Guilty Pleasures by Hamilton Laurell K

Author:Hamilton, Laurell K. [Hamilton, Laurell K.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-02-28T23:00:00+00:00

He frowned at me. “Follow my lead. If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, we’ll discuss it.” He smiled, dazzling, teeth white and even against his tan.

“No discussion. You’ll just stop.”

He shrugged. “You might blow our cover and get us killed.”

The car was filling with heat. A bead of sweat dripped down his face. I opened my door and got out. The heat was like a second skin. Cicadas droned, a high, buzzing song far up in the trees. Cicadas and heat, ah, summer.

Phillip walked around the car, his boots crunching on the gravel. “You might want to leave the cross in the car,” he said.

I had expected it, but I didn’t have to like it. I put the crucifix into the glove compartment, crawling over the seat to do so. When I closed the door, my hand went to my neck. I wore the chain so much it only felt odd when I wasn’t wearing it.

Phillip held out his hand, and after a moment I took it. The palm of his hand was cupped heat, slightly moist in the center.

The back door was shaded by a white lattice arch. A clematis vine grew thick on one side. Flowers as big as my hand spread purple to the tree-filtered sun. A woman was standing in the shadow of the door, hidden from neighbors and passing cars. She wore sheer black stockings held up by garter belts. A bra and matching panties, both royal purple, left most of her body pale and naked. She was wearing five-inch spikes that forced her legs to look long and slender.

“I’m overdressed,” I whispered to Phillip.

“Maybe not for long,” he breathed into my hair.

“Don’t bet your life on it.” I stared up at him as I said it and watched his face crumble into confusion. It didn’t last long. The smile came, a soft curl of lips. The serpent must have smiled at Eve like that. I have this nice, shiny apple for you. Want some candy, little girl?

Whatever Phillip thought he was selling, I wasn’t buying. He hugged me around the waist, one hand playing along the scars on my arm, fingers digging into the scar tissue just a little. His breath went out in a quick sigh. Jesus, what had I gotten myself into?

The woman was smiling at me, but her large brown eyes were fixed on Phillip’s hand where it played with my scar. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. I saw her chest rise and fall.

“Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.”

“What did you say?” Phillip asked.

I shook my head. He probably didn’t know the poem anyway. I couldn’t remember how it ended. I couldn’t remember if the fly got away. My stomach was tight. When Phillip’s hand brushed my naked back, I jumped.

The woman laughed, high and maybe a little drunk. I whispered the fly’s words as I went up the steps, “Oh, no, no, to ask me is in vain for whoever goes up your winding stairs can ne’er come down again.

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