Morteza Page 3

  The second trick was to wear pants with a pleated front. That kept the fabric away from the boxers, another aid to the optical illusion he desired.

  The third trick—and maybe the most important—was to be able to get himself off in a hurry. This, too, wasn’t much of a problem. All he had to do was think about Eli’s mouth on him or the taste of Ellie’s pussy, and he was there. So he could walk into a bathroom stall or behind a bush or into a dark alley and be done in less time than it took him to urinate.

  The fourth was to drink himself into a stupor. This wasn’t easy to do, as demons weren’t very susceptible to alcohol. A forty-ounce bottle of vodka just got him started. And beer? He’d be floating before he could get himself drunk enough to pass out.

  He’d tried a few things that absolutely didn’t work. He’d tried sleeping pills. Not a chance. He’d tried sedatives during the day. He might as well have been popping jelly beans. He’d even—through his job at Bar None—tried some illicit drugs. No luck.

  So those few tricks were the only things he’d discovered to help him make it through the long, lonely and painful days without his mates. One part camouflage, one part temporary relief. Better than nothing, he guessed.

  Funny, he hadn’t ever before called Ellie and Eli his mates—not until this moment. But that’s exactly what they were.

  Ellie and Eli were his mates.

  And he was sick and tired of living without them. If it weren’t for Big Dave forcing him from the computer, he would sit there until he found Ali, no matter how long it took. But Big Dave had been right—he was going to make himself sick if he didn’t get some sleep.

  He’d progressed only that far in his dreamscape when the truck slowed to a stop outside his house, the house he’d bought with the money he’d made playing Texas Hold ’Em at one of the illegal online poker sites. Morteza was damn good at everything online, and poker—though he’d quit playing after he’d bought the house, wanting to avoid dealing with the tax people—was a game he was very, very good at.

  And the risk he took going illegal was worth it. He’d watched the house go on the market, watched the realtor’s website every single day, while he’d taken bigger and bigger risks at the poker table. This house was his, he’d thought, and he was going to have it. It was where he’d found Ellie and Eli. It was where he’d found a real life. No one else was going to live in their house.

  But he’d been smart enough to quit the poker as soon as he’d gotten the money he needed. Not many of his fellow players had that discipline, but for Morteza, it had never been about the means, only the end.

  Besides, he preferred his job at Bar None. Watching the humans helped him learn more about what he had to do to appear human. And he liked the physicality of the job. Throwing out some guy who drank too much or harassed a woman or tried to throw a bottle at the band was more than just satisfying. It helped Morteza slow down on the number of times he had to get his rocks off in a night. Not by much, but every little bit helped in his situation.

  And that was only one of the reasons he liked his job as a bouncer. Here, he was the biggest of the big guys. At home in the Underworld?

  Morteza was one of the smallest of the demons—size being a reflection of status in the Underworld—so he hadn’t been a fighter. But all demons were bigger than most humans, and in the human world, Morteza was a very big man. And even if he hadn’t fought as a demon, he’d learned a lot of moves from watching what went on around him.

  If it weren’t for Ellie and Eli’s absence in his house and his bed, Morteza would have the perfect life.

  He dropped into the king-size bed covered with red silk and satin, focused on the red velvet walls, and fell into what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep. Tomorrow, he’d come up with a new plan to find Ali.

  Chapter Five

  Ellie’s plan for happiness got stuck right there at item two: convince Eli they’d been wrong all their lives. Convince Eli that the three of them belonged together. Permanently.

  The one positive thing about this item was that she knew Eli hadn’t dated a single girl since that night with Morteza. River City was a small town, and Ellie knew everyone Eli knew. They’d gone to school together, they’d been in the same band in high school, they’d learned to swim and skate and ski together.

  Even though she hadn’t seen Eli for a year, she had lunch every Wednesday with her mom and Eli’s mom. Ellie had spent every Wednesday since she’d finished high school trying to convince their mothers that Eli and she would never be together. Their fondest dream had been, and still was, grandchildren.

  But the moms had given up on the grandchildren belonging to both Ellie and Eli. Now they were just pushing for any grandchildren at all, because they were more than happy to share.

  Five years ago was about when they’d given up on ever getting the two of them together. Up until then, Ellie would have had to pry to find out what Eli was doing and with whom he was doing it. Now they told her everything.

  That was how she knew he wasn’t seeing anyone. There was no hiding in River City, especially from their mothers, who knew everything that happened in town within minutes of it happening.

  They didn’t even ask Ellie about him anymore. Which was a good thing, because what she knew about Eli wasn’t fit for public—especially maternal—consumption. She knew he was suffering because she knew Eli’s sexual appetites very well. They’d always talked about their respective relationships and one-night stands. Ellie thought now that they’d done it to keep each other from getting any closer; at least, she knew she had.

  But going without sex for a whole year? That had to be hurting Eli as much as it was hurting Ellie.

  Knowing that, and imagining what he was doing to keep himself sane, made Ellie’s fantasies even more detailed, and even more destructive. Just thinking about Eli’s hand cupping his balls, his forefinger spreading the pre-cum around the crown of his cock, his hand wrapped around his cock, and the long slow pull up that heated shaft…it all made her crazy.

