2017
Abby watches the girls warily as they help Kai prepare dinner. The picnic had been cut short, the ride on the bus out of town quicker than usual as all the lights had stayed a steady green. Usually they cannot wait to get out of the house and amongst people. Her house is small and cramped, the barn outside filled with carpentry equipment and her easels. It has never been a place for children but it is isolated.
But he found them…Abby eyes Bonnie, who sleeps under a blanket on the couch before sitting at the dining table. Her daughter had told her little of Malachai Parker and when she did it was usually in a burst of repressed feelings. The man had hurt Bonnie and she hated him for it but that had changed. Whatever happened between them in the 1903 prison world Bonnie Bennett left that hate behind and a fragile love had taken its place. None of this she openly shares with her mother but Abby could see it in the longing looks and half sighs Bonnie issued when looking at her children.
They have his smile…
"Do you want to see our pantry?" Lia asks Kai, looking up into his happy face. He nods and they take his hands and pull him from the kitchen and into the cramped cupboard. At the contact Abby stiffens but nothing happens. The pantry was once used for vegetables, tins and preserves but now with four witches in the house it stores herbs, ointments and potions. Her equally tiny conservatory glints with crystals recharging in the sun. It makes her ache. She is a witch again but her full ability is now reduced to a trickle.
"You're creating spells?" Kai asks, moving a sprig of dried vervain hanging from a hook out of his face as the girls show him the little bottles of rainwater they have collected, the necks ringed with ribbon.
"These are for the garden, because sometimes it doesn't rain for days and days," Ames explains as Lia pushes a small notebook into his hands. Elsa from Frozen smirks up from the cover and he looks bemused before opening it. The handwriting is painstakingly neat as possible, though littered with spelling errors. The small spellbook is crammed with the girls experiments, wishes and stories.
Kai looks up at Abby, clearly impressed. "They create their own?"
"We taught them the basics first, the rules and responsibilities. The last year they've just flown ahead." she smiles down at her granddaughters, gaze losing focus and then she clears her throat, leaning off the doorway.
"They share this between them?" he asks, his tone disapproving.
"Why shouldn't they?"
"Nothing, I just…" he trails off, shaking his head, looking at the little pictures and doodles filling the margins. They move as he passes his fingers over them. "In my coven, the twins share a book until they're twenty two. Then…"
"I know the rules about merging but that doesn't apply to them. They're Bennett witches," she says quietly as the girls search through a box of feathers, not listening to them. Kai moves closer to her, lowering the spellbook.
"You don't trust me. I get it, you just met me," he smiles at her, a charming smile and Abby narrows her eyes because she has seen it before.
"You don't remember me do you?" she asks, straightening and his eyes widen in surprise. "It was at your mother's funeral, 1992. I went with my mom, who was close to your coven."
"Unfortunately," he adds in a drawling tone, looking at the notebook to avoid her eyes. She sees something like mortification before he looks down. Abby moves close and pulls the book from his hands, making him look at her.
"My mother told me that your family were eccentric but I never thought I'd watch their eldest child laugh hysterically at his mother's funeral," she can still hear the burst of laughter breaking into the quiet drone of the priest and then the deeper silence that followed, the shock of it as he clearly could not control himself. His father had stared straight ahead, pretending that nothing was happening until Josette had to drag Kai from the chapel. They could still hear him outside.
Kai, over two decades later, has the capacity to look ashamed. "It wasn't planned, I was as surprised as everyone there," he looks down at the girls and draws Abby back into the kitchen, keeping his voice down. "Look I'm sure Bonnie has told you what I was and I'm not telling you any different. I was a psychopath, had been since I was child...but not any more," he stresses, eyes intense on hers.
"That's not something that can be cured."
"Neither is vampirism yet here you are, your witchy woo back on tap. Magic, despite all our tampering and assumptions, is still something we're stumbling around in the dark with. Who knows what else it can do?"
He smiles and her stomach tightens. He thinks I took the cure Bonnie offered me but I didn't. I liked what I was...Abby keeps her face impassive and while her magic is weak keeping a stoic, resting bitch face is a Bennett staple.
Kai narrows his eyes and then leans back, satisfied. He goes back to the stove, checking on the pans as Abby walks back to the pantry and watches the girls whispering excitedly, clearly talking about Kai and their mother. They will outgrow the little space soon...Abby looks over at her sleeping daughter and feels a pang of love and fear.
The refuge that she has provided them is no longer enough. Can she hand that over to the man who does not remember shaking her hand at a funeral, taking a tiny amount of her magic, leaving her hand tingling. He had laughed in apology as she moved into the chapel, throwing a confused look over her shoulder at him.
"Static. You wearing polyester?"
