The Genie's Heartwish, page 10
Zak flashed a white-toothed grin. “Indeed.”
“Were you a scribe?”
“No, a professional soldier. My father was a scribe. In secret, he and my mother taught me, my brothers, and sisters, to read and write.”
“My mind is racing with questions,” Drake said. “How long will you be here?”
“For six lunar cycles, or until Laila makes her final wish and I have completed my servitude to her, whichever comes first.”
“Then what?” Reen asked.
“I return to the bottle to await my next possessor.”
“Were you a criminal?” Drake asked. “Did someone cast a spell on you because you broke a law?”
“I have never committed a crime. It was not a spell but an incantation spoken by a priest and priestess to place me in eternal service to womankind. I was falsely interned, defending the honor of a young priestess.”
“Who was the incantation directed to?”
“Inanna,” Zak answered Drake. “Queen of Heaven, goddess of—”
“Love and war,” Drake finished with a grim nod. “She was believed to be extremely powerful.”
“As I can confirm.” Arching an eyebrow, Zak folded his arms across his chest.
“What was happening in your time before you were imprisoned?” Drake asked.
Zak had a faraway look in his eyes. “On the banks of the Euphrates, with my troops I defended the walls of the Sumerian cities against the siege of Sargon of Akkad’s army.”
“Sargon...Akkad...” Drake sat still and silent, apparently in deep thought. A look of astonishment crossing his features, he said, “But that had to be...” His gazed was fixed on Zak. “That was the third millennium BC. You’ve been in captivity for—”
“Five thousand years,” Laila whispered, swiping at the fat set of tears spilling down her cheeks. She felt sure her heart would break at the sad, implausible revelation.
“You said eternal,” Reen noted. “There’s no way for you to get out of this incantation? That seems unnecessarily cruel.”
With a resigned sigh, Zak gave an indifferent shrug. “I thought at one time there might be a way. The priestess, Sabit, promised to find a way to free me but...” His words trailed off as his eyes narrowed and a scowl marred his handsome features.
“She was the one whose honor you defended?” Laila asked.
“Yes.”
“What happened?” Reen asked.
Zak looked at the children and back to the adults. “It is not an appropriate discussion in the presence of the little goats. I will tell you another time, if I see you again.”
“Well, of course you’re going to see us again. You’ll be here for six months,” Reen said.
Drake nudged her with his elbow. “Unless Laila makes her wishes before that,” he reminded Reen.
“Oh...”
“You’ll see Zak again,” Laila assured. “I guarantee it.” She planned to keep him here until the last possible moment.
“Holy mackerel,” Reen said, “this is all so incredible.”
“Does this sacred fish reference mean you are you a fish worshipper, or is this phrase similar to the sacred cow saying?”
Reen’s expression screwed. “I hope you can translate, Laila, because I’m lost...unless he’s talking about my worshipful love of lobster with drawn butter.”
Laila explained that Zak comes out of the bottle able to speak and understand his possessor’s language, minus slang and colloquialisms like holy mackerel, holy cow, gee whiz, etcetera.
“Well holy Toledo,” Reen replied, watching Zak’s clueless expression. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. So what’s on your agenda for tomorrow, I mean besides...” Her eyebrows wiggled.
“Maureen.” Drake’s expression was half teasing, half scolding. Reen merely grinned in response.
“First on the agenda,” Laila shifted her weight to one hip, giving Zak a head to toe appraisal, “is taking Zak shopping for clothes.”
“Gee, I kind of like what he’s wearing now,” Reen teased.
“Uh, excuse me...did I suddenly become invisible?” Drake joked.
Reen and Laila exchanged a conspirator’s smile.
“Come on, kids, time to go to grandma and grandpa’s,” Drake told his yawning children. His stomach growled noisily and he laughed. Patting his abdomen, he added, “As fascinating as this is, I’m not missing out on Nevan’s pork pie special tonight. Ready Reen?”
