Alphas Unleashed (17 page)

Chapter 7

They expected the roads to be clear by morning. Worry wormed into her mind. More than likely, Warren would show up bright and early on her doorstep. Given all the excitement they’d just gone through and how it had upset Cade, it might be better if he didn’t happen to be around for that particular visit.

She turned to look at her kid brother and almost drowned in her surge of love for him. She hated to separate them, but if it’d keep him safe then she would do it. “Hey sport, we have a lot of cleaning to do, so how about I take you for a sleepover at Ms. Paula’s?”

“I can stay and help.” Cade looked around the messed up living room.

“Nah, you better get some rest,” she said. “But you can help Rayez pick up some of the mess until I’m ready to take you over.”

As soon as Cade scooted off, she called Paula, her friend who lived in the same complex, but one building over. “Hey girlfriend!”

“What do you want?”

Embarrassed laughter spurted out of her. She’d been rather scarce as a friend lately. Holding the phone up with her right shoulder, Selene grabbed some paper towels and wiped the framed photographs. Drops of water and melting ice smeared the protective glass. “I just wanted to see how you were holding up with the storm and all.”

“Right. Lucky for you, I like you, otherwise I wouldn’t have even answered the phone,” Paula grumbled. “So what can I do for you?”

“The freak storm ended up causing some damage in my apartment,” she said.

“Oh no!” Concern replaced all attitude in Paula’s voice. She really was a good friend. “Y’all okay?”

Selene cleared her throat. “Yes, we’re fine, thanks. But I have a lot of cleaning up to do, so I was wondering if I could bring Cade over?” She paused. “I’d really appreciate it if he could sleep on the couch and go to school with Ben.”

“Well, for Cade’s sake…”

“We’ll do a movie night. As soon as I have free night,” Selene said. “I’ll even make dinner.”

“Um, by ‘make dinner’ you mean order pizza, right?”

“Yeah.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and grabbed the phone.

“You have a deal. Bring him over.”

“Thanks. You’re the best.” She hung up and turned around to find Cade staring at her. His school backpack and a duffle with sleepover necessities sat at his feet. She slipped on her coat. “Say bye to Rayez.”

The djinn in question, looked up from sweeping some broken glass. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to take Cade over to a friend’s house,” she said. “That way we can be as noisy as we want cleaning up and deal with whatever tomorrow brings.”

A silent understanding passed between them. He stared at her with solemn eyes. “Be careful.”

She stopped fiddling with her coat. “I will.”

Selene returned home from Paula’s and stood on her threshold gaping. The apartment was put back together in better condition than before. She now had a deep red, comfortable looking couch, a carved cherry wood coffee table, a sound system playing Mozart, and a restocked bookshelf.

“How? What?”

Rayez, who’d been sitting on the couch reading a collection of Rumi’s poems and enjoying a glass red wine, blushed. He put the book down and got to his feet.

At some point, he’d changed into a short-sleeved black tee-shirt and worn blue jeans, both showed off his manly assets in all the right ways. “Since Cade wasn’t around helping, I cleaned the rest of it up using djinn powers,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “I hope you don’t mind me making some changes. If you don’t like them, I can put it back as it was.”

“Nope. Don’t even think about it,” she said glancing around. “It’s nice. Thanks.” The best improvement was him. He was still there. And at the moment, he looked like a normal guy. She could pretend she was just a girl returning home to him. The yearning for that simple life left her with a hollow ache.

Selene walked over to the book shelf and perused the titles. All her old favorites were back—Little Women, Good Earth, Pride and Prejudice, Around the World in Eighty Days, Frankenstein and more. A contented smile slipped onto her lips. She turned to Rayez. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied gruffly. “Thanks for using your books to help me out.”

She laughed. “What a night, huh?”

“Want to have a glass of wine and toast our survival?”

His dark gaze was serious in contrast to his teasing tone. She should decline, walk away from temptation. But her feet refused to move. It was just one glass of wine. Nothing wrong with that. “Sounds like a great idea.”

He magicked another glass of wine into existence and presented it to her with a graceful flourish. “Here you go, madam.”

“Thanks.” She took the glass and raised it. “Here’s to surviving tonight and tomorrow.”

He clinked her glass with his. “Cheers!” After taking a swallow, he pinned her with that serious look again. “We make a great team.”

His soft words almost caused her to choke on her wine. She managed a hasty swallow and blinked at him. “Um, yes.” Dear God, that was eloquent. Not.

“Selene, we almost died tonight.”

“Yup, I was right there with you buddy.” Smart aleck was back. Maybe it was a slight improvement over awkwardness. She took a fortifying sip of the wine. This time she savored it. It tasted of blackberries and cherries and warmed her inside out.

He grasped her free hand in his and brought it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the top of her fingers. “I don’t want to die with regrets.”

Oh, dear God
. He was going to kiss her. Something she’d been fantasizing about almost all day. Selene’s throat constricted and her pulse sped up. Muscles she didn’t even know existed tightened. She put the wine glass down on the table next to his.

A muscle jumped in his jaw. Flames flickered in his dark eyes, slivers of gold, orange-red and blue. The intensity of his gaze burned her, left her almost breathless.

“I want to touch you.” His voice, rough and needy, sped to her core.

“So touch me.”

Rayez reached out and grasped strands of her hair between his thumb and fingers. “Just as soft as I imagined,” he whispered, a smile turning up one corner of his mouth. He skimmed his fingertips along her jawline, down her throat to the hollow at the base. “So soft. Satin soft,” he whispered. Rayez lingered for a bit there, before brushing across the top swell of her breasts. She gasped, and then smiled. “My turn.”

Surprise and pleasure widened his eyes. He inclined his head. “As you wish.”