She pushes his playful face from her mind but it is hard when it smiles at her from across the kitchen, now grown into a man with a heart. Bonnie please don't be wrong about him, please...
Dinner plates lay empty and in some cases licked clean as they tackle the peach cobbler. Noises of surprised delight and satisfied scraping of spoons play amongst the chatter. Kai had gone all out, wanting to impress them. Bonnie has missed his cooking and he clearly loves how much they have enjoyed his efforts. Show off. Usually the girls have to be encouraged to eat but Bonnie thinks if a plate of steaming sprouts were before them they would eat every one because he cooked them. Bonnie licks her spoon, catching his eye. They burn oddly, half aroused, half reproachful.
What is going on?
"You're the leader of your coven?" Ames asks suddenly as Kai drinks pineapple juice. Lia stares expectantly, spoon halfway to her mouth.
"I, uh, I don't know," he looks at Bonnie, perplexed and she nods. Kai's shoulders slump a little as the girls gasp, impressed.
"Mommy isn't even a proper witch any more," Lia says with disappointment and Bonnie lifts an eyebrow and gives her daughter a pointed look as the peach slice on Lia's spoon wobbles off as she tries to eat it, avoiding her attempts to slurp it out of the air. "Mommy!" her amused whine breaks into their laughter.
Bonnie winks, making it fall back into the bowl and she looks over to Kai, who keeps her gaze for a moment before bending down to whisper something to the girls. Earlier she had slept and showered, changed into a pair of shorts and vest as he prepared dinner and he had hardly said a word. A silent Kai is either a very good thing or a very bad thing and in this case she is going for the latter.
He seems almost….petulant? Yes that was it. What had happened in the span of a few hours? Maybe he is lying, maybe he does remember what happened, a thought whispers and Bonnie wants to ignore it but cannot. She had lied to him earlier, she does have her memory of their escape from the prison world, though the full extent of it had only been revealed to her when the twins had been born. Expression had ripped through their minds as easily as it had ripped through the walls keeping them all contained. If he does remember he is keeping a tight lid on the hurt she still recalls clearly.
He took Expression from me, he was desperate for it and I pushed him away. She blamed the power for separating them but the possibility that it had been her fault had shifted to doubt and then acceptance. The guilt afterwards had been intense, wondering if she had left him in the prison world, which soon formed into a certainty when she finally got her memories back. No locator spell could find him and so she must have trapped him...with Silas. That possibility had given her nightmares and in the dark hours of the night a voice would whisper that maybe it hadn't been Silas she trapped in an eternal moment but Kai.
They're both masters of illusion, how would I know? Bonnie bats this old fear away and brings herself to the present. Kai is showing the girls her cell phone, keeping his voice low but as Bonnie clears the cutlery she overhears.
"Who is this?" he asks, showing them a picture she can't see from the glare of the lights.
"That's uncle Jaime."
"Oh thank god."
His relief is palpable and as Bonnie realizes why he has been so surely she bursts into laughter. "Wow, I see."
"What?" he fires back, in his usual playful tone.
"Nothing, just something to discuss later,"
Bonnie rinses off the plates as her mother ushers the children in front of the television set before their bath. Kai moves behind her, gripping the sink either side of her hips as cheery music drifts from the living room. The Great British Bake Off. The girls are obsessed.
"I didn't know you had a brother."
"I don't...not really," she looks up, the dark window casting their reflections. Kai leans closer, the buckle of his belt digging into her lower back. The plate in Bonnie's soapy hands slips, floating into the air and with a flick of his fingers the dishwasher opens and the plates, cups and cutlery slide in neatly. Bonnie remains still as he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest and she lets her eyes fall closed. It has felt like two weeks for him but it's been four years for her. His touch is electric.
"I'm not expecting us to start off where we left off, mainly because I can't remember what that was," he whispers into her ear, and she keeps her eyes closed. One of his thumbs hooks into the hem of her shorts, other fingers splayed out over the denim. "But what I do remember...that was pretty good."
"It was...but that was then. Feelings change, yours could if..." she hesitates, trailing off. She opens her eyes and catches his intense, dark eyes in the window. He smiles thinly.
"If what? I know you know more than you're letting on. Something bad happened, didn't it?"
"I don't remember," she replies smoothly, drying her hands and she catches his knowing smirk in the dark glass before turning. He makes some space for her but keeps his hands on the sink. Caught between his arms she gazes up at him, heart beating fast. "We got out, that was the most important thing. Now they are," she stresses, inclining her head towards the living room and spots the girls spying on them from the doorway. Bonnie clears her throat, pushing him away with a bright smile.
"Hey babies!"
