Cabin Fever

Kissing Alex again was nothing like I had imagined. It was better than I remembered and much more dangerous than before. We aren't twenty-four and twenty-two anymore. Alex is twenty-eight now. I'll be twenty-six in a few weeks. It isn't the time to have meaningless hookups. That part of our lives should be over. Yet that's exactly what we did. Our lips danced together under that beautiful storm for what seemed like forever.

It felt great, that I can't deny, but it also felt wrong. So wrong that it almost felt right. But now things are even more awkward than they were before. Looking at Alex is almost impossible, even more so than it was before. Especially because of what happened once we finally managed to move our party inside.

- - - - - - -

”Alex,” I shivered, the cold rain taking its toll on my body.

His dark eyes traveled up to meet mine. In a fleeting moment of passion we actually understood each other. Words weren't necessary as he grasped me by the thighs and stood up. My arms twisted around his neck and my feet locked together behind him as he carried me inside. In a matter of mere seconds my back was hitting a soft comforter and Alex was on top of me.

Our lips met somewhere in the middle as his fingers slid under my soaked shirt. He tugged upwards and I broke our kiss to allow him to toss my shirt aside. Before I let Alex go any further I pulled his shirt off of him. My fingers trailed over his defined muscles, his soft skin contrasting with the rough calluses on my fingers from work. I traced the contours of every muscle as he began working on the button of my jeans.

I swiped his hand away with a flick of my wrist. In truth, I wanted to see where this would lead but not at such a fast pace.

“Not yet,” I murmured as I connected us at the lips again.

His fingers tangled themselves in my wet hair before trailing down over my shoulders to rest on my upper back. I pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled his hips. My hair fell around my head creating a curtain around us. A soft groan escaped Alex's lips as our tongues danced together, an imaginary song playing for both of us.

Alex couldn't take not having the control. He flipped us over, his lips never leaving mine. His hands reached for the clasp on my bra as we broke our kiss for air. As he tried to unclasp it in the back his tongue jutted out and swiped over his bottom lip. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he repeatedly failed at undoing the clip.

I wrapped my hand around his forearm to stop him. Alex shot me a confused glance but stopped moving and pulled his hands out from behind me. I fell back against the bed and grabbed his hands. “It's in the front,” I whispered, my mind spinning with the realization of our situation crashing around me.

“Oh,” he nodded and unhooked my bra with ease.

I could feel him against my thigh as he molded his lips to mine once again. Stop this, now! My mind yelled at me as his hands found my breasts. A groan of pleasure slipped past my lips as he caressed me ever so gently.

“Alex,” I mumbled as I placed my hands on his bare chest and pushed. As much as it pained me physically, continuing with this would be much worse for us in the morning.

He glanced at me, confusion and a little bit of hurt apparent in his dark, seductive eyes.

“We can't do this. It isn't right. You hurt me, I'm not going down there again,” I told him firmly, my eyes locked with his.

“You want me; I don't understand why you fight it. I'm not fighting my want for you,” he shot back bitterly as he climbed off of the bed. He grabbed his shirt and slipped back into it before leaving me alone in the bedroom, the door slamming behind him.

- - - - - - -

It felt nice, being that physical with him, but getting like that is the last thing we need. If only things were different. The attraction I have to him is undeniable, so I can't even bother to do that anymore, but it's so wrong. He hurt me and while I am over that, I can't wrap my mind around how quickly he managed to charm me out of my pants. Well, my top, but it's the same, really. Plus, we haven't even talked about the incident.

Before anything can even progress – not that I want to go down that road again – we do need to talk about it. Really, it isn't fair to either of us. Alex is most likely looking for a fuck-n-chuck and I'm not going to be that girl, not without answers, and really just not at all. I'm looking for a little more than that. I want a serious relationship. This isn't high school or college, this is life. The time to waste on bad relationships and stupid decisions is over.

After our little incident I found him laying on the couch watching a movie. He barely even looked up when I entered the room and I tried to avoid looking at him but it didn't work out so well. Everything about him screamed nonchalance and really, that should have been enough for me to stop wanting to jump him, but it wasn't. Instead, the simple way he was just lounging there, his head propped up on his hand? It turned me on, honestly. He looked so hot because he didn't seem to care too much.

How that logically works out, I'm not sure. I plopped down on the end of the couch furthest away from him and pretended to be enthralled in what was on the TV. That worked for all of three seconds before I got fed up with the silence between us.

