The public has spoken, and the public want Wessa. How can I say no?
Antics
Tessa threw the book to the floor as she rushed to the grand mirror that hung over the dining room. She could well ask Charlotte to fix her hair, but how could she explain what looked like three separate bruises scattered over the side of her throat?
She glared at the mirror as she pulled pins from her hair letting it tumble over her shoulders. The two boys were still leaning against the opposite fire place, their smug grins identical. Will's she had seen before on many occasion, but the normally soft and gentle Jem's made her shiver in memory of his darker side she glimpsed last night.
They watched silently as she rearranged her hair to fall over her shoulders on either side, pinning up the top around the back so she looked somewhat neat. It was how she wore her hair in the winter months on days it wasn't windy back in New York, but since she had Charlotte to do lovely things with her hair she hadn't needed it.
Examining herself in the mirror, she reached up and gingerly pressed her fingers against her red marks that had blossomed on her skin.
'Jem does like to leave his mark although I have told him otherwise,' Will's voice drawled lazily.
The suggestion that Will and Jem had been intimate with each other made Tessa's eyes drop to the floor, a fierce blush spreading across her cheeks and down her chest.
'See,' he began, walking towards her, 'it's easy for me to explain when he does it; I just say some excuse about me being a man of the town, but Jem,' he looked over his shoulder. 'You really ought to be more careful. What is poor Tessa to say if someone spies your love bites?'
Love bites? What on earth?
'They are called what, exactly?' Tessa asked the both, not wanting to seem naïve but she truly was at a loss.
'Well, we like to call them love bites,' Jem said, running his hand along the mantle. His long pale fingers sliding along the cool marble gave Tessa a jolt as she remembered what exactly those fingers had been doing not twelve hours prior. 'It's what occurs when I kissed your neck last night and sucked as you whimpered so prettily for me and well,' he added sheepishly, threading his other hand through his hair, 'it seems I may have gotten a little distracted…'
Will chuckled. 'That's always your excuse.'
Tessa almost choked on her breath. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, it's one thing when it was an evening of curiosity- but this sort of thing can't happen in broad daylight with others potentially in earshot!
'Yes, well,' she coughed a little as she cleared her throat forcefully. 'K-knife practice,' her voice quavered slightly as she hurried out of the room.
She marched down the hallway and let her feet take her to the training room so her mind could wander as she anxiously fiddled with her hair so it sat firmly over her shoulders.
Tessa was a mix of emotions with lust and confusion sitting at the forefront of them. One the one hand, she felt an undeniable draw to let herself fall into the waiting arms of Jem or Will as they quite convincingly justified their actions so she still felt proper. On the other, not only was she considering having an intimate relationship with a man before she was married, but two men. At the same time.
Sighing heavily, she pushed her way into the training room, finding it much cooler than the rest of the building. The sun basked the room in a soft golden hue, its weak spring heat not penetrating the windows as much as she would have desired. She quickly dressed in a private room and now she was prepared for exercise in training pants and a close fitting shirt.
A small movement distracted her, catching her eye and drawing her to the corner of the room.
Just Church in the sun, she saw as the cat stretched out on the rafters with a soft meow. Back to the knives she told herself, walking over to the stand which housed the knives near the target board for throwing practice.
She picked up a slender blade and turned it over in her hands. It was cool to the touch and she knew that it would inflict serious damage if she didn't aim correctly. On the surroundings or any pour soul in the room at the time.
Tessa was still coming to grips with accepting the fact that she would need to know how to defend herself using a variety of weapons so that if it ever came to it, she could hold her group with whatever was on hand.
Knives were what she held particular issue with.
They looked dangerous and were cold and threatening and easy to conceal. Above all else, she disliked them because she was never any good at handling them. She was fine with arrows and the occasional broad sword if she could manage it, but knives were hard.
She flipped the knife over again and positioned herself so she was standing correctly. Holding her back and shoulders straight, she turned on the side, eyed the bullseye, drew her arm back and with a slightly jerky and anxious manner drew forward and released.
It flew with the grace of a stampede of elephants before embedding itself in the protective cork flooring around the target.
She huffed and rolled her eyes. She hated not being good at this.
Tessa stomped forward and yanked the knife from the floor. At least I threw it hard enough for it to be this hard to pull out again, she thought bitterly as she finally pulled it from the cork.
