Seven

Seven

Kezan

I closed the door behind us as Ezra unclipped Russ’s leash and the German shepherd shot off to inspect the new home he’d been brought into. My place wasn’t big, just a small living room and kitchen combo and a bedroom with an attached bathroom. I didn’t mind because I usually spent most of my time in my bottle. The apartment was mostly for show. Mistvale didn’t really have smaller apartments than this, and it was the cheapest one I’d found, despite its size.

“Nice place,” Ezra said, and I smiled. I’d tidied up a bit in case something like this happened, because I hadn’t expected Ezra would find out about supes so soon. I’d imagined I’d be spending time with Ezra in this apartment, but since he knew about my bottle…

“One second,” I said as I walked over to the kitchen. I grabbed a small mixing bowl and filled it with water before placing it near the couch.

Russ hurried over instantly, and started lapping at the water, spilling half of it all around him in his eagerness.

“Sorry about that,” Ezra said with a grimace as he walked closer, and I waved him off.

“It’s just water.” Once he’d had his fill, Russ clambered onto the couch and instantly fell asleep as if he’d always lived in this house. Perfect.

“Come on,” I said as I grabbed Ezra’s hand and tugged him into the bedroom. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever actually slept on the bed. Maybe once when I’d had a nightmare that someone had stolen my bottle.

“This room…” Ezra murmured, and I glanced at him.

“What about it?”

Ezra’s brows furrowed as he looked at me. “It doesn’t look like it’s your room. There are no colors.”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I watched Ezra take in the space. It may have been only a few days since we’d met, but he already knew me so well, and I loved it.

“That’s because this isn’t really my room,” I admitted as I walked over to the closet.

“It isn’t? Do you share with someone?” Ezra asked, and there was a gruffness to his voice that hadn’t been there before. Was…was he jealous?

I bit back a grin as I shook my head and grabbed the silk bag from my closet. I led Ezra to the bed, gesturing for him to take a seat. When he did, I pulled my bottle out of the bag and offered it to him.

I wasn’t handing the bottle over to him, not yet. I’d only do that once our bond was complete. As much as I hoped he’d decide to stay with me, I knew Ezra could still break the bond that was slowly strengthening between us. He could still walk away from me, and I couldn’t risk tying myself to him before I was a hundred percent sure he wanted me.

He ran his finger over the bottle, and I watched him as he examined it. The bottle was spherical in shape with a short neck and a screw-on lid. Dark blue liquid swirled around inside. It looked almost like a potion bottle, but it was just home to me.

“Do you want to see the inside?” I asked. I hadn’t planned on taking him into the bottle, but I couldn’t resist the idea. A bottle was a djinn’s safe place, the one place no one could reach him. It wasn’t like the stories where rubbing the bottle would pull me out of it. I could only leave the bottle of my own free will, and I had to grant someone the power to be able to call me if they needed my help.

“Inside the bottle?” he asked, confused.

I nodded. “That’s where my actual room—my home—is,” I explained, and his eyes widened.

“You really live inside this? Like in the movies?”

I wrinkled my nose at the comparison before shrugging. “Sort of.”

His eyes lit up as he handed the bottle back to me. “I’d love to see your real home. But only if you want me to.”

I smiled as I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. I closed my eyes and willed my magic to let me and Ezra into my home. Magic swirled around us for a moment, and then we were pulled into the bottle.

The warm atmosphere of my home surrounded us as my toes sank into the sand, and I had a smile on my face before I opened my eyes. I loved Mistvale because of the community and the way it was so supe friendly, but I hated all the rain. This, sun and sand, was what I really loved. I’d never been to my parents’ homeland, but I felt closer to the place when I was inside my bottle.

Ezra glanced around us with wide eyes, and I tried to see my home the way he was seeing it. Sandy plains spread out on all sides as far as the eye could see. The only other thing in the place was the huge silk tent that was my house and the glittering blue lake beside it.

The weather was just right to be cozy without being sweltering, and the sand under my feet was warm. I wondered if Ezra liked the warmth or if he preferred rainy Mistvale.

“What do you think?” I asked softly, and Ezra turned to me, eyes still wide.

“It’s like a dream. An oasis no one can reach except us,” he murmured before pulling me closer and pressing his lips to mine.

It was like the best kind of dream.

Ezra

I pulled away from Kezan, though I kept my arms around him, and turned back to take everything in. I couldn’t believe a small bottle held a whole desert inside it, but there we were. It was an oasis. A beautiful, warm oasis, just like the man in my arms.

I jerked my chin toward the huge tent that seemed to be made from silk sheets, and asked, “Is that where you live?”

Kezan nodded, a smile on his lips as he wrapped his hand around mine. I dropped my arms as he tugged me toward the tent. The moment we stepped inside, the temperature went down a few degrees, enough that I wouldn’t be a sweaty mess in the next few minutes.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust after the sunlight outside, but the moment I could see clearly, I smiled. This was what I’d imagined Kezan’s room would look like.

