“Well,” Ryu said, “how do you feel about a picnic at the beach?”

“That sounds amazing,” I answered truthfully. It did sound amazing—and very, very dangerous. I knew damned well that blankets on beaches at nighttime with handsome strangers usually meant one thing and one thing only: skinny-dipping.

Even if the water was too cold to go into all the way, any excuse for getting your partner naked was a good excuse. If she just happened to get so cold you just had to warm her up with your own body, well that was just the gentlemanly thing to do, right?

For a split second I wished I hadn’t told Ryu I didn’t feel the cold.

I was being very naughty. But at least my mother had never told me not to go swimming after a meal. Then again, she was apparently a seal.

You should also warn him about who you really are, my brain cut in. He says he knows your history, but you can’t assume you know what that means. So you’d better tell him now and get it over with. Rather than have him walk away after something serious has happened…

My thoughts dampened my excitement, and we drove in silence out to the public beach by the cottage Ryu was renting. He pulled a blanket and a large basket out of the trunk, and I shot him a skeptical look. “I was hoping you’d say yes,” he apologized, his eyes anything but apologetic.

We walked together down to the beach and I helped him spread out the blanket. Then I watched, marveling, as he made a gesture as if plucking an apple out of the sky and there suddenly appeared one of those glowing orbs of light. This one changed color from a bright white to a soft pink as he gently revolved it in his cupped hand.

“We call them mage lights,” he explained, leaving it hanging just above where our heads would be when we sat down.

The picnic he had packed—or rather purchased from a very fancy deli in Eastport, I noticed—was absolutely marvelous. My dad and I are pretty dedicated foodies, mostly because we have nothing better to do but also because we both love to eat. And as Ryu unpacked his treats, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Lobster rolls were the main course. Huge pieces of lightly mayonnaised lobster were nestled into the most delicious-looking buttery brioche, making me think guiltily about the talking lobster from my dreams. For side dishes, there was an amazing-looking panzanella—a colorful Italian salad made with toasted bread—and a Thai-style noodle salad with shrimp, vegetables, and crunchy peanuts. There was also fruit salad and a smooshy dollop of soft, sharp goat’s cheese. For dessert, there were strawberries, both plain and chocolate covered, as well as two small tartes aux citrons. To drink, there was another bottle of champagne as well as a bottle of rich red Shiraz, “for after dinner,” Ryu explained, with a toothy grin.

His expression, and his exposed canines, spoke volumes about his intentions for tonight, and I didn’t know whether to run away or cover him with lobster filling and eat him up right then and there.

But first, I had something I needed to do.

“Um, yeah. About after dinner… well, I just want to make sure you know the truth about me. You said you knew my history, but I wanted to make sure you really knew it. I mean, knew me. Not that I am my history, or anything, but you need to know the truth about me.”

Ryu’s expression softened and I saw that his fangs had retracted. Misreading these signs, I was unprepared for what he said next.

“Jane, honey, stop. I know everything I need to know. I know bits of your history, yes. And I know you’ve had a shitty life, in a lot of ways. But I also know you’re brave, and funny, and that you’ve impressed some pretty impressive people with the way you’ve survived.”

I ducked my head, feeling embarrassed and confused. Ryu touched the fingers of my left hand, which had started fiddling nervously with my shoelaces. I stared at his lovely, strong hands, not sure how to react.

“I like you, Jane. Not despite your history, but because of it. And there’s one other thing, something I think you should know.” Ryu paused for dramatic effect, and I finally raised my eyes to meet his.

“I am a breast man. And you, my darling, have an incredibly nice rack,” he concluded, causing me to blush and giggle. My mood thoroughly lifted, Ryu matched my laughs as he produced two champagne flutes from the bottom of the hamper, along with plates and cutlery. He turned the basket over to reveal its smooth underside; it made the perfect little table, which he set between us. Does this guy shop at Pimps R Us? my libido speculated, admiringly, as he popped the champagne and filled our glasses.

