Casiuss and Devlin nursed their drinks silently at the bar. Devlin wasn't ready to dive into the matter at hand quite yet, even though he knew he would have to eventually. That was the whole purpose of this outing, wasn't it?But Casiuss--God bless him--was as silent as ever. He wasn't the type to start a conversation especially when it was obvious that Devlin wasn't ready to.Devlin stared mindlessly into his glass of vodka as it slushed from side to side in his hands. His mind was on the events of this evening.He recalled the way Faith had looked going to the restaurant with him. She'd looked alive and happy, her usual self. He also recalled the way she'd looked when Elise--g*damn her!--had sauntered up to their table and spewed her trash. That shocked, dismayed look on her face--he hated it. It made him feel like trash.But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst had been the look on her face by the time they arrived at the room; that empty, emotionless look. He couldn't read wha

Devlin dragged himself back to the room, more than a little drunk, in the early hours of the morning.After his bleak and short discussion with Casiuss, he'd drowned himself in glass after glass of alcohol, something he usually didn't let himself do.Devlin hated getting drunk. It put him in a position where he wasn't in total control of himself and he didn't like that.Even when he went out to parties, he kept a strict watch over how much he consumed. He'd seen way too many otherwise reasonable people do absolutely crazy things when they got drunk in public. It always left a sour taste in his mouth. He had no intention of making a fool of himself like that. He prided himself on his self-control.Drunk people did stupid things, like banging on a lady's door at 3am in the morning, weeping and pleading to be let in.At least his brain still worked enough for him not to do that. He would've never recovered from the embarrassment.He shrugged his clothes off recklessly, letting them fly

Faith looked up slowly, confused as to if she was the one being referred to, and if so why? She didn't know anyone there. No one could possibly know her either.Her eyes landed on the woman's face. She frowned. She recognized her. It was the blonde bombshell that Devlin slept with. Why in the world would she be talking to her?"Excuse me?" She said politely."Are you hard of hearing, sweetheart?"Faith blinked in surprise at her unnecessarily harsh tone. "Can I help you?""I'm not sure there is any way you can ever help me.""Please move out of my way."She looked down, noting Faith's bags. She smiled gleefully. "Oh, you're leaving? How wonderful? Did he finally throw you out?"Faith was still struggling to get her mind together. "Don't you think you're being a little too rude to a stranger?""No. I'm only trying to help you.""Help me?" Her disbelief was apparent in her tone."Yes, sweetie."Faith huffed and said, "How philanthropic of you..." She ignored Faith's jab. "It'll do you

In the second that Devlin's body pressed up against hers, Faith felt a whole whirlwind of emotions.Somehow, his entire body lined up with hers perfectly. Her back to his chest, her ass to his upper thighs.A silent huff of breath burst through her lips. It felt like being hit by a train. She was so acutely aware of his body that she could tell just how hard and lean his body was almost as if she was touching him.Faith whirled around which turned out to be a mistake because now she was standing face to face with him, trapped between the shelf and his body.He looked down at her, noting her expression and realizing how closely they were standing.He slowly brought his hand which now clutched the plate down, his eyes never leaving hers. He stepped forward, forcing her to press further into the shelf.He touched her face with his free hand, gently caressing her face with his hands. Her breath hitched. Her body flushed with heat. Devlin lowered his lips to hers.Someone cleared their thr

Faith gasped, reflexively trying to jack the strap back up, looking around to make sure no one was watching them."Don't worry. There's no one close enough to see us. I don't want to miss any spot." She heard the smile in his voice. She smiled too and relaxed. He rubbed the sunscreen into the spot her strap covered and then slowly around her shoulder until his hand hovered right over her breasts.Faith's breath came out in short heavy bursts. In her ear, she could tell that his breathing had changed too. But she didn't need that to know how he was feeling. The evidence was poking her in the back.He pulled away, leaving her ragged but he was back soon enough at her other shoulder. He repeated the same process, lightly hovering over her breasts."If we weren't here right now, I'd be ravaging you completely," he whispered. With that, he snapped her straps back on and moved away to sit opposite her.Faith fought the urge to scream at him to take her right there. The much quieter, more s