1. The first step is getting him to notice you.

She never had any trouble with that. Jayne noticed the girl all the time. The problem was getting him to notice her without thoughts of him wrapping his mercenary hands around her neck and then squeezing until her eyes went dull dancing through his mind. It was a favorite thought of his. Was.

Jayne was sitting at the dining table when she danced into the room. He looked up at her briefly, took stock of her position relative to any knives and, satisfied, went back to oiling his gun. She walked around the table twice, watching him with her huge eyes, talking softly and giggling behind her hands. On her third circuit he put his gun down with a loud thud and sighed.

"What?" he asked.

River said nothing but giggled again, which was damned disconcerting, and plopped herself down in a chair. She leaned far back, her long neck arching, her curtain of hair flowing backwards and almost reaching the ground, and then she lifted one lithe leg and planted it on the table. With a slow, languorous movement, she arched her foot, lengthening her leg more (if that was even possible), causing her body to contort in a not altogether unpleasing manner. Jayne's hands gripped the edge of the table as he tried to maneuver his thoughts in a direction that wouldn't get him spaced. He tried to speak, but his voice sounded all funny, and he cleared his throat before he started again.

"What in the name of tiān guo do you want?" he growled.

River lifted her head to look at him and, without taking her eyes off him, took the bottom of her skirt in one tiny hand and slowly raised it up until everything from the tips of her toes to her slim little thigh was revealed. He couldn't take his eyes off that area just above her knee. The creamy skin was perfect, not a blemish on it, and it looked supple. If he were to touch it….

"She fell," River said.

Jayne snapped back to reality and looked her in the eyes again.

"Who fell?"

River pointed to her knee where the