Throne of Glass & A Court of Thorns and Roses: Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 25-Aelin

I felt the bed shift under me and I opened my eyes to find Rowan gone. I focused intently to try and pick up any noise that would indicate where he could be. I finally heard him talking to Rhysand and I was put at ease. Seeing that I could no longer sleep, I climbed out of bed, feeling sticky all over, the scent of blood stinging in my nose. I decided to take a quick bath before Rowan came back.

I walked into the bathroom that was attached to the room and gawked at the size of the bath. It could easily fit about four people side by side. Opting to do something quicker, I hopped into the shower instead. I managed to take the quickest shower of my life and tip toed back into the room after changing into night clothes. I found Rowan sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, his shoulders tense.

I made my way to him and stopped right on the side of him. Slowly sitting on the bed beside him, I brought his hands down from his face. "What's wrong?" I asked him softly, and I notice the dampness around his eyes. He shook his head and turned away from me, rubbing the tears away from his eyes. This had been such an emotional few days for both of us, but I had never seen Rowan act like this before.

I let out a breath through my nose and grabbed his shoulders and turned him towards me. "Will you please tell me what is wrong?" I asked him again, this time more insistently.

"Fireheart," he breathed, bringing a hand up to my face, his fingers grazing my cheek. In the faint light coming through the window, I could see the apology written on his face.

"Everything is fine Rowan, it all turned out okay. You don't have to worry about it anymore," I said as another tear crept from his eye and I brushed it away with my thumb.

He turned his face to gently kiss the inside of my palm and whispered, "I said I would protect you and today, I let my emotions get the better of me and I let you put yourself in danger. For that, I am truly sorry."

I slid my hands over his scarred chest and gently caressed the back of his neck, running one of my hands through his silver hair. I saw his gaze darken and he moistened his lips. I leaned my forehead onto his and we were both silent for a few moments before I felt Rowan's hands snake up around my waist and to the middle of my back.

He tightened his grip and moved closer to me, placing his lips softly on mine. I could taste the salt from where his tears had been and I made the kiss deeper. The heat between our lips made a soft moan escape from my mouth. Rowan opened his mouth with mine and our tongues clashed, as tangled as our hands were in each other's hair.

Rowan released his hold only to pick me up and eased me onto the bed. I could hear his heart beating faster in erratic patterns and feel his skin heating under my hands. The hot friction between us was becoming unbearable.

I wrapped my legs around the back of his, needing to be closer to him. I could feel every inch of skin that his hands touched, burning with every touch. I moved in sync with his movements and could practically hear his thoughts, they were not the kind that you would say around other people.

I felt his hands running along my sides, and stop just on my waist. He started to kiss me more excruciatingly slow, as if trying to convey how he felt through that one kiss. He pulled back just a fraction so I could see his eyes. His fingers were making slow patterns just above the dip of the back of my nightgown, and I closed my eyes.

"Don't close your eyes, Fireheart," he whispered into my ear. I slowly opened my eyes to find his fixed intently on me, his gaze flicking to my lips. I slowly brought my lips down upon his again, gently nibbling on his lower lip. He responded with equal passion that made my hands tremble as I brought them up to his hair once again. His hands were cupping my face, his thumbs sweeping across my cheek bones. He pulled away and put a finger on my chin, lifting it up so that my neck was bared to him. He slowly brought his mouth down on the exposed flesh and started to bite down, hard enough to leave a mark for tomorrow.

We both pulled away from each other suddenly when we heard a voice from the other side of the wall.

"Would you two keep it down. By the wyrd, we tried to be quiet so you two could sleep!" Aedion said, I heard Lysandra gasp.

I stared at Rowan in mortification. I brought my head down, my face buried in my hands, embarrassment flooding through me. Rowan let out a throaty laugh and took my hands away from my face.

He winked at me with a smirk and said, "oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that Aedion, I could hear you loud and clear while I was in the hall." I could imagine Aedion's face now, red with embarrassment as he spluttered out an excuse.

I touched the end of Rowan's hair and whispered, "Your hair is growing out."

"Yeah, well. You said you missed my long hair, and it's getting colder," he said rubbing the back of his neck.

In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to tell him that he was my mate. That we were mates, but something told me that I'd need to wait a bit longer, to wait until he realized it for himself. Until then, I could do nothing but pretend that nothing had changed between us-when in reality, so much was different and I had a feeling it would change even more in the days to come.

"But you said short hair was better for fighting," I pointed out.

"Don't use my own words against me. Anyone who fights me is dead either way," he said arrogantly.

I let out a laugh and buried my face on his chest, and drifted off to sleep. I heard Rowan muttering "I love you so much," to me over and over, and I tried to find comfort. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the image of the life leaving Rowan's eyes out of my mind.