The pleasure in his voice had her frantic for him to move. Her nails dug into his shoulders, frustrated and desperate to find that denied repletion. She bit his collarbone, leaving a mark the world would see.
He hissed. With a war-like howl, he moved as if a dam of control had been breached. Heavy strokes quickened, lengthened.
She could barely keep her eyes open through the pleasure, but she did so in order to hold his gaze. To watch the swirling irises that gave a glimpse into the depth of his emotion. Pleasure began to build, and build, until she could no longer hold back her moans. She writhed. She couldn’t get close enough to him. He wasn’t moving fast enough.
And then he did, as if he read her mind. Her arms tightened around his chest.
His teeth rasped hard over a nipple. The pain was just enough to send her over the edge. Ecstasy detonated. He thrust deeply and cried out as he spasmed, locking her tight to him.
So weak, she trembled. All she could manage was to cling to him as he rolled to his side, taking her with him.
Her brain could process no more than awe over what had just happened and the man surrounding her. Emotion bloomed in her chest, deep and confusing.
As he held her tightly against him, the inferno that was his body against hers, the sum of her life was in the worth-it category. Even though she faced it ending. Soon.
She wanted this. Being in his arms. Forever.
But there will be no forever.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Love comes first.” His index finger pushed hair from her face. “Next comes hate.”
She shook her head, denying.
“’Tis beyond our control.”
“I am not going to kill you.”
Love?
Oh, hell, no. This gut-clench moony madness that had set up shop in her brain couldn’t be love. Didn’t everyone feel love after orgasm? She’d read that somewhere.
He kissed her lightly on her lips. “I do have a request, this time. Please, no drowning. You know I have nightmares about the water.”
“No, I don’t know about the nightmares. But if I feel the need to kill you, then no water. I promise. Actually, I’ll ask the moving mark to prevent me from using it, should I be tempted. Can I ask it to prevent me from killing you?”
“No. It is useless against the curse. I tried asking mine to aid me to kill you, but it could do nothing.”
“If I turn homicidal, then I think you should kill me this time. It’s worth a shot to end this thing.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I will not.”
“Have you ever killed me in the past?”
“Never.”
“Then, think of it as self-defense. Strike back.” She frowned when he shook his head. “Maybe I’ll die before we have to face mutual homicide.”
“Nothing can kill you other than me, unless the gods have changed the rules this time. It is such with me. Nothing but you can take me out of this life.”
“Then, why are we worrying about me seeing this Djoser guy again?”
Dakar rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “He and his peons may not be able to kill you, but they can hurt you.”
She shivered.
He pulled her tight. “This is a bad idea. I have never allowed you close to him in the past.”
“Don’t forget the kid.”
“I know.” His voice was soft. Resigned. With a gentle pull on her chin, he forced her to meet his gaze. “Tell me of this man you were with. Did you feel great love for him?”
“What? For Troy?” She shook her head.
“It was an arranged affair?”
“Definitely not. They don’t do that much these days.”
“Then, why would you be with him?”
“In this time we do a lot of dating, and if things work out there, we do a trial run. Live together. That’s what we did. But it didn’t work out well. Have I never had another man in my life in the past?”
Dakar’s face clouded. In a dark, territorial tone he replied softly, “There was a time or two. I need to understand why.”
“Troy was very charming in the beginning. He gave gifts, seemed sincere. Hid the snaky parts well. Pretty much sucked me in with his charm. I think I needed a real relationship, a chance at a family. Once we moved in together, everything fell apart.” Her vision went cloudy as the pain of the past year welled up, but she fought not to let the tears spill.
No more tears for Troy,
she begged herself.
“He hurt you?”
“Not physically. But…” She choked back a sob.
“I will kill him.” His eyes were flat, sincere. And deadly.
Emotion welled up, complex and mystifying. The warmth of Dakar’s body and his tender embrace helped her feel safe. Protected and valued. Then the tears came. He pulled her to his chest. She pressed her face into the column of his throat and silently released the pain she’d held inside for too long.
When the storm subsided, he kissed her forehead. “Why do you doubt yourself? You are beautiful. I promise you I will make him feel pain, if we ever cross paths.”
