Chapter 2

The next day, Jem had a pounding headache from the previous nights' amusements. He did not, however, forget about the bet exchanged between himself and Will. After some much needed coffee—black and drunk in hearty gulps—Jem began to feel much better indeed. Will smiled at him from across the dining table as he saw his parabati narrow his eyes in relief from his headache.

Tessa's appearance in the dining room made both boys sit up a little straighter. Will glanced at Jem before commenting, "That is a lovely new dress on you Tessa."

Tessa glanced warily at Will—it wasn't like him to begin the day with a compliment for her. "Thank you, Will…" she said hesitantly.

As she took her seat, Will winked at Jem who glared back. After Tessa settled in her seat, Jem smiled brightly at her. "What are your plans today, Tessa?"

She smiled back at Jem, more familiar with his kind attention. "I was thinking of trying to bake a cake for Charlotte's birthday. Would you care to help?" she asked hopefully.

Jem's smile enlarged. "Of course! Let's begin after breakfast. I don't know much about baking so we may have to spend all day trying to get this right." He smirked at Will who was scowling.

Tessa had asked Sophie and Bridget leave to use the kitchen to attempt the cake baking on their own. She had a little experience cooking small things when she had lived with her aunt in New York. Making a cake didn't seem too bad after she had read through a recipe.

While Tessa began gathering the ingredients on the large wooden countertop in the middle of the kitchen, Jem rolled up his sleeves and sought out aprons for them both to wear. "Aha!" he called when he had located them.

He handed one to Tessa, who slipped the white sheet over her head. She was just starting to attempt tying the back knot when Jem's quick fingers took the work from her. "Let me help you with that," he said smoothly. Tessa blushed a little as she felt Jem's presence behind her. When he finished, he touched her slightly on the hip. "All finished."

"Let me help with yours!" Tessa said suddenly, not wanting Jem to see the blush in her cheeks. Jem's eyebrows went up in surprise, and he turned around with a small smile. Tessa had to take a deep breath as she reached for the strings of Jem's apron. Really! she thought, I am being ridiculous. This is Jem I'm working with and I'm sure he has nothing but pure intentions. The site of his bare forearms is seriously tempting my intentions though…

"Alright," she said when she was done tying the knot and felt like the color in her cheeks had subsided substantially. "Let's get to work trying to make this cake."

As Jem worked on mixing all of the batter ingredients in a bowl, Tessa attempted to make the chocolate icing for the cake. Their morning passed by pleasantly, with quiet chatter and focus on getting the recipe just right. Tessa took a break from her stirring as the chocolate appeared to have the desired consistency. She turned to see Jem's progress and giggled. His brow was furrowed in an endearing way as he concentrated on mixing his ingredients. But what really got to Tessa were the smudges of white powder on his face and hair. The flour stood out even against his pale skin and light hair. He looked up at her in surprise at the sound of her laugh.

"What?" he asked timidly. "Does the batter look all wrong?"

Tessa took a step toward him, grabbing a dish towel. She took the bowl in her hands and guided it to the counter. She glanced at the bowl's contents, then back at Jem's speckled face. "No, the batter looks alright. But it appears you may have been a little less careful with the flour and your face." She giggled again.

Jem's face relaxed from its worried features and he smiled at Tessa in a dizzying way. "Let me help you," she laughed again. Tessa raised the dishcloth and began to whisk some of the powder away from his hair, but it simply fell onto his face which made Tessa laugh again. Jem's eyes widened.

"It's not fair that I look a fool, while you are spotless!" he cried and dove for the spoon in her bowl of icing. Jem placed a small dab of chocolate on Tessa's cheek and they both laughed again. He made to put another dab on her face, but Tessa gave a small shriek and began to run around the wooden countertop. Jem's face lit up. He gave chase to her and quickly caught her skirts. Pushing her against the counter as he caught her, he gave a quick lick to the chocolate on her cheek. Tessa's giggle caught in her throat in surprise. Jem's face was very close to hers, his arm still around her waist in the pose he had caught her.

Slowly Jem put down the icing-covered spoon and lifted his fingers to Tessa's cheek. He pulled the rest of the icing from her face and looked at her with his pale almond-shaped eyes. Before she knew what she was doing, Tessa's mouth closed around Jem's chocolate covered finger. She heard a sharp intake of breath as Jem watched her in fascination.

Tessa moved her tongue over his finger to get all of the chocolate off, while staring into Jem's eyes. As she removed her mouth from his finger, her cheeks began to bloom color. Before she could fully consider her actions though, Jem's mouth was pressed against hers, his body pushing more fully into hers. Startled, her hands flew backwards to rest on the wooden counter. But as the kiss lengthened, she tentatively put her hands on Jem's arms. This seemed to please him as his grip on her waist and hips tightened. With strength that surpassed his fragile frame, Jem smoothly lifted Tessa off the floor and placed her on the countertop. Her hands now came up to touch his hair, running her hands through the soft strands. Jem moaned under her kiss and touch.

Jem's hands began to travel up the front of Tessa's dress. As one hand closed over her right breast, she slid back slightly in surprise, tipping the bowl of batter off the countertop to shatter on the floor. Their kiss broke apart suddenly as both were surprised by the noise.

Tessa blushed fiercely. "Jem…I…." she began.

"No need to apologize Tessa," Jem said swiftly as he hurried over to the mess. "I don't think that was a good batch of batter anyway." He smiled up at her from the floor.

Tessa let out a small laugh and a long breath of air. Clutching the front of her dress, Tessa leapt down from the countertop to retrieve a new bowl. She looked at Jem again and they both let out a small chuckle.