This time, kissing Alexia is different.

There is a tenderness to the way our lips meet, though the feeling is electrifying nonetheless. The walls that we rebuilt during our argument have now crumbled, and it is raw and passionate and so charged with emotion that it feels like every inch of my body has ignited.

Alexia responds with fervour, tangling her fingers in my hair as she deepens the kiss, our mouths moving in a dance of increasing need and desperation. My craving has not been sated, but, rather, worsened.

She tastes like salt and desire as we explore each other's mouths, our bodies pressed tightly together as if to remind one another that we are here and we are doing this. I slide my hands down her back, pulling her impossibly closer, heart thumping in my chest so much so that she is certain to feel it too.

Our hands roam, a blend of urgency and curiosity, clothes very much an afterthought. She moves ravenously, her fingers tracing a trail of fire along my skin. My breaths come in ragged gasps against her lips as I give in to being completely overwhelmed by her, each kiss pushing me further into a realm of total ecstasy.

"Ale, what is taking you so–"

We break apart, the outside world rushing into our senses once more.

Mapi stands behind Alexia as she turns with a guilty expression, but then she is glancing at my lips and pulling me inside her apartment, barreling past our friend. "Get out, María," she husks as Mapi gapes at us, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. At her failure to move, Alexia grows impatient. "Va, va."

"Madre mía, te dije que–" But we don't hear the end of her sentence, because the minute she is out of the way, Alexia slams her door shut and presses me against the nearest wall.

She pauses, hands resting either side of me, our breaths mingling in the little distance between us. "You..."

"I feel the same," I tell her, nodding.

She grins.

I kiss it off her face.

Her hands go back to being everywhere, mine mapping out her own body with equal lust. To think there are only four between us makes no sense, as her hands are on my waist and my neck and finally in my hair once more. I have never felt so desperate as her tongue presses into my open mouth, swallowing the moan she elicits from me.

"You are packed for tomorrow?" she pants, pulling away by a centimetre to ask. I nod — I am impatient — and pull her back to me, my hands finding their way up her t-shirt again, nails scraping against her tensed abs, following the divots and bumps as they lead me towards the curve of her breasts. She's not wearing a bra. It's a gateway into something more. Her breath hitches as my thumbs brush her hardened nipples. Raspy. In need. When I cup her flesh, her breath comes back and she moans. I want to chase that sound to the ends of the Earth.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper in her ear as she buries her face in my neck, her lips kissing every inch of exposed skin she can find. "I was scared and stupid and I... need you." It's more than that, and let her work it out of me as she sucks at my collarbone, pulling the collar of my t-shirt down so insistently that it is sure to be permanently stretched.

"Show me," she murmurs, taking my hand, leading me to her bedroom.

The air is thick with tension as we move through her hallway, our fingers intertwined. Each step brings us closer to a moment I have yearned for – have dreamt about for so long.

Her gaze fixes on me, as if committing every detail of my face to memory, and I smile, freed by how she does this so confidently. I turn the door handle as she cups my cheek, pulling me into a lingering kiss.

The back of my knees hits her bed as she nudges me inside, the material of her t-shirt breaking our kiss for just a moment as I tug it off her. Revealed is skin I have seen before, but skin I can now have my mouth on.

Alexia whines as I dip my head to her bare chest, taking her nipple between my teeth and gently biting. The sound makes me lose my balance, and we tumble onto her bed. I flip us, straddling her waist, and she pulls my neck down, meeting me halfway as she kisses me once more.

With my hands free and hers back in my hair, I blindly find the waistband of her jogpants, pulling it away from her tanned skin to allow my fingers to slide underneath the grey fabric. Her kisses grow dirtier, frankly obscene, as her head presses into her pillows, hand still gripping my neck to bring me with her.

My own hand cupping her over her panties, I let her tangle me in my t-shirt before finding a way to pull it off me without breaking our kiss for longer than a second. She gasps into my mouth as I circle her clit, and I ignore the ache between my own legs at the feeling of how wet she is. Alexia's hands run up my spine, fingers nimbly undoing my bra. She drops it to the floor.

