Shadows Whisper | | Azriel

53

Astryn again woke up before Azriel and pulled on his shirt before quietly sneaking out of the room.

She still felt so much aching desire and she was entirely certain that couldn't be normal, and wanted nothing more than to ignore it. Besides, Azriel was still sleeping so she figured ignoring it was all she could do. He probably wouldn't want to have sex again so soon anyway.

She made her way quietly into the dining room, not quite understanding why everyone seemed so surprised to see her. She didn't spend much time with the group, but she didn't think it was that shocking. She tried to shrug it off as she sat down beside Cassian and a plate of pancakes and a glass of juice appeared for her.

"I'm surprised to see you out of Azriel's bed so soon after accepting the bond," Cassian muttered, lips tilted up into a half smile. "We thought you'd be in that room for at least a week."

"Why would I be in the room for a week?" she asked, blinking in confusion.

There was a brief moment of silence, Cassian's eyes flicking to Mor as if they were having some silent debate.

"Did Azriel not explain the...sex thing to you?" Cassian asked, and Rhys shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"Azriel explained plenty of sex things to me last night," she told him with a frown, briefly looking towards Rhys when he choked on his tea.

"What kind of sex things did Azriel explain?" Mor chimed in, a grin on her face.

"I suppose it was more showing than explaining," Astryn mused as she cut into her pancakes, "his mouth can do interesting things."

Cassian bit his lip to stifle his laughter as he looked towards Rhys and found his face red.

"What interesting things did Azriel's mouth do?" Amren spoke up, even her amused at how uncomfortable this was making Rhys—at how oblivious Astryn was to her brother's discomfort.

"I don't know—it was like his tongue," Astryn answered, giving a little shrug, "his tongue was very nice."

"Did he—" Cassian started, only to be cut off by a cough from Rhys.

It was then that Astryn became overly aware of everyone looking at her. She shifted awkwardly, eyes down on her plate as she took a little nibble of her pancakes.

"So," Cassian began again, "did Azriel forget to mention what occurs after the bond is accepted?"

"He didn't tell me anything about after," she replied, looking up at him briefly before returning her stare to her plate.

"Cassian," Rhys warned, his voice low. "Azriel can be the one to fill her in. This isn't a conversation we need to have."

"You just don't want to hear about your little sister getting railed by one of your best friends," Mor taunted, a grin still lighting up her face.

"Railed is a sex thing," Cassian added on to Astryn as an explanation, "it—"

"Cassian," Rhys cut in again, "shut up."

Astryn frowned but took another bite of her food instead of saying anything.

"Sex education is very important, Rhysand," Mor said with a disapproving tsk. "We don't want Astryn not knowing anything!"

Astryn's eyebrows furrowed and she shifted closer to Cassian, tapping him on the arm. He tensed at her new, much closer proximity. That was another thing Azriel hadn't mentioned to her, the overwhelming scent on a newly mated female. He swallowed back the feeling it sparked in him.

"Are they mocking me?" she asked, so quietly that only he could hear. His amusement faded and his gaze softened.

"Not at all, Ryn," he assured her, "they're just teasing Rhys."

"Oh," she muttered with a nod, though she didn't understand how this was teasing Rhys. "Thank you."

"Mhm," he hummed softly, giving her hand a little squeeze before immediately letting go. He was glad he did because he had just barely released her hand when Azriel came in. He doubted Azriel would react well to any other male touching Astryn right now with the bond still so fresh.

Azriel was visibly tense until his eyes landed on Astryn. It was clear that he rushed here right out of bed. He wore only his pants, loose around his waist as he hadn't bothered to secure them. He hair was still a mess from how much Astryn had run her hands through it last night. His eyes clouded with lust when he saw her.

She was wearing his shirt and he knew she wasn't wearing anything else. And her scent—that might actually kill him. That primal part of himself that was gone to the newness of the bond sparked with anger and jealousy seeing how close she sat to Cassian. Cassian, to his credit, realized quickly and scooted his entire chair away from her more. He was still too close for Azriel's liking. Rhys was across the table entirely and, if he wasn't her brother, Azriel would think he was too close too.

"Astryn," Azriel said, voice edged with so much need, "would you like to take your breakfast back to our room?"

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked, and Mor stifled a laugh.

"I plan to as soon as we're in private," he muttered, a slight growl to his words.

Rhys choked on his tea again.

"You don't have any food," Astryn pointed out, "do you want to share my pancakes?"

"I think Azriel would love some pancakes," Cassian spoke up, though he quickly shut his mouth when Azriel let out a low growl.

Astryn's eyes widened at the sound, a warm feeling filling her. She stood quickly, abandoning her food and gravitating to Azriel's side. He wrapped his arm and wing around her, tucking her against his side and hiding her from everyone else as he turned and guided her back to their room.

"Your smell is going to kill me," Azriel muttered, shutting and locking the door when they went in. "I need you right now."

"Please," she begged, though she wasn't entirely sure what she was even asking for. She was pretty sure anything he could give her would suffice.

Azriel kissed her, rough and needy and Astryn thought to herself that it was her favorite of all the kisses they had so far. It didn't last nearly long enough. Azriel broke away from the kiss and sank to his knees in front of her. Her back was against the wall and Azriel steadies her there with one hand after he hooked one of her legs over his shoulder.

And then his mouth was on her.

She moaned, loud and desperate and that only spurred him on.

She came twice before he stopped, his breath ragged and his eyes still so wild.

"Can you go again?" he asked, his voice so low in a way that had Astryn certain she could probably go a few more times if he kept talking in that voice.

"Yeah," she answered, nodding eagerly.

"That's my good girl," he muttered before he ripped his shirt off of her and shoved his pants down. "Just tell me if you need me to stop. Okay?"

"Okay," she said, though she had absolutely no intention of stopping.

He drove himself into her, less slow than he had before. This time was entirely different—faster, more full of need, against the wall instead of in bed. She liked it just as much, maybe even more.

She didn't want this to ever end.