The Third Wish Read online

  I glanced over the edge. Far below, I saw the usual marks of humanity carving its presence into nature. The clean lines of roads, fields, and buildings stood out along with the glow of artificial lights.

  “No. That’s not—”

  But she’d waved her hand again and now we were in some kind of grotto with marble floors behind a roaring waterfall that was stocked with a vast array of sex toys and devices. With each wave of her hand, Cleo had changed her outfits as well to suit the setting. And now, she was clad in a dark red dominatrix ensemble complete with thigh-high boots with gold spike heels that tapered to a wicked point. “Is this more your taste?”

  “No!” I said. “Geez, you’re starting to make me dizzy.” I squeezed my eyes shut and raised a hand to rub at my forehead. The rapid reality shifts really were giving me vertigo. “Can we just … I don’t know … be somewhere normal?”

  She didn’t answer. But when I opened my eyes, I saw that we now stood in a large opulent bedroom. Lush carpets lay on marble floors and flowing white drapes stirred in the breeze that entered through the large French doors. In the middle was a large bed with dozens of pillows, white sheets, and a comforter with intricate and brightly colored embroidery work. I suppose it was normal, for a palace that is.

  “This is perfect,” I said quickly before she changed anything again. I saw that once more her clothes were different. The flowing white dress was minimal and nearly see-through, but she actually looked like a genie for once. Well, what I’d always pictured a genie would look like.

  “Now, where were we?” she asked and strolled closer. She reached up to touch my face, but I caught her wrist before she could lure me back into temptation.

  “Not so fast,” I said. “You still haven’t agreed to help me with my third wish.” I might not have gone to college, but I’d heard somewhere that genies could be tricksters. And I knew better than to assume she would help me afterward.

  “How can you even think of something like that right now?” she said. “I know you want me.”

  She took my hand and lay it on her breast, and a surge of lust ran through me with a force I hadn’t felt since I was thirteen.

  “Do you have any idea how good it can be with me?” she said in a low voice. And then suddenly her face and body began to shift. One moment she was taller and thinner with dark hair and green eyes, the next she was exotically dark with a tiny waist, generous hips, and large dark eyes. She continued to morph and change into a series of beautiful women, some of which looked like supermodels and others whose proportions I’d seen only in comic books.

  “Stop,” I said and pulled my hand from her breast, which was small and pert at the moment. “I liked you exactly the way you were.” I felt like a fool saying it. What she was offering was every guy’s fantasy. Only an idiot would turn her down. But I had to, or I wouldn’t get the answers I was looking for.

  She smiled, looking pleasantly surprised, and shifted immediately back into the Cleo I knew. And suddenly, we were on the bed. All my clothes except my boxers had vanished and Cleo’s dress became skimpy lingerie. She was astride me, my stiff cock nestled beneath her, and she leaned in for a kiss.

  I had to reach deep for the will to stop her. Thankfully, I still had some left. I grasped her shoulders and halted her with her lips an inch from mine. “No,” I said. “Not until you agree.”

  Her expression changed from passion to annoyance in an instant. “You would turn down the opportunity to be with me?”

  There was something in her eyes though. That same something I’d sensed since the beginning. The something that my instincts picked up on but I couldn’t really define. And then it struck me, and I moved to gamble on it.

  In one smooth flip, I switched our positions and pinned her wrists over her head. Then I pressed my cock firmly against her while just brushing my lips over hers. “You want me even more than I want my questions answered,” I murmured.

  Dismay flashed in her eyes and was quickly hidden with fierceness. “No, I don’t,” she said. But she didn’t vanish from beneath me.

  I moved my hips, grinding into her, and watched the play of emotions over her face. “It’s just a few questions,” I said. “It’s nothing. Just say yes.” I could see that I was right, and that she struggled within herself as I had struggled a few moments ago. It made me wonder at the power I seemed to have over her. “You could have any man you wanted,” I said. “Why me?”

