Wish For Me (The Djinn Order #1) (7 page)

I rose and finally put down the glass. “Are you able to move? I’d feel loads better if you were comfortable in my bed.” I didn’t care about Irving destroying my sheets if it was what was best for him.

He shook his head. “As much as the idea of being in your bed intrigues me, I would prefer not to stain your bed coverings with my blood. Is there a place where I can bathe?”

I could hardly ignore the part about my bed, but I chose not to acknowledge it out loud. I nodded and pointed at the closed door across the room. “You can take a shower in my bathroom if you want.”

“Yes, I think that would be best.”

I nodded again and then bent down to let Irving use me as a crutch as he climbed to his feet. He may have been healing at an impossible rate, but he was still weak and cringed with pain when he was forced to move his injured shoulder.

“Glory, I am—” Irving started to say once he was on his feet.

“I know, Irving,” I said.

“Yes, I am sure you do. But please allow me to say it.”

I nodded and waited.

“I am sorry for the way I treated you before. You were right. You did not deserve that and I should not have said what I did about you. It was wrong of me and I hope I can be forgiven for it.”

“Irving,” I said with a shrug, “it’s all good.”

“Is it really?”

“Yes.” I bent over and retrieved a clean towel from the floor, the only one I had left. “Let’s just start over and move forward from here, yeah?” I tried to smile to let him know I meant it.

I swore a twinkle lit up Irving’s eyes, so I guessed I was semi-successful. “I would like that,” he said. He accepted the towel I held out and then disappeared into the bathroom to shower. I sighed with relief and proceeded to clean up as much as I could, ecstatic that Ash’s date had clearly turned into an overnighter. It was one in the morning and she still wasn’t home. And I knew she wouldn’t be.

I sprayed my floor down with cleaner and mopped it until it shined. Then I threw all of the towels into the washer machine with a ton of bleach, hoping it at least saved half of them. Some of them were beyond redemption, but it was worth a try.

After showering in Ash’s bathroom and changing into fresh clothes, I sat on my bed to wait. Irving emerged from my bathroom a few minutes later with his wet black hair slicked back and the towel I’d given him wrapped around his waist. I swallowed
hard.
The circumstances really didn’t permit the thoughts that got traffic jammed in my head, but hell if I could stop them. Irving was standing half-naked in my bedroom with nothing but a flimsy piece of terrycloth keeping his goodies hidden from me like a gift on Christmas. The man had been shot only a few hours before, but all I could think about was ripping off the few clothes I had on and offering Irving my bed again. This time, with me in it and a whole lot of bump n’ grind ahead of us.

I blinked and tried to concentrate on anything but how freaking sexy he was.
Damn Djinn.

“You dressed,” he said, almost accusingly. I nodded and glanced down at the shorts I’d put on.

“I can’t make it a habit of hanging out with you in my underwear every time you come over.”

“Why not?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. The way he looked at me gave me the most delicious chills, and I seriously had to force myself to snap out of it. Especially since I didn’t want to
at all.

I practically jumped off the bed when Irving approached and sat down. He grinned, seeming to know the dirty thoughts marching through my mind. He swung his legs up onto the bed and covered his lower half with the blankets. Then he patted the bed in invitation for me to join him.

“Hell no,” I said. Yes, we’d reached a truce, but that didn’t mean it was time to freaking cuddle.

Irving chuckled. “I promise to be good, Glory St. Pierre. I simply want you close. So please, join me.”

Damn him for being sweet and saying what I wanted to hear!
I relented and sat down on the bed. But I kept my feet on the floor and my hands to myself. If I touched him or he touched me, I knew, it would be so
on.

“Who are these hunters you mentioned before passing out?” I decided to push the conversation in a safer direction, away from thoughts of his naked male beauty and what was behind his towel.

Irving picked up his half-filled water glass and took a sip from it. “Hunters,” he said. “Djinn hunters. They are a society of humans that call themselves the League of the Black Cloud and they have been hunting my kind for centuries. I have no doubt that is who shot me.”

Now it all made sense. “So that’s why you hate me.”

Irving’s gaze sharpened. “I do
not
hate you.”

