Azriel had been the Spymaster for centuries and finally, it seemed, the time had come where his skills were paying off for him privately. After Rhysand had given him the order to stay away from Elain, it had taken him exactly 0.00001 second of her looking at him across the table for Azriel to send everything he was ever told to do to hell and for once, do what ever the fuck he felt was right. Rhysand wanted him gone and sent Azriel on many missions away, which just played him right into his cards.
Nuala and Cerridwen coordinated him with whenever the moment was right to bring Elain to him. They had been sneaking around for a while, going on undercover dates across the continent, without anyone ever suspecting anything. He almost had to chuckle at how easy it had become and loved every moment he got with Elain. Since most dates were rather short visited, since Rhysand kept a close eye on his sister-in-law, he and Elain had not been intimate yet. It was something he was genuinely looking forward to but simultaneously felt a jitter of nerves. Regardless, he immensely enjoyed getting to know the quirks and thoughts of the female he was head over heels for.
Azriel learnt that Elain moved and muttered a lot in her sleep and the first nights had been an interesting experience, but he loved hearing and feeling her drift towards him. She made soft, restless motions, small turns and quiet sounds like an occasional hum beneath her breath. This female also had an affinity with his hair, her fingers always find their way into them, massaging his scalp or simply playing, which made him purr internally, every single time. Whenever they had the opportunity to spend a night sleeping in the same bed, it had become natural for Azriel to gather Elain close. Either her back settled against his chest, his arm secure around her waist or her facing him and kissing softly until their breathing slowly found the same pace. This night, however, seemed to be different. He could taste it in the air.
Silver light spilled through the open window from an almost full moon and the world outside was hushed. Azriel wasn’t fully asleep but neither completely awake. His body felt heavy and the warmth of Elain’s body against his made his awareness sharpen. On the soft rise and fall of her breathing and on the way her fingers had woven themselves through his, holding on tightly. Elain shifted again, slowly turning and humming in his arms, until she faced him. She was still deep in sleep and his arm adjusted automatically, pressing her gently into his chest. Azriel exhaled softly and relaxed further into the bed. A few seconds of bliss passed when Elain nuzzled into his chest and inhaled deeply. Immediately, something in Azriel awakened and sharpened. Her body stilled for just a brief second before she inhaled again and a soft sound escaped her, barely more than a whisper. Her head tilted and she brushed along his throat, and goosebumps rose along his skin, every nerve alert at once.
Elain’s fingers tightened slightly in his tunic as she shifted closer still and she nestled her face at the curve of his neck. Heat erupted in his body and his wings twitched and started to open. She breathed him in again deeper and a quiet and content sound slipped from her lips.
Azriel’s breath caught and his deeply ingrained instinct rose within him. Slowly, almost without thinking, he tilted his head back and exposed more of his throat to her. It was a silent, instinctive gesture of trust and an offering.
Still half lost in sleep, Elain followed the line of his neck, her breath warm against his skin. Azriel’s heart started beating faster and harder. She inhaled once more, lingering this time and then he felt the faintest brush of her lips. He shuddered and then her tongue darted out, barely grazing his heated skin.
A quiet, involuntary sound escaped him, low and rough and his grip on her tightened while something deep in his chest coiled and snapped taut. Elain’s hands moved and glided upward, finding purchase in his hair, tangling in its strands like she loved to do. Then her teeth grazed his skin, followed by a more daring lick and that was enough to shatter his control.
In a single swift motion Azriel rolled them and he pressed Elain onto her back. He hovered above her with an uneven breath and wings started to half unfurl behind him. Elain was still dazed, caught between sleep and waking and looked up at him with half-hooded eyes. Her hands remained in his hair and gave a slight pull which created a rumbling sound in his chest.
Now it was his turn. Drawn by instinct, by scent and by something far deeper than conscious thought, Azriel lowered his head and pressed his face into the space between her neck and shoulder. He, this time, inhaled deeply and her scent flooded him. A low, primal growl left him as he breathed her in and everything in him awakened out of its slumber.
Elain’s eyes fluttered shut for that moment and she tuned her head to the side, baring her neck for more access. She didn’t dare move or speak but her body became blissfully aware of his heavy weight above her. Warmth spread and an unbearable coiling sensation in her belly made her exhale a shaky breath. The moment Azriel’s teeth grazed her skin, something in her snapped and her hands tightened in his hair, pulling him down to her lips.
