JOHANNA BAI
Vampire
Posts: 63
Age:
731
Occupation:
Geography Professor at Whitmore
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Magnus Dane
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 5, 2024 18:42:09 GMT
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Post by JOHANNA BAI on Apr 9, 2023 18:16:38 GMT
Dead/alive. Vampire/human. Wife/Widow. For almost as long as she could remember -and each of those hundreds of years was stamped deeply into her memory and bones - Jo had felt herself continually split into those opposing parts. She'd put so much of her energy into holding them apart, trying to pry away the ones that put a bad taste in her mouth. They weren't her. Only, in small ways or ones that consumed all of her, they were.
Jo had flashed a small smile at the family pouring out of the church just ahead of her. A couple with their teenaged daughter, a son held in his father's arms, squirming with that childlike need to take everything in now that they were out of the hush of the service. Father and son returned the smile, one with the flash of tiny teeth, the glisten of drool that prompted his dad to fish in his pockets for a cloth to stop the tide from a teething baby. Oh, she knew those days well, from when motherhood had consumed so much of her.
Candles had flared in the dawn light this morning, prayers whispered in their names - Kaegan, her sons, Ananda and Elizabeth, those that had sprung from a man who had never been able to claim them in the way he should have been able to. The words had been spoken in churches worldwide, in temples, anywhere she thought that connection that everything she was should’ve denied could exist. Words of love and grief drifting through her heart and mind as she settled on her knees, head bowed, caught in private reflection. So alien to her when she’d arrived in England becoming a sanctuary when she’d had to leave it behind.
The church itself hadn't been entirely unfamiliar - the Great Khan had decreed that all religions would have the freedom to practice in the Empire - but that first year at the castle she had been shuffled slack jawed to and from the church. It was understandable that she didn't know that the service would be held in the dark on Good Friday, or that the feast that would be shared after dawn services on the Sunday wouldn't be something just prepared by them - she was a heathen after all. Jo had clamped her mouth down on the reassurance that in the Kingdom under the Heavens they had a taste of all of this and had allowed the older women to sweep her up in it all instead. Her children had still heard stories of Tengri and had been taught to try and live in harmony with the universe, but this was their world too.
She’d prepared well in advance, those forty days and night blocked out in her calendar the same way they had been then. Perhaps not quite as strictly as they had been before, eating little but fish didn’t work well when you needed to keep up the pretense of life in your veins. The box of eggs had been bought yesterday though, the meat set to marinate before she’d headed out to the Church. Now with the afternoon drifting out in front of her – the family from the church probably already deep into their Easter Sunday plans, maybe their little one rooting through the house in search of those brightly coloured little eggs – far more appealing when they were foil wrapped chocolate and not simply hard boiled out of necessity before they were painted.
Holding up the one she just finished painting by the ribbon she’d threaded through it’s hollowed out insides, Jo smiled at the memory. Somehow the grown ups had always got as much enjoyment out of it as the kids had. Kaegan crowing as he’d unearthed them in his workshop. The memories didn’t sprout barbs in her heart the way they had once. She’d had a good life with him, had loved him and held onto that love for centuries, crowding out anything else that might have taken root there. It had taken seven hundred years and those forty days to finally accept that Kaegan wouldn’t have wanted her to live an eternity alone. Or for Magnus too either. He had been the bridge between them, the one she would cling on to now as she finally tread water in that tide had always continued to draw her away.
The egg was hung with the others, the shrine bathed in a pool of light from the candles that clustered among the eggs that dangled from another ribbon draped above the mantle. Each a reminder, each a blessing to make this the last lent that she would remain alone, isolated from all that made her feel that way.
His footsteps were light in the hallway, they would have been lost beneath the sound of her own heartbeat if it had pounded fast in her ears the way it had done then as the two of them would swagger into the kitchens, the very picture of feigned innocence, one smile enough to have that flutter starting in the pit of her stomach. Jo brushed her hands over her dress – new clothes for Easter too, although truly new this time and not passed down from lord to squire, from the queen to her maids – crossing to the door before Magnus had a chance to rap his knuckles against it.
