Who: Caius and Reagan When: Evening, Sunday, October 1 Where: Reagan’s home Status: Complete Warnings: Turns NSFW
Reagan had closed up her shop after a fairly busy, successful day thanks to the people out and about attending Oysterfest. She was pretty exhausted by the time she left Belladonna and began to drive back to Black Cove, but it was still early and Reagan wasn’t quite ready to call it a night. Things had been a little tense and uncomfortable between she and Caius since the ‘fog incident’ on Tuesday, and despite her own lingering discomfort, Reagan was determined to push them both past it so they could… heal. Make amends. Whatever they were supposed to do after something of that magnitude.
She knew he would be heading to her house once he finished up at work and while she briefly considered firing up the grill to cook them steaks or something for dinner, Reagan honestly didn’t feel like dealing with all of that. Instead, when she got home, she opened the French doors to her deck and started a fire in the rounded stone pit in the middle of the deck. The night wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t unbearably chilly either, so maybe they could just order in and sit under the stars and talk. Or not talk. Maybe just being together would be enough.
While the fire started to flicker and lick along the wood logs, Reagan headed back inside to change. She pulled on a comfortable pair of leggings and a long, dark t-shirt with one of her college hoodies. Reagan washed her face and tied her hair up out of the way. She was just opening a bottle of wine and pouring herself a glass when she got Caius’s text that he was on his way. Omw. Important. Well… that was slightly ominous, wasn’t it? Or maybe that was just the mood she was in. Reagan thumbed in a quick response. I’m here. and carried the wine and two glasses outside to sit. She was going to call their favorite Thai place to deliver some dinner, but she decided to wait until he got home, just to make sure that ‘Important’ wasn’t going to completely derail the whole evening.
Reagan curled on one of the comfortable chairs near the fire and sipped her wine, waiting patiently for Caius to arrive.
The more time went by and the more it sank in, the more panicky Caius felt. His mind was racing as he drove toward Reagan’s house from the marina. He’d waited in his office until Anthony had vacated the building, not wanting to give the impression that he was as scared as he actually was. Not after he’d ordered his father out of his office. But once he’d given enough time for Anthony to leave the parking lot, Caius had practically run to his car. He was getting over the shock that his parents had kept something so essential and life-changing from him, and sliding into frantically trying to figure something out. Surely there were books, research he could do, resources to tap into ... every curse could be broken somehow.
He couldn’t shake the memory of standing out in the fog with that feeling of murderous rage in him, as if that might happen again. Anthony seemed to think it would. Caius didn’t think he could stand that, and he also didn’t think he and Reagan would survive going head to head again, if they were pushed into it. Something had to be done, as soon as possible.
He pulled into Reagan’s driveway, feeling shaky and sick. Caius took a few deep, slow breaths once he got out of the car, tilting his face up to the night sky and silently begging his element for strength. He needed that lightness, that aloofness, to think clearly and move swiftly. Once he felt a little less freaked out, he walked into the house. “Reagan?” he called as he shut the front door behind him. Caius could tell the French doors were open, so he headed in that direction, shrugging out of his coat and leaving it on a chair. He tugged at his tie as he stepped out and saw her out there by the fire, looking beautifully comfortable. His wife. His one true love. They had to do something. “We have to talk,” he said quietly.
Reagan had let her thoughts slip away from her as she stared into the fire - her own element - drawing its heat into her, warming the chill she had been feeling in her gut over the past few days. She didn't think she could adequately describe it, and frankly, Reagan didn't feel like trying. There were nights she'd woken up from a deep sleep, convinced those shadows were inside of her body again, tearing her apart. Sometimes she could still taste blood in her mouth. Catching glimpses of the scarring on Caius's body didn't help anything. Her magic had healed him, but the physical reminders of what she had done to him would never go away.
