Alone in the Garden (NSFW Elucien)
**Contains ACOWAR Spoilers**

Lucien tried not to look in the same direction as Azriel while they flew to the House of Wind. If he didn't think it would reduce him to a trembling, exhausted mess he would have climbed the stairs and saved himself the embarrassment of being carried.

Again.

But his energies were needed elsewhere, something he remembered as they banked away from the main balcony and curved towards the back of the mountain palace.

Terraces were carved into the summit, where a valley spread from the back of the House of Wind and curved up as though the terraces were the steps of some giant amphitheater and the great House was the performance. The valley was practically glowing green in the morning sun, dotted with intricate hedges and several fountains, but overall bereft of flowers or life. It was a fine enough garden, but not the garden of a High Lord.

Still, the valley alone would have held Tamlin's entire Spring estate- gardens included.

"Hold on," Azriel banked again, sharper this time as he angled to land. They hit a barrier and Lucien hissed. His ears popped- hard- when they hit the bubble of temperate and high-pressure air that filled the valley. It was different than the air even at the front of the House of Wind. This air was warmer and more humid.

The sudden change from howling winds to a light breeze made Azriel falter, but he corrected easily and sped for a moonstone patio filled with wood, tools, and small pungent mountains of fertilized soil. Everything Elain and Lucien would need to take that lush valley and turn it into a proper garden.

Anyone who had visited the House of Wind for the last several thousand years had been High Lords of Night, their families, and residents of Velaris. Now that it was exposed to the world it was inevitable that it would play host to dignitaries and even Lords of other Courts on rare occasions. The capital of the Night Court would no longer be the farce that was the Court of Nightmares- it would be the Court of Dreams.

Unless one of the Lords pissed off Rhys, that is. He would only share Velaris with those he deemed worthy.

Lucien looked forward to the months, if not years, of work that would be required to make the garden presentable. It would be time well spent with the female he loved desperately.

"Thank you," Lucien stepped away from Azriel as soon as his feet touched the ground. The shadowsinger only nodded.

Rhysand landed gracefully beside Azriel and released Elain. She smiled breathlessly at Lucien, wild with the excitement of the flight. He wished suddenly that he was one of Drakon's Seraphim or Thesan's Peregryn- one of the faeries gifted with feathered wings so he could fly with his Mate in his arms whenever she wanted.

"You should have everything you need." Rhysand set Elain's pack down. "There is only a small staff here this week, they can help you find anything else. Don't expect to see much of them though." Rhys chose all of his servants specially, and those in the House of Wind tended to be fae of delicate constitutions who were sensitive to outsiders.

"Thank you Rhysand, we will be fine." Elain said, "What will you two do for the next three days?" She knew the answer, but she still liked to pretend that she did not.

"Feyre and I will be decorating our new summer cabin." A glint in his eyes told everyone more than they wanted to know. The hunting cabin they'd mated in was for the entire Inner Court to enjoy, so after the war Rhys found a suitably sturdy home-away-from-home.

"I have property outside of Velaris, I've been staying there when I'm not needed in the city." After being trapped in Velaris for fifty years, Azriel found a sort of calm in being outside of it for a while. Besides, his contacts found it easier to slip messages into the farm and not the city.

"Azriel owns one of the best vineyards in the entire Court." Rhys said proudly.

That surprised Lucien, "Really? You've never said."

Azriel just shrugged, "After the first war with Hybern, things went quiet. After a few decades I bought some land about ten minutes hard flight away. My farmers and tenants do all the work, I just try to help when I can."

"The original vineyard that was on that land was a shithole when he bought it," Rhys clapped Azriel on the shoulder. "Now that wine could stand against anything in my cellar."

"I think half the cellar is my wine."

Rhys chuckled, "That would not surprise me. Hey- bring back a few bottles of the apple wine. Feyre will love it." He turned to Elain and Lucien, "We have to get going, but know that this entire garden is yours to improve. Build anything, plant anything, remove anything. While I'm here- are there any large changes you'd like to make?"

Elain studied their surroundings, "A brook and a pond will be lovely. Just as you are picturing, with the sandstone base in the brook."

"Every time I forget you are a seer…" Rhys chuckled and turned to face the valley. He raised both hands and unleashed himself upon the mountain.

A channel through the ground appeared, mirroring the curve of the Sidra through Velaris. Black sandstone filled in the sides and bottom in a dazzling blue stream to rival the night sky. A tremendous eruption of earth from the side of the valley created a deep pond that would make a wonderful swimming hole in the summer or a beautiful skating rink in the winter. With a flick of his wrist, the excavated earth vanished. He deposited it on the opposite end of his Court (and greatly distressed a herd of mountain goats).

Water bubbled up from a newly exposed mountain spring- or Rhys redirected part of the one that fed the House of Wind- and it began to flow through the sandstone channels towards the pond. It would take a week before the whole thing filled in.

"Lovely," Elain smiled. "Thank you very much, Rhys."

"You are always welcome." He bowed to her, then Lucien. "Three days, then we will return for you and see who wins our little wager."

"It's hardly a wager- everyone bet Elain that Cass and Nesta would mate. If there's only one person on one side of the bet, it's not a wager so much as-"

"Me, making a lot of money." Elain interrupted Azriel with a smile.

