Velaris's Heir

Part 6

As the sun set over the horizon I worked my way back to the townhouse. I walked slowly, the bottles clinking in the small bag I had hanging on my arm.

Feyre, Rhysand said. I almost turned to look at him before realizing he had said it down the bond and wasn't beside me.

Yes, Rhys.

When are you coming home? You've been gone forever, he whined.

I laughed. I've only been gone an hour or two. Don't be such a baby, I scolded.

I'm not a baby, he protested. I'm just needy. There's a difference. He sent an image of him sticking his tongue.

I sent him an image of himself doing something else with his tongue.

I am very, very needy right now, Feyre darling, and you are being very, very cruel.

Me? Cruel? Never, I replied innocently.

If I say please, will you hurry? he whined again.

Well, I might stop by a certain shop on my way back, but I'll hurry.

Yay, he purred, sending shivers down my spine.

I stopped by the lingerie shop and bought a two-piece that was like the one I had previously bought except this one was black and had sparkles. The other had been red and Rhys had "accidently" torn it into pieces. He was very needy and impatient sometimes.

True to my word, I picked up the pace as I walked home. When I arrived, the door swung open and Elain stood in the doorway with a grin on her face.

"Finally!" she cried. "Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you to figure it out? Forever! And now you know and I'm just so happy! This is so exciting!"

I wasn't going to pretend I didn't know what she meant—she was a Seer after all, so it didn't surprise me too much that she already knew. "Sh sh sh!" I shushed her. "I'm not telling anyone yet."

"I know. But this is still exciting! Come on, Feyre." She added, "Stop worrying and be excited with me."

I realized I had been worried the entire way home. Worried about Rhys's reaction. But when my sister was so excited and told me to be excited for myself, I was.

I grinned and grabbed my sister in my arms and squealed with her.

"We have to celebrate!" she said.

"We will when I have told everyone," I promised.

"No," she whined. "I have been waiting very patiently for forever and now I want to celebrate."

"Can't you just—"

"Nope." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside and, after closing the door behind me, lead me down the hall and into the kitchen. From the fridge she pulled out a green glass bottle.

"I can't have alcohol," I told her.

"I knooow," she sang. "But it isn't alcohol." She turned the bottle to show me the label. "It is sparkling apple cider. It's good. Remember when we were little and Dad would let us have some instead of wine or champagne. I got a lot of it so that you could have something to drink instead. You know, for when we celebrate and stuff. You're welcome. I have also been replacing your usual alcoholic drinks with this for two weeks. You're welcome again." That explained a lot.

I smiled. It was so good to see her so happy. She still had her bad days, when she shut down and hardly talked, but those were less and less often as the months passed.

"I'll get the glasses," I said. I pulled two glasses from a cupboard and placed them on the counter. She poured the cider into them both and we toasted. "So when did you find out?"

"Around the time I started changing your drinks. When you found out— Were you excited? Were you scared? Did you have a response at all? Come on, give me details!" she pleaded.

"I was mostly worried. Um, a bit confused. I had a lot of questions, but I didn't really let myself be excited until—"

"Until I made you listened to reason?" She smiled. "Sounds like you."

I rolled my eyes, before taking another drink. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"See," Elain said to me with a triumphant smile, "your big sisters can take care of you, too." She lifted her glass. "To a healthy pregnancy," she toasted. "So do you know what it is going to be?"

"A boy. Well, Rosieda said I would have to wait until week nineteen, I think, for her to know. But the Bone Carver said—showed me that our first born would be a boy," I explained.

"The Bone Carver?" Elain asked.

"Yeah, I didn't understand why he looked like a mini-Rhys the first time I saw him, but the second time it made sense."

"Mini Rhys equals mini ego," Elain said.

"Until he grows up, of course," I corrected. We laughed.

We talked for a little bit and refilled our glasses. Eventually, I set down my empty glass.

"Well, I have a promise to keep to my mate, so I will see you in the morning," I told her.

I grabbed my bags from the counter and left my sister in the kitchen. I found my mate lounging in the living room with his eyes closed, upside down on a chair without his wings. I leaned in the doorway.

"Is that comfortable?" I asked.

He opened his eyes and swung very awkwardly to put his feet back on the floor. He failed and, lacking his usual grace and knocking over a vase that I caught and replaced with magic, landed on his butt on the floor. He looked up at me while I laugh at him.

He pouted. "It's not funny. I hurt my butt," he said.

"Oh no, I like your butt." I walked to him and sat with my knees on either side of his hips. I held up one of my bags. "And I got something for you, because you waited so patiently for me to come home."

This perked him up instantly and he tried to reach for the bag to see what was in store for him.

"Uh uh uh," I said while wagging a finger at him. "You have to wait until I've put it on."

"I think I've waited long enough so," he grabbed my hips and winnowed us into our bedroom, "what are waiting for now?"

He set me on my feet and I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. When I came out, he was on the bed, reclined on his elbows. When he saw me, he sat up instantly and his eyes, dark with lust, journeyed up and down my body.

He stalked to me. "You are wearing the night sky as lingerie." His hands followed his eyes as they made me feel completely bare to him. "Hmmm...I won't tear this one," he said.

I huffed a small laugh. "How considerate of you," I teased.

He met my half lidded gaze with his own. "But it is missing something...Hold on."

Then he vanished. When he returned, he was behind me and I felt a light weight atop my head. He came around me and looked first at the graceful crown he had brought me and then his gaze traveled downward again. He placed his hands on my waist and his thumbs traced my ribs. I gasped and he lowered his head to my neck where he placed a tender kiss to my skin.

"Perfect, my darling Queen of Night," he breathed.

"I do believe that you are overdressed, High Lord," I purred, running my hands up his sides.

"Do you now? Are you going to help me fix this most devastating issue?" He nipped my shoulder.

"I think I will." I reached for his shirt first and undid the buttons before pushing it off his shoulders.