The flames of the fire pit mesmerized her now, but the sound of Caius's voice calling for her jerked her back to the present and she realized then how tightly she had been holding her wine glass. Reagan loosened her grip some and rested it on her bent knee before smiling faintly at her husband when he walked out onto the deck to join her. His words prompted her to raise a dark brow, the smile frozen in place even as her heart began to thump uncomfortably in her chest. "Oh, Caius, you're not dumping me again, are you?" The words were light and slightly teasing, but they both knew nothing good ever followed those four words.
Caius was too devastated and worried to think it was funny, though ... part of him thought about it for a second. Of just ripping the bandages off right there, of giving in to what his father so obviously wanted. It was a brief thought, and he pushed it away. No. There had to be another way, and they would find it. They were the best and brightest of their generation, they would surely outpace their parents eventually, and they would take care of this. He went to sit down on on the other deck chair, pulling his tie off and just letting it drop before he ran a hand through his hair.
“I just spoke with my father,” Caius said quietly. His fingers fell to the ring and amulet around his neck, still out and exposed, and he toyed with both of them absently as he made himself look at Reagan. “They’ve been keeping something from us. Him, my mother, your mother ... there’s a curse on our families. Both of them, that has been there since the Six. Every generation, two children fall in love and end up dead. ‘Destroyed,’ was the word he used. He said many have tried to break it over the years, and all failed.”
Caius looked a little pale, even in the moonlight, and when he didn't crack the faintest of smiles, the tiny thread of amusement that Reagan was clinging to slipped away. It was a wonder that her heart didn't just burst completely out of her chest in that moment. They were married now. They had made a commitment. This wasn't going to be like all of the other times, and she shouldn't automatically assume he was about to end things again. Reagan didn't push him to talk until he was ready, but her fingers had tightened around her wine glass all over again when he sat down near her. Reagan listened to what he was saying, and it took a moment or two for the words to start to sink in because... it sounded... crazy. Confusing and crazy. She said nothing at first, but could feel the way her chest rose and fell with every breath. She watched the firelight flicker over Caius's face, and his dark eyes. This wasn't something Caius would joke about, but at the same time... it felt so out of the blue and insane that she had no idea how to respond.
So she took a drink of her wine, grateful that her hand didn't shake. Her mother had kept this from her? What did that mean? What did any of it mean? Reagan set her glass down on her knee again. When she spoke, her voice was calm, because she couldn't just panic when she wasn't positive there was anything to panic about. "How do you know he was telling you the truth? What if he was lying to you, Caius? You know how controlling he can be. Maybe he just made this up to keep you under his thumb."
It wasn’t like Caius hadn’t thought about that possibility at all, he just ... didn’t think it was likely. “He meant it,” he said without any defensiveness. It was a valid doubt, and he knew how abrupt and insane all of this sounded. He just had enough faith in his father to mostly skip over the denial. Reagan didn’t harbor the same faith, and knowing what he knew now, maybe Caius shouldn’t either. “He’s controlling, yes, but ... this would be a reckless lie. Because right now all I want to do is pack us up and leave this fucking place behind for the rest of our lives.” Caius had no idea if that would help, if the curse was centered in Point Pleasant or what, but the compulsion was still there. To escape. Anthony wouldn’t risk him fleeing if it wasn’t for a good reason. He’d put too much work into Caius. “And some of the things he was saying ... they fit us. Our past.”
Reagan felt like Caius was sometimes blinded to what his father would do or say for power and control, but... he also knew Anthony far better than Reagan ever would. She knew it was just that sense of possessiveness she felt for Caius. He'd had plenty of women whenever they were on the outs, but Reagan had never felt threatened by any of them. She knew Caius's heart and body belonged to her, no matter who they might be with at the time. But Anthony D'Onofrio was a different story. Caius's father was the only person Reagan ever felt could truly take Caius away from her, if he really wanted to. Magic, powerful magic, was addicting. It was a strong temptation, and Caius's ambition was the only true threat to their relationship. On the other hand, it really made no sense for Anthony to lie about this, because obviously Caius's first reaction would be to leave town, and Anthony would never allow that.