He chuckled, "Rhys, why did I let you talk me into gambling against a seer?"

"Because you want her to have to give each of us five gold coins." Rhysand opened his wings and the males launched themselves into the sky, still bickering lightly. Cassian and Nesta believed that the Court of Nightmares visit was nigh, they did not know that for the next three days everyone would be away on a trip before the true visit. Mor was already in Winter with her friend Viviane and Amren in Summer with Varian.

Lucien smiled to Elain, already feeling his heart soar at the thought of being with her in the garden. This was where his mate belonged. This was her element.

"Where would you like to begin?" Lucien would be digging whatever she needed or building planting boxes while she prepared the seeds. He slid off his heavy pack and removed the satchel containing the dozens of bags of seeds he'd brought her from the continent. He set those aside and removed the white garden stones he'd purchased in Day Court. Those stones would make it possible to grow anything- no matter the temperature, soil, or humidity requirements.

Day, a court of a thousand libraries and tens of thousands of gardens to read in. There was no doubt in Lucien's mind that Elain would put every last one of them to shame.

"I want to go up there." Elain pointed to the uppermost terrace far, far above. It was hardly even part of the garden, just a field of wild-looking cornflowers, violets, and wisteria.

"Then that is where we shall go." Stairs spared them a climb up the steep green hills that marked each terrace, and Lucien happily held his arm out for Elain to take hold of as they followed a moonstone path towards them.

Since his return to the Night Court, Lucien and Elain had spent every day together (under the hawk-like supervision of Nesta). When she stood beside him and her rose-and-apple scent filled the world, he no longer felt that blinding wave of guilt for his part in her transformation to High Fae. Every last thrill and shock of wonder at Elain's grace was met only with a pure, overwhelming love. It was a gloriously agonizing love that Elain too felt and found comfort in. Lucien's shy smiles had the power to heal what Hybern and the Cauldron broke in her spirit.

Now they walked through the garden together and Elain basked in the glow radiating from her mate. It wasn't like Feyre's soft light whenever Rhys made her smile, it was something hotter, stronger. It was a slumbering brilliance with all the beauty and majesty of the sun itself. Known or not, Lucien had in him a guiding light that could turn into a punishing blaze for his enemies. What Elain saw slumbering behind a veil of Autumn fire was the sun of the Day Court heir.

When he first came to her after Hybern's war, Elain shared with Lucien a vision of them sitting together in a garden filled with every flower that ever existed. What she held back from that was the truth of the white marble palace rising behind them. That it was their home, the seat of the High Lord (and High Lady) of Day.

The secret would be revealed soon enough, but it was not her story to tell, so Elain kept quiet.

Lucien led her through the garden, around Rhys' little Sidra, and along the curve of the future-pond. They had all the time in the world to sculpt this green field together. Turning it into something truly worthy of the heart of the Court would be a mighty task, and it was a task Lucien relished.

A true garden revealed the soul of the one who planted it, just as any act of creation did. Feyre's soul was in the paintings Rhys hung throughout the townhouse; his soul lay bare in the staffing of his Court- all those abused souls he healed and sheltered. Nesta's soul was hidden between the pages of her beloved books; Cassian's revealed itself in the way he fought- a dance of blood he relished for the life it would give those he called family. Mor kept her soul veiled, but let it shine in the love she showed others, and Azriel's glinted in his eye when he spoke of that secret vineyard.

Lucien's mother taught him to find the sliver of soul buried in every action. He studied the Inner Circle, marked them, and therefore knew them. Amren was still discovering her newer, free soul, but even Lucien could tell it shone brightly whenever Varian was near.

So, when Elain asked him to help her design the garden, giving him a glimpse into her very heart, he agreed without hesitation.

"Yours is in your smile." Elain's shoulder brushed his arm as they climbed, "It's in your loyalty to your friends- how you risked everything to save Feyre even when she revealed herself to you as Night, not Spring."

"Was it there when I let Tamlin smother her?" he whispered.

"It was sleeping then." Elain stepped in front of Lucien and released his arm. She took his face in her hands and smiled at the way he bowed into her touch, nuzzling her. Elain stared into his eyes, through them. She looked at him with the intuition of a woman, the Sight of a seer, and the love of a female for her mate, "It's awake now, and I will make sure it never leaves you again."

Elain pulled Lucien's face to hers and kissed him softly. It was by no means their first kiss, but the first without concern for who may see (Nesta) or who may be incised enough to turn violent because of it (again, Nesta). Lucien took a deep, shuddering breath and returned the kiss. A tear slipped down his cheek as he was overwhelmed with love for his mate, the love of his mate.

There was something else in that kiss too- a question whispered down the mating bond that Lucien did not think Elain would have asked for a long while yet.

Elain broke their kiss and pulled him up the first flight of steps, "Come on, I want to see the garden from up there."

Each terrace was far larger than they looked from the ground. They extended nearly a hundred feet back before meeting the wall of the cliff. Footpaths meandered through the hedges and around the fountains. It would make for a romantic walk, but Elain seemed to be in a hurry to reach that uppermost steppe.

Her usual soft pink dress had been replaced with traditional Night Court attire in anticipation of the day's exertions. As they climbed through the garden, Lucien was suddenly transfixed by the way the light shimmered through her yellow top. His eyes caressed the curve of her sides, the outline of her body beneath the thin, cool clothes.

