Enemy Mine

Chapter 7

Vincent's sexual prowess had never been a worry of mine. He'd proven his worth despite his avoidance tactics to seal the deal, so I should have known that once he overcame his fear of biting me in the throes of passion, he'd be unstoppable. After we christened the porch, we continued playtime in the shower, the kitchen, and in front of the fireplace. The amazing but exhausting carnal assault concluded with a much-needed nap, after which Vincent and I convened on the couch to enjoy a roaring fire and catch up with the rest of the world.

My phone had been recovered from Mr. Pearlman's apartment, and I scrolled through my logs and listened to missed messages. Sylvie texted six times and called twice, leaving a voicemail that made me feel like the worst friend on the planet. I needed to come up with a reasonable excuse for my lack of response before I made contact with her. As for Mr. Pearlman, his message sounded a lot like an apology for letting me get dragged off by demons.

"I know you said Mr. Pearlman was fine when you got to his apartment," I said to Vincent as he tapped away on his smartphone. "Did you make sure he was telling the truth? He's a proud man."

Vincent looked up from his screen. "Well, I didn't make him submit to a strip search. He said he was fine and I believed him. Colin drove over this morning to do a sweep of the complex and check on him. All is well."

"What about his refrigerator? Did Colin make sure he had everything he needed?" I probed my brain for the last item Mr. Pearlman asked me to pick up at the store. Probably cigarettes or coffee.

"Call Mr. Pearlman if it will put your mind at ease, just be prepared to answer his questions. He asked a lot of them."

I nodded. "You're right. I should call. I guess I'm feeling guilty. It's my fault he had to deal with a demon ambush." I talked as I punched up Mr. Pearlman's number, standing to pace in front of the fireplace. My hips popped and complained from all the sex calisthenics. Good thing I'd been forcing myself to exercise occasionally.

"Hello?" Mr. Pearlman sounded suspicious, probably because he didn't receive many calls.

"Hi, Mr. Pearlman. It's Reese."

"Reese, how are you? Where are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm with my boyfriend, Vincent."

"Ah, good. How is Vincent? He looked like he'd been shot and left in the hot sun when he came over the other night."

"He did? Well, he's fine now." I glanced at Vincent taking care of business on his phone. I caused his suffering too. "I'm sorry about what happened to you, Mr. Pearlman. It was really crappy of Christoph and Josh to break into your apartment and threaten you."

After a brief pause, in which I heard the click of Mr. Pearlman's lighter then a long inhale, he spoke. "They didn't threaten me, but I knew they were under pressure to carry out their mission. I've seen that look before on the faces of soldiers, most of them the same age as those young rebels. So, I'm sorry too. Maybe if I were a younger man, I could have put a stop to their shenanigans."

I could tell by the soft tone of Mr. Pearlman's voice that he felt responsible for my abduction, and I couldn't let him carry that guilt. "Please, don't blame yourself. Christoph and Josh didn't hurt me, but you're right about them following the orders of a higher power. I dealt with the situation and it's over, so you shouldn't be visited by any more rebels with wings."

"Speaking of that. Those wings looked realistic. The horns too, but I'm an old man, and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Were they real demons, or were they just pulling my leg?"

Me and my big mouth.

I glanced at Vincent. He had abandoned his phone to watch me squirm. "I think they were just trying to scare you," I said lamely. "Do you need anything, Mr. Pearlman? You said you were nearly out of coffee before I left. Or was it cigarettes? I could have Colin pick up a few things for you. I'm not in Manhattan at the moment."