“Sure.” Turning to her sister, Reen squeezed Laila’s hands. “Keep me posted.” Laila nodded.
Once they left, Friday joined Laila and Zak at the window as they watched the kids being strapped into their car seats.
“Reen and Drake are husband and wife?”
“No, they’re just good friends. Nothing romantic going on.”
“I am not so sure. I observed the looks of longing he gave her.”
“Hmm...interesting. I thought there might be something between them too but Reen insists she’s interested in someone else.”
A moment later, Zak stiffened, eyes wide as Drake backed out of the driveway. He was clearly astonished, but thankfully not to the point of drawing his saber.
“A horseless chariot? Surely this is magic.”
“It’s called a car, an automobile. It operates using a gas engine with lots of horsepower and—” Laila held her hand up as Zak’s mouth opened to speak. “Just add it to the expanding list of things you’ll learn about over the next six months.”
Zak’s responding smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I will not be here that long.”
“Yes you will.”
“I will not. No woman has ever waited more than fourteen days to make her wishes.”
“Two weeks?” Laila felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. “You’ve never been outside the bottle for more than two weeks at a time?”
Friday chose that moment to whimper, almost as if he understood.
“No. My time with Abigail was the longest.” He smoothed his thumb over the single tear escaping Laila’s eye. “There is no reason to weep. It is simply my destiny. I hold no animosity toward any of my possessors for making their wishes quickly. I would most likely do the same if I were in their situation.”
He held Laila at arm’s length, locking gazes with her. “Know that I will bear no ill feeling toward you either when you make your third wish and I return to the bottle.”
“Oh, Zak,” she whispered against his chest, “I wish I could—”
With an audible gasp, Laila’s hand shielded her mouth and she yanked out of his embrace. “I have to be careful. I don’t want to squander my wishes on something mindless because of a slip of the tongue.”
“True.”
They sat next to each other on the couch with Friday positioned at their feet. The room was silent except for the sound of Friday licking Zak’s toes.
“Okay,” Laila said after giving it serious thought, “ignore anything I say using the words I wish unless you specifically hear me say it exactly like this, for my first official wish, I wish,” she hung invisible quotes as she spoke the phrase, “and so on, until the third wish is made. That’ll be my official command so we prevent any mistakes.”
“I understand.” He mirrored her quotes gesture. “What does this mean? Will it be part of your command?”
“It’s just air quotes.” She could tell by his expression he was puzzled. “Yes, I’ll make sure to use that gesture when I make an official wish,” she confirmed, deciding the quotes would act as an extra safeguard.
“The thought of accidentally returning you to that bottle because I was stupid enough to say gee, I wish I had a Snickers is horrifying. So if you hear me randomly wishing I had some chocolate or ice cream, ignore it, okay?”
Zak chuckled, a pleasant sound that rumbled up from deep in his chest. “You are a very special woman.” He drew her to him, smoothing her hair as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I will enjoy my time with you, however long or short it may be.”
“Six months,” she reiterated.
When he stood, scooping her up into his arms, she gave a surprised little yelp. “What are you doing?”
One look into his heated gaze told her all she needed to know.
Chapter Eight
~<>~
“ARE THERE NO more lights to turn on?” Zak asked. “I love this electricity. I must learn how light bulbs work.”
Click.
On. Off. On. Off. On...
Laila looked around her bedroom as Zak went from lamp to lamp, repeatedly flicking the light switches. She’d never seen the bedroom lit so bright at night. He’d insisted she also turn on the lights from the master bathroom for additional illumination.
She wasn’t all that thrilled about him eyeing her naked body highlighted in stark clarity.
“I have lots of candles,” she offered. “Pretty, scented ones. Wouldn’t you prefer a dimmer, more subdued, romantic ambience?”
“No.” His eyes flashed and she caught a glimpse of something resembling dread. “I like the light. After spending an eternity in the cold darkness of the bottle, this glowing brightness is a wealth of warm, golden treasure. If it is permissible, can we have all the electric lights on, as well as the candles?”
