Page 83 of Hotter 'N Hell

“It seems I offended you. I hadn’t meant to. My concern is just for Father Jude.” She touched my arm. “He’s such a good, trusting man. I wouldn’t want anything someone did to make him look bad.”

Saylor’s gaze dropped to Sibby’s hand. “Then, perhaps you should stop touching him and leaning so close to him. He is a priest, and the last time I checked, he had taken a vow of celibacy. All your flirting and feeding him—it’s incredibly inappropriate, and it makes everyone around you uncomfortable. Including Father Jude. Learn to read the room.”

I coughed to cover my startled laugh. Damn, my girl had teeth when triggered.

Sibby snatched her hand off me. “I take objection to such accusations,” Sibby said, her tone horrified.

Saylor lifted her shoulder. “It’s not accusations when it’s just stating what you are doing. Perhaps you should look up the definition of that word too. You might also want to look upbullshit. That’s another good one for you to know.”

A chuckle came from Crow, and Sibby grabbed her plate and stood up.

“I won’t sit here and be talked to like this.” She stood there, waiting, but I wasn’t sure for what. Then, she burst into tears and let out a loud, dramatic sob.

I was the priest and in charge of the meeting. I knew it was my cue to do something, but comforting Sibby made me literally ill.

“I’m ready to get some dessert,” Crow said. “Why don’t you come with me, Saylor? We can let Father Jude, uh, handle things.”

My gaze swung to Saylor’s, and her cheeks were pink from the dressing-down she’d just given. I couldn’t ask her to stay. We had drawn everyone’s attention. My looking at her right now was bad. I turned to Crow and gave him a nod, unable to sayanything, then turned to stand up.

I tried to say something that would shut Sibby up, but my complete attention was on Crow walking closely beside Saylor.

Thirty-One

Saylor

Per Jude’s instruction, I had gotten a text and had to leave the meeting ten minutes before he ended it. Then, like a teenager sneaking out of the house, I slipped back through the path to the rectory and went to wait inside, leaving the lights off.

Tonight had been difficult. Sibby had gotten on my nerves since day one, but she pushed me tonight. And I snapped. I also didn’t care. She’d deserved it. Someone needed to correct her.

Jude, however, had seemed tense and not himself throughout the meeting. I had caused an issue, drawn attention to us. That I hadn’t meant to do. This was just hard to navigate. Much harder than I’d realized it would be.

Crow had asked me out again, and I turned him down politely with the excuse that I was seeing someone, adding that we hadn’t made it exclusive, but that things had changed since he’d asked me out last week.

He took it well and still didn’t seem deterred. He’d even sat beside me during the meeting.

I walked into the bedroom and sat down on Jude’s bed. I’d been looking forward to tonight all day, and my temper had come out to play.

The door opened, and I stood up, preparing for whatever was about to happen. I didn’t want to fight. I hadn’t meant to make him angry.

He stalked into the room, not stopping until he reached me. I braced myself, not sure what he was doing. The feral glint in his eyes caught me off-balance. His hand clamped around the back of my neck, pulling me to him, and his mouth claimed mine. Not what I had expected.

I met his aggressiveness with my own. Digging my nails into his arms and devouring the taste of him. I’d thought we were going to fight. I much preferred this.

“Mine,” he growled as his lips trailed down to my neck, where his teeth took small nips of my flesh, and then his tongue flicked over each small sting. “This is mine.”

Yes. I was in complete agreement with that. On board all the way. But what had triggered this?

“Jude,” I panted.

He shoved me down on the bed and began slipping my heels off my feet. “Yes?”

He reached for my panties and jerked them down my legs, then tossed them. His sole focus was between my legs. His jaw was clenched tightly, and I wasn’t sure if he was angry at my pussy or wanted it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

His gaze snapped up to my face. “What’s wrong?” he repeated.

I reluctantly nodded, not recognizing the tone of his voice. The intensity was exciting, but unnerving as well.