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How the hell did they even agree to do this was beyond even them, but Alejandro and Heather somehow found themselves alone in the cargo hold…
Making out.
Well, perhaps a little context is needed.
Earlier that day…
If falling off of Niagara Falls wasn’t enough, Heather and the other losing contestants were now on top of Owen praying to whoever could hear them for the blonde boy to swim fast enough away from the sharks chasing after them.
At some point when they were close enough to land, everybody scrambled and tried to leave the river before the others. Amidst the mess, having a bunch of people topple her and having her now very heavy wedding dress getting in the way, Heather was worried that she would end up being the one left behind for dead.
However, that feeling soon disappeared when she felt a pair of strong arms grab her. With one hand under her knees and the other around her back, Heather’s husband-for-the-day, Alejandro, was now ironically carrying her bridal style away from danger and running to the shore.
She tried not to notice how good he looked while dripping wet, or how well she could feel his defined muscles while he carried her. What she did notice was the apprehension stamped on his face.
Was he worried about her? Did he come back…for her?
As they reached the sand, Alejandro returned to his usual demeanor taking Heather out of her train of thought.
"Safe and sound, mi sirena." He grinned with pride. "Aren’t I a good husband?"
"A good husband wouldn’t have let us fall and cost us the challenge!" She admonished him, already putting all those pesky thoughts in the back of her head.
"Don’t worry, this was a challenge we could afford to lose." He put a hand on her back and took her away from the others, speaking in a quiet tone. "We can easily get the others to vote for Owen."
"And who says I’m voting for him?" She frowned.
Before she could continue he interrupted, more serious this time. "Remember what Blainely said? Owen is the fan favorite. Last season the winner was decided through a vote, not to mention Chris could always make up some new rule or challenge decided by the audience." He arched an eyebrow. "If Owen stays, who do you think is going to be benefited from that?"
Heather crossed her arms and scowled. He was right, she knew it. And she hated that.
Alejandro smiled in that sly manner he always did, knowing his words had taken effect. "I’ll leave you to think about it."
And with that, he walked away.
Alejandro draped his bath towel over his naked shoulders and grunted before leaving the bathroom. He had already taken two showers and swallowed lord knows how many mints, and yet Owen’s stench still lingered in his nostrils. He was so mad he could have bent the metal in the walls! And here he was thinking Owen could no longer pester him after his departure…
"Yo juro, if I am still able to smell that butter donkey by tomorrow, I am going to start drinking perfume!" He spoke through his teeth.
"I guess I’ll have to start hiding my Pure Poison." Alejandro turned to see a very entertained Heather closing a perfume bottle with those same words inscribed in it after applying a few sprays behind her ear lobes.
Instead of biting back, Alejandro simply ran a hand through his wet hair in an effortlessly seductive manner and said:
"I wouldn’t dare to do that, chica, especially given the fact that it is your poison that I find most enticing about you."
"Humpf!" Heather turned up her nose and forced herself to look away after having clearly taken a good look at his chest. "You’re not gonna like it when that poison takes you out of the competition."
"I don’t think you would like that either." He grinned. "You seemed so willing to marry me today. It made me very happy, but it is a pity we never got to enjoy our honeymoon."
Her eyes widened and Alejandro delighted at the sight of her blushing. How Heather managed to be so cute when she was angry was beyond him.
Hum…not that he was that attracted to her or anything! No, no, no. I mean, she was obviously pretty (gorgeous some might say) and he wasn’t blind to that fact. Heck, he wouldn’t mind kissing her once or twice, but he wasn’t falling in love with her. He just knew how to appreciate good looks. That’s it. That’s just it! Nothing more to it!!! NADA.
Alejandro felt a slight pang in his chest at the quick succession of thoughts that just passed through his mind and, trying his best not to lose his cool, backed away as Heather defensively threw insults at him.
"I shall leave you alone then. If you’ll excuse me." He quickly put on his shirt and headed for the economy-class area.
