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[Chad Ryley]

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“Close your eyes and taste this.” Chad grinned as the golden-haired angel before him did as he asked without hesitation. The girl lay on her stomach in the grass, knees bent, ankles crossed in the air behind her. She was propped on her elbows, her chin cupped in her hands as she opened her pretty pink mouth trustingly.

Chad pulled a peach from behind his back, peeled a section and cut a bite, laying the flake of sweet coral flesh on the girl’s tongue. She closed her mouth with a shy smile and sighed as she chewed and swallowed. Her long blond curls spilled over her shoulders and down her back, and her tavern uniform accentuated her in all the right places. Chad watched her longingly as she opened her vivid green eyes again. Carefully, he cut a slice off the peach and ate it himself.

“That’s delicious.” The girl watched him with a gaze that made it unclear whether she actually referred to the peach.

“The Goddess provides, Neecy.” Chad smiled and sucked peach juice from his thumb. “And Lady Ceza’s garden grows the best fruit.”

The girl smiled and sat up cross-legged in the grass. Her patchwork skirt spread out around her on the grass. “She doesn’t mind that we’re up here?”

Chad shot a glance toward the teleporter that had carried them to the rooftop garden. “She doesn’t mind, long as I don’t make too much noise. I work here sometimes, guarding the place, repairing things. You know, guy stuff.” And Paytience stuff. Chad smirked at the thought, knowing it would have earned him a slap on the back of the head if he’d voiced it around Pay.

“That’s noble of you.” The girl allowed her eyes a mere second to roam down over his muscled and tattooed physique, but it was enough to make Chad blush.

“Not noble. She’s kin. We take care of our own.”

“Who takes care of you?” The girl smiled and leaned toward him, emboldened by the sunkissed blush across his skin.

Chad had no answer. Denise was far too inviting. He leaned in and claimed her mouth with a kiss, entangling his fingers in her long flaxen curls. Her tongue flitted against his lips and he groaned.

Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, catching his breath. She sighed and giggled, nuzzling him wide-eyed.

“Leanna told me you….have access to things. Luminescents and the like. Is that true?”

Chad’s brow furrowed and he leaned back, supporting himself with his hands on the grass behind him. “That why you’re here?”

“Well, that and she said you were really good in….” She trailed off, watching the expression on his face.

“That’s not who I am anymore, Denise. If that’s what you’re here for, you might as well go home.”

“No strings, Chad, c’mon….” She untied her white chemise with a wink.

“Sharing your body is sharing your soul, Neecy. You should keep that in mind.”

“I don’t mind sharing my soul with you, Chad. You’re beautiful. I just want—“

“You’re beautiful too, Neecy.” Chad tipped her chin up and looked her in the eye with a smile. “But I know what you ‘just want.’ I’m not holding, and I’m not interested. Tie up your blouse and I’ll gate ya back to the tavern.”

The girl’s chin quivered, eyes brimming with tears at the thought of rejection, but she did as she was told. He gated her back to the tavern, then stepped back through onto the front lawn of the Bramble Rose Theatre.

Inside, Cezanne was polishing a candelabra. Chad sauntered in and sat down, watching her silently.

“Wrong type?” she asked without looking up at him.

“Uh huh.”

“Maybe you should look somewhere besides taverns, Chad.”

“Maybe.” He swallowed hard past the lump in his throat.

“And maybe you should put on a shirt.” Cezanne looked up with a grin.

“And deprive the world of this?” He made his pectoral muscles dance independent of one another.

His eyes met Cezanne’s as she watched with an incredulous gaze, apparently speechless.

Chad grinned broadly, then sighed. “Think Arahim would lend me a shirt?”