The world gave little care to those who didn't bend to the wills of others. With each passing second Brielle could feel a clawing inside her. The pounding in her ears getting louder, Maeve's command trying to break her, she could sense it within her, like a serpent awaiting to strike. Watching from afar.
Her dreams had jolted her to rise late during the night, the magic of the bond smothering her breath from her like it was drowning her of all sense, it was vexing in a way that the ancient blood magic wasn't doing to her mate and brother; both who also bore tasks but showed no sign of it.
Perhaps it was the nature of her task that now had her skin on fire.
Her mate had awoke from beside her when she was up late, Brielle had relished in the comfort his warmth and closeness offered even if it made her skin crawl to touch him, Her command taunting her, a puppeteer pulling the strings from a far.
When he had questioned it, Brielle couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, not when it could and would change everything, merely thinking of completing it made her stomach roll.
Sitting in an empty bed in the morning, Brielle wished she had told him, if only so she could share the burden of her task. Maeve was probably smug knowing exactly what she had done by giving this task to her, it was torture and she knew it. It was probably still punishment for her defiance prior to Lorcan leaving, a defiance that run deeper then the surface showed.
If only she could wrap both hands around Maeve's throat right now, There was that itch again, Brielle scratched at her forearm, hissing through her teeth when a burning sensation shot up her arm. Sitting up right Brielle glanced down to the limb which was numb with the insistent itch.
The skin was raw, and raised. A small trickle of blood, blooming from the blood vessels which had become visible on her skin like little pinpricks. She could cover it,
So she did, getting ready with ease, Brielle gathered herself, pulling both sleeves down to cover the raw skin she set about moving through the ship, Aiming for the small communal opening below the main deck. Filled with small round tables amongst the supply boxes, this room acted as the dining space for the crew who weren't working or patrolling the ship.
The burning continued in her arm, but Brielle moved off to grab herself a small tray of food, the man was flushed when he handed her it, he seemed to be the only one working to prepare the food, and was rushing around polishing and washing pots at the same time. Brielle would have offered to help but a higher pitched male voice yelled her over from across the small space.
Alexi and Vera were sat with the shifter female that so often was followed around by her nephew. Brielle passed the tray between her hands, bringing the now free hand up to satisfy the itch. Shooting Lysandra a quick smile, the female returned it, as best she could with her cheeks filled with food, Brielle couldn't help but smile in delight, at least some people on this ship hadn't lost their appetite.
Her own tray had an array of dried meats and a fried egg. All with small cloud of steam billowing from their surfaces, Brielle forked them around her tray for a second before she cut of small pieces and began to plop them into her mouth, keeping them small enough to swallow past the lump still present in her throat.
"Is it still classed as murder if you apologise afterwards?" Alexi asked, his expression as enthusiastic as ever for so early in the morning, He glanced around their small table waiting for someone to reply to his question.
"No, Only if you get caught" was Vera'a reply as she took a swig from the water she held.
"Do you two seriously have to discuss this over breakfast?"
Both sets of eyes looked up to their commander when she spoke, Alexi had an expression of mild offence etched onto his features, before it was overtaken by one that Brielle could only describe as pure mischief .
"So you're saying you wouldn't want us to be polite when we kill someone" his eyebrows quipped upwards towards his hairline, he raised a fork with a piece of meat stabbed to its end to gesture with an extension of his arm,
Lysandra was frowning up at him when she spoke up, "I think that defeats the purpose of murdering-"
"I've met bread smarter than you" Vera deadpanned to her fellow spy when she placed her cup back down, Alexi made a sound akin to a squawking bird in feigned insult, dropping his cutlery onto his tray with a head-rattling clatter,
Brielle rubbed a her temples, the burning was beginning to grow once more, "I'm surrounded by idiots" she mumbled beneath her breath, Alexi paused to shoot a look at her with a raised eyebrow once more
"At least we're hot idiots" he gave a waggle of both eyebrows this time, Vera scoffed a laugh while she gathered up her plate, Lysandra following suit.
Alexi whipped around to watch her, "What?! You know I'm right" He patted the table as means of farewell to Brielle before he grabbed his tray and raced after the two females, his voice bouncing off the walls long after he left the room.
Gathering the tray and the litters of the half eaten breakfast Brielle moved to leave the room, in search of Fenrys. Snatching up a couple apples from the stand as she wandered past, Brielle eased up the few steps leading to the main deck, where she could already sense him.
