Rowan
The weight of missing her crashed into me alongside her scent of jasmine, lemon verbena and embers. As one, we stalked forward, drinking in the sight of her slight frame - completely ignoring her human and demi-fae companions.
She was here, she was here, she was really here.
Her hood still covered her hair, its shadow hiding the majority of her face except for those full, mesmerizing lips. Lips that were parted in horror as she whispered, "How did you get here? How did you find me?"
Despite the panic coating her words, the sound of her voice was a balm to my savaged soul.
Azriel chuckled, dark and low, beside me. "You didn't think we'd let you get away that easily, did you Princess?"
She was so still, all but frozen where she stood, but I swore I could feel the caress of her gaze as it traced over us, drinking us in. The path of her eyes was a live wire against my skin.
Rhysand's hands were casually tucked into his front pockets in a deliberately nonchalant manner. But I could see the faint trembles that lined them, like he had to physically hold himself back from reaching for her.
"You have a lot to answer for, darling," he purred to her in a dark promise.
"No. No, you can't be here," Aelin muttered under her breath, and I nearly snarled at the faint hint of fear in her scent.
I understood her reaction. I hated it, but I did. It didn't change the fact that she had to accept that we weren't going anywhere.
"I didn't let you leave me the first time you tried it, did you really think I'd allow you to escape a second?" I asked, tilting my head in a predatory manner, even as I basked in the glow of her presence.
Likely scenting her fear himself, the demi-fae male stepped in front of Aelin, blocking her from our sight in a move that was met with low growls and snarls of warning. The stupid male flexed his hands in easy reach of his weapons, and it was an effort not to rip them from him, to tear him away from my mate, to show him just how easily I could destroy him.
But I'd made the mistake of endeavoring to protect Aelin once before, and I wouldn't dare risk pissing her off now. Not when I just found her again. It was hard enough to ignore my primal beast urging me to pin her against the nearest wall, to take her here and now.
I'd never even get close to her if she was angry with me.
Then the foolish man spoke. "I don't know who you are, but clearly she doesn't want you here, so why don't you leave before I make you?"
The reminder that Aelin hadn't wanted us with her was enough to ignite a billowing cloud of rage, but then Aelin grabbed onto the male's shoulder and all I saw was red.
My blood was roaring through my ears so loudly I didn't even hear her whispered words to him. And it was that touch - that casual, familiar touch, that made Cassian finally lose it.
With a roar of pure, unfettered wrath, Cassian launched himself between them, clutching Aelin possessively to his back while he dug one of his blades into the male's neck.
"I would suggest," he snarled, venom dripping from every word, "that you don't. Touch. My. Mate."
Aelin recovered from her shock at Cassian's sudden charge, slipping between them and knocking his blade away from the male's throat with ease. Cassian growled, eyeing her like he was determining the best way to get her behind him again when Aelin spoke.
"Stop it, Cassian," she snapped. "He's my cousin, you idiot, not a fucking threat. Do. Not. Hurt. Him."
I scented the air again, sensing the truth of her words. I'd been so preoccupied with Aelin's scent that I hadn't taken the time to examine the male's - something Cassian clearly hadn't done either. The demi-fae, whose hands had lifted in surrender the moment he heard the word 'mate', backed off - rightly sensing this was not something he should be involved in.
The rest of us had closed in, drawn to Aelin like she had her own gravitational pull.
Cassian looked down at Aelin, primal want and possession shining in his eyes. "I'm sorry, little mate. I swear not to hurt him, I just couldn't stand the thought of something else coming between us," he murmured cajolingly, reaching up to brush back a loose strand of her hair. His eyes tracked down her form obsessively. "But you're not hurt? You're safe?"
I dragged my gaze over her at his words, her safety always our top priority, even in our anger.
She nodded, promising softly, "I'm fine. I'm safe, but fuck - if you're all really here we need to go somewhere more secure. We can't do this here."
My heart soared at her words, but I couldn't stop myself from tacking on, my words edged with violent assurance, "Oh, we're here alright. And we aren't going anywhere."
She nodded again, expression hidden by that gods-damned hood, and stepped away slightly - despite Cassian's rumble of displeasure. "We should go inside," she said softly, but not meekly.
The human female, who had retreated upon our advance, said, to no one in particular, "I'll see you later." I didn't glance away from my mate as she headed off into the dark streets of the city.
