Authors Note – As per usual the characters do not belong to me but the lovely Sarah J Maas.
This is the first real attempt I've made to write something like this so I hope you enjoy it. Any reviews and constructive criticism would be appreciated.
Aelin was stretched out in bed in the the room she shared with Rowan at Mistward. She was wearing one of his shirts that was far too big for her but it was comfortable and had Rowan's scent of pine and snow. She sat up when she heard the door to the room open, Rowan's shirt falling off one of her shoulders as she did so. Rowan himself walked into the room, his shoulder length silver hair catching the light of the fire. His eyes swept over her, lingering on the flesh exposed by the too big shirt, Aelin felt her face heat up. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" he said by way of greeting as he turned and began unbuckling his weapons belt, laying them on the table.
"I was waiting for you, better than being woken up when you finally drag your sorry ass into bed." she huffed. Rowan smirked slightly,
"My apologies your highness, I didn't think I could wake you with all that snoring you do." "I do not snore you bastard!" she growled. Rowan was pulling off his surcoat, swiftly followed by his shirt and Aelin's mouth went dry. The light from the fire set his skin aglow, catching on the wicked tattoo etched onto his arm. She licked her lips as her eyes roamed over his muscled torso, honed by centuries of combat. As her eyes roamed back up to his face she noticed that those sharp green eyes were staring at her, shit he'd caught her looking this could be bad.
Rowan prowled towards her, there was no other way to describe the animalistic movement across the room. She swallowed as he kneeled over her on the bed, his face just inches from hers.
"Like what you see Princess?" She made a show of casting a lazy eye over his torso once more, picking up on all the scars he had acquired over the centuries.
"I suppose it's not the worst I've ever seen." She forced the response out an attempt to keep him from knowing just how much he affected her. Something in his eyes dulled just a bit as he pulled back and away from her, sitting on the side of the bed to remove his boots.
"I suppose your captain was more to your taste." She felt the sting of his words but bit her tongue to keep the truth from slipping out. Instead she studied the taught muscles of his back, before she really knew what she was doing she had reached out running her fingers over that velvety skin, tracing the hardened muscle underneath. She felt Rowan go rigid at the feel of her hands,
"I'm glad Maeve didn't give you anymore scars because of me." Her fingers continued to trace indecipherable patterns on his back and eventually he relaxed into her touch. Slowly Aelin knelt behind him and ran both hands up his back, rubbing away the tension in his shoulders. Rowan let out a rumbling sound of approval as his head fell back exposing the long column of his throat to her. Fighting the urge to lean forward and run her teeth over that sensitive flesh Aelin forced her hands to still.
"It's late, come to bed." Immediately Rowans shoulders tensed beneath her hands.
"I can't." His voice was rough and low, head bowed down. Aelin ran her hand under his chin and forced him to look at her.
"The nightmares?" she asked and Rowan nodded feeling foolish. Her hand traced the tattoo on his face "About Lyria?" Another nod.
"Among other things." Aelin gave him a calculating look and then sat back, her hands dropping from his face.
"I think you need distracting. Come to bed and I'm sure I can think of something suitable." Rowan stood and went to change into some sleep shorts while she settled back under the covers. She felt Rowan slip into the other side of the bed and rolled over to face him.
"So how would you like distracting this evening?"
"As the distractor I think that you should be determining that." Aelin scowled at him.
"Fine, don't give me any hints. I usually go out into the city when I can't sleep but that's not really an option here. How about I tell you a story?"
"Really Aelin, the best you can come up with is telling me a bedtime story?"
"Well, I could always braid your hair. I used to do it to my pony when I was a child." She gave him an innocent smile at which Rowan just scowled.
"What am I, a doll?" Aelin laughed.
"You're a very pretty doll."
"Oh pretty am I?" He rolled over so that he was propped up on his arms above her, caging her in with his body. Aelin stopped laughing, her breath caught in her throat. Sometimes she forgot just how distinctly male Rowan was, he was like a wall of pure muscle above her. "Was pretty really the word you wanted there Aelin?" His voice was low, almost a growl and it made her shiver but not with fear.
"Oh I could think of some other words to describe you Rowan but I'm not sure they fit with the 'doll' image." She could feel his breath on her face, his scent wrapped around her. Her gaze drifted from his eyes down to his lips. She felt rather than heard his sharp intake of breath, and something made her lift her hand to his face. She ran her fingers across his cheekbone and down the side of his face, brushing her thumb along his lower lip. Her hand dropped from his face as the growl rumbled in his throat. Aelin lent her head back exposing her throat to him. She shivered when she felt him breathe her name against the sensitive flesh and the slight scrape of fangs over her racing pulse.
