Chapter 34

"No, you do smell like Dad, this entire rooms smells… weird." Claira wasn't sure she wanted to be inhaling in here, frowning. It did smell like her Dad, but at the same time, there was a very distinct, almost smoky scent along with it. "Can we fold them downstairs please?"

Her parents had been having sex… a lot if she could still smell it. She bet they were used to the scent and that was just gross. She didn't want to think about her parents having sex. They were old.

"Does it really smell that bad in here?"

Claira nodded, plugging her nose and Brooklynn frowned, wondering why her senses weren't heightened. Then, the answer came to her and she smiled, knowing it was because of Claira's powers. Witches and Warlocks had heightened senses due to their magic. She remembered the first time Claira had started her period. Mark had known instantly and grumbled the entire day about his little girl growing up too fast.

"Fine – fine, take the towels downstairs and I'll wash our bedding, just to get rid of the smell. I'll meet you down there in a minute."

Rolling her eyes, Claira took the basket of towels and headed out of the room. "You might want to Febreze too while you're at it." She called over her shoulder, laughing when she heard her Mom grumbling.

Turnabout was fair play. That and it was nice, being able to joke around with her Mom without getting her head bitten off. Some parents were not like that. Of course, Brooklynn had always made it clear she wasn't Claira's friend but her mother. They could be friendly, but at the end of the day, if push came to shove, Mom first.

All Brooklynn could do was chuckle and did as her daughter advised, grabbing the Febreze to spray it all over the bedroom. Mark wouldn't mind the flowery scent, but she didn't know if Taker would have an issue with it. She took the comforter and sheets off the bed, carrying everything downstairs and went to the laundry room to drop them in the washer. Then she went back upstairs and remade the bed with a fresh comforter and bedsheets, having a couple different bed sets. Breathing in the air, Brooklynn finally noticed a difference and nodded before heading downstairs to help her daughter fold the towels, which was already done.

"Sorry, took longer than I thought, but I did Febreze the room, so it shouldn't smell bad anymore."

"You know what's really gross? I will never know if you did bad things with your lips before kissing me." Claira said with a dramatic sigh. "New rule Mom, no more kisses from you or Dad." That smell had been in there a few days, which meant her parents were probably working on a new kid. "Wait, are you guys trying for another baby?" She was 16… they might have empty nest syndrome. "At your age?"

Brooklynn had been taking a sip out of her water bottle and spewed it all over the folded towels, the top of them anyway, cursing violently. Some of it had snorted out of her nose and that HURT. She coughed, pounding her chest while Claira, wide-eyed, patted her back to try to help her out.

"Son of a bitch!" She groaned, taking the towel she'd spewed and snorted water on to wipe the rest of it away from her mouth and nose. "No, we are NOT trying for another baby. You are our one and only." No way in hell would Brooklynn EVER have another child. One was more than enough, especially a smartass 16-year-old. "And I will kiss you anytime I want. I brought you into this world, remember that, Claira. And I am only in my early 40's, I'm not THAT old, actually." There were 50-year-olds having babies in this world and Brooklynn hadn't even started early menopause yet. "Your Dad and I…we have a healthy sex life." More like breathing new life into it with Taker back in the mix. "And that's ALL you need to know. Christ, my nose hurts now…"

"Way too healthy." Claira muttered, deciding she would be nice, get her Mom a new bottle of water and some time to finish with her nose. Humming under her breath, she slipped into the kitchen, cocking an eyebrow. "Dad left you a black rose on the table." Gross. Her parents were hitting another honeymoon phase or something. Being married had really revitalized them it seemed. It was nice though, them being happy.

"He did?"

Taker. There was no way Mark would leave her a black rose, or black anything, for that matter. Sure enough, she walked into the kitchen and saw the black rose lying there, so delicate and it was real. Smiling, she picked it up and held it to her nose, breathing the scent in.

"Dad has never left you a rose or gotten you flowers, has he?"

Claira couldn't recall it ever happening, not even for their anniversary, even though they weren't married until recently. Still, people celebrated anniversaries being together, didn't they? Valentine's Day – nothing, though her parents didn't believe in that Hallmark holiday anyway.

