built around himself slowly started to crumble. “Do the highborns know? About your lineage?”
“I don’t think so. If they do, they’ve never said. But then, Zoraida banished me here out of anger, so I’m not sure how much she communicated to them.”
“How?” she whispered.
“Tariq had been missing for more than five years. We didn’t know if he was alive or dead. When we got word her army was ravaging the Wastelands, I went in the hope I could learn something about his status. I did, all right. Too much.”
To keep the anger at bay, he went back to cleaning her arms, and noticed, as they’d talked, that her towel had loosened until the wet cloth was barely covering her breasts. His pulse picked up speed, and that arousal he’d felt before came back swift and strong. “She’d bound Tariq to a fire opal, just like this one, and was sending him to the human realm to corrupt the souls of mortal women. For all the shit her army is doing, Zoraida needs those souls to fuel her immortality. She’d sentenced him as a pleasure slave.”
“Like me,” Kavin said softly.
He didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about Kavin being subjected to the same things Tariq had been. Forcing the unwanted images aside, he rubbed the cloth down her arm, swiping away blood and grime, bringing back the pink hue of her skin that was so damn alluring. “She knew my brother and I would search for Tariq. He was refusing to do her bidding any longer, so she set a trap.”
“For you?”
“And our younger brother, Ashur. The bond between brothers in our tribe is strong. She threatened our lives if Tariq didn’t do what she wanted. And with all three heirs to the Kingdom of Gannah under her control? She knew it wouldn’t be long until her army was strong enough to challenge our tribe once and for all.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Her sympathy touched him in a way her gentleness hadn’t before. He brushed his fingers up her arm, ran the washcloth across her collarbone, and his stomach tightened all over again at the way she drew in a breath and seemed to lift into his touch.
“I don’t know what happened to Tariq,” he said, trying hard not to look at the towel, now just barely covering her nipples. Hard, pert nipples, the tips of which he could see through the wet cloth whether he tried to or not. The tips of which he suddenly wanted to draw into his mouth again and again. “Something happened between them—I’m not sure what—but she became enraged and banished me to the pits in retaliation. I don’t know what happened to Tariq or Ashur.”
She leaned forward to run her fingers over the opal once more. A touch that this time sent ripples all through his groin and vibrations straight into his cock. “And this?”
He swallowed hard. Allah, but he wanted this female. He didn’t even care that she was Ghul and he was Marid and that they were trapped together in this cell. He wanted to lose himself inside her and forget about sorceresses and wars and the arena that had become his one and only solace. “It means I’m still bound to her.”
“So if you were to ever get free of these pits—”
“She could call me back at any moment.”
Her eyes lifted to his. Eyes he wondered if he could see forever in if he looked hard enough.
“It seems we’re both trapped in a prison,” she said softly, “even outside these walls.”
“It seems we are.”
Her gaze slid back to the opal, but this close, all he could see and feel and smell was her. Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths, and when water rippled near the tips of her breasts—her bare breasts—he realized the towel had slipped to her waist, and that she hadn’t stopped it.
“What would you do if you only had a few days left, Nasir?”
Spend them with you . The thought came out of nowhere, slammed into him, and stole his breath. Beneath the water, his dick tightened to painful levels. “I would make them matter.”
Dark
“I don’t think so. If they do, they’ve never said. But then, Zoraida banished me here out of anger, so I’m not sure how much she communicated to them.”
“How?” she whispered.
“Tariq had been missing for more than five years. We didn’t know if he was alive or dead. When we got word her army was ravaging the Wastelands, I went in the hope I could learn something about his status. I did, all right. Too much.”
To keep the anger at bay, he went back to cleaning her arms, and noticed, as they’d talked, that her towel had loosened until the wet cloth was barely covering her breasts. His pulse picked up speed, and that arousal he’d felt before came back swift and strong. “She’d bound Tariq to a fire opal, just like this one, and was sending him to the human realm to corrupt the souls of mortal women. For all the shit her army is doing, Zoraida needs those souls to fuel her immortality. She’d sentenced him as a pleasure slave.”
“Like me,” Kavin said softly.
He didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about Kavin being subjected to the same things Tariq had been. Forcing the unwanted images aside, he rubbed the cloth down her arm, swiping away blood and grime, bringing back the pink hue of her skin that was so damn alluring. “She knew my brother and I would search for Tariq. He was refusing to do her bidding any longer, so she set a trap.”
“For you?”
“And our younger brother, Ashur. The bond between brothers in our tribe is strong. She threatened our lives if Tariq didn’t do what she wanted. And with all three heirs to the Kingdom of Gannah under her control? She knew it wouldn’t be long until her army was strong enough to challenge our tribe once and for all.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Her sympathy touched him in a way her gentleness hadn’t before. He brushed his fingers up her arm, ran the washcloth across her collarbone, and his stomach tightened all over again at the way she drew in a breath and seemed to lift into his touch.
“I don’t know what happened to Tariq,” he said, trying hard not to look at the towel, now just barely covering her nipples. Hard, pert nipples, the tips of which he could see through the wet cloth whether he tried to or not. The tips of which he suddenly wanted to draw into his mouth again and again. “Something happened between them—I’m not sure what—but she became enraged and banished me to the pits in retaliation. I don’t know what happened to Tariq or Ashur.”
She leaned forward to run her fingers over the opal once more. A touch that this time sent ripples all through his groin and vibrations straight into his cock. “And this?”
He swallowed hard. Allah, but he wanted this female. He didn’t even care that she was Ghul and he was Marid and that they were trapped together in this cell. He wanted to lose himself inside her and forget about sorceresses and wars and the arena that had become his one and only solace. “It means I’m still bound to her.”
“So if you were to ever get free of these pits—”
“She could call me back at any moment.”
Her eyes lifted to his. Eyes he wondered if he could see forever in if he looked hard enough.
“It seems we’re both trapped in a prison,” she said softly, “even outside these walls.”
“It seems we are.”
Her gaze slid back to the opal, but this close, all he could see and feel and smell was her. Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths, and when water rippled near the tips of her breasts—her bare breasts—he realized the towel had slipped to her waist, and that she hadn’t stopped it.
“What would you do if you only had a few days left, Nasir?”
Spend them with you . The thought came out of nowhere, slammed into him, and stole his breath. Beneath the water, his dick tightened to painful levels. “I would make them matter.”
Dark
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