Chapter 1
Drunken antics and rowdy behavior wafted out of the old red brick bar like the most over played song on the radio.
Lexa was practically dragged by her two friends, Anya and Lincoln, past the threshold into the dimly lit space. She was too tired to resist, but she still contemplated digging her heels into the ground.
The late nights spent at her family's political headquarters were taking their toll on her social life, or now lack there of. And the idea of spending hours around sloppy animated people only left Lexa grimacing, but her friends had begged her until she relented.
When they entered the familiar venue filled solely of Trikru citizens, it gave more credit to her theory. Men fought each other while trying to exert their masculinity by shamelessly hitting on everything that walked past them in a skirt. Women constantly fretted with their cloths and make up only to have their standards lowered with each drop of alcohol they ingested.
It wasn't a scene Lexa found herself participating much in anymore. Usually Lincoln was out with his girlfriend and Anya would call her at ungodly hours of the night as she crept out of another strangers bed. Lexa, on the other hand, was much more content if she was under her comforter with the latest book she was reading firmly in her hands while her asshole cat, Archer, attempted to lay across the pages.
It had only been becoming more difficult to pretend to live a normal life the older she became and the more responsibilities her title and lineage thrust upon her. It could be challenging, but she had been raised for exactly this reason.
"Ah come on Lexa. Don't be like that," Anya said noticing her sour disposition.
"I'm here. Aren't I?" Lexa asked crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Alright Commander," Anya said shaking her head and using the nickname Lincoln and her had given Lexa on the playground during elementary school after they had unanimously selected her to be the leader of their trio.
Lexa ignored her and went up to the bar behind Lincoln. Alcohol was the only way she was going to get through this evening with her sanity remaining intact, especially given the fact that half of the people in the bar recognized her the moment she walked into the establishment. It had its perks, but as crowds parted for her like the red sea, all eyes were on her for a moment that lasted too long for her taste.
"Jack and Coke," she said to the bartender.
"Anya found a table," Lincoln said grabbing his beer off the bar top and motioning to Lexa over to where Anya was already attempting to break off contact with a persistent guy who was falling over drunk.
Lexa nodded her head and let him lead the way through the crowd. She sat down and tried to relax with her friends, but work still clung to her mind. It wasn't the kind of job she could leave at the door.
"What about her?" Anya asked pointing to a girl who was stumbling over drunk a few feet away from them.
"No, I'm not trying to bring anyone home tonight Anya. But if I was, I wouldn't pick the drunkest girl in the bar," Lexa said shooting her friend a glare.
"How about her?" Lincoln asked ignoring her statement and pointing to a girl with curly blonde hair sitting alone at the bar. "She looks exotic." The woman turned her head slightly looking around before turning back to the glass in her hand. If Lexa had a type, she decided then and there that she was it.
"Cute," Lexa admitted. "But probably taken."
"There's no one sitting one either side of her," Lincoln said motioning to the empty bar stools.
"They might just be in the bathroom," Lexa said.
"All the more reason to go talk to her now while she's by herself," Lincoln insisted.
"You guys are terrible, like a freaking pack of wolves," Lexa said throwing her arms up before burying her head in her hands.
Lincoln leaned his head back and howled at the ceiling before a shit eating grin crossed his face.
"You need to get laid," Anya said taking a sip of the beer in her hand and giving her friend a knowing look.
"Why don't I worry about my needs, and you worry about yours," Lexa said standing up abruptly. The conversation always devolved into this lately. It had been awhile since she had taken anyone home, but it was difficult when she had a hard time distinguishing between who wanted her company and who wanted bragging rights. "I'm going to get another drink."
As she walked up to the bar, her glances couldn't help but steal a second look at the blonde woman with the blue eyes sitting only a couple of feet away from her.
It was strange to see a Trikru with these features when the common genes passed down usually included dark hair and green or brown irises. It almost startled her, but it wasn't completely unheard of.
She had been standing there for only a second before a man invaded her personal space in an effort to get nice and close to the blonde woman. It didn't surprise Lexa, the girl stood out like she had a neon sign pointing in her direction.
"Hey there sexy," the man said with a smirk. "I saw you across the room and I just had to tell you, you are fucking hot. Can I buy you a drink?" He flipped his ball cap around and leaned in closer to her.
Lexa couldn't help but roll her eyes as she watched from her peripheral vision.
"No thanks, I'm good," the woman said trying to slowly inch away from the stranger.
"Another Jack and Coke," Lexa said trying hard to ignore the conversation going on next to her.
"Okay okay, well what's a pretty thing like yourself doing here alone?" He asked filling in the distance the blonde had attempted to create.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested," the woman said giving him a stern look. But the man just rested his hand on her thigh. Lexa's fingers began to clench tighter and tighter until they were made into fists.
"Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly." He smirked slurring over every word before he chugged the rest of his beer and set it down on the bar while slowly inching his other hand further up. "You have amazing tits. You know th-"
"Hey buddy," Lexa said before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth, but she had committed now. "She said she's not interested. Why don't you back the fuck off?"
"Mind your own business," the man said without looking at her and trying to wave her off before his hand traveled down to grab a handful of the blonde's ass.
The look on the woman's face read of shock as she seemed too stunned to react.
Lexa had seen enough. Roughly, she grabbed him by the arm and jerked him backwards using the muscles she had built up through years of rigorous training. As he spun around, she stood up straight with her head held high, her brown hair falling eloquently onto her shoulders, while her face gave a look she had been told was more than intimidating.
"What the fuck?" he asked turning around to face Lexa. As soon as he saw her though, his face turned from anger to the kind of white that made snow look dirty. "Sorry," was all he said before he started literally back peddling, almost tripping over a chair in the process.
Once he was gone, Lexa sucked in her bottom lip and took a deep breath.
"Thanks," the blonde woman said turning around to meet Lexa's gaze. Lexa couldn't help but stare back. The blonde looked awfully familiar, but Lexa couldn't quite place her. It was like one of those misplaced memories that could have just as easily been a dream.
"Yeah, anytime." Lincoln made a good choice. Lexa's tried to stop her eyes from undressing the woman in front of her. She prided herself on chivalry.
"Would you mind sitting with me for a little while?" The woman asked tepidly. "He's not the first one to make that kind of advance."
Lexa glanced over her shoulder at her friends who had confused expressions across their faces before Lincoln snapped out of it and gave her a thumbs up along side a dorky smile.
"Sure," Lexa said taking a seat on the stool next to her and ignoring the vibrations from her phone that were surely from Anya.
"Clarke by the way," the blonde said sticking her hand out.
"Lexa." She reached out and gripped the woman's hand without breaking eyes contact. It was strange that the blonde didn't seem to be intimidated by her like most people.
Clarke shook her head and let out a sigh. "This is what I get for going out alone."
"Yeah, most people around here aren't used to seeing someone," Lexa paused, "someone who looks like you."
"Is my appearance that crazy?"
"No, it's perfect," Lexa said as the alcohol in her blood ran past her filter. It was true. Her gaze couldn't help but wander all over Clarke's feminine curves that emphasized all the right places.
"Those your friends?" Clarke asked pointing to Anya and Lincoln who were now pretending to have a normal conversation, but the extra smiling and forced laughter gave up their charade.
"Will you think less of me if I say yes?" Lexa asked giving Clarke a smile. Clarke just shook her head no. "Then yes, unfortunately."
"They seem nice."
"You just think that because you haven't met them."
"Well, if they're anything like you, I'm sure they're wonderful," Clarke said brushing a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Again Lexa did a double take. She knew this woman from somewhere, but the thought was brushed aside when Clarke's hand found it's way onto her arm.
The last intent Lexa had was to hit on this girl after she had just saved her from an unwanted admirer, but there was something building between them like a tsunami growing taller as it reached the coastline. Clarke laughed at all of her jokes, and Lexa found Clarke's passionate rants adorable.
After a couple more drinks and a few more 'accidental' touches that all too conveniently became more flirty and frequent, she found herself leading Clarke by the hand out of the bar and past her friends while they were distracted by the soccer game on the screen.
Lexa hadn't been expecting to meet anyone new at the bar. She definitely didn't think she would come across anyone she tolerated, let alone enjoyed being around. And she certainly couldn't have imagined having a gorgeous blonde falling onto her mattress that night as they found themselves unable to keep their hands or their lips to themselves any longer. But there she was, intertwined in the other woman's embrace as the constricting sheets wrapped themselves around them.
Her head was spinning, but her fingers did what her eyes had wanted to do for the last couple of hours and undressed the woman. There was no stopping it. Their fervor took on a life of its own. Soft skin created friction as they slid against each other. Hands wandered and explored. Lexa pushed Clarke's arms above her head pinning her down before diligently leaving a trail of marks all along the blond's jaw line and neck. As her fingers slipped between her soft folds, the sounds of Clarke saying her name through a whimper sent a chill down Lexa's spine. She made a note to incite that response until the blond's speech grew hoarse and tired.
Maybe it was just because Lexa had been going through a dry spell, but she couldn't get enough of Clarke and the way her body responded to hers. The drunk asshole that had hit on Clarke earlier had been right. She did have an amazing pair of tits and she had made sure to give them the attention they deserved.
