A Genie's Love (The Djinn Series) (5 page)

No.

The sweat of fear.

He snapped his fingers for the check. The dinner hadn’t solidified anything in his mind. His heart? Well, he’d be wise to slow down in trusting it. One thing he was certain of – he cared too much about Cassia to be wrong again.

Across from him, the woman of the hour did a far worse job of hiding her emotions. Every eye roll and drummed finger spoke to the bewilderment stamped across her face. “What?”

“You’re a magnificent woman.”

“But?”

“That’s amazing too. I know that I haven’t been the best date, but...” His voice trailed off when the waiter dropped the bill. The intrusion gave him an out. No explanation could have possibly met with what she deserved. While the aproned man dipped away for change, Faruq guided Cassia outside.

As he’d come to expect and desire, his palm blazed at the contact. Letting her go to get in the car proved difficult. He lingered a second longer than necessary.

She turned and cocked her head when he opened the passenger’s door for her. “Whatever happens, if I never see you after tonight, thanks for dinner and everything’s good. We’ll probably run into each other for family stuff and there’s no reason for things to be weird.”

He didn’t care for the finality in her words. Idiot. Of course she wouldn’t wait on him to make up his mind. Uncertain legs carried him to his side of the car and he shoved the seat belt into the clasp. Tomorrow, she’d go on her date and...

Coherent thought fizzled away as she grabbed him, dragging him over for another searing kiss. She broke away abruptly, breathing hard against his mouth. “I just wanted you to know what you’re missing. Now you can take me home.”

His mind worked the whole ride over, struggling to some reasonable conclusion to this mess.  No dice. Before the car even rolled to a stop, she started unlocking her door and grabbing her purse. “You can put me out here.”

“Can I at least walk you up?”

“You don’t need to.”

“I want to.”

“Whatever.”

Her heels tapped along the pathway. Frogs croaked and the odd night bird or two signaled their approach. For one reason or another, this may well be the last time they’d be alone. Frantic, he didn’t ask for permission when he pushed her against the door or yanked her hands above her head. The desire to have her lips beneath his one last time, proved too overwhelming. The curves of her body melded into his, the swell of her breasts soft against his chest. There should be nothing between them and if she’d wished to be naked, he’d have turned their clothes to cinders. His manhood ached and she drew him closer until it twitched against her thigh. He went to war with himself over what to do with her wrists.

Let them go? He wanted the weight of her breasts in his hands. Then again, it would mean giving up this glorious position. He liked having her at his mercy. She woke a raw side of him he’d long thought dead.

But once again he’d underestimated the will of this woman. She wrenched free to cup his hips, forcing him deeper into her. Then she rocked.

And he groaned. It had been too long.

His hand tugged up the hem of her dress. The other grabbed her leg and wrapped it around his waist.

Then rocking changed to grinding.

And he rode her. Right there, through the clothes, on the porch of her home. He circled his hips and pumped, while she bit his neck and whimpered in his ear. His breath came out in short puffs, like a green lad with his first woman. With each move, that telltale jerk at the bottom of his stomach signaled that he was getting closer to his release.

A better man would have stopped.

He wasn’t a better man.

He was too far gone and a second later, his shame leaked into his pants. “Cassia? I...you...absolutely perfect.”

She laughed into his throat as he struggled to catch his breath and his pride. “Glad you noticed.”

“I noticed. I hope you have a miserable time on your date tomorrow. I want you to call me right in the middle of it, to come and pick you up.”

The hand that played at the back of his neck cinched a handful of hair and yanked his head upward. “What date? What are you talking about?”

“It’s alright, Tig told me. It’s why I moved too fast in calling you – even before I was ready. Cassia, my life has been shit for decades and I don’t want to drag you into something that I can’t define.”

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“Shut up. Get over yourself and call me tomorrow.” And with that, she slapped his ass, turned around and slammed the door in his face.

“Right.” Well, he wasn’t going through this shit again. Next time he saw Cassia, he’d know one way or the other.  The plan was simple and the test as good as any. He had to find a hot woman and it shouldn’t be too hard. They littered the place. He’d read enough to know where to go, the same place people had been going to find trouble for generations: The Harbor District.

