Tales of the Djinn: The Double (37 page)

Elyse’s twitch became a heave of impatience. “I want you now.”

“Soon,” he said. “When I’m done admiring you.”

He might never be done with that. He backed up to caress her torso from collarbones to hips. His palms smoothed the shape of her, molding the strokes down her subtle curves until she thrashed. Her thighs were already open, but he nudged them wider with his knees. His thumbs rubbed the grooves to either side of her pubic triangle.

“Perhaps you’d like me to hold her labia apart for you,” Cade offered politely.

“Yes,” Arcadius agreed. “I would.”

Elyse gasped as the other man’s fingers pressed down and spread her there. The feel of both men touching her increased her excitement. Her clitoris stood out sharply, its swollen pinkness thrilling Arcadius.

She was so aroused he saw moisture well from her.

“That’s good,” he growled. “I like going in easily.”

This time when he lowered himself to her he didn’t intend to stop. Actually, he wasn’t sure his cock would stand more delay. He gripped its base to steer it, adding a quick tight squeeze to calm its urgency. This only helped a bit. He grimaced at the electric zing that jumped from her to him when they made first contact. Her heat was astounding, her wetness gushing against him.

“God,” she groaned, her back arching off the bed.

Waiting wasn’t possible after that. He pushed and groaned louder than she had. Forging into her was heaven. He drew out the penetration as long as he could bear. At last his cock was buried in her softness. Their pulses beat together, a tormenting tickling sensation. Elyse wasn’t able to stay still. She ground her pelvis against his in wonderful hard circles. In spite of how good this felt, he held one hip down to restrain her.

Elyse growled a small protest.

“Hush,” he said. “Trust me . . . trust
us
to take care of you.”

Her free hand formed a fist on his back. “I’m going crazy. You feel too good inside me.”

He couldn’t help but love hearing that. With her hip secure in his hold, he drew his cock back and pushed slowly in again.

“More,” she said, her fist actually thumping him.

Though she wasn’t the boss of this, he gave her a stronger thrust.

“Ah,” she sighed, pushing up to meet him.

He couldn’t resist this persuasion. His hold on himself unraveled before he finished pushing back. He needed a real rhythm too, needed stroke after stroke, harder, deeper, until they found release together. With each meeting of their bodies, his hunger built. The bed made protesting noises, their combined weight jerking the mattress against its frame. Arcadius fought for control, ready to explode but wanting this act of taking her to last forever.

Then Elyse locked her feet together behind his thighs.

His head flung back, his torso rearing up. She was adding her strength to his, intensifying the concussion of his flesh and hers. The sensations of his pleasure were too sharp for sanity. The pumping of his hips turned compulsive. He’d die if he had to stop, die if he couldn’t come.

But he didn’t want this position. Elyse was too far away. He wanted more of her, all of her against him. He came down onto his elbows and cupped her jiggling breasts, each thumb and index finger pinching a furled nipple. As he’d expected, the tiny bite of pain suited her. She cried out, her movements going completely wild, her pussy tightening desperately on his thrusts.

Arcadius knew what she needed but refused to release the points through which he was pleasuring her.

“Finger her,” he rasped to his double.

Cade’s grip had remained on her mons. He pinched all his fingers around her clit, rolling and rubbing the sensitive engorged bud. Experience must have told him what pressure she liked most. Elyse gasped for air, then came with a genuine scream.

Her pussy clutched Arcadius. God, that felt good: so good the pressure beneath his penis surged uncontrollably.

Just hold on,
he thought, grunting in reaction.
Just long enough to make her go again.

He shifted angles, his pelvis tilting to push the strongest friction into the upper wall of her sheath. This was a sensitive spot for her. He went at it good and fast. She whimpered, clutching Cade’s hand hard enough that their knuckles were going white. Arcadius hadn’t realized he was watching until the excitement the sight inspired sizzled through him like lightning.

The step-up of arousal triggered him, the wave impossible to hold back. Liquid ecstasy shot from more than his cock. His nerves fired along a hundred paths simultaneously: down his shaft, around his nipples, zooming through all his limbs and out his fingertips.

Such blinding bliss accompanied his climax that he almost missed Elyse’s next orgasm. Fortunately, she groaned loudly enough to catch his attention.