Their kiss was anything but hesitant. It was heat and trust and something long building finally breaking free. Azriel made a low sound against her mouth, as he kissed her back harder and deeper. His hand came up to cradle her face and he leaned closer, draping his body over hers. Elain arched into him, her hand sliding from his hair over his shoulder and she pressed her fingers into his muscles as she kissed him with everything she had. Their kissing grew more heated with every passing second, every shared breath and every shift of their bodies. Azriel’s wings unfurled behind him instinctively and stretched wide behind him in the moonlight. Elain wiggled against him, eliciting a pleased growl from Azriel.
They were completely lost in their kissing frenzy that they didn’t register the sharp knock at the door. The second one, however, was undeniable. A loud and insistent hammering made Azriel whip his head towards the sound and his shadows flared violently around them. A snarl, raw and feral, tore from his throat and his entire body was coiled and ready to strike. The sound bounced around the room and Elain stilled and stared at the male above her.
The knocking stopped and silence followed, except both were panting hard and Elain stared at Azriel’s chest which was rising and falling rapidly. She licked her lips and something primal snapped at the sight. Before Azriel could turn back, her hands shot into his hair again and she pulled him back towards her for a fierce, demanding and unapologetic kiss.
He grunted softly as she shifted and rolled them over with surprising determination until she was above him. She straddled his hips as she kissed him like she intended to consume him whole.
Azriel responded instantly and his hands landed on her waist, holding her tightly as he kissed her back just as fiercely and urgently. Elain took advantage of her new position and started grinding herself on him to release some pent up tension. Azriel growled encouragingly and guided her movements with his hands while they lost themselves in each other again.
Suddenly the window burst open with a loud bang and shadows spilled inward, twisting into form as Nuala stepped into the room.
“Elain,” she said quickly and urgently. “We have to go. Now!” Azriel sat up and a knife appeared in his hand, ready to strike at the intruder. Elain’s hand had shot out and was now wrapped around his wrist, holding him in place with a steady strength. Both their pupils were blown wide and Elain was very tempted to lean in for another kiss at the sight of him.
“Rhysand is coming,” Nuala explained tightly. “He’s close.”
Ceridwen appeared beside her sister a heartbeat later, reaching immediately for Elain’s hand.
Elain hesitated and her gaze flicked back to Azriel. Everything unsaid passed between them in that look, but she reluctantly took her friend’s hand. Shadows wrapped around them and then they were gone.
The room felt instantly colder.
Azriel stared at the empty space where she had been and something sharp and feral rose in his chest again. A low snarl slipped from him and he closed his eyes inhaling their mixed scents deeply. He held his breath and counted the seconds before he let out a long exhale. His control returned in pieces, the primal urge to go after his female was pushed down and his logic and duty emerged to the forefront of his mind.
With a sharp motion, he pushed himself to his feet, his wings stretching wide before settling back as he ran a hand through his hair. The air still carried the ghost of her, her warmth, her scent and he could still feel the imprint of her body against his. His instinct surged back up and screamed at him to follow, to hunt and to find her again. While doing some breathing exercises, he sent his shadows out to dimmish every evidence of what had happened. He got dressed and shadow walked to the forest just outside the little inn he had been planning to stay with Elain.
Cold night air met him as he stepped outside, the almost full moon still high in the night sky. Azriel felt Rhysand long before he appeared. There was a shift in the air and slowly, he turned his head just enough for their gazes to meet.
A beat of silence passed. Rhysand began to circle him, slow and deliberate, his gaze dragging over Azriel in quiet assessment. He noted his disheveled hair and the faint scratch marks on his neck and collar. “Am I interrupting something?” Rhysand asked lightly and lifted a brow in question. “Or… someone?”
Azriel’s face didn’t show any emotion and he stayed silent. “What do you want?”
Rhysand cocked his head to the side and stared at Azriel, his violet eyes shining sharply in the moonlight. Cold ice slipped into his voice. “My favorite sister-in-law is missing,” he said. “You’ll forgive me if I’m less patient than usual.” More silence. “Have you seen Elain?”
Azriel didn’t miss a beat. “She lives with you and Feyre,” he said flatly. “Shouldn’t you know best about her whereabouts?”
“Aren’t you my Spymaster?”
Their silence stretched for a long period of time and Azriel’s shadows stirring agitated in answer to Rhysand’s pulse of power. The tension rose and became thick when a familiar presence winnowed next to the High Lord. Mor smiled at the males and sweetly announced, “She’s been found.”