"What did he say," Reagan asked, needing the details now, needing to hear everything so she could somehow find something that would prove Anthony was wrong. Some hole in the story, something that would tell them that this curse, whatever it was, wasn't about them. "Our past is... well, it isn't exactly conventional, but it's not... nothing about it could prove we're cursed, Caius."
There might not be any solid proof in their past, at least none that they could see from where they were now, but there had been coincidences in what Anthony told him. Signs. Like how drawn to each other they were, in spite of all odds and circumstances. They’d always believed they were meant for one another, that nothing could pull them apart permanently. Had that been their love, or had it been the work of old magic? A Romeo and Juliet kind of curse, keeping them locked in this dance?
After a heavy sigh, Caius closed his eyes and stepped through the conversation with his father out loud for her, as best he could recall it. Reagan might be angry that he’d talked so easily about what had happened in the fog, but that didn’t seem to matter much anymore. Though it made him wonder if Anthony would have told him the truth if he and Reagan hadn’t tried to kill each other. If the engagement would have been enough, or if his parents would have just kept scheming to keep them apart. And how many breakups had been their fault? Just how much had they been manipulated? It all made his head spin, but he tried to focus now on this conversation, on working it out with his wife.
Reagan wasn't thrilled that Caius had told Anthony what happened in the fog - she didn't want to deal with her mother - but it was difficult to be pissed off when there was something much heavier, and more dangerous, hanging over their heads. If Anthony was to be believed. She realized she would have to talk to Veronica and hear her side of this, because Caius had mentioned that it was her mother who had known about it as well. Like Caius, Reagan began to think about their relationship, replaying older moments in her head. Fights, and break ups, coming back together - always coming back together. That set in stone knowledge that no matter what happened, they would end up together. She had been so sure of it, even when she forced herself to doubt Caius, in her gut, she knew better. Was it their parents who used magic to break them up? Had magic been the only reason they had been drawn together in the first place? Did they truly love each other? Or was it the curse.
Her breath caught in her throat and her temper rose swiftly, causing Reagan to straighten in her seat and throw her wine glass into the fire. It shattered loudly against the stone hearth. She was suddenly furious, not only at their parents, but at this. All of it, putting doubt into her mind, making her question something that she had been so sure of her entire life. Or most of it. "What does this mean?" Reagan asked, her tone tight with barely controlled anger. "We've just been manipulated since the beginning? Was any of this real? Is it real now? We're just supposed to question everything until we go crazy?"
The shattering glass gave Caius a tiny twitch inside, but he didn’t let it show. Reagan was rightfully angry. He was angry too. Possibly much more than Anthony could ever understand, or he would have found a better way to break the news than how he’d done it. Caius knew that his parents loved one another, and that his father loved him and Sera, but there had always been a distance there. Caius didn’t think Anthony loved Miriam the way that Caius loved Reagan. That no-holds-barred, intense from top to bottom way. They fought hard, they loved hard ... or did they? Was that coming from them, or the magic? Was there even a difference? He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, rubbing both hands over his face and back into his hair. “I wish I had those answers,” he said. There was still a brightly burning coal of anger in him, but his bigger storm had temporarily passed. “Everything in me says it’s real. I love you, I would lie cheat steal and die for you. If I’ve felt that since I was fucking thirteen, how can that not be real? Magic or not, it’s real to us.”
Reagan was angry, but she was trying hard not to acknowledge the underlying sliver of fear beneath it. How could this happen? Why hadn't her mother told her? Reagan wondered if she had missed calls and texts on her phone now. If Anthony and Veronica both knew, did Caius's father call her mother to tell her their children knew this big secret now? What did it mean? What were the details of the curse? Did the witch who cursed them still have descendants in town? Reagan tried to focus on breathing in and out without screaming. Were they doomed to death? To unhappiness? She had so many questions, yet she knew Caius didn't have the answers anymore than she did. Reagan unfolded her legs from beneath her and stood from her chair to pace about the deck, her arms folded tightly around herself. She looked at Caius, one hand coming up to her mouth where she chewed on one perfectly manicured fingernail for a moment. "What if you start to doubt it?" she asked finally, sounding pained. "What if we both start to wonder if how we feel is just the magic? What if we figure this out and break whatever curse this is and we don't.... feel the same anymore."
