This is where the rewrite starts.

Disclaimer: Characters and (some) events aren't mine. Just doing this for fun and entertainment and to prevent myself from getting lynched!

This (obviously) isn't a part of the ID'verse -- but I reserve the right to reuse certain minor characters...

With thanks to Selma, Gamine, Carrie and Vanessa who saw the original version of this chapter as I wrote it, and thanks again to Vanessa and Gamine who've seen this rewrite build. Also thanks to Justy for not looking at me strangely when he accidentally saw sections of this!

~*~

There was a brief instant when Taylor thought that Eric was going to hit her, then his lips met hers.

It was a savage, unrelenting kiss. One that Taylor was powerless to resist. Her feelings and senses swam as Eric invaded her mouth with his tongue. He was possessive. A hand stroked down the length of her back, pulling her closer to him. Fingers ran through her hair. His tongue skimmed her teeth and explored her mouth. Teeth nipped at her lips.

And then it stopped.

Eric broke the kiss and stepped back.

Taylor felt her knees buckle. Only the close proximity of a filing cabinet prevented her from falling. No man should be able to kiss like that -- especially not an arrogant...gorgeous...jerk like that!

He was smirking at her now, as if it had all had no effect on him at all. As if kissing someone like that was an everyday occurrence in the life of Eric Myers.

Anger brought back her ability to speak. "What the hell was all that about?" she yelled.

"Guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do to get some peace and quiet around here," Eric answered.

Outwardly, Taylor schooled her expression into indignation at that. Inwardly she smirked. He wasn't as unaffected as he wanted to make her think. There was a fractional hitch to his breathing, a slight tremor to his words. Two can play at this game.

"You arrogant, egotistical, chauvinistic bastard!" she exclaimed.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Name calling, now, are we?" he said mildly.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's impolite not to finish what you start?" Taylor shot back.

She stepped into his personal space. Before he could protest, she leaned forward, taking his face in her hands, and captured his mouth with hers. He froze, and she pressed her advantage, taking bold possession of his mouth. She sucked on his tongue, eliciting a deep moan from him, then swirled her tongue around all the planes and hollows of his mouth in ownership. He tasted of coffee, and mint, and something else that was uniquely Eric Myers.

She felt a fine tremor run through his muscular form as she gently brushed her fingers down his sides. She smiled into the kiss, then broke it and stepped back to admire her handiwork. So much for his control, Taylor decided, folding her arms across her chest. Eric's face was slightly flushed, his breathing ragged.

"Something you should know," Taylor informed him. "Games like this, I play to win. Don't be making wages your nobility can't honour."

"Who says I can't honour them?" Eric retorted, his voice a husky growl.

Before Taylor could say anything, he leaned in, clearly intending to kiss her again.

"Hey guys!"

Taylor froze at the voice. Eric all but leapt a foot back. Both of them tried to look nonchalant as Max walked in.

"Just wondering if you'd found anything yet," Max continued, oblivious of the class ten glare Taylor was giving him.

"Not yet, no," Eric answered, his tone suggesting he was as frustrated by the intrusion as Taylor was.

"Oh. Well...Princess Shayla sent me to help so..." Max perched on a convenient desk. "What do you want me to do?"

All manner of answers crossed Taylor's mind, mostly revolving around long walks and short piers.

"Sure," Eric answered. "How 'bout you go see Gina -- the receptionist -- and ask her for a pack of map-pins."

"Sure!"

Max bounced off the desk and left the office again. Taylor opened her mouth to say something but a quick shake of the head from Eric made her close it.

Later, he mouthed, a rueful expression on his face.

Oh no! He wasn't backing out... "You can't just..."

"And Fish-boy will be back any second," Eric pointed out. "Bluntly, what I wanna do right now, to you -- and with you -- is not something I want an audience for."

Taylor quirked an eyebrow. "Are you propositioning me?"

"And I suppose you weren't with that little stunt."

"Only finishing what you started."

"I did not..."

"You did," Taylor cut in. "And you know you did."

Eric opened his mouth to dispute the point further, but stalling him again, Max returned, with a jar of map pins.

"These do?" enquired the perky Blue Ranger.

Eric offered Max a tight smile that, to Taylor, looked as if the Silver Guardian was inwardly thinking of creative ways for Max to die. "Perfect."

~*~

Taylor ended up leaving Eric, Max and Danny -- who also materialised from somewhere -- to trying to sort out any kind of pattern. Too long in their collective company and she was likely to start hitting something in general frustration. And the worst thing was, she wasn't sure where her frustration really stemmed from.

She wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of screwing Eric's brains out. Or having him screw mine out, she admitted as she completed the circuit of the block the SGHQ took up.

A no strings, no regrets, all night bangfest.

Yeah -- that had promise.

A really rousing super-nova of a one-night stand that would leave them both unable to walk straight the next day.

She frowned. It sounded good all right -- definitely a way to relieve the tension and frustration -- but... Sleeping with someone she didn't like? She wasn't a slut and she didn't sleep around. So why wasn't her conscience complaining more about the idea?

The answer came to her in a bolt of uncomfortable understanding.

She stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk and groaned.

Max and Alyssa's teasing really hadn't been all that far from the mark.

Love and hate really weren't all that far apart. She barely knew him, true, but there was definitely something about a guy who actively stood up to her and challenged her in the way Eric had done. And she couldn't deny the almost magnetic physical attraction she had for him.

Wonder how he feels about a woman who's prepared to confront him at every turn, she found herself musing as she started walking again.

She rounded the corner and entered the SGHQ vehicle yard just as the object of her thoughts exited the building.

"Was wondering where you'd gone," Eric observed, his tone milder than she'd heard from him previously.

"You said you didn't want an audience," Taylor answered, smiling a little. "Figured I'd take temptation away."

"Are you propositioning me?" he shot back, a slight grin on his face. Taylor stuck her tongue out at him. "Ooh, very mature, Ms Earhardt."

"You betcha." For good measure, she repeated the gesture and paired it with a cheeky grin.

"Ya know, ya keep that up, I'm gonna find a use for it," Eric stated.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That a threat?"

"That's a promise." He started to lean in...

...only for them to both leap apart again, looking slightly guilty this time, at the sound a phone ringing. It took Taylor a second to realise that it was actually her growl phone...and that could only mean one thing. She pulled it from her pocket to answer, noting that Eric's expression had shifted from almost playful to serious.

Flipping it open, Taylor answered, "What's up Alyssa?"

"The Mutorgs -- they're back," replied the White Ranger without preamble.

Concern flooded Taylor's mind. "Where?" Alyssa named a location just outside of town. At least that means no civilians to get hurt, Taylor decided. "We'll met you there." Snapping the phone shut, she looked at Eric. "They're back."

TO BE CONTINUED...