Nessian The Mating: The Cabin (Part 2 of 2)

They flew for over an hour, heading north through the Night Court territory. It was lucky they'd been forced to move their mating from the mountain cabin- Cassian wasn't entirely thrilled with Feyre and Rhys winnowing them to their honeymoon. This way, he and Nesta could make the trip alone.

Cassian breathed in the scent of Nesta's hair as she buried her face in his neck. She was concentrating firmly on keeping lunch in her stomach where it belonged. His power wrapped around them both, shielding her from the wind, but still she could not stand to open her eyes.

An Illyrian mated to someone who hated flying- the thought brought a smile to his lips.

At long last and not a moment too soon, Cassian gently squeezed Nesta to get her attention.

"I didn't want to bring you here until it was finished, I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone… But seeing as you are now my wife- and our other destination was vandalized- I suppose you can have a sneak preview." They were in a remote part of the Court, far from any Illyrian clan territories. Far ahead, a particularly jagged snow-capped peak marked their destination.

Nesta grumbled into his neck, but she could feel something on the horizon, something they were approaching rapidly. Her instincts told her to turn around, warned her about a threat ahead. Between that sense of fear and danger she recognized the barrier magic that had kept wanderers far from Velaris. The magic of the city's warding stones. Cassian flapped his wings harder and aimed straight for it.

"Three hundred years ago Azriel and I were flying back to Velaris from one of the northern villages. A blizzard hit, and Azriel decided to take shelter in a nearby Illyrian camp. I called him a coward and flew straight into the storm."

Nesta murmured something into his neck that Cassian (correctly) interpreted as "Of course you did."

"I thought I was flying for Velaris, but I couldn't see anything. Eventually I got out of the worst of it and there were nothing but trees in every direction. I found clear ground to land- it was the frozen surface of a lake. Another storm was coming and I didn't feel like getting more lost, so I made a little lean-to against the side of a tree and waited it out."

He laughed at the memory, "Somehow I ended up staying for three days. It was quiet, calm, it just felt right. During those three days Azriel flew back to Velaris alone. He and Rhys waited for my dumb ass to find my way back, then Rhys sent out a beacon to help me."

"Couldn't he have just winnowed to you or something?" Nesta pushed her mouth away from his neck just far enough to speak. That feeling telling her to turn away was getting so strong it was nearly tangible.

"He tried that once, and… I was… It wasn't-"

"He caught you in bed with a female?" Cassian hesitated and Nesta blinked, "More than one female?"

"Maybe." His voice was quiet.

Nesta laughed, "Cassian, that was before my grandmother's-grandmother's- grandmother was alive. It's alright."

He grinned at last, relieved, "Well, after that, Rhys instituted a 'No Winnow' rule, except in case of emergency. The beacon helped me find my way back home. A few years passed, I kept thinking about that place and how peaceful it was… So one week when everyone was off doing their own things, I found my way back there. I knew what angle I came into Velaris, I just flew until I saw a mountain that looked right. It took a couple of days, but I found it eventually. It was summer, the lake was melted, and… and it was still just as quiet and peaceful as the first time."

"You built a cabin? By yourself?"

"I built three cabins, nearly four. Bit by bit, as I could get away and haul supplies without it seeming suspicious. I could never stay for too long, and I had to learn a lot of magic from the smiths and lumber-carvers of Velaris, but I made a home. Then another for Rhys, one for Azriel, and most of Mor's is done. I have a spot cleared for Amren's… I suppose now though I will need another for Elain and Lucien…"

"Nuala and Cerridwen don't get one? They might like to go on a vacation too."

Cassian laughed, "Nuala and Cerridwen hate water. Their mother drowned."

"Oh, that's awful!"

"It's fine, it was before they were born."

"Wait- what?"

Cassian didn't elaborate, "The lake will be somewhere we can all enjoy together, with our families. The other cabin- the mountain one- is nice and all, but it isn't large enough for everyone and their mates. Especially not for anyone to have sex and be subtle about it." He squeezed Nesta, "Hold on-" the feeling of danger had reached almost unbearable levels.

Cassian tightened his grip on her and slammed into something thick. Nesta thought they were going to be crushed for one horrific moment, but their collective siphons flashed bright and they passed through whatever barrier had been erected.

He slowed immediately and gave Nesta a gentle shake. Reluctantly, she turned her head.

They were gliding about ten feet in the air over dense pine trees that abruptly gave way to a great sapphire lake. A mountain rose sharply from the back half of the lake, and waterfalls poured down it. Cassian dipped lower over the dark blue water as he angled their path towards four large cabins (one with boards in place of windows) that were built out over the lake itself.

When Cassian said they were cabins, he was definitely selling them short.

Each was at least the same size as the townhouse, likely larger.

Their size was mostly to accommodate Illyrian landing pads. There were large stone-tiled porches that stretched out over the lake, broad balconies on the second floor of each home that would fit two or three Illyrians taking off at once. Even the peaked rooves had a special outcropping for a landing pad. However many winged children each member of the Inner Circle had, the lake homes would afford them plenty of space.

Curtained windows lined the lakefront side of the cabins, so many that Nesta couldn't even see where the windows stopped and the patio doors began. Between each house were cleared spaces- a training field, sparring arena, a pebble-floored bonfire pit complete with wooden benches, and a field of sand, "That one I will finish last. It's going to be an obstacle course… For children- whenever anyone wants them… There's no hurry on finishing it. I figure it would put unwanted pressure on everyone if they saw it. Maybe no one wants kids, that's fine too. There's nothing that says anyone has to have kids. It'd be nice, it would be really nice, but it isn't like anyone isn't willing to compromise on-

"Cassian?" she interrupted him at last as they did a lap of the lake and drifted lower.

"Yes?"

"I intend to have children with you. It's alright to plan for them."

She felt that joy again, echoing through the bond created by their vows, "I want an army."

Nesta flicked Cassian's ribs through his tunic, "You'll get what you get and you'll be happy."

"Yes wife, and thank you in advance." Cassian kissed Nesta's forehead and began to spiral down to the patio of the central house.

When they landed, Nesta took a few shaky steps just to get her feet beneath her again. She walked to a gap in the handrail that led to stairs down into the water. For a moment she simply looked out across the lake, savoring that same peace Cassian had described. It was a magic all its own- something soft and warm that Nesta recognized.

The magic of the Cauldron flowed through the ground, through the lake itself. If she held the Cauldron's power of Death, this lake was Life. It was a reflection of her power that soothed and calmed. She had a sneaking suspicion the storm that got her mate so turned around was a bit more than natural weather phenomenon. It was a gift, just as Rhysand's visions of the human Feyre was a gift.