Silk, in every imaginable hue, was everywhere. It was a riot of color, and yet somehow it didn’t look overwhelming. Silk drapes hung from the ceiling at random moments, and I imagined they felt heavenly against bare skin. The whole tent was lit up with candles, and I had to assume magic kept the place from burning down because otherwise the whole tent would be nothing but a major fire hazard.

The walls were covered with wooden cabinets and dressers, and a thick carpet covered the floor to keep the sand out.

Best of all, though, was the bed. It was circular with more pillows than I could count, and silk sheets hanging off the sides.

“It isn’t as big as most of the other djinn’s places…” Kezan started to say, and I looked at him, shaking my head. If this was small, I didn’t even want to imagine how much bigger they could get. This size was just perfect, thank you very much.

“This is beautiful, Kezan. Don’t undermine it, okay?” I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer, kissing him again. I didn’t know if it was the mate bond thing or something else, but I couldn’t keep my hands off him. It was crazy how much I wanted to undress him and taste every inch of his body.

“Come here,” I said as I tugged him toward the bed. Turning around, I pushed him onto it and urged him to move back. Once he was in the middle of the bed, I climbed up and straddled him, leaning closer so I could press another kiss to his lips.

“You’re so beautiful, Kezan,” I murmured against his mouth, and he moaned softly.

I trailed kisses down his jaw to the base of his neck, nibbling at the tan skin. I unbuttoned his shirt as I feasted on his neck, pushing the flaps away as I pulled back.

I ran my fingertips through the dusting of dark hair across his chest, pinching his nipple as I went. He jerked upward, groaning loudly. “Please, Ezra.”

“Please what, babe?” I asked with a smile as I followed his happy trail. Pulling away, I got rid of my shirt and then my pants and boxers. I removed Kezan’s pants and underwear too before climbing back on top of him, my weight on my elbows as I pulled him into another kiss. The silk was smooth and cool against my warm skin, and I saw why Kezan loved it so much.

I kissed him deeply, moaning at the sweet taste of him as I pressed our groins together. “Fuck,” I gasped against his lips as Kezan rutted up into me.

I wrapped a palm around both our erections as I kissed him again, pumping us together. He was uncircumcised, and the smooth skin of his cock felt heavenly against mine. I jacked us as I let my lips trail down his neck, biting and licking until he was moaning and babbling beneath me. “Oh, yes, please! Ezra, fuck, I’m gonna…I’m gonna…fuck!”

Kezan’s release washed over my fist, and the warm slickness had my own cock shooting after a few strokes, my release mixing with Kezan’s on his stomach. The sight was surprisingly erotic, and I found myself rubbing our mixed release into his skin.

“Are you marking me?” Kezan asked, his voice hoarse, his eyes dark and warm with bliss.

“I like you covered in my cum,” I admitted, and he smiled at me before pulling me into another kiss.

“You’re kinda awesome, you know that?” he asked, voice soft, and I smiled as I pressed a kiss to his nose.

“You’re kinda awesome too.” I was slightly surprised at the fact that I’d just given another man a hand job, but it hadn’t felt strange at all. It had just felt perfect.

We lay like that for a few minutes, trading lazy kisses. I sighed, knowing we needed to get washed up before all that cum dried on our skin. “Do we need to go back to get washed up?” I asked since I hadn’t seen a bathroom in the tent.

“Nope, we can bathe in the lake,” Kezan said before climbing off the bed. “Come on. The water will be warm.”

I followed him out of the tent, feeling weird walking around naked in bright daylight. Then I remembered only Kezan and I existed in this place, and I relaxed, though it still felt a bit unreal.

Kezan leaped into the water, making it splash onto the sand, and waved me closer. I got into the water much more sedately and swam closer to him. The water was pleasantly warm, and as Kezan wrapped his arms around me, I never wanted to leave.

“That was…” I started with no idea what to say. My first sexual encounter with a man? My best sexual experience to date?

“Amazing? Sexy as fuck? Something we need to do again really soon?” Kezan suggested, a wide grin on his face, and I chuckled.

“Yeah, something like that. Hey, I noticed there’s no kitchen in there,” I said, hooking my thumb over my shoulder toward the tent. “Why’s that?”

“Because the magic of this place keeps me from getting hungry or needing the bathroom,” Kezan said, and my eyes widened.

“So you won’t get hungry even if you stayed here for like a week?”

“Yep. And once our bond is complete, it will be the same for you.”

The bond…right. “So the bond will make it so the magic of this place considers me similar to you?”

“Yes, kind of. It’ll grant you my immortality and the ability to stay here indefinitely. You won’t be able to grant wishes, though.”

I barely heard the rest of his words because I was still stuck on the second sentence. “Immortality?” I squeaked, and Kezan’s brows furrowed.

“Yeah, you’ll live for a long time. Djinns have a very long life, and our mates share it. If I die before you, you’ll start aging again, but you wouldn’t die instantly.”

“What you mean is, I could—hypothetically—live forever?”

“Yes,” Kezan answered, sounding worried. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, just a little overwhelming, babe. Don’t worry.”

Immortality. Fated mate. When I’d stepped into Wish For It to find an outfit for a party, I hadn’t expected to find either of those things.

But I wouldn’t have done anything differently because Kezan was worth all of it and more.