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the bedroom door. I looked in.
She had everything ready. Candles. A Chalice. Wine. A falcon’s
feather and talon.
    “ Come on, Tony.” She
entered the room, tugging on my arm and stretching it straight. I
admit she looked beautiful and inviting, if not just a tad bit
desperate, something I don’t see in Lilith often. In all my years,
I never would have imaged I’d be standing at the bedroom threshold,
stubborn as a mule, while the most beautiful woman in the world
tried to drag me in to have sex with her.
    “ Lilith, I
can’t.”
    She let go of my hand and planted both of
hers on her hips. “What the hell, Tony. Why don’t you want to do
this?”
    “ I do. You know how much I
love having sex with you.”
    “ I don’t mean that. This
isn’t just about the sex and you know it. This is about the
Consummation ritual. For the life of me I don’t know why you’re
fighting this. Is it that you don’t want to be married to
me?”
    “ No! Of course not. I love
being married to you.”
    “ Then why won’t you
consummate the marriage? Dominic and Ursula consummated theirs on
the first night.”
    “ Lilith, we’ve consummated
dozens of times since the marriage.”
    “ No. We’ve had sex dozens
of times. That doesn’t count unless we perform the
ritual.”
    “ How can it not count? Sex
is sex.”
    She crossed her arms at her chest and managed
an almost convincing pout. “You don’t love me.”
    “ What? That’s not true.
You know I love you.”
    “ Then why are you so
reluctant to do this?”
    “ I’m not reluctant. It’s
just that this case came up. This child abduction thing. A
kidnapping. Carlos is waiting for me outside now. I really have to
go.” She gave me a look as if she didn’t believe me, and then right
on cue, Carlos laid on his horn. “See?”
    I saw her eyes go to the window and then back
to me again. “All right, Fine. Go.” She uncrossed her arms and
reached around her backside to adjust her attire. “I gotta get out
of this g-string anyway and put on some sweats. Your dinner’s in
the freezer.”
    “ Oh? What is
it?”
    She soured her face as she pulled a wedgie
from her crack. “I don’t know. Whatever you find. I think we got
Pop Tarts.”
    Outside, Carlos was drumming his hands on the
steering wheel, listening to The Who’s, Won’t Get Fooled Again. He
had his eyes closed and the volume up so loud that he didn’t hear
me getting back in the car. I waited until the song was over before
touching him on the arm. You would have thought I had zapped him
with a cattle prod.
    “ Holy Mother of God!” he
cried. He reached over and turned off the radio. “What the hell,
Tony!”
    “ What? All I did was touch
you.”
    “ You can let a guy know
you’re there first. Man!”
    “ All right. Get over it. I
don’t need you getting on my case now.”
    He settled down some, dropped the car into
reverse and backed out of the driveway. “Lilith giving you a hard
time?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Why, `cause you don’t
want to have sex with her?”
    “ Don’t start,
Carlos.”
    He shifted into drive and started down the
road. “I’m just saying. A girl needs to feel loved. Needs the
tender moment, if you know what I mean.”
    “ Carlos.”
    “ Take me and Julie for
instance.”
    “ Lauri.”
    “ Huh?”
    “ You said Julie. Your
girlfriend’s name is Lauri.”
    “ Yeah, I know. Is that
what I said?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Wow. Must have been one
of them Freudian slips. You know her sister’s name is
Julie.”
    “ I didn’t
know.”
    “ Yeah. She’s younger
though. And prettier.”
    “ Is she?”
    “ Yeah. Oh, and sexy. Let
me tell you. La chica es muy caliente.”
    “ Carlos.”
    “ The other day she bent
over to pick up a––”
    “ Carlos!”
    “ What?”
    “ You’re talking about your
girlfriend’s sister.”
    “ Yeah. I ain’t saying
nothing bad about her. It’s all good.”
    “ Can we talk about
something else?”
    “ All right.
Sure.”
    We drove on, both of