Candle light bloomed in the dusk darkened room behind her, catching those deep grey eyes like the sunset lighting the pewter bellies of storm clouds. ”Hi. Happy Easter!” A hand finding his arm as she rose on her toes there in the doorway, something still a little hesitant as she leaned in to find his lips with hers, melting away as she lingered. Jo drew back just enough to take in those familiar lines of his face, etched deep in her memory, just as they had been then. The constant she’d found again, the one she had to hold tight to. ”You should come in,” Jo breathed, her smile finally blooming like the candle light. ”How was your day? Full of chocolate?” As young as he was, as deprived as he’d been, she imagined there was still some glimmer of excitement there, even if he was too old to admit it. You didn’t shed your humanity that quickly, as she hadn’t, it had clung like the shroud she’d never worn.
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MAGNUS DAYNE
Vampire
Posts: 95
Played by:
Julia
"You waste time trying to get people to love you, you'll end up the most popular dead man in town."
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 15:53:50 GMT
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Post by MAGNUS DAYNE on May 9, 2023 18:29:40 GMT
 ━ evil notions come free ━
After meeting Remiel (his Angel friend), however, Magnus’ faith was reinvigorated. He was sure there was no hope for his salvation━he’d already died, after all━but it didn’t mean he had to live his life as a heathen.
And it didn’t mean that Linc had to, either.
Perhaps the boy had to endure the ups and down Magnus did to gain that sort of knowledge, but he hoped he could instil good qualities in Linc from the get-go. It would be the only way he’d survive.
On Good Friday they had fish dinner, and during the following Easter morning, Magnus had gotten on his knees in his bedroom and clasped his hands over his bed. And he’d prayed. For Linc, Johanna, for the souls of everyone he’d lost. He prayed for himself. He prayed for Charles (without any expletives), and hoped the King would rule with his mother’s wiseness… or just die quickly and pass it to William. He left the last part out.
He’d gone out of his way to make a big breakfast for Linc, and though he’d wished he could abstain from blood for even one day, it just wasn’t possible. It brought a whole new meaning to drinking Jesus’ blood, though. Ah, that was definitely sacrilegious.
Linc had plans to do some strange pagan crafts with the witch, and while Magnus didn’t exactly approve, he knew he wouldn’t get far with telling the boy what to do. He had to be at Jo’s anyway, and then Linc would do whatever he wanted, whether or not Magnus had said otherwise.
Magnus stopped to pickup a bouquet of spring flowers and a bottle of wine, his belly fluttering like he was a teenager again. He imagined this might be what Linc was feeling, too, and perhaps he couldn’t blame the kid for chasing the witch, but that didn’t make it anymore productive in Magnus’ eyes. He would have his heart broken again, it was only a matter of time, but Jo?
A bright grin broke across his face when she opened the door, thankful he didn’t have to fumble the items in his hands aside to knock. God, she was beautiful. And she was steady, someone he’d known from long ago━they were on the same page, just as he was sure they always would be. Unlike anything he’d experienced with anybody else. That was the difference.
And she was a vampire; another important fact.
“‘Appy Easter,” Magnus’ voice was a smooth, deep rumble, and the hand around the wine lowered to press to her hip as he leaned in to kiss her. He enjoyed greeting her like this, that what was between them had grown slowly, giving it all the more strength and resilience in his eyes. Neither regretted the life they’d lived before━their story wasn’t one of missed chances and long-lost lovers. They’d lived their first lives (and each that brought them here) fully, and he was sure neither would’ve given up a moment of it. They were able to grow into one another now because it was familiar, and it was right.
Though that didn’t mean he’d trade her for anything.
“I should… so we don’t make any of your neighbours uncomfortable.” Magnus grinned against her lips, pulling back only to see her beautiful smile and return it. He stepped in slowly and chuckled, “Ah, I thought the boy might slip poison in my glass if I made ‘im hunt for eggs ‘round the ‘ouse,” Magnus chuckled, “‘E got a basket, though. A stuffed animal━a chick━I suspect might go to th’witch, and plenty of chocolate. We decorated eggs yesterday; made a quiche with them for breakfast.”
Setting the wine on the table, he looked around the apartment slowly, grinning at all the familiar decorations. It was almost like he’d been transported back to Kaegan’s home all those centuries ago, only the home was incredibly modern… and he was falling for Kaegan’s wife.