“Just humans in general, right?”

Irving did not answer.

“Where is the arrow?” he questioned instead. With a sigh, I retrieved it from the floor where I’d left the deadly little piece of steel. After pulling it from Irving’s shoulder, I hadn’t wanted to touch the damn thing for fear that its next victim would be me. But Irving assured me it was safe and I handed it over.

Holding up the arrow, he pushed the button at the bottom and the razor sharp barbs shot out, gleaming with Irving’s blood in the light of my lamp. “This was shot from the crossbow of a very skilled hunter.”

“How do you know?”

Irving pointed to his already healing shoulder. “Because they caught me. The hunters knew I was in this city and they were looking for me.”

“You said hunters. As in plural.” He had earlier, too.

“Yes. There was more than one.”

“Did you recognize them maybe?” I asked because it was obvious this wasn’t the first time Irving had encountered hunters.

He shook his head. “No, I never saw their faces. But whoever they were, they were seasoned.”

“I don’t understand.”

Irving twisted the arrow around in his hand by its shaft. “This arrowhead was dipped into black ash from the bowels of Crypt, a forbidden land of my realm where the blackest magic takes form. The ground there is covered in black ash, an element often used in the dark arts. It is also poisonous to Djinn and the hunter who shot me knew that. If you had not been available to assist me, I’m sure I would have died before I ever made it to Shrinelyn. It takes copious amounts of magic to travel between realms and the black ash not only poisoned me, it also poisoned my magic.”

I bit my lip as I turned that over in my head. I had wondered why Irving was bleeding so profusely from one little arrow and now I knew why. He had been
poisoned.

“But do you want to know what bothers me most, Glory?” I reluctantly nodded. “The hunter was not actually
trying
to kill me.”

I snorted. “Could have fooled me. Looks like that was
exactly
what they were trying to do.”

Irving shook his head. “A hunter with that level of skill never would have missed my heart on accident. They shot me in the shoulder on purpose.”

“But why?” It didn’t make any sense to me.

“Because they didn’t want to kill me. They wanted to capture me.” His hand reached out to take mine and I let him. “They want my Chronolier.”
Want.
I didn’t miss the present tense.

“Why yours, when there are hundreds of other Djinn out there?”

“Thousands, Glory. There are thousands of Djinn in existence. But there is only one me.”

“Well, I don’t give a damn,” I snapped. “You’re mine and they can’t have you.”

Just my luck, I realized how possessive and ridiculous I sounded a second after Irving did. His arrogant grin made me roll my eyes.

“I only say that because I haven’t made my three wishes yet,” I said in a huff.

“Right,” he replied, still smiling.

I broke our hand hold and crossed my arms beneath my breasts. “I still don’t like you.”

“So you’ve said.”

“In fact, I think I hate you.”

“Oh, well. Life will go on.”

I glared at him. “Do not make me smack you, Irving Amir.”

“Do not make me kiss you, Glory St. Pierre.”

I gawked at him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You are being quite irresistible right now and there is only so much a man can take.”

“You’re not a man. You’re a Djinn,” I retorted. It sounded stupid coming out of my mouth, and I told myself to shut right the fuck up before something else dumb slipped out.

Irving laughed in that beautiful way that always stole my next breath. “I am as much a man as they come, Glory. I can show you…if you’re brave enough to let me.”

I was so
not
brave enough to let Irving show me anything that revolved around his cock. “I thought I had to wish for that.”

He shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

I opened my mouth to challenge him, but it got cut short when Irving disappeared and reappeared on top of me, leaving a trail of that intoxicating smoke scenting the air around him. I was under him, amazed once again at how fast he moved, a little anxious about the position we were in. His beautiful body pinned me down and one leg rested between mine, his towel half off, half on. He pushed his hips into mine, making sure I felt the truth and wouldn’t need to speculate about whether he was a man or not ever again.

“Irving…” I breathed.

He brushed his lips over mine. “Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

He chuckled. “I’m sure you are quite aware of what I’m about to do.”

“But you’re injured,” I tried. “You should be resting.”

“The only thing I should be doing is this.” And he kissed me, slanting his mouth over mine and taking full advantage of the power he wielded over me.