She kissed him deep, teasing him into an open-mouth tongue dance. He pulled away when her tummy growled. “Hungry?”
Sheepishly she nodded.
****
Shay rummaged around the über-modern kitchen, settling on a sandwich. The complicated digital convection oven intimidated her. She piled together two sandwiches and pushed one toward him. “I’ll never claim to be a good cook.”
“What is this?”
“PBJ.”
“What would that be?” He rotated the sandwich and sniffed.
“Peanut butter and jelly. It’s a classic…okay, for me it is.”
He bit into it and closed his eyes, finishing it in a few seconds.
“Good, huh?”
“Quite. Thank you.”
She smiled and chewed a bite. Excitement vibrated through her. Across from her sat a bonafide expert on the subject she’d spent years studying. “So, you remember ancient Egyptian times?”
He arched an eyebrow and nodded.
“Can I ask you the meaning of a particular symbol?”
“Of course.”
“Why the inverted triangle? Why is that the magi symbol and not a regular upright triangle? And what exactly does the inverted triangle mean to Egyptians? And to you…well, you guys?” She paused for breath, her cheeks heating in reaction to his smile. She had to grip her hands together to contain her excitement.
“You can ask anything of me, and
that
is what you wish to know?”
“The inverted triangle has been the center of heated debate for a long time in Egyptology circles. The symbol appears in just about every religion around the world. There was a full-day session at the international conference last spring on that topic alone.”
“On the triangle? There must be more remarkable subjects to debate. Tell me what history specialists theorize.”
She tucked a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear. “Renfro, who is this absolute turd from England, proposed the inversion of the triangle simply reflects the sacred feminine. I mean, it does look like a…womb. Then there’s Jonas Shav who’s like the supershit of hieroglyphs. He thinks it reflects a metaphysical concept referring to transcendent unity…I can see I lost you. So, there are three sides to the triangle which together reflect the steps consciousness goes through to reunite will on the path toward godliness.”
He frowned and shook his head.
“Yeah, whatever on that one. Then there’s this grad student from Italy who is convinced it indicates something from the underworld or hell.”
Dakar’s eyes sparkled. “So, I am marked with a giant womb, or as a minion of the underworld? You’ve called me many things over the centuries, but an underworld fiend…” He laughed hard. “And you? Do you have a theory?”
She couldn’t help but smile. Her stomach clenched at this delightful lighthearted side to him. This guy… she could fall for him in a heartbeat. Maybe already had. Carefully, she said, “I don’t know. I feel like they’re making it too complex. Does it mean this world versus the gods’ or something like that?”
He put his head on the table, laughing hard. He swiped his eyes and choked out, “Gods, I needed this…a minion of hell. I rather like the sound of that.”
“So, what does it mean? Really?”
He halted the laughter. “You are, of course, correct that this discussion calls for seriousness. You have grasped it. The upright triangle represents the gods’ realm versus the inverted triangle representing the physical or human realm. I am marked as a guardian of the human realm.”
Laughter bubbled from her, releasing the pressure of the past few hours. “So simple. Hey, you want some juice or something from the fridge?”
She jumped up and leaned into the gigantic stainless steel refrigerator. A caress slid across her ass. She whirled, orange juice carton in hand.
His large hands framed her face. In Egyptian he murmured, “Intelligent. And beautiful.”
Her heart contracted. His shimmering copper eyes stole her breath. Desire rushed through her body, tightening muscles in anticipation. She’d been starved for a connection with another. With him. She craved it with every fiber of her being.
He grabbed the juice and set it on the counter. She sighed and leaned into him, her arms wound around his neck. The position raised the hem of the sweater, which he took advantage of by sliding his hand around her belly, and lifted her, balancing her against the refrigerator. Her legs naturally parted for him to step between. She whispered, “You know, I didn’t put on my underwear.”
“Temptress.” He smiled as his hand smoothed the skirt outside her left thigh until he found its edge and slowly lifted.
She pulled his head toward her, unable to wait another minute for his mouth to be on hers. Her tongue pushed into the warm heat of his mouth and stroked. A shudder passed through him.