“It looks amazing in ‘ere.” His grin finally landed on Jo, and he stepped forward to present the flowers to her. “‘Ere ya are. Thought they were nearly as beautiful as th’woman they were meant for.” Magnus beamed, leaning in to kiss her again. “How was your Easter?” He asked, hoping the best was yet to come━for both of them.
JOHANNA BAI |  |
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JOHANNA BAI
Vampire
Posts: 63
Age:
731
Occupation:
Geography Professor at Whitmore
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Magnus Dane
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 5, 2024 18:42:09 GMT
|
Post by JOHANNA BAI on May 14, 2023 17:29:57 GMT
The house would fill with a buzz on those days the news would arrive that the King was on his way back. The whispers would rush through the entire castle, people flooding from their homes to prepare for the arrival of loved ones, of Edward himself. Bodies filling the streets as soon as the sound of hoofbeats started to ring the castle. A metronome’s beat counting down to the moment the door might be thrown open, Magnus’ body filling the frame of it. Kaegan’s laugh rising, the thump of hands on clothes still choked with road dust, her own arms thrown around him as Kaegan had finally stepped back to retrieve something to wet his friend’s throat.
She’d forgotten the way it had felt, the relief that would slither through her as she realised he was safe – more so after Philippa had changed her. Fear had always bitten deep that Magnus would be killed out there, that it would leave Kaegan and her sons alone when she finally had to cut those ties that had held her to the life she had never expected to live when she had left the road. The words would stopper in her throat and Jo would find herself brushing tears from her face as she hustled back to the hearth for the honey cakes she’d prepared. Time would eventually run out for her, and they would remain a frozen moment in her past, forever trapped in her memory and her heart.
This time she was the one throwing open the door. His form filled it though, a bottle of wine, flowers – beautiful and scented – clutched in his hands, touching her heart as she rose on her toes and felt the rumble of Magnus’ voice shiver through her. The bottle of wine brushed her hip, her lips lingering on his. What was between them had grown slowly – if you could call seven hundred years slow – what had been giving way in those small steps to something deeper. A slow creep from the shallow end of the pool towards that deep plunge and Jo knew that whatever happened now, Magnus would be the one helping her to stay afloat in those bottomless waters.
Her laugh was as soft as the candle light, those storm cloud eyes lit by it as she glanced past Magnus. For all any of her neighbours knew this was just your modern day love story. Maybe a – what did they call it, a meet cute? – relationship born of a dating app, or some casual meeting in town. A few words exchanged over coffee or dinner, growing into this. ”If they’re that shocked by a kiss, I’d be stunned.” Suspecting that they wee far older than their own years. These days it seemed to take far more of a public spectacle to have jaws dropping.
She wouldn’t linger there though, not with the plans she had put together so intricately for tonight waiting. It was an almost reluctant withdrawal from the press of Magnus’ lips though, her fingers curling lightly against his wrist to draw him in to the apartment. Jo gave the hallway a last glance, in case, before closing the door behind them. ”I’m sure if they’d been the chocolate sort he wouldn’t have been too peeved about it,” she said, laughing all the same. The stuffed animal might’ve contributed to any vague homicidal considerations though. She could hear Magnus’ continued discomfort about Cassie in his failure to use her name. At Cassie’s age she’d been just as in love, holding onto those tiny tokens of affection as they were given. Smitten really.
”Cakes,” Jo admitted, tilting her head towards the decorated eggs that threw the soft-jewel toned light across the apartment, like the sun through the stained glass windows in the castle’s chapel. ”My students certainly enjoyed them.” And the rest of the spoils of her project had remained here, those little reminders of traditions that hadn’t been hers to start with. A taste of the past for them both. Jo took the flowers that were offered to her, the flush rising higher in her cheeks again as she dipped her head to catch their delicate sense. ”It’ll look even better with these, thank you.”
