"Alec."
The prostrate figure murmured something in his sleep, shifting slightly in the bed before settling back down peacefully.
"Al-ec."
A grin quirked the one corner of his mouth, and his tongue shot out to run along his lower lip.
"Mmm baby, feels so good…yeah, just like that…"
"Alec!"
"Wha-?" He lurched up abruptly; his pillow was flung off the bed and into the nearest wall, where it connected with a soft thwack! and flopped to the floor. "Mother of all things holy and good!" he exclaimed, seeing the figure perched not more than two feet before him in the dark room.
"I didn't realize your faith was so strong," came the dry response.
"Neither did I! Whatha fuck're you doin' here, Max?"
Max grinned, a mischievous spark lighting her eyes. "I didn't interrupt any interesting…dreams, did I?"
A look of mild terror passed over Alec's face, but it was gone so fast that she was left wondering if she'd merely imagined it. Instead of replying though, he stretched an arm out on the bed behind him, leaning his weight back on it. Rubbing his eye with his fist in a manner that was entirely too endearing for her comfort, he said, "Really Max, wha'sup?…not that I mind you showin' up in my bed in the middle a' the night…"
"What?" she said, glancing from his bare chest, back up to his face.
Alec froze.
"Uh…nothing. Sleep addled brain. Nonsensical string of random words spewing forth from my lips."
"You talk this much even right after you've woken up?"
A frown formed on the lips that she was so intently studying. "You came here to bitch at me?"
"I wasn't bitching at you. I was just…asking a question."
"And you managed to insult me in the same breath. Quite a talent you got there."
It was on her tongue to respond with her usual answer of "Shut up", but somehow she thought that too might be interpreted as a less than friendly remark. When Alec had become such a sensitive individual, she couldn't say, but she figured it wouldn't kill her to be just a trifle more civil than her normal self.
"Max…?"
She glanced up. He was staring at her, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Hair somewhat tousled, shirtless, sheets tangled about his waist-leaving Max questioning whether he slept au natural (and desperately hoping that the answer was yes)-he was, she concluded, the very personification of all her recent wet dreams. Insert lustful sigh here.
Alec was still in the process of staring, his puzzlement deepening, when she launched herself at him and proceeded to shove her tongue down his throat.
She supposed she could have used a bit more finesse, but then that would have cost her the element of surprise. 'Sides, inhale it or savor it-the chocolate tasted just as sweet going down either way.
Unfortunately, said piece of chocolate did not seem to want to…go down.
"Max," he gasped, trying to extract his lips from hers. "What the hell are you doin'?"
"Um," her bold hands sought out the answer to her earlier question of just what was under those bed sheets, "I'm in heat?"
Unfortunately, Alec seemed quite intent on salvaging whatever little virtue he had left intact. Grabbing both her wrists in his own hands, he threw Max bodily off himself; she landed none too softly on the bed next to him. However, Max used his hold on her arms to flip him onto his own back, quickly climbing atop him before he had a chance to recover. Alec, once aforementioned recovery had been attained, then proceeded to roll them over once more, in hopes of overpowering her with his superior body weight.
But alas, they had run out of room in which to roll, and the final move resulted in both landing in an awkward pile of flailing limbs and jabbing appendages on the floor next to his bed.
"Ow!" Alec howled in pain from his place underneath Max. His entire pelvic region thrust upward, meeting Max's groin, and causing her to gasp in confusion-laced desire. There were definitely some mixed signals being passed around here.
Releasing her wrists, both of his hands reached down behind him, one to cup his injured rear, the other to pull out the object responsible for his current state of distress.
"Damn it, I just stapled my ass!" he exclaimed, regarding the offending device with a heated glare for a moment before tossing it aside.
"Why did you leave the stapler on the floor?" Max frowned, still not relinquishing her dominating position.
Alec blinked up at her. "Where else would I put it?"
But then he was once again distracted by the sensation emanating from his nether regions. "Shit, that hurts." By the grimace on his face and the slightly squirmy little dance he was doing, it soon became apparent to Max that the instrument of pain was still lodged within the wound.
"Here, let me," she said, raising herself up to flip him onto his stomach.
The tiny metal object had attached his boxers to his flesh; unfortunately, that meant she had no excuse to remove said boxers. Damn.
And speaking of the boxers…Max found her attention momentarily diverted from the little red chili peppers gracing the white material, by the words 'HOT STUFF' emblazoned across his ass in vivid orange letters.
But, distraction aside, there was an injury to tend to here.
"Uh, Max…" Alec began hesitantly, the side of his face scrunched up against the carpet. "Are you using your…teeth?"
"Mrmmph." Max sat up and spat the little piece of metal across the room. "Well, my nails are too stubby," she said, waving the fingers of her right hand in his face to illustrate her point. Then she leaned back, studying her handiwork. Satisfied, she swatted him across one firm cheek, making him jump slightly, "All done."
"Um, thanks," he said, easing his way out from under her body. He eyed her warily as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Okay, you wanna tell me what that was all about?"
