He didn’t want to be like the sorceress. He wanted to be…himself. He wanted to be free. Wanted to find love like his brothers. Wanted to live…like Claire wanted.
Her fingertips brushed his jaw, her touch so wickedly intense, he tipped his head toward her hand before he could stop himself. “You are not evil, Ashur. And the sorceress does not hold sway over you, not unless you let her.” Her fingertips left his jaw, grazed the hollow at his throat where the opal should be sitting but could only be seen in his realm. Her touch—so gentle, so soft—sent electrical sensations all through his groin. “I do not believe you will incinerate my light. Not when there is goodness in your heart. Goodness always triumphs over evil. Always.”
Her hand slid down to rest over the space holding his heart. And the heat and life pulsing in her palm caused every cell in his body to come alive. “Banished or not, not even an angel can see into the heart of a person, maya.”
A slow smile crept across her face, and she lifted her gaze back to his. “True, but I know what I feel. And right now, I want to feel you. Around me. Against me. Inside me. Not the djinni I summoned, Ashur. Just you.”
He stared into her eyes. And beneath the thin fabric of his pants, his cock hardened, aching with the need to give her exactly what she craved. But still he held back. Because his thoughts were jumbled, his emotions all over the map. He didn’t know if he should touch her. Didn’t know if he’d be able to stop once he started, even if she begged. Didn’t know if she was right or he was wrong or if by taking her like they both so obviously wanted, he’d be saving or condemning her after all.
She pushed against him, and he moved back easily. His spine met the chair. Then she climbed onto his lap, and all thought, all doubt drifted away and was replaced by a heat that surrounded him, consumed him and overrode everything else. “No more talking, Ashur. I just want you.”
Her mouth pressed against his before he could stop her. Before he could think to stop her. And when the tip of her tongue stroked the seam of his lips, he opened and tasted her, just as he’d wanted to do from the first moment.
“Ahh…” He groaned into her mouth, slid his hand down her side and under her shirt until his fingers found skin, and gave up the fight. She answered by kissing him deeper, laving her tongue against his in such a deliciously erotic way, all he could think about was her tongue licking the head of his cock and what it would feel to have his shaft encased in the warm wetness of her mouth.
She changed the angle of the kiss, leaned closer to press her breasts against his bare chest. He wanted her naked. Wanted this shirt tangled in his hands out of his way. He tugged on the hem, pulled it up. She broke the kiss long enough for him to drag the cotton over her head, then kissed him again before he even tossed it on the floor.
She shivered when he pinched the tip of her nipple. And he groaned as she pushed down on his lap, grinding her pelvis against his throbbing cock. He liked that she didn’t need a bra. Liked that her breasts were small and tight and ready for his touch. The reasons he shouldn’t have her drifted out of his mind. Confusion seemed to retreat into shadow. She was warmth and heat and light and life. And he was done questioning. Done debating. Done waiting.
With one hand, he gripped the back of her head. With the other, he reached for the button on her shorts. “Maya…”
She groaned, then slid out of his grip before he could stop her.
Chill air replaced heat. Confusion thundered back as he blinked into the dark, trying to find her.
Then her fingertips tugged on the tie at his waistband, and he looked down to see her kneeling between his legs, a wicked smile across her lips, desire and need alive in her eyes.
“I want all of you, Ashur.” She pulled the tie and reached inside his pants to free his aching cock. “This time, it’s my turn to drive you mad with desire.”
CHAPTER NINE
Claire had never known such power before. Not even when she’d held the strength to determine the fate of a soul.
As she looked up into Ashur’s dark eyes and slowly stroked his thick shaft, she knew the power women held over men. Knew—finally—just what it was about lust and love that could make a soul forsake everything else.
Was that what this was? Love? A buzz ignited in her head and beneath her ribs while she slid her hand down the length of his cock. His groan told her he liked what she was doing, the sound making her sex clench in anticipation of what he would feel like not in her hand but inside her body. He was big, thick. Mouthwatering. And just touching him like this was distracting her from her thoughts. She barely knew him. Had only just come to understand him. It couldn’t be love so soon… Could it?
