in front of them, all girlie-girlie, going-nowhere. Hell, maybe she thought she was being admired. Maybe she was dumb-blonding it, even though she didn’t really have hair. Maybe she was . . .
Holy shit, she was having a girlfriend moment, wasn’t she. Sulking because she hadn’t been able to find him. That was the “why,” wasn’t it.
Fucked up. This was too fucked up.
Date from hell was right.
And even though he didn’t know why she couldn’t find him, sometimes luck was with you.
Abruptly, her gaze shifted over to the house. In the back window, in the kitchen, Veck and Reilly made an appearance. They were both looking disheveled, and it was clear a whole lot of somethin’-somethin’ had just happened somewhere : They were both in the glow-zone, happy and satisfied, to the point where Jim was pretty damn sure if the lights were to go out, they’d be glowing in the dark.
“I fucking
Bet you do, he thought. Because those were two people in love right there.
And the envy was killing her, her face screwing down tight, eyes lighting up with hatred. She wanted that with him.
Ha, ha.
“So did you need something,” he asked in a low, deep voice.
Her head snapped around. “Do you.”
To keep her going, the answer, of course, was not to be nice. And gee fuckin’ whiz, that was so not hard.
“Not from you.” Jim assumed a bored expression as he took a drag and exhaled. “Never from you.”
The fury on her face made him happy. Until she growled, “Because of that fucking Sissy.”
Wrong turn, he thought. Waaaaay wrong turn on that one.
“Sissy who.”
“Don’t toy with me.”
“I’m not. At least, not at the moment.” He let his lids go half-mast. “When I play with you, you’ll know it.”
Even though the words sickened him, it got her off the scent: Abruptly, she flushed as if she were remembering them together, and then she smiled, big and slow.
“Promise?” she said huskily.
“Promise.”
At that, she did a little twirl of joy.
Great. Like his stomach wasn’t already nauseous.
“Then again, maybe I’m a liar,” he drawled. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
“Guess so.” Her eyes went up and down his body. “And I can’t wait.”
Frankly, the shit made Jim shrivel, but he blocked that from her. And he wasn’t taking for granted that he had total control over the demon. Even infatuated, she was a deadly piece of work, and he couldn’t be sure this weapon of his was going to last forever.
For however long he could, though, and at whatever cost to himself it required, he was going to try to keep this connection cultivated.
“Well, I think it’s time to bring this round to a close, Jim.” Devina did another pirouette. “I have to go back to work, but I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“If Veck’s in this house, why do you need to be anywhere else.”
“Like I said, I’m a busy girl, as you’ll find out.” She blew him a kiss. “Bye for now. And Adrian, call me if you need a shoulder to cry on.”
On that note, she was off into the night, fogging up, fogging out.
Shit. If she wasn’t here with Veck, he had to assume the fight was somewhere else.
“Fuck,” he muttered, ready to hit something.
“No,” Adrian said. “We stay here. We stay with Veck.”
Jim looked over. Old Adrian? Would have been the one seething to cut loose and follow her. New Adrian? The icy motherfucker was tight as hell, his cold, dispassionate eyes shifting over to Jim’s.
“She’s not going to crack us,” Ad announced. “We’re going to stay focused and right here. Smoke and mirrors ain’t going to move me.”
Now, that’s what I’m talking about, Jim thought, with respect.
At that moment, the sound of a car pulling up in front of the house broke through the night. Flashing out to the street with Adrian, Jim unsheathed his dagger—except then he saw the little Domino’s sign glowing on the sedan’s roof.
Oh, maaaaaaan. Pizza . . . and sex. Maybe Devina had a point.
Hard not to be envious.
The deliveryman got out of his beater and hoofed it up the walkway. Veck answered the door, paid cash, disappeared back inside. Car drove off.
In the moments that followed, Jim itched to go after Devina; he could sense her presence elsewhere in the city . . . but maybe that was what she wanted?
You could never trust her.
New Adrian was right: They stayed here and hung tough.
“Thanks, man,” Jim said without looking away from the closed and locked front door of the house.
“No problem,” was the terse answer.
CHAPTER 33
Veck didn’t track what the pizza tasted like. For all he knew, the thing could have been topped with rubber tires and chunks of plaster.
He couldn’t stop thinking of Reilly up on that bathroom counter, her legs spread, her hand brushing against her core.
Sitting next to her at the kitchen table, he was pretty sure she was thinking along similar lines, because there was a whole lot of efficiency in the way she ate. Nothing messy or unladylike—just neat and quick.
He was the same. Except less neat.
When they’d polished off everything but the last slice, he stretched back in his chair and looked to the ceiling.
“So where’s your bathtub?” he asked, shooting for casual.
Cue that side smile of hers. The one that made him want to kiss her all over. “I’ll show you. Are you going to finish that piece?”
“No.” Hell, if it hadn’t been for her empty stomach grumbling, he never would have slowed down longer than it took to send off the delivery guy. But he’d wanted to make sure she ate. “You?”
“I’m full.”
And I’m ready to fill you up, he thought.
Getting to his feet, he held out his hand to her. “Lead the way.”
She did just that, taking him up the stairs and into a room that was nothing like the barren box he slept in. Her private space had nice curtains made to fit the three windows, a bed with lots of pillows, and a duvet that looked thick enough to serve as a trampoline.
Perfect place to make love.
“The bathroom’s through there,” she murmured, pointing across the way.
He walked over, stepped into the darkness, and patted the wall for the switch. When he hit the thing, he nearly dropped to his knees with a prayer of thanks.
Claw-footed. Deep as a pond. Wide as that bed out there.
And what did you know, the faucet had enough pressure to power a fire hose.
As the hot water rushed out and the level began to rise, he pivoted around to call for—
