Eternally Bound: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (39 page)

“Damned woman.”

“What?” she asked innocently. “What’d I do?”

“I don’t have anything to cover this up.” He nodded discreetly toward the impressive bulge pushing against his zipper. “I’m almost tempted to go buy some traditional men’s clothing to hide this damned thing.”

“Well, I happen to like that damned thing.”

“While I’m glad you enjoy my cock, I don’t particularly want it on display. And I don’t even want to think about trying to walk right now.”

She laughed. Couldn’t help it.

A few clouds rolled in from the west, but it was still warm and balmy as they moved along. Turning a corner, Chrys screeched to a halt, biting the inside of her lip to keep her mouth from falling open.

The fabulous and unique scents and sounds of the bazaar hit her square in the face. Row after row of stalls and tents stretched out before them. This was heaven. Had to be. She’d never seen so many different items available in an open-air market. This was like the flea market from God! And she could haggle with the best of ‘em.

Music floated from various directions. Some fast, some slow, all with the telltale hypnotic sounds of drums and pear-shaped stringed 
oud
 present in most music from this region. And so many oils and fragrances, it boggled the mind.

Aside from colorful hieroglyphs and drawings on leaf papyrus, there were paintings of pharaohs and their queens, ankhs, camels and such on black, brown and even bronze dyed leather. Rugs in every color and pattern imaginable, brass lamps, spices and perfumes, mother-of-pearl, silver and resin jewelry boxes. Another peddled heavy blown-glass oil lamps in a slew of vibrant colors with accompanying sweet, spicy and floral scented oils. Her favorite was a hand-blended mix of jasmine and vanilla with a touch of sandalwood and lemon. The aroma was so delicious, it even caught Rahn’s attention for a second.

The stall next door was packed with curio accessories, including lead crystal tea sets and water pipes. Chrys snatched up a royal blue 
hookah
 pipe along with a small brick of mango and orange sticky tobacco from an endless selection, determined to try it. Maybe she’d become a 
shisha
 connoisseur instead of a flavored cigar lover.

So wrapped up in shopping and purposely ignoring the shuffling drag of poor Rahn’s feet, Chrys almost missed her own stomach grumbling.

“Sounds like you could use a little something to eat.”

“Gee, you think? Snarky doesn’t become you, Rahn,” she muttered with a smile as she pulled him to the next tent.

“Oh yeah? Since when?”

Good question.

But when they ran across several booths with intricately designed, embroidered head covers called
galabia
, Chrys just had to look around some more. The women manning the booth explained that the head cover was usually black or white when outside the home, but could be myriad colors when worn at home. She bought four of them.

“Woman, where in the world will you wear those when we get home?”

Wicked incarnate, she turned to her mate. “For your information, I can wear them all the time with…nothing else.”

Rahn instantly relieved her of her mountain of purchases before his iron grip wrapped around her biceps. Rahn eased her around and through the milling crowd to a less populated section and into an empty booth. He released her long enough to tie the flaps closed and crowd her into the back room, again tying the flaps. God, he hoped this booth was empty for the day and not just empty for, say, the next five minutes.

“Rahn, what are you doing?” Chrys whispered, the corner of her mouth tipped up into a barely there grin.

“Minx. How ‘bout showing me what you look like in that scarf right now…and nothing else.”

“What? No way. What if somebody comes?”

“Should have thought of that before you decided to tease me,” he grinned with slow and deliberate intent.

“Oh please, give me a break,” she snorted, growing hotter by the second. Brown eyes practically aglow with sizzling heat, the man moved with purpose and grace, stalking her all the way across the tent. The back of her knees began to sweat. 
Oh god, please send a strong breeze to cool me down
, she prayed. Because in a few more seconds, her little white linen pants outfit would be soaked through with more than just her own sweat.

Stiff with concern of getting busted having sex in an Arabic country in someone else’s tent, Chrys bit her lip to keep from moaning. Didn’t help at all.

“Aaaah.” The groan slipped out as she was turned around and bent over the nearest object. Rahn’s warm, wet tongue left a cooling trail across the skin on the back of her neck as his strong hands reached around her body. God, she loved when he did that.

