Eclipse of Spring: The Shape of the Future
NSFW / 18+
Chapter Six of Season Three of The Trials Expanded
Plot Summary: Jane finally gets her cake. Later, Theo takes her on a path back into their past, and forward into their future.
Pairing: Theo Deschamps x Jane Warfield!Reader
Content: comfort, domestic fluff, partnership, fpreg/gender reveal, intimacy, smut (teasing, restraints, food play, oral, sub!Theo, p in v)
WC: 12k | Read on Ao3
A/N: Ty for your patience. I wrote 80% of this with a concussion so I apologize if there’s anything repetitive, nonsensical, or any grammatical errors. Also sorry this became a 12k monstrosity. x
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April had arrived on the doorstep wrapped in warmth and vibrance. The air was spun with soft fragrances from the garden; daffodils, roses, the earthy scent of Jane's vegetable garden.
The vines that laddered the doorway were almost too green. Some mornings, Jane would stand on the pathway with her coffee and simply stare at them, wondering how the world could look so perfect when so much inside of theirs was still trying to knit itself back together.
The weeks had moved on, not stopping for the grief or the verdict or the quiet loss that Theo felt.
The sun kept rising, the buds kept blooming. As if the world were a wordless, sentient companion, pushing them forward, further away from the horror with each bright new day.
It had taken a while for Theo to come to terms with the loss of the Black Ravens. Even weeks later, the feeling wasn’t simple or clean.
He didn’t feel forlorn, exactly. It was more like a hollow ache, a bruise that sat too deep to really hurt unless being pressed upon.
He was disappointed of course. The Black Ravens were a binding force for him and Jane. The Trials had brought them together. The Winter Solstice had seen them emerge as a powerful team with the rarest, strongest forces of magic woven through them.
It was a home he'd never expected to have. One that he'd wanted all his life and then defied, one that had grown around him and pulled him in anyway.
He supposed he grieved for it, in a way. The team they had been felt like an unstoppable force. Growing together in those marble halls, the late nights and frosted mornings, the endless coffees, the teak and flame scent of all the hours spent in the archives. The successes, the challenges. The stolen moments of pure bliss that belonged only to them and the walls of whatever corner he'd pulled her into. The grandeur, the glory, the magic.
All of it spun through his head, an endless loop of memories and moments.
But he was also relieved. Relieved that he wasn’t imprisoned. That the nightmare was over, that Gregory was gone, that he could say goodbye to the endless politics and breathe again.
And he was proud of Jane. Her strength and resilience. The way she had stepped into leadership with a steadiness that made it seem like the most natural thing in the world. He adored her, now more than ever.
The loss was a complicated knot of relief and grief and pride and nostalgia all tangled together.
Theo stood at the edge of the lake, watching it ripple under the afternoon sun. Jane was leaning against the thick trunk of the overhanging willow tree with a book splayed open on her thighs.
She looked up at him, studying his pensive gaze that spread far and wide over the lake.
“You’re thinking again.” She said softly.
Theo huffed a quiet breath. “I'm always thinking.”
Jane stood, smoothing the back of her sundress, laying the book down on the grass. She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back, feeling his warmth.
He exhaled, long and slow, his head dropping back onto hers as his hands came up to cradle her elbows.
“You're thinking about the Black Ravens again,” she murmured.
Theo swallowed. “Yes.” He tightened his hold on her arms. “But I don’t regret anything. Not any of it.”
“What do you feel?” Jane asked as she slipped around to the front of him, keeping him in her embrace, leaning back enough to meet his steel blue gaze.
Theo’s brow knitted down, his eyes studying hers.
“Messy.” He said finally.
“Messy is allowed, you know,” she rose on her tiptoes to stamp a kiss on his stubble-covered jaw. “It's okay if you can't be anything else sometimes.”
He nodded, his eyes returning to the lake, the gentle swaying of the fronds and the quiet ripples of the ducks across the surface.
“It’s strange. Becoming a Black Raven was so messy for me. But being a Black Raven, with you, it just... it made sense.” He sighed. “I can't help but feel like I've - like I've lost something. Not something of my own but... something of ours.”
Jane's arm tightened around him, her other coming up to cradle his face. Her eyes were gentle, swimming with a deep understanding that made his messiness feel a little less tangled.
“Hey, this is ours,” She said softly, looking around at the sprawling, vibrant grounds. “And this-”
She took his hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles as she placed his palm over the bump of her lower belly. Theo smiled, his eyes closing in a beat of happiness as he felt the sure hum of magic from under the soft curve.
And this. She thought, pushing the quiet thought through the telepathic tether into his mind.
“There is so much that makes us us, Theo. It was never just the Black Ravens.” She brushed a thumb up the angular line of his cheekbone. “You are so much more than a badge.”
Theo exhaled, long and deep, leaning into her touch. His forehead dropped to hers, their breaths mingling in the quiet breeze.
“You saved the entire order, don't forget.” She said pointedly. “Without you, there wouldn't have been an order left to lose.”
He huffed, a soft sound of reluctant acknowledgement.
“I’m proud of you,” he whispered. “You deserve the leadership, you always did.”
“I love you,” She smiled, leaning in to his chest.
“I love you, too.” He kissed her hair, inhaling her sweet jasmine scent, and sat his chin on top of her head.
Then, she looked up at him, her soft expression slipping into something playful. “Besides, who's stopping me from making the rules now?” She grinned, squeezing him. “I can do what I want.”
“Jane,” Theo laughed, “I don't think that's entirely what being Grand Raven means.”
“Says who, the Grand Raven?” her playful smile widened. “Last I checked, that's me.”
“Well, yes, but-”
“But nothing,” she said, “who's going to stop me if I want you there all day?”
“You can't just hire me back after the Ministry-”
“Who said anything about hiring you?” Jane grinned. “No, I just want to keep you there with me all day, standing in my office with no shirt on, looking pretty.”
Theo rolled his eyes, smiling as he breathed out a laugh.
“What?” Jane said, her tone entirely serious. “Last I checked, I'm allowed to have visitors.”
“Yes, ones with clothes on.”
“My office, my rules.”
“Oh, you make the rules, do you?” Theo grinned, a heat pooling in his chest. “How diplomatic of you.”
“Yes.” Jane smirked, leaning up on her toes again, pressing her mouth against his.
Theo melted into her immediately, his mouth seeking more, dancing over hers as his hands slid to her waist.
“Well...” he breathed into her, “I can't pretend I don't love it when you make the rules.”
“I know, that's why I have so many.”
She gripped his hips, squeezing them playfully, making him flinch. His hands cradled her face as he kissed her.
“Maybe I will take you up on that offer,” Theo smiled into her, his teeth grazing over her bottom lip. “Shirtless Sentinel is one hell of a title.”
“Much better than Black Raven, one could argue.”
“Do I get a badge, hm?” Theo said, his voice soft and breathy.
“Only if you're a good boy.”
A low groan escaped him into her mouth as he kissed her.
“I can do that,” Theo murmured, “I can be such a good boy for you, Jane, you know that.”
He kissed her harder, deeper, his tongue sliding through her lips to taste her. “Just tell me what you need.”
“There is something I need,” she murmured, dragging her fingers slowly down his hips.
“Mm, go on.” Theo breathed, his body arching instinctively towards her.
“I need it badly, Theo...”
Theo groaned, his mouth all teeth and tongue as he kissed her, as she groped over his hips. His insides pooled with a hot, deep hunger.
“Tell me, sweetheart, tell me what you need,” Theo begged, his voice almost whiny with desire.
“God, I need it so... fucking... bad...” Jane moaned into his mouth.
Theo's hands slipped up her arms, peeling the straps of her dress down. He sucked a wet trail from her mouth, moving his lips down her neck. He kissed over the soft skin of her shoulders, his teeth grazing ever so slightly.
“I need it inside of me, Theo... so desperately...” Jane murmured, her head arching back as he kissed over her.
