Have more Poets of the Fall inspired JC. I had a lot more fun writing this than any of the chapters so far. Also, grown up Cindy would be a great character in a Nolan or Bond film and I'd like to write more one-shots like this, maybe set in this spy world.

M: MOONLIGHT KISSED, MINX

For my words are the salt of lust
On that ivory skin
Difficult to hear it all
Through the everyday din...

He stood framed against the window, the strong lines of his back turned to her. It was a full moon and he was awash in silver light. She willed him to stay frozen there for at least a little bit longer so she could let her guard down and allow herself the pleasure of admiring him. It wasn't often that she could do so without someone or the other noticing or something getting in the way. He was her weakness, through and through, and he always had been. He was brilliant and always had a comeback for every insult she threw at him, and she could never picture herself loving someone else the same way. He was it, for her.

"So what do you think?" The smooth tenor of his voice swept over the contours of the otherwise quiet room, and she was suddenly aware that he'd been saying something this whole time and she hadn't been paying the least attention. How would she get out of this one? Maybe she didn't want to get out of it. She was tired of the games.

The vulnerable part of her was going to win tonight, she could feel it. "Neutron, could you repeat yourself? I was distracted."

"Jeez Vortex, I wouldn't ask you about this if I didn't value your opinion, and you're not even listening?" He sounded annoyed. She had to control a tiny smile.

"You value my opinion?" The question came out exactly as she intended. Softer than usual, but still retained that trademark hint of snark.

He threw his hands up in frustration. "Cindy, we don't have time right now for me to go over the obvious."

She got up off the hotel bed and faced him, arms crossed over the silky fabric of her flimsy jade slip.

"I don't think anything between you and I is obvious."

His electric blue eyes roamed over her for a split second before he stopped himself.

"This," He gestured between them, "can't go anywhere good."

She didn't agree with him. She could imagine some very good places it could go this very moment. It was a struggle to set those places aside to collect herself. So she decided she wouldn't. She would embrace her newfound boldness tonight.

"Oh?" She sidled up to him and shed the little beige shawl she'd wrapped around her shoulders earlier that night at the opera-house where they'd been doing some undercover espionage for Jet. He was speechless.

"Cat got your tongue, James?"

That was it.

In a fluid motion, he pinned Cindy against the wall and let his lips hover mere centimeters away from hers. "You damned little minx."

Cindy smiled and he could feel her breath. "Guilty as charged."

When they finally kissed, it was intoxicating. Years of longing and secret desires poured out of her. The love and the lust intertwined until she could no longer tell the difference. All she knew was the hypnotic pull he had over her, the mesmerizing feel of his body against hers, the warmth that was spreading through her like a lightning bolt. He was irrevocably hers, and she would have it no other way.

Later, after their spell-binding congress, they got dressed again. He was in a hurry, but she couldn't be bothered. She was still in bliss.

As she tied his tie for him, he gave her a look of sincerity. "You know, I have always valued your opinion. Even when we were kids."

"Is that so?" There was a naturally mischievous upturn to her question, but he didn't seem to catch it. He was being genuine. "Yes, your approval meant the world to me. Deep down, I wanted you to be impressed."

She pretended to fix a small snag in her sheer tights so she could hide the grin that was making its way across her face.

"Do we have to go?" She gave him her best doe eyes. He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "I'm afraid we do. Duty calls."

She laughed at his dramatic flair. "Really? You're really going full 'The name is Neutron, James Neutron' aren't you?'"

"Does that make you a Neutron girl?" She scrunched her nose at him. "I guess I'll take it. There are worse things I could be."