“She was out running,” she continued, her tone light. “With the twins. Elain couldn’t sleep, she said close to the full moon she gets restless and she had to burn some excess energy.”
Rhysand watched him carefully and pure assessment flickered in his gaze as he took in the tension still coiled in Azriel’s frame. He nodded and smiled “Well isn’t that great news.” With a flicker of power, he winnowed away. Then Mor turned to Azriel and gave him a knowing look, before vanishing as well.
Azriel was useless the rest of the next day. The decision was mutual that it was too risky for Elain to be brought back to him, after almost been caught by Rhysand. Elain was certain that the High Lord didn’t suspect anything, but Azriel couldn’t shake off his inner unrest.
No amount of training, no patrol and no duty could pull his mind away from her and from that night. Every quiet moment and every breath between tasks he took made his thoughts return to Elain. The way she had looked at him and the way she had taken the lead with what she wanted without hesitation. The memory burned through him, leaving him restless, sharp edged and unable to settle.
He had tried to find her once or twice, however each time, something or someone had intervened.
By nightfall, the restraint he prided himself on felt dangerously thin because his need to see her was too urgent. The full moon hung full and heavy in the sky when Azriel stepped into the townhouse, shadows curling around him as he arrived. Silence greeted him.
His shadows stirred, picking up the thread of her presence and slunk away from him like living things eager to please.
“Find her,” he murmured. They obeyed instantly and returned moments later whispering that she was outside.
The garden gave way to something wilder the farther he went. Carefully tended paths faded into overgrown edges, and beyond that it blended into the untamed and alive forest. He followed the faint traces of her scent, which led him to the first piece. It was a silk belt, which appeared to have been discarded carelessly along the path. Azriel slowed and picked it up briefly before letting it fall again, his gaze sharpening. He could smell her excitement on the fabric, and it made his pulse quicken.
Further along were her slippers and his shadows flickered restlessly and eagerly. Some broke away and sprinted ahead, showing him the way to more items of clothing. Delicate fabric caught on a low branch, another half hidden in the grass and by the time he found her lacy undergarment, his control and anticipation were hanging on by a thin thread.
The trees opened and a meadow stretched before him. A still lake lay at its heart, reflecting the sky like glass and the full moon shone down on him. In between there she was. Elain stood barefoot on the meadow, moving slowly across the grass. Her skin glowed ethereally under the moonlight and her presence seemed almost unearthly, as if she belonged to this wild place than the world he had stepped out of.
Elain turned as if she had felt him and when their eyes met, she smiled openly and abashedly. Her eyes were dark, blown wide in a way that sent a fresh wave of heat through him. His shadows reacted before he did and they slipped away from him, drawn to her like moths to a flame. They curled around her, brushed along her arms, her shoulders and her waist in quiet greeting.
Elain didn’t pull away but leaned into them slightly. She bit her lip and slowly took a step back at a time, drawing him in. Her fingers lifted to the thin strap of her nightdress, the only item she was still wearing. With a single, unhurried motion, she let it fall and the fabric slipped soundlessly to the ground.
Azriel’s breath left him at her invitation. Elain turned and walked towards the lake and step by step, glided into the water. He followed immediately; he couldn’t remember when he decided to move but his body reacted with instinct. The water rippled softly around them as Azriel stepped closer. The water was cool as it met his skin, but he barely felt it because his focus was entirely on her and the way she waited just a little deeper in, already turned to face him.
“Elain,” he said, her name rough on his tongue.
She tilted her head slightly, stepping closer until the water shifted between them. “You found me.”
“Of course. I always will.” Something in his tone made her inhale softly. Then Elain lifted her hand and slowly placed it on his chest. Her touch was warm despite the cool water and she pressed her palm lightly, feeling the powerful rhythm beneath. Elain’s fingers slid upwards, tracing the line of his collarbone and then higher into his hair. Just like the night before but this time, there was no hesitation. She drew him down to her and their lips met. The kiss was immediately deep and consuming, charged with everything that had been building between them. Azriel responded instantly, one hand coming to her waist, pulling her closer because he couldn’t even stand the smallest distance between them.
Elain leaned into him and her other hand rested on his shoulder, fingers tightening as the kiss deepened. The water shifted around them as she moved and pressed closer, her body aligning with his.
Azriel broke the kiss just long enough to breathe, his forehead resting briefly against hers before his lips traced along her jaw. His hand moved at her back, steady and grounding, while hers remained tangled in his hair, keeping him close. Elain leaned into him again, her lips finding his once more, slower this time but no less certain. Azriel followed her lead and their at first gentle exchange didn’t stay; it deepened like a storm cloud about to break.