Those were the real questions, weren’t they? The ones that cut straight through him, because they were exactly what he now feared too. Caius wondered vaguely and bitterly if his father had any idea what kind of a grenade he’d just casually tossed into Caius’s life. He stood up and walked to where Reagan was pacing, putting himself in reach if she wanted him. All he wanted to do was wrap her up in his arms, squeeze her tight and tell her everything was going to be okay, and have her believe it. Things were never that simple though, not for them. He didn’t know how to answer those ‘what ifs.’ Right at that moment it broke his heart to think about not loving Reagan anymore, but who could predict anything about how they would feel if circumstances changed? If the two of them had been manipulated their whole lives by this outside force and their parents ... Caius didn’t know what would happen if it was stripped away. And he knew Reagan was too intelligent to be comforted by platitudes. “Right now, I don’t doubt it,” he said, watching her with his own pained expression. “I don’t doubt us. But ... we have to fix it somehow, Reagan. I can’t risk your life for anything.”
Reagan hated not being in control, hated not knowing what this meant, or what she could do. She would have to talk to her mother, she knew that, but she was afraid if she attempted that right now she would fall apart. Reagan had to wait until she could digest this and steel herself. She had to be able to approach this with a clear, determined mind. Because Caius was right. Maybe no one had been able to break this curse because they weren't as powerful as she and Caius. If anyone could fix this, it was the two of them, right?
Reagan stepped forward and slipped her arms around Caius to hold him close. She pressed her cheek to his chest and took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly between her lips. He felt so solid against her. Familiar. Her lifeline. Imagining a life where they weren't destined to be together was so incomprehensible to her. "We'll figure this out. We have to." Her tone darkened. "And I don't want their help. We'll do it on our own." Their parents could go fuck themselves for all Reagan cared.
Caius’s arms immediately wrapped around Reagan as he allowed himself to feel a rush of relief, an extra knot of tension loosening a bit inside of him. He hadn’t known if she would turn that anger on him or not -- not on purpose, but just because it had nowhere else to go at the moment -- and he was glad she hadn’t. More than glad. Caius felt on the edge of something really bad and dangerous, and he didn’t need that extra nudge. He tightened his grip on her at her words, a wild feeling of love and pride rushing forward. It felt completely genuine and real, and he couldn’t imagine not feeling that way about his fire-aspected wife. “We will,” he agreed in a murmur, the embrace giving away more of his trepidation than his voice did. Caius needed Reagan, and vice versa. Curse and parents be damned, they were stronger together.
It would have been so easy to turn her fury on Caius. If this had been about anything else, she may have, only because Reagan had a habit of lashing out at the easiest target. But this was something that affected the both of them, and in such an enormous way that it didn't occur to her to blame Caius, or to lash out at him. They needed each other, and she was desperate to feel his arms around her. Reagan had no idea what was going to happen, or how they would work through this. All she knew was they had to. There had to be some conclusion to this problem that didn't end in doom. She breathed in and out deeply, closing her eyes to try and calm the storm inside of her. When Reagan felt like she could, she lifted her face and brought her hands up to slip into Caius's hair. She kissed him deeply, needing to feel that physical connection between them, to know he was still there, and still hers. Maybe she feared everything would feel different now, knowing what they knew. Maybe she needed that reassurance that nothing had changed yet.
