“Oh, I suspect that even if I had a lifetime to make inquiries I’d still be discovering new things about you.” He picks up my hand and runs his thumb back and forth over the inside of my wrist.

I remain quiet as his touch moves from my wrist to my arm, tracing the vein where the life source is held. “If you took that much time to learn about me,” I finally say, “you’d discover that I’m not a good person.”

Lander’s hand stops and he looks up from my arm and into my eyes. “And if you took that much time to examine me,” he says, “you’d discover that I’m worse.”

I giggle. I’m a little thrilled by the darkness of it all, and the mere mention of taking so much time together fills me with a disturbing sense of hope.

“We haven’t talked about Travis yet,” I point out. “If we’re going to feed him false information we’d better figure out exactly what kind of false information will be most beneficial.”

“We’ll get to the subject of Travis.”

“When?”

He flashes me an impish grin. “I thought we’d talk about it over dessert.” He leans forward and touches his lips to my neck, sucks gently at the skin as I feel goose bumps rise all over my body. No one can excite me the way Lander can. No one can challenge or worry me in quite the same way. We’re two creatures shaped by heartbreak and rage.

We’re two people who belong together.

His hands are in my hair as my hands move down to his pants. I can feel his erection reaching for me as his mouth moves to my ear. With one arm he pushes the dishes out of the way. One of them falls, landing on the hardwood floor with a crash just as Lander lifts me onto the table. I wrap my legs around his waist and my hands are in his shirt. He has just the lightest scattering of chest hair, which is coarse against my fingers.

“I want to see you,” he breathes, his lips by my ear, his hands now up my skirt, stroking my thighs.

I smile and lean back just enough to pull off my shirt. He can see my hardened nipples peeking out from the black lace flowers of my bra. I wrap my arms around his neck and nod, inviting him to expose me.

His fingers work quickly and the bra is soon dangling from my shoulders. Seconds later it lies among the shards of ceramic on the floor.

His hands are so warm as they touch me, caressing the skin of my breasts as I arch my back, offering myself on his table as if I’m a delicacy.