#quinlar

I could see a similar scene with Gwyn and Azriel. Azriel doesn't seem to love the torture job. He would rather play in the snow and sing.

“Bryce taking Hunt’s phone 🤣🤣🤣”

“Bryce and Hunt better end up together.” (I replied with my lips are sealed. She replied back with an angry emoji)

“The oracle telling Hunt to stay away from Bryce 😦😦😦.”

*sends me a fan art of Hunt* “Casual Hunt! OMG!” (We gushed over Hunt)

She got to the scene where Hunt fixes Bryce’s earmuffs and says “I wouldn’t want your ears to get blown out.” Her automatic response “but what about her back?” (I told her Bryce might get her back blown out during some part of this series. I did specify who by. She went “Hell yeah!”)

She informed me that she has reserved a hold for HOSAB because she’s definitely reading the second one :)

I asked her who her favorite SJM male character is. She says “Hunt.” Followed by Cassian and Lucien (we’re besties for a reason. I tell her Hunt is built different.)

We talk a little bit about the gun range scene. She says that Hunt is obviously getting hot and bothered. I told her he might get even more so, so she has motivation to continue. She says she has plenty of motivation but time is her issue. (Which fair.)

I told her she was pretty close to my Roman Empire of SJM scenes (I didn’t tell her what chapter but told her it’s my favorite scene SJM has written. And yes it is the shower scene. I can’t wait to see her reaction to it.)

-She says that she suspects that Sabine is the killer. I do love hearing everyone theories when they first read it. I surprisingly got it right my first read through because I’ve read quite a few mystery thrillers and it just made sense to me.

-“Hunt and Ruhn are about to fight.” (Proceeds to show her more fan art of the two so she can have more mental images. She claims they’re both hot as hell.)

-She thinks Hunt is hot when angry. I proceed to show her fanart of Hunt as the Umbra Mortis her response “Oh my God.” (We fangirl over his attractive Hunt is)

-She loves Lehabah’s crush on Hunt and Bryce’s 🍆 joke. I tell her we’re all Lehabah here.

-She loves Hunt and Lehabah’s conversation and tears up when she finds out what Bryce did for Syrinx.

-I ask her how she’s liking the book so far and she tells me that at first she didn’t think she would like it but after chapter 5 the book is really fast paced and she likes it.

-We take an importu break to discuss drinks.

“Something sparked in Azriel’s chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to  the House proper. How Gwyn’s teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason… he could see it.  

But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.”

Sarah wrote these at the same time 🥹

—Bryce Quinlan x Hunt Athalar

Summary: domestic quinlar with a lil surprise at the end🥹

Author’s note: Honey is so Quinlar coded, it’s insane

When I hear Hunt’s footsteps, my nervous system quells to a happy purr. Like my body has just woken up from a cozy nap. Like my body knows we’re at peace when his keys jingle in the hallway. 

Syrinx stirs from his nap bed and does an excited little trot.

I reach down and scratch his ears, smiling. 

“Daddy’s home.” I whisper to our little monstrosity.

If I felt at ease just hearing my mate in the doorway, having him step through the threshold suspends any ache, any stress, any anxiety, and launches it entire solar systems away. 

The Umbra Mortis is a creature of habit. He shuts the door, then checks our security system. Twice. He deposits his keys in the bowl, reaches down to unlace his boots, and leaves them in our shoe bin (per my request that he doesn’t track dirt through our nice white carpets), and then he makes his way to me.

A heavy hand rests on my shoulder and his lips graze my forehead. His dulcet whispers send waves of calm and excitement through my body in equal measure.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

I respond by tossing my phone onto the couch, reaching behind me and grabbing his cheeks to bring him down to my level for a deeper kiss. Every single time we do this, it’s like the first time. All electricity. 

“Finally.” I say when I finally release him. “We were going crazy waiting for you.”

