"The game is…" Max hadn't thought this through, yet. She just didn't want the night to end. She wanted to be alone with Alec – somewhere. Anywhere. "I've Never," Max finally said. "A variation of I've Never."
"What kind of game is that?" Alec said, taking a swig of his scotch.
"It's like Truth or Dare, except it's like Truth or Drink." Max laughed at what she had just said. For some reason, the idea tickled her.
Alec felt the tug of his smirk as he looked at her. Her smile was definitely contagious. He watched the corners of her mouth twitch as she tried to refrain from laughing. "I'm in," he said. "Do I get to choose to talk to drink?"
"No," Max said, still laughing. "I tell you something I've never done. If you've done it, you drink."
"And if I haven't?"
"If you haven't done it, neither of us drinks and then it's your turn." Max waved to Dave. "Hey Davey, we're probably gonna need the bottle of brown shit," she said, taking a couple of fifties and laying them on the table. Dave dropped the over half-empty bottle at the bar, swiping the cash.
"Okay, you start," Alec said. He finished off his scotch and faced Max.
"Okay," Max giggled. She thought for a moment. "I've never really been drunk. Before tonight anyway." Max looked down. This was what feeling drunk was supposed to feel like, right? Giddy for no apparent reason, smile plastered to my face, letting my mind race with possibilities I wouldn't allow myself to consider if sober?
Alec didn't drink. "Me either. Until now. So I guess that means we both drink, 'cause we're both drunk now."
Max and Alec took their shots and Max refilled the glasses. "Do you know what's in this?" she asked, shaking the bottle of brown stuff.
"Nope. I've been calling it Rocket Fuel," he paused, watching as Max swept her hair to her back and fanned her face, "but I'm starting to think it has oyster in it."
Max didn't seem to be paying attention to the comment.
"My turn," Alec said, trying to think how he could get her to reveal something saucy. "I've never… worn thong underwear to a bar and scammed a bunch of strangers for Rocket Fuel money."
Max smiled devilishly. She took a shot. He wanted to know what kind of underwear I'm wearing.
Alec's eyes betrayed his wonderment and surprise at the confession she made by shooting her shot. His heart rate increased. He fought the urge to look down to her perfect legs, knowing that at the top of them, only a thin layer of thong separated her from-
"My turn," Max said, shifting in her seat. Damn, it's getting hot in here, she thought. "I've never had a fantasy about a coworker."
Alec took his shot of the brown gunk as Max watched him with a wide, knowing grin, which he returned. She licked her lower lip slowly, knowing his eyes traced every move her tongue made. He set down his glass and reached for the bottle.
Max grabbed her shot glass and took her drink. She had definitely fantasized about a coworker before. She had fantasized about a coworker not five minutes ago. "Fill me up," she said. That wasn't a very smart choice of words, she thought. Well, by the look on his face, maybe it is.
He filled both their glasses. "Maxie, the game is 'I've Never,' and you just admitted something you have done."
"I couldn't think of anything else," she said. I couldn't think of anything else but you, she added to her own thought.
"Okay," he said. This was harder than he thought. He was searching his mind for something he had never done. Finally, he had an idea. "I've never met anyone who could match my endurance." He left it at that, letting her interpret his statement her own way. When she didn't drink, he wasn't surprised. She pressed her lips together to keep from breathing too loud at the mental suggestion of banging the gong for twelve hours.
It was true, no one she had ever been with during heat had been able to match her endurance. She was insatiable to them, which is one of the reasons she didn't like being around anyone when she went into heat – knowing his touch would not fulfill her was like knowing the end of a story before it was told. She hated being let down, and in a twisted way, felt guilty that she couldn't truthfully tell him he had rocked her world, because he just hadn't. As a result, she hadn't been with anyone in over a year. Always made sure she was out of town and alone.
"My turn," Max said, drawing her finger around the lip of the shot glass. "I've never been the subject of a coworker's fantasy," she teased, confidently leaning in a couple of inches toward him.
