Bound to Seduction (11 page)

Slowly, Mira’s mind circled around to her
wish. And spun right back to Dr. Sampson’s e-mail.

There are powerful entities out there that prey on djinn
and use them to get what they want…like the destruction of a human
soul
.

Dread welled inside her. Was that why Tariq
had come to her? Because some master wanted her soul? That made no
sense.

But then
she remembered the shopkeeper’s warning when she’d gone looking for
the Firebrand opal:
Choosing to wear the opal opens yourself to consequences
you may not yet foresee. Be sure it is a risk you are willing to
take
.

She lifted her fingers, ran them against the
stone at her chest as she had numerous times since Tariq had left
her in a puff of black smoke. Was that what he’d been trying to
warn her about? Was that why he hadn’t made love to her on that
Tahitian beach and had sent her back, telling her to think long and
hard about what she really wanted?

She thought of the way he’d acted when he’d
returned. Reserved. Unsure. How she’d point blank asked him if he
wanted her or not, and how he’d finally admitted that he did. But
he hadn’t seemed happy about that knowledge. In fact, he’d
seemed…saddened by it.

Then she remembered the way she’d teased him
after they’d made love, how she’d told him maybe he’d fixed her.
And how panicked he’d looked at the thought.

Reality chilled a space in her chest. He’d
known. From the very first. He’d known that by fulfilling her wish,
he was damning her soul in some way. He’d tried to stop her wish,
and when that hadn’t worked, he’d tried to prolong it. And he’d
been dragged back to wherever he was now by whomever was
controlling him because of that attempt.

Fear surged through her, rippled through her
limbs, stole her breath. But was quickly replaced by a
determination that spread a calm along every quivering nerve
ending. There was still time. Nothing had been decided yet. Nothing
that couldn’t be changed. And because nothing was final, she knew
Tariq would be back. He hadn’t completed whatever task his master
had sent him here to do. She had one last chance to make all of
this right.

She hit reply on the e-mail and furiously
typed her response. And her remaining questions. When she was done,
she clicked send, sat back and prayed Dr. Claire Sampson could help
her. Because suddenly, her wish—finding a way to make herself more
desirable to Devin—didn’t matter. All that mattered was uncovering
a way to free Tariq from his bonds. And maybe, if she was lucky,
save her own soul in the process.

* * *

Exhaustion weighed heavy on Tariq as he
crossed the portal into the human world. His wounds had healed
over, but they were still tender. And he was weaker than he should
be from the beating. But instead of giving him time to fully
recuperate, Zoraida was antsy for him to finish his assignment.

A poof of black smoke encircled him; then
his feet hit solid ground. Through the dissipating haze, Mira’s
excited voice drifted toward his ears, but he couldn’t tell what
she was saying. Then he didn’t care. Her body hit his, nearly
knocking him off his feet, her arms wrapped around his neck, and
then her lips…her sweet and succulent lips…were closing over his,
parting to let him in, dragging him toward a temptation he didn’t
want to give in to. Not until he figured out how he could protect
both her and his brothers…and bring Zoraida down for good.

Impossible. You have to make a choice. Her
or your brothers. You can’t save them all.

She pulled back from his mouth, looked up
with hazel eyes that sparkled like diamonds. “I wasn’t sure when
I’d see you again. I’m so glad you came back to me. I missed you,
Tariq.”

Warmth spread through his chest. And words
choked in his throat.

How
could he choose between her and his brothers? He loved his
brothers, felt responsible for what had happened to them, but Mira…
She’d truly missed him. He could see it in her eyes. And not just
the wish he could grant her or the fact he was a prince and a
warrior. But she’d missed
him
,
the person.

“Mira—”

She grasped his hands, pulled him forward as
she stepped back toward a U-shaped couch. “Come here.”

He stumbled, the heat of her hands warming
his palms, sending electrical vibrations all along his nerve
endings. He looked around as she tugged him down to the couch, as
she snuggled close to him on the soft leather, as he closed his
arms around her and her head rested against his chest.

