Bound (Secrets of the Djinn) (21 page)

I smile.  “Thank you for being patient with him.  Malik hates it when he’s not the best at something.”

Zane chuckles.  “He has a ways to go before he’s better than me.”

I nudge him with my shoulder.  “You’re awfully cocky.”

Shrugging, he takes my hand as we go up the stairs.  “Not cocky, just right.”

My best sexy smile in place, I ask, “What else are you good at?”

“In about two minutes when our bedroom door closes behind us, I’ll show you.”
  My day is ending much better than it started.

Several hours later, a
rough finger slides down my cheek, waking me.  I’m not surprised to find Beelzebub standing next to the bed.  “Go away,” I whisper, not wanting Zane to wake up.

He doesn’t go away.  Instead, he crouches down next to the bed and places his mouth close to my ear.  “If you continue to be a bitch, I’m not going to tell you what I know.”

You would think the devil’s breath would be rank, but it’s actually minty fresh.  Being only half awake still, the words that fall out of my mouth are, “Did you just use mouthwash?”

Laughing softly, he pushes a strand of my new red hair away from my forehead.  I swat his hand away.  “Focus, my dear.”

Annoyed, I check on Zane, he’s still sleeping, and then sit up.  “Move so I can get out bed.  And turn around.”

Beelzebub’s eyebrows rise.  “
Modesty is not your best attribute.”

“Turn around,” I repeat.

With a heavy sigh, the devil stands again and puts his hand over his eyes.  “You are wasting precious time that could be spent much more enjoyably.”

I snort as I reach for my jeans and t-shirt lying on the floor next to the bed.  “You certainly can’t mean with you.”  The only response I get is a chuckle.

When I’m dressed, I stand up and walk to the door.  “Come on, we’re not talking in here.”

To my relief, Beelzebub follows me out of the room.  I lead him down the hall to the sitting room and then out through the glass doors.  Closing them behind us, I demand, “Say what you came to say and then leave.”

Something dangerous flashes in his eyes and I take a step back.  “The fact I desire you will in no way keep me from killing you painfully if you push me too far.”

I stare at him for a long moment.  Why do I keep forgetting who I’m dealing with?  This man is
the devil.
  Not only would he kill me, he’d have fun torturing me both before and after my death.  “Sorry,” I mutter.  “You woke me out of a dead sleep.”

Slightly appeased, he says,
“Your long lost friend is not who you believe her to be.”

I narrow my eyes.  “Who do I believe her to be?”

Ire flashes in his eyes again.  “Do not play games with me, my dear.  I always win.”  He leans forward and says in a voice so chilling I shudder, “Because I cheat and I don’t care who gets hurt in the proces
s
.
”
 

This is not a news flash, but being reminded of it brings back to mind the danger I’m in at the moment.  The devil has attempted to be coy and charming the last couple of times I’ve seen him, but I can’t let myself forget he is still the one who tortures souls for eons just for the fun of it
, or that he forced me to torture and kill someone. 

Voice shaking slightly, I ask,
“Did you come to warn me again?”

Stepping back so he can look down on me, he says
in a petulant voice, “Perhaps, but I lost the urge to be of any assistance.  Such a pity for you.”  He disappears from the deck.

Great, I’ve managed to piss off the devil.  I’m sure there’ll be no consequences.  Right.  With a sigh, I open the sliding doors and step back inside.  As I round the corner of the sitting room to go back to bed, I stop short.  Backing up, I peek around the corner again.  Malik is standing with his forehead leaning against Brielle’s bedroom door with his hand on the knob as if trying to find the courage to turn it.  I doubt this is a moment he wants his sister to witness.  I pull back and lean against the wall.  I don’t move again until I hear the click of her bedroom door opening and then closing.  Peeking again, Malik is gone.

Chapter
25

“Great way to get yourself killed.”

J
ust enough moonlight streams in between the curtains for Malik to make out Brielle’s form.  She is sitting up and has a gun trained on him.  He hasn’t seen her fire a gun yet, but he has no doubt her aim is as true as her brother’s.

“You sleep with a gun?”

Brielle shrugs.  “I’m not quite sure who’s friend and who’s foe at the moment.”

Malik smiles.  “I can assure you, I am a friend.”

“Funny, my other friends don’t sneak into my room in the middle of the night,” she retorts.

Malik is pleased to hear that.  His sexiest grin in place, he says, “Perhaps I want to be more than your friend.”

To his relief, Brielle sets her gun down on the nightstand.  To his horror, she says, “Get the fuck out of my room.  I’m going back to sleep.”  She proceeds to lie back and from what he can make out, close her eyes as if she has every intention of going to sleep.  So much for his sexy grin.  Not ready to give up, Malik takes a couple of steps towards the bed. 

“I can still reach my gun,” Brielle mutters through a yawn.

“I would very much like to speak with you,” Malik says, a hint of pleading in his voice he had not meant to put there.

Brielle turns her head to the clock next to the bed.  “And it has to be at two o’clock in the morning?”

“I tried to wait until dawn, but I couldn’t.  My feet brought me here of their own accord.” 

“You know, I wouldn’t have been any happier to see you at dawn.”

Malik takes a few more steps and he’s next to the bed.  Brielle is on her side, facing the table with the gun.  She’s not foolish; it is within easy reach if she feels she needs it.  “Since we are both awake, why not speak now?”

The moon is bright enough for him to see her glare clearly.  “That is a lousy argument.”

Encouraged by the fact she has not shot him yet, Malik sits down on the edge of the bed.  Brielle’s hand snakes out and she retrieves the gun, but she doesn’t point it at him.  Instead, she pushes away from him and sits up, leaning back against the headboard.

“Is this the part where you come into my room and fuck me into submission?  Because I have to tell you, I’m not that kind of girl.”