Caught in the act the twins rush forward, crowding around him. "Come watch this Kai!" They take his hands and he has no choice but to follow them. He grins at Bonnie over his shoulder and his delight is genuine. Bonnie sighs, feeling the weight of a future dread. She should not have agreed for him to stay, he has already started to take root and the process to remove him, to go back to what they were, will be nothing but painful.
Can I do this? Can I risk them around him? Bonnie watches Kai sitting crossed legged with the girls, engrossed in the cooking programme. They press against his sides contently, pointing at a collapsing pudding and laughing.
If he knew what they are capable of...unbidden the image of him tearing the power from her as they finally used the ascendant to leave, his face blank and frightening, a man without control or cares. He can never know what they created with that power…
"Mommy! You're missing it!" Ames shouts and Bonnie jerks, pulled from her thoughts. She smiles and gets on her knees, drawing Lia to her, while Ames cuddles closer to Kai. He looks over at her, expression slightly awed.
"This is the best television program ever."
Bonnie snorts and turns to catch her mother's eye, who has finished running the girl's bath. Abby has been silent since returning with the girls but the wary look on her face makes that heavy feeling return. As the credits roll she claps her hands.
"Come on, bath time!"
Wails of grief fill the air but soon they usher the girls upstairs. They look at Kai through the railings, as if expecting him to disappear. He smiles, hands in his pockets as they run out of sight. Once gone his eyes snap to Bonnie.
"They know who I am Bon."
She thinks about denying it, wants to but she sighs. "I know. They wanted their father and he arrived," she looks at him tiredly. "This doesn't change things. You're the leader of the coven that wants them, I can't have you in my life."
Kai walks up to her, frowning heavily. "The coven does what I say. If I told them to jump off a cliff they'd do it," he says this with a smile and it is awful.
A crackle of fear flashes through her because he is deadly serious. "You're not going to kill anyone."
"For them I think you'd draw an exception. You think I pose a danger because I'm the leader," he shakes his head, leaning closer. "It's because I am that they'll be safe. The coven does not come first, do you understand? No one fucks with me, especially not them."
His voice is a growl and it makes the hair on the nape of her neck stand. He flashes her a grin, his murderous intent gone in an instant and then laughs when he hears the girls singing and blowing bubbles. He sits on the couch as Bonnie walks slowly up the stairs, uncertainty weighing her steps.
"The moon, mommy," Ames points at the nightlight, which is shaped like a crescent moon. It has a crack running through it. Bonnie places a hand to her forehead.
"I forgot to get a new one."
"But it keeps the bad people away," Lia says, looking concerned. She and her twin sit up in bed as Kai leans against the doorframe. They are usually asleep by now but his presence makes sleep impossible. She had ordered him below but he seems unable to stay away. Bonnie points at the full moon through the window.
"She'll keep you safe."
"Nah-ah, she looks after the wolves, you said."
"She looks after little girls too," Bonnie says encouragingly but they are not pursued. Kai speaks up behind her.
"The moon is pretty busy tonight," he says and Bonnie glares at him. "Maybe she needs a rest too. If only I had a jar…" he sighs, looking sad and the girls gasp and as expected jump out of their beds.
"We know! We can get a jar," they run out of the room and Kai grins. Bonnie shakes her head with a tired chuckle.
"They'll never get to bed now. Do not pick any jam jars girls!" she yells.
"Oh okay! We gotta find something else Lia."
The girls giggle and scream which is followed by a clattering sound and Bonnie can just picture all the dried pasta spilling over the kitchen floor. Then they hear the thuds of their steps on the stairs, coming closer. Breathless, over excited they burst back in and present a large empty glass jar to Kai. He takes it and the lid with solemn formality before beaming.
"Well done! Now you gotta be in bed for this to work. Go on," he urges and they do it, giggling and out of breath they bounce onto their beds and pull the covers back. Once flat under the blankets, clutching their teddies, they watch Kai excitedly.
Bonnie, cluing in on what he plans to do, speaks quietly. "Babies you have to close your eyes."
"But mommy!"
"No she's right. You have to pretend that you're asleep otherwise it won't work," Kai says, smiling at Bonnie and the girls close their eyes.
"No peeking!" Bonnie orders and with some impatient wiggling they squeeze their eyes shut. Bonnie moves to Kai as he looks up at the moon and then down at her.
"You too, it won't work otherwise. Close your eyes," he whispers and with a coy smile Bonnie does it. The after image of the moon and Kai's silhouette flash across her closed lids and then a warm glow starts to permeate that darkness. She hears the spinning of the lid and opens her eyes.
A fat golden moon hangs suspended in the pasta jar, floating amongst stars that glitter and move slowly like dust caught in a beam. It is almost a perfect representation, just a little too magical to be real. She looks at the sky and where the moon once was is just starry skies. His illusion is total. Tiny gasps puncture the air as the girls open their eyes and they are too awe struck to move. Kai presses a finger to his lips and places the jar beside the broken nightlight. The soft golden moon bobs to the top of the jar before slowly settling. It is beautiful.