  She gave a small snort. “If you saw the long line of lecherous idiots I’ve had to serve, you wouldn’t be asking me that,” she said. “You try being trapped in a box for hundreds of years. The only time we get to come out is when we are summoned.”

  “Looks like you can conjure everything you want in here. It can’t be all that bad.”

  “Typical human. Always thinking so superficially.” She shifted beneath me for a moment, then relaxed. “It’s not the same at all. Don’t you understand? It isn’t real.”

  I glanced around, frowning. I could feel the breeze on my face, the mattress beneath me, and smell not only Cleo’s intoxicating scent but that of the outdoors. The fresh air carried the smell of grass and pine trees in with it. “Seems pretty real to me.”

  “I suppose you would have to be a genie to understand,” she said and sighed.

  I wanted to kick myself for questioning her desire to have sex with me. I really should have just blessed my good fortune and gotten on with it. But I couldn’t help it. “But you’re going to be free in—how much time do we have left?—forty-eight hours.”

  “And then I won’t have this chance again. Not unless I want to commit to another sentence of servitude.”

  “Chance? What chance?” She paused, reluctant to answer, so I leaned down to kiss the soft skin of her neck just below her ear. “Tell me.”

  “To be with a human.”

  Fascinating. “Why would you want that? What’s so great about humans?” I continued to kiss her neck, and then took my time as I made my way down to her breast, pushing back the white fabric to set the nipple free. I made lazy circles there with my tongue as I waited.

  She slipped her hands free from my grip and slid her fingers in my hair to clutch at me, pulling at me when I stopped and lifted my head. “The earth … humans. They’re like a drug to us,” she gasped. “Everything in your dimension is so much more intense. There’s so much more to feel.”

  “Really?” That was a surprise. If that was true, then it explained the chaos of human history. More to feel… And then I guessed what Cleo was after. With me her orgasm would be that much stronger. “Have you done this with other humans before?”

  She shook her head. “You’re the first I’ve ever desired.”

  There was truth in her eyes. And it made me feel more flattered and manly than I’d ever been in my entire life. To be craved by such a creature… Well, that was an even bigger fantasy than the shape-shifting. I wanted her more than I had before, if that were possible.

  “Say yes, Cleo,” I said, nearly begging her. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out. Even if she said no, I knew it was too late to turn back. My body was already rebelling against me. I was positively shaking with need.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Five

  I don’t know if I’ve ever been so taken over by the pure animal side of myself before. But for a few moments, it was as if I were standing outside of myself watching as I tore the flimsy lingerie from Cleo’s body so that I could feel all of her.

  She didn’t protest, and she didn’t stop me. In fact, she seemed just as turned on as I felt and responded in kind. She raked her nails down my back as I kissed her hungrily, not drawing blood but leaving red streaks that would remain for days. I couldn’t help the frantic and greedy way my hands roved over her body, cupping and grasping with a mind of their own. There was something about her soft skin that made me feel as if a fire raged inside me, one that would never be quenched.

  Then, my boxers were gone, simply gone. And
I knew she had done it, vanished them just as instantly as she had the rest of my clothes. I was so grateful that I nearly cried out in relief.

  And then … then—sweet mercy!—I was inside her. She cried out and grasped my buttocks, urging me on in my frantic thrusting. She was so hot and slick, so tight, and felt so heartbreakingly wonderful beneath me that I wished I could freeze time and live forever in this moment. It wasn’t just the sensations our bodies sparked in each other that I wanted to capture for all time, but the expression in her eyes. She looked at me as though I were the man I’d always aspired to be—the hero I’d built in my own mind that I always fell short of. As if somehow she could see him, and he was me. And strangely enough, all things considered, that was the best feeling of all.

