she hasn’t torn the place apart.”
“Hey, Fantazia,” Cyrus called as I turned and headed for the hallway. I stopped so he could catch up.
“What?”
“It probably doesn’t mean much, but I was just going to say that I’m glad to hear that you’re going to be sticking around. I mean, at least you’re not going back to your pocket universe. Not right away.”
“You mean you like having someone around to argue with, someone to remind you of your criminal past so you won’t get a swelled head? No problem. I can oblige.”
He laughed. “Well, that, too. It’s just nice . . . having you around. That’s all.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. The attraction was still there, as strong as ever, but now didn’t seem a time to do anything about it. I wondered if there would ever be a time. “Thanks. Let’s not make a big thing about it, especially not in front of Wesley or the others. I want my reasons for sticking around to stay quiet. Just keep it between you and me, okay? You’ll be the only one unsurprised when I’m available next time there’s a world crisis.”
His smile grew. “Sharing secrets with me and only me now, huh? Oh, how the times have changed.”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
“And you haven’t tried to seduce anyone lately.”
“I could if you like,” I said, dropping back to the breathy, flirty voice I’d once used so often to get what I want, and tossing back my long, dark hair. “From whom would you like information?” I definitely wouldn’t mind if he named himself my target.
He winced at the return of sexpot me. “Please don’t.”
I laughed, watching him out of the corner of my eye, trying to gauge what he was thinking, and more importantly, how he felt about me. I knew he didn’t like the sexpot version, but how did he feel about this one? After a moment I said, “There are still parts of me that are bad, Cyrus. It was never all just an act.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. You’re still plenty scary, Fantazia.”
I shook my head, fixated on his glittering blue eyes. There was a slice of green in those depths, just around the pupil. How had I never really noticed how gorgeous they were, how they crinkled at the edges when he smiled, how that smile made me feel like I was the only woman in the world? My heart was thudding in my chest and I could no longer hold back. “I didn’t mean that. What I meant was . . . I’m still capable of doing something like this.” And in a quick movement I leaned forward, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down to me. My lips met his.
His surprise was obvious from the tension in his body, but he recovered a lot quicker than I expected. For a moment I was afraid he would take it the wrong way and push me away, but then his posture changed from one of surprise to one of command. He turned, putting my back against the wall, not letting me escape. His kiss turned from one of shock into one of barely contained passion, something at the edge of control. His hands slid down my body, setting every bit he touched on fire, and I had the sudden insane notion of jumping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist. Instead, I settled for pressing my body into his, angling every curve so that I fit against him just right and giving a little moan of need.
He tore away from my lips at that moment, and his mouth went to my neck, dropping light kisses there and nuzzling my jawbone, making me gasp. His hands went to other, more interesting places. “Why are you doing this to me?” he growled hotly into my ear.
“What is it that I’m doing?” I asked, my head spinning. Although, pressed against him like this I had some notion of my effect.
“Tormenting me like this.”
“This is torment?” I pulled his head upward to kiss him again, pushing my tongue into his mouth, wanting to taste all of him.
“You’re not . . . This is . . .” He pushed me to arm’s length so I would stop kissing him and he could form a coherent sentence. He looked as dazed by lust as I. “It’s not nice to tease the computer geek, Fantazia, into thinking this is actually going to happen.”
“It’s not?” I