Aelin curled up around her plate of chocolate cake. She managed to sneak it past Rowan, who was still sparring with some of the palace guards. Myshe was out in the garden with Lysandra, so she had her chambers all to herself. Aelin had snagged a book from the bookshelf in the corner of her room before she made it to her bed, and she flipped it to her favorite part. She'd already read this one about a thousand times, but it was her favorite.
Lifting her fork to her mouth, Aelin almost didn't catch his scent. Almost. She whipped her head up to see Rowan walking through the door of their bedroom. Aelin didn't bother to hide the cake-she was sure Rowan could already smell it.
"Aelin, the amount of cake you consume cannot be healthy," he muttered, unbuckling his sword belt.
"I'll work it off in training," Aelin said through a mouth full of food, waving her hand in dismissal.
"You're going to get fat." Aelin raised an eyebrow, knowing that Rowan hated it when she did that.
"Oh? More ass for you to grab, then," she replied. Rowan crossed his arms, but made no move to reply.
"What are you reading?" he asked finally, glancing down at her hands. Aelin watched as her mate made his way over to their bed, oh-so-casually shutting the book and sliding it away from Rowan. Rowan snorted, trying to reach over Aelin to grab it, but she intercepted him with a kiss. Aelin felt him lay down beside her, not breaking the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and twirled his hair around her fingers. Rowan groaned, moving his hands down her back. Lower.
Aelin broke away, needing to breathe. She pressed her forehead against Rowan's and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent.
"We don't have any council meetings for the rest of the day," Aelin murmurmed.
"Yes," Rowan whispered, brushing his lips against hers, "but we need to pick up Myshe in a few minutes." Aelin sighed and pulled away. She didn't want to stop, and could see that Rowan didn't, either.
Because Rowan didn't break eye contact with her, Aelin failed to notice him reaching over to pick up her book.
"Now it's time to find out what you were reading," he said with a faint smirk. Rowan read the title out loud. "The same one you always read? Wait-is this the one with sex every other chapter?" Aelin snorted.
"No. That's the one third from the right on the second shelf," she replied, grinning. Rowan rolled his eyes and stood up, muttering something about Aelin and her reading habits. Aelin stood up and stretched, arching her back. Rowan eyed her lithe body as she bent down to pick up the now empty plate. "You can wait until tonight, buzzard," she said without turning around. Rowan arched an eyebrow.
"Is that a promise, Fireheart?" he asked. Rowan walked over to Aelin and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Aelin grinned and turned around.
"I dunno. Depends on if I feel like it." Rowan growled and pressed his lips to Aelin's. Aelin sighed onto his mouth. "I think I'll probably feel like it." Rowan smirked and unwrapped his arms from her waist.
"Let's go pick up Myshe," he told his mate. Aelin walked out with him.
Rowan walked out of their chambers, Aelin at his side. He forced...certain thoughts away as he went to pick up his daughter.
Rowan loved the gardens. There was something incredibly pleasing about being alone with your thoughts, surrounded by nature. Not that any of that compared to Aelin.
Soon enough, the mates stumbled across Myshe, who was sitting in Lysandra's lap, telling the shape shifter stories.
"...an 'en, we went to a clothes sop and met a reewy nice 'irl-DADDY!" Myshe's nose flared as Rowan's sent hit her. Aelin watched in astonishment as Myshe ran as fast her her two little legs could carry her toward her father. Rowan scooped her up, but was careful to keep up his fae male persona around Lysandra.
"Hey," he cooed. "How are you?" Myshe grinned, and in that moment, Rowan thought she looked exactly like her mother.
"Hey! What am I?" Aelin asked, slightly pissed off. "Chopped ilken?" Myshe looked at her, puzzled, while Rowan gave Aelin a warning glance.
"What's ilking?" Myshe asked. Aelin gave her a stern look.
"We don't repeat anything Mommy says," she said matter of factly. Myshe tilted her head, and Rowan had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
"Lady Lysandra can do a pig nose," Myshe announced, apparently changing the subject to fit her interests. "Can you do a pig nose, Daddy?" Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"No. But I can turn into a bird," he pointed out.
"Can you do a pig nose, Mommy?" Myshe asked, turning to Aelin. Lysandra was laughing silently a few feet over.
"Uh, no," Aelin answered.
"Can you do a bird?" she pressed. Rowan could tell that Aelin was getting mildly annoyed, but his lips were pressed into a thin smile.
"No," she answered flatly. "I turn into a human."
"Not as good as a birdie," Myshe said, shaking her head sadly. Aelin gaped at her.
"It's time for us to go back to our rooms," Rowan told Myshe. She began to squirm in his arms.
"Put me down! Let go! No! I don't want to go back to our wooms!" Rowan made eye contact with Aelin.
I'll take her back. Aelin nodded in thanks. Rowan walked upstairs, Myshe still squirming.
"Was she in your way?" Aelin asked Lysandra as soon as Rowan was out of sight with their daughter.
"No, she was fine," Lysandra laughed, "but I think she wants to be a shapeshifter now." Aelin snorted. "Well, I've got something going on, so..." Aelin nodded.
"Okay. Thanks for entertaining Myshette." Lysandra nodded.
"Sure. She's really sweet," she told Aelin.
Aelin was about to thank her, but she noticed Lysandra's breasts suddenly getting a little bigger. Aelin raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Lysandra asked innocently. A slow smile spread across Aelin's face.
"You're going to see Aedion, aren't you?" she asked, grinning. Lysandra turned pink.
"No," she protested.
"Then why did you-"
"Alright, fine," Lysandra interrupted, turning redder than before. "Yes, I'm meeting Aedion. But nothing's going to happen." Aelin smirked.
"I'd hope so, Lysandra, because we've got a pretty important council meeting tomorrow. You and Aedion both need to be there. And if I smell anything on you..." Lysandra rolled her eyes through her blush, but she was grinning.
"Shut up, Majesty," Lysandra snorted. Aelin raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Is that how we're going to play, Lady Lysandra?" The two girls started laughing. That was how Aedion found the two of them a few seconds later.
"Uh, Ly-Aelin!" he said, turning red. "Hi? I didn't think you'd be here..."
"And you knew Lysandra would be?" Aelin smirked. "I see. Well, enjoy your ride," she said to Lysandra, walking off. Aelin only regretted not being able to see her and Aedion's faces.
AN: Very fluffy.
I'm going to post a fic of Throne of Glass fluff in general sometime this weekend (probably today).
Tell me if you thought it was too cheesy, or if it was choppy and didn't have enough transitions.
Reviews? I love them very much.