  Add Morteza to that image and she was a finger’s touch away from an orgasm.

  Morteza on his back, his beautiful cock a brilliant and angry red, pulsing with each heartbeat. Eli on his knees beside him, eyes locked on that cock and tongue moistening his lips. Eli would have one hand wrapped around his own cock, slowing his response so he could enjoy Morteza’s.

  Ellie would have pulled Morteza’s arms above his head, resting her knees on his forearms so her pussy sat just above his head. He would tug a little, and she would press down harder with her knees. The smile on his face would make her pussy cream, and he’d take a deep breath, inhaling her scent. His cock would throb, and the whole cycle would begin again.

  But this time Eli bent from the waist until his mouth was only inches from the tip of Morteza’s throbbing cock. Ellie grew hotter and hotter until she had to reach down and pinch her nipples, first the right and then the left. Morteza’s head tilted back until he was inches from her cunt, and he watched her hands on her breasts, his intense gaze making her greedier for any sensation.

  His breath quickened and his cock hardened. He thrust up and Eli was waiting for him, his mouth open. Everything, including their hearts, seemed to stop in that moment. It was as if everything in the world had conspired to put them in this perfect place.

  The bubble burst and they started to move. Morteza reached out with his left hand and wrapped it around Eli’s cock, his huge palm swirling around the crown. Then his fingers caressed the shaft, top to bottom, slowly, slowly pulling the foreskin up and then back down.

  Each time he reached the base of Eli’s cock, he moistened his forefinger in the pre-cum at the crown. Each time he took that finger and followed a line from Eli’s balls to his anus, stopping for a tiny push when he reached the tight pucker of his anal star.

  Eli now used both hands and his mouth, but carefully. One hand tugged at Morteza’s balls, pulling them away from his body, rolling them in his palm. One hand settled at the
base of his cock, moving in counterpoint to Eli’s mouth.

  He ran his tongue around the ultra-sensitive skin at the base of the crown until Morteza moaned his pleasure, pulling back each time Morteza reached for more. He teased him with tiny nips, and each time his teeth touched Morteza, all three of them jumped.

  Because the pleasure was so intense they moved as slowly as possible, each touch a moment all of its own, all three of them concentrating, focused completely on what they were doing, what they were experiencing. All of them were of one mind, with one common goal: to make this last as long as possible, to draw out the tension until they couldn’t stop themselves from screaming.

  Ellie’s pussy was throbbing, hot, needy, but she resisted touching herself there, concentrating on her breasts, pinching and rubbing until she wasn’t sure if she felt pleasure or pain. But each touch made it more intense, made her more desperate, made the waiting more unbearable.

  And then Morteza moved his arms beneath Ellie’s knees just enough that her torso pitched forward. He blew his heated breath upward to play over her clit, and she thought she would come right then, without a single touch.

  Now he wouldn’t let her move away, his hands coming up until her knees rested at his elbows and he could grab her thighs and ensure that her pussy was open to him. She was so wet she knew he not only inhaled her scent, but could taste her juices without touching her.

  He turned his head to the right and took a bite of her inner thigh, his teeth sharp against the tender skin. His tongue slipped across the bite and soothed it; then he lifted his head and his tongue slid across her pussy, lapping at her juices, flicking just barely in then out of her vagina. He licked up but avoided touching her clit until she could scream.

  Eli waited. Ellie waited. Morteza waited.

  It was as if they were one organism with three bodies and a single will, a will to enjoy the process as much as the end result, to pleasure each other as much as to be pleasured, to combine their bodies and their thoughts and their feelings into a single whole.

  When Eli moved, sucking Morteza’s cock deep into his mouth, he set off a firestorm. Morteza’s hand followed, moving quickly on Eli. And then his mouth centered on Ellie, his tongue laving her from her pussy to her clit.

  And like a miracle, the three of them exploded at the exact same moment, and then collapsed. Eli and Morteza crawled up, exhausted, to wrap their arms around Ellie and each other. Their breathing synchronized and their bodies settled.

  Ellie hadn’t even touched herself this time, but her orgasm was the deepest and most intense she’d had since they’d been together.

  That was how she knew it was time.

  None of them could go on like this any longer.

  She would start her pursuit in the morning. She knew, now, that she had to find Morteza and get him on board before she even thought about going to Eli. Otherwise Eli would deny her, and she couldn’t bear that.

  She knew he couldn’t deny Ellie and Morteza if they showed up on his doorstep together. Even Eli, silly, stubborn Eli, couldn’t do that.

  Chapter Six

  Morteza slept around the clock. Twice.

  He’d already lost two of his five days off, but he didn’t think that was going to matter since he had no idea what he was going to do next. So, instead of planning or plotting his day, Morteza decided that he would just wander, just hang out in the city, and maybe he’d get lucky.

  Maybe something he saw or heard or smelled would trigger an idea, because for sure his big plan hadn’t worked. If he stopped with the logic and started with the just do it attitude, things might change.

  He got up, showered, dressed and then headed for his favorite coffee shop. Scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, maple syrup and hot, hot coffee could make almost anything better.

