Chapter 15
I awoke to fingers stroking along my cheek. Words echoed upon the air around me but I couldn't focus upon them. I gave my mind a moment to assess everything before even thinking of opening my eyes.
"Power can drain one with such ease, but you must awaken, Little One." Jene's delightful, velvet voice reached out to me in my sleep world.
"Go away, Jene. I'm so not in the mood." I grouched in a drowsy voice as I swished a hand vaguely around.
"I desire to explain how your power works, and your stepmother is about to walk into your home." Jene's words had me snapping awake.
"What the hell?" I muttered.
"Isla, darling," my stepmother gushed as I sat up. "Where are you?"
"What's going on?" I pushed my hair out of my face and groaned.
"Are you okay?" she sat down next to me.
"Bev?" I stared up at her smiling face.
Her familiar features calmed me. Her deep black hair streaked with grey floated around her face in an ethereal cloud. The face I knew so well with it's ever present smile and soft wrinkles starting to form. She wasn't one to try to appear younger than she was, and I'd always admired that about her.
"It's me. Have you taken to napping during your holidays?" that seemed to amuse her.
"It's been a long day. What're you doing here?"
I used that moment to glance around to see where Jene went. There was no sign of him, and that left me confused. Where did he go to hide?
"We're having a family dinner tonight, and I wanted to make sure that you were joining us." Bev said with a broad smile.
"Nobody mentioned it to me until now, but I guess I'll be there." I replied, and Bev clapped her hands excitedly.
"Excellent! Usual time, see you then." Bev left a kiss on my cheek and dashed out of the door.
Everything went quiet around me. I could hear the fridge humming from the kitchen but that was all. Once again, I tried to look for Jene, but I still couldn't see him.
"Jene, where did you go?" I called out a bit foolishly.
"I simply made myself invisible." Jene said as he reappeared on the opposite side of the room.
"How did Bev get in here?" I mused.
"She mentioned that she had borrowed the key from your father before she realised you were asleep."
"Oh, okay. I guess I'm stuck going to dinner." I huffed.
"I must admit that I see the dinner as a good omen. It will be a chance for you to see my lamp." Jene couldn't hide his enthusiasm, and that set fire to my earlier bitterness.
"Of course, the only thing that matters is your damn lamp." I crossed my arms and glowered.
"Little One."
"Don't use that patronising tone with me. Nothing irritates me more."
He sighed and said nothing. I had no clue what to say either. I'd bared my soul this morning and only received a negative response. The worst thing was that he had acted like it was the worst thing he'd ever had to endure. There's no way I'd ever attempt throwing myself at him again.
"I need to explain much to you before you attend the dinner to try and see my lamp." Jene said, and I frowned at him.
"What? What could you possibly need to explain to me?" I flopped back onto the couch.
"If you make room for me to join you, I shall explain." Jene gestured to where I had stretched out, but I wasn't feeling in the most generous of moods.
"Nope."
"If you insist on impertinence, I shall return the favour." His voice turned teasing, but I ignored him. I couldn't suffer anymore rejection today.
"Do whatever you want, Jene."
"A vague and uninterested answer, but I shall do just that."
I chose, rather unwisely, to ignore his cheery tone. At the moment I just couldn't give up anymore of my emotions. After all of the rejection and anger I'd dealt with today, I didn't want anymore.
Before I could summon a protest, Jene slid behind me on the couch. As in his whole, delectable body pressed against mine. He wrapped an arm around my waist and snuggled me closer.
As much as I wanted to enjoy the moment, I couldn't, not after what I endured this morning. I stiffened but he took no notice.
It was hard to ignore that intoxicating spicy scent that surrounded him. Being enveloped in his arms made me realise how huge he was compared to me. Somehow I felt so much safer, but also too aroused as he continued to hold me.
"What are you doing?" I demanded when he said nothing.
"Whatever I want, as you allowed me the freedom. At this moment, I owe you an apology, an explanation, and maybe a reasoning for my behaviour." He sounded quite ashamed, but I wasn't sure of his reasoning.
"If you're going to apologise for something then I want to actually see your face to make sure that you mean every word." I told him.
"Easily done."
He clicked his fingers and our position had now reversed. I faced him, eye to eye, but he continued to hold me, which I appreciated, but I wouldn't mention. His sudden touches and keen need to be close to me left me with growing suspicion. I'd known this man for three days, and he'd always avoided touching me, until now.
"Why are you doing this?" I had to clear my throat before I could speak.
Having him so close to me tended to overwhelm all of the synapses in my brain. There was a screaming need inside of me to kiss him again. I also wanted the chance to wrap my body around his. So many useless thoughts started scrambling my mind. I had to push them down and concentrate.
He didn't want me. That reminder made me stiffen my body even more. I may want him, but he'd proved more than once that he didn't want me. That's what I needed to remember.
"You see things far differently than I expected you to see them." He said, and I rolled my eyes at his words that told me nothing.