Dropping her head back further in a silent plea and an unmistakable show of trust, she gasped out his name as his teeth slid into her neck. Her hands came up to run down his back, digging into the curve of his spine and drawing him closer to her. He drew his mouth away from her neck and ran his nose up to her ear breathing in her scent and once more whispering her name like a prayer. Aelin moaned deep in her throat and arched her back up so that her chest brushed with his, Rowan's hand smoothed down her side to her hip. His touch set fire to her blood and she wantonly wrapped one of her legs over his hip pulling him down to her.
They both froze staring into each others eyes. Ever so slowly Rowan closed the distance between their lips and once they met it was like the floodgates had opened. There was no hesitation from either of them as she buried her hands in his hair as his hand on her hip tightened it's hold, burning through the thin fabric of the shirt. She could feel his whole weight against her body and the sheer masculine power of it nearly drove her mad.
Rowan smoothed his hand over the curve of her hip and down her thigh before smoothing back up to its previous resting place but under the shirt, never stopping his assault on her mouth. He suddenly pulled away from her again and Aelin groaned in frustration, flopping back onto the bed. She looked up into Rowan's incredulous face and started laughing at the question she could see in his eyes.
"Only you could be scandalised that I'm not wearing underwear under these circumstances." She continued to laugh as she reached up and pulled his face back down to hers.
"I'm scandalised, Fireheart, because I don't get to take them off."
"If it means that much to you I can always get up and put some on." She felt his hand flex and tighten against her hip.
"You're not going anywhere." She raised her mouth to his, pulling him into another searing kiss. Eventually they both had to come up for air, but Rowan merely moved his assault from her lips to her neck. He nipped, kissed and sucked his way down her arched neck and sent waves of heat through her body as his lips touched the bite mark on her neck. She reached up to run her hands through the softness of his hair but he caught her wrists and pinned them back above her head. He drew his head back from her and ran his gaze along the length of her body, the weight of that gaze made her toes curl and her back arch upwards.
"I need you to keep your hands where they are. Understood?" Aelin groaned but bit her lip and nodded, threading her fingers into the sheets to keep them there. Rowan ran his calloused fingers down her arms and then across her shoulders until he came to the neck of the thin shirt she was wearing. He paused and sought out her eyes, asking silent permission. She nodded, and he never broke from her gaze as he wrapped his hands around each side of the opening and pulled, ripping apart the cotton like it was nothing.
Her heart beat loudly in her chest as the seconds ticked by, after what felt like an eternity Rowan gently pressed his lips to hers before he pulled back and once again ran his heavy gaze down her. He'd seen her naked before but now it felt different, he wasn't looking at her and just seeing a body anymore he was seeing a woman. She shuddered with pleasure as he ran one finger down her torso, between the valley of her breasts.
"Shift." The word was barely more than a growl between them but she understood.
Why? Rowan merely gave her a wicked smirk that made her insides tighten in answer to her non-verbal question. Aelin tried to push past the pleasure thrumming through her body to find the veil that separated her from her Fae form. With a flash of light she shifted and she almost screamed, everything was so much clearer in this form it was like her skin was on fire.
"Has anyone ever had you like this Fireheart?" He breathed the question against her skin and the only response she could muster was a groan. She tried to glare at him when he pulled back to look at her face but his finger retraced that path down her chest and her eyes slipped
shut.
When his hands didn't move again she blinked her eyes open and met his gaze he had one eyebrow raised You didn't answer my question. She glared at him again and writhed slightly beneath him but he didn't move.
You know the answer already you buzzard, so stop teasing. She saw something darken in his eyes before he kissed her slow and deep, possessing her. She returned that kiss with equal passion her hands lifting from the sheets to wrap around his neck and holding him to her almost desperately.
He once again pulled her hands from him and stretched them back over her head. She pouted at him as he ran his fingertips over her throat.
"I'm going to take my time with you Fireheart, so you keep those hands of yours where I put them." She smirked slightly, even as her belly tightened at the thought.
"Afraid that you won't be able to control yourself Prince?" He growled at her, and the sound of it made her blood heat. She obediently wrapped her fingers in the sheets again, she'd let him have his way for now. Satisfied Rowan began his leisurely exploration of her body, his hands ran up the soft skin of her sides tracing her scars gently. Aelin drew in a sharp breath as the feel of his hands on her sent little shocks all along her nerve endings.