  Morteza was a people watcher, and this coffee shop had the best people in the city to watch. They came from everywhere. Truck drivers. Actors from the theater down the street. Baseball and hockey teams for their after-game meal. Teenagers in groups or in couples. Street people for a cheap meal and society women for their morning coffee fix.

  He had spent many hours in this coffee shop, and he hoped that this morning would give him a clue. Or at least give him a clue about how to get a clue.

  Because otherwise he was fucked.

  He had absolutely no idea of what to do next, where to go next. Except to Big Dave. He had three days of thinking time before he’d get to that final step—because explaining Ali was going to mean outing himself.

  Now, Morteza was pretty certain Big Dave would be okay with the whole demon thing, especially when Morteza explained exactly why he had to find Ali. But Morteza wasn’t at all certain he was okay with anyone knowing he was a demon.

  There were too many bad vibes affiliated with demons. And deservedly so.

  Morteza didn’t want to be a bad guy, not in anyone’s eyes. But certainly not in Big Dave’s. Because Big Dave had made it possible for Morteza to live his life as a human, and he owed him for that.

  So he would spend the next three days trying to figure out a way to find Ali without involving Big Dave, and then, he promised himself, he would go to Big Dave’s and spill the whole story and ask for his help.

  * * * * *

  Three days later, Morteza swore he’d walked the entire depth and breadth of River City—at least once, and maybe two or three times. He’d started out walking aimlessly, but after the first day he’d picked up a street map and started plotting out his walks.

  He walked from early morning until late at night, leaving himself four hours to sleep each evening. He could get by on that, though by the middle of the second day, his pace had slowed. At this rate, he wouldn’t finish the entire city. But he kept going anyway.

  He started in the northeast corner with First Street, walking south to the city border, and then moved over to Second, doing the same thing going north. Once he’d finished all the north-south through streets, he started on the east-west ones.

  By the middle of day three, his street map was filled with red ruler-straight lines along all the major thoroughfares with the smaller lines still waiting for his pen. And his feet.

  He decided he’d start the next part of his search right smack dab in the middle and work his way out from there. He’d start at City Hall and walk down each street he’d missed. He’d try—though it wouldn’t always be possible—to stick to the streets he hadn’t walked. If he had to backtrack, he’d only do so as far as he had to before he crossed another unseen street.

  Morteza’s life—all those centuries of it—had taught him about patience. He knew how to do things that took a very long time and to enjoy the doing of them rather than the reward of finishing them. But this project just made him impatient.

  And he knew exactly why.

  Ellie and Eli.

  Every minute he wasted on this damn stupid wandering project meant another minute he wasn’t really looking for Ali. He was fooling himself if he thought Ali would just suddenly appear in front of him on one of these streets. Demons were very good at hiding themselves, and Ali, having been Lord of all the demons, could keep himself hidden for centuries. He had to go about this in a whole different way, though what different way was beyond him.

  But Morteza could see now that every minute of his wandering project was a waste of time. Another minute he couldn’t spend with his mates. Another minute he was unhappy and horny. Another day that wasn’t, as the saying put it, the first day of the rest of his life. Because the rest of his life would only begin when he was spending it with Eli and Ellie.

  Morteza was quite clear on the fact that the wandering actually did serve a purpose—it just wasn’t a purpose he could easily get behind, as he was frantic to get to the result.

  Which was finding Ali, so he could figure out how to break the link between himself and his Lord, Alborz.

  And once he’d done that, he could find Ellie and Eli. Not a problem.

  One of the compu
ters he’d rented from Big Dave had been used for a completely different search than the ones for Ali or some news of him. Morteza had used that computer to find Ellie and Eli. It had taken a few hours because the information he’d had wasn’t the best.

  If he’d had a last name or a birth date or a phone number and not just a cell phone number, he’d have found everything there was to know about them in a minute. But he’d learned enough about them during those twelve hours that he could guess certain things about them.

  Eli was of Jewish descent, so he began with a list of the most common Jewish surnames and then paired each of them with Eli as a first name. Morteza had enjoyed the programming required to set up that search, and he’d enjoyed the result of it even more. He’d come up with a list of less than a hundred names. It hadn’t taken long to eliminate most of them as too old or too young or too dead.

  When he was down to ten names, he hacked into the motor vehicles branch and looked at drivers’ licenses. And there, the second photo he looked at was Eli.

  After that, Morteza had downloaded the information and begun his search for Ellie.

  She was even easier because he knew she went to school with Eli. The search for Eli’s school took all of five minutes; then he searched for Ellie. That wasn’t quite so fast, as Ellie could be short for a number of names, but Morteza was certain she was of Italian descent, so that shortened everything up.

  Her driver’s license and photo were also downloaded.

  And the four neighborhoods in the city he’d avoided in his wanderings? The ones where his mates lived, and the ones where they worked.

  He’d marked those neighborhoods with brilliant turquoise markers and walked around them on tenterhooks. They couldn’t see him, not until he was ready.

  When the three days were up, Morteza surrendered. He was going to have to go to Big Dave.