“Oh my God,” I mumbled, and my hands, once splayed behind me for balance, reached to find his hair. I wanted to touch its silky smoothness. I’d been dying to do so for years. His body was against my entire length, and I pushed from the counter, slamming his back into the fridge.

Our lips parted upon impact, and my eyes opened. He was inches away, watching me, daring me. He’d pulled passion from me, and now I’d have to own up to it.

“No one will know?” I said, and blood pounded through me when he nodded.

“I won’t tell anyone,” he said, a smile lifting his lips.

Why the hell not? I thought, and then I tilted my head and kissed him back. Giving in, I pressed into him, my hands feeling his outline, his stubble rough against me as our breaths found a rhythm both slow and building. Memories flitted through me, of him in that silly hat as he held me while I died. His white face when he realized he’d summoned Ku’Sox to kill the pixies and I’d already taken care of the problem. His fear in Carew Tower’s elevator when it opened and he saw me standing there with Al. His terror at camp as he leaned over me and begged me to breathe after I’d knocked the air out of myself and he thought I was dying.

His tongue touched mine, and this time, I pushed forward, pulling him closer. My leg went around his, and I demanded more, running my hands through his hair, enjoying its silky softness, enjoying the feel of his hands on my body, tingles arcing through me.

Slowly I let go of the last of my reservations, feeling his energy spill into my chi, kindling it back to brightness. He started to pull away, but I wouldn’t let him, reaching out and pulling him back. I wanted more. He could have everything, just give me…a little more.

“Tink’s pink dildo, all that money and he can kiss, too,” came a high-pitched, sarcastic voice and the clatter of pixy wings.

My breath caught, and I felt myself drop into nothing. My lips on Trent’s stopped moving, and I realized I could smell disinfectant. My eyes flew open.

I was sitting upright in a hospital bed, my arms wrapped around Trent as he sat beside me. My hands were buried in his hair and his hands were curved around me, holding my backside—rather tightly.

“You little prick!” I shouted, smacking him. Trent sucked in his breath and fell back. The sharp crack was startling, and Jenks laughed merrily, dripping a bright silver dust as he flew backward to Ivy, sitting calmly in a nearby chair. Damn it, she was smiling at me, her eyes bright with unshed tears. She was okay! They both were! My face flamed as I realized they had seen me…enjoying myself. Enjoying Trent. But they were okay, and a knot of fear loosened.

“You said it was only in my imagination!” I exclaimed, turning back to Trent as he stood up and the bed shifted. “You said no one would know!” My eyes darted to the cold feel of metal around my wrist. “And what is this!” There was a band of charmed silver on me. No wonder my head hurt. I was cut off from the ley lines.