He’d racked up legions of women before his self-imposed celibacy.
Hamdullahs
had a way of changing all that. If he
still
didn’t want a woman aside from Cassia after all these years, well, that had to be his answer.

He didn’t use wishes or any magic for what he had to do. Instead, he walked and waited. The looks came from women and men alike. He’d been gifted with beauty, as had most of his brothers. Suggestive glances and open proposals greeted him as he pushed his way through the revelers. A football game had just ended and the win had locals drowning themselves in victory. He chose a bar and scanned the room.

A blonde made eye contact. For the first half of his life, he’d have had her on the street. For the second half, he’d have walked by without a glance. Tonight, though, he made a beeline straight for her.

She pursed her lips and nodded him over. “Hi. I’m Angela.”

“Hello, Angela.” Angela with the fine hair and perky breasts. Angela with the tight pants and painted lips. “You’re stunning, Angela.”

“And I’m smart too. It’s going to take more than that to get to know me. I invited you over to see what you bring to the table.”

In years past, it would have intrigued him. She
was
smart it turned out, an astrophysicist months away from finishing her doctorate. This Angela had everything working for her except one thing...

She wasn’t Cassia.

When she dipped away for a refill, Faruq slid out and down the street to disappear in the throng. Every other woman was more of the same. Beautiful , willing and not Cassia. Oh, a few hardened his arrow, but the thought of placing it inside any other woman but the dark skinned beauty he’d left on the porch, turned him cold.

And he’d never felt better.

C
assia woke up the same way she’d fallen asleep, with a glass of wine in her hand. Its contents purpled the sofa and her cluttered, banging brain scrambled for an appropriate spell to clean it up.

She managed to fade it a decent maroon, then gave up and jumped in the shower. Despite keeping the bathroom door open and hearing nothing, she still checked her phone the second she got out.

No voicemails.

She checked her phone before she got dressed, after she got dressed, before her grocery run and after she dropped the bags on the counter.

No missed calls.

She tried not to let it bother her. The rational part of her brain reminded her that she didn’t need or want a man who couldn’t be bothered to call. Her nerves were short for ‘sometimey’ people. She needed a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it. Apparently, that wasn’t Faruq.

She ought to be ashamed of herself, getting so hung up on him.

Had he really thought she had another date set up, though? Not that it mattered.

It didn’t.

Really.

...but...

No. It did not matter. Either a man called or he didn’t. She wasn’t going to wait around for some stupid three-day rule. She was a grown woman, with no time for silly games. More than that, she was a professional and didn’t let
himself
keep her from her job. Especially this one.

She had a late lunch, finished changing out and rushed to her first appointment of the day.

Lyons was a wealthy shifter who didn’t need to get in any more hours at the gym. With a super charged metabolism, the man could do far more without her assistance. Cassia knew exactly what he was trying to get inside of. Her. 

So what? New ways of brushing him off was part of her joy. He seemed to be just as into discovering ways to make her blush. The man paid too much for it, but she enjoyed the banter and the payout. Besides, he sent her new clients, human, Magical, and always rich.

“You’re distracted, Cassia. I pay you to fawn over me.”

“No, I’m not. Go do another two laps around the block.”

“Who is he?”

“None of your business.”

“I’ve been replaced.”

“You were never in place, Lyons. Make that four laps. Move.”

The man shook his blond mane loose from its ponytail and flexed his pecs. “I’ve been throwing this at you for months. I get nothing. Now I smell some new guy on you, and his spunk, and you’re shirking on the job.”

“I didn’t sleep with him.”

Lyons made a huge show of sniffing, wrinkling his nose and closing his eyes. “I’ve never known you to be a liar.”

“I’m not and I took a bath!”

“I’m confused and even more, I’m heartbroken.”

“I found you underneath a pile of four women this afternoon.”

“We all have our coping mechanisms.  Look, since I’ve well and firmly been friend-zoned, allow me to give you some advice.”

“I’ll bite.”

