A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Pleasure and Pain, Love and Loss

Moans of pleasure fill the hotel room as they both hit their climax, spiraling over the edge. Panting hard, Eris rolls onto his back and breathes, smirking over at the blonde he thought he would never experience.

Mor groans. "Don't look so fucking smug. I was horny and you were here. Not to mention it was your fault my date left, so you owed me."

"Mhh, I didn't say a word. You are quite loud though aren't you?"

She smacks his chest and Eris lets out a hearty laugh. Her mouth curves up in a smile, unable to help the contagiousness of it. "You're the worst male in all of Prythian."

"I think that is an overstatement."

"I don't."

"Keir?"

"Aside from my father."

"Beron?"

"And your father!"

"Tamlin?"

"Okay, okay, maybe it's a slight overstatement, but ranking number four in the worst males in Prythian is not exactly something to be proud of."

"And where do I rank on the roster of good lays, mate?", he enunciates to get on her nerves.

Mor stays silent, refusing to answer as she gets up, a sheet wrapped around her body as she casts him a glare.

"Ah, I see."

"See what?", she snaps.

"So I rank number one then. Would make sense with the mate bond and all. And I knew that I blew your mind. You didn't stop all night. Or morning. All five—"

"Enough!"

That horridly confident smirk stays plastered to his face as his greenish brown eyes smolder in the sunlight of dawn.

"Fuck you."

"That's a good choice in wording. You've done so the last twelve hours as you begged for and rode my—"

"We both know what happened, okay!?"

"You don't have to be so brash, Morrigan."

"I'm...reeling. That I actually did that with you."

A look of hurt passes by his features for only a split second before his resolve is back. "Five times. Look, it's not like you don't sleep with other men for pleasure. And it's not like I don't sleep around with other females for pleasure either. The only difference is the damn bond, which you knew long before you willingly came into this room with me last night."

"I know that", she mutters and sighs, brushing hair from her face.

"But the bond isn't a replacement for...actual love. I've witnessed my parents and many other parents in Prythian fail and become terrible couples, bond or no. Mine included. I never wish you to be tied to me when I know you couldn't feel the way you need to about me, Mor. And in the privacy of these four walls, in front of you, because you need the same thing, I admit that it's only fair for both of us to want that. It's not fair that the Cauldron decided on us, and neither of us will ever be able to sever it. We know it doesn't work that way. But when you find the woman you're supposed to be with, you'll know. When I find the woman I'm supposed to be with...again...I'll know. And hopefully, the bond will lessen. Or at least that is the hope."

She swallows as she re-dressed, flushed but curious. "What do you mean, again?"

He blushes a bit and looks out the window. "There was a female once. She was...well, she was the one I wanted. It was karmically hilarious too because she wasn't a pureblood High Fae which meant that if my father found out..."