Nothing sinister lay in the magic, and Nesta trusted her instincts were correct.

"It's beautiful. I mean it."

"It won't be finished for a while yet," Cassian stretched his arms and came to stand by her. He looked to the fourth cabin, "I thought I was nearly there, but I guess not. Still, this is the first thing I've ever created. It feels good knowing I did all of this, and I can't wait to see their faces when they all come here for the first time. Those asses guess everything I do before I even think to do it, but they'll never see this coming… Except for Elain, but I already cornered her and told her to keep anything she might see to herself. She was very confused."

The joy in Cassian's eyes was contagious. Nesta stood on her toes to kiss him.

"What was that barrier I felt when we got close?" She wasn't going to tell him what she felt in that lake- it was for them, and no others. The wall was not necessary, the Cauldron wanted them to have this place.

"Just in case Velaris ever needed to be expanded, the High Lord who fortified the walls also extended the wards to a nearby quarry. I might have borrowed some stones over the years- only when my hands weren't too full. One every few hundred feet does the trick. The ring is half a mile from the lake in all directions- even up into the mountain. When I do reveal this place, one of the things I'm going to ask Rhys to do is help reinforce everything. I want this place safe." Rhys' mother and sister were taken from them all- Cassian wouldn't allow anything like that to happen ever again.

He looked back at Nesta to find her simply smiling at him, "What?"

"I'm proud of you." She wrapped her arms around him, "Whatever you need me to do, I'll help you finish this. Hard labor included."

Cassian laughed, "Maybe next visit?"

"Next visit." Nesta stood on the tips of her toes and kissed Cassian's lips.

They held one another and breathed in the scent of pine and mountain air, enjoying the distant rumbling of the waterfall. If Nesta let her mind go, she could see the shadows of children racing between homes, Illyrian's just barely able to fly using their little wings to glide from the balconies into the lake. The laughter of the Inner Circle as they simply relaxed seemed to echo in the sound of the waterfall.

Nesta had never been jealous of Elain's gift- but she imagined the same future as Cassian so clearly that she almost wondered if she'd somehow managed to steal a bit of Seer magic from the Cauldron as well- or if the magic that filled the lake had granted her a snapshot of what was to come.

It was the same future that drove Cassian. Ever since he'd met that infuriating human he'd imagined her here, despite how many times he told himself it would never happen. Even through the fire and rage between them then, before she'd let him into her heart, he still knew that one day they would be here together.

"Wife." Cassian said the word softly as he held Nesta, "My wife… My mate." The words wrapped around his soul and warmed his very being.

He'd had relationships with females, beautiful females he sometimes even loved, but deep down he still felt like nothing more than a worthless, fatherless wretch. He'd hung around his poor mother's neck like a noose until she was choked by the shame of him and his bastard-blood. That ice sat beside his heart for centuries. It made killing easy.

When Rhys went Under the Mountain, his bruised soul bled anew. For fifty years he'd lived with the screams of the Illyrians howling in his blood, unable to fight to protect his people or his High Lord. Every instinct raged at him to do something, save his people- but Rhys' shield made that impossible.

It broke something inside him, something he thought could never be healed.

… and then he met an arrogant, vicious, cruel, angry human woman who somehow managed to make him think about her even when he was gladly on the other end of the continent. He realized in the heart of her own fire was someone sensitive, kind, and deeply caring. A woman- then a female- who was slowly burning to death in the center of that raging tempest.

When he made her smile, she grew stronger. When he made her hope, the flames died down and something in him remembered to hope as well.

Bit by bit, Cassian drew Nesta from her fortress. Bit by bit, she found his heart and soothed the ache inside. Cassian knew the next time he killed, his hand would not be guided by ice and wrath; it would be guided by her voice in his heart, by every bit of passion she inspired, and with his only thought of the world he would build for her and their children.

"Nesta Archeron," he turned her so that those blue eyes met his, "you are the most infuriating, stubborn, and sharp-tongued woman or fae I have ever known. You are also the smartest, bravest, and warmest. I swear to you- today and forever- that I will do everything in my power to be worthy of your grace, your smile, and your heart. I vow to always be a pain in your ass-" Nesta laughed at the old pledge and a tear slipped down her cheek, "-but I will never, ever cause you pain by word, deed, or thought. I swear my fealty to you above all others- except Rhys and Feyre, it's a High Lord thing, I can't help it- and I swear to you that you will never know a single moment when these vows- and all those I've sworn today- are not held sacred in my heart."

She took his hand in hers and held it over her heart, "Cassian Archeron, Lord of Bloodshed, I lived my life judging others unworthy of me. Even when we were destitute, I thought I was worth more than those around me… and then one day Feyre came home High Fae, strong, powerful, and with her she brought this utterly ridiculous, puffed-up warrior. Somehow, that aggravating creature made me want to be more than I was. I hated him, because for the first time in my life I was not worthy of him."

Nesta looked up into Cassian's eyes once more, "I, Nesta Archeron, vow to do my best to be worthy of your generosity, love, kindness, and bravery. I will love you every day of my life. I will be your friend, your partner, your wife, and your mate, no matter what comes." Her words were awkward and not as practiced as his, but she meant them with everything in her heart. "I have done nothing in my life to deserve the love, respect, and faith of such a wonderful male, but I will work all my days to change that. I also vow to always be a pain in your ass, but I will never, ever cause you pain by word, deed, or thought. I swear my fealty to you above all others- screw Feyre and Rhys- and I swear to you that you will never know a single moment where these vows- and all those I've sworn today- are not held sacred in my heart."

They sealed their private vows with a kiss that took the breath from Nesta and Cassian both. His scent washed over her, helped along by a breeze off the lake. Cassian held his wife's hand still, but he pulled her body tighter to his. Her lips parted, inviting his tongue inside.

She pulled her hand from his and grabbed his tunic, yanking him back from the rail and then down onto the cool tile.

He broke the kiss, panting, "Here? You want this here? There's a bed inside-"

Nesta pulled Thesan's pouch off the loop in Cassian's belt and threw it aside, then busied herself relieving him of his shirt. The mating bond was making her blood boil again and there was no reason to deny it another second, "I want you to look at this spot for the rest of your life and remember what it sounded like when my screams echoed back off that mountain."

He smiled broadly and pulled the shirt off, "I won't argue with that."

Nesta let him push her back until she was laying on the tile. He claimed her mouth hard and fast. She pulled at the strips of fabric that made up the skirt of her gown until Cassian grabbed the underskirt and pushed that up over her stomach.

He pulled back to look at her and laughed, "You've been wearing those-"

"-for nearly three hours, yes."

