"I love you."

"Yes," he groaned. It was a deep, heart-felt sound that came from somewhere around his soul. He rubbed his cheek against hers. "Always. Always."

"I love you," she whimpered. "Oh God, Tyber, I love you."

"I know, baby. I know." His mouth covered her own, melding with it, fusing with it.

The culmination of their union came to them both at once, complete and everlasting. An ending. A beginning.

Tyber slipped quietly from beneath the blankets so as not to awaken Zanita.

She had fallen asleep in his arms shortly after they made love. The events of the day, the emotional roller-coaster she had experienced, and finally, this last physical act had taken their toll. Her energy resources depleted, she had fallen into an exhausted slumber.

Good. Sleep was the best healer.

He slipped his clothes back on, silently leaving the bedroom on stockinged feet. When he reached the foyer, he picked up the hall phone, punching in a set of memorized numbers. The call was answered promptly. Tyber did not waste time on preliminaries.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Don't play games with me, Sean. I know you would have followed him when he left my house on Sunday. Now, where is he?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"He threatened Zanita. Scared her. Bad."

There was a brief pause, then, "He's renting a little cottage outside of Hill Town up on Blue Ridge Road. Yellow paint. White trim. Number 109." Tyber made to hang up, but Sean forestalled him. "Evans!"

"What?"

"Don't do anything stupid. I'll be right behind you. You'll have fifteen minutes."

"I owe you one, buddy. Thanks."

Tyber searched out Blooey, giving him an edited version of what had happened. Blooey was furious, threatening to take up arms himself and go after the scurvy toad.

Tyber calmed him down, asking him to check in on Zanita while he was out, instructing him not to wake her. Blooey knew exactly what Tyber was about. The Captain took care of his own. Aye, he was a good man to serve with.

"Ye don't have to worry none about me, Captain. I'll take the watch for ye. Go about yer business now."

The small house was dark except for the one light shining in the right front room.

Tyber debated the best way of gaining entrance, finally deciding that the simplest ways usually worked the best. He knocked on the front door first. He didn't really expect LaLeche to answer, so was taken off guard a little when he did.

LaLeche appeared faintly surprised to see Tyber Evans on his front stoop. He made to shut the door, but Tyber stopped him by shoving his way into the house. Gaining entrance, he slammed the door closed behind him.

"I want to talk to you, Xavier." Tyber's soft tone held a lethal intensity.

"Maybe some other time. As you can see, I'm a little busy right now." LaLeche ignored Tyber, busily emptying out a bureau and throwing the contents into a duffel bag.

Tyber ground his teeth together, resisting the urge to choke the life out of this scumbag. "I ought to just kill you, but I guess I'm going to have to be civilized and warn you first. Stay away from Zanita. If I ever see or hear of you coming near her again, I'll-"

LaLeche stopped packing. He turned and faced Tyber, a knowing smirk on his face. "You'll what? Don't jerk with me, Doctor Evans. For christsakes, you're a physicist."

"Sometimes," Tyber responded smoothly.

LaLeche regarded him in a new light. "Interesting. I'd love to stick around and discover all of your intriguing facets, but I really need to be going."

"I don't think so."

"Now there's where you're wrong, Doctor. Get out of my way." He made to push past him, but Tyber slammed him against the back of the door.

"You're going away all right, and for a long time, pal. But before you go, I intend to reach an understanding with you. I want you to forget all about Zanita. I want you to forget about ever coming near my lady or anything else of mine again. I want you to forget all about any twisted notion you have for revenge. And to make sure you do"-Tyber slammed his fist hard into LaLeche's groin-"a little something to remember me by."

LaLeche doubled over, clutching his middle. The man had a fist like iron. "You son of a bitch," he rasped.

"You don't know the half of it. If you think you're cute with special effects, you should see how adorable I can become with lethal substances."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a regular MacGyver."

"What's that supposed to mean?" LaLeche tried to straighten up, gasping to regain his breath.

"If anything should ever happen to Zanita, or me for that matter, I'll make sure that certain plans are set into motion. For instance, have you ever seen a man suffering from radiation poisoning? It can be a slow, painful death. First your hair falls out; then your teeth. You bleed-"

"You're bluffing."