“Say it my love, and it's yours...” Theo breathed, his arms grappling her waist, embracing her and pulling her against his body. He could feel his own need throbbing urgently in his trousers, pressed tightly between their bodies.
She grabbed his face, guiding his head back up to her. She swam in his eyes for a long moment, the lust-laden blue hue, basking in the heated yearning she could feel radiating off of him.
Her mouth curved into a sly smile as her fingers raked a wave of hair back over his ear. She leaned into it, her mouth ghosting over the shell in a way that sent a divine shiver down his spine.
“I need…” She whispered. “…cake.” She nipped his earlobe as she pulled her head back.
Theo's head jerked back as he looked at her, his brow furrowed, his lips parted in confusion.
“You need... cake?” He frowned, his body straightening up.
She looked at him with complete and utter seriousness on her face.
“Yes.”
“Wait, are you... are you serious?” He scoffed.
She ran her thumb up his cheek. “Entirely.”
“But-”
“Hm?” She smirked, stepping back to her book under the tree. “But what?”
“I thought you wanted-”
“Oh, I want that too, my love. After the cakes I have been promised and yet so far deprived of.”
He stared at her, huffing out a flustered breath. “You are maddening-”
“Careful,” she said, her eyebrows lofty.
Theo bit his lip, trying to bite back a laugh. “...maddeningly beautiful.”
“That's what I thought.” She grinned, sinking herself down on the grass and returning to her book as Theo stood over her, flustered and breathless. Her eyes trailed over the page as he watched her in a stunned silence.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” She said finally, looking up at his towering frame. “I thought you were going to be a good boy.”
Theo rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a small laugh of defeat.
“Oh, I intend to, sweetheart. Don't you worry.”
He leaned down to her and planted a tender kiss on her forehead.
“What kind do you want?”
Jane drew in a breath, gazing out over the lake for a moment. “All of them.”
“All of them?” Theo scoffed, his eyebrows sliding upwards.
She eyed him like she had never been more serious about anything in her life. “Yes.”
“Well then, I will get you all of them, darling.”
“Good boy.” Jane grinned.
His stomach flipped up into his chest at the words. He brushed another kiss over her forehead before turning on his heels and striding off through the garden. Jane watched as he went, the sunlight catching in his hair, the deep greens and blooming pastels framing him like he was a work of art.
***
Birdsong chittered through the windows of the conservatory as Jane sat cross-legged on the seat, balancing a book on one knee and a cup of tea on the other. The warm light of the afternoon flared in with it, streaking across the pages as she flipped them.
The serenity was broken by the sound of Theo landing ungracefully in the entrance way, followed by a chaotic shuffle that sounded like many small boxes almost toppling to the floor.
“Theo?” Jane said, abandoning her book for the scene she knew would be far more entertaining.
“Uh, yes, Jane-”
A tower of several pastel pink boxes with long legs greeted her.
Theo craned his head out from behind them, his face caught somewhere between impressed with himself and pleading for help. Jane grinned, biting back a laugh as he struggled with the teetering arrangement.
“Would you-?” Theo said, his eyes darting to the stack of boxes in his hands.
“Well I would, but it will be much more entertaining watching you try to carry this to the kitchen.” Jane laughed
“Wonderful. Well, thank you for your help, darling.”
“I am being helpful.” She scoffed.
“Is that what you call it?” He asked, voice straining.
“I call it moral support.”
Theo rolled his eyes as he stepped precariously across the floor, as if the ground itself might retaliate at any given moment. The boxes swayed threateningly as he went.
“Impressive,” she said when he arrived at the kitchen counter.
He carefully relinquished the stack, one by one dismantling the tower.
“But you know, there’s this amazing invention called a bag.”
Theo shot her a grimace from across the counter. “I refuse to let paper with handles be more useful than me.”
“Naturally,” Jane laughed, sliding around to join him. “Did you bring the whole bakery?”
He blinked. “You wanted all of them.”
“And you took that literally.”
“I take you literally,” he smiled. “Especially when you call me a good boy.”
Theo planted a kiss on her forehead and reached for the boxes, presenting each one to her with a dramatic flourish of his hand. There was strawberry shortcake, raspberry sponge, lemon and poppy, banana adorned with dried berries, a marvellously arranged red velvet, and a carrot cake topped with cream cheese frosting.
Jane’s eyes widened as she took in each one. Then, he scooted one box suspiciously to the side.
“And that one?” She asked.
“Don’t worry about this one.” He said, his fingers tightening around it.
Jane’s eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He said, far too quickly.
“Theo.”
“It’s empty-”
With a snap of her fingers, the cake box jerked from Theo's grasp and flew across the marble bench top. He grimaced as Jane eyed the contents, her mouth curving into a grin.
“Don't laugh.” Theo groaned.
Jane's eyebrow slid up.
A once-decadent mudcake sat inside, one which had clearly suffered a disastrous journey. It was in pieces, the chocolate frosting was smeared through the entire box. The cherries had migrated to one corner as if consoling one another, and the decorative shavings were clinging to the sides of the box for dear life.
Her grin grew wider as she bit back a laugh.
“It was cake.” He muttered.
The laugh escaped her. “In a previous life?”
Theo sighed, his gaze lingering on the decadent chaos.
“What exactly did this one do to offend you?” Jane grinned.
“Tested my balance on the porch step. But that step is wonky, I swear.” He said, eyeing the mess.
Jane's eyebrows rose again, a look of pure enjoyment playing on her face.
“Jane, please. I bought home six perfect cakes. Six!”
“And one poor, defenceless victim.”
Theo sighed and shook his head, his long hair dusting against his shoulders.
“Shall we say a few words?” Jane continued, her playful energy bouncing around him like static.
“Sweetheart, please.”
She clasped her hands together solemnly, bowing her head dramatically toward the demolished mudcake. “We gather here today to mourn the tragic loss of-”
“Oh come on, it's still edible.” Theo protested.
Jane's eyes cut up to his, lit with something other than mockery.
“Hm, is it?” She asked, her voice having dropped into that soft, sensual tone that made Theo's stomach flip. “Well, since you killed it, I guess you can clean it up.”
Theo's eyes followed her finger as she swiped it through the smudged icing. She held it up to his lips, her gaze locked on his.
“Open.”
He studied her for a beat, the way her eyes lit up, the way the tilt in the crook of her mouth gave away how much she enjoyed commanding him. Theo’s lips fell open, wrapping her finger tip in a wet heat as he sucked the frosting from it.
“Hm, good boy.” Jane said, her finger dragging down his bottom lip as he relinquished it.
Theo’s body bloomed with heat, those words from her mouth making him pulse with desire the way they always did.
“Sweet,” Theo murmured, stepping her back into the bench, his face brushing against hers. “Like you.”
His lips pressed against hers in a soft, sensual claim as his hands wandered up the sides of her, finding a home at her waist. Jane’s hands grazed up over his shirt, coming to rest along his jaw as her mouth moved against his, tasting the remnants of the chocolate on his lips.
Theo’s arm wound around her waist as he deepened his kiss, his tongue sliding through her lips. She squeaked softly as he leaned into her and hoisted her up onto the bench in one smooth motion.
“Your turn.” Theo breathed, breaking his mouth from hers to study her flushed face.
He swiped a long finger through the smeared frosting and brought it to her mouth. Jane’s lips parted for him, wrapping around the tip of his finger. He couldn’t help the needy breath that escaped him as the wet glide of her tongue moved against his finger, collecting the sugary mess.
Jane’s lips curved up at the corners, reading every thought, every inch of his face, every soft hitch of his breath.
“Oh, you liked that,” She teased after drawing her lips off his finger. “Do it again.”
“Jane-”
“Did you think you were in control when you put me up here?” She asked, brushing her fingertip down his jaw.
“Who says I’m not?” Theo murmured, leaning his palms flat on the benchtop on either side of her as his mouth left a trail along her neck.
