Tales of the Djinn: The Guardian (41 page)

“Uh-huh.” She stuck her head back into the
bathroom. Was the floor honestly paved with
pearls
?

“It’s a nice bed. Comfortable. We could open
the courtyard windows and let the breeze blow in. Really, we should
rest. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

Something in his voice—a hint of forlornness,
she guessed—caught her attention. “Oh,” she cried. “I’m sorry! I’m
letting myself get distracted from what’s important.”

“Perfectly understandable,” he said, trying
to sound like her behavior hadn’t bothered him. “These surroundings
are new to you.”

She ran to him across the long carpet,
hugging him and pressing her cheek against his hard chest. His sigh
and the way his arms came around her told her this was what he’d
been hoping for. She liked it pretty well herself. It was nice to
have a hug welcomed.

“I love you,” she said. “Today showed me
you’re even more amazing than I realized.”

“Some would say my temper was short.”

If the “some” were the other him, maybe so.
Arcadius had treated everyone else patiently.

“You were wonderful,” Elyse said. “Decisive
and caring and graceful under pressure. You being a little grumpy,
which you totally had a right to be, just made your good qualities
stand out more.”

“Did you excuse David’s faults this
easily?”

The question knocked her off balance. She
pushed back to look at him. “There’s nothing to excuse, and . . . I
don’t know, maybe. Are you jealous of him?”

“Maybe,” he said. “You still love him.”

“I love a memory, which wasn’t entirely
false. David had his issues, obviously, but he told me the sort of
lie every woman wants to be convinced of: that she’s lovable and
interesting exactly the way she is.”

“But you
are
loveable and
interesting.”

She laughed, her eyes warmed by emotion.
“That sort of thing is in the eye of the beholder. David was the
first man aside from my father who made me believe that about
myself.”

Arcadius stroked her hair back from her face.
“I want you to believe it. And that you’re beautiful.”

“I like being beautiful to you.”

“My original has crap taste.”

“He has ‘crap’ taste, does he?”

He knew he’d said it right. He smiled down at
her, but after a moment his gaze turned sad. “I don’t ever want to
lose the way I’m feeling now.”

She understood. Loving someone could feel as
good as being loved. “Maybe you won’t.”

He didn’t contradict her, though she wasn’t
sure he believed. He slid his hands down her arms, keeping one
within his grasp to tug her toward the bed. He swung his long legs
over the balustrade, then lifted her over it.

“Going around takes too many steps,” he said
with a teasing smile.

Happy to repay him in the same currency, she
undid the tie to her indigo outer robes. “Too bad my slave rope bit
the dust when I did that spell.”

She’d hooked his attention. Her breasts were
bare beneath her white tunic, their shape and arousal apparent. His
breath came more shallowly. “You don’t need ropes. I’m your slave
now.”

Perhaps he was. He undressed just the way she
wanted, weapons harness by weapons harness, hanging the straps on a
bedpost in easy reach. Watching him tug off his boots was sexy. His
trousers followed and his now-creased white shirt. She took the
final item from him before he could toss it. He’d had the shirt on
all day.

“I’ll be wearing this later,” she explained
when he sent her an inquiring look.

Her answer seemed to perplex him. “I can ask
the staff to bring any garment you wish.”

“This garment smells like you.” She draped
the shirt on a chair, grinning at his continued mystification.
“Don’t you understand the concept of a boyfriend shirt?”

“Evidently not.” He considered her. “I’m your
boyfriend.”

“Is that a question?”

“No-o.” He said it slowly, like it might
be.

“It’s a reasonable place to start.”

“I’m not a boy.”

“True.” He wore the boxer briefs he’d bought
in New York. She guessed he liked the style enough to hang onto
them. The only sight she liked better than him and his boner in
them was him in nothing at all.

“You want me to remove these,” he said,
noting where her eyes had gone.

“I know
that’s
not a question,” she
laughed.