Teak furnishings, floor-to-ceiling cabinets,
a galley kitchen, high-tech electronics, and ahead, a raised bed.
This wasn’t her house. This wasn’t anywhere he recognized. Water
lapped somewhere close. Water that indicated…

“Mira,” he said quickly, excitement building
inside him. “Are we on the water?”

“Yes,” she said against him. “On my boss’s
boat. He let me borrow it. I haven’t been able to focus since you
left, so I took the rest of my vacation.”

They were on a boat. The tension in his
muscles began to relax, and relief spiraled through his whole body.
Zoraida couldn’t hear them on a boat. Water interfered with her
ability to see through the opal he was wearing and monitor what he
was doing. It was a loophole she hated. And he was forbidden from
taking any mark on a boat, into water period. But he hadn’t brought
Mira here. She’d brought him.

A slow
smile twined its way across his mouth, and he tipped her chin up to
his so he could see those mesmerizing eyes again. “You,
hayaati
, are
amazing.”

“Why?”

“Because you are.”

He brushed his fingers through her long
hair, lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her the way he’d
restrained himself from kissing her earlier. Her lips parted
easily, and he stroked his tongue against hers, tasted her
sweetness, her goodness, her wetness and need. Reveled in just
being close to her. Even if he knew it could never last. For the
first time in ten years, Zoraida couldn’t see him. She couldn’t
hear him. She couldn’t touch him. Not so long as they were on this
boat. And before he had to decide what to do next, he planned to
show Mira just what her gift meant to him. Even if she didn’t know
it was a gift in the first place.

He pushed her down to the cushions, braced
his hands on the leather as he climbed over her and changed the
angle of the kiss, as he tasted her deeper, as her arms came around
him and she pulled him close. His chest brushed hers; her legs
opened to make room for him. And when she groaned, when her fingers
dug into his shoulders and she pulled him even closer, all the
worry rushed away.

He’d
never been in love before. Not even with a female from his world.
He’d never had time. And then he’d been imprisoned by Zoraida, and
love had been the furthest thing from his mind. But here he was.
With a female. A
human
female.
One who gave and gave and didn’t ask for anything in return. One
who had
missed
him, even
knowing what he really was.

“Mira—”

She lifted her knees on each side of his,
drawing him toward her heat, kissing him again and again and
cutting off his words. Then she pressed her full, luscious breasts
against his chest until all he could think about was stripping her
naked and showing her with his hands and mouth and body how much
she meant to him.

“Mira—”

“Don’t talk, Tariq,” she whispered, kissing
his lips, his nose, his cheeks. “Just kiss me again. God, I missed
you.”

They were words no one ever said. Words he’d
longed to hear. Words that touched a part of him he’d closed off
from the world. He sank into her mouth, pushed his erection against
her mound, groaned at the contact, just as she did. But when her
hands traveled down his back and her fingers pressed into his
still-healing wounds, he jerked back from her mouth and ground his
teeth against the shot of pain igniting like fire in his flesh.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “What
happened?”

“Nothing,” he managed, wincing as the burn
slowly faded. “I’m…fine.”

“You’re not fine,” Mira said, pushing him up
and climbing onto her knees on the couch. “You’re hurt. Turn
around.”

“Mira—”

“Turn around, Tariq.”

One glance at her determined features told
him she wouldn’t drop this demand until he complied. And though he
didn’t want her to see the lash marks, he knew they weren’t going
to finish what they’d started until he appeased her.

He turned his back toward her.

“Take off your shirt,” she said.

He unbuttoned the shirt he wore, shrugged
out of the short sleeves, and let the rayon fabric fall around his
waist.

Mira gasped.

He
looked over his shoulder. Couldn’t see anything but Mira’s shocked
eyes and her hand covering her mouth. “That doesn’t sound
encouraging,
hayaati
. You’re
supposed to say, ‘It’s not that bad.’”

Her heartsick gaze shot to him. But there
was no humor in her voice when she dropped her hand and said, “Who
did this to you?”

