Falling for the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 1) Read Free Page A

suspect—”
    “Lily.” His voice is so weak. His eyes are dark red now. “They won’t…be able to see…me.”
    He’s right. Only his master can see him. My hands begin to shake as a million thoughts crowd my mind. What do I do? How can I help him?
    “Bathroom,” he mutters, his head rolling from side to side. “The food needs to…”
    I reach for his hands and try to haul him to his feet, but I’m so tiny and he’s so heavy that I don’t manage to move him at all. “Can you stand?”
    He lets out a moan. I pull the garbage bin to him just in time. Everything comes out, and from the sound of it, he’s in a lot of pain. I feel terrible for causing this. His entire body heaves. I can’t watch.
    When he’s done, he rolls over onto his stomach with another moan. I touch his shoulder. He’s still hotter than a desert. “Genie…”
    “Sebastian.”
    “Sebastian. Are you okay?”
    “Yeah.”
    He doesn’t look any better. And sure enough, his face is back in the garbage bin as he goes for round two. I hold his hair away from his face. It’s silky.
    He pushes the garbage bin aside and clutches his stomach.
    “Sebastian, I’m so sorry.”
    He shakes his head, moaning softly. “Not…your fault.” He takes my hand. His is cooling down a little.
    “Are you going to die?”
    “I don’t die from this.”
    That’s a relief. “But will the pain go away?”
    “I don’t know. This never happened before.”
    My hand is still in his and it feels really nice and soothing. He starts to breathe softly. His eyes are shut. He’s sleeping? Does he even sleep? I guess he does. Or maybe all that human food took such a toll on his body that he passed out.
    I push some hair off his sweaty forehead. He doesn’t look comfortable lying on the floor, not to mention the kitchen is a mess from everything that fell from the table. I wish I were strong enough to lift him to my bed or the couch.
    Now that he’s asleep, I can examine him in detail. His black hair is messy, curling into his eyes. His lips are slightly opened and when I close my eyes, I can see them coming toward me in slow motion, driving me insane until our lips make contact and I get tingly all over. When I open my eyes, I slap my forehead. What am I thinking? It’s because it’s been a few months since I had a boyfriend. Yeah, that’s it. It’s not because of—I run my hand along his cheek—his soft skin that feels like a cloud. There’s something magical and exotic about him.
    My eyes lower to his golden, bare chest. Hesitantly, making sure he’s still asleep, I trace my finger across it. His muscles are strong and firm, and there are swirly designs all over his chest as well as his arms. The designs are a darker shade of gold than his torso and match the ones on his lamp. I wonder if that means he’s bound to it.
    His black pants hang low on his hips. Aside from the golden and silky skin, he appears like a regular human guy. Even though we just met and I barely know him, I don’t want to forget about him. Of course I want wishes and it wouldn’t be fair to take up too much of his time. Other humans need wishes, too. But is it wrong to admit that I don’t want him to leave yet? I want to learn all I can about him.
    My hands must have minds of their own because they’re back on his chest, smoothing over the muscles. His arms seem strong, and I can imagine how safe a girl could feel in them.
    A hand closes over mine. I glance at Sebastian and find his eyes pasted on mine. He looks a little better. “That tickles,” he whispers.
    “I’m sorry for touching you.” I can’t believe I did that. I woke him up by touching him. And he caught me.
    “Don’t be.”
    “How are you feeling?”
    He tries to sit up, but crashes down to the floor, wincing. “Not as good as I thought.”
    I want to tell him it’s not a good idea to lie on the dirty floor, when I find him staring at me. “What?”
    “You’re kind to me.” A look washes over his