Darkness, Kindled (32 page)

“Rache?” Ari asked.

Rache grinned. “I saw you ditching and decided it looked like fun, and it’s not like we can really get in trouble now, right?”

What a fantastic attitude,

Jai thought sourly. He had never willingly missed a day of school. Knowledge was just as important to him, if not more so, as his combat skills. Knowledge packed the greater punch than his fist.

“Come on, get in. I’ve already texted Staci and AJ to ditch and meet at your house. I thought we’d go to the store, buy some snacks.”

Jai knew what her answer would be before she even skipped to the car. She didn’t want to be alone.

Jai followed them but obviously couldn’t go into the house. When more teens arrived, though, he almost thanked the Ifrit for barring him. An afternoon of listening to mindless prattle? No, thanks.

Still, he walked around the back of the house to look in through the kitchen windows. He told himself that it was just to make sure she was okay.

He told himself that what he felt wasn’t intrigue.

It wasn’t empathy.

He didn’t feel a connection.

But he was lying to himself.

She was a contradiction. She was 
multifaceted. She was beautiful, well-off, and surrounded by friends. Yet it was all on the surface. It wasn’t her life. Did she sense she was different?

Was that it? Would she be able to handle what was coming?

Jai didn’t know.

What he did know, what pricked his chest with an ache anytime he thought too deeply on it, was Ari Johnson was the loneliest girl he knew. And in a day, or weeks, or months, her life might become chaos. There could be a constant barrage of Jinn beings in and out of her life, and Ari Johnson was going to wish for just a day to be lonely once again.

“Tempted”

Smokeless

Fire, Chapter 25—Jai’s Perspective

As 
soon as the door shut behind Charlie, Jai’s eyes zeroed in on Ari’s face. She was staring at the front door, looking utterly lost.

The urge to comfort her, as easily as Charlie had tried to, was overwhelming. To hold her close and promise her that everything with Derek would be okay—that she would be okay.

But you didn’t treat a client like that, especially one as important as Ari. That would blur the lines between them even more than he’d already let them blur. He would just have to offer her comfort in the only way he knew how.

When she turned back to look at him, her strange eyes glittering in the dark hallway, the inescapable beauty of her winded him.

Time to go.

Jai strolled toward her, careful to keep his expression blank. When he stopped before her, the fight to remain impassive was almost as great as the fight he’d just had with Pazuzu. Voice soft, expression tight, he told her, “Well … I’d better go. Just use your mind if you need me, okay?” And then because he couldn’t bear the absolute forlornness in the tremble of her mouth and limpid pools of her eyes, he added, “I’ll be back tomorrow. You still have a lot of decisions to make.” This was only the beginning, Jai realized, a knot in his gut for her. “This isn’t over, Ari.”

Her body shifted infinitesimally,

softening toward him the way a girl’s body did when they wanted you to kiss them. His heart lurched and then kicked into super speed as she let the walls behind her eyes down, the light in them—the light in them that she felt for him—pouring out of her. “I want to thank you for coming for me, for protecting me.”

Shit.

Heart pounding against his ribs, Jai took an unconscious step back, as if physical distance could halt the confession in her eyes.

She wanted him.

Ari Johnson wanted him, giving truth to all the suspicions he’d had that her feelings for him were changing.

Beautiful and exotic she may be, but the one thing Ari wasn’t was enigmatic and mysterious. She was transparent and honest and too young to mask her emotions. She wore her heart on her sleeve and suddenly, Jai was angry at her for putting him in the position where he’d end up stomping all over it.

He was angry that she’d put him the 
position of being completely and utterly tempted, despite his better judgment.

Clearing his throat, Jai replied with perfect control. “Just doing my job.” Leave it at that, Ari, leave it.

The strength in her grip as hauled him by the arm toward her took Jai by surprise. He found himself close enough to breathe in her sweetness, to feel the heat of her warm, supple body so close to his.

Damn it, she was trying to kill him.

Hadn’t they been through enough for one day? He opened his mouth to speak but the hurt pleading in her eyes stalled him.

