spy group 💌 azriel, elain, nuala & cerridwen by silketara.

he needed to know what the skin of her neck tasted like. what those perfect lips tasted like. her breasts. her sex. he needed her coming on his tongue...

elain baking cupcakes 🧁🎀 art by goldenmushroom_

wrong — it was so wrong. he didn’t care. he needed to know what the skin of her neck tasted like. 💌 art by celestarly comissioned by wendigoldd

death and his lovely fawn by dudledudlesss.

it had never gone this far. they'd exchanged looks, the occasional brush of their fingers, but never this. never blatant, unrestricted touching. wrong — it was so wrong. he didn't care.

elain, quite literally swept off her feet. a kiss on the cheek from azriel, and her smile says she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 💌 art by solastria commissioned by lazydaisyreads

azriel's fingers lingered at her nape, atop the first knob of her spine. slowly, elain pivoted into his touch. until his palm lay flat against her neck.

letting his scarred fingers touch her immaculate skin. letting them brush the side of her throat, savoring the velvet-soft texture. elain shivered, and he took a damn long time fastening the clasp.

his head went quiet. but he took the necklace, opening the clasp as she exposed her back, sweeping her hair up in one hand to bare her long, creamy neck. he knew it was wrong, but there he was, sliding the necklace around her.

— it's beautiful. — she whispered, lifting it from the box. the golden faelight shone through the little glass facets, setting the charm glowing with hues of red and pink and white. azriel let his shadows whisk away the box as she said softly. — put it on me?

it was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of the colors would become visible. a thing of secret, lovely beauty.

elain sucked in a soft breath that whispered over his skin. his shadows skittered back at the sound. they'd always been prone to vanish when she was around.

elain's large brown eyes flickered, well aware of all that. just as he knew she was well aware of why azriel so rarely came to family dinners these days. but tonight, here in the dark and quiet, with no one to see... he pulled the small velvet box from the shadows around him. opened it for her.

because her mate had been in the family room and azriel had needed to stay by the door the whole time because he couldn't stand the sight of it, the scent of their mating bond, and needed to have the option of leaving if it became too much.

elain's mouth twitched into a smile. — nesta wouldn't appreciate the joke. he offered her a smile back. — i wasn't sure if i should give you your present. he left the rest unspoken. because her mate was here, sleeping a level up.

two small, bean-shaped fabric blobs lay within. elain murmured — you put them in your ears, and they block any sound. with nesta and cassian living there with you... he chuckled, unable to suppress the impulse. — no wonder you didn't want me to open it in front of everyone.

𐙚 #elainweek day 4: home 🌌 "home is wherever her sisters, friends and lover are. one ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎day, she might start her own ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎little family with az." 💌 artist: dudledudlesss commissioner: jasmineandshadows

az tried not to look at his scarred fingers as they took the gift. she hadn't bought her mate a present. but she'd gotten azriel one last year — a headache powder he kept on his nightstand at the house of wind. not to use, but just to look at. which he'd done every night he'd slept there.

— i… — he watched her swallow. she clutched a small gift in her hands. — i was coming to leave this on your pile of presents. i forgot to give it to you earlier. lie. well, the second part was a lie. he didn't need his shadows to read her tone, the slight tightening of her face.

soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was. the faelights gilded elain's unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. she halted, her breath catching in her throat.

too many razor-sharp thoughts sliced him any time he grew still long enough for them to strike. too many wants and needs left his skin overheated and pulling taut across his bones. so he slept only when his body gave out, and even then only for a few hours.

shadows darkened his eyes, full of enough pain that she couldn’t stop herself from touching his shoulder. letting him see that she understood why he stood in the doorway, why he wouldn’t go near the fire. his secret to tell, never hers.