Selene started at his hands, the big gorgeous hands that had been tempting her all day. She ran her fingers over the bones and veins, then up his arms. There she lingered and traced over his tattoos, following lines until they met the edge of his sleeve. “Hmm, I wish I could see the rest of them.”

“Your wish is my command,” Rayez’s voice was a deep, dark whisper. Then the tee-shirt vanished.

She smiled and continued her exploration. “What do your tats mean?”

He gasped as she brushed a thumb across one dark nipple. “When a djinn comes into power, usually at puberty, the tattoos appear. I’ve heard some tell stories of the past, others catalogue the present powers, and in some cases they foretell the future.”

“I wish I could read them,” she said, pressing a soft kiss on the one right over his heart. “So all djinns have them?”

“They used to,” he said. A shadow dropped into his voice and his eyes. “But we’re changing and weakening. Now many never get them.”

Selene wanted to wipe the sadness away, bring him back to a happier place. She nuzzled into him, placed a kiss on his collar bone, a soft bite on his pecs, and flicked her tongue over the tip of nipple. His gaze darkened with need as he bit back a groan. The solid length of his sex pressed against her, demanding and male.

She pulled back and smiled up at him. “Patience.” She pressed her finger tips to his mouth and rubbed and traced over his full sexy lips. Until he turned the tables on her and drew them into his mouth and sucked and licked them. She threw back her head with a soft moan, exposing her throat.

Soft lips and hard teeth pressed against her sensitive skin there, made her shiver. He laid a trail of scorching kisses down to the dip at the base, where his tongue lapped and flickered for a moment. Another moan escaped her and she wrapped her arms around him, pulled him down with her, on top of her, onto the couch. His muscled chest crushed her breasts, sent all kinds of sensory signals zinging to her hot, wet core.

He shot her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I have been wanting to taste you all day.”

A breathless giggle answered him. Was that really her? She was usually more matter-of-fact, almost brusque, about hooking up with men. Sex was just another way to relieve stress. She trusted Rayez and that brought out an unexpected playful side of her. “It’s okay, but it was supposed to be my turn.”

She placed soft, gentle bites along his jaw to his chin, following each bite with a swirl of her tongue. She bit an earlobe, sucked it and then blew a breath across his ear.

Rayez groaned and grasped her tighter, fingers digging into her flesh. He shifted and moved, until she could feel the hard swell in his jeans twitching and pressing against her stomach. She reached up and stroked a hand across his clean shaven head, down the back of his neck and across his broad back. Warm skin and hard muscles made for a delicious combination.

“I want to feel your skin against mine, no clothes, no separation,” he said, breathing hard.

She found herself agreeing and raising her arms, so he could pull off her tee-shirt.

His fingers skimmed down to her waistband and undid her button. A moment of panic cleared the sensual fog in her mind, had her scrambling out from under him and off the couch.

Rayez fixed a worried gaze on her and stood up “Are you okay?”

Selene backed up a few steps, wrapped her arms around herself, and nodded. “I just need to think this through, be sure.”

His gaze shuttered as he nodded.

She bit her lips and studied his beautiful profile, his masculine figure. Her heart catapulted into her throat. What the heck was she doing? What happened to not getting involved? Then more sobering questions followed. What if she had died tonight? What if “one day” never came?

To hell with caution. Life was too uncertain to waste good moments.

Selene peeled off her jeans and kicked them away. He smiled and made his simply vanish. She was pleased to find out he’d gone commando.

Rayez scrunched his dark brows together as he studied her. “You’re still wearing way too many clothes.”

Within seconds her underwear disintegrated. She yelped and tried to cover herself with her hands.

“Drop your hands.” His voice held a quiet command. “I want to see you. All of you.”

She met his gaze. It was all male and hungry. It made her feel feminine and sexy. Still holding his gaze, she lowered her hands to her sides and stood tall.

“You’re beautiful, so damn fucking beautiful,” he said. “You take my breath away.”

Awe and admiration flickered on his face. Made her shy. She dropped her gaze even as a smile pushed onto her face.

“Come here.”

Heart hammering, she sauntered to him. Her breasts ached. The junction between her legs grew moist.
Oh, she wanted him. She wanted him bad
.

He reached over and brushed back a lock of hair, and then slid his hand down her face. Let his touch linger. “I want to kiss you.”

Her lips parted in anticipation.

Rayez grasped her chin and tilted her face up, gazed deep into her eyes. Blistering intensity sucked the air from the room, left her panting. He lowered his head and claimed her mouth.

Chapter 8

Oh Creator, she tasted good,
so good
, like warm honey. Her naked body pressed and tucked against his as if made to fit right there. She felt good and right. This thing between them—
whatever it was
—felt right.

The kiss started out soft and sweet, a tender exploration. Lips nibbled and rubbed, tongues slid around each other in a gentle dance. Soft sighs and building heat led to tentative nips and sharper grazing. He wanted more, so much more.

Rayez tightened his arms around Selene as he deepened the kiss, bit and sucked on her lips, thrust his tongue deep inside to tangle with hers. Now it was a heady, demanding kiss full of heat and frantic need.

Her whimpers and squeaks, the touch of her fingers, the scratch of her nails, were fuel to his fire. He liked making her soft with need, reveled in the naked desire on her face. His already hard dick twitched and pushed against her, seeking entry.
Soon, very soon, but not yet.

He threaded his fingers into her hair and cupped the back of her neck, and then, still kissing, maneuvered her to the coffee table. When the back of her legs bumped against the edge, he broke the kiss. “I want you on it,” he grated out.

Her eyes widened and her chest heaved. “There’s…there’s stuff on it,” she stuttered.

A growl tore from his throat. He let go off her and swept the table clean with one impatient swipe of his hand. He’d deal with the damn mess later. “Now lie back and spread your legs.”