Well that was weird…
Heather thought as she watched Alejandro leave without his usual suaveness. It’s not that he had never been taken aback by the things she said before, but this time he seemed…nervous? It was barely noticeable, but notice she did.
After finishing tidying herself up, Heather also headed back to economy-class where everyone was trying to keep themselves busy in their own way: Sierra was smothering Cody, Cody was trying to free himself, Blainely was taking a look at the plane compartments and Alejandro was reading.
He still looked a bit restless though.
That was until after a little less than an hour had passed and he finally put down his book and walked someplace else.
Her curiosity got the best of her, so Heather waited until there was some distance between them before she got up and went after him. After a few quiet steps, she saw him going downstairs towards the cargo hold. Her brows furrowed, knowing he was definitely up to something. Once again, she waited until the coast was clear before she followed.
Reaching the lowest part of the plane, Heather checked her surroundings looking for Alejandro until a voice came from behind her making her jump.
"If I knew you were going to miss me that much I would have invited you along." He said while leaning against a wall.
"You almost gave me a heart attack, you scheeze!" Heather growled before recomposing herself. "But if you have to know, I followed you because I knew this was probably part of another elaborate scheme of yours."
"Maybe…" He walked in her direction, stopping mere centimeters away from her. "Or maybe I knew you would come after me and I did this to be alone with you."
Heather matched his confidence retorting: "I doubt it."
"Why? You’re a beautiful woman."
"I know that." She put her hands on her hips. "What I mean is that you have nothing to gain from it. You already know I don’t trust you one bit, so whatever strategy you might try with me isn’t going to work."
"Who said this had anything to do with the competition?"
Shit. He had put his flirt mode on full power and Heather saw herself in the same position they were when they left Sweden. His voice was a low whisper and his half lidded green eyes were freezing her into place. She was so focused on them that she barely noticed him taking one of her hands in his.
"We don’t exactly need trust to be attracted to someone, but I think what’s making you so guarded is that you’re afraid you might end up trusting me after all. Maybe… you know you wouldn’t be able to resist me."
That suddenly took Heather out of her trance and, much to Alejandro’s surprise and absolute confusion, she started cackling.
"I wouldn’t be able to resist you?" She said, coming down from the high of her laughter. "Am I the one who is constantly making excuses to flirt with you, saying how attracted I am to you and practically begging you to kiss me? Oh no, wait! That’s you!" Heather pointed at his chest.
"You know, for a guy that’s so cocky, you sure sound like the one who wouldn’t be able to resist me, and maybe you know that and the reason you’re always teasing me is because you’re afraid of admitting it."
For the first time since they met, Heather could actually detect traces of embarrassment and awkwardness on Alejandro’s face and, although she herself was only teasing him about this, she was starting to believe she was actually right solely from how cornered he looked.
Alejandro scoffed rolling his eyes, albeit, still looking a little thrown off. "As if I wouldn’t be able to."
"You don’t look so sure." Heather smirked, enjoying the sensation of having the upper hand.
Alejandro stepped closer once again. "Try me, then." His gaze lowered from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes while his head was already leaning to one side, just waiting for her to make a move. Heather saw his pupils dilating and his face showed a mixture of want and defiance. She looked around for a moment and didn’t see any cameras around them.
Well, she had never been one to turn down a challenge.
Heather slithered her hands around his shoulders, grazing her nails on his neck along the way, closed her eyes and teasingly brushed her lips against his. She felt his fingers tense up around her waist and smiled to herself before deepening the kiss.
Alejandro was in trouble. While one side of him was basking on the sensation of finally kissing those soft plump lips he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about, the other side of him was screaming for him to take control of the situation. Sure, he was the one who proposed this little “dare” between them, but it was supposed to be just a kiss so he could move on and get her out of his mind. She was the one supposed to become enamored with him, not the other way around!
