(a/n) Just wanted to let y'all know that this is sort of a steamy chapter. So read at your own cost.

My heart continued to hammer at an irregular pace throughout the rest of the drive. Just being in Alex's presence makes my mind wobbly and irrational. Throw in a steamy kiss, and him pressing his hardness against my inner thigh, and you can assume how well my mind took that.

One word: terribly.

Just the feeling of his warm hands on my waist had my whole body screaming for more. I had never felt that kind of hunger before. It was so raw and powerful, it consumed me and the only thing that mattered at that moment was showing Alex just how much he meant to me. He ignited a flame deep inside my soul and I don't think it can be extinguished.

It was hard pulling away from him, the storm was getting worse and I had to get home before the streets flooded. If I had the chance, I would've stayed in his arms forever, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

Somewhere along the ride, in the midst of talking and conversation, he had placed his large hand that wasn't on the wheel comfortably upon my uncovered thigh, almost covering the whole thing with its largeness. Every so often he'd innocently swipe his thumb across my skin making me stumble on my words due to how flustered I was.

I cover my heart with my palm, hoping to quiet down the harsh noise it was making against my chest. If he turned down the volume of the radio just a tad bit I swear the beating organ would echo throughout the car.

I forget about my nerves as the building of my apartment complex looms ahead, its edges blurred into the darkened night. It's only ten stories high but with the effect of the harsh rain and gloomy clouds, it somehow resembles a depressing medieval castle as we pull into its parking lot.

"Your stop milady," Alex quirks before turning the car off. The hum of the engine slowly winding down fills the air until the storm is the only thing we hear.

"Thank you for taking me home, Alex," is all I manage to force out before quickly looking away from his smirking face, trying to hide my blush. Maybe he won't be able to see it in the dark.

A husky laugh comes from him. "Don't think I can't see you turning pink over there." His rough hands cup my cheeks, my breath hitches as chills run down my spine just from his touch. He picks my head back up and places a small peck on my nose. "There she is," he says in a low deep tone, "there's my pretty doll. Don't hide your face from me, you don't know how happy I get when I see you blush and I know I'm the cause behind it." I can feel my whole face burn from embarrassment but all Alex does is chuckle. "Absolutely adorable."

I groan and lean my head onto his chest, trying to hide my face from view. "You're just making it worse," I whine.

"I would never do such a thing. That doesn't sound like me at all," he boasts.

I scoff in amusement and pull back, not realizing how close I am to his face. From here I can see speckles of brown mixed in his honey eyes, reminding me of a golden beach on a bright summer's day. My eyes dip down to his lips, tempting me to be close to them once more.

"Dani," he whispers, his minty breath caressing my face.

Unconsciously I wet my dry lips with my tongue, earning a small tremor from Alex.

His eyes stay on mine until our mouths are close, almost meeting. His blonde lashes fluttered lightly upon his tanned cheek.

Closing the remaining space between us, I lean in and kiss him, but not where he was wanting it most. I try to contain my laughter, keeping my eyes on his puzzled face through the shadows. He places a hand against his cheek, shock radiant in his eyes.

Payback feels so good sometimes.

I smile innocently before opening the car door. "Wanna come up and watch a movie with me? I have a delicious bag of kettle corn that has your name written all over it."

He blinks a few times, still lost in thought, before answering. "Y-Yeah," he coughs, "yeah, I'd love to watch a movie with you."

I beam. "Great! Watch out for the puddles, ticks love making their way in there during rainstorms."

His eyes widen and all I can do is laugh before slamming the door in his face and running to the stairs on the far side of the building. Immediately my clothes are drenched and my hair is soaked upon my scalp.

"Oh shit." I hear Alex say as he shuts his door. "Dani you're gonna catch a cold! At least take my jacket." This just makes me run faster, my legs starting to burn. "Dani!" I hear the sound of his shoes slapping against the wet pavement behind me.

I break out laughing, knowing I'm too far ahead for him to catch up.

"Dani, get back here and take my jacket!"

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"Alex, you can stop hovering around me, I'm fine." I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the kitchen counter.

"You were soaking wet when we got in here. You could have a cold and we wouldn't know until tomorrow and by that time it's too late." He copies my stance from across the small island.

Ever since Alex had caught up with me, he's been making a big deal of me running out in the rain. The first thing he made me do when we got inside was to get out of my soaked clothes and take a warm shower.

Now standing in my fluffy penguin pajama bottoms and an overly large Mickey Mouse hoodie, I'm about to argue against his statement but the microwave ringing out stops me. I turn around and quickly pull the popcorn bag out by its tips, not wanting to add burnt fingers to the list of 'Will Dani's life ever get better than this?'

Standing on my tiptoes I stretch my arm up and reach for the large bowls that are in my top cabinet. This is something Claire likes to do to me so she can watch me struggle. Since I stand at a good five feet and three inches, almost everything and everyone is taller than me, so because of this, whenever she gets the chance, she purposely places my dishes on the highest shelf so I can't get to them.

I feel a hard chest press lightly against my back. One thick arm wraps around my waist while the other outreaches my arm and snatches the bowl I was trying, yet failing, to obtain. "I just don't want you to get sick. Being in hot and cold conditions can be dangerous and I don't want to see you like that." He steps closer to me and places the bowl on the counter. I can feel all the hard ridges of his chest through the back of my hoodie before he moves my hair to the side and places soft kisses along my neck. "Also, I wouldn't be able to kiss you if you got sick. Cooties and all, you understand."

