Loving the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 2) (12 page)

I’m sitting on the couch with my laptop on my knees. I’ve been searching for hours, but haven’t found anything. There are many sites dedicated to discussing genies, but nothing is useful. They don’t know of Ortarus’s existence, and there’s no mention of genies turning human, then genie again. Other than fiction, that is. Basically, my research is a dead end.

Sebastian hasn’t moved from his spot on the floor, where he sits cross-legged, staring out the window. In the few hours I’ve been Googling, he hasn’t said a word and hardly looked my way. His eyes are filled with pain, and I notice him clenching and unclenching his fists every now and then. I’ve never seen this side of him. This anger and frustration. I can’t understand exactly what he’s going through, but I don’t want his pain to consume him. If he’s going to leave me soon, I want our last few days, weeks, whatever, to be good, filled with happiness and love. I don’t want his last memories of me to be filled with pain.

I tear my eyes away from him. I hate that I keep thinking about this, but it’s inevitable, I suppose. The entire time he’s with me, I won’t forget that he’s not here to stay. That we’ll be done. I bury my face in my hands. I can’t believe this is happening. I keep waiting to wake up from this nightmare.

“Lily.”

I look at him. His eyes are locked on mine. “It’s been hours since you’ve eaten.”

“Not hungry.” The only thing that will satisfy me is the knowledge of how to change him back into a human. Food? That’s not important to me at the moment.

Sebastian leans his head on the wall behind him. “I’m starting to forget what it’s like to eat.” He turns to me. “Are you sure you’re not hungry?”

“Very sure.”

He stares at me with an expression I can’t read. Slowly, he gets to his feet and lowers himself next to me. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

He tucks some hair behind my ear. “You’re…different.”

“Different?”

He swallows. “You seem to be pulling away from me.” He nods toward the computer. “You’ve been on that thing for hours and you haven’t said a word to me.”

“You haven’t said a word to me, either.”

He frowns. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve been thinking.”

I nod. We both have been doing a lot of that these past few hours.

“It might be a good idea for us to break up,” he continues. “Everything’s changed now. I don’t…I don’t want to hurt you.”

I take his hands. “I’m not going to be the one who gets hurt. You will be.”

“If I stay here for months, you’re always going to be living in fear that I will leave you. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Seb—”

“If we break up now, then you will forget about me and you can move on. All I did was hold you back, and I’m sorry.” His gaze drops to the floor.

I take his chin and lift his head so his eyes meet mine. “You didn’t hold me back. You taught me so many things about myself. You’ve done so much for me. I’d rather live weeks loving you than not having you in my life.” He’s about to say something, but I put my finger on his lips. “I don’t care what the genie rules say. I’m not going to forget you. How can I forget the wonderful guy who changed my life? You don’t see how much of an impact you’ve had on me.” I rest my head on his chest. “No one is going to take you away from me.” My voice cracks. “I won’t let them.”

He’s quiet, his chest expanding and contracting quickly. When I look up at him, I realize he’s crying, too. I kiss the tears away. “We’re going to be together, just like we were before. We’re going to show the world that we belong together. That nothing—no stupid genie rules—will tear us apart.”

He wipes his arm across his eyes. “What about…we can’t…” His cheeks redden—well the gold gets a little discolored, and I assume it’s a blush. “I don’t have parts. I mean, I have parts, but I don’t think they work the way they did before.”

“Oh, I hadn’t really considered that.”

He nods sadly.

“So we’ll be together in other ways. We don’t have to do that stuff in order to be a couple. There’s a lot we can do.”

He fingers my chin, gazing at my mouth for a second before bringing his eyes to mine. “For the short amount of time I’m with you, I want to love you properly. I want to be a good boyfriend to you. But how can I when we can’t do anything in public? No shopping, no clubs, no dancing. Nothing. All we can do is remain here and watch movies.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

He sighs, shaking his head. I place my hand on his chest. “This is what I want. Is it what you want?”

“I’d share every last second I have with you.”

“I feel the same.” Until I find a way to change Sebastian into a human, I’m going to live in the moment, just as I did the last time he was a genie. He’s my world, my everything.

I give him the sweetest smile I’ve ever given him and kiss him hard and strong, showing him how much he means to me and that I will do everything in my power to cause him to stay. My Sebastian isn’t going anywhere. I’m not giving him up without a fight.

His hand moves to my neck as he deepens the kiss, swallowing my lips like he can’t get enough of me. There are many things that don’t make sense. Like why he can feel things if he’s a genie. How he’s able to kiss me senseless and cause me to melt. But I’m not going to question anything. For however long he stays with me, I’ll show him just how much he means to me.

With my arms around his neck, I turn us around and lower us down on the couch, with me on top of him. My lips trail from his mouth down to his chest, where I take my time kissing each one of his designs. I love the way my genie trembles beneath my touch, that our love for one another is as strong as it has always been. Yes everything’s changed now, but that doesn’t mean we have to be. I want us to be just as close as we were before. I don’t want this genie thing to tear us apart. All that matters is that Sebastian is still here. Whatever happens will happen. But right now, I want to show him how much I love him.

As I pop kisses all over his chest, Sebastian’s hands tangle in my hair. Soft moans leave his mouth and his breathing gets heavier. His eyes flutter as pure happiness and delight shines all over his face. I bring my lips back to his, caressing his cheek as I shower him with kisses. I don’t think I can ever run out.

The doorbell rings. Sebastian shoots to a sitting position, causing me to roll off him and crash to the floor. His eyes widen in alarm as he helps me to my feet. “I’m so sorry, Lily.” His breathing is still heavy and his lips are swollen from our passionate kisses.

“Guess who?” Macy calls from outside.

