only thing he could come up with.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“You would probably have been more useful to the world if you’d actually died ten years ago.”

Aelin raised her chin, staring him down. “I’m leaving.”

______

And so that was how Rowan found himself at his desk: rereading any letters he could, and trying very hard to ignore the brat and the headache she brought with her escape. 

He had tried to stop her, only to have a screaming match ensue within sight of the tower guards. Embarrassing.

The last letter was waiting: a letter smelling of a female's arousal— and he tossed it to the side. Having spent years in Maeve's service, he was no stranger to such propositions. Demi Fae women did not interest him. On the other hand... Rowan eyed the letter contemplatively.

Perhaps these things he'd been feeling might go away, if he, er...took care of things?

He thought a little and then placed it in a drawer, even as his heart, for some reason, gave a painful little twinge at the thought of sleeping with another girl—

—Wait, what other girl? He was single! He could sleep with all the willing females in the continent, if he wished.

Aelin Galathynius could rot in hell.

Shoving the letter inside a drawer, he angrily went back to Lorcan's encryptions, double checking if everything was alright. The last rays of the sun fell onto his table, a cool breeze seeping through the window.

Skinwalkers prowled the lands. The girl would be eaten alive.

...That was none of his damn business.

Good for her.

A/N: plz vote to show love, thx. Ily. What do you think of horny Rowan?