Chapter Four
Ophir had intended the kiss to be quick, almost chaste. A test of her desire. Instead, he found himself devouring her lips, every atom of his being striving to join hers as his tongue explored her mouth. His pulse kicked up when she moaned, soft and thrumming, melting into his arms as if she, too, felt the need to entwine their souls. He matched her growing passion. It was impossible not to. A slow burn spread through him the longer they kissed, still rocking in time to the string quartet, and he fed the fire with each rolling thrust of his tongue. He’d never felt so hungry. So crazed with lust. Desire hooked into every thread of his being with a force as intoxicating as if he’d claimed her human soul.
Yet here she stood, alive and well, her lush body aligned with his, nipples hard against his chest. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, pulling him closer, as if she were afraid he was going to disappear.
He had no intention of disappearing.
Tilting his hips, he pressed his rock-hard cock against the softness of her belly. A rippling shudder rolled through her, and he gripped her hips firmly. Her passion was more than a drug. It was like magic. He craved more.
She pulled back with a gasp, breaking the contact of their lips. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
He leaned closer, brushing his lips against her cheek. “You taste of magic, Tanika. I wish for more.”
She exhaled a waft of anise-sweet breath against his neck and tilted her face away, exposing her neck. “We can’t always have what we wish for.”
Rather than taking it as a rebuff, he took it as an invitation, and lowered his face to the crook of her throat, brushing his nose along her satiny skin. He opened his lips slightly and took a deep breath, tasting her pheromones along with the magic. Great Allah, he wanted her. Wanted to pour his energy within her. To see what might come of a union with this mortal. The desire shocked him.
He pulled away to look into her eyes. Not even Emelda, with her harem training, had ignited within him a lust this primal, a desire to become one. Tanika was an intriguing blend of innocence and worldliness he’d never before encountered. And the sweet anise scent of her skin spoke of more than mortal blood. Yes, of course. That was the driver for his intense reaction. After so long away from his own kind, the magic coursing through her blood was triggering his instincts. His cock throbbed painfully and his balls felt weighted with iron as he thought of claiming her. Portal be damned, he needed this woman.
He slid a hand up her back to cup the nape of her neck. “Sometimes wishes change.”
Her brows scrunched. “Not mine.”
“Tell me what you wish for.”
“It doesn’t matter. Especially to a man like you.”
A man like me. How did she see him, exactly? Narrowing his eyes, he cast an obscuring spell about them and pulled her off the dance floor toward the kitchens. Waiters moved out of the way without even realizing, and soon he had her past the cooks and dishwashers to a narrow hall leading to a small, dimly lit manager’s office.
She’d followed him dazedly until this moment. At the office door, she pulled back. “I’m not going in there with you.”
“Why not?”
“I barely know you. And I’m not the kind of girl who does it in back alleys with strange men. We should go back to the table and talk about the salon.” She attempted to duck under his arm and retreat to the bustling kitchen, but he planted his palm against the wall to block her passage. The idea of doing it in a back alley with her—doing it anywhere with her, everywhere with her—raised the flames of his desire to new heights.
“This isn’t a back alley,” he breathed against her ear, her scent making his mouth water. He was close enough to taste her skin. He resisted. “And we’re not done. Not yet. You need to answer my question.”
“Which question?”
“About me granting your wish.”
She turned squarely to face him and placed her hands on her hips. “Like I haven’t heard that line before.”
He grinned, feeling very mortal. Vulnerable, even. For some reason it felt good. “Did it work?”
Standing on tiptoes, she pressed her mouth to his ear. “No.” She dropped to her normal height. “Our food’s probably getting cold.”
Instead of moving aside, he grasped her hips and backed her against the wall. His mouth muffled her gasp as he plunged his tongue between her lips, kissing her with deep, rolling thrusts. His hands molded to her waist, but he kept a breath of distance between their bodies, letting her know if she struggled, he’d back off.
She didn’t.
To his satisfaction, she grew pliant and leaned into him. Threading her fingers into the curls at the back of his neck, she returned his explorative kisses. Her essence filled him, melded with his magic. Widening his stance, he steadied his legs and thrust a thigh between her legs, pressing her more firmly against the wall. She tilted her hips against him, the heat radiating from between her legs threatening to burn through his pant leg.
As their tongues danced and rolled, the urge to have her grew stronger. Her tiny moans of pleasure acted like quicksand—to resist or struggle would only sink him faster. Every inch of his skin tingled with desire to feel her naked against him.
He shoved the edge of her peasant blouse upward, skimming the satin-soft skin beneath with his palm. More. He needed more. Sliding his hand around to her lower back, he dipped inside the waistband of her leggings to cup her ass over her cotton panties. He lifted her against him, kneading her flesh.
She gasped, legs rising to hook around his waist, ankles crossed at his lower back. Damn, she was sexy.
Pulling her off the wall, he carried her inside the office, kicking the door closed behind them. No one would bother them with his spell in place. In the back of his mind, he knew he was making a mistake. The woman kissed him as if she were starving. As if she was a djinn herself, about to consume his soul. The unknowns of her nature chilled him. And yet Tanika was the first female he’d met who stirred his elemental nature. More than just sex, she aroused the pure, raw instincts that drove a djinn to mate.
Mate? The idea frightened as much as drew him. Djinn did not take a mate lightly. Sex was simply release. Mating was binding, as dangerously unbreakable as the magic to grant wishes. And she’d burn out in the blink of an eye.
Don’t think about mating. You just need to have her to get her out of your system. Then you can move on.
He carried her to a leather sofa against one wall, wanting to savor her. To make her feel the same intensity of desire he now had coursing through his bloodstream. Lowering her to the cushions without breaking the kiss, he knotted one hand in the curls of hair behind her head to cradle her descent. He settled against her, kissing her deeply, on and on until her legs parted and she looped her free leg behind his knee. His hips settled against her, his throbbing cock pressed hard against her sex. She whimpered, her hands clawing at him, pulling him closer into the kiss as her hips tilted upward against him.
Breaking the kiss, he trailed his mouth along her jaw to nibble at her ear. A shudder ran through her body at the sensitive touch. He slid one hand down over her leggings to caress her inner thigh from knee to groin, thumb pointing a line straight to the apex of his desire.
“What’re you doing?” She tightened her grip on his shirt, balling the material in her fists, but she didn’t push him away.
“Touching you.”
He waited a moment, giving her a chance to deny him, then inched his hand higher, cupping her cloth-covered sex. Heat and dampness met him.
He groaned. The instinct to rip her clothing from her body and plunge himself deep inside her gripped him. She’d fit him perfectly, he could sense it. His cock jerked, taking on a life of its own, and pre-come dampened his boxers. How easy it would be to lose himself in her. He needed to possess her, and nothing was going to stop him.
Propping himself on an elbow, he gazed down at her. It would be too easy to go too fast, to take without concern for her needs, and he wanted her to need him as much as he needed her. Her half-lidded gaze was drowsy on him, her lovely mouth swollen from his kisses. “You enjoy being touched, don’t you?”
She swallowed hard, but didn’t respond. And he so needed to hear her voice.
“Answer me.”
“Yes,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
He slid his hand up to her waistband and once again tunneled his fingers beneath the fabric. Easing his fingers under the waistband of her panties, he threaded through the soft curls covering her mound. She sucked in a breath.
Great Allah, he wanted inside. To feel her heat wrapped around him. The excited yet hesitant way her hands clutched his shirt while her stomach trembled made him wonder exactly how experienced she was. From the way she’d kissed, he would’ve said she’d been around the block. Maybe he’d guessed wrong?
He slipped his fingers deeper, splitting her open. She cried out, buttocks tightening in response to his touch.
“You’re wet, Tanika.” He stroked the swollen nub of her clit with his middle finger, letting his other two fingers massage her outer lips. “So wet. I like that.”
“I shouldn’t…” Her bottom squeezed tighter, lifting her toward his touch. “Oh, God. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
He curled his finger through her folds, probing her opening. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I should say yes.” She met his gaze, her irises open windows to her lust. Her upper lip was clamped between her teeth while she panted, telling him of her conflicted desire.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.” But he didn’t give her a chance to reconsider. He tugged her pants down around her hips, exposing her tawny olive skin to his gaze. “I only want to give you pleasure.”
“We barely know each other.”
At this moment, he was ready to bare his soul to her. Reveal his nature. Grant her every wish. He lowered his face to kiss her exposed hip bone. “We will. I promise you.”
She panted, her belly trembling beneath his cheek. “We’re in a public place.”
“That’s why we came back here.” He flicked his tongue against her skin, sliding his fingers along her slick folds.
“You planned this?” She panted.
“Not exactly.” Teasing her opening, he slid one finger into her tight, wet heat.
She let out a shuddering cry, her velvet core convulsing around him. “Oh, God, that’s good.”
He pressed a second finger to her opening, and met physical resistance. She’s a virgin? He nearly lost his rhythm. The knowledge shocked him and raised a protective feeling inside him he hadn’t felt for centuries. A need to cherish and nurture. To honor her. Since Emelda, he’d avoided those kinds of feelings at all costs. But now he didn’t think that was possible. Tanika was… special.
Continuing to use only one finger, he gently stroked her quivering inner ridges, massaging her clit with his thumb. This woman was becoming more and more intriguing. More and more his. “I’m going to make you come until you can think of nothing else.”
She let out a throaty groan, and he grinned, dipping his face between her legs and clamping his mouth around her clit while his finger continued stroking. Her flavor flooded him, sweet, salty, and tinged with magic. He thrust inside her as deeply as her tightness allowed, adjusting the speed and angle of his penetration to match her quivering desire.
When he thought she was ready, he masterfully eased another finger inside her, stretching her until she stiffened. Then he curled his tongue around her clit until she bucked against him for more. Again and again, he eased her open, until both fingers pumped in and out of her. Her arousal soaked his hand, and her quickened breathing pressed her pointed nipples against the thin fabric of her blouse. He thrust and licked until her legs were quivering.
“Ophir, please.” She rocked against his hand, words full of desperation and need.
He slid his free hand under her bottom, lifting her toward him, and buried his face in her short, wet curls. The fingers pumping into her hooked to reach her G spot, which he’d avoided until now, wanting to bring her as high as possible before sending her over the edge.
This woman was his. Every atom of her, inside and out, belonged to him. When the slight change in the muscles of her core told him it was time, he clamped his mouth over her clit and sucked.
Her body convulsed, her pussy tightening around his fingers with excruciating ecstasy. She cried his name as he tasted her release.
Once she sagged against the cushions, he crawled up and took her mouth in a deep kiss. She sighed, tickling her fingertips along his ribcage to settle on his lower back, pulling him closer.
Such a simple move. And yet it bound him as completely as any portal ever could. A tiny voice in the back of his mind screamed at him to run away, even as a sense of rightness settled over him, like he’d finally come home. He wanted to curl himself around her and hold her for all eternity.
He warred with memories of the last eight hundred years, all the mortals he’d seen come and go. No matter how long they walked the earth, humans eventually passed on. They could be injured. Got sick. Grew old and died. One moment they could be alive and healthy. The next, gone.
And there was a damn good chance he’d just become addicted to this mortal.