“Don’t,” she whispered, her lush lips trembling in the most distracting way. “Don’t act like you’re not my friend, Jai. After everything … you are my friend.”

Jai felt a pang in his chest and had to resist the urge to rub a hand over the spot. He had to say something reassuring, friendly, but also something that clarified exactly what they were to each other in professional terms.

Ari licked her lips invitingly.

The blood whooshed in Jai’s ears and he found himself counting to ten in an attempt to gain control.

Then he felt her body shiver and that shiver sent off a montage of R-rated images Jai had managed to keep at bay for days. Frustrated and barely holding onto the last remnants of his control, Jai gripped hold of her upper arms and pushed her back into the front door, needing her to understand, to stop! “Stop it,” he whispered harshly against his body’s attraction to her. Hell, her lips so were close. His breathing grew shallow from the exertion of controlling his desire for her. Her head moved ever so slightly toward him, telling him she wanted him to lose control; she wanted him. She wanted him. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Ari whispered huskily, 
sending a streak of white-hot lust through him, lust that only quadrupled as she brushed her lips across his.

Jai jerked back from her, his lips 
tingling. He cursed, almost hating her in this moment for doing this to him.

His grip tightened along with his determination to make her see sense. “You know what,” his voice came out much hoarser than he’d intended, betraying his reaction to her. Despite that, he had to make her realize that nothing could ever happen between them. She was his client. He was a well-respected Ginnaye.

His reputation would be destroyed if he screwed around with an eighteen-year-old client whose uncle happened to be one of the Seven Kings of Jinn. If that happened, Luca would win. Jai would be nothing, just as his family had always predicted. That couldn’t happen. Ever. He would lose everything important to him and Ari would end up with another broken heart. Jai refused to do to her what Charlie had done.

And if he had to lie and hurt Ari to make her see they would never work together, then so be it. “I’m your guardian, Ari. Ginnaye. You and I … we can’t. We can’t and we won’t.” Jai found himself lowering his eyes, struggling to find the lie that would hurt her feelings and cut him to the quick. Finally, he met her gaze and mixed the truth with the lie. For the first time in his life, Jai had difficulty finding the right words. “I don’t … look … you are … beautiful.” So beautiful it kills me.

“You’re really beautiful and you’re … great. But you’re only eighteen and you love Charlie and I … well,” here goes, “there’s someone else … in my life.”

Jai didn’t have to worry if he sounded convincing. The anguish and humiliation on her face was a punch to the gut.

He’d never been Mr. Nice Guy with girls in the past. He’d been a “love ’em and leave ’em” type, and he imagined he’d probably hurt those girls’ feelings if only in a superficial way.

But right then, Jai had never felt like a bigger piece of shit.

“I’m sorry … I’m sorry I made you 
uncomfortable … I—”

“Ari, it’s fine,” he interrupted, unable to bear her shaking voice, her sweet anxiety that told him she thought she was the bad guy and he the innocent. The earlier anger he’d felt toward her melted, and all that remained was anger at himself.

In truth … he’d acted differently with her. He’d talked with her, he’d held her … he’d given her signs that he felt something more. And now he’d lied about being in love with someone else so she would back off and stop enticing him to take what they both knew deep down he wanted.

For the first time in his life, Jai felt dishonorable.

“Yeah,” Ari suddenly laughed, the sound so pained it made him flinch. “Should I ask my uncle for a replacement or something?”

“What?” He felt another sharp twist in his chest at the thought of someone else taking care of her. He couldn’t trust anyone else to take care of her. The thought of another guardian watching over her, getting to be there for her, sent heat rushing into his blood. Pissed off, Jai clenched his jaw, attempting to control the inexplicable emotion. “I’m still your guardian. We’ll just forget about this and move on.”

She nodded at him, not meeting his gaze.

“Okay.”

Like any good guardian, Jai didn’t want to leave Ari when she was vulnerable. However, he needed to put distance between them. He forced himself to say, “Okay. I’m going to head out. I put my number in your cell but remember, you can use telepathy.” And because Ari was a little unpredictable, he found himself warning, “Don’t try anything stupid while I’m gone. I’ll be back tomorrow after I take care of some things. We can discuss your future, maybe train you in using the Peripatos and flying.”

