Page 29 of Releasing the Djinn
Chapter 10
Stretching her arms over her head, Nadira let out a tired groan and opened her eyes. Blinking a few times, her heart jumped in her chest when nothing came into focus, just the remaining pitch-black darkness surrounding her. Breathing deeply, her mind began to work in memories of yesterday's event. Oh yeah, she was forced to leave her home under the guise of marriage and was now trapped in a million-dollar mansion, of course, it was all coming back to her now.
Relaxing back into the mattress, Nadira closed her eyes and thought of last night and Idrak's "method" of putting her to sleep. Turning her face into the plush bedding, Nadira thought of the djinn's fingers easing inside of her last night. Shortening his claws until they were nearly blunt human nails, harmless towards her, he had pushed them in and out of her slickened passage as he whispered all the obscene things he wanted to do to her. Never in her life had she heard such filthy words. Burying her face deeper into the pillow, she clenched her eyes tight at the memory of his tongue, tasting her again and her wanton response. It had felt so good. Even now, her sex throbbed at the trace memories of his unrelenting touch.
Stop, she mentally commanded herself. There was no point thinking about last night for a multitude of reasons, but more so for the fact that she knew without a doubt, Idrak was gone.
The lack of his unmistakable radiating heat was the first thing her subconscious mind noticed when she pulled herself out of the light stage of sleep. She wondered, did he leave the moment she passed out from his ministrations last night? Or did he stay with her through the night and left at some point in the morning? A small flare of anger ignited within her for even thinking the thought.
Sitting up in the bed, Nadira groped blindly for the nightstand where she had seen a little black remote sitting last night. Finding it at the edge of the nightstand, Nadira grabbed it and blindly clicked a button. A light came on over the bed, giving her a much better view of the remote. Finding the button, she was looking for, she held up the remote and pointed to the massive drapes on her right. Simultaneously both sets of curtains began pulling backwards letting bright white light of the day spill in. Squinting at the sudden change in the room, she waited a few more seconds until the curtains stopped their procession and bunched neatly back into the far corners of the room.
Light now from all sides filled every darkened space of the massive room, making her feel like a tiny person in a room made for giants. Looking down at her naked body, she could feel her cheeks flush as another unbidden memory from last night invaded the forefront of her thoughts. Idrak had held her as her body convulsed from the mind rending pleasure he stoked within her, he had nipped at her breasts gently as he stretched himself beside her, the hard heat between his legs pressing against her thigh. She had expected him to continue. Her last coherent thought was wondering how on earth was she going to survive another round, but her thoughts faded into sleep, and that was all that she remembered. He had denied himself, meaning he truly meant what he said and that he only wanted to put her to sleep.
Not sure what to think about that, Nadira got up, dragging the extra-long sheet with her as she went. The massive, black velvet tufted bed sat against a towering partitioning wall that reached up to the tall ceiling though it did not meet the width of the room, leaving it open on each side of the bed. Nadira could only assume that they were the double entrances to the en-suite bathroom. Walking around the partitioning wall and through a doorway, Nadira stopped in her tracks.
She was speechless.
White on white marble from floor to ceiling, three built-in vanities hosting a plethora of drawers, mirrored cabinets, a double showerhead walk-in shower obviously built for coupled showers, and lastly, the piece de resistance—a giant sunken whirlpool tub situated directly underneath a cathedral glass ceiling.
"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled, taking a shaky step forward into the breath-taking bathroom.
For about fifteen minutes, Nadira just walked around the bathroom stopping here and there, opening cabinets and pulling out drawers most of them empty but a handful filled with brand new soaps, makeup, lotions, and oils all of them expensive and exotic—all no doubt procured by her horned djinn. Next time she saw him, she was going to demand just exactly how he got the previous owners to leave. She could only pray they were all right.
Through trial and error, she was able to finally figure out how to work the shower. Using a sweet-smelling soap with a handwritten French label, she stepped out of the shower feeling softer than she had ever felt in her life.
Wrapping herself in a towel, she stopped in front of the hidden mirrored door. She had found the door earlier as she was exploring and guessed that the tall narrow door had to lead to a closet. Opening the door, she smiled to herself as she tried to guess what Idrak had in store for her in here. Walking inside, the lights turned on automatically revealing rows and rows of empty hanger spaces and empty shelves. A little dismayed, her eyes settled on her suitcases standing side by side to each other in front of the closet island. Noticing the white card on top of the island counter Nadira reached for it and plucked it up.
I cannot begin to know what women these days are interested in wearing so I will leave that up to you, my darling wife. The contents in the drawer below should cover the cost.