“The six cakes and the one catastrophe,” Jane grinned, her neck arching back as he kissed her. “And the thoughts you had when I had my lips around your finger just now.”
Theo huffed against her neck. “Stop listening to my thoughts.”
“You practically screamed them.”
“Did I now?” He asked, his voice low and mumbled against her skin as his lips moved under her jaw.
“Mm, yes,” Jane breathed as he sucked over the other side of her neck. “And I believe your wishes can be arranged.”
A soft groan escaped him as Jane’s hands threaded through his hair, pulling his face up to hers. “You have been a good boy after all. I’m willing to look past the mudcake.”
“I have been, haven't I?” Theo breathed, unable to stop his mouth from finding hers, unable to stop his tongue from breaching her lips. “Show me how good I’ve been for you.”
Jane smirked, a soft fire pooling in her belly as his hands ran across her waist and down her thighs.
“Hm, first, do that again.” She instructed. “Like I said.”
Theo slid his finger through the smeared frosting once more and brought it to her lips. She hovered near it, making him wait every long second as she swam in his quietly pleading eyes. Finally she popped her lips over his finger, engulfing the tip of it first, swirling her tongue around it to collect the rich chocolate.
Theo’s eyes were fixed on her mouth, following her lips as she sucked his finger in further, engulfing the first knuckle, then the second, her tongue flicking over the underside. He melted, a soft groan leaving him as she drew her lips back. She could feel his heart kicking in the space between them.
“God, look at you,” she said with a satisfied smirk. “All I did was suck your finger, and you look ruined.”
“I am ruined,” Theo whined. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Yes I do,” Jane smirked. “That’s what makes it so satisfying.”
She leaned in to kiss him, her lips deliberately delicate and leaving him wanting as his thoughts grew louder in her head.
“Your thoughts are so loud when you’re turned on,” she said as she slid off the bench, “did you know that?”
“I can’t help it.”
“Yes you can.” Jane laughed. “You want me to hear them.”
“Hm,” Theo smiled knowingly, sucking her bottom lip into his teeth. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I always am.”
Jane’s palms came to his chest, guiding him backwards into the kitchen cupboards. His back hit the benchtop with a soft thud as she rose to her tiptoes. She nudged a lock of his long hair from his neck with her nose and settled her lips over his thumping pulse point.
“Tell me what I'm thinking, then, sweetheart.” He purred.
Jane’s mouth moved lower, her teeth biting at his shirt, pulling at the top button until it relinquished.
“You want my tongue all over you… like this,” She licked a long, wet stripe between the hard muscles of his chest.
Theo sighed softly, his hands in her hair.
“You want my lips,” Jane mumbled as she sucked over him. “You want my mouth, wrapped around you.”
Theo’s head fell back, bumping into the cupboard as his breath caught in his chest.
“God, Jane, yes…” He mumbled, his hands tangling in her hair as she bit open more buttons, moving lower, leaving a wet trail down his torso.
“Shall I stay here?” She murmured into his skin, nipping over his abs.
Her hands slipped into his open shirt and she trailed her fingers around his navel, dipping over the peaks and troughs of his lean form in agonisingly slow circles that sent a hot shiver running up his spine.
“Lower,” Theo breathed, his cock straining behind the fabric of his trousers.
Jane abruptly bit the skin below his belly button, drawing a hiss from behind his teeth.
“What-”
“Ask nicely.” She said, staring up at his eyes, which were heavy with desire. “Say please.”
He huffed. “Please, sweetheart. Please go lower.”
“Hm, better.” She smiled, her fingers still exploring him, circling the damp, reddening flesh her teeth had assaulted. “But still, good boys ask nicely the first time. So which would you rather lose, hands or eyes?”
Theo’s heart hammered as her face flashed with that expression that always preceded her taking absolute control of him. In fact, he truly didn’t know what he savoured more - dominating her like an animal or surrendering to her, being at her mercy. There was something about the wildness that lurked beneath her soft, perfectly composed nature, and the fact that only he knew it was there.
“Hands. I want to watch you.”
Jane hummed approvingly as her hands unbuckled his belt, deftly pulling it from the loops. Her tongue swirled over him, savouring the taste of his skin, the signature notes of his soap and cologne mixed with a subtle saltiness and something purely masculine.
“Hands it is.” Jane smiled with a false softness. “Above your head.”
Theo gazed down at her for a beat, his eyes half-lidded, his trousers tightening almost painfully over his hardness.
“Don’t make me ask twice.” She said, eyebrows rising.
“No, of course not,” he breathed, surrendering and raising his long arms above his head.
She looped the belt through the cupboard handles and around his wrists, securing the buckle tightly, never once breaking his gaze, her mouth hovering over his like a promise and a threat.
“Improper use of cupboard handles…” Theo murmured, though there was no protest in it.
“I disagree.”
Theo wriggled instinctively, but the belt was unyielding, the doors rattling behind him as he tried.
“Now, where was I?” Jane teased, sliding her hands over him. “Oh, that's right. You wanted me to go lower.”
She laid a trail of open-mouthed kisses down his chest, collecting every needy thump of his heart on her lips. She could feel his eyes on her, intense with hunger.
“This just wasn't enough for you, hm?” She murmured into him, her mouth making its way to his navel again as she lowered herself.
Theo's breath caught as her knees graced the floor, his cock twitching at the sight of her between his legs. She looked up at him, a satisfied smirk playing across her face.
“You know I love anything you do to me.” He breathed. “But you know what I want, Jane.”
She nipped at the skin just above his trousers, feeling his erection bumping against her chin. “Hm, yes, I do. It's just so fun to tease you.”
Her hand cupped over his length, pressing tightly against it. Theo groaned and pushed against her as she palmed him.
“Just look at this,” She smirked, mouthing over the fabric as her hand stroked it. “So hard for me.”
Her teeth found the button of his trousers and popped it open, her fingers pulling at the zipper next. Each move was deliberately slow, making soft shudders of anticipation rise through Theo as he stood shackled to the cupboards.
“God, you look so pretty on your knees...” he murmured, his voice low with desire.
“You look pretty tied up like that,” Jane said as she hooked her fingers over his trousers and slid them down over his lean thighs, freeing his swollen cock. A divine heat pooled through her as she fixed her eyes on it. She ran her fingertips along his silky, rigid shaft. “And you like it, don’t you, my love? You’re already dripping for me.”
She popped her lips delicately over his flushed head, collecting the abundance of precum already leaking from him. Theo gasped, his head hitting the cupboard as the wet heat of her lips toyed with him.
“God, yes,” Theo groaned. “I do, I do love it. So fucking much.”
His arms struggled, the urge to touch her instinctive, the urge to grip her hair in his fingers overwhelming. Jane moved agonisingly slowly, wrapping her lips around his head first, swirling her tongue over the ridge, every wet flicker making him buck forward.
“So impatient…” she tutted, the look of triumph on her face only deepening as the look of ruin on Theo’s did. “This pretty cock of yours is aching for me isn't it?”
“Yes, sweetheart please…” he begged on a breath, his head flopping from arched to bowed like it couldn’t make up its mind.
“Please what?”
“Please, give me more... give me your mouth again...” He groaned gracelessly.
His pleas embered the heat inside of her. She felt her own wetness pool out between her thighs as she sank him further into her mouth. Theo whined with relief as she rolled her lips over his length, the slick heat of her mouth already so threatening.
Slowly she increased her speed, taking him deeper, though she could already feel the way his legs were trembling. Her hands wandered up his thighs, one coming to grip his hip, the other winding around his cock as she worked it with her mouth.
“Oh, fuck…” Theo moaned as she stroked him in tight, rhythmic pulls in tandem with the wet suction of her mouth. “God, that’s it, just like that, Jane...”