She sagged beneath him after that: sweaty, sated, and gorgeously flushed. Her heart pounded so hard it shook her whole body.

“Wow,” she sighed. Her eyes were closed, her lashes dark fans against her cheeks. Arcadius enjoyed the opportunity to gaze his fill of her.

“Need my hand back,” she pointed out breathily.

Arcadius didn’t have it. Cade released the extremity in question—along with her pubis. Both he and Elyse needed to flex their fingers to restart the circulation inside of them. The echo of a thrill rolled through Arcadius. He stroked Elyse’s curls from her damp forehead. She smiled at the caress, then turned her head on the pillow toward where Cade was sitting.

Her lashes lifted so she could gaze at him.

“Hey,” Arcadius’s double said softly.

Her smile deepened. She touched Cade’s upper thigh with her now free hand, her pinky brushing his big hard-on. “That left you all charged up.”

“It was exciting.”

The hoarseness of Cade’s voice sent a visible shudder through Elyse. Cade’s mouth curved as her eyes connected to and held his. Despite the fact that Arcadius remained inside her, the intimacy that passed between them excluded him.

~

Elyse seemed to have broken her own rule that they be careful of each other’s feelings.

Everything had seemed fine. Arcadius was being his take-charge self, but she hadn’t sensed this causing awkwardness between him and Cade. She certainly didn’t mind Arcadius’s assertive style. It did nice things for her libido, as did the pair of them joining forces to pleasure her. Her scream was proof of that, for goodness sake. They’d felt like a team—a well-oiled one.

Then Arcadius stiffened and backed off from her.

She withdrew her hand from Cade’s leg. “Where are you going?”

Arcadius was already on his feet at the foot of the bed. His trousers hung open but didn’t fall down his hips. He removed the spent condom, frowned, then looked up and smiled at her.

The smile
seemed
genuine, but she knew his poker face was good.

“You don’t have to leave,” Cade said.

Arcadius shrugged. “I could use a wash. And you two need time together.”

Should Elyse tell him not to leave? Showing too much concern didn’t seem like a good idea. Arcadius was a proud person. Then again, maybe he wanted her to push him to stay. Unless that would bother Cade.
Crap
. Trying to be a threesome was not simple.

“Come back after,” she said, not sure that was right choice either. “If you want to, of course.”

Seeming to sense she was off balance, Cade squeezed her shoulder. Arcadius fastened his pants and zipped. He glanced at Cade and back to her. “I’ll keep your invitation in mind.”

He turned and left, closing the bedroom door quietly behind him.

“He’ll keep my invitation
in mind
?” Elyse repeated disbelievingly.

Cade snorted out a laugh. “You couldn’t have expected this to work perfectly right away.”

“What did I do wrong?”

Cade stroked the side of her face. “Nothing. If you tiptoe around him too hard, he won’t like that either.”

“I guess you’d know.”

His eyes crinkled tenderly. “I guess I would.”

“Are
you
okay?” she asked.

“I am, though I confess my condition could be improved.”

His leer was adorable. Elyse’s mood lightened. She smoothed her hands up and down his shirt. The muscles beneath it were hard and warm.

“Tell me what you’d like,” she said, “and I’ll see what I can do . . .”

~

Though he’d washed up, Arcadius couldn’t bring himself to return to the bedroom. It was too quiet in there. Elyse and Cade were probably caught up in pleasuring each other.

He sighed and scrubbed at his hair. He shouldn’t turn this into a competition. She and Cade had been together longer. It stood to reason their connection was closer. Arcadius needed to be patient. Hoping his bond with Elyse would one day be as strong wasn’t unrealistic.

His hope notwithstanding, he turned left and not right, wandering back to the foyer where he stared at the bolted door. He could go check on the teenagers. Under the circumstances, Elyse seemed unlikely to remember her promise to call them in half an hour.

Good Lord,
he thought, recognizing how sulky he sounded.

That wasn’t who he was, not now and not ever. If it turned out Elyse couldn’t love him the way she loved Cade, he’d accept it like a man.

With that resolved, he grabbed one of the T-shirts Cade had left in the living room and dragged it down his bare chest. He opened the hallway door.

He met Elyse’s father coming up the building stairs.