The demi-fae - Aedion, I realized - fell into step in front of us, silently leading the way through the dim alley. Aelin didn't speak as she turned to follow, and we stalked behind her, fanning out like a shield. I was tense as I monitored the streets of Rifthold, eyes darting between our bleak surroundings and the silhouette of my perfect mate. A primal part of me wanted to rip her away from this filthy, depraved city. The layered scents spoke of all kinds of vile acts, and it was oppressive against my senses.
I examined the warehouse she led us to closely, puzzling out its weak spots even as I internally rebelled at the idea of her staying in such squalor. Even in Mistward, I'd known Aelin was only meant to be surrounded by the finest things in life, only I couldn't act on it then. I felt marginally appeased when she led us up a set of stairs and into an opulent, if small, apartment.
The four of us dwarfed the small living room, filling the space with a heady buzz of anticipation. Aedion mumbled something about taking watch, and - now that his familial status had been revealed - neither I nor my brothers spared him a glance as he all but fled from the room.
We were wholly focused on the small female in front of us.
"Take off your hood," I said with a soft growl, eyes fixated on that tempting mouth.
She hesitated, but pulled off her hood, revealing that gods-damned exquisite face, those mesmerizing turquoise-and-gold eyes, the stunning image framed by red -
Short, wine-red hair framed that devastatingly beautiful face. Not a brilliant golden-blonde.
"What did you do to your hair?" Azriel snarled accusingly.
She narrowed her eyes at him, placing her hands on her hips defiantly. I knew her quiet acceptance wouldn't last.
"I'm not sure if you're aware, but I'm not exactly the most popular person here. I can't be too easily recognizable, obviously. What about you, where are your wings?" she shot back.
Despite her accusatory words, real concern tinged with fear lined her delicate features at her question.
"I cloaked them with my magic before we left," Rhysand said. "Rowan made it clear that none of our kind would be welcome here, let alone those of us with wings."
Her eyes widened at his admission, horror ghosted her words as she murmured, "But you can't access your magic here, you'll be stuck without them."
Cassian growled, "I'd physically tear my wings from my body before they kept me from you, little mate."
"Cassian," Aelin breathed despondently, her sorrow a piercing reminder of the last time she'd seen Cassian - the pure agony as his wings hung in shredded tatters.
After a moment, she straightened her shoulders and reaffirmed her stance, looking around at all of us in defiance. "How did you find me? How did you get here?"
Rhys leaned carelessly against the ornate mantle. "It was clever, not telling Amren how to get to Erilea," he said. "But not clever enough. With enough research, and access to the mates you left behind, she was able to key a portal directly to your general location. And once we had your scent, well, the rest was easy," he grinned, sharp and deadly.
"Did you really think we weren't going to come for you?" I asked quietly, menacingly.
Tears threatened in her eyes, and I had to restrain myself from pulling her into my chest, breathing in her scent as I comforted her. And I would - but not until we had her admission.
She opened her mouth to speak, "I -"
"You left us." Azriel's voice was deathly quiet, a lethal accusation. "And you came here. To a city teeming with your enemies, where you don't have access to your magic, your greatest weapon. You came here. Alone."
"You don't understand -"
"You tried to break us," Cassian snarled.
Aelin's voice was choked with sorrow, "It's not -"
"You abandoned us," Rhysand hissed, his agony and rage finally breaking free of his cool mask. "And you didn't even give us the courtesy to tell us to our faces."
"If you would just let me -"
"And then you had the nerve to leave us a fucking letter, and tell us to move on and love again," I tacked on, disgust dripping from every word.
"I'm going to die!" she cried out, plunging the room into a dangerous silence. "In order to merge the realms, purge them of the Valg, to set things right - I have to yield every ounce of my magic, every ounce of my being - as the price. How was I supposed to ask you to stand aside, to watch that? How could I ask you to fight for something, to put yourselves in danger, when that is the end result? It killed me to walk away the way I did, but I did it for you."
Her voice broke as she finished her outburst, chest heaving, a glimmer of tears shining in those celestial eyes.
"And why," I ground out through clenched teeth, "in all the hells. Did you think we would allow that to happen?"
Her eyes snapped to mine. "What?"
"I waited 500 years for you, my goddess, and I would have waited a thousand more. But this is not how our story ends," Rhysand promised with lethal certainty.
"No stupid, petty fucking gods are going to take my mate from me," Cassian swore.
"I'd like to see them try," Azriel added.
Aelin looked torn between desperate hope and bleak despair. "You don't understand," she whispered forlornly, "There's no other way for this to end. I'm the only one who can send the gods home, Amren and I exhausted every other possibility."