Bonnie kisses the girls goodnight, whispering her love and taking Kai's hand she pulls him from the room as the twins fall asleep, unable to continue gazing at the new nightlight as much as they would love to. Keeping the door slightly ajar she turns to Kai with a soft smile and they share a giggle.
"That was very sweet."
"I just wanted to show off," he shrugs.
"Oh I know, can't help yourself," Bonnie smirks as he draws her away from the door and towards her room. Abby still watches TV downstairs, the sound down low. She points at a door down the hall. "You can sleep in Jaime's old room."
Kai does not nod or speak and Bonnie licks her lips, chest starting to rise and fall faster. His eyes rove around her face slowly, lingering on her lips before looking at her chest. In the light the pendant she wears flashes silver. His fingertip brush against it.
"I wondered where this went."
Bonnie flushes. He had given her the chain in the prison world and she has been wearing it ever since. She had almost taken it off once Jo revealed that basically giving it to her was akin to a marriage proposal. Bonnie touches the clasp. "Do you want it back? I know it's important to you, I -"
He leans down and kisses her silent. They move back, passing into Bonnie's bedroom and with a flick of her hand the door closes behind them. The kiss is soft and slow but she presses against him, wanting to feel more. She threads her fingers through his hair and parts his mouth with her tongue. Kai makes a low sound in his throat, his hands rubbing at her waist before she gently bangs into the desk. They break apart, inhaling deeply.
"There isn't anyone else?" he asks, eyes intense on hers.
Bonnie starts to shake her head but then changes her mind. She tilts her head. "What if there was? It's been four years."
"I know but I just need to know," his eyes flick to her lips and linger there.
"It's been years Kai, I'm not a nun...You're the jealous type?"
"Apparently. Though I didn't have a problem with Jeremy. He risked his life to rescue you too."
"We weren't really a thing at that point," she explains, feeling a small throb at the name. Jeremy is now teaching art in Denver. She has not seen him for three years...hasn't really seen anyone from her old life.
"I said I'm not asking to move in Bonnie but my feelings haven't changed. There's no one else but you," he tells her sincerely, hands cupping her face and Bonnie smiles. Imprisoned together she had been so confused about what she felt for him, largely ignoring those that she did understand until it was too late. His feelings she could accept more easily.
I love him…but I love them more.
Bonnie leans back a little, her smile fading. "I believe you, I do but I still think you being around them is dangerous," she says and then places her fingers over his mouth. "Let me finish. I know you'll protect them with your life and that's the problem Kai. They're your children, they're part of the Gemini coven."
His eyes burn with desperation. "If I die so will they."
She nods. "If someone tried to kill you, they will pay the price along with everyone linked to you. You have enemies."
Kai pulls her to him, face harsh. "I won't put them in any danger. I'm not looking for trouble or a fight. My coven obviously depends on my survival and I haven't met enough people to piss them off enough to kill me. "
"There's still time, it's only been two weeks," she replies dryly but he does not smile. Bonnie sighs. "You could get sick, get hit by a bus and I don't know what else. I'm so nervous and angry because of this stupid rule. You - you have to protect yourself."
Kai rubs at his eyes tiredly. "I see why my father was such a paranoid freak. He didn't go anywhere without a protection racket of witches. You probably wish I never woke up," he says, lowering his hands down her arms.
"I thought you were still in the prison world, or what was left of it. Your coven wanted you to stay there because they knew you could never die. They were protecting themselves."
Kai narrows his eyes, jaw clenching. "Did you go back?"
Bonnie inhales, moving back a little. "I - I couldn't. The ascendant was taken from the Heretics and was in the keeping of your father. A lot of members died in the attempt, which you felt. He refused to give it to me or let me use it. I had the twins to think about," she adds as his face grows angry but he nods.
"I get it. This is why you've been so cagey, the looks of guilt."
Bonnie swallows. Half the reason, the other because she has convinced herself that she trapped him there. She grips his arms, staring intently into his burning eyes and the truth cannot be contained.
"I thought it was my fault. I lost you but I didn't know where you were. I was pregnant, no memory of what happened but I did look for you here, in this world. You said you've been here the whole time but I did locating spell after spell and never found you. Someone must have preformed layer upon layer of cloaking spells to keep you hidden."
Kai nods, his anger cooling but he still looks upset. Bonnie pulls him to sit on her bed, hand clasping his. He turns to her and gives a weak smile. "It must have been my coven, cloaking is our signature. They kept me isolated and safe until the girls woke me up," he stares at the door, conflicted. "I don't want anything to happen to them but what do I do? Send myself back to a prison world?"
