Page 71 of Dark Master's Redemption

I collapse into a chair—shaking my head as I heave a hard breath.

“Does battle always feel this way?” I glance at him, and see him pour us two stiff whiskeys from the small side bar in the guest suite, rather than wines.

“Always.” Coming to me, Lucca hands me my drink. We clink in a silent toast that all were saved this day.

Or most—as we down our glasses, drinking for both the living and the dead.

“Once the adrenaline fades and the searing heat of battle leaves you, and your magic is exhausted, you feel just awful.” Lucca chuckles now as he rakes a hand through his hair, finds it’s still slicked with gore from his owl’s greeting, and wrinkles his nose at it. “I can remember times I was left shaking like a leaf in a gale after battles in my youth. Falling asleep in my soup—though I had a nice feather bed to return to, and most didn’t even have that.”

“You and Quinn were in a lot of battles back then,” I observe. I think about Quinn and Lucca’s early-life history now, and how involved they were in the War of Rome, along with my parents.

“We were.” Lucca is sober as he pours again and we sip our drinks more responsibly. The whiskey warms my body, giving a bit of life to my limbs that feel like lead.

“Quinn and I fought in many battles against the Vampires, for the War of Rome lasted a long while.” Lucca eyes me. “Your mother was an excellent First Spear and battle-general, though, and your father was a maelstrom of magic when he headed up the Darkwatch in nearly every fight as their Tempest. We were in excellent hands. Seeing them in action again tonight made me remember how truly formidable they are. And feel hope, that we have Fae such as them on our side.”

“Not to mention Quinn’s Dark Fae, those Vampire-Giants Gunter Spielmann sent… and now thirty returned Revenants, all of whom are older than sin.” I shake my head, amazed. I don’t feel a lot from Quinn at the moment, only get the impression he’s somewhere safe, taking time to recuperate just like we are after all the revelations and battles today.

“Formidable assets, all.” Lucca’s bright blue gaze is faraway now, as he thinks about how we might use those assets in the coming weeks and days. It’s almost like Quinn, and I smile to see him adopt some of Quinn’s personality through our bond. I know for certain Quinn has developed more of Lucca’s blazing, beautiful heart recently.

As I feel balanced between them now—no more war in my heart.

“So what now?” I ask Lucca, as we take a quiet moment to regroup.

“Now, we rest.” Lucca gives me a pointed look as he drains his whiskey. “We need to clean up, eat, and get some sleep, Ariana. Quinn is finally in a safe place. He’s got the returned Revenants on his side now inside the Hotel, and we’ve just fought off the Vampire Council’s horde, so they’re going to take a moment to regroup. We need to do the same. One can’t fight any more battles if one hasn’t rested. So we will rest now. And face battle tomorrow, or the next day… or however long we take to complete our plan to invade, now that the first part has been accomplished.”

“You sound just like Quinn.” I chuckle, smiling at him. “It feels good to have you both on the same side. Not tearing me apart with your contention anymore.”

“I’m sorry we did that. Truly.” Lucca takes my hand, though it leaves us both bloodied. “I now know the value of working with all Quinn’s plots and plans, rather than against him. And I love him. And lovers shouldn’t fight like that.”

“But they still do.” I smile wryly, knowing that our trio’s problems haven’t been solved, not by a long shot, though we’ve made good strides in the past weeks.

Working together and loving each other—at last.

I feel Quinn open up to us then, from where he rests far away. Clean, finally, I feel him laying in a bed of black silk, softly lit musical instruments of many centuries glowing all around him. He’s listening to music; Beethoven, as he reaches out to sip a wine now and again. I feel Quinn’s dark inner fire rise to the beauty of his surroundings, to the clean softness of the silk sheets he’s laying in, to the passion of the music, and the perfect, complex flavor of the wine. He takes a bite of chocolate, and I feel an aphrodisiac cordial explode all through him. Quinn sighs, and I’m suddenly on fire with lust at that sigh.

Feeling my dark Master revel and enjoy life again—and relax.

“Quinn’s recuperating.” Lucca chuckles, as he gets everything I’m getting through our connection. “We should do the same. A bite of food first so we don’t pass out in the shower, then it’s the bathroom for us.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” I stand, albeit shakily, as Lucca lends me his arm.

We make our way to the table, and I eat from the leftovers still there from our dinner earlier. I haven’t felt this ravenous in my life; I don’t even pause to chew as I stuff my face and swallow, again and again. Lucca laughs as he does the same, both of us reveling in the joy of eating, and being alive.

Once we’ve had our fill, we head for the bath. It’s a shower first, because both of us are covered in gore. Our clothing needs to be burned, so we step into the glass-walled shower clothed, then strip everything away to lie sodden on the floor as we get naked.

Rivulets of blood and gorier things wash away from us as the hot water soothes our muscles and souls. As Lucca scrubs his hair and body thoroughly, then heaves a deep sigh, rinsing all the soap away under the shower’s stream, I echo it. He trades me and I soap up like crazy, including all my hair as I revel in my mother’s sweet almond, honey, and lavender soap. It leaves me squeaky clean yet magically moisturized as I shake out my limbs, getting the last of my battle-fever out.

Then Lucca and I step from the shower and head to the tub.

We don’t make it. Even as we leave the shower’s flow, the look in Lucca’s eyes makes me stop in my tracks. Because his gaze is so hot, so scorching after what we just survived, that it makes everything tingle and clench inside me.

I’m just jumping him then, right here in the bathroom like an animal. We fall to the bathroom rug in all our naked glory, and Lucca pins me down on my back, his blue eyes blistering.

After the heat of battle, we don’t wait for foreplay; hauling my leg up over his naked hip, Lucca finds me—him hot and hard and me deliciously wet—and thrusts, deep into me.

Lucca is hard and full, and I gasp as he takes me. Setting our foreheads together and kissing as we both cry out, he starts a strong, deep rhythm inside me. I rock to him, gripping and arching as my fatigue is banished.

We rut on the large bathroom rug, finding a deep rhythm now as Lucca fucks me. He’s always taken his time before; but this is hot and hard, needful as we both revel in being alive right after such a formidable battle. I never knew sex could be so good; Lucca does, though, as a renegade heat blazes in his eyes and he takes me like a wild thing now.

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