by Raine Hughes
“You’re just in time for tea and biscuits,” Noah said cheerfully, to dispel the feeling of being watched by a higher authority, the same entity that knew his most recent secret concerning a brass stopper. He dismissed that thought as he turned to his houseguest, giving her a wink that their guests couldn’t see. “There are still some left, aren’t there?”
Jasmine grinned back at him and confirmed, “They will be in the biscuit tin.”
Noah snapped into action, hoping that his parents wouldn’t wonder at the strange way she had phrased that. He needn’t have worried, he saw, as they pulled chairs out from the table and launched into conversation.
Chapter 17
Noah watched with interest as Jasmine painstakingly mended an exotic, highly colorful rectangle of material. “Just exactly what can a magic rug do?” he asked with curiosity. “Will it come to life and swoop around the room?”
Jasmine giggled. “Is this what your books tell you?”
Noah grinned back at her and shrugged. “What’s a mortal supposed to believe? I never once thought those tales of mythical supernatural beings was true, and look who’s sitting in my living room, mending a magical floor piece!”
Jasmine laughed outright, noticeably happier now that their relationship was back on friendlier terms. He wasn’t going to act on a misinterpretation again, he promised himself. Just like he’d once advised her to ask if he made a request that seemed strange to her, he would do the same.
“To you, it may look like a floor covering, but really it is a blanket.” She flung the rectangle of material about her shoulders and hugged it around herself. “It makes me feel safe inside. That is the magic of the blanket.”
“Sort of like a panda bear a child hugs?” At the inquisitive tilt of her head, he explained, “Stuffed bears, cats, giraffes, dolls, even a plain old blanket, to talk to, to sleep with, that kind of thing. For me, it was a panda bear.”
She nodded. “The blanket makes me feel happy and warm, but really, it is my protection.”
Noah snorted in disbelief. “Aren’t your supernatural powers enough without relying on the supposed physical powers of some inanimate object?”
“Even a Djinni might need magical protection, and perhaps to feel a little special. I have the needs and feelings of any common human being.”
Noah sobered. She was vulnerable and easily hurt. Instead of commenting on that he studied her upturned face, “Yes, but you’re not common, Jasmine. Nothing about you is ordinary, and I’m not talking about the fact that you’re a Djinni either.”
“To you I may not be common. If I would not be a Djinni, I would be very ordinary.”
“Never, Princess!” He reached out and outlined the features of her face as she tilted her head in that provocative way of hers.
“It satisfies you immeasurably to please others, to make their lives better, and that has nothing to do with being supernatural. You’ve made my life more fulfilling and pleasurable, Jasmine. Sometimes I just wish…”
He bent down and pressed his mouth to her luscious lips. They moved sensuously under his, drawing a small moan from him. He gleaned much pleasure from exploring the embrace, her exotic flavor, her warm mouth, her playful tongue. They hadn’t discussed their mutual avoidance of that most intimate of pleasures since the day they each admitted a longing to experience it. The longing was obviously still there, still strong in both of them.
Jasmine’s arms went around his neck, urging him downward. He willingly glided to a kneeling position between her knees. He could practically devour her since it had been so long since he’d tasted her, yet he let her take the lead in the embrace. She nipped at his bottom lip then her tongue darted in, tasting him, drinking in his flavor until he could taste his own minty essence on her tongue.
He broke the embrace to trail the tip of his tongue from her bottom lip down over her chin. She exposed her sensitive neck to him, dropping her head back with a groan of pure pleasure that echoed his own. He continued downward to the valley between her breasts, dipping his tongue there while his hands caressed her through the material. The hard nubbins sprang to life.
“Love me, Noah. Love me.”
Her whispered plea sent a steady pulse beat that spiraled up through his limbs to join the throbbing of her silk-wrapped breasts. Her hands were clenched in his hair so that when she tugged, he eased her back into the sofa, reminding himself that he wouldn’t allow them to go too far.
The rising crescendo of sound from the walls nearly overwhelmed the inner voice but he promised himself that he’d stay mindful of it. His sensitivities increased as he indulged in the taste and the feel of Jasmine, nuzzling her silken breasts, seriously giving consideration to freeing them from their fabric-bound confines, of allowing themselves just this one more little liberty. Petting—that’s what teenagers called it, but unlike those youngsters, he had the will to halt it there.
He would.
In a moment.
When she surged against him, moaning afresh with the sheer ecstasy of enjoyment, his answering arousal throbbed in time with his heart.
Abruptly, he was spilled unceremoniously onto the floor, landing with a jarring thud and a grunt. Jasmine landed on top of him, whooshing the air from his lungs. She slid off with another thump that caused her to grunt, too. Then he watched her struggle into a sitting position, favoring her elbow as she extended her arm and retracted it.
Noah groaned, silently berating his lack of control in the face of his silent promise not to let things go this far. “I apologize. I got carried away. I told myself I wouldn’t but…” He doubted he could have stopped. Guilt assailed him as he sat back up and gingerly settled onto the sore spot on his rump. “I’m sorry you had to take such drastic action.”
“The fault is mine.”