His mouth went dry and he pounced on the thoughts that swirled. Lucien shoved them back before his own body responded in a way that would be very difficult to hide in his simple linen britches.

The top tier of the garden was as wild and untamed as it looked from below. Grass grew tall enough to tickle Elain's fingers as she walked. The moonstone path came to a disappointing end, as though the original landscaper ran out and wiped from his mind the mere existence of the upper ring.

Elain released Lucien's hand and forged a path through the dense grasses. He followed her around the edge of the terrace until they came to the corner she had pointed at from below. There, Elain turned and looked down into the garden. Surrounded by wildflowers and overgrown grass, with the morning sun shining down on her, the burning of her golden yellow clothes, and that breathless smile on her face she looked to Lucien like a goddess of the earth, come from the wild to survey her kingdom.

Lucien committed the scene to memory. He made a silent vow to pay Feyre any price if she would take that image from his mind and paint it for him to gaze upon forever.

"Can we leave this tier as it is?" he said, "Please?"

She smiled for him, and that blush lit her cheeks again, "Of course."

Her eyes met Lucien's and their world stilled. Elain couldn't stop looking at Lucien- at his tanned skin, the way his golden eye glowed in the light, or the way those scars looked like rays spreading from it, the way an infant Feyre used to draw the sun.

The fae side of her snarled at the scars of a female she never even knew existed until long after her death. A cruel beast she knew by name alone. That fae instinct to rip apart the one who hurt her mate had terrified her at first. Sounds were too loud, her whole body was wrong, and what she was seeing- those things made it hard to breathe… But when Feyre brought Lucien to the Night Court, when he looked at Elain and she saw those scars- she was mourning the loss of her human love, in complete denial that her happy future was ruined- and yet those scars made her want to lunge into the afterlife itself and drag Amarantha back just to kill her again.

That initial shock, that first violent wave of seething rage, had sent Elain scrambling to the farthest corners of her mind. She hid from the mating bond, decided it was something cruel and angry for how it made her feel. It was Lucien, with his quiet persistence and concern, who let her see the truth of the bond. It was not something angry and cold, but something warm and uplifting. Her rage quieted in the face of love.

Lucien watched Elain, as always, with that mix of fear and longing in his eyes. She tried to ease that fear bit by bit- to show him she truly did not blame him for what happened with Hybern. He'd been as shocked and appalled as the Night Court when he realized what was happening, who Tamlin had lashed his power to.

"Come here." Elain held out her hand once more. Her smile faded and a shiver went up her spine.

When she looked at him, her heart sometimes skipped a beat. When she was near him it was like the world was filled with bright, shining color that muted to gray after he was gone. His scent was of a crackling fire and something light and heady she could not name. She loved that scent, the way it both tickled her nose and made her pulse race.

As soon as Lucien's hand touched hers, Elain threw herself against him. Her mouth found his and she parted her lips, begging for a taste. Lucien held her tightly and kissed her with the same unbridled passion she gave. Her scent washed over him, and his ripped through her.

Elain moaned when his mouth left hers to brush kisses against her jaw on his way to her neck. One hand held her head to the side as the other slipped under her top to rest between her shoulder blades. It was precisely the opposite side of her torso from where she wanted that hand to be.

Her breasts grew heavy and aching as Lucien bit and licked at Elain's neck. She kept one hand on his head, holding him in place. The other she wrenched behind her to forcibly drag Lucien's from her back. She held his hand in hers and placed it over her breast.

Lucien hesitated then and took his mouth from her neck. He knew what Elain wanted by the glaze of lust over her eyes and the sweet musk beginning to roll from her. "This isn't right, not for your first time. I want to- I want every last inch of you- but this isn't how your first time should be. It isn't romantic, it's not-"

"Who says it's my first time?" Elain used her hand on the back of his to guide his thumb over her nipple, "I want you here, now." She trapped his mouth with hers and felt Lucien smile.

It took another prompting from her hand before he rolled her nipple between two fingers and Elain cried out in ecstasy. Lucien's mouth left her throat to bite and lick at her other breast through the fabric of her shirt. He was more than a head taller than Elain, and when he bent down she could not quite reach where she wanted.

Elain pulled Lucien back up to claim his mouth with hers and reached down to stroke him through the front of his linen pants. He moaned into her mouth and that hand squeezed hard on her breast. Elain gasped and shoved him back further into the wild grass of the terrace, wholly out of sight of the House of Wind.

She bit his jaw before finding his mouth again, running her teeth over the light stubble there. He would have a beard one day- not a great bushy one, but something closely groomed and wondrously soft. It wasn't something she sensed with a seer's eye, it was something she would demand as his mate.

Lucien chuckled as he felt her hands tracing his jawline, stroking the stubble there. Elain didn't realize she'd sent the image of him with a beard down the mating bond until he pulled his mouth from hers long enough to say, "It'll be there before the month is out."

She laughed aloud- a sweet melody which made Lucien's heart soar. He fell to his knees, taking Elain with him. She wrapped her arms around his head and ground her hips against his. Both moaned at the feeling.

