His Redemption (TheCorsair and Xana)

“Well, I am certainly done fighting these impossible battles, myself. Someone else can get the next one,” Ari agreed, squeezing her husband’s hand. “Clara is clearly the best person to speak with Verrier about this. Perhaps there is a way to appease the dragon as well. He was indeed a sound ally against Yaroast’Cherev, and while I don’t think he would show up for every fight with the demons, Verrier defends his own. And if we can make this temple an homage to Verrier as much as Afodisia, he is more likely to approve.”

“Already thinking like an administer,” Rielle noted with a half smirk.

“I adapt quickly to whatever situation I find myself in. It’s one of my strengths.” She replied with a shrug. “Now, if if there is nothing else…”

“Yes, yes, get out of here before you two end up fucking on the floor of my office,” the Lady Commander excused, not hiding her amusement as Ari dragged her husband out by the hand. Most of the temple was the triumphant feast for the rest of their group, so even taking a few breaks where she had him pressed up against the wall between barracks for needy kisses, no one was around to see them. Which was nearly a damn shame, and Aurianna almost enjoyed the thought of an audience.

But even more than an audience, she needed her husband. This would be the first time she could enjoy him, enjoy them, enjoy this without the worry of the demon, and what it would do. That part of their life was over, and sleeping with her husband, the celestial being, was the rest of their life together, which she was more than ready to begin.

“I need my husband to make love to me. And then fuck my brains out. And then make love again, and then possibly fuck your brains out. If we have time.”

The thought of having sex against the walls of the barracks, where anyone could see them was hot. Insanely hot, as her loins burned at the thought, sultry heat building within her core. He had other idea, even more ambitious ideas, it seems, as he lifted her into the air. No, it wasn’t good enough for her husband. Not good enough that someone might happen by and see them. No, they needed a stage where anyone could see, everyone could see, if only they looked up.

“Goddess…you are mad,” She exhaled, gasping as he worked at opening her blouse. Clinging to him, fingers digging into his marble skin as he freed her arms from the sleeves. Watching her top float and flitter towards the ground, the ever increasing distant ground, was dizzying. Instead she focused her attention on him, focusing on his eyes which matched hers now, and his mouth as he explored her body under the new thrill of weightlessness.

Her slit gripped his finger with the same desperate strength as her arms around his neck and shoulders. She hardly needed prompting to help him, to wriggle and squirm out of her clothes, until she was nude so utterly vulnerable before him. “I need you inside,” she agreed, doing what she could to help him get his pants off as well. Sighing as the motions caused her to brush against his erection, again and again, not hiding how badly he wanted her. He was hardly free of his clothes before he legs wrapped around his waist once more, Pulling him inside her, completing their union as he plunged into her softness.

“Goddess…”She exhaled, still not entirely believing it, despite the wind beating off his wings the bobbing of their bodies as he maintained altitude. The motion driving him into her, gravity working with their momentum, filling her with his length. “Fuck, Matthias…”

"Mad?" Matthias groaned as his wife writhed in his arms, stripping herself bare for him. "Mad with desire, perhaps. With the desperate hunger only your flesh and your love can sate." And then her magnificent nude firm pressed against him, as she tormented him while helping him shed his clothes. Even as his breeches fell away her smooth kegs slid around his hips and hooked over his ass, and he gasped with pleasure as she took his length in one smooth, long thrust.

"Ari," he groaned, spreading his wings into a stall, feeling her weight drive her deeper onto his meat. One hand explored her at a time, the othercarm helping support her. Each lazy beat of his wings propelled them upwards, thrusting him up into her. Matthias kissed her fiercly, letting her taste his little sounds of pure plessure at the motions.

"Goddess," he groaned, pulling her tight against his chest. "Goddess, how I love you." Then he grinned, wickedly, and kissed her again. "And I'll be inventing new ways to show you just how much..."

“You’ll be hard…hard pressed to top…to top this…” Ari teased, gasping as each beat of his wings caused him to thrust against her. She closed her eyes , forgetting the sky, and the dizzying view, choosing to only focus on the feel of his skin on hers, and his steel hard rod parting her slit. Enveloped by his love as she enveloped him with her warmth and wetness. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the feathers tickle her arms with each flap.

“Fuck Matthias, I am so close,” She cried, thighs flexing around him to fuck herself on him. To fill herself with his cock, to tease her own clit as his angle brushed against it each time. “Tell me you’re close,” she begged, rasping breathes hotter than the cool air surrounding them, “Tell you want to cum inside, that you want to flood me with your pleasure.”

Conception might have already taken place, his child, growing within her, but she never tired of the feel of his release within her. The burning torrent of his desire, flow into her body, to leave a warm reminder of their lovemaking inside her each time. Goddess, the thought of it, combine with the exhilaration of fucking him above the temple, added with the thrill of having him, free from the sins of their past, all of it came together to push her over the edge. Climax consumed her, gripping her as her sex gripped him, fluttering, rippling and contracting around his cock.