His thoughts were nothing but a string of curses growing louder and messier as Jane worked to take him apart. His half-shut eyes were fixed to her, the way her delicate hand wrapped around him, the way her pink lips rolled over his flesh, the way her cheeks hollowed as she took him.
The kitchen was full of the wet sounds of her mouth, the broken moans coming quicker and louder from him, the soft hums she sent vibrating over his cock. The cakes were utterly forgotten, nothing but a pastel pink background blur to the world of her mouth as she pulled him towards defeat.
Her eyes welled as she took him deeper, harder, her mascara running over her cheeks as his cock hit the back of her throat. She gagged softly, which only spurred something primal within him, making him buck forward until he was fucking her mouth.
Leather bit into his wrists as he braced against the restraints. He could have freed himself, and easily at that, but being Jane’s plaything was far too exquisite.
Jane whined as she felt him swell and throb against the roof of her mouth, his hips rutting furiously, his cock slamming against the back of her throat as he barrelled towards defeat.
That’s it Theo, come for me, down my throat, let me taste every drop of you…
Her thoughts broke him.
“Oh - fuck-” he groaned out, broken and rough as he buried himself deep in her throat.
His hips jerked as the intense spasms of pleasure wracked through him. Jane gripped his hips hard as she took the flood of his release, savouring every drop of him. Theo’s chest heaved with ragged breaths as she withdrew, rolling her lips over him in a tight draw as she went. His sated gaze was locked to her throat, watching the way it worked to swallow him.
“Heaven…” Theo muttered as his head lolled back against the cupboard. “Your mouth is heaven.”
She wiped her messy face with the back of her hand and rose to her feet, a look of pure satisfaction in her eyes.
“What about the rest of me?”
“Well, yes, that too, of course. All of you. All of you is heaven and I’m banging my fists at the gate.” He breathed, eyes fluttering shut.
“You are a good boy,” she smirked.
“Then release me.” He huffed, wriggling his arms uselessly.
“Now there’s a thought.” Jane said, running a thumb down his flushed cheek. “Or…”
She turned on her heels and strode around the kitchen island, sliding onto one of the bar stools.
“I could sit here and stare at you, tied up, pants around your ankles.” She grinned, sliding one of the cake boxes over with a lazy wave of her hand. “While I eat all this cake.”
Her eyes raked over him. From his long, restrained arms, his flushed expression, his open shirt and bare torso, to his still half-hard length sitting between his lean thighs.
“Jane, please.” Theo protested.
“You know,” she smiled playfully, stabbing at the red velvet with a cake fork. “You could get out of that belt any time you wanted.”
Theo blinked. She was right, and they both knew it.
“But you aren’t,” she continued slyly. “Because you like it too much. Don’t you?”
He sucked his teeth and sighed.
“Maybe.”
“No.”
“Okay yes, fine, I love it. I love being your toy, darling, you already know that, don’t you?”
She popped the cake into her mouth, chewing slowly as she considered. Then, she slipped off the seat, padding over to her willing prisoner shackled to the cupboard. She raked another forkful of cake as she approached, her eyes playful.
“So, either break out of that belt and come and get me, or shush and let me feed you cake.”
She brought the forkful to his lips.
“What if I want both?”
“Greedy.” Jane tutted.
He surrendered, wrapping his lips around the sweet, frosted morsel. His eyes rolled back dramatically.
“That… is incredible.”
Jane hummed in agreement. “I know.”
“There’s only one thing that would improve it.”
“Go on.”
Theo studied her for a beat, his mouth curving up at the corner.
Before she could register it, Theo’s hands were free, a swift snap of his fingers all he needed for the belt to unbuckle itself and slip from the cupboard door handles.
He walked her back into the kitchen island in long strides, one hand grabbing the cake box from hers, the other winding around her waist. She squealed as he hoisted her up onto the counter again with one arm, his mouth moving against hers, hungry and laced with the taste of sugar.
Swiftly his fingers found the hem of her shirt, yanking it off over her head and arms in a flurry of renewed need. He unclasped her bra next, the lace soft in his fingers as he let it fall somewhere he didn’t take notice of.
“Hm, yes,” Theo murmured as he took in the dark pop of her nipples, already swollen into peaks for him. “This will definitely improve it.”
He swiped a finger through the frosting of the red velvet and swirled it around her nipples in slow circles. Jane’s breath caught, her chest bowing out for him. Her fingers threaded through his hair as he leaned into her chest, his tongue warm and slick as he licked the frosting from her. Jane whined softly, the sensation sending sparks shooting to her core.
Theo groaned as he sucked her nipples clean, the tip of his tongue moving between slow circles and rapid flickers.
“Fuck, see? Delicious.” He breathed, craning his head up.
Her eyes were a heavy, lustful hue. “Don’t stop.”
“What did you say about asking nicely the first time?” He smirked.
She clicked her tongue once, unimpressed. “Please don’t stop, Theo.”
“Hm, that’s better.” He smiled. “But see, I don’t have the patience to tie you up.”
Jane’s breath shuddered as he smeared more frosting over her, trailing it between her breasts and over her nipples again.
“You never have any patience.” Jane huffed.
“No, I don’t, darling.” He breathed as he laid kitten licks between her breasts. “That’s why I’m going to fuck you right here, on this bench. Is that what you want?”
Jane whined and nodded as his teeth grazed over her peaks, his lips popping wetly as he cleaned the frosting from her skin.
His hands found her skirt, pushing it up her thighs, his fingers hooking into her panties, the fabric already slick and soaked. He didn’t bother pulling them off, he simply pushed them to the side as his arm wound around her lower back, pulling her forward. He traced his fingers through her folds, parting her eager flesh, the benchtop on the back of her thighs a cool contrast to the heat of him.
He truly didn’t have the patience for anything other than burying himself inside of her at that moment. His fingers forgot their work, instead wrapping around his cock, guiding himself to her entrance. A torn noise passed his lips as he pushed into her wet heat, a slow filling motion that stretched her with the kind of subtle burn that was devastatingly exquisite, making her moan out a sound that was instinctive and uncontrolled.
“Fuck, you’re so tight for me,” Theo groaned, his voice rough as he gripped her hips, anchoring her on the bench as he pushed into her.
“Like I said... so impatient...” Jane gasped as he sank deeper.
His gaze drank in her flushed face, her closed eyes, the elegant arch of her neck as her head fell back. Her loose hair fell in cascading waves, the ends brushing over the top of one of the cake boxes as Theo moved inside of her, every thrust followed by another of rougher, deeper urgency.
Then, his eyes moved between her legs, the way her flesh engulfed his own, the way her arousal pooled around him, the way her thighs trembled with every fervent stroke he laid into her. The sight of it almost sent him over the edge. He had to force his eyes back to her face in order to control himself, though that wasn't much better, as the intense pleasure he was driving into her was written on every one of her beautiful features.
His hands gripped her thighs, spreading them, while hers wound around his neck, her nails grazing under the collar of his shirt as the heat coiled inside of her. His mouth returned to her frosting-covered breasts, his tongue lapping feverishly at the sweet trail he'd left.
The kitchen was a symphony of graceless moans, the friction of their skin meeting, the sound of the cupboards under the kitchen island rattling as Theo thrust faster.
Jane’s hips rolled frantically, chasing release, meeting every one of his movements, deepening him inside of her until stars were popping behind her eyes.
“That’s it,” Theo moaned, “move just like that… fuck, you know it drives me insane.”
“I want you to fill me up, Theo,” Jane whined.
Theo’s breaths wracked through him as he moved faster, his thrusts becoming sloppier and more frantic as he drove them towards the edge.
“Oh god, I can feel you, Jane,” he groaned into her chest, sticky with the remnants of frosting. “I can feel you tightening around me… fuck, come for me, sweetheart, come on me just like this.”
Theo’s teeth grazed one of Jane’s nipples as he fucked into her, a devastating dual threat that made her crash over the edge.