Her breasts were at instant attention. Hell, even if he hadn’t lifted her blouse to caress them, they swelled so quickly she could almost feel the blood pumping through the veins underneath her skin.

The heat of the day couldn’t hold a candle to the temperature spike caused by the hard flesh pressed against her ass. Correction, the bare crack of her ass.

When the hell had the man taken her pants down? But she was so wet so fast, when he pressed into her yielding flesh and filled her in one stroke, Chrys didn’t give a damn about the methods he used to undress her.

The man was a machine, all hard, unyielding and perfectly tuned. And so totally able to hit the sweet spot deep inside her creaming pussy.

“Damn,” she panted. “God, that’s so good.”

“This is all I think about if you’re within a hundred meters of me. Sliding into your hot pussy. Diving into this cunt as deep as I can go. Then holding you close after.”

“Oh god,” she wailed. He was fucking her like she was his last piece of ass before he died. He took her hard and fast. And her orgasm spiraled up out of her belly just the same way—hard and fast.

And she loved every minute of it.

Nothing like an afternoon quickie in a public place to invigorate a sistah. Hell, it was even better than shopping.

* * * * *

Later, Rahn breathed an audible sigh of relief when he spotted his aunt moving through the crowd. She waved and smiled as she made her way over to them.

Slightly taller than Chrys, her hair was covered with a beautifully embroidered 
galabia
. Smooth skin, barely a shade lighter than Chrys’ cinnamon tones, was visible on her face and hands. So this was a relative, eh? She knew it was probably a girl thing, but found herself wondering if the rest of Rahn’s relatives had such beautiful skin. With his half-British, half-Egyptian heritage, Rahn sported more of the too-much-cream-in-the-coffee tanned tones, and boy, did he wear it well. Chrys was sure she’d never met such a handsome, gorgeously built, muscle-toting, kissable man as hers. Okay, time to quit staring and drooling at Rahn and greet his aunt like she had some sense.

“It is so nice to meet you, Chrysalyn.”

“Chrys, please.”

“Thank you. Chrys it is. I am Sumanjah el Hattal. You may call me Aunt or simply Suman will do.”

The barely noticeable crinkles around her eyes and mouth brought to mind a mix of mature wisdom and a zest for life. She kind of reminded Chrys of her own aunts back home, who still lived on the reservation in South Dakota. Women who looked after their family, passed on wisdom and stood firm in the face of adversity, smiling all the while. And even though those women were friendly and sweet, they didn’t miss a thing and wouldn’t hesitate to tell you about yourself. And you’d better not call them by their first name, either.

Aunt Suman turned to Rahn. “I cannot stay long, but I do have news for you. Unfortunately, none of it is heartening.”

Rahn looked back and forth between the two women.

“Maybe it can wait until later? We still plan to stay with you and Uncle a few days.”

“Yes, but…”

The man was clearly torn between wanting to get the news on a possible suspect, but not wanting to leave her side to do it. Chrys tried not to roll her eyes, honest she did. But off they went, rolling upward in frustration before she could stop them.

“Rahn, why don’t you find me a cup of that delicious thick-as-axle-grease stuff you guys call tea. Or better yet, I’ll get it. We passed a stand with some goodies just down that way.”

“Chrys, no…”

“I’ll get some tea. You talk to Aunt Suman and do your job. I’m not officially on this case and I know you can’t discuss details while I’m present. It is kind of cool that your aunt is your informant.” Then she turned with an outstretched hand and said, “Ms. Sumanjah, I look forward to spending time with you and your family.”

“Chrys,” Rahn warned, the words pushed through gritted teeth.

Oh, please. She chuckled. He scowled and she reminded him that it was unlikely that she was a target.

Rahn practically bellowed, “And you know that how, exactly?”

Chrys’ blood ran cold, simply because she couldn’t answer the question. Yet she was determined that he not worry so much about her. Besides, in all her years of service, she’d never fallen prey to a criminal or became a target. This case was no different. If anything, Rahn was more likely to be in danger, considering he was actually “working”. She was just along for the ride.

“Rahn, on the way here you promised to try to give me a little breathin’ room, remember? Look, what could possibly happen to me here? The place is stuffed with people hawking and buying wares. And I promise to stay within screaming distance, okay?”

