As they walked out of the bar, Bisi glared accusingly down at Mari. “Marisol, this is a serious betrayal.”

Uh-oh. She’d been Marisol-ed. Well, she wasn’t sorry, and she wasn’t going to say that she was. “This is life out here in these streets, Bisi. You already told me you grew up in a fancy part of town in a fancy family. A fancy girl like you won’t survive long in DC. You’d better stick with me if you want to make it out in one piece.”

“I live in Baltimore!” Bisi protested indignantly. “What don’t I know about survival!? Besides, you said your parents own a grocery store and you showed me a picture of a perfectly nice looking house. How is that a tough childhood? It did not look like you grew up in a war zone. Baltimore, I tell you, has the meanest of streets. Do you not own a television? There are shows about us. In DC, All your worst criminals are old white men in red silk ties.”

Marisol slitted her eyes. “Hey, now. I'll put our murder rate up against anyone's. What neighborhood in Baltimore do you live in?”

Bisi had the good grace to blush as she said, “Harbor East.”

“On the water? That’s what I thought. Fancy girl.”

Bisi turned suddenly and sharply, smiling dangerously. “You know what? I am a fancy girl. A fancy girl who went to Our Queen of Peace Girls’ Secondary School, and do you know I learned there?”

“What? What did you learn there?” said Mari, challengingly, even as she grinned.

“How to fight dirty with other girls.” In a smooth motion, Bisi advanced on Mari, and using only forward momentum, leaving several inches between them, pressed her backwards until she ran out of sidewalk. 

Mari felt her back make contact with the glass of the hotel wall. Bisi slowly closed in even more, until Mari swore she could feel the heat from Bisi’s body through both of their coats. She looked up into the long, dark eyes, saw the light catching in the subtle mica flecks in Bisi’s smoky eye shadow, and the curl of her lashes. Eres tan guapa. She knew Bisi didn't mean her any harm, but a thrill that felt a little like fear was racing through her as she ceded ground. Kiss me, Mari thought, wondering if Bisi could read minds in addition to all her other talents. She decided that it was unlikely, although her scent might have been a bit of a giveaway as to her thoughts. Mortifyingly, her scent was now drifting into the air as luxuriantly as Halston Hollis’s had just a few hours ago. Mari blushed furiously. Well, if she was shameless, it wasn’t going to be for nothing. She was going to succeed where that little come mierda had failed. 

“Kiss me,” Mari said aloud, as she searched Bisi’s eyes, seeing what looked like desire there.

“With so much pleasure, Temi,” said Bisi, lowering her dark head. Automatically, Mari reached for Bisi’s shoulders as if the thick glass she was pressed against wasn’t quite enough to hold her up. Mari’s hands closed over the firm, muscled tops of her shoulders and she purred internally. Sexy. As she stood on her toes, she inhaled her first really serious dose of Bisi’s scent, and her lids dropped. So… warm and fresh and subtly sweet. Like something. Like fresh hay. But, no, a bit of…salt? Like…baskets? Like seagrass! Ohh. Mari felt every part of her body soften and flush with heat as the scent infiltrated her system. Ohhhhhhhhh. Bisi’s breath just brushed her lips, and then Mari felt a gentle bump against them, just a nudge from Bisi’s mouth. Her lips parted in not quite a gasp, not quite an invitation. Bisi captured her top lip between her own, the tip of her tongue brushing it. Mari leaned forward, pressing against the tall Alpha with an unplanned nnnnnnh, drawing in more of that incredible smell through her nose as their chests pressed into each other. Mari whimpered quietly with pleasure and in response, Bisi nipped her lip with the point of a fang. Mari absolutely melted then, her fingers gripping tighter, seeking to feel more of Bisi’s body through her thick coat. She was practically hanging from the towering Alpha as she tipped her mouth up further in hopes of more mistreatment.

Bisi’s tongue slid slowly into her mouth, a warm, satiny caress. Her scent, mixed with a hint of bourbon. Mari gasped and invited and nnnnnnh’d with intent this time, sweeping her tongue over the Alpha’s, wanting more of her taste. In response, a predatory growl rumbled in Bisi’s long and elegant throat. As the sound vibrated through the air, the hair on the back of Mari’s neck stood up, but the only effect of the threatening sound was to heighten her sense of urgency for more. The growl seemed to startle its maker far more than it had Mari. Bisi jerked her head upright and took a half-step backwards. Mari’s eyes flew open. Semi-sobered by the interruption, she looked up, and made her fingers release their grip on Bisi. Without that support, her arms fell to her side almost numbly. All Mari could do now was stare at the change in the gorgeous woman in front of her. Bisi’s eyes had shifted. Shifted because of her, because of kissing her, and those gold eyes were like twin suns in a glittering, star-flecked galaxy. Mari was done. She was smitten. She was cooked. 

