Now that she realized escape was going to be impossible, Zanita fumed. You never saw women doing that-commandeering the bed and everything in it without an ounce of remorse. Pinning people to the bed and stopping them from leaving-it was reprehensible!

Zanita stiffened as a deep, sleep-hoarse voice murmured next to her ear, "Mmm. Much better than my teddy bear." His silky lips nuzzled her throat. They were hot.

Zanita swallowed. "Tyber, I don't think we should-" Her voice ended in a squeak as his mouth covered a spot of skin just below her ear and heartily drew on it.

"Have I explained resistance to you yet?" he whispered against her throat as his thumbs traced the underside curves of her breasts. "No? Resistance is a-"

"Tyber, I can't believe you're talking physics now! Besides, I need to get up and..." She never finished her sentence because he had neatly flipped her over onto her back and was now leaning over her. She was surprised as much by his action as by the look of him.

He was a sexy man in the morning.

His hair hung long and tousled over his shoulders. His blue eyes were half-closed, still drowsy; they had a slumberous appeal to them. His mouth was soft, the beautifully shaped lips still slightly swollen from her ardent kisses of the previous night.

Zanita was momentarily struck spellbound.

Which gave Tyber the opening he was looking for.

He wedged his leg between her thighs and dropped his head.

"Do you know the best way to overcome resistance?" he mouthed against her lips as he clasped her hands, threading his fingers through hers to pinion her to the mattress.

"Using a greater force to get one's way?" Zanita responded in a sugary-sweet tone, trying her best to irk him. She knew it hadn't worked when he chuckled low against her mouth.

"That is an option." His big toe skittered teasingly down her instep. "But I think-believe-it is always preferable to introduce another force to overcome the resistant force." He stroked his leg against her inner thigh. Zanita sucked in her breath.

Desire. He was using her desire to overcome her resistance.

His leg moved higher and higher as he rubbed and stroked it against the inside of her legs. With each pass he came closer and closer to her juncture, never quite reaching it. The tricky devil! Whoever thought she would be waylaid by a scientific principle?

Challenging, passion-dilated eyes gazed directly into hers.

The anticipation was killing her. Would he? Won't he? Please...

Even though she bit her lip with his next teasing caress, Zanita could not stop the moan from escaping her lips. The small, sexy sound made Tyber's glazed focus shift to her mouth.

"Give over to me, baby," he groaned.

That was it. She was lost. Zanita raised her head slightly off the pillow, bringing her lips a hairsbreadth from his own. "Oh, Tyber, what am I going to do with you?"

"Any damn thing you want." His mouth crashed down on hers.

Zanita entered the kitchen, shocked to see that Blooey had prepared a huge Sunday brunch for them. Tyber was still in the shower, having played the gentleman by waiting for her to finish hers before taking his when she flatly refused to share it with him. How did he expect her to give up men when he continually made her fall off the wagon?

No. No more.

She'd be the first to admit that she had momentarily been swayed off her course by an incredible set of pecs and a boyishly charming, pouting lower lip and wickedly seductive eyes. But that was all over with.

The light of day had come, literally, when she opened the bathroom drapes. With it had come reason. Sensibility. A sense of purpose.

Zanita shivered slightly in her shorts and sleeveless top. The weather had changed. The brief Indian summer had already gone. Swirling autumn leaves flew by the kitchen windows in a brisk breeze. Zanita wryly noted that Hambone was curled up next to the wood stove on a small braided rug. She would bet her next month's salary that the cat would wisely stay by the coveted spot until next spring.

Blooey walked into the room from the pantry, not seeming at all surprised by her appearance. She couldn't help but wonder how many other times he had witnessed a similar occurrence. Her glance took in the appetizing brunch laid out on the table. No, he wasn't surprised at all that she had spent the night.

Her shoulders sagged.

She supposed that anyone who looked like Tyber probably had guest brunches on a regular basis. There probably were a lot of women out there willing to overlook the fact that he was a physicist. She sighed.

"Good morrow, yer ladyship! Are ye hungry? I fixed a fair bit of food fer ye, thinkin' ye might be ravenous." He winked saucily at her. Zanita blushed.

"What's this now? Don't be shy, Lady Masterson. 'Tis a well-known fact the Captain be a vigorous man."

Zanita turned a brighter shade of red. The little pirate took some getting used to. "Do-do you do this often, Blooey?"

"Often enough; every Sunday, Lady Masterson." He noted her crestfallen expression. "But it's always been just me, the Captain, and that scalawag Hambone," he hastened to add. "It be more special with a lady such as yerself present."

"Oh. I thought..." Blooey looked at her knowingly, and for an instant Zanita saw the sharp intelligence behind his expression.

"The Captain's somewhat fierce about his privacy."

"Thank you, Blooey." Blooey nodded before going to pour her some coffee.

Tyber entered the kitchen, hair still slightly damp from his shower. He was carrying a red-plaid flannel bathrobe, which he held open for her.

"I thought you might be cold with those clothes. The weather's changed." She slipped her arms through the sleeves.

Tyber turned her around, perfunctorily fastening the tie belt with a firm tug. He kissed her nose, saying, "Sorry, baby, no more pool parties for us until the spring."

As if he had really had a pool party! The robe was ridiculously big on her. She felt like a child playing dress-up. Blooey handed her a cup of coffee just as she took a chair. Caffeine was needed quickly if she was going to deal effectively with Dr. Evans.

