it pained her, she finally did move away from him. Being the fiend he was he dropped his fingertips to the skin of her arm and ran his nails down her bicep, over the sensitive, easily aroused softness of her inner elbow, and scraped it off the end of her hand and fingers. Goose bumps exploded across her arms and legs which made her shiver and feel a bit dizzy.
Shaking her head, she pressed forward, trying to get her frustration to the forefront. “Kitten, huh? That is real cute; you gave me a pet name. One of an actual pet. Why is it I feel that is completely appropriate? You stroke me and I unconditionally respond. Do I even have free will here or is this some kind of sexual trance thing?”
“My siblings and I have a strong sexual force about us, this is true. But it is not who I am, it is what you want,” he grinned flashing perfect straight white teeth. “I’m not using any magic on you.”
Magic now? But then how else to explain what I’ve seen, unless I’m completely hallucinating. “I’m not sure what to make of that answer. I’m going to consider it, and get back to you with my opinion.”
“I’m quite sure you will,” he chuckled with amusement, in that infernal sardonic tone.
“For now, I would appreciate it if you took your sexual force to the opposite end of the couch. So I can concentrate. Yes, I said for now; let it go, Smiley.” Jade crossed her arms, letting out an exasperated huff.
He moved his hands to the couch and pushed his gorgeous body away from her, stretching his legs up on the coffee table in front of him.
“Next question?”
The intoxicating human sat up straighter, her breasts heaving forward during the movement, making him stifle a growl. Then she crossed her legs underneath her on the sofa. He was still staring when her hand went up into her mane of red curls and took a lock between her fingers, twirling the strand the same way he had seen her do it at the bookstore.
“Why are we at your brother’s house and not yours?” It was ridiculous, the woman had him staring and losing his concentration. I am a warrior, not an adolescent chasing my first little girl. He looked at her and answered her question.
“Phaeton is the current Sovereign; this place is more of a compound than anything. He is in charge of the Djinn Sentry. Many of them live on this property. Because of their presence, and some other magic surrounding it, we are safe here. We will also conduct your training here.” He was now fully intent on getting down to business, having pushed aside the stirring within him.
“Okay, what is the training and what would I be training for?” Her gaze followed him back and forth, taking in the change in his demeanor.
“Maybe you would like to eat before we continue, your food is cooling and this answer may be extensive. I wouldn’t want to burden you with it on an empty stomach.”
He removed his feet from the coffee table and walked across the room to bring a covered tray and water to her. She found a hearty beef soup and fresh bread.
“I had it made for you while you were in the shower.”
“That was really nice, actually.” He was pleased he had done something right. For some reason he cared what she thought. He placed a glass of water in front of her as well. “You don’t drink water? You don’t eat either, do you? I know you pretend when you’re with me, but you never really eat anything. Do you eat regular food?”
He gave her a droll, blank stare like he had no intention of answering, which made her even more curious.
“No, really, are you like a vampire? Do you drink blood but you don’t want to freak me out?” She needed to have this conversation. It was scary to her that she didn’t even know what the hell the man, whom she had just let cover her in blood, ate. “Do you eat flesh, bloody flesh? Your plate looks a little gooey.” She wanted to close her ears and not get this answer; this might be the perfect time for her “ignorance is bliss” theory. But she had already asked and it looked like he might answer.
“I eat uncooked food. I am a strict carnivore.” He lifted his hand to her before she could react. “No not human flesh, I protect humans. As for the other question you asked the answer is yes. I can get as much strength and far more pleasure from blood as from meats. And as for the next question you are going to ask, yes, I could and would love to drink from you; and I can be quite creative in where I choose to drink from.” He gave her a wicked smile that made her legs cross and squeeze together at the top, and her areolas tighten in response. He was male perfection, even in the middle of this nightmare. He continued in that delicious, melodic tone only he possessed, “You my sweet, dirty girl, would love it. I have an extremely potent sense of smell and your blood smells divine.” He ran his nails up the inside of her tightly squeezed and blessedly covered thigh. Jade inhaled deeply and thought about how demented she had become, because she considered how much she might enjoy it.
She got up in order to sit on the coffee table, keeping herself out of his reach. As she buried herself in her food, not trusting herself to even speak to him at the moment, he watched her in silence.
As she was eating, he tried to explain what he was to her. If he wanted to move forward with Jade’s help he felt she deserved a few answers. He could, at least, give her that. He suddenly thought about risking her life and he realized he no longer felt so eager to do it. This woman he had known for a day seemed a little more important to him than she should.
“I am a Daemon, one of two kinds; my kind is called the Djinn. The monsters that abducted and harmed you earlier are Shaitan. You were extremely lucky, because they enjoy inflicting pain. The fact it only scratched you means they were after something and needed you coherent to get it. I won’t go on. Hopefully you will never learn the full extent of their depravity.”
He could see goose bumps form on her flesh and then watched her shudder.
She changed direction on him with her next question. “Okay, I’ll focus on you for now, you’ve been blinking me around the country; your blood stops my pain. What other powers or abilities, or whatever, do you have?”
“We call ‘blinking’, as you say, transcending; we can move anywhere instantly, we only need to know where it is we want to go and we arrive, anywhere above ground. Also we can control fire and weather and have acute smell and hearing, which we used to find you earlier.” He purposely left out the part on how their emotions could sometimes affect both fire and weather without their conscious thought – there was no need to add that to her apprehension. “However, none of this works in Sheol, which is why we have to move in on foot.”
“Where is this Sheol? I heard you mention it to that woman, if that’s what she was. Your brother is being kept there, right? By the Shaitan? Are you sure he’s still alive? I’m so sorry to ask you, but from what you’re telling me they seem more than a little dangerous.”
He paused, his face darkening. She had asked something he didn’t want to consider at all. “No, I’m not absolutely positive he’s still alive.” He said it that way because he refused to believe anything different.
“But they took him for a reason. He isn’t directly connected with the Sentry. He is a free spirit. Joss lives his life separately from us, like I was trying to do before he was taken. Until they let us know their intentions we are confident they won’t end him. But they are sure to damage him physically and psychologically over time, so we need to train you and move in as quickly as possible. Iblis, the father and Lord of Sheol, is given the souls of the worst of human life. He punishes them in ways I do not wish to speak of. Your murderers, pedophiles, those who torture and cause pain to others during their time above ground, also those who decide to take their own lives; they all end up there.” He could feel the pain of this last answer and the memories it dredged up, and wanted to move away from it quickly.
“Centuries ago, Djinn and Shaitan inhabited Sheol together. But we saw how the Shaitan had begun to trick humans and lead them to slaughter, forcing them to the Unseen. So we left to try to protect them …”
Jade practically flew off the table, obviously stunned,