Hunt strokes my jaw with his thumb and presses a few apologetic kisses to my lips. Then reaches down and pats Syrinx as well. I try to hide my ‘humph’ at my dog getting more attention than me but the side eye Hunt gives me 

“The rain was too heavy to fly. Had to walk for a bit. But I brought you home a surprise to make up for it because I knew you’d be ticked at me for missing the first 10 minutes of Fangs & Bangs.” He holds up a white take-out bag and my heart does a million tiny flips. 

I squeal happily and start digging through the food for my spicy noodles. 

“This is EXACTLY what I was craving, how did you know?!” 

Hunt chuckles and sheds his wet coat and shirt while I remove all the containers and lay them out family style. I grab the red one with the three peppers printed on the side. Extra extra spicy. AKA the Bryce Quinlan special. 

“Because you’ve wanted spicy noodles twice already this week.” Hunt rounds the couch and sits beside me. His arms wrap around me and suddenly, all is right with the world. There is no conflict, no angst, no suffering. “And because I know my mate.” 

He peppers me with kisses and I bat him away only because I want to eat. I’ll have him for dessert. 

“Alright, so let me catch you up. Remember the plot twist from the last episode? Well, turns out it was a fake-out and Serellia wasn’t actually sabotaging Mika, but was trying to help her—” 

I pause with my noodles raised halfway to my mouth when I see Hunt staring at me. Not the way he usually stares, but with a primal undertone. This isn’t Orion Athalar, this is the Umbra Mortis.

“What?” 

“I just never thought I’d get here.” 

I don’t have to press. I know precisely what he means. Years of slavery, servitude, and unending unhappiness made Hunt believe he would never experience true contentment. For awhile, I thought that would be my life too. And yet, through it all, we have this. He comes home to me every single day. We share the same bed, the same address, the same life. The mail comes to both of us. We’ve finally made it. We share a good, happy life together. 

I pull him into another kiss. 

“Don’t make me have to jump your bones right now. I’m hungry and I want to watch my show first.” 

“Fair enough.” Hunt laughs and we settle in to watch the episode. It goes off way too fast but neither of us bothers to adjourn to the bedroom so we settle for watching a bunch of reality game shows after the fact. I’m damn near falling asleep on his chest when he pipes up, more nervous than I’ve seen him in ages. 

“Okay, I need to chose my words very carefully here…” 

I glare at my mate.

“I will get you anything you want forever. But… can we have something fibrous for dinner tomorrow?”

Somehow, he did choose his words exactly right. I don’t feel offended. Hunt loves sodium-rich food as much as I do but we both try for a balance. And if it means he cooks and I don’t have to, I’m game.

“You’re asking the wrong person.” I tell him in a sing-song tone. 

Hunt hums and leans down, resting his head in my lap. He presses a few kisses to my stomach. 

“Hi in there. I know you have a taste for spicy food, but I want you and Mommy to be as healthy as you can be. Can I cook us a three-course meal with meat and roasted potatoes and a salad with pomegranate vinaigrette?” 

I roll my eyes. My mom got Hunt one cook book for Solstice and suddenly, he’s a gourmet chef. But our baby must not have inherited my temper because she does a happy little flip inside of me. 

“She says yes. But only if you also promise to make chocolate lava cake for dessert.” 

Hunt grins against my shirt and presses a kiss there.

“How could I deny my girls anything they ask for?” 

The big bad Umbra Mortis. A whipped girl dad. It feels right.

“Speaking of which—” I grab my laptop from the coffee table and show Hunt. “I just bought her a designer bag! Well, you did. You left your card on the table and I couldn’t find mine. And matching shoes and matching bow adornments for the crib.” 

Hunt just smiles at me like he couldn’t be happier to spend every coin on our family. 

“Did you get the matching little hoodie too? That’s cute.” 

I turn the screen back toward me and squeal. 

“How did I not see that?!” 

We stay up for a little longer, shopping and talking and planning. For our future that we finally get to live.