“Hello,” Leo said, smiling easily at him. “Is it Arcadius?”

Arcadius nodded. Then, because he didn’t know else what to say, he gave in to curiosity. “How did you know?”

“You hold yourself differently—more like a general. Cade’s military edges have worn off a bit.”

This didn’t seem like something Arcadius should correct. “Have you been visiting the young people?”

“Have I ever!” Leo laughed. “I forgot what a handful teenagers are. But they’re all present and accounted for. The twins woke up, ate a slice of pizza, and went right back to bed. Probably that means they’re okay.” He cocked his head at Arcadius. “You look like you could use a beer. Or a cup of tea. I’ve got both across the hall.”

Leo unlocked his apartment door, seeming to assume Arcadius would follow. Arcadius couldn’t recall sharing drinks with a lover’s father. Actually, he couldn’t recall meeting one.

Leo’s apartment smelled mainly of fresh paint. It was similar in style to Elyse’s but had less furniture. He noticed he had no rugs on the bare floorboards.

“Sit anywhere you like,” Leo said as he disappeared into another room. “I’m afraid this place isn’t as cozy as my daughter’s. I’m still making it my own.”

Arcadius chose a large leather armchair next to the fireplace. The chair was old and comfortable. Leo returned with two cold beers in bottles.

“Here you go,” he said, handing one to him. He took the chair opposite. Arcadius watched him twist off the cap and mimicked the gesture. Vapor wisped from the bottle’s neck like an escaping djinn.

“I’ve had beer in your world,” Leo said. “I don’t think you’ll hate this.”

Arcadius drank cautiously. “It is good,” he said, sounding a bit surprised.

Leo laughed, the chuckle reminiscent of his daughter’s, though of course it was male. “The other you is smoother,” he observed.

“Cade claims knowing Elyse has made him a different man.”

“Elyse has her own version of the Solomon charm.”

Arcadius considered this statement. For all his social ease, Leo didn’t strike him as a person who shared every thought that went through his head. He was sharper than he let on . . . and possibly harder too. Arcadius sensed Leo was taking his measure. He reminded himself two could play that game. Though he had no wish to make an enemy of Elyse’s sire, he wouldn’t kowtow to him either.

“You didn’t protect her very well when she was a child,” he said.

Leo’s dark brows went up. “I was a single father, with a demanding job. I did the best I could.”

“You traveled to suit yourself. You abandoned her to the care of a family whose head you knew wasn’t trustworthy, and at the mercy of a girl who wasn’t a fit friend.”

“Okay, a) June was around to look out for Elyse, and b) Cara wasn’t that bad when they were girls. She and my daughter were fond of each other.”

“Cara encouraged Elyse to hold a low opinion of herself.”

Leo leaned back in his chair. “So that’s how it is. Both of you are serious about her.”

Arcadius’s temper boiled over. “I’m not saying this because I love your daughter. I’m saying it because her cousin was a bully. I sincerely hope you don’t intend to treat her safety and happiness that cavalierly now.”

Anger gripped Leo’s face for about five seconds. He earned Arcadius’s respect by pushing it off again. “Fair enough,” he said. “I wasn’t a perfect dad. As for Elyse’s safety and happiness, I suspect that’s not going to be up to me so much. Maybe the men who love her have more say in that these days.”

His response forced Arcadius to acknowledge that he’d said he loved Elyse. His gut tightened. He hadn’t even thought about it. The words had simply come out his mouth.

I love her,
he thought. It had crept up on him just as his double warned.

“She loves you,” he said aloud.

Leo’s face softened. “That I know, and believe me I’m grateful. If it weren’t for her, my life would be nothing but my obsession with you folks.”

“Obsessions can be dangerous.”

“Yes, they can,” Leo agreed wholeheartedly.

Chapter Thirteen

LIKE
it or not, Elyse’s circadian rhythm had switched back to landlady mode. She woke before the sun with the awareness that she ought to order some trundle beds and sheet sets for the kid downstairs. She sat up and scrubbed at her face.

“Do I need to get up?” Cade asked. His voice sounded awake but his eyes were closed.

He was her sole bed companion. Arcadius must have slept in the living room again. Should she worry about that? But maybe that was just how it would be: the three of them together for sex and then going their own way.

She tried not to let that idea sadden her.