“Isn't that where those people talk by whistling?”
Look at that, I might have learned something from Phil after all.
She pauses. “Yeah, I think so. Anyway, it's said the jinn lived in a different dimension than ours, but they could travel back and forth. In our dimension, they could take forms of animals and even look like humans. Once Islam took hold, contact between the two races was forbidden. But one of the last pre-Islam poets to write about the jinn was Al-Nabigha, who lived between five-hundred and six-hundred B.C.”
I stare at her rounded shoulders, my brain only absorbing a small fraction of what she is saying. “I don't think I know what we're talking about, Syd.”
She turns onto her back to look at me, still half sprawled in my lap. “It's just strange how much the story has changed over the years. The jinn date back to probably even A.D. They were considered a separate but equal race to humans.
“Eventually, we started smooshing up the story. So many things impact it. Translation, motive, perspective, and all these other little factors. Then one day we have a blue cartoon character dancing and singing. But there's little bits of the truth in all of it, right? Even this.” She gestures at the movie playing on the monitor. “This has truth in it, too.”
She stares at the ceiling for a long moment, then turns to the monitor across the room again. Her head is propped on her hand, elbow on my lap. It's kind of jabbing into me, but she looks delicate and beautiful laid out like that: her upper half naked and exposed, and her bottom half hidden under the blankets like she's a mermaid.
A genie and a mermaid. We're the start of a bad joke.
I lean forward and press my lips against her shoulder. She stretches to expose her neck, and I move up, one kiss at a time. She turns and catches my mouth with hers, leaning back. I work from underneath her, then wedge between her legs.
Her hand goes to the waist of my pants. My tongue grazes over hers, and she returns the gesture. I press against her so she can feel how badly I want her. Then I slip my arms under her shoulders and neck, and make my way down her chest, lingering on each nipple in turn. Kiss down her stomach, past her belly button, and work my way up the hill.
She tenses. I halt, letting her anticipation build. Then I graze my tongue over her folds. She shudders a breath. Another flick of my tongue, and she gasps my name.
It's so fucking hot.
I push back her thighs and delve in. I want to claim every part of her. Show her just how much I like being this way with her.
Her fingers run through my hair. I slide my hands under her hips and pull her closer, taking fuller access.
Her body twists and trembles.
She says, breathless, “Dim, up here.”
I give a gentle bite. I want her to grant me control, just for a few minutes, and then I will follow her anywhere.
She relaxes, melting into the bed. I glide my hand up and use two fingers to spread her apart. Every lick sends a spasm and soft moan through her.
Then she grows warmer, her body writhing, the soft moans louder and punctuated with my name. When her body falls still against the bed, I work out of my pants and crawl on top of her. She's always so available to me.
I take her with her legs wrapped around my waist, her head lulled back. She tightens her hold as I give a final thrust and groan into her neck.
All the tension from the day disappears.
Breathing heavily, I lie stomach-down next to her. Her eyes are closed, and she gives a little shudder. I work my arm over her and pull her close, then rest my head next to hers.
“Syd,” I say, though it comes out a whisper. “Are there … others?”
I already hate myself for asking. These are things not meant to be discussed, but I need the truth before I run away with her to New Mexico or wherever it is she wanted to go. That's not going to be a simple trip to pull off.
This entire relationship is not going to be simple.
She is quiet for a long while. Maybe she isn't even going to answer.
Then she says, “No. Not since we met.”
I raise my head. “You told me you had guys chasing after you.”
“Yes.” She speaks slowly, like she's not sure she wants to tell me the truth. “There were others, but that doesn't mean I wanted them.”
I am warmed and terrified in the same moment.
She looks at me. “You?”
I meet her gaze. Her dark eyes glimmer with so many thoughts I can't decipher.
Even though I shouldn't let this happen, I can't stop myself from telling her the truth. “No. There's no one else.”
Her expression relaxes.
Then she scoots closer to me and mutters, “Keep it that way.”
I nuzzle my face next to hers. She intertwines her legs with mine and drifts off to sleep.
I might be the genie, but one of my wishes was granted for a change. Now I just have to figure out how to keep it.
***