Free NocC 003 - Mina Khan - The Djinn's Dilemma - Harlequin 2011-11 by Nocturne Page B

and moaning?
    Instead, Eyr-hek grimaced as his body pushed out the bullets one by one. They clattered to the floor. What the hell? He’d never seen that happen so quick before. The guy was a bad-ass.
    “I’m going to teach you a lesson, mutt.”
    Rukh lashed out with his good arm. A whirling tornado went chest to chest with Eyr-hek. Furniture, laptop and other debris caught up in the wind battered the other djinn. He staggered back, threw up an invisible shield.
    The storm died and everything thumped to the ground.
    Rukh laughed. “You’re so powerful that you hide behind a shield.”
    Eyr-hek glared and began lowering the shield. At the first crack, Rukh pushed off the ground and jumped inside. He threw up his own shield, trapping them both in a protective bubble. Now he could unleash full power without worrying about Sarah. He may not be multitalented, but he could wield his one power. With a flick of his wrist he made all the air in the bubble vanish.
    The other djinn’s face paled as tremors shook his essence. His mouth opened and shut like a fish left to die on dry land. His hands reached out.
    Rukh couldn’t resist a smirk and some smacktalk mind to mind. Let’s see you work fire and ice without any oxygen.
    Eyr-hek’s predator eyes—cold and yellow like polished citrines—flared bright. But electricity still works in a vacuum .
    Hot, burning energy ripped into Rukh. With a loud thunderclap his shield crumbled and the whip of returning air drove him to his knees in a quivering mess.

     

Chapter Eight
     

    Sarah came to with her body aching and the acrid sting of smoke in her nostrils. Dry heat, the kind found in the belly of a hot oven, washed over her skin as her eyes adjusted. Flames raged and roared all around her, devouring curtains and swallowing the room inch by inch. Her reporter’s notebook lay open on the floor, and she watched as the pages crammed with notes turned into gray ash. Tears stung her eyes.
    Instinctively, she slapped a hand over her mouth and nose and stayed low to the ground. Oh God, her nightmare about being trapped in a burning place, chased by evil was now a reality. Her breath hitched as her gaze darted around the room.
    Eyr-hek towered over Rukh’s limp form on the floor. Was he alive? Her eyes lingered on the obsidian gleam of his body, so alien. His face a smooth mask instead of sharp cheekbones and sexy mouth. A shudder traveled through her. He’d lied to her. He was one of them.
    As if her thoughts had touched his mind, the green giant looked over at her, and into her. Smiled.
    Oh shit. She was next. She scrambled backwards despite the aches boomeranging through her. She couldn’t hold back the soft noises of pain.
    Eyr-hek’s nostrils flared and he rose through the air in a fluid glide to crouch at her side. “I’m going to punish you for messing up my plans.” His eyes held a dangerous glitter as they roamed over her body. “And I’m going to enjoy every second.”
    She cringed away from him. Sarah struggled to breathe as her mind bombarded her with bits and pieces of her life: salty-sweet margaritas at sunset, the wild abandon of kissing Rukh, the cinnamon-scented warm safety of Grandmama’s kitchen.
    A deep chuckle rumbled from Eyr-hek’s throat. He lifted a hand and an icy cold caress slithered over the side of her face.
    Oh God, no. Never . She couldn’t, couldn’t let him touch her, rape her. Desperation crashed over her. She’d been this desperate only once before, when she was six, and she’d turned into a monster. Desperation surged into rage, battered at her control, left her shaking. Oh God, no, she didn’t want to let go. Yet, a storm gathered in her soul.
    Sarah looked into the creature’s golden eyes. Her fear vanished.
    “Last chance,” she said, her voice low and breathy as she slowly stood up. “Leave, return to your own world.”
    “Leave?” He laughed. “When everything’s going my way? I don’t think so.”
    Sarah pulled in a