"Tyber, I want to thank you for a lovely..." her voice faltered slightly, "Time. I really have to be going."

He looked over the mound of scrambled eggs he was ladling onto her plate, a hurt expression crossing his face. "You're not going to stay for breakfast?"

"Well, I..."

"Blooey will be terribly disappointed, especially after he went to all this trouble. Won't you, Blooey?" He speared Blooey with a pointed look.

Blooey coughed. "Aye! It wouldn't be right of yer ladyship, would it?"

Zanita looked from one to the other of them, realizing she was neatly trapped. She slumped in the seat.

"We even have the Sunday paper for you." Tyber's eyes gleamed in triumph while he handed her the front section of the newspaper.

Hambone tested the air with an upturned nose, and sensing the serving of food, slowly lumbered to his feet to pad over to the table. He stopped at Tyber's chair, staring demandingly up at him.

Tyber unconsciously filled a small saucer with some eggs and bacon and placed it on the floor in front of the scruffy tabby.

Zanita gaped at him. Tyber caught her staring at him after the third forkful of eggs. "What?"

"You forgot to give the cat some coffee."

"Huh? Oh, he likes his after he eats." He went back to his plate as if the earth was once again back on its axis, merrily spinning about the sun.

She was in a nut house.

Zanita wisely turned her attention to her newspaper.

They ate in companionable silence except for the occasional curses from the backyard where Blooey was trying to save his butternut squash from the predicted freeze that evening. Suddenly, Zanita sat straight up in her chair.

"Tyber, it says here that noted psychic Xavier LaLeche is giving a seminar and a demonstration on healing this evening!"

Tyber looked up from his Analog magazine with glazed eyes, taking a moment to readjust to this atmosphere. "Where?"

"At the Kingston function hall in Blaketon."

He rubbed his chin. "Hmm, two hours to get there and two hours back. What time?"

"Eight o'clock; think we can do it?"

"Yeah. It'll be a late night, though. Do you have to get up early in the morning?"

"Fairly, why?"

"If you promise you won't wake me, I'll drive."

Zanita flushed. "Tyber, we need to get something straight. I'm not going to spend another night here."

"Of course not."

Zanita nodded in agreement, pleased that he understood.

"I want you to move in."

Her cup clattered in the saucer. "What!"

Tyber left his seat, coming around the table to kneel in front of her on one knee. He took her chilled hands in his. "Don't get nervous, Curls. I know you've given up men and I respect that. It's just that I think it will be a lot easier to investigate this story of yours if we have ready access to each other. You know, sometimes the best ideas happen in the middle of the night." He smiled beseechingly at her.

"What-you never heard of a telephone?"

His thumb traced the top of her hand. "It's not the same. You can't brainstorm over the phone effectively. Didn't you ever hear of think tanks?"

She furrowed her eyes. "Yes, but do you really think it would help you?"

He trapped her hands inside his own. "Immeasurably."

"You mean, temporarily, just while we're working together on the story?"

"Think of all the time we'd save."

She scratched her neck. "I don't know..."

He leaned forward to give her succulent little kisses between his words. "Don't-you-think-it's-a-good- idea, baby?"

"But Tyber, I told you I don't want to get involved!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Involved? Who said anything about it getting involved?"

"No! I mean us! Us involved..."

"Mmm, we are, aren't we?" His tongue swirled inside her mouth in a devastating foray.

Blooey started to enter the kitchen carrying a basket of squash. Still kissing Zanita, Tyber motioned to Blooey behind his back. Without breaking his stride, the little pirate turned and left the room.

Tyber poured on the heat. "Yes?" he whispered into her mouth.

The man could kiss. Zanita tried to think. It wasn't easy under the circumstances. She needed his help, that she knew. With Tyber's background, his input would be invaluable in exposing the fraud. What's more, she would have more time to work on him for an interview, although she didn't hold out much hope for that. But move in with him?

Temporarily.

It wouldn't be as if she had to deal with a real relationship or anything.

It was a business arrangement. Sort of.

It would make it easier to work together; she could see that. And if they indulged in a side... thing, well... they were adults. Truth was, now that Tyber had given her a taste of the heretofore elusive fruit, she wouldn't mind taking a few more bites, so to speak. As long as he understood the ground rules.

She clutched his shoulders. "You-you wouldn't think of yourself as my-my boyfriend, would you?"

Tyber smiled against her cheek. "Hell, no."

Your man, baby. The one you're going to acquire an insatiable taste for. He kissed her without mercy.

"Yes?" he drawled once more against her mouth, the flat of his palms at her back, bringing her tight against him.

"Oh God, yes..." Her fingers filtered through the long locks of his hair as she kissed him back.

When Zanita was getting ready to leave, Blooey purposely walked by the kitchen door and discreetly gave Tyber the thumbs-up. Aye, the Captain was a pirate after his own heart. Blooey beamed. Always sets his course and steers true to it.

Blooey sauntered away singing a ribald sailor's ditty comparing the sleek lines of a clipper ship to those of the female form.

"I thought you said you were through with men?"

Mills picked up one of Zanita's paperbacks, read the title, and plopped it back onto the coffee table.

"I am. Kind of." Zanita scurried around the room throwing some clothes, books-whatever she happened to spot-into some cartons.

"Oh?" Mills looked unconvinced. She shook her head, muttered something under her breath, then plopped herself onto the coffee table.

"Really. Tyber is... different."