"No but you're going to have to implement measures. Your father made you and your family live out in the middle of nowhere, home schooled and kept you hidden. I - I don't want that for the girls but until we find a way to solve this you have to hide."
"But not with you?" he looks around the small room, gaze fierce. "I can keep us safe Bonnie and that is not here. I found you, others will too."
"Then where?"
"I'm the coven leader and every coven has a seat of power. I have one and it answers to no one but me. If we want to be safe and solve this then we should go to the island."
"The Lighthouse?" she asks and Kai narrows his eyes, smiling.
"Right...so do you agree?"
Bonnie knows that living with her mother was never going to last, the house too small and the girls growing too big and more powerful by the day. To live in a place that fosters magic, that can contain it?
"...I need to speak to the girls, to my mom but whatever we decide it will have to wait until after the 31st."
"Their birthday," he answers softly and looks at her curiously. "You haven't really said anything about being pregnant, the birth. Tell me?" he looks back at the bed and without warning hooks his arm around her waist and tugs them both back until the pillows are at their backs. Bonnie laughs quietly, gripping his arm and he does not let go.
"The pregnancy? It was tough," she admits and Kai nods.
"Carrying siphoners is dangerous."
"Did your mom have trouble?"
He hesitates and then shakes his head. "I didn't manifest until I was three. Which is lucky because I probably would have killed Jo in the womb and then my mom for good measure," he says this dryly but his eyes are oddly empty. He hardly mentions his mother, who she knows died when he and Jo were twenty.
"What happened to your mom?"
"...She got sick and died. It happened quick," he shrugs and then shakes his head. "She was quiet my mom, small and gentle. People thought she was a mouse but she was harder than my dad in a way, like there was a sliver of ice running up her back. I think she resented having so many kids when I turned out to be a disappointment."
"I'm sorry," Bonnie utters softly, rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand and Kai blinks and smiles, as if waking from a dream.
"It's old news. What happened to you? Did they manifest after they were born?"
Bonnie knows he is avoiding something painful but she lets it go. "No they began siphoning during the third trimester. I almost died…" she remembers the slow absorption of magic, the weakness and fatigue that followed and healers that visited every week. No one could help her until Beau.
"I think the girl knew that if they kept going none of us were going to make it but then I had help and it stopped."
"From who?"
Bonnie stares at him in the soft lamplight, licks her lips and decides to tell him the truth. "I needed help from someone who knew about siphoners, who was one."
"The Heretics?" he asks incredulously and Bonnie nods.
"I thought they meant to kill me but they just wanted to help the girls. They want to protect siphoners, looking all over the world for them, to join their coven...they suppressed the girls' ability and mine until they were born."
Kai frowns in disbelief. "They saved you?"
"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy but it's true. They treated me better than your crazy coven that's for sure. I think they felt bad about making me the ascendant," she shakes her head, thinking back and she wants to tell him everything but that would mean revealing the truth about the girls.
"So you moved around until a year ago, when the house burned down and you went to live here."
"Pretty much yeah," the lie is easy but it feels like needles are pricking her. While pregnant the twins siphoning powers had been suppressed and Bonnie had thought the rest of her time would go smoother. She had been utterly unprepared for what happened next.
"So the heretics protect the girls because they're siphoners and my coven is after them for the same reason?" She nods and Kai shakes his head. "That's not how it works Bonnie. My coven pretends that people like me don't exist until they become a problem. They never pursue them, especially not children. So my coven deems them a problem. Why?"
Bonnie clears her throat, unable to look at him. She places a hand on her stomach, memories forming words that want to be free. "Ames and Lia...they're different but what makes them different makes them dangerous too."
"That's why you tell them not to touch each other?" he asks and when Bonnie nods his nostrils flare. "I was told the same thing, couldn't touch my siblings because I might kill them. The older I got I just did it out of spite."
Bonnie moves closer to him, shaking her head at his anger. "No, not like that. I mean at first I thought that was the risk but they seem to know when to stop. This - this is different."
"What is?" he urges her but she remains silent, unable to get the truth out. She does trust Kai but the man hungry for Expression? She remembers how she had felt channelling it, the complete submerging and exhilaration. She had cared for nothing, just the constant stream of power. How can she judge him?
"Seven months into my pregnancy their ability to siphon was suppressed, along with my magic but then something changed. They have this other inherent ability that nothing can remove, this power that only manifests when they touch. My magic was gone and so they used the only other source they had."
"What?"
"You don't remember but - but I do. We conceived the twins using old, forbidden magic, magic that very few possess but my little girls do. I feel like we cursed them," she whispers, throat tight and Kai pulls her closer, frowning heavily.
"Dark magic?"