"No, I'm good at solving problems. Do yourself a favor-don't become one for me."

"Shit."

LaLeche believed him. Tyber shoved him roughly aside, almost causing him to fall to the floor. He threw the door open. With a last look conveying his deadly sincerity, Tyber quietly closed the door behind him.

As soon as he cleared the walkway, Sean and his men began surrounding the house.

Tyber got into his truck, closed his eyes, and exhaled deeply. He had been bluffing. But like any good pirate captain, he knew when to face an enemy down. Even when he didn't have any cannons on board. Regardless of what happened, LaLeche would never bother them again.

Zanita was still sleeping when he crawled back into bed with her.

She immediately turned toward him, burrowing into his warmth. He enfolded her in his embrace, rubbing the top of her head with his chin.

"Where were you?" she mumbled.

"Miss me?" She nodded sleepily against his chest. "I got a phone call. How are you feeling, baby?"

"A little sore, but otherwise okay." A small shudder coursed through her body with the recent memories of LaLeche.

"Are you sure?" He massaged her back.

"Yes, really. It was horrible, but the horror is already receding thanks to your fine treatment, Doc." She smiled against his skin.

Tyber let out a pent-up breath of relief. She was going to be okay. "He's been arrested."

"Was it on the news?"

"No." He didn't elaborate and Zanita didn't ask. "Extortion. A couple of women identified him by his picture. Said he seduced them under the name of Marvin Broconol, took photos, then blackmailed them by threatening to show the pictures to their wealthy husbands. Since one woman is divorced and the other is a widow, they were both very eager to nail the s.o.b. Several others have come forward with various complaints. All felonies. He'll be gone a long time, I imagine."

"The important thing is that his days of duping people in need are over. It's such a pity, really. Healing practices can be so beneficial. All it takes is one rotten apple-"

"In this case, the one rotten apple shouldn't spoil the bunch. I agree with you; there are many decent, good people out there trying to effect a change for the better with new methods. But keeping an open mind cuts both ways."

"Now that this is over, I guess..." Zanita hated to say this, but she didn't quite know how Tyber felt about her moving in with him on a permanent basis. Now that she had admitted her love to him, there was no more deceiving herself.

She knew exactly where she wanted to be. Forever.

But how would Tyber feel about it? Even though he had confessed his love to her, he still was a very private person. He might prefer to maintain his privacy. She twirled the hairs on his chest, gathering courage. "I'll be moving back to my apartment."

"I don't think so." The Captain's tongue darted playfully in her ear. She shivered in response.

"No?"

"No."

Was he sure? "But Tyber-"

"I have a new case for us to investigate." He didn't add that he had searched high and low the past weeks for something, anything that would pique her interest so she would stay with him.

Zanita smiled to herself. "Really? What is it?" She snuggled into his broad chest.

"There's a man who lives right here in Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard, who claims his tavern is haunted."

"So, he's a nutcake. So what?"

"So... several reputable sources agree with him."

"Hmm..."

"So... you can't possibly leave." He bent his head to honor the hollow above her collarbone with very talented lips. Preoccupied, Zanita patted Tyber's head, her mind already on the story. Or so it seemed.

"Tyber?" She asked absently.

"Mmm?" He buried his head in her neck, running his hot mouth creatively up the side of her throat.

"Will you marry me?"

He paused for an instant, going stock still.

"Yes."

He resumed his meanderings about her neck. As if he hadn't just made a momentous, turning point-in-his-life decision.

Zanita clutched a handful of his thick hair, pulling his head up. "How come you answered so fast?"

Behind half-closed lids, those beautiful light-blue eyes twinkled, a spark of exaltation mingled with rising passion. A lazy smile inched across his handsome face, curving his cheek. His expression made her distinctly apprehensive.

Just before he lowered his head to hers, he replied in that uniquely roguish way of his, "Did I ever explain to you about the speed of light? No? Well, baby, it goes something like this-"

It was the quintessential Tyber answer. Zanita was to learn that night, and for the rest of her adventurous life with Doc Evans, that everything is simply a matter of perspective.

Except love.

Love, Tyber maintains, is positively absolute.

And he should know.

After all, the man is a genius.