The black rose was symbolic and brought Brooklynn back to the past. After Taker saved her from the evil spirit, they had parted ways, only to bump into each other again, with another spirit, a few months later. Taker had a black rose for her, admitting he had followed the spirit in hopes of seeing her again. Back then, Brooklynn was leery, hesitant and shy, though she had wanted to see him again too.

Even though he dripped evil and darkness, she had sensed it about him, there was also good in him or he wouldn't have saved her. She had taken the rose, thanking him for saving her, since she hadn't gotten a chance to the first time they met, and it started a tradition. Every time they saw each other, Taker had a black rose for her…until they began meeting the other members of the circle. The black roses stopped, and Brooklynn recalled the day he asked her to call him Mark, not Undertaker.

It was Taker's calling, his thing, not Mark's.

Perhaps, if Claira's powers weren't Bound, she would have been able to sense the changes in the air, outside of disgusting smells of parental sex. As it was, she was aware that they seemed happier, her Dad seemed sometimes spacey, but Mom was happier. Which was a nice change, considering not too long ago, she had been freaking out and having panic attacks over dreams that had apparently stopped. She had to wonder if maybe her Dad had cast a spell, without her Mom's permission, to stop that.

Claira could never find out about her father's split personalities, hoping it wasn't hereditary. Mickie didn't have one, so that was a good sign. Taker made sure to always put up a sound barrier before their vigorous sexual activities began. It had only been a few days, but Brooklynn lost count how many times she'd been attacked throughout the day while Claira was in school.

They had sex on the kitchen table, the counter, the couch and living room floor, walls, the bathroom and shower, bedroom, even outside on the patio and in the pool. She reminded Taker he still had a job at the shop and he informed her he'd taken a leave of absence, leaving Billy in charge of everything. If Claira knew every single place they'd had sex in the past couple days, while she was gone, she would've probably had a stroke. Putting the black rose in a vase, Brooklynn left it on the table and headed back upstairs to finish packing.

"Well… Mark… let's see…" Taker had to unlock HIS books since Mark warded them. Not a bad idea all things considered. They gave off their own aura, they would have attracted any supernatural being within a 100-mile radius. "That was rude."

He had been fried, Mark wasn't a total idiot. Mark was also dormant. He thought he had laid down for a nap. Day by day, Taker was gaining strength, though… he had every intention of laying low for the next week. As amusing as it would be, harassing the circle, he knew Mickie James would try forcing him back and that wasn't an option.

If Mickie even TRIED getting rid of Taker, Brooklynn would stop her, no matter what she had to do. She hoped Taker would come out for the majority of the drive since Mark would be out while they were celebrating and talking about the darkness with the circle. After packing was finished and Claira was in bed for her final day of school before Spring Break, she showered before crawling under the covers, feeling exhausted.

Sleep deprived was a better term since Taker had kept her up lately. Hopefully tonight, he would let her catch up on sleep because they had a very long drive ahead of them to get to D.C. It was a 22-hour drive, so they would be stopping halfway through at a hotel to rest before making the rest of the trip. If Taker wanted to sex her up, it would have to be in a dream because she was dead to the real world currently, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"I tried waking you up, precious."

Boy had he ever. Brooklynn was so tired she had not noticed when he went after her backside, with tongue. She had freshly showered and trimmed, all that pleasant grooming and, while her body had reacted, she had not twitched an eyelid.

"You might be… sticky when you do wake up." They were outside this time, at that beautiful hour where the sun was setting and darkness had almost taken over. Being a dream, he was capable of keeping them at this time, his favorite.

"I'm not going to lie, you're wearing me out and my body physically shut down tonight. I don't even remember falling asleep after the shower." Brooklynn smiled up at him, brushing her hand against his face and loved how his hair was down, flowing over his shoulders. "I figured if you wanted to sex me up again, you'd come to me in my dreams since I'm out cold in the real world right now." She accepted a soft kiss from him, her hands caressing his chest under the black leather vest he had on. "Thank you for the rose. Claira was shocked to see it since Mark never gets me flowers."

"Of course he doesn't."

Taker rolled his eyes. He wasn't one for grand gestures either, no big bouquets were coming from him or expensive jewelry, cards, none of that idiocy. A simple, single rose, however, tended to speak volumes.

"Wearing you out, hmm? Need a magical boost?" He could do that now, without expending himself.

It was just a matter of timing now and, soon enough, he'd be the dominant personality.

