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part to all of this.”
    “You called me, remember?”
    “I know I did.”
    “Then what’s the problem?
    She pushed from her seat, began pacing the width of the small room. “It’s…complicated.”
    Nuha and the other instructors had told him this might happen. He scooted to the edge of the couch, rested his forearms on his knees. “Is this the first time you’ve summoned a pleasure slave?”
    She shot him a look. “Of course.”
    “You’re nervous. It’s natural. Tell me, are you a virgin, Claire?”
    “What?” Her feet stumbled, and she almost tripped but caught herself by grasping the back of the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. “No. Of course not. That’s a silly question.”
    But the pinking of her cheeks again told him she wasn’t all that experienced either. Perhaps what she needed was a small dose of…honesty.
    “What if I told you this was new for me as well?”
    Her feet stilled, and she looked over at him with those mesmerizing eyes. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean” — Trust before seduction — “you are my first assignment.”
    Her brow lowered, and her mouth dropped open, but she quickly closed it. “You’ve never pleasured a woman?”
    “Not a human woman, no. But do not worry, I’m well versed in all aspects of pleasure.”
    She moved around the chair, her interest obviously piqued. “How does one go about training for this kind of…assignment?”
    “Months of preparation and instruction.”
    “From whom?”
    “Teachers.”
    She eased down onto the chair again, tucking her long legs under her, honest curiosity lighting her face. “Female djinn? Were they slaves as well?”
    He shifted. This was not the direction he’d expected the conversation to go. His anxiety rushed back. “Some were.” Most . “But that shouldn’t matter to—”
    “Who do you serve? Why are you here, Ashur?”
    The question threw him off kilter. She was leaning forward, her face flushed, her eyes wide, eagerly awaiting his response. And another sense that she was not what she seemed rushed through him.
    Some instinct deep inside told him not to mention Zoraida or his imprisonment. Carefully, he said, “I serve you, Claire.”
    Her gaze held his a long beat, and then slowly, she eased back in her seat. “That remains to be seen. What if I’m not satisfied with you? Will your master send another?”
    He clenched his jaw to keep the anger at bay. Sending another was not an option. “She won’t need to. Trust me. I will be exactly what you seek.”
    Claire’s entire face relaxed. And heat crept across her features—a heat he felt crackle clear across the room. Something had shifted in her demeanor, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.
    She pushed out of her seat and held her hand out to him, all signs of her earlier nervousness now gone. “Why don’t we see if you are? Come. Show me.”
    His blood pulsed, and he hardened beneath the soft cotton of his pants as he looked at her outstretched hand. This was what he’d wanted—to be sent to a woman who truly wanted him—so why was he hesitating?
    Trust before seduction …
    Something in his gut told him he was not the one about to do the seducing.

 
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Claire waited for Ashur to place his hand in hers as she’d done earlier to him. And when he did, the heat of his skin permeated her own, sending another rush of desire coursing through her veins.
    He was one of Zoraida’s pleasure slaves. She had no doubt now. Djinn, regardless of race, existed in highly patriarchal societies. There was likely not another female master besides Zoraida anywhere in the djinn realm. Did that mean he was Tariq’s brother too?
    Claire hadn’t talked to Mira much in the months since giving Mira the spell she’d needed to free Tariq from Zoraida’s hold. Once Mira had trapped the opal in that bottle then accidentally tossed the bottle into the river, Claire had been more focused on finding the amulet than on whom it could be linked