Ignoring my tingling, excited body, I forced a frown and remained stiff in his arms as I answered, "if you're going to apologise for something, then get on with it. I'm tired of nonsense words." I snapped.
"Firstly, I need to explain my behaviour, perhaps then you might understand my reactions a little easier." He looked me dead in the eyes, and their sapphire blueness threatened to drown me in warmth and caring.
"Okay."
"The first She-Gen told me that my Genie-Us would be known as Isla. I kept that name within my heart as I watched more genies appear. They would always find their Genie-Us, and I remained alone.
"Perhaps when I first met Isla, I saw something that was never truly there. I do not know. Perhaps I convinced myself that I fell in love when no such thing happened to me. In the end, I chose to see her and to let her be my Genie-Us." Jene talked about his past with an agonised expression and tone. Every time he mentioned Evil Isla by name he flinched and his face scrunched in pain.
"Mum showed me that." I admitted.
"I am aware of that. When Isla chose to defy me, I realised that I had never had a Genie-Us as my destiny. I believed that the Gods had not found one for me. It may have been because I was the first genie. I do not know. What I do know was how unprepared they were for me." The hurt in his features made him seem so sad.
"I don't think the Gods would've been that mean to you." I pointed out.
"When the She-Gen promised me that she would have a child who would be my Genie-Us, I had much difficulty believing her."
"Why? Mum seemed forceful about it to me."
"She-Gen have no interest in physical relations, they never have. The more time that passed the more hope I had disappear. You must understand, Little One, that I have lived through many generations of She-Gen, and none have ever had a child."
"Until me." I pointed out.
"Unlit you."
He went quiet for a long time, but he began stroking my hair. I still wasn't sure where he wanted this conversation to go, so I simply stared up into troubled blue eyes.
"I knew you when you were a child, and you knew me. As much as I tried to stay away from you, I never could. Once She-Gen sent you off to the human world, I thought I could relax and pretend that you never existed.
"The honest truth is what tore me up inside, I missed you. I missed the way you would look up at me with your golden eyed stare. I hated knowing that you were in a dangerous world where I could never aid you.
"It was easier to rally against your existence once you had been away from me for many years. When your stepbrother found my lamp, I cursed the She-Gen and her interference. In our years apart, I had managed to convince myself that you were unimportant. To have you reintroduced to me in such a way threw me off balance.
"My answer to that was continued avoidance. I managed my avoidance well until the wish that I'm certain the She-Gen instigated. She enjoys nothing more than trying to control every genie's life." He let out a disapproving noise.
"You guys are her life." I pointed out.
"Yes, I am aware of this fact."
"What's your issue? Or at least explain your point."
"I had seen you last when you were but a child. When I saw you in your father's office, I had trouble merging your older self as the same person. It made it easier for me to push you aside. I thought it would work admirably, but I have never been more wrong." He mused with a shake of his head.
"What does that mean?"
"You beguiled me in the same manner you did as a child. You swept me away the very second I realised that you could see me." He turned all dreamy faced and it intoxicated me.
"Then why did you push me away?" I frowned at him and his face swallowed with shadow.
"It is like I have told you, quite repeatedly in the the last few days, your life is your own and I refuse to take you away from that. I came back into your life to find you happy and ensconced within the human realm. Taking you from that shows cruelty and a callous disregard for your well being. My world is not what you know."
A small gasp escaped me as I absorbed Jene's words. There was a great deal of logic within them. His repeated rejections of me were in response to how he'd seen me in my own world.
"What exactly changed your mind? What made you ditch the aloofness and go with curling up on the couch with me?" I asked as I leaned into his hands that had started rubbing my shoulders.
"Your tears. I upset you with my words and actions. That could only have occurred if you actually felt something for me." He said and that kind of staggered me.
"I was born deliberately for you, in case you've forgotten." I said to cover the shock I received from his words.
"I could never forget you. Earlier you said that I would have to decide about you. Your tears decided for me." His smile shot through my heart with brilliant stars.
"How the hell did you go from negative nelly, avoidance, and aloof behaviour to this in a few hours?" I gestured to where we lay pressed together.
"I began to believe that you believed in being my Genie-Us. It's something you want, not necessarily something you had forced upon you because of an auspicious birth." He stated.
"Alright, the logic I got from that is you're basically giving us a chance." My glance was both hopeful and quizzical. I didn't want to misconstrue his words.
"A Genie-Us is not a chance. It is a forever commitment."
"I might have to work myself up to that, but it's way better than this morning."
"I can only agree."
His arms squeezed around me making me sigh with relief and a building happiness. How quickly had things changed between us? I still wasn't sure if Jene meant his words, but I intended to go along with him. Maybe if I got to share a few more of his spectacular kisses, it would help my belief.
I'm sure if mum could see us now that she'd start bubbling over with joy. I couldn't blame her, after all I'd seemed as if everyone's wishes were coming true.