He looked away, at the bed across the salon
he still wanted to tumble across with her. But that clearly wasn’t
going to happen until they talked. And he had a feeling once they
did and she learned the truth, tumbling anywhere with him was going
to be out of the question.

You have to choose. Her or your brothers
.

“Tariq,” Mira said again when he didn’t
answer. “Who did this to you?”

“Zoraida.”

“Who’s that?”

“My master.”

Mira sank back to sit on her heel. “The
person who controls you. The one who sent you here to me.”

He tugged his shirt back on, turned to face
her. Knew that she had to be wondering how and why and what it all
meant. Knew, when he looked into those glittering hazel eyes, that
he was going to tell her. “A sorceress. One who used magic to break
down the walls between our worlds. One who”—and here was where it
got sticky—”tricked me.”

“How?” Mira asked, tucking her feet up under
her as he pushed to his and started pacing.

Moving at least gave him something to do
besides wonder what she was thinking. But the salon was so small,
there was very little room to move. He raked a hand through his
hair. “I’m the eldest of three sons. My father, the king—”

“Wait. Your father’s a king?” Shock ran
across Mira’s face, slowing his feet. “That makes you a—”

“Prince. Yeah. Or at least, I was one.
Once.” He shook off the thought, resumed pacing. The open shirt
flapped against his stomach. “War is constant in our realm. The
tribes are always fighting, seeking power. My brothers and I were
all soldiers in the army, but as the eldest, it was my duty to
assume the throne. I didn’t really want it. I liked being with the
troops more than I did commanding them. But our father hasn’t been
the same since he was injured in battle several years ago, and it
was time. I was selfish, though. I asked for one last mission. He
agreed—reluctantly—and sent me and a handful of soldiers up the
Jagged Coast. Several villages had been ransacked by Ghuls. We were
supposed to eradicate the Ghuls, restore order, and return me to my
throne a hero.”

“What happened?” Mira asked quietly.

“Zoraida fooled me.” He thought back to how
naïve he’d been. How young and easily coerced. How stupid. “She was
in a bar in one of the first villages we freed. The soldiers were
celebrating. There were females from the village there that night.
Lots of females, ready to show their appreciation for what we’d
done. She was one of them.”

“She seduced you.”

Was that jealousy in her voice? Tariq
couldn’t tell. And he couldn’t dwell on it, because in a minute, it
wouldn’t matter.

“She used magic over me,” he said. “I didn’t
know it at the time, but I realized it as soon as it was over. When
the magic wore off, I saw her as she truly is. Not beautiful and
magnetic as I’d envisioned her to be, but frigid and deadly. The
raids on the villages—they were all traps. She commands the Ghuls,
has since she came into our realm, only we didn’t know. She knew my
father would send one of his sons to oversee the battles, and she
needed a royal djinn from the strongest tribe to complete her goal:
to become the strongest magical being in all of the realms.”

“What happened next?” Mira asked in a quiet
voice.

“She bound me to the Firebrand opal, made me
her slave. Sent me out into the human world to…” He swallowed,
glanced down at the floor because he couldn’t meet Mira’s eyes. Not
this time. “…corrupt souls to fuel her power.”

When Mira didn’t say anything, he resumed
pacing. Okay, so now she knew the truth about the whole wish
fulfillment thing and why he was here with her now. And she hated
him, just as he’d known she would. But that space in his chest
chilled faster than he expected, and what had once been warm and
full of life earlier turned cold as a blackened cinder.

He thanked his luck they were on a boat.
That he was blocking her only escape. That she couldn’t get away,
at least not yet. He needed her to hear the rest, even if she
didn’t want to.

“I’ve been her slave for ten years. I’ve
done what she commanded because I was always looking for a way to
freedom. But just before I met you, I realized there isn’t
one.”

She still didn’t speak, and he still
couldn’t look at her. He just needed to get it all out. “I went on
a hunger strike. I figured starving myself was the easiest way to
end my life and her quest for power. But she manipulated me again.
Somehow, she captured both of my brothers, and she brought them to
me. She’d beaten them. Threatened their lives. They’d been looking
for me. It wasn’t their fault they’d been captured. It was
mine.”