Spell Break: Part 7

It's Monday again and that means episode!

Have you been waiting patiently for two whole days? I knew you were!  That was part of the motivation for posting part 6 on Friday...I didn't want to leave you hanging too long!

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7

            Kelly watched the shock and surprise cross Jason’s features and his arms loosened of their own accord.  Kelly took the opportunity to jump out of bed.  He stormed into the kitchen.  That look right there was the reason that Kelly didn’t want Jason to know the truth.  He started banging around, pulling out pans to make breakfast, the anger washing over him in waves.  That look had been made all the worse by the fact that Jason’s face had been two inches from his at the time.  He had fervently hoped never to see that kind of disgust on Jason’s face directed at him. 
            He wasn’t aware that Jason had followed him into the kitchen until Nola, who had come streaking in the moment she felt Kelly’s anger, hissed.  Kelly’s head snapped up and he looked at the rumpled man standing in the doorway.  He was a little bit surprised that Jason wasn’t already dressed and ready to leave.  That kind of admission was enough to drive anyone away. 
            “What did he do?” Jason asked quietly. 
          “What?” Kelly snapped.

          “Your…” Jason swallowed audibly before he continued, “lover.  What did he do that you had to kill him?”

            Kelly wrenched his attention from the delectable looking man and focused on the eggs he was beating the hell out of.  No one should look that tempting straight out of bed.  Or be so kind. Kelly couldn’t take the kindness in Jason’s eyes.

            “The reason doesn’t matter.”

            “Of course it does,” Jason said softly.  He had crossed the kitchen while Kelly’s attention had been diverted and he laid a gentle hand on Kelly’s arm to stop his frantic mixing.  Kelly pulled away sharply and backed up several steps.  He did not want Jason’s sympathy on this.  Jason shouldn’t have ever heard the truth.

            Jason held up his hands in a placating manner and gave Kelly a soft smile.  “You said it was in cold blood.  But I don’t believe you.  You would never do that.”

            “It was!” Kelly said vehemently.  He was dangerous and Jason needed to understand that.  Jason needed to keep himself safe, especially from the likes of him.  He’d call Liam and have the man take Jason to stay at his place until they could find a coven for him to join.  Jason, sweet, beautiful Jason, didn’t need to be in his presence.

            “It wasn’t,” Jason said firmly.  He pointed at a chair.  “Sit down.  I’ll make the eggs and you’ll tell me the story.”

              “No.”

            “Yes,” Jason said, his voice still firm.  “You’re panicking.  I’ve never seen you act like this.  Sit down.  Tell me what happened.”

            Kelly found himself obeying without thought.  He sat hard in the chair.  Maybe he should tell Jason the story.  Then he would see that Kelly wasn’t the type to be in a relationship with.  Once Jason became aware of that, then he would move on and Kelly could too.  He’d known, after what he had done, that he would never have someone good to share his life with.  Yes, he’d been going about this all wrong before.  This was the best course of action.  Decided, Kelly took a deep breath and stared at the table as he spoke.

            “I was an assassin.  Working for the Tribunal.  They sent me out whenever there was a rogue practitioner that was a danger to eliminate the threat.  And I was very good at my job.”

            “Tribunal?” Jason murmured inquisitively.

            “I told you about them, remember?  Months ago.  They work with the federal government to police the practitioners.”

            “Right,” Jason agreed, his voice still soft. “And you worked for them?”

            “I did. It wasn’t all that often, maybe only a couple of times a year.  But like I said, I was good at it.  I loved it.  That power rush I got when I’d completed a mission?  Nothing can compare to that.  I was addicted to it.  So I didn’t even think twice when they gave me the assignment to kill the man I’d been sleeping with for a year.”

            Kelly went silent for a moment, remembering the day he’d gotten the case file.  The rush of anger when he’d seen Gray’s name.  The absolute horror when he realized what his lover had done; all the innocent people he had conned, killed, and hurt trying to gain power.  Kelly hadn’t known.  He hadn’t even suspected.  Gray had begged and pleaded with him, swearing it wasn’t true, that it was a false charge.  But Kelly had seen the evidence that the Tribunal had been collecting for years.  There was no mistaking that Gray had done those things.