She let out a long moan when his fingers finally touched the undersides of her breasts. A cool breeze swept over her, making her nipples tighten and peak. She caught Rowan's smirk as he dropped his mouth to her collarbone.
"Bastard." She felt him smirk once more against her skin but was completely distracted when his warm palms stroked over her breasts, his finger tips caught on her nipples and she gasped at the extraordinary sensation. He allowed his fingers to continue their exploration as he revelled in the soft moans and gasps that she made. Rowan kissed further down her body, tasting and exploring every sweet piece of skin he could until his mouth closed around one pert nipple and felt Aelin convulse underneath him. Her hands moved from their position above her head to thread through his hair, holding him to her as her back arched in desperation. He would never deny her anything she asked of him.
His mouth on her nipples was like heaven, the heat of his tongue and breath on her over sensitised skin set fire to her entire body. The first pull of his mouth against her skin almost had her splintering apart and when she felt his teeth gently nip at her she screamed his name in pleasure and felt his responding growl. Everything was so much stronger in this form, she could barely form coherent thoughts but she knew one thing. She wanted to feel him. So she used her own strength to push him over onto his back.
Rowan's hand wrapped around her thighs as she balanced over him on her knees. She pulled the ruined shirt off her shoulders and leant down over him as his hands gripped her harder. As she moved she could feel the evidence of his arousal press against her core and she moaned as his hips shifted upward pressing harder against her. She pressed herself against the warmth of his chest and felt the animalistic growl resonate from his chest to hers. She looked into his eyes and saw how dark they were with desire, she smiled showing off her canines and Rowan pulled her mouth down to his.
She broke away from his mouth and followed the path he had earlier traced down her own face and neck, nipping gently at his neck and she resisted the urge to smirk at the noises she pulled from him. She could feel his whole body trembling beneath her with barely suppressed need and it made her feel powerful to have this Fae Prince at her mercy. Her tongue traced the pattern of his tattoo as she moved back up to his lips before she pulled back looking into his eyes. She was so lost in his gaze that she'd barely noticed that one of his hands had moved from her hips to the juncture of her thighs until he pressed his thumb against her swollen clit.
Aelin could barely breathe for the sensations rushing through her and collapsed down onto his chest, trying to let the scent of him ground her but the smell of their combined arousal was too much. When he slipped one long thick finger inside her she bit his shoulder to keep from screaming. Rowan flipped them over easily so that he was once again pushing her into the mattress, the hand inside her never stopped and just as she was about the beg for more he added a second finger. She felt his weight move from over her torso lower and she opened her eyes just in time to see his head lower over her centre and his tongue slip out to flick against her nub.
Her hands wrapped into his hair, drawing him closer as he sucked and lapped at her sending tremors racing through her body. She moaned as she felt that coil inside of her tighten, gasping his name breathlessly and suddenly his tongue was replacing his fingers against her folds and the rumble of his growl sent her over the edge of that precipice she'd been desperately clinging to. Everything went white behind her eyelids as pleasure rocketed through every nerve ending.
When she eventually came back to herself Rowan was still lapping gently at her and she felt heat stir within her again. She tugged him up by his hair and immediately found his lips, where she could taste herself on his tongue. He pulled back to look at her and she could read the words in his eyes
We can stop here if you want to Fireheart. She could still feel the hard length of him pressed against her belly but she knew he would stop now if she asked him to. She smiled teasingly at him and pressed her mouth to his throat once more before leaning up to whisper in his ear.
"If you want me Prince, come and take me." She punctuated the words by snaking one hand between their bodies and running her fingers over his cock through the too tight shorts. In a movement so fast she barely saw it Rowan had pulled the final barrier between them off and she looked at him for the first time. Her shock must of shown on her face because Rowan had a pretty self satisfied smirk on his face.
Somewhat larger than you're used to Princess? She frowned at him and rolled her eyes,
It's not like I have a lot to compare it to do I you cocky bastard? His eyes blazed back at her and he leant down to her mouth but didn't kiss her yet.
"Tell me, Fireheart."
"I've only been with one other man." The words had barely left her mouth before his lips were crashing down on hers.
"You have no idea how much I wish I could have been your first, my Fireheart." He whispered something in the Fae language that she didn't understand but didn't have time to question before he was flipping them over again, pulling her so that she straddled his hips. She bit her lips at the feel of smooth skin against her entrance but he didn't move. "In your own time Fireheart." Every inch of him was taught but he was going to give her control so that he didn't hurt her.
