I made a mental note to stop letting the women in my life talk to each other. It's a security risk. They compare notes, and then they ambush me in libraries.
She leaned in again, slower this time, and kissed the corner of my mouth. Then my jaw. Then the spot under my ear that Natalia found in June and has been exploiting ever since. Cel had clearly been briefed on that one too. Her breath was warm and sugary against my neck, and her free hand slid up under the hem of my hoodie and spread flat against my stomach.
Her fingers were freezing. I sucked in a breath, and she laughed against my skin.
"Is that above the waist?" she asked.
"It's on the waist. That's a legal gray area."
"I'm very good at gray areas. I was raised in one."
Her palm moved up my ribs. She found the place where the fifth node sits under my sternum, and she stopped there. The pendant thumped against her knuckles. Her eyebrows pulled together.
