Rhys frowned at his computer screen. It wasn't the report that had come from accounting on Feyre's investments. She was doing amazing things. Despite investing in nearly forty new businesses and artists in the last month along with supporting the businesses and artists they already had, Velaris was turning a much higher profit. Her work had slowed only slightly as she worked hard to keep up relations with all of her clients and had started college courses with Azriel's help. He would have to celebrate with her at some point, but it would have to wait.
The other report that had been sent to him had been from Azriel. It was Hybern. It always went back to Hybern. He hadn't relented on his invasion into the Illyrian mountains. He had deep enough pockets to buy out politicians that wanted the Illyrians gone. They were on prime undeveloped land with plenty of untapped natural resources. But the people there had been there for thousands of years. It was their ancestral home and there was nowhere to really move them.
The politicians were fighting to take away the reservation status and force the Illyrians out. Where they went, no one seemed to care. Some had suggested that the Illyrians be forced to integrate into modern society.
The politicians on Rhys' side were fighting back but Hybern was attacking the way he knew best. He hit them in the purse strings and he threatened loved ones. He did just as Amarantha had done and took hostages. It was a battle Rhys would lose if he didn't think of something fast.
"Hey, you got a moment?" Feyre's voice made him look up from his computer screen. She was radiant as always. Glowing more and more every time he saw her. But now her glow faded a little as she looked him over. "Something I can help with or should I not distract you?" She asked.
"The answers to your questions in order are: I always have a moment for you, I don't know, and you can always distract me," he assured her. "What can I do for you, Darling?"
"I think I found a wedding venue," she blushed as she spoke.
Rhys perked up at that. After buying her wedding dress their talk of an actual wedding had slipped away. He had taken the initiative in that time to buy his own wedding band. Something plain and silver that he was happy to wear for the rest of his life. Feyre had approved of it when he had shown it to her. But talks of venues, dates, and all other details had gone out the window as soon as they had gotten busy again. So he was surprised she had done any digging into finding a venue without telling him.
"I just had a meeting with a small place called the Starfall Gallery," she handed over the pamphlet she had been twisting between her hands. He looked it over quickly, noting the pictures of the ceiling draped with twinkling fairy lights amongst cityscape type paintings and pictures. Pictures of small banquets and a dancefloor in the middle of the gallery had his attention and a picture of a ceremony space on a balcony overlooking a very pretty garden made him sure Feyre had found the right place. It would hold a small ceremony and small party just fine.
"Clients?" Rhys asked as he looked at the notes she had scribbled on the pamphlet. None of them were their questions for Velaris, but if she had arranged a meeting with them during work hours they had to be potential clients.
"Actually, no," Feyre blushed. "Mor sent them a picture of one of my pieces and they want it for their gallery. They were here to see if I was willing to put it up there and to discuss a price I might be willing to sell it at, and to discuss my other works. The man brought brochures to try and convince me it was a decent place to display and sell my paintings. I saw the wedding one and couldn't help but ask about dates." She glanced up at him through her eyelashes. "Is that alright?"
"Darling, it's better than alright. I think it will be perfect. What dates are available?" He felt all of his troubles slip away as Feyre beamed at him and rounded the desk to sit on his lap. She produced a second piece of paper from her pocket with a full list of weekend dates spanning from three weeks from them through the next six months. "Let's do this one," Rhys pointed to a Saturday almost exactly one month away.
"That should give Mor enough time to find a bridesmaid dress and someone can convince Cassian to brush his hair at least," Feyre announced as she cuddled into him and sighed. "I'll give them a call before my next meeting to book the date."
"Are you thinking of selling your art with them?" Rhys asked. He leaned back in his chair to pull her tighter against him. It was exactly what he needed to let the stress of dealing with Hybern melt away.
"I honestly have never considered any of my work good enough to sell," she admitted. "They have such beautiful paintings there."
"I'm sure yours are better," Rhys pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I mean, I've never considered displaying any other artist in my office."
"Do you mean my art, or me?" She wiggled her bottom against him, grinding against certain parts that were all too eager to respond.
Images filled his head of laying her out on his desk and feasting on her, effectively putting her on display for anyone beyond the glass walls. He could see just how sound proof the walls were by how loud he could get her to scream out his name.
