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to shake, and not with fear. He made her feel a thousand times more rattled than Spider ever had.
    For answer, he closed his soft, hot mouth on hers, forbidding further conversation. Her gasp gave him access, which he leisurely took advantage of, exploring with his tongue, drawing her in even as he pulled her under.
    A trickle of commonsense made her rip her mouth away. “Fred!” The protest was weak, and she could barely remember why she made it.
    He pressed his body against hers and shockwaves crashed through her body. His kiss this time was deeper, hotter, and he threaded his hand through her hair, tilting her head back. She moaned as an electric thrill surged through her blood, squeezing her heart. She wanted him, wanted this, would die if he stopped. She needed ....
    He pulled back and sucked in air, like a diver surfacing from ten fathoms down. For a moment, he stared at her, and then he gave her an inch of space. “Would you have taken this from Spider, too?” he growled softly.
    She jerked at the question, staring at him wide eyed, still too consumed to think objectively. “I ....” She shook her head, trying to clear it.
    “Wrong answer,” he said grimly, then claimed her mouth again. The next time he raised his head, she was shaking, too weak to do anything but cling to him.
    “Who else is going to kiss you?” he asked softly, nuzzling her hair, breathing deeply of her scent.
    “N-no one,” she said faintly, too shaken to move. Could this really be happening? She’d never been so dizzied by a kiss.
    He nibbled at her lips like a man who couldn’t keep from sampling dessert. “I have to go.”
    Glassy eyed, she wobbled as he drew his arms away. “Okay,” she whispered. She felt naked and cold without his arms around her.
    He walked backwards to the door, then turned and softly closed it behind him.
    Jay braced her elbows back on the counter and leaned her head back, trying to drag in air. What had happened to her this evening?
    * * * *
    Jay didn’t know whether she was surprised or not to find Fred at her door at eight o’clock the next morning. Bemused, she let him in, disappointed to find him dressed much as he always was, minus the hat. What had happened to her hunk?
    Fred noted the coffee mug in her hand, smiled faintly, and claimed a spot on her couch. He looked around, as if searching for conversational material. His eyes lit on her guitar. “May I?” At her nod, he took it from the stand and awkwardly cradled it on his lap. Spying the black pick woven into the strings at the top, he pulled it free and experimented with it.
    Unable to stand it, Jay set down her cup and joined him on the couch. “Like this.” She showed him how to hold the pick, and then demonstrated a simple strumming pattern. “Down, down, up, up, down.” His proximity was making her edgy. She retreated to the counter again, hiding behind her cup.
    He slanted her look, his glasses shaving off some of the intensity. “Would you teach me? You make it look like fun.”
    He was so innocent looking, but the feeling coming off him was hot enough to make the air shimmer with invisible waves. Jay squinted at the window paper, the vinyl panels that simulated stained glass, and frowned. She’d spent a restless night thinking of him, trying to figure him out, hoping to dissect her own motives in having Spider over last night. Her conclusions weren’t pretty, and they didn’t speak well of her. The smartest thing she could do now was to preserve her distance. “I don’t know. I’m curious, though. What happened to the clothes you were wearing last night? I mean...they weren’t your usual sort of thing.” She felt herself flush, and couldn’t hold his gaze. It sounded like a complaint, even to her ears.
    Oddly, Fred seemed to relax. “I was posing for some photos for my artwork. I hate bothering with models, so sometimes I just set the camera on a timer and do the pose myself. It’s tedious, but the digital cameras make