The Third Wish Read online

  “I’m so sorry you’re dissatisfied with your first two wishes, Master,” she drawled in an uncharacteristically chilly tone that made me shiver. “I shall return to my vessel and spend my time reflecting on how to do better with your third wish.” She turned and moved away from the door.

  Fuck. The lack of profanity made me panic. I leapt up the stairs in one bound and grabbed her arm in desperation. If she evaporated back into the box, I’d have a hell of a time getting her to come out again. “Cleo, I’m sorry. Don’t go. I’m an asshole, okay? A dick. I’m—I’m every foul word you’ve called me since we met.”

  The skin of her arm was soft beneath my fingers, but the bicep was firm. Did she work out? Would a genie even need to, being able to shape-shift and all? There was a small strange golden tattoo on her arm. I watched, fascinated, as it shifted from a crescent moon to some intricate round design that reminded me of snowflakes, and then into a symbol of some kind. This close, her scent was warm in my nostrils. It was a mix of jasmine, incense, and something spicy that I had yet to identify. The intoxicating medley had visited me in my dreams more than once.

  “Take … your hand … off me.”

  The words were spoken slowly and in a deadly acid that had me snatching my hand back as though I’d touched a hot exhaust pipe. She glared up at me and twitched her arm as if to dislodge any germs I’d left on her creamy skin.

  “Sorry. So sorry,” I said, my words coming out light and breathy as though I might set off a bomb. I took a half step back from her, lifting my hands in front of me in that universal I’m-not-armed gesture. “Please don’t go,” I pleaded. “I really need your help. Please.”

  There were less than three days left for me to make my third wish, and I was desperate not to fuck it up. I’d made the first two rather quickly, and they hadn’t turned out exactly as I’d hoped. Well, no, I can’t say that. I’d gotten exactly what I’d wished for. I was now ridiculously wealthy and famous. The problem was that both of those things had come with a lot of problems, like fleeing from people who were trying to kill me for reasons I had yet to determine. And I really didn’t want to spend the rest of my life using my new, magically granted resources running, hiding, and generally having to look over my shoulder for the rest of my days. Of course, I could always wish to undo the first two wishes. But who in their right mind would do that? I ran a hand through my hair and pleaded with her with my eyes.

  Cleo made a scoffing noise and raked a critical gaze from my black biker boots, over my favorite well-worn jeans and grey t-shirt, and finally to my face, which no doubt looked more haggard than ever from worry and an overgrown five o’clock shadow. “And why should I help you? Out of the goodness of my heart?”

  I scrambled to think of something to say, but my mind was blank. I was a mere human. And before she’d come into my life, I was only doing a passable job at being that. There was nothing I could give her that she couldn’t give herself, not even freedom.

  “I can’t think of anything,” I said, feeling deflated. “But maybe you can.” It was a shot in the dark, but worth it. There was a faint glimmer in her caramel-colored eyes that signaled I was on the right track. Inspired, I pushed forward, desperate. “Is there something?”

  She relaxed her stance, making hope soar within me. Then she dropped her gaze to the floor as if—no, could it be?—as if she was reluctant to say it. I closed the gap between us again, feeling bolder, but I didn’t touch her. “Tell me,” I urged in a low voice, fascinated. “I want to know. No, I have to know. What I could possibly give you that you would want?”

  She looked back up at me and her pink lips parted slightly, as if preparing to speak, but she hesitated. The look in her warm, vibrant eyes made me want to stop everything—the patter of rain outside, the beating of my heart, the creaking of the RV as it was buffeted by the wind—just so I could focus entirely on what she was about to say.

  And then, the sound of a bomb going off had me tackling her to the floor to protect us both.

  Chapter Three

  It was only a few seconds after we hit the floor that I realized I’d overreacted. What had sounded like a bomb was actually the combined fury of a massive clap of thunder and lightning going off simultaneously overhead.

  But who could blame me? Using my second wish, I’d become a famous rock star. Strangely, the wish hadn’t come with any talent. I sang just as badly as I did before, which the news often remarked on, but fans around the world seemed to love it anyway. However, my newfound celebrity status had also come with death threats, stalkers, and the need for full-time security.

  That part was fine. I’d already hired some guys due to my first wish, so we’d just beefed that up. But now there was some confusion over which direction the threats were coming from, and why. As a result, my nerves were stretched to the breaking point. That’s what had led me to that random moment, right after finishing a concert in Las Vegas, when I’d snatched Rick’s keys from his hand and taken off with a, “Be right back,” tossed over my shoulder. I figured if no one could have predicted my taking off or in what direction, that meant I had to be safe for a while, didn’t it?

  “Are you okay?” I asked, looking down at Cleo, acutely aware of the fullness of her breasts against my chest.

  “I’m in danger of being smothered. But other than that, I’m fine,” she retorted, her breath hot on my cheek.

  “Sorry about that,” I said, shifting onto my elbows. “I thought we were being attacked.” This close, I was able to study the exotic tilt of her eyes and see that there were some flecks of gold infusing the light brown.

  “Mm-hm. And now?” she asked, arching a fair brow.

