Two Deals: a Djinn Paranormal Romance (Blackwell Djinn)

by Nikki Kardnov

  When he scented the air and Willa’s matching arousal, he couldn’t bloody take it any longer.

  He grabbed her beneath the arms, spun her around and laid her on the bed on her stomach. He nudged her legs open and her ass came up, ready for him.

  Poe was no longer commander of this situation.

  They were a symphony. Together.

  And they would make bloody good music.

  Willa expelled a breath into the pillow as he danced his hand up her inner thigh. Her body tensed and dimpled beneath his touch. When his fingers followed the curve of her ass down to her seam, she let out a keening moan.

  “Poe,” she said, voice heavy. “Oh God, Poe.”

  He pushed two fingers inside of her. She bent inward, pushing her ass out, taking him in further. He curved his fingers upward, finding her hard inner ridge. He wiggled and she cried out, panting for more.

  “Poe.” She writhed on the bed, hands fisted into the sheets. “I want you to fuck me.”

  “There is nowhere else I’d rather be than inside you.”

  “So what are you waiting for?”

  He brought himself to her opening, his head teasing at her folds. Her pussy was soaked, so ready for his cock. He had imagined many times before what it would be to fuck her, but never had he imagined that it would be like this, more than physical sensation, more than lust, that his need for her would feel like a heaviness in his chest, bigger than him.

  Djinn magic came from a realm outside of his plane and in this moment, his skin buzzing, his cock rock hard, her quivering beneath him, it was...it was transcendent.

  He grabbed her at the hips and drove himself inside of her.

  Chapter 18

  WILLA

  Willa was bright with wanting.

  Animalistic.

  Glowing.

  Starving fucking mad.

  She just wanted to be filled up, to feel Poe inside of her.

  Her entire life, she’d never relinquished her control to anyone. She had to be strong and independent for herself and for Raina.

  She made the decisions. She steeled herself against the world and her wants to make sure Raina had what she needed and what she wanted.

  But now, with Poe, within these four walls, she could finally let go.

  She had been neglecting herself too much, for too long.

  When Poe shoved his cock inside her, a wave of magic washed over them, green and glittering. Willa’s skin prickled as his thickness stretched her wide.

  Stars blinked behind her eyes. Her breath came faster. Poe drove into her. Again and again with a pounding need that made her chest ache and her heart thump hard against her chest.

  This was what it was to be wanted.

  Not just for her body.

  Soul and mind and heart.

  All of it wrapped together.

  Pleasure and desire and need as a whole.

  Poe groaned and his hand dropped from her hip to her clit, a barely-there touch that made her feel unhinged with desire.

  “Come for me,” Poe said. “Let me hear you, love.”

  Her clit throbbed beneath his touch.

  He was an artist with his fingers. He knew how to dance through varying degrees of pressure against her, building her pleasure like a storm cloud, the electric crackle blazing through her veins.

  And then she was soaring as the orgasm spilled over, a thunder crack at her center.

  She cried out and Poe jammed into her, filling her up with a roar, his balls pressed tight against her sex.

  Her arms trembled as the last of the orgasm sighed through her.

  Poe shuddered into her once more, cock pulsing.

  He breathed out and she breathed with him.

  His magic enveloped them in a muzzy warmth.

  When he pulled out, he rolled her to her back. His cock, still hard, glistened with their mixed pleasure.

  They both lay there settling into the realization of what they’d just done.

  Would he regret it?

  Do I?

  An aftershock of the orgasm spasmed through her inner walls. Goosebumps lifted on her skin.

  No. She regretted none of it. She’d do it all over again. And again and again and again…

  Poe disappeared into the bathroom. Willa followed his movements with her eyes. He’d said nothing since they’d finished.

  I should tell him I am his caeli.

  I want to tell him.

  When he returned, he had a warm wet cloth in hand. “Spread yourself for me, love,” he said and cleaned her up slowly and gently. After he took care of the cloth, he slipped into bed beside her and gathered her into his arms and Willa melted into him, relieved that he didn’t want to be done with her already.

  Was this what it would feel like to be his? Only his?

  To be warm and cared for? To belong to someone?

  A thrill ran through her. She liked the thought of it. Of him claiming her. Protecting her.

  She liked the thought of finally belonging to something that felt real.

  She almost told him then.

  She almost told him the truth.

  I am your caeli.

  She even opened her mouth to speak the words.

  But she couldn’t. Not yet.

  She needed to fix Raina first. Because the only thing worse than not having Poe was having him and then losing him.

  Willa snuggled in closer. His fingers pressed against her shoulder and he turned into her, breathing her in.

  She just wanted to remain in this warm bubble for now. She wanted to pretend that her life was not a big fucking mess and that she was not lying to the one person who had shown her any sort of kindness.

  She fell asleep listening to the beat of Poe’s heart.

  Chapter 19

  WILLA

  Willa woke a few hours later to the sound of Poe’s cell phone ringing.

  He gently disentangled himself from beneath her to reach for it on the nightstand.

  “Yeah?” he said by way of answering.

