Chapter 6

I'd felt terrible when the Maharajah called me before sunrise. Livid. Yet there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Raj lay in bed, perfectly content, and deep in slumber. How utterly gorgeous his body was splayed across the sheets, his soft cock barely visible. I wished to run my tongue along it, bring it to life and wake him with a morning orgasm, but duty called.

When I returned the first time, he still slept so I left a warm breakfast for him while I ran off to take care of errands and came right back. In my haste, I should've considered how it felt for him to find me gone.

How could I not whisk him away to the familiar land I knew that mirrored what he'd described?

"Open your eyes, sweet boy."

"Oh my god."

Waves crashed behind us while the sun warmed our skin and the sand beneath our feet. Raj was still in his pajamas and wore no shoes.

"How does the sand feel?"

"Just as soft as I had imagined, though a bit warm." He nearly giggled, smiling wide as he took it all in. "Where are we?" He fell to the sand, letting several handfuls slide between his fingers.

"A little place I've spent much time at over the centuries when without a master. It's a small, uninhabited island. At least where humans are concerned. Birds of many species call this place home. Sea turtles lay their eggs in the sands before they return to the ocean. It's peaceful, serene, and the perfect place to hide away from the world. Come." I helped him up and waited as he brushed the sand from his legs.

We walked along the shoreline, the waves breaking as they hit ground. Raj's laughter filled the air as he danced through the wet sand. Not a care in the world, no worries for money, or what others around thought of him. Carefree and living in the moment. As we rounded the bend, I cleared the overgrowth that led to the villa I'd built long ago. With a wave of my hand, the area and dwelling were cleared and cleaned like new.

"Genie!" Raj gasped as it came into view. "What's this? Does someone live here?"

"I do, well, we do, if you so choose. I built this home many years ago and it's withstood every storm that's crossed its path because the island is magicked. Protected from human eyes and for as long as I live, no one will ever find it." Once I left this life, the magic I once had would end with me. Though I often wondered how, when I hid the lamp here it somehow ended up in another's hands very far away. There was so much more to this life than I would ever know. Would've been nice if the fates had provided me with a manual.

"Can we go inside?" Like the young with a new gift, Raj was excited to open it.

"Go ahead." I stood back as he took it all in. From the outside you saw nothing more than a lonely shack, but the interior was much more.

Wide-eyed, Raj turned to me. "How did you…?"

"Magic."

Every modern amenity was here, from the polished tile floors and decor to electricity and running water. There were more rooms than I'd ever need, which spanned the three levels. There were treasures here as were in my lamp, though the lamp held more. I could've made this dwelling infinite, too, but there was no need. It was meant to be a comfortable retreat, a home, though it never felt as such until Raj stepped inside.

He spun around in the center of the room, giddy with excitement. I too felt much of that glee just by watching him. "Was this what you saw in your dreams?"

"No. It's so much more."

A warmth filled me, a feeling that had been unfamiliar before Raj. "We'll come here as often as we can." Fear of knowing if Raj were somewhere magical with me and the Maharajah called, he'd be forced to appear by my side had us ending our glorious days far too early. Not a risk I would willingly take. The Maharajah was evil and would do anything to keep me by his side. Including holding onto that final wish. I wouldn't put it past him to turn Raj's life into a living hell or worse, end it. And I'd be stuck, watching the one man I'd ever been in love with die, unable to stop it from happening. I'd buried many I'd loved over the centuries, but never had a lover held the key to my heart before. Cruel? Possibly, though unintentionally. Raj was different, the one my heart craved, the only one that held that proverbial key.

"What should we do first, Genie?"

"Whatever you wish, my love."

Raj took off at a run and stopped at each door, opening it, and popping inside only to reappear seconds later and do it again at the next one. His feet bounded across the overhead landing, up and down the stairs. So full of happiness and youthful exuberance.

I took a seat in the oversized chair, and patiently waited for my boy to run out of energy and join me. It took some time, but after he'd poked every nook and cranny he could find, he landed in my lap.

"This place is amazing. But why is it so big when it's only you? Well, and now me. Hopefully." His open-ended comment was meant for me to close.

"Great question. Possibly while building it, I had a lover in mind to share it with me. The perfect boy who held my heart and could warm this large space with his wonderful personality and bright spirit. What do you say, Raj, are you that boy?" I pressed my lips to the top of his head.

"I hope to be, Genie."

"You are, my love. What do you say to a seaside dinner while we watch the sunset?" I regretted we'd need to leave shortly after that, but the only safe space for us to be together for long periods of time had to be non-magical. The small room Raj lived in fit that bill.

I had the open-sided tent set up on the west side of the island before we got there. A small table, two chairs, and candlelight adorned it. Dinner for two kept warm and insect-free under silver domes. Raj ran out into the water, only going knee deep and splashed around. His laughter carried through the wind, and I dreaded taking him from here. As soon as the sun began its descent, he ran into my waiting arms.

"Genie, I wish we never had to leave."

"One day, my love, one day. Now, come, let's eat while nature works its magic as night falls. Dinner and a show." I'd seen a million sunsets and sunrises but never had I seen them through another's eyes as I was now.