            “So what did he do?” Jason asked softly, redirecting Kelly’s thoughts.

            “Anything and everything he could to gain power.  The atrocities…”Kelly trailed off and shook his head.  “And I had no idea.”

            “So you killed him.”

            “I did.”

            Jason was silent for a long moment and Kelly couldn’t look at him, knowing this was the moment that Jason would pick up and leave.  He heard the sound of the burner on the stove being shut of, the scrape of plates being taken down from the shelf where they lived, the scoop of the spatula in the pan.  Then Jason set a plate before him, scrambled eggs and toast, and took the seat opposite of him.  He still couldn’t look Jason in the face, instead focusing on his bare shoulder. 

            “That’s your big secret?” Jason asked, his voice sounding slightly amused.

            Kelly’s head jerked up to focus on Jason.  Anger washed through him.  How dare he trivialize this?!  He felt the rage make red creep up his face.

            “He was my lover!”

            Jason nodded serenely.  “You didn’t know what he was doing behind your back.  He needed to be eliminated.  And it was your job.  Everybody knows that practitioners like that are taken care of in a permanent way.  Someone has to do the dirty work.”

            “Are you fucking serious right now?!”

            “Besides,” Jason continued as if Kelly wasn’t yelling.  “You aren’t that man anymore.”

            The shouting obviously wasn’t working to get Jason to see the point of all this.  Kelly quickly switched tactics.  He had to get Jason to understand just how bad he was.

            “Jason, I don’t think you understand.  I killed people and I liked it.  I killed my own lover.”

            “I understand just fine, thank you,” he said nicely.  He scooped up a pile of eggs and put in on the edge of his toast, then bit it off and chewed before he continued.  “It wasn’t like you were running around hacking people to bits like a serial killer.  It was your job.  One you don’t do anymore.  You’re a coven leader and an accountant, for Christ sake.  This isn’t going to scare me off.”

            Kelly was reasonably sure that Jason was insane.  How could he just sit there like this was no big deal?  Kelly shook his head.  If Jason wouldn’t protect himself, Kelly would just have to do it for him.

            “Liam fixed your door, so your landlord will never know.  But you probably don't want to go back there.  Not where they can find you and you don't have the suport of a coven,” Kelly began, changing topics completely.  "That guy wasn't after you to hurt you, it seems.  He just wanted to see what you were capable of.  Recruit you.  And that sort of thing is going to to keep happening if you live on your own.  You need the protection of a coven, Jason. So we’ll find you one to join.  I’ll call Liam and you can stay with him until we find a place for you.”

            “No.”

            Kelly, stared at him in disbelief.  “Okay, then.  You can stay with Mary if you prefer—“

            “You misunderstand, Kelly,” Jason said with a big grin.  “I’m not going anywhere.  And if I have to join a coven, it will be yours.”

            “Jason,” Kelly warned through gritted teeth.

            But Jason just shook his head. “Look, I get that you’re scared of what your past can bring down on me.  And I completely understand why this is a big deal to you.  I’m not trying to pretend it wasn’t a big part of your life or that you aren’t still healing from it.  Please don’t think that I am.  All I’m saying is that it isn’t enough to keep us apart.  You and I?  We have a connection.  We have the potential to be something amazing together.  And I’m not going to let you throw it away because you’re scared of what might happen.  Its time you stop living in the past and start living for your future.  With me.”

            With that, Jason finished his last bite of eggs, took his plate to the sink, and came back to the table to stand close to Kelly.  He cupped Kelly’s face in his palms and looked down into his eyes.

            “Its going to be fine, Kelly.  You’ll see.  I’m going to take a shower and raid your drawers for some sweats, then you can tell me what the attack yesterday was all about because you’ve obviously found out what it was about.  And then we’re going to start practicing again because yesterday was not pleasant and I was not as prepared as I thought I was.”

            Jason dropped a chaste kiss on his lips and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bathroom.

            What. The.  Hell?

