—and then stops. His brows furrow together and then he releases me. Right, because I don't want to be kissed. Why did I say that again? "Thank you," he says hoarsely. "Without you at my side, this would not be possible."
"Of course," I manage.
He smiles at me, his thumb brushing over my cheek and sending skitters of need through my body. "Well. You are hungry, yes? Shall I ask the birds to give up their lives for your meal? Or do you prefer fish?"
Oh god, that sounds weird. I blanch at the thought, my mind racing with images of cute little birds flinging themselves onto a fire to feed me. It's so much easier to not think about where food comes from when you're a child born in a world full of grocery stores. "I'm not sure I want to eat your followers."
"Plants, then? Fruit?"
My mouth waters at the thought. "Sounds amazing, thank you."
Kassam gives me a cocky grin. He gets to his feet, all wild, beautiful god, and looms over me. "Watch and I shall provide."
He stretches a hand out to the ground, and the plants surge forward, growing at incredible speed. One pair of tubers shoot up, starting to resemble celery. The leaves rustle in a tree nearby, and I watch as the flowers wither and fade, fruit springing up in its place and growing so quickly that they look as if they're inflating like balloons.
I'm so fascinated with this sight that I don't notice my headache at first. Or rather, I notice it, but it seems so much less interesting than what's going on with the plants. Something wet drips onto my lip and I absently brush at it, then glance at my hand.
Blood.
I whimper, my hands flying to my face. My nose is bleeding, blood pouring down my lips and chin, and my head pounds. "Something's wrong," I manage to choke out. I grab the front of my shirt and hold it under my nose. "Hurts."
Kassam hisses between his teeth, dropping to sit on his feet—er, hooves—beside me. "It is my powers. They draw through you. I remember now." He rubs his fingers together and moss forms out of nowhere—and makes blood gush anew from my nose. He growls in frustration, immediately tossing it down. "I keep forgetting."
"You're…not supposed to use your powers?" I ask, my voice clogged and muffled due to the bloody shirt shoved against my nose.
"None whatsoever," Kassam says with a shake of his head. "It is part of our punishment. We are to be as powerless as mortals." His expression turns pained. "It has been so long that I have forgotten. You have my apologies, little light."
I decide to let that “little light” thing go for now. "It's okay. Just…try not to use the powers, all right? It feels like it's squeezing my head in a vise when you do."
"Of course. I will do my best not to forget again." His expression looks miserable. "I don't like that I hurt you."
"It's okay," I manage, smiling under the T-shirt, and then I realize he can't see it. "I should probably wash my face, though—"
Before I can finish the statement, Kassam is on his feet. He sweeps me into his arms, crossing the clearing toward the waterfall. He carries me as if I weigh nothing, and the only sound is the constant falling of water and the thud of his hooves against the grass. I don't even bother to protest that I can walk, because I like that he's carrying me. I like that he's fussing over me as if I'm special. After the week I've had, I welcome a little pampering.
He sets me gently into the water, up to my hips, and instantly my sturdy hiking boots and jeans are soaked. I can't really bitch about it, though, because Kassam cups water in his hand and gently washes my face, a look of intense concentration on his handsome, otherworldly features. "I do not like this at all," he murmurs as he rubs the blood from my face. "My curse must have been muted in your world. I could pull at bits of my power and it did not cause this problem."
“Muted” would explain a lot. Because I'm utterly ravenous, to the point that I could toss fistfuls of grass into my mouth, or chew on the nearest lily pad. I'm also horny as fuck, despite the fact that I'm dripping with quartz jewelry. I want to put a hand on his chest and then slide it south. I want to rub his cock until he fucks me in this pool. I want to do so many filthy things to him that there's not enough time in the day to get to it all.
He peels off my shirt, frowning at the blood all over it. "Now we have ruined your fine garments."
"It's a concert T-shirt. It's fine, really." I touch my nose. Other than being a little warm, it's not sensitive or in pain despite the fountain of blood that just gushed from it. Weird. My head has stopped hurting, too. Still turned on, though. I study Kassam as he swishes my shirt in the water, trying to get the blood out. He looks different here. The same guy, of course, but just…more. "The horns are new," I say, feeling a bit lame and stupid. "The hooves, too."
Kassam wrings my shirt, then gently touches my face with the fabric, dabbing at my skin. His fingertips hold my chin steady as he cleans me, and maybe it's the fact that I'm super turned on, but I'm eating this up. I love that he's fussing. "Do you like them?"
"I do. They're just…a surprise." I brush my fingers over his arm. "Your skin actually looks browner, too."
"Brown is the color of the earth. Why would it not be?"
Why not, indeed? "I didn't say it was bad. The hooves just took me by surprise."
He finishes washing my face and then leans in, his thumb brushing over my lower lip in a sensual way that makes my pussy quiver deep, deep inside. "Do not worry, little light. I will still be able to put you on your hands and knees and fuck you so hard that you scream."
I swallow, entranced by his silvery gaze.
29
My stomach chooses that moment to growl, and Kassam chuckles. He winks at me. "Wait here, and I will get your food." He bounds out of the water quickly, his bare ass dripping and tan as he strides over to the tall stalks of whatever and carefully digs them up. He heads to the tree and plucks a piece of fruit the size of a basketball while I stand in the water, fascinated at the sight of him. The animals seem as entranced with his gloriousness as I am.
When he turns back toward me, his cock is half-stiff and growing by the moment, and it suddenly seems like too much to look at. Gazing at him is like staring into the sun, and I dunk my shirt again, dragging it through the water just to give my hands something to do. I'm painfully aware of my wet bra and my nipples pressing against the soft fabric, of the fact that I'm practically topless as I gaze out at his nude body. I'm tempted to just start playing with my nipples to see how he reacts, but then Kassam moves to one of the rocks at the edge of the pool and smacks the fruit against the surface. It cracks open, revealing wet, orange-pink flesh, and the scent drifts toward me, setting my mouth to watering again.
"Come," he says, holding a chunk out to me. "Eat."
I don't have to be told twice. My hunger overrides my arousal, and I pull myself onto one of the nearby rocks, taking the half of fruit he offers to me. It reminds me a bit of melon, but the first bite tastes more like a deep, ripe peach, and I make a sinful sound of pleasure at the taste. "Oh god, that's good."