about eating up pavement. “Crazy bitch! I wasn’t freaking going to rape you. I’m gay.”
Riona huffed. Figures, she thought wryly as he hoofed it away and into the street at the end of the alley. Why was it whenever you found a man you wouldn’t mind using for non-committal, no-strings-attached sex, he already had a boyfriend?
Just because the opportunity was gone didn’t mean her body was willing to dial it back. Riona could still feel the heat of his touch over her skin. Desire consumed her.
“All worked up and no one to do,” she sighed to herself.
But the clarity of having two feet on the ground allowed her to think. What had Jerry been trying to warn her about? He’d have to have a damned good reason to flicker a possession just to deliver her a message, even as unsuccessful as he was. Or was this some new plot of evil? Had Jerry been sent back deliberately to tempt her? To see if she’d break? If she’d give into temptation?
Well, hell, if it was a test, she really failed that one, didn’t she?
But at the particular moment, it was more the sex thing than the warning thing. Between dreams of Marc and out-of-the-blue grinding sessions with Jerry, Riona was becoming more frustrated than a chimp with a cheese grater.
“Riona?”
Lucy. In the spin of seduction, Riona had totally forgotten the reason she was at the Café Renet. Because she was here on a date. With Lucy.
“Riona, are you back here?” Lucy’s head peeked around the edge of the door. Her eyes brightened on finding the out-of-breath Riona in the shadows. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“Fresh air,” Riona quickly asserted. “Better than cool water on the face.”
“Oh… Okay.” A trace of doubt lingered in Lucy’s tone, but a quick sweep with her eyes from left to right proved the alleyway empty. “Um, should we get going now, or did you need…”
The great thing about lust was that it was a common currency, and if you had someone who was willing to let you spend it on them, it didn’t go to waste. Riona had her arms around Lucy quicker than a dog on meat. Her tongue and hands told her date she was ready to follow up on the suggestion to get back to their place and get distracted, STAT.
“I don’t need anything,” Riona gasped out as she covered Lucy’s neck in kisses and nips. “I just need you, now.”
Lucy, to her surprise, pulled away. Riona worried for a moment that she had been too forward. After all, it was only their second date. But as she saw Lucy’s lips widen into a devious grin, she knew the game was on.
“Good to hear,” Lucy purred. “Race you home? Winner comes in first, if you get my drift.”
And with a spritely lunge, Lucy was tearing up the alley towards the street.
Riona peeled away just as quickly, giving a whole new definition to racing to the finish.
Chapter 14
The buzzer outside Marc’s apartment didn’t work, but luckily, a stack of empty beer cans behind the door served the purpose.
Dee knew where Marc’s PG-rated bachelor pad was for three years, but that didn’t mean he frequented it much. It made the priest seem too common to him. Even when Marc went about without a collar, he always wore his status like an invisible necktie. Here, however, he could be just as big a slob and slub as every Joe-sinner-Friday in the real world.
Dee found Marc on the couch, flipping through TV stations with about as much interest as someone learning the history of steel-cut oats. It appeared as though he had experimented using his face as a coffee grinder; and the unshaven chin and bloodshot eyes didn’t exactly compliment his physique. Congress could have levied fines for the oil spill that covered the priest’s forehead.
“Something I don’t get about your religion,” Dee started as he lowered himself cautiously to the side chair. First, he had to vacate the empty tin cans. “You can’t have sex, you can’t even do yourself. No lying, no bad thoughts, no taking the Lord’s name in vain. But sit here like a sorry son-of-a-bitch and drink yourself stupid? May the ale be upon you.”
With an indifferent sigh, Marc flipped off the TV and dropped the remote to the floor. “What can I say, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Some of them more alcoholic than others.”
Dee was clueless about what direction to take. Should he hug the ass and be all