What she was wearing couldn't even properly be called 'panties'. It was two thin strips of lace- one that wrapped around her waist, and the other that ran between her legs. That strip was split in half from the top of her folds all the way around to the back. A string of pearls filled the center between those two halves, warm and already wet.

"I remember you thought I'd like them. We never got around to testing that theory."

Cassian's eyes were glazed as he smiled, "Well, we should certainly find out."

Nesta parted her legs for him as she reclined on her elbows. Cassian grabbed her knees and pushed them further apart, then bit the inside of them as he lowered himself onto the deck. Her toes curled as he inched closer. He ran his tongue and teeth along the inside of her leg, kissing and nipping at thin skin even as he kept his eyes on her. A wicked promise danced in those eyes.

Cassian's cheek pressed against her center as he sucked on the inside of her thigh. Nesta arched her back and whimpered. She needed him. The mating bond was a fire in her veins, screaming at both of them to join.

Cassian turned his head, nipped gently at the folds of her sex, then pulled back. He moved to her other thigh, then began to slowly kiss his way out to her knee. Nesta whimpered and he immediately edged his shoulder under the other leg so that he could reach around and rest a hand on her stomach, pinning her hips firmly in place. Nesta resisted giving his wing a light shove with her foot.

At her knee he reversed his path, once more sliding closer and closer to his mate's center. It was almost impossible for him to resist simply latching his mouth around Nesta's sex. Something primal in him hungered for her taste without sense or reason. He came closer and closer- then again only nipped at her folds before sliding away.

The hand pinning Nesta's hips pushed down harder as his other grabbed the band of her panties and began to slowly rock them up. The pearls parted her and raked across her knot. She arched her back and let out a low moan at the feeling. Cassian's mouth found those folds of sensitive flesh parted by the pearls and he sucked one into his mouth, tasting her. He kept rocking the pearls across her with a torturously slow rhythm. Nesta tried to reach down to push his head over, force his tongue into her, but Cassian stopped her with only a raised eyebrow.

She was propped up, watching him work while she pinched and twisted at her nipples through the gauze of her dress. Cassian slipped two fingers around the line of pearls and pushed his hand into Nesta's hot, slick depths. She cried out and tried to roll her hips against him, but he held her firm.

"Do you know what I want to do to you right now?" His voice was hoarse. He pulled his fingers out until just the tips were inside her, "I want to wrap my arms around your shoulders and slam my cock into you as hard as I can." While he spoke, he pushed those fingers back into her- firm but slow. "I bet you would come just from that, you're so wet." He moaned and pumped his fingers slowly, coaxing gasps and cries from Nesta.

"I want you on top of me, looking down. I want to feel you riding me, I want to feel how deep I fit." He rocked the pearls against her knot. Nesta was panting, her hips straining to roll into his touch, "I want my fingers in you even while you ride me, stretching you until you feel me with every last ridge. I want to-"

"Then do it," Nesta whimpered, "stop teasing me and do it."

"Do what? I want to hear you say it."

"Fuck me," she gasped. "Wrap your arms around my shoulders and slam your cock deep inside me. While I bite and lick your wings, pound me as hard and fast as you can. I want to hear you moaning and shouting my name. I want to hear your voice echoing across the lake. I want to hear your body crashing into mine-" Nesta let out a soft cry as Cassian changed the pace of his hand and bit the inside of her thigh just hard enough to interrupt the rising wave of pleasure.

"What else?" his voice was deep, guttural.

"I want-" Nesta cursed, "I want to shove you back onto the stone and suck your cock until you come in my mouth." She gasped and Cassian smiled, "I want to taste you- I want to taste every inch of you! I want you like this- moaning on the floor while I torture and torment you! I want to grab your cock and watch the head part me, watch it fill me as I slide down onto it! I want your mouth on my breasts, biting and sucking at them while I ride you! I want those fingers stretching me as far as they can! I want to come so hard the world stops, and when I come back to my senses I want you to be inside me still, moving hard and fast!"

As she spoke- words she knew would make Cassian painfully hard- Nesta continued to struggle against his fingers and the rhythmic tug of those pearls across her knot. Every time he felt her nearing that glorious edge, he would nip at her to distract her body while he changed his pace. He was keeping her on the edge- and as much as she loved it, Nesta needed release.

Cassian slid his fingers out of her and released the band of her panties. He studied her juices on his hand, "I wonder how your taste will change after we're mated." He slid those fingers into his mouth and licked them clean, savoring the taste of his mate.

He tried to lower himself once more- to enter her with his tongue and feast until he was tired of that taste- not that he'd come even close to that point in the months they'd been together. He was her mate- it was a primal hunger that would never change. Cassian opened his mouth and lowered himself to her, but Nesta put a hand over her opening, blocking him.

"My turn," she got to her knees, moaning as the pearls shifted against her knot.

Cassian kissed her once more before he stood and let her yank at his linen pants, pulling them down. He kicked off his shoes and threw the pants aside.

Her wedding dress was hanging off one shoulder as Nesta looked up at him and began to stroke his cock. Cassian's mouth twitched into a grin. She moved her hand to the head of his shaft, her thumb tracing the letters of her name slowly into the sensitive skin, reminding him who precisely that cock belonged to.

"Nesta," Cassian sighed when she leaned forward and licked along his shaft. She looked up at him while she sucked at his skin and traced her name again.

"Shit!" his hips bucked when she suddenly released his shaft and sucked one of his balls into her mouth. When she began to rub it with her tongue, she could feel his cock against her cheek throb. Cassian rested a hand against her head and another on the back of her hand as it pumped his shaft. He was not pulling her away or pushing her farther- he simply wanted to touch her.

When Nesta was finished playing with his balls, she at last took his cock in her mouth.

Once, Cassian thought Nesta might only want sex, and would choose to never be mated with him. That night- that incredible night just four months ago- he'd stared down at her with raging intensity while she took him in her mouth. He'd memorized every aspect of her then (and the two nights that followed): the way her cheeks hollowed as she pulled back, the shine of her lips, and the way her then-exposed breasts swayed as she moved. He'd memorized Nesta's taste, the way she whimpered when he teased her, the way she screamed when he used his tongue to spell his name against her knot, the feeling of her folds around his cock and fingers- everything down to the desperate little squeaks she made when she was fighting back an orgasm.

Now, every time Nesta rocked forward and shifted those pearls against her knot, she let out a moan that vibrated against his length. Cassian's wings strained as he watched his bride, and he began to stroke her hair. He found the pins holding her braided crown in place and removed them one by one, panting as Nesta began to suck him harder. He combed her hair with his fingers until it fell in a curtain around her face.

He wanted her scent to fill the world even more than it already did. He wanted to be covered in it- to be covered by it.

When Nesta's hair was free, Cassian pulled her away from his cock. "Stand up."

