The First Lock

“You made the portal to go to a certain destination?” he asked with surprise when they ended up in the middle of her living room.

“Yes,” she nodded.

“I thought it’s quite complicated,” he said with a small frown.

“Not when you know what you are doing,” she shook her head and let go of his hand reluctantly.

She walked to the desk that was sitting in the corner of the room, and opened the top drawer.

“Here,” she said a minute later and handed him a photograph.

He took it from her hand, and then there was a thoughtful frown on his forehead.

“That’s him, I suppose?” he threw a quick glance at her, and she nodded silently. “Hmm,” he said, looking at the photograph again. “He looks familiar... Probably some kid I saw somewhere, and my brain decided to throw that memory at me right now...”

Katrena rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. The only word he heard was ‘dumbass.’ She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the mirror that was hanging on the wall.

“Yes, Jett,” she said patiently. “He should look familiar to you, since he is a miniature you!”

He looked in the mirror, frowned, glanced at the photograph, looked in the mirror again, and finally, said in a small voice:

“Holy hell...”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Don’t bother asking me how it was even possible because I have no idea... He has your ability, by the way,” she added.

“Just mine?” he frowned. “What about yours?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Yours is the only one so far.”

“If he had any other one, it would be obvious by now,” he looked at the photograph again, longer this time.

“I don’t know,” she said again doubtfully. “See, when I Locked myself, I figured it would affect him as well, since he was inside me and all... But I could never control minds - that one is yours only. I guess Locking didn’t apply to something I never possessed,” she shrugged. “Or maybe he only has your ability and Locking didn’t affect him at all... Can you try and find him?” she asked, her fingers entwining absent-mindedly. “Reach out somehow, I don’t know...”

Jett glanced outside. It was dark by now.

“What time is it?” he asked after he looked around and not seeing the clock.

Katrena looked at her watch.

“Ten-thirty,” she said.

“Let’s get on it first thing tomorrow morning,” he nodded, and her eyes widened.

“Are you insane?” she demanded. “She hurt him, Jett! He was screaming in my head that she figured out that he tried to manipulate her, and she hurt him! I can’t just wait here, knowing that she will do something even worse to him!”

He shook his head.

“It’s too dark,” he said. “It’s not a good idea to look for him when it’s pitch-black outside; too many risk factors. I know DeLucas rather well; she will wait until the thirty-first of August, the date is important to her, okay? That’s how their family always was; they would always almost worship their dates. She hurt him because she wanted him to know that she can do something much worse if he tries anything again... Believe me, when I get my hands on her, she’ll hurt a hell of a lot worse... As for whether I am insane or not...” he hemmed. “Should be pretty obvious, shouldn’t it? I am talking to my own hallucination, come on!”

“I can’t just wait here,” she repeated in a tense voice, without even bothering to tell him that he wasn’t hallucinating.

“We’ll go as soon as it gets lighter outside,” he nodded. “That or I will wake up and kill Charlie...” he muttered mostly to himself.

She cursed in a quiet tight voice and turned around. She knew that he was right. The darkness wasn’t the only reason; everything was much quieter during the night, therefore, the sound of her engine would be heard a mile away, and the headlights would draw unwanted attention as well. She had to wait until the sun was up. She hated it but she didn’t want to risk Damien’s life. “Oh, Roxanne,” she thought darkly. “I am not sure if I will even let Jett to get his hands on you... I want you all to myself, and believe me, Jett would be a much lesser evil...”

“What’s his name?” Jett asked quietly.

“Damien,” she said without turning.

“That was my nephew’s name,” he muttered, and she nodded.

“I know,” was all she said.

Suddenly, his arms were around her waist, and she jumped, startled. Before she could say anything, she felt his mouth on the back of her neck – he was perfectly aware of how she would react to that – and she shivered and lowered her head slightly, giving him better access. He brushed his lips on her skin slowly, his breath warm, his hard-looking mouth as soft as she remembered.

“Do you have any idea how much I hated you?” he murmured into her neck.

“I think I do...” she said in a small voice.

“No,” he whispered. “You don’t... I didn’t hate you in the very beginning, I was freaking out instead. Then, after some serious searching, I realized that nobody abducted or killed you... You simply left. That was when I started to hate you. I looked all over the bloody world... It’s easier for me that for anyone else,” he shrugged when she turned her head slightly to look at him. “I scanned every square inch of the world; it took me several years to do that. I wanted to find you so I could try and kill you,” he moved his face to the side of her neck, and she closed her eyes when she felt his tongue running slowly over her skin.

He smoothly turned her around and kissed the corner of her mouth. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered. “Kat, why didn’t you tell me?”

She blinked when he finally called her ‘Kat.’

“Because I knew you would never agree with me on that,” she muttered. “You would never agree to leave everything behind... The entire world... The...”

“Goddammit, woman!” he growled softly. “I don’t give a shit about the world! It’s just a place to live in, that’s all it is...” he buried his fingers in her hair. “You should’ve told me... We would’ve left together; I am not stupid, you know... I do realize how they would react if they found out about the kid... You and I were not on their ‘favorites’ list, especially you... But the kid would be a threat number one... I am not an idiot, Kat... I still don’t believe this is happening; I still don’t believe that we have a kid; shit, I still don’t believe that you actually came back...” He closed his eyes. “If this is really just a hallucination, Charlie will be one sorry son of a bitch...”

She raised her arms and pulled the hair band off his ponytail, letting his hair fall free onto his shoulders.

“It’s not a hallucination,” she said and kissed his mouth without even bothering to be gentle. “God, Jett, I missed you so much...!”