I stalked forward, grabbing her jaw firmly and forcing her eyes to mine. "Then we'll create another way," I hissed. "Or I'll personally tell the gods to go fuck themselves."
She held my gaze for a long moment, daring me to take back what I'd said. But I didn't. I wouldn't. We may not have an exact plan yet, but I'd curse the realms to hell a thousand times over before I allowed my mate to be harmed, let alone sacrifice herself.
If the gods had a problem with that?
They could come through me, through us. We were more than happy to show them why there were nothing more than forgotten relics stuck in a realm that didn't belong to them.
Reading the raw determination in my gaze, Aelin nodded shakily in acceptance, our unspoken promise ringing through me.
To whatever end, Buzzard?
To whatever end, Fireheart.
And then she broke, releasing a shuddering sob, tears streaming down her face as she flung herself at me. Even with the short distance between us, she crashed into me with enough force that anyone else might have gone rocking into the furniture at my back.
Without hesitation, I pulled her close, arms wrapping around her tightly to lift her up and into my chest. I buried my head in her nape, breathing in that intoxicating scent that was all Aelin.
Something settled deep within me, that primal fear and rage that had plagued me these last long weeks finally dissipating as I held my mate within my arms once more. Exactly where she belonged.
She was shaking from head to toe, and couldn't stop the tears silently tracking down her cheeks, even as my brothers approached, running reassuring hands over her hair, arms, back. I could practically feel the same desperate relief emanating from them. We finally had her back, she wasn't some wild dream, some miraculous delusion.
She was real, and she was ours. Ours.
Her tears leaked down onto my chest where she'd buried her head. "Don't cry, Fireheart," I crooned to her, "we're here now. We aren't going anywhere."
My brothers chimed in with their own consolations and soothing caresses. I didn't know how long we stood there, holding and comforting her, but she slowly calmed.
She finally pulled away slightly, still remaining in my arms as she turned to face the rest of her mates - as if she could feel the tension threatening my limbs at the thought of her leaving my embrace.
Her gaze traced over each of us lovingly, her voice full of wonder as she whispered, "I can't believe you're all here. I missed you. So much."
The small room was glowing with our reverence for this small female. Our eyes locked on her, relishing in the sight and feel of her after those tortuous weeks apart.
But, standing there, in the small space drenched with her scent - our mate's scent - something else pulsed beneath that contentment, threatening to take over. Something darker, something possessive - something that demanded to be satiated.
I doubted I was the only one who had been fighting to contain my primal instincts since laying eyes on our mate, and now that she had accepted our inevitable presence ... Now that she'd agreed to fight with us -
It refused to be ignored any longer. My power pulsed inside me, pressing against my skin - near feral in its demands to get to Aelin. To touch, to take, to claim.
Cassian tugged gently at one of her short strands of hair, his voice rough with pure need, "We'll always come for you, little mate."
As if she felt the shift in the air, Aelin pressed back harder against me - sucking in a sharp hiss of air when the delectable curve of her ass met my already-hard cock.
I groaned at the feeling of her against me, my primal beast roaring that we claim our mate - that we sink our canines so deep into our mating mark that she can never forget the feel of them in her flesh. From the heat banking in the other's eyes, they were on the exact same page.
I ghosted my hands down her sides until they landed on her hips. Grasping tightly, I pulled her against me harder, luxuriating in the gasping noise that escaped her perfect lips.
Leaning down, I dragged my elongated canines up the lovely column of her neck, nipping at her ear. I growled huskily, "It was cruel, leaving us alone for so long, Fireheart. I think you have some making up to do."
Growls of agreement echoed around the small space and suddenly Cassian was there, capturing Aelin's lips with a snarled, "Mine," pushing her back against me even further. He plundered her mouth harshly, before stepping back panting -
Only to be replaced almost immediately by Rhysand. He cupped her face, staring directly into her eyes as he murmured, "We're going to remind you exactly who you belong to, little goddess."
He slanted his lips over hers then, kissing her slowly, reverently, pulling away with a light nip to her bottom lip.
Az stepped forward, growling with dark seduction, "You're ours, Princess. Never forget that." He sealed his promise with a devouring, claiming kiss.
When he was done, I spun her around in my arms, bringing her impossibly closer. "Our Queen. Our mate," I growled, bringing her lips to mine. My soul exalted at the feel of Aelin's mouth under mine once more.
I picked her up completely, her lithe legs wrapping around my waist. Not faltering in our kiss, I carried her towards the bedroom that was absolutely drenched in her scent. Cassian, Azriel and Rhysand followed, all of us in sync in our desperate need to reclaim our mate, to reassure ourselves that she was here, that she was ours.
