She rolled her eyes in such a seductive way he wanted to kiss the expression from her face. “That can’t be very exciting.”
“You were quite entertaining.”
“I was?”
“You’re talkative in your sleep.”
Her eyes widened. “I was talking? What did I say?
He placed a hand on her hip, rolling her easily toward him. “Something about baths and water and more. I’m pretty sure you were moaning.”
Her cheeks turned bright pink, and she dropped her head against his chest, tucking her hands up next to her face. “How embarrassing.”
He chuckled and ran his hand up her naked spine. “You make the sexiest sounds when you’re enjoying yourself. What were you dreaming about?”
For a heartbeat, she didn’t move. Then she eased back just enough to lift her face to his. “Um. You. And the bath we took the other night.”
His blood heated. “You liked that, huh?”
“I loved that,” she whispered.
His pulse picked up when she lifted her mouth, when her lips skimmed his. And when her sexy little tongue licked across his bottom lip, the way he’d done to her earlier, he opened. His hand flexed against her hip as her tongue snaked into his mouth, as she tasted and explored, as she groaned and scooted even closer.
He wanted nothing more than to flip her to her stomach and wedge himself so deep inside her she forgot everything but him. But they had things to discuss now that she was awake. And even though she clearly wanted him again too, he didn’t want to hurt her. She had to be sore, and though he’d been gentle before, the next time he wasn’t entirely sure he could go slow and easy. Not with the raging hunger for her still burning inside him.
Breathless, he forced himself back. “Don’t look at me like that, rouhi.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes it very hard to resist you.”
“I don’t want you to resist me. I want you to take me again. I want you to”—she bit her lip—“fuck me.”
He sucked in a breath at the visual her words created. “Rouhi—”
She leaned in and kissed him again. A kiss that left him light-headed and achingly hard. Then she sighed. “If you really want me to stop teasing you, I guess I will.”
Never stop. Ever...
She rolled away, then scooted back until her ass was nestled against his groin and her back was plastered to his chest. “How’s this? Better?”
His hand landed on her hip again. He looked down at her pale skin pressed up tight to his much-darker flesh. Felt the curve of her sweet ass against his throbbing erection.
Yes. No. Allah, he couldn’t think when she was so close. “Um…”
She giggled, tucked her hands under her head. “I like it.” On another sigh, she relaxed against him. “Why do you think your mu’allim gave us this room?”
At the moment, Nasir didn’t care. All he could focus on was the press of her ass against his cock. The way the slightest shift of her hips made him want to groan. The smile in her voice as she teased him. Sliding his hand across her bare belly, then up to cup her breasts, he lowered and pressed a kiss to her throat. “I don’t know. But I think he likes you.”
“He does?”
“Uh-huh.” He nipped at her ear. “Kicked my ass when he thought I’d hurt you. That’s how I got the wound.”
She looked over her shoulder. “From Malik?”
“That surprises you?”
Her brow furrowed, then slowly, she laid her head back down on the pillow. “Yes, actually. I’m nothing to him. Why would he care what you do to me?”
He pulled her tighter back against him, loving the heat of her body against his groin, even if it did ignite him to within degrees of boiling. “I heard a story right after I came here. About a great sahad who’d been champion for over a hundred years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“He was an animal. Decimated anything they threw at him. Other sahads would tremble simply at his name. The way the story goes, he and his lover had been captured together. He’d been sentenced to the pits, and she…well…she’d been of such blinding beauty, she’d been taken to the harem.”
Kavin’s upper body turned back toward him. “But if she wasn’t a virgin—”
“I don’t think it mattered,” he said softly, kissing her nose. “A slave is a slave. If they’d wanted the female, they’d have taken her.” Sickness rolled through his stomach at the thought, but he forced it aside. “The way the story goes, she couldn’t handle it. Life without him. She killed herself before he could figure out a way to free her.”
Kavin’s eyes slid closed, and she turned back, lowering once more to the pillow. “I know this story.”
“You do?”
She nodded, but he couldn’t see her eyes. Couldn’t tell what she was feeling. “I heard about her in the harem. It was a warning to me, I think. But I didn’t know about the sahad. He went on to fight?”
“They say he fought for her, even in death. That it gave him power to defy his captors.”
Silence settled between them, then she said, “Do you believe that’s true?”
He thought about everything that had happened between them since the moment she’d been brought to him. What he’d been before, and what he was now. And felt those emotions roll stronger through his chest. “I believe love is a powerful force. It can give you strength you didn’t know you had. Sometimes when you need it most.”
She was silent so long he wasn’t sure if he’d said the right thing or not. Then, quietly, she said, “It was him, wasn’t it? The sahad? It was Malik.”
He tightened his arm around her. Pressed his chin against her neck. “I think so. I don’t know for sure, but when he thought I’d hurt you…I’ve never seen him so enraged. Females in our tribe, they’re worshiped, not treated as property.”
“Our?” She turned her head again. “Are you saying—”
“Malik is Marid. He showed me that day. He keeps his lineage carefully cloaked with magic, so the highborns won’t know what he is. But if he was that champion… A hundred years is a long time. Unrest in the ruling class here is high, especially with the wars the Ghuls wage. It’s entirely possible the highborns in control of Jahannam now are not the ones who were in control when he was first brought here as a slave.”
“Why would he stay? If it’s true…if he’s risen to the rank of mu’allim and he’s harnessed his magic, he could easily escape.”
“I don’t know.” But Nasir had an idea. He guessed Malik stayed because it was the only way he could be close to his love, even after all this time. And because training others to stay alive was one more slap in the face to the highborns who’d imprisoned him from the start and taken his heart.
“I think this is his room,” Nasir said, tucking his chin against her again, holding on to her warmth. “I think he wanted you to have something nicer than that cell of mine for your first time. It’s not a palace, by any means, but it is a hell of a lot nicer than that cave.”
She lowered her hand to his against her belly and squeezed. “I would make love with you in a cave. I’d make love with you anywhere.”
Arousal stirred in his groin again at her words, and warmth encircled his heart. “You have to admit the bath, though, is a nice perk.”
She chuckled, and the sound was so sweet it eased the tension in his chest. Eased the worry over what he had to do tomorrow.
Silence settled back between them. Then, very softly, she said, “When I was in the harem, the others would talk about you. They say those from your tribe tend to be of even temperament. That it takes a lot to push a Marid from soldier to sahad. That most don’t survive, because killing isn’t in their blood. But Malik became one. And so did you. So I’m just wondering…who did you lose?”