To Mai Surprise
Disclaimer: I do not own The Nine Lives of Chloe King, nor do I profit from any of my stories.
Chapter 11
It was like a bolt of electricity shot through me. Strong feelings of love, and pride, ran through my bones. It wasn't my feeling, it seemed to be coming from Mum. I yawned again.
School the next morning was defiantly an adventure. Alek had the nerve to kiss me in front of the entire cafeteria crowd. The whispers started immediately. People were wondering if we were dating, yet no one approached me to ask questions. During passing period, I saw a small group of girls gather around Alek. Eavesdropping from around the corner, I heard what they were asking him.
"Ally, who was that little harlot from this morning?" This one was a cheerleader, I think.
"Sander, whatever happened to your 'No Girlfriends' rule?" That voice belonged to the student-body president.
Alek quickly silenced them all, saying, "thing's change. I fell in love."
I gasped when I heard that, amazed that he would publicly announce it. He must have heard me because, not a moment later, I felt familiar strong arms wrap around my waist.
"Good thing she loves me back just as much," he said, his lips inches from my ear. When I shivered in delight, Alek only chuckled. "Kitten, I'll find you later, alright?" he stalked off, as the bell rang.
Once school was over, Amy and I went shopping. Brian was hanging with Alek, 'guarding' him. While I feared for his life, lives, I knew that the Order would be no match for Brian. He was supposed to be training Alek but I'm pretty sure they were just playing basketball together in the park.
Amy's dads' business was booming. They had even tripled her already enormous allowance. With a credit card of my own, I was more than prepared for a shopping marathon. Our first stop? Union Square.
Neiman Marcus wasn't very busy for a Tuesday afternoon. Spotting a new Elie Tahari dress in her size, Amy took off towards the fitting room. Instead of waiting around, I decided to find a new jacket. The fall fashion season was just ending as October approached. Spotting a nice silk trench-coat, I decided to see if the there was one in my size.
Three hours and five stores later, we had a trunk full of shopping bags. Back at the apartment, I unloaded my new clothes onto my bed. It was past 7 o' clock now, I wondered how Alek was doing. I hadn't talked to him since this morning. That is, aside from the occasional text, just in time to interrupt dinner.
"Jasmine, I'm heading out," I called, knowing she could hear me through the door to her room.
When I got to Alek's, he was asleep. Not wanting to wake him or his mom up, I sat down on the roof. After a few minutes, I heard Alek getting out of bed. He unlocked the window and let me inside.
"Did I wake you up?" I asked, since I had tried to be as quiet as possible.
"Kind of, yeah," he replied. "Your heartbeat woke me up." Alek sat down on the edge of his bed, motioning for me to join him.
My heartbeat? I sent him a questioning look. "You can tell my heartbeat apart from everyone else's?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Instead of a traditional reply, Alek simply grabbed me by the shoulders. He was strong. As the Uniter, he was probably stronger than anyone ever knew. Yet, somehow, Alek remained so gentle. It was as if his body itself knew not to put too much force behind his actions.
We wrestled playfully for a while; Alek never letting me have the upper hand. His lips never left mine, only pausing occasionally to breathe. Our kiss was passionate, with a touch of desire. Alek held me possessively, pinning me to the bed. We hadn't been together for long, but the sexual tension between us had built up over the past two years. Not knowing where our relationship was going, I had started taking the birth-control pill, just in case.
Getting up off the bed, Alek took off his shirt and jeans. In just his boxers, he walked towards his closet. After handing me a unopened toothbrush package and pair of his sweatpants to change into, Alek went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Slipping off my jeans, I put on Alek's sweats. Damn, he must like to see me in his clothes... Opening up the toothbrush, I walked into the bathroom.
Settling under the covers, Alek waited for me to join him. In a last-second attempt to dominate him, I leaped onto Alek, landing on the blankets above him. Only slightly startled, he quickly recovered. His lips met mine in a slow display of restraint. I could see his excitement bulging in his boxers, but Alek remained quite the gentleman.
Holding back a yawn, I rolled over in his embrace to look at the clock. It was well past midnight but I wasn't the least bit tired.
