The Seduction Game

“Will…I…”

“What?”

Silence reigned for a moment and then, finally, she spoke. “I like you, too.”

The words were whispered but made something in Will’s chest thud. Hard. He swallowed dryly, leaned forward, and dropped a very light kiss on her lips. They were as soft as he remembered and it took every single bit of self-control he had not to deepen the kiss and demand more. Still, when he pulled away they were both breathing heavy, both, he suspected, aroused to the point of distraction. Christ.

“Then let’s get this show on the road.”

The drive allowed Will some time to find some self-control and by the time they pulled into the convention center their light, teasing relationship was back. Twice Kate reached out to touch him, several times she seemed to forget to keep her dress pulled down low, and more than once she smiled without an echo of panic in her eyes. He was feeling very satisfied as they joined the throngs of people making their way to the entrance.

“Wow,” Kate said. “It is way busier than I expected. Busier than last year, for sure.”

Will glanced around with interest, trying to work out what was going on, what would draw so many people. But the crowd was thick, so many people all vying for space. And they were all so different that he could find no common denominator. He cast his mind back to the last time he’d visited. It had been for a decorating convention and he’d been bored to death within a few hours, cursing the fact that he’d sponsored the damn thing. He tried to imagine what Kate would be interested in and the only thing he could come up with was computers, so maybe it was some sort of computer road show?

“Minicon?” he asked, seeing the sign as they joined the queue to get in. “What is that, Kate?”

She was reaching into her bag, the same canvas one she seemed to tote everywhere, and her hair was falling into her face, blocking his view of her. “You can pick which you’d like,” she said, and when she pushed her hair back, and placed her bag back on her shoulder, the penny started to drop.

“You’re not serious?”

“I’m wearing the ears,” she said. “That is nonnegotiable. Meg and I usually go for full cosplay but for you, I went simple. How about the ray gun?”

Will gaped as he looked down at the collection of items in Kate’s hands and slowly lifted his head to take another look around. It was then that he started to pick up on all the details that he’d missed before. The fact that some people were dressed up, some were wearing the sort of tee shirts that Kate lived in, and some….he laughed, he couldn’t help it…some had gone for the full alien regalia. “A sci-fi convention, right?”

“I come every year.”

“You take me to all the best places, Kate.”

She laughed, or rather she giggled, and it made that damn place in his chest thud all over again. “It’ll be fun, Will,” she said, “and this is my world. This is me.”

“Then I want a pair of ears, too.”





Chapter Fifteen


“Oh. My. God. I don’t believe it! Oh my gawd, Will!”

Will held his ray gun by his side as he turned to see what Kate was so excited about. They stood next to a stall that was selling what Kate called “cosplay extreme” outfits. Will had no idea what the hell most of them were. He had even less idea what the stall holders and the people packed in next to them were either. He’d seen grown men dressed as knights of the realm, women in the skimpiest of outfits or full-flowing robes, but these? They had to be Japanese, or something of the sort. Will had visited Japan once and he got the same sort of vibe from these people…though definitely more extreme.

He edged a bit closer to Kate and tried to see what she was looking at, hoping, as he did so, that she hadn’t found an outfit she wanted to buy. The Japanese stuff seemed to err on the side of skimpy to skimpier and Will was fairly fucking certain he would not be able to survive seeing Kate in nothing more than a tiny skirt and some knee-high socks.

“What did you see?” he asked, leaning so he could speak directly into her ear.

A guy—at least Will thought it was a guy—with overly large eyes and a blue wig, bumped into him. Will straightened and looked down, then wished he hadn’t. The man was wearing nothing but a thong.

“I’m Kantinya Mangea,” he said, though Will had not asked.

“Right…”

“We have the Ryu outfit, if you’d like to see it.” He waved a hand and Will followed its direction to the clothes hanging from the top line of the booth. There, in front of a dragon outfit, was a tiny, red thong and a green wig. “It would really suit you,” Kantinya said.

Will groaned silently, imagining what his friends would say if he wore such a thing. Worse, his sisters. He wouldn’t hear the end of it for weeks…and yet…He stepped closer to Kate. If she asked him to, would he be able to deny her? Would she take it as a slight on her world if he did? Will had no idea. He was completely out of his depth. Hell, he hadn’t even known such events existed. And yet, it made sense, didn’t it? Where else could geeks go?

“I’m good, thanks,” he began but stopped the moment Kate slipped her hand into his.

“You cannot dress as Ryu,” she said and Will realized she had heard the conversation between him and Kantinya. How, he wasn’t sure. He could only just about hear her over the din.

“I can’t?” he asked, squeezing her hand. Was it beyond pathetic that he loved the fact he could do that? That she even squeezed back?

She shook her head. “He’s a second-rate villain, all the Tatkuru villains are. Kantinya included. You deserve better than that, Will.”

The faux-Kantinya bristled. Clearly he had super-convention hearing, too. “How dare you.”

“It’s true,” Kate said. “Ask anyone.”

“You probably haven’t even read the comics, just messed around on the game,” Kantinya said, his voice rising. “You’re not even cosplaying.”

“Whatever,” Kate said. She tugged on his hand and Will allowed her to pull him away. He had no idea what they were even talking about. Tatkuru?Villains?Cosplaying? It was like another language.

“FGG.”

Kate halted in her tracks. Will bumped into her and had to reach out with his ray-gun-bearing hand to steady her. Yet, even as he did, he took a moment to breathe in her floral scent. It was so her. So Kate. The look on her face wasn’t. What the fuck did FGG mean?

“FGG?” she hissed, turning to fix her eyes on the faux-Kantinya. “Seriously? I dare you to a game. Let’s see how quickly I can kick your ass.”

“You are on,” Kantinya said with a glare that made his wig quiver. “No doubt you’ll be Princess Moi. The girls always are. You won’t make it past the first battle.”

Will glanced from Kate to Kantinya. He still had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Kate was red-faced, though for once it wasn’t because of him, and Kantinya—who Will suspected was probably called Kevin or Pete or something else in real life—was quivering with rage.

“Game room,” Kate snapped. “Right now.”

She tugged on Will’s hand again and he followed her through the crowd. Previously, they had edged through carefully, Kate politely shooting smiles and a “sorry” to anyone they had bumped into, but now she was like a woman on a mission. Will stuck tight, because he had absolutely no idea where they were going, and no desire to be left in the middle of the center by himself. It had not escaped his notice that several women, many of them dressed as aliens, had cast him a glance and a flirtatious smile. One had even started to remove her scales right in front of his eyes.