Running the tip of her finger across the linen weaved cardstock, she traced its tightly curving letters. It reminded her of ancient handwritten tomes. Even the blotches of ink peppered around the text made her wonder if the djinn had conjured up a small bottle of ink and a quill to write this. Setting the card back down, Nadira obliged with the demon's instructions and opened the drawer beneath.
Coughing, Nadira stumbled backward. "Holy shit," she gasped.
Piled to the level of the drawer, thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills lined the drawer from front to back. Where in the world did he get all of this? Did he conjure it up from nowhere? Closing the drawer carefully, Nadira unzipped her suitcase and took out a pair of lounge shorts and a plain white top. Her clothes looked worn and cheap in comparison to the immaculate house around her, but she told herself not to focus on that.
Downstairs, Nadira made it an effort to not just stand around and gape at the long kitchen that sat horizontally from the living area. Opening a wide drawer on the long kitchen counter, she found a skillet, some seasonings in another drawer, and in the fridge enough groceries to feed a small army. Taking out the ingredients for an omelet and a handful of strawberries as well as a glass of apple juice, Nadira took her prepared meal to the table near the kitchen windows.
Quietly, she forked the food into her mouth. It was quiet, like really really quiet. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and before she could stop it, Nadira realized she was full-blown smiling. When was the last time she experienced a quiet meal like this that didn't consist of a granola bar in her car? A memory of her eating stolen leftovers in her grandmother's house sprang to mind. That was when she found the necklace, how all of this started in the first place.
Setting down her fork on her now empty plate, she leaned back against the back of the wood and metal designer chair and glanced outside across the shimmering pool and blue sky. Where was that horned devil now, she wondered? Was he around the world right now holding some other young woman hostage? Toying with her sexually? Nadira frowned at the lance of pain she felt in her chest at that thought. Annoyed with herself, she stood up, taking her dishes to the sink and washed them.
The rest of the day, she explored the house locating the garage, a gym, more spare bedrooms and baths, and lastly, the library located on the first floor on the other side of the turret that separated the two sections of the house. With matching high ceilings, the library was designed in the same modern, but industrial feel the kitchen had. With a wrap-around sectional that lined all four walls, only stopping at the door of the library, the huge sectional made the room look so comfy. Looking up, Nadira just smiled at the simple beauty of the black, metal catwalk lining the upper level of the room. Taking the metal staircase up to the catwalk, she slowly scanned the hundreds of books lining the walls. From world history to ancient poem collections, the assortment of books was so diverse and so curated she wondered how Idrak could have taken the time to collect so many so fast. Or were they the books of the previous owner?
Shaking her head at the thought, Nadira pulled a few books from the wall and made her way down to the fluffy tan sofas below. How could he pick such a perfect house and a perfect book collection as well, that couldn't be a coincidence? But that didn’t answer the questions on how the demon could have stocked the fridge, bought her a tub's worth of expensive toiletries, and stocked the library with a near-perfect book collection.
Getting comfortable against the sofa's cushion, she made a mental note to ask the djinn as she opened her book.
***
Opening her eyes, Nadira blinked before letting out a frustrated groan. Sitting up in bed, she glared angrily out the sunny windows before accusingly down at the spot to her left. He did it again!
Last night she had waited for him all night to show up. Every hour she would call out the djinn's name or run to the front of the house or up the stairs to the bedroom, checking on his presence only to find absolutely nothing. Eating dinner alone, which consisted of fish and a salad, she had stayed up in the library with a cup of coffee determined to speak to the demon if he ever came back. Sadly, her body could not hold out. Falling asleep on the couch surrounded by an assortment of books, she did not awake again until much later that night when she felt the familiar heat surrounding her. Lifting her tired body from the couch, the towering djinn had carried her out of the library and up to the bedroom.
She had tried speaking, she wanted to yell at him, to ask him questions that had built up throughout the day, but the smooth hot skin of his muscular bare chest worked against her. Turning her face further into his chest, she remembered wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him tighter. And just like the night before, he had touched her, bringing her pleasure while denying himself the same. He had whispered things in her ear as his fingers stroked between her legs, things that made her want to cry. Now, as she sat awake and fully lucid in the light of day the memories of his words telling her how beautiful she was only made her angry. If she was so beautiful then why couldn't he ever stay until she woke up?! Where did the stupid demon have to be, anyways?
"Probably off having sex with some other captive," she muttered, answering herself.
The thought made her so mad she nearly threw her pillow across the room.