"Expression. When they touch they can do anything they want, anything and that it why they are hunted. The last three months of my pregnancy I was constantly tapped into that power because they were. I - I nearly lost my mind."
She exhales a shaky breath and looks at him with a desperate hope. As expected he stares at her with reproach.
"This is why you didn't want to tell me? You think I'd take their power? You did tell me that when I first got here but I thought you were being over protective. Jesus, are you serious?" Disgusted he sits up, getting on his knees and Bonnie grabs his arm, stopping him.
"I'm sorry but you don't remember! You don't remember how completely consuming that magic is and how much you wanted it. You pretended like it was fine when I wouldn't tell you how to generate it yourself, that you would stop, but you took it from me anyway. That magic, it strips you of your will and any rational thought vanishes. You're just impulse and want, you're not even human any more. Why do you think you have no memory? It was the price of Expression."
Kai grinds his teeth through her speech but now he relaxes, though his eyes glint strangely. "I spent all that time with you in the prison world when I could have left. Do you really think I'm so selfish? So unrestrained? They're mine. I'd never do anything to harm them," he cups her face roughly, breathing heavily and she stares intensely at him.
"I'd create a prison world around you if you did...but they'd probably just break you out," she adds, trying to lower the tension. The corner of his lips curl a little and his eyes flick down to her mouth. Seconds flow by, thick and tense and then they move as one, their lips clashing together roughly. Bonnie grips his shoulders as his arms circle her waist, pulling her against his chest. They kiss with a hungry passion, anger and something desperate feeding it before he pushes her down.
"I can't believe I don't remember having sex with you. You realise I still feel like a two decade long celibate?" he moans against her cheek, his hand cupping her breast, squeezing and Bonnie groans. She captures his mouth and kisses him deeply. He might not remember but it's been years since she felt his weight on top of her, the feel of his fingers skimming over her skin. Unbidden the dreams - visions - that they used to share appear in her mind and she laughs.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'll tell you in the morning, if you don't guess," she answers, her smile knowing and playful. Kai makes a growling noise and kisses her hard on the mouth before he begins trailing his lips down her neck, licking and biting and she bucks below him, grinding against his groin. He is hard and she wants to be taken now, no gentle love making as she had imagined so often. Maybe the anger from earlier lingers but when he rips her vest over her head, exposing her breasts, Bonnie writhes with a white hot lust. His lips suck at her breast, tonguing her nipple while his hand slips into her shorts, fingertips brushing over the wet fabric with too gentle a touch.
"Kai!"
He laughs, looking up at her and then kisses her again. His fingers press down and her hips jerk, pleasure spiking through her stomach. He begins rubbing, the fabric of her underwear still between them but it feels so good she does not care. He pulls back and stares into her eyes, watching her every moan and lip bite until she starts gasping for air, trying to keep quiet.
"Cloak the room," she begs and he smiles. A strange muffled sensation descends over her ears and she knows any noise they make is just heard by them. She begins to moan loudly, her neck arching as he rubs faster and faster, her release moments away but then he pushes her knickers aside and sinks two fingers into her wet heat. Bonnie gives a strangled yell as his thumb continues circling and his fingers curl inside her, summoning her climax. Waves of pleasure pass through her as she arches and he buries his face against her throat, working her to completion.
A knock sounds at the door as Bonnie shakes and whimpers, fingers digging into his arms but the persistent knocking makes her push him aside as her orgasm barely passes. Kai makes an animalistic noise and pulls her back but she manages to slip out from under him and get on shaky feet.
"Where's my top?" she hisses, forgetting about the cloaking spell and finds it at the foot of the bed. Pulling it on she moves to the door as Kai slumps face down on the bed in frustration. Trying to regulate her breathing she opens the door. Her mother gives her one very quick up and down and then to her credit just focuses on her face.
"Just wanted to remind you that the girls finish nursery early tomorrow. You're picking them up before your shift."
"Right, thanks. Okay so...goodnight."
"Night," Abby flicks her eyes to the gap in the doorway and Bonnie closes it a little. Feeling like a teenager she straightens. She is an adult, she doesn't have to skulk and hide. Not for the first time she wishes she had a place of her own.
"Kai's not taking Jamie's room, if you wondered where he was. I'll speak to you tomorrow mom," she smiles and Abby nods, stepping back. Her mother had missed most of her childhood but the look on her face is one she likely would have seen if she had been there. Too late now. As soon as the door closes an arm circles her waist and Kai picks her up off the floor. Bonnie laughs as she is carried back to the bed, his voice rough in her ear.
