“Sava is in big, big trouble when I see him again.” Though, being able to see Arim strut around with that impressive body was no hardship, I had to admit.
“Well, I’m not going to thank him. Or Jonas either, for that matter.” Arim glanced away from me. “Hell. Look. I have to know. Don’t get angry.”
I had no clue why he looked so nervous, but I couldn’t stop staring. Arim never looked unsure.
“You and Jonas never…” His voice hardened. “You and Jonas aren’t involved, are you?”
I couldn’t help laughing. “Me and Jonas?” At my laughter, Arim relaxed. “You asked me that before. Why would you think that?”
“Something Sava mentioned.” Arim flushed and tried to turn away, but not before I jumped into his arms, still grinning. I didn’t think I’d ever forget that look on his face.
“Are you jealous?”
“Maybe,” he grumbled, looking put out. But he didn’t move his hands from cupping my ass, holding me against him. A reluctant smile lit his face. “You like that, don’t you? That even when I thought the worst of you, I couldn’t help feeling you were mine. I wanted to rip Jonas’ tongue out whenever he spoke so lovingly about you.” Arim’s gaze burned, and I tried to tamp the grin threatening to split my face open. “In fact, I will the next time I see the asshole.”
“Why, Arim, I think that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He chuckled and carried me to the sofa, where he dumped me before turning to the kitchen. “I’m going to feed that flat little belly of yours, Blue. Because if I don’t, I’m tempted to fuck you again. Damned if I know how you keep doing it to me. If Sava doesn’t get here soon with some clothes, I may not spend any time at all outside of that tempting body of yours.”
I kept quiet, a bit disturbed I had no complaints about sexing up my Storm Lord for the foreseeable future. Making love with him was exhaustingly perfect. I’d already decided to get as much of it as I could before the outside world intruded. At least this experience would be something to remember fondly when the world turned to shit again, as it no doubt would.
Sighing, I couldn’t help wondering about Sin Garu, which brought my thoughts back to Jonas and the others and how I’d positioned all the players. Using Ethim il Ruethe to gather the Sarqua Djinn — those Djinn wanting freedom from Sin Garu’s oppression — had been genius.
Ethim had no liking for Dark Lords, but he’d been willing to risk a chance on me if it meant freeing his people from a sadistic Dark Lord sorcerer. It was through him I’d met Jonas.
And Remir.
I wondered again about the Darkling who’d pledged his life and loyalty to me before any of the others had done so. For years, Remir had given me information about his brethren, his affection for me impossible to miss. Just once I’d been weak enough to allow his attentions.
My disinterested body had quickly shown me what a mistake I’d made, even though our intimacy had only tightened Remir’s loyalty to me. Which made it unfathomable to believe what I’d seen to be real.
I had been spying on Ethim and his kin a few months back, before my last altercation with Sin Garu. There, I’d prodded Cadmus, the last unwed Storm Lord, to commit to my friend Ellie, who also happened to be Ethim’s daughter. To my satisfaction, Cadmus had easily fallen in with my plans, in love with the woman I called a friend.
After that, everything with the rebel Djinn progressed accordingly. And then I had seen Remir and a woman who could have been my double having sex.
I didn’t have a twin. I had two brothers, one dead and one nearly so, his body reduced to a shell encasing demons that wanted nothing more than to sink the world around us into chaos. Not wanting to believe what I suspected, I tried to contact Remir but had met with no success. Had I not been injured in my last battle with my egomaniacal brother, I’d have followed up on Remir’s disturbing disappearance. At the least, I would have tasked Jonas to investigate the matter.
Jonas. I couldn’t help the warmth that filled me at thoughts of Arim being jealous. Despite Jonas’ good looks and obvious charm with the ladies, the Darkling had never made me burn the way Arim did. After my less-than-satisfying coupling with Remir, I’d sworn off males, at least until I resolved the regrets in my life.
My plans had been to kill Sin Garu, destroy the Netharat, and find closure in my dealings with Arim. I frowned. How much closer was I now to my goals? I had no magic, no clothing, and nothing more than time to kill as I waited for that idiot, Sava, and that turncoat, Jonas, to return and set me free.
The thought made me pause, because I realized I wasn’t sure I wanted to be free, not if it meant leaving this behind. That in itself was cause for alarm. I glanced at Arim, watching the muscles in his body flex as he moved. From here, I could see the strength in his aura, could sense the magic returning to his body even though we both sat under Sava’s spell.
My Light Bringer lover had so much power. That innate authority, along with his sexy body, made my mouth water. Just knowing he loved me gave me a thrill, even as his confession worried me.
Love and hate were sides of the same coin, a truth I knew very well.
Arim thought he loved me. I didn’t doubt his sincerity, but I did doubt his longevity. We’d been deeply in love before, and he’d ditched me at the first sign of trouble. Okay, I had to admit “trouble” was too bland a word for what had happened to my family. But still.
He should have demanded my explanation. He should have stuck with me through that terrible time, providing the same comfort he so easily gave now.
“Arim?”
“Blue?” He joined me on the couch with a plate of food. To my dismay, I found it difficult to look away from his superbly conditioned frame. He grinned. “Hungry again, baby?”
Embarrassed, I glared at him. “You are in perpetual heat.” And so the hell am I. I licked my lips, doing my best to ignore the rise of his impressive cock. “Let me ask this before I lose my train of thought.” I ignored his chuckle. “Before, when you mentioned Muri that day it all happened, you said that I attacked you first.”
His smiled faded. “You did.”
