A Court of Shadows and Thunder // AzrielxOC SlowBurn Romance, ACOTAR FanFiction

Chapter 43 - Dangerous Territory

Azriel's eyes went wide when he registered the words Brianna had just shouted at him.

Maybe it was a joke, but her wings were gone, and she was several feet high in the air above him, and she was falling down fast.

It was in a matter of seconds that Azriel opened up his arms and caught Brianna, but with the impact of her fall, he too fell back onto the tiled roof with a loud thud that surely made the patrons down below wonder what was going on.

And while Azriel let out a groan as it had felt like the air was knocked out of him, feeling a sudden soreness in his behind where he had landed, Brianna was already laughing.

"You did it," she said, smiling up at him with a dazzling grin, "You caught me."

Azriel looked down at her with a grimace, his hands still gripping her tight round her back and under her legs. But then he saw that bright smile on her face, saw how close her face was to his now, realising their proximity. That, in fact, she was in his actual arms, and that she looked completely elated by it.

And while Brianna's flushed cheeks were a result of her continuous intoxication, Azriel's cheeks began to burn due to something else.

He tried to frown at her, looking like he was angry, even if he felt far from it.

"You're reckless when you're drunk," Azriel told her, "Had your fun?"

Brianna grinned at his mocking tone.

"Yup," she said, angling her head at him, highly amused, "What about you?"

"Well my arse hurts now," Azriel muttered, though he couldn't stop the soft laughter that escaped his lips, "So thank you for that."

Brianna laughed too, her eyes squinting with glee. Then her hand shot up, and her finger went to tap Azriel's nose gently.

"You are most welcomed," she told him, every word drawled out, and Azriel's nose crinkled where she had touched it, a small smirk on his face at her expression.

There was a moment where they only looked at each other - Brianna still wearing that big grin, Azriel still looking at her highly amused. And then Azriel once again realised how close they were to one another, how tightly he still held onto her.

So he loosened his grip, but Brianna made no attempt to get out of his grasp. Instead, she twisted her body slightly, like she was getting into a better position.

Azriel let out a scoff as he watched her, for she was acting like a cat nestling onto his lap. But he also made himself breathe, for she was indeed in his lap, and that she was shuffling around in a way that was starting to get very dangerous for the shadowsinger.

"Comfortable, are ya?" He joked, though his voice sounded a little hoarse. But Brianna beamed at him, not noticing anything at all.

"Yes," she said rather innocently, almost curling into him, "You're very warm."

Now Azriel feared that, if she were to lean into him more, his thundering heartbeat that pounded in his chest would give him away. And perhaps she could hear it, and perhaps she didn't mind. And now he was a little grateful that, in the position she was in now, she couldn't quite see his face, for if it weren't for his heartbeat, than the fact that he had gone red would tell her exactly what he was feeling.