by Sariah Skye
He grumbled.
Our discussion was interrupted by the screeching feedback of a microphone overheard. My hands immediately and involuntarily went to my ears. Mathias visibly cringed as well.
The band on the stage, opposite of the room announced their arrival, tuned up their instruments and began to play; a catchy R&B song that intrigued the room. The lead singer was a thin, ethereal appearing woman; pale, with long white hair in a long braid. Her skirt was short, her top nearly just as skimpy, not leaving much to the imagination. Her appearance seemed surprising with the music; I pictured someone like Alicia Keys or Joss Stone. Her voice, when she began singing wasn’t bad—but it didn’t fit the upbeat music. It was thin, and somewhat folk-sounding.
Still, the crowd was enthralled.
“Something is…off.” Bash observed.
“Yeah, they’re all idiots. She’s not very good,” I scowled.
He chuckled. “No, she’s not but…watch everyone.”
I scrutinized the crowd. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary; people swayed in tune to the song. Couples inched closer together, and those who weren’t part of a couple, found someone nearby. “Everyone’s just…dancing.”
“Yeah, they’re dancing. Similar moves. Watch.” Bash pointed at a young couple; an attractive African-American man with impeccable style, and an Asian-American woman. They were attached at the hands, opposite hands raised in the air as they grouped closer. Just as they raised their hands, so did everyone else. Not exactly in unison, everyone seemed to be about a beat or two off, but it was definitely strange now that he mentioned it.
“Okay…that is weird.” Besides the normal bump-and-grind, people generally did their own thing. Some could dance, some could not; that was just reality. But right now, everyone seemed to be in tune.
The singer started singing about secret places, and wanting to take “you” there—not sure who “you” was, but when she said it, everyone cheered.
“Definitely weird.”
“I’ll bet she’s some sort of enchantress.” Mathias grumbled.
“Great.” Bash said wryly.
“What’s an enchantress?” I asked.
“A sorceress, or a witch, with the power to compel people easily. We thought you were one, at first. Obviously, we were wrong.”
I scowled. “Oh, that’s not good.”
Xander nudged me. “See how everyone that’s been a wallflower is now joining the dance floor, and pairing off?” There were usually groups hanging around the walls, chatting or drinking, too afraid to join in. The insecurity would fall off them in waves, but even they were attaining a newfound sense of boldness. Some abandoned their drinks for the tables, others brought them along when they joined in the dancing.
“Yes, I do.”
Trystan downed the rest of his glass, setting it in the counter with a clink. He turned to order a new one, but the bartender himself was gone. He stood at one corner of the bar, cautiously dancing with another female clubgoer. The skanky bitch-bag, in fact. “This is bad. I can’t get my drink now.”
Bash smacked him in the chest. “Screw your booze, dude. Something is up here.”
Trystan growled. “Och, I know, dude. Chill.”
The waiflike singer’s eyes scanned the crowd. She looked pleased, as she started a new song. This one a bit slower, with a low beat. Her voice turned flirtatious as she began singing about finding your special someone to take “home”…in no uncertain terms. Her eyes landed on us—now currently the only people in the room not dancing—and she glared.
Someone pushed me, and also Xander beside me. “Get out there, before we look suspicious.”
My mouth dropped open, as I turned to Bash and flicked him off. “No way!”
“You have to, Ava! If anything gives it away that we’re supes…we might miss something,” he insisted in a hushed tone.
I snarled, turning to Xander. My expression fell when I saw the look of—disappointment? —on his face. “Why do you get stuck with me?”
“I actually like dancing. And I wouldn’t call it stuck, I’d call it incredibly honored,” he said, giving me that sideway, solicitous smile. My knees slacked, and I struggled to stay upright. “What are the others going to do?”
“Just walk around and see if we missed anything,” Bash said. “Mathias will keep watch.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t dance,” he said, stone-faced.
“What about the enchantress?” I whispered.
