“A Vampire spy need only open their mind to communicate to their Master over distance if they are strong enough, Ariana.” Quinn warned her with a knowing look. “And you can bet that my enemies on the Council have strong spies stationed here in Florence… to make report upon just such an occurrence as this.”
“Great.” Ariana sighed hard, picking up her whiskey and taking a long drink. “So what do we do?”
“First, you should rest.” Quinn spoke kindly now, his previous intensity easing somewhat as he gave a gentle smile. “We can do nothing until you are recovered, as preoccupation with worries will only make the power of the Night rise harder within you.”
“So I’m back under house arrest again, plus bedrest now. Fantastic.” Ariana snarked, feeling depressed as she set her whiskey glass aside.
But as Quinn swirled his whiskey in its crystal glass, a sudden glint came into his lovely dark eyes. Pausing, he inhaled as he blinked a few times; and Ariana felt it as his gaze moved over her again, reading her aura more deeply this time. Whatever he saw in it made the smallest smile curl the edges of his lips; he took a catlike sip of his whiskey as he finally spoke. “Not… necessarily. I believe I may have another way for you to rest and recuperate tonight, so we can control your bloodlust. If you feel up for it, of course.”
And the way Quinn said it, teasingly sexy plus indescribably subtle all at once made Ariana’s breath catch as she glanced to him. Suddenly, her heart was pounding in her chest not from fear or worry anymore but with a darker, more decadent sensation as she raised her eyebrows at him. “What do you mean?”
“Lucca’s magic pours through your veins tonight, Ariana, balancing you towards the Light.” Quinn elaborated now, that dark glint still in his eyes as his power roiled slowly all around him, subtly decadent. “Before you were experiencing bloodlust, you were obsessing over something else… and I believe we could give youroriginalobsession some of the reprieve you’ve been looking for tonight. Rather than having your obsession turn to bloodlust – which it didn’t do until your needs were three weeks denied.”
“You’re talking about sex, aren’t you? You’re talking about you and I having sex. In person.” Ariana breathed now as her eyes widened, finally understanding what Quinn was getting at. As she realized it, her heart lurched in her chest, but definitely not in a bad way.
“I do not believe if we engaged in…intimacytonight, it would go as disastrously awry as it has these past few days. Since Lucca’s blood moves through you, it is essentially controlling both our bloodlusts tonight through our Master’s Kiss. Would you like to try?” Quinn asked with a decidedly carnal glint in his eyes now as he set his whiskey aside.
“I mean yes, but—” Ariana argued, worried though something deep inside her leapt at the idea.
“Trustme, Ariana.” Quinn spoke as he reached up now, stroking her cheek with his knuckles tenderly. “One does not become a six hundred year old Master Vampire without learning a few things about metaphysics. Please, let me try to appease your lusts tonight. You exploded with bloodlust at the party yesterday and tonight upon the bridge because I have denied you your other strong lust these past weeks – for us to be together, in the flesh. We want each other, Ariana, and my need for you is pushing your obsessions just as much as your need for me is. If it does not work, we shall try something else, but—”
“I trust you.” Ariana breathed suddenly, knowing it was true despite everything happening between their magics.
And something so beautiful, so needful lit in Quinn’s eyes then that her breath caught. Quinn was pure desire as he clasped her hand to his heart, beating now as she felt his emotions flow through their bond. He was frightened. He wanted this so badly, but their first lovemaking during their Master’s Kiss had been so potent, so explosive and wild that he was afraid of losing control like that again and hurting Ariana, or terrifying her.
But they couldn’t deny their passions for each other any longer – it was growing far too dangerous with Ariana’s bloodlust spiking from his and her denied physical needs. Quinn was presenting them with a possible solution tonight, as she felt the steadiness of Lucca’s bright power still moving through her. And she saw that knowledge shining in Quinn’s eyes now.
Telling her things would work out tonight if she and he gave in.
