Death and Desire (Love in Cairo #1)

Chapter Thirteen

E nsnared by his dark gaze, Violet held her breath as thick, black smoke curled around her ankles. Fear should have filled her, but she only felt excitement pounding in her veins. Her skin tingled where they touched.

Whatever this was between them, she craved it. Her uncertainty melted away at the hum of tension surrounding them. She knew exactly what he was—who he was—and she still wanted him.

Khalid moved her hand away from his face as the smoke climbed higher, weaving around them like a ribbon pulling them together. Binding them in this moment. She gasped as the smoke slid between them, slowly blocking his face from view.

His dark eyes glowed gold, fixed upon hers as smoke curled around his head before engulfing him completely.

Violet shifted closer, her mind and body held in a trance, as if she were drunk on him. On what he made her feel. Whether it was some trick or spell, she couldn’t say, but when he entered her mind, she found only peace. It unnerved her to have someone inside her thoughts, speaking to her without words, but it was simultaneously exhilarating.

Anubis , she whispered in her mind.

His presence returned, and she smiled.

Slowly, the shadows dissipated, evaporating in the evening air like smoke on the wind. Even though she expected it, anticipated it, asked for it, she gasped at the revelation of his true form.

Anubis towered over her. She’d forgotten how tall and broad he was in this form. Her gaze drifted across his bare chest, the defined muscles carved beneath his ebony skin, glinting like polished stone beneath the dim lights and full moon.

Her gaze snapped to his face...not a man’s now, but a jackal’s. One pointed ear, laden with three gold rings, twitched. Vibrant gold eyes held her gaze. She felt the warmth of his skin beneath her touch and the rasp of his nails as he grazed them across her palm.

A shiver wracked her.

“I frighten you,” he said simply, his tone low and gruff.

“No...” Violet bit her lip, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. Her body hummed with awareness.

“Why does your breath catch and your heart race”—he drew one curved nail over her wrist—“if you are not afraid?”

“Because I want—” She stopped short, unsure of how to say it, how to explain the need coursing through her, drawing her to him.

“What do you want, Violet?” His husky question wove deep into her mind, unraveling the remaining threads of her sanity.

“You already know, don’t you?” She blinked slowly, pulled into a dizzying haze of need. “Desire has a scent, remember?”

“I want to hear you say the words.” His deep voice unrooted something inside her until her hesitation snapped.

“I want you,” she murmured, her voice faltering.

His brow furrowed, forming a crease between his eyes. It was almost comical to see the look of confusion on his houndlike face. And yet, it endeared him to her more.

Violet pulled away from his grip, reaching up to trace her fingers along his jaw. His body tensed beneath her curious touch, but she heard a hum of appreciation in his throat as she stroked her thumb along his muzzle.

There was no fur, only silken skin beneath her fingertips. She traced the contours of his face, along his muzzle, until she reached the base of his ear. Using her nails, she scratched the curve lightly, up to where gold brushed her knuckles, then back down again.

A satisfied growl reverberated from deep within him.

“What is it you seek, my curious little flower?” Anubis rumbled in her ear.

Violet rose up on her toes, straining to bring herself closer to him. He arched down, meeting her halfway. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his muzzle. Another growl rumbled from his throat as she pressed her lips to his warm, soft snout.

“This is not what you want.”

“It is.” She kissed him again, her lips lingering there as her fingertips wandered along his neck, raking bare skin above the gold clasped around his throat. “Have you ever found pleasure with a human, Anubis?”

His breath hitched at her exploration. “I have watched for thousands of years but never indulged in the pursuit of this pleasure.”

Violet drew back, blinking at him. “Never?”

He shook his head. “If this is what you truly desire...”

Anubis’s arms wrapped around her, lifting her off the ground and pinning her to his chest. She squealed at the sudden movement, aware of his muscles and the press of the gold-banded garment around his hips pushing hard into her stomach.

“Then I will do my best to give you what you need.”

He strode three paces and sat on a bench beneath a palm tree. The same tree where they’d spoken days ago, before she knew who he truly was. She’d wanted him then, but now, fire burned beneath her skin.

Violet moaned at the sensations, rocking her hips as he settled her against him. Her gown rode high on her thighs as he positioned her on his lap.

“Show me what you need,” he murmured in her ear. “Teach me how to bring you pleasure.”

Heat blossomed deep in her chest. She’d been with men before, but only a few—fumbling, inexperienced men who had left her filled with shame and unfulfilled. But Anubis, even in his innocence, was no inexperienced youngster. He was a god, an observer of humanity for eons...and he was asking her to teach him.