“I’m not afraid of a little parlor magic,” he said. “I’ll wait for Summer to respond,” he said, grasping my phone. I gulped nervously. “Xander will care for you out there. Trust me. Trust him.”
I nodded once, as Xander grabbed me by the hand and let me to the dance floor. He elbowed a couple of college kids away, and took me right into the center of the room. I swallowed, my vision beginning to haze from the noise, and the close proximity of everyone. My eyes darted around, not able to fixate on anything.
Xander placed two strong hands on either side of my waist. “Hey, Ava. Fixate on me. Not everyone else. Kay?”
Reluctantly, I resisted the urge to panic, staring at everyone else. I nodded as he turned my face forward with a finger, and some of the panic washed away upon looking into the depths of his dusky eyes. I managed to relax, slightly; even though I still partially wished I was just about anywhere else.
He pulled me closer to him; his form was a strong foundation to stabilize me. I gingerly placed my hands on his stomach, afraid about possibly moving them higher, and getting closer.
“You actually have to move too, Ava,” he said, with a wink.
I managed to smirk. “I’m not good at dancing when there are so many around.”
“You’ve been here before, right?”
I nodded once. “Yeah but I either have to be really drunk or the room empties out before I can really enjoy it.”
“It’s just me Ava. Ignore everyone else.”
“What about the enchantress?”
“Mathias will keep an eye on her. I’ll keep an eye on everyone else around us, and you just focus on me.” He pointed with two fingers into his eyes. I did as he requested; the intensity of his gaze was strong. It made my insides do funny, mushy things.
He grabbed my arms and lifted them around his neck. He tipped his hips toward me, and began to sway gently. “Just follow my lead.”
I nodded once, swallowing my anxiety twice, and mechanically tried to follow him. I felt more like a robot and less like a sexy dancer like everyone around me.
“You’re looking around again.” Xander said, cupping my chin, and turning my face toward him, once again.
“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed, and I really was. All these people, I just couldn’t—
Before I could finish my thought, Xander’s mouth crashed against mine. All of my terror and trepidation melted away as I dissolved into the kiss. Xander, his hand still under my face, tipped my head backward slightly. His lips parted, and his tongue swept across my lips gently. I breathed a light sigh into his mouth, and he took the opportunity to divide my lips further, seeking my mouth with his probing tongue.
The music strummed through our bodies, enhancing the moment further. His fingers released my face, and without his support, my neck went slightly weak. I let out the softest of moans as Xander masterfully trailed his lips over the corner of my mouth, down my cheek, and sought my neck.
My eyes slowly shut, and my breath hitched as he reached the soft spot under my ear; definitely my sexual Achilles heel. “Xan…” I started, but my breathing nearly stopped. My arms, still wrapped around his neck, pulled at him, needing him, wanting him closer. The same heat that stoked earlier was returning. I should have felt guilty, but the sensations Xander made me feel were heavenly. I noticed that our bodies swayed together, in unison, to the music now—but I barely noticed anyone here. It was just him, and me. No one else.
Xander’s hand snaked around my neck, and c
lutched the back of my hair. His lips found mine once again hungrily as he pressed against me. As we kissed, over and over, the music hummed in the background; I barely heard it anymore. It was merely a whisper in my mind, compared to everything else I was feeling. Heat. Arousal. The sparks of a connection. Our souls intermingling.
What? That was just crazy. Why did I think that?
I attempted to pull away, but just as I resisted, Xander met my challenge, his tongue seeking mine, and all reality and logic fell away once more. My eyes opened slowly, meeting his intense, dark heavy-lidded stare. My fingertips gently brushed across his jawline, and he smirked, before turning his head and kissing my palm. “Ava, I—” he spoke into my hand as a whisper, his voice vibrating and sparking against my skin.
I was lost in his gaze, and the sound of his voice when a heavy object slammed into me; and a cold substance spilled down my back. My eyes widened as I shrieked, and jumped as the cold dripped down my shoulders, and soaked my dress.
Xander snapped back to reality. He spun me around, eyes glaring at the skank bitch-bag who had been giving him the gooey eyes earlier.