Her orgasm was a shuddering, blissful crescendo, her cunt clenching around him, milking him, pulling him over the edge with her as she cried out his name.
“Ah fuck, that’s my girl,” Theo growled, slamming into her as she peaked, “let me fill you up.”
A raw, rough string of sounds tore from his mouth as he came a second time, the intense spasms making his hips jerk wildly as he filled her. His arms wound tight around her, embracing her against him as he gasped into her chest, his body thrumming with his release.
Neither of them moved for several moments. Theo stayed cradled in her chest and Jane raked her nails through his hair as their breathing slowed. Theo nuzzled his face into her, savouring her warmth as he softened inside of her.
“Now, incredible as you are,” Jane finally huffed with a grin, “I really do want to eat this cake.”
Theo laughed, rubbing his forehead into her bare chest. He licked the pad of his thumb and swiped at the sticky, sugary trail still left on her.
“Fair,” He smiled. “Though it was much nicer eating it off of you.”
“Well, good thing we have plenty of cakes and plenty of time, hm?” Jane grinned.
***
The house felt unusually still that morning, as if waiting. Jane sat on the edge of the sofa, her hands folded over her belly, her breath slow and measured.
Theo paced in front of the windows, stopping every few seconds to lean out of them like he was desperate for air. He ran a hand through his hair constantly, muttering under his breath.
“If you’re trying not to seem nervous, you’re failing,” Jane said with a soft chuckle.
He didn’t respond, just chewed his thumbnail as he hovered at the window.
“Theo.”
“Hm?”
“Come sit.”
He crossed the room in long paces, sinking beside her on the sofa, his knee bouncing with restless energy. She took his hand, grounding him with a gentle squeeze.
The healer’s enchanted parchment lay on the coffee table, a soft glow pulsing from its center, folded into a neat little square as if it didn’t contain an answer that would define the future.
Theo stared at it like it might explode. His energy was all over the place. Nervous, excited, terrified, all tangling into threads that Jane felt pulling at her as he sat beside her.
“We don’t have to open it.”
Theo sighed. “I want to.”
“You look like you wanted to jump out the window not ten seconds ago.” She chuckled.
“I’m fine. Totally fine, I swear.” He said, though his voice shook in that almost imperceptible way only Jane could hear.
She brushed her thumb over his knuckles. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m not,” he said, shaking.
She laughed quietly. “Theo.”
Theo exhaled, long and shaky. “Okay, fine. It's just... It's a big moment.”
Jane leaned her head against his shoulder, brushing his knuckles again. “Want to take bets?”
He laughed softly and let a hand fall over her belly. “Hm... boy.”
“That's your final answer?”
He nodded, his gaze so intense on the tiny parchment square it could have cut through the table. “Yes.”
“Alright, then I'll say girl. Just to be difficult.” She grinned.
“Of course.”
“Ready?”
He swallowed thickly, inhaling several breaths in silence.
“Ready.” He said finally, squeezing Jane’s hand as his gaze met hers.
Jane reached out, her fingers waiting at the edge of the parchment. Theo’s hand hovered above it, trembling. She looped her thumb through his, gently guiding him down until their hands touched it together.
Immediately, a soft pulse of magic rippled out from the parchment, warm and golden. The glow brightened, swirling into a small sphere of light that lifted and hovered above the table. Theo’s eyes widened.
The entire house held its breath as the light shimmered and shifted for a long, silent moment. Then, it bloomed into a single, delicate word.
Daughter.
A tiny, airy sound left Jane’s mouth.
Theo didn’t move or speak. He just stared at the word, his eyes wide, his lips parted, his entire body going still in a way Jane had never seen before. Not even in the crypt, not even in the trial, not even in the aftermath.
“Theo,” she whispered.
His breath finally returned with a soft, trembling exhale that sounded like every single nerve was breathing out at once.
“A daughter,” he said, voice barely audible. He looked at Jane with wide, glistening eyes, tears threaded down his eyelashes. “You were right.”
Jane shook her head and laughed, an elated sound as her own tears gathered.
“Of course I was,” she grinned, a slip of saltwater falling down her cheek onto her lip.
Theo’s hand covered his mouth as his shoulders shook with a breathy laugh of pure, overwhelming awe. Everything he’d felt before was now intensified, every beat of his heart hammering the word through him.
“A daughter.” He said again, still making sense of it.
“Happy?” Jane asked through a wide, watery smile.
“Are you kidding?” He laughed, leaning in to her.
His forehead rested down on hers as he squeezed her hand, his other finding the bump of her belly and cradling it with reverence. Jane could do nothing but cry and kiss him, deep tender imprints that said more than words ever could. Their tears slipped past each other’s lips, the salt mingling with the love and warmth that gathered there.
“Happy doesn’t even begin to describe it.” He laughed.
When he finally leaned back to take in the shimmering word again, his eyes were wet and shining bright blue, his expression undone in the most beautiful way.
“She’s real,” he whispered.
Jane cupped his cheek, her thumb brushing through the thick tear tracks. “She is. Real and perfect and ours.”
Theo pressed his forehead to hers again, his breath warm and uneven. “A little girl.”
Jane nodded, smiling through her tears. “Our little girl.”
Theo suddenly wound his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She leaned back into his chest as his hands slid to her belly again, gentle and trembling. He rested them there, closing his eyes as the sure thrum of her magic pulsed into his palms. Jane rested her head back on his shoulder, nuzzling her face in to kiss along his jaw.
“I’ll protect her. Both of you. Always.”
Jane placed her hands over his. “I know you will.”
She kissed the soft space under his ear, tiny warm imprints full of the quiet joy that had bloomed through the living room, through her, through everything they’d endured.
“She’s going to be brilliant.” She sighed.
Theo nodded, quiet tears still falling, his eyes fluttering closed as Jane kissed him tenderly. He sighed and leaned back across the sofa, his long legs haphazardly sprawled, Jane embraced in his arms.
“She already is, Jane. She saved me. Saved us. She’s going to be spectacular.”
One of his hands raked her hair back over her ear as he held her, as he kissed her head and inhaled her shampoo. The other never left her belly, his thumb drawing circles on it.
As the breeze rustled through the windows, carrying the birdsong and morning sun, Jane melted in to him, her breaths falling into slow, slumbered sounds.
They lay there for hours, embraced in the warmth and awe and each other, Theo’s fingers cradling the life he would never let go.
***
The morning light spilled into the cottage in soft, honey ribbons, warming the floors and catching on the dust motes drifting lazily through the air. Jane stood at the counter, her hair loosely braided, reading through a stack of documents while sipping her tea.
Theo watched her from the stairs, peering over the railing. Just quietly, the way he always did.
She didn’t notice at first. She was frowning at a parchment, tapping her finger against the counter, muttering something about Lucien’s handwriting being a crime to humanity.
Theo’s chest tightened.
She was radiant in the morning light. Not because of anything grand or unusual about the day, but because she was herself. Because she was here. Because she loved him. Because she was his home in every possible way.
She looked up the stairs then, catching him staring.
“What?” she asked, smiling softly.
Theo shook his head, descending the stairs and plodding into the kitchen. “Nothing.”
Jane raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking at me like I’ve grown a second head.”
He laughed under his breath. “Just thinking.”
“Dangerous,” she teased.
Theo reached her, sliding his hands around her waist. “I love you.”
Jane’s chest warmed, her smile blooming as she set her mug down. “I love you too.”
He kissed her forehead, lingering there. And in that moment, with her head warming his chest, her hair brushing his cheek, her heartbeat steady against his chest, something inside him settled.
He wanted her forever. He wanted all of her, always. It wasn’t a lightning bolt. It was a quiet, steady truth that had been growing inside him for months.
He pulled back slightly, brushing a thumb over her cheek. “I need you to do something for me, tonight.”
Jane's eyebrows slid up. “Oh? That sounds... intriguing.”
