Quinn let Ariana feel it as he fucked her and drank her hard now, deep and vicious as they both lost control. She gasped and cried out as he thrust; as he let her feel a tirade of luscious pain now from his teeth piercing into her and his thick cock fucking her and his strong hand gripping her throat. His fingers twisted her nipple wrathfully and Ariana cried out in ecstasy as he thrust up into her again. And as his fingers spasmed on her throat, choking her, he bit down hard, giving her real pain as he thrust in to her core. It was pain and it was pleasure, and it was glorious as she screamed.
And then they were both coming, over and over – as their powers and bodies blazed out to the endless universe together.
Singing with Music in the night.
CHAPTER 21 – RED
Quinn and Ariana fell to the bed, gasping as he broke from her neck. As they shuddered on and on from their powerful lovemaking, their magics still diving through them from endless orgasms, she could see stars shining in her vision. The light of the sickle moon bathed them from the windows of her bedroom as their magics surged all around, singing with macabrely beautiful Music. Delight filled Ariana as she luxuriated with Quinn atop her, kissing her neck. Scalding, he breathed hard as they returned from the stratosphere, and she felt how fast and deep his heart beat. Like dark thunder in the night, every pound of his strangely living heart invigorated her as she smiled.
And he finally heaved aside – flopping onto his back and pulling her leg up over his thigh as he kissed her in exhausted delight.
“Such a woman!” Quinn murmured as their bodies pressed sweetly close now. Liberating the rucked-up duvet and covers, he drew them up – clearly staying the night, Ariana noted as she cuddled into him and kissed him. Smiling beneath her lips, Quinn kissed her lusciously back, his fangs retracted now as he palmed her waist with his strong hands. But his cock was still rock-hard, as if their amazing lovemaking, those multiple orgasms, and all that blood had only invigorated him more.
“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.” Ariana quipped, stroking his chest. “Though you’re pretty warm there, bucko. Got a fever?”
“Your blood makes me heat,” he murmured sexily as they kissed, “like a dark fire in the night. But you should rest now – even though you are Dark Fae and should recover fast, I still took a lot of blood. You may feel lightheaded in the next few days. Sorry, not sorry.”
It was Ariana’s turn to laugh as he used such a modern phrase, but she suddenly felt exhausted now that he’d mentioned it. As Quinn’s fingers gently perused her bite, she realized they smelled like the spicy Hotel unguent used to heal Vampire wounds; with a sigh she let him dab it on her, drifting in a beautiful place. As he finished smoothing his fingers over her skin, Ariana felt herself already sinking towards that lovely darkness where dreams flowed strange. As Quinn kissed her lips one last time, she heard him breathe, “Sleep, beloved. Sleep…”
And Ariana did – diving deep.
She didn’t know how long she’d slept, when she felt a presence in the room. All at once, she snapped awake in the night. Though she didn’t move from Quinn’s arms, still beside her as he slept with his chest rising and falling in slow waves, Ariana’s entire body prickled, knowing someone else was there. She was surprised Quinn hadn’t woken as his dark nimbus of power flowed serenely around the bed. But in the far corner of the room near a set of closed drapes, someone watched them; as Ariana lay awake with her heart pounding, she saw a glimpse of golden eyes.
And heard a voice in her mind.
Do not fear. I have merely come to see how you and your dark-summer Master are getting along after your event upon the bridge. Well, it seems.
As Ariana heard the gold-eyed Revenant’s voice in her mind, she also felt it smile, though she could not really see it. But even as a roaring fury heightened all through her, she found her powers didn’t manifest; as if they were dampened now from her incredible, exhaustive lovemaking with Quinn, not to mention Lucca’s blood still inside her veins.
Or else the gold-eyed Revenant had done something to contain her power; as Ariana sat up slowly in bed now, staring at the shadowy thing swirling in the corner, she noticed how Quinn still didn’t wake. As a terrible rage and fear prickled all through her, she knew the Revenant was keeping him asleep somehow, in addition to keeping her magic from blazing.
And the thought terrified Ariana to her bones as a black void churned deep inside her.
“Who are you?” Ariana shot back, speaking low as she hurled her words at the Revenant like daggers, Quinn still not waking.
A friend. Perhaps.It spoke as it watched her, unaffected by her fury.
“Why have you been watching me? What do you want?” Ariana asked it point-blank, knowing it had been stalking her ever since her conversation with her parents a few days ago. She had seen it across the avenue beneath the trees that day, she knew now – and three more times in the following days, including tonight.
Like your Vampire Master, I too have outcomes I wish to see in the world, Ariana.It spoke quietly as it stared at her with its searing golden eyes.And you are part of them. For I believe you three are finally the ones I seek – the Shadow Truth, the Blazing Heart, and the Righteous Fire.
“Me, Lucca, and Quinn?” Ariana returned, knowing the Summer Fae Royal Houses it mentioned though not why, or what it wanted with them.
But she saw it smile cunningly now as it became more substantial by the drapes, its dark shadows swirling into the shape of a tall man lingering by the windows.Patience, faeadonna. The time is not yet ripe for any of us. But we can… speed things along. I will see you again soon. And when I do, we shall have a longer talk, you and I. Farewell.
As if a man of shadows held her gaze in the darkness now, Ariana suddenly saw its eyes flare. One moment they were simply a luminous gold, and then they were flaming like suns exploding as a vicious sensation ripped through her. She knew it had done something to her; even as it swirled out by the drapes, gone, she felt a furious sensation cascade through her magics as her vision washed red. All of a sudden, Ariana was panting, her heart hammering in her chest. As the scent of her own blood in Quinn’s veins hit her, it made her turn like a rabid animal.
Fangs sliding out from her canines as she snarled.
Quinn was instantly awake. Sitting up fast, he seized Ariana’s shoulders before she could attack him, holding her still as she struggled, snarling and biting at him. She was like an animal, unleashed by whatever the gold-eyed Revenant had done to her; as Quinn snarled back with his eyes flashing crimson and his fangs matching hers, Ariana felt him hurl out a desperate mind-summons for help.
But Quinn’s call was not to his Dark Haven as his nimbus of power boiled all around him and massive darkfire wings sprouted from his back – matched by equally mighty wings of black rainbows seething from Ariana now. As he roared from the strain of holding her back from biting out his throat, she heard a wind in the hall outside her doors. And then Arturos Morregain and Lady Eiseth Pendragon were hurtling in – condensing down from ocean blue and opal grey wraith-smoke as they rushed to Quinn’s side.
Hauling Quinn and Ariana apart.
The sea roared through Ariana as Arturos seized her, holding her with the entire strength of the sea as Lady Eiseth wrangled Quinn backwards off the bed to safety. Heaving hard breaths naked on the floor, Quinn’s dark eyes were wide as he saw the animal Ariana had suddenly become; standing beside him in a dark blue Arthurian gown with her bright silver armor, Lady Eiseth gaped at Ariana like she had gone insane.
Dressed in his navy suit still, Arturos’ darkwater seas poured into Ariana as he held her and her eyelashes fluttered, a tremendous rush of energy arching her spine. Her rainbow-dark wings were terrible as they swirled in a hurricane-wind, Arturos manifesting enormous bonds of water for the second time tonight to pin her. As his watery binds wrapped around her ephemeral wings, holding her still, Quinn added his darkfire bonds, and Lady Eiseth added furious curls of opal-grey mist. But it took all three powers to hold Ariana.