She obeyed, and Cassian pulled down the only remaining strap of her wedding dress, then let the whole thing fall to the tiled floor. Her panties were only the start of it- an almost nonexistent bra covered her breasts with an impossibly thin layer of sick- what his knuckles had brushed against in the bridal tent. Cassian licked his lips as he reached up to wrap his hand around the curve of her breast, rolling her nipple between two fingers as he did.

Nesta arched into the touch and let out a soft cry when Cassian's mouth lowered gently to her other breast and gently kissed it. His bride grabbed his head and pulled him into a deep, hard kiss. Nesta ground her pelvis against his, making both moan as the pearls rubbed against her knot and his cock.

Cassian took the hint.

He unclasped her bra and she flung it aside, then removed her slippers and panties at long last. Wholly naked, Nesta claimed Cassian's mouth once more and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he knelt, lowering her back to the tiles as they kissed.

Before he tipped her onto her back, she shoved him lightly and Cassian adjusted his wings so that he was the one laying on the patio with her on top- just as he'd wanted. She lined his cock up with her entrance and slid down onto it.

Cassian was right with his teasing- she very nearly came from the feeling of his cock inside her at long, long last. He filled her wholly and completely, and as though the mating bond sensed its activation was imminent her body took him in a single hard push. Nesta rested her hands on his new tattoos, the mark of their mating vows, and leaned down to kiss her husband.

It was a simple kiss, not hard or hungry, and when she sat up to look into his eyes, Cassian was smiling.

"Husband." Nesta rose up on his cock and arched an eyebrow.

"Wife." He pulled her back down and she gasped at the sensation.

The fit was so perfect- Nesta could only smile as she rode him faster. It was not a time to take it slow and build towards some tantric release- they'd done that enough. This was their mating, and it was only the beginning of something that was conservatively described as a 'frenzy'.

"Wing." Nesta commanded. Cassian liked his female to suck the hard ridge of his wing when he came.

He shook his head, panting, "No. I want to hear you. I don't want-" she squeezed her walls around him with a wicked grin and he very nearly erupted, "I don't want your mouth busy." Cassian pulled at Nesta's arms, bringing her down so that he could bite and suck at her nipples as she moved.

Nesta cried out, that first sharp sound indeed echoing back to them across the lake. Cassian smiled and wrapped both arms under hers, then reached up to grasp her shoulders, "Hold on."

He shifted his feet, bending his knees and bracing himself against the tile.

A scream ripped through Nesta when Cassian tightened his grip and pulled her down even as he slammed his hips up into her. Her legs spasmed at the incredible burst of pleasure and she lost her balance on the tile. Without her knees to brace her, her knot ground against his pelvis unchecked. Cassian did not miss a single stride as Nesta slipped. He pushed into her fast and hard, and gave up trying to suck her breast as he gave her the very passion and force she'd asked for earlier.

The sound of their bodies colliding filled the air around them, interspersed with Nesta's gasping cries and Cassian's desperate moans. Both echoed across the lake.

"I'm almost there-" Nesta gasped. She fought Cassian's grip on her shoulders and he let her sit up just far enough so that they could look into one another's eyes. She wanted to see him when he came, when they both came and the mating bond at last slammed into place.

Cassian could only nod. He picked up his pace just a bit more as his body began to strain against the overwhelming pleasure Nesta gave him.

Their scent filled the air in a fresh wave that slid over and around itself. Cinnamon and sandalwood, sandalwood and cinnamon. Before Nesta's walls began to tighten around him, warning of her impending release, those scents were wholly indistinguishable from one another. No longer separate, but something joined.

Even as she tensed, Nesta had a sense of that epicenter she and Cassian had flirted with for so long. She could feel the heart of it waiting for her- and Cassian waiting in the center of it. Where she would normally stop at the threshold, Nesta threw herself forward into his waiting soul.

Nesta screamed as her body filled with a blinding, aching fire where they joined. An impossibly strong wave of pleasure swept over both as Nesta's release hit. Clamped down around his cock as he came and filled her with his seed. They held one another's gaze only through the first wave before a second- this one triggered by that mating bond- made Nesta throw her head back and let out a howl of pleasure. She came again, harder as that new orgasm exploded around the first and Cassian's hips continued to buck.

He pushed himself off the patio and tipped Nesta down on the tile in his place. Her hands went immediate to his ribs, to the tattoos that marked his vows. He'd barely finished coming when he began to thrust into her again. Her body was trembling after the unprecedented strength of her releases, but the mating bond had taken a firm hold of both. Cassian held her breasts- full and sensitive- and slid his wing around to her waiting mouth. She sucked at the base of a talon as her body stopped shaking and pressure began to build again.

He held her hips tightly as he pushed into her, a little slower than before. A large hand played with her knot, stroking his name across it. That pattern he'd discovered their first night together- the one that made her scream. Sweat dripped from Cassian's brow onto her chest, now almost free of the paint Feyre and Elain had sunk into her skin.

"Stop," Nest gasped. As always, he obeyed. She pushed him back and crawled from beneath him, moaning as he slid from her. She only moved far enough to flip over so that her back was to him. Nesta braced her arms and looked back.

He didn't waste a moment. Cassian grabbed her hips and thrust into her. She gasped and cried out as his cock raked through her, pressing hard into the inner bundle of nerves that overrode all others. Cassian's wing slid around to her front and she happily pounced on it- sucking at the base of a talon as her hand rubbed a thin spot on the membrane. One of his hands went to her knot to swirl and play with the hard bundle while the other rested on her tattoo, something she knew Cassian would enjoy when she changed their position.

He placed his hand in the center of those Illyrian wings forever etched on her skin. Every vow, every last bit of their love and faith in each other was represented there, and for him it also was a sign of the healing joy she'd brought him- a gift from his mate more precious than anything else.

He needed to feel as much of her as possible.

Cassian hauled Nesta up and pressed her back against his chest while he continued to thrust. She gasped as the position pushed him harder against that overwhelmingly pleasurable spot his fingers were always so deft at finding. His hand continued to play between her legs, and the other wrapped around to hold her breast, pinning her against him.

"I love you," Cassian brushed his lips against her ear.

"I love you too, mate." She put one hand over his upon her breast and rested the other on Cassian's hips.

Nesta held her husband as he thrust into her. Kneeling as they were, he couldn't quite go as deep, but it didn't matter. Her breath came in shuddering gasps as her back arched and her hips began to roll with the swirling of his fingers around her knot.

She threw her head back onto his shoulder, and Cassian's mouth found hers in moments. His tongue parted her lips and they shared a kiss before they were forced to part, gasping for air. Still, Cassian pressed his forehead to hers. Their breath mingled and moans echoed all around them.