She stood there, in the middle of the dance floor, drink cup high in the air, and overturned. “Whoops,” she said, her face full of caked on makeup, in an expression of mock innocence. I glared, as I wiped the offending substance off my neck, shaking out wet droplets from my fingers. There was little I could do about the rest of my dress, and the liquid which smelled like vodka dripped further down my back, into my underwear. “You bitch!” I screamed.
She grinned smugly but said nothing; her two equally skanky bitch-bag friends tittered with laughter around her.
I seethed with rage as I started to dive for her. I was pretty passive, but after her googly-eyes towards my men, her dirty looks, and now this? I was losing my shit. I didn’t even notice that the music had stopped, and everyone had stopped to stare at us as I lifted my hand, balling it into a fist.
Xander grabbed my arms and held me back. I struggled, but he whispered soothingly into my ear. “Don’t do it, Ava. She’s not worth it, you’re better than she is.” I relented; the warmth of his charged body relaxing against mine. My backside was pressed into the front of him, and all anger was nearly forgotten as I felt his own considerable need pressed against me. All thoughts of fighting? Gone.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?” He said, wrapping an arm around my middle and holding me close to him. I glanced at the bitch-bag and her gaggle of whore-friends, and flipped them the bird. Then for extra emphasis, I reached around and squeezed Xander’s tight backside, winking at her tauntingly. Xander seemed surprised, but didn’t protest. He just grinned.
She frowned, seething. I just laughed and turned away, letting Xander lead me away from the dance floor. And that was the perfect revenge.
The music resumed, and I assumed so did the dancing as we reached the hallway that led to the restrooms. A line hung out of the women’s, but the men’s’ was empty. Without protest, feeling chilled and soggy, I let him lead me into the men’s’ restroom.
Two young men were doing their business; one of them basically finished. Xander opened the door for them and pointed out. “Leave.” His tone was firm, with a hint of menace. The two men quickly zipped up, leaving without washing their hands or anything. I cringed. Yuck!
“Sure we can’t stay and watch?” One of the boys peeked his head back in the door, wiggling his eyebrows.
Xander lowered one eyebrow, frowning sternly from one side of his mouth. “Out.” Was all he said, voice low, and the young man scampered out. I reached for a holder of paper towels and began trying to wipe at my back awkwardly while looking in the mirror.
Xander slammed the door shut, and I heard a crackling sound. I looked over, a small bolt of lightning escaped his fingers and wrapped around the doorknob. There was a click, click and I knew it was locked.
“How’d you do that?” I asked, in awe, pausing in my wiping to watch him. “I thought you could only harness the current weather? There’s no storms out there.”
Xander eyed his hand, confused. “You’re right. It’s just sort of habit for me to call upon it when I need it. I haven’t been able to call on my magic since—” His eyes widened.
“Since when?”
He appeared embarrassed slightly. “Since I—umm…”
“Took energy from a girl,” I finished for him. The thought about him with someone else turned my stomach.
“Yeah,” he said, his smile bashful.
“Don’t be embarrassed. You can’t help it; it’s part of who you are. We all have things about us we wish weren’t so,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. I twisted and turned to try to reach the liquor that had been spilled on my back but wasn’t having much luck.
“Let me.” Xander grabbed a stack of paper towels himself, and began sopping up the offending liquid from my dress. I watched him in the mirror, curiously. We were polar opposites in looks, he a head taller than me as well, and somehow even though he just fit against me. Involuntarily, I leaned against him, and he grinned, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, pulling me tight. “This feels good,” he breathed into my neck, kissing me there once more.
“It does,” I agreed, then feeling suddenly insecure I pulled away. “But…”
“But?” He asked, as I spun around and glanced at him with hesitation.
The kiss I’d just shared with Mathias entered my mind. It was just as hot as Xander’s—and Bash’s for that matter, but in a different way. Bash’s was slow and needy. Mathias’ was commanding and gentle at the same time. Xander’s was electrifying and familiar.
