The door closed.
Only the warm yellow glow of the floor lamp beside the sofa remained in the living room, along with the silence settling between Wanda and Yongye.
Wanda rose from the sofa, her deep chestnut hair falling past her shoulders. Her light brown eyes caught a faint glimmer in the warm light.
She stepped forward until she was less than half a pace from Yongye. Tilting her face up to meet his gaze, she spoke softly, with a hint of allure even she hadn't noticed. "You said before, when I became the Scarlet Witch..."
"What about now?"
Yongye looked down at her face, young yet possessed of a calm beyond her years. His gaze slid from the faint blush on her ear to the smooth curves outlined by the dark gray top beneath her clothes, and his smile slowly deepened.
"Now?"
He reached out with his right hand and curled his fingers around her waist. A warm current seeped from his palm and spread slowly through the energy channels in her body that had yet to fully stabilize.
Wanda's body went rigid, then gradually relaxed. A muffled moan escaped her nose, forced down to barely a breath.
"Now, you've made it through the door."
"And once you're through the door, you can formally become my apprentice."
Wanda's lashes fluttered twice. Embarrassment, exasperation, and a trace of amusement she quickly suppressed swirled in her light brown eyes.
"Your apprentice?"
"That's right." Yongye's smile was as bright as the neon lights outside in Manhattan. "A new apprentice has a lot to learn. Whatever the master says, you do. No exceptions."
He stressed those last two words, enunciating them with deliberate clarity.
Wanda understood at once, and her ears turned bright red.
She said nothing more. She simply buried her face