"Jeez Alec, do you have like a non-existent short-term memory? Remember, the staple…it was lodged in your flesh…I was trying to get it out…?" she waved her hand in a circular, continuing motion.
Alec ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a long breath of air. "No, I'm talking about what happened before that…you know, with the whole jumping me thing?"
"Ohhh…" Max nodded slowly in comprehension. Then she casually raised one slender shoulder. "Like I said, I'm in heat."
Speaking of which, wasn't it time for her to get back to the whole 'marking her territory' thing that OC had told her about? But before she could proceed, Alec, seeming to realize her intent-perhaps by the predatory glint in her eyes and the way she licked her lips, as she practically salivated at the sight of him-held up a hand to ward her off.
"No, Max, you're not in heat."
Huh? She paused in mid motion, sitting back on her heels to stare at him instead.
He sounded pretty confident about that; and though it was true, she wasn't…how would he know that?
"How the hell would you know?" she said, fixing him with a glare. As far as seduction techniques went, hers could definitely use a little practice. Threatening facial expressions and language bordering on abusive is not often conducive to sexual stimulation. Unless, of course, one's subject for stimulation is a particularly masochistic individual. But that's a tale for another day.
"Because, I was able to stop you from doin' what you were trying to do."
Max stared at him as his words sank into her brain, at which point her face scrunched up in her characteristic look of displeasure.
"Are you saying you don't find me attractive?"
Alec gave a groan of frustration and shook his head. "No, what I'm saying is that if you were in heat, you'd be releasing pheromones that would make it impossible for me to resist you. It's a by-product of our feline DNA, just like your heat cycles."
Max glanced away, nibbling her lower lip thoughtfully. "Damn, I knew I should've finished reading that chapter," she muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"Hmm, nothing."
Alec nodded, staring at her wearily. "This is about Logan, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, you heard about Logan an' Asha-"
"Logan and Asha?"
"You know, Logan asking Asha out, and now you're…what, tryin' to get him back?" He quirked an eyebrow. "But you can't really be trying' to make him jealous, seeing as how he already thinks you and me are…a thing."
Max watched him carefully, and then gave a small sigh of defeat. "Yeah, you're right…I guess I figured if he saw you and me all cozy, he might rethink this whole thing with Asha. Sooo…there's nothing going on between you and her."
Alec frowned. "Of course not; not when she's all hung up on Logan and everyone thinks I'm with you."
"Oh, okay."
So, if Asha was still all over Logan, and there was nothing between her and Alec-or at least nothing from Alec's perspective, which was pretty much as good as there being nothing there at all-then…
"Max?"
"Hmm?"
Alec scratched the back of his neck, looking rather uncomfortable, and in an entirely different manner than before. "I just think that maybe…you know, with Logan bein' with Asha an' all…maybe you really should try moving on. I mean, you were the one who broke up with him, knowin' that it wasn't safe for your two be together." He shrugged. "Maybe you shouldn't worry 'bout this whole making him jealous or gettin' him back thing."
Max studied Alec, who shrank back slightly under her inspection, as if anticipating some sort of physical assault. Finally, she gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I think maybe you're right."
"Wha-?" Alec's mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened to unprecedented proportions. "Are you saying you, uh, agree with me?"
She took a deep breath and grinned at him. "Alec, there's something I have to tell you"-he raised an inquisitive eyebrow-"what you said, earlier, about me trying to get back at Logan…it wasn't true."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I wasn't thinking about Logan when I came here. I haven't been thinking about Logan at all for a while now…I was thinking about you."
"Mmm…I'm not gettin' it Max."
Max sighed, somewhat embarrassed by the impending confession. "I pretended to go into heat because I thought I could get away with acting on my urges…and then you wouldn't question what I was doing."
"Say again?" he puzzled. "I'm not sure we're on the same wavelength here."
"Argh!" leaning forward, she shoved him hard in the chest. "I want you, you numbskull!" A punch to the shoulder punctuated her words. "Do I have to spelt it out in writing, or do you get it by now?" She raised her hand for another blow, but this time Alec caught it before she could complete the motion.
"You…want…me?" he asked in a very small, very dazed voice.
Max shrugged embarrassedly, trying to tug her hands out of his grasp. "That's what I said," she muttered, not meeting his gaze. Her frustration grew as she stared at their still entwined hands, and she bit her lip in concentration.
"Max." Glancing up, she met Alec's eyes, "I want you too."
She stopped her tugging.
"You do?"
A small smile broke out on his face, wiping away the slight frown that had been there just a moment ago.
"Yeah," he said softly.
He leaned forward, slowly, to kiss her, but she pulled back.
"Isn't this supposed to be…harder?"
"What?" he laughed.
"You know, more obstacles? More angst? More waiting?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and she shook her head. "Things don't work out so…easily. Something's gonna come along to mess it all up."
Alec chuckled low in his throat, and used his grip on her wrists to pull her to him and complete the act he'd begun earlier. "You've spent too much time with Logan."
Yes, it's not done yet. Still a few more chapters to go.
But next... An Interlude: Song