Fenrys must had noticed her approach for as soon as she surfaced on the deck he turned to greet her, The burning was beginning to ease when she walked closer, Fenrys pushed from the ships mast with his broad shoulder. His previously relaxed position leaning against the wood, being replaced when he smiled at her.
Brielle knew many, like Whitethorn found her mate an annoyance, due to his teasing nature, but she couldn't help but see the side to him that yearned for something more. The part of him that he reserved for her, and her alone. The calmer side of Fenrys Moonbeam that few saw.
The itch had eased to nearly none existent when she stopped inches from him,
"Hello, Love"
His voice soothed the burning in her arm, she fumbled for a second, Fenrys chuckled lightly, she rightened herself quickly extending the apple to him, He took his gratefully, turning so he was backed against the mast once more, watching while he bit down into the fruit.
"You come to keep me company, my lady"
"If your going to be like that I'll leave"
He promptly swallowed his bite before smirking at her,
"You won't, You adore me too much" his whole body faced her now, the early light catching the metals of the daggers.
"I think you overestimate me"
"Do I?" That damn smile. Not a smirk, a smile the edges of his lips curling upwards eyes glowing with amusement. Her body flushed, heat rising within her core.
"Will you be on post all night?" Brielle bit into her own apple, watching Alexi jump onto Vera's back when they emerged from the stairwell. Laughing and bumping into one another with Lysandra towing behind, her near flawless features struck in a delighted smile.
"No, His majesty will take over once everything is set up" - Brielle looked across the deck to the small piles of stuff for tonight, The shifter, Lysandra and Vera had come up with the idea to spend the night drinking and having fun to ease the nerves amongst everyone on the ship,
"Dorian isn't all that bad"
"Check him out enough times to make that opinion?"
"It was one time!"
But Fenrys was already laughing by the time she gave his shoulder a light shove,
They settled into a silence, eating away at their fruit, looking out into the rising sun, its rays reflecting off the curls of the oceans waves.
"It seems wrong" Their party tonight on the ship, seemed wrong somehow, with the way the world was going, to the war they were willingly wandering into. All the spies she had sent out, Theron, Colden and many others. Some may even be dead and she would be drinking and dancing the night away with those on this ship.
The itching returned full force, she began violently rubbing her arm. A semi frustrated groan leaving her.
"What?" Fenrys replied, Brielle frowned at him as he inspected the core of the apple he had left exposed.
"All this" she lift her chin towards where Alexi was helping Vera unload a crate of ale. She hissed under her breath, resorting to using her nails to scratch her arm, Some force in the air made her skin prickle when Fenrys turned his full attention to her now,
He frown as she continued to scratch, reaching across he gently grabbed her hand, pulling it away he began to scratch at her arm for her, The blood in her vein turned to ice at his touch, thank god he hadn't rolled her sleeve, she wasn't ready to fully admit it's presence yet because that would entail explaining her task, and that she couldn't do.
"I think they are using this as a way to help everyone momentarily forget everything else that's going on" he was focusing on smoothing out her sleeves now, the itch easing with each gently stroke of his finger, soothing the intense burning of the itch.
"But that seems selfish of us to forget that when people are suffering" she pulled away slightly, "and we'll be dancing and drinking"
Fenrys straightened up to cup both sides of her face. "We'll be taking the night to enjoy each others company and spend what time we might have left together. I don't see anything wrong with that and besides. You're not a selfish person by nature, trust me I've seen it. I've seen you, even the parts you want to pretend are not there"
Leaning up Brielle cast her mouth upon his, encompassing her body to his. His presence was warm and everything she needed in that moment. It took her a second to think about it, but what he said was true. They had every right to do what they wished in the time they had left.
"Save it for tonight, you two"
Brielle pulled away, despite Fenrys' grip at the nape of her neck; that she hadn't entirely released was there. Turning away Brielle watched Rowan saunter past, a pile of wooden planks in his arms. He was smirking at them, for all his annoyance at her mate Rowan had the habit for reciprocating that irritating banter.
"You can't talk, you jump Aelin any chance you get" Lysandra voiced, stepping out from around Rowan's other side.
Fenrys laughed, head tilting back to let the sound reign free,
Rowan snapped a darkening glower at Fenrys as he continued to laugh, only looking away when Lysandra bumped her hip into his side as she stalked past.
