The Third Kiss

by Kat Colmer

  I rubbed the towel hard over my skin, not doing my comfort level any favors. My hands shook as I stepped into my shorts. What the hell was wrong with me? I was acting all nervous, worse than a pubescent kid about to go on his first date. It’d been a while since puberty, and this was definitely not a date. No, this was only about making sure Cora was as safe as possible, about covering her with my Protection Charm.

  Yeah right. Like that’s the only covering you want to do. I groaned and braced my hands on the cool ceramic of the bathroom sink, let my head hang for a moment. One thing was undeniable: the awareness between Cora and me had been climbing steadily since the night in the gazebo. Yesterday’s T-shirt antics during training had only ratcheted it up and now, with my sweaty-palmed reaction to this Charm-invoking makeout session, I couldn’t lie to myself anymore: I had a thing for my best friend. It would all be nice and simple if it played out on a purely physical level, but I knew Cora on so many other levels. Which complicated things, made it difficult to separate the physical from…emotions. I winced; I didn’t do well with emotions. They led to cars wrapped around trees. To make things worse, I had a hunch Cora wasn’t completely unaffected by me, either.

  The beast of possibility was back, and its damn leash was missing. Shit. This had disaster written all over it. I just didn’t know for whom: Cora or me.

  Or both.

  You don’t have to go through with it. Call it off. Your choice.

  Choices. It always came down to bloody choices.

  When I lifted my head, the guy staring back at me from the fogged-up bathroom mirror looked a nervous mess. But he also looked dead keen to put his lips on his best friend.

  Screw it. I pushed off the sink and left the too-hot bathroom, praying I wasn’t walking straight into a disaster of my own making.

  My newfound resolve wobbled as soon as I stepped through my bedroom door.

  “What are you doing here?” Ah shit. Could you say anything more moronic? Of course I knew what Cora was doing in my room. It was the reason for my brain-to-mouth malfunction. My asshat comment threw her, because she suddenly looked unsure of herself.

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  No! “Um, no. I just wasn’t… No, don’t leave.”

  I stood there, staring at her like a kid from an all-boys school at his first mixed social. The sight of her by my bedside table, wearing only a tank top and pj shorts, caused something thick and hot to spread across my chest. Her gaze dipped to said bare chest for a moment, then swung to the pin board above my desk, and came to rest on a lone snapshot I’d stuck there some time ago.

  “I haven’t seen this before,” she said.

  Closing the door behind me, I slowly stepped farther into the room. “Beth took it.” One day in autumn before Cora left. The sky had been dull, a blanket of gray, but Cora’s smile—while we pelted each other with handfuls of dried leaves I’d spent all afternoon raking—was unforgettable sunshine.

  “You bitched for days after, remember? You were still finding dead leaves in your hair.” I smiled and she looked up at me then, a silent question in her wide hazel eyes. Eyes I couldn’t tear my own from at that moment.

  Downstairs, the garage roller door lurched open with a creak.

  “Your aunt is home.” Cora took a step closer.

  “Yeah.” Yeah? Ah man, good thing Cora wasn’t here for intelligent conversation, because I’d washed several IQ points down the drain in the shower. I ran the tip of my tongue over suddenly dry lips. Cora’s eyes tracked the movement. When she realized I’d caught her, she quickly turned to the fish tank on the other side of the room. “Thanks again for looking after Mr. Miyagi.”

  “No sweat.” Apart from the waterfall pouring off my hands. I rubbed my palms down my shorts. This was whacked; I was never this nervous around girls.

  Make a move, Jonas. No, this was her idea. She could start this. Except, I didn’t know if I was ready.

  I shoved a clammy hand into my hair and grabbed hold for a second. “So…what makes you think this idea of yours will work?”

  Cora turned around. The flush creeping up her neck revealed I wasn’t the only one wired about this. Good.

  She cleared her throat and met my gaze. “Pheromones.”

  “Phera-what?”

  “Chemical substances released by animals that influence the behavior of those in the same species.” She glanced down at the floorboards. “Mating behavior in particular.”

