“Belle?”

“Yeah.”

I heard a crackling static, then, “Why are you calling me at… two in the morning?”

“I wanted to talk. You too tired?”

“No, no. Just give me a moment.”

Eager, I mentally counted to five. “You good now?”

“Yeah.” She yawned. “So, do you want to talk about riding crops? Or Rome? Let’s talk Rome.” She sounded more alert with every word. “His voice was sexy enough to give me an orgasm. Does he do phone sex? You should have told me about him when I asked you about the twins.”

“You’re babbling, Sher.”

“I’ll stop if you tell me about Rome.”

“ Rome was sort of a… surprise.” Truth. I fell onto the mattress with a sigh. “Oh, Sherridan, I don’t know what I’m going to do about that man.”

“Have you slept with him yet?”

“No!”

She tsked. “But you want to, you naughty girl. I can tell. Do you remember how to do it or do you need Auntie Sher to remind you?”

“I remember, thank you.” I hoped. “Listen, I’m… going away with him for a while.” Again, truth. And the real reason I had called her. “I’m going to be unreachable.”

Silence. Then, “Wait a second. You’re taking time off from work. Okay, this is serious. Are you an alien? Did you invade my friend’s body?”

“Ha, ha.”

“I’m not kidding,” she said, deadpan.

“I’d better go,” I stated, before she could start asking questions I wasn’t prepared to answer. “ Rome is probably naked and looking for me.” Well, the naked part wasn’t a lie.

“Fine. Go. But you owe me major details when you get back. Just do me one favor. Give Rome a kiss for me. With tongue.” Click.

Little devil. I laughed and replaced the receiver in its cradle. That was done. Next up: Tanner. I tiptoed out of the room and into Tanner’s. He was sleeping peacefully, his hair mussed, features relaxed, and a soft snore gliding from his lips. I never should have gotten him involved in my mess. He was just a kid, lost, unsure about his life, and perhaps desperate to find some peace.

I’d shattered that, and I decided then and there to make it up to him. Somehow. Some way.

I left the room and once more braved the labyrinth that was the apartment. Where was Rome? Surely he’d finished his shower. If not, well, I wasn’t above storming into the bathroom and questioning him there-while secretly checking out his goods, of course.

I sneaked into the living room and stopped in a shadowed cubby that separated hall from room. My eyes narrowed. Rome sat on the couch, Lexis right next to him. Their backs were to me. The sound of their whispers drifted in the air, too light to distinguish actual words.

Lexis purred a soft chuckle.

Okay, so even her laugh was feminine and pretty. What kind of mutant was she? No one should be that perfect. My hands tightened into fists. Rome could very well be denying, even to himself, that he loved her. I mean, the woman was the mother of his only child. That kind of bond couldn’t be broken. Proof: there was an ease to their relationship, an intimacy that hadn’t been shattered by divorce. Proof: he went to her when he was in trouble.

Why had they split, then?

I hated-hated!-that the thought of them together bothered me so much. Rome had seen this perfect woman’s perfect breasts and perfect thighs. How could other women compete? What’s more, Lexis probably kissed and fucked with the exotic flair her appearance promised. No telling how I compared-and would compare. Not favorably, was my first guess.

“She’s going to be more trouble than Daniel,” Lexis said, loudly enough that I could hear.

“I remember him,” Rome replied with a husky chuckle.

“The little boy who could soul-jump, invading people’s bodies and taking over their minds. He thought it was a game until Vincent caught him and forced him to soul-jump to rob and murder.”

“Getting Daniel out of that lab earned you three bullets in the back.” She expelled a sad breath at the memory. “How did Belle survive the formula? No one else did.”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe the doctor finally got it right. I’m sure blood tests will reveal the true answer to that, but I’m not curious enough to take her in to find out.”

Silence.

Then, “Do you ever regret joining PSI?” Lexis asked.

“We’ve saved thousands of lives and averted hundreds of paranormal disasters.”

They weren’t called “parasters”? Lord, would I ever learn the lingo?

“But,” Lexis said.

“But,” Rome repeated. They looked at each other and in unison said, “Sunny.”

“That will be corrected soon enough,” he stated. He stiffened, then added, “You going to stand there all night or come sit with us?” He didn’t face me, but I knew the question was meant for me.

I frowned. “How did you know I was here?”

“I smelled you,” he said, keeping his back to me.

Color heated my cheeks, quickly spreading to my neck and collar. I bet he’d never said that to Lexis. “I just took a shower. I do not stink!”

“I didn’t say you stank, now did I?”

“You said I smelled, and that’s the same thing.” If he’d been within arm’s reach, I would have slapped him.

“Well, you do smell. You smell good. Really good.” Finally he twisted to face me, and our eyes locked together. Sizzled. Oxygen burned in my lungs, and a jolt of desire speared me. “C’mere.”

My embarrassment dissolved into absolute pleasure as an invisible cord tugged me forward. I shouldn’t want him this much. I shouldn’t need him this much. I forced my gaze from him and studied the couch. The totally safe, didn’t-take-my-breath-away couch. I didn’t know where to sit. Between Rome and Lexis? Beside Lexis? Beside Rome?

In the end, Rome took the decision away from me. The moment I was close enough, his arm whipped out, snaking around my waist and dragging me into his lap. I landed with a delighted “Hoomph.”

Instantly his strength surrounded me, inexorable and comforting and more arousing than an intimate caress. The strong heat of his thighs pressed into the silk of my pants. My mind beckoned me to rise, to fight against his seductive allure, but I allowed myself to sink into his chest, deepening the contact.

“I will leave you two alone,” Lexis said, rising.

I didn’t think to utter a token and patently untrue please stay.

“You have much to discuss,” she added, and there was a tinge of regret in her voice. Hurt. Without another word, she padded from the room.

Rome and I were suddenly alone.

Now that the couch was free, the polite thing to do was get off him. But I don’t want to get off him, my body whined. Stay, stay, stay.

I stayed.

He didn’t ask me to get up, I noticed, and with a small smile, I burrowed the back of my head into the hollow of his neck. How I yearned to wrap my arms around him, to slide my lips over his jaw and work my way down his chest. To turn and wrap my legs around his waist, then rub myself against his erection.

“You’re going to open up to me now,” I told him.

“I am, am I?” He didn’t sound upset with that fact. He sounded amused, relaxed. Happy, even. And aroused. Deliciously aroused.

“Yes.”

“Or what?”

Biting my lip, I plucked at his pants, twisting the material at his knee. It was softer than it looked and actually tore under my ministrations. Oops. Did I somehow have superhuman strength now, too? I let go. “Do you really need me to list ways to torture you?”

“Depends on what kind of torturing we’re talking about.”

“The bad kind.”

His naughty fingers dipped to the hem of my shirt and rubbed the stripe of skin visible at my belly. “Painful bad or-” his voice dropped huskily “-kinky bad?”

Instantly my nerve endings jolted to life. “Painful?” I said, though it emerged as a question rather than the statement of fact I’d meant.

He chuckled softly. However, his amusement didn’t last long. He pushed out a breath, and his fingers stopped their movement. “I figured out what’s been bothering you. You’re jealous of Lexis. Why?”