by Eve Langlais
Still caught in her grip, the spirit belonging to the devil struggled. It understood its fate.
“I can make you powerful.”
Hello, she was already pretty awesome.
“Let me go and I’ll return to my side.”
Too late. This monster had threatened her husband. That deserved punishment.
Only a tiny hole remained in the wall. A red, glaring eye.
The devil fought, twisting and cursing, doing his best to escape her firm esoteric grip. When he couldn’t break free, he heated his mist self to boiling temperatures and scalded her ghostly hands. It hurt, but she gritted her teeth and bore the pain. Letting the devil go wasn’t an option.
Marching to the wall, she stood on tiptoe and shoved the legion leader in it. Did she feel bad she turned him into a fancy lock against Hell for eternity? Not really. He shouldn’t have touched Zane.
Turning away from the now pristine temple, she clapped her hands and beamed. “All done.”
“Seriously?” Tariq glanced at her then the wall then her again. “That’s all it took?”
“It was harder than it looked.” She lied to show modesty. “I don’t know about you all, but I could go for an ice cream sundae.” Instead, she got a Zane-wich. He wrapped her tight enough in his arms a few joints cracked. But she didn’t break.
She wasn’t that fragile, not anymore. However, when he planted a kiss on her… Her knees buckled.
Good thing he held her up to shake her. “You idiot! What were you thinking coming after me?”
Ella blinked. “Of course I did. I love you.”
“Crazy,” he said with a shake of his head. “What am I going to do with you?”
Her lips curved into a teasing smile. “Find us a tent and I have some ideas.”
Apparently, he had a few of his own.
Twenty-Three
The danger was over, and the adrenaline began to wane. It was then Tariq truly realized they were all alive. The world was saved, and while he’d only played a minor role in the end, he’d done something.
While Zane carried off his giggling wife, he made his way to Felicia, only to have to hold himself back from kissing her given Azzam stood there.
“Did you see me? I haven’t boxed like that in centuries.” His grandfather, who looked more like an uncle now with his sleek dark hair, beamed.
Jamaal looked just as smug. “Doesn’t need me, my brother says. Good thing I arrived when I did, or you’d be spider shit.”
“Perhaps I was hasty in refusing your help,” Tariq admitted.
“Hasty, he says. I was a hero.” Jamaal couldn’t help but grin even as wonderment colored his words.
“So was Tariq. That was quick thinking what you did with the spider silk holding Zane.” A disheveled Felicia praised him, and he basked in it.
“I’m just happy my practice paid off. I spent almost an entire century honing my knife-throwing skills.”
“It took you a century?” Her lips quirked. “I learned in a year.”
“Showoff.” He smiled at her and hugged her close.
She allowed it, but he could feel her tense as she eyed the pristine wall. “Is it really over?”
“Can’t you feel it?” He held up his hand, and a ball of pure magic formed in it. “The chasm to Hell is closed once again, and magic is returning.” In large part because the piles of treasure on the floor were losing potency as Tariq’s starved djinn core sucked at it. He didn’t feel bad at ruining the ancient relics. Most of the stuff would have been useless anyhow with how the rift tainted it. Still, he’d bet the Templars wouldn’t be pleased to lose their chalice, and he’d wager there would be many who would not be happy the Philosopher’s Stone was once more just a rock.
Felicia left his side to inspect the remaining bottles, the one thing he couldn’t drain. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save all of them. Is this really all that’s left of your people?”
Five bottles. He sighed. “Could be there are a few more scattered around, but we were never copious to start with.” He grabbed the corks that stoppered them. Opened them and yet nothing came out.
Felicia frowned. “Are they dead?”
“No. They probably haven’t grasped how close they came to dying.”
“Don’t they realize you’re the last of your kind?”
“They don’t care. Which is why I’m going to leave them here.”
“Here?” Her eyes widened. “But what if someone finds them?”
“Then perhaps they’ll manage to shake them out of their complacency. Might do us some good to grant a few wishes and become a part of the world again.”
“Speaking of the world… I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of dusty caverns and tents. What do you say we hop into a truck and find a town with a shower and a bed?”
“Drive?” He shook his head. “I know something faster. I’ll see you both later. Much later.” He waggled his fingers to his brother and Azzam before drawing her close.
“What are you doing?”
“Magic, my little queen. Your wish is my command.” He kissed her and, with a twist of magic, moved them somewhere else.
She drew away from him and exclaimed, “You found me a bathroom?” She laughed and looked around the large and lavish room with its stone floors, massive tub, and even bigger shower. “I love it. But what about everyone else?”
His first impulse? Who cared? Except, she did care, and he kind of did as well. “Our companions are fine. I’ll return later to give your witch and her husband a way back home.” As for Jamaal and Azzam, he’d seen signs of their cores recovering, which meant they could take care of themselves. “Why are you so worried about them? You should be worried about me.”
“You? What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s been too long since you’ve been naked in my arms.” He leered and waggled a brow.
She smirked. “Is that so?”
“And, according to you, I did technically save the day.”
“I guess you deserve some kind of reward.” She tugged at her blouse, popping the buttons of her shirt.
Too long. He snapped his fingers, and her garments were gone, leaving her deliciously bare.
When he reached for her, she laughed and danced out of his grasp. “Not until I shower.”
As if the water would make her clean. He joined her, and despite his use of soap all over her body, it was a dirty pleasure. He stroked and lathered every inch of her skin.
Then she retaliated, her hand gripping him firmly, tugging and pulling until he gasped.
“I don’t suppose there’s a bed nearby,” she whispered against the lobe of his ear.
In a blink they lay upon fresh sheets, and he pressed his mouth to hers, a fierce kiss to match the energy coursing through him. Touching her was like putting his hand in the hottest of flames, but rather than pain, it was excruciating pleasure.