He shucked the formfitting underwear. The
effect that had was as good as magic. They stood naked and excited
a foot apart, the atmosphere between them suddenly very personal.
Elyse’s skin pulsed all over, and Arcadius’s big chest went in and
out. His erection stretched up his stomach, throbbing and thick and
dark. She lifted her gaze to his before wrapping her fingers gently
around the shaft. The veins that snaked up it were extra firm. As
she slowly stroked him, his face took on a lovely dazed
expression.

She couldn’t let go of him. Her palm was in
love with his heft and heat. His hips rocked into her caresses,
making his size even more obvious. He was right. He surely wasn’t a
boy.

“You are so much man,” she murmured.

His daze cleared, mischief glinting in his
eyes. He cupped her breasts in his hands, the pads of his thumbs
pushing across their pointed tips. “You are so little woman.”

She laughed even as wonderful sensations shot
from her nipples to down between her legs. “You like me this
way.”

“I
love
you this way, more than I know
how to say.”

He kissed her, hugging her slighter body
against his. Elyse went liquid at the feel of him: his heat, his
hardness, all the parts of him that emphasized his maleness. As his
mouth wandered to her neck, he lifted her off the floor.

“You make me dizzy,” she said happily.

He laid her gently on the sultan’s bed, the
covers to which he’d already pulled down.

“My God,” she exclaimed, squirming helplessly
on the cushioning softness. “This bed is fabulous!”

Arcadius let out a sexy growl. “I hope you
like it even better when I’m fucking you on it.”

She couldn’t doubt she would. When his
powerful naked body swung over her, she creamed in reaction. When
she pushed her fingertips up the ridges of his abs and into his
chest hair, he shivered.

His chalcedony eyes were glowing.

“I want to remember every second of this,” he
said.

He didn’t add
just in case
, but she
understood. They could speak of boyfriend shirts and love all they
wanted, but with their future hanging in the balance, they needed
to make the most of their time together.

Making the most of it didn’t involve rushing.
Arcadius slid his hands down her arms again, stretching her wrists
out from her body. His grip was gentle, but she didn’t try to break
free of it. The things his mouth was doing were totally worth
letting him indulge his fondness for control. He nuzzled her
collarbone and her breasts, dragging his handsome face across every
dip and rise. He sucked her nipples for long minutes, laving each
with his tongue as he pulled firmly. He kissed her breastbone and
worked his way down her ribs. His tongue tickled her navel, but
somehow she didn’t have the urge to laugh.

“You smell good,” he purred, using his chin
and mouth to forge between her pussy’s folds. “Is there a
girlfriend shirt?”

She didn’t laugh at that either. Her hands
curled into fists as he licked her lingeringly. His tongue was
pointed, its tip dragging firm and slow up her clitoris. He did
this repeatedly: too slow to make her come, too hard to let her
arousal do anything but rise.

“Cade,” she groaned, her body heaving with
desire.

“Yes,” he said. “Call me that.”

He burrowed in to suck her swollen button,
his hold on her wrists tightening as her thrashing intensified. He
was panting. Restraining her was a turn on for him. Then again, it
was a turn on for her too. His strength and the way he used it got
her going as much as the skill of his lips and tongue. Wanting him
so much it was crazy, she squeezed his solid torso between her
calves. His mouth felt incredible as she rocked her sex toward it.
The ache of pleasure rose inside her, the need for the tension to
break soon.

“Not yet,” he whispered when she hovered on
the brink.

He backed off and shifted up her, releasing
her wrists in the process. He hung above her on his arms, not
moving to take her yet. Him waiting there was an invitation she
wasn’t going to decline. She trailed her touch down his front,
watching his face as she circled his nipples. Their centers were
little nubs she couldn’t resist pinching. Twisting them made him
twitch—but not in a bad way.

“You like playing with my body,” he
observed.

“Yes, I do.” She petted his ribs toward his
center, following the enticing line down into his pubic hair.
Lightly, with the tips of her fingernails, she scratched the rounds
of his testicles.

“That feels good,” he whispered.

She cupped the warmth of his sac. “I like
having you in the palm of my hand.”

He laughed, but he also wriggled, his breath
catching with pleasure. A drop of pre-come rolled from his penis to
her belly. “I want to be inside you.”

