Tales of the Djinn: The Double (28 page)

Arcadius’s snort of amusement was soft but audible. “Go on,” he said as Cade glanced at him. “Go to her. I’ve conceded we can’t settle our . . . complications this minute.”

The other him utterly failed to hide his eagerness. He pushed off and went to her, leaving Arcadius forgotten.

God help me if
I
ever look that lovesick,
Arcadius thought wryly.

~

Elyse was back in her own bedroom, squeaky clean from her long hot shower. Her head rested on Cade’s bare chest. He was relaxed but not asleep, just lying there silently holding her. His heart beat a soothing rhythm beneath her ear. Elyse drew a circle on his ribs with one finger.

“I should be conked out,” she said.

“You have a lot in your head.”

“Don’t you?”

His chest rocked with a quiet laugh. “Of course.”

He didn’t volunteer what it was. “I like being in my home with you,” she said.

His muscular arms tightened slightly around her. “Me too. I mean I like being in your home with you.”

She smiled, wriggling comfortably against him. She wondered if she should ask what she wanted to. “Is he awake?”

He
was bunked on the couch in the living room, which he’d chosen as a better vantage point than David’s office for listening to street noises. The living room was also the furthest spot in the house from them.

Cade seemed likely to be aware of this. His hand glided down her spine. “I don’t know. Do you want me to check our link?”

“No. Unless you can’t help it, maybe that’s a breach of his privacy.” She listened but couldn’t hear if Arcadius moved around.

“You want to check on him,” Cade guessed.

“Would you mind?” Elyse pushed up on her forearms to gaze in his face.

“I think we’ve established you make your own decisions, especially in your world.”

“But will me worrying about Arcadius bother you?”

He touched her face, his fingertips skating lightly around its shape. His expression didn’t give much away, but she could tell he was mulling over the question. “I think you should be your authentic self.”

She smiled. Where he’d picked up that term she didn’t know. Her
authentic self
thought she needed to ask permission. Sleeping together had changed their dynamic, opening them to possibilities that she, at least, wasn’t ready to look straight at. Thankful she didn’t have to, she dropped a kiss onto Cade’s mouth and rolled out of bed.

“I love you,” she said, remembering she’d wanted to say it.

“And I you,” he responded.

~

Elyse’s gut hadn’t misled her. Arcadius was awake. When she padded into the living room in her oversized Mets T-shirt, he was sitting up on the couch. Then again, why would he be asleep? He was in a stranger’s home, a stranger’s world—and no doubt feeling third-wheely.

“What’s wrong?” he asked even as his gaze dropped to her bare knees and calves.

Maybe the Mets shirt wasn’t as modest as she’d thought.

“Nothing,” she said. “The sun’s coming up. It’ll be bright in here. I didn’t show you how to pull the shades.” She pulled them down the two front windows, the nape of her neck prickling with the awareness that he watched her. “There. Maybe you can sleep now.”

“I feel like someone should stand sentry.”

“That defeats the purpose of coming here to rest.”

“Still,” he said.

Elyse shook her head, admiring his dedication if not his approach to taking care of himself. “I’m not an expert like you and Cade, but didn’t Mario kill Samir because we made him feel cornered? He ran
from
us. I don’t think he’s going to come here.”

“His courage might recover. Cade mentioned he had allies in your dimension.”

“Okay, but won’t your commander instincts kick in if someone tries to sneak in?”

Arcadius’s mouth curved the slightest bit. “Maybe.”

“Probably,” she countered. “You and Cade have ears like bats. I suspect something else is keeping you awake.”

The curve of his lips deepened. “What if I said it was you?”

She sensed he was testing her reaction—testing his own, perhaps. She tried not to make a big deal of it. “I’d say I was flattered.”

He crossed his arms, his slight smile gone skeptical. Either that or he was fishing for her to prove it.

“Oh, whatever,” she huffed. She strode to him and fluffed the pillow he should have been sleeping on. “Lie back.” Her tone held a hint of the dominatrix she’d pretended to be before. She guessed the approach worked. Arcadius reclined and looked up at her, waiting for what came next. She pulled a footstool up beside him, sitting on it and reaching over to stroke her thumb across his forehead.