  That’s when I realized that she wasn’t magicking herself out of this situation. I was lying full-length on top of her, our hips pressed together, one of my legs between hers. But she had yet to evaporate into smoke and float away. Interesting. A rush of male instinct made a slow grin spread over my face.

  “Well, now I’m waiting for you to tell me what you want from me,” I said and shifted my hips just the slightest bit to a more comfortable position. I had a full-blown erection already. But who wouldn’t in such close proximity with their dream girl? Sue me.

  It must have registered with her because a soft, surprised sigh left her lips before she could catch herself. “I don’t want anything from you,” she said frowning and then looked away. But there was no energy behind her words, and she wasn’t shoving at me to get off her.

  “Bullshit,” I said in a low tone and waited. When she met my gaze again and I saw the heat in her expression, I knew for sure.

  I kissed her without another moment’s hesitation, groaning as I plundered her mouth the way I’d envisioned in dreams. It was crazy how my skin tingled with desire, as if all my testosterone simmered beneath the surface threatening to explode. She was so soft and warm and curvy that my erection became painfully firm and my balls drew up with excitement. I hadn’t meant to take advantage over her like a sex-crazed teenage boy, but I’d subconsciously pulled the top of her shirt down and now cupped the generous mound of her breast in my bare hand, massaging one of those teasing pink nipples with my thumb. I would have stopped as soon as I realized what I’d done, but in the same moment I also realized she was responding to me with equal fervor.

  Her hands were in my hair, tugging. And she’d wrapped her slim legs around me and pressed me to her so that my cock now pressed into the vee of her legs. I closed my eyes when she parted her lips for me and our tongues met. The heat of her and her demanding caresses made me want to melt, to sink into her until we were one. I could have died a happy man here in this moment. Touching her was the kind of bliss poets wrote about. Not that I’d ever read any, but the feelings surging through me right now triggered a mad reflex to write some. That was, if such a thing could even be captured in a twisted paring of simple words.

  I have no idea how many minutes went by while I tasted the skin of her neck, then her breasts, feeling more viril
e by the second with each soft mewl of pleasure I extracted from her. The rain continued to fall in an even noisier staccato outside, punctuated by lightning and thunder, making it sound as if the world were exploding. But I could have cared less. Cleo could disappear on me at any second, which made each passing one even more precious. This was the first time I’d understood how a man could become so enraptured by a woman. I’d never believed it before, but I could see it now. I would have happily eaten glass for Cleo, that’s how strong this inexplicable connection was between us.

  It was so unbelievable that I had to wonder if it was real or if she was using her power on me. But then, did I really care? I let the thought go. Cleo had zero need for that kind of manipulation. In fact, she’d been doing everything she could to keep her guard up when it came to me.

  It wasn’t long before we were both ready to go to the next level, but I was prevented from it by the damned cramped space we were in. I bruised both my elbows in my efforts to pull my shirt off and unbuckle my belt. I didn’t want to stop. If we stopped, would she let me touch her ever again? But I had no choice. If I was going to take her the way I really wanted to, we needed more space. In addition to that, the floor was pretty dirty. It wasn’t my ideal scenario for being with my dream girl. After one last reluctant kiss, I rose and extended my hand to help her up.

  I’m not sure what made me turn my head to look out the window. But lightning flashed at the same moment revealing that a vehicle had pulled up alongside us and men were leaping out of it. Men with guns.

  “What the fuck?” I glanced out the opposite window. The same thing was happening on the other side. Dread shot through my body as if a nitrogen bomb had gone off in the pit of my stomach.

  “Get the box!” Cleo shouted at me. “Get it!”

  She shoved me toward the kitchen table and I snatched it up reflexively and stuffed it in my pocket just as two men came up the stairs, guns leveled at me.

  Suddenly, a weird feeling of … lightness … came over me and everything seemed to slow down. I saw the tightening of both men’s hands as they pulled the triggers and tracked the flight of the bullets as they sped toward my chest. But instead of the bite of the twin impacts and spatter of blood I expected, I watched as they passed painlessly through me.

  And then, I was gone.

  Chapter Four

  It was a split second later that I realized Cleo had turned me into smoke along with her. Transforming into smoke wasn’t all that pleasant, I learned. There was this weird feeling of dissolving and being robbed of all my senses. Except for my awareness, it was as if I was suddenly nothing. Is this what it’s like to be a ghost? I had the sudden fear that each molecule of my body would drift off in different directions, never to be recovered, while my consciousness lingered in space. But then came the jarring feeling of reassembling. All of me slammed back together with unstoppable force and there was this weird sensation of my consciousness being stuffed inside. I had a moment of feeling claustrophobic before I felt like me again.

  “What the hell!” I shouted once I’d rematerialized again and had control of myself. I couldn’t help feeling my head, then my chest, and finally my privates to make sure everything was still there.

  “I think you mean thank you,” Cleo said with a frown, eyes glinting. “But if you didn’t, just say so and I’ll return you to the RV immediately, Master.” She drawled and lifted a hand in my direction, bracelets flashing in the sun.