  The setting around us wavered occasionally as if we were getting bad TV reception. I assumed it was because Cleo’s attention was being diverted by what I was doing to her. It was a small thing, but it gave me encouragement as we moved through a variety of positions. Watching her ride me while I ran my hands over the glorious curves of her hips and breasts, and then circled my fingertips over her slick clit as she moved, is one of those moments any man could go to his grave happy with.

  And then, I was behind her enjoying the view of her creamy buttocks. The golden tattoo I’d glimpsed before was still on the move, making its way up her back, shifting forms until it was lost to view under her blonde hair. The way the flesh of her buttocks responded to the rhythmic pulses of my entry was simply mesmerizing. And then it was my turn to gasp when she reached back to toy with my balls and then to grasp my thigh. I could have come right then if I didn’t have an iron grip on my libido.

  I wanted so badly to bring her to orgasm, maybe even more than she did. And based on how I was feeling, I assumed that she had to be getting close now. I flipped her over onto her back, scooted down in the bed, and took her sweet flesh into my mouth so I could explore her folds with my tongue. God, she tasted good! And the new cries she made was pure candy to my ears. I probed her depths with first one finger, then two, as I took my time teasing her engorged mound. I could tell she was right on the edge now, and yet, she still didn’t come.

  I rose over her again, pulling one of her knees up, and sank my cock back into her pink depths. That’s when I saw the hint of frustration now lacing her brow.

  “I don’t know if I can come,” she gasped.

  “Bullshit,” I said, knowing what was holding her back. “You will.” This wasn’t the first time I’d encountered this. Women like her didn’t surrender easily. The wall of independence and control they kept up around them was so firmly implanted that they often didn’t even know their subconscious was keeping it there despite their need to break through it. But I wasn’t worried. I knew exactly what to do.

  I slowed my rhythm and covered her body with mine. Then cupped her cheek in my hand and looked into her eyes. “I’m not going to stop, Cleo,” I said in my most serious tone. “I can easily keep this up all night.”

  She moaned in response.

  “I’m your master, Cleo. You have to submit to me.” Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t protest. In fact, she seemed mesmerized by my words, and I felt her relax a fraction more in my arms. I added an additional firm shove to the end of my strokes. “Say it, Cleo. Tell me who your master is.” I could feel her begin to tighten inside, preparing to come.

  I didn’t talk to her that way because I had a fantasy of domination. I did it because it was what she needed to hear in order to let go. Being all-powerful and in control as she was all the time, she needed a man with the guts it took to wrest that burden from her for a while so she could finally set her orgasm free.

  “Tell me, Cleo,” I insisted, fisting her hair in my hand. I slowed my pumping to a sensuous crawl, threatening to stop if she didn’t say it, teasing her to her limit.

  “You are,” she gasped.

  I thrust into her firmly as a reward, making her cry out. She was even tighter now than she had been a moment before and I could feel the pulsing beginning deep within her. “I’m what?” I asked, withdrawing oh-so-slowly again.

  “You’re my master,” she said faintly, almost in a whisper, but it was enough. Enough to bring down the ever-present guard within herself and surrender. Not to me, not really, but to herself.

  I picked up the rhythm again, making fast and firm strokes, and she came apart with a sob. I let myself go, too, and lost myself in the waves of pleasure created by her body while the setting of the room dissolved as if melted away by our heat. And then we were lost, floating in a field of vibrant colors.

  Chapter Six

  “Where are we?” I asked when I came back to myself. I think we dozed off for a while, but I had no idea how long. We seemed to be suspended in the colors still, weightless yet supported. I extended a hand to see if I could feel anything and the colors swirled in response around my fingertips like warm caramel.

  “The field of potential,” Cleo said with a yawn.

  She was still tucked under my arm with her head against my chest. “That’s a real thing?” I asked. I heard of it as a theory here and there, but had never seen any proof.

  “Yes.” Then, barely lifting her fingertips from my chest, she flicked them, and the room and bed settled in around us again. The light that had previously streamed in through the doors had faded away to be replaced by night and starlight.

