Page 71 of Silver & Gold

“Please,” Raider begged.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help.”

The djinn knelt beside Seth’s wounded leg. Raider shifted to crouch by Seth’s head. He bent down, pressing his lips to Seth’s.

“Don’t you dare leave me,” he whispered against Seth’s lips. “I’ll forgive you anything but that. Don’t you dare leave me.”

Suddenly, Seth’s body arched. His lips parted against Raider’s as he gasped. Raider drew back, staring at Seth as his emerald eyes opened wide.

Seth’s arms came up and wrapped around Raider, pulling him down. Raider was so startled that he didn’t react as Seth rolled over top of him, grinding his hard cock against Raider’s groin. Arousal flooded Raider’s body, his own cock hardening as he lifted up against Seth and held onto him in return.

Raider’s hands roamed over Seth, shocked by the abrupt change from near death to vital, hungry life. Then Seth collapsed over him, suddenly limp.

Raider cried out in alarm.

“He’s fine,” the djinn said quickly.

Raider pressed his fingers against Seth’s neck and found the steady pulse. The warmth was returning to his body. Raider looked past Seth’s shoulder to see the djinn’s eyes dancing with apparent amusement.

“It is the healing,” the djinn said. “But he should rest first before doing any of that.”

“Who are you?” Raider asked as he cradled Seth’s unconscious form, unwilling to lose one inch of contact.

“My name is Tarjan. Welcome to Jannat.”

CHAPTER 23

SETH WOKE SLOWLY. He was aware only of being comfortable—and very aroused. How could he not be with that familiar body pressed against his and that familiar scent in his nose? He turned his face into it, breathing in the scent of Raider’s hair. Under the sheets, Seth’s hands roamed over bare skin. Chest, abdomen, hip.

Raider stirred, murmuring something, and wedged himself more firmly against Seth, one leg slipping between his.

Seth opened his eyes. At first, all he saw was Raider’s gorgeous dark hair and striking face. His eyes were closed. He was breathing easily. Comfortably.

Seth wasn’t. His breathing was shallow. His hips were rocking to grind his erection against Raider’s hip. Seth extracted a hand from under the clean white sheets and stroked Raider’s hair. Then he started to think about where he was.

Legs still entwined with Raider’s, Seth pushed himself partway up and looked around the room.

What in Hasa’s hell? Or … paradise?

Was he dead?

He and Raider were in something like a solarium. Breaking up the curved walls of pale stone, huge arched windows with intricate edging framed a view of a magnificent rambling garden. An open doorway gave access to stone steps leading down into it.

The garden spilled into the solarium by way of climbing roses and potted plants. Dwarf lemon and orange trees stood at intervals, their natural beauty perfectly balanced against the artistry of twisting columns and ornate molding. Birds chirped and twittered both outside the room and within as they flitted in to perch on stone platforms sprinkled with nuts and seeds.

Seth and Raider were lying in a plush, ground level bed with clean white sheets. Seth felt fingers tracing up and down his back.

“We’re in Jannat,” Raider said.

“The djinn?” Seth asked incredulously.

“They saved your life. Or Tarjan did. Do you remember?”

Seth thought back. The events were dreamlike—or nightmarish. The fight against the Hammer. Fleeing in the palanquin. The accident.

“I got hurt,” Seth said, remembering. He threw the sheets aside and looked down the length of his own body to his leg. There was no wound. There wasn’t even a scar. “What the …”

“Tarjan healed you. You would’ve died, Seth.” Raider sat up beside him. “Do you understand that? Do you understand what you almost did to me?”