Brielle hugged herself into her mates side trying to ignore the itch as it grew once more, a subtle reminder, a tugging at the blood magic trapping her soul.
"Are you alright my Love?" Fenrys had clutched at her waist to jostle her from her thoughts, which too had trapped her enough for her to not even notice that she'd be blankly staring at the decking for the past few minutes.
Trying to testify her own truth was difficult when the words had tied a knot in her tongue. If Fenrys had the knowledge of her task, would he be like so many others who ignore those who do not bend. Will she keep bending until she snaps?
She couldn't risk it, no matter how strong the itch got. She would rather snap then finally bow to the Blood oath. The little amount of control she grasps would do for now.
"Nothing Fen, I'm fine. Think I just need a fucking drink"
If the slight squint in her mates expression was any indication that he didn't believe her one bit, Brielle was glad he didn't push further,
"You and me both"
"Need I remind you, you're still on post" Brielle straightened as Aelin walked past, heading in the direction of Lysandra and Rowan. She paused in her walking to make eyes contact with Brielle, there was no resentment or malic in her stare, the built up tension between them turning to a stage of mutual respect. Brielle didn't dare move, perhaps to not disturb the air between them.
After a few seconds Aelin continued on, leaving the pair by Fenrys' watching post. Nothing but the silence between their bodies.
"She scares me" he admitted from beside her, turning he watched Brielle while she tracked Aelin's movement from the other side of the ship, "Not like majorly, but just a bit"
"She's decade younger then you"
"So? You scare me sometimes."
Brielle looked back to Fenrys, watching as his brow twitched an inch closer upon itself, a laugh bubbled inside her, this centuries old Fae warrior was scared of the females amongst their kind.
"I'm sensing a theme here Fenrys, you going to tell me your scared of Vera next."
He deadpans. "Of course, I'm scared of her, she literally conducts lightening"
As if on cue, a zap of blue lightening sparks through the air, hitting her mate straight in the ass. Fenrys lets out a yelp of surprise, jumping back away from the post as though it had shocked him in an personal offence.
Instead he spied Vera from across the deck, blowing the pair a kiss with tendril of her signature blue lightening dancing across he finger tips. She quipped a smirk and eyebrow at them, hearing every word of their conversation.
Brielle let out a laugh so violently fast she had to arch forward, pressing both hands to her knees to balance, Fenrys swore under his breath, keeping track of the Fae female from the corner of his eye when she moved back to helping with setting up.
Brielle simple patted him on the shoulder, he flinched slightly as though expecting her touch to be laces with the lightening itself, in farewell and good luck Brielle wandered off to begin helping set up the ship in preparation for a night that would be remembered.
~
The night was cooler then most they had spent out on the open water, but the bodies dancing around on the top desk, drew in heat upon itself.
Brielle brought the cool bottle rim up to her lips, swigging back on the liquid inside. The drink was warm as it slide down her throat. The itchy had began to cease with each bottle she finished, finding herself chasing the ease it brought, after a day struggling through its incessant torture.
Three human crew members stood on varying steps, playing an upbeat tune on three different instruments, some with strings, others were being banged by the men's hands, a beat changing each time they started a new song.
Standing off to the railing, Brielle had briefly managed to avoid two stumbling guys as they attempted to dance around one another, a drunken misstep in each and every wrong direction they could possibly go.
There wasn't a doubt the noise rolling from the ship could be heard for miles as crew members burst out into song, the words a jumbled string of noise, no more then mumbles. People swayed together in lines, raising their glasses to the heavens above with nothing but the moonlight and oil lamps to illuminate their euphoric expressions.
She swallowed back another mouthful, her body growing more oblivious to the burn in her throat, amongst the crowds of bodies she could just pinpoint the familiar face of her mate, the lamp light hitting the otherworldly glint of his eyes, which were unswerving in their attention on her, despite the vast amount of distractions around him.
His stare was burning her into embers, the heat of it making her squirm even from the distance that parted them. Brielle hadn't noticed he held a glass until he lifted it, nudging the rim along the bottom side of his lip before he drunk from it, watching her from over its lipped edge.
Her skin prickled, tightening her fingers around her own glass, fearful she may drop it to the floor from sheer distraction. It was a struggle to not barrel through the bodies to his side, to in-capture his mouth with her own, a burning not brought on by the alcohol became to spread through her, coiling in her lower stomach.