“Please. Be my lover tonight.” Quinn spoke quietly as he cradled her hand to his chest. “I know you have been through a lot today already, but I truly do believe this could help. I wouldn’t even suggest it unless I thought it could give us both… a little of what we need in this emergency.”
“What about Lucca?” Ariana asked as she searched his gaze. “Are you sure you’re not just wanting to be with me tonight because you’re jealous that I spent the day with him… and drank his blood for my first feeding rather than yours?”
“I am jealous, Ariana,” Quinn admitted then as he gazed down at her, though something more was in his eyes now as he smoothed his hand over hers. “But… I am jealous of you both. Of you spending time with him—”
“And him spending time with me.” Ariana suddenly understood as she clasped Quinn’s hand to her chest. “You’re jealous of us both spending time together… without you.”
“Yes.” Quinn answered honestly, though his brows knit as if it was a hard thing to admit. “You’re both a part of me, from that day we all came together in the Pitti Palace. I’ve never loved two people like this before… but deep inside I know it’s the truth. Which your magic is making me tell you now, though I do not wish to admit it. Others have come and gone, but Lucca has been my one constant – the man who frustrates and infuriates me, and bleeds me deep in my heart in a way no other has ever touched. Fate is drawing us all together; I see how you are developing love for him and I both, and Lucca is falling for you. And tonight with his blood rushing through you, in a way, if you and I come together…”
“It’s almost like all three of us being together.” Ariana understood with wide eyes now as she watched Quinn. “You really wouldn’t make me choose between him or you, would you?”
“Never.” Quinn spoke quietly as he watched her with a beautiful gaze. “Because as much as I hate to admit it, Ariana, I love Lucca as much as you are beginning to.”
And it was so beautiful, so tender an admission that Ariana hitched a breath as relief poured all through her. Suddenly, words came that she felt were right to say with this beautiful sharing moving between her and Quinn tonight, and everything that she had experienced with Lucca today. “Lucca still loves you, you know. He didn’t say as much, but I saw it today. He never stopped loving you. Even when he was furious at you.”
As Ariana watched, her statement lit Quinn up like suns blazing. Lifting her hand to his lips, he pressed it with a kiss as a deep passion moved between them in the night. As if even the possibility that Lucca still cared for him had opened something vast inside Quinn, he gazed at her with an illuminated fire in his dark eyes now, making Ariana’s breath catch as he cradled her hand to his chest.
“I vex Lucca.” Quinn spoke softly now, his gaze intense. “He has hated me for years because of what I had to be to survive in Vampire culture. He doesn’t know about how Emiliana treated me.”
“Actually… he kinda does now.” Ariana spoke with chagrin as she flushed. “I sort of… unleashed my magic on him this morning. And your memory from last night went with it.”
Quinn’s eyebrows climbed his face as he stared at Ariana in shock. All at once, he had retreated from his passionate state until he was like the marble statue version of himself that she had detested when they’d first met. “Those were not your memories to share, Ariana Summers.”
“I know, I’m sorry!” She spoke quickly before he could become too coldly statuesque on her tonight, pulling away from their intimacy. “I was simply thinking that Lucca needed to know the truth about what you’d been through, to temper his anger with you. He only saw what you allowed him to see, Quinn. He only saw you becoming a monster. He didn’t know the truth you hid until today. All I was thinking was that he needed to know… and my magic did the rest.”
“I tried to protect him from it. I didn’t want him to know because I didn’t want him to try anything that would get him killed by Emiliana.” Quinn spoke softly now, his gaze faraway as he stared into the night beyond Ariana’s tall windows. As he gradually thawed, she felt a deep heart-opening happen inside him through their connection. As she felt it, she suddenly noticed that Quinn was searching her memories via their bond. Inhaling, his eyes shone suddenly with unshed tears. “He cried when he saw my memory. Lucca cried… over me.”
“He did.” Ariana spoke tenderly now, winding her fingers through Quinn’s. Looking down, he gazed at their entwined hands with such a beautiful wistfulness that her heart nearly broke.