  “Wow.” It was stunning for me to realize how little we humans really knew. For the first time since I’d met Cleo, I felt how tiny I was in the grand scheme of things and finally understood why Cleo had sneered at my first two wishes. How many people before me had wished for those very same things? Money and fame were nothing compared to all the things I could have wished for but had zero awareness of.

  She started to pull away from me. “Where are you going?” I asked, trying to clutch her back to me. If we could just nap a little longer, I would be highly interested in and ready for a second round.

  “Time’s almost up,” she said with regret and flicked a hand.

  Suddenly, we were both dressed. Cleo was back in the white tank top and cutoffs from before, and I was back in my jeans and t-shirt. But she cuddled back against me on the bed, which I was grateful for. “What do you mean? Don’t we have another day and a half?” From my estimate, we’d only been in the pillbox for a few hours.

  “No. Time is different in here,” she said. And then a big golden clock appeared, hovering in the air over us as if to punctuate her words. Well, it was round and had two rows of three-dimensional symbols along its perimeter like a clock, but that’s where the resemblance ended. Each of the rows rotated in opposite directions, and the symbols themselves spun at different rates. Instead of two hands, it had several odd appendages sprouting from its middle with symbols attached at their ends. Those also moved in different directions and at different speeds in the three-dimensional space over the clock’s face. “You’d better ask me your questions and tell me your wish before I have to leave.”

  I was more alarmed by her saying she had to leave than I was by the passage of time. “Stay with me,” I said. “We’re just getting to know each other.”

  “I can’t. Rules are rules.” She turned onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hand on top of my chest.

  I stuck an arm behind my head so we could look at each other. “Will I ever see you again?” I asked feeling the loss already. I was going to miss her.

  “Probably not,” she said wistfully.

  I could see my feelings mirrored in her eyes. What had passed between us had been powerful, the beginning of something great. And then my mind grasped at the sliver of hope that had been left in the gap of her words. She’d said “probably not” instead of “no, never.”

  “Does that mean that there could be a way for me to see you again?” I asked.

  Her lips parted for a moment and then she sighed. “There are things I am forbidden to tell you. Humans have to find their own way.” She glanced
up at the clock. “Now, ask me your questions. We only have a few minutes left.”

  I traced my fingers down the side of her face and then laced them through the hair at the back of her head as I thought. Suddenly, everything was so much clearer now. I even had a better grasp of what I really wanted to know. Had Cleo let me question her before, I could see now that my questions would have been a series of stabs in the dark, like a rat lost in tunnels trying to find its way to the light. Those questions about her other granted wishes would have sprouted from an “if X then Y” mentality that I’d hoped would help me in my decision-making process. I’d thought that I could zero in on what the best wish would be by knowing the outcome of other people’s wishes. But that would have led me way off the mark.

  “I just want to know one thing really,” I said. “What did you mean before when you said that humans always wished wrong?” I thought I knew, but I wanted to be sure. “Can you answer that?”

  She nodded and looked happier suddenly, and I knew I’d asked the right question. “Humans are always asking for things to be given to them, added to them. The things they want are always outside of themselves. They think that if they just have whatever it is, they’ll finally be happy. But they’re wrong. They never ask to be changed on the inside. If they did, they could easily obtain, on their own, all those other superficial things they always wish for.”

  “Like teaching a man to fish versus giving a man some fish.”

  “Exactly.” She squeezed my shoulder with her free hand.

  For a moment, rule number two of the Rules for Wish Granting crossed my mind. No wishing to be a higher dimensional being, such as a god, angel, demon, or genie. But I knew I didn’t need to be any of those things. Just being with Cleo in her vessel for the short amount of time I had been was enough to open my mind to possibilities I’d never glimpsed before. And I wondered now if the Rules for Wish Granting were more than just rules. Was it possible they’d been cleverly worded to be a distraction? Like telling someone not to think about pink elephants, and then that’s all they thought about.