“Your… eyes…” Mari stared, dazed, for a few more seconds before she really processed that words were coming out of Bisi’s mouth 

“I’m sorry...I... That was a crazy sound I made, too. And I should not have kissed you like that out here, in the cold, where everyone can see. That was not… right. Forgive me. I’m not normally like this... and I…” said the Alpha, her eyes gleaming and her breath heavy.

Mari blinked. She was apologizing? “What? No! There’s no one out here to see and the four or five people in there,” she gestured with her head toward the hotel’s interior, “Are either not looking or they’re not surprised. It’s a hotel. They’ve seen it all, trust me. And…It’s not that cold.” At some point in her sputtering speech, Mari perceived how obvious it was that she was doing less ‘reassuring Bisi that she wasn’t offended’ and more ‘arguing for Bisi to keep on kissing her.’” She stopped herself, leaving about three drops of dignity left in the bottom of her tank, and nodded. “I’m…I hear you, though. It’s fine if you don’t want to kiss me out he—”

Before she could finish her thought, Bisi took her head in both hands, angling it upwards, descending on her with fierce hunger. Making a sound between a sigh and a groan with the impact, Mari’s hands closed this time around the Alpha’s upper arms, feeling the long, hard muscles there and sinking her fingers into them possessively, growing steadily more aroused. Bisi’s taste made thinking impossible, the feel of her tongue made Mari’s thighs press together, the brush of her chest against Mari’s made Mari’s nipples tighten painfully. She could feel her body getting very heated and very slick as she thought about the strong arms wrapping around her, holding her up, or holding her down. She was drowning in Bisi, and it felt perfect. So very perfect. How would she ever stop? 

In the end, it was Bisi who stopped, again, moving Mari backwards carefully as she pulled herself backwards, too. Panting, Bisi said, “See, Mar y sol, if you are thinking that I stopped kissing you because I want to stop kissing you, you are very wrong. The problem is that I growled, which I nev.er. do. I growled without meaning to, because your face is warm and soft in my hands and you smell spiced and sugary and you taste so damned good that you make me want to do very wicked things to you. I should not do those things now and I certainly should not do those things here, and that means I should not kiss you out here either. It is not a matter of not wanting to do things with you. It is a matter of wanting to do too many things with you, too soon. I think you are due some patience and self-control on my part.”

Mari nodded quickly. “Gotcha,” she replied unthinkingly. She then proceeded to full-body cringe as soon as the inelegant response left her lips, but, for some reason, instead of the laughter it merited, the cringe triggered another heated kiss. One that lasted even longer than the first two. This third kiss left Mari so loose-jointed and overheated that, for a moment, as Bisi reluctantly pulled away from her, Mari’s general feeling was, ‘We’re both adults, we’re single… Like, really, is it such a problem if Bisi dicks me down against a hotel wall, in the middle of winter, in front of god and everyone?’ Fortunately or unfortunately, the little voice inside her pointed out, “It really is cold out here, Mamita, and getting put on the sex offender registry for indecent exposure is a thing. And, you know, first date....” Right. Good points, all. There were some other reasons to stop that Mari couldn’t quite think of, but they were probably solid, too. 

“Alright,” Mari said resolutely, removing her hands from Bisi and putting them firmly in her pockets. She would have taken a step backwards, but wall. So she took two sliding steps sideways, instead, needing some space in order to get un-scent-laced oxygen to her brain. “Alright. Ok. Alright. Bien. Bien bien bien. So, maybe we should start walking now, then? Or this will keep happening?”

Bisi watched her move, her gaze intent and almost wary, as if Mari might try to run. Unlikely. “I can almost guarantee it will," Bisi said. "It’s alarmingly hard to control myself around you. Before we walk, though… what night, Mari? And what time? When can I see you again?”

Mari pulled her phone out of her pocket with shaky fingers and opened her calendar, finding only one open evening before the weekend. “Thursday? Is seven good? Should we make it later? One of us will have to deal with traffic.”

“Thursday?” Bisi groaned. “Later? No, not later. I’ll come here, Temi. How soon on Thursday can you be free?”

Mari looked at the phone again. “I can probably get home by five-thirty? But I will need a little while to get ready.”

“I could pick you up at work…” Bisi offered.

“Absolutely not. There is no way I’m letting you think that this is the best I can do,” said Mari making a sweeping upward gesture that encompassed her body and face. “You could pick me up by six, if you’d rather.”

“I’d very much rather, but now I’m scared. If you are saying that you will somehow look better than now…” Bisi sucked her teeth and looked into the middle distance dramatically. “I am doomed.”