  Trust Cora to reduce this to nothing more than a chemical reaction.

  When I didn’t say anything, she continued. “My theory is that pheromone response plays a role here. The more we respond to one another’s pheromones, the more chance of the Protection Charm kicking in. That’s the only scientific explanation I can think of.”

  Yeah, because, for Cora, there had to be a scientific explanation. “So these pheromones are responsible for our…” Just say it—attraction. Undeniable, and lately, ever-present, mind-bending attraction.

  But she beat me to it. “Physical attraction.”

  I frowned. The emphasis she put on the word “physical” didn’t sit well with me. There was no time to analyze why, because she stepped closer and inspected the injured side of my rib cage.

  “The bruises are fading already.” She brushed careful fingers along my skin. It was a balmy twenty-plus degrees Celsius outside, but I shivered. “Does it still hurt?”

  “No,” I croaked.

  She looked up, and I fell headfirst into a pool of hazel. “Cora, I—”

  Her lips stole the rest of my words.

  The kiss started soft, warm, a little unsure. Then she slid warm palms up my torso, around my neck, and sank her fingers into my hair.

  And it sparked.

  I pulled her closer, needed her closer, pressed to my chest, hips digging into mine.

  Not close enough.

  She didn’t think so, either. She pushed into me. Two backward steps, and I was plastered up against my bedroom door, Cora’s length pressing hard against me.

  Mango. Her hair, her skin, everything smelled of the fruit. Damn, I loved that smell. It was summer and sweetness and satisfaction. It was home. I couldn’t get her close enough. I needed her under me, inside me.

  Craving more of her skin, my hands slipped beneath her tank top. I stroked up her back, careful not to touch the bandage over her gashes. Deliciously smooth skin stretched over lean muscle and—

  Shit, no bra!

  There wasn’t enough air in the room.

  Cora burrowed closer still, pressing up against all the right places. She did things with her lips that made me thankful my bedroom door was holding me up. Too soon she broke away.

  Quick breaths feathered my cheek as she glanced up at me. “You think that’s enough?”

  Enough? Hell no! I was fast realizing it might never be enough. Without thinking, my arms tightened around her. I skimmed my lips along her cheekbone, her forehead, inhaling the essence of her. “A bit longer. To make sure.”

  For a second, she searched my eyes with hers, must have found what she was looking for, because the next moment her mouth was back on mine, and my pulse stepped on the accelerator.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice whispered in warning. This here was a dangerous road. One wrong turn and I could crash and burn, end up wrapped around a tree.

  Cora’s hands found my sides, her touch burning up the warning with a different kind of heat.

  The kind that left you thinking about choices.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Cora

  I’d been smart enough to leave Jonas’s room straight after that second kiss to avoid any awkward tension. But I couldn’t escape it at breakfast the following morning. Between Jonas’s loaded silence and Beth’s sniper-like gaze burning a hole between my shoulder blades, it was just as well I didn�
��t crack the mug clamped vise-like in my hands as I waited for the coffee machine to hurry up.

  I wished she’d just ask her embarrassing questions about last night and be done with it already. Maybe then some of this awkward tension would dissipate, and we could focus on planning today’s Groth Maar infiltration.

  Jonas wasn’t helping with his constant proximity. Every time I turned, he was there. Like now, standing in front of me with his empty cup in hand.

  “Any left?” He nodded at the coffee machine behind me. Did he have to stand so close? His hair had that tousled just-got-out-of-bed look, and my fingers itched to smooth it over.

  I gripped my coffee mug tighter and gave him a clipped, “Yep.”

  Instead of waiting for me to get out of his way, he stepped even closer and reached behind me, effectively enveloping me with his upper body.

  His shirtless upper body.

  I quelled a sudden urge to press my lips to the inviting hollow between his shoulder and collarbone. Crap. Clearly any hope that last night’s makeout session would get him out of my system had been in vain. He was still there, a fever-inducing virus coursing through my bloodstream. Madam Curie tossed so much, nails popped in her casket.

