Possessed by Desire (12 page)

“Ah…” Stars fired off behind her eyes, and her climax spiraled close but retreated when he drew away. She reached for him but found only empty air. Blinking, she looked down to find he’d stripped her of her shorts and was staring at her swollen sex.

“Ashur—”

“First with my tongue.”

He didn’t give her time to answer. He tasted her before she could tell him she just wanted him. And then all she could do was moan. Her head fell against the mattress; she gripped the sheet at her hips and arched against him. He circled her clit, dipped lower, and tasted all of her just as he’d promised. Then he did it again and again until the room spun out of control.

Electricity ripped down her spine, shot outward from her sex, enveloped every part of her. She heard a voice—her own?—call out. Felt nothing but light and ecstasy. For a moment, everything pulsed bright then went dark, and when she finally came back to herself, she was staring up into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen.

“That is such a trip the way you come,” he whispered. “I want to feel it with you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, reaching for him. “Yes.”

His mouth claimed hers. He nudged her legs apart, and then his cock was sliding along her sex, slick, hot, so very hard she shivered as it brushed her clit. His tongue licked hers, and she tasted him, and her, and a desire like she’d never known. She lifted her hips, felt him press against her sex, lifted more until the thick head pressed inside.

“Ah, Claire…”

“Yes,” she whispered. She lifted her hips, lowered, needed him deeper inside. Needed him to move. “Take me, Ashur.”

“No.” He rolled, pulling her on top. His hands settled at her waist. “I want you to take me,
maya
.”

Control. He was giving her that legendary control he’d needed to survive Zoraida’s hell. Her heart bumped, and she shifted up on her knees, hovered over him, then slowly lowered until his cock sank deep.

They both groaned. He was so thick and hard… She felt like she would burst. Felt like she could come, if he’d just move…

She lifted, drew away, clenched her sex as she lowered, taking him deep all over again, never once looking away from his eyes. His face grew flushed with need. His eyes widened until she was sure she’d lose herself in their depths.

“Oh, yeah. Just like that,” he encouraged. He sat up, pushed her knees wider. “Rub your clit against me. I want to feel your pleasure.”

She did as he said, rubbing herself against him with every down stroke. He felt so good. So big. So thick. Her eyes glazed over as she rode him, as she picked up speed. He gripped her ass, lifted and lowered, helped direct her movements. Pleasure arced through her pelvis, every downstroke making her shiver, making her burn hotter. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. So much more…

“Ashur…”

“I’ll take you there,
maya
, don’t worry.”

He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her tight against him as he thrust up, and pressed his other hand against the top of her ass. She shivered, groaned, was so very close. His fingers slid lower, down her cleft and against her sex, and then she felt him touching where his cock was entering her.

Feeling him doing that, imagining what it must look like, made her groan. Then his finger, slick from her wetness, slid around her hip and between their bodies to press against her clit.

She drew in a breath. Against her neck he breathed, “Trust me,
maya
. Trust me to make you feel good.”

She did trust him. More than she’d ever trusted anyone. And it did feel good. So wickedly good to have his slick fingers pinching her clit, stroking in time to his thrusts, over and over. Felt so right to let go, to give herself over to him…

She relaxed, then groaned when he pushed deep.

“Fuck,
maya
… You’re so tight. So perfect. That’s it. Ride me. Come with me deep inside you.”

Reason and thought fled. All she knew were sensations. Tingles. Erotically charged pleasure she felt everywhere. She was full. So full. About to explode. She burned. She needed. She craved so much more. Her mouth found his. Hot, wet, needy kisses with tongue and lips and teeth, but it wasn’t enough. She pressed down against him. His thrusts picked up speed. His fingers flicked faster. She rubbed against him again and again until the creaking bed, until the wet sounds of skin slapping skin, until even his voice urging her on was drowned out by her cry of ecstasy.

Until a wildfire as hot as those she imagined in Jahannam erupted in the room, consumed everything in its path, and incinerated what was left behind.

Just as he’d warned it would.

* * *

Claire’s heart raced so fast she feared it might fly right out of her body.