“Of course.” She’d forgotten about him being bottled up for so long. Naturally he’d want to be surrounded by light now. Lighting a match and holding it against the first candlewick, Laila sighed. She’d just have to bite the bullet, trying not to cringe when Zak zeroed in on her well-lit imperfections.
Once she’d lit the last of the candles, she smiled. “This is all the lighting I have for this room. Except for the little flashlight tucked in my nightstand drawer in case the electricity goes out in the middle of the night.”
“What is this flash of light?”
“A battery-operated device, mostly for emergencies. It doesn’t require a cord to be plugged into the wall.”
“Show me.” Zak looked like a little boy hearing about dinosaurs for the first time.
Laila dug the flashlight out of her drawer, demonstrating how to turn it on and off.
“I must study this fascinating object.”
She was having a marvelous time rediscovering modern technology through Zak’s eyes. Everyday items she never gave a second thought to now seemed almost magical when she imagined what the world must have been like before their invention.
Zak touched the circle of glass covering the concentrated beam. “There is no fire, no burning or blistering of skin.” Testing it further, he pressed the lit flashlight to his arms, chest, abs, and his face. Laila vowed never to clean the surface of her flashlight again.
A moment later, Zak’s hands were on her, stripping away her clothes.
“You will put your teslug footwear back on.” He handed Laila her bunny slippers.
“Teslug?”
“Small young animal.”
Laila laughed. “So my bunny slippers turn you on, hmm?”
Zak stilled, a clueless look across his chiseled features as the gears turned inside his head. “Turn me on? Like electric lights? Is such a thing possible? Can we do it? Now?”
“Not literally. If something is a turn-on, it makes you feel especially desirous. Lustful.”
Zak’s lips eased into a grin. “Everything about you turns me on, Laila. The furry pink faces you wear on your feet amuse me. I have never seen anything quite so full of nonsense.”
Wrapping a hand around one of the posts of her four-poster bed, he gave an affirmative nod. “These will do well for support.” He glanced around the room, opening and closing her nightstand drawers, then he looked under the bed.
“What are you looking for?”
“Chains, leather straps, something with which to bind your soft flesh.”
Her mouth formed a big silent O.
“Sorry, my bedroom isn’t equipped for bondage,” she quipped, totally unfamiliar with anything even remotely related to BDSM. “Maybe we can stop at Chains-R-Us when we go out to buy you clothes tomorrow.”
Accepting her glib remark as truth, Zak nodded. “Excellent. I will enjoy inspecting the chain merchant’s wares.” He stripped out of his genie garments and joined her on the bed, primed and ready for action.
“Zak, I’m not that experienced. What I’m familiar with falls into the category of ordinary vanilla stuff.”
“Vanilla? Explain this food reference.”
“Standard sex without any bells or whistles.”
“Ahh, then you will add bells and whistles to the list of items we must procure.”
Laila decided not to bother explaining further. “Sure,” she replied, doing her best to avoid laughing. “I was just kidding about Chains-R-Us,” she admitted. “There is no such store.”
The look he gave her had her feeling guilty. “You were being mischievous, taking advantage of my lack of knowledge of your time.”
It sounded so nasty and juvenile when he put it like that. “Sorry.”
He shrugged it off. “I am not offended.” His hands skimmed from her ankles to her shoulders, his thumbs kneading along the way. “Our times and worlds may be astoundingly different, but I find it hard to believe the craving for sexual satisfaction has dimmed. Are there no markets offering items designed for increasing intimate pleasure?”
“Sure, there are sex shops, places that offer sex toys, weird outfits and fetish stuff. But I’ve never been in one.”
“You will take me to one tomorrow.”
“No way.” Laila felt her face heat. “I’d die of embarrassment if someone I know saw me.”
“Why? They would know you are a woman unafraid to explore her blossoming sexuality. A woman who has an experienced lover at her side.”
Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, she glanced up at him. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
He paused, taking her hands in his as he gave her a solemn look. “Fearing life wastes precious time, little one. Embrace the gift of life. Enjoy it while you have it.” A gentle kiss punctuated his thoughtful words. “I will make my flash of light inspection now,” Zak happily announced without skipping a beat. Tugging, he shifted Laila into the ideal position.
“I will use this to explore your mug.”
Laila’s face fell. “You want to examine my coffee cup?”
Zak frowned. “Your words make little sense.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Yes, there are two of us,” Zak confirmed, cocking his head in question. Laila cocked hers in return.
“Do you want me to get a mug?”
“It is already here.”
“Zak...” He was making her crazy.
“I speak of your delicate murub,” he explained, a gleam in his eye as his gaze dropped to her crotch. “I wish to inspect it with the flash of light. Understand?”
Laila’s mouth fell open.
“Place pillows beneath your bottom so I have a clear view of your intimate flesh.”
Laila hesitated. “I feel like I’m getting ready to be examined by my gynecologist.”
“Your guy who?”
“Gyne—my doctor. You know, like a medicine man. The one who checks out my... intimate flesh to make sure it’s healthy.”
One dark eyebrow arrowed down. “I have no thought of medicine when I look at you, Laila. I am certain my touch, my gaze, my warm breath on your flesh, will in no way be similar to visiting your guy doctor.”
“Oh...”
“Position yourself so we may proceed.”
She really wasn’t ready for this. She could probably command him not to do it but...
~<>~
Twenty blissful minutes later, a satisfied sigh escaped her lips. The beautifully romantic words falling from his lips, the loving way he explored, the warmth of his gaze as he studied her—it all made her heart quicken.
Laila was in the midst of sighing when she heard the distinct click of the flashlight. She saw light flash on. Off. On. Off. On...and then Zak was knocking it with the palm of his hand.
“The light dims,” he noted with dismay.
“The battery’s dying.”
Zak shifted his gaze from the dimming flashlight to her face, treating her to an adoring smile. “How beautiful you are. I have enjoyed pleasuring you as your essence journeyed on lil to an.”
Her eyelids intuitively fluttered shut. “Lil and Ann?” She opened her eyes, smiling up at her genie.
“In Sumerian, lil is the wind, the air—a breath, spirit, the atmosphere. An is what you would call heaven.”
“Heaven. I can’t think of anything more appropriate.” Laila wove her fingers into the dark curtain of hair spilling onto his bronzed shoulders. “You definitely transported me to a different realm.”
Reclining on his side next to her, he bent his elbow, resting his head on his fist. He looked so at ease, so natural, as if this was exactly where he belonged.
“You remind me of the air on a spring morning,” he told her in that lyrical way he spoke. “Lively and full of life. Spirited and impudent as well as intelligent. There is one thing about you that I especially prize.”
Laila’s thoughts whirred, wondering what lovely praise he was about to bestow next.
“You make me laugh,” he said, surprising her. He kissed her forehead and each cheek. “It is a great gift.”
“It is?”
“Truly. Being in the bottle is oblivion. I exist with nothing but my own thoughts. It is so freeing to laugh, to enjoy the laughter of others. It heals inside and out.” His hand swept from his throat to his belly. “You have done this for me.”
If it was anatomically possible for a heart to flip-flop inside one’s chest, she’d just experienced it.
“Thank you, Zak. I wish I could so eloquently express how much I’m enjoying our time together.”
“I was not always skilled at speaking. I have gained the ability over centuries as I walked the earth with people of different cultures, locations and times. I have learned much.”
The places Zak had been, the things he’d experienced. It was mindboggling.
“I learned actions are more important than words.” He gave her an intuitive smile. “Your actions have been most illuminating. My past possessors gave thought only to their own gratification, never to mine, a truth I came to accept long ago. Once they understood I was there to grant their wishes and pleasure them, I was naught but a human contrivance. Merely a means to fulfill their desires.”
