Bound (Secrets of the Djinn) (9 page)

I shake my head
, not caring that our different heritages will leave these marks.  I find no shame in loving a Saitan.  “Roman, it doesn’t matter.  I want this, I want you.”  A fear rises in my chest.  “You told me you want to be with me forever.  Have you changed your mind?”

There’s something in his eyes now, a shadow of something
, and my blood begins to cool until he says, “I will move the heavens to make you mine forever.”  He moves his body over mine, pressing me into the mattress.  I curl my legs around his waist, nestling him against me.  His words intense almost to the point of desperation again, he says, “Promise me you will take me as yours, that no matter what, you will stay with me.  There is so much in this world of ours that could drag us apart if we let it.  Promise me that none of it matters, that you will be my wife, my love, my friend and nothing can change that.  In return, I pledge my undying love to you.  I will always protect you from the evils of this world and I will give my own life to spare yours if need be.  I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you, Skye.  If you have any doubt, please tell me.  I will not put my mark upon you if you do not know in your heart that I am yours forever.  I only want to make you happy and the rest of the world be damned.”

His words are scaring me.  Does he truly doubt my love for him this much?  Placing a hand on his cheek, I say, “Roman, what have I done to make you question me like this?  Can you not see my love for you in my eyes and feel it
in my touch?  You seem to forget, you will bear my mark as well.  Should I be asking you to swear to these things?”

He turns so his lips can kiss my palm.  “No, my sweet
.”  He looks at me again, his blue eye burning.  “From the first time we met, I knew these things to be true.”

“Then I will bear your mark with pride.”  I grin.  “
The pleasure these marks can bring is supposed to be amazing, shall we see if it’s true?”

“There is risk involved as well,” Roman cautions. 

I’m not sure what he means.  “There is no risk when they are given out of love.  If I forced my mark upon you, or if I somehow convinced you I gave it to you as a chain to control you as an enemy would, then there is risk.  Do you fear these things of me?”

Surprise washes over his face.  “No.”

“Nor do I fear these things of you.”

Roman searches my face.  “This is truly what you want.”  It is a statement, not a question
but still I nod.  “You will stay with me, regardless of what the world may think?”

I nod
again.  “I promise.”

A sexy grin replaces his worry.  “Then we will make the world see that our love is true.”

“Yes.”  I pull him to me again, wanting desperately to feel his hands and mouth on me.  With renewed heat, our kisses and caresses make us forget about the world and everyone else in it. 

After removing his clothes, I explore Roman’s body as he does mine.  My lips and fingers touch him everywhere, his body once again quivering under my touch.  When we can stand the teasing no longer, Roman nestles against me again, this time without the barrier of clothes.  A searching finger dips into me and my hips thrust upward, wanting more.  “Roman,” I whisper, the plea in my voice making him even hungrier for me.

“Skye,” he says quietly, “we’ll do this slowly.  I don’t want to hurt you.”

I forgot about the pain of the first time.  Surely my body is ready for him.  As he presses himself to my core, I wrap my legs around his waist.  He slides forward and I feel a tug inside of me when his cock finds my hymen.  I gasp at the
tiny shock of pain as he presses against it, but it doesn’t make me want him to stop.  I want him to push through it, get this first, difficult part over with so I can feel our bodies joined as one.  Finding his lips with mine, I take him by surprise when I simultaneously lift my hips and tug my legs, causing him to bury himself deep inside me.  A small cry of pain escapes me but it’s gone as quickly as it came.

Roman’s shocked eyes stare into mine.  “Are you okay?”

I nod.  “Perfect.”

Kissing me again, h
e moves slowly at first, letting my body get used to him, letting me stretch to accommodate him.  It doesn’t take long before I want more and we find a rhythm that brings us both to an incredible precipice.  Our breathing ragged, I meet his thrusts as he buries himself inside of me and then slides back only to do it again and again until the world is falling away.  My body arches against his as a wave of pleasure takes me.  A glorious feeling of heat flows from my neck where I now bear his mark to my core as my body milks him, my muscles contracting, holding him tight.  With several more thrusts deep inside me, Roman is burying his face in my hair as he cries out my name.  He explodes inside of me and I wrap my legs around him tighter, holding him as his body shakes in the aftermath of his orgasm.

We lie here for several minutes just trying to breathe.  Roman has lifted some of his weight from me but he is still buried deep inside of me.  Lifting a hand, he sweeps my hair from my neck and presses his lips against it.  The pleasure is so intense, I orgasm again as he licks and sucks the mark he gave me. 

It seems only fair I do the same for him.  His mark is farther back than mine, almost in his hairline.  I find it and his reaction is as instant as mine.  We make love again and again, reveling in the joy we can bring each other.

Pulling my body from Roman’s feels like losing a part of myself, but I must. 
“I need to go,” I whisper, disappointment ringing in my words.  “Malik expects me to be home when he arrives.”  He may come looking for me if I’m not.

After a long, lingering kiss, Roman nods and rises, holding a hand out to me.  “I will come with you.  I’ll make things right with Malik.”

I smile at his earnest expression.  “He may kill you.”  I reach for my skirt that was tossed onto the floor with the rest of our clothes. 

“Even he cannot deny the love I have for you,” Roman says, finding his own clothes.

“Then I would like you to come.”  I put the thought of Malik killing him on sight out of my mind.  Surely, we can make him see reason.

When we are both dressed, Roman pulls me close.  He holds me for several long minutes before kissing my forehead and stepping back.  “Are you ready to face him?” he asks.  I nod.

Turning to the bedroom door, I am startled when it slams open.  A woman I’ve never met before looks ready to kill us.  Fury is a tame word compared to what she appears to be feeling.  I have never witnessed such loathing and ire before.  I glance up at Roman and he is staring back at the woman with equal amounts of the two emotions. 