Elain rocked her hips while they kissed. One of Lucien's hands found its way to her lower back, then slowly slid further down as she moved. When he touched the curve of her rear, she bit his lip and ground harder against the growing bulge in his pants. He pinched her nipple and held her tight against him, rocking his hips now too. Elain cried out at the wondrous pressure.

Suddenly she needed to touch his body, to feel more of his skin against hers.

She pushed Lucien back far enough to reach between them and unclasp his belt. She yanked it out hard enough that the leather snapped, slicing the air. Elain threw it aside and began to fumble for the ties on his britches. Lucien kissed her harder, faster. When her soft hand touched his hard cock, he nearly lost control.

"Stand up." Lucien's eyes burned with a new kind of intensity as he broke the kiss. It sent a thrill through Elain's body and set off a pulsing in her core. She stood and stared down at Lucien, brushing the hair from his face as they both panted.

Lucien found the strip of skin left exposed by the Night Court clothing and ran his lips along the band, delivering soft bites and gentle kisses as his hands grasped the back of her thighs. Elain shivered in anticipation.

He slid the loose pants down her legs, exposing her to him. That sweet scent of arousal washed over him. Elain wasted no time in kicking off her shoes and stepping out of the pants entirely. As soon as she did, Lucien was upon her.

He threw one of her legs over his shoulder and held her hips tight. The first hard stroke of his tongue across her knot made her knees quake.

"Lucien!" Elain gasped. The hand that had brushed his hair back with such gentleness now tangled into it for a firm grasp. Holding him, she used her other hand to squeeze her breast.

Lucien was in heaven. Elain's taste was everything he'd dreamed it to be and more. It was that rose-and-apple scent that poured off of her, only stronger, purer, and thicker. He licked her hard and slid his tongue as far into her body as he could. His nose pressed against her mound and he rubbed her knot while he feasted. She gasped and moaned, holding his head all the while. She didn't need to though- Lucien had no intention of stopping.

He removed a hand from her hip and slid it through the juices dripping from her. Lucien plunged those inside while his mouth moved to her knot to show it some more direct attention.

Elain's hips began to roll against his face, riding his hand and tongue harder. Lucien sucked at her, plunged his fingers in deep, and stoked her flame hotter and hotter.

The hand on her breast quickly joined the one in his hair. She held him against her and her gasps quickly became panting cries. Her hips tensed. Lucien adjusted his grip on her torso and looked up into her eyes, smiling as his hand pumped harder and faster. The next time he sucked her knot into his mouth, she came with a scream.

Lucien ground his mouth and hand against her as her body bucked and her knees quaked. Her juices dripped from his chin with the force of her climax, but he waited until she began to spasm and her hands released his head to slide out his fingers and move his mouth to taste her release.

Elain's body tense again immediately and a second orgasm shattered through her within seconds. Pleasure burned like fire in her veins and pounded from her core- from where Lucien's tongue joined them. Her mate's tongue inside her. She'd dreamed of how it would feel when he licked her, and if anything the dreams were a disappointment compared to reality.

He moved her leg after the orgasm subsided. Elain slumped to the ground, her knees weak and her body wrecked. Shaking as she was, she grabbed the delicate neckline of her shirt and ripped it apart. Lucien helped her tear the shirt in half, exposing her breasts. He took one in his mouth as she quickly shrugged the ruined fabric off.

She guided his face from her breast back to her mouth and kissed Lucien hard. His shirt was dispatched more traditionally so that when they returned to the House of Wind she would have something on.

Elain pushed Lucien over until he lay flat in the wild grass. She kissed down his neck, cleaning him while she straddled his torso and reached beneath the band of his pants to stroke his long, thick cock. She moved lower, biting his nipple then licking each of his abs. When she got to the band of his pants, he lifted his hips for her and pushed them down as far as he could reach.

She would not let him get up to take off his shoes or trousers. Instead, Elain slid off of him and pulled them away herself. She kissed his thigh while her hands yanked away the rest of his clothes. As soon as they were free and Lucien was exposed, she crawled forward and took his length in her hand.

Lucien groaned as Elain held his gaze with a demure smile and circled her nipple with the head of his cock. Her skin was so soft, so warm- he needed to feel her. She released him to grab her breasts and pushed them together around his shaft. Lucien threw his head back and grabbed a handful of grass to anchor himself. While her tongue worked the head of his cock, she moved her breasts along the shaft as much as she was able to.

After a few minutes Elain replaced her breasts with a hand, allowing her to take a few inches in her mouth. "Elain! Cauldron!" Lucien cried out as his mate alternated between sucking and tracing her tongue along the underside of his member. She found all the softest spots and focused on bringing him as much pleasure as he'd brought her.

He put a hand on the back of her head and pushed her blonde locks out of the way. "Stop," he panted, "stop, I don't want to come yet. I want to come with you on me."

"Inside me," she released his member and smiled wickedly- the kind of smile he never would have guessed she possessed. A smile only two men had seen before him.

Elain crawled up to rest her mound along his shaft. She adjusted herself so that he split the skin entirely. Lucien groaned as she began to sweep her hips slowly along his length- he not inside her, but closer than he once thought possible. The male who'd returned to Velaris guilt-ridden and ready to let her go would never have believed that in just a few months she would be astride him in a field of wildflowers.

