Tales of the Djinn: The Double (2 page)

The business was enough to make a sane person run for a padded room.

Elyse had resisted that temptation, deciding she’d rather help Cade rescue his people. Her father, always a passionate traveler, would have approved the choice. Leo Solomon prized the djinn for being a fascinating culture. The others only wanted to exploit them. Elyse hadn’t expected her decision to lead where it did. Her husband’s loss had been devastating, but Cade restored her faith in her ability to love.

As to that, their dangerous journey here restored her faith in her own courage.

You’re lucky,
she thought,
no matter how far out of your comfort zone this adventure is.

Of course, she probably shouldn’t call it an adventure. The problems Cade’s city faced were deadly serious. In his position as Guardian, Cade oversaw not just the army but the police as well. She knew he felt duty bound to heal the wounds the sorceress had inflicted—entirely on his own if required. Given how much there was to do, she thought he was fortunate there were two of him.

Given the way they’d instantly annoyed each other, Cade and his double didn’t share her point of view.

Despite her awareness that neither would be amused, Elyse snickered into her pillow. The sound of distant splashing brought her head up. She and Cade were in the sultan’s apartments, partly to keep Iksander’s staff settled in his absence but also because the original Arcadius objected to sharing “his” rooms with someone he viewed as an inferior version of himself.

He’d left her in no doubt Cade’s taste in lovers proved his opinion.

But to heck with him and his prejudice. Thanks to his snobbery, Elyse now wallowed in luxury. If the Palace at Versailles had smashed into the Taj Mahal and then got bedazzled with fist-sized gems, a person
might
begin to picture her surroundings. The bedroom was the size of basketball court. From her peek at it last night, the bathroom was just as grand. If Cade were in there swimming, as the sounds she heard implied, maybe another tour should take priority over her beauty rest.

She knew from experience that her lover naked was an eyeful.

She slipped from the cushy bed grinning. Cade might be too focused on the work ahead of him to play, but she could still enjoy ogling him.

When she reached the huge blue and white tiled room, Cade was cutting through a two-lane pool in a beautiful steady crawl. Last night, she’d assumed this was the bath. Now she spotted a smaller tub beyond it with even thicker steam swirling over its surface.

So it’s soak then swim,
she thought, lowering herself to sit on the coping of the larger reservoir. As her feet submerged, she sucked air between her teeth. The water was almost too hot to bear. She’d boil like a lobster if she got in the second tub.

Happy to sit for the time being, she observed the powerful motions of her djinn lover’s limbs propelling him through the pool. He looked human with the water sheeting and gleaming on his broad back: two arms, two legs, no extra tail or anything like that. It was hard to believe he could transform his solidness to smoke—even harder that he could fit in something as compact as a brass oil lamp. She hadn’t seen him do that, but she’d watched his faithful servant Joseph emerge from one. She’d also seen Cade turn into a black raven, the same raven that was tattooed across his back. Their missing artist friend Philip inked the design. All Cade needed to activate it was to think the spell silently.

Face it,
Elyse thought as she swung her legs through the hot water.
You aren’t in Manhattan anymore.

The next time he reached her end of the pool, Cade stopped and held the edge. He swiped water off his face brusquely. “Why are you out there? You’re free to come in. You swimming won’t bother me.”

She smiled. He’d been extra careful not to offend her since she’d admitted she loved him too: his special brand of morning after awkwardness, she guessed. “The view is better here. I’ve been admiring your excellent form.”

“My form.”

“Swimming and otherwise,” she clarified.

He was a naturally serious man. She loved the wide grin he broke into. Still hanging on the rim, he shifted over to face her more directly. “Otherwise, huh?”

“I don’t think I can use the soaking tub,” she added. “This pool is almost too hot for me.”

Dismay flashed across his face, which she hadn’t intended. “Forgive me. I didn’t think of that. I’ll change the settings immediately.” He began to push up on his muscular arms.

“Stop,” she said, laughing a little bit. “It’ll wait till later. If the settings aren’t magic, maybe I can figure them out myself.”

