Chapter Three

“Hey, did you finish that report on the sea levels for last month?”

Rhylie tapped her eraser against her desk, then pasted on what she hoped was a sweet smile for her boss, Tony Marlow; that way he wouldn’t be so angry when she informed him she wasn’t done with the monthly report.

“I’m working on it.” She tried to put force behind her smile when she noticed the frown take shape on his face. That report should have been done on Friday, before she left for her weekend trip to New York. She’d told herself she’d find time to work on it in the hotel room, but Cassidy and Elise had not allowed it.

She’d assured herself she could finish it this morning. But all she’d been able to think about was Alesandro. She’d managed to do a little bit on the report, but that fell by the wayside when she went to the restroom to examine the tender spot on her thigh and discovered a hickey.

A hickey. A love bite. A bruise from a man’s mouth on her thigh. And the only mouth that had been on her thighs was Alesandro’s. It could only mean one thing: Saturday night had been real. All of it. Despite what Cassidy and Elise said, Alesandro had gone down on her at the club, in front of a roomful of women, and they hadn't seen a thing. He’d licked and sucked at her most intimate flesh until she’d come again and again.

How was that possible? The scientific part of her brain screamed that it wasn’t possible, and sometime during the night, when she’d been dreaming about Sandro’s touch, her fingers had caressed her thigh just a little too hard, and that’s what had caused the bruise.

Deep down inside, though, Rhylie knew that wasn’t true. It was a hickey, pure and simple. Inadvertently, her fingers trailed over the jean-clad spot while Tony talked, reminding her that he had to have the reports in to the main lab in Chicago by Wednesday, and that he wanted time to examine it before he sent it in.

“I know, I’m sorry. I fell behind this weekend, taking time off for my trip.”

Tony’s frown lightened. “I know, it was your birthday and here I’m ruining the memories by yelling at you. Have it for me tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure thing, boss. I’m working on it right now.” When I’m not dreaming about a gorgeous dancer dressed as a fireman who licked me to glory and back Saturday night.

“Great, don’t stay too late, though. I want it finished, but I don’t want you to kill yourself over it. You stay too late most of the time.”

Rhylie knew that was his subtle way of telling her to get a life, as her friends had done this weekend.

“Statistically, I don’t put in any more hours than you do, because I know that you work when you go home. The only difference is I’m staying here.”

“You work at home too, Rhylie. I want you out of here by five tonight. No arguments, or exceptions. Understand? If the report’s not finished, then get it done in the morning, but don’t work on it at home. If I have to, I might lock you out of accessing the mainframe from your home computer.”

Rhylie smiled and nodded, then turned back to her desk, listening to Tony’s footsteps as he headed down the hall. She knew he wouldn’t lock her out, or at least she hoped he wouldn’t. She shuffled some papers, taped a few keys on her keyboard, then let her fingers stray to her thigh again.

Was a hickey supposed to burn? She’d never had one before, so she wasn’t really sure. This one did, though. Not a burn like you’d receive on your skin, but something that pulsed deep inside her, sending something that felt strangely like desire coursing through her.

What had that gorgeous man done to her? Had he used some type of hypnosis, or maybe drugged her drink? Even if either of those scenarios was correct, how could he have performed oral sex on her, in front of everyone, without anyone seeing?

Maybe it was twins. One of them danced to distract the crowd while the other feasted between a woman’s thighs. If that was happening, though, she needed to report The Cave of Pleasure to the authorities. They couldn’t take advantage of women like that.

She’d received pleasure, true, but was it right to do it without a woman’s knowledge? She stared at her papers, then cast her gaze to her backpack. A quick glance at the clock showed she had a few hours before Tony’s self-imposed deadline of going home by five that evening. A little inspection of the lamp Alesandro had given her was in order.

She pulled the item from her backpack and set it on the desk, frowning as she studied it. It seemed to be made of brass, and it looked exactly the same as it had on Saturday: a harmless souvenir. Of course, she’d never had a souvenir from an orgasm before. Truthfully, she hadn’t had that many orgasms, either. The ones she’d had Saturday evening didn’t count, since they were fantasies. Weren’t they?

The hickey on her thigh throbbed and she touched it again, the burn of desire searing through her. She closed her eyes and imagined Alesandro before her, his chest bare, his cock peaking above the waistband of the tight fireman’s pants, throbbing in invitation.

She swallowed hard and stroked the lamp, running two fingers from the spout to the handle. The brass felt warm to the touch, and Rhylie shivered as an imaginary tongue slid over her clit.

She placed her palms on the edge of her desk and lifted up from the chair, putting all her weight onto her upper arms. The tongue swiped over her again, and she groaned, loudly.

“That’s it, Rhylie. Come for me.” Sandro’s voice filled her tiny cubicle, and the tip of a tongue found her clit, flicking it back and forth. Rhylie came hard, grinding her still-clad hips into her invisible lover.

“Very nice.” She pushed away, stumbling backward, her legs trembling.

Sandro sat under her desk, naked. One hand stroked his long, thick cock while the other caressed his thigh. “Don’t leave me. Come back here and let me taste you again.”

“Drugs. You must have put some sort of drug on the lamp, a hallucinogen. Ecstasy maybe? No, I think you have to ingest it. But you could have crushed it into a powder and rubbed the lamp with it. Absorbing it through the skin could cause hallucinations, right? Oh lord, I’m losing my mind.”

“I’m no hallucination, Rhylie. You rubbed my lamp, and I came to you. I’m afraid, though, I was a bad djinni. I just could not resist another taste of your delicious pussy.” He licked his lips and pumped his cock. Rhylie’s heart went into overdrive.

“Maybe it’s just stress, that’s it. Cassidy is always on me about working too much. And I don’t sleep enough. I’m just sleep-deprived. Maybe I’ve fallen asleep at my desk, and you’re a dream. That’s it, not a hallucination but a dream. A fantasy.”

“Thank you. I like being called a fantasy.”

“Sixty-four percent of Americans don’t get enough sleep, you know. And I’m one of them. It’s finally caught up to me.”

Rhylie ran her fingers through her hair, then rubbed her hands over her jean-clad thighs in rapid motion. Her palms were damp with sweat, and the pulse point in her neck beat out a fast rhythm. Her love bite throbbed in tempo to Sandro’s hand as it worked his cock.

“Come back and sit,” he said, his voice soothing. “You’re not seeing things. I’m very real. Come and touch me and you’ll see.”

“Hypnosis!” She snapped her fingers and started to pace her small cubicle. “That’s it. There must have been a chemical in the smoke at the club that made me susceptible to hypnosis. Of course, you can’t make a person do something under hypnosis that they wouldn’t normally do, since hypnosis is merely suggestion that takes hold in the brain. I’m not sure what that means about me seeing a naked man under my desk.”

“Stop moving around.” The humor in his voice sent shivers up her spine. “Come and sit, talk with me. You haven’t been hypnotized, and I’m not a hallucination. You rubbed my lamp and called me forth.

“You’re a djinni?”

“I’m very impressed. Most people would call me a genie.”

“There’s a difference,” Rhylie said, her voice low. “Djinn have free will, and you haven’t mentioned anything about being bound to me, as a genie would. You only said that I called you forth.”

“Very good.” He palmed the head of his cock and Rhylie shivered, wondering what it would feel like to take his length into her mouth, to taste him as he’d tasted her the other evening.

“Come and find out.” His grin was filled with a pure sensual delight. “I’m perfectly willing to be your test subject in that matter.”

Rhylie licked her lips in anticipation, then laughed softly. “I’ve always believed if I could touch something, then it’s real.”

“Then touch me.” He was standing in front of her in seconds. She blinked and took a step back. When he didn’t move she extended a finger, tracing it over his strong forearm. Definitely flesh and bones, warm to the touch. She could feel his heartbeat as she moved her finger over his bare chest. She pressed her fingers into his skin, and her body responded with vigor.

Oh, he was real. Very real.

“How is this possible?”

He cocked one eyebrow at her, and her pussy clenched as his hand reached out to caress her hip. Her taut nipples hardened further. His touch was magical, and an inferno of lust swept over her. She wanted him. Now.

“We’ve been over that.”

“The lamp.”

“Yes, the lamp.”

She cast a glance at the lamp, then sidestepped him and picked it up, rubbing it forcefully. Her fingers warmed from the friction, and when it was obvious the material was nothing more than brass, she turned it upside down, examining the bottom. No label proclaimed it made in China, or any other industrial nation. She then turned it over and over, searching for something, though she wasn’t sure quite what.

“It’s just a lamp,” he said, his breath feathering against her neck. When he had he come up behind her?

“No, everything has a basis in fact. There has to be something scientific about it. There’s wires or something that provided a signal you read to come here.”

“I forged it myself, many centuries ago with a pure flame made by the fire djinni that created me. And tell me something, even if there were wires to send signals to me, how did I get here? Do you have an explanation for that, too?”

“Not yet, but I will.” She turned back to him, letting her gaze stray down to his hard cock. “I can give you an explanation for that. The male brain sends out signals of arousal, widening blood vessels in the upper portion of the body, and sending the blood flow to the penis, where blood vessels grow smaller with arousal, thus, trapping the blood and causing the penis to grow.”

“And grow, and grow.” He cupped her buttock and pulled her into him, his hard cock rubbing against her jean-clad pussy. “It needs someplace wet and warm to call home for a while. Do you have such a place?”

“The average male penis is five inches long and about a half-inch wide when erect.”

“I’m not average, I assure you. Plus, you’re talking about human males, and I’m not human. Tell me, Rhylie, how long do you think my penis is?”

Their gazes locked, and she swallowed hard, again. At this rate, she would feel bone-dry. At least in her mouth. Moisture flooded the southern region of her body. “I wouldn’t know until, um, until I, um, felt...touch...”

He took her hand and guided it to his cock. “Then touch me. Feel how much I want you. The minute I saw you I wanted you. I prayed to the Goddess that you would pick me, and you did.”

His skin was soft, and his cock pulsed under her fingers. She slid one along the underside, following the trail of the enlarged vein. His sharp intake of breath made her heart rate quicken even more. In response, she groaned and put her head on his shoulder.

“Why?”

“Why what, my little skeptic.”

“Why me?”

“I believe we’ve already been over that, too.” He caressed her chin, then lifted her head enough to put his lips on her forehead. “Because I want you. May I take you, Rhylie?”

“You didn’t ask Saturday night, before you licked me to orgasm several times.”

“Yes, and I was reprimanded for that, but it was more than worth it. I’m afraid I lost all self-control when I saw you, though. I could not help feast on you.” He cocked her head and claimed her lips, his tongue sliding over her until she opened for him, sucking him inside as he gathered her in his arms, pulling her against his hard chest.

Rhylie felt as if every bone in her body had melted as he held her close, greedily taking her mouth as his hands roamed her back and buttocks.

“La mia stella,” he whispered against her neck. “Mi ha lasciato l’ama.”

For the second time in three days, Rhylie felt as if her body were on fire. In her mind, she knew she should say no, that she didn’t know him, and she wasn’t the type to fall into bed with someone at the drop of a hat. But she also knew, despite evidence to the contrary, that he’d already tasted her, already pleasured her with his tongue on Saturday night. And then, Cassidy’s words about her being boring, and staid, pushed forward, and Rhylie knew this was a chance she had to take.

“Yes, you can love me.”