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She sets my soul on fire Flames of love and sweet perfume
"Jesus! What, did you two get lost?" Josh exclaimed when the pair finally made it back to the music room, hands weighted down with drinks.
Alex shot Jake a look from the corner of her eye just to find him biting back a grin, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth. "Sammy's drink took forever to mix. Very prissy." The lie, parading as a jest, fell effortlessly from her tongue as she passed the said, atrocious burgundy, drink to the youngest brother.
"You're the best," Sam thanked before sipping from the straw greedily. He'd finish in no time, and they'd have another excuse to slip away shortly.
Everyone else let the matter of their extended absence drop without a second thought, but not Josh. "Why are you all red?" He raised a hand to poke at Alex's flush face, but she battered his wandering fingers away before they could prod at the rosy flesh of her cheek.
"Hands to yourself," she griped. Every nerve in her body was still tingling, and any further caressing was sure to send her back into overdrive.
Josh's hand dropped, but his eyes narrowed, invading her space in an entirely different manner. He appraised Alex, up and then down, before his eyes jumped to Jake, who didn't have sense enough to look away.
"Holy shit," the eldest brother, by five minutes, mused in delight, the swear slipping from his lips like a secret.
Fucking twin telepathy. She'd never hated their unspoken bond more than in that moment.
Josh's mouth fell open again, and Alex moved before her brain could process the action, winding her fist into the back of Josh's curly brown locks and dragging him out of the room. Several sets of confused eyes followed after them, but none made a move to intervene.
The door snapped shut behind the pair, and they were alone in the hallway where his revelations could go unheard. With the troublesome twin safely confined, she finally relinquished her steely hold on his hair. "Shut the fuck up," Alex commanded, spinning towards him and pointing an authoritative finger in his face.
This did nothing to deter his delirium, as Josh bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. "So, Jake finally found the balls. Good for him," he jeered while bobbing his head enthusiastically.
"I will punch you in the face," Alex warned, but her menace read too easily as embarrassment. She did not want to be having this conversation with her father some ten feet away.
Upon being threatened, Josh's enthusiasm drooped like a flower withheld from the sun, and he gently placed his hands atop her shoulders. "But that's my second-best feature," he whispered in mock seriousness. "And we all know how much you like my face," he reckoned, timber coated in insinuation.
Alex's head turned to bite at the right hand pressing upon her person. A childish move, she knew, but it worked because he retracted his intruding palms quickly. "Your first best feature better be keeping your trap shut," she cautioned without any real intention of following through. What was she really going to do if he blabbed anyway?
Put Nair in his shampoo, maybe.
Because he was Josh, and Josh could never keep well enough alone, he added, "I hope he was a gentleman."
She lunged at him, but the pixie-like man danced away before she could catch him, disappearing through the doorway to be replaced by Jake sliding past.
"You good?" He asked, eyeing her in concern. They hadn't talked about what had happened, what it meant, just cleaned up and collected the drinks without another word.
Now, it seemed time to pay the piper, as it were.
Alex huffed, wrapping arms around herself in defense, shielding and ill-prepared for the oncoming confrontation. "Your brother is a demon," she joked, an effort to lighten the air that had grown tense between them.
"There's always one," Jake confirmed, hands buried deep within his pockets. Hands, which had been exploring elsewhere a short while ago.
Nope. Alex wasn't going to allow herself to get lost in the memory.
"Well, it's about time I head back in," she announced, making a move towards the door, towards an escape. However, Jake's hand gripping her elbow halted all forward progress.
The hairs on her skin rose at the touch, bringing forth flashes of images, reigniting a dull aching that had laid simmering beneath the surface. "We should talk," Jake suggested, too close now to allow any coherent thoughts to form.
"Then talk," Alex challenged, tilting her head up to meet his eyes, those brown eyes that resembled melted milk chocolate, too decadent and tempting to turn away from.
Despite his earlier proclamation of wanting to talk, Jake surged forward and connected their lips, ensuring nothing of the sort would be taking place. Alex's back bumped against the adjacent wall from the force in which he descended upon her.
One hand was holding her head, tilting to allow their mouths to meet in a frenzied wave of affection, while the other pulled at her hip, pressing them impossibly closer. They were gasping for each other's air while trapped under a sea of ecstasy.
"I thought you wanted to talk," Alex mumbled as Jake's lips lowered to kiss beneath her ear, her jaw, down to her neck, where she gasped at the sensation. She clutched to him like a lifeline, palms wrapped in the thin material of his shirt covering the firm planes of his chest.
"This seems better," he growled, the breath hitting her ear and spurning a shiver. The hand on her waist had wandered down to lift the hem of her dress for a second time that night, brushing the smooth skin of her thigh before hiking it up and over his hip.
He was right, of course, this was much better than talking.
Jake's belt buckle might have been digging into her lower stomach, but the friction it created was intoxicating. Alex was seconds away from allowing herself to slip beneath the tide of transports washing over them.
Then, a cough echoed from behind, and they both froze.
Oh, right, they were out in the open where anyone could catch them.
