Page 26 of Torn Between Two Worlds

She was quiet, and if he was reading her body language right, pensive.Good. Thinking was how wars were won. Well, part of it anyway.

“Then there's the issue of you throwing me back into my world. If you can do that to me, I'd bet money, if you could focus enough on one of them, you could do it to them too. We need to sim—”

Her snort cut him off, and he raised a brow.

“Oh, yes, because the safe thing to do while in a life or death scenario is to think it away. Clever.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Brilliant.”

He was going to let that one slide since she was afraid, but his clenched hand was turning white as he tried to control his annoyance.

“Fine, you don't want to see what you can do that way, it's not my problem. But what about changing worlds? Can you just step through an open door like I can? Can you open them at will?”

“I've never done it before. The world hopping. Normally, I just lie down, focus and cross the barrier. But to leave my body here under attack? No thanks. As for opening them, of course, I can. How do you think you come and go? I can't honestly say I do it on purpose, but according to the man in charge that you seem to hate so much, it's me opening them all right.”

He nodded. So she'd let him in the other day. He really needed to get a handle on his smirking. He hadn’t realized how often he did it until he’d kept having to hide it to not piss her off. “Good, means you can get away if you need to, or call me easier.”

“No shit. How do you think Alcott got here?”

He just stared blankly at her. Did that mean he went home? Fuck, he sure wouldn't ever leave her if she didn't force it.

“Oh, wow, you didn't know. It's like an alarm system. Even if I don't try to open it, if I'm in danger, it opens somehow.”

Interesting, did the people pulling the strings ever come totally clean?

“No, because if you didn't keep throwing my ass back so hard I leave skid marks, I wouldn't leave. But stand up. It's time to play guinea pig. We need to know if you can cross over by stepping through your little shimmering doorway too. So do whatever it is you do to open it.”

She didn't even look as if she was concentrating. She just sat there and then pointed. Through the doorway, he could see his home.

“Thinking about my home, huh?”

“Don't flatter yourself. I can only call open places I've read. I've read about your home and a bar thus far. I'll skip the bar, thanks.”

“Keep up that train of thought. The bar’s not bad, though, I'll take you there sometime. Show you how much of a hero I am.”

She rolled her eyes.

He nodded, sensing the tension rising between them and wanting some of the playfulness back. “How about a cease fire between us again? I rather liked you liking me.”

He grinned at her, and she laughed. Without a thought, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, gentle and playful.

“Mmmm.” She pulled back from him, and her eyes were heavy-lidded from the lust between them. “I think I like the idea of that. I also think someone owes me the end of a date.”

She was playful again, and he definitely liked her that way.

“Sneaky.”

She grinned up at him, and he smoothed the hair from in front of her eyes. “I have heard that a time or two. You can come back tomorrow. Same time and take me to the aquarium.”

“I'm sorry. I'm taking you where?”

She snorted at him and walked away to sit on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her. “It's a place where fish live and ocean loving humans, like me, can go and press our faces against the glass.”

“I know what an aquarium is. I'm just not certain why you'd want me to take you out in public where we can't interact.” The fact actually confused the shit out him.

“Welcome to the twenty-first century, mister demon. It is called a blue tooth. A simple slip over my earlobe and no one will suspect a thing. As for the why…because they're my favorite place to be, outside of a library, and I should think you'd like to keep me happy.” She winked and sank into the couch further, clearly pleased with herself.

“On one condition. You are going to try to come through to me via your lovely little doorway after.”

She stuck her lip out, and he thought she was going to give him some nonsense about being afraid.

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