The flowers were held between them as the compliment slipped over her heart as tenderly as his lips did hers. Jo’s hand settled at his cheek, her thumb grazing the corner of Magnus’ mouth as she lingered there again. ”Thank you,” she whispered against his lips again. Drawing back just enough, she drew in a deep breath, her gaze settling on his. ”Quiet. I went to church this morning, put all of this together … planned how I was going to end Lent. It ran a little longer than forty days and forty nights…”
They should go in water, she knew that. Jo twisted slightly, spotting the vase of tulips she’d had up on the mantle. A nudge of them and she was slipping the flowers that would take their place into the water. Enough for the moment. Turning back, she drew in a deep breath, settling a hand anxiously against her stomach for a moment before she lifted it instead, draping her arm around Magnus’ neck. ”I waited after … it was a long time before I allowed myself to feel anybody else’s touch. Not seven hundred years, but …” The smile turned rueful as she slid her other hand down to take one of Magnus’. Jo pressed it flat against her chest, his fingertips poised to brush her skin as she slipped that first button from its buttonhole. ”I don’t want to wait anymore,” she breathed, meeting his eye again as she pressed her lips to his. ”I want you, if you’ll have me.” She wanted to shed those last layers that had remained between them. What had happened all those years ago was proof that not everything could last at eternity, you had to take the opportunities you could, cherish what you were given and make clear to the people that mattered how much they meant to you.
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MAGNUS DAYNE
Vampire
Posts: 95
Played by:
Julia
"You waste time trying to get people to love you, you'll end up the most popular dead man in town."
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 15:53:50 GMT
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Post by MAGNUS DAYNE on Jun 8, 2023 18:06:04 GMT
━ evil notions come free ━
It took a moment for him to realize she was referring to the decorated eggs━she’d made cakes with them instead of quiche━but, once he did, his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Of course they did,” He hummed, “Nobody makes a better cake. ‘Oney or otherwise,”
He handed over the flowers, and Jo thanked him with one of those pretty smiles, though her second admission of gratitude was his favourite. Whispered against his lips, the taste of her happiness spreading to him, sweeter even than one of her famous honey cakes.
Magnus hummed quietly, knowing he should’ve gone to Church, though spending the morning with Lincoln seemed more important. It wasn’t as if he had a limited number of years to attend service and, after more than seven hundred of them, he’d pretty much heard them all.
She mentioned Lent, and Magnus stayed quiet as he watched her. He wasn’t new to women, and he’d been around long enough to understand nuances. The issue was that she’d immediately left his arms after saying it, and returned looking… skittish. Nervous. Something that Jo hardly was.
When she returned, he felt as though he’d been without her for another seven hundred years. Like rain finally gracing a desert with its presence, Magnus drank her in, slipping one arm around her waist while the other hand pressed to her hip. He held her against him as she explained, giving an explanation not unlike the one he assumed was coming. Before he could speak, she took his hand and guided it where he wanted, and Magnus sucked in a steady breath, tracing his thumb in a soft semi-circle over the fabric.
He couldn’t say he related. Well, that was untrue, he just found vices in other ways. Ripping through villages didn’t allow much free time to stop and bed the women whose families he was annihilating.
Magnus let her get it all out━he didn’t want to interrupt━and gently began thumbing open the button she led him to. He didn’t need to be told to work on the rest; his fingers did it automatically, the tips of them softly brushing her sternum the moment it was exposed as he continued working.
“Of course,” He whispered against her lips, kissing her softly at first, but then diving in a second time with a renewed sense of vigour. He wasn’t forceful or pushy, just passionate, though he followed Jo’s lead. She was giving him the green light━the ball had always been in her court━and he would use it responsibly. Magnus had, of course, been waiting for her. “Of course I want you, Johanna; more than I’d like to admit.” He grinned into her, gently kissing a trail down the side of her neck as he undid the rest of the buttons, taking his time, leaving no spot untouched.
The curve of her collarbone was kissed steadily, leading him to the valley between her breasts, then further down her middle until the buttons were all undone. He shed Johanna’s dress slowly, letting it fall to the floor in a gentle drape before he kissed the trail back up, venturing off to each side as he did before finally reaching her lips once more.
