"I haven't been completely honest with you."

They were back in the kitchen after he saw her shivering and suggested they went downstairs, gleaning some more minutes to think about how he was going to tell her about his father and the billion-dollars company he was to inherit soon enough.

"It's about your job, isn't it?"

"Yeah, kind of. How did you know?"

"Because I'm not stupid Rhys. You barely gave me any details about your work when we approached the subject, and … Well, money clearly isn't a problem for you, so I'm guessing the thing you weren't honest about is your job. You're not really good at hiding things, you know."

She smiled at him as if to encourage him, but he could feel she was more distant than she'd been before. Gods, he could not screw this up, he liked her way too much to screw it up because of something as unimportant to him as his job. He took a deep breath and started talking:

"I told you I worked for the Night Court Real Estate. That's... partly true."

"Partly?"

"I do work at the Night Court, but I don't work for them."

"What do you mean?"

He hadn't had that much trouble getting out words in a long time. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to pull his thoughts back together.

"My father … My father is CEO of the company."

"Oh," she answered, as if she was registering the information he just gave her. And then her eyes widened, and she repeated, more quietly, "Oh."

"He opened a real estate agency when he was young, and it grew rapidly into one of the biggest real estate developers in the country. It was always expected of me to take over after him when he retired, so I've been working with him since I graduated college."

"So… You're like, the future CEO of one of the most important companies in the state. Your father is the founder of one of the most influential companies in the state. In the country. You're..." She seemed at loss for words, and was just staring at him.

"I am. But Feyre, I figure, it doesn't change anything, does..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She cut him out, and the look on her face… he couldn't describe it, couldn't interpret it. She was watching him blankly, just waiting for his answer, and he didn't know what was the best course of action, what kind of answer she was expecting. So he just started talking, hoping the truth would be enough for her.

"Feyre, I like you very much, I truly do. And, this part of who I am, this company, the money my family has… People I meet have a tendency to focus mainly on that part of me and not want to look too closely at who I am. The heir of the Night Court Company, that's not who I wanted you to see from the start."

She didn't say anything for a moment, and he started panicking. He'd thought it best not to tell her, to let her see him for who he was without knowing about the Night Court. But now that it was out in the open, and she was just staring at him with her beautiful blue-grey eyes that had mesmerized him from the second he'd seen her in that pub, he wasn't so sure it had been a good idea. So he just waited for her to answer, enjoying the sight of her in case it was the last time he saw her, and getting ready to curse his father for eternity if she walked out of his home right now. But he was taken aback by her answer.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok. I understand, it's a pretty big piece of information about you and we've only know each other for a week. Thank you for telling me."

He felt a weight lift off his chest and instinctively took her hand back in his.

"Thank you for understanding."

She smiled slightly at him and squeezed his hand.

"So anyway, I believe you made me dinner ?"

"Indeed. Have a seat."

"So what did you think?"

"Of the cake? It's good enough."

"'Good enough'? I spent an hour making it and it's only 'good enough'?"

He looked positively offended by her answer, and she laughed.

"It was really good. The best cake I've ever tasted. I don't think I will ever be able to enjoy food the same way after trying your cake. It changed my entire way of thinking about chocolate. I..."

"Oh shut up."

He was trying to look offended, but the smile on his lips told a different story. She had enjoyed the meal, and the company of the man who had prepared it, and was now putting dishes on the sink while she sat at the table, after he'd refused to let her help. She got up and walked to him, his back facing her as he was looking towards the sink. She put a hand on his lower back and waited for him to face her. They were so close she could feel his breath on her lips. She pressed a hand behind his neck and got up to the tip of her toes to approach his face, brushing her lips softly against his. His mouth still tasted like chocolate and she said : "I did like it, Rhys." Then she pressed more against him and closed her eyes to enjoy their kiss. He let go of the plate he was holding and she felt his arms encircle her waist and hold her against him as he answered her kiss. They kissed gently for a few seconds, enjoying the feeling of each other's lips as they had done a few times already, before Feyre dared graze her tongue very softly against him. He opened his mouth for her and she felt his hands tighten on her back as their tongues started brushing and exploring more and more of the other. Feyre leaned on the kitchen counter behind her, and let her hand slide up his neck to run her fingers through his hair. One of his hand left her back to cup her cheek, and she felt all of his body pressing against hers as their kiss deepened and she gripped the back of his shirt. She wanted to feel more of him, but she let go of his lips after a moment, gasping for air. They stayed like that for a few seconds, holding each other, her fingers in his hair and his hand caressing her cheek, before he whispered:

"I'll make you cake everyday if that's the responde I get."