“Maya…”
He was djinn, darkness and flame. She was angel, light and purity. Except…he wasn’t all bad, and she wasn’t all good as they’d both been led to believe. There were shades of gray within each of them, regardless of where they’d come from.
“Maya…that feels so good. If you keep that up—”
She couldn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t want to think about love. Couldn’t. Not yet. Leaning over his lap, she pushed the questions and doubts aside and extended her tongue, then tasted the very tip of him.
“Maya…”
The lust she heard in his voice melded with her own. Spurred her on. She took her cues from him, this time circling her tongue around the head and stroking the flared tip until he quivered. He groaned and lifted his hips, so she did it again. He answered by growing harder against her tongue, sliding his fingers into her hair to grasp her skull. But he didn’t direct her movements, and deep inside she sensed he was giving her control. Gifting her the one thing he needed to keep at all costs.
Her chest warmed with both power and emotions she couldn’t define. Running the flat of her tongue down the underside of his cock, she marveled when his whole body shivered, the way hers had when he’d teased her with that purple toy. And when his thighs tensed under her arms, she knew his restraint was about to snap. She wanted to give him what he needed. Wanted to thank him for making her feel so alive. Closing her lips over his length, she finally drew him deep.
“Claire…” His throaty moan, the way he lifted his hips, the way he filled her mouth so completely drew her own need and desire to the forefront. She took him deeper, sucked harder, released him as he brushed the back of her throat. Her hand slid down to cup his balls, and before he could moan and press into her mouth again, she sucked him deep all over, stroking her tongue along the underside of his cock while she swallowed the head.
His entire body tensed. He thrust deep into her throat, grew impossibly hard against her tongue. She swallowed again and again, didn’t stop, even when he tried to push her away. And she felt his release coming, knew the moment every muscle in his body seized that it was consuming him and he was powerless to stop it.
Warmth filled her mouth—salty, sweet, full of heat and life and him—and she swallowed all that he gave her, reveling in the fact she’d brought him to the brink. That she’d given him the kind of pleasure he’d given her. That she’d made him feel alive.
He moaned and pressed deep once more, then relaxed against the chair. Claire released him, eased back, looked up to find him staring down at her with that unreadable expression all over again. And though her body still vibrated with her own need, the way he was studying her spurred a shot of unease straight through her belly.
“I—”
He moved so fast she barely tracked his movements. One second she was on her knees in front of him; the next she was on her back on the bed, his heaving body hovering over her, radiating renewed heat and need. “I am the one who is supposed to be doing the pleasuring, not you.”
Relief flooded her veins, and the thrill of his words hardened her nipples. “I don’t command you, remember? You wanted me to pleasure your cock. I don’t remember you telling me to stop.”
A wicked smile curled his lips. One that was so damn sexy, it made her lust stronger, her need hotter. Made her shak
e with the force of her desire. “There are other things I want you to do to my cock.” His gaze drifted to her breasts. “But first I want to taste you. This time all of you.”
He lowered his mouth to her nipple, ran his tongue along the tip until she groaned. And the same wicked sensations she’d felt when he’d done this back on that island rolled through her hips all over again. She spread her legs, arched against him. He moved to her other breast, traced the areola with his tongue, drove her mad while his hand slid down her bare belly and finally popped the snap of her shorts.
Yes, yes…
He continued to tease her breast. His fingers slid inside her shorts, moved lower. His palm brushed her mound; then his lips suckled hard, and his fingers danced along her slit.
“Oh, maya, you are so wet for me.” She groaned at his words, at the electrical vibrations rocking her core. He stroked her throbbing clit, slid his hand lower, then finally pressed one finger deep inside.
“So wet and tight,” he whispered against her breast. He drew out, pressed back in with two fingers. His hot breath fanned her breasts. Her sex tightened as he thrust in and out. “Tell me what you want, maya. Do you want my fingers here, or would you rather have my cock?”
Oh…she couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t focus on anything but how wickedly good he felt. “Ashur—”
“Tell me. My fingers or my cock.” He pressed deep, stroked inside, grazed his thumb over her clit.
“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 cradl
ing 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.
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