Even after decades being side by side Brielle couldn't help but get a sense of anxiousness when Fenrys didn't look away, the expression akin to that of seeing something you love for the first time. With the little sense the alcohol had left her with, she blinked away his gaze, eyes falling down to the half-filled glass.
The win blew lightly across the bodies, not for a second dampening the joy pounding in the air between them, The lioness didn't dare look up from her inspection, fearful that perhaps Fenrys might not be looking at her. The coiling in her gut, shifted making her throat tighten, the thought of never seeing him after tonight making the air constrict.
A warm finger hooked gently beneath her chin, the person pinching it between their thumb and index. The hand extended to stroke along the bone of her jaw, the callouses on the palm were so familiar it loosened the tightness within her chest,
Fenrys lightly gripped, tilting her head back until their lips were inched apart, He was so close she could practically taste his drink wafting off his lips, eyes flicking she could confirm there was a droplet of it glossing the swell of his lower lip, as though he had purposely forgotten to lick it away.
Another hand seized her waist sharply, a gasp emitting out her, knuckles taut around her glass she could have sworn it would break any second now.
The blood tramped through every inch of her skin, pulsing in a rhythm of absolute certainty. Easing her magic from her she pushed it onto her mate, Fenrys inhaled sharply, his head dropping to rest near her neck, his breath fawning her flesh there.
Brielle could feel everything with her power's touch, his heart hammering just as fiercely, his blood pumping like a wild fire. The tightening in his pants, then she could sense something else beneath all that.
It was old, in his blood, so ingrained it was nature, the underlining need to fulfill and protect another,
as though acknowledging what it was she was sensing, Fenrys shifted so he was once again watching her, with a pointed look. The space between their bodies was growing smaller when a second figure suddenly bumped into the side of them,
A sharp growl emitted from her mate, and arm curling around her entirely to pull her against his chest, Brielle had just enough sense to hold an arm out to steady the newcomer, the all too vibrant spark of Vera jostling beside her.
"You two make me feel lonely , without my son and mate." her words were slowed, and loud.
Brielle whipped a hand out to wrap it around Vera's mouth, only few knew about the offspring between the two Wandering spies, sober Vera knew well enough to keep her secrets, but this loose tongued female would frown upon herself in the morning if Brielle didn't do something now, and she would be damned before she allowed one of her spies family to become at risk for a drunken mistakes.
Brielle kept a grip to Vera's elbow as she swayed slightly, not that she trusted herself to walk in a straight line, but her help would be better then none at all.
"I'm going to see her to bed" by way of farewell, Brielle took her friends arm, and began to walk away, smiling back as Fenrys fumbled out, trying to hide the far to obvious growth between his legs.
Vera's legs tumbled out beneath her, it took Brielle's full arm support to keep the female off the deck. People parted for them, and straying eyes of the human crew members didn't go unnoticed by Brielle,
With a flash of her canines and a dark look, many were quick to glance away, their expressions growing pale despite the alcohol blush many of them harboured. Vera seemed to come more to as they made their way to the stairs,
"V!"
Brielle could do nothing to stop Vera's body as it snapped to the side, the high pitch voice of another female drawing her attention, for all her tight grip it caught Brielle off guard when Vera managed to weasel away from her. Slipping into the crowd of men who parted when Brielle glowered at them.
Tracking her spy through the bodies, she finally caught up when Vera seated herself next to Lysandra.
The shifter was joined by Aelin, who sat a little straighter then her friends, a glass in hand. Her cheeks also harboured the dusky blush courtesy of her drink, her unladylike position of propping one leg up on barrel beside her.
"You will know." Lysandra declared rather loudly eagerly patting Vera's leg, the female swaying in her place, her efforts to hold herself up making her looking like a buoy on oceanic currents.
"Is it big?"
Aelin coughed into her drink, gaping like a fish she blinked at Lysandra. The world began to spin slightly around Brielle, she shouldn't have downed that last glass, with a slump in her step she moved for a seat between Vera and Aelin. She would stay until the spinning stopped, then she could help Vera to bed.
"Lys, You can't just blurt it like that" Aelin seemed to scoff slightly,
Lysandra frowned, then Aelin smirked at her friend, "Context at least." The shifters smile was devilish in its nature
"We've been discussing whether males of Fae and shifter heritage have longer well.. you know..." she pointed between her legs.