The kiss evolved from a fierce assault to gentle exploration. Her fingers clutched at his shoulders, the tips digging into his skin as she sought to draw him closer to her. He understood the need. He reveled in the feel of her soft body cushioning his.
With his heavier body covering hers, the hard length of his cock was trapped between them, throbbing against her lower belly. Their mouths were meshed with the occasional clash of their teeth, accompanied by their hot pants.
Her legs parted, and he settled between them, the tip of his cock nudging the entrance of her sex.
But his queen wasn’t one to be meek.
Rather than ask, she used her strength against him, flipping him onto his back and straddling him. A goddess with her hair dangling down her back, her breasts pert and tempting. Her lips curved in a smile that showed her pointed teeth.
“Going to bite me?”
“Can I?” she asked.
He bared his throat. “You can have anything.” His blood. His heart. His soul.
However, she ignored the invitation to slide down the length of his body.
<
br /> “What are you doing?”
“I owe you something for saving us from the plane wreck.”
His mouth rounded as he realized what she intended to do.
Her fingertips skimmed down his torso until they reached the prize. Two prizes. One hand gripped his heavy sac, kneading him, while the other grabbed hold of his shaft.
Anticipation had him sucking in a breath, closing his eyes, and tilting his head back.
He didn’t see but rather felt when she leaned forward, the ends of her hair brushing his skin as her mouth latched onto the tip of his shaft. She gave him a little suck, but it was the nibble that caused his hips to buck.
She held on and kept teasing, bathing his cock with her tongue. She licked from his fat head down the edged rib of his shaft then back up again. She swirled her tongue and then chomped with sharp teeth. He cried out.
Not in pain, even if she punctured skin. It was pure ecstasy as she took him into her mouth and sucked. Sucked him hard enough to draw blood and have him bucking again.
He could hear her thoughts, unfiltered and raw. Taste so good. Love this. Love him.
Love.
The moment he realized it, his own feelings swelled and met with hers. Her turn to shudder, and through their bond, he felt her need. She needed him.
With a final lick over the head, she released his shaft and straddled him. The swollen tip of his cock poked at her damp sex. She teased him some more.
However, he was done with that. His hands clamped around her waist and pushed her down. They both cried out.
This was how it should be. The two of them joined. Him moving deep inside her. Her hands, braced on his chest, nails digging into his skin. Her head went back as she rode him, and he stared at her, fascinated by the sight of her taking her pleasure.
Impaled on his cock, he helped her to rock back and forth, grinding deeply into her. Loving the bliss, loving her.
Their rhythm took on a feverish pace.
So close. The thought hit him, and he flipped her onto her back and drove into her, pounding into her flesh, over and over until it hit.
A climax so powerful it wrung a cry from him and left her with her mouth open in a soundless scream. But in his soul…he heard it.
Love. You.
To which he replied. Love you, forever. And wished they would always be happy before he spilled inside her.
Spent, he collapsed beside her but kept touching her. Stroking her skin. Amazed he’d found her after centuries of being alone.
As they lay curled around each other, she asked, “This bed is huge. Where are we?”
“My bottle.”
“What?” she shrieked, almost putting a crack in it. “How do we get out?”
He grinned. “I know a genie you can rub.”
Epilogue
Weeks later…with the world never realizing how close they came to being demon fodder.
Appearing as pompous as always—making her own butler jealous—Hendricks entered the dining room bearing a rather large tray. Without saying a word, he set the large silver chalice in front of his mistress.
“Oooh, dessert,” Ella crooned. “I am so telling Zane to give you a raise.”
Felicia eyed the giant bowl of ice cream in front of Ella. And not just ice cream—banana, caramel sauce, peanuts, and some marshmallow fluff, too. The girl devoured the huge mound as if it were nothing. Then again, she was eating for two.
Whereas Felicia…she sneezed. Again.
Ella giggled. “Bless you.”
Felicia glared. At least she tried to while also doing her best to ignore the sparkles in the air.
“You sneezed magic again,” Ella remarked.
“This is Tariq’s fault.” No one had ever warned her that a djinn could impregnate a vampire. Because the damned man had mated with her.
Which she couldn’t get mad about because she’d kind of decided she wanted to keep him, too.
After she got over being annoyed he didn’t ask.
Even the baby was a good thing, especially knowing it would automatically take after its daddy. So no blood-sucking toddler, just a mischievous tadji, as Jamaal kept teasing. They’d already begun the search for a special nanny.
“How are the cats doing?” Felicia asked. Because Zane had no choice but to cave when Azzam decided to reward Ella for fixing his magic. Matching tiger cubs. It made the kitten Tariq adopted seem tame in comparison.
“Cats are good, although we might need a new bed. They used ours as a scratching post.”
“Tariq’s cat smells.” Damned thing liked to wake her by sitting on her chest and releasing gas. Tariq claimed his research showed it was a sign of affection. Felicia knew what it was. A power play by a pussy. Which was why she’d begun hinting to Tariq about getting a dog.
Ella licked her spoon and eyed her empty bowl with downturned lips. “I wish I could have more.”
“Then have another.”
“No time.”
“What do you mean no time?”
A commotion on the street drew her attention, and she peeked out the dining room window to see the streetlights extinguishing one by one.
“They’re here,” Ella sang.
“Who?”
“My parents.”
“I thought they were dead.”
“My real ones,” Ella announced as her eyes took on a glow. “Don’t tell Zane and be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“We might have to run for our lives.”
* * *
The End?
I don’t know. I honestly never expected to write a second book after Crazy, then Even Crazier came along. So who knows? Craziest could be in the future…after all…Ella hasn’t had those babies yet. And poor Jamaal, can a woman ever love a scarred and sarcastic Djinn?
* * *
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