“‘Ow long’ve you been plannin’ this?” Magnus asked with a gentle chuckle, his arms shifting around her again. He lifted her this time, one arm around her back, the other cradling her backside to keep her steady. He walked her to her bedroom━he wouldn’t have their first time together be anywhere else (and, besides, he hoped there would be more than enough chances to test the solidity of her table)━the whole time ensuring he never used his heightened speed, or even rushed this process. He laid her steadily on the bed, as well, shifting onto his knees to follow her.
Magnus ignored his own clothing for a moment━they could be shed quickly later; for now, he wanted to take his time with her━and kissed Jo again, differing slightly on his trail from before, but still ending up at her navel. The only fabric remaining on her soft, golden skin was pulled slowly down her hips as Magnus followed with his mouth, coating her with kisses he hoped she would feel later as phantom reminders of him.
JOHANNA BAI | |
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JOHANNA BAI
Vampire
Posts: 63
Age:
731
Occupation:
Geography Professor at Whitmore
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Magnus Dane
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 5, 2024 18:42:09 GMT
|
Post by JOHANNA BAI on Jun 21, 2023 19:19:52 GMT
She was supposed to be the one doing the seducing, but Magnus showing up with flowers had certainly proved it was going both ways. Lincoln’s young witch probably would’ve cooed over them, these days, though, it seemed to take more than a bouquet to have feelings blooming just the way the rosebuds would by morning. It seemed cliched to say it, but the 1300s really had been a simpler time. No expensive dates or swiping right. Small, meaningful gestures had caught an eye and had eventually captured a heart and she was lucky enough to be living through all of that a second time. Her eye drifting back to the fork in the road where she’d chosen Kaegan all those centuries ago. So many times in the years since she had wondered what might have happened if she’d made a different decision at any point along that road. Stay and marry for her step-mother’s benefit, turn around and head back to Cambulac when she had discovered her grandfather had died, falling in love with Magnus instead. Perhaps only the last would have saved him from Philippa’s clutches and even then there was no guarantee that his path would have been any different. There was simply no way to know where you would be taken until you had already travelled it and were looking back. Jo was sure she had tasted every inch of the road he had travelled on Magnus’ lips, could feel it in the touch of his hands as he slipped an arm around her waist and drew her in. So much had happened while they had been apart, but at the same time just looking at him made her feel as though barely any time had passed at all. 400 years (double that really) or 40 days, perhaps it had made no difference in the end. Feeling almost as nervous as she had on her wedding night, she began to explain. Butterflies, jewel bright with how she felt for him, took flight in the pit of her stomach as Magnus’ thumb skimmed over her chest. Like she was inhaling the air that he’d exhaled, Jo drew in a deep breath to try and settle them. If there was anybody who would understand what she had meant, what she felt, it was Magnus. Oh lord, he was silent, but… The whimper of pleasure rolled out of her, punctuating her words, stealing away the now that might have squeaked out of her as his fingers skimmed newly bared skin. Her hand clutched at his wrist – not to stop him, to hold him there as though this might have been a dream that she would blink away in a moment. Jo breathed in his whispered words, feeling those flutters settle lower in her stomach, waiting to burst into life as his touch found them there. She kissed him hungrily, all those years of pent up need giving way all at once. ”I won’t blush if you did,” she murmured, knowing that the gentleman in him would likely steal away the coarser edge of his admission anyway. Dark hair tumbled over her shoulders as she tipped her head back, her body quivering like a bow string for him to pluck, the hand that had settled at the back of his neck curling into the golden locks of hair. Fabric skimmed down her body under Magnus’ ministrations. His lips following the trail his hands had played over the bow string – there had always been something about the way he had done just that back in the day, something that had left a young woman biting at her lip as she was now. Jo drew in rapid breaths, looking down into Magnus’ eyes as he rose back up. She could still feel the touch of his lips against her bare skin, imprinted the same way they had against her mouth. Phantom sensation that had her fingertips digging into the muscle at the back of his neck. ”Too long,” she admitted, her voice tight with