  Willa rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She was still unclothed and wrapped in the cool, cotton sheets. Had she ever felt this content? This comfortable? She couldn’t recall a time when she was.

  When her and Raina were little, for a very short period of time, they’d lived with their grandma while their mother tried to get her life back together. Grandma Rita was not a witch, but Willa could remember thinking her house looked like she was. Crystals and geodes lined the windowsill in her kitchen. Her black cat, Merdoch, could reliably be found lazing in the afternoon sun while Grandma burned palo santo and meditated.

  Living at Grandma Rita’s house was the only time Willa had ever panicked over losing something. Looking back, she realized that what she feared losing was contentment.

  When their mother showed up to fetch them, Willa cried while she packed.

  She didn’t want to go.

  When they arrived at their new apartment with their mother some six or seven hours away from Grandma Rita’s house, their mother showed them their tiny room, more of a closet, where a single twin mattress lay on the dingy hardwood floor.

  Raina had always been a restless sleeper and so often Willa would wake with a foot in her face or an elbow in her side.

  Eventually she just moved to the floor.

  When their mother finally abandoned them years later, Willa had told child services to look for Grandma Rita, but by then she was dead.

  When she thought of her mother, the biggest betrayal was not that she’d left them, it was that she’d never told them Grandma Rita had passed.

  “We’re still in Scotland,” Poe said through the phone now. Then, “I already said no to that plan...yes, all right...fine.” He hung up and let the phone clatter back to the nightstand.

  “What is it?” Willa said.

  “That was Mad. They want us back to the house with the collar.”

  “What do they want to do with it?”

  Poe sighed. “They want to
let Raina and Caleb have it.”

  Willa propped herself up on an elbow, her brow furrowing. “For what?”

  He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying.

  “As we discussed, there’s only one way to kill a demon and they want to kill it.”

  “That’s my sister!”

  “I know.” Poe grabbed her hand. “I already told them no. I swear to you, we will save your sister. You have my word.”

  Willa fell back against the pillows. “What if I wished the demon away?”

  Poe climbed from the bed. Willa couldn’t help but check out his bare ass. He had a very nice backside. “While wishes trump the regular use of djinn magic,” he said, “it likely wouldn’t be effective on a demon. And regardless, even if it would, your sister has already opened herself to this demon multiple times. She will easily fall prey again. Especially if she’s in Caleb’s sphere.”

  That just added more to Willa’s desire to flee Blackwater. Not that Raina would be happy about leaving.

  Maybe if they could figure out a way to get rid of the demon, Willa could wish to heal Raina’s figurative demons. Then she wouldn’t be so prone to possession.

  But she only had one wish left.

  How was she to check off all of those boxes?

  Not for the first time, she wished Raina could just get her shit together already and say no. It seemed so easy to Willa.

  “What if I wished for Raina to have a stronger will?”

  Poe went into the adjacent bathroom and turned on the faucet. “That’s too broad. A stronger will against what?” He splashed water on his face. “Carbs? Pretentious assholes?”

  Willa grumbled. “What if I wish for her to have a stronger will against demons?”

  He shut the water off. “I still don’t think that goes far enough. Stronger implies simply that it’s stronger than what she currently has. Which means it might not yet be strong enough.”

  “Semantics,” Willa quipped.

  Poe snapped his fingers. When he came back into the room, he was clothed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt. “It’s the difference between wishing for a horse and a car.”

  Willa frowned. “What?”

  “It’s a running joke we have. A man wished for a Mustang. The car. He got a horse instead.”

  “Who granted that wish?”

  “Red. 1967. It was a hoot.”

  Willa laughed. “Okay. I get it. Magic is finicky.”

  “Especially manifestation magic. Djinn magic. I can guide it, of course, but I am bound by the language and wishing for something that effects another human’s sense of being is tricky ground to be on.”

  Willa scanned the bedroom floor. Her clothes were scattered like bomb debris. “Could you do the same for me? Snap your fingers and get me dressed?” she asked, half joking.

  He turned to her. “Of course.” He snapped his fingers. But he didn’t summon a t-shirt or jeans. Instead Willa was clad in a sexy red nightie. The silk kissed her nipples and a thrilling tingle ran through her breastbone.

  Poe raised a brow.

  Willa blushed.

  “We’ll save that for another time,” he said and snapped his fingers again. She looked down to see a green t-shirt and skinny jeans.

  “Another time?” she asked and then immediately regretted it. She sounded desperate. Hopeful.

  There were still too many variables. Too many what ifs.

  “Well I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I rather enjoyed myself, so I wouldn’t mind another go.” He laughed and held out his hand for her. “But for now, we should head back. Dae will be popping up here if we don’t.”

  “Right. I just need my bag.”

  With another snap, her bag was in Poe’s hand. He gave her a smug look.

  “Now you’re just showing off.”

  Another snap.

  He handed her a single red rose.

  “Yes,” he said. “I most definitely am.”

  She took the rose from him and inhaled at its velvety petals. The deep, floral scent of it was rich and vibrant.

  In all her life, no one had ever gifted her flowers.

