His Rose (Chapter VI) - Kiss From A Rose
Content Warnings/tags:Ā DUB-CON, CNC, Non-consensual touching, toxic dom/sub dynamics, manipulation, childhood trauma/abuse, attempted murder, violence themes, mentions of blood, referenced self-harm, stalking, rough sex, dacryphilia, unprotected sex, size kink, age gap relationship, magic edging, innocence kink, masturbation, angst .
Series masterlist
I don't claim ownership of The Vampire Diaries or its characters. All credits go to the rightful owner(s). I only own my original character(s).
WC: 5.2K
The bell dinged in their arrival, releasing Rose from the residual lull of highway hypnosis. The hum of the engine still rumbled in her ears long after Kai shut the car off. He even had a few slips into the rumble strip during his last shift, which is why he didnāt protest when she suggested a good nightās rest at a B&B, small and local to the area.Ā Ā
All she looked forward to now was a warm bubble bath to soothe the ache in her lower lumbar and sandwiching herself between thick cotton sheets. Judging by the cozy decor, reminiscent of her grandmaās house, this place didnāt skimp out on the comfort even if they did neglect proper dusting.
Rose took a key from a small cubby behind the concierge desk, choosing the first one, in hopes the room was closest. Kai followed her lead out of the doily-littered foyer.Ā
When they got upstairs, Kai handed over her duffle bag, for which she thanked him in a low voice that withered in her chest. She didnāt sound like herself, having abandoned the girl that was eager to power through the drive in one go somewhere along the never ending highway.Ā
If she could feel anything other than exhaustion, sheād rebuke her idleness, though it wouldnāt make a difference when they got there. If the locator spell was done right, then the ascendant was right there waiting for them. Still, she felt like she shouldāve been doing more, calling her sister to mind. What would Bonnie do? In another universe, without her meddling, it wouldāve been Bonnie in this very predicament.Ā
She probably wouldāve found a way home by now. Bonnieās near intrinsic knowledge of Sheilaās library would have proven more efficient than Roseās weeks of wet-eyed scrambling. She wouldnāt get distracted by her emotions, let alone those for a stranger, even if he could be a gentleman.Ā
Kai had insisted he carry her bag from the car and sometimes she caught him setting back the timer to let her rest longer between driving shifts. He was full of that 20th century chivalry thatād long since gone out of style amongst men her age.
But then he opened his mouth.Ā
She turned at the sound of his conspicuously placed sigh.Ā
Sheād either laugh at his jokes or return his jeering jabs, realizing he couldnāt help but amuse himself and she couldnāt resist indulging him.
āWhat is it?ā She asked, wavering slightly on the business end of his arresting stare.Ā
āAre you sleeping alone?ā He sniffed and she surveyed him, uncertain of what was lurking in his tone until he formed a tight-lipped smile.Ā
āItās just for tonight, then weāre back together for another 24 hours. Do you want me to come tuck you ināgive you a kiss goodnight?ā She crooned mockingly.Ā
He rocked on his heels with a bemused grin, scorching her from head to toe. Her smarmy little face fell.Ā
āOh, I get it. Youāre scared.āĀ
āNoāā he snorted, āIāve been alone forever... Iāve just gotten used to your snoring, is all.ā
āI do not snore,ā she bleated.
āLike a chainsawāI noticed when we parked at the K-martāBest sleep Iāve had in years. Turns out I just needed white noise,ā he mused.Ā
She shot him a glower, growing testy the longer she stayed awake.Ā
āKai, do you want to spend the night with me?āĀ
With feigned indifference and the shrug of his shoulders he sighed, āIf you insist.āĀ
There were no complaints out of her about the frigid temperature as the water ran in cooling ribbons across her face and neck. She couldnāt shake the feeling that she'd lost a battle of wits.
He didnāt make it easy for herāmasking his feelings with taunting antics. With him constantly riling her up and getting under her skin, it was only fair to peel back the layers of his.