“You kissed one of the other guys, huh?” Xander asked, tossing the towels into the waste basket nearby. He crossed his arms over his chest.
I blushed, and looked away from his expectant gaze. “Maybe…”
Xander sighed. He tapped his foot momentarily before raking his hands through his hair. “Ava, don’t feel bad.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “How can I not? Kissing three guys in the span of twenty hours? That’s skanky!”
“Three?” He smiled crookedly at me, shaking his head.
“I—shit.” I peeled the dress off my skin, and shook it out some. It was about as good as it was going to get. It was polyester, it’d dry fast, though I’d smell like a damn alcoholic. I couldn’t look at Xander’s face, as I stalked off, away from him. “I’ll just—find Summer.” I didn’t know what I was hoping to accomplish, I just knew that there was no way any guy would allow a single girl to kiss two of his best friends—his brothers basically—without getting pissed.
He clutched my arms as I passed him, and he pulled me back into his body, enveloping me in his embrace. “Ava. I can’t blame you for that. I knew this would happen—we all did.”
I looked up at him curiously. “You did?”
He sighed, smoothing a patch of unruly hair that had fallen from my updo. “You know what…?” With two hands, he searched for all the pins in my hair. He effectively pulled them out, tossing them on the sink as he smoothed my hair over my shoulders. “That’s better. Much more you. Much sexier,” he said, with a wink.
The compliment made me blush profusely.
“Ava, we are all attracted to you. I don’t know if it’s the incubus/cambion magic. I just know that, even after this short time, we see how amazing you are, and we can’t deny it,” he explained.
“How—when—?” I asked.
“Before you woke up. We had a chat. I knew things were going to get dicey, so we had to talk,” he said, and before I could question him further, he offered his explanation. “Basically, until you pick one of us, any of us is fair game. You can be with us however—kiss, hug, whatever—and we won’t get mad. We even shook on it, and as you know for dudes…” he grinned, winking.
“Some sort of brother thing, huh?” I sighed, looking away from his handsome face.
“One more thing.” He retrieved a paper towel from the holder,
and shoved his hand in his pocket. I lifted a brow expectantly as he pulled out a small brown bottle.
“What’s that? Some sort of potion?”
He chuckled, spinning the cap off, placing the top on the sink top before overturning the contents into the towel. “No, it’s lavender oil, mixed with sweet almond. Bash said it was good for anxiety—Mathias still gets it pretty bad. I just carry it for him. But it’s good for removing offending substances from skin too.” He gently began rubbing the sweet, heady oils over my skin: starting with my lips (which his fingers trailed over lightly after passing over with the towel), and cheeks before effectively rubbing my eyes. He took another dry towel and dabbed it over my skin. He threw it away, and clutched me by the shoulders. He grinned, as his eyes searched my face. “Mathias is right; this is much better.”
I reached up and touched my cheek, after glancing at myself in the mirror. The makeup had all basically been wiped away, leaving my blushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips behind; the oils making my skin glow lightly.
Xander leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. “You’re beautiful, Ava.”
“So are you,” I said, gazing at him with affection. He grinned. “Let’s get out of here before people start pounding down the door. You okay now?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” He took his hand in mine, and led me out of the restrooms back to the dancefloor. We hadn’t been gone long, but we noticed the enchantresses’ band had been replaced by a single deejay, that now played a slow R&B song.
We noticed Mathias at the bar, back against it, arms tight over his broad chest. One hand clutched a glass of Coke, the other wrapped around my cell phone. Xander nodded towards him, and I followed along.
“The crowd seems smaller now!” I observed. Xander and I paused, noticing that it was indeed smaller. Not by a lot, but at least about twenty couples were missing; not at the bar.
“You’re right.” Xander shrugged, and we had little resistance as we met Mathias.
“Heard from Summer yet?” I asked.
Mathias, eyes still low, looked upward without moving his head. “Nope. I’ve tried to get a hold of her too—using your phone. Called three times, texted about a dozen times. Nothing.”