Vera was gawking before she burst into a fit of giggling laughter, Aelin too seemed to struggle at keeping her own laughter at bay. Lysandra looked slightly offended by their laughter, her invested interest making her turn sharply to meet Brielle in conversation.
The determined look in her face almost caused Brielle to bolt, her lack of faith in her own balance however kept her grounded and therefore victim to Lysandra's further questioning. As the few females on the ship, they alone could find the answers to this query.
"You've a Fae mate. but have you any other experience to reference to?" her eyes narrowed in keen drunk interest
The fog swirling in Brielle's head was beginning to cloud her memory, she had been with human men through her work with Maeve but not many were memorable, especially not when compared with Fenrys, gods their was that feeling again.
"The length doesn't always matter, it's the quality of what they do with it- that's the important part." Aelin admitted, her lips pouted by a finger in thought, she leaned back relaxed into her spot.
Vera scoffed, "You two are with some of the oldest Fae, sure they have experience in treating us right"
"I know I am" Aelin smiled.
As though a thought occurred to the shifter in that moment, Lysandra whipped back around to face Brielle, her mouth half agape with drunken excitement.
"You spent years with them" she speculated,
Usually the ache of those circumstances would make Brielle close off all thought, but the drink was combating the ache inside her, Brielle leaned forward into her knee in thought,
"You're point?"
"Have you only bedded one", she leaned back a smugger look, "If I was you, I would have climbed most of them the moment I saw them training topless"
Vera spun, "Did they do that often? Train topless"
"It was getting them to put one on that is the trick"
Vera and Lysandra shared a look of somewhat jealously, as Aelin took a quick swig of her drink before offering it to Brielle, she paused for a second before clasping the glass and taking a drink from it.
"Yes, I've only bedded one"
"So which one do you think is bigger?" The conversation seemed to steer off in the direction of where Rowan stood, Fenrys joining him at his side.
A beat of silent passed before Brielle muttered, bringing the glass back to her lips, "Lorcan."
The other three females whipped to shoot her perplexed looks. She didn't notice however instead watching the males as they were more rigid then sticks, arms folded across their broad chest. They could relax just a little, might make them look more approachable.
Brielle scratched at the twinging in her arm, finally looking back to the others, Vera was smirking, while Aelin was frowning,
"What? Training leaves no room for modesty." The young Queen seemed satisfied with that, as though recalling her own experiences, she raised a hand for the glass. Brielle held it for her.
They settled into a calming silence, their bodies growing heavy from their drink, limps uncoordinated as they leaned into one another.
"Do you think we could just get them too... like... measure it somehow?" Lysandra was watching the males from across the ship with a tilt in her head, perhaps trying to see through their clothing.
Aelin giggles slightly before she raised her hand in front of herself, aligning them beside each other she lowered it down to her leg as though measuring an image from her mind.
Lysandra burst into laughter, her body rocking with each exhale. As the realisation dawned, Vera began doing the same thing, laughing when she couldn't coordinate her hand enough to gather an appropriate measurement of Theron's size.
"I can't remember, my minds broken!" she shrieked suddenly, a tear suddenly fell from her cheek when she looked up, Brielle couldn't help but laugh at the helpless look on the spies face,
Vera brought both shaky hands up, palm facing palm, parallel to each other, "Is that big?" she gesture to the space between her palms. Her drunken smile was weary when Aelin copied, the space between her hands slightly bigger then Vera's.
The spy wailed, dropping both hands onto her lap, accepting the drink from Lysandra when she held it out to her.
"That can't be accurate" Brielle pondered, reaching for Aelin's glass once more, the queen shot her a soft smile, the pinken tint to her cheek growing.
"Gooood point." Vera looked up quickly, a smirk playing across her lips. "Alexiiiiiii"
As on cue the male halted dead in his tracks, the horizontal crescent tattoo on his brow creasing when he looked to them, his dark pupils scanning each female with a sober efficiency none of them possessed in that current moment,
"Drop you trousers," Vera remarked looking to the ground quickly,
Alexi's expression dropped and he looked around, like he wasn't sure what she had asked of him.
"Sorry?"
Vera looked up, half expectant of him to have done it already, Brielle snicked catching Aelin's smirk as Alexi shifted, his usual loud demeanor long gone.
Vera perked herself up on the crate, holding both hands up once again she frowned when she couldn't quite get the spacing right, "Fuck." she analysed her hands once more, scowling at them like they alone had personally offended her.