He subsided and looked at her, his gorgeous blue green eyes probing hers. “I asked the staff to stay away this morning. Usually they wait in here to soap up and massage the sultan. I wasn’t sure you’d be comfortable with that.”

Elyse’s eyes widened. “Well, I might like it, once I got used to it . . . though I probably wouldn’t have waltzed in naked if I’d known.”

“There’s a special alcove for female guests. And only another woman would rub you down. When Iksander’s
kadin
was alive, she’d have entered in a robe.”

“I see.” Getting used to the modesty requirements for djinn women, particularly the stricter ones for the upper class, was going to take some doing.

Cade put gentle hands on her knees. “If you bend a little,” he said carefully, “you’ll get on more smoothly. Especially if, as you say, you’d like a job.”

Elyse stroked the side of his handsome face. His skin was smoother than a human’s, his cheekbones as high as a movie star’s.

“I can bend,” she said, the tenderness she felt for him welling up in her voice. “I’ll probably put my foot wrong here or there, but I don’t want to embarrass you—or insult your people.”

He looked relieved and then a teensy bit guilty. Elyse couldn’t help grinning. If he thought she was going to start some feminist rampage through his home city, he didn’t know her well enough to be in love with her.

That realization sobered her. It was nice to hear someone loved you but, really, only time could prove that kind of thing.

Sensing the bobble in her emotions, Cade kissed her left kneecap. “You okay?”

“I’m nervous about fitting in.”

He chafed her calves reassuringly. His touch had a predictable effect on her libido. The sensitive folds between her legs heated and swelled. She shifted her butt on the warm poolside.

“Do you really have to go straight to work?” she asked wistfully.

“If I don’t, the other me will take charge of everything.”

She laughed. “He’ll probably race you to get to your desk chair first.”

“He’s already trying to convince Joseph to work for him.”

“It’s too bad Joseph’s original didn’t wake from statue form. You both could have had an assistant.”

“Maybe,” Cade said. “I suppose Joseph’s time in your world changed him too. We don’t know if any of us who sent doubles through the portals will be able to recombine.”

He looked grim, which was more his usual expression. Sorry she’d darkened his mood, Elyse petted the sides of his wet face. Cade’s eyes rose to hers. Her body tingled from no more than that. That a man like this loved and wanted her was erotically inspiring.

Because he was very much a man, no matter what his origins, his attention drifted to her breasts. He licked his lips at the sight of her taut nipples.

“Maybe,” he said, “letting Arcadius beat me into the office would be worth it just this once.”

“Just this once?”

Her tone was husky. Cade’s gaze returned to her expression. He slid his hands up her naked thighs. “Just this once for now. We can let tomorrow settle itself.”

He stood, revealing that the water hit him at chest level. Elyse was considerably shorter. She might not be able to touch the pool’s bottom. He rubbed her thighs in a way that turned her sex liquid.

“Come in with me?” he invited, the timbre of his voice lower than before.

“I think you’ll have to hold me.”

“That was the plan,” he said.

He smiled as she put her hands on his broad shoulders. She supposed he felt the tentative nature of her grip. Giving her time to know he had her, he pulled her off the edge into the hot water. “You can swim, yes?”

“Not as well as you, but yes.”

She was in his arms, her body buoyed by the water but brushing his. According to the stories he and Joseph told her, the Creator formed angels from air, humans from clay, and djinn from smokeless fire. She guessed heat didn’t affect him the way it did human men. In truth, the temperature seemed to help his arousal on. His erection nudged her thigh, making her aware how thick he already was. His cock was big enough that she was grateful for his skill in handling her. Recalling the previous times he’d established this, Elyse’s insides melted.

He noticed the reaction. One of his hands slid down her to grip her bottom. He squeezed her glutes with relish, reminding her he had a bit of a thing for her ass. Sometimes Elyse wished she had more curves in other places, but at least she had them there. Cade’s breath came flatteringly faster. Their mouths were inches from each other.

“I’ll be careful not to drown you,” he promised.

“That would be good,” she responded breathlessly.

His eyes seemed to glow in the second before his lips molded over hers.

