"I don't just want you around to sleep with. And you should never be afraid of me. I won't hurt you," she said. Then she cupped Jane's chin and raised her face until they were looking eye to eye.

"I need to talk to Tarloh . . ."

"He . . . he said that he and Talia were going to Los Angeles soon to find some warlock . . . I think. He doesn't want both of you gone at the same time again."

Red suppressed her anger. It was a wise move.

"I need to talk to him anyway. Hey, why don't you go down and get into bed and I'll be back in a bit. You need to get warm."

"But I'm not tired and..."

"It's okay. I just thought we might spend some time together and you know . . . talk. If you want to, I mean.”

Jane was just watching Red's face. ‘She's so beautiful,’ Jane thought.

She risked a quick kiss on the lips, then reached out with her hair and scurried down the stairs.

Red stood there for a moment, a smile playing across her face, driving the anger away. ‘How does she do that?’ the warrior woman thought, then went looking for Tarloh.

By the time Red had made her apologies, discussed strategy and returned to her chamber, Jane was in her footy pajamas with only the top of her head poking up from the covers. Red smiled and slowly undressed. Even if she wasn't going to have sex, Red preferred sleeping in the nude, and she wanted Jane to become more comfortable with Red's body. She picked up one edge of the blankets and slid underneath, causing Jane to stir a bit and poke her head all the way out.

“Hey. Sorry," Jane mumbled.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought."

She felt Red's arms sliding over her body and pulling her close.

“Are you. . . okay?"

"So so," Red replied.

"I kind of lost my head, and it bugs me. We've lost the element of surprise and I'm pretty sure we can expect some kind of retaliation.

That means sitting back for a moment and waiting for something to happen to us, and that never works out well in my book." She sighed."

And it looks like Tarloh may ask Natasha to come back with him if this ‘dark thing' is what he thinks it is, and that generally complicates my life."

Jane's blood chilled, but she struggled not to let it show.

"What's she like? Natasha?"

Red kissed her young lover long and slow.

“Annoying,” she said with a grin.

“Stubborn, short-tempered, prone to violence 0