Tales of the Djinn: The Guardian by Emma Holly Page A

reluctantly
relinquishing her chance to swap out red lipstick for colorless.
“I’m ready. I’ll come down and meet you. No need to run the
meter.”
    When she stepped out onto the front stoop,
she didn’t find the taxi she expected. Arcadius had hired a shiny
white limo. For a moment, she couldn’t move. No one had picked her
up for a date in a limo since her high school prom—and that ride
had been shared between three couples.
    Arcadius waited on the sidewalk, holding the
rear door open. His gorgeousness put the vehicle in the shade. He’d
left off his Cossack hat, possibly deciding it was too eccentric
for a date. Elyse had liked the thing for precisely that reason.
Still, she couldn’t deny he looked like a million sexy bucks in his
slick European overcoat and suit. He was tall and built in a pale
blue dress shirt and dark trousers, his sober necktie smoothed down
his front just so. She was glad her own coat was buttoned. She
totally wasn’t ready for him to see her outfit.
    Ordering her legs to work, she continued down
the steps.
    “Is this all right?” he asked, his amazing
eyes studying her expression. “The limousine seemed nicer than a
cab.”
    She felt dazed as he took her hand to assist
her in. She’d forgotten to grab gloves. His palm—which pretty much
swallowed hers—was warm. As his long fingers curled around hers,
they felt both smooth and strong.
    “It’s beautiful,” she said, conscious she was
a bit throaty. “You didn’t have to fuss so much.”
    “Ah,” he said. “My apologies.”
    He slid in after her and shut the door. He
didn’t actually seem sorry for overdoing. He was too confident a
male for that. She couldn’t help noticing he filled a lot more of
the seat than her. He wasn’t trying to crowd her, though his
greater size created an undeniably pleasant sense of vulnerability.
The limo rolled away from the curb. There must have been a driver,
but Elyse couldn’t tear her gaze from Arcadius’s handsome face to
check.
    She guessed he noticed. His lips curved
slightly. “You’re beautiful tonight.”
    “The magic of make-up,” she managed to
respond.
    Arcadius caught her chin with one finger,
gently turning her face from side to side. Light though the contact
was, it set her nerves humming.
    “No,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it’s
you.”
    She blushed like a schoolgirl. Don’t
squirm , she ordered herself a second before she did. The move
forced her to realize her panties were dampening. “You, uh, were
going to show me your phone.”
    “Was I?” Arcadius’s smile deepened as he
leaned in to her. “I think my former intentions have slipped my
mind.”
    She wanted to head him off by saying his name
but no longer had the breath. His big hand cupped her cheek as
lightly as his finger had held her chin.
    “Don’t be afraid,” he said.
    Was she afraid? Her lips certainly trembled
as he brushed his across them. Gosh, his mouth was soft. And warm.
And he smelled amazing up close like this. His hand slid behind her
neck, his fingers supporting her skull as its weight fell back
helplessly. His lips pressed a little harder, their softness
molding over hers.
    His tongue touched the very center of their
closed seam.
    Elyse found herself clutching his coat’s
lapels as if this were her protection against drowning. That seemed
a real danger. Her panties had gone from damp to wet. He moved his
hand again, sliding his big palm across her shoulder and down her
tweed coat’s sleeve. Was Arcadius breathing harder? She couldn’t
tell over the sudden thundering of her heart. He squeezed her elbow
through the cloth, and a zing shot straight from the nerves there
to her clit. Elyse gasped against his lips in shock. Her nipples
had just hardened like they’d been pinched. Arcadius smiled, kissed
her one more time very softly, and backed away. Elyse blinked
rapidly.
    “I had to do that,” he said.
    “Well,” was all she could think to say. She
pressed one hand to her