He quirks an eyebrow at me as I get to my feet. "Do you remember what we talked about?"
I link my arms around his waist and go immediately for his nipple, nuzzling at it through his shirt. "Besotted," I tell him, purring the word out. "I'm supposed to be besotted." I bite the hard tip and lick it through the fabric, glancing up at him. "Lost in you."
"That's right," he murmurs, his hand going to the top of my head.
It takes everything I have not to drop to my knees right then and there. I haven't sucked his dick, have I? The realization is shocking to me, and my mouth waters with hunger. Well, clearly I need to fix that. I hook a finger in the waistband of his sweatpants and give him an enticing look. "Give me five minutes and then I'll be ready to go up."
And I palm him through his sweatpants.
He growls with pleasure, his hand covering mine as he gives me a heated look. "Didn't realize how potent those crystals are. I've a mind to toss them into the nearest river if it'll make you like this all the time."
"You like me sassy, too," I say, rubbing him. "Because you like it when I finally cave."
"I do indeed." He grasps my hand in his, pulling me away from his cock, and presses a kiss to the center of my palm. "Let us go up and meet our friend. Do you remember what I told you?"
"Don't mention a certain thing," I parrot, fascinated at the sight of his lips brushing against my skin. "Be lost in you. Pretend to be stupid and very, very mortal."
"Close enough," he says, chuckling. "Shall I carry you up or would you prefer to walk?"
Oh man, just the thought of him carrying me up to my apartment gets me incredibly wet. "Bridal carry?" I ask hopefully, and then a better idea hits me. I make an excited sound. "No, wait! Toss me over your shoulder like you're a sexy caveman and you've stolen a woman to take as your mate. And when you get back home, you can ravish me until I'm so smitten that I agree to be your cavewoman."
Kassam grins at me and then ducks down. In the next moment, my belly hits his shoulder and then I'm in the air, upside down, and he carries me toward the elevator as easily as he would a sack of groceries.
God, that is sexy. I moan, squirming on his shoulder as the elevator goes up to my floor, and by the time he gets back off again, I'm practically panting with need. Just being carried by this man is making my toes curl and my pulse throb between my thighs. I've completely forgotten what our goal is until Kassam stands just outside of my apartment, and the pulse of power is so evident that even I can feel it.
"Your door is open," Kassam says to me. "Are you ready?"
"Play your cards right and my legs will be open too."
He barks a laugh, patting my ass before he ducks inside. "That's more like it."
The moment he steps inside my apartment, my skin crawls with awareness. There's something here all right, and while Kassam's intense vibe feels like sex and sunshine and a strong wind on the leaves of a tree, this feels…darker. Cooler. Far, far more intense. He stops just inside my living room, glancing around my apartment. I don't hear any cats, but the leaves of the plants covering every surface flutter and rustle, and I belatedly notice that the door to my refrigerator has been left hanging open. Vines have crawled all over it now, too.
I'll have to chide Kassam for that later. Better yet, punish. I picture smacking his ass with a paddle, and instead of making me laugh, I whimper with another surge of arousal. "Can you feel that, my little light?" Kassam asks, his voice casual, even as his hand strokes between my thighs, pressing against the seam of my jeans.
"Oh fuck yes," I breathe. "Feels so good."
He spanks me in the next moment, and I yelp—and then moan again, because I liked that far too much. "You're not paying attention, are you?"
"To what?" I pant.
Kassam chuckles, setting me down on the ground. Dizzy, I cling to his arms as the blood rushes to my head, and he pulls me against him, stroking my back and then squeezing my ass again. "Go change into something pretty," he murmurs. "And skip the panties."
I glance around, but my apartment seems to be empty of both gods and cats. That's a relief. Maybe the feeling here is a leftover from whoever was here before. Doesn't matter—they're gone now. With a little shiver of excitement, I race toward my bedroom, eager to please him. Later on, I dimly realize, I'm going to be so mad at myself, but that's for future me to be pissed about. Right now, just the thought of putting on a cute dress and seeing Kassam smile at the sight of me makes me tremble with anticipation. I throw open my closet, gazing at the stuff there. Lots of jeans and T-shirts. Something pretty, I consider. Something pretty. When has Kassam ever cared what I wore? I don't think he's paid a lick of attention at all. I pull a breezy, pale yellow sundress out of the back of my closet and start to change.
"Show yourself," Kassam says in the living room.
I pause, because it doesn't sound like he's talking to me.
There's a sly, mocking laugh, and then that deep, intense sensation rolls through the air. The atmosphere gets so heavy it feels like a blanket. "I thought you two would never return," comments an unfamiliar voice. "It isn't polite to make company wait."
Terror shoots through me, and I shove my dress over my head, my hands tangling briefly in the spaghetti straps. I look around my room and the attached bathroom for a weapon, but all I've got is a tiny pair of hair-cutting scissors I use on my bangs when they get too shaggy. I snatch them anyhow, padding back toward the living room because a desperate need to protect Kassam floods my senses.
The moment I step through the bedroom door and into the living room, a headache blooms. I sway, distracted by the heavy feel of two gods in my apartment. It feels crushing, as if I'm a bug that shouldn't dare to be anywhere near here. My eyes can't seem to focus, and I stumble forward one step, and then the other. "Kassam…"
"Right here, little light," a familiar voice murmurs, and then warm hands are caressing my bare shoulders. "Is this what you picked to wear for me? I am pleased."
I tremble with pleasure at that, my senses filling with the sight of him again. I drink down his gorgeous face, the thick, tumbling brown hair that frames those tanned angles so perfectly, the silver eyes that glint with amusement as I devour the sight of him. He pulls me discreetly behind him and turns to face the far side of my room. "What do you want?"
The far corner of my living room pulses with formless shadow. The air ripples like a pond, but I can't see anyone. I can feel someone, but when my eyes try to focus, I see no face, no form, no nothing.
Just…power.
I clutch at the back of Kassam's shirt, my fright temporarily overriding my lust for him.
He must sense my unease, because Kassam lifts his chin, facing that strange entity. "Pick a mortal form. You're scaring my anchor and I don't want her distracted with fear when I'd rather have her squirming in my lap."
"Apologies. Flesh is so inconvenient, but if I must." The air shimmers, and that mocking voice suddenly has a face. It's a man, with a long, lean-boned face. He's got brown skin and somewhat short, dark hair with a floppy lock hanging over his brow to give himself a rakish air. His brows are thick, his nose aquiline, his race and age indeterminate. His mouth is full and almost feminine, but the cruelty in his eyes erases that softness. His clothes are as ageless as he is—he wears a long-sleeved white shirt and simple, dark pants, much like a pirate would. The stranger scans a quick glance over my form and then just as quickly dismisses me. "Better now?"