Violet placed her hand over his, where it was pressed firmly to her hip. Gently, she guided it to where she needed his touch. Across her stomach, grazing the curve of her breasts. Her breath caught at the sensation pulsing beneath her skin. She wished they were in a secluded space where she could be uninhibited and bared to him. She longed to teach him properly, but her body thrummed with need. She wanted this. Now .

“No one can see us or hear us, my flower.”

He nuzzled her neck, again grazing her breast with his palm. She gasped when a curved nail found a peaked nipple hidden beneath the fabric.

Releasing his hand, she allowed him to take control. He explored her, first with one hand, then the other. His massive palms cupped her breasts, gently squeezing, taking their weight. She moaned.

“You like when I touch you?” he whispered against her throat. His teeth skimmed the juncture where it met her shoulder.

Anubis! she screamed in her mind. Please touch me lower.

“I want to hear you say it,” he growled as his hands slowly slid over her hips.

“Touch me.” She gasped, writhing. Her body burned for his questing fingers...for his direct command. “Please.”

He slid his hands beneath the silk, his nails gently raking the tender skin on the inside of her thighs. A hint of panic seized her at the thought of his nails against her delicate sex.

Anubis chuckled, the sound delightful and strange in her ear. “I promise, I won’t hurt you.”

He pressed his fingertips into her thighs.

She blinked, realizing the sharp nails were gone. His touch remained firm, determined as it persisted.

“Is this where you burn for my touch?” He cupped her sex over her thin cotton undergarment. The heat of his hand consumed her thoughts.

“Yes,” she moaned, arching into his touch. She rocked her hips, needing more friction, more pressure. If only he would slip his fingers beneath the fabric...

“I can read your thoughts, but I would rather hear your desires from your lips,” Anubis scolded.

Before she could respond, his fingers were beneath the fabric. One hand parted her thighs while the other explored between them. His smooth fingertips slid through the evidence of her arousal and desire. His gentle caress left her gasping with pleasure.

“So wet,” Anubis murmured as he explored her folds with two fingers.

Violet nearly buried her face in his neck to hide, but he held her fast.

He brushed his thumb over her clit, and she cried out.

“Oh god.” She ground herself into his hand. “Right there. Please.”

Anubis silently obeyed, stroking his fingers over the center of her ache. She clung to his arm, digging her nails into his skin as the pleasure grew and the tension spiraled higher.

When she’d found no fulfillment with her previous lovers, she’d taken matters into her own hands. Never had it felt this...intense. She threw her head back as he raked her clit once more. Close...so close, she just needed—

“Put–put your fingers inside me.” She gasped, barely able to form coherent thought.

Without hesitation, Anubis slid two long, thick fingers inside her, his thumb still pressed to her center. He filled her, stroking the inner walls as he kept steady pressure circling her swollen bud.

Panting, she clung to him.

Then he began to move. Slowly withdrawing and thrusting his fingers. Her hips met his movements, and they fell into a rhythm. Her panting turned to gasps as the tension inside her pulled tighter. Her eyes closed.

His scent drifted around her, sand and spice and him. Heat surrounded her. His touch awakened things inside her she hadn’t known resided in her soul.

An incoherent shout ripped from her throat as her climax took hold. Every fiber of her being pulsed with awareness. Starlight burst in the night. She sagged against him, clinging to his muscular forearms as she rode the wave of fulfillment to the calm seas of satisfaction.

Gently, he slowed and withdrew his hand from between her thighs. She moaned at the loss of his touch. He shifted, gathering her into his lap, cradling her to his chest.

Violet gazed up at him and felt small in his arms. The elation of her climax and the heaviness it brought to her limbs weighed her down. Even so, she found the strength to press a kiss to his muzzle.

His golden eyes closed.

The familiar shift of darkness wove around them, enclosing them both in thick black smoke. When it cleared, Violet found herself cradled in Khalid’s lap, lost in his dark gaze.

“Thank you.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Rest, Violet.”

Khalid rose from the bench, carrying her in his arms, as though she weighed nothing. They strode through the garden, into the hotel, along the corridor. No one paid them any mind, because he’d somehow shielded them from the world.

He protected her.

Inside her room, Khalid placed Violet on the bed. He removed her shoes and put them on the floor. She nestled into the pillow and sighed.

“Stay with me,” she murmured, reaching for him.

He took her hand and squeezed it before bending down to press a kiss to her forehead. Then he laid down beside her and gathered her into his embrace.