He opened his eyes and ran his fingers through the completely white strand of her hair.

“Is this a fashion statement?” he smiled.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “The one inspired by breaking the first Lock...”

He blinked at that, and she nodded.

“I had a hell of a nosebleed too,” she said. “And don’t get me started on the headache...”

He sighed and pulled her closer.

“You are one crazy bitch, did you know that?”

“I am a total loon,” she agreed solemnly, and he pushed her towards the couch, less gentle than he was several minutes ago when he was kissing her neck.

They fell down on that couch, kicking off the cushions and blankets. He pulled her shirt off with his teeth.

“I am going to make you forget everything except for my name, which you will be screaming,” he muttered while tugging her pants down her hips. “God, you never change, do you? Those damn tight pants... They are like second skin...!”

“Same about you...” she panted and lifted her hips to help him with the task. “Forget everything but your name...? You can’t get any cheesier than that, really...!”

Her back arched once she felt his familiar caressing touch on her chest, and she muttered something about him getting undressed already.

“You could do that for me, you know...” he said in the voice that was nowhere near composed.

“I like to watch you strip,” she grinned, her hands shaking.

“I remember,” he nodded somewhat seriously, and pulled off his clothes with envious speed.

She grabbed his arm and yanked him on top of herself. She groaned when she felt the entire length of his body on hers. She missed him so much that feeling his skin on her own right now, made her dizzy. He immediately attacked her neck, his teeth nibbling on her throat like there was no tomorrow. She returned the favor by latching onto his earlobe – the spot that could make him come easily if she tried hard enough.

“Oh my God...” he breathed and closed his eyes. “Don’t... Ahh, crap... Don’t go so fast... Seriously...!”

She slowed down drastically – she didn’t want this to end too soon – and started running her fingertips along his spine instead.

“Oh, God...” he mumbled. “Kat, I missed you... I missed you too damn much...! I hated you, and I loved you at the same time...” he closed his eyes briefly.

“Yeah...” she breathed in agreement, not a slightest idea what she was agreeing on; it simply sounded like something very important for her to agree with, that’s all...

He kissed her face and neck, his fingers tangled up in her hair. Finally, he sighed shakily, and muttered:

“I can’t do any more of the foreplay; I want you too damn much... I’ll owe you one...”

She was about to say something but instead, she gasped when he entered her in one smooth hard move, and she slid her hands onto his hips, and arched her back slightly, making him thrust even deeper inside her. They started moving without any hesitation; moving in a perfect, synchronized rhythm; rhythm they both remembered so well. It felt so painfully and delightfully familiar that Katrena felt lightheaded. “If this is a dream...” she thought hazily, and then he started moving faster, and she stopped thinking.

She wrapped one of her legs – the one that wasn’t restricted by the back of the couch – around his waist and pulled him even closer, trying to dissolve herself in his skin. His heartbeat was her own; his breathing was the identical twin of hers; his movements mirrored hers to the smallest detail. He raised his head and stared into her eyes. She knew that he was about to project on her, so she lowered her mind barriers to welcome him in, to let him make her feel what he was feeling.

“Come with me,” he said silently, his voice in her head, his lips pressed tightly. “Kat, come with me...”

One of her hands snaked its way onto the back of his neck and pushed his head closer to her face, and she assaulted his mouth, her tongue brutally quick, her teeth merciless. She didn’t realize how close she was until she felt an enormous wave of tightening, shimmering anticipation of pleasure wash over her, raising her body temperature to the boiling degree. She moaned his name into his mouth, and he grabbed her hands, entwining his fingers with hers, and pulled their arms up, his grip desperately tight.

“Jett-Jett-Jett-Jett...” It was the only language she knew right now, just like he promised a little while ago.

He mumbled something into her mouth, and his breath flowed down her throat, making her thirsty. His grip tightened on her fingers, and his back became rigid. “Come with me...!” he moaned in her head, and her body obeyed eagerly, making her shudder head to toe underneath him, mimicking his convulsions, echoing his spasms.

They kept drinking each other until their shivers and tremors finally came to a reluctant end, and Katrena pulled away from his mouth, and drew a deep shaky breath.

“God, Jett...” she muttered, and he dropped his head into her neck, never letting go of her fingers. She closed her eyes, enjoying his familiar scent and the feeling of his hair that spilled on her face.

“If you disappear again,” he said into her neck, his voice low and dangerous. “I will find you... And this time, I will kill you...”

She smiled weakly at that and opened her eyes.

“Look at me,” she said, and he raised his head.

She freed her hands from his grasp and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I won’t disappear,” she said quietly. “But I am not going back there... Jett, this is my world now; this is Damien’s world, the only one he knows... The one where he will be safe once I kill that bitch... This is our home, and I am not leaving it.”

He stroked her face with his fingertips slowly.

“I know,” he said simply. “I wouldn’t even think of trying to make you go back there; that would be suicidal for you... As I said before, the world is just a place to live in, and nothing else. I don’t care where I live as long as you are in the picture... You and the kid...” he smiled. “My kid...”

He shook his head and laughed.

“Hell,” he muttered. “I still can’t believe it... How in the world did we do it?”

“I don’t know,” she pulled him closer once again. “I stopped asking that question seven years ago...”

“You mean eight?” he said in a muffled voice.

“Nope,” she replied seriously. “I kept asking it for the first year, and then I got tired of it, and gave up.”

He laughed into her neck and it gave her pleasant goose bumps. They lay on that couch, still merged together, Jett never leaving her body, her arms around his neck, his fingers buried in her hair. They lay like that for the next several hours and neither of them fell asleep; they waited for the sunrise.