"Both," he groaned against her ear. He went to bite her neck but a pointed 'eh hem' made him sigh. "Five minutes," he told Lucien who stood in the open doorway, likely reminding them that he was still there.
"While I'd love to disappear for far more than five minutes to avoid looking at whatever this was turning into, you have your next meeting in the Board Room waiting," Lucien drawled and then turned to go to his desk.
"We are going to finish this at some point," Rhys told Feyre as she climbed off of his lap. Perhaps he would stay late and convince her to stay as well to get her to try out some of his office fantasies. He was no longer concerned that she might be afraid he'd do what Tamlin did to her or that he'd bring up horrible memories. They had talked about some of the depraved things they had wanted to do at work and Feyre had been more than open to his admittance of wanting to bend her over a desk at least once.
"Finish what?" Feyre asked, falsely innocent as she made her way to the door.
Cauldron boil him, he wanted nothing more than to chase her down as her hips swished to one side and then the other far more intentionally than her normal sway on her way out the door. He vowed to make sure she would be screaming his name at some point before they fell asleep that night and willed his body to calm down. He had to at least appear professional even though it was quite likely the people he was meeting with saw him and Feyre at least sitting together. When he was sure there was no visible evidence of his desire he went to start his meeting.
Meetings kept Rhys busy for the rest of the day which helped distract him from Feyre only enough that when 5 PM rolled around he practically ran to his computer to close it down for the night to not keep her waiting. But the report from Hybern still pulled up on his computer monitor had him pausing. He really needed to figure out what to do about all of that. So he sat and reread the report while wracking him brain for a solution.
"Thank you, Lucien, I owe you," Feyre's voice reached him a while later.
"Introduce me to your sister the next time she comes through for a meeting and I'll call us even," Lucien's voice replied. "But showing me that restaurant might be enough to tide me over until then."
"Good night, Lucien," Feyre chuckled. Rhys heard her come in and then an amazing smell hit his nose enough to make him look up. Feyre was unloading a plastic bag of white Styrofoam containers on his desk. He recognized all of it as Sevinda's. "I thought dinner might be in order while we work on whatever has you rubbing your temples so," she explained as she pulled a chair closer to the other side of the desk.
"Hybern," he told her. "I'm not sure I can win this one."
"There's a way, Rhys. We will find one together," Feyre promised him. "Now eat and tell me what I need to know."
Rhys smiled at her as he dug into one of his favorite dishes. Feyre was already starting on her own and there were at least two other containers telling him she expected to be there long enough for them to get hungry again or for others to join them. He truly hoped it was neither of those things. When he was a good way through his food, he started to explain what the report said.
By the time he was done explaining, Cassian and Azriel had found their way up and had pulled chairs over as well. As much as Rhys didn't want them there, he knew they would make things go far quicker. Four heads were better than two in some cases and this one was definitely one of those cases.
"Anyway we can locate those hostages?" Rhys asked Azriel.
"Spirited away to Hybern," he sighed. "I couldn't touch them there if I tried."
"I suppose announcing he has hostages would cause harm to those hostages," Feyre murmured with a shudder. Rhys wished she wasn't across the table from him. He wanted to chase away the memories that plagued her from Amarantha.
"Why announce he has them in the first place?" Cassian asked.
"To point out he's not the kind of businessman we want invading Prythian," Feyre shrugged. "I'm not a corrupt politician but if I were in politics I would worry when he'd disagree with me next. Live in fear of when he might discover my family."
"Set that about, quietly," Rhys told Azriel who only nodded.
"Has there been progress with law enforcement on who shot you?" Cassian asked Rhys.
"No. Despite all of the evidence pointing elsewhere, they are going with an accident," Rhys relayed what had been told to him only a week before. He knew it wasn't an accident and anyone who truly looked into the case did as well.
"They said they think it was a stray bullet from a hunter," Feyre growled. "As if hunters used sniper rifles."
"Or if anyone actually used guns in Illyria," Cassian grumbled. "Can we just hire our own hitman? Take Hybern out for good?"