the admission. ”I’ll admit I had imagined it from the night … from the first time we kissed.” The night that he had come to her, pleading for her help to find his son. It hadn’t been the night for such thoughts, for days afterwards she’d pushed the thought away, being who needed Magnus and Lincoln had needed instead of thinking of her own desires. Lincoln had found his feet again afterwards, his adjustment filling her with pride as if he had been one of her own sons. ”It wasn’t the first time I had thought of this though. Oh!” Her arms wrapped around his neck as Magnus lifted her, her thighs snaking around his waist to anchor herself in place. Jo clutched at him as she was laid down, fingers clutching to the shoulders of Magnus’ shirt as she sprawled against her pillows. So much of her was already bared to his touch, skin hot with her need, touching his wherever possible. A quiet whimper grew in volume, Magnus’ exploration bowing her spine to press herself more firmly against his mouth. ”Your hands,” she moaned, clutching at his hair again, holding him where she desperately wanted him. ”So sure with the bow, on the reins. I wondered … what they could do … I wasn’t wrong … oh dear God … come here … please, Magnus. I need you now … it has been too long.” So long that it would not take much. Her grip tightened, trying to pull the buttons from their holes. Skin, she needed to touch him the way he was her. She was less deft with it, fumbling so badly they remained in place. ”I should have warned you to wear less. Perhaps just a coat.” The laughter rolled out of her on a shiver. The butterflies were certainly fluttering again, her nerves sparking with each little vibration. How much more could she endure before she … Fade to black… |
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MAGNUS DAYNE
Vampire
Posts: 95
Played by:
Julia
"You waste time trying to get people to love you, you'll end up the most popular dead man in town."
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 15:53:50 GMT
|
Post by MAGNUS DAYNE on Jul 10, 2023 16:14:13 GMT
━ evil notions come free ━
He lifted her, grinning at the sound she made, and thinking about the first time they’d kissed. Due to the stress, he hadn’t been able to enjoy it as much as this (or any of the ones after), but it had changed something for them. And Magnus was happy in the place they’d come to. “It wasn’t?” He asked, lifting a brow at her as he set her down, grinning the whole time.
His lips skimmed her ribs, the soft curve below her navel, and over those delicate hip bones. Magnus’ teeth grazed her skin as he removed what was left, slipping back up with his arms looping under her thighs, palms cupping her hips.
Jo’s admissions had him grinning into her skin. He’d known the effect he’d always had on women━especially at that time━but he’d never considered his best friend’s wife would’ve been thinking of him that way, imagining what he could do. It was so long ago, but Magnus knew better than to make any jokes about it now. “I’m ‘ere,” His voice was low and smooth against her skin, attempting to soothe her while his lips and tongue began to work slowly━at the start, at least. “I thought of ya. I felt so ashamed of it, too. When ya ‘ad the boys and yer body changed with mother’ood. When ya kneaded dough in the kitchens, your ‘ands…” His words muffled and faded into the soft skin of her thigh before feathering out again, “... When ya tended yer ‘orse, North Wind,” There were men in the stables to carry out such tasks, but Johanna had taken the time to do much of it herself, and he’d appreciated the care she had━among other things.
She pulled at his shirt fruitlessly, and Magnus chuckled lightly, shifting away only far enough to make quick work of the buttons. Once it was on the floor━his pants left on for now━Magnus slid back into the position he’d held before, finally having Johanna in one of the only ways left. The last, he thought, was her heart, but something told him he had that as much as she had his.
***
He laid listlessly beside her, having put on his best performance and expended all the reserves of vampiric energy. It would return momentarily, but for now, he basked in the afterglow, her skin appearing like a sunrise while against his own. Magnus shifted closer, slipping his arm under her head to guide Johanna to his chest. He wasn’t a young man; he wouldn’t make silly comments or release expletives to express how amazing that was. It just was; they had shared something special, and completely unlike any other woman he’d had since Philippa.
“You thought of me?” Magnus hummed, turning his head to peer down at her with a gentle smile, the smallest hint of a tease in it. “Since the beginnin’? Even when…” He trailed off, still not ready to make the joke, but perhaps she would understand, “Saucy.” He shifted, pecking her forehead lightly before settling again, feeling at peace for the first time in far too long.