"Oh har har you're so funny," I snort, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that erupted all over my body.

"And you. Look. Ravishing," he says roughly, giving my neck kisses between each word.

I gasp as his mouth meets the sensitive part where my shoulder meets my neck.

"You're d-distracting me. I have to get the popcorn ready for our movie." That was probably the furthest thing on my mind. All I can think about is the way his hands feel gripping onto my hips and the scorching marks he's leaving upon my neck.

A growl vibrates through his chest to my back and I'm turned around. I'm caught off guard by his lust-filled gaze. He picks me up and sets me onto the counter behind me, standing between my legs. His hands grab my ass and pull me to the edge till I'm flushed against him.

He still manages to stand an inch or two taller than me but I can't help but love this.

"I think the popcorn can wait for a bit." His heated gaze stares into mine with so much emotion. Desire, hunger, and admiration, all in one. Then everything exploded when his hot lips attacked my neck. I can't help but let out a faint moan when he sucks on its most sensitive part.

My lower half heats up and I can't help but wrap my legs around his back, wanting to bring him closer to create some sort of friction against my core.

He catches on quickly and hoists me up, keeping my thighs around his hips, and walks us to the couch. Grabbing his face, I bring his lips up to mine and kiss him, trying to assert dominance that I clearly didn't have. Hopefully, I'm doing this correctly, I've never experienced more than a peck on the lips and the last thing I need is Alex thinking I'm inexperienced.

I feel his tongue sweep against my bottom lip but I ignore this and continue what I'm doing. We make it to the couch and Alex sits down, making me straddle him which I don't mind. He wastes no time and reconnects our mouths with a fiery passion. I tangle my hand in his golden locks and tug, not knowing where this newfound confident woman is coming from, but trying to grasp onto her for as long as possible.

I pull away to catch my breath but this doesn't stop Alex from leaving open mouth kisses down my jaw, nipping and sucking here and there.

"Alexander," I plead out in a breathless moan. The name feels right rolling off my tongue.

He groans into my neck and runs his hands up my thighs and over my ass, pulling me closer to him. I can feel him right against my center and I'm filled with a new rush of excitement.

"Say my name again doll," he growls, tightening his grip on my backside.

"Alexander," I squeak out.

"Again." He grinds against my sensitive core and I swear my eyes roll into the back of my head.

"Alexander," I moan out, not caring if my neighbors hear through the walls.

He brings his hand to the back of my neck and pulls me forward, nipping my bottom lip. I gasp and he takes this opportunity to stick his tongue in my mouth.

A throaty growl leaves him as I timidly roll my tongue with his, wanting to taste him.

How did I go so long in life without this? This feeling of euphoria and blissfulness.

Tiny moans continue to leave me as Alex grinds his lower half into me. I can feel my wet underwear pressing uncomfortably to my inner thighs.

Suddenly, my lips are cold and I open my eyes to see Alex leaning away. I reach up to try and bring him closer but he wraps one hand around both my wrists and holds them down.

I already feel my face burning up.

I start to crawl off his lap. Gosh, this is so embarrassing. This is not who I am, I don't just throw my morals out the window and sexually attack the first man who gives me attention. Also, on top of that, I have no idea what I'm doing. Of course he'd want to stop, I'm as inexperienced as a newborn baby trying to eat pudding for the first time.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alex questions before tugging my wrists, hard, until I'm seated right back on his lap. With his other hand, he tilts my head up till my eyes meet his concerned ones.

"It's okay if you didn't like it. The kissing I mean. I know I'm not as good as the other girls you've probably been with." His eyes harden but I continue before he can speak. "Look, we just got caught up in the moment, I understand if you want to put this behind us and not-"

He stops me with a soft peck on the lips.

"You must be absolutely out of your mind if you think I want to forget that." His intense stare makes me fidget but I stop when I hear a low growl from him. He lets go of my wrists and grabs my hips, keeping them in place. "I didn't want to make you feel pressured, like you had to continue. I care about you too much to want to make you do something you're not ready for, but that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy what we did."

Lightly, he peppers sweet kisses across my face and I giggle, shoving him away.

"I've been wanting to kiss you since I got back into town." Sincerity shines in his eyes.

"You promise you're not saying that to make me feel better?" My mind flashes to the memory of my first date in high school.

I don't ever want to feel that way again. Like a pawn in someone else's game.

"I promise doll." He pecks my lips. "Now go get that popcorn, I can't wait to get this movie night started," he says and beams out a megawatt smile.

He didn't have to tell me twice.

I scramble off his lap and into the kitchen. The bag of popcorn was already cold but that wouldn't matter as they'll be gone about ten minutes into the movie. I run and turn the lights off before jumping on the couch next to Alex. He laughs and throws his arm around my shoulder, grabbing the plastic bowl and putting it between us. I snuggle deeper into him and press play, cherishing this perfect moment.

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WOOOOOW 

What a chapter.

Sorry if it's a little cringe, but I did try my best, so A for effort and whatever. I spent all day writing this chpater so I'm very sorry if there are grammar mistakes or holes that I forgot to fix in the story.

Please let me know what you thought of this somewhat steamy chapter in the comments and give it a like cuz this shizz isn't easy lol

I'm going to try and upload on Fridays and Tuesdays so make sure to watch out for this.

Hope you enjoyed your time in Joker's Basement

- Meraki_Kalon

:)