Lysandra fell forwards slightly with laughter, the wheezing making her sound utterly breathless as they all continued to watch Vera get more frustrated with each attempt she tried and failed.
Once she finally got it right, she looked up to Alexi expectantly.
His eyes flickered to each of them, unsure if he was supposed to know what it was she was implying.
"Is that big, or average would you say?"
For a second Brielle believed the question to have thrown him off, but instead Alexi looked deep in thought, he had just glanced down his body his mouth opening to answer, a smug smirk replacing his previously shaken expression, when a hand landed onto his shoulder. From around his smaller frame outstepped Gavriel.
"Oh Gavriel!" Vera shouted excited, hands flailing
Knowing exactly where she was going with this, Brielle screamed out, "NOOOOOO" pushing the heels of her palm into her eyes sockets, that would be an image she would never get out of her head even if she was drunk.
Brielle could sense muttering but she didn't dare remove her hands until she could hear retreating footsteps.
Alexi being lead away by her brother, towards where Rowan still stood with Fenrys, their figures fuzzy lines next to the lamp light.
"For fuck sake, I want to know who's bigger?" Vera pouted
"Shh, they're hear you" Aelin hissed playfully, her hand slapping Vera lightly in the arm.
Lysandra leaned around throughout watching Gavriel walk away, Brielle shivered.
"Do you think Aedion may have inherited such things from his father..." her question was left open,
Aelin shook her head rapidly, burning that image away would be difficult. Brielle pulled a expression, reaching to grab for the drink her and Aelin had been sharing. Only to find it empty,
She rose rather quickly, when she moved her foot snagged against the bellows of Vera's dress, she didn't posses enough balance to catch herself as she fell forward, landing hard against the decking.
The laughter erupted around her like a wave of warm air.
☽⋆❈⋆☾
Fenrys watched as Gavriel stalked closer, the young Fae male under his arm, in a sort of protection from the gathering of the four drunken females. Their laughter like a never ending roll of thunder,
The wide eyes of Alexi met his own, if only he were a few decades older he may have been able to survive a drunken conversation with full blooded Fae female and still manage to shake the wavering expression of mild terror from his face.
Fenrys coughed into a laugh, the Cadre as Aelin called them had spent years around Brielle and Teyra in Doranelle, the two would often fill their time drinking and training. Not in the same time, but none the less. The duo were not to be trifled with lightly when doing either of those activities.
Looking on now, Fenrys could already foresee the mistakes they had made by allowing Vera, Aelin and Brielle to drink together.
"Will someone enlighten me on what they're taking about?" Gavriel was shaking his head, glancing across when Aelin howled out with laughter,
"For fuck sake, I want to know who's bigger?" the voice of Vera blurted across the deck. Followed by a flurry of hushing from the others.
Alexi looked horrified when he watched their reactions, Gavriel the ever calm warrior shook his head, Rowan did well to not display his emotions as he watched, a keen eyes observing the group,
Fenrys was smirking, hands folding as he watched Brielle, the moon and starlight shinning down upon her, an angel made from darkness. Without her armour, he could see the curve of her breast and muscled waistline, that despite being relaxed of weapons, still harbour a few dangerous glistening daggers on her belt.
"We all know it's me" he had sharpened his own smirk into a weapons of his own creation when he glanced to Rowan, the older male shooting him one that promised pain if he continued on,
"You wish boyo"
Fenrys scoffed at Whitethorns response before there was a 'thump' from the direction of the drinking females,
He should'd have taken his eyes off them, for Brielle now lay face down on the decking, her whole body vibrating from laughter. He allowed for a second to pass, watching as Lysandra tilted precariously on her own seat, Vera fell forwards with laughter. Aelin's fresh face was glinting with tears of joy, her expression pained as she clutched at her stomach, faintly muttering about how the laughter made it hurt so.
Rowan sighed, and Alexi winced before he patted Gavriel on the shoulder, and as though he had never been there, he slipped away. The three stopped for a second, to marvel at how easily the younger male had slinked into the surrounding darkness that seemed to house no shadows.
Fenrys moved first, unfolding his arms he moved through the crowd to the four females, Vera spotted him first, eyes traveling up his whole body before she turned to kick Brielle lightly in the leg.
His mate rolled onto her back, legs swinging up into the air in small semi circles,
"I can't feel them," her eyes widened when she glanced to her feet, "I can see them." her head shook, "I think I'm paralysed"
"Bree, you wouldn't be moving them if you were paralysed" Fenrys shoved his free hands into his pockets as he stood above her, watching on when she continued to sway her legs in the air. Yeah, definitely not paralysed.
