Page 10 of Entity

“Yes,” I blurt, skin tingling with anticipation. Just the mention of Eros revives me, energizes me. “Of course, yes to all of it. May I start recording?”

Ian steers me away from the kitchen, toward a nondescript door in the far wall. “You may.”

Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my recorder and press the red circle. The light flashes on, and I check to make sure I have enough battery life. Everything looks good.

“I have a question to start us off,” I say, sliding the device back into my pocket.

Ian unlocks the door by typing in a code on a small panel. Cool air rushes out to greet us when the door swings open. He ushers me inside a dark space, one hand at the small of my back. My skin alights at the touch. What is hisdeal? Is he teasing me?

Then lights flicker on, illuminating a descending stairwell.

“Ask away,” Ian says.

“Why did you get me drunk last night?” I can’t help myself. I want to know for the sake of my pride. “It wasn’t to seduce me.”

“Did I get you drunk?” Ian says, beginning to descend. He gestures for me to follow, so I do.

“Three cocktails and a shot of tequila?” I prompt.

My slippers pad softly on hard metal stairs. Ian is still, bizarrely, barefoot. He says nothing.

“You offered me a drink the second I got here,” I push on. “And when I let you choose my poison, you served me what amounts to straight whiskey with a dash of sugar and absinthe. And you kissed me.”

He stops on the stairs. I stop two stairs behind him, and when he turns to face me, we’re almost eye to eye. His gaze is mild, amused.

“Youweren’ttrying to get me drunk, Ian?”

He looks me up and down, smiling softly. “You were nervous when you got here. You were sexy. And I got the impression you liked the kiss.”

I grit my teeth, pushing past him to continue down the stairs. “You put me in a position to humiliate myself.”

He follows close behind. “Humiliate? Where? I don’t see humiliation. I see a woman who knows what she wants. A woman who’ll take a risk to get it. You did nothing wrong last night, Kit. And neither did I. Listen, I don’t need some straight-laced writer with a fear of authority writing my book. I need someone who isn’t afraid to be herself. To let herself go. To wonder. To ask. To kiss. To fuck.”

I say nothing. I can’t tell if I’m flattered or annoyed. He kissed me to find out if I’m a slut? Okay. Great. I guess for someone to write a book about his particular product, it makes a sad amount of sense.

I stomp sullenly down the stairs, Ian at my heels. When we reach the bottom, he stops in front of another door. It’s massive, heavy-duty, and armored. It’s intimidatingly important-looking, like the kind of doors I imagine they have in bank vaults.

Ian turns to me. “Are you ready to meet him?”

A shiver rolls down my spine, my moodiness dissipating all at once. I can’t help myself from beaming up at Ian. Finally, I get to meet him. The reason for the book, the reason I’m here. The elusive, the elite, the most sought-after luxury item in the world: Eros.

I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life. Eros is the tech advancement that has changed how we work, how we live, how we view computers as a whole. There are entire offshoots of philosophy, of ethics, based around Eros. There are even rumors of a cult that sprang up recently just to worship him.

“Yes.Yes.I’m so fucking ready.”

Ian grins, typing a code into the security interface, and the door unlatches. It opens, slowly, sliding from right to left. And then we step inside.

We’re standing in a wide, well-lit corridor. Like the stairwell we just came down, it’s bland and grey, a nondescript length of cement floor and dreary walls. The only thing breaking up the monotony are sections of wiring against the wall, like intermittent waterfalls of wire from floor to ceiling.

“Welcome to my lair,” Ian says, spreading his hands wide.

“It looks like a hallway,” I say for the benefit of my recording.

Ian laughs. “You’re not afraid of me, Kit. I like that. A lot of people are.” He turns to me. “Did you really want to fuck me last night?”

I freeze, startled by the question. I hesitate, wondering if there’s an answer he’s looking for. But I decide there’s no reason to lie. “Yes.”

He gives me a long look, his eyes roaming across my body without any indication of self-consciousness. “Good. You’ll like Eros.”

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