Her back arched harder against him and Cassian picked up both speed and force. Sweat was dripping from both of them, but still he moved inside her as hard and deep as he could. Nesta released his hip and twisted her arm higher, towards a ridge where the membrane of his wing met hard bone and connected to his back. She pressed her finger against it, rubbing as hard as fast as his hand on her knot.

"Nesta!" Cassian shouted her name as he came.

He hooked two fingers inside her quickly, one on either side of his shaft. His thumb pressed hard against her knot as he began to pump those fingers into her in time with the thrusts of his cock.

Her mate's cries of pleasure ringing in her ears and the shaking of his body as he filled her sent her hurtling over the edge once more.

"Don't stop! Cassian, I'm-" He pushed a third finger into her, this one devoted entirely to fierce stimulation of her deepest nerves. The extra force made sure she held nothing back.

Her first scream was wrenched from her as that hard pleasure turned to liquid. Her hips thrashed against his cock, the movement almost entirely involuntary as pleasure and ecstasy sent her to the brink of what consciousness would allow. Her body turned into something molten and burning, she shuddered around those fingers that kept moving even as he shouted again and stilled his hips. Her limbs shook, at once too light and too lose, and that hand rolling her nipple between two fingers only made the sensation that much stronger.

With one final cry the tightness left her body and Nesta fell limp in Cassian's arms, shaking and whimpering. He held her for a moment as both gasped for air. The three fingers inside her slowly eased out- drawing a hiss of discomfort. Nesta groaned as he slipped his cock from her, leaving her cold and empty. She slumped back against his chest. Cassian sat down and pulled her into his lap. His wings hung on the stone deck, as limp and exhausted as the rest of him.

"I love you." He said again, barely whispering this time. Cassian's lips brushed against her sweat-slick neck as he wrapped both arms around her.

"I love you too." She nuzzled his shoulder.

It was never just words between them- Nesta loved Cassian in a way she'd never known was possible. She loved him so greatly and so fiercely that it hurt. She loved him so much she wanted nothing more than for time to stop so that she would have an eternity like this- with her mate holding her close. An ageless, undying forever with Cassian- and yet at the same time she wanted a hundred years to pass, a thousand, a million, she wanted time to move around them so that everyone could see them like this. Not naked and exhausted, but wholly content in one another's arms.

For the first time she also felt something else, something deeper than even her pure and undiminishing love for Cassian- she felt his love for her. She felt the love of not just one person, but of two people for one another. There was no wondering if he felt it too, no uncertainty, no worry about the future, no fear that the feeling would fade. She wasn't just Nesta anymore- she was Nesta with a piece of Cassian in her heart, just as he was Cassian with a sliver of Nesta.

She thought Rhys and Feyre were so immature, putting their love on display to rub in everyone's faces. She thought Elain and Lucien were infatuated children- mated or no. But now Nesta understood, for the first time, what she had missed out on her entire life.

Feyre and Rhys weren't obnoxious in their love, Elain and Lucien were not untamed- they were one single being. Feyre was still Feyre and Elain was still Elain, but they also embodied the undying love of their mates. It was something greater than any individual, and something infinitely more precious.

Cassian's heart pounding against her back was a war-drum, the beat of which echoed in Nesta's veins. She felt it in the siphon on her ring, and in those siphons hidden now on Cassian. Their mating bond was a challenge who any who would dare to drive them apart- a promise of wrath and ruin.

Their love was a new kind of beast to be unleashed upon their enemies in the protection of one another.

"Easy, my love," Cassian whispered, "that's just part of the frenzy. Let's not destroy any villages, alright?"

His voice soothed whatever had burned inside her, and Nesta relaxed once more, "That's the aggression everyone was afraid of?"

"It is."

"How did Feyre and Rhys not level Prythian?" They were so much more powerful than she was, and that determined anger flared up so quickly.

Cassian laughed and held Nesta tighter as her heartbeat gradually slowed, "She ripped Spring apart and then we had a teeny war you might have heard about. It took the edge off."

"Oh, that little thing." Nesta rested her cheek against Cassian's chest, "Well, we don't have anyone to kill right now."

"So, what do we do with all this extra energy?" His mind was back on mating.

"I want you to give me a tour of our cabin." Nesta tipped her head up and kissed Cassian's cheek.

When she scooted off his lap and stood, he actually looked disappointed, "You don't- you don't want to go for a swim to clean up? I mean, you've taken a bit since we landed. By that I mean-"

"Yes, you did a very good job filling your mate, congratulations." Nesta offered him a hand and helped Cassian stand. "Later I promise to throw you into that lake and ride you as long as you can swim, but right now I want a tour."

Cassian pointed to their left, "That's the cabin," he pointed to the right, "that's the lake," he pointed down, "and this is the patio. Alright, to the-"

"-interior of the cabin? Sounds wonderful." Nesta flicked his chest with a sly grin.

He offered his mate an arm, pouting. His body was as exhausted as hers- but it wouldn't be long before he was hard again. He wanted to hold her, play with her until she was ready to continue. What they were capable of during the frenzy- the sheer stamina that marked it- was something Cassian fully intended to put to the test.

Nesta did as well.

Cassian trudged up the patio steps towards that wall of windows. He pulled the latch on a glass door hidden at the center and bowed, "My love, welcome to our home. Well, vacation home."

Nesta found the seam in the long curtains that blocked the interior from view and pushed them aside, revealing the rest of Cassian's hard work.

The main floor was almost entirely open, with furniture marking the change between sitting room, dining room, and kitchen. Mahogany floors were covered in thick blue rugs that cushioned Nesta's steps as she walked in. The walls were neatly painted a simple stormcloud gray and free of adornments or embellishments.

There was no foyer, no receiving room or formal study- this lake was for Cassian's family- the Inner Circle included. There was nothing stately or proper about it. The size was certainly grand, but it still felt simple and homey.

"It's beautiful… Tell me about the entryway?" Nesta turned as Cassian walked in behind her and closed the door.

He arched an eyebrow, "Um, well, there's a door that goes outside. The bookshelves have-" he pointed to a long, low shelf that marked the edge of the 'sitting room'.

Nesta cut him off, "Tell me about the entryway."

"Door. Rug. Curtain." Cassian pointed at each in turn, confused. "The rugs are one of the few things in this cabin that I didn't make myself. I got a bigger version of the bag Thesan gave us and-"

"Are the rugs very soft?" Nesta crossed her arms.

"Yes. I wanted something that would be nice and warm in the winter." Cassian mirrored her and stared his wife down, trying to figure out her game.

"And what about that?" Nesta pointed to a half-wall on his left.