When sheād channeled him the other night, her hormones roared into a frenzy, chasing static where their hands met. Only letting go when he pulled away.Ā
She knew he felt it tooāmore than she hadāthe intoxication of their connection was too much of a good thing after being deserted by everyone heād ever known.Ā
There was more to him than met her eye. His dark exterior was meant to keep people out but it started to crack a little with her and she found it exciting every time. Sheād never met anyone who monopolized her attention all at once like he did, kept her hanging on to every word, challenged her. There was tension thereāthe kind that could capture her with a pointed look, occupy her idle mind for hours on endā especially in the sacred privacy of the washroom.
She hated that the shower head wasnāt adjustable to get the pressure where she needed most as her nipples pebbled beneath the cold water, growing more tender with each swipe of the textured cloth. She replaced it with her bare hand, rolling and squeezing at the mound of flesh. The other snaked down her body to create a delicious friction along her hardening bud. The sound of the water pounding the floor around her shrouded the squelching noise between her thighs as she dipped into her softening center, drowning out reality.
If she had it her way, itād be his hands reaching around her to fondle her most intimate parts. Sheād gone so long without stimulation that her body was ultrasensitive and needy, though nowhere near as long as Kai. She shuddered to imagine the raw whimpers sheād coax from him if she had the chance.
Her core spasmed around delicate fingers as her pleasure hurriedly climaxed. Specks of light dotted the corners of her eyes. She muffled the sounds that escaped from between her lips. His name scratching its way up her throat:
For all she knew, he was glued to the door, listening to the noises that threaded themselves between the crumbling grout. Another wave shamelessly rolled through her body.
Once she was dry, her insides were soured and conflicted, undercut with a swirl of arousal at the depravity of her actions.Ā After stalling and dawdling away time, she stepped out to meet his sideways once-over from the bed. There was no way heād heard her from the opposite side of the room, yet his eyes told a different story, monitoring her closely as he gathered his belongings and he split into the washroom without saying a single word.
Her fingers wrung the linen, nearly shredding the fibers in her palm as her breath stalled in an attempt to hear anything beyond the running water. When there was nothing out of the ordinary, she finally turned off the light. She needed to get a gripāand more importantlyāsleep, but when the door opened and he stepped out in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, she noticed how the center of his chest was peppered with raven curls and his alabaster complexion had no more than three gingerly placed beauty marks across his neck and chest.
āEnjoying the view?ā he asked, gesturing to his body.Ā
āNo,ā she lied, bristling at the accusation. The thought that sheād rather stare at his chest all night than the inside of her eyelids turned his smug grin wicked.
She raised a brow when he grabbed a thin blanket from the closet and curled up in the arm chair.
āYeah?ā He whispered with his eyes closed.
āWhat are you doing?ā
āWhy arenāt you in bed?ā There was plenty of room for the both of them and it didn't sit right with her that after all of that driving he ended up shoved onto a pleather love seat. āKai, come on.ā She pulled back the corner of the comforter, patting the mattress on one side.
The bed dipped slightly when he put his weight on it and reclined back, sighing delightfully. āHmm.. memory foam.āĀ
She leaned toward him on her elbow. The moonlightās glow split his face in two. Wet hair stuck to his forehead in a way that looked boyish and innocent on one side while the other was contoured in a cryptic shadow.
āDo you..ā she started, losing the momentum in her words as she sunk into his severely inquiring blues, ā...really think I snore?ā
He stifled a chuckle, āIām surprised you donāt wake yourself up.ā
āIām going to sleep nowāā she groaned, flipping her back to him.Ā
āGood night,ā he snickered.Ā
She yawned. āGood night, Kai.ā
Somewhere throughout the evening, his arm found itself draped across her waist, her bottom curved into his hips with his head snuggled inside the crook of her neck.Ā
Once the sun came up, she found their bodies tangled this way, taking comfort in his cozy defense from the early morning draft as he purred softly beside her ear. As much as she wanted to get a move on things, to start a pot of coffee and raid the dining area for a few stale scones and those little jelly packets to go, her strength of will was surpassed by the comfort of his heavy arms.
They could stay like this for five more minutes.