Setting her on the bed, I grabbed the neck of her tunic, tearing it clean in half before shredding through her chest bindings. To either side of me, Rhysand and Cassian did the same to her leggings and underwear - none of us satisfied until she was completely bare before us.
"Fuck," she gasped as we tore her clothes from her, looking up at us all with pure heat banking in her eyes.
Azriel emerged from what must be her closet, silken lengths of cloth in his hands. With quick, practiced movements, he tied each of her wrists to either side of the bed frame, leaving her completely on display for us.
As he tightened the second rope, he purred, "You don't get to hide from us anymore, Princess. Tonight you're entirely at our mercy."
I quickly shed my weapons and tunic as I watched my mate, who was already panting slightly, breasts heaving as she watched us all through hooded eyes. My cock was painfully hard as I beheld the alluring vision before me.
Rhysand was right, she really was a goddess. My eyes danced along her voluptuous curves, those dusty pink nipples that were already peaked and begging for my attention. Following the dip of her waist, I lingered on the swell of her hips, moving to her slightly parted thighs that offered a tantalizing glimpse of her already glistening center.
The room had gone silent with a heady, sensual tension as we all took in the beauty before us. But Aelin, it seemed, was done waiting.
"Are you going to stand there staring all night, or are you actually going to do something?" she taunted.
"Oh, little mate," Cassian chuckled, "you're going to regret that."
As one, we stalked towards the bed. Azriel settled behind her, nipping and sucking at the delicate column of her throat. Rhysand and Cassian took either side, leaning down to torment her nipples with their teeth and tongues. With one hand, they each pulled open one of her thighs, leaving her open and exposed to me.
I growled in delight, descending upon her center in a near frenzy. Sparks exploded behind my eyes at the first taste of her in weeks, the wanton moan she released music to my ears. Dipping my tongue into her, I lapped up as much of her wetness as I could, leisurely dragging it along all her most sensitive spots.
I could live here, on my knees between the perfect thighs of my Queen, my mate, my Fireheart.
Rhysand and Cassian shifted the hands holding Aelin apart for me, stroking and circling her clit together as I devoured her core. Already, Aelin was panting and trembling, as desperate for us as we were for her. I slipped two fingers inside her, reveling in the way her molten heat pulsed around me.
"Fuck," Aelin gasped.
I chuckled darkly against her, continuing to steadily thrust in and out of her while I licked and nipped at her decadent pussy. Rhys and Cass sped up their movements, tormenting her clit. She was squirming now, clenching down on my fingers so gods-damn tightly. Sweet, delectable noises escaped her throat.
"Something you need, Princess?" Azriel's gravelly voice rasped out.
"I need to come," Aelin pleaded breathily, "Fuck. Please, I need to come."
I thrust faster, harder, as Rhys and Cass pressed hard against her clit, not letting up until she was right on the edge of that precipice -
And then I leaned back, sliding my fingers out of her. Her cry of frustration had me grinning, and I popped my fingers into my mouth, groaning at the additional taste of her.
"Oh, no, Fireheart," I murmured darkly. "You don't get to come unless it's on one of our cocks."
Aelin's breasts heaved under the attentions of Rhys and Cass, Azriel holding a tight grip on her hair from behind so she couldn't move. Still, her glare was fierce as she hissed, "Then fuck me, you bastard."
My smirk was wicked as I stood, dragging her to her knees on the bed. "If you insist."
Then I was stepping forward, pants discarded. My eyes nearly rolled to the back of my head as the tip of my cock teased her wet folds. Rhys and Cass leaned back from where they knelt to watch, dragging her knees even wider on the mattress.
Without warning, I plunged my cock home in one thrust - crying out at the ecstasy of feeling her tight heat wrapped around me once more. I stilled, buried to the hilt as she gripped me, her inner walls pulsing around my length. I wanted to let out a roar of victory at the pure euphoria of finally claiming my mate once more, her moans echoing around us.
I claimed her lips in a fierce kiss as I began moving, aware of my brothers watching with hungry expressions. I fucked her with harsh, desperate thrusts - like I was trying to permanently imprint the feeling of my cock inside her. Rhys and Cass brought a hand between us again, circling her clit. In no time at all, Aelin was coming, fluttering around me as she shook with the force of her climax.
I only fucked her harder through it.
Behind her, Az had removed his own pants, a small bottle in his hand as he spread something against her other tight hole. The dirty bastard had come prepared. Not that I was surprised.