"That's just to divide it from the- shit!" Cassian's hips bucked. Nesta had taken advantage of his distraction, dropped to her knees, and took his cock in her mouth.

Cassian's wings flared as Nesta held his hips and bobbed her head along his length. She took him as deep into her throat as she could stand- deeper than she'd ever tried. Her mate's toes curled in the rug, gripping it as if he might fall off the face of the earth itself. With one hand he held Nesta's hair back- until she reached up to cover it with her own and encouraged him to push.

Nesta hummed as Cassian brought a second hand up to hold her head, sending vibrations deep into his shaft. He held her head in his hands, just as she wanted, and pushed into her waiting mouth. It wasn't long before he could feel his body tightening.

Stop.

The command came down their mating bond for the first time, and Cassian laughed. He released Nesta's head and she slid him from her mouth. A few quick licks along she shaft and head of his cock cleaned up most of her saliva.

Nesta stood, panting, "The rugs are definitely comfortable."

"Maybe we should be sure-" Cassian reached for her but Nesta jumped back, out of the way.

"You were saying something about book shelves?" she asked innocently, despite the flush in her cheeks.

"Demon-witch." Cassian hissed as he followed her into the house further.

"Your vows were before mine, you married me first. Therefore you only have yourself to blame." She looked back to wink.

The long bookshelf that marked the sitting room came up to Nesta's abdomen, dividing the space without blocking line of sight to anywhere else on the main floor. Only half the bookcase was full. When Cassian furnished his cabin centuries ago he had no way of knowing what his wife might like to read. To be honest, he never truly expected to wed at all, let alone find a mate. Most of the books on the shelf were filled with spells to help with construction, plumbing, and housekeeping. There were books on lumber, making cabinets, tiling floors- even a section devoted to architecture theory and structural design. Everything he would need to make homes and furnish them was contained in those books- not that he consulted them much after the second cabin was finished.

"So, the bookshelves, did you make them yourself or-"

Nesta yelped as Cassian grabbed her from behind and lifted her half-onto the bookshelf. Her arms wheeled until she managed to grab the top of the low, plush sofa on the far side. Cassian went to his knees behind her and wrapped both arms beneath her legs, throwing them over his shoulders.

Before she could get a word out, Cassian's mouth was on her and his tongue was inside her. He held her up just enough so that the edge of the shelf would not dig into her pelvis, parted her folds with both index fingers, and slowly rubbed them up and down with her knot pinched between.

Her taste had certainly changed- but if anything Cassian loved it more. There was nothing methodical or practiced with his mouth on her. She'd brought him to the brink with her own mouth, then left him without any release. This was more Illyrian than Cassian. It was hungry, insistent, and forceful. Nesta's hips bucked against his mouth and her legs wrapped around his head as best they could, holding him against her.

She cried out, groaned as his fingers pinched her knot, and tried to look back at her mate- but to no avail. The way she'd been tossed over the shelf made it impossible to see more than Cassian's wings and the very top of his head over her rear. He sucked at her folds, bit at her, and pushed his tongue in deeper than she thought possible.

When Nesta was shaking and her moans had turned into shouts- when he heard that squeak that said she was close to orgasm- Cassian abruptly pulled back, pushed her legs away, and stood. He lifted Nesta and set her back down exactly where she'd been when he pounced. She turned to him, growling.

"Yes, I did make the bookshelves myself." He said coolly, "When I decided what I was going to do out here, I cleared a sizeable portion of the forest and planted several hardwood groves. I've got a woodcutter cabin out there, complete with a workroom. Anything wooden in this house I built or cut out there, then brought here. The oak and mahogany trees have grown very well. Of course, the planting stones from Day helped a lot. Over the last three hundred years I think I've re-planted those groves twice at least."

He looked at Nesta innocently, "What room did you want to see next? The bedroom?"

"No." She nodded behind him to a large dining room table, "How did you get that in?" It was bigger than the door.

"I built it in here." Cassian led her across the main floor to the table. It was sitting on three massive rugs. Twelve chairs (all made to accommodate wings) were spaced along its length.

"How long did this take you?" The top of the table was a patchwork of various sizes and at least six different shades of stain. It was a massive puzzle- yet when Nesta ran her hand along it, she felt no seams between the pieces. It was perfect.

"Two years, but that meant about five weeks of work. Want to fuck on it?"

"Yes."

She yanked two chairs out of the way and hopped onto the table with her legs hanging over the side.

Cassian wasted absolutely no time- Nesta laid down and grabbed the edge, holding on for dear life. She raised her legs and waited for Cassian to get into position between them before throwing both over his shoulders.

With a single shove, unguided, Cassian entered his wife. Nesta cried out and tightened her grip on the edge of the table. Her husband leaned over, bending her legs and in turn forcing her hips up until his cock head raked against her walls. The added force made his wife release the table to grab her own legs- bending them even further for him.

Cassian held her hips and slammed into her, groaning just as desperately as she was. The sounds of their bodies colliding was so much louder inside than it was outside- but that only heightened the excitement for Nesta.

The Lord of Bloodshed- reduced to a rutting, quivering, sweating, and grunting animal by Death itself. It was poetic. The slap of his flesh against hers woke something primal in Nesta- something wholly fae put there by the Cauldron.

"Harder," she growled at Cassian.

He obeyed. The force of his thrusts pushed Nesta further onto the table. Cassian began to yank her back while he moved.

"Harder!"

Cassian pushed Nesta onto the table wholly and crawled onto it after her. He let gravity do most of the work as he thrust down instead of forward. Nesta's back arched and she shouted in pleasure. Cassian leaned over her as his hips worked in broad, sweeping thrusts. He used his torso to pin Nesta's legs as far as they were willing to go, freeing her hands to rest along the tattoos on his ribs.

She looked into his eyes with as much lust as he felt for her. Angled as they were, he couldn't pound into her while she sucked his wing, but she could do the next best thing.

Nesta reached between her and Cassian's hips, rested her hand over her entrance, and let her fingers part around his cock. As he thrust, lubricant built up on her hand- a thick, creamy fluid that meant her release was near. Once her hand was wet, she brought it around Cassian's head and grabbed a ridge of wing in her firm grasp.

"Shit, Cauldron yes! Don't stop!" Cassian threw his head back as her hand pumped at the base of his wing. Her moisture on him set his wings throbbing like he'd never felt before. It was better than her mouth- it was better than just about anything (excluding what was happening at their hips).

Cassian took three fingers and shoved them into Nesta unceremoniously, once again resting them alongside his cock as it thrust. He pulled up on her entrance with those three fingers, thrusting even as he pushed down hard on her knot with this thumb.