She clutched him and kissed him back, abruptly desperate to flatten her slight breasts against his chest. His other hand came up to encompass the curving weight of one. He knew just how much pressure to exert. Her nipple ached deliciously as he pushed his palm over it. When his hold twisted slightly, a soft sound broke in her throat. Their tongues had been stroking each other hungrily, but at the little noise he broke free.

“God, I need you,” he said.

He made her wild. Forgetting shyness, she dragged her hand down his side underneath the water and pushed it between their bodies. He groaned when her fingers caught and wrapped his erection.

“Put me inside,” he said. “Take me while I take you.”

She held the pounding length and shifted, placing the rounded head at her eager gate.

“There?” he asked.

“There,” she said, and he pushed slowly in.

Her head fell back. He always felt so good doing that: smooth, thick, all his power and vitality seeming to concentrate in the rigid length. A growl rumbled in his chest as he reached her limit.

The way his fingers tightened on her rear was so exciting she nearly came.

“I love you,” she said.

His pupils swelled darker, his face flushed with arousal and emotion. “Elyse,” he rasped. “Hook your ankles behind me.”

She hooked them, knowing he was about to let the reins off of his desires. He didn’t disappoint. His grip was steel for the first downward draw and thrust.

“God,” he said and repeated it.

Elyse’s fingers dug into his big shoulders. He went faster, deeper. Nerves rooted deep within her pussy reverbed with enjoyment. He was a perfect mallet swinging against an erotic gong. None of his thrusts came all the way out of her, the closeness of his fit ensuring that the fluid of her excitement stayed where they needed it. More welled from her walls as he grunted, his animal side coming out. A moan of pleasure tore from her.

“That’s not too hard,” she gasped when he hesitated. “That’s exactly what I like.”

“Me too,” he said, working even faster, swearing at the heightening sensations.

She had his rhythm now. She met it, thumping back at him until he cried out for her. She felt his stance change for better balance—knees bending, feet planted wide. His open lips pressed her neck, his panting both audible and felt. His face tensed, his eyes creasing at the corners as he screwed them shut. Elyse’s emotions soared past any limits she was familiar with. She wanted to destroy him with ecstasy, to push past all his barriers, past his lifelong self-discipline and control. The next time he pulled her pussy down him, she dug the heel of one foot between his cheeks, against the entrance to his asshole.

He sucked a breath, maybe thinking she’d stimulated the nerves there by accident. She twisted her head around until her mouth pressed his ear.

“I’m going to take you there some day,” she warned. “Really fuck you in the ass.”

He jerked back and looked at her. His eyes were startled, but his cock had just gone harder. She smiled, feeling like the sort of dirty girl she’d never been before.

“I’d show you no mercy,” she promised angelically.

She ground her heel beneath his tailbone as she said it, letting him feel how the sensations the pressure triggered ran into his erection.

“Fuck,” he said, shuddering inside her. A muscle flicked in his jaw.

“Finish me,” she said. “You’re the one in charge this time.”

He didn’t waste the permission. He worked her frenziedly up and down his shaft, controlling the movements of her pelvis with his iron hold on her hips. With a speed that amazed even as it thrilled, he thrust into her, cursing and gasping and causing her to come hard and tight around him. The sound of the churning water echoed off the vault, nearly drowning out her cries. Bolts of intense ecstasy shot through her pussy and clitoris. Even so, she didn’t forget what she wanted to do to him. She made sure her heel kept up the slightly illicit pressure, using the strength of her other leg to increase it.

“
El—
,” he said, jamming deep and desperate into her.

The rest of her name was lost. He came in a long convulsion, her butt clamped tight by his forearms, his face buried in her hair. He shot until he couldn’t shoot anymore.

Then he relaxed his hold on her. His palms slid up to support her back, their size impressing her as much as their protectiveness.

He looked at her for a long moment.

“You’re crazy,” he said, still trying to catch his breath.

She gave him the same angelic smile as before.

“You didn’t mean that. About . . .” He cleared his throat. “About fucking me in the ass.”

“Is there a rule that says djinn can’t?”

He blinked at her. “No.”