The Seduction Game

Will didn’t want to have to start putting scales, or horns, or wings back on. Kate was all the geek he needed.

“Just through here,” Kate shouted, pointing to a door just off to the side of a stall selling comics.

They’d been in the convention center for just over an hour, and in that time they’d only just managed one rotation of the space. Will hadn’t even noticed these doors set off to the side. The place was huge.

He reached up to steady his ears. They were Lord of the Rings ears apparently, not the same as Kate’s Star Trek pair. In all honesty, Will couldn’t tell the difference, but Kate could. They beat a thong, that was for sure.

Will wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when they entered the room, more aliens, maybe even a faux-spaceship of some kind. Instead, he was confronted with a teenage boy’s wet dream. The entire room was covered in flat screens and attached to each one was a gaming console. Will recognized a couple, one he’d had when he was younger, and one he’d bought Lissie just last Christmas.

“Here,” Kate said.

She dragged him over to one of the screens and picked up a controller. A few moments later and Kantinya was there, picking up the other. It clicked into place then and Will didn’t know whether to laugh or shake his head. Kate was challenging Kantinya to an online fight? This was how nerds settled their arguments?

“Take my bag, Will,” Kate said. “Don’t worry, this won’t take long.”

She held out her bag and Will took it. But before Kate could let go he tugged the bag and her with it. Gaming controller and all, she fell into his arms. Will did not hesitate before kissing her. And he kissed her with all the passion that he’d struggled with since their last kiss. It felt amazing, even better than the first time. He could feel the tension in her lithe body, the beat of her pulse under her skin. Will had no doubt she could feel the same coming from him.

When they broke apart both were panting.

“For luck,” Will said, dragging in an unsteady breath. “Kick his ass.”

She smiled, that little dimple appearing in her cheek. The smile said plenty to Will. That she was happy he’d kissed her. That she’d be happy if he did it again.

Will stood off to the side, Kate’s bag in hand, and watched the battle begin. He had no idea what was happening. Only that Kantinya was playing a mini version of himself on the screen, and Kate was indeed playing as a girl. They threw weapons at one another, fired thunderbolts, and raced around a weird, medieval-type village.

A crowd formed around them, other gamers drawn over. They murmured strategy, talked about hidden levels. Will didn’t know what any of it meant. He didn’t care. Once the game was underway his gaze did not leave Kate.

She was fucking beautiful.

Her dress swished around her thighs as she moved the controller. Her glasses glinted from the lights of the screen. Every so often a smile played around her plump lips and she murmured something to herself.

Captivating.

Will wanted, quite desperately, to take her into a darkened corner and kiss her until she begged him to stop. Hell, he wanted that and more. He wanted this geek beneath him, whispering his name, biting down on those lips…

So deep was Will in his fantasy that he didn’t even realize that the battle was over until the crowd gasped and began to clap. He stepped forward just as Kate turned to them and took a little bow.

Kantinya threw his controller down and stalked off without so much as a word.

“That’s my girl,” Will whispered. “That’s my girl.”

Their eyes locked. She beamed at him. Will held out a hand. She took it without a single word, and as she did, something that felt suspiciously like pride roared through Will. How many other women would be able to electronically kick someone’s ass? How many women were as quirky as his Kate?

None.

He kissed her again. A light kiss this time. A leisurely touch on her lips. Not because Will didn’t want more, but because he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop. He was too aroused, too hard for her.

She was too damn pretty.

“What does FGG mean?” he asked as they pulled apart. He needed something to take his mind off the bulge in his pants.

Kate pushed her glasses up her nose and pulled a face. “Fake geek girl.”

“That’s a bad thing, right?”

“It’s sexism,” she said. “Plain and simple. No way could I let him get away with it. I could out-code any man in this place, and still some of them think this is their domain. It so isn’t anymore. It never was.”

“It’s yours,” Will said. “I was so damned proud of you.”

“Will…”

“Well, I was.”

“It’s an easy game,” she said, though he could see the flush of pleasure on her face. “Now, let’s get back to where we were.”

“What did you see?” Will asked, remembering her excitement before the run-in with Kantinya.

“It was the Enterprise,” she said. “The transporter room. I wanted us to get beamed up.”

“Beamed up?” Will asked. “As in dematerialized?”

She giggled. Will loved the sound. Loved the fact that he had been the one to cause it. “No, don’t be silly,” she said. “We just…urgh, it probably sounds so pathetic…but we just stand on the transporter pad and they press some buttons and there’s a light show…”

“Right…”

“We get a picture taken as well,” she said. “So we can say we were on the ship.”

Will decided it was best not to mention that there wasn’t actually a ship. If one little space was enough for Kate then it would be enough for him, too. “Do I get to keep your picture?” he asked.

Her smile faded a little and she shifted. “Why would you want to?”

“Because.” Will took her into his arms. It was almost natural now. He tugged her forward and she came. In fact, it scared him just how natural it felt. Like he couldn’t imagine not doing it. “I’d be able to stare at your pretty face even when I’m not with you. Something to sustain me until the next time we see each other.”

“The next time?” she whispered and Will nodded.

“There’s going to be a lot of ‘next times,’ Kate.”





Chapter Sixteen


It was close to midnight when they eventually returned to K.I.T. They had indeed spent the entire day together and to Kate it had seemed like the hours had skipped by at a ridiculous speed. One moment it was mid-afternoon and the next they were being ushered out of the convention center and Will was taking her to a small sushi bar. He’d teased her that any woman who could electronically kick male ass had to try sashimi and saki and Kate had insisted that he split dessert with her. They’d talked and talked and Kate was pretty certain it could not have gone better. Will had gotten involved at the convention. He’d been everything she could have ever asked for. Hadn’t once done anything to suggest that a geek fest was someplace he’d rather not be.

And then there was the dress. Lacy had indeed been right. More than once, Kate had felt Will’s eyes on her legs. He did think it looked nice. And that knowledge made it feel right, made her feel more confident than she could have expected. It was a heady kind of power, not one that Kate had experienced before, and she had to admit, she quite liked it.