The kiss wasn’t unexpected on Caius’s end. He knew them well enough to know that in times of trouble, they tended to fall back on being physical with each other. It was always better than arguing, and words of love and reassurance were paltry things. Reagan’s fingers in his thick hair put a lump of emotion in Caius’s throat, and he kissed her back with open need and hunger. One arm tightened around her waist while the other hand slid up to pull the elastic tie out of Reagan’s hair. He dropped it and delved his fingers into all that softness to hold her to his mouth. He needed this just as much as she did, a re-dedication to each other in a language that was all their own. The entire world could go fuck itself, they were in this together and it was real.
As uncertain as their future was, Reagan found she couldn't be afraid when Caius was touching her. They were both strong witches, and strong people, and she knew they could figure this out without losing each other. They had to. There was no other option. Reagan absorbed the heat, both from the fire beside them, and Caius's lips, and let it strengthen her resolve. She felt both needy and determined, and Reagan dropped her hands from his dark hair to slip her arms around him, clinging to his sides as her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. He felt and tasted so familiar to her that in that moment, Reagan couldn't get enough of him. Sure, it was their own brand of reassurance, but Reagan wouldn't have it any other way. Nothing else would feel as sincere as this did, and sometimes, it was just better if neither of them spoke.
Was this the magic of an old curse, pulling them even tighter together? Caius found that he didn’t care if it was. It was still so integrated into their lives, woven into the very fabric of their being, he couldn’t imagine any life without Reagan in it. His father was a fool if he thought Caius could just end things. They’d proven time and again that was impossible. So the only way forward was to break whatever threatened them, to face it together and burn it to ashes. He stroked his hand through Reagan’s hair as his mouth worked over hers, and Caius felt a lust that was more emotional than physical radiate through him. He needed her, all of her, as close as they could get to one another, and Caius started to pull her with him toward one of the cushiony lounge chairs they had out there. Inside in bed would be more private and comfortable, but he didn’t care, he didn’t want to pull either of them away from their elements tonight.
Reagan didn't care at the moment if it was the magic pulling them together again. Maybe there was something powerful pulling the strings here, but she was willing give into it now. All she wanted was Caius and she moved with him toward the chair, her fingers gripping the material of his shirt to pull it up just enough for her to get her hands beneath it. His skin was warm and solid beneath her fingers and Reagan moaned softly into his mouth. There was just no way this could be fabricated. If what they felt for each other was magic, then it was so powerful that Reagan didn't think they would ever be able to break it. When they reached one of her lounge chairs, Reagan broke away from Caius's mouth, bringing her hands up to his chest to nudge him gently down into the chair.
He could never get enough of her hands against his skin, and that familiar touch just made him feel even more sure that he couldn’t live without this. They would either fix it or die together, Caius thought in his current passionate haze. He opened dark eyes on her when she pulled back, gazing at her for a beat before he obeyed that nudge. Caius sat, though his hands didn’t leave Reagan, sliding down her sides and hips to her thighs. He leaned in to kiss her stomach, breathing in the scent of her laundry detergent with relish. It wasn’t a smell that should’ve been sexy, but it was so closely associated with Reagan in his head that it was.
Reagan slid her hands through his thick hair, smoothing back the strands slowly as he kissed her stomach through her shirt. She wasn't terribly concerned whatsoever with her neighbors. It was dark enough, even with the fire in the pit, and the trees gave them privacy. It wasn't the first time she and Caius had been intimate outside, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Reagan reveled in the feel of Caius's hot breath against her for a moment before she reached beneath her shirt to peel her leggings and panties down her hips. Reagan stepped back just long enough to get them off completely and discard them. Maybe Anthony thought telling Caius the truth would somehow drive a wedge between he and Reagan... but he was wrong. If anything. Reagan was bound and determined to use this to their advantage somehow. This was only going to make them stronger.
