Page 34 of Damned and Broken Gods (Labyrinth of Gods #2)

Don’t Touch Me There…

LEELA

O ut of all the rooms that Araz and I had stayed in, this second-floor room had to be my favorite.

Not because of the balcony or the gauzy curtains on the floor-to-ceiling glass doors.

Not because the bed was huge, built to hold a drohi and his demigod, and not even because of the huge tub, which Ramashi explained was standard in all the rooms for soaking aching muscles. No, I loved it because of the view.

The barracks was on a rise, and our room faced away from the village and out to sea. Jvalantar Isle was visible in the distance, a rocky place, home to a sleeping volcano.

I loved standing here in the morning with my tea and looking out across the vast expanse of ocean as the sun crested the horizon. It brought peace to my soul in a way no other view ever had.

Nighttime was just as magical when the sky was clear. The stars blazed, raking silvery fingers along the rippling waves and making patterns that my heart ached to decipher.

I’d washed and dried my hair and was ready for bed, dressed in the loose pants and undershirt provided by Bhartina.

She was the first djinn we’d met when coming onto the island, and at first, I had to admit, I was taken aback.

She wasn’t as tall or muscular as a drohi—because I suppose those traits came from the combination of djinn and Danavan genes—but her presence had such force it took my breath away.

She exuded an energy that made me want to do better, be better. It was undeniably motivational.

Araz joined me on the balcony. “Aren’t you sleepy?”

“Not yet.”

“What’s on your mind, Leela?”

“Random thoughts. Nothing important.”

“Come lie down and close your eyes. You’ve had a long day and tomorrow will be longer.”

“You think they’ll make us ride the Shattiraksha tomorrow?”

“I believe tomorrow is merely an introduction. They will get to know your resonance and your aura, and you will get to know theirs. Other than that, I’m not sure. Anything is possible.”

He was right. It was best to be rested and alert. “Fine, you don’t have to convince me too hard to get into bed with you.” I said it lightly as a joke, but his expression softened, eyes darkening.

My stomach quivered.

We’d been skating our attraction for weeks now. Sharing a bed but never crossing the line, and I’d become adept at gaslighting myself into believing that we were simply good friends.

Good friends who slept in the same bed and snuggled and sniffed one another and fantasized about kissing.

Araz sucked in a sharp breath, and my cheeks heated. I ran a hand over my face. “Sleep. I need sleep.”

“Yes…” His tone was thick. “Sleep.”

I climbed into bed, and he joined me a moment later. We settled into our regular embrace, my head on his chest, his arm around my shoulders, our bodies kissing as heat settled between us.

“Close your eyes, Leela,” Araz said.

I did. Long minutes passed, but sleep refused to come.

Instead, awareness bloomed—of his scent, sweet and enticing in my nose, of the hot ridges of his body flush against me, and how we fit, so perfectly, so effortlessly.

How would we fit completely? How would it feel to be connected in the most primal way?

The pulse between my thighs throbbed harder, and a wave of warmth rushed up my body to hug my neck—arousal so strong it stole my breath.

Araz tensed, then inhaled through his nose. “Leela…” His tone was strained. “Do you need relief?”

“What?” My voice was a squeak.

“The longer we’re bound, the stronger certain…desires will grow. We’ve agreed to maintain a boundary for our sanity, but you do not have to suffer physically. I can help you find release.”

Was he saying what I thought he was saying? I swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat and peered up at him. His topaz eyes blazed in the gloom, swirling with flecks of gold that flickered like embers.

I licked my lips, and he tracked the movement. “What…what are you offering?”

“I won’t touch you more than is required,” he said softly. “Just enough to give you release.”

My breath came faster, the spot between my legs tightening and pinching with sweet anticipation. “No…I can’t…We can’t.”

“Then touch yourself,” he said. “I’ll leave. I’ll give you privacy to?—”

“No! I want…I need you here. I want you to…to find release too.”

His jaw flexed. “Then we do this. Together. No boundaries crossed. No touching each other.”

I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry, my pulse hammering so hard in my throat that I was afraid it would jump out of my skin.

His chest heaved, and he pulled away from me, lying on his side, propped on an elbow, and suddenly I felt shy. Painfully fucking shy.

“Don’t…” he said. “Look at me. Watch how I worship your body with my gaze. Touch yourself in the places that it lingers and imagine that I’m touching you there.”

I nodded, and he dropped his gaze to my mouth.

I lifted my fingers to my lips and traced them.

His gaze slid to my throat, and my hand followed, grazing lightly.

My skin tingled as he took me lower, and I felt him through the fabric of my thin undershirt.

Not my fingers but his gaze. It dipped to the waistband of my pants, and I faltered.

“Don’t stop…” His voice was an aching whisper that called to the yearning deep inside me. I slipped my hand into my pants, over my hot skin, down to the swollen nub of need that nestled there. Oh…Oh gods.

My eyes fluttered closed.

“No, Leela. Look at me,” he demanded.

I snapped them open and gasped at the heat in his gaze. At the dark inky pupils that flared as if trying to devour me. My fingers hot and slick. The tension spiraling, my breath quickening, and him. Always him. His face close. His lips closer. His breath coasting over my mouth, and oh…fuck…

Stars bloomed in my vision. My whole body tensed before splintering in release.

A cry spilled from my lips, and his mouth crushed to mine, swallowing the sounds of my arousal as I shattered in his arms, a fist squeezing my heart while my body bloomed.

Hot tears leaked down my cheeks as I kissed him back with every ounce of want and need that I’d been suppressing for the past few weeks.

I sucked on his tongue, and a low growl reverberated in his chest. His hands fisted in my hair, bringing me closer, his body sliding over mine, caging me to the bed.

Yes, I wanted this.

Wanted him.

Needed him.

He stilled, tension rippling through his frame, and the next moment, he was off me. Off the bed. Standing with his back to me, his hands on his hips. “Leela…” His shoulders heaved. “I am so very sorry. I…I’ll be back.” He strode from the room, closing the door.

I lay staring at the ceiling for several beats, my heart in my mouth, my eyes hot and wet with tears before finding the energy to drag myself to the washroom and clean up.

A cold splash of water cooled my flushed cheeks, but my eyes were wide and bright, the pupils blown, my lips fuller—bruised from the kiss we’d shared.

What had I done? Why had I… Urgh . We’d crossed a line, and Araz…he hadn’t even…He’d given me what he knew I needed but taken nothing in return aside from a kiss.

Guilt spiraled in my chest. I needed to make this right.

Back in the bedroom, Araz lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, one arm hooked under his head.

I took a breath and approached, stopping at the foot of the bed and shifting from foot to foot.

Araz lifted his head, fixing me with a slight frown. “Leela? Is everything all right?”

“How can you ask me that? I should be asking you. I made you watch me…and then you didn’t even get to… Urgh …” I covered my face with my hands. “I’m so selfish.”

He let out a surprised laugh, which had me dropping my hands to look across at him. “You think that’s funny?”

He bit back a smile. “Let me clarify. You believe that allowing me to watch you unravel was some kind of…punishment?”

Okay, when he put it like that. “I…But you didn’t get to…you know…come.”

He arched a brow. “And why would you assume such a thing?”

I blinked at him, and he blinked right back, and it clicked. His hasty exit from the room… “Oh…”

“Oh, indeed. Now come here and let me hold you.”

I climbed into bed and snuggled close.

“Do you think you can sleep now?”

I stifled a yawn. “I’m not sure.”

“Then let me help.” He began to hum, a low soothing sound that wrapped around me like silk. The last thing I remembered was the warmth of his chest and the safety of being held. By him. Only him.