Her eyebrows shot up. Suddenly she was full of energy. “Present your work?”
Watching her light up with joy, Alex let himself smile in return. “By this point, I think you know it better than I do.”
“Lovely.” Fern bounded around the lectern and bumped him out of the way with her hip. “Allow me.” Fern’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
She took a deep breath and stood up tall behind the podium, making a big show of organizing Alex’s notes as he took a seat in the first row with a smirk.
Fern cleared her throat. “My most esteemed colleagues,” she droned in the sweeping, dramatic tone favored by his professors. Alex burst into laughter as she continued, naming each of his examiners in turn and praising their work, most of which she made up on the spot. “And Professor Buttersworth,” she said, feigning a swoon and fanning herself, “Your work on the multiple derivatives of the Pythagorean theorem," she said in a low, husky voice that set his pulse racing, “simply thrilling!”
Alex gave her a mock scowl, then sat up ramrod straight, hand high in the air. “Excuse me,” he called in a shrill voice. “I simply can’tbelieveyou haven’t thought of this before! Have you evengoneto school?”
Fern’s eyes shot wide, but they sparkled with mirth. “You’re mockingmenow? Really? After all of yourthese books are for mathematics students onlynonsense!” She scrunched her nose up and shook her finger at him sternly. “Can you read French? Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
“I never said that!” Alex retorted, coming up to stand behind her, nearly doubling over with laughter.
Fern giggled as he grasped her by the waist, pretending to wrench her away from the lectern. She, as he had expected, fought back, gripping the sides with all her might as she shook with laughter.
Without warning Fern spun around and put her hands to his sides, tickling under his arms. Alex let out an undignified shriek and lept back, causing Fern to grin with delight as she pursued him. “Stop!” he laughed, unable to control himself, flinching before her fingers even reached him.
“I’m not even touching you.” She smirked as she approached him like a predator stalking its prey.
“You’re tickling me with your mind, then,” he gasped, failing to contain his laughter.
Fern lunged forward and Alex, ready for the attack, gripped her hands before she could make contact, spinning her around and under his arm so her back pressed against his chest, their arms wrapped together just under her breasts.
They froze in place, chests heaving. Alex’s breath drifted over her hair, and he let himself breathe in her scent, the mix of grass and honey he had come to crave. He tilted his head down, brushing his lips lightly over the hollow below her ear. She shivered but did not pull away. After a beat, she relaxed against him and he closed his eyes, relishing in her proximity. How could he possibly convince her what they shared was special? That it was worth fighting for, consequences be damned?
Her breathing changed. He could feel it coming faster, but also deeper somehow, as she tilted her head to give him more access to the delicate curve of her neck. Alex let his lips drift along the slim column until he reached her shoulder, feeling her pulse thrum against his skin.
Their breath rose and fell together as she leaned further into his arms. Holding her close, sharing her inhales and exhales, felt right, as though he had found his way home. Alex released her hands and brushed one palm against the underside of her breast until his thumb drifted up and found her peaked nipple. Her breath caught as he stroked again over the tender bud. She arched further into his touch, moaning softly as his hands opened to hold both of her breasts in his palms.
“Tell me to stop, Fern, and I will,” Alex murmured against her ear.
He expected her to protest, but instead, she turned her head towards him, tilting her chin until she caught his lips in answer.
Lifting one hand to cup her jaw, Alex fed on her mouth hungrily. He felt a sudden need to know her completely, to discover every part of her body, how to make her sigh and moan and smile. His tongue found hers and they clashed, sparring as they had so many times with their words.
Fern spun in his arms to face him fully and Alex did not hesitate to drop his arm low around her waist before dropping his palm to her bottom, pulling her flush against him. She moaned in response, her breath catching as she pressed her hips against his arousal.
For a wild moment, Alex wanted nothing more than to take her there in the lecture hall, to have her body and soul. The fabric of her skirts bunched in his hands as he lifted it higher and higher—
Fern pulled away so quickly that he almost fell backward. She stared at him, her hazel eyes glistening. “What are we doing?” she whispered, her voice so low he could barely hear it over the staccato of his pulse.
Alex leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers and letting their breaths mingle. “Fern, I—” He exhaled heavily and pressed his eyes shut as he shook his head. “This is impossible.”
“My sister.” Her voice sounded like a prayer. “Your career. We would ruin all of it.”
“But I can’t ignore this.” His voice trembled with the force of his emotions. “Can you?”
She tipped her chin low, and Alex couldn’t resist placing a soft kiss on her head. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Don’t you?” he retorted, taking her hands and gripping them tightly. “Of course you have a choice. We have options, there is nothing so impossible to overcome if you’re willing to try.”
“You’re willing to give up your future?” Fern stepped back from him, and he felt the sudden cold of her absence deep in his chest. “I don’t think my father will look kindly on you if you toss over one daughter for another.”
Alex flinched. So much was tied up in his relationship with Rose, it seemed impossible to untangle it all. But how could he possibly give up Fern?
“We could try,” he said, taking her cheeks in his hands. “We could talk to your father. We didn’t plan this, we just need to be honest. He can’t be angry if we tell the truth.”