“Here,” he said, smiling, tearing off a corner of a blank parchment and plucking her quill from her hand. “I need you to meet me at this coordinate, after work.”
He scrawled it down, tiny and neat, the numbers looping together in elegant links. Something about the numbers made the back of Jane’s brain fire with recognition.
“Well, how mysterious of you.” She laughed, running a finger over the dried ink.
He kissed her again, tender and warm, full of the certainty blooming in his chest. “Don’t be late.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She smiled into his lips.
***
The rest of the day carried a charged feeling with it.
She couldn’t name it, but it clung to her everywhere she went. Headquarters, her office, the archives, the meeting chamber. Every place held Theo’s request in its walls, as if the universe itself would stop at nothing to make sure she remembered.
The last light of the evening was fading down into a pastel glow across the facade of the Black Ravens building as Jane stepped out into the cool air.
Everything looked normal. The leaves rustled the same way, the torches gave off their same soft flicker. The hovering lights bobbed lazily about the front lawn, swirling around the pillars.
And yet, she couldn’t shake it. She peered out over the lawn for a moment, watching the sun dip down, trying to place what was making her nerves fire.
The parchment piece sat in her fingers, the ripped edge rolled up softly. She studied the coordinates again, teetering back and forth on her heels for a moment.
Then, she snapped her fingers, vanishing from the manicured lawns.
She landed in a flurry, her loafers clacking against hard flooring. It took a moment for her to assess where she was. The mahogany bar, the archways, the haphazardly sprawled rugs. It was the McKittrick, buzzing with Friday evening life. Cloaked mages huddled in booths, week-worn professors leaned against the bar, and university students chatted animatedly at tables.
Theo was already waiting.
He looked like a beacon leaning against an archway. His pale blue shirt was open a few buttons, the fabric relaxed against the smooth skin of his chest. He beamed at her from across the bar as she strode over to him.
“The McKittrick?” She asked as Theo wound her into him and kissed her temple.
“That’s right,” he smiled. “Come, have a drink with me. No martinis, of course, but we can pretend.”
Jane chuckled as he guided her to a table through the archway. Her heart kicked. It was the same one they’d sat at after the recruitment for the trials, when Theo suggested they form an alliance.
As he sat down opposite her, she felt it all again, every single nerve on fire as he gazed at her across the table, his face backlit by the warm glow of the hovering lights.
“This is familiar.”
“You’re nervous.” Theo said softly, reaching for her hand over the table. He brushed a thumb over her knuckles. “Why?”
Jane shook her head. “It’s so stupid. I’m just… remembering that night. You have no idea how hard I was trying to seem unfazed. How hard I was trying not to look at you too long.”
Theo laughed, his lips curving up. “I have some idea. I could feel you even then. Gosh, you were so rigid.”
Jane kicked him playfully under the table. “And you were an arrogant prick.”
“I won’t argue with you on that one,” he huffed. “I was definitely an arrogant prick.”
He motioned the waiter over. “A Manhattan, please. Jane?”
“Rose cider, non-alcoholic please.”
The man nodded and strode off swiftly.
“I’d like to see you make that sound dirty.” Jane smirked.
“I can make anything dirty, sweetheart, you should know that by now.”
He gazed at her, his eyes bright and playful.
“Maybe I need reminding.” She grinned, her eyes darting to the dark corner where the door to the cellar sat. “The things I wanted to do to you in that cellar after the library…” she sighed.
Theo shook his head and huffed out a laugh.
The waiter returned with their drinks then, Theo thanking him and settling his long fingers around his glass. Jane sipped at her rose-pink drink, studying Theo from across the table. He didn’t take his eyes off her for a second, his every nerve was locked on her.
“So, are you going to tell me why we’re here?”
He smiled softly. “Maybe I was feeling sentimental.”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe.”
He swirled his drink and sipped it, watching the flares of light dance across her face.
“This is where I realized how beautiful you were.”
Jane blinked, the sudden warmth and sincerity replacing the playfulness.
“While you were trying not to watch me, I was watching you. Watching the light dance across your face just like it is now.”
His chest bloomed with warmth as he remembered it, as he remembered trying not to feel it all that time ago.
“You were so beautiful. You are so beautiful. I know I was an asshole then, and I didn’t have good intentions. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you after you left, you know. How badly I wanted to touch your face, just hold it in my hands and stare at you. And you’re blushing just like you did back then.” He added with a triumphant smile.
Jane rolled her eyes, covering her flushed expression by taking another sip of her drink.
“Well, you weren't the only one.” She sighed. “I couldn't stop thinking about you either, which was maddening, because you were so cocky. And knowing you had me all figured out? That's even worse.” She laughed.
“I did not have you figured out, Jane. Not at all.”
Jane tilted her head, her lips curving. “No?”
He shook his head. “I thought I did. I thought you were just… clever. Sharp. Annoyingly prim. Beautiful, obviously.” His mouth twitched. “But I didn’t understand you. Not really.”
Jane’s fingers traced the rim of her glass. “And now?”
Theo leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on the table, his gaze locked on hers with a tenderness that made her pulse skip.
“Now, I know you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met,” he said softly. “And the kindest. And the funniest. And the most stubborn.” His smile deepened. “And the most extraordinary.”
Jane’s cheeks warmed again.
He reached across the table, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand as he held it. “I didn’t have you figured out. I just… couldn’t stop watching you. Even when I tried not to.”
“You were terrible at hiding it.”
“I was,” he admitted. “I still am.”
Theo’s eyes fell to their hands, following his thumb as it traced the back of hers, slow and gentle. “I remember sitting here, trying to pretend I didn’t care. Trying to pretend I wasn’t captivated.”
Jane swallowed, her heart fluttering against her ribs. “I remember trying not to stare at you. You were so...”
“Arrogant?” Theo offered, smirking.
“Beautiful,” Jane corrected, rolling her eyes. “Infuriatingly beautiful.”
Theo’s expression shifted, the teasing fading into something deeper, quieter. “I didn’t know what to do with it,” he said. “With how much I wanted to know you. How much I wanted to be near you.”
He held her gaze, the lights catching in his eyes like tiny stars.
“I think I fell in love with you before I even understood what it was,” his voice dropped to a soft murmur. “And sitting here now… it feels exactly the same. Just stronger.”
Jane’s eyes warmed, her chest tightening with something tender and overwhelming. “Theo,” she whispered, “you’re going to make me cry.”
He smiled earnestly, a little breathless. “I don't mind, do you?”
Jane squeezed his hand. “No. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The bar had blurred and softened around them, tuned out by their focus on each other, until the waiter passed by.
“Refills?” He asked brightly.
“Oh, sure-” Jane started.
Theo shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“No?” She repeated, her eyebrows raising.
“We aren't staying. This was merely a pitstop.”
She raised a brow. “Oh? Well now I'm properly intrigued.”
Theo stood slowly, offering her his hand. “Come, my love. There are a few more stops I'd like to make.”
“On the way to where?”
“You'll see.” He smiled, his eyes swimming in hers.
Jane's heart skipped again, that same electric anticipation she’d felt all day now blooming fully into a feeling she couldn't quite place. Theo’s fingers waited, an open invitation. She slipped her hand into his, and it closed around hers, warm and steady.
He snapped his fingers, and they vanished.
***
When they landed, the air was cool, laced with the faint scent of pine and damp earth. It was the middle of a forest, the trees dark in the ink of the night. Crickets chirped somewhere unseen, owls hooted and fluttered above in the branches.
After letting her catch her breath, Theo conjured a few balls of light to follow them. He led them along the leafy, canopied path which wound through the trees, deeper and deeper, until the world fell into a hush.
Finally, they passed through a dense thicket of foliage. Jane recognized it before he said anything. The clearing.
It was the place where they had battled the chimera in the second trial. Where their strength had been tested together. Where she had saved him. Where everything between them had shifted into something too real to ignore.