Malik winces at her coarse words.  “No, you do not strike me as the kind who would easily submit.”

“For god’s sake, will you please say what you
came to say so I can go back to sleep?”

Now that he’s here, in her bedroom, Malik is having trouble remembering what he came here to say.  He needs to apologize to her, again.  He needs to tell her how much help she has been.  He needs to thank her for rescuing Skye and taking care of her.  He needs to lean forward and kiss her full lips.

He doesn’t realize how close he is to doing the last thing until Brielle says, “I thought you weren’t here for this.”

Unwilling to move back, he uses her words.  “I said I wasn’t here to fuck you into submission.  I said nothing of refraining from kissing you.”  When she doesn’t say anything, he moves the last few inches until his lips meet hers.  The
kiss is soft at first, but when he is sure she will not pull away, Malik deepens the kiss.  He parts her lips and lets his tongue delve into her depths.  A satisfied growl emits from his throat.  A second later, her lips are gone.

Malik opens his eyes to find her getting off the bed.  Stalking to the door, she tears it open.  “I admit, I was curious what that would
feel like.  Now I know.  Get the hell out of my room.  If you want to talk to me, do it during the day.  Well past dawn,” she adds.

Malik finds himself frozen in place. 
Was the kiss so terrible?  Is she truly rejecting him?  Had he really misread all the signs he thought pointed to their mutual attraction for each other?

Brielle drums her fingers on the doorknob.  “
Um, the door’s not going to come to you.”

Embarrassed by his own idiocy, Malik rises from his spot on the bed.  With a last, long look at Brielle, he walks through the door and out into the hall.  She closes the door behind him with a decisive click and he hears the sliding of the lock.

More dejected by Brielle’s complete lack of interest in him than he’d like to admit, Malik makes his way to the sitting room with a sudden craving for whiskey.  He has never been much for spirits, but that seems to be changing the longer he’s in this house.   He stops abruptly when he sees Jalynx sitting in a chair with an empty glass in her hand.  “How did that work out for you?” she asks.

Ignoring her, Malik moves to the near empty decanter and
pours all of it into a glass.  He takes a large drink before moving to the couch.  Voice holding a clear warning, he says, “I do not need your anti-human sentiments this evening, Jalynx.” 

“Is it the challenge?  You’ve never had to beg
your way into anyone’s bed before.”

Grip tightening on his glass, he says, "
I certainly didn’t beg my way into yours.”

“Bastard,” Jalynx growls. 

Downing the rest of his whiskey, Malik stands and walks out of the room.

Chapter 26

It takes forever to fall asleep after my conversation with the devil.  I keep expecting him to come back, and the fact that he doesn’t scares me more than if he did.  What was he going to tell me about Jalynx?  Is she working with my aunt? 

My tossing and turning finally wakes Zane around six.  Reaching out, he wraps his arm around me and pulls me close.  “What’s wrong?” he mumbles, still half asleep.

“I can’t sleep.”

He pulls me closer and kisses my shoulder.  A puzzled expression falls over his face.  “Why are you dressed?”

I bite my lip, not wanting to tell him.  But, I promised no more secrets.  “The devil was here last night.”

More awake now, he asks, “Are you okay?  Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head.  “No.  He came to warn me about something, but I made him mad before he told me what.”

Zane chuckles.  “
Only you would do something like that.”

Frowning, I ask, “What does that
mean?”

Grinning
, he says, “I think it’s sexy as hell you stand up to him the way you do.”  Pushing my hair aside, he nuzzles my neck.  I gasp when he touches the skin near my mark. 

“What are you doing?” I breathe.

“Since we’re both awake…”  His lips touch my mark at the same time his hand slides down to caress me through my panties.  I buck under him, grasping his shoulders. 

Zane attempts to move over me, but I push him back to the bed. 
Straddling him, I strip off my t-shirt.  His hands waste no time finding my breasts.  “Beautiful,” he whispers.

I lean forward to kiss him.  Against his lips, I murmur, “Tear my panties off so
you can be inside me.”

His shock is quickly replaced with lust and excitement.  Grasping the delicate lace panties, he tears them down the front until my sex is exposed to him.  I nip at his bottom lip as I lower myself until he is buried inside of me.  Finding the rhythm I need, I ride him until the pleasure of my body overrides any other thoughts my mind could muster.  I ride him until he has to swallow my cries with this kisses as I explode with pleasure
, taking him with me.

Exhausted, I lie on top of him, not ready to part from him
yet.  His arms wrap around me tightly and he whispers in my ear, “Feel free to wake me up every morning like this.”  He nips my earlobe and I smile against his shoulder, kissing the smooth skin. 

T
he tug of sleep finally pulling at me, I murmur, “Mind if I fall asleep like this?”

His response is to kiss the top of my head and hold me tighter.  Within moments, I’m fast asleep.

I’m disappointed to find Zane gone when I wake up.  Looking at the clock, it’s already ten thirty.  He must have left me to sleep in when he got up.  Stretching, I try to mentally prepare myself for the day by giving my brain a pep talk.  If I was a fighter behind the veil, I can certainly become the same on this side.  It’s just a matter of practice and determination.

I take a leisurely shower, washing my hair and hoping the red will
come out.  It doesn’t.  Not even a tinge of red shows up on the towel when I wring the excess water out before blow drying it.  I guess it’s here to stay.

The kitchen is empty when I enter, but a warm pot of coffee
is sitting on the coffee maker.  I pour myself a cup and grab a bagel.  Sitting down, I pick up the paper Hank left.  I put it back down when I see the headlines.  “Car explosion kills two.”  Even though the incident a couple of hundred miles from here, it appears in the local paper as a headline.  Why?