Her eyes opened wide and she screamed as he bent the tips of those fingers to dig into her inner walls. Nesta's hips began to buck wildly of their own volition, her eyes rolled up into her head, and everything in her being tensed. Even as Cassian kept thrusting, even as his own release crashed into him, she didn't move, didn't relax, and only gasped for air.

Cassian turned his head and bit her thigh as he slammed into her harder than before.

Nesta had been pinned on the edge. That threw her over.

She screamed as her body lost control. Her muscles shook, her walls clamped down on Cassian's cock so hard that he could hardly move it- not that he wanted to as it erupted inside her, filling her once again with his heat. The force of her orgasm, the tightness of her walls, and the continued pull of his fingers gave the juices of her own release their path out and they flooded across his hands. The air filled with the scent of her. Cassian pulled his fingers out of Nesta and licked his hand, that primal side of him desperate for a taste.

Nesta continued to cry out and thrash as her body weakened and Cassian resumed the thrusts of his hips- this time a bit slower and more drawn out. He spilled himself in her, and only when he'd gone soft did he pull out reluctantly and let her come down from her prolonged orgasm.

Cassian staggered back off the table and slumped to the floor. He pulled her with him for a moment, then left her legs to hang limp over the edge of the table as she shook. At some point she'd lost consciousness, the wave of pleasure had slammed over her so hard. Her hands were weak and trembling, her legs felt heavy and useless. Cassian watched her entrance as both of their releases dripped from inside.

"Are you still alive?" he asked after a few minutes.

Nesta slowly flashed him a thumbs up, "When I can move again, I'll let you know." Her voice was raw.

"That was- that was incredible."

With great effort, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, hissing at her oversensitive core. "It's a very nice table. Let's do a tour of the bathroom next and see what all is in that bag from-"something akin to malice flickered in Cassian's eyes at even the possibility of another male's name. Feyre had warned her about that- how weird the males got. On the patio their mating bond was so new that hostility hadn't appeared yet, but now it was firmly in command, "We'll just see what all is in that bag. Preferably during a very long and relatively chaste bath."

Cassian's eyes softened, "That sounds like just about all I can handle right now." He laughed and stood on shaking legs, "I'll carry you in there and leave you to fill the tub. You deserve a rest."

"In about half an hour, I won't want to rest anymore." She let Cassian scoop her up off the table. He kissed her- nothing hungry or devouring- but a soft kiss, a gentle kiss of one lover to another, of a husband to his wife.

His heartbeat thundered in Nesta's ear as she adjusted herself so that she could wrap an arm around to twist a lock of his hair in her hand, "After the bath, we'll resume the tour. I want to see every room."

"Maybe it's time to see the bedroom? Somewhere a bit softer?" His eyes wandered down to a faint red line on her torso from where the bookshelf had dug in.

"We'll end the tour there for the night. You still owe me some swimming later."

"You want to take a bath now and then go swimming?" Cassian raised an eyebrow as he nudged the bathroom door open and carried Nesta to a large tub sunk into the floor. He walked down into it and deposited his bride on a marble bench beside the faucet. She jumped at the cold stone.

"I want to take a bath with you, play with you in this tub after, then I want you in the kitchen, on the stairs, on the second floor balcony, and the landing pad on the roof- but don't worry, I won't make you come every time. Once we're done with all of that, I want you to fly me over that lake and drop me into the water from a height no greater than ten feet."

Cassian's eyes went wide, "That sounds like fun."

"I thought you'd say that. So you might want to hurry getting that pouch from-"she saw the dangerous flash in his eyes and smiled innocently, "Thesan."

"Demon-witch." He backed out of the room and Nesta laughed as she heard him again from down the hall, "Demonic, evil witch."

After his errand was done, Cassian sat beside Nesta in the slowly filling tub and pulled items from the bag. Each bundle of lingerie was unwrapped and judged by Cassian- all would be broken in over their time at the cabin. Lord Devlin's gift was something for Cassian- a net of leather ties that a male wore around his torso, giving his female plenty to grab onto and drag him where she wanted him. Nesta grinned broadly at that.

Elain and Lucien's gift turned out to be lingerie and a crisscross of blue lace that ended in four fur-lined cuffs. Nesta had seen it on display at the very back corner of the shop in Velaris- where they kept the naughtiest of intimates. The cuffs were for a female or male's wrists and ankles, binding them close together and leaving the fae wide open for their partner to play with as they wished. Her cheeks burned at the thought that her younger sister even knew the purpose of such a thing, let alone the horrifying idea that she might have experience with it. Just how kinky were Elain and Lucien?

"Oh, I want to use this first." Cassian held up a wrist and strapped the cuff on. It fit easily enough that he knew his legs would be no problem.

"You do?"

He just smiled at her, "I'm going to make you do all the work the next time."

"Fine," she shrugged, "but your tongue is going to be tired after this tour."

Cassian snickered and pulled off the cuff. He set it to the side of the tub and pulled out the bundle of herbs from the priestess and the vials from Tarquin- two different kinds of restoratives to help the couple keep their strength up.

The supplies that Thesan gave them with the bag had clearly been chosen with a great degree of forethought- they were all either cinnamon or sandalwood scented to match the couple. Bath salts, soaps, shampoos, lotions, and something Cassian whistled at and called 'special lotion' were all lined neatly up along the side of the tub along with their other gifts.

By the time they were finished unpacking the bag, the dull ache had gone from Nesta's core. Cassian nuzzled her neck, breathing in her scent. She turned to face him and braced her hands on the back of the tub. Cassian scooted forward on the stone seat so that she could wrap her legs around his hips and sit on his lap.

It was still a while before either's bodies truly woke, but she wrapped her arms around his head, and he held her tight. Their heads rested on one another's shoulders, and Cassian lightly brushed his nails down Nesta's black tattoo.

No rising passions, no burning need from his cock or her knot, just the simple act of holding one another tight brought them all the joy and comfort they could ever want.

"I love you, husband." Nesta rubbed her face against his skin.

"I love you too, wife." His voice was soft.

"It's been- what? A little over a year since Feyre came back? If she ever returned, I expected her to come in another golden carriage, not High Fae and with some winged jackass in tow." Nesta flicked Cassian as she spoke.

"His name is 'Rhysand', and you shouldn't talk about your High Lord and brother that way." He snickered despite the tension that raked through him at the male's name.

Nesta smiled, "Well then, it's a good thing all I ever saw was the tall, muscular, and overwhelmingly handsome male beside him."

"Thank-"

"-and beside Azriel, I noticed you. Eventually."

"Ohh, you witch. I'm going to get my revenge later. When you want to know why I won't let you come- that is why. Those words." He splashed the back of her head and was grateful she couldn't see the laughter he was barely containing.