I peer at the clock. It’s past five already?

“Lily, I know you’re in there,” she continues. “Please open up. You haven’t returned my calls or texts all day. I’m really worried.”

Sebastian and I exchange a glance. “Are you going to tell her?” he asks.

“I think I need to.”

He nods.

I open the door. “Finally.” She walks in and looks around. After inspecting the living room with her eyes, she rubs her chin. “Something seems off.”

I stand near the closed door. Sebastian looks at me and I look at him. Then he looks at Macy. She doesn’t see him. I don’t know why I was hoping she would. It’s obvious Sebastian is a genie. Why can’t I accept it?

Because my heart refuses to.

Macy heads for the couch and is about to sit on Sebastian. “Stop!” I rush to her side and push her away. She gives me a look like I fell from Mars. “Sorry. I just…um…” I play with my hair.

She stares at the couch, not realizing that it’s Sebastian she’s looking at. She rubs her chin again as she looks around. “Someone’s missing.”

I don’t say anything. She gives me a curious look before heading to my room. She checks all over. “Hmm.”

“What?” I ask.

“He’s a genie, isn’t he?”

“What?”

She tilts her head toward the couch. “And he’s sitting right there.”

Again, I don’t say anything. I don’t want to confirm it. I don’t want it to be real, which is very stupid.

“Lily, is Sebastian a genie or not?”

“Fine.” I throw my hands up. “He’s a genie.”

Her eyes widen like she wasn’t expecting those words to come out of my mouth. “Are you serious? I mean, I
thought
he was, but I didn’t actually believe….” She flings her arms around me. “What happened? How did it happen? Is he okay? Are you okay? Oh my god.”

“I don’t know,” I tell her. “I woke up this morning and there was a lamp on my night table, but no Sebastian. I rubbed the lamp and he appeared, back as a genie.”

Her face falls. “I’m so sorry. So, like…what happens? I mean, is he going to leave you?”

I nod. “Most probably.”

Her hold tightens around me. “What are you going to do?”

I puff out my cheeks and lead her to the couch. Sebastian isn’t sitting there anymore. He must have left to my room to give Macy and me some privacy.

“I’ve been trying to find a way for Sebastian to stay, but I’ve had no luck. I don’t know what to do…if there even
is
a way,” I say, my voice choked up. “We’re going to be together until he leaves. I know what you’re going to say, that I’m torturing myself, but I just want to be with him.” Tears pool in my eyes. “I want to squeeze in as much time with him as I can.”

She rubs my arm. “Are you going to forget him?”

I nod. “That’s what we think. We don’t understand why he’s a genie or why I’m his master again. We just want to be together. He suggested we break up, but I don’t want to let go of him.” I let the tears fall. “Maybe I’ll remember him. Maybe we’ll one day find each other again. I don’t know, and I don’t really want to think about it. I just want to be with him.”

She nods slowly. “I know how you feel.”

“Andy.”

She nods again. “I don’t want to turn this to me and my problems, but yeah, I’d do anything to be with Andy again.”

“You mean…he moved out?”

She inhales, then lets it out. “I couldn’t write him a letter. You know I suck at them. I ended up throwing many different versions into the garbage and decided to talk to him instead. I just wanted to communicate with him. He told me he wasn’t interested in talking, that I should leave him alone. I yelled, he yelled, and the next minute, he was gone. When I came home from work today, all of his stuff was gone.” Tears fill her eyes. “I don’t understand. He told me he forgave me for kissing my neighbor.”

“He sounds like a different person,” I say.

“I know.”

“Do you think something else is going on with him?”

She’s quiet as she thinks about it. “Other than the whole Max thing, no.” She covers her face. “Maybe it’s just gotten to the point where we’re fed up with one another. Everything I say seems to piss him off. Love sucks.”

“It can be great, but it can be awful, too. I never expected to feel the way I do about Sebastian. I’ve read it in books and seen it in movies, but I never thought it could happen to me. Then it did, but it’s not here to last.” I take her hand. “It’s different for you and Andy. He’s not going anywhere, and you can fight for him.” I swallow my tears. “Your man isn’t going to disappear from your life forever.”

“There’s really nothing you can do?”

I rub my forehead. “Sebastian doesn’t think so, but I refuse to accept it. I’m not going to give up.”

She hugs me again. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“I wish there was something I could do for you, too.”

She smiles sadly. “I’m going to be okay. Are you?”

“I don’t think I have a choice.”

“How long do you think you have until…?” Her voice trails off.

“I already used up a wish,” I say. Her eyes widen and I tell her what happened, how I had to wish in order to save Sebastian’s life. “It can be days, it can be months. I have no idea.”

“How does he feel about all of this?”

“He’s really upset. Angry. All this is very frustrating. But all we want is to be together. I don’t care about anything else.” I don’t know how I’ll feel if he leaves, if my heart will remember him. Maybe I’ll remain single my whole life. I just can’t imagine tossing him aside like last night’s garbage and moving on to another guy. No one will match up to my wonderful genie. No one.

“Do you think this happened because the two of you had sex?”

I gape at her. “What? How would that make sense? I don’t think so. Wouldn’t he be more human if that were the case? No, I think his powers started getting stronger before we had sex.”

“Oh.”

“I think no matter what we did, he was destined to turn into a genie again.”

She pats my arm. “How about I help you with dinner?”

“You sure?”

“Why not?”

“Okay.” I’d do anything to get my mind off the future.

We head to the kitchen. She sets on cutting the vegetables as I start on the main dish. I’m in the mood of beef lo mein.

Sebastian enters the kitchen. His hair is messy and his eyes are heavy with sleep. “Hi,” I say.