"That part has not changed," Kassam admits. "I am still working on it."
"Cool, well, I have a simple solution," I say. "You go home, have a great time, and I'll stay here. You get yourself an anchor on your side."
"I want no one but you."
"Well, that's gonna be rough for you because I don't want to leave this world. My mother is here. My apartment is here. My job is here."
His eyes gleam slyly. "I took care of your job."
I flick water at him, enjoying it too much when he flinches back. "I sure don't want to transfer over to a strange world just to die."
Kassam pulls back my shower curtain and steps into the tub with me, ignoring my sounds of protest. His clothing immediately gets soaked, plastering to his skin. He takes the loofah from me, a displeased expression on his face as he gently moves it over my shoulders, soaping them up. "You are now my wife, Carly. I will not let you die. I vowed to keep you safe, and I mean to keep that promise." His gaze flicks to my eyes. "But it only works if we are together, so I can protect you."
But me being in danger is because I'm with him. "I've only known you for a few days, Kassam. How can I trust you when you say you're going to keep me safe when literally everything I've heard is that I need to die to help you?"
"I kept you safe in front of Seth, did I not?" He turns me with a touch of his hand and then begins to wash my back. "He thinks you are little more than a lust-addled cock-sleeve I am playing with. And because he thinks you are unimportant, he will not use you against me."
Ouch. "So that's why you sexed me in front of him?"
"That, and because I enjoyed it." I turn my head and glare at him, but he just chuckles. "You enjoyed it, too. You like being naughty with me."
Naughty? He thinks that was naughty? To me, it was full-on porno, but this is also a guy that's thousands of years old and misses a good old-fashioned orgy. I guess his version of filthy is slightly different than mine. Even so, it makes me want to one-up him. I know he does things to shock me and to make me gasp (as well as orgasm) and it makes me want to turn the tables on him. He thinks he's the only one that doesn't have to play fair? I can play along, too…
Except he's leaving and I don't plan on following.
Oh. Right.
I mull through my feelings on that as he scrubs my back with careful hands. I haven't thought about what comes next. I've been focusing so hard on Hurricane Kassam blasting through my life that I haven't stopped to consider how I feel about him leaving. Will I miss him? Probably a little. I'll miss the intense orgasms and his sunny personality. I'll miss the way his face lights up when he tastes something. But I won't miss the out-of-control feeling that's taken over my life, and I won't miss the fact that he makes me feel insignificant and very, very mortal.
It's going to be really weird to go back to my normal life. The moment he leaves, I'm probably going to be kicked out of my building. I've lost my job. I'm pretty sure I'm ruined for sex with other men at this point. Even so…I don't regret it? I like Kassam and want the best for him after all.
"Say you'll come with me, Carly," Kassam presses.
"No. I'm staying here in my world. I don't want to go to yours."
Kassam continues to wash my back. "Have I not done everything in our agreement? I have cleaved only to you. I have not shared my affections with anyone else. You would force me to return to my world without an anchor and start over? To pull another man or woman into this?"
I frown at the shower, parsing that. "Are you trying to make me jealous?"
"Yes. Is it working?"
I clench my jaw, because it kinda is, and that pisses me off. "You're asking me to go and risk my life because you don't want to fuck a stranger?"
"No." He takes me by the elbow and turns me in the shower, gazing down at me. His clothes are soaked from the shoulders down, and I'd laugh if this wasn't such a serious moment. "I am asking for your help because you are my friend and we make good partners." He runs the sponge down my front. "Did we not make the same vows to one another? To cherish and protect?"
He's got a point there. If the vows work, they don't work just one way. "I hear what you're saying, Kassam. It's just…" I spread my hands. "Let's say the best-case scenario happens and you're able to protect me and I live. Which is fantastic, right? Except…now I'm trapped in your world? How is that fair to me? You get to go home, and I…what? Settle down and have babies with a caveman?"
The look he gives me is downright strange. He goes still, then shakes his head. "You are my wife. Why would I let you go?"
My mouth hangs open. Of all the arguments I thought he'd give me, that one hits me by surprise. "You…that wasn't real."
"Why not?" Kassam brushes the sponge over my breast, teasing the nipple, almost as if he can't help himself. "What if I have decided it was real? The High Father cannot kill my wife without justification. As my mate, you are safe from the machinations of others." His mouth crooks up in a half-smile. "And like you, I do not share."
I…have no words. He wants to make this sham marriage between us legit? I need to argue this…but how? "But…you're immortal."
"And you are my anchor," he agrees, moving to soap up my other breast.
"Who is supposed to be mortal."
He frowns at that, as if the thought bothers him. "But when I return to the Great Endless Forest, you will join me there."
"Are mortals allowed?"
His frown grows deeper. "I…I would figure something out."
Yeah, that's a “no mortals allowed” if I ever heard one. "You see?" I say. "This isn't going to work—"
Kassam tips a soapy finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "I would ask the Fates to intervene and make you immortal. You could prowl the forests for all time at my side."
"Or…you could ask the Fates to intervene and send me home? One seems as easy as the other."
"Would you prefer that?"
I'm not prepared for Kassam's crestfallen look. He's a god—why is he disappointed at the thought of me leaving his side? We're just scratching each other's itches, according to him. I don't understand why he'd be upset if I didn't choose him. Anyone can scratch an itch, after all? "Let me think about all of this," I say softly. "You're asking me to leave my world behind—and my mother—on the promise that you won't let people kill me despite the fact that everyone says this needs to happen." When he continues to give me an entreating look as he soaps my breasts, I take the sponge from him and sigh. "You're asking for a lot of trust here. I'd be going in on faith alone."
"As a god, I happen to be an expert on faith." The look in his silvery eyes grows intense. "I mean it when I say I will let nothing harm you, Carly. I made a vow, and I intend to keep it."
"I'll think on it," I state again.
"Think quickly. We must leave tomorrow night. It is our best chance."