Free Lust Eternal by Sabrina York

the dais, stopping
short just inches away. He glowered down upon his captive, drawing back his
shoulders and thrusting out his chest. Keeshan refused to be intimidated by
such petty theatrics. He had been a prisoner of this Djinn for far too long. If
Duvalli could harm him, he would have done so long ago.
    He firmed his chin. “Release her from the incantation.”
    Apparently Duvalli found his lack of trepidation annoying.
“Stop saying that,” he spat, spinning around to pace across the chamber. The
dogs tracked him with leaden eyes, their heads moving as one. “ I cannot
remove that enchantment. You should know better than to ask.”
    “Then ask the Great Djinn.”
    Silence, cold and hard, settled over the room. The stark
fury on Duvalli’s visage stunned Keeshan. Not because it was fury—he’d seen
plenty of that from this man. But because it was laced with something else.
Something that looked like…fear. Tension crackled and spit between them.
    “No one asks anything of the Great Djinn.”
    “He’s the one in charge. He’s the one who controls this
realm.”
    “What do you know about it?”
    “I know enough. I know he’s your master.”
    “I am the Great Djinn’s agent.”
    “Agent?” Keeshan laughed. “You became his slave the day you
cast your spell on me and we both know it. You became entombed here, right
along with me.”
    “A price I would gladly pay a thousand times over to make
you suffer,” Duvalli said.
    “Circe is gone.”
    “Don’t you dare say her name.”
    “She was released to the great wheel of incarnation two
thousand years ago. How many lives has she lived since then? How many were
happy lives?”
    The Djinn snarled. “How many great loves has she had since
you?”
    If this was an attempt to strike at Keeshan’s heart, it
missed the mark. “I do not care if she has loved other men.”
    “Because you never loved her.”
    “Because I love her still. I want nothing, nothing but her
happiness.”
    “You killed her!” His bellow rocked the room.
    “I did not kill her.”
    “Your love killed her.”
    “ I did not kill her.” Silence seethed around them
like a nest of hissing vipers. And then, “How did she die?”
    “Go to hell.”
    “I am already there.”
    “You are only getting what you deserve.”
    Keeshan steeled his spine. “Perhaps you are right. I deserve
this torment.” He glanced up and caught Duvalli’s gaze. “But she does
not. Release her from the damn incantation.”
    The Dark Djinn went pale. “I cannot,” he said through
bloodless lips. “Stop asking!”
    “Release her! Re—”
    Duvalli held up his hand, cutting him off mid-word. “Do not
say it again. If you don’t want that woman to be compelled to fuck you, then
don’t draw the damn incantation.”
    Keeshan’s gut dropped. Not draw the incantation? When the
lust claimed him, he did not have the strength to resist. He never did. “You’re
the one who wove the spell in the first place. You know that’s not possible.
Release Aimalee from that damn incantation and do it now!”
    Duvalli seemed to deflate then, that great hulking creature.
His face fell and his shoulders crumpled. He walked slowly back to his throne
and sat with a boneless thud. He wiped his palm over his brow and muttered an
invective to himself. “You are the most stubborn man I have ever known.” He
shrugged, his countenance suddenly a moue of supreme disinterest. “You make me
weary, Sir Keeshan. Be gone.”
    With a flick of the Dark Djinn’s fingers, his prisoner was
drawn back to his cell.
     
    Duvalli was, once again, alone.
    He glared for a long while at the place Sir Keeshan had been
standing, brooding over their exchange. Did the bastard have any idea what he’d
done? Judging from Keeshan’s anger when he left, Duvalli thought not. Hopefully
the good knight had forgotten his lessons. Forgotten about the Power of Sevens.
    He probably had. Two thousand years was a really long time.
    He would realize soon