Truth be told, for the first time in a very long while Alejandro felt like he was the one being seduced…and he kind of liked it.
No! He couldn’t allow that to happen. If he let himself get lost in this, he was also risking letting his feelings get in the way of his strategy and next thing you know, he would be the one getting shoved off of the plane while Heather waved him goodbye!
He had to do something and he had to do it now.
Alejandro broke the kiss. He stared at her just long enough for her to see the desire stamped in his dilated pupils before quickly directing his mouth towards her jawline making a trail of kisses to the crook of her neck with a swift gradation of intensity that made Heather bite her lips to prevent herself from making any noises.
She knew what he was doing and she was not about to let him win.
Without realizing, they had walked near a wall. Heather pushed Alejandro against it, his eyes going wide before slowly closing again as she leaned her forehead against his. His mouth parted with delight at the sensation of Heather running the tip of her tongue over his lower lip, and she now reveled in the victory of hearing his gasps.
Alejandro needed her, he couldn’t fight it. He opened his mouth and locked her in a fervent kiss, their tongues swirling restlessly. He pressed a hand on the back of her head and then lowered it down to her back and then to her hips where his other hand already was, pulling her waist closer to his.
The two of them moaned as their lower halves rubbed against each other. Alejandro couldn’t remember the last time he wanted someone so much, the last time he was so desperate for someone’s kiss.
They lost track of who was in control (which might have happened because neither of them were, really). In that secluded little corner they found, only the sounds of gasps, moans and wet kisses could be heard.
For a moment Alejandro even forgot where they were, his reason being the only thing to hold him back from taking things further despite him desperately wanting to, until…
Heather pushed him away.
She kept her hands on his shoulders averting her gaze to the side. Her face was as red as his, from what he could feel from the heat of his own cheeks. Despite his confusion, he didn’t say a word at first, letting their heavy breathing fill up the quiet before he decided to say something.
"Heather?" He worried.
Unfortunately, he thought, Heather morphed her face back into her usual displeased and annoyed front. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, but Alejandro could sense her uneasiness.
This was dangerous, she realized. Heather was afraid of getting lost in something she couldn’t come back from, so, as much as she didn’t want to stop, Heather forced herself to come off with an excuse, any excuse, to stop kissing him.
Her memory flashed her back to her reaction regarding an unpleasant kiss with a certain punk on the previous season and Heather tried to go from there.
"You taste like…" She trailed off, trying to feign disgust. "Like…" However, when her eyes set on his she couldn’t pretend anymore and found herself frozen again, not knowing what to do.
For a moment Alejandro was afraid he had done something he shouldn’t, or that Heather would simply tell him he had bad breath, and he stood still waiting for her to finish. However, knowing her as he did, if Heather had something to complain about she would have done it in a heartbeat, especially regarding him.
So seeing what was probably the strangest reaction he had ever seen from Heather since they met made Alejandro realize something:
This was truly her first time letting her guard down in front of him;
And she was embarrassed for it.
"Like…" She tried to save face again, but to no avail.
He lifted the corner of his mouth endeared by her and closed the distance between them.
"Let me help you figure it out." Alejandro placed his hands on her neck and brought his lips back to hers without any resistance. Heather, meanwhile, wasted no time as her palms traced their way up his chest, grabbing the fabric of his shirt and pulling him closer.
He could feel her scrunching up her eyes, the same way she did when she was very determined about something. It made Alejandro smile at the thought that that fiery determination was directed at him for such a pleasant reason to the point where he even decided to allow himself to stop being in denial about his feelings… for about half an hour at most.
2 and a half hours later
Well, this didn’t go as any of them had planned.
To be fair, no one had come looking for them and there was no clock down there, so neither Heather nor Alejandro had any idea of how long they had been doing this, but...
To be even fairer, they were both amazing kissers and even if they did know how long it had been, they didn’t really want to stop, so… Yeah, they were a lost cause.
…
Ah whatever, it’s not like anybody needed to know.