Page 28 of Lightning Angel
Fatal Leap
Alexa froze, mind and body. But she recovered soon enough as every instinct in her protested against the feel on Brandon’s lips on hers. She pushed him off her with all her might and he stumbled back.
“What the heck?” Alexa fixed him with a fierce glance that wavered with disbelief and shock.
Brandon stared back, unfazed by her rejection, his chest heaving. His eyes dropped to her lips and then back to her eyes. The light in them scared her, every instinct telling her to run. But Alexa held her ground.
“It’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
“What?” Her voice was a mixture of shock and reproach.
“I’ve desired you for a longtime, Alexa.”
That caught her off guard.
She couldn’t comprehend the situation. He was Cassie’s boyfriend, and she had always believed he loved her. The line between him and Alexa had always been clear—he was family, and Alexa saw him as nothing more than a brother.
She shook her head in disbelief. “I think you’re drunk. You should lie down for a bit—”
“I’m not drunk, Alexa. You know I don’t drink—Christian principles and all.” He rolled his eyes.
“Oh,Christianprinciples?” Alexa barely withheld the urge to scoff. “So cheating on your girlfriend doesn’t fall into that category?”
“It’s not like I’ve always been cheating on her.”
“Do you even know how Christian principles work? You don’t have tocommitthe act to be held accountable for the sin; the desire of your heart alone will do it. So yes, Brandon, you are and you have been cheating on my sister!” Her eyes flared at him, and her blood began to boil. “How dare you! I thought you loved her; we all did!”
“Calm down. I’m going to break things off with her when she returns.”
Before Alexa could even think about it, her temper rose and she slapped him across the face. Brandon’s head whipped to the side by the force of her strike and satisfaction washed over her.
“I think I deserved that,” Brandon muttered, holding his cheek and refusing to show his pain.
“Yes you did, and that’s for my sister,” Alexa spat. “And for your information, if there’s a tiny little part of you wondering if I’ve ever felt something toward youmore than platonic and brotherly love, I’d like to enlighten you that you’ve been wrong. And right now, all I feel is disgust. How could you do this to her? My sister loved you! Why did you have to toy with her feelings when you realized your desires for her were no longer there? Even now, just some moments ago, when you bid her goodbye! Why couldn’t you have broken things off with her earlier and save her from this heartbreak?”
“You wanna know why?” Brandon’s voice rose and matched Alexa’s as they glared at each other. “I wanted to be close toyou. I couldn’t break things off with Cassie yet because I was in love with you and I wanted to keep close to you. It was the only way. I knew you would hate me to the core and wouldn’t want anything to do with me if I had dumped Cassie!”
“And what makes you think I want to do anything with you now?”
“Because if you won’t, some of your sister’s pictures will roam around social media.” A dangerous glint entered his eyes.
Alexa recoiled. When she spoke, her voice shook, even as she tried to put on a brave mask. “What are you talking about?”
Brandon smirked. “I have her nudes.”
Shock paralyzed her. Brandon’s amusement only grew.
“If you don’t do as I say, your precious older sister, the famous fantasy author that she is, is going to be in big bad trouble,” he sang.
No, this couldn’t be true. She couldn’t believe him. Her sister wasn’t a fool; her dear Cassie… Cassie who taught her the importance of purity and modesty in dressing… No, her sister would never dosuch a thing. And like always, no one, repeat, no one knew her sister like Alexa did.
“You’re lying,” she nearly growled. “My sister isn’t a fool to climb into your bed or send you her pictures. Nice try, Brandon.”
Brandon laughed. “Oh, Lexi. Who said she climbed into my bed or that she sent me something? Do you know I’ve been to her bathroom a handful of times? I have a spying friend there.” He fished out his phone from the pocket, tapped and scrolled through it, before asking, “Wanna see?”
If it wasn’t for how she had been brought up, Alexa would’ve called Brandon a hundred names by now. Rage poured out of her, and she hated him more than she hated Jude. In comparison, her hate toward Jude was so small to the actual deceitful snake in front of her.
She swung her hand in the air to strike him again, but he caught her wrist and pulled her against his chest. His eyes darkened with lust again; and once again, in comparison, the lust she’d seen in Jude’s eyes was so small to this.