Vibrant eyes now dulled, Ari nodded at him.

His guilt multiplied.

With a deep inner sigh, Jai took another step back, preparing to step into the Peripatos. “See you, Ari.” And because if he stayed one more second he was going to break and yank her into his arms if only to erase that awful look on her face, Jai let the flames enfold him, taking him away from the temptation.

“Mine”

Scorched

Skies, the club scene—Jai’s Perspective

Jai 
still couldn’t believe he was letting this happen, that his father was letting this happen. He paced along the checkered reception hall of his parents’ home, wondering what devil (other than Trey) had climbed inside Luca’s mind to convince him that sending Ari prematurely on assignment wasn’t an exceptionally bad idea. He was hoping it would go smoothly, considering tonight’s client was British actress Jennifer Hadley and her experienced security team would be outside the club the whole time. He and Ari just had to keep Jennifer and her boyfriend, Chris, company inside, watching the crowds for anything suspicious.

Hell, it better be that easy.

At the sound of footsteps descending toward him, Jai glanced up at the stairs.

And felt the impact of the vision before him like a punch in his gut.

Ari was a beautiful girl. When wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and no makeup, she was a beautiful girl. Not the kind of beautiful that some people found beautiful—the kind that just was.

No argument. No denying it. She was beautiful.

Tonight she’d taken it to another level and added an alarming amount of sexy to her beautiful.

She’s eighteen, 
Jai reminded himself. The reminder did him little good as he watched her descend toward him in a short, strapless red dress that revealed the longest, shapeliest legs he’d ever seen, and clung far too tightly to all her slender curves. Looking like that, Jai didn’t see an eighteen-year-old; he saw a beautiful young woman who was fierce, powerful, loyal, and brave. Mine, a voice growled inside him as she came to a stop. Mine. He wanted to tell her that she looked gorgeous but was stopped by Ari’s soft smile. Her eyes were bright with delight as she studied his reaction.

Great. That look in her eye was like a splash of cold water, abruptly reminding Jai that she wasn’t his and she never could be. Jai sighed inwardly. Stop giving her the wrong idea.

Deciding against reacting verbally to her appearance but still struggling to control said reaction, Jai asked hoarsely, “You ready?” He handed over her fake ID.

Fake ID.

Right. She wasn’t even old enough to get into the club. In that dress she looked old enough. Old enough for a lot of things …

Jai decided he both loathed and loved that dress.

Realizing Ari still hadn’t responded, he looked down into her face and found her frowning at him.

“What?”

Ari shrugged, her expression instantly clearing. “I’m bringing Ms. Maggie. I hope you don’t mind.”

Jai didn’t think that’s what had caused the frown but at this point, he wanted some distance from her, and that included not asking her about whatever was going on in that busy brain of hers.

“Fine. Extra protection, I guess.” He turned on his heel. “We’re driving. You could use the break from the house.”

“No Peripatos?” she asked, 
following him.

“I like driving.” That was true. He did like driving. But he realized his mistake twenty minutes into the drive.

It was damn uncomfortable. Not the 
beauty that he was driving (his father’s SL Roadster, one of Jai’s personal favorites), but the beauty sitting next to him. He didn’t want to speak and clearly Ari didn’t know what to say. It didn’t help that every five seconds, he saw her out of the corner of his eye tugging at the hem of her dress. That flash of thigh, the continued attention her movements drew to her legs caused images to burn through Jai’s brain before he could stop them. Ari in that dress, waiting for him on his bed. His hand sliding up the back of her calf, stroking her skin as his fingers brushed higher …

He felt Ari’s eyes on him and clenched his fists around the steering wheel, feeling the tension thicken, both of them perfectly aware that it wasn’t the assignment on their minds but rather … sex.

Jai winced. He hadn’t been with a woman in a while. He should do that. Take a quick break from Ari. His eyes slid back over to her, her face in profile as she stared out at the ocean. Longing gripped tight to his chest, longing like he’d never felt before, and he knew (no matter that she would never be his) while she was in his life, there would never be anyone else.