He claimed her mouth with his, forcing her to angle herself along his shaft so that he raked across her knot with every sweep of her hips. Elain moaned in his mouth while her wetness coated him.

"You can't come yet, you're not inside me." Elain teased when she felt his hands tighten on her back. Lucien grabbed one of her breasts in response and covered the nipple with his mouth. He bit and sucked at her with as much vigor as he'd shown between her legs. She screamed and felt the sharp edge of an orgasm beginning to build.

Without warning, Elain grabbed Lucien's cock and forced herself down on it, splitting and stretching her. Her hands moved to his chest as she rocked her hips, sliding him in deeper and deeper. Lucien wrapped his hands around hers and moaned as she enveloped him in her tight, slick depths. Elain threw her head back and swore as he simply kept going. Lucien was the largest man (or male) she'd ever had inside her, her body needed time to adjust to him.

When she felt Lucien's pelvis press against her, he pushed off the ground and sat up to hold her. Elain stroked his face while he kissed softly between her breasts, then at the hollow of her throat.

He pulled back and looked up into her eyes, "What did I ever do in my life to deserve you?" The question wasn't asked with shame or guilt, it was a simple question from a male who never knew it was possible to feel so much- to love so deeply as he did now.

Elain didn't answer- couldn't answer. She'd been the selfish older sister who let little Feyre wade out into the winter ice to hunt beasts. She'd seen her return exhausted and frozen half to death and then turn around to clean her kills because it never even occurred to Elain to learn, to help. Feyre was taken by a beast into the night and Elain let her go without anything more than a whimper of disapproval.

She couldn't answer Lucien's question because she was wondering the same thing. What she ever could have done to deserve the perfect male before her.

They simply held one another as Elain got used to Lucien inside of her. She rocked her hips slowly against him, testing and adjusting until the pressure changed from something nearly overwhelming into something tantalizing and erotic. Wicked thoughts swirled through her head again of how many ways she wanted him.

Lucien let Elain rock in his lap until his heart began to thunder and she began to cry out each time her knot ground against his pelvis. He bit at her breast and flicked her other nipple with his hands while his cock throbbed. Tending to her distracted him just enough to stave off his release.

In the hammering of his own pulse in his ears, in the high gasp of Elain and the sound of their bodies colliding, Lucien thought he heard a voice.

Do you love each other? It seemed to ask.

"Yes," Elain and Lucien both gasped together as a throb of pleasure pounded through her core, making her tighten her muscles around him.

Will you always love each other?

"Yes, yes!" Elain cried out when Lucien's hand found its way to her knot.

"Yes," he released her breast and gasped, wrestling down a spasm that ran through his cock. He felt his balls began to tighten, signaling an imminent release.

Do you want it?

"I want you," Elain barely managed the words through what was building inside of her. The throbbing between her legs was deepening, and the wave that rose behind it growing higher and higher.

"I love you," goosebumps ran along his arms as he took her breast in his mouth once more.

Then this gift is yours.

Elain screamed as Lucien wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her down hard on his cock. It was all she needed to release the wave that had built inside her. Her rose-and-apple scent exploded around him, strengthening as she unleashed a torrent of juices around his cock. Lucien shouted her name and slammed into her only a few more times before her scent crashed over him and he came inside her with a hot wave of his own.

Something changed between them, like a missing piece of their souls clicking into place.

Elain moved to the side as Lucien rolled on top of her. She hooked her legs tight around his hips. He'd come inside her, as she wanted, but he was by no means soft.

A primal urge overwhelmed them both and before either had truly recovered from their orgasm, Lucien was pounding into her again.

"Harder!" she shouted, grabbing onto the hard muscle of his ass and yanking him down on her. "Harder!"

Lucien pulled out and Elain hurried to roll over on the grass. She pushed her hips up high and grabbed handfuls of earth, bracing herself. Lucien guided his member back into her and used her hips as leverage to give her what she asked for. Elain shoved herself back onto him even as his own hips shot forward.

"Yes, Cauldron, yes!" Lucien groaned. He reached around Elain and took her knot between two fingers, working it in tight circles while he slammed into her. She exploded once more with a tremendous scream that echoed back to them from the cliff walls. Her body stayed tense as Lucien pushed on her back, flattening her chest into the ground so that his thrusts were not forward so much as down. His cock dug into her most sensitive spots and Elain began to buck and scream beneath him when that wave of pleasure turned into something hot that carried her away completely.

Elain's spasms were all Lucien needed to find his next release. She fell silent, reduced only to shuddering gasps for air as he pounded against her. He slammed into her and erupted once more. As he came, his hips bucked against her, as though he could reach further inside if only he tried. Elain's hips were held up entirely by his hands now, and he did not release them until he collapsed onto her back, utterly spent.

He pulled out and fell to the side, exhausted. When she did not roll over, concern immediately lit his face. Was he too rough? Did he go too hard when she commanded it? "Elain?" He brushed her hair aside to find her face plastered with an exhausted grin.

"That was- that was amazing," she whispered in a feeble voice. Her body shook with the sheer force of her orgasms.

"It was." He pulled her against his side, "We're not going to get any gardening done, are we?"

"I would be very disappointed if we did." Elain laughed against his chest. He stroked her ribs while they both caught their breath.