“The first time we engaged in that, you hurt me. You can't expect me to be that dumb again,” I told him confidently.

Silence greeted me for a few long minutes before Alex finally turned to look at me. “I'm pretty sure you enjoyed it the first time so don't say I hurt you.”

I couldn't help but shoot Alex a dumbfounded look. Is he for real? “That isn't what I was talking about and you know it,” I snapped and ran my hand through my hair again.

“Vous avez perdu, j'ai gagné,” Alex smirked before rolling over onto his back.

Frustration shot through me as I stood up and made my way over to him. The dark haired man before me stared up at me, challenging me with his eyes. I smiled down at him before taking a seat right on top of him. I straddled his hips and rested my hands on his shoulders as I leaned down and locked my eyes with his.

Alex groaned and I smirked as my long hair fell around my face. I swept it over to one side and leaned down, my lips a mere inch from his. “Wanna try again, in English?”

I could feel him beneath me, wriggling to get comfortable as I waited for him to say something. His eyes clouded over with an emotion I couldn't identify before his hands found my hips.

“You lost, I won,” he murmured before closing the distance between our lips.

Confusion spread through my body, tingling me to the core. Lost what? “What are you talking about?” I questioned after breaking the delicious kiss.

“Exactly what I said,” he smirked and slid his fingers under the hem of my shirt. “I won, you lost.”

“We aren't playing a game Alex,” I shot back and leaned away from him.

His smirk faltered as he stared back at me with unblinking eyes. “A l'époque j'étais,” he replied softly, shame written all over his voice.

I've never wished I could speak a foreign language more than when I've been around Alexandre Burrows. Even back when we went through the incident he would often slip into French. At the time I found it sexy and he appeared irresistible, but now I just wish he didn't know it at all. Even if it still sounds sexy.

“Alex,” I replied, my voice sounding eerily calm to my own ears. “I'm sick of you slipping into French and I do have Ryan on speed dial. I'm not afraid to call him.”

Just as the final word slipped out of my mouth another loud clap of thunder rang through the house and lightning lit up the sky outside. The lights in the living room flickered ever so slightly before shutting off completely. Alex's grip on my hips tightened as I froze in fear.

Storms, while beautiful to watch from outside, also happen to scare the living daylights out of me. I saw Twister, and that was enough to seal my hate for storms. Just the thought of a natural element in life having enough power to even do something like that? It freaks me out just a little bit.

“Are you okay?” The man beneath me asked as his fingers gently massaged the skin on my hips.

I collapsed against him, my head resting on his chest. “I hate storms,” I admitted as his arms slid around my midsection.

“If I remember correctly, I just found you in the middle of one not too long ago.”

“Yeah, but it didn't knock the power out then.”

I felt Alex's laugh as he pulled me closer to him. It rumbled through my body as he shook slightly. I pulled my head up to shoot him a little glare.

“Tu es de toute beauté,” Alex mumbled, his voice sounding remorseful and slightly shocked.

Unless my ears deceived me or my common sense didn't work, Alex very well may have used the world beautiful. From some Spanish here and there, 'tu es' definitely means you are. Could he really have called me beautiful?

“Did you just call me beautiful?” I questioned as another loud clap of thunder rocked the house. My body went rigid once more as I grasped his shirt and pressed my head into his neck.

“You are beautiful, Lauren, especially when you're scared,” he laughed and hugged me tighter. “Do you think Danielle is going to wake up?”

Alex and I put Danielle to bed a few hours ago, but with the loud thunder it would be very possible that she would wake up. It would also put a damper on the little moment Alex and I seemed to be sharing.

“I hope not,” I admitted as I snuggled a little closer to him. “What did you say before Alex? Be honest.”

The man beneath me sighed and pressed his lips against my ear. “I told you, you're very beautiful.”

Butterflies attacked my stomach and tingled throughout my body as his words sunk in. His warm breath tickled my ear as I nuzzled his neck ever so slightly.

“Before that, jerk.”

“Oh,” Alex groaned before letting out a deep breath. His body froze beneath me and for some reason I couldn't help but get a little anxious.

We were talking about games, what could he possibly have to say about that? Just the way his voice sounded when it came out gave me enough reason to worry. But did I miss something? Was there something that I overlooked at the time? I sighed in anticipation and pressed my face into his neck a little more. He smelt wonderfully, intoxicating even.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. I pulled up and glanced down at him quizzically. While I don't really know French, what he said definitely wasn't I'm sorry.

“I said, 'back then, I was.'”