“Are you staying here now?” I ask.
I try to imagine her actually living here.
Having Pandora within arm’s reach. Being able to joke and laugh with her. Discussing her violent fantasies. All the amazing sex.
There might be too much of a good thing, though.
Pandora smiles. “Why, are you inviting me to move in, Blabe?”
“Blabe?” I repeat.
River and Asch both snicker.
“Yeah. Blaze plus babe. Blabe.” Pandora’s grin widens.
“You aren’t funny,” I say, deadpan.
“Told you,” Asch says.
“She can stay with me,” River says, trying to take her bag, but she doesn’t let go of it. “Until these things are sorted, anyway.”
Pandora sets her duffel bag on the coffee table. There’s a large couch for her to sit on, but she instead chooses to settle on my lap.
I wrap my arms around her and look up into her eyes.
Not crazed, not tired, not sad.
Determined. Fierce.Alive.
This is the Pandora I got to know.
This is the Pandora I fell for.
She gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “Does this place actually have an extra room or is it strictly a bachelor pad?”
“If you always share with somebody else, you don’t need an extra room,” I point out. “You can rotate beds.”
Pandora laughs and taps my nose. “Will Echo rotate beds as well?”
I recoil and shake my head. “No. No snakes in my bedroom.”
“You brought Echo with you?” Asch asks. He eyes the duffel bag with less caution than I think is appropriate.
Pandora rolls her eyes. “Of course not. She’s in her enclosure. I’m not going to stress her out by moving her pointlessly.”
River smirks. “Really, Blaze. What did you think, that she’d just throw her baby in a duffel bag and call it a day?”
“I don’t know how snakes work!” I argue. Pandora nuzzles her nose against my neck, then she bites down.
I grunt, but I don’t push her away.
Maybe we don’t need to plot to undermine my father. Maybe we can simply have sex right here in the living room.
Asch gets up and approaches, standing behind Pandora. His arm loops around her shoulders, and he rests his chin on her head.
“So do we have any ideas yet?” River asks without preamble, ruining what could otherwise have been a perfectly good moment.
Pandora groans and stops nipping my skin. “I don’t know. I brought all your drives. The blackmail materials. There’s so much shit there though.” She sits up and turns enough to kiss Asch.
