Chapter 480

Clutching tightly at Lucien, Elain watched with horror as her sisters approached with Cassian and Rhys. Mortification flowed quickly through her, and she felt her face heat. Had they seen or heard anything? Lucien had only just pulled his fingers from her, and he sank lower down in the water, his hands still on her before he had even attempted to turn. Elain pressed her face into his hair, willing herself to get control before anyone had noticed anything was going on.

"Cauldron boil and fry me." Lucien muttered, and Elain gave a low whimper by way of reply. She didn't know how she would face her sisters, let alone Cassian and the inevitable jokes he would make at their expense, if they knew what she and Lucien had just been doing. Lucien stepped away from the wall, holding Elain in his arms, and she felt him wrap tightly around her. She did the same, tightening her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Hopefully the others would assume that they were doing nothing more than making the most of their time alone for the opportunity for some cuddling in the water. They could be able to see no more than that, no more than the two of them in one another's arms in the water. Elain murmured a silent prayer to the sky, her eyes closed as she waited for whoever spoke first.

"Well, look…" It was Cassian, and Elain drew a deep breath, "They're right here…"

"Were you looking for us?" Lucien asked, tone conversational, and like he hadn't just brought his mate to orgasm with only his fingers. Elain pressed her face further into his hair, wishing that her heart would slow before someone heard it and figured it out.

"Not for any particular reason." Cassian replied, and Elain heard the big Illyrian get into the water. "Only so much as you were gone and we assumed you'd come up here…"

"We came to see…" This was Feyre and Elain lifted her head to look at her sister.

"See what?" She asked, and Feyre raised an eyebrow.

"The view." Feyre replied, following Cassian into the water. "This is nice…" Her sister swirled her hands around in the cool water happily, and Elain couldn't remember the last time she had seen Feyre look so relaxed and unconcerned.

"It's better from the edge." Lucien said, sweeping Elain away with him around the pool. They both watched as Feyre paddled to the edge of the rockpool and looked out over the pools and faeries below.

Slowly, Elain felt her face begin to lose its heat, and her heartbeat returned closer to normal. She dared to lift her head a little higher, no longer afraid one of them might get a glimpse of her face. Lucien met her eyes, and she smiled at him, lifting one of her wet hands to his cheek. Fingers tracing his scar, Elain reached for the bond. She tried to convey that they would certainly be picking up where they had left once they were alone again, and the smile she got in return let her know that he had gotten the gist of her message.

"Are you sure we didn't interrupt anything?" This was Rhys asking, and Elain chanced a glance at the High Lord of the Night Court. His violet eyes were on the two of them, and she forced a brief smile.

"Nothing we can't finish later." Lucien said, and Elain felt her eyes widen. For a moment she thought that he had just admitted to what they had been doing, but Rhys gave a small chuckle and turned toward his own mate, and Elain realised that what Lucien and said had been taken to be far more innocent than the truth of it. "They don't even suspect…" Lucien breathed in her ear, and Elain returned her gaze to his.

"Good…" Her fingers moved over his scar again, tracing it from brow to jaw, and she just watched his face appreciatively. Both his russet and golden eyes were alight with the light of the day, and his fiery red hair was picking up all kinds of colours in the sunshine. Lucien practically looked like a living flame, and warm satisfaction spread through Elain. How lucy she was that this gorgeous fae male was her mate, and no other's.

"See something you like, Petal?" He murmured, and Elain lay the palm of her hand gently to his scarred face.

"I like it all." She replied softly. "You are magnificent…"

Lucien laughed, and his arms around her waist tightened, holding her closer. "I'd bet you never thought you'd end up here." He smiled, "Swimming around a faerie rock pool, in the arms of a Fae male."

"I hadn't…" Elain admitted, still touching his face as she looked at him. "I never even would have had the imagination to dream it up…" she told him, "My world is so much bigger now…" Her fingers moved over his skin idly. "And you showed it to me…" Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his cheek, "My mate…"

"I look forward to further exploring it with you." He said, and Elain felt the stirrings of excitement within herself. That was something they could still do. They had all of eternity to travel and see new things, and she so desperately wanted to do exactly that with Lucien.

"There's no one I would rather do that with." She murmured, "Do you think, as Heir, you will just be allowed to take off around the world?" Surely he would have responsibilities that would prevent disappearing for weeks or more at a time.

"I do not think Helion would deny me the chance to travel the world with my mate." He reasoned, and Elain had to agree. Helion seemed the type to encourage such a thing, and she smiled more widely at him, already wondering where they might like to go first.

"If you two are quite done whispering the Cauldron knows what to one another…" Cassian called from the other side of the pool. "We are actually all here too…"

"We were here first." Lucien smirked at him, "Whatever you see is the result of a choice you made to walk in here…"