Leaning forward, he nipped at her ear as he said, "I won't ask if you can take both of us, because I know you can. And you will."
Aelin's eyelashes fluttered in pleasure as Az began preparing her. I slowed my thrusts as he pumped in and out of her, stretching her. A moment later, he pressed against her, pushing inside her. I groaned as she trembled and moaned, becoming impossibly tighter as she took the two of us together.
As soon as Az was fully seated, we began moving, thrusting with fierce strokes in and out of this miraculous creature. My primal beast roared in satisfaction as we reduced her to a boneless, quivering heap between us. It wasn't long until she succumbed to a screaming climax, pulling groans from the two of us as she milked our cocks.
Our thrusts turned punishing, our grip bruising as we pushed her over the edge once more. My hips jerked as I came after her with a roar, Az following right after, both of us burying ourselves as deeply as we could within her. My vision blacked out from the force of my orgasm, but nevertheless, my teeth found purchase in her shoulder - directly on top of my previous mating mark - while Az bit down opposite me.
I was still bleary from pleasure as I reluctantly pulled away, Azriel and I collapsing onto the bed so Rhysand and Cassian could take our places.
They wasted no time, running their hands over Aelin's sweaty, trembling body as Cass pressed tight to her back and Rhys approached her front. Cassian chuckled as he caressed her breasts from behind, "We're not done with you yet, little mate."
Already on edge from watching us take our mate, Rhys captured her lips in a claiming kiss, plunging into her pussy while Cass buried himself in her ass, both of them quickly working up to a relentless pace. The sight of my brothers pounding into her was magnificent. Aelin was pure sin and seduction with her symphony of wanton gasps as she writhed between them, and I felt my dick begin to harden again despite my sated exhaustion.
Cassian snaked a hand around to toy with her clit, making Rhys reluctantly pull back to watch her rapturous face. His thrusts sped up at the sight, and he purred at her, "Are you going to come again, Little Goddess? Are you going to come all over our cocks?"
"If you fucking make me," Aelin groaned, making my eyebrow twitch at her gall to snark at us even as her throat was raw from her screams of pleasure.
Gods, I loved her.
Rhys just laughed dryly as his and Cassian's thrusts turned brutal and unforgiving. Cassian rubbed harder on her clit, and Aelin shattered between them, practically limp with pleasure as they fucked her through her orgasm. She came again and again in between them, the room filled with approving snarls and the scent of sex.
Rhys finished first, emptying into her with a snarl before sinking his teeth into the breast adorned with his mating bite. He collapsed onto the mattress next to me when he was spent, panting with exertion.
As if that was what he'd been waiting for, Cassian lifted Aelin off of his dick, spinning her around to slam her down on him again, filling her pussy mercilessly. Gripping her hips so hard I could see the whites of his knuckles, he moved her up and down his cock as he thrust up into her savagely.
His eyes were locked on hers as he growled, "Fuck, you're gorgeous, Little Mate. Tell me who you belong to. Tell me who owns this heart, this sinful fucking body."
Aelin moaned unintelligibly, too overwhelmed with pleasure to respond. Needing her to answer, needing this final confirmation, the rest of us approached like we were summoned. Rhys reached down to thrum at her clit, while Azriel and I tweaked her nipples, pulling desperate cries from her sweet lips.
"He asked you a question, Fireheart," I crooned at her.
"It's rude not to answer him, Princess," Azriel added.
"Tell him. Tell us. Who do you belong to, my Goddess?" Rhysand demanded.
Aelin's lids were heavy, chest heaving as she gasped out, "You. All of you. Fuck, I belong to all of you."
"Good girl," Azriel purred.
Cassian's thrusts became jerky and erratic beneath her as he snarled in satisfaction. Together, we brought her over the edge one last time, her screaming orgasm taking Cassian with her, but not before latching onto her breast, resealing that last bond.
Aelin collapsed on top of Cassian, completely listless as she came down from the high of her pleasure. We carefully lifted her off of him, tucking her between us on the large mattress, arranged so we could all reach to caress and soothe her. To reassure ourselves that this was real, that she was still here.
I couldn't tear my eyes from Aelin's exquisite, bliss-filled face. With my brothers around me, our mate sated and enveloped by us, I finally felt like I could breathe again.
For the first time in weeks, I felt whole. With Aelin back, it was like the world had started spinning again.
Despite what we'd said, Aelin owned us just as much - if not more - than we owned her. We belonged together, and I couldn't live in a world without her in it.
If anyone tried to get in the way of that, to take her from me?
Not even the strength of the gods would be enough to save them.