"No, I don't want to be magically enhanced just to fuck." That got a chuckle out of him and it was her turn to roll her eyes. "I need sleep. We have a very long drive ahead of us tomorrow and I want to be rested for it. Besides…" Brooklynn pressed a few soft kisses against his chest, hearing him purr in response and made sure to use tongue. "Why wouldn't you want to fuck your wife in this beautiful scenery? The bedroom needs to air out too, so if it smells flowery, it's because of Claira complaining it smelled like…you. She said I smelled like you too. We need to be a little more discreet when it comes to her…"

"So her parents have a very active sex life. You should feel grateful she's sound asleep and too old to come into Mommy and Daddy's room anymore." He pointed out wickedly, green eyes flashing with a hint of venom. Cupping her head, Taker kept that delicious mouth of hers right where it was. He liked being kissed on and bitten, which she was learning quite quickly. "I was balls deep in you for a while, and you didn't bat an eye…" Poor her, that tired. "And then… your delicious ass…" Claira would have been scarred for life.

"Believe me, I'm not complaining and I'm enjoying every second of this, but…it's a HUGE change. I don't want Claira getting suspicious…" She felt his hand buried in her hair, pulling her up to where their eyes locked and could see the lust burning in his acidic eyes. "Do you want me to protect you or not?"

Whether he liked it or not, keeping the fact Taker was back wasn't easy and she hated lying to Mark about it. He was actually thinking about going to the doctor's to get these headaches checked out, but Taker assured her they would vanish the stronger he became. If people found out too soon, especially Mark, it would spell disaster and she couldn't lose Taker again. Hopefully, Taker would plant it in Mark's head NOT to go to the doctor because they would simply give him a clean bill of health. It would be a waste of time.

"You need to be careful, especially this next week. We both need to be careful because one wrong move and the circle will know you're back."

"I've already thought about that, Lynn, you should know better." Taker retorted arrogantly and it laced his tone, every word dripping with it. "I'll be going dormant next week, so you will have to suffer the boring, stale version of me." And he bet her week would suck because he'd basically be asleep for it. He didn't trust Mickie or Randy. Taker knew if he peeked, it might trigger a vision or something from Trish. "I won't take over Mark, not anytime soon, but I won't be around for your visit with… them." Brooklynn actually looked… sad over that and his gaze softened just for a fraction of a second. "I will visit…" His fingertips caressed her temple so she knew what he meant.

Brooklynn suddenly didn't want to go on this trip, feeling as though her heart was splintering in her chest and she didn't know why. It wasn't like Taker was being destroyed or leaving her for good, just until they were away from the circle and back home. What if Mark decided he wanted to have sex with her, would Taker be there like he was previously? No, he said he was going to dormant completely, not wanting to draw attention to what was going on. She loved Mark, but all this mind-blowing sex and being with Taker had corrupted her heart.

"Damn it, what've you done to me?! I'm DREADING being with Mark and it's your fault!" He actually laughed at that outburst and she smacked his chest, glaring up at him. "NOT funny, Taker. Damn it…" Shoving away from him, Brooklynn looked out at the sunset that hadn't moved and felt him walk up behind her, leaning her head back against his chest. "What's happening to me?"

"You're bored with him." He stated matter-of-factly, amusement in his voice as his hands slid up her sides and then to her breasts, feeling her let out a slow sigh. "You spent 17 years with that vanilla, redneck fuck and then I came along again, and you tasted the wild side." Taker lowered his mouth to her shoulder, letting his tongue blaze a path across her shoulder blades, the back of her neck and back again. "You're tired of being worshipped, even though you should be," He nipped at her earlobe. "You want to be used, Lynn… that's why you cum so hard every time I fuck you. You want my cock in all your holes, whenever I say, and you like the feeling, and he'll never give it to you." Not that he was a total beast, he always made sure she got off, multiple times, but there would never be any good old-fashioned lovemaking from him.

"Stop it. I'm not bored with him, I just…" Brooklynn shivered at the feeling of his tongue and hands on her body, enticing her, flooding her with desire all over again. "I love him. I love being with him and I love when he does make love to me. I love the soft and tender side, just not ALL the time." She had gotten a dose of the other side to sex, the more harsh, brutal and toe-curling experience. "I have to go. WAKE UP!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs.