Chapter 20

CHAPTERTWENTY

Zahir lay stretched out on his silk sheets, with one hand slowly trailing along Ezra’s bare hip.

"I have a question," she said sleepily. "When all of your invisible hands touch me, do you feel it, or is it just for me?"

Zahir propped his head up with a hand. "I feel it as if I’m touching you myself. I could feel my mouth licking you as you licked me."

"Wow, I am going to have to tell Stella that her friend was right."

Zahir lifted a brow. "About what?"

"That sex with a djinn is transcendental," Ezra replied, her cheeks still flushed with color.

"My dear, sex with you is transcendental. It has been a long time since I have felt so much." Zahir’s fingers trailed down her back and over the scars marring it.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ezra asked.

"Honestly? I’m not sure. For example, it’s made me feel like I need to wrap you in feather blankets and let nobody near you ever again." Zahir said it lightly, but he felt anything but. His whole body was aching in a way he had never experienced before. He couldn’t get close enough to her. He felt a reckless need for her that he knew was unnatural.

He needed advice but wasn’t sure who to go to about it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been obsessed with a human before, but nothing like this. When her magic had plunged into him, he had felt her mark him on a molecular level.

Ezra’s expression softened. "You know that I can’t stay here. We have to find a way to end this with the Cabal and whoever that foreign mage was. I won’t get those answers if you are coddling me."

Zahir’s grip on her tightened. "I won’t have you hurt again, Ezra. I can’t bear it, and you shouldn’t have to."

Ezra kissed the tip of his nose. It was a sweet, affectionate gesture that he wasn’t sure he deserved. Sex he could always do; affection was another matter entirely.

"Give me two days. If I don’t have the answers for you, we forget the whole thing, and you can do it your way," she said.

"You don’t have to prove to me how brave you are."

"It’s not about bravery. It’s about revenge. I need to take them down for everything they have done to my family. They broke my father’s brain before they smashed him like he was worth nothing. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try, Zahir. Surely you can understand that."

Zahir didn’t want to fight with her. "I do understand. I am still too angry to agree to anything right now. Stay with me tonight, and I will consider it in the morning."

"A compromise from the King of the Djinn? No one would believe it." Ezra’s smile was sweet and teasing. He couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss it.

"Surely you should know by now that nearly everything that is said about me is a rumor? It’s an elaborate armor, designed to let everyone think I am something that I’m not."

Ezra pretended to look shocked. "So you’re telling me you aren’t a sex god because I have it on good authority that you are."

"That one is true," he replied, kissing her again.

Ezra combed her fingers through his hair. "You are definitely sweeter than I thought you would be."

"Don’t tell anyone. I need to keep a healthy fear of me in the public."

Ezra laughed softly and rolled onto her back to gaze up at the colorful roof above her. "Why did you do your roof this way? It is beautiful, but I doubt that it’s practical."

Zahir contemplated lying to her because he didn’t know how she would take the truth. He wanted her in his life, beyond the bargain that they had. He knew she was someone who valued honesty, and she deserved to know that he was quite mad.

"I have been imprisoned many times in my long life," he began, turning to look at the colors above him. "Putting my kind into vessels to grant wishes, unfortunately, was a very true reality for many of us. The last time I was imprisoned, it was by a Roman priest of Jupiter in Baalbek. He trapped me in a colorful glass jewelry box. The effort of the magic killed him, and I was stuck in that jewelry box for centuries. This ship is a sanctuary for me. The place that I go to when I feel overwhelmed."

Ezra placed a hand on his cheek. "It reminds you of being in the box?" she guessed.

Zahir nodded. "Some days, all the power and all the freedom in the world is suffocating. It helps me re-center and makes everything feel smaller again. I don’t know if that makes any sense."

"When I was a little girl, and I used to feel that way, I used to hide in cupboards," Ezra admitted. "I understand probably more than you think. If this makes you feel safe, who am I to judge you? We all need somewhere that makes us feel that way."

Zahir rested his hand over her beating heart. "Just when I think I can’t adore you more, you just accept this part of me."

"I wish I could believe you when you say things like that," Ezra whispered. She sounded so sad that it broke his heart a little. She lifted her arm where there was only one mark of the bargain remaining. "Until this is gone, I won’t ever know if it’s the bargain making you say them or if you actually mean them."

Zahir wanted to argue with her that bargains didn’t work that way. He saw in her eyes that she would never believe him. It hurt a lot more than he thought it would, but he accepted it.

"I respect your honesty, and I do understand why you would think that way." Zahir leaned in until his nose touched hers. "But believe me, when I tell you, when that mark is gone, I am not going to disappear. You and I are caught up in something that I don’t understand yet. I am not going anywhere until I know why you make me feel this way."

"And what if I don’t want a big, possessive djinn bossing me around?" Ezra asked. She was teasing him, but the thought of being separated from her didn’t go down well.

Zahir’s hand closed gently around her throat, and he leaned in the kiss her. "I think you secretly like me bossing you around, especially when you’re naked."

Ezra’s fingers twisted in his hair. "It’s not a secret. Sex is one thing, but know this, King of the Djinn. I am not your subject."

"And I would never want you to be. While you are in my bed, you are under my protection. If there is a repeat of what happened to you today, I will be a very bad djinn to whoever is responsible." He didn’t disguise the threat in his voice. He didn’t want to frighten her, but when they found the foreign mage, all that was going to be left of him when Zahir finished was going to be pink mist.

"No one has ever protected me, not even my parents." Ezra kissed him rough and needy. "Is it wrong that I find it so fucking hot when you talk like that?"

"There is nothing wrong with it. You are my sweet sparrow, and no one is going to hurt you again," he swore. He rolled her over and pulled her up against him as a little spoon. Ezra took his hand and guided it between her thighs. Zahir took the hint and palmed her pussy.

"I knew you liked me being possessive," he purred in her ear. He shifted so he could have one hand still closed around her throat. He needed to feel her fluttering pulse beneath his fingers.

Ezra slid her leg over his to give him better access. She was still wet from their last round of lovemaking, but that didn’t bother him in the slightest. He loved that he could feel his come still dripping out of her. It made him feel more than a little possessive.

"You look so beautiful when you are needy. It makes me want to tease you until you get down on your knees and beg for me," he whispered and gently licked her ear.

A mirror appeared on the other side of the bed, angled to show Ezra naked. Zahir was a shadow behind her, his darker tanned hand between her thighs.

"Look at yourself. Look how gorgeous you are when you are unraveling for me," he said. Ezra’s eyes opened, and she saw the mirror and his hand.

"Oh…" she whispered but didn’t look away.

Zahir pressed two fingers inside of her, working her open. When she was squirming and ready for him, he flipped her onto all fours.

Ezra’s eyes looked back at him in the mirror, burning with desire. Her luscious ass was in the air, and he guided his aching cock into her. She was so soft and hot and slick, he couldn’t get enough. He wanted to fuck her slowly and couldn’t.

"Yes, Zahir, harder," she pleaded. His lovely Ezra didn’t want to be fucked sweetly. She was everything he needed.

Zahir spread her so he could watch himself disappear into her. It was too much and not enough. He couldn’t get close enough.

"Fuck, you are a marvel. I don’t want to ever stop fucking you. You feel so good wrapped around me." Zahir had caught on that she liked to be praised and wanted to give her whatever she needed. He grabbed a handful of her hair and leaned over her. "Do you like being good for me?"

"Yes, my king," Ezra gasped. She clawed up his sheets and cried out, her pussy gripping him hard as she came. Zahir couldn’t hold back any longer. He pulled her tight against him, crying out her name as he filled her with come. They collapsed on the sheets, panting for breath and utterly spent.

"You are going to be so bad for my health," Ezra said, trying to get her breath back.

"Or really good for it," Zahir laughed softly and pulled her over his chest.