Arcadius must have expected something else. His expression was puzzled.

“My father used to do this when I was little,” she explained. “I never could sleep the night before he went on trips.”

“He didn’t take you with him?”

“Not if I had school or if he was going somewhere politically tricky.”

“Tricky?”

“He wouldn’t admit it to my face, but my dad is a bit of a risk junkie.”

Arcadius shifted onto his side. “Humans have interesting ways of phrasing things.”

“So you
do
like something about us.”

She was teasing, but he answered seriously. “You’re different, but I was wrong to think you were less.”

She grinned. “I bet you don’t say
that
often.”

“If I start choking, you can . . . give me CPR.”

His unexpected joke surprised her into laughing.

“I said that right?” he asked.

“Yes, you did.” She considered him as she continued to pet his brow. “You have a good smile.”

“I have the same smile as him.”

Oh, that was fishing for sure. “It’s not exactly the same.”

He smirked. “Is mine prettier?”

She shoved his chest. “Now you’re being silly.”

He caught the hand she’d pushed him with, turning it gently but firmly to kiss the underside of her wrist. As his lips brushed her there, Elyse’s nerves tingled all the way up her arm. His eyes locked onto hers knowingly.

“Thank you, Elyse,” he said, his voice mock-grave. “I believe I will sleep now.”

Elyse pulled her hand back and rose, more unsettled than she was prepared for. “I’ll leave you then,” she said.

“Sleep well,” was his sly answer.

Chapter Ten

AMAZINGLY
, none of them woke until eleven the next day. Elyse was peering into her refrigerator, futilely trying to wish food onto its empty shelves, when her father knocked on the door. Cade went to let him in. She’d noticed he was at ease in her home—and with her father, for that matter.

“Leo,” he said, like a long-time boyfriend—respectful but friendly too.

Her dad clapped Cade on his big shoulder. “I’ve got bagels and news.” He looked around. “Where’s the other one?”

“In the shower,” Cade said. “He’s discovered the second thing he likes about your world.”

“What’s the first?”

“Cars. He asked if we could buy one.”

“God help him if he tries driving in Manhattan. Better he should memorize subway lines.” As he spoke, Leo unpacked the breakfast bag on the island. Elyse started making coffee, interrupting herself to open a drawer and pass him the bagel knife before he asked for it.

Falling back into their old rhythm was surreal. They’d done this divvying up of morning duties too many times to count. She was gladder than she could say that they were doing it now. She would have hugged him again, but he was being casual.

“What’s the news?” she asked.

“Well, you don’t have to stake out your cousin Cara. Your Aunt June invited you and me to dinner. An official celebration of both our homecomings.”

“Where does she think I was?”

Her dad pried open the cream cheese tub. “On vacation in Turkey. I mentioned you brought friends back. She said the more the merrier.”

Elyse had her doubts about it being merry. “Did she say Cara would be there?”

“She practically guaranteed it. June says she’s been seeing a lot of her since Vince died.”

That surprised her. Cara was more of a daddy’s girl. But maybe guilt explained it. Perhaps, given everything she’d done, Cara craved her remaining parent’s love.

“Is Aunt June making dinner?” she had to ask.

Aunt June’s cooking was famously erratic. You never knew if you’d survive eating it.

“I convinced her you missed Moscato’s pasta something awful while you were in Istanbul. She’s having them cater.”

Moscato’s was a nice restaurant in Scarsdale. Elyse’s
phew
was heartfelt.

Her dad handed her a cream cheese bagel topped with a transparent slice of lox, everything arranged exactly as she liked. Elyse bit into the treat and sighed. She’d enjoyed the food in the Glorious City, but this was nirvana.

“You like toasted or plain, kid?” Leo asked her lover.

“Toasted,” Cade said, watching him prepare it with interest. Elyse smiled. He was like a kid waiting for his own sundae.

“Hey,” Elyse said, realizing the implication of something else her dad said. “If Cara and Mario are engaged, won’t he be at dinner too?”

Leo grinned like he was ten years old. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

“Oh, boy,” Elyse said.

“Oh, boy,” Cade agreed.

This should be interesting.