His mouth moved against hers with growing certainty, no longer restrained by hesitation or thought just instinct, need, and something far more dangerous that had been building since the since the first night she’d turned in his arms like she belonged there.
Elain made a soft sound against his lips that sent something sharp and hot through him. The water around them shifted as they moved together and his wings stirred behind him, half unfurling instinctively, their shadowed edges brushing the night air.
The world narrowed to touch and breath and the steady rhythm of water around them as Elain aligned her centre with his hard cock. They moved together through the lake’s quiet darkness and each shared touch, breath and stroke brought them closer to the edge. Elain and Azriel gave everything and opened their soul and hearts to each other as they tumbled into bliss and finished together.
It was hours later when Azriel finally made it back to the House of Wind. He moved slower than usual due to a deep, bone heavy exhaustion that settled into every part of him. And yet… there was nothing weary about the expression on his face.
He couldn’t stop the faint, roguish smirk that kept tugging at his mouth as his mind replayed the night over and over again… and the morning. Gods, the morning.
Every moment came back in fragments, Elain’s laughter, soft and breathless and the way neither of them had been able to stay still for more than a few minutes before reaching for the other again. They had tried to sleep, truly tried. Multiple times but every single time, it had failed.
A shift of a leg, a brush of skin or a quiet sigh was enough and then they were right back where they started.
Azriel huffed out a quiet, disbelieving breath as he walked the corridor, dragging a hand through his already disheveled hair.
At one point, they had separated and decided to lay on opposite ends of the bed like it might help finally get some rest and sleep. It hadn’t. He could still hear Elain stretching and that soft, content sigh left her as her back arched slightly. His restraint had snapped instantly, and he had been across the space between them in a heartbeat, hauling her back against him by the waist and both of them laughing softly before everything had spiraled all over again.
Another memory flashed and this time he had been half asleep and had just barely started to drift off. He’d rolled his neck, cracked it, let out a low hum of satisfaction and then shifted his wings in a more comfortable position. The thin and soft membrane had grazed Elain’s arm, and she had shifted closer immediately and curious, letting her fingers brush along his wing.
And that had been enough to end any hope of rest. They simply… couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It hadn’t been about urgency anymore; it was pure need. The thought sent a flicker of heat through his already exhausted body, and he exhaled slowly, trying to rein it in.
Azriel’s mind urged him to turn around, go back and find her again. His mind knew that they both needed some rest. He was still thinking about their time together when a door opened down the hall. Cassian took a step out and whistled loudly. “Well, damn.”
Azriel turned his head and saw his brother standing in the doorway, his arms folded in front of him as he took in the sight. His eyes travelled from the ripped clothes to the disheveled hair and to the unmistakable faint scratches and bruises along Azriel’s arms, shoulders and neck. Cassian also noticed the way his wings hung just a little heavier than usual.
“If I didn’t know better,” he mocked, “I’d say you got into a fight with a hellcat.”
Azriel didn’t answer but the grin that spread across his face said everything.
It was bright and unrestrained, almost boyish in a way Cassian had never seen on him. He barked out a laugh. “You had a good night, huh?”
Azriel’s smirk turned downright wicked. “The best.” A beat passed when he added quietly, “And the morning.”
Cassian’s brows shot up, and another whistle followed, louder this time. He shook his head, laughing under his breath. “Gods above… then why are you here?”
Azriel pushed open his door with his shoulder, pausing just long enough to glance back.
“Need to rest,” he said simply, amusement still threading through his voice. “So I can go again.”
Cassian bellowed a laugh at that. “What, you getting old on me?”
Azriel huffed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe. I nearly hit my limit.”
Cassian doubled over slightly, laughter booming through the hall. “Either you’re out of practice,” he shot back, “or she’s one hell of a female to wear you down like that.”
Azriel couldn’t stop the smile from spreading and he stepped into his room, shaking his head.
“Good night!” Cassian called after him, still chuckling.
Azriel shut the door behind him with a quiet click and then he let himself drop onto his bed, face first. Every muscle in his body sighed in relief, exhaustion finally catching up in full. Even as his eyes closed, his mind lit up again with the memories of them together and he felt giddy, satisfied and restless, even in his fatigue.
When sleep finally pulled him under, one thought lingered clearly above all the rest: he couldn’t wait to see and be with Elain again.