  “Do you have something against clothing?” I said through clenched teeth.

  He pulled back slightly but not enough for me to breathe without getting a noseful of Eau de Jonas-Fresh-Out-Of-Bed. Coffee cup at his lips, he regarded me with way too perceptive eyes. “Didn’t hear you complaining last night.”

  I glared at him. “Don’t be a dick.”

  No, I hadn’t complained last night. Nothing to complain about. The guy could kiss. I knew I liked the way my synapses fired when we put our minds together, but the sparks that flew when Jonas put his lips on mine had me seriously unnerved. Biology, I reminded myself. But what if this insane attraction is based on more than just pheromones? I choked on the thought, as well as my coffee. The idea was too frightening to contemplate. Because I could never stand by and watch him charm the Ashleys, Sarahs, and Jess Tanners of the world when he thought I wasn’t looking.

  “Do you feel any different today?” Jonas’s voice dragged me from my unsettling thoughts.

  I blinked at him, once, twice. When he glanced at my injured side, I realized what he was talking about.

  “Um, yep. It doesn’t sting nearly as much.” I smoothed the fabric of my T-shirt over the bandages. It was the truth, but I was convinced the lack of pain had more to do with the disinfectant Beth had slathered over the wound rather than any workings of the Protection Charm.

  Jonas’s brows knit together, a dead giveaway he wasn’t happy with my answer. “So there’s still some pain?”

  “Not pain, more discomfort.” I shrugged. “What did you expect? I can’t imagine the Charm works on old wounds.”

  But it did work a treat on his wounds. A cursory glance at his side revealed flawless skin—no trace of any trauma or bruising. Unbelievable. On impulse I reached out to stroke the spot but pulled my hand back when something flared in Jonas’s eyes. A memory of last night?

  I took another gulp from my mug and glanced over his shoulder at Beth watching us intently from where she sat at the kitchen table. For all I knew she could see the electrical arcs zapping back and forth between us. A grilling was inevitable. I stepped away from Jonas and got busy foraging for cereal in the pantry before I embarrassed myself.

  “So, even though it’s making me gag on my toast, I have to ask…” Beth eyed both of us from across the kitchen, a look of curious distaste on her face. “How did the whole saliva-swapping go last night? Think it worked?”

  I poured milk over my cornflakes and sat at the kitchen table opposite her, careful to avoid eye contact with Jonas. “It’s hard to say. We won’t know until we test it with a Groth Maar.”

  Jonas pulled out the chair between Beth and me, its legs screeching across the floor. “Which plays right into your hands since we won’t know if it works until it’s too late.”

  Not this again. “Don’t start. I’m going with you and that’s that.” He couldn’t do this alone. Couldn’t he get it through his thick skull? “Admit it, Jonas, you need me.”

  The intensity in the look he sent my way made my cornflake-laden spoon freeze halfway to my mouth. “Yeah, but I don’t have to like it,” he said under his breath before he slid his gaze to the coffee and toast in front of him.

  Beth shook her head at her brother. “Quit your sulking. She’s going. And so am I.” She lifted her chin, daring him to tell her otherwise. He didn’t. Instead, he bit into his toast, resigned.

  I was in two minds about Beth going. The venture was dangerous, and she lacked the martial arts skills Jonas and I had, but she wasn’t as useless as everyone made her out to be. When push came to shove, I had a feeling Beth would shove hard. The question was, would it be hard enough to knock a Groth Maar demon off his perch?

  “So when are we leaving?” I was trying hard not to spin out about the surrealism of the situation. I mean here we were, planning a demon ambush over coffee and cornflakes. Unbelievable.

  Jonas chased his mouthful of toast with some coffee. “After a visit to Professor Scholler’s place. He rang this morning, said he had something we needed to take along.”

  “Any idea what?” Beth asked.

  “No. But he gave me the impression it would be useful.”

  I snorted. “What? Garlic and holy water?” Jonas and Beth didn’t look appreciative of my witty comment.