“Damn it, can’t anyone in this house find a bedroom?” a man boomed behind Dakar.
Dakar’s mouth left hers with a growl.
She moaned at its loss, tumbling hard from a cloud of lust. She peeked around Dakar to find Nate glowering at them from the entrance. Her face burned umpteen shades of red.
Nate fumed. “First, the medical ward has become a crapshoot with Kira and Ashor. I mean, three weeks ago I saw things I wish I could erase from my brain. And now...you know what, if you’d just throw me a beer, I’ll leave and start knocking before I enter any frigging rooms. I mean, Christ…the kitchen?”
Dakar let Shay slide down him. She mutely pulled open the refrigerator and plucked out a long-neck.
Dakar tossed it to Nate. “You need a woman.”
Nate twisted off the beer cap and rolled his eyes. “Not you too. Christian and Ethan...er Khyan, and now you? Why doesn’t anyone bug Khyan about his abstinence?”
Dakar cocked his head and stared intently at Nate for a few long seconds. He whispered to Shay in Egyptian, “He found her or at least must’ve been near her.”
“Who’s her?” Shay whispered back.
“His woman
.
But he’s probably too newly inducted to understand why his body rejects just any woman. He can only be with her.”
“What the hell are you two whispering about? You know what, I’m outta here.” He pushed out of the kitchen.
Shay said, “I’m not really an exhibitionist. A little PDA’s okay, though. Can we go somewhere else?”
“What’s PDA?”
“How did you manage to jump from pirate attire times to now?” Her finger traced beneath his shirt, along his jeans top. His lower abs flexed beneath her touch.
“Are you trying to torture the answers out of me?”
She couldn’t stop her smug smile. “Is it working? Do you have a power that lets you jump times…time travel?”
“No. I was trapped somewhere for a few centuries.”
“Where?”
“Purgatory. The Middle Realm.”
She blanched. “That never sounded like a fun place from what I read.”
“It was hell. And we will leave it at that.”
“What were you doing there? Did you get in trouble and the gods sent you there as punishment or something?”
“I soul-locked Djoser to keep him there. ’Tis the place where daemons reside when not in this realm. But I remained there while Djoser escaped.”
“How were you freed?”
“I didn’t. They…the gods released me.”
She pulled his face to hers. “I’m glad.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Dakar stood with Khyan and Ashor in the dimly lit side of the Asheville airport hanger. He resisted squirming in the black tactical outfit that he’d been forced to don for this meeting. Ashor had decided Javen would’ve scared the shit out of the humans at this meeting, and he was therefore relegated to the car.
“We’re working with a special team on this one, Astrid,” Kane said. He pulled at the collar of the shirt beneath his tactical vest. Kane’s gaze darted his way, and then slid over Ashor and Khyan.
“Where are they from?” Astrid had her hands on her hips. “Why the hell is the guy from Costa Rica here?”
“I believe they’re a covert European Interpol-type team or something.”
Dakar squinted at Kane who fidgeted as if something had triggered his internal warning system. Most humans with military training exhibited this level of anxiety around magi. Intuitively, they recognized the magi as warriors they couldn’t compete with on any level.
Astrid eyed them in obvious displeasure. “Covert Euros? They look like contract mercs to me. So, what exactly is their role in this?”
Kane cleared his throat. “Assistance.”
She scrunched up her nose and squinted. “This is our fucking mission. I’m calling the General. He’ll get these assholes off this.”
Kane caught her arm and pulled the cell phone out of her fist. “They’re here to stay. Trust me when I say we need these guys.”
“What’s really going on here? Level with me.”
“That team has intel to indicate this cult group has one of our lost boys. This may be the only survivor, and right now may be our only shot at getting one back. These guys have been working on a case with this group for a long time. They’re experts.”
“Why do we need them?”
“As far as I can tell, Hashishins have tentacles high up in government. So, we can’t trust anyone in-country. But I guarantee that team over there is clean. They hate these guys. This Hashishin group is dangerous and I’m not talking drug cartel, torture, weapons-type shit. They’re into snakes, poisons, and magik.”