“Her eyebrows lifted up. "You came here to seduce me armed with just one condom? What were you thinking?"He breathed out hard. "Oh come on, Tate, don't be nasty. I wasn't sure whether you'd talk to me. I didn't want to jinx it by being cocky and coming here with a string of latex. You know you would have had mt arrogant, self-centered ass for it," he muttered.”

“Where else would I be? I want to be wherever you are, Ana. Being here makes me think of how far we've come. And the night that was. I watched you fro hours. You were just... yar," he breathes. I smile against his chest.”

“Micah: “Come, on. Let’s get you out of here.” He began putting his arms under me and lifted me off my bed of rocks.“Oh, no. You can’t just come trotting in here like some hero. I’m saving myself this time. Go away!” “And let me just say you were doing a fine job lying there on your back.”

“You’re stuck,” I blurted, his grin died and he blinked.“Come again?”I swallowed, sucked in breath and forged ahead.“I was lost but you… Tate, you got stuck,” I told him.He stared at me and it took a lot but I braved his stare.Then he asked, “You up for the job of pullin’ me out?”“I…” I swallowed again. “No,” I answered truthfully.“No?” he asked, his eyebrows lifting, his face getting dark, his armsgrowing tighter.“I…” I pulled in breath then whispered, “I kinda like it here.”

“I thought you'd be halfway to Tokyo by now,” she said, stalling.“Not without you.”Oh, man, she was so screwed. He was bad enough when he was giving her shit. Right now he was looking at her as ifshe was the most precious thing on earth, and she knew what she looked and smelled like. The world had turned upsidedown.“I don't suppose you love me,” she said. “Even a little bit?”“Don't be an idiot, Ji-chan. Why else would I be here? Now, do you want to stay here or do you want to prove you're reallycrazy and come with me?”“Will you grow your hair again?”“If you want me to.”“Then tell me.”“You're not going to make this easy, are you? Su-chan warned me about you.”“She warned me, too. Tell me.”He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Aishiteru,” he muttered.“In English.”“I love you.”

“Abe's face came back into focus. "Greetings, Zmey," I said weakly. Somehow, him being here didn't surprise me. "Nice of you to slither on in." He shook his head, wearing a rueful smile. "I think you've outdone me when it comes to sneaking around dark corners. I thought you were on your way back to Montana." "Next time, make sure you write a few more details into your bargains. Or just pack me up and send me back to the U. S. For real." "Oh," he said, "that's exactly what I intend to do." He kept smiling as he said it, but somehow, I had a feeling he wasn't joking.”