Waiting for a Miracle - Chapter 19

I woke up disoriented in a wholly unfamiliar place and position. I felt something brush against my face and opened my eyes to find Leona in my arms. She was sleeping with her back to me, and her tail twitched on my cheek as she dreamt of something that seemed to excite her.

I smiled at this until it dawned on me that my arms were bare. Slipping my other arm out from under Leona, I lifted the covers and suppressed a groan when I saw that both of us were nude.

I hadn’t had enough to drink that I could have blacked out, and it seemed reasonable to me that Leona had woken up and undressed me before going to bed with me. After a few drinks I am a fairly heavy sleeper, and so I took this in stride as I sat up and searched the room for my clothes. I couldn’t find them, so I got up and checked Leona’s closet. Again, no luck.

I heard a knock and sighed, grabbing a robe before I went to answer the door.

Wallace took one look at my robe before gasping. “You didn’t,” he said, a grin already parting his lips.

“You’re right, I didn’t.” I waved him inside. “I went to sleep in Leona’s room when she passed out on her couch. Somewhere during the night, she woke up and came to bed, undressing me before she went back to sleep.”

As I explained this, I went to the kitchen to set up a pot of coffee. “The funny part is, I think she hid my suit so I can’t get dressed until after she wakes up.”

Wallace chuckled and shook his head. But his expression became pensive, and I remembered my little scene on his front doorstep.

“Wallace, I’m sorry about yesterday,” I apologized. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I do.” Wallace’s smile returned, warming his whole face. “You don’t need to be sorry for it. I could have resisted you if I didn’t want it to happen.” He took my hand in his. “But I didn’t resist you, did I?”

I couldn’t meet his gaze. It made me feel awkward and guilty. “That doesn’t matter. I can’t be with you. I mean, you’ve got all your obligations; a wife, a great kid, a good career and a wonderful home. Even if I could set all of that aside, you told me yourself that I couldn’t have you.”

Wallace nodded a confirmation, his attention never moving away from me. “But it is what you want, isn’t it?” He ran his fingers up the side of my body from my thigh to my chest. Goosebumps trailed in the wake of his touch, and I felt like I needed to pant for air.

“You want me, and not Chet,” Wallace said. “That’s the real reason why you couldn’t kiss him, wasn’t it?”

I nodded, closing my eyes as Wallace cupped my cheek with his hand. The small of my back was pressed into the counter as he ground his pelvis on mine, and I wasn’t sure which of us had the stiffer hard-on by that point.

I gasped at the pleasant contact, and the moment I opened my mouth, Wallace kissed me. Not the small and timid kiss I’d given him, but instead a strong and passionate kiss that took my breath with its intensity and seeming urgency.

His lips moved to my throat, and I gasped again, though the sound was closer to a moan.

“We can’t...you have a family,” I whimpered.

It was all the resistance I could muster. Every cell in my body wanted him to keep going, and Wallace knew it. He smiled at me, his hand trailing down my side. “Do you really want me to stop?”

I shook my head. “No, but I’m going to ask you to anyway.”

Wallace nodded, leaning in to kiss my lips again. “Very well,” he conceded as our lips parted. “But I may come and find you after you’ve retired to try this again.”

I didn’t mean to scowl at him, but his words hurt me. I ached for him, and even the promise of an intimate encounter made the pain worse.

My voice was husky as I muttered, “Please don’t tease me like this.”

“I never would, Duggan,” Wallace said. His moving lips brushed my ear before he kissed the lobe in a way that made my entire body shudder.

I cleared my throat, pushing him away gently. “I think you should go. I can’t be alone with you right now, or else...look, I’ll see you later for more training with the light blades.

Wallace sighed and nodded, turning to leave. He yelped as he almost ran into Leona, who must have been standing behind him for some time judging from her evil smirk.

“So what is this?” Leona gestured at me. “You aren’t interested in him until after I get him naked in my bed?”

Wallace’s only response was a deep blush, and he left without another word.

Leona’s smile widened even further as she looked at me. “You must have been very good yesterday to get a family man all worked up like that. He was ready to hump you on my counter.”

Laughing, she went to the cabinet beside me to get a coffee mug.

“That’s the problem,” I said. “He’s got Maggie and Greg to look after.”

“Oh please.” Leona snorted as she filled her mug. “You, the evil Light Master, turned down a chance to sleep with the man of your dreams for the fact that it’s not right? Since when did you care about that? It’s not like I would have cared if you two decided to play kinky Twister on my kitchen floor.”

“You mean that?” I asked.

“Duggan, I’m your friend, not your wife.” Leona smiled wider as she went to fetch another mug from her cabinet for me. “Even if I was, this is something you want. I wouldn’t try to stop it from happening. Doing that would only make you miserable.”

I sighed heavily. “What about his family?”

“What about them?” Leona asked. She filled a mug for me and handed over. “They don’t have to know anything. Geez Duggan, thousands of men have affairs every day. You really ought to quit whining and decide what you want.”

Taking her mug with her, Leona walked to her room. She emerged a few minutes later dressed in her bodysuit. “I’m going out on patrol. If Wallace still feels like playing with you when he comes back, feel free to use my room. Oh, and Duggan?”

“What?” I asked, feeling surprised when she stepped up to me and kissed me with the same intensity that Wallace had.

“Cheer up,” she said and smiled. “You’re just a few days away from retiring.”

Leona turned and left.

I looked down at the floor. “Wow, twice in one day,” I said and laughed.

Then I smacked my forehead and groaned when I realized that I hadn’t asked Leona where my suit was.

Searching the apartment yielded nothing, so I sat down on the couch, considering my options. I decided there was only one place I could go, and so I belted the robe and went quickly across the complex to Chet’s apartment.

