Page 11 of Kiss of Fire

He frowned.

“I was trying to help you. How I dress is irrelevant, surely?”

Raya examined him. His face was classically good-looking, though currently set in a stony expression. His hair curled darkly to his shoulders, a length which could have been effeminate but onhimwas most definitely not.

He was huge – seven feet tall at least. His head touched the ceiling. His shoulders filled the doorway and his physique was impressively muscled. Not that she had much experience of how men should look, given she’d been locked up with the likes of Griggs for the past ten years. But she’d seen movies, andthisspecimen was definitely what she would call hot.

Her eyes trailed over his abs. At least he was wearing trousers. Very tight trousers.

Embarrassed, she jerked her head up to find him watching her.

“Like what you see?” he asked insolently. She flushed.

“I didn’t agree to go anywhere with you,” she said. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“We met very briefly at the drab place where you were being manhandled by a human. I offered you a bargain and you agreed to come with me. Have you forgotten already?”

Take me.

Yes, she’d uttered those words. But she’d been dreaming, hadn’t she? She’d hit her head and she thought she’d seen a beast made of shadows. A beast with rage and power pouring off it. A beast with piercing blue eyes…

She met his azure stare and swallowed.

“That was you? The shadow… thing?”

His lip curled contemptuously.

“You will address me as Shadeed bin Shamhurish of Nurhan, Lord of the Jinn.”

“Lord of the…?” For a wild moment she thought he’d said ‘gin’. “What’s going on? Why are we here?”

“We are here because you agreed to my bargain.”

“What bargain? I don’t understand.”

“I require a service from you. In return you may ask for anything within my power to give.” He paused. “And my power is considerable.”

“A service?” Her voice rose. “What kind of service?”

“I need you to accompany me to Nush’aldaam.”

“And where the fuck is that?”

“It’s home. I think you will like it. At the very least, I can guarantee no human has ever set foot there.”

Human.There it was again. That odd use of the word, as if it didn’t apply to him.

Raya’s eyes darted round the small bedroom. She was clearly in the presence of a madman, and hot or otherwise, she had to get away. She saw the window to her right, secured by a simple latch.

“Sure, um, okay. Would you mind turning around while I get changed for the journey?”

His eyes narrowed, but he turned away from her. Without pausing to think she lifted the latch and pushed the window up, throwing herself head first through the gap. The cold air hit her a nanosecond before she landed in a shallow snow drift beneath the window sill.

Her breath billowed in front of her as she rolled to her feet and ran for the trees, belatedly realizing she had no shoes on and no clue where she was.

And it was dark and freezing.

Dusk had given way to night. A full moon hung overhead, gleaming off the snow, but all around her trees loomed and she found it hard to see more than a step or two in front.

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