"why don’t you sit?” she leaned against the doorway beside the shadowsinger. “my shadows don’t like the flames so much.” a pretty lie. she’d seen azriel before the fire plenty. but she looked at who sat close to it and knew the answer.

nesta met the shadowsinger’s stare and he gave her a nod. then his gaze shifted to elain, and though it was utterly neutral, something charged went through it. between them. elain’s breath caught slightly, and she gave him a shallow nod of greeting before brushing past, leading nesta into the room.

elain just linked her arm through nesta’s and led her toward the family where azriel stood in the doorway, monitoring them. as if he’d heard elain’s sharp laugh and wondered what had caused it.

"you came,” elain said behind her, and nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. she scanned elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends.

feyre and rhys took their thrones, and nesta and elain came to stand at the foot of the dais, between him and azriel.

when feyre had offered to let her remain home, elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed.

azriel offered her a small smile that elain quickly looked away from. cassian tucked away his puzzlement. lucien was certainly not here to snarl at any male who looked at her for too long.

“i always thought she was born on the wrong side of the wall,” elain admitted. “she made ballrooms into battlefields and plotted like any general. like you two,” she said, nodding to cassian, and then, a bit more shyly, to azriel.

he’d gone with feyre into the heart of hybern’s camp to save elain—he knew the risk. “we won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“eyes can be blinded,” nesta said. “not the ones under my command,” azriel said with soft menace. nesta met his stare, knowing he was the only one aside from feyre who could truly understand her hesitation.

azriel stiffened, an outright sign of temper from him as he said quietly, “there is an innate darkness to the dread trove that elain should not be exposed to.” “but nesta should?” cassian growled.

elain had already departed with feyre, claiming she had to be up with the dawn to tend to an elderly faerie’s garden. cassian didn’t exactly know why he suspected this wasn’t true. there had been some tightness in elain’s face as she’d said it. normally when she made such excuses, lucien was around.

azriel stiffened. “i know. i helped rescue elain, after all.” az hadn’t so much as hesitated before going into the heart of hybern’s war-camp.

feyre smiled. “elain was the only one who guessed. she caught me vomiting two mornings in a row.” she nodded toward azriel. “i think she’s got you beat for secret-keeping.”

“maybe you’ll become interesting at last, elain.” nesta saw the blow land, like a physical impact, in elain’s face, her posture. no one spoke, though shadows gathered in the corners of the room, like snakes preparing to strike.

“why?” elain demanded. “shall i tend to my little garden forever?” when nesta flinched, elain said, “you can’t have it both ways. you cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

cassian surveyed the shadows gathered around az. “you all right?” his brother nodded. “fine.” but shadows still swarmed him. cassian knew it was a lie, but didn’t push it. az would speak when he was ready. cassian would have better success convincing a mountain to move than getting az to open up.

“because of the shit with elain?” azriel stilled. “what happened to elain?” cassian waved a hand. “a fight with nesta. don’t bring it up,” he warned when azriel’s eyes darkened.

azriel and elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight.

elain smiled again, ducking her head. azriel mastered himself enough to say, “thank you.” i’d never seen his hazel eyes so bright, the hues of green amid the brown and gray like veins of emerald. “this will be invaluable.”

elain bit her lip and then smiled sheepishly. “it’s for the headaches everyone always gives you. since you rub your temples so often.” silence again. then azriel tipped his head back and laughed. i’d never heard such a sound, deep and joyous.

“az, this one’s for you.” the shadowsinger’s brows lifted, but his scarred hand extended to take the present. elain turned from where she’d been speaking to nesta. “oh, that’s from me.”

but there was little sign of the warrior otherwise. especially as he gently said to my sister, “happy solstice.” elain turned from the snow falling in the darkness beyond and smiled slightly. “i’ve never participated in one of these.”

i found elain studying it, beautiful in her amethyst-colored gown. i made to move toward her, but someone beat me to it. the shadowsinger was clad in a black jacket and pants similar to rhysand’s—the fabric immaculately tailored and built to fit his wings.

elain’s hands remained in midair, as if the ghost of the dish remained between them.

“i’d feel bad for the mice,” azriel muttered. mor and cassian howled, earning a blush from azriel and a grateful smile from elain—and no shortage of scowling from amren. but something in me eased at that laughter, at the light that returned to elain’s eyes.