He handed me mine and we toasted. “To you, Jane, and your entry into our society. I’ve no doubt you will have as great an impact on the others as you have had on me.” I flushed purple, and only barely managed a sip from my glass. If Ryu noticed my discomfiture, he didn’t make a big deal of it. He simply passed me a plate, upon which he had sat one of the lobster rolls, and gestured toward the food to tell me to help myself.

Everything was perfect. What was supposed to be crunchy—like the bread in the panzanella and the toasted brioche rolls—was still crunchy, and nothing had gotten too cold despite its long wait in the trunk. I suspected that the same little shields that protect burned-out cars from prying eyes also made for handy picnic aids.

The champagne, again, went down like water and it was an unbelievably sensual experience eating all this delicious food while sitting across from a man who made my hands tremble every time he looked at me.

“Tell me about yourself,” I said, unable to bear being so close to him without saying—doing—something.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, grinning.

“I dunno, anything.” I shrugged. “I feel so… comfortable with you,” I tried to explain. “But I know nothing about you, it’s ridiculous. Where do you live? What do you do?”

“Well,” he said, licking his fingers after he’d polished off his lobster roll. “There’s not much to tell. My base is in Boston and I live there most of the year, except for when I’m at our Compound. That’s the seat of power for this Territory—it’s about an hour outside of Québec. I’m an investigator, which means that I make sure that everything runs smoothly in my area. If anything untoward occurs, I deal with it and report back to the Compound. Or, if my services are needed by the Court, then I’m sent out to handle whatever has come up. That’s how I ended up here.” He smiled at me, and my heart skipped about eight beats in a row. I was either falling hard for this guy or having palpitations.

He put down his plate and maneuvered himself around so he was sitting next to me. The palpitations were bordering on a coronary. I forced myself to breathe.

“As for what I do,” he said, helping himself to a strawberry. I knew without a doubt he was going to wind up feeding it to me.

Whoa, Nelly, my brain groaned, bracing itself.

Feeeeeeeeeeeeed me, my body roared, like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors.

“I like music a lot, and going to the theater. I especially like opera but I’m not so much a fan of musicals. I love spending time around humans and I love their popular culture. Whatever is popular in the human world at any given time, I try to learn about it.”

He put the strawberry to my mouth, and I took my time fitting my lips about it. Two can play at this game, I thought, as I bit down ever so slowly. He smiled encouragingly, and I noticed his canines were a bit more pronounced. Then he put the strawberry to his own lips to finish it off, flicking away the leafy top.

“Right now I’m really into manga and new Brit pop,” he said. “I know I’m late on the manga bus and that it’s insanely nerdy, but I’m really enjoying it. I really liked Appleseed and I just ordered the sequel.” I had no idea what he was talking about, but smiled at him anyway. It was either that or ravish him.

Why am I having this reaction to this guy? I’m like a horny thirteen-year-old boy whose dad just gave him his first Playboy. This is ridiculous. Get a grip on yourself, woman. I seriously had no idea why I was so attracted to Ryu. I mean, he was absolutely and completely gorgeous but that didn’t explain my almost entire lack of self-control or self-consciousness around him.

That’s it, you know, my libido yawned, thoroughly bored with my second-thoughts and guilty deliberations. You don’t have to lie to Ryu. He already knows your biggest secret—the secret you couldn’t even tell Jason—and to him it’s perfectly normal. To him you are perfectly normal.

Not for the first time since I’d met Ryu, I felt a flash of hope. Maybe things can be different, maybe I can be different…

To cover my confusion, I helped myself to some more fruit salad. I finished it off in silence. Ryu leaned back on his elbows beside me and I knew he was watching me.

When we finished the savory food—leaving dessert for later—we packed up the empty containers and plates and set them to the side. I’d tried not to eat too much, but it had been too tasty, and I was pretty full. I lay back, looking up at the stars and wishing I could undo my pants. Or that someone would undo them for you, I admitted to myself. I knew where this night was headed—had known since the moment Ryu said the word “picnic.” And I knew I wanted what he wanted, if for different reasons. Maybe this was just another fling for someone like him, but it was my first chance to have a fling.