JOHANNA BAI | |
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JOHANNA BAI
Vampire
Posts: 63
Age:
731
Occupation:
Geography Professor at Whitmore
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Magnus Dane
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 5, 2024 18:42:09 GMT
|
Post by JOHANNA BAI on Jul 28, 2023 19:52:41 GMT
Quick smiles and quicker fingers had brought a spark to those long afternoons in the kitchens. The head cook would chide her for not concentrating on her work, but Jo would find herself looking up at the doors every time they opened - disappointment weighing heavy in her stomach as it was one of the maids, fluttering wings soaring when it was either Kaegan or Magnus, or even the blessing of both slipping in. Oh, she’d played coy, chiding the two of them about disturbing her work, but there’d been a thrill there, her gaze darting to their lips as they’d eaten their purloined treats. The sheen of butter on them, crumbs clinging to the curve of plump flesh. Before she’d known the taste of both from Kaegan’s lips she’d imagined kissing them both, a test, as she did with a morsel of whatever she cooked, to make sure it was good enough. Oh it had been, was with them both. Her imagination had run down from their mouths to the strong shoulders and arms that had no trouble wielding a sword or swinging a blacksmith’s hammer. To thick wrists, corded with muscle, palms roughened by hard work and talented, deft fingers that could … she no longer had to imagine what that was like, or had to worry about confessing as Magnus laid her down on her bed. Jo hummed lightly, rolling her head back and forth in the nest of pillows. With his mouth on her again, she didn’t have the words to describe each vision she’d had of those clever hands, the mouth that could produce words as golden as his hair. She made small sounds of pleasure, her breath sucking in as his teeth grazed her skin in the wake of that baring touch. Those hands were just as she had imagined - cupping, lifting, warming. Her own clutched at him, her eyes squeezing shut for a moment as he drew her back through the centuries. Had she felt his eyes on her then? No, not like that, but now it was as though she could picture it. A shuddering breath rolled out of her, sensation rippling up from her thighs, coiling between them before it zipped up into her chest. Her three pregnancies were the only time she’d developed the sort of curves other women in the village had, pressing against her kirtle, highlighted by the way her dresses grew tighter as she swelled with the life within. She’d felt swollen head to toe then, ached with it all as the time came near and her milk started to come in. There’d been no riding for North Wind then, but she would go down to the stables, pressing her cheek to the horse’s as he came to nose at her in hope of treats. Now she felt Magnus' gaze on her as it would’ve been there, felt her body rising desperately to that glancing sensation as though waiting for the touch to come again. Jo reached for him as Magnus settled back from shucking his shirt, her thighs tightening around him, her fingertips grazing over hot skin. No more guessing. She knew exactly how those fantasies would play out now and she gave herself over to them readily, to him. * * * * * * * The insecurities of youth had long since left her. There was no shy tugging at the sheets to cover still sensitive skin as the two of them lay together in sheets now rumpled, no curling away from the man who had just known all of her, that she had taken such pleasure from. Awareness rippled through her like sunlight on water, pleasure still lapping at her in waves as she allowed Magnus to draw her in to his side. Jo went with his touch, one leg lifting to curl over his, her hand settling on the far side of his chest, a fingertip circling the firm flesh of one nipple as her head settled against the other side of his chest. She kissed the damp skin, laughed into it as Magnus circled back around to her earlier statement. Jo rested her chin on his chest to look up and meet those summer sky eyes. Her lips curled, no embarrassment there to lend a girlish blush to her words. ”I was married, not dead,” Jo reminded him, amusement lightening her voice. Although then she might as well have been. You didn’t admit to such things. You were took the vows you had made seriously and tried to let those thoughts bleed away with contrition as you knelt on the cold stone floor of the chapel on a Sunday morning. Saucy indeed. With the feel of his lips on her brow again she settled, her fingers still tracing the perimeter of that stiff peak. ”I was young and I had two young men entertaining me. I was bound to look. I would watch you training, your fingers on a bow string, or the sword. I wondered what they would feel on my skin. After … it was all I could carry with me. The memories to keep me warm.” The long, lonely nights afterwards when she had yearned for the touch of another. Those yearnings had bitten deep again after he had pulled her wet and shivering from her car. Filtering into her dreams, leaving her waking with the phantom feel of fingertips on her heated skin. ”You thought of me too,” Jo said lightly. The two of them continents apart, wrapped in the same thoughts, gathered together beneath the dome of them now, finally knowing. |
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