She chafed his waist with one knee. “Come and
get me.”

His eyes flared hot at her challenge. He
yanked her second knee upward: one quick, aggressive move, after
which he went back to taking his time with her. He kept his elbow
crooked beneath her leg as he balanced on his other arm. She had to
admire his coordination—and the strength of his erection. His shaft
was extremely stiff. He didn’t need his hands to search her folds
with the rounded tip.

He thrust forward when he found her entry,
still not rushing, his ass and thigh muscles clenching to drive
slowly him in. Elyse bit her lip as his cock spread her
lust-slicked walls, as his weight came down, and his satiny
thickness went in and in. When he’d filled her last millimeter, he
released her bent leg. She crossed her ankles behind him. One heel
dug into his tailbone, trapping him where he was.

“God,” he said, his cock quivering inside
her.

Her neck arched with enjoyment. “I’ll let you
move in a minute. You know, once I’ve memorized every inch of
you.”

He brushed her curls from her forehead. “I’d
like to do the same. You’re my first lover in this body. My only.
You have no idea how good you feel around me.”

“I’m the only person to touch this you?”

“Yes.”

“Well.” She let that sink in. “I’m not sure
I’ve been anybody’s first. I believe I’m honored.”

He smiled and executed a tantalizing
undulation with his pelvis. The motion pressed the tip of his
erection into an especially nice spot.

“Oh,” she said.

“Like that?” he asked throatily.

She didn’t get a chance to answer. He rolled
them onto their sides, gripped her rear in one hand, and repeated
his hip wave. “How about that?”

She moaned. In that position, the deep,
aching pleasure was even more potent. His fingers loosened,
allowing his palm to rove over her bottom’s curves. Then they
tightened again.

“God, I love your ass,” he said.

He drew back to give her an actual thrust.
That did delicious things to her.

“Me too,” she gasped, clutching his muscled
back, which was dampening with sweat. “I mean I love
your
ass too.”

He laughed and began to fuck her, making it
hard for her to speak. She needed this even more than she’d known.
Thankfully, nothing about his lovemaking was halfway. Every stroke
was long and deep and just forceful enough to let her know he was
claiming her. She gasped and groaned as her excitement swelled. His
movements inside her felt amazing.

“Yes,” he said, thrusting faster. “Come for
me.”

She wanted him to come too. Her face was
against his shoulder, her upper arm wrapping him. She pushed her
hand down his spine, clamping it around one tight butt cheek.

He made another growling noise, jolting into
her pussy vigorously. She was so close to coming she wasn’t certain
she could hold off.

“Is it okay if I order you?” she panted.

He took a second to hear the question. He’d
been caught up in her reactions, in his own progress toward
orgasm.

“What?” he gasped.

“Can I command you to come?”

His mouth fell open, his grip contracting on
her butt as his cock jerked excitedly inside her. “Yes,” he said,
low and gravelly. “I’d like that.”

She didn’t wait. “In the name of the god you
love, I command you to come with me and not before.”

She didn’t expect the quick glow that
shimmered around them. If Arcadius was surprised, it didn’t show.
She guessed he liked the idea that he didn’t have to worry about
holding back. The little spell would guarantee his timing. Taking
charge his way, he shoved her onto her back. The way he locked
their fingers together felt perfect. She was trapped now, but he
was her prisoner too. He dug his knees in to get more leverage. The
change did good things for both of them. His hips hammered into her
as he snarled with pleasure.

If she’d known how to snarl, she would have.
High cries tore from her instead, her excitement so intense she
couldn’t fathom how one body could contain it. The mattress thumped
under them, the chandelier above the bed beginning to
ching
with sympathy. She thrust her hips harder up at him.

“Elyse,” Arcadius groaned.

He shifted to a higher angle, his pelvis
hitting her rapidly. Each thrust knocked the sharpest possible
sensations up the nerves of her clit and deep into her pussy. Her
pleasure reached critical mass in a nanosecond. No power on earth
could have stopped her climax. It broke into a million glittering
diamonds that dazzled her.

“Cade,” she choked through the blinding
bliss.