Alex blushed and shut her mouth as tightly as she could. OhmyGod, I'm getting turned on... can he tell? What will he think? She stole a glance over her shoulder at Justin, and felt a new wave of heat go through her at the sight of his face. Normally he was cute -- though she hated to admit it -- but now, with his jaw grimly set, eyes narrowed, and nostrils flared.... He looked hot.

She felt her face flush even more, and turned it back around before he could notice. A smack hit particularly hard, and Alex shivered with the feelings it aroused, had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.

Justin noticed none of this, but he had his own problem. He'd seen Alex's butt before -- but it had been years since he'd seen it naked, and they'd both been little kids then. He wasn't a little kid any more, and with her butt bared in front of him, with his hand smacking over and over into the firm, warm flesh, it was becoming very apparent that she wasn't either.

"Twenty-one," he said, and then bit his own lip as he felt his own body responding. This is not happening. I am not getting hard. I am not getting hard from spanking Alex's bare butt. He was, though, and he couldn't deny it for more than a second or so -- especially not as he shifted his stance unconsciously, and felt a wave of sensation move up his torso from the cloth adjusting around him.

The count was twenty-three now. I can't stop here, he thought. She'd know something was up. He'd go to thirty, and stop there -- that was a nice, round number, and he could easily claim that was how many he'd intended.

At twenty-eight, Alex felt a massive wave of pleasure go through her body, and had to lower her head and bite the pillow that was there to keep from giving it voice. Her thighs felt like they were quivering, and she was sure that Justin had to know what had just happened.

And then it stopped. She turned her head and looked at him, feeling dazed, and he was looking back at her. "What?" she asked.

"It's over," Justin said, his expression still tight. He reached for Alex's pants and panties, pulled them back up with a single motion. They didn't settle in place correctly, but he couldn't keep standing there with her butt exposed, and he didn't trust himself to touch them again to adjust them. He swallowed as Alex blinked at him, then said, in a tightly controlled voice, "Go to your room. Now. I don't want to see you. Don't brush your teeth. Just get out of my sight."

Alex nodded jerkily, finding herself unable to speak. She stood up, her face feeling as if it were burning just as much as her butt, then fled to her room. Once inside, Alex sagged against her closed door, then slid down it, into a sitting position. The moment her bottom made contact with the floor, though, she gasped and got right back up. Crossing the room, she lay down on the bed, face down, then pulled a pillow to herself and hugged it tightly.

For a minute, she simply breathed, taking ragged breaths that were on the verge of being sobs. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen Justin that mad. At anything. I've really screwed things up this time. Alex moved over, reached the Kleenex box by her bed, took a few tissues and started to wipe at her face. What am I going to do? Justin's the one who always helps me get out of these messes. And now he is the mess. What am I going to do?

Out in the living room, Justin was sitting on the couch, holding his head in his hands, echoing Alex's thoughts with his own. What am I going to do? I hurt Alex. I'm supposed to be taking care of her. And... and I.... He swallowed and banished the thought from his mind. Some things were unthinkable -- or should be, Justin thought.

Taking his hands from his head, he put them down on the couch cushions, then took a deep breath. Okay. Think this through, Justin. You're supposed to be the smart one here. What are your options?

The do-over spell wouldn't help here -- Alex was a wizard too, so she'd remember what had really happened. The memory erasing spell... would that do it? He'd never used it, so he wasn't sure, and... and what am I doing?! I'm thinking like Alex, trying to magic my way out of this. Two wrongs don't make a right. I'm just going to have to figure out a way to fix this like a normal person.

He stood up, took another deep breath, let it out. Okay. First things first, check on Max. Justin crept up the stairs again, cracked open their kid brother's door. He was still asleep. No sign that he'd heard anything that had happened. Well, that was good. That just left Alex to fix things with. Their parents were going to be gone to the convention for another three days -- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tomorrow...

Oh, hell. The biology test was tomorrow. He still needed to study, and... no. Justin smiled as he realized that he didn't need to. Max shouldn't go to school tomorrow, and he couldn't stay home alone, could he? So Justin would stay home with him, getting Mom to call the school to tell them what was going on there, and he'd be able to take the test on Monday. Good. One problem solved.

Now... what was he going to do about Alex? As he went into his room, Justin frowned deeply, thinking about it.