They stared into each other's eyes for a minute. I can't believe she just said that, Alec thought. "How could you possibly know, out of all your coworkers, whether or not that's true?" he asked. Max did not break the stare.
I'll know if you take a drink, she thought. She was playing the game, and she was going to win. Alec kept her gaze as he raised his shot glass and took his shot.
Max's pulse raced with anticipation. I wonder what kind of fantasy he's had about me, she thought. Maybe he fantasized about their lack of copulation at Manticore, and what might have happened if I was there, in heat, and he showed up, flashing his sexy crooked smile, making me watch the way his lips pursed when he said my name for the first time. Maybe he dreamt about pleasuring me, using his smart mouth in a whole new way. Perhaps he imagined my nipples rubbing up against his bare chest, driving him crazy into an erotic oblivion.
Alec watched the faraway look in her eyes, wondering what she was thinking about. She was looking at him, blushing, but she wasn't really present in the situation. She shook herself out of her thoughts.
"I've never sought out a club that I knew said coworker frequents, then spent the night undressing said coworker with my eyes." Alec's lips remained parted as he finished his turn. Max stared back at him, unable to speak. You caught that, huh? she thought. She shot her drink, returning the glass to the table. Alec threw her his cocky grin again.
"Touché," Max said. She looked to the bottle of Rocket Fuel. The opaque brown liquid was almost gone. This stuff is like sex in a bottle.
Alec looked at the bottle, too, sharing Max's thought that it was almost gone. This bottle must be filled with pheromones, he thought, adjusting in his seat a little. "Enough for two more rounds," he said. He filled the glasses and set the bottle back down with a smooth thud.
"Okay, I got one," she said, biting her lower lip. "I've never scratched on the eight on purpose."
Busted! Alec shot her a smirk reserved for 'guilty-as-charged' and shot the fuel. He refilled his shot glass for probably the last time. There would be enough for one more shot.
Max's eyes revealed she was not-so-surprised. "Why did you do that?" she asked, watching his lips as he responded. She imagined his lips gently brushing against her neck and traveling up toward her ear. She was starting to feel a little flushed.
"Wrong game, Maxie," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "This is 'I've Never,' and that was clearly a question."
She nodded. "Do your worst," she offered.
"I've never," he began, fingering the rim of his glass, "liked dancing before tonight," he finished.
"Really?"
Alec nodded. Max gulped down her drink. "I love dancing," she said, and her eyes seemed to add 'with you.'
Alec stood and held out a hand. Max took his hand and he hauled her to the dance floor. He threw her arms around his neck and pulled her close with such force that her body crashed into his roughly. They began moving and swaying to the seductive beat, smiling at one another.
"Tell me something you've never told anyone," Max demanded, so close to his ear he could feel her breath.
Alec thought a minute, during which Max grinded against him. He groaned. "I can't think when you do that," he informed.
She grinded against him again. "What? This?" she flirted. Then she purred. Again.
Alec felt her purring against him, rumbling through his body like a freight train. Does she even know she's doing that? Does she know what that is doing to me? It took all of Alec's strength not to moan.
His face became very serious all of the sudden. He stopped leading her, which stilled them both, and he kept his arms around her.
"What's wrong?" Max asked, lightly fingering his barcode. He looked her in the eyes.
"Thank you, Maxie."
"For what?" Max asked innocently.
"For everything. For being my friend. For saving my life." Alec looked away for a moment, then returned his hazel gaze to her. "For showing me."
Max was speechless with bewilderment. Showing him what? Is this confession the direct result of a rocket-fueled Alec? Or maybe am I hearing things because I'm hyped up on the stuff?
For a moment, she felt daring and brave. She rose up on her tip toes and leaned in to his ear, tickling his ear lobe with her whisper, "I've never been with another transgenic."
Max felt him harden against her navel, smiling that she had this affect on him.
He growled at his core, sending shivers of excitement through her body. With a look of determination, he yanked her by the hand back toward the bar, grabbed his jacket, and turned to walk out of the bar.
He left his shot glass, brimming with the Rocket Fuel, on the bar, untouched.