Boom. Boom. Boom.

Sera's ears are filled with a thudding sound, and she wakes with a start. Was she back in that arena?

There was definitely some trauma of drumbeats gained after the duel. The rhythmic beating made her heart leap to her throat.

Sera lifts her head, and the thudding fades. It was only a bad dream.

But why did her body feel so comfortable. The morning air was still cool, but the lumpy heater under her body made her body feel nice and toasty.

Also, she could feel something inside of her. Something that got bigger and burning hotter inside of her with each movement she made.

As she patted the lumpy warm mattress that she laid on, eyes still blurry with sleep and blinking the drowsiness away from her eyes, her body tensed as she realized where she was, and what exactly was making its presence known inside of her.

That thudding sound was Lucien's heartbeat, beating strong, pulsing beats to her ear.

Lucien and Sera were both naked, Sera sprawled on top of Lucien, head on his chest.

Oh God. Hopefully she didn't drool on him.

Lucien groaned underneath her.

He'd been awake since her first movements waking up, enjoying the weight of her lying on her chest. Unwilling to withdraw from her, Lucien had been connected with Sera as she fell asleep from exhaustion. Their lovemaking had lasted until the faint morning sunlight began to glimmer into the room.

While Sera was still asleep, Lucien stared at the gilded gold ceiling, one arm behind his head, thinking long and hard about how to keep Sera from saying that this was another mistake.

There was one thing his experiences in battle told him. A good defense is a good offense.

Anything was better than hearing Sera call the beauty they created together another mistake.

He put his plan into motion.

Before Sera could get any words out...

He rolled Sera under him, flipped her over like she was as light as a feather, and took her from behind.

All with one arm. This man was a beast.

Sera bites the silk sheets, her body getting hotter with each stroke. Lucien peppers kisses down her spine, all the way to her buttocks, which he squeezes,
enjoying her tender skin molding itself to his hand.

Lucien was at his limit. He tests the waters, moving his hips back and forth. Light, circling strokes. Hard, bone-rattling pounding. It made Sera's body shake like a leaf, her body dripping wet and vision blurring.

Rearing back into his movements which pushes her body deeper into the bed, Sera takes in his desire for her. They don't speak at all. Extreme ecstasy washig over them. Sera, head thrown back, meeting his every thrust, and Lucien, his muscled body enveloping hers, lightly biting at her arched throat.

His hands squeezed under her hips and up, massaging her soft breasts and flicking the tips.

Sera let him do what he wanted.

Something was different with this morning's lovemaking.

The strange sweetness from the night before was gone, faded away under the bright sunshine like the morning mists in a forest.

On the large mattress, the two exchange sensations of the body. Their minds, so far, but yet so close to each other. Both longing to share the love they had for each other, but not knowing how.

Lucien rammed himself into Sera's willing body, his mind full of pain, and anger at himself from holding back, unable to say three little words.

The three words Icaros urged him to tell Sera. Especially now, when she's come back.

These words that he'd said to her so many times in what felt like a lifetime ago, but didn't work. Sera had never responded in kind to him to the three little words.

She hadn't wanted to stay for him then.

Would the words have any impact on Sera now?

He couldn't say. Lucien was too scared to try. Him, who could take down any number of enemies with his bare fists, scared of the small petite girl who sighed under him.

She utterly frightened him. More than any Azark commander and their famous torturing techniques. More than even his own father when he was a young boy.

Sera had that much power over his heart. If she left again, he knew he would utterly break in to tiny, unsalvageable pieces.

So he prayed that with his own body, he could silently share his I love you's with her. It was the only thing he could do now.

He growls out other words he didn't have the courage to say before, when he first took her.

Icaros had yelled at him, "If you can't say I love you, at least tell her about the marriage!"

Giving her juicy buttocks another squeeze, he slows his pace. Sera still ripples around him, tight, testing his control.

Licking his lips, he says it.

"Sera, I'm not going to marry anyone but you, and I'm not going to give you up. Forget about the marriage, now.."

A tear unknowingly rolls down the corner of Sera's cheek, staining the sheet under her. Lucien doesn't see it, since she's faced away from him.

This horrible, wonderful man. She loved him, but couldn't stand him. Why was he saying something like this to her, now of all times.

She doesn't respond to him. Instead, she arches and throws her hair back, moaning, moving her hips forward and back, inviting him to keep taking her.

Their sweaty skin makes lewd noises, as Lucien pummels her vigorously, making Sera tremble.

Grunting, Lucien takes her faster licking her salty skin, and Sera feels dizzy, finding her release. Finally, her womb feels jets of warm heat, spraying inside her.

When he finally pulls out, she's overflowing with his essence, the sheets under them a complete mess.

She misses the slight stroke Lucien gives her stomach, over the faint stretch marks.

Her body was full of fatigue, unable to keep up with Lucien's stamina.

Taking the pleasure from each other, but both feeling unsatisfied, they silently finish, breathing heavily, and get up, helping each other dress, preparing for the day.

————

Lucien sweeps her trailing hair over her shoulder as he carefully buttons her dress back up.

Staring straight ahead at nothing, Sera finally speaks into the heavy air.

"I....I can only be your mistress until you get married."

No response.

"Free me, once you are married."

A pregnant silence. The tension was thick enough to
cut with a knife.

"Please, promise me, Lucien"

Sera's face feels tight. Unable to express what she's feeling inside.

Clasping a hand on each delicate shoulder, Lucien gently turns Sera to face him. Looking at her square in the face, his brows furrowed with a dignified determination,

"I will not be married to another woman. So such a promise is meaningless.......I...."

He trails off, the last words still unable to escape his closed up throat.

Lucien gives her a long, sweetly tender kiss instead.

For the first time - Sera put her arms around Lucien, arms over his broad back, and accepts the kiss.

Her mind was made up. She would be his mistress, for a limited time. The clock was ticking.