“I let you seduce me, Jasmine,” Noah countered. That sounded like he was letting Jasmine take blame, but that wasn’t right. “I wanted you to seduce me.”
She peered pointedly at the place they had reclined moments before. She looked at the sizable piece of material that she had been hugging around herself like a protective blanket. It lay in a heap beside them.
For the first time he noticed the fabric had iridescent strands running through it, making it look like it could come alive and dance at any moment. Given similarity with the aliveness of the fabric walls that surrounded him… Surely not… He sucked in an audible lungful of air.
“You made me feel wonderful, Noah, but it protected me from what I know I should not do.” She was plainly disappointed as she stared at the blanket. “I really wanted to.”
Noah snorted at the preposterous situation in an effort to dispel the idea. Just how had they been dumped off the sofa? The whole idea of a piece of brightly colored cloth taking on virtuous magical dimensions was more eerie than having a Djinni in his house. Especially if that hunk of material had more moral conscious than he did!
Now too, he noticed the absolute silence in the room. The wall coverings had ceased their hum. Had their previously increased volume been a warning of what was about to happen? Or, perhaps, the wildly uninhibited mood of himself and Jasmine had triggered a similar reaction from the living plant fibers that made up the exotic wall covering, and now that the mood had been extinguished, they’d fallen quiet.
He didn’t like the silence any more than the hum!
“Next time I will have it safely tucked away in my urn.” Jasmine’s declaration drew his attention and her heated gaze said there would be a next time. She wanted a next time, despite reason, and it scared him half to death because the more obstacles that seemed to come between them, the more he wanted it, too, regardless of the repercussions.
They could both be struck down from above!
* * *
Now that the days were warmer and daylight hours longer, they were able to work on the ferry instead of just the blueprints. It was as if the project was as much her dream as his. Why else would she wield the long-handled brush and scrub th
e deck—doing it his way? She hummed while she worked, too, pride in her efforts visible in her happy smile as they stood back and viewed each completed task. There was brass to be cleaned, woodwork to be sanded and varnished; the list of things seemed never-ending. They put new upholstery on the benches and hung lanterns in lieu of strings of lights.
Together they made sure the engines were working. When he straightened he noted that his first mate was not unscathed after working in the dirt and grime. “There’s a smudge of grease across your nose, Jasmine,” he said, at which she presented her face for him to wipe off. Of course he kissed that same nose. Her eyes sparkled back at him, just as bright as the brass, her gaze inviting him to kiss her again, and he did, properly, on the mouth, tasting and drinking in her flavor.
Then they were laughing, reminded of propriety and the never-ending tasks still waiting to be done.
Up on a ladder, he reached too far over. Suddenly, he was teetering on one leg of the ladder. He tried to shift the balance of things but it was no use. Noah yelped and flung himself sideways in a desperate effort to avoid crashing down onto the railing where injury was inevitable. He projected his body towards the deck and tried to spread the impact over a larger area by flinging his arms and legs out.
An unforeseen force—Jasmine’s, of course—put a halt on his downward fall. He ended up suspended prone just inches off the floor on nothing but air. He leaped to his feet, only to find he was still suspended, upright, in mid-air. Jasmine burst out laughing, probably over the look of dismay that must be on his face.
“This isn’t funny!” he said indignantly, and tried to march over to her to demand that she stop laughing. His steps were so springy that he practically bounced right off the ferry. “Whoa!” He waggled his hands as he tried to maintain his balance. He was forced to a standstill while Jasmine doubled over with laughter.
It wasn’t until Jasmine could contain her mirth that she removed the unseen force and allowed him to drop down onto firm territory. Scowling at her to maintain a semblance of dignity induced her to take off. She had every reason to deem escape prudent. In an instant, he was after her.
But once he caught her, it was obvious she knew he wasn’t upset. She offered her lips and he confirmed her assumption. “You have such delicious kisses, Noah.”
He hooted. Carol had certainly never thought of him as being delicious! “Well, if I give you another one, we’ll never get any work done, will we?” They moaned in tandem and returned attention to their work.
Later he had his own laugh at Jasmine’s expense. It was like watching a hilarious movie in which the hapless character kept going from one disaster to another once the ball got rolling.
While scrubbing the deck, she first inadvertently stepped backwards, straight into the scrub bucket. He watched as she tried to extract her foot with a quick jerk. She would have been okay if she hadn’t been holding the scrub brush. Given that it had a long handle meant that while she wind-milled her arms, the brush connected with the overhead bucket of soapy water he was using to wash the grime off the smoke stacks from his position on the top deck.
He was too slow to apprehend the bucket. With a clatter it became airborne and its contents dumped directly downward onto Jasmine. With a shriek she took another couple of steps backwards, her mouth open in a gasp as the soapy water dripped off her. The only good thing that happened was that the bucket plummeting towards her, missed, while the one she’d stepped in released her foot and she was once more on firm decking.
That’s when Noah started laughing and of course, he couldn’t stop at the picture of pure insult on her face. That made him laugh all the harder. Surely she wouldn’t retaliate, he hadn’t caused any of the accident.
He was wrong, about retaliation, that is.