~

Having to do laundry underscored the fact that Elyse was in the real world again. Having a handsome djinni appear in her bedroom door while she folded pointed up that her life wasn’t quite normal. Arcadius observed her at the chore for a few heartbeats.

“You do that yourself?” he asked curiously.

“If I don’t, it won’t get done.” She laid a folded T-shirt on top of a pile of them.

“Fewer people have servants here.”

He didn’t sound judgmental. “Probably,” she answered.

“In the Glorious City, if people are rich, their servants use magic to clean their clothes.”

“I’m just glad I don’t have to go to the Laundromat.”

Arcadius nodded, no doubt plucking the word’s meaning from the ethers. “Where’s Cade?”

“Across the hall. He’s grilling Dad about the layout of my aunt’s house. Cade is hoping we’ll get the chance to corner Mario on his own.”

She’d already explained about the invitation to her Aunt June’s. Arcadius shifted his weight against the doorframe. “You don’t want to upset your aunt by apprehending the sorcerer in her presence?”

“My aunt has servants. And neighbors. It might be best if we don’t have a magical shootout in front of witnesses.”

“I see,” Arcadius said.

Elyse tried not to color up as she extracted one of her nicer bras from the plastic basket of clean clothes. Arcadius was noticeably silent as she shook out and folded it. Losing her nerve, she ignored the underwear she saw next and pulled out a towel instead.

Arcadius cleared his throat. “I want to ask, what are your intentions toward the other me?”

“My intentions?” she responded, unprepared for this tack.

Arcadius looked sober. “Do you intend to marry him? To be with him forever?”

“I . . . well, he hasn’t asked me, and forever isn’t something I can predict but, yes, I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“You love him.”

Elyse gave up on folding and faced him. “Yes,” she said, wanting no mistake about it.

Arcadius had crossed his arms but didn’t appear upset. “You care about me too.”

“You
are
direct,” she said, reluctant to get into this.

“Directness can be useful.” He dropped his arms and moved from the threshold into the room. His eyes had the same glow Cade’s sometimes got, as if his single-minded concentration narrowed them to lasers. To her dismay, her heart rate went rabbity. Maybe Arcadius noticed. His gaze dropped for a second to the pulse in her neck. Elyse willed herself not to retreat.

Retreat equaled weakness for men like him.

“I won’t compete with him for you,” Arcadius announced.

“That’s fortunate,” she retorted a bit sharply. “As it happens, I’m not up for grabs. What we did . . .” She trailed off. Could she say for certain it wouldn’t happen again? She couldn’t deny they’d all enjoyed it.

Her hesitation gave Arcadius an opening to exploit. “Yes,” he said in a low purring tone. “I haven’t forgotten
what we did
. In the closet. In the bed. With your whip burning up my ass.”

Suddenly, his big tall body was right in front of her. He’d backed her against the mattress without even touching her. She couldn’t go any farther without toppling onto it. That didn’t seem like a good idea. Warmth radiated from the wall of muscle that was his chest. The image of him bound to the sultan’s bed—naked, writhing—rose too vividly in her mind.

It was followed by the memory of Cade fucking her on top of Arcadius. The small of her back could almost feel his skin.

“I won’t cheat on Cade,” she said with unfortunate breathiness.

A hot flush suffused his face, not embarrassment but arousal. “I won’t make you,” he promised in a counterproductively sexy growl.

She didn’t have long to be relieved. He seized her face between his hands and covered her mouth with his.

Her hormones didn’t mind his roughness. They went wild, her pussy instantly going wet. His lips were strong and agile, his tongue sleek and hungry. Raw sounds broke in his throat as he plundered and pulled at her. She loved those signs of his need for her: the too bold, too plain human. Aware that thinking like this was dangerous, she shoved at him.

Not hard enough, she guessed. Then again, maybe he was paying more attention to the reactions that weren’t saying
no
to him. She’d done the same when she had him at her mercy. Rather than stop, he groaned and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t hurt her. His hands caressed as much as they controlled, but his greater strength—which was more than a human’s—squeezed her tight to him.

She couldn’t miss that his cock was erect, the big ridge grinding against her belly in stripper-style body rolls. God, that felt good. When his hand clamped around her bottom, her clit twitched with excitement.