Summary: Kenna and Diavolos spend a night out with their friends. Utter fluff and affectionate, tipsy Diavolos.
Kenna rarely goes out drinking. She’ll sometimes indulge in a drink at home with Diavolos, and occasionally with Val, but she almost never goes to the pubs. But Sei and Dom are getting married, Val has finally managed to annoy Sei enough that she’s agreed to go out to celebrate, and Annelyse is in Stormholt to help train some of the new healers. It took Val and Annelyse very little effort to convince Kenna to come out, since she and Diavolos have been tied up with meetings and negotiations for days, and they’re both going a little stir-crazy.
Dom, Diavolos, Raydan, and Jackson are all going out too, and Val scowls at them as they head out of the castle together, a few guards trailing close behind.
“You can’t go to the same pub,” Val declares.
“And why not, Valentina?” Raydan asks.
“Don’t call me that,” Val says irritably. “And because. We’re celebrating people getting married. They can’t see each other acting foolish. Might change their minds.”
“Val!” Annelyse scolds her.
“I will not be acting foolish,” Sei declares.
“I might,” Dom announces cheerfully.
“Please do not,” Sei says, but Kenna can see her hide a smile.
“What about you?” Kenna teases Diavolos as they walk together. “Will you be acting foolish?”
Diavolos snorts out a laugh. “Maybe when we get home and I have you alone,” he says suggestively, wrapping his arm around her waist and yanking her in close.
Kenna grins. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“When you two are done making kissy faces, we’re here,” Val calls back at them.
Diavolos kisses her purposely, his hand cupping the back of her neck, though he keeps it chaste since they’re out in public.
“Seriously,” Val mutters.
“I’ll see you later, my love,” Diavolos tells Kenna as the groups head in opposite directions.
It’s an enjoyable evening, Sei begrudgingly having a few drinks and letting loose a little (well, loose for Sei, anyway, Kenna observes), Val loudly challenging multiple people to outdrink her, Annelyse and Kenna watching them in amusement. Kenna drinks just enough to feel a little tipsy, but not enough to lose her wits.
“So, how is Diavolos?” Annelyse asks.
Kenna smiles happily, sipping her drink. “He’s great.”
Annelyse laughs. “You two are cute.”
“I’ll make sure to tell Diavolos that,” Kenna jokes.
“You’re really happy with him, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Kenna says, and she doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol or thinking about Diavolos that makes the smile on her face grow wider. “He’s just…nothing like I expected, and everything I didn’t even know I wanted and needed.”
She flushes as she thinks about last night, the commanding way he’d made love to her and then held her all night as they slept. Kenna loves the way he takes control but will relinquish it to her when she wants it, the way he’s so confident and self-assured but will let his vulnerable side show when they’re alone, the ways he tells her and shows her how much he loves her and how grateful he is for her. She really is unbelievably happy, and knows she’ll never get enough of him.
Kenna laughs, shaking herself out of her thoughts. “Who would have thought I’d end up in love with and married to a Nevrakis?” she muses.
“I can safely say probably no one saw that coming,” Annelyse smiles.
~~~~~~~~~~
When they get back to the castle later, Kenna is pleasantly warm and relaxed as Diavolos leads her to their chambers. She leans on him, giggling at his slightly flushed face. Diavolos grins, swooping her up and carrying her into their bedroom. Her face splits into a yawn as they undress, Diavolos staring at her unabashedly when she’s bare before him.
“You should sleep naked,” he says, stilling her hand as she reaches for her nightgown.
His arms go around her waist and he bends his head down to nuzzle his lips across her neck.
“It gets cold,” she protests, gliding her fingers across the wide expanse of his back and shoulders as he holds her.
His skin is warm, and she can faintly taste the lingering flavor of the whiskey on his lips when he tilts her chin up to kiss her.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he murmurs, brushing his tongue over her mouth until she opens up to him with a sigh.
She loves how sweet and affectionate he gets when he’s been drinking a little, even though he always shakes his head and tells her “sweet” is not a word that should be used to describe him.
Diavolos kisses her again and again, his hands trailing over her back and hips. He lifts her up easily after a few minutes and carries her to the bed, looming over her after he lays her down. She smiles at the affectionate look on his face when he brushes her hair back.
“What?” he asks, then playfully scowls at her as he says, “You better not be thinking about calling me sweet again.”
“I would never,” she says with mock disbelief.
“Good.”
“I was going to tell you that Annelyse called us cute tonight.”
“Cute?” Diavolos says indignantly.
“Mmm,” she confirms.
She grins, patting his cheek while he stares down at her. “You are pretty cute.”
Diavolos scowls. “I’m not cute.”
“Adorable?” Kenna teases.
He raises an eyebrow warningly, pinning her hands over her head, leaning down until his lips are just over hers.
“No,” he disagrees.
She lifts her head up to kiss him and he pulls back, grinning at the frustrated noise she makes.
“Good looking?” she suggests.
“That’s better,” he allows, leaning back down.
“Handsome,” she offers, running her foot down the back of his calf, smiling at the slight way he squirms.
“Even better,” Diavolos murmurs, releasing her hands and brushing his lips over her neck.
“My husband,” she sighs, and Diavolos groans.
“That’s the one,” he says in a low voice, and finally brings his mouth to hers, his kiss filled with such love and desire that it makes her breath catch, her fingers running over the nape of his neck and up into his hair.
“I love you,” he says gruffly when they finally pull apart, flushed and panting.
“Even when I call you sweet?” she can’t help but ask him teasingly.
Diavolos chuckles, gripping her hair tightly as he leans down to kiss her again. “Even then.”