Because he was laughing so hard, he missed how she folded her arms and gave a nod. Instantly he was airborne, aiming headfirst for the icy melt-water of Mystery Lake. It was his turn to gasp as the implication hit him just a second before he should have hit the water. Fortunately, she took pity on him. She didn’t allow him to actually land in the water. Instead, he was suspended there, upside down, the blood rushing to his head.
“Jasmine! Put me down!”
“Into the lake? Certainly, Noah, if that is what you wish.”
“No! No!” He waved his arms vigorously. “Not in the water.”
“But to put you down would mean into the water.”
“You know very well what I mean.” He managed to plunk his hands on his hips but that didn’t seem as effective as it would be were he not upside down. “Put me back on the deck!”
“Please?”
“Yes,” he practically growled. “Please put me down on the deck—on my feet.”
“Is that a wish or just a suggestion? A wish I would have to carry out, but a suggestion…”
He groaned. There was nothing he could do except apologize for laughing at her earlier misfortune to end the lively, animated conversation. “And, yes, it is my wish that I be placed on the deck in an upright position, on my own two feet, on solid footing.” Was there anything he’d missed in that directive?
She giggled and finally relented. That’s when he knew he was forgiven and hopefully saved. Sure enough, she had him back on deck in the next moment, leaving him to breathe a sigh of relief and carry on what he was doing, after he gave her a glowering look that he replaced with a grin. She didn’t look worried at all!
In short, there was no work involved in refurbishing the vessel. It was all excitement and fun.
As for the pier for the old ferry, he publicly announced in the resort village that he would hire local workers to do the work. He wanted to support the locals and providing employment for them seemed like good business. Jasmine conceded the point, only a little disappointed not to have learned how to use saws, squares, and hammers.
* * *
Noah yanked hard on the rope that swung beside him. “All aboard!” he bellowed as soon as the deafening shriek of the ferry’s whistle had silenced. It was the maiden voyage of the ferry that proudly carried the name, Noah’s Ark. He was as excited as the local kids and their parents, who had been promised the official first ride on the ark, complete with its floating menagerie.
His gaze drew to Jasmine, as it always did. She was cavorting about like a kid as she escorted patrons along the deck, showing them the docile animals. He watched the way the pony tail protruding under her First Mate’s cap, bounced up and down as she spoke energetically. Given the last fiasco with wearing her sailing costume, she had insisted on adding tassels to cover more of her bare midriff. Little did she know that the effort did nothing to diminish his appreciation of the suit and he doubted that anyone else thought otherwise. They accepted her just as she was and it was as it should be.
He owed much to Jasmine. She was responsible for making his dream come true. She was also responsible for his new outlook on life. Her bubbly personality and her enthusiastic view of everything had pulled him from the depth of a depression he hadn’t even realized had gripped him when he thought she would be leaving early.
Now, he caught her eye and she gave him an animated wave. He acknowledged it with an energetic wave of his own while his heart swelled with love, making it hard to breathe. He wondered if his chest could accommodate all his love.
He gave another blast of the ark’s whistle. “Noah’s Ark leaving shore!” he announced, then nodded to his pilot, an elderly but very-much-in-control retired navy man, and stood watch as they pulled away. Once underway to the steady chug-chug of the diesel engines, Noah went down to mingle with the crowd.
Pastor Herman had gathered a small group together to compare this ark to the original Bible ark. Noah watched adults and children shush each other, eager to hear the story. He winked at his father before moving on.
He arrived at Jasmine’s group in time to hear her say, “Milk does not come in a jug or carton. First the store has to get it from a cow, like Jersey here.” Jersey was qu
ite content to allow numerous hands, big and small, to caress her bovine body.
Far down the deck, Martha D’Ark was telling a Bible story, pausing often to point out interesting sights as they leisurely sailed along. Like the others, she was combining education with pleasure. Jasmine herself had been so enchanted with this particular ancient story when she first heard it during their test run, that Noah had had to intervene before his father became suspicious of all her questions and comments.
The day was beautiful, perfect for the journey, perfect for both animals and humans. Everything was turning out exactly as he’d always dreamed.
A wail shattered his thoughts. He whirled to find that a Chinese goose had escaped the pen, her loud honking calls frightening people.
Jasmine appeared as if by magic—undoubtedly she had—and scooped the goose up. The goose quickly hid her head under Jasmine’s arm.
“It is all right, Lucy. They will not hurt you,” Jasmine crooned and advanced on a trembling child and his distraught mother. After a brief word, son and mother were apologizing to the goose for frightening her, and the boy bravely let Jasmine guide his hand over Lucy’s head once she came out from hiding.
“There are now locks on the gates,” Jasmine whispered to Noah on her way back from the goose pen. She turned and faced her audience. “Captain Noah is going to tell you the story of this ark and how it came to be on Mystery Lake. It is a fascinating story, fraught with danger and suspense.” She winked saucily at him and bounced away.
It took a long moment before he could get his mind on the subject at hand. Just watching Jasmine’s sexy walk, the way her bottom swayed, the slight bounce to her walk that spoke of subdued excitement and her lithe, slim figure had him wishing the tour was over. There were other things he wanted to explore besides a lake.