"Would you like to move indoors?" She was beginning to take on a pink tinge in the sun. Lucien stroked her arm and pulled the burn from her skin with a tendril of magic. It was an odd power, one he kept to himself usually. Tans or burns could blossom and fade as he wished. Some of the morning heat also slid from her skin.

Elain's body was already waking at his touch, and a fire burned inside her that his magic only stoked.

Lucien shifted ever so slightly against her. Her legs parted, allowing his to slip between them. He put a hand against her back as Elain's mound parted slightly over his skin and her knot rubbed against his thigh.

"Indoors is a little too far away," she whispered.

Lucien adjusted himself so that Elain's back pressed against his chest and they both braced themselves on an arm. He lifted her leg and shifted until his rapidly stiffening cock was in line with her entrance. Elain reached back to pull his mouth to hers as he slid inside, filling her once more. They lay side by side as they moved. Elain rolled her hips while Lucien made slow, steady thrusts. He shifted his arm on the ground so that he could hold her breast in his hands while his hand reached across her hips to play with the bundle of nerves between her legs.

After they both came again- a quieter affair than the last time- Lucien helped Elain to her feet and gave her his discarded shirt. She pulled her pants back on, and found herself whimpering as Lucien did too.

"Food, then fun." He winked.

He'd never come so much in such a short period of time. His body was already screaming at him to take her in the tall grass until they were both hoarse and chaffed. For her sake, he fought against his primal urges.

Still, Lucien couldn't stop touching Elain as they walked down towards the House of Wind. He twisted and braided her loose hair as they walked, breathing in the scent of it and memorizing the soft curl at the ends. She let him play for a few terraces, then she pulled him forward to walk with his arm around her shoulder, holding her against his side.

Food was waiting for them on the patio, a lunch of fruits and roasted vegetables with plenty of water to help rebuild their stamina after what was supposed to be an arduous morning of gardening. Lucien and Elain sat together at one end of the table as they ate, sharing stories of childhood adventures and outrageous beliefs.

As a boy, Lucien truly believed that if you swam naked a water wraith would come to neuter you. His brothers taught him that one. Elain's tutor had left abruptly one day, never to be seen again. She'd honestly believed Nesta when she claimed to have killed the man for making her translate Xian parables.

"Are you sure she didn't kill him?" Lucien laughed so hard he nearly choked on his food.

"I saw him at our last ball before we lost our fortune, turns out his father passed and he needed to take over the family business." Elain said. "But when I saw him I nearly wet myself with fight! I thought his ghost had risen to take me to hell for- I don't know- poor penmanship."

Lucien laughed so hard he was wheezing. Elain's own musical laughter joined his.

Still, it wasn't long before they dove for one another, ripped off their clothes, and Lucien took Elain right there on the table. If the pond was full yet he would have taken her there too.

Elain grabbed Lucien and dragged him into the House of Wind with no care for her clothes. They went straight for her old bedchamber. She pulled Lucien inside and barely managed to shut the door before his mouth was on hers.

He reached down to cup her ass as they kissed. Elain jumped and Lucien pulled her up to wrap her legs around his hips. He turned and crushed her against the wall, using it to support her while he reached between them and slid his cock back inside her. Elain cried out as Lucien slammed into her until she came and he filled her for the fifth time that day.

When he was done, they agreed to stop for a quick break. Elain waited as Lucien used the bathroom, taking his place when he'd finished.

She came out to one more surprise from her lover: silver dish was sitting on the stand beside her bed- filled with ice from the patio that had kept their fruit chilled. Beside it was a scrap of pink fabric- the belt of a silk robe that had been hanging beside her wardrobe.

Elain raised an eyebrow as Lucien came to her, "I want to play a game, if that's okay with you."

She studied him a moment before nodding. Whatever game he had in mind, she knew that if she did not enjoy it he would stop immediately. She didn't touch the strange seer's power inside her. Sometimes a surprise was more fun.

"Is it for my hands, or my eyes?" Elain nodded to the silk belt.

"I only found this one, so it's for your eyes… Unless you'd be more comfortable with a hand or neither, it is your choice." Lucien was nervous, worried he had suggested this too soon. Ever since he saw the ice with their lunch he'd wanted to try something.

Elain looked at the wardrobe, then opened it and pulled the belt from a sky blue robe and a canary yellow dress. She pressed them to Lucien's chest with a sultry grin, "What about both options?"

The blue belt went around her eyes, blinding her to the room around them. Lucien helped Elain to the middle of the bed, then had her lie down. He fetched two washcloths from the bathroom and wrapped them around Elain's wrists, binding them firmly with the belts. Each was then tied around the posts of her headboard, pulling her arms away from her sides and ensuring she could not touch her own body.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Elain giggled, "but I'm thinking after this we switch places."

Lucien's cock twitched, "I would like that. Very much."

He started with a simple brush of lips on Elain's cheek to let her know where he was. She opened her mouth for him and Lucien shared a deeper, slower kiss. As they kissed, Elain relaxed a bit, enjoying his taste in her mouth.

Then Lucien stepped away. Elain waited in the dark as he walked around the bed, stopped for a moment, and then sat down beside her.

A sharp sensation coursed through her nipple- freezing cold and wet. The ice.