  “Hey, we all have different ways of coping with this insanity. Mine’s sarcasm.” That, and a good dose of suspended disbelief.

  “And Leo?” Beth asked, ignoring me.

  “He’ll meet us at the prof’s place,” Jonas said. “We’ll go in his Corolla from there. It’s more reliable.”

  “And then what?” I needed more detail, a carefully planned-out scenario.

  Jonas raked both hands through his sleep-mussed hair. The tremble in his fingers wasn’t encouraging. “I’m hoping Leo had a decent look at the place and will be able to help us with an entry point.”

  Seriously? “That’s the plan?” That wasn’t a plan. It wasn’t even an outline of a plan.

  Jonas glared at me. “That’s the best we can do with the information we have.” He leaned closer. “If it bothers you, you can always stay here.”

  “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t let Cora out of your sight?” All three of us whipped our heads around at Helena’s voice coming from the kitchen doorway. Usually her heels gave fair warning of her arrival, but this morning she was barefooted.

  And wearing a summer dress instead of her usual office getup.

  She ambled across the kitchen, and after inspecting the meager offerings left in the coffeepot, turned the kettle on.

  Beth exchanged a worried look with Jonas. “You’re not going into the office today?” she asked.

  “Not straight away. I have a meeting later in the day, but I thought I’d take the morning off. It’s been a busy week.” Helena leaned back against the kitchen counter and turned her gaze on Jonas. “Back to my question, is there a problem with our original arrangement of you keeping an eye on Cora?” She anchored several loose strands of her blonde bob behind one ear and crossed slender arms over her chest as she peered at him, waiting for a reply.

  “No, no problem,” I jumped in. “I’m more than happy to tag along with him today.” I smiled at Jonas, all superficial sweetness.

  My reward was a dirty look.

  “Jonas?” His aunt asked for confirmation.

  “No problem, Aunt Helena,” he said quickly, narrowed eyes still fixed on mine.

  Satisfied, Helena nodded and went about making her breakfast. “So where are the three of you off to this morning?”

  Jonas turned to me with a sickly sweet smile. “Yeah, Cora, tell Aunt Helena where we’r
e off to this morning.” He really couldn’t help being a dick at times.

  “We thought we might go for a bush walk in the national park, up America Bay way.” The best lies always had fragments of truth in them. That was what I’d learned watching Mom pull the unfaithful wool over Dad’s eyes.

  Unable to hold Helena’s gaze any longer, I toyed with the remaining cornflakes in my bowl. When I looked up, her brows were drawn together over her intelligent brown eyes. I hated lying to her. After what seemed like forever, she finally dropped her curious gaze from my face. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding.

  “It’s meant to get hot today,” she said. “Be careful. Take plenty of water.”

  Jonas pushed away from the table. “Don’t worry. We know what we’re doing.”

  I glanced at Beth. Had she spotted the tense lines around his mouth as he rinsed his breakfast dishes? They were a dead giveaway that, really, we had no idea what we were doing.

  Shortly after nine that morning Jonas, Beth, Leo, and I were in the professor’s study. Half sitting, half leaning against the front of his writing desk, Professor Scholler peered over his wire-rimmed glasses at Jonas and me, incredulity widening his eyes.

  “I have to say, I’m having trouble believing you managed to beat off those two Groth Maar demons last night.”

  I shifted between Jonas and Beth on the couch. The professor’s surprise at our success made me fidget. I glanced sideways at Jonas and almost groaned when the lines around his mouth tightened some more. Silently, I willed the professor to shut up. I didn’t need him to put any more doubts about my involvement in today’s activities into Jonas’s head.

  “If you had so little faith in our ability to beat them off, why did you let us attempt it in the first place?” Jonas asked.

  Scholler had the grace to look chagrined. “It’s not that I lacked faith in your ability, Jonas. It’s simply the further I delve into Richard’s notebooks, the more I come to realize the Groth Maar are dangerous opponents, ones who have never been bested. As for letting you go, it isn’t like you had many other options. Cora can’t stay housebound forever. They would have got to her eventually.”