Fury | Nyx Archeron

Chapter Twenty-Five

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i know i'm gonna be with you, so i take my time

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Tessa slept through the night and most of the next morning, curled up under the covers against her mate's chest. She'd spent hours the day before in the bath, relaxing against him as she watched the sun set over the mountains.

She only got up this morning at all because Nyx informed her his family had started arriving upstairs, prepared to celebrate his birthday. She'd sent him upstairs to entertain them while she got ready, pulling on some of the lightweight clothes she'd found last time she was here.

She ran a brush through her hair in the bathroom, savouring one last moment of silence before she had to go and be social for a while. Thankfully it was just lunch and they were going to stay up here for a couple of days after—just the two of them. As much as she loved his family, after the last couple of weeks Tessa needed some alone time with her husband. She had plans.

She slid her feet into some lightweight slippers and padded softly up the stairs, finding most of the family already in the living area once she reached the top. She lingered in the doorway for a moment, watching Nyx grin at something his mother said, his dimples making an appearance. He was casually leaning back in the lounge chair, his hair artfully tousled and she was struck for a moment by how gorgeous he was. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it.

His eyes landed on her and he beckoned her over, smiling up at her as she came to rest on the arm of his chair, kissing the top of his head.

"You're so old." She teased him. "Over fifty!" She let her arm rest on the back of the chair between his wings for balance. He rolled his eyes at her playfully.

"Hi, sweetheart," she called as Catrin ran over for a hug. Tessa lifted her up onto her knee so she could join them on the chair. "Don't you think Nyx is super old now?"

"Really old." Catrin nodded her head sagely and Nyx made a wounded noise.

"You know your dad is like twelve times my age?" Catrin's jaw dropped and Tessa snickered, looking over to meet her father's eyes. He was occupying one of the lounges with Gwyn, watching them fondly.

An hour or so passed with Nyx receiving gifts from various family members and Tessa flitting around to speak to a few of them, always coming back to her place at his side in between like a magnet.

"I need to uh...I'll be back." Callisto jumped up, heading for the kitchen where Nuala and Cerridwen were preparing lunch.

Tessa took that as her queue, jumping up to follow her friend. "I'll go check on her." She kissed Nyx's cheek, darting after the younger Illyrian into the kitchen, Nesta's eyes following her knowingly.

Callisto hugged her excitedly as she entered and Tessa grinned back. "Thank you for the excuse." She told her friend, hands shaking slightly.

"I'm so excited!" Callisto whispered, pulling her toward the ingredients Nuala and Cerridwen had set out. Tessa reached for the butter at Callisto's instruction but paused as a distinctly male cough came from behind her in the doorway. They whipped their heads around and Tessa sighed in relief to find it was Finn in the doorway.

"I was just going to check that you were ok." He looked at Callisto, "but I suppose you are...?" His eyes tracked over them, Tessa's hand still gripping the butter and realisation dawned in them. "Is this—"