Elain's breathing grew heavy as Lucien circled one nipple, then the other. Her skin broke out in goosebumps as he traced her body- the curve of her breasts, the line of her stomach, the inside of her thighs. Every spark of cold when Lucien brought a new ice cube to her skin made her knot pound.

She pressed her thighs together and rolled her hips, trying to find any relief from the throbbing between her legs as Lucien returned to her nipples with the ice.

"Don't cheat." He laughed and pulled a hard round pillow from the far side of the bed. He wedged it length-wise between Elain's thighs- too far down for her to grind against- and put a foot on top to hold it in place. Her legs were effectively pinned apart.

"Next time," Elain gasped when he shifted on the bed and his mouth covered her iced nipple, "Next time, tie my legs." The heat of his mouth mixed with the chill of the ice was agonizing. The demanding throb between her legs made her whimper and moan, but she enjoyed this game of his. Not being able to see where he would go next added an element of the unknown that thrilled her.

Lucien kissed her again, "Getting all hot and bothered?"

Elain only raised her hips in response, pleading for anything. Tongue, hand, cock- she needed to address the primal desire filling her body.

"Let's see what I can do about that." There was mischief in his voice and she dared to hope for him to just grab her hips and slam in to the hilt.

"Fuck!" Elain arched her back as Lucien slid frigid fingers across her knot and between her legs. She threw her head to the side and bit her own arm as he stroked her, crying in pleasure when he used his fingers to part her folds and then poured a bit of icy water across her. Her hips bucked up off the bed, pleading for more.

The pillow vanished and Lucien's head was suddenly between her legs, warming her chilled skin. Elain was panting as he licked- not hard enough to work her up, but more to remind her he was there as he warmed her. She tried to grind against his face but it was no use. A hand had her hips pinned to the bed.

"More playing?" He asked innocently.

Elain fought against his hand, trying to buck her hips up to his mouth again. He repeated the question and she managed only a quick nod and a whimper. Lucien's mouth closed over her mound. He sucked at her harder, building her body up again.

She heard the ice clack in the dish and braced herself. If he put one of the cubes inside her body-

Just as Elain wondered if it would hurt or fan her flames, the ice clacked again and Lucien's fingers found their way inside her.

He'd put them in the ice.

She bucked her hips and thrust against his hand, both trying to get away from the cold and push him in deeper. She yelped and laughed even as her breaths became heavier. Lucien began to laugh as well, sending vibrations into her knot.

The wave inside of her built higher and higher, began to crest-

Lucien bit the inside of her thigh and withdrew completely. The bite distracted her from her release and without his hands or tongue on her, it was just out of reach. Elain let out a wordless cry of desperation and anger.

He only laughed, "I'm sorry, were you not done yet?" Lucien pulled the blindfold off of Elain's eyes before returning his hand to the juncture of her thighs. He ran his fingers between her slick lips and crawled up the bed towards her. One of his legs remained looped around hers with his toes digging into the inside of her other thigh. She could not close them to force his hand against her harder.

"When you're the one tied here, I'm going to make you cry." Elain vowed. Lucien kissed her in response. He kept stroking her with those fingers, never entering her, but pinning her knot between them as he moved. Elain's breathing again became labored, and again he changed his rhythm and speed just before she could find release, staving it off.

"Put one in me." She said (after snarling at him for changing his pace, of course), "The ice."

Lucien hesitated, "Are you sure?"

"I want to try it." Curiosity was winning out.

A glint lit Lucien's eye and he immediately sat up on the bed. He released Elain's hands, "Tell me if you hate it. I have a trick."

"I will. Not that one, it's too small." she pulled the ties and washcloths off her wrists. There were no marks from her struggles, "If I'm doing this, I want to do it right. Get a middle-sized one." She wanted to be too much, she wanted to see what Lucien's trick was.

He selected one at last that met Elain's standards and she waited, braced on her elbows, while he rolled it in his palm to make sure the outside was wet. He'd once seen a fresh cube stick to a female. It wasn't enjoyable.

"Are you sure you want to try this?" A nod was his only answer. Lucien opened Elain with his fingers and pushed the ice cube into her.

She yelped and threw herself back on the bed, "Idon'tlikeitIdon'tlikeitIdon'tlikeit," the words strung together as she hissed and shook her hips, accidentally sliding it in further.

"Hold on," Lucien laughed. He lined himself up with her entrance and pushed his cock inside. The ice cube slipped in further, making Elain shout and growl, "I learned this one when I was eighteen." He closed his eyes and focused that fire in his blood towards his cock- gently. It heated up inside Elain, melting the ice and warming her again.

"That's weirder," she scrunched her face up and waited for the sensations to fade. The heat wasn't too bad, it was just strange. Lucien began to laugh at the expression on her face and when he snorted, she began to laugh too. He fell forward onto his forearms, braced above Elain as he snorted again and they both broke into fresh howls of laughter.

"I don't think I'm partial to that," Elain said once she had control of herself again, "but if only for the laughter, I'm willing to do it on special occasions. Right now though-" she rolled her hips and felt him twitch inside her, "if you pull out again I don't think I can ever forgive you."

Lucien chuckled and pulled away from Elain until just the tip of his cock was inside her, then shoved it in again in a hard thrust, "Do you forgive me for that time?" He didn't give her a chance to answer before pulling out again and thrusting hard, "Do you forgive me for that time?"