Caius watched her halfway undress with glazed eyes, then reached to pull her closer to him again as soon as he could get his hands on her bare skin. He felt a little desperate, emotional, like he needed her body against his to feel grounded at all. He pushed one of her legs up so her foot could brace against the chair, dipping his head in to press his lips against her warmth. Caius kissed his way to her folds and didn’t hesitate to stroke his tongue against them. It wasn’t a time to tease, but he wanted her wet and needy and it was so much easier not to think about anything with Reagan’s scent filling his head. Sex had always bonded them even more tightly together, and something in him needed to show the universe that they couldn’t be broken apart.
Reagan, slid her hands back into his hair, stroking the strands restlessly as her eyes closed and her breath caught in her throat. They needed this. Not only because of what Anthony had told Caius, but because of what had happened in the fog. There were broken pieces between them that needed mending, and Reagan should have known that this was the only way they could properly heal. Someone who didn't know, or understand, them very well might have said it was an unhealthy approach, but Reagan and Caius had proven time and again that physical intimacy reconnected them in ways words never could. His tongue was magic against her flesh. It was amazing how much power Caius had, not only to hurt her, but to make her completely lose her mind with pleasure. No one else ever made her shake and tremble the way Caius did and Reagan licked her lips, trying to stay balanced as arousal began to overwhelm her.
There was something so sexy about having her standing over him like that while he pleasured her. Power was something they traded back and forth, a constant push-pull in nearly every aspect of their lives ... sometimes it got contentious, but most of the time it felt like this to Caius. Like he wanted desperately to please Reagan, let her know how much he truly worshipped her, let her use him however she wanted. She was his queen, perhaps even more so than Miriam was to Anthony, and as rough as he liked to be with her sometimes, it always came back to this surrender to their love. Caius moaned into her flesh, his mouth an expert by now at how to make her lose her mind, and he loved every second of it. He reached down to undo his belt and the front of his pants to set his cock free, flushed and full and ready for her. It felt too urgent to even get properly undressed, and after another minute he moved his head back and pulled on her hips to get her down on him.
Curse or no curse, Reagan had always believed the magic they both harbored was one of the reasons they were so compatible in bed. They had been having sex since they were teenagers and it had never gone stale. It was never boring or predictable, no matter how many years had passed in their relationship. Their elements fed off of one another, despite how destructive they could be. It didn't matter their mood, or the status of their relationship... this was what always brought them back together. As strong as their parents were in terms of magic, their partners were not, and Reagan always believed that added element of passion was missing from her parents’ marriage. It was why Veronica and Anthony would never understand just how strong the bond was between she and Caius, and why Reagan refused now to ask for their help to save it. She and Caius could do this on their own. Reagan was panting softly and lowered her foot back to the deck as soon as Caius pulled back and reached for her hips. She moved to straddle his lap immediately, stroking his jaw with her thumbs before she kissed him, tasting herself on his lips and tongue. It took barely two movements before she had him inside of her and Reagan moaned into his mouth, slowly sinking down his length until he was buried to the hilt.
Nobody understood them, he’d long felt that way, and now Caius knew for sure that their parents understood them least of all. Especially if Anthony thought Caius could just voluntarily end their relationship. As if the years of on-again-off-again hadn’t already made that clear. Some people saw instability, but Caius knew it was just a love and passion that ordinary human bullshit couldn’t overcome. And if something ancient and magical could overcome it? Caius would go down swinging. His grip tightened on Reagan’s hips as she settled around him, and he let out a low moan into the kiss. Her body was hot and tight and exactly what he needed. Caius’s hands moved restlessly around to squeeze her ass and then up under her shirt to stroke against her back too. She was so soft and perfect and no matter how much he touched her, it never felt like enough. “I love you,” he breathed in between kisses. He pushed his hips up to drive himself even deeper into his wife and wished they could stay right there forever.
Reagan made a small noise in the back of her throat when she felt him thrust deeper and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him as she began to work her hips over his. She loved feeling the cooler, night air on her body, contrasting with the heat from the fire behind her and Caius's arms. She felt more powerful in that moment, like she could overcome just about anything, including Caius's magic. There was the vague wish that they were both completely naked, but she would take whatever she could at that moment. A sense of desperation began to leak into Reagan's lustful haze and she kissed Caius a bit deeper, drawing him into her harder with the quickened pace of her hips. She needed to be able to let go, to enjoy every burst of pleasure inside of her body. And they needed to put the past week behind them. Forgive and bury it with everything else if they had any chance of surviving the future.