  She had always turned her nose up at the thought, like diamonds and chocolates. So cliché. So stupid.

  But now her chest was all tingly and her eyes misty.

  It was not the gift, she realized. But the giving of it.

  “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you, love.” He kissed her cheek.

  Somehow the chaste kiss was more intimate than the sex.

  How did he do that?

  How did he make her feel like a queen with such a small act?

  She took the bag next and double-checked the leather collar was inside.

  “All good?” he asked.

  “All good.”

  The air opened up and the bedroom disappeared.

  They reappeared just outside the conservatory’s archway at Blackwell House.

  Willa hoisted her bag over her shoulder and followed him down the three steps to the brick floor. They found all of the Blackwells waiting for them.

  Willa recognized Thorin and Red, but she had yet to officially meet them.

  She marveled at how young Red looked, especially when compared to his grandsons. He could easily pass for Willa’s age. But it was clear from the way he sat at the head of the room, apart from his grandsons, that he was the one in charge, the commander of the room.

  Mad looked the oldest to Willa’s eyes. His facial features were more mature. The trimmed goatee certainly helped and he was easily the largest of all of them. Willa thought she remembered hearing Thorin was the youngest, but he could pass for being closer to Mad’s age. He was as intimidating as Mad was in sheer size and muscle mass. Like Poe, Thorin was dirty blond, but his hair was longer and was currently tucked into a gray beanie.

  “How was Scotland?” Thorin asked.

  Thorin was American? He didn’t have a trace of the British accent the other brothers did.

  “It was great,” Poe said and squeezed Willa’s hand. “Thanks for asking.”

  “Willa,” Dae said. “Could you give us some privacy?”

  Poe’s good mood immediately soured. “Is that necessary?”

  Red said, “This is a family meeting and she isn’t family.”

  The other Blackwells looked away and said nothing.

  “Excuse me?” Poe said, his shoulders growing taut with tension.

  Willa cut him off. “I don’t mind.”

  He gave her a pained look.

  “I’ll wait for you in the library,” she added.

  With a sigh, he said, “I’ll just be a minute, love.”

  She left the conservatory, but as she walked away, she heard Dae say, “Did you get the collar from her?”

  And as much as Willa did want to give them privacy, as much as she respected their request for it, she found herself lingering in the hallway.

  “We have the collar,” Poe said. A second later, a lighter flicked, then the lid snapped shut.

  “I said to bring the collar to me,” Red said.

  Willa pressed her back into the wall. Could they hear her heartbeat? Did they know she was eavesdropping? Her heart kicked up in pace.

  “I already told you,” Poe said, “that’s not an option.” A chair groaned as he sat in it.

  “So what are the alternatives?” Mad asked.

  “Did she use her gifts yet?” Dae asked.

  “I don’t know. And no.”

  Her gifts.

  Hah.

  “Why would she not use her abilities?” Red asked.

  “Because she had a bad experience.”

  Someone snorted.

  “That’s not a good enough reason,” Red said.

  Willa lay her head against the wall and closed her eyes. He was right. She’d been avoiding doing a reading, too afraid of what it might tell her. But everything had gone to shit already and she hadn’t touched her cards in years.

  Still, fear
needled at her. Her hands grew slick with sweat just thinking about it.

  She was so afraid of the future.

  Afraid of what she stood to lose.

  “Cassie’s prediction said that Caleb Corvin would bring chaos to our door,” Mad said. “Raina had runed blades. There’s no telling what else they might be plotting.”

  Willa stood upright. She’d heard mention of Cassie, another psychic. But she had yet to hear about this prediction.

  Why hadn’t Poe told her?

  The fear doubled.

  Poe had already been in trouble once because of her and her family issues.

  What if Raina and Caleb returned with more blades? With more men?

  What if something happened to Poe?

  Willa let her bag fall from her shoulder. She unclipped the top flap and reached inside. Her fingers easily found her tarot deck and she pulled it out into the light. It was the very same deck her babysitter had bought her all those years ago. It was the most accurate. The cards spoke to her the clearest out of all the decks she’d used since.

  She took the deck everywhere with her, even though she had refused to use it.

  She ducked into the library and hurried to one of the tables. Fingers shaking, she opened the box and let the cards slide out into her hand.

  Right away, her skin tingled. A warm flush ran through her body.

  Energy hummed in her veins.

  There was a rightness to the cards in her hands, a settling in her bones.

  Quickly, she shuffled through the deck, and then cut it.

  She would do a five-card spread. Her past. Present. Future.

  Let me tell you a story, the cards seem to say.

  She lay out five cards face down on the table and took a deep breath.

  She flipped over the first.

  TEN OF WANDS.

  Responsibility. Burden.

  That card was no surprise. It was her life. The thing that beat at the center of her. She was always the only person Raina ever had and it was Willa’s responsibility to care for her, to give her hope that someday they would live the perfect life. Ice cream. Smores. Rom-coms and pizza. Perfect, boring, safe.

  Willa flipped over the second card.

  THE DEVIL.

  Goosebumps crept up her arms.

  Temptation. The pursuit of that which should not be pursued.