"Come on," he extended both hands, he could still feel the eyes of the other females on him, "Lets go."
Brielle glanced up, an entertained look sparking to life, "but I can't walk"
"I think you'll be fine"
"but my feet are gone"
He didn't let her worry on, grabbing for both her hands Fenrys pulled his mate to her feet, she gasped when she was straightened once more.
"They work!" her surprised, amused him more then it should have, wrapping an arm around her waist, Fenrys gripped there, just to make sure she didn't fall.
Brielle swung with the wind that blew over the deck, she would have fallen had it not been for his grip, she leaned back towards the giggling females, "He knows how to use it" Fenrys caught the quick waggle of her brows, she planted a hand to his chest, "But he isn't the biggest"
Not in anyway was her voice quiet, Fenrys prickled when he heard Whitethorn barked out a laugh from where he still stood,
Fenrys gave a light tug at her hip, pulling her attention back to him,
"You-"
She cut him off with a misplaced kiss that just caught the side of his mouth, when she pulled away, he could taste the liquor on his lips. Brielle lulled her head back so it seemed to rest on her neck, looking at him through half lidded eyes
"You never complain about my size when you're begging"
Sobriety seemed to jolt back into her, "Oh I don't beg."
"I could change that."
Brielle hummed with a witling of amusement so prominent it didn't seem as though she had anything to drink at all.
"Come now"
Fenrys gently tugged her side, careful to not sway her too much, his eyes flickering across her watching the slight twitch in her brow when she registered his words, his smile didn't falter as he continued to stare. Fenrys couldn't quite find it in himself to look away, a tightening sharpened inside him. A knife honing to drive straight through his heart, one which Brielle held tightly onto.
Never in his hundred of years had he ever, wanted something more then to simply spend every waking second with her, this female who had abruptly tumbled into his life, like a storm personified. It had unrooted everything he had come to know, but he liked it, the chaos she caused and the hope she brought with her, a shadowing effect that left him breathless every time she stepped into view.
Her warmth pushed into his chest, the fanning of her hot breath blowing through the thin cotton of his shirt, pulling him away from his thoughts, he pressed a kiss into her forehead then began steering them both towards a pile of blankets, laid on deck.
"We can just relax here for a moment"
He pulled her down beside him, Brielle snuggling herself into his side once more, needing the feeling of him against her.
"I can't lose you" her words trailed off,
Fenrys twisted, looking at Brielle. Her eyes were glossed, and expression lost as though she wasn't physically here. Mind wandering to unwanted thought that made him crease a brow at her in confusion,
"I'm not going anywhere, My love" he brushed away the stray strand of golden hair that had snagged to her lashes, tucking the strand behind the shell of her ear, allowing his finger to linger for a second.
Brielle huffed a breathy giggle, smiling quickly, Fenrys didn't miss the unnerved glint in her eyes, though she tried to hide it. To anyone else he doubted they would notice, but he wasn't her mate for nothing. In haste she withdrew the look from her own eyes, the tang of her magic numbing the end of his tongue, the tingle spreading like needles around his skin.
A wave of pleasure followed, ever nerve receptor in him twining with pulsing pleasure. His breath hitched so suddenly he was sure his heart stopped, his dick strained, and he adjusted quickly, easy up into a more comfortable position. Gulping down the feeling, he leans into her body as though chasing where the pleasure pounded strongest,
Rubbing into her body, he caught the glint of Brielle smirking right before his body went coldly numb, the pulsing gone.
Fenrys was stiff when he made himself rasp out, "Do it again." the words were a struggle to not come out as a plead, he doubted his expression said anything but.
"Now who's the one begging?" her pupils were wide in that so familiar wild amusement, her eyebrow crooked upwards, a devilish smirk plaguing her beautiful lips.
There is was again, that unbeatable pang inside him, lungs tightening when she looked at him. He felt the moment his heart hammered into his ribs, Brielle laughed, the sound tickling that feeling, causing it to erupt, She nudged her head into his chest, taking a breath in of his scent, as though she had never smelt him before.
A swell of contentment overfell them as they tumbled into silence together, entrapped around each others bodies, the time slipping out from around them, ignoring the others as the world fell into complete darkness, allowing the night to consume them, together, as one.