Sheād been dozing off on his shoulder for the better part of an hour after heād assured her that the directions were covered. What she didnāt knowāas the map lay folded on the dashāwas that he knew the roads of rural Portland like the back of his hand.Ā
Many a weekend found him dumped off at the top of Mount Hood, watching his fatherās taillights be swallowed by thick curtains of fog. While his siblings sat around the table sharing a home cooked meal, Kai hurriedly scaled the foothills and trekked blindly through thick underbrush that chewed his ankles until he met the ever winding road. If he didnāt make it home before Monday morning, his father would go back out and collect him. Kai learned early on to avoid this at all costs. If he didnāt make it, heād might as well lay down and let the coyotes and mountain lions make a meal out of him.
Months of this persisted until Joshua was satisfied and Kai arrived like clockwork with dirt and sweat caked to his body, twigs tangled in his hair and reeking so much of wet earth that he had to be hosed off in the back before stepping foot inside. His father smoked a cigar with his left handāa stickler for health, yet occasionally treated himself to this one vice while he relished his sonās torment.Ā
It was only to make him stronger since he didnāt have any magic of his own, heād said. In that way, Joshua was right. Kai was extremely self-sufficient and resourceful. Thatās why he always made his way back home.
The terrain rocked and rattled her awake along the dirt road despite Kaiās careful driving. Rose peeled herself off of his shoulder and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. An empty field stretched toward the west. It seemed unnatural, like the clearing had been made by hand, then thoughtlessly abandoned to allow wild thicket and overgrown grass to carpet everything until the forestās edge.Ā
The house leaped out at her once they started down hill.Ā
āIs this.. it?ā she uttered slowly as the car rolled to a stop.Ā
āThe spell led us here,ā he replied, unfurling the map and pointing to the location stained in dark crimson.Ā
It was very remote, about an hour out of the way of the city.Ā
There was a weathered shed in the back and piles of chopped wood nearby. She couldnāt shake the disquieting feeling that took hold of her as they eased onto the porch steps. Everything was lacquered in this white paint that stood starkly against the landscape and revealed chipped and peeling strips along the facade the closer she got.
When Kai opened the door it creaked on its hinges, like a howl of despair that settled right into her bones.Ā
āRoseāRosy, are you okay?ā She cut her eyes to him, nearly forgetting he was there.Ā
She hadnāt moved from the porch and he was already past the threshold. Her legs felt like logs of wood as she lifted one after the other to follow his lead, pushing it all down. They had a job to do.
The bloody history of this place was seeped into the woodgrain despite the stains heād already scrubbed from the walls, floorboards and under his fingernails. All done in preparation for her arrival.
All his life, he was the black sheep, the reminder of his bloodlineās inadequacy, meant to dwell in the shadows and stay out of sight. When he chose to stop hiding, to take back what was owed to him, everything changed. He wound up sent here, but there were no regrets, especially now that he walked hand in hand with his naive accomplice. Everything was going according to plan.
They went through the living room, kitchen and laundry coming to a hallway in the back.Ā
āIāll look down here,ā she stated, gesturing toward the west end. Kai opened his mouth to discourage her private perusal, but decided against it. There wasnāt anything left in the house that marked his existence, at least not that she could reach. He nodded and went in the other direction, toward the study.
She found several bedrooms. The first appeared to be a nursery with a pair of cribs and a rocking chair by the window. Strangely, there werenāt any toys, nor the typical childish imagery of teddy bears or cartoon animals on the walls. Just the essentials and a few blankets. Even the walls were a sterile shade of ash gray and the only iconography she noticed upon close inspection was the rough reminisce of a sigil carved into the center railings of each crib.
The next couple rooms were nearly identical. Wire bunked beds with a small closet and desk.Ā
The following room was wildly different from the others. It had its own identity. The person that lived here was treated like a princess. Waking to images of powder pink and blue hydrangeas against a cream backdrop, in a four-poster bed, curtained by a trailing canopy of handstitched lace embroidery. It was enchanting to look at, but pretty soon she couldnāt ignore the peeling wallpaper or shifty floorboards beneath her feet.Ā
She treaded into the room across the hall. Fit with a massive sturdy bed, larger than a king with colonial influence in its crafting. She ran her hand down the bed post. When she looked up, she noticed that the headboard had another sigil, much like the one she saw in the nursery but larger and sharper. It mustāve been the coven crest of the Geminis. The main form was a triquetra Celtic knot and within the gaps were a pair of crescent moons, a full moon, stars, a pentagram, and a few other eerie symbols she didnāt recognize. It was ancestral, potentially crafted at the inception of the coven itself as she couldnāt compare it to anything sheād seen in a grimoire.Ā
She hurried away to find Kai on the other side, but something new caught her attention. Tucked away in the shadows was a door that appeared to be painted over. Though, a raw slab of wood unevenly mounted to the jamb by mismatched hinges hardly qualified as a door and nearly looked like an extension of the wall to the naked eye.
