Rachel Caine

Myrnin came in from the back room, carrying a load of books, which he dropped with aloud bang on the floor to glare at the two of them. "Excuse me," he said, "but when did my labbecome appropriate for snogging?""What's snogging?" Shane asked."Ridiculous displays of inappropriate affection in front of me. Roughly translated. Andwhat are you doing here?

As he was bringing his hands up her sides, his fingers just barely brushed the outer curve of her breasts, and she gasped into his mouth.Shane immediately sat her upright, and moved to the other end of the couch. His face was flushed; his eyes were bright and no longer looked even a little bit tired. __o,__ he said, and held out his hand like a traffic cop when she tried to scoot closer. __ed flag. If you make that sound again, we are in trouble. Or I am, anyway.

His lips parted under hers, damp and soft and warm, and she forgot all of that. Her entire life focused in on the sensations, the gentle pressure that grew more intense the longer the kiss went on.Chaste kisses, then dirtier ones, and man, those tasted good. They tasted better the wider her mouth opened, and especially after his tongue touched hers.She could have done a whole semester of kissing with Shane. Intense personal study. With lab classes.Time really wasn__ happening for her, but eventually Claire realized that there was a soft glow coming from the windows, and she was numb and sore from sitting on the floor. She winced as a muscle in her back protested, and Shane reached out, pulled her up, and settled himself on the couch.He stretched out, and extended a hand to her. She stared, tingling and confused. __here__ no room.____lenty of room,__ he said.She felt breathless and kind of wild, stretching out on the tiny area of sofa cushion available next to him, and then smothered a yelp as Shane picked her up and draped her over his chest and, oh my God, over all the rest of him, too.__etter?__ he asked, and raised his eyebrows. It was a real question, and he was looking for a real answer. Claire felt a blush building a fire in her cheeks, but she didn__ look away from his gaze.__erfect,__ she said.

Amelie seemed to focus on her again. For a few seconds she regarded her, frowning, and then smiled just a little. "So I recall," she said. "Not all wars are waged with bullets and swords, indeed. Some are wars of wills and ideas. It's good we both remember that." The smile faded. "But not all ideas win the war, and not all wills are strong enough. Darkness can descend so easily.

Kisses could lie as well as words.

Both girls jumped at a hard blow on the door. Eve hastily unlocked the door and stepped back as it flew open, and Shane charged through.__ow_?__ He was breathing hard, and he had a crowbar in his hand. He__ have broken through the locks, Claire realized, if he__ had to. She came toward him slowly, trying to figure out what he was feeling, and he dropped the crowbar and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground. His face was buried in the crook of her neck, and the warm, fast pump of his breath on her skin made her shiver in raw delight. __h Christ, Claire. I__ sorry. I__ so sorry.____ot your fault,__ Eve said. She held out the field hockey stick. __ook! I hit him. Um, twice.____ood.__ Shane kissed Claire__ cheek and let her slide back down to the floor, but he kept hold of her arms. His eyes, bright under the bruises and swelling, surveyed her carefully. __e didn__ hurt you? Either of you?____ hit him!__ Eve repeated brightly, and brandished the stick again for emphasis

We're clear," she said. "You're kind of a psycho. I get that

I'll do it!" "No, you won't," Shane and Michael said, at virtually the same time. Shane continued. "You're barely on your feet, Claire. You don't go anywhere, not without me." "And me," Michael said. "Hell," Eve sighed. "I guess that means I have to go, too. Which I may not ever forgive you for, even if I don't die horri

How about us?__ she heard herself ask. __on__ we deserve a little fun?___ did not just say that.Only she had.He smiled. She wondered if the shadows were ever going to leave his eyes again. __ could do something fun.____mmm__ She licked her lips. __efine fun.____uit doing that, jailbait. It__ distracting.___he whole idea that somebody would even think of her as jailbait was tremendously exciting. Especially Shane. She tried to hide that, and act like she wasn__ quaking on the inside like a Jell-O fruit salad. __o now you want me to stay up? I thought you said I should go to bed.____ou should.__ He didn__ put any particular emphasis on it. ___ause if you stay down here, there__ going to be fun. I__ just saying.____ideo game fun?___is eyes widened. __ou want to play video games?____o you?____ou are the weirdest girl.

And about Shane, I swear, if he doesn't snap out of it, I'm going to punch him in the face. Well, punch him in the face and then run like hell." - Eve Rosser

Maybe she'd seen too many Japanese horror movies, and maybe it was just a tingle of warning from generations of superstitious ancestors, but suddenly she knew that what Alyssa wanted was not to be saved, but for Shane to join her. In death.

Any fool can kill. It takes genius to create.

Shane stood up when he saw her, which made her heart turn cartwheels, and he pulled out her chair. Eve and Michael shared an amused look."So cute," Eve said. When Shane glared, she smiled. "No, really. It is. Dude, chill.

I had no name for that particular hue of orange, other than unfortunate.

Did you talk to him about it?""Oh, sure. Nothing happened, yadda yadda. The usual. But my maydar went off like crazy.""Maydar?""As in, he may be thinking about super hot sex with her. Like radar, only not as sure.

Claire hated to say it, but she knew the answer, in her heart. __ecause he feels something for me, and he wanted to give me a chance to live. Like him. With him. But I refused.__hane turned and looked at her, a blank expression on his face that turned quickly into . . . something else. Claire was glad Myrnin had gotten out while he still could. __reat,_ he said. __ knew it.___t__ not like that. He____ She shook her head in frustration. __t__ not like he__ in love with me or anything; it__ more complicated than that. I don__ even think he understands it, exactly.___eah, he only loves you for your mind,_ Shane said...

I can handle Glory." "Can you?" Eve asked. "Because I notice you never call her Gloriana. Just Glory." He shut up. Which is probably about the only smart thing he can do, Claire thought.

If she were any friendlier, she'd be giving you a lapdance right now.