Desire's Edge by Eve Berlin

onto their plates, along with the thin slivers of tangy ginger. Dante mixed a bowl of soy sauce and wasabi and pushed it close to her plate. She didn’t think to question it. She was getting used to him taking charge already.
    A little scary. But she liked it.
    Don’t think about it. Just enjoy it. Enjoy him.
    “So, what else?” he asked her between bites.
    “What do you mean?” She bit into a piece of the sashimi. “Oh, this is good.”
    “I mean what do you like? Aside from kinky sex.” He grinned, his dimples flashing, his whiskey eyes sparkling.
    “A lot of things.”
    “Art?”
    “Yes. Always,” she answered. “But you already knew that. What about you? I gathered from what I saw at your apartment that you have a good eye. Unless you had a decorator.”
    “No, it’s all my own doing, good or bad. I like a little of everything. I like to mix it together. I don’t know if anyone else thinks it works. It doesn’t matter to me, though. I like it.” He paused to take another bite of his sushi. “I’ve been getting into modern sculpture recently. Abstract pieces. I don’t really understand it. I just know what I like.”
    “You don’t have to understand art, in my opinion. It should be more . . . experiential than that. You only have to know what you like, as you said. Movies are the same, I think.”
    “I agree. There’s something for everyone, and it’s not up to anyone else to judge. I like watching movies. Always have. I have a fondness for the old classic film noir, stuff from the forties and fifties.”
    “Seriously? Those are some of my favorites.” Why did it surprise her that they should have so much in common? Surprise and excite her. “ Citizen Kane , The Maltese Falcon . And so many of the noir films center on women of questionable virtue, which appeals to me, for some reason.”
    “Absolutely. Double Indemnity . Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice . Some people think the pacing is slow. It is slower. Film styles have changed. But I feel like I need the slower pace sometimes. I like the starkness of black and white on film as much as I do in still art, photography. When I’m up late at night I’ll flip through the channels until I find one of the old classics. Or I’ll pop in a DVD from my collection.”
    “I do the same,” she told him. “It’s relaxing. Soothing. There’s something sort of cozy and lonely at the same time about an old movie at three a.m.”
    He nodded. “There is. Late at night, or sometimes early in the morning. I don’t know why. I like those quiet hours, the mood of it. Sometimes I’ll get up really early—like five a.m.—and take my motorcycle out. Just ride . . . anywhere. Usually by myself, but sometimes I can talk Alec into going with me.”
    “You both have motorcycles?”
    “It’s one of the things that brought us together. Aside from kink.” He grinned. “Except that he has deplorable taste in bikes. I’m a BMW man and he has this odd liking for Ducatis. But otherwise, he’s a great guy. We’ve traveled all over together, done some cross-country rides. He’s talked me into doing some crazy stuff. But I like that he brings that out in me. And there aren’t too many other people who would go cliff diving with me in Mexico.”
    “I think it sounds exciting.”
    “Do you?” he asked.
    “Yes, absolutely. I’ve always wanted to do something like that. Something to really challenge myself. What else?” she asked. “Tell me what else you’re interested in.”
    “Making demands, Kara?” he teased her. She could tell it was just teasing by the sparkle in his eyes, the small grin quirking the corners of his mouth. “Trying to shift the balance of power?”
    Why did that make her blush? And laugh. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
    “As long as you know it’ll always shift back to me.”
    “Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t doubt that for a moment.”
    He’d broken into a full smile again, his dimples accenting the