Bracing her hands against his chest she slowly pressed her hips down, she gritted her teeth against the pain of the initial stretch and of Rowan's fingers digging into her thighs. When she moved her hips against him for the first time Rowan threw his head back and roared in pure male satisfaction. One of his hands travelled up her chest to massage her breasts while the other pressed into the small of her back changing the angle of his thrusts into her just so. Her head fell back as she moaned, gods he felt good inside her filling her so deliciously. She began to move faster and harder against him as she felt herself reaching that peak once again. The hand on her breast dropped to touch her clit again and she screamed his name as she fell apart around him.
She collapsed back down onto Rowan's chest and she could feel his hands tracing her back and his voice as he whispered to her in the Fae language. She felt boneless and she leant up to kiss him slowly but it soon grew in heat and intensity. She felt his still hard cock twitch inside her and she moaned, the embers in her blood igniting once more. He rolled her onto her back and pulled out of her completely, causing her to whimper at the loss of him.
"Are you quite recovered Fireheart?" His voice was low and husky, causing her belly to tighten. She could only nod as she bit her lip at the look he gave her. The slow sensual smile that spread across his face was sinful. "Good because I'm done being gentle with you. Let's see how bright you can burn, my Fireheart." Her heart began pounding while a raging fire burnt within her. He began to kiss and bite his way up her thighs and she instinctively spread herself out for him. She cried out when his mouth returned to her dripping pussy, pushing his tongue inside her then biting down on her clit. He then continued his journey up her body until he reached her mouth.
He kissed her deeply, his tongue delving into her mouth and she returned it with equal passion. He pulled back and ran his eyes over her body which was now littered with his marks and smiled in satisfaction. He pulled her thighs apart and then trust into her in one long deep stroke. She barely had a moment to adjust before he was pulling back and slamming into her again. She swore as he continued these sharp deep thrusts and her hips rose to meet each one. He growled in satisfaction and increased his pace until she could barely keep up with him.
He grabbed her leg and pulled it over his shoulder, and suddenly he was deeper. He braced his arm against the head of the bed while the other gripped her hip tightly, she knew it was going to leave a mark but she didn't care. It was nice to not be treated like she was a fragile young girl. She raked her nails down his back and pulled him closer he swore and gasped her name.
Aelin leant up and licked a bead of sweat from his neck, feeling his rapidly beating pulse under the skin. She scraped her incisors over the point and felt Rowan groan in pleasure. She scraped across it again and felt him shudder, his pace increasing. She moaned and sank her teeth into his neck and as soon as she did she felt warmth rush through her, connecting her to the Fae male above her in ways she could never have thought possible and she felt herself fall into another mind blowing orgasm. He moaned her name as he spasmed inside her. Rowan collapsed to one side, pulling her with him and rolling onto his back with her on top of his chest.
Aelin didn't know how long they lay together like that, no words were needed between them at that moment. For the first time in so long she felt warm and safe, pressed up against her Fae prince. She felt Rowan drag the covers up over them, place a light barely there kiss to the top of her head and wrap his arms around her waist. She fell asleep to the sound of his strong, steady heartbeat.
When Aelin awoke the next morning she stretched out a hand for the warmth of him but came up short. Blinking her eyes open she stared around her Rifthold apartment with a bitter disappointment and growing mortification. The realism of the dream was evident on her sweat soaked body and sheets, she grimaced and removed herself to the bathing room where some very cold water was hopefully awaiting her. How the hell was she ever supposed to face him again after that? She resolutely pushed it away and focused on the day ahead.
Little did Aelin know that across the ocean Rowan had awoken in much the same way. After thoroughly berating himself for allowing his subconscious to have such thoughts about his queen he went down to breakfast. Growling and snarling at anyone who dared come too near to him he sat hunched over his plate in the crowded kitchen. He was just beginning to put the dream behind him when Emrys said.
"Pleasant dreams last night, Prince?" Rowan almost choked on his breakfast while Luca burst out into roaring laughter. He glared at Emrys who was giving him a far too innocent look and then stalked out of the kitchen. He ran as fast as he could to try and work out some of his frustrated energy, he hadn't gotten far before a familiar scent assaulted his senses. Lorcan. He followed the trail straight to the port and realised that he would be seeing his fireheart far sooner than he had thought. His mouth stretched into a grim smile.
