Her lips were stained with chocolate- she didn't even notice. So was her attack on the chocolate cone. She was licking it like it had done something to her and she was punishing it with her tongue. I wish she'd punish me like that Jace wished silently then kicked himself internally. He wasn't supposed to think or feel this way about his sister. His baby sister, she was supposed to be an annoying snot to him. He wasn't supposed to be envisioning fantasies in which she used her tongue to tease him. Taste him like her cone.
"Jace" Clary said suddenly, "why are you looking at me like that" she asked him.
If he was the type of guy to get easily flustered he would have. But cool aloofness was something he practiced and it slid over his features covering up his embarrassment. "You have chocolate on your nose" he said instead, "you know at sixteen most people can eat food without getting it all over their faces," he said snarkily. Clary just rolled her eyes and tried to lick off the chocolate. She couldn't reach and a sudden urge to kiss it off her nose gripped Jace. He struggled against it, finally shoving his hand into his pocket and removing the extra napkins the guy behind the counter had given them. He reached out, suppressing the trembling he felt in his hand, and wiped the chocolate off her nose. Clary stared up at him the entire time, her eyes shining in wonder. "Did you want a lick" she asked holding up her cone for him to see. Her face was so honestly curious, oblivious to his thoughts he had to laugh. It was a dry choking sound not at all full of humor but bitterness. A lick? More than you know he thought. "No thanks I'm sure the rest of your face will enjoy it more." Clary rolled her eyes again, letting her pink tongue once again lick the side of the ice cold cone. A shudder rippled through Jace even though it wasn't cold.
"Are you mad at the ice cream Clary" Jace finally had to ask. He'd seen Clary eat before. He'd seen her down a plateful of sandwiches. That was nothing to the way she was eating this cone. Clary blushed scarlet and Jace wondered what exactly he'd said to make her blush. The question was simple even if his tone was sarcastic and Clary had proven long ago that his sarcasm did nothing except annoy her. "No" she mumbled softly. Her cheeks continued to warm almost matching the flame shade of her hair. "I was trying to eat it like Isabelle" Clary blurted out all at once. Jace's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You were copying Isabelle" he repeated. Clary nodded shamefaced. "We went out yesterday and I watched her flirt with this guy-"So you attacked your cone" Jace asked his curiosity piqued. "No" Clary blustered with embarrassment. "She did it better than I did. It was more…" Clary bit her lip staving off the end of her sentence. "More what" Jace had to ask. "Erotic," Clary said her voice was low. Jace blinked surprised by her admission. "You want to be erotic" he asked and his voice sounded strangely tight. Clary looked frustrated, "I was just trying- there's no need to- obviously it didn't work- I was just- never mind" Clary finally said then made to throw out the cone. Jace stopped her sensing an opportunity. Clary wanted to be erotic, sexy. Why, he wondered did she think she wasn't he didn't know but still this could be very sweet for the both of them.
"First off" he instructed, "You're holding it wrong" he said. "How am I-"You can't hold it like it's a toy and you're five years old." Clary frowned. "Be creative" Jace directed her, "have a little more command" he said. Clary thought about that for a second then arranged her fingers differently. She already looked younger than her age, with her plaits and petite frame she was constantly told she was too young to go on 'this ride' but she did not want at that moment to look or feel like a child in front of Jace.
He's my brother, she reminded herself. You're his sister her mind screamed. It did no good. Jace smiled at her- a grin wicked and winning and her heart fluttered in her chest. Her stomach clenched, familiar desire budded inside her. But she shoved it down. She was no stranger to denying her feelings and she wouldn't be bested by an ice cream cone. "And stop going at it, like it did something to you" Jace said, "Lick it gently, slowly, in strokes" his voice lilted slightly on that last word. Clary blinked at him seeing for a second the unmasked desire flashing through his golden honey eyes then disappearing between the close of his lashes. When he looked at her again it was expectantly, like a brother teaching a sister how to play ball not a brother teaching a sister how to lick a cone. My cone Jace thought and this time didn't stop himself the pleasure the thought created. He grinned at her waiting, "Well?" Clary rolled her eyes and ignored the nervous flutter in her stomach as her tongue touched the base of the cone. She followed Jace's instructions, holding the cone in front of her and letting her tongue move in strokes to the peak. Her eyes connected with him as she caught stray beads of melting chocolate with the tip of her tongue. She smiled inwardly as she saw something dark flash across his eyes. Her mouth unexpectedly met the peak of the cone in a warm icy embrace, salving it with her tongue as she watched Jace. Then she pulled her lips away from the devoured cone and licked her lips languidly. "Better" she asked him staring up from under her lashes as she'd also seen Isabelle do. This she was better at and Jace noticed. He gulped feeling the swell of something recognizable in his pants. "Much better" he said and his tone was pleased and husky. Clary smiled as Jace walked ahead of her. Maybe one day her mind said indulgently, she'd be able to taste the real thing.