āRose!ā he called out to her. She deserted her side quest and hurried to join him. He was standing in what appeared to be the study with several shelves of grimoires, cases of herbs, and relicsānone of which were the ascendant.
Rose crouched down as she noticed something shiny hiding beneath a mountain of books and documents. She set them aside, revealing an amber trunk with the crest molded onto tarnished gold.Ā
Kai started going through the drawers until he got his hands on a key. It was impressive how fast he found it. She didnāt have enough time to get up from the carpet before he joined her down on his haunches and turned the key until it released.Ā
Rose lifted the latch and reached inside. Her hand hit something cold and hard, nothing more than a stack of metal rounds, fit with gears, silver wing tips jutting out the sides, and a reflective crystal in the center. Sheād thought it was junk pieces welded together but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was exactly what theyād been looking for.Ā
The ascendant, in all its glory.Ā
She struggled to match his pace through the spindly forest of firs, avoiding the underbrush she could hardly see.
āHere it is!ā he gasped, overlooking a small hatch in the ground that opened to a ladder.Ā
āItās getting dark, Kai. Why are we out here again?ā she asked as she peered into the small space, robed in cobwebs and dusted with debris.
āI want to show you something. Go ahead.ā He guided her in by the small of her back. āWatch your step.ā he said as she found her footing. He hopped down after her.
Despite her reservations, she floated along with silent awe, tracing her fingers lazily along the granite walls that glistened in blinding hues of pearlescent blue and silver. She nearly ran into his back when he stopped and raised the ascendant toward the aperture above their heads.Ā
āThis is perfect,ā he voiced while peering up through the small arch that folded from the device.Ā
Kai handed it over. The full moon gleamed luminously into the cavern, hanging overhead with a particular closeness that was both unusual, and completely breathtaking. Come eclipse night, it would be fully blacked out, shrouding everything around them in shades of gray.
āBe careful. Itās sensitive to your magic. Itāll fall apart if you use it wrong,ā he warned.
āIn that case, we could just put it back togetherāright?ā she uttered, the tight confines of the narrow passage compressing on her lungs with each exhale.
āItās possible, but not ideal. Thereās like fifty gears and screws in this thing. We wouldnāt have it back together in time for the eclipse, which brings me back to: be careful.ā
āI am being careful,ā she protested, jerking it away from him when he reached for it. His breath audibly froze up in the back of his throat as it nearly collided with the cavern wall. She used both hands for stability as she lowered it slowly. He kept an overcautious eye on the device before locking on hers again.Ā
āLook, I didnāt mean to scare you.āĀ
āIām not scared. Hereāā She shoved it into grasp for him to put in his jacket pocket.Ā Ā
āThe viewās nice, huh?ā His silky tone and lingering touch soothed the tension in her shoulders.
āSure it is,ā she said.
āI used to love coming down here as a kid. I found it once... on a walk.āĀ
The glow left its reflective luster all around them. It was enough to make her forget her frustration and fear of their circumstance.Ā
āDo you want to get topside and head back to the house? Dinnerās on me this time.āĀ
It all bubbled to the surface as Kai topped her glass with Pinot Grigio. He insisted that she sit back, relax, and let him handle everything tonight, and she complied despite her growing desire to assist himā if only to be near him. She was sitting over by the counter and he was facing the stove, several feet away.
Sip after sip had her inhibitions waning until her eyes tracked down the length of his body, shamelessly sweeping over the contours of his back, the muscles corded with veins that bulged along his arms as he worked diligently with his hands.Ā
He poured some of the wine into the searing pan to deglaze after cooking the prawns, a technique he picked up from an artisanal cookbook. He brought the bottle to his pink lips before taking a generous sip. She swallowed at the lump in her throat, lips parting for hollow breaths.