I am about to ask who this woman is when she speaks.  “Lured her to your bed, I see.”

“You have no right to be here,” Roman growls.

Her laugh is the vilest thing I ever heard.  “I am your wife
.  This is exactly where I belong.”

Wife? 
Blood rushes from my face.  I glance at Roman again and I see the truth in the shame on his face.  “Your wife?”

“Skye, it’s not what you think.  She and I…”

I don’t want to hear anything else he has to say.  I shove at him and turn to flee.  The woman in the doorway has other plans for me, though.  I see a glint of silver right before the searing pain as the flesh of my abdomen is skewered on her dagger.  Roman is next to me now.  He lashes out at the woman and I hear a thud as she drops to the floor, taking the knife with her.  She isn’t done, though.  She is back on her feet and Roman has to tackle her to keep her knife from piercing my skin again.  I stumble forward, trying to remember where the door is.  Behind me, I hear their struggles continue.

My mind is focused on two things.  Betrayal and my imminent death.  Her knife pierced deep and blood is flowing between my fingers as I press my hand
hard against the wound.  Throwing the front door open, I stumble into the street.  It’s not far.  My home isn’t far.  I keep telling myself this, forcing my legs to keep moving.

Soon, I hear Roman calling
to me.  He’s coming for me.  At first, my heart leaps at the thought but the image of the woman claiming to be his wife erases everything good my heart feels for him.  Malik was right.  Roman never cared for me; he only cared about who I am.  This was a political move with me being a pawn to be controlled and sacrificed as needed and I made it so easy for him.  I begged him to mark me.  I am going to die because of my foolishness and naiveté.  The mark on my neck burns as I comprehend its true meaning. 

I awaken to find myself in the arms of the man who caused all of the pain coursing through me.

Chapter
11

“Skye, shhh, it’s okay,” Roman is saying into my hair.  He has curled his body around mine and is stroking my hair from my face.  “You’re okay,” he continues to soothe.

I push against him and he releases me instantly.  I curl into myself and press my body against the wall.  “Don’t,” I whisper.

I can’t see his face in the dark.  Even though it must be daylight outside, the drapes in the room aren’t letting any light through.  “Skye, I’m not going to hurt you or take advantage of you.  I was just trying to wake you up.”

Something in his voice tells me he knows what I was dreaming about. 
We once again shared a dream.  How is this possible?  “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

The bed shakes a little as he rolls onto his back.  “I was a fool.  I thought I could protect you from her,” he says harshly.  The pain and anger in his voice hurts my ears.  “No, that’s not true.  I should have told you.  There’s no excuse other than I was a young kid who thought love could make everything turn out the way I wanted it to.  I wanted to forget about everything except you and my foolishness lost me
all I cared about.”

I sigh
and remembering my dream, I know in my heart what he is saying is true.  He didn’t mean for any of this to happen.  He meant those things he said to me before we made love.  That changes nothing.  “Roman,” I say quietly.  “I believe you loved me then and you think you love me now.  But I’m not that girl anymore.  Too much has happened, too much death and destruction for me to ever be her again.”

“I don’t want that girl.  I want the woman you’ve become.”

I inch closer to him and reach out a hand to press against his chest.  “I think your heart still wants
her
, the other Skye.  She is who you fell in love with, not me.  You don’t even know me as I am now.”

He puts his hand on top of mine.  “Will you let me in just a little bit so I can get to know you?”

“It appears we will have plenty of time together,” I say wryly.

Changing the subject, he asks,
“How do you feel this morning?”

The abrupt change in subject matter throws me for a second.  “Um, better, actually.”  I flex my
foot and am relieved to feel no pain.  “My ankle’s fine.  My shoulder is a lot better but my wrist still hurts.”  After a moment, I ask, “What did you give me last night?”

“Muscle relaxants. 
Mrs. Gregori gave them to me.”

Shocked,
I exclaim, “You gave me pills
she
gave you?  Are you trying to kill me?!”  Not that I would’ve cared at the time, but this morning I’m feeling a little less reckless with my life.

He chuckles.  “I recognized the pills and
they did not appear to be tampered with.  I have more if you need them.  I gave you three because of how fast your body metabolized the pain medication I gave you in the hospital.”

That seems like a lifetime ago.  “Guess I’m the only djinn patient you’ve ever had, huh
?”

He chuckles again.  “Yes, I believe so.”

“You must’ve had more warning about being kicked out than I did.”

He’s silent a moment but finally says, “Yes, she told me after everyone else in the house had gone to bed.  She gave me time to put some things together before she woke you.”

“What did she threaten you with to make you keep quiet and go along with it?”  I’m not sure why I bothered to ask because I know what he’s going to say. 

“The usual.  Death, destruction, the burning of our souls.  To be more precise, she said she’d kill you in Zane’s bed if she had to.  Even I don’t hate the guy that much.”

I laugh softly.  “I appreciate that.”

“Would you mind if I turned on the light?  I’m too wired to go back to sleep and we should probably hit the road again
since we’re both awake.  The farther we go, the safer I’ll feel.”

My heart wrenches at the thought
of never seeing Zane again but Roman’s right.  We’re too close to where the murders happened.  We need to be as far away from here as possible.  “Go ahead.”

The light blinds me for a moment and I have to squint to see Roman. 
“Did you happen to pack any scissors in your bag?” I ask.

Surprised, he says, “Not if you’re planning to do anything violent with them.”

I laugh softly.  “Don’t worry, I’m more likely to hurt myself right now than you.  I want to cut my sports bra off so I can take a shower.”