Jane slowed, her breath catching as the memory washed over her. The grass had grown tall again, the trees around the perimeter stood silent, their branches arching overhead. The faint indentations in the ground where Jane had shifted the earth with her shockwave were still visible, softened by time and weather.
Theo stopped in the center of the clearing, turning to face her.
“This,” he said quietly, “is where you saved my life.”
Jane’s chest tightened.
Theo’s eyes softened, the memory flickering across his face. “I was terrified. I imagine you were, too. But you didn’t hesitate. You didn’t think. You just… saved me. You didn't owe me that, you didn't owe me anything.”
Jane swallowed. “Theo…”
He stepped closer, brushing his thumb along her cheek with reverance. “I think about it more often than I admit. How close I came to losing everything. How close I came to never knowing you the way I do now.”
Jane’s eyes swam with tears.
“We survived,” he said softly. “Because of you. It was here that I realized I couldn’t lose you.”
She leaned into his touch, her heart fluttering. “We survived because of each other.”
Theo leaned into her then, his heart beating hooves in his chest as he laid a deep, tender kiss on her lips.
“Come on. There’s more.”
He took her hand again, guiding her out of the clearing and deeper into the forest.
The path widened and then narrowed, branches brushing their shoulders, the scent of moss and damp leaves growing stronger until they crossed into a small, wild opening. Soft grass, tall ferns, a ring of trees that felt almost protective.
Jane recognized this place too, the small forested glade where they had shared her tent. It was where he'd first touched her, really touched her. Where the first real threads of intimacy and trust had begun to weave between them.
Jane's heart was kicking wildly in remembrance. “How could I ever forget that night in the tent?”
Theo looked around, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “We didn’t sleep much.”
Jane laughed. “No, we didn't.”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a gentle murmur as he pushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
“Seriously, though, Jane. This was the first time I felt… safe with you. Really safe. Not because of magic, god knows we were both utterly drained. No, it was just because you were... there. You were with me, you wanted me. Even when I was a wreck, you didn't run away. You ran towards me. I'd never felt that way before, not with anyone.”
Jane’s heart fluttered so hard it felt like a caged bird trying to escape. She cradled his jaw in her hand, and he took her other, holding it in between his palms, feeling her energy like wild wings between them.
“I didn’t understand it then. I didn’t know what it meant. It was all so... messy. With the trials, with who I was. With the wrong I knew I was doing. But I knew I wanted to be close to you. I knew I wanted to protect you. I knew I wanted… more.”
Jane’s breath trembled. He kissed her forehead, lingering there.
“There’s another place.”
Jane felt her nerves spark again. Theo squeezed her hand gently and kissed her head. “Come.”
With the forest quiet around them, the glade glowing in the fading light, Jane took his hand again, vanishing with him through the ether.
***
This time, they landed with a loud, gravelly crunch.
The smell of saltwater and stone cascaded through the dark mouth of the cave entrance as the waves lapped the stone, the moonlight shimmering silver over the water outside. It streaked into the inlet, throwing cool flares over Theo's face, casting shadows below his cheekbones and making his eyes light up a bright, silvered-blue.
The once-sealed entrances were wide open, giving way to them, to the elements. Theo took her hand and led them inside, conjuring a bright ball of light to follow them.
The air was cool and still, carrying the faint echo of dripping water. Their footsteps sounded different here, muted despite the granite underfoot. The cave walls shimmered faintly with a damp sheen, catching the last scraps of moonlight that filtered through the entrance.
They reached the final chamber, the one where the obsidian blade had once hung like a beacon above the pedestal, pulsing with ominous magic. The pedestal was cracked now, split down the center, the remnants of the blade long since removed. The air felt lighter than it had back then, but the memory still clung to the stone.
Jane exhaled slowly. “It feels different now.”
Theo looked around, his eyes tracing the walls, the floor, the broken pedestal. “It does. But I still remember every second.”
Jane turned to him. “Why bring me here?”
Theo’s gaze softened, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur. “Because this is where you changed everything for me.”
Jane blinked. “What do you mean?”
He stepped closer, his hand rising to cup her cheek. “I came into the trials thinking I knew who I was. What I wanted. What my future looked like. I thought the Black Ravens were everything. I thought my father’s legacy was everything.”
Theo swallowed, his thumb brushing her skin. “And then you stood between me and that blade. You made me look at myself, really look at myself. All while you looked at me like I was worth more, so much more than the Black Ravens, even when I didn't deserve it.”
Her eyes warmed, and she brushed a thumb along his cheek. “You were. You still are, Theo.”
“No one had ever done that for me. Not like that. Not with that kind of… conviction. You didn’t hesitate. You didn’t care about the Black Ravens or the legacy or the politics. You cared about me.” He said, his voice trembling.
He took both her hands, holding them gently.
“This is where I realized I couldn’t keep living for someone else’s expectations. I couldn’t keep chasing a legacy that wasn’t mine. I couldn’t keep pretending the Black Ravens were my future.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, his breath warm and uneven. “This is where I chose you.”
Her breath broke as he kissed her softly.
Theo continued, voice low and steady. “I chose you over the Black Ravens. Over my father. Over everything I thought mattered. Because you were the only thing that really, truly, made me feel alive.”
Jane’s fingers tightened around his. “Theo…”
He kissed her forehead, lingering there. “This is where I fell in love with you. Long before I admitted it. Long before I understood it.”
Jane’s breath trembled. “I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t either,” he whispered, running his hand over the back of her hair. “Not fully. But I knew I couldn’t lose you. And that was enough.”
She leaned into him, her hands sliding up to his shoulders. “Thank you for bringing me here. For telling me all of this.”
He smiled gently, brushing a thumb across her cheek. “There’s one more pitstop.”
Jane blinked, her heart fluttering. “One more?”
Theo nodded, his eyes glowing with warmth. “And then, the place we are really going.”
Her pulse quickened, an electric flicker that ran through her veins. Theo took her hand again, guiding her out of the cave, into the evening breeze as they stepped back into the fading light.
He snapped his fingers.
***
The balcony above the great hall was exactly as it had been that Winter Solstice, draped in soft light, overlooking the grand courtyard and impeccable gardens below. The air was cooler here, touched with the faint scent of wilderness and the remnants of frost, even now in Spring.
The estate's regal facade glowed faintly in the moonlight, every tall window flooded with gold, every tall spire craning up against the ink-black sky.
Every inch of Gregory's influence had been cleansed, every corner of corruption restored to its former extravagant glory. The way Jane remembered it.
She stepped toward the balustrade, her chest warming with the memories. The Winter Solstice ball, the tension in the air, the weight of secrets, the moments they’d shared when she told him she was pregnant.
Theo felt a climbing tide of apprehension.
“I wasn't sure if you'd want to see this place again so soon,” Theo said, his own voice shaky with the remnant trauma of recent events. “So we won't go inside. We'll stay here, in this memory.”
Theo paused, winding his arms around her waist as she breathed in the open air, her gaze scanning the dark grounds below, her heart drumming with nostalgia.
“Do you remember this night?” he asked softly.
“Of course I do.” Jane said, her voice almost a whisper.
“This is where you changed my life. Entirely.”
“For the better?” Jane grinned up at him.
Theo nodded, a soft sound of assurance escaping him. “It was the most terrifying and beautiful moment of my life.” He embraced her closer, his voice low. “I remember it all, I think I will forever. The way you shook... the way your hands trembled, just like they are now.” He cupped her hands in his and kissed them gently.
Jane swallowed, the feeling reigniting in her. “I was so scared.”
“I know, and I was too. But when you told me, something inside me just...” He exhaled, searching for the word. “Aligned.”
“Aligned?”
“Yes. Like everything suddenly made sense. Every choice, every mistake, every moment had led me right here. To you, to us. To her.”
His hand brushed down her waist, coming to rest on her belly. Jane’s heart skipped several beats as he kissed her under the starlight, his lips warm and tender.