            Kelly’s head was reeling.  He’d never seen Jason act so confident, so forceful.  Hell, he’d walked away yesterday just because…suddenly, everything clicked in his mind.  Of course.  Jason has left because Kelly was keeping secrets, not because he didn’t want Kelly.  Now that it was out there, Jason thought there was nothing left standing in their way.  Kelly gave a little growl that had Nola giving him a disapproving look.  Jason better reevaluate his thoughts.  Because, despite the fact that Kelly wanted him in a way that he hadn’t felt in a long time, that didn’t mean that they were going to jump into a relationship.  Kelly knew better.  It wasn’t happening.  He was not a whole person anymore and he wasn’t going to inflict himself on someone else.  Not to mention the fact that he had a lot of enemies out there.  His coven was strong and could protect themselves and maybe adding Jason to the mix was a good idea because they would help to protect him, too.  But he sure as hell wasn’t going to get involved with the man. 

            Kelly was still sitting at the table, reeling from the change in events, when Jason emerged from the hallway.  His hair was a damp mop of curls that he hadn’t bothered to comb and he looked far better in Kelly’s clothes then Kelly ever had.  Everything was too baggy and long but it just looked good on Jason.  Kelly had to swallow hard.  He took a deep breath.

            “Jason, I think we need to get some things straightened out before—“

            “I’m not wearing any underwear,” Jason interrupted with a salacious smile.

            Kelly nearly swallowed his tongue.  That was information he didn’t need to know because it was a hell of distraction.  He mentally shored himself up and tried again, “We really need to discuss—“

            “Did you know,” Jason said conversationally like Kelly hadn’t been attempting to talk about something important.  “That if you get me worked up enough and then fuck me just right, I can come without a hand on my cock?”

            Kelly sat back in defeat.  There was absolutely nothing he could say to that.  His mind was off and running, conjuring all sorts of mental images that would end in exactly that outcome.  Damn that man for getting him turned on when he was trying for a real discussion!

            Jason’s smile abruptly dimmed and he leveled Kelly with a serious look.  “Ever since what happened with my parents, I’ve been reluctant to put my trust fully in anyone else.  You were the first person I did that with.  And I thought it had been a bad choice on my part.  Yesterday, I thought that I made a mistake in trusting you so much.  But I was wrong.  Because you trust me back the same way.  That was the only way you could have told me what you did.  Even if you thought I was pushing you into it.  Kelly, I know you and if you hadn’t wanted to tell me you would have gone on not telling me.”

            Kelly frowned.  He hadn’t wanted to tell Jason anything.  Well, he thought he hadn’t.  But the man did have a point.  He opened his mouth to admit that maybe it was possible his subconscious wanted to tell the truth, but Jason talked right over his attempt.

            “I was thinking about it in the shower.  We can take this as slowly as you want.  I can go stay with someone else and we can date like regular people, if that’s what you really want.  But please, please, don’t shut me out and pretend that you don’t want to try this with me.  You aren’t a liar and I know the truth.”

            Apparently what Kelly needed to act was the wear down method.  Because he suddenly couldn’t deny anything; he wanted Jason, he wanted to try, and he had wanted him to know the truth.  He was aware that he put up mental blocks when he got focused on things and he’d been so very sure that his previous course had been the right one.  It wasn’t that Jason didn’t care about his past; it was simply that the man thought it was behind them.  And he was willing to do whatever it took to move them forward.  His teasing and then his downright serious demeanor had been enough to crack through Kelly’s defenses.  There was only one worry left.

            “Don’t let me hurt you.”  It was a plea, ripped from Kelly’s throat.  It was demand, too.  He couldn’t bear it if he hurt this man.

            “You won’t,” Jason replied, his tone full of conviction.

            Kelly was moving toward him before he even realized he was on his feet.  He grabbed Jason’s arms and tugged the man in until he was tight against him, holding on for all he was worth.  Jason hugged him back with equal fervor.  They still had a lot to discuss and a great deal to learn about each other but in that moment, it wasn’t a priority.  Kelly didn’t know how long they stood pressed together in the kitchen but time didn’t really matter.  Nothing else mattered but the man in his arms. 


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