I smiled when I got to his door. The vacuum cleaner was running, and I had a good hunch Chet wasn’t that much of a clean freak. I knocked loud enough to be heard and suppressed a chuckle when I heard Chet muttering a curse as the motor whined down.

Chet opened his door dressed in only a pair of boxers that had obviously just been thrown on. It was obvious because they were on backwards and inside out, the little tag of fruit resting just under his navel. I have to admit, I wasn’t looking at the tag or his navel.

“Hi,” I began. “Boy, this is going to sound weird, but I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes. I stayed at Leona’s place last night, and she hid my suit, so I—”

“Uh, Duggan?” Chet cut in.

“Yes, Chet?” I asked.

“Well, um...see, the thing is, I’m up here, and you’re talking to my penis.”

I looked up, giving him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I thought I might try to get acquainted. He certainly looks like a friendly fella.”

Chet rolled his eyes and let me come inside. “Coffee?”

“Please,” I confirmed as I followed him.

“Let me guess. You like your coffee like your men, light and sweet.”

“I like my coffee that way, but I prefer my men hot and strong.” I replied, laughing at how silly this seemed.

“So Leona hid your clothes, huh?” Chet asked. “Are you two—?”

“No, but she’d like me to,” I said. “Then again, she’d like you to as well.”

“Please don’t tempt me.” Chet shook his head. “I saw her taking some laundry out late last night in a short black robe. I ended up ‘cleaning my room’ for a while last night from just that, and it’s still got me worked up this morning.”

“Chet, that is not big enough to call a room,” I teased him. “It’s certainly a walk-in closet, but not quite a room on its own.”

I sipped my coffee, nodding my approval. “You know, it’s not that I’m trying to tempt you or anything, but you have to realize there’s no reason to fear her. If you asked to share her bed, she’d accept you. In time, you could even convince her to become a hero.”

“I couldn’t,” Chet said and shrugged. “With Leona, it would just be a one night stand. She’d want something more, so I know that wouldn’t be right.”

I nodded absently.

You see, the coffee had finally woken up my brain, and it was already reviewing an important piece of information. “Wait, did you say that Leona did some laundry last night?”

“I did say that just before admitting that my current lover operates on an eight horsepower motor,” Chet commented.

“Yes, I got that part too. My last lover was a tube sock, but never mind that. Did you happen to see what she was washing?” I asked, but a sinking feeling in my gut told me I already knew the answer.

“Yeah, it was some kind of white bodysuit. Why?”

I groaned. “Chet, that’s my suit, which kind of makes it dry clean only.”

Chet’s reaction did irk me a little. He laughed heartily and went to his living room, where he drank his coffee and laughed some more.

“She set you up,” he declared after a while.

“What?” I asked.

“Your hidden clothes are probably in a dryer downstairs. I think she sabotaged your plot,” he explained with a glib tone and laughed some more.

“Yeah, ha-ha, it’s real funny. Hey listen, about those clothes?” I reminded him. “Perhaps a pair of sweat pants?”

“Or hot pants. Wait, no, never mind. They’d look baggy on you.”

Smirking to cover my annoyance, I asked, “So what are you saying, Chet? Have you got a little weight problem that you’d like to discuss?”

Grinning at me, Chet asked, “Are you always this bitchy in the morning?”

“Only when I’m naked. Do you always break out ‘Windy’ this early in the morning?”

“Ooh, that’s a low blow,” Chet said.

“No.” I pointed to the vacuum cleaner’s reverse switch. “That’s a low blow. Now unless you like looking at me naked, may I please have some clothes? If you like it, then just say so. I’ll sit here all day.”

Chet laughed, getting up and waving his hand at me. “Keep your robe on, Duggan. I’ll find something for you.”

Many of you may remember how I blamed our problems kidnapping Vicky on Leona’s tail. Well I’d like to thank the vacuum cleaner hose for what happened next.

Chet tripped on it, falling into me. I caught him, but he still had a lot of forward momentum, sending both of us onto the couch. I fell back and hit my head on the hardwood portion of the arm of Chet’s couch, dazing me.

When the pain and dizziness subsided, I opened my eyes to find Chet’s almost nude body on mine. My robe was open, and I could feel his skin touching mine. My moral principles examined the scene and got up to leave without me.

It was the look on his face that broke me. He just stared at me with the goofiest expression, a look that was somewhere between guilt and mirth.

I said, “Well, since we’re here...”

Chet did something I’ll never forget. Okay, he did a lot of somethings that I’ll never forget, but this was the first. He gave a small nod, and then he kissed me.

Now, I know I said he wasn’t Wallace, and I know that I should have felt just as bad about kissing Chet as I did Wallace. I was trying to get him back with his girlfriend of four years, and I should have been thinking about how I didn’t want to give in to some useless fantasy. After all, it couldn’t be anything more than a one time fling.

Instead, I was thinking, Wow, three times in one day! Damn, I must be good!

I may have been good, but Chet was better. He was definitely more passionate than Wallace, though I admit I hadn’t given him half the chance I was giving Chet.

And bless that wonderful man, he took it.

As for my plot, I figured Leona washing my suit had cost me a day at the most, and so I decided to take the day off and spend it in bed. Or rather, I was carried to bed, and I spent several hours enjoying Chet’s company.

I know what you’re thinking. Why would I seduce a man that I was trying so hard to reunite with his one true love?

Because I needed to get laid.

I did get laid too, and very well at that. And you know what? I don’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for the three and a half hours I spent in Chet’s bed. Eh, well maybe I felt a little tug of guilt, but Chet was worth it.