"I hated you so much because I couldn't figure out why I loved you. I was horrible to everyone, I was horrible to you, but after that first meal, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to be better for you. I wanted to be someone you could be proud of… and that made me angrier than I have ever been in my life."

She kissed his cheek, "Thank you. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for walking into that fire and seeing me behind it. Thank you for caring for my sister and pulling my head out of my own ass. Thank you for making me happier, making me feel loved and protected- but also for making me feel like I'm the one the world needs to be protected from. Your 'demon-witch'."

"I-" Cassian cleared his throat, "I built this cabin for a family, but I never thought I'd have one of my own. That first day I saw you, part of me knew what you would be. My mate, my heart, my soul. You were wounded, frightened, and you lashed out. I knew what that felt like, and I knew that when you're stuck in the grasp of that kind of soul-deep wrath, it's hard to pull yourself out. I asked Rhysand to send me to you, even when I complained and pretended it was some chore- I wanted nothing more than to see you again."

He tightened his arms around her, holding Neta close, "I have loved Rhys and Azriel like brothers for a long time- and I learned to love Amren and even Mor as sisters eventually. Still, when you're told for so long that you aren't worthy of a family, no matter how many years pass you still can't escape those words. I found you in the fire- but you also found me. You found that small, angry child and showed him- showed me- that I was more. I deserved more. The others had been saying it for years, but you- a human-turned-fae who didn't even realize she liked me- if you could make me feel worthy of a family, maybe it wasn't so out of reach after all."

Cassian hesitated, "What I said on the battlefield, when Hybern broke my wings and you shielded me with your body-" Nesta's hands tightened in his hair as she tensed. Even the memory of her mate being threatened made her feel sick, "- I still mean it. I will always mean it. No matter how many lives we live, I will always find you. No matter how long our love, it will never be enough. No matter what we might put one another through to claim that love- it will always be worth it. You, Nesta Archeron, are worth waiting for, and you are worth fighting for."

He felt her tears drip onto his back as she squeezed him harder, "I love you." Her voice was a rough whisper.

"I love you too." He pushed her back until he could see her face and cup it in his hands. Cassian kissed her eyes gently and wiped the tears away, "I will always love you, and I will always fight for you."

When he smiled, she reached up to wipe away his tears, "Thank you for being my husband, and thank you for being my mate."

She couldn't trust herself to speak any more, so she pressed her lips to his and threw everything at their mating bond- every last bit of love, faith, and pride she had in him. She held his face in her hands as they kissed and Cassian returned her feelings along that bond with his own.

They would never feel more love for one another than they did in that moment-

-and they would never feel any less.

Five days later, the mating frenzy finally released them.

Five days of short, gasping breaks followed by renewed lust. Cassian took Nesta on a 'tour' of every square inch of that house, most of the communal spaces, and several tours of the lake.

At one point they were forced to eat with a closed door between them, just to get sustenance into their bodies. Even then, they could only stand it with their fingers intertwined beneath the wood (until Nesta flattened herself on the floor and sucked at his hand). Every piece of lingerie was broken in and earned high praise- both tried Elain and Lucien's gift. It saw the most use of anything they'd received.

Cassian held Nesta against him every night when they finally tumbled into an exhausted sleep, his wing draped across her. Every morning one woke the other with mouth or hand gently stroking that ember back into a flame.

When the frenzy passed, when Nesta and Cassian could go three hours without sex, when they could simply hold one another and look up at the sky without it turning into a frantic scramble to taste their mate and feel their release- then they decided it was time to return to Velaris and see their family. Desire had forced them from their wedding in a rush, but now they wanted to truly celebrate with the ones they loved.

Cassian and Nesta donned their wedding clothes once more- having accidentally left the ceremony without so much as a spare set. Cassian automatically rested his hand on the back of her head while he flew. It was a bit awkward to fly that way, but he knew it would make his mate feel less afraid.

The journey back to Velaris took three hours, and even then they angled for the House of Wind so a sweaty Cassian could catch his breath and both would have a chance to bathe and change clothes. He waited on her balcony while she pulled a fresh dress and underclothes from the wardrobe, then scooped her up into his arms and circled the House until he found his own rooms.

"I'll demand private time with you. At least one week a month, when they can spare you." Nesta said. Cassian filled the tub as she stripped, "I want to help you finish the cabins as soon as possible."

He smiled brightly and came over to help her out of the fur-lined lingerie Viviane had given them at the wedding- the cleanest underclothes Nesta had been able to find (not that they hadn't seen plenty of use at the cabin). "I would love that." He kissed her and led his mate backwards into the tub.

They made love one more time in the swirling steam of the bath and then took their own sweet time drying off. Nesta combed her hair and braided it back, then sat on Cassian's lap and let him play with her breasts while she combed his hair (it was the only way he'd submit to basic grooming).

An hour after they arrived at the House of Wind, Cassian opened the bathroom door.

"What the-" a narrower version of carpet that lined the aisle at wedding had appeared on the other side of the door. It stretched across his chambers and out into the hall. Cassian looked back at his wife as she finished pulling on cream-colored slippers, "Something tells me we were spotted."

"Let's see what the idiots have planned." Nesta laughed and hooked her arm through Cassian's.

They followed the carpet through the House of Wind, up the stairs, and out into the garden. A table piled high with mating gifts sat against the side of the House- everything brought by their guests in addition to the naughty trinkets they'd passed on at the feast.

Amren was lurking by the side of the door. Neither even knew she was there until they heard a long sniff, "Mated."

Rhysand and Azriel appeared out of nowhere and tackled Cassian away from Nesta's side. The Illyrians fell into a heap- laughing and punching in equal measures as they wrestled. Feyre, Elain, and Mor rushed over to join Nesta and Amren.

"Well? How was it?"

"Your frenzy lasted five days?! How are you even standing?"

"Did he like the pearls?"

Nesta laughed brightly at the female's questions, vowed never to answer them, and looked over at the tangle of Illyrians. Varian and Lucien stood well away from the flurry of obsidian talons as the males tried to swipe at one another using their wings, but they shouted encouragements to either Azriel or Rhysand. Nesta managed to catch Cassian's eye just before Azriel wrenched his wing and Rhysand locked him in a choke hold.

There was nothing but joy on his face. Pure, unreserved joy. She felt it in the mating bond as bright and blinding as the sun, and she read it in his face even as he shouted in indignation and punched Azriel.

The lake was incredible, but this- being surrounded by their family- this was heaven itself.

Never in their lives had Cassian or Nesta known as much happiness as they felt together. No matter how many centuries passed or how big their family grew, little would compare to their time at the lake, or even these first moments back with the ones they chose to love.

Heaven.

Pure heaven.