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“You’re exactly right,” Melanie told him and giggled. “So guess—am I telling the truth or not?”
“I say not,” Clear said, frowning. “You don’t seem to be the kind of female who would take off her clothing in public, Melanie.”
“Ah, but you didn’t know me in college—back when I was younger,” she pointed out. “I was much less inhibited then.”
“I guess that you did,” Strong murmured. “Though maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part. The idea of seeing you without your clothing is certainly extremely appealing.”
“Brother…” Clear frowned at his twin. “It’s not polite to speak that way to a human female.”
“That’s all right—I’m not offended.” Melanie winked at them. “And now I’ll tell you the truth—I did go skinny dipping back in college with some girlfriends on a dare one night. We got caught and had to run back to our dorms naked.” She giggled.
“So that means I have to take a drink?” Clear said and took another sip of punch.
“And I have to, too—because Strong guessed right.” Melanie took another big swig of her punch and made a face. “Wow! It seems to get stronger with every drink you take.”
“Let me try,” Strong said. He looked Melanie in the eyes. “Never have I ever seen a female half as lovely as you are, Melanie.”
“Oh…” Melanie found her cheeks getting hot. But this time the Dark Twin’s intense look didn’t make her feel uncomfortable as it had before. Instead, it made her feel hot and bothered all over. She could feel her nipples getting tight under the thin red dress and she had to press her thighs together tightly to stop the ache that was growing there.
“Strong is telling the truth,” Clear said, smiling at her. “Never have either of us ever seen such a lovely female.”
“You two are bad!” Melanie exclaimed. “I’m sure you’ve seen lots of women who are younger and prettier than me.”
“Younger, maybe,” Strong said. “But prettier? Never.” He gestured at her cup of punch. “Take a drink, Melanie—you lose this round.”
Melanie took another sip and the strong liquid burned down her throat again. She laughed breathlessly.
“Wow—I’d better stop now. This punch is making me tipsy!” She set her half-full cup down on the table and pointed to the middle of the room. “Oh, look—the dancing is starting!”
Sure enough, the Christmas tunes had given way to soft, jazzy music and already a few couples were swaying together, Sonja and Sahran included.
“Would you like to dance, Melanie?” Clear asked her.
She smiled up at the Light Twin.
“Thank you—I would love to.” She turned to Strong. “Would you hold this?” She handed the silver-wrapped present to the Dark Twin, who nodded.
“As long as I can claim the next dance, little one,” he rumbled.
Melanie gave him a smile.
“I think that can be arranged.”
Then Clear was taking her in his arms and they were swaying to the music.
“You seem to be in an excellent mood tonight,” he remarked, leaning down to speak in her ear.
“I think it’s something in the punch,” she admitted. “I certainly wasn’t in a good mood earlier. I almost didn’t come tonight.”
“What? Why not?” Clear pulled back to give her a concerned look.
“Oh, I got a call from home from my Aunt Marge.” Melanie sighed. “She told me that my ex, Steve, had been coming around bothering her again.”
“Is she in danger?” Clear asked, frowning. “Because Strong and I can certainly help if she needs defending.”
“No, no—nothing like that,” Melanie told him. “Thank you, but it’s really me that he wants to see.”
His frown grew darker.
“Why does he want to see you? Has he realized how foolish he was, giving you up?”
“Hardly,” Melanie said dryly and giggled. Wow—that punch had really gone to her head! “What he wants is to show off the fact that he got his new girlfriend pregnant,” she said, and stopped laughing abruptly. Some things just weren’t funny—even when you were tipsy.
“I don’t understand.” Clear shook his head, his forehead creasing. “Why would he wish to ‘show off’ something like that?”
“Because while we were together I always wanted kids but he would never let us have any.” Melanie swallowed back a little sob. Wow, she needed to get hold of her emotions! The spiked punch was really affecting her.
“You want children?” Clear asked and she nodded.
“I know that’s probably a big turn-off for you,” she added candidly. “I mean, you and your brother are so young, neither one of you would want to be saddled with a bunch of babies at your age.”
“Actually, Strong and I are quite good with young ones,” Clear offered. “Our parents had a second set of twins when the two of us were already twelve cycles old. You ought to see Strong change a diaper—he’s lightening quick. And I’m excellent at midnight feedings myself.”
“Really? That’s interesting,” Melanie said warmly. “Anyway, I probably shouldn’t have told you all that about my ex and his pregnant girlfriend. It just upset me, that’s all.”
