Seeing a flash of Quinn’s onyx eyes in her thoughts, Ariana wondered if he’d felt everything that had happened between her and Lucca tonight through their Master’s Kiss. But squeezing her waist, Lucca smiled at her one last time before turning to his owl. Pulling his facewrap up, he gripped his owl’s feathers. And then he was hoisting himself up – so fast Ariana hardly saw him mount. As a whir of wings buffeted her, she watched the tawny owl lift off into the night. And though Lucca was gone, his kiss lingered as she moved back inside.
Shutting the glass doors as his brightness burned deep within.
CHAPTER 6 – EMOTIONS
Ariana was quiet as she descended the wrought-iron staircase back to the ground floor of Quinn’s suite. She wasn’t surprised he was there, returned from his study now that Lucca had departed. As she arrived, Quinn moved quietly to her, no longer wearing his jacket but in his black vest with his shirtsleeves rolled up. A more casual look than he normally indulged in, it caught Ariana’s attention – as if he was as tired as she at their situation with Lucca. As they came together, Quinn slid his long hands over her hips, and with a sigh, Ariana wrapped her arms solidly around him.
Plunking her cheek to his chest.
She felt Quinn startle to find her suddenly wrapped around him. But his arms came up around her now, holding her close in the night as she cuddled into him. Ariana’s emotions and magics felt spent after such a trying day; even though a sexy passion stirred deep inside her for Lucca and also to be this close to Quinn after so many weeks, it was a slow, exhausted thing. But she felt Quinn’s heart spark in steady beats now to be near her as his body warmed. With a sigh, he smoothed her temple with his lips.
Kissing her hair as they stood together.
“Are you alright, Ariana?” He spoke at last, low and kind in the depths of the night.
“I don’t know.” She answered honestly, feeling a dark sensation move through her from too many revelations. “It’s just been such a long day… I think my emotions are running on fumes.”
“We didn’t even have a chance to talk about your parents.” Quinn spoke quietly as a concerned energy roiled through him. “Would you like to?”
“Honestly? I think I just need a break.” Ariana answered as she felt true exhaustion run through her now from everything she had been surprised by today. “Can we table that until tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow we have an audience with a King,” Quinn chuckled softly as he held her close, “and then a pre-party with powerful Vampire allies and enemies in advance of the Meeting of the Havens. I do not think our lives will become less complicated in the next week, Ariana. And probably quite a lot more if we must manage the Summer Fae King, a Hotel full of conniving Master Vampires, and Lucca all at once.”
“Do you think we’re in trouble, meeting with King Bellari tomorrow?” Ariana asked with a dark worry now, though being in Quinn’s arms was helping her fret less.
“No. He will not ambush us a third time, not like he tried to at the palace three weeks ago, and again at the waterfall.” Quinn spoke with certainty as he held Ariana close, his aura sparking with crimson fire all around them. “Archivolio Bellari is a brute but he’s no fool; he knows I have ways of getting out of dire situations. We shall bring Devi and Curio tomorrow as insurance, for portaling out of a bad situation is easier with them nearby. But I think we will simply have a quiet, if extremely tense, chat tomorrow with the Summer Fae King.”
“King Bellari knows who you really are.” Ariana spoke then, recalling that Archivolio Bellari had used Quinn’s old Fae name at the waterfall three weeks ago. “Do you think he’d expose you?”
“He does not wish my true identity known.” Quinn smiled wryly at Ariana’s temple. “It would give me standing among the Masters for them to know I was once a Fae Prince. I keep my true identity hidden from other Vampires because I do not ever want them to know the extent of my powers, Ariana, for showing one’s hand among Vampire society is a dangerous game. If Archivolio told the Vampires, it would run counter to his agenda of tearing me down eventually. And if he told the Fae I was still alive, it might give them reason to doubt his Kingship. Technically, I am dead to the Fae now, but if they knew who I really was, I could still catch their ear.”
“You were beloved by the Summer Fae once, weren’t you?” Ariana asked as she looked up. “As Prince Valerio Incendari?”
“Yes.” Quinn said quietly as he glanced down at her, smoothing a lock of her hair back. “I was far more beloved than my father the King, just as Lucca is far more beloved to his people now than his father. Lucca and I were a duo to be reckoned with, and won the hearts of our people as righteous leaders and clever commanders during the War. But that all came apart when I became a Vampire. Though there are those who would still listen to me if they knew my true identity. Even a few who might recognize me… if I ever went to see them.”
“Would you use that, to push Lucca’s rebellion among the Summer Fae?” Ariana asked, curious as to just how far their tentative new alliance with Lucca might go.
“Perhaps.” Quinn answered wistfully as he stroked Ariana’s hair back again, then smiled. “But I can feel you are exhausted. Come. We should get you back to your rooms so you can get some sleep before our audience tomorrow.”
“Can’t I stay here with you tonight?” Ariana asked then, wrapping her arms around him more solidly as her magics curled around Quinn with a shimmer of rainbows, as if agreeing that she should spend the night.
“I do not… think that is wise.” He hesitated now, though she saw fire flash in his eyes, echoed by a blaze of heat in his aura.
“You’re avoiding being intimate with me. Why?” Ariana spoke bluntly now, needing answers as to why Quinn was keeping her at a distance ever since their Master’s Kiss. Their initial explosive sex when he’d saved her life had been followed by a deep, tender lovemaking in his bedroom loft just above where they stood now. But since then, he had not invited her back up once.
“I am curtailing intimacy these past weeks with you, yes.” Quinn admitted now as he gazed down at her and frowned. As his straight dark brows came together, she felt conflict swirl in him. “It has been a long time since anyone has been able to provoke such… strong emotional reactions in me. Only two people in my life have really ever made me feel thusly, before you. Lucca and one other.”
“You mentioned that strong emotions are seen as weakness in an older Vampire,” Ariana raised an eyebrow at him now. “Are you afraid of being seen as weak by other Masters when I’m around?”
“Not necessarily.” Quinn answered with an intense look now. “It is because I am feeling very…aliveemotions since we became bonded three weeks ago, Ariana. Lust. Passion. Jealousy. Need. Desire. Though I believe my Vampire powers have been waking your Vampiric energy strongly these past weeks, I believe I am… strangely enough, opening back up to my Summer Fae side because of you. Or at least, emotions I had trouble with when I was a young Vampire. And though they please me tremendously… they are more than I can allow. Right now.”
“Why?” Ariana blinked, cocking her head as she frowned. “Why can’t you allow yourself to have emotions around me, if they’re not harming your reputation?”
“You have to understand,” Quinn spoke soberly now as he cradled her, “a Master Vampire of my age loses most of their emotions over time. When we are first Sired, they make us wild things, obsessive and dangerous. Young, highly emotional Vampires are part of what give our Lineage a bad reputation. Most Masters lose their emotions over time, and eventually they can only be accessed when one wishes to. When a Master wishes to fight, they can channel rage; when they wish to be tender, they channel love, and so on. But a Master’s duty is to set their emotions aside so they can help their younger members mature and become more than the beast we all are at first.”
“So… are your emotions dangerous for us? For me?” Ariana asked with a sudden intuition as she watched him. With her magic’s truth-telling ability, she felt something not quite right about Quinn’s words – as if a darker truth lingered beneath them. Going still, Quinn closed his eyes at her question. His black lashes were so long and exquisite that Ariana drowned in them for a moment. It wasn’t until Quinn opened his eyes that she blinked.
Then blushed, knowing she’d lost time again.