"Oh Gods, you're insufferable, you know that?" She rolled her eyes and reluctantly let go of his hair. He chuckled and said :

"Do you want to go… sit on the couch?"

"Yes."

They moved into the living room and she sat down next to him, a lot closer than what was necessary for a simple conversation. He didn't seem to mind though, because he slipped an arm around her and tugged her even closer to him. They sat there in comfortable silence for a while, leaning against one another, their fingers intertwined. She enjoyed the feeling of his thumb stroking her palm gently, and she felt the want to curl up against him and kiss him again, already missing the way his tongue had felt against hers. She started talking, if only to occupy her lips with something else that his:

"So I told you about my sisters, what about you? Any siblings?"

"Yes actually, I have a little sister. Her name's Lyra, she's fourteen.

"Fourteen? That's a pretty big age difference between you two."

"Yeah, my parents had troubles conceiving. They had me when my mother was thirty-four, and they had given up on ever having another child when Lyra came around. She was so spoiled when she was a kid."

"Oh and you weren't? Somehow, I have trouble believing that"

He chuckled and flicked her nose, before resting his hand on her thigh. They were getting closer by the second, she had moved up her feet on the couch and started playing with some strand of his hair, relishing in his scent, a mixture of jasmine, citrus and… the ocean.

"I'll have you know that I was not spoiled as a child."

"Oh really?"

"I swear. You know, when I was seven, my mother sent me to live with the Illyrians."

Feyre straightened up at his words. With the Illyrians? His mother had sent a child to live in the middle of the mountains? She'd sent him live with one of the only ethnies that still lived to their old tradition?

"What? Why?"

"Well, my mother is Illyrian, she was born in the mountains and she wanted me to grow up knowing my origins."

"Wow. So how long did you live with them?"

"An entire year at first, but then my father insisted I had to come back and go to school in the city so I only went there three months a year during the holidays. It lasted until the end of high school."

"So… you actually lived on those camps for that long?"

"Yep."

"Wasn't it hard as a kid?"

"They were times when it was hard, but I'm glad my mother sent me there. The way they live, so far away from everything else, even if it's brutal and far from being perfect, Illyrian is a big part of who I am."

Illyrian. That explained his soft brown skin and his dark hair. And, she realized, catching a glimpse of them on his chest, that probably explained the tattoos she'd spotted on him. Illyrians were famous for their tattoo artists and for the intricate symbols they marked on their skin. If Rhys' tattoos were indeed Illyrians, they were probably covering his chest entirely. She was about to ask him about them when she realized that he would probably show them to her fully, therefore without his shirt. And as much as she wanted to see his bare skin, it was easier to keep her thoughts logical if he kept his clothes on. So she steered the conversation away, still ruffling his hair.

"I think it's great that you feel that way about your Illyrian heritage. Do you still have strong ties with them?"

"I go up there from time to time for work. My father owns the land where most of their communities are located, that's actually how he met my mother. I'm not the one that goes most frequently though, my brothers do most of the field work."

"Your brothers? I thought you said you had only the one sister?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't tell you about them yet. I only have one related sister but I have two foster brothers that my mother took in when I was fairly young, so I consider them like brothers, and sometimes I don't even realize I call them that way."

"Oh, so you grew up with them, then?"

"More or less. Cassian joined us when I was seven, a few weeks after I went to live at the camp. He never knew who his father was and his mother died when he was young so he was left to survive on his own, and when I saw him I brought him to my mother, who then took care of him."

"He was left to live on his own as a child?"

"Yeah. I told you, Illyrians still live with their old traditions and it can be very brutal. Anyway, he came to live with us and then he came back with us to the city and my mom started the adoption procedure shortly after that. It was a bit different for Azriel, it's not really my place to give you all the details but he had… he was abused by his family as a child and when my mother realized what had been happening to him, she got him away from them and took him in, but was never able to adopt him officially. We were twelve at the time."

"They're both Illyrians then?"

"Yes, and damn proud of it. So what about you? Any year long camping trips in your childhood?"

She let out a laugh before answering :

"None! Actually I've never been camping," she joked, before continuing on a more serious tone, "My childhood was pretty mundane, my father worked in international commerce and my mother was involved in many different charities, although to be honest I think she was working with them more for the social status it brought her than to actually help people. Anyway, it went on like that until I was eleven, before my father lost his job. Then it… kind of went downhill from there. My mother left us about a year afterwards, my father had an accident that incapacitated him and so we ran out of money pretty fast, even selling our house didn't buy us much time. So I started working before and after school when I was fourteen."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I mean, it was hard but… that's just the way it happened, there's really no reason to dwell on it now. Both my sisters managed to go to college and my father finally got enough money to afford surgery for his knee, he was able to work again, so that's good."

