My heart feels like it’s slowly climbin’ up my throat as Alder moves to my other hip and snips the line of fabric there too. I don’t even hear him breathin’, like his inhale is caught in his chest, too. I’m completely aware of his barely-there touch where his finger is pinchin’ the fabric away from my skin, and where Flint is still holdin’ my leg.
With both sides cut, Alder slowly grips the strip of underwear, and bit by bit, it’s pulled from my ass and between my thighs. There’s somethin’ erotic and wicked about the feel of what he’s doin’, and desire floods me despite my efforts to tamp it down. When the cool air hits my bare, damp center, I have to suppress a moan. As soon as the panties are gone, I feel Flint’s hand tighten on my leg, his fingers diggin’ in hard. I trap my bottom lip between my teeth at the heat comin’ from his palm.
Plink.
More glass is pulled from around my ankle and dropped into the bowl. Luckily, these pieces are smaller, though I still don’t feel a thing.
Clearin’ his throat with a raspy grumble, Alder moves in closer, his height loomin’ over me as his fingers skate up to gently grasp the strap of my bra. “Almost done,” he says, but his voice is low and strained.
My eyes flick up to his face, but his attention is on my shoulder, and I watch as he swallows hard and slips the shears beneath my strap. Cool metal grazes over my hot skin as he makes the snip. He shifts to touch my other shoulder, snippin’ that strap next, and my chest heaves, my breasts risin’ and fallin’ with every breath as both straps fall uselessly against my chest.
He moves behind me until I can feel his hands on my back and his breath on my neck. My legs feel a little weak, but it has nothin’ to do with the fight. Alder’s fingers dig beneath the back strap, and my nipples pebble like they’re strainin’ to push the bra off and greet the air and their eyes. I feel the scissors slip in, and he’s so careful not to cut me.
One more snip, and I feel the bra loosen and start to fall. He catches the mangled and bloodied lacy fabric in his hand and drops it to join my thong, tank top, and skirt on the floor.
I breathe deeply as I try to think through the lust and vulnerability I feel right now, standin’ completely naked in front of two demons I’m wildly attracted to. I’ve tried to be rational, to tell myself that attraction is a bad idea, especially when there’s so much up in the air right now. But I can’t help it. Right now, all I can think about are the things I’d like to do with these two right here in the shower, and I’m not even sorry.
I stand frozen, the heat of Alder at my back, surroundin’ me and nearly makin’ my eyes roll to the back of my head. It’s nearly an out-of-body experience, except I’m soinsideof myself that all I can do is feel. He’s so still, and when I look down, his hands are clenched into fists, like it’s takin’ everythin’ in him not to touch me.
“Please…” I say, the word passin’ out of my lips in a breathy hitch.
Alder’s hands lift up, and I feel the barest touch as he moves my hair over my shoulder, before placin’ a whisper of a kiss onto the side of my exposed neck. But just as I sway toward him, my body actin’ on its own, his lips are gone and he’s taken a step back from me, makin’ me whimper from the loss of him.
“She’s going through an itch,” Alder announces, his voice even gruffer than before.
“I know. I can smell it too,” Flint answers, his voice and face tense as he drops another glass shard into the bowl.
My brows pull together. “I’m not itchy,” I defend, bewildered as more need pours into my body.
“Not that kind of itchy, Medley,” Alder says. “You’re experiencing what demons callan itch. It happens to some of us when our adrenaline spikes and we fight. An itch is the extreme emotions that can occur afterward. Some demons experience rage, or sorrow, some have an intense sense of clarity...and some feel an extreme level of arousal.”
Ding, ding, ding,a winner’s bell goes off in my head. I know which one I’m experiencin’.
“Just try to breathe through it, Peaches. It should calm down soon,” Flint tells me, but his nickname for me suddenly makes me think of that song that used to play on the radio on throwback night, called “Peaches and Cream,” and they weren’t talkin’ about a dessert in that song, that’s for damn sure.
“Here’s the thing,” I start as I stare into Alder’s beautiful eyes. “I don’t want to breathe through it. I’d much rather the two of you get naked with me, and we orgasm our way to glory. Doesn’t that just sound like a more fun way to take care of my itch?”
Flint groans, but it’s the kind of groan you make when someone offers you a bite of rich chocolate cake and you’re supposed to be on a diet.
“Flint, you’re in the perfect position to start on mypeach,” I tell him with a flirty smile, hopin’ I just tainted his nickname forever with thoughts of my vagina. “And Alder, now that you got me naked, you can play with the front porch and kiss me stupid,” I tell him, pointin’ to my hard nipples and the needy heaviness in my breasts. “Ready, team, and break,” I announce like some football coach reject.
A grin spreads across Alder’s lips, but he must’ve not heard me right because those beauties are supposed to be doin’ other things aside from smilin’.
“May the Morning Star guide me, because I swear to fuck, Alder, I don’t know if I can say no,” Flint confesses, his head hangin’ down and his eyes on the bowl of glass, like he doesn’t trust himself to look at me.
“Good, then don’t,” I tell him cheerily as I start hummin’ “Peaches and Cream.”
Flint looks up at Alder, his face pleadin’.
But to my giant disappointment and embarrassment, Alder shakes his head. “We can’t. Not like this. You know what an itch is like. You’re not in your right mind. If we do, and it’s something she regrets, we could fuck things up beyond repair. We have to do this right with her. No rushing. And we have to put the needs of the Gate first,” he tells Flint.
An irritated snort shoots out of me. “I want it, so don’t go gettin’ all chivalrous on me now,” I counter.
Alder crosses his arms and looks at me with determination. But if he thinks that’s gonna help deter me, he’s dead wrong. He should’ve picked up on the fact that I like that scowl he makes when his forearms are flexed like that. It doessomany things for me.
I step forward until my naked breasts are pressed right against said forearms. “Believe me, I’ve been wantin’ it for way longer than right now in the bathroom with a demonitch,” I tell him, my eyes glitterin’ with both challenge and unmistakable lust.
His eyes bank with heat, droppin’ down to my heavin’ breasts, and he bites on his lip as he watches my nipples press against his skin. “Fuck,” Alder announces as he quickly drops his arms. Cheers go off inside of me because I’m sure I just won.
