Page 64 of Serpentine Valentine

I was too embarrassed to respond, so I ducked my head as I pretended the compote on the stove required my absolute devotion.

“What are you making?” Grace asked, looking a little more human.

“Pancakes with apple, pear, and cinnamon compote.”

“Huh.”

“Next time, make waffles,” Effie ordered. “I like waffles.”

“Or oatmeal with caramelized bananas,” Grace suggested.

“Do you do smoothies?” Juno asked as she moved to sit with her sisters. “We grow kale in the garden.”

“Luna isn’t your morning line cook,” Lex drawled, appearing so suddenly behind me that I gasped and dropped my spoon in the pot of compote. “Stop giving her orders, you ungrateful ingrates.”

“How long have you been standing in the hall?” Grace demanded.

Lex shrugged a shoulder bared in the oversized, wide-neck black sweater she had on. It was cropped, so a sliver of her tanned belly was on display over the small triangle of her underwear as well as the long, lean lines of her legs.

I had to fight not to swallow my tongue as I looked at her.

“Long enough to hear you complain we kept you up all night.” She flicked her middle finger at her sisters as she moved into the kitchen to grab her own mug and the electric kettle. “Ignore them, Lux. Those night owls never go to bed before two o’clock.”

“You ruin all the fun,” Grace complained.

“Aw,” Effie drawled, but her smile was playful, not mean. “Lex and Lux, how cute is that, Juno?”

“Socute.”

“I already made you a pot of tea,” I told Lex softly as the sisters bantered when Lex made to fill the electric kettle. “Earl Grey, right?”

That stopped her in her tracks. Slowly, she turned her head to look at me, and I was surprised by the reptilian intensity in her unblinking gaze. The air between us quivered with it.

Then she moved so fast I almost couldn’t track her as she dropped the kettle to the counter and lunged for me, dragging me by my shirt front into her chest where I landed with a thud against her breasts. Instantly, she banded her arms around me, tight as a boa constrictor, and bent to take my lips in a very thorough, very wet kiss.

When she finally pulled away, she was holding my entire weight up because my knees had turned to noodles.

“Good morning,” she said against my damp mouth.

“Good morning,” I echoed dumbly.

The smile she gave me was the best present I’d ever received. Wide, unguarded, full lips spread over straight white teeth.

“Try not to take my breath away in the morning,” I muttered before I could help it. “It’s too early to be dumbstruck.”

She laughed, another gift, this one lasting even longer. The sound was throaty and low, a perfect match for her husky voice. I pressed closer to feel it move through her and into me.

“You made my family pancakes?” she asked softly when she was done.

I nodded, still a little enchanted and unwilling to look away from a Lex this easy and free.

It was heady to think I had something to do with this uncharacteristic levity.

“Thank you,” she said before kissing my nose.

Actuallykissing my nose.

I stood there reeling as she turned on her heel like nothing had happened and fixed her tea before joining her sisters at the table.