  “No!” I said, flinching away. “Sorry. Thank you. I just need a second to deal with … with what just went down.”

  “Fine,” Cleo made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat, but she backed off with a shrug.

  I ran a hand through my hair, took a deep breath, and looked around. Cleo had transported us … somewhere. And wow, it was a beautiful somewhere. We stood on a square wooden platform in the middle of a lagoon of translucent ice-green water. Strangely, there was a red yoga mat in the middle. And spread along the perimeter of the platform were crystals, candles, and small golden pod-type things. They had intricate designs and smoke spiraled through holes at the top. Incense, I detected from the scent. It lent an exotic note to the salty sea breeze which was infused with the perfume of flowers on shore. On one side of the lagoon, steep mountains rose up. They were thickly coated with rich green jungle vegetation and dotted with riots of flowers in bright colors I’d never seen on flowers before. The sun shone cheerfully overhead … then I blinked and did a double-take. Two suns hung in the sky. One was huge and golden and the other, farther back, was a rusty-orange blaze.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  Cleo stood a few feet away watching me and she looked almost surprised at my question. “Inside my vessel,” she said, as if the answer should have been obvious.

  I frowned and patted my pants pocket. Then I pulled the pillbox out and held it in my hand. It now looked as if it had just been polished. The silver glinted merrily in the rays of double suns and the garnets sparkled as if their hearts had come alive and started beating. “This vessel?”

  She flicked a glance at it and nodded.

  I shook my head, my mind totally blown. “But how can we possibly be inside of the pillbox when it’s here with me inside of … it?” I waved my other hand at it. “That’s not physically possible.”

  She smirked, making her beautiful full lips twist in an interesting shape. “Yes, it is. You humans think you have everything figured out, but you don’t.”

  “But this isn’t just me thinking I know what I’m talking about, this is science! If what you’re saying is true, we’ve gotta be breaking the laws of physics or gravity or entropy or something like that.” I was a high school dropout, but I’d heard of such things. I wasn’t a complete moron.

  Cleo tossed her hair back over her shoulders and crossed her arms under her chest, which pushed her breasts up. And I was immediately reminded of how soft and full one had felt in my palm a brief moment ago.

  “You humans figure a few things out and then regard them as concrete facts. It’s pitiful how your kind stops there, thinking that’s all there is, and that you’re masters of the universe. But it’s these so-called laws that have held you back for centuries from discovering your true power. Logic is the cage humans have formed to make them feel safe.” She stalked closer, eyes locked on mine. “But all it does is block any chance you have of expanding into greatness, which is why your kind always wishes so boringly, redundantly, and completely wrong.” She punctuated this last word by poking me in the chest with one well-manicured finger before she walked away to stand at the edge of the platform.

  I stuffed the pillbox back into my pocket and followed her. Philosophical arguments weren’t really my thing, so I didn’t even try to debate most of what she’d said. But the very last part had caught my attention.

  “Hm. We wish wrong, huh?” I asked, not really sure how to get her to elaborate on it. I rubbed at the stubble on my jaw and tried to think of what else to say.

  She whipped around to stare at me though, one eyebrow raised. “Oh no,” she said. “You think you’re going to get answers out of me that easily?” She snorted delicately, making my heart stop for a moment.

  One of the things about Cleo that I found really hot was the no-nonsense way she had of being so real. Even though she was gorgeous, she wasn’t some ivory tower princess or aloof magical being. She was a red-blooded female with a firm grasp on her self-confidence who told it like it was.

  “The question of why I should help you still remains,” she said.

  This time, I didn’t hesitate. I stepped right into her personal space, close enough to feel her breath on my skin. And then I slowly skimmed my fingers up the bare flesh of her forearm to her biceps, before skimming them along her collarbone. “Really? I thought that part had already been answered.”

  She quivered at the contact, and her eyes looked glassy. There was the barest hint of her body swaying in my direction before she blinked and caught herself. “Not real
ly,” she said, but there was no energy behind her words.

  Apparently, she needed more convincing. Talk about a win-win situation. I grinned on the inside while I pulled her to me and ravaged her sweet mouth once again, which made my cock instantly stand back at attention as if we’d never been interrupted.

  Cleo slid her hands up my chest and tangled her fingers in my hair as she leaned into me. It was the barest hint of surrender, but it elicited a primal growl from me that I never knew I could make. Things heated up quickly from there. But this time, I didn’t let lust overtake my brain. Cleo still hadn’t agreed to tell me anything, so when she ran her hands down to my belt and started to unbuckle it, I let go of her and stepped back.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, surprised. “You don’t like this setting? No problem, I can change it.” She casually waved a hand and everything whirled around us as if we were suspended in a multicolored sandstorm. Then it settled, and we were standing on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire in what looked like a log cabin. Through the window, I could see snow falling outside in the darkness. I shook my head and tried to put what I wanted to say in a way that wouldn’t sound crass.

  “No?” she said and waved her hand again. Now we stood in the center of a plush rug scattered with pillows that was literally floating on a fluffy light-pink cloud. “How about this then?”