She returned to her previous stance and breathed in and out deeply to calm herself. She raised her arm and held it behind her and was about to throw when a flicker of movement jerked her attention away.
'You mustn't distract me when I am throwing knives, kitty,' she said softly before snapping her arm forward and releasing, feeling the burn in her shoulder that alerted her she used too much force.
The second throw resulted in much the same matter of the first. Tessa glared and pursed her lips, restraining herself from shouting something improper.
'StupidknifenevergoesproperlyIdon'tunderstan-'
'Come now,' a clear voice rang across the room. 'I don't think it's the knife's fault.'
Tessa's eyes snapped wide open as she spun on her heel to see Jem cradling Church against his chest with a small smile on his lips.
'And you can't really blame Church for distracting you,' Will's voice came from behind her. She gasped in surprise and spun to see him tossing the knife in the air, having pulled it from the floor in silence. 'Unless you want to call me kitty,' he winked.
Tessa gaped. 'Uh- oh really. Why are you here?'
Jem gave her an understanding smile before crouching to set the cat back on the floor. 'Well, we came here to help you of course,' he said smoothly as he softly crossed the floor, his shoes making no sound as he stood where she had thrown the knife from.
Will held the knife out to her. 'Help in more ways than one.'
She snatched the knife from him and cursed herself for being so flustered from his words, feeling heat begin to pool in the pit of her stomach. Damn him and his innuendos.
Straightening her back and looking straight ahead she tried to ignore the electricity she felt coming from the boys around her. She shook her arms out as if that would give her any release.
Holding the knife firmly in her hands she stood side on to the target and began to take aim.
Jem stood directly in front of her, his eyes blazing as he looked her up and down. 'Here,' he said softly, his words flowing over her like warm honey and melting her insides. She suppressed a shiver. 'Hold it like this,' he said, his eyes meeting hers as he stepped closer, closing the gap between them.
His cool fingers skimmed across the blade, his eyes flicking up to keep her gaze. 'You must balance the tang with the blade, ought you will throw off target.'
Suddenly, Will's hands were wrapped around her hips. 'Feet, shoulder width apart,' he added, kicking her legs open wider and nudging a knee between her thighs.
Jem's hands trailed along her arms, sending a shiver across her body. Her eyelids fluttered closed as Jem leaned closer to her so his lips were touching her ear.
His arm's guided hers, reaching upwards so her throwing arm was extended high and her opposite arm was guiding her aim.
'Now,' Jem whispered gently. His hand cupped her jaw and turned her head towards the target. His lips skimmed along the shell of her ear. 'Concentrate,' he breathed.
Tessa could almost hear the smile in his voice.
'We can't do this now,' she heard her voice saying.
'Why not?' Will asked.
'Because! We are in the middle of the Institute in the middle of the day, what if someone walks in?'
'Yes,' Jem said seductively. 'Doesn't that make it all the more exciting?'
Her breath stuttered as Will's fingers skimmed across the thin fabric of her training blouse, her skin erupting in goose bumps.
'It's very hard to concentrate when you're ahh,' her voice turned into a soft whine as Will bought his lips to her throat. 'W-when you're d-doing that,' she struggled.
The combination of their hands moving across her and their wandering mouths painting passionate lines across her throat was proving almost too much for Tessa to bear.
Her jaw dropped open, feeling the dual open mouthed kisses against her hot skin. Jem paused to nip at a sensitive spot behind her ear as Will's tongue flicked out at lapped against the hollow of her throat.
Tessa's arms went limp and her fist slackened, dropping the knife to the floor with a tremendous clang. She didn't seem to notice the noise as her head fell back to rest on Will's shoulder behind her, allowing Jem and Will fuller access to the pale skin of her neck.
'Now, now,' Jem murmured. 'That is far from concentrating,' he kissed down the column of her neck.
Will pulled away slightly. 'I agree. Tell us Tess- who do you want?'
Her eyes slid open. 'Excuse me?'
'Well,' Jem caught her attention. 'If you choose Will, he will give you what you want,' he said simply.
His hands slid lower as he kept eye contact with her, his fingers sliding over the waist band of her pants and upwards to slide underneath her blouse and touch her exposed skin.