āDo you mind shellfish?ā he inquired, catching the way her unabashed staring turned into a scope of the tiled floors a second too late and she was hung out to dry beneath his cocky sneer.
ā...I donāt mind,ā she croaked.
āTaste thisāā he said, bringing the wooden spoon to her lips. She sucked it clean of the sauce coating the top edge, unable to meet his gaze.
āThatās good..ā she murmured as he returned to the pan to toss all of the ingredients in the sauce. AĀ beurre blanc, heād said, though he was saying it like ābur-blankĀ sauceā, which wasnāt correct, but sounded cute the way he said it.
She shook her head. "No, it's really good."
āRosyāwhy do you keep calling me that?ā she asked, taking notice of how that'd been her name since they got here.
āYou donāt like it?āĀ
āI dunno. Iāve never been called that before,ā she replied.Ā
āReally?ā he asked incredulously as he plated the meal with some steamed broccoli on the side.Ā
āItās just Rose to most people.āĀ
āI like Rosy for you because sometimes your face gets all red. Youāre kind of funny that way.ā He set the plates on the table and joined her with a bottle of red wine to share between them.Ā
āIām glad I amuse you,ā she bit out. In her mind, sheād had a bit more tact than that, yet it was so apparent that he couldnāt help but take a dig at her reddening cheeks. A warm feeling dipped low in her core when she mulled over the way the name perfectly signified their growing familiarity with each other. She only wished she had a nickname for himābut what goes with Kai?
The onset of her buzz paired with the ease of talking to him meant that heād spend the evening learning all about her life back in Mystic Falls: her family, friends, foes.Ā
Usually, Kai liked to do the talking, but he was quiet and attentive to her stories. Vampires and werewolves were one thing, but sheād walked amongst originals, hybrids, and immortals and yet was somehow alive to tell the tale. Her stories dove into their salacious love triangles that wrought nearly every supernatural happening in that town.
He finished eating early and popped a toothpick between his lips, twisting it with his finger for something to do while he listened, taking particular interest when she got to the part about a pair of twins sheād met from her sisterās college.
āLiv is in Bonnieās occult studies, and she has a brother named Luke. Theyāre pretty powerful.āĀ
āAre they a part of a coven?ā he asked, knowing the answer. He wanted to gauge how much she knew.Ā
āI donāt know. Iām not really sure what their story is. No one does. They just kind of showed up. Itās nice to deal with other witches though, others who get it.āĀ
āVery true...ā he remarked absently, satisfied with her intel from the outside.
āIn all that, I donāt think you ever told me anything about.. YOU.āĀ
āOh, I thought I had.ā She wrung her fingers, shrinking now under the spotlight of his attention. āWhat do you want to know?āĀ
āWhat do you do back home?āĀ
Pausing to find her words, she said, āwell.. I graduated last year, and Iām still undecided. I could do the college thing like my sister, follow in the footsteps of our grandmother, but I donāt even know if I want to keep learning magic.ā
āWhy would you stop doing magic?ā
āNone of it ever made sense to me. You know, most of the people I told you about arenāt even my friends. Theyāre my sisterās friends. I never really found my place in the gang, and thatās fine because Iām new, but I swear some of them wrote me off so fast as if they didnāt think Iād survive this longāI found some people I really likeāhumans, likeĀ my friend Xander who got me a job at his uncleās cafe. I like feeling normal because I'm good at it, but what sucks is that I can't share this part of my life with them and it will always be a part of me.āĀ
āThat must feel isolating,ā he whispered.
āIt is. Ever since I found out about magic, I havenāt been able to figure out where I fit into everything.āĀ
āI get it.. in a way. I have 20 years of catching up to do once I get on the outside.ā He cracked a lazy smile, hoping to ease her open.
āWell, you would love twitter,ā she chuckled.
āItāsā¦ hard to explain, but maybe once we're out, we can help each other figure things out.ā
āIād like that,ā he said before the onset of a thought. āHeyāthis Xander guyāare you two...?ā His brow wiggled with silent implication.
āWow, is that your subtle way of asking if Iām single?ā she huffed.Ā
āYes it is.ā At least he was forthright. She had to give him that.Ā
āXander is just a friend,ā she replied.