Elain cried out and grabbed his hips, pulling him against her. He began to pant as he picked up speed. Lucien didn't seek his own release, he was giving Elain hers after about twenty minutes of build up and denial. His thrusts were long and he always pulled out far before thrusting in. If Lucien learned anything that glorious day, it was that Elain's juices erupted from her when she was given a thorough and blinding orgasm, and he loved how it felt when she came that hard.

She was panting, her back arching, and Lucien took her pert breast into his mouth to suck and bite as she slid closer and closer to the edge. His broad hand slipped between them and he rubbed furiously at her knot.

Elain's body tensed, her back arched even further, and she seemed to freeze for a few hard thrusts before she screamed and exploded around him. Her walls clamped down on him while he moved, her hands held him tight, and she bucked her hips to ride his fingers and cock even as she exploded for him once more.

And so three days passed. Three incredible days where Elain and Lucien parted only when their bodies forced them to.

She slept in his arms as comfortably as if she were made to fit there, and when they fell into exhausted slumber one always woke the other with a light kiss and a soft nuzzle- except for the morning Lucien woke from a dirty dream only to find her riding him.

They bathed separately the morning Rhysand and Azriel came to ferry them back down to Velaris. The Inner Circle would arrive together and find out who won their wager- everyone else, who bet that Cassian and Nesta would mate, or Elain for saying they would not. Not yet at least.

For the first time in three days, Elain put clothes on. Her lavender dress was simple, modest. She was unbridled for him in the bedroom, showing him someone far from the shy, innocent girl she became around others. Lucien was special, she felt different with him and acted as she wanted in the heat of their union.

With their friends and family though, Elain was happy to sit with a quiet smile.

The pond was about a quarter of the way filled and water bubbled through the brook Rhysand had sunk. Lucien and Elain barely had time to survey the new features before Rhys and Azriel appeared.

"Oh yeah, that's a huge improvement!" Rhysand clapped Lucien on the back and nodded to Elain. She smiled softly. Neither of them could tell if Rhysand was being serious or not.

"I will work with Feyre to draw up some sketches, I have a few ideas and I want you to choose from." The soft, shy voice was back when Elain spoke to him.

It was only natural when a person was talking for others to look at them, yet Lucien felt something vicious rear its head inside him when Azriel's gaze fell on Elain. The shadowsinger looked up at him and noted the snarl flickering on the side of his nose. He frowned and stepped back, keeping a clear distance from the female.

When Rhysand wrapped his arms around her to launch into the sky, there was a definite tightness in Lucien's chest, but no feral wrath. It wasn't like when Azriel looked at her. Rhysand was mated- not a threat to the love that burned in Lucien for Elain.

As soon as they landed in front of the townhouse, Azriel went to stand with Mor and Amren. Elain and Lucien came together naturally, standing among the herd. Feyre's nose twitched when a breeze swept across the group. Elain's scent was stronger somehow. More overpowering.

The city bells chimed eight and everyone funneled through the door and into the townhouse. The smell of potatoes, bacon, eggs, toast, and sausage filled the air as everyone made for the dining room. Elain noticed that, for whatever reason, Rhysand took a handful of bacon and sat on the far side of the table from Cassian with a glare.

"How did the visit go? Sounded all quiet on this end of town." Cassian glanced to Mor, scanning her face for any sign of stress.

Mor chose mock innocence, "What visit?"

"The Court of Nightmares?" Nesta asked. Elain noticed the attempt at civility. She was using a softer voice than normal and even smiled at the female, "Everything went well?"

Everyone feigned confusion except for Amren and Feyre, who were simply entertained. Rhysand and Azriel were biting the inside of their cheeks hard.

Elain looked to Lucien, "I thought the visit was next week?" she sent a few images down their mating bond that made his heart skip a beat. Next week for them would be very fun.

"It is." Rhysand's grin was predatory as he took a long drink of his coffee. His eyes were fixed on Cassian, even as Feyre flashed her own smile to Nesta, "You're welcome.

Amren leaned over to sniff delicately at Elain's sister, "Not mated," she declared.

Rhysand kept his gaze locked on Cassian as he held out a hand. Grumbling, Mor, Feyre, Azriel, Lucien, and Amren piled coins into his waiting palm. When they were done, he turned and passed the money to the winner of their wager, Elain.

It was Mor who then leaned over to Lucien and took a long, hard sniff of his scent, "You don't smell much like autumn anymore, haven't you noticed?"

Elain thought her heart was going to stop. Lucien looked to her with wide eyes as realization settled in. They'd ignored all the signs, the truth of what had happened their first time together up on the grassy terrace. The words whispered by their bodies, the pact they'd sealed, the way Elain's smell had crashed over Lucien. Not from her release, but from theirs. Together. His scent had changed to one of roses and apples- as he'd once prayed it would were they to mate. The sheer duration of their coupling wasn't a feat in stamina, it was the mating frenzy thrusting them together.

"Mated!" Feyre declared in a sing-song voice. This time it was her and Azriel who accepted coins from a growling Rhysand, frustrated Amren, and broadly grinning Mor.

"Lucien?" Elain said softly, noting Nesta's chalk-white face. She was simply staring at Lucien, unnaturally still, and barely breathing.

"Yes?"

"Run."