"So different from watching it over the barren desert." How Raj managed to eat without spilling while his eyes never reached his plate, I'd never know. "Every color of the rainbow can be seen from here. Not just oranges and reds. Magic not created by a genie."

"Cheeky boy," I chuckled. "Mother Nature's grace is beyond compare."

When the plates were emptied, Raj's previous excitement subsided.

"Come, my love. It's time to return."

Reluctantly, he stood and tucked himself inside my arms. Seconds later, we were back in his familiar place.

"Will you stay tonight, Genie?"

"I stay every night, my love. Even the ones you never knew I was here for." It made my heart hurt to leave him, though I had no clue how to convey those feelings.

"Why must you go when he calls? Has he threatened to kill you?"

An honest question from someone who'd seen what our ruler was capable of but didn't know the full story behind my existence.

"No, my love. He controls the lamp; therefore he controls me."

"Lamp? I guess I don't really understand. Can't you just get it back from him?"

"I wish it were that easy." While others I'd been intimate with in the past got a shortened version of my life, Raj was getting it all. Hopefully, he didn't freak out and try to run. "The magic for which I was created went horribly wrong. Honestly, my existence was a mistake. The warlock was dabbling in magic he ought not be. Magic beyond his capabilities. Dark magic, and in his quest for immortality, it backfired. Subsequently, he died and yours truly came to be."

Raj's eyes widened. "Whoa."

"Whoa is right. It took years of trial and error to figure out where and what my magical limits were. The fates barely acknowledged my existence. Called me up to inform me I was an abomination, condemned to a life of servitude and that the lamp would be my permanent home." Immortal tomb was more like it, though I chose to leave that part out.

"But it wasn't your fault. You had nothing to do with this." Raj's anger, though appreciated, was misplaced. There was nothing either of us could do to change this.

"Yes, and sadly, that was thousands of years ago."

He blinked once, twice, then his head seemed to clear enough to find his words.

"Let me see if I have this right. One, you're not human."

"Correct."

"Two, the lamp is your home. A magical home but you somehow manage to fit into it." His statement sounded more like he questioned his thoughts as the cogs in his brain turned, trying to make sense of it.

"Correct. Shrink to fit." That got a smile at least.

"Now, explain the wishes to me. How do they earn them? What can they wish for?" He ticked each question off on his fingers and counted aloud. "Do they expire if not used fast enough?"

"I wish. If that were the case, this current sentence would be over." A limitation I wish the fates would've taken into consideration. "Through centuries of fairytale retelling, though more often than not the tales were true, stories of the lamp came into play. Men have hunted high and low for it, seeking the three almighty wishes. Some perished while doing so. The beholder rubs the lamp three times and receives three wishes, which brings us to current day and the Maharajah's one remaining wish that he dangles over my head."

"Oh. What happens if they die?"

So bright, plucking that question right out. "That's happened many times and when they take their last breath, the lamp is returned to me. There are rules regarding the wishes as well. They cannot wish to be immortal, wish for me to kill or bring someone back from the dead, nor can they wish for more wishes."

How many masters had I gone through over the centuries? Likely hundreds. No matter how many times I'd hid the lamp, it still found its way into the hands of another greedy bastard. But during those ages, life expectancy was short and many barely got a single wish out before their lives came to an end.

"Can't you wish for your own freedom?"

A simple, realistic question that only the fates could answer. They had their hands in everything to do with me. "That would be fantastic, but I'm not allowed to wish for that. Magic, yes. Wishes for my life in general, no. Tangible items, I can conjure many, but matters of my freedom or heart, those remain natural. It would take a master to make the wish for my freedom in order for it to become a reality."

Could Raj be the one to fulfill that dream of freedom for me? Or would it become a nightmare? I had no skills with which to earn a living by and if magic was stripped from me, would everything I'd built over the past centuries fade away along with it?

"At least you know I'm with you by choice and not by magic."

"That I do, my love." Never had I been more thankful than I was for that. "Come, love, it's time for you to sleep. Know that if I'm gone when you wake, it's because he beckoned, and I will return to your side as quickly as I can."

"Why do we keep sleeping in my tiny bed?"

"Because if my master calls and we are someplace magical, it will force you to appear alongside me. I want him to have no knowledge of our relationship for fear he'll use it against us. Putting you in jeopardy is not an option."

"But you could save me," Raj whispered, his words laced with hope for an outcome I couldn't guarantee.

"Not if he wished otherwise. He who holds the lamp holds all the control."

"Is it too soon to say I love you?" he asked as he crawled into bed and I slid in behind him.

Audibly, I gasped. "Not if you truly feel it with all your heart."

"I do. I know it's fast, but I feel it bone-deep. I'm happiest when I'm with you but when you're gone, I'm sad and my heart hurts. That's how I know it's love." Raj turned and curled up in my arms.

"I love you so deeply, my boy."

His breathing slowed, though he managed two more words before he drifted off. "Night, Daddy."

My heart filled to overflowing.