“MATTHIAS!” She cried, loud enough his name echoed against the Seraphim Wall.

"Goddess, I'm close!" Matthias gasped, answering her question. "Goddess, I want... want to fill... fill you... with my... my cum! His body gave the truth to his words, every thrust of his hips driving his cock into her slick slit, the ache in his loins growing greater and greater. Earth and sky wheeled lazily around them as he filled his hands and mouth with her body, filled her body with his, driving them both closer and closer to their release. And then she clenched around him, her body tightening in orgasm as she screamed his name. Somehow he held out, fucking her through her orgasm, until his own body rebelled against him. His own release was a wordless shout of triumph as he pulsed within her, his seed coating her walls.

---

"Did you say something?" Sigurd asked, quieting the strings of his harp and looking around. He was seated on the crenelations of the Seraphin wall, back braced against the cool stone, and he'd been idly playing a tune while eating.

"Like what?" Thora asked, eating a segment of orange and looking at him curiously.

"Like... I dunno." He shrugged. "Thought I heard something.' He glanced at Clara, who was staring into the sky with an intense, golden-eyed gaze. "What?"

"Hm?" she responded with a little smile, then patted his foot. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Play something else."

---

Somehow, Matthias made it to the ground without dropping them. Well, to the rounded peak of the Temple, at least. He leaned his bare back against the spire, holding Ari against him and staring out over the grounds of the fortress and beyond into the Demonlands. They weren't safe, he knew. There were far more demons out there. But without Baath Me'el and Hydranes? It was safer. Then he turned his attention to the woman in his arms, running his hands over her bare body and stroking her ever so slightly rounded belly.

"I love you," he whispered.

Aurianna wouldn’t have thought battle with the demon lords would have prepared her for the birth of her child. It in practical terms, it really didn’t, but the emotional turbulence was similar. In that bed there had been doubts, and pain, and fear, until finally, triumph. Triumph that wailed with strong lungs and tiny hands.

“A healthy baby boy!” Martin decreed, as Elsa wrapped the child in blankets, before handing him over. “I believe you had a name picked out?”

“Mykel,” Aurianna breathed, features drenched with sweat and exhaustion. Elsa placed the child in her arms, and all Ari could do for a few moment was look upon him with wonder in her eyes. Mykel looked back up at her with wide golden eyes that matched her own, and a tuft of solid black hair.

“He is probably hungry,” Martin suggested, a knowing warmth in his expression, “and he will probably be hungry non-stop for the first few weeks. That is pretty normal.”

“Right,” she acknowledged with a nervous, giddy laugh. It took a bit of fumbling, and assistance from Elsa, before she was nursing her son, who still looked up at her. Breaking eye contact for just a moment, she glanced up at her husband, who had supported her throughout labor, and who was now just as wide-eyed and as speechless as she was. Scooting over a few inches on their bed, which proved more painful than expected, she patted a spot beside her, “Come, sit. Meet your son, Matthias.”

“I’ll check up on you in a few hours,” Martin advised, cleaning up the rest of his instruments. In the living room he was met with half dozen concerned and anxious faces, “Everything went well, Mother and baby are healthy, and are recuperating now.”

“When can we see the baby?!” Clara asked, jumping to her feet before Martin and Elsa had even made it out of the bedroom.
“Soon, soon,” Martin assured her, patting Clara on the shoulder. “Give them a few hours to bond as a family.”

“Told you Clara,” Thora teased, pulling her overeager friend back a few steps. It was a struggle, because Clara was apparently quite determined to check on her once mentor. Sue joined in, and together they managed to seat Clara back down on the couch.

“If you need to do something with yourself, maybe cook them a meal. She’s exhausted, and hungry I’m sure. And if she isn’t yet, she will be,” Elsa suggested, seeming to know just the right thing to direct her cousin’s energy. Clara’s eyes opened wide, and she squeal a thrilled squeal, before throwing herself into cooking.

“I’ll need some eggs, and flour, milk, bacon and sausage. Oh, and bread, and preserves and…” she wracked her mind, trying to figure out if she were forgetting anything.

“I think that will be enough,” Sue insisted, pulling out the ingredients.

Flushed and sweaty and exhausted and triumphant, Ari looked more beautiful than ever as she held her son - their son - to her breast. She winced as she scooted over, then patted the bed. "Come, sit. Meet your son, Matthias."

Matthias barely registered Martin's words as he took a seat, staring at the child and his wife. After a few minutes, when Mykel had stopped nursing, he gingerly took the tiny infant in his arms and held him awkwardly. He was scrunched and red and blotchy, with a pushed in little nose and eyes closed to little slits, and a bubble of milk and saliva filled his mouth as he yawned. Matthias suddenly looked away, powerful emotion making him sniff as tears glistened in his eyes. His smile shook a little as he turned back and tapped his son on the nose. "Hi there," he said, grinning stupidly. "How are you?"