When Lexa woke up, she had quite the compilation of text messages and missed calls. Archer sat at the foot of her bed looking at her expectantly as a stranger laid in his spot. Her hand tried to shield her sensitive hungover eyes from the bright light coming off the device, but the bed shifted at that moment as the slumbering blonde rolled over still fast asleep before mumbling something softly into the pillow. Lexa's eyes took their time examining every inch of soft skin that peaked out from under the blanket. The morning glow only made her more beautiful. The dim lighting of the bar didn't do Clarke justice. She deserved a spot light.
Letting her bare feet hit the cool floor, she sat up and threw some cloths on before heading out to her kitchen to put on pot of coffee. It wasn't until she sat down with the mug in her hands that she checked the messages Anya and Lincoln had left her. They were all pretty typical, Anya wondering where the hell she went, if she finally got some, why she was ignoring her. There was nothing unusual until she hit the last voicemail. The cup in her hands fumbled for a moment as it fought to maintain its position.
"Lexa! Pick up!" Anya yelled into the phone. "Please, please, please, tell me you didn't sleep with her! She's," Anya paused in the message and her voice lowered to a whisper but the intensity of her statement only grew. "Lexa she's Skaikru, fucking Skaikru!"
Lexa's mouth hung wide open. The realization was like she had drove full speed into the image of a tunnel painted onto a wall.
Every year her father hosted a lavish conference for the members of the thirteen most powerful families that had long ago divided the earth and all of its inhabitants into their own domains. Once someone from the families hit twenty one, they were invited to attend her father's annual grand gesture.
Lexa had gone last year and the one the year previous. Her family, the Woods, ruled over all Trikru territory. While Skaikru land was held by the Griffin household. Clarke had been there last year alongside her mother Abby Griffin, and the photo in her phone she pulled up from the date confirmed it.
Lexa swallowed. Having 'relations' with anyone outside of the region someone came from was frowned upon, let alone with her family's number one rival, Skaikru. That was unforgivable.
Sure, for the average person, not knowing the children of the elite families outside their borders was common, but she should have known. She should have realized the moment those blue eyes peered in her direction.
"Morning," Clarke said coming out of the bedroom with nothing more than Lexa's sheet wrapped around her torso held up by one hand while the other rubbed sleep out of her eyes. If panic hadn't gripped Lexa's chest, her hands would already be on Clarke again.
Lexa tried to speak. But all she could do was look back and forth between the woman standing in her kitchen and the photo pulled up on her phone of Clarke with her mom.
"What's wrong?" Clarke asked walking over to glance at what Lexa was starring at. When she saw it, she ran her hand through her hair and sighed.
"That's you?" Lexa asked finding her words again.
"Yeah," Clarke admitted letting out a deflated sigh. "That's me alright."
"Fuck," Lexa cursed setting the phone down and putting her head in her hands. "This is not good."
"Was the sex that bad?" Clarke joked resting her hand on the back of her head. Lexa just picked her phone back up and went through her photos until she stopped on one with her standing next to her father and showed it to Clarke. Clarke's face turned almost as white as the man she had chased off last night.
"This, this is bad," Clarke said looking down at herself and wrapping her arms around her torso now that the mood had changed so drastically from hours ago when they had fallen asleep hot and naked pressed against each other.
"What are you even doing in Trikru territory?" Lexa asked rubbing her forehead.
"It's not illegal to travel outside of Skaikru borders."
"You didn't answer my question," Lexa said wanting some reason she was in this situation now that could take her promising future and blow it up in her face like mixing together the wrong chemicals over the flame of a Bunsen burner.
"I," Clarke paused for a moment and bit her lip. "I just wanted to get away." The distant look that formed in the blonde's eyes almost made Lexa feel guilty for asking.
"It's fine. Everything is going to be fine," Lexa said trying to calm both of them and attempt to remedy the disastrous situation. "Nobody has to know."
"Yeah, we'll just keep last night between us." Clarke tried to sound confident, but at this point she was pacing. Lexa wanted to reach out and reassure her, but her paranoia kept her at bay, like the walls might have eyes.
"I'll just leave first, and you leave like fifteen minutes after me," Lexa said looking at the clock and realizing she had to get ready for work. Clarke just nodded in agreement.
They hoped it would be enough, that no one at the bar was sober enough to recognize the blonde or to put two and two together when Lexa left with her. It seemed crazy for her entire life to potentially be blown up over one night of sex, even if it was really really good sex.
Lexa quickly threw herself together and stole one last look at Clarke before she left her condo for another busy day at the office.
She thought that this was the end of it. Never would Lexa have conceived that she would bump into Clarke again only two weeks later. And she definitely didn't expect to not be able to stop thinking about her.