āWhat a relief since youāve been flirting with me this whole time.ā He gave a wry smile.
āI was not flirting,ā she scoffed, āIf anyoneās been flirting, itās you.ā
āWerenāt you the one that asked me to sleep with you the other night?āĀ
She collected herself behind a pointed glare, āWerenāt you the one that woke up with your little friend poking my tush?āĀ
He nearly dropped his tooth pick, eyes blown wide. āIt was morning wood, and itās completely natural,ā he croaked. She laughed as she remembered how quickly he shuffled away to the bathroom. Sheād withheld her teasing as a courtesy, but now she let him have it. He glared until she calmed down.Ā
āDo you want to listen to music?ā he asked, successfully changing the subject. They were finished eating, but the night was still young, and lilt with the promise of closeness sheād desired since it started.
The living room had an idle record player on the table. He unsheathed a vinyl he picked from the shelf and carefully set it on the turntable to play.Ā With his hand encasing hers and the other on her waist he led their movements to the melody. One that she sort of recognized but couldnāt quite place until the chorus came around.Ā
āKiss from a Rose!ā She gasped, swatting at his chest, but he held steady with his hand on her lower back, āI hope you donāt think youāre getting lucky tonight.āĀ
āI mean, I did make you dinner.āĀ
ā...donāt be a dog,ā she chided half-heartedly as he spun her in a circle before pulling her back into his chest.
There is so much a man can tell you
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain, baby
To me, you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny
The music seemed to fall away when they held each other like this. A mere breath between them when his neck craned to watch her eyes flit between his own. Only closing the distance on the lift of her arched feet. Noses brushed then lips, locking softly for a fleeting exchange before she retreated, resting her head on his shoulder while he warded off the urge to chase her mouth and indulge in her flavor. It wasn't enough to feel the thrum of her heart through her clothes, he wanted to run his teeth along her pulse point and hold her hips while he rocked her on his length greedily. Both hands roamed down her back, feeling her gasp and grasp him while they swayed in each other's arms
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
Her voice resonated beyond the music, echoing the chorus sweetly.Ā
āBaby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey..āĀ
It pulled the unfiltered words straight from the center of his chest. A paused in her voice on account of his low hiss, āThereās something you should know..āĀ
She pulled back and her brow knit together in deep confusion.
āIāI was forced to stay away from people for most of my life.ā He swallowed thickly. āMy father made me believe it would be safer that wayāā he clipped his words.Ā Thereās no going back now. āIām not like other witches. I wasnāt born with magic.ā
āI donāt understand.ā Rose thought all witches were born with magic. She wouldnāt even know that to call a witch without their own magic.
āIām a siphon,ā he confessed, anticipating her questions. āAnd according to my coven that makes me defective and dangerous. I can drain magic from the bodies of witches through touch alone and as a kid, I couldnāt control it.āĀ
āThatās not your fault.ā
He raised a ghosting caress along her cheek. Though heād learned the lesson of control many years ago, the impulses still naturally called out to him, especially when he was this close.
āI could touch you right now and suck every last bit of magic from your body, and if Iām honest, part of me wants toā¦ doesnāt that scare you.ā
āNot at all... do you want me to be afraid?āĀ
āThatās the last thing I want. But you deserve the truth. Thatās the reason my coven sent me here.ā
She enclosed part of his hand in her own.
āNone of that changes anything,ā she whispered, her tender words sweeping his skin.
A warmth blossomed in his chest and the more he sat with it, the more he feared what else would escape his trembling lips. He held her sensitive bleeding heart in the palm of his hand and that was enough. Sheād be better off not knowing him for the monster he truly was.Ā
āI should get started on the dishes.ā
āThat's alright.ā His voice was small but definitive.
She skidded to a halt, feeling a swelling ache behind her ribsāregretting what sheād said or did, what she didnāt, and the way it repelled him, a stark contrast from the intimacy sheād felt moments before. The distance was a foreign concept to her now but she endured it.Ā
āI appreciate you letting me know... Goodnight,ā she imparted softly, keeping her eyes on his back until he acknowledged her.
He returned a small smile over his shoulder that assured her enough that they were alright.Ā
āGānight,ā he replied, watching until her footsteps retreated down the hall.
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