“Exactly. Do that. Bite him. Hit it. Go for it. Live. That’s my advice.” Then Lyons jetted off, only to finish the first lap before she registered what he’d said.

Go for it.
She could. Should. Can’t. Mustn’t.

“Why not?”

“Huh?”

Lyons did another lap before answering. “I can read it all over your face, little witch. Why don’t you sit on my lap and tell me what happened.”

She did. Standing. Lyons nodded throughout the whole story, twisting his face here and rolling his eyes there. He lounged against a tree, at once feline and serpentine, as though his whole being melted into its roots.

“Well?”

He took a deep breath and threw an arm over her shoulder. “You come to me with some man’s juice on you, but you didn’t have sex. He kisses you like you’re the last thing on the planet, but the next second he acts as if he’s terrified of you. Are you sure he’s not a shifter of some sort?”

“Positive.  Why? You’re suggesting it’s love at first sight.”

“No. That doesn’t exist, but I’ve seen shifters act that way when they find their mates. But since he’s not a shifter...”

“Djinn.”

Lyons snorted and dropped a kiss on her forehead. His lips hovered over her ear. “As far as that goes, it’s the same thing.”

“He would have told me that.”

“You’re out of your friggin’ mind. Dude’s spazzing. He just had his whole world turn on its side. A man’s gotta take some time to digest that. Sounds like he jumped the gun. About that, can you describe the dry humping in further detail?”

“No.”

“Shame. Anyway, those things live forever. Think about it, Cassia. If he’s been alone for centuries, he’s gonna have some adjustment issues. Isn’t your brother-in-law one of them? Ask him.”

“Tig wouldn’t know.”

“Of course he would. Those genies—”

“Djinn.”

“You even sound like them. Look, those things put off some crazy pheromones when that happens. If you’re his mate, the other one would know. Have they met? That’s the trick. Get him to meet your—”

“They’re brothers.”

“Jesus.  You wanna make out one last time?”

“It would be our first time and no.”

“You look pissed.”

“I’m not happy.”

She’d wished for what Dinah and Tig had more times than she could count. Had it actually happened? It couldn’t have! Somebody would have told her. She turned to Lyons, but the feline had already loped off, stopping only to give her a halfhearted wave from the corner.

She didn’t bother going home, it was in the wrong direction. Instead, she dug her sneakers into the gravel and took off for her sister’s sprawling estate. With every slammed footfall on the pavement, her fists tightened in rage. How dare they keep this from her? Who did they think they were, playing with her life like that? Inconsiderate asses – all of ‘em.

Tig met her at the door, smile blazoned across his face. Her fingers begged her to slap it off. “Cassia?”

“Is your brother here?”

“No. He got a room at—”

“Good. Don’t talk to me. Dinah? DINAH! Get your ass down here right now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t I just tell you not to talk to me?”

“Yes and you said it in my own house. Before I throw you out, I’d like to know why.”

Dinah stood halfway down the stairs, arms crossed and eyes shooting from one to the other. “What has gotten into you two?”

“Your sister’s lost her mind. Coming into my house and telling me—”

“Am I Faruq’s
hamdullah
?”

Well that shut him up. The giant coward tried to duck out into the other room, but she knew just enough magic to slam the door in his face...or at least, kinda make it move a little. His sigh of defeat did little to soothe her mood.

“Sissy, calm down.”

“Forty-eight hours ago I had a normal life, right?”

“You’re a witch.”

“Don’t split hairs! Then I meet a djinn who faints and I’ve got a lion telling me I smell like Middle Eastern spunk.”

“Technically, Algerian—”

“Shut him up, Dinah.”

“Tig, please. And Cassia—”

“I don’t know what I’m more upset about. My own sister taking his side. Or—”

“I’m not taking sides.”

“Or that he hid this from me or that he thinks he can force me to love him.”

“Has he tried forcing you to do anything?”

“Yes. Yes...ish. Well...no.”  In fact, he seemed to be doing just the opposite. Faruq had given her all the space she needed while perhaps carving out a little for himself. That, however, didn’t give him a pass for not explaining the situation. “No, he hasn’t.”