"I want you on your knees," he drops her onto the mattress, her back to him and Bonnie just has time to grab the headboard before he presses up against her ass, his erection evident. Bonnie rocks back against him, enjoying the noises he makes before he reaches for her shorts and pulls them and her panties down her legs, leaving them around her knees. He reaches back and pulls his t-shirt over his head, letting it drop to the floor. His hand slides up her vest, cupping a breast while the other pushes her thighs apart as far as they will go. Bonnie gasps, turning her face to him and he kisses her cheek gently, eyes fixed on hers. He pushes inside her slowly, making her feel every inch. They share looks of relief, that feeling of being complete before she looks away, squeezing her eyes shut.
"We're not using protection," she says breathlessly and Kai nuzzles at her ear.
"It's okay, got a spell for that," his teeth graze her neck and she shudders as he begins thrusting. Both half dressed, the night hot and sticky, Kai slams into her with a relentless pace, his hands pulling on her hips to enter her deeper. His mouth brushes against her ear and he speaks, his words a breathless ramble and she smiles with affection. He still likes to talk. The smile on her mouth pops wide as she gasps, groaning at the things he says, which grows progressively more filthy. About how good it feels, how much he wants her and when she answers back, surprising him, Kai loses his ability to speak he is so turned on.
Bonnie's laugh fills the room, which begins to rock and shake, the pictures on the walls not falling but sliding upwards, banging into the ceiling. She has not slept with a witch since Kai and the disturbances flashing around them adds to her excitement.
"You know those stories about - about poltergeist? Furniture moving, doors slamming?" Kai says suddenly as he pulls her up against his chest, one arm circling around her. "Nine times out of ten it's really two cloaked witches fucking."
Laughter bursts from her mouth again and it feels so good. "I missed your stupid jokes, I missed you making me laugh," she says, turning to face him and he stops. His smile is gentle as he cups the side of her face, rubbing his thumb along her cheek before kissing her. Heart swelling with feeling she threads her fingers through his hair, giving a little tug and he smiles against her lips before suddenly pushing her down and flipping her over.
"How was the first time?" he asks, pulling her shorts and underwear clean off. Bonnie wraps her legs around his hips, arms resting on his shoulders.
"We kinda burned a mansion down to the ground. Well, that was more me."
"You're a little pyrotechnic Bonnie. Vhen did your arsonist tendencies start?" he asks in a accurate Freud imitation but doesn't give her the chance to answer as he slams into her, making her shout his name. He smiles, brushes his lips very tenderly against hers before pounding into her. The bed bangs against the wall and the room begins to shake again, the armchair by the desk spinning faster and faster until it begins to levitate off the floor. Her hands slide down his back to his ass, digging into him and he gets up on his knees, pushing her legs back until her knees are almost touching her shoulders.
His movements become erratic, his gasps turning into grunts as he nears his orgasm until all he can verbalise is her name and them a stream of affirmation. Bonnie scratches at his chest, throwing her head back and feels the burn of her fingertips against his skin and his answering shout. Pain mixed with pleasure he comes inside her, his muscles stiffening until his movements become slow and lazy, spending the last of himself.
He collapses, face pressing against her shoulder before he rolls off, panting for breath and stares upwards in surprise. Framed pictures, scarves, hair brushes, burning candles and every piece of jewellery she owns hang suspended like strange bats from the ceiling. Kai points.
"See? Poltergeist."
Laughing she presses herself against his side as he waves his fingers and the hanging contents of her room float back down, all resting on the floor. She barely has time to close her eyes when he is tugging her up.
"Kai?"
"Remember that contraception position? Gotta take it now," he says, pulling his boxers on and hands over her bathing robe. Bonnie gets up, slipping on the vest and then the cotton robe and again feeling like a teenager they sneak downstairs and into the pantry cupboard. Half an hour later, amidst kisses and restrained, teasing touches Bonnie gulps down the potion he has made.
"Disgusting. Why do I have to take precautions?" she hums at him, sitting on his lap and Kai kisses her neck as his hand slides up her thigh.
"Men can too. Got to take it beforehand though…Next time?"
Bonnie smirks at him, leaning back as he tries to kiss her. "Better get to work then," she suggests and lightly hops off his lap, casting a coy look over her shoulder as she makes her way back up the stairs. Kai looks between her and the pantry, expression undecided and tormented and she laughs.
Early morning, the sun just rising the twins move down the hallway, their steps light. Faces still drowsy with sleep they blink in the soft light, stopping before their mother's bedroom door. They had looked in uncle Jaime's room but found it empty but they knew that Kai had not left.
Usually they burst into the room but this time they open the door as quietly as possible and peer in. Their mother sleeps facing them, curled on her side and Kai sleeps behind her, an arm slung over her blanket covered waist. Seeing a man in their mother's bed is completely new but it looks and feels right. It's Kai.