“This is where I saw our future, clearer than anything I'd ever seen before in my life. Because of you.” His eyes were a brilliant, bright shade of blue in the moonlight as he gazed down at her. “This is where you helped me discover my telepathy. I thought something was wrong with me. I thought I was losing control.”
Jane smiled softly, a chuckle leaving her as she remembered his disbelief. “You were so overwhelmed.”
“I was,” he admitted. “I was scared, more scared than I'd ever admit, but-” His eyes glistened, “-you made me feel safe. You helped me understand all of it. You made me feel like I was worth something.”
She reached for his hand, which had returned to her belly, and cupped her palm over it, threading their fingers together.
“You were always worth something, Theo. You're worth everything to me.”
She leaned up on her toes and kissed him as a single silent tear streaked down his cheek.
“You were the reason I joined the Black Ravens. You were the reason I did it for me. For us. I said yes because I finally understood what the Black Ravens could be. What they should be. You were the one who showed me that.”
She brushed his tear away with the pad of her thumb and he leaned into her touch, his eyes fluttering shut.
“This is where you helped me choose myself, Jane. For the right reasons. Not for expectation or legacy or anyone's goddamn opinions. Just... for me. You allowed me that.” Theo continued, voice soft and steady. “This is where you made me feel powerful. And you've done that every single day since.”
He kissed her harder then, with a reverence so deep it lingered like embers on her lips long after he broke away.
“I wanted you to see this place again, restored. I thought, if we saw it whole again, we would feel the same. Put back together, like nothing bad ever touched it, or us. And I swear on my life, Jane, nothing bad will ever touch you again.”
Jane leaned into him, her forehead pressing against his. “Thank you, Theo.”
He kissed her again, a soft, lingering claim that carried the weight of every memory they’d shared here. Then he pulled back, his eyes shimmering with quiet emotion.
“There’s one last place,” he murmured.
Jane tilted her head, studying him. There was something in his expression, a quiet urgency, a kind of hopeful tension that made her heart flutter.
He took her hand, threading their fingers together as the estate spilled light across the grounds in soft silvers and greys, stretching long shadows beneath the starlight.
With a snap of his fingers, they vanished once more into the night.
***
The scent of wildflowers hit her this time as they landed. It was sweet and earthy, an airy fragrance that spun softly against her ankles. The stars seemed brighter here, millions of gleaming pinpricks of pure glassy light against the wide open black sky. She recognized it straight away as the wild pastures of his parents' estate.
Theo didn't say anything, just held her hand tighter than he had been, as if letting go were something he couldn't begin to fathom.
The enclave of willows appeared first as they walked.
Tall, sweeping and ancient, lit by a bright glow that didn't belong to the moon. Their branches draped low, swaying like curtains of silver‑green silk. The air was touched with the faint scent of water and moss.
Theo's voice felt choked behind his heart, which had leapt up into his throat as they approached in silence. He guided her toward the willows, toward something she could feel in her bones before she even knew what it was.
Through the gap in the trees, the world opened into something beyond anything she could have imagined.
Jane stopped dead, her lips falling open softly in awe.
The hidden lake was transformed, lit up in the night like a dream. Lanterns lined the perimeter and floated on the water, drifting slowly across the surface like tiny golden stars. Hovering lights, humming with that soft, warm gold, glowed between the trees, drifting in the air like fireflies dancing. Deep red rose petals drifted gently overhead, suspended by a delicate enchantment, falling in slow eternal spirals that never touched the ground. The canopy of willows arched above them, illuminated faintly with the lantern light, their leaves shimmering like silvered green ribbons.
Jane’s breath left her in a soft, stunned exhale. “Oh my god... it's beautiful.” She murmured.
Theo watched her, his expression tender, almost fragile, like he might break at any moment.
“This is where I told you I loved you for the first time,” he said quietly.
He tightened his grip on her hand, guiding her toward the water’s edge. The long grass brushed her calves, cool and soft. The lanterns drifted closer, casting warm light and cascading shadows across their faces.
Jane's gaze was locked to Theo, the way his hair fell perfectly, the way his angelic face was sculpted by the light, the way his chest was rising and falling too fast, like something was trying to escape.
“This is where you uncaged me, Jane.” He said, turning into her and cradling her face in his hand. “This lake… that moment… I'll never forget it. You're the only person who has ever seen me, who has ever made me... more. The only person I have ever or will ever love.”
“All of the places we've been have changed me. As a man, as a mage, as someone who spent so long looking for the right path. Well, I found it. I found it that day at the recruitment. That night at the McKittrick, that clearing in the forest, that cave in the darkness. I found it on that balcony. I found it every single time I laid eyes on you, Jane.”
Theo dropped his hand from her face and slipped it into his coat pocket.
Her heart hammered against her chest.
“I found it here,” he gazed into her eyes, wells of deep Atlantic blue swimming against hers.
He lowered himself to one knee, and Jane's heart stopped entirely.
The lanterns flickered on the water, casting golden ripples across his face. The rose petals spiralled delicately around their bodies. The willows whispered overhead, watching every moment.
Theo looked up at her, his eyes shining with warmth and certainty and love so deep it made her chest ache.
“So this place... This is where I ask you, Jane,” he whispered, voice trembling with emotion.
There was a beat of silence, a meteor suspended, waiting to fall. Then, he spoke.
“Will you marry me?”
For a moment, the world around her dissolved. The lanterns, the lake, the petals, the canopy. All of it blurred into a shimmering rose coloured haze as her heart surged up into her throat.
A soft, trembling sound escaped her, half laugh, half sob. Her hand flew to her mouth, her fingers shaking as tears gathered in her eyes, blurring the diamond ring beneath her gaze into a soft white halo inside its midnight blue box.
She felt everything at once.
Every moment, every breath, every word, every embrace, every step that had led them here. Her heart swelled so fiercely she thought it might burst.
“Yes,” she said, the word falling out of her like a prayer. “Theo... yes, of course I will.” Her voice cracked on the last syllable, tears spilling unstoppably down her cheeks.
She didn’t care. She didn’t try to hide them. She didn’t try to steady herself. She just kneeled down into the grass with him, knees weak, breath shaking, and threw her arms around him.
Theo caught her instantly, his arms wrapping around her waist, holding her with a fragile strength as if she were something precious. She felt his breath break against her shoulder, felt the tremor in his chest.
He buried his face in her neck for a heartbeat before pulling back to kiss her, a fierce, burning claim full of every moment they had ever shared, full of every word he couldn't give voice to as her love overwhelmed him.
Jane cupped his face, her thumbs brushing his cheeks, her tears mixing with his as she kissed him, her hands tangled in his hair, his fingers trembling against her waist.
“I love you, Jane.”
“I love you too, Theo,” she whispered, voice thick with emotion, “I love you so much.”
He grinned, that quiet, beautiful grin she adored. “You said yes,” he murmured through streams of tears.
Jane laughed through her own, her heart overflowing. “Did you think I would say no?”
Theo shook his head and breathed out a shaky laugh. “You do always keep me guessing.”
Jane nuzzled into him, raking her fingers through his hair as he held her.
“This was so beautiful. You're so beautiful,” she breathed. “I'm so, so happy, Theo. So fucking happy.”
He kissed her again, for what felt like forever, the world blurring and stopping around them as they embraced each other in their perfect, breathless haze. When he finally pulled back, Theo rested his forehead against hers, still smiling in that quiet, stunned way that meant he was still deciding whether the moment was real.
They stayed there longer than either of them cared to acknowledge, sitting entwined in the long grass and wildflowers as the night wrapped lantern light around them in a quiet, golden halo. When they eventually rose, surrounded by starlight and drifting petals, Theo slid the ring on her finger with a shaking hand.
Then, he threaded his fingers through hers, kissing her knuckles, and snapped his fingers, carrying her through the ether with him, into the beginning of forever.
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