Our skin meets with a shared heat, and the room seems to melt away. It is just us, and the tension that has been woven into our existence. Finally, it will dissolve.

Alexia keens under my touch, hands gripping my hips as I continue to work her up. Then, just as I dip my finger under her panties, she flips us, muscles flexed, eyes darkening.

It doesn't take long for her to fully undress me, hands explorative, appreciating the contours of my hips and waist. She touches me firmly, but there is an air of caution. She is holding back, as though she does not believe this is real. Her wistfulness slows us down, and I begin to squirm underneath her, wondering what I can do.

"Alexia," I settle on, my voice low, coming from kiss-bitten lips. "Alexia, por favor."

The bed rustles as she gets comfortable between my legs.

Her fingers slide through my wetness, easily sliding inside of me. My moans ripple outwards, hitting her over and over as she brushes my clit. I can't take her teasing me like this, but she catches my eyes and tells me to suck it up. Silently. Nothing else can be heard save for my filthy expressions of pleasure and the wetness between my thighs.

I lose sight of her between my legs as my eyes close. I'm nearly there, nearly finishing.

Alexia pulls away, moving up my body, though I let out a low groan in protest. She touches me with vigour, unleashed, and without control. She crushes my lips with hers, and I clutch her back, my nails dragging down the soft skin, scratching my own tattoos into the canvas. She is relentless in her assault, determined to show me that every inch of my body will be marked and claimed and loved by her, and my eyes open to the image of her completely devouring me. My hand falls from its hunt for pleasure, and I become frozen in place.

I can only see her, I can only feel her, hear her, taste her. The smell of her perfume and coconut shampoo with hints of vanilla and pride and desire cloud my nose and mouth as my whole world becomes Alexia.

Alexia, Alexia, Alexia.

She pinches my pebbled nipples, mouth on mine. I can taste my sweat on her lips. She smiles into the kiss. She speaks to me in Catalan. I have no idea what she is saying.

Too turned on and too bewildered to reply, I nod in agreement until I can give her a better form of acknowledgment. Right now every word gets caught in my throat and exits as a cry for more.

Touch me more.

She licks a stripe down from my breasts to my navel, running her tongue over my pubic bone, pressing kisses against my skin as markers along the way. Her hands rest on top of my thighs, holding them down and apart. Her fingers dig into me as she lowers her head to my sex, but my taste has her moaning and crossing her legs.

My ragged breaths spur her on as she circles my entrance, never quite inside of me. I would do anything for her to be inside me.

Finally, her tongue drags across my clit, flicking up, down, sideways. She kisses it, three times, and earns three almost-screams. I chant her name like it is a prayer; ecstasy on my tongue, dissolving dutifully until I ping and never come down.

I begin to get too restless beneath her, and she loses her grip on my thighs, caught up in using her tongue to completely break me apart. I am so sweaty, but I manage to lock my legs around her, pulling her in, thanking the muscles I have built. She sighs into me, and slides her tongue inside of me.

I cry out.

She carries on.

Her tongue works back up to my clit, swirling, sucking. She gasps against me as I squeeze my grip tighter, moaning scrambled words of encouragement that are broken by filthy sounds.

Alexia is known for how hard she works, and it seems to be ingrained into her in every aspect of her life.

I think I fall in love with her even more.

An explosion of sorts burns through my body. I shake, hands gripping her sheets, pulling them off from the corners. She is ruthless with her movements, moaning against me, the vibrations only adding to the overload of sensations she is giving me.

When my body gives in, I surge upwards, only to fall back down onto the mattress a second later. My eyes, previously scrunched shut, open, and then I almost come again at the sight of her wiping her face with the back of her palm in vain.

"¿Estás bien?"

I laugh at her question.

"Muy, muy bien," I affirm, sitting up. "Come here." This is the most affectionate either one of us has been so far, my tone caring. She lies beside me, chest rising and falling as she attempts deep breaths to calm herself. I turn towards her, kissing her neck, her shoulder; anything I can get to. She stares at the ceiling, revelling in the moment, taking in the smell of sex in the air.

And, as the night deepens, our touches becoming more languid, more messy, I savour the sensation of being so close. So connected. Our bodies find solace in a new rhythm. I ask myself why we didn't do this sooner.