I felt a callused hand snake under my sweater and turned to face the perpetrator. With a laugh, I helped Alek pull it over my head.
"Beautiful!" Alek complemented me, making me blush. "You're perfect."
He leaned his head down to rub his cheek on my breasts. I gasped at his sudden motion, causing Alek to pause in his nuzzling against me chest. He turn his head up to look at me.
"Is this okay?" he asked, worried. When I nodded, he slipped his tongue into my bra.
Startled, I said, "Alek! What are you doing?"
He only chuckled, the vibrations of his laugh echoing through my rib-cage. "This is enough, don't worry."
Knowing that Alek wouldn't pressure me to go any further than I felt comfortable, I decided to return his affections. Trailing kisses down from his neck, I was delighted to watch the goosebumps on his skin.
Alek seemed to make a game with himself, trying to see how close to my nipples his tongue could get, without taking my bra off. I had never been this close to anyone, but the intimacy didn't worry me. It was cute to watch him fondle me, his playful manner set my nerves at ease.
Finally giving up, exhaustion took over Alek's body. He lifted me up onto his bare chest, tucking my head underneath his chin.
I don't know which one of us fell asleep first, but we both slept soundly.
The next day, school was the same. The homework, the whispers, and the gossip were enough to drive me insane. My only consolation was knowing that once that final bell rang, I had all the time in the world. There was a certain comfort to be found in my new routine.
I would wake up, head home, and take a shower. Alek, with the beat-up old VW Bus he bought from a friend, would pick me up to take me to school.
After school, I would hang out with Alek, or have girl-time with Jasmine, Mimi, and Amy. More than once, I would have dinner at Alek's house, helping his mother make dinner. I loved her as if she were my own. Meredith Souza was always so accepting of my relation with Alek. I felt like I could talk to her about anything, something I never had with Aunt Val. The two of us had an understanding: as long as there was no 'hanky-panky' going on, I was allowed to spend the night on weekends.
Of course, I always slept over, even on school-nights. I had found that I was unable to sleep well at night, if I wasn't near Alek. My childhood nightmares had always gotten the better of me, but somehow Alek managed to chase them away. Sneaking around behind Mer's back made me feel guilty, but Alek and I hadn't gone 'all the way' yet, so I didn't feel too bad.
Alek said that his mom trusted us to be responsible, and that she wouldn't be disappointed if we were sexually active. She remembered what it was like to be a teenager; she just didn't want to know the details. When I asked how he was so sure, Alek told me about the weird feelings he was having.
Aunt Valentina explained to us what was going on. Apparently, the ancient Mai all had the power of empathy. They could sense the feelings of others simply by looking them in the eye. It made sense when I thought about it, now I know why cat's hate making eye-contact. It was instinctual to feel exposed when meeting someone's gaze.
Over the centuries, the Mai had lost their empathetic abilities. Even Alek had limitations. He could only sense the emotions of humans who had overwhelmingly strong feelings. Aunt Val said that, with training, Alek might be gain control over this power.
On the 30th, Aunt Valentina returned to San Francisco. She, of course, felt obligated to give Mimi and me the 'sex talk' when she heard of our newfound relations. While I wasn't having sex yet, Valentina insisted that I continue taking an oral contraceptive. I didn't mind, it made my PMS symptoms easier to handle.
Even though Aunt Val was a bit of a party-pooper, we decided to have a Halloween party the next day. Too lazy to actually do much, we all just sat around watching scary movies. The apartment was heavily guarded, so we didn't have any 'trick-or-treat'ers to hand out candy to. Much to Alek's surprise, I had never trick-or-treated, nor handed out candy. He insisted that, next year, I would somehow manage to do both.
That night, Amy and Paul, Mimi and Brian, Alek and I, and Jasmine all fell asleep on the couch.
A week later, a suspicious letter came in the mail. Addressed to Aunt Valentina, the letter was an invitation to a gathering in New York. Apparently it was time to make Alek's Uniter status known. The leader of the Texas Jackals was going to be there, rumor had it.
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