Sound slowly returned, and she recognized Ashur’s steady breaths below her, followed by the thump, thump, thump of his heart against her cheek. But her skin was still vibrating from that mind-numbing climax, and her head was so jumbled she couldn’t think straight.

A soft chuckle echoed from Ashur’s torsod, and he pressed a kiss to her temple before rolling her over. “You are never what I expect,
maya
.”

Cool air brushed her skin as he rolled her over, as he pulled the covers back, then pulled her into the pillows with him. All sculpted muscle and tanned nakedness, her very own sex djinni sent to possess her.

And that was what he’d done, she realized, swallowing hard. Possessed her in every way possible. She would have done anything he’d asked in that moment of sexual bliss, and she would have begged for more. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know each other that well or that he was djinn and she was celestial. When she’d told him before that emotions were like a drug to her, she hadn’t been kidding. She wanted…
needed
more of what he’d given her like a heroin addict needs a hit. To the point where virtually nothing else mattered. Not her original goal or her fellow angels or even his own safety and freedom.

Sweat slicked her skin all over again, but this time not from passion, from bone-melting fear. Sura had warned her she could lose herself in this quest, but she’d brushed off the warning, considered herself too smart and strong for that to happen. But now…

A lump formed in her throat Ashur snuggling up at her back, his heat overwhelming her once more, igniting a craving that consumed her from the inside out, because now she knew exactly how to sate it.

“You wore me out,
maya
,” he whispered. His hand slid across her waist, sending tingles of awareness and arousal straight to her sex. He pulled her back until his groin was pressed against her ass and his body was cradling her from shoulder to toes. Until she had to bite her lip to keep from groaning and rubbing back against him. “I’m too tired to deal with Tariq and the others right now. For the rest of tonight, I just want to forget everything but you. Let me rest for a few minutes; then I’ll rock your world again.”

Oh, she wanted that too—needed him to roll her to her stomach, lift her hips and sink into her from behind until they both screamed from the sheer joy of it—but…what would that do except draw her closer toward a darkness she was suddenly afraid she might not be able to claw herself free from? What would happen if she gave in to the erotic ecstasy and her soul then became the possession of his sorceress?

Panic spread through Claire. An angel’s soul—even a banished one—in the hands of an evil sorceress, would not be good. Her powers might be bound in this world, but not in that one. And if the sorceress gained access to those powers…what would happen to him?

Her pulse raced, and her skin vibrated as Ashur’s breaths lengthened and slowed. Options raced across her mind. None made sense. None seemed feasible. Only one stood out as the last plausible solution.

No matter how good he made her feel, no matter what she might be feeling for him after such a short amount of time, she had to get away. She couldn’t stay. Not now, when she knew how very dangerous it would be for not only her, but him and his entire realm.

She waited until she was sure he was deep in sleep, then slid out from under his arm and quietly reached for her clothes from the floor. The mattress bounced once as she pushed to her feet, and she held her breath, waited for him to wake, but he didn’t even stir. Slipping on her sandals, she turned for the door, then at the last second remembered the opal.

She wasn’t bound to it. He was. And the only reason he was with her now was because she wore it. Emotions pinched inside, stole her breath. Only after a few painful draws of air did she realize what she was feeling.

Sadness. Loss. Emptiness. No matter how they’d connected physically, he wouldn’t pick an angel for a mate if he could, and if she stayed, she’d only be confusing the high she got from really great sex with the emotions she craved more than life itself. But even more than that, if she stayed, whether she succeeded in finding the other opals or not, she’d be condemning him to failure. And eventually, to torture and punishment, all because of her.

Tears burned her eyes as she looked toward the bed where he lay softly sleeping. She might have been willing to do that once before, but not now. Was it because of love? She didn’t know. Wasn’t even sure she knew how to recognize love. She only knew one thing for certain. She might not have the power to save herself, but she could give him the chance to be free.

Her fingers made quick work of the latch at her nape, and the cool stone fell into her hand with a soft jingle. She looked down at the red gem in her palm, alive with swirls of orange and yellow, and recognized she was walking away from something she’d wanted longer than she could remember. But for the first time, she knew she was finally doing the right thing.