"Like spoons in a drawer," Ames whispers and they giggle behind their hands. They take in the scene, the sleeping adults and then the room itself. Pictures, clothes, candles and pieces of jewellery are littered all over the floor. Lia grunts in disapproval.
"Look how messy the room is! Mommy is always telling us to clean our room but its never like this."
"Next time she makes us we can tell her. No show her. Get granny's cell Lia, we'll take pictures."
"Evidence," Lia adds and they nod, two little conspiring witches. A very soft laugh breaks into their plan and they look up. Kai is leaning up on an elbow, still half asleep. His hair is a mess, like he has been standing in the wind for hours.
"What evidence?" he asks and clicks his fingers silently. Like a scene from Mary Poppins all the clothes, trinkets and pictures fly and shuffle to their proper places like nothing had moved at all. The girls gasp, half impressed, half scandalised.
"You used magic!"
"That's not fair, that's cheating."
Kai laughs, head falling back into the pillow as Abby suddenly appears and ushers the giggling girls away. She closes the door, not looking in and the girls skip around her, breathless and over excited.
"He made the stuff move granny!"
"I bet he did. Come on girls, time for breakfast and then nursery," Abby flaps her hands towards the stairs and the girls move, looking a little glum. They would rather stay at home but today they are going to give out invites to their party. Proper ones, on paper and in an envelope.
Bonnie wakes to a quiet, empty house. She feels the heat of him beside her and smiles into her pillow before turning. Sunshine pours softly through the window, illuminating him as he stares up at the ceiling with an amazed look.
"Hi," he says softly, looking at her and Bonnie rolls to his side, arm over his chest and he gathers her up.
"Morning. You look like someone just gave you a million dollars."
"I just can't believe this is happening. We have children. Together," he shakes his head with a laugh and cups her face. "I feel like I'm still in 1903 you know, there's been no time for me at all."
"I know, you'll have to adjust. Must have been a shock...I know you never intended to have any," she says quietly and his eyes grow dim.
"...It's true. Before I became the coven leader I never gave it any thought but then afterwards…" he trails off and she recalls clearly the conversation they had shared in 1903. He did not want children because of the crimes he had committed.
"They're not going to find out, okay? I won't put them through that pain...or you," she adds, the words a little sticky and awkward but she gets them out. He blinks.
"You really have forgiven me?"
"For what you did to me? Yes, a long time ago. You were punished for what you did to your family. I can't forgive you for that because it's not mine to give."
"My sisters…" he sighs, rubbing at his eyes. "How are they?"
"Jo is still in Portland, with Ric and her twins. She's a doctor, Ric teaches at the local college. Liv…" she trails off, not knowing what to say. "She had a rough time for a few years but she's doing better, last I heard." She has not had any contact with anyone but Matt for the last year, trying to keep a low profile. She hopes the youngest Parker is well and safe.
Kai nods, staring up at the ceiling again. "I want to see them but if I turn up at Jo's she'll probably set me on fire."
"She doesn't have magic any more."
"Wouldn't stop her."
They smile, both thinking of his bolshie yet awkward twin. An easy silence stretches, Kai almost falling back to sleep but when Bonnie sighs he opens his eyes and looks at her with question.
"If we go with you I have to quit my job."
At once his eyes shine. "Oh holy fuck do you have handcuffs?"
"Kai. Please be serious."
"I am."
She sits up, trying to hide her smile and looks at her uniform hanging over the wardrobe. "I'm not actually police. I work in a woman's correctional facility."
"A prison warden?" his lips quirk and she knows how ironic it sounds. It does not even need mentioning.
"I rushed here, needed a job. My friend Matt, who is a policeman, knew someone at the facility and suggested I apply for a position. Got it, been there for the last nine months."
"Cool...so, no handcuffs?" he laughs as she rolls her eyes, getting out of bed. She looks down at him, gaze appreciative. He is gorgeous and entirely hers. Kai looks aside. "Gonna make me blush."
"Ha! Don't think you know what the word means," she slips on her robe, looking up at the window and stills. They should be making love, according to the visions they shared.
Maybe it happens later? The question why they would have repeated visions of one particular session of lovemaking is still a mystery to her. Pushing these unanswerable questions from her mind she smiles down at Kai, who leans over to look at his cell phone.
"Gonna shower. Nope you can't join," she adds before he can ask.
"Why not?"
"Because its the size of a shoebox," she answers over her shoulder, walking into the hallway.
"Water conservation Bonster," comes his reply and she grins, running down the hall. She has tried to push away feelings of being younger, of the risk and excitement that comes with usually being a teenager but as he suddenly scoops her up and swings her over his shoulder she laughs wildly, releasing all the bottled up feelings she has suppressed for too long. Her actual teenage years were filled with stress, death and too much responsibility.
She deserves some fun.
a.n:
bit of happiness and fluff :)