Genie's Awakening Read online

  Genevieve scooted forward in her chair to look and picked up the pen.

  “By the way, my dear,” Chin-Sun said, leaning back in her chair and shooting Itembe a glance loaded with meaning. “Have you thought about the fact that the human, Colin, won’t be alive all that much longer compared to you. None of them will.”

  The Afrit paused, her hand holding the pen hovering over the signature line, and looked worried. “No, I hadn’t.”

  There was a pause just long enough to allow the full impact to sink in. Then Itembe spoke, “Perhaps that is something we can help with.”

  Genevieve shot out questions in rapid succession. “You can? How? You have the forbidden power?”

  Chin-Sun allowed her lips to quirk up just the slightest bit. Her colleague always had impeccable timing.

  “We don’t have the power, no.” Itembe said. “However, we recently transacted business with a vampire and acquired, let’s say, some of his essence.”

  “Vampires are very long lived, you know,” Chin-Sun said. “It will be child’s play infuse Colin with some of it so that he has a much longer life span. There would be an additional fee for that, of course.”

  “Yes, I’ll pay it,” Genevieve said right away. “What is it?”

  Chin-Sun tapped a finger on the desk again and a new clause appeared at the end, shifting the signature line down lower. “A portion of the new real estate you are going to open up should suffice. One of our choosing. What do you think, Itembe?”

  “That should do,” he said. “As long as we receive exclusive rights to it and as long as it remains private.”

  “Yes, good thinking,” Chin-Sun said. The contract reorganized itself again, this time without the finger tap. “We’d prefer it if you kept the property and our ownership of it a secret.”

  “It’s yours,” Genevieve said. And, with a short, perfunctory glance at the pages, she signed on the line. The gold ink blazed bright then settled into the page.

  A SHORT WHILE LATER, after getting Genevieve situated, Chin-Sun and Itembe moved to the bar for a celebratory drink. Itembe lifted his dirty martini to Chin-Sun’s dry martini in a toast. “To you,” he said. “Sorry for doubting you. That couldn’t have gone more perfectly.”

  She smiled. “It’s fine, my friend. We’re partners. Sometimes I’m not all that confident in your decisions either, but so far everything has worked out for the best.”

  They both sipped at their beverages.

  “Let’s hope our streak continues,” Itembe said, tugging at the white cuffs of his shirt and adjusting the sleeves of the fabulous red coat he wore.

  “It will,” Chin-Sun said. “So far, nobody suspects a thing. Why would they?”

  “Why indeed?” Itembe said.

  They both laughed, and then began chatting about the next guests scheduled to arrive at the island in the morning.

  The End

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jewel Quinlan is a bestselling paranormal and contemporary romance author. Since her debut in late 2013, she has published fourteen stories and has many more to come. Restless by nature, she is an avid traveler and has visited sixteen countries so far. Lover of ice cream, dark beer, and red wine, she tries to stay fit when she’s not typing madly on her computer drafting another romance novel. In her spare time, she likes to do yoga, hike, learn German, and play with her spoiled Chihuahua, Penny.

  Visit: www.jewelquinlan.com

  Or you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon.

  Take a look at

  What I Would Give to See You Again

  A Reverie Resort Vacation #1

  By Jewel Quinlan

  VISIT REVERIE RESORT, a luxury hotel on a tropical island where vacationers come to enjoy their wildest dreams but get more than they ever expected...

  Vampire Ahram Bahar comes to Reverie Resort to experience his deepest wish; to relive a moment he had with a woman over one hundred years ago. In 1892, he was reunited with Angelica Meitner, his childhood friend and soul mate. It was a moment of deep love, exquisite tenderness, and a horrifying ending that has haunted him ever since. Now, he wants a chance to savor the good without the bad, but did he remember to tell the resort hosts?

  Enjoy this excerpt:

  “I have to confess something, Angelica. I’ve never forgotten about you. As a boy, I remembered having feelings for you that were more than friendship, not that I could have said what they were. But seeing you now, I know it was the real thing. I loved you then and I still do now. I was really the one who pushed for this trip, not Serapis. I thought, if we came here, I might be lucky enough to find you. And I was, though in a completely unexpected way.”

  She blinked rapidly and lifted the shawl from beside her to blot at the tears squeezing from the corners of her eyes. “This has to be a dream.” She sniffled. “You being here so suddenly...saying all the words I’ve imagined you saying.” She took in a shaky breath and looked up at him. “I never married because of you, you know.”

  Ahram felt again the overwhelming surge of love that consumed him. It was twice now what it had been before because of all the longing he’d stored up for her over the past century. It was a tidal wave of emotion. He drew her into his arms and kissed her soft lips, felt her full breasts press against his chest, again memorizing the precious feel of her and the sensation of her lips against his. Unexpectedly, she parted her lips for him and their tongues slid against each other. Ah, she tasted so wonderful...delicious...

  He broke the kiss.