"He's got plenty of minions trained up to take his place," Rhys murmured. "Twin niece and nephew already running most of his business in Hybern for him, and others he likes to favor from time to time." Like Amarantha, but he wouldn't say that name out loud. Not for his own sake or for Feyre's.
They talked over ideas ranging from plausible to completely ridiculous for the next two hours until Cassian and Azriel decided it was time to leave and Rhys was left alone with Feyre once more. He typed up the ideas that he thought might work while Feyre cleaned up the remnants of dinner.
"You know, I was hoping to keep you here late tonight but none of this is what I had in mind," Rhys confessed when Feyre came back to sit by him again.
"What did you have in mind?" She asked, her head tilted just slightly to the side.
"Well, see, you started something earlier and I couldn't help but come up with some plans for how we might finish that something…" he reached over to pull her from her chair to his lap.
"Did it involve this chair?" Feyre asked, already a little breathless.
"I was hoping you might be open to letting me bend you over the desk," he pressed a kiss to her neck. She stilled for a moment and Rhys cursed inside of his head. Feyre had been open to the idea before but perhaps that had been when it had been a probability and not something about to actually happen. He was about to back peddle and suggest something else but then Feyre stood from his lap and turned to look at him, her eyes hooded.
"How do you want me?" Her voice had taken on the sultry tone he absolutely loved hearing. It always sent blood coursing through his body straight to his length.
"Can I take control?" He asked softly, despite the demands his body was making. He choice. It would always be her choice.
Feyre gave him a feral smile looking far more like a predator than prey. "If you want control, come take it." And with those words, he unleashed himself on her.
It was light streaming through the windows and a knock on the door that had Rhys waking up in the morning. He opened his eyes to realize he wasn't in bed at home but asleep on the couch with Feyre in her office. Neither of them were clothed at all but one of them had had enough sense to lock the door and pull the blanket from the closet.
"I swear if you two are naked when I open this door!" Cassian called from the other side.
"Then don't open it and save yourself the trouble!" Feyre called back and turned over in his arms to nuzzle in against his neck. He felt her lips pull into a smile as they heard fake retching noises on the other side of the door. "I suppose we have a problem," she sighed when he was just about to fall back asleep.
"What would that be?" He was fairly certain there was nothing wrong at all. Feyre was naked in his arms and he was comfortable, nothing was possibly wrong.
"Well, you have meetings today and I have things I have to do. Yet we are probably already late to do any of them. I'm pretty sure all of my clothes from yesterday are in your office and I have no spare clothes in here," she pointed out.
"Right," Rhys sighed and pushed himself up. The clock on the wall read early enough that he wasn't concerned about missing too much of their morning already. It was also early enough that he could make a call. Cassian was unreliable but Mor wouldn't balk too much if he made some requests.
He got off of the couch and went to the phone to call Mor's cellphone. As he suspected, she wasn't at work yet and could easily swing by the townhouse to pick up clothes for the two of them. When he was done on the phone he turned to Feyre and smiled at her, his clothes were in his office too. Neither of them were quite daring enough to go running to his glass walled office to retrieve them either so for the time being they were stuck in Feyre's office, naked, together.
"Whatever shall we do with this time?" Rhys asked.
"What do you have in mind?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"A few things," he reached for her and pressed her back down against the couch as he moved to join her. "But I'm thinking exhausting you further is bad for my business. So I should be a good boss and let you rest."
"A good boss would double my salary for all of the extra duties I performed for him last night," she teased as she settled back in against his shoulder.
"Don't tempt me, Feyre Darling, unless that's what you actually want," Rhys threatened. He would double her salary. He hadn't truly raised it much after she had taken her new position though he should have. He would probably give her anything she asked for. If she asked for the stars, he'd find some way to get them for her.
"Better yet, pay your cleaning crew better since they have to deal with whatever mess we left behind in your office," she gave a small yawn and resettled back where they had been before he had had to call Mor for their clothing problem. "I get payment enough when you're inside of me. Wake me when Mor gets here."
"Of course, Darling." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He doubted they would be spending much time sleeping in Feyre's office in the future but Rhys decided that it would be best if they brought an overnight bag to stash in her office closet for emergency purposes. He was sure it would be needed at least once in their lifetime he hoped to have together.