Mykel gave him an unfocused look, staring up at him before closing his eyes again. "Tired, huh?" He tapped his son on the nose again. "You should be. You wore mommy out, didn't you?" Growing a little more confident, he settled Mykel into the crook of his arm and shifted to sit shoulder to shoulder with Ari. "He's got your eyes, he said, moving his arm so Ari could see their son as well. "And your hair. Hopefully, he'll inherit your common sense as well." Then he leaned against her, just enough so she could feel his presence against her. "Is it wrong of me to say I'm scared to death?"

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened just a crack. "Hey... guys?" Sigurd called, not looking in y et.

"Yes?" Matthias asked, looking up.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Clara's... well, she's going crazy." Sigurd chuckled, and Matthias chuckled along with him. "Elsa's got her cooking right now, so I told her I'd see if you had any specific requests. You know, before I get dragged into anything else."

Matthias shrugged. "No, not really," he said, glancing questioningly at Ari. "Maybe a little more time, before everyone pushes in?"

"I'll do what I can," Sigurd assured him. "But we've got a house full of women who can smell baby, and I'm having trouble keeping control of the situation." He went silent for a second. "I think I can give you until breakfast is ready."

"That'll do," Matthias laughed. "That'll do.

---

The door banged open, and Sue - belly enlarged by the child she had not expected to be carrying - was first through. Clara followed, and the tray she carried was covered with eggs, and two loaves of bread, and butter and three different types of preserves, and a carafe of milk, and a stack of pancakes, and sausages and cheese. "I wasn't sure what you'd want," she gushed, working to maintain her grip, "so I made a little bit of everything I could find, and where's the baby?"

Matthias rose, taking the tray from Clara as she rushed to the side of the bed to coo over Mykel. Sigurd was next in, dragging a chair for Sue, and Thora and Aeshma followed. The Muse moved to one corner to watch, her cheerful smile revealing draconic fangs. Thora, for her part, pushed right in next to Clara to stare at the baby. "Oh, he's adorable!" she breathed. "Isn't he adorable, Sigurd?"

Sigurd glanced at Matthias, then at Willam as the young Paladin Aspirant entered. "Uhm. Yeah. Sure."

"Don't listen to him," Thora assured the sleeping baby. "You're adorable. Yes you are. Yes you are!"

As the younger women watched Mykel sleep, Matthias took his wife's hand once more. "I hope you wanted a large family," he said, watching them, "because it seems we have one."

"He's got your eyes. And your hair. Hopefully, he'll inherit your common sense as well."

“My common sense, are we sure about that?” Aurianna laughed, leaned into her husband as he got comfortable on the bed, comfortable in holding their child.

"Is it wrong of me to say I'm scared to death?"

“I not sure if I’ve ever been so sacred in my life,” she admitted, tracing his muscles as Mykel dozed off in his arms. “But, well, we have both trained aspirants, and they turned out well enough. Surely that’s prepared us for some part of this?” she reasoned, nuzzling her husband, feeling the love and affection just pour out of her. Once Mykel was soundly asleep she took him from her husband’s arms and laid him in the bassinet beside the bed. For a few moments She just watched the child, in utter amazement of the life that had grown within her. Watched his chest rise and fall, the rhythm soothing and relaxing her. Just going to close my eyes, just for a moment…

"I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I made a little bit of everything I could find, and where's the baby?"

Aurianna’s eyes snapped open, watching with exhausted interest as the room filled with curious and excited teenagers. She laughed at the mountain of food that was brought in, wondering for a moment if Clara had done it on purpose, to celebrate their first meeting. Before she could ask the girls were cooing over the baby, and Ari could only let out a goodhearted chuckle. But she was hungry, so she served hers a platter and dug in. Or would have, had Matthias not taken her hand.

"I hope you wanted a large family, because it seems we have one."

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

---

Clara just watched Mykel sleep, completely dumbfounded by his presence. It all just seemed so unreal, even though they had known about his upcoming arrival for months. But now he was here, and he was so tiny and perfect.

She glanced over at Sue, shifting to get comfortable with her swollen belly. To think, she’d be doing this again in a few more months. It just seemed so weird that Sue was pregnant. She so rarely had sex with men. Surely her or Thora were more likely candidates for motherhood. Clara had been just as bad as Sue in forgetting to drink the moon tea, and had way more penetrative sex. She supposed it was a good thing she wasn’t pregnant now. There was plenty of time for babies eventually, and in the meantime she could be there for Sue, and help her lover and best friend raise the unexpected bundle of joy.

“So,” Lady Ari started, finishing chewing her last bite of pancake, “When is the wedding? Now that we know I am not going to give birth in the middle of it, you all need get on that.”

Clara giggled, and blushed, brushing some strands behind her head. Perhaps it was a bit selfish, wanting to make sure that day was all about her, and her soon to be spouses. But after everything she had done, everything she had faced, everything she had survived, she deserved a special day just for her right?

“Very soon now. Think little Mykel will be ready to play the ring bearer anytime soon?”

“Well, I don’t think he will try to eat them yet, so sooner is better than later.”

---

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world.

25 years later.