Will continued his hands upwards to settle underneath her breasts, his thumbs tracing the material softly. His mouth lay soft kisses on her jaw, making her whimper with desire.
'He will give you what you want for hours, and hours, and hours,' Jem continued, licking his bottom lip. 'Do you want that Tessa? Sounds good, doesn't it?' he grinned.
Will pulled away to rest his lips against Tessa's ear. 'Although,' his deep voice made her toes curl. 'If you chose Jem then he would tease you, drive you mad in the most delicious way. He takes his time, makes you feel ecstatic in every humanly possible way,' he said suggestively.
Jem's smile grew in appreciation for the comment. As if as an after-thought, he dragged his nails over Tessa's skin.
'Unnh, Jem,' she gasped in surprise. His nails left red hot tracks behind him, the combination of pleasure and pain twisted so well that she was arching into him hard.
'He can be a little rough, I would suggest wearing long sleeves and dresses after you spend any time with him,' he smiled.
'So,' Jem continued. 'Who shall it be? Will, or me?'
At that moment, the door opened loudly.
'-And now you see, here is what you should do if in an attack your knife escapes you,' Jem cleared his throat softly. 'Simply slide to the ground,' he said, dropping to the ground and picking up the knife. 'After this, a lower angle is also good for injuring opponents.'
'Yes, but that is if they are not a ground dweller from a low set level because they could easily overpower you seeing as- Oh. Hello Charlotte,' Will said casually.
'Ah, helping Tessa with her training are you? That is very kind of you Will,' she said, crossing the room quickly despite her short stature.
'Well,' Will said. Tessa turned and located him quickly. He had leapt a decent distance away from the pair and was reclining in the sun on the floor. 'Seeing as I am already expert in this field it would only seem fair to share my unbounding wisdom.'
Jem laughed whole heartedly. Charlotte smiled. 'But of course,' she said.
Tessa still had her mouth hanging open. Her emotions were a mess of shock, lust, embarrassment with large dashes of terrified. What if Charlotte had caught us? How did Will get all the way over there? How can they be so calm?
Jem placed the knife back in her hands. He had taken a step back before Charlotte had entered the room but he was still too close in the view of polite public.
'Now,' he said, raising her arm behind her. 'Breathe, and release.'
She stared at him incredulously. How can he expect me to do anything related to motor functions after the state they put me in?
Dumbfounded, she turned her eyes to the target and whipped her arm forward with all of her strength. It embedded in the outer most ring of the circle.
'Not too bad. A definite improvement though,' Jem said encouragingly over his shoulder as he walked to tear the knife from the cork.
Charlotte made a sound of approval. 'I must say, you are progressing with greater speed than I had hoped. Well done! But is your arm okay?'
It was only now that Tessa had realized that she had been cradling it. Then she realized the pain as it blossomed across her back and down her right arm.
Charlotte hurried forward and kneaded her fingers into her shoulder, making her flinch violently.
'I might have just pulled a muscle, a hot bath would set me straight?' she said optimistically.
The shorter woman tutted under her breath, 'No I'm afraid not, this will take some looking to,' she said as she lowered the arm she had been inspecting gingerly.
Tessa's objection was interrupted before it even began by a great heaving cough by Jem.
Charlotte made a face. 'That doesn't sound good either! Right, Jem, to your room for rest,' she said in her authority tone.
Jem quirked his brow. 'Well,' he said in a wheezy voice from vocal exertion from his following bout of coughing. 'I see. This does make it interesting,' he added beguilingly.
She ignored him and turned her eyes back on Tessa. Will and Jem had locked gaze again, their silent communication making them smirk in unison.
'Jem, I'll take you up and get you rested,' she held out her arm to usher him out the door. 'Will, if you could pack the equipment away and then see to Tessa, I would appreciate it,' she said with a small smile of gratitude as she held the door open for Jem.
'Next time then, Tessa,' he nodded as he left the room.
Tessa turned to find Will standing directly behind her. She gasped in surprise, regretting it an instant later.
She felt strangely magnetized to him as they stood alone in such a vast room. He grinned down at her.
'I guess that is your decision made for you,' he insinuated. His hand shot out and wrapped around hers. 'Shall we go to my room?'
I'm a tease and I hate myself for it. Please, I would love to hear suggestions if you had any. Thank you especially for all those that left lovely reviews!
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