━━━━━━━

The blaring of my alarm wakes us both up. It takes me a moment to remember its purpose, but then I do, and hastily untangle myself from her body. She lets me get a bit of distance between us before yanking me back into her, murmuring something unintelligible into my neck as she wraps her arms around me, holding me close.

"I need to go," I mumble, running my hand down her arm, releasing myself from her grip. "I need to drop off my cat at María's and then get to the airport."

"I don't want you to go," Alexia admits, her arm returning to its earlier home, her chest pressing against my back. "I really want you to stay." She presses a kiss to my bare shoulder, the touch burning through my senses.

Still, I'm not convinced.

"I need to find Oli."

She hums thoughtfully, leaning back slightly to retrieve her phone from her bedside table. A few clicks and taps, and she has a reply. "Mapi has Oli and Nala. She is a very good friend."

"She is," I agree, trying not to focus on the kisses Alexia is now placing at the base of my neck, my collarbones, my shoulder again. "I think we should..." I cut myself off with a gasp as she moves to straddle me, my heart speeding up as though it is trying to run away.

"What?" she asks with a smirk.

I groan, my hands coming to rest on her hips as she bunches the sheets around herself, lazily grinding down on my stomach. "...talk"

"Mmm." She nods, however insincere it may be. "Later."

"Not too long. I can't miss my flight."

"I will be quick."

━━━━━━━

We end up in a mad rush, too caught up in each other, too carried away, to notice how the clock ticks on and the hours until we part ways wane.

There isn't much time for talking as we race up the stairs to Mapi's apartment, knocking on her door impatiently. It's still relatively early in the morning, given that my alarm was set for six. She opens her door with a smug, but tired, expression, Ingrid waiting eagerly behind her.

Alexia talks to her rapidly, in Spanish neither Ingrid or I can understand, and it only takes a few minutes for us to be returned our pets, both of them glad to see us.

They seem to have made amends or put in place some kind of truce.

I allow Alexia to bring her demon into my home, provided she doesn't bother Oli as I settle him in his carrier, readying myself to leave this place empty until August. Even if we get knocked out early on, I have decided to not return to Barcelona for a good amount of time. I need to be with my family and make up for a lot of time spent moping about my own issues.

She isn't uncomfortable in my apartment, having been here before, but there is a certain look in her eye as she watches me change out of her clothes into mine, putting on the outfit I chose yesterday that will be equal parts comfortable and presentable.

I hand her the sweatshirt she let me wear, but she is holding one of mine already, the question not needing to be spoken. I unzip the larger of my two suitcases. "Are you sure?" She nods with a small, lovestruck grin, yesterday's confession hanging in the air surrounding us with a difficult conversation ahead.

"I will drive you," she says as I unlock my phone to call a taxi.

I don't think it's a good idea at all.

"We need to talk," I whisper against her lips as she walks me back into the closed door of my bedroom. "We are going to play in the biggest tournament in the world, and you are making it hard for me to care about it."

Alexia's eyes catch in the sunlight streaming through the windows, flecks of brown deep and meaningful. Everything else fades away. "I am?"

I close the distance between us, not wanting to give her an answer, our lips meeting in a delicate kiss that feels far too like a goodbye. We haven't even made it to the airport yet, and I already feel like I am losing a part of me.

Her lips are soft, and just as intoxicating as they were the first night we kissed.

As we break apart, I smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, admiring how perfectly it has fallen from her ponytail, deciding that this version of Alexia can never not be a work of art, worthy of being framed and displayed in a gallery. Then, I think better of it, not wanting to share her.

"Okay, we will talk in the car," she acquiesces, her reluctance understandable. "Where are we going?"

"María's house."  

notes: 

i am SO hungover meaning that this has not been read through x

anyway, here's your reward for putting up with these two 

i think mapi ran around their entire building trying to catch nala and oli and eventually did, probably proclaiming herself the best friend in the entire world and having a good gossip session with ingrid about why they have accumulated two new animals. they also both agreed they'd NEVER do that to bagheera.

thanks for reading!!!