Caius shuddered under her, rocking in time with her rhythm, unable to stay still and just take it. It just felt too fucking good, and he had given in to his baser instincts, to let everything be stripped away except their need for each other. His grip moved down again to Reagan’s ass, and he pulled her even harder against him as they moved together. Doing this with most of his clothes on was starting to get hot in the uncomfortable way, but he didn’t feel like he could stop for anything. They could make all the nude love they wanted under the stars later, this round felt like something else. He had to break his mouth away from Reagan’s to catch a few breaths, but he couldn’t go far, his panting groans louder outside of the kiss.
Reagan didn't need Caius to just sit there and let her take what she wanted... she needed him to move with her, to be an active participant and take as much pleasure from this as he was giving to her. She knew they would both be sweaty and spent when they finished, but it didn't bother her in the least. It felt too damn good and Reagan pressed her cheek against Caius's, her breathing harsh as she closed her eyes and let her body take over. The heat from the fire only stoked the flames inside of Reagan and she didn't resist it when the intense bliss began to unravel. She clung to Caius, the tips of her fingernails pressing into the nape of his neck as she rocked against him harder. Even if her neighbors couldn't see them, it was likely they could hear her now as she cried out and came, shaking from the force of her orgasm before she buried her face against Caius's throat to try and muffle the sound.
He was helpless to do anything but follow her straight over the edge, unable to resist the tightening pleasure from all the sounds she was making and the motion of her hips and the way her body throbbed around him. Caius thrust his hips up harder as Reagan came, only a handful of seconds behind her. He pulled her in tight against him as he swelled and burst inside of her, shuddering along with her with that release that only she could really give him. It was more than a physical thing, and it always had been. Every other fuck with every other girl had been a pale shadow of what he felt with his soulmate, his wife. Caius loosened up his grip on Reagan’s ass as he came down a little, moving his hands to cradle her lower back instead as he worked on catching his breath. He turned his face into her hair, intense emotion still bubbling in his chest, but kept his mouth shut for now.
With her body starting to cool, Reagan could feel how damp her body was now, pressed against Caius. She felt reluctant to move, like it would somehow break this protective bubble they found themselves in. She didn't want to return to reality, to know that what they had could very well be broken and destroyed. But she also knew that he was more or less fully clothed, and the heat from the fire affected him in ways it would never affect Reagan. She brought her hands around to cup his face, and she drew his mouth back to hers to kiss him deeply. "I love you," she murmured against his lips. "No matter what happens, that won't change."
Caius was starting to cool a bit too, now that he could get his lungs full of air. His eyes stayed closed as Reagan brought him into another kiss, and Caius returned it with feeling, one hand sliding higher up her back. He felt like bundling her up and carrying her straight to a bubble bath where they could just relax and still hold onto one another, skin to skin. How could anyone ask them to not have this in their lives? It seemed utterly impossible. “I love you too,” he whispered back, dark eyes cracking open. “This won’t destroy us.” There was no way for him to be sure of that, of course, but he sounded confident about it anyway. There was no other choice, rolling over and giving in wasn’t an option.
Reagan nodded and brushed her fingers along the underside of his jaw. "I know." There was no way she was going to allow their parents to dictate their relationship... not anymore. If anything, this would only resolve Reagan's determination to sharpen her own abilities and expand her knowledge. Maybe she had become too complacent in her magic. Something had to change. Sighing, Reagan, pressed her forehead to Caius's for a brief moment. "Let's go inside," she murmured. She wanted to get Caius completely naked and just lay with him for a while. Pretend like their lives were normal and there was nothing on the outside trying to destroy them.