She dropped the necklace on the bed where moments ago she’d lain, and slipped out the door without another look back. The living room was empty when she reached the end of the hall. A glance at the wall clock told her it was close to 2:00 a.m. Ashur’s brothers must have given up on him and gone to bed.

That would make her exit all the easier.

She crossed the living room and hit the kitchen. She didn’t trust herself to stick around and wait for a cab. She’d walk the three miles into town and call a cab from there. She didn’t even care that the air was cool and she was only wearing shorts and T-shirt. She had to get away before she couldn’t. Before it was too late. Her hand closed over the doorknob.

“Where are you running off to at two in the morning?”

Claire’s pulse sped up, and her hand froze against the door handle. Turning slowly, she looked toward the dark breakfast nook and made out a shape sitting in the shadows.

“I…”
Shit
. “I wasn’t running. I left something outside.”

Mira flipped on the lamp over the table. Light illuminated her pink-polka-dot pajamas, her dark hair pulled back in a tail, her raised brow and incredulous expression. “You didn’t bring anything with you, Claire.”

Crap, she hadn’t. Her mind spun for another pathetic excuse.

Mira set her mug on the table. “Everyone’s asleep. I’m assuming Ashur is too, or you wouldn’t be making your escape now.” She winked. “He’s hot, by the way. Even with that massive chip perched on his shoulder. Why don’t you pull up a chair and tell me how you the two of you hooked up. I’ve a feeling there’s quite a story behind that one.”

Unease rushed through Claire’s belly, and she glanced toward the hall. That craving was so strong, so all-consuming, she felt an invisible pull to go back to that room, to climb in that bed, to ravish that body that could make her go blind with lust. But she resisted it. She had to if she had any chance of helping Ashur in the long run.

Mira uncrossed her legs and pushed out of her chair. Reaching into the cabinet for a new mug, she said, “So let’s start with your research. You were tracking the tides. This obviously wasn’t just to help me and Tariq. I want to know why. And just how you were able to find that bottle when we—using all the djinn tricks Tariq and Nasir know—couldn’t.”

Claire pressed shaking fingers against her suddenly throbbing temples. What the hell was she going to say? While Mira set a steaming mug of tea next to her elbow then slid back into her seat and eyed her, she fought for words she knew weren’t going to do anything but make Mira more confused. “I…I thought I could help. And tracking the tides, going to the islands was research I’ll use in future papers.”

“But you summoned a djinni. You did that on purpose. What were you hoping to do?”

Save my people
. But even as the thought hit, Claire knew it was a lie. She might have told Sura that was her goal, but it wasn’t. She’d summoned Ashur for purely selfish reasons. So she could find the other firebrand opals. So she could feel. So she could have everything she’d just walked away from.

“I don’t know anymore,” she managed, staring down at the wisps of steam rising off her tea. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now…”

Now everything was wrong. And she didn’t know how to fix it. Or even if she could.

She looked up into Mira’s clear eyes. “I can’t help Ashur. I was foolish to think I could. I have to leave.”

“What? You just got here. We need you. I’m awake now because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Claire, no matter what your reasons may have been, you summoning Ashur is a blessing in disguise. Not only do you know the secrets in the Key of Solomon, which you helped me use to free Tariq, but you’re now bound to the opal. You can free Ashur yourself.”

If only it were that easy. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not? Of course you can. You just have to do exactly what you told me to do and—”

Frustration pushed Claire out of her chair. She raked a hand through her hair. “Mira, I told you after you came to see me that the words you uttered that day only worked because of one reason. Do you remember that reason?”

Mira’s brow furrowed, and Claire could tell her friend was thinking back. Then Mira muttered, “Pure of heart. You told me in that moment when I said the words from the Key of Solomon, I was pure of heart.”

“Yes,” Claire breathed. “And it was the magic needed to break the chain and free Tariq. But I’m not pure of heart. I wish I were. I wish I could help, but I summoned Ashur for purely selfish reasons, which have nothing to do with him or you or Tariq or the problems going on in the djinn realm. And those reasons haven’t changed, not even now. If anything, they’ve gotten stronger. If I don’t go now, pretty soon I won’t be able to.”