I wish it had only been a kiss though, but it was so much more than that. I couldn’t define it. All I knew was that he made me want to spend all of my wishes on his lips, keeping them soft and perfect and available to me twenty-four hours a day. I fell into the kiss, allowing my arms to encircle Irving’s waist and my nails to claw his back.

Damn, his lips were soft. Like homemade whipped cream and strawberry drizzle. I whimpered as he deepened the kiss and his tongue slipped between my lips and tangoed with my own. My hands moved from his back to his head, and I tried to give back as good as I was getting. But I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted more of him. All of him. Damn, if he didn’t start taking my clothes off soon, I was going to implode and bathe the room with my desire.

But when he pulled away, I felt relieved, like I had just been saved from making a terrible mistake. How I could feel that way after a kiss like that blew me. I didn’t know where the feeling came from. I wasn’t the type of girl who ran from a man like Irving. A man with a sexy accent and eyes that could sear my soul. A man with a smile that put the world on pause. A man with a body that I could spend days riding like a roller coaster that never stopped. So why did I want to escape him all of a sudden? What the hell was
wrong
with me?

“Glory, I—”

“Please don’t ever do that again,” I interrupted. I looked up into Irving’s violet eyes and hoped he could hear my plea.

He frowned. “Do what?”

“Kiss me, dumb ass.” I pushed at his chest, but he refused to budge. “
Move.
”

“You did not enjoy my kiss?” I almost laughed at how wounded he looked.

“It’s not that. I just don’t want you to do it again.”

“Because you
did
enjoy it?”

I glared. “
No.
”

A slow smile stretched across Irving’s lips. “You are the worst liar, Glory St. Pierre.”

“Get the fuck off me, Irving.”

Because I was his master, I guessed, he finally obeyed. Flustered and achy, I scrambled off the bed and put a few feet between us. Irving didn’t move. He just lay there and watched me fumble about like I was some virgin who wasn’t ready for anything that came after first base.

“How are you feeling?” I asked to kill the sexual tension in the room. I picked up his bloody leather pants he’d brought out of the bathroom. I stuffed them in the trash, thinking he wouldn’t want them back. When he didn’t protest, I dumped his duster as well. I’d already trashed my clothes.

“What am I to wear home?”

I turned to him. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I am well, Glory. But you just discarded my attire and I have nothing to wear now.”

I wiggled my fingers in his direction. “I’m sure you can conjure something up, Djinn boy.”

“I cannot.”

My eyes bulged. “What the hell do you mean
you
cannot
?” I did my best to imitate his accent, but I sounded like an idiot.

He smiled. “You can either wish clothing for me, or I’ll have to remain here, naked and in your bed, until I can summon Nagi to carry a note back to Shrinelyn for clothing to be brought to me. That could take several days.”

I licked my lips and made the coward’s choice. “What kind of clothes should I wish for?”

Irving clucked his tongue twice as he swung his legs to the floor. “Wrong answer, Glory St. Pierre.” He began to rise and before he was at full height, he was covered from head to toe in his usual leather ensemble, goggles and all. Not a drop of blood was in sight.

“You lying little shit,” I said.

Irving laughed as he collected the arrow that had almost claimed his life and slipped it into his pocket. “Lies are for cowards, Glory. I simply made you an offer that I was sure you would not turn down. But it appears I was wrong.”

“Damn right,” I sniffed. At that very second, there was a fluttering at the window. I smiled a bit and went to let Nagi in.

“You’re late,” I said as she flew in and surprised me by landing on my shoulder. “I could have used you about five minutes ago when your Djinn daddy tried to seduce me.”

Irving chuckled. “And just how would Nagi have assisted you?”

“I don’t know,” I replied with a shrug. “But I’m sure those steel talons would have been useful for something.”

Irving laughed again, then chirped at Nagi. She flew over to him and landed on his outstretched arm.

“We will leave you to rest now.”

I wanted to protest, but I couldn’t. I was beat. The entire ordeal, including the kiss, had just drained me of everything I had. So I just nodded that I was cool with that, all the while trying not to notice the way Irving was looking at me like he was envisioning me naked.