She didn't want to explain to him how Tamlin had helped her father get back on his feet, how he'd managed to track her mom down and that she had been back with her father for nearly a year now. She didn't want to talk about Tamlin right now, not when she was sitting so close to Rhys and enjoying his presence so much.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you get to go to college?"

She felt heat creep up her cheek at his question. She knew she had no rational reason for feeling bad about not going to college, but she did anyway.

"No, I didn't. I took a full time job right after I graduated high school, because we needed enough money to pay for Nesta and Elain's tuition fees and I knew starting college wouldn't allow me to work that much. I always thought I might go back to college someday, but I'm nearly 24 years old now and I think I'm fine with the way things turned out. I like my job and I manage to pay my rent every month and eat some food from time to time," she finished, trying to lighten up the mood with a joke. He evidently picked up on it and told her:

"Well as much as I hate to admit it, after hearing your childhood story, I have to say that maybe I was a little spoiled."

She laughed and they fell silent again. She found that she wouldn't mind staying in that position for the next few hours, curled up against him, stroking his hair as his left hand rested on her lower back and his right one traced lazy circles on her thigh. It was pleasant, to feel the warmth of his body so close to her, and the soft caress of his fingertips on her. He tried and failed to restrain a smile by biting his lower lip - Gods, how much sexier could this man get?

"What?" She whispered, as if talking too loud might break the peace around them.

"I'm just thinking about how much I would like to kiss you right now."

She took a deep breath and her eyes went from his eyes to his lips, and back to his eyes.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

His smile intensified and he brought his lips to hers. It was soft at first, slow, but after a few moments, their kiss deepened, and Feyre felt his hand tighten on her thigh as the other one pressed on her back to get her closer to him. She was glad to oblige, and slid one leg on top of him so that she found herself straddling him, her hands on his hair. He left her thigh to move to her back, and she felt him tugging at her blouse just a bit, and then rest his hands on her bare skin under it. Feeling his skin against hers sent strikes of heat down her core, and she instinctively bit his lip in response. He groaned under her and the sound of his voice had her leaving his hair to rest her hands on his chest. She wanted to feel him, she wanted to let her hands roam through his chest, and have his hands touch her all over. As if he'd read her mind, he slid one arm upper on her back, while his other hand went up her arm and explored the back of her neck. She began to play with the first button of his shirt, wanting to feel his heartbeat beneath her touch. He let out a low laugh at her gesture, and growled her name against her lips.

Hearing her name coming from him suddenly hit her hard. She started remembering another man who'd said her name in a similar situation, a man she'd loved for so long, a man whose hands had been roaming her back on a similar way less than three months ago. She opened her eyes and retracted her hands from his shirt, feeling ashamed of the way she was sitting on him and letting him touch her. His hands stilled the second he felt their kiss stop, and he looked up at her with concern in his eyes:

"Feyre?"

She couldn't look at him, couldn't look into those beautiful eyes that had made her stomach flutter for the past week. She got off of him and sat straight on the couch, squeezing her hands between her knees. She felt him move beside her, getting closer but not touching her.

"Feyre, are you feeling okay? Did… Did I do something wrong?"

"No, I just … I need to … breathe. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you don't have to apologize."

He advanced his hand towards her arm slowly, but the moment she felt him touch her, she retracted further away. She couldn't let him this close to her again, not when she felt like she was ready to burst into tears for all the shame and sadness that had taken over her mind. She needed to be alone right now, she wanted to go home and curl up under her covers.

Getting up from the couch, she said: "I'm sorry Rhys, I… I think I'm gonna go home." She went into the hall, put on her jacket and opened the front door, trying not to look at him. But he followed her to the door and gripped her elbow softly.

"Wait Feyre, what's going on? I'm sorry if I did something wrong, just… tell me, don't leave without telling me something, please."

She turned around to face him.

"You didn't do anything wrong, I promise. It's just… I need to figure some things out, and I just need some time alone."

He didn't look at all reassured by her explanation, but he let go of her elbow. His answer was barely more than a whisper, and she could feel the hurt in his voice, even if he hid it well:

"Ok. Do you want me to call you a cab?"

"No it's fine, thank you."

And because, despite her need to be alone, she didn't want to leave him just yet, she reached out to press a light kiss on his cheek and told him "I'll text you when I'm home" before turning around and racing into the street.

There you gooo ! That was a long one ^^

Rhys was a bit of a dramaqueen at the beginning, and that was really fun to write ! Let me know what you think about this chapter :) The next one might come a bit later next week, I'm going on a trip for work so I don't know if I'll have time to edit and post it. I'll do my best :)