He looked ready to take his promise back, but he snapped his mouth shut. Judging from his clenched teeth and matching fists, Chrys knew it had probably taken all his mental and physical strength to pin his lips together. Good, ‘cause she’d said all she had to say about it.

Giving him her back, she went off in search of something to drink. The tea served here was so strong that even though it was meted out in a cup barely bigger than a shot glass, it required at least three teaspoons of sugar just to get it down. But it was delicious and would stave off her hunger a bit longer. Not to mention the wonders of caffeine.

Standing outside one of the small cafes with a permanent location at the bazaar, she sipped the steaming brew and winced. Damn, it was potent stuff. Mahpiya and Adonei had been on high alert ever since she left Rahn’s side and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

*
Can’t you two settle down? Or at least close down the link a little bit. Your edginess is making me nervous
.*

But Chrys’ words only seemed to agitate them more. The next instant, both imposing spirits settled into a lion’s most common battle stance—feet planted firmly, eyes pinned on what they perceived as a threat, and ready to pounce.

Chapter Fifteen

“Avoiding me?”

Chrys almost dropped her tea when the cats pacing around in her head upped their roaring and growling.

‘Don’t worry, you two. I’ll be careful around him. He acts like a nice guy, but I’m beginning to have my doubts.’

For the first time in weeks, Chrys admitted to herself and her guides that there was something just a bit off about Eden, no matter how suave he appeared. Six years of undercover training kicked in and Chrys painted on a plastic smile and a serene façade. If she played her cards right, maybe she could get some answers in regard to what rubbed her companions the wrong way.

“Hi, Eden. Where’ve you been hiding lately? We didn’t get a chance to thank you for helping after Rahn was injured.”

“I thought I should give you and your friend some privacy to heal. I’m sure it was traumatic for you.”

For her? Rahn was the one who’d been attacked. He was the one someone had tried to carve up like a Sunday baked turkey. Her man had lain in a pool of blood that night. If anything, it was traumatic for Rahn. She looked at Eden sideways, not caring for the irritation, however slight or unintended, when Eden called Rahn her friend.

Then there was Adonei. Damned lion was pacing the well-worn trail across her mind again.

Eden ordered a tea and asked, “So where is Mr. Benson?”

“Who? Oh, Rahn?” she asked with her best oblivious-as-a-blonde expression. “He’s off shopping for a surprise for me,” she lied. “Hey, what was that?”

“What was what, Chrysalyn?”

“That noise. Sounds like someone is in distress.”

Instinct had her legs moving toward the sound. With a confused-looking Eden tagging behind her, Chrys silently sent Adonei ahead to scout.

When the mighty lion returned, his news hit her straight in the gut.

*
It’s a female. She is under attack. Two males, both masked. Neither as strong as you, even without the infusion of my powers.
*

Chrys turned a corner into a dim alley and took in the scene before her. Just as Adonei said, two men yanked at the clothes of a kicking, screaming woman. She was completely covered from head to toe, like a Bedouin woman, but the creeps harassing her were trying to make sure she didn’t stay that way.

Well, watching someone get raped in an alley just didn’t float her boat. Without a second thought, Chrys moved in to protect the female and walked confidently into the fray. The men looked up and she could see their leers through the scarves over their ugly faces. One of them licked his lips. Ewww. Nasty bastard.

Eden’s hastily mumbled “I’ll go get help” made it more than clear she was on her own. Fine. Coward.

All their attention on Chrys, they released the woman who promptly took off at a dead run. The two would-be rapists began to circle Chrys. No worries. With no weapons, her body would simply have to take these assholes down.

Surrounded, Chrys didn’t doubt she could still beat the hell out of them, especially with Adonei’s strength. All she had to do was call.

Or that was the plan until Mahpiya shouted a warning into her skull. Too late. Someone snuck up behind Chrys and poked her in the kidneys with a very heavy, very cold piece of steel. Hell, even with lion super-strength and speed, there was no way she could dodge a bullet this close.

The order to shut up or else was an unfamiliar muffled hiss against her ear. And these bastards looked more than capable of following up on the “or else” part.