Chapter 2

David let out a tired sigh as Parisa let out a surprised screech and fell off his lap. There was a barely audible pop as the genie summoned a heavy brown robe that didn’t just hide her nakedness, but completely hid the form of her body. His chair rolled forward as she vanished and then reappeared behind him, putting him between her and Sam, who was standing in the doorway clutching a bag of fast food.

Sam looked back and forth between his naked roommate and the girl who was cowering behind him, waving the bag of food as he tried to decide which one he ought to point to. The apartment was filled with the thick smell of sex, making it impossible to deny what had just been occurring. Sam finally settled on pointing at Parisa and blurted, “Guh?”

Instead of answering, David turned and offered the genie an apologetic look. “I tried to warn you – it’s not my name on the lease.”

Parisa responded by angrily slapping him on the shoulder. “How was I supposed to know that? I don’t even know what that means!”

“Hold it!” Sam held his hands up high, fast enough that the grease-soaked paper bag holding his dinner finally gave up, spilling his fries and burger to the floor. The burger managed to survive, as it was wrapped in foil, but his fries weren’t as lucky. “David, one, why the hell are you naked, and two, how did you go from having a naked girl on your lap to hiding a sack of potatoes behind your chair? Because I know she did not have any clothes on when I came in, let alone the time to get dressed.”

David waved at his roommate. “Parisa, meet Sam. He’s my best friend, and technically the one who actually rents our apartment. Sam, meet Parisa. She’s, uh, she’s my wife. I guess.”

“You guess?” Parisa hissed at the same time Sam asked, “Your wife?”

“Hey, this is all sort of new to me.” David answered Parisa with a shrug. Before she could get any angrier he gently placed a finger against her lips. “I’m not saying I don’t want you. I’m just saying that an hour ago I was a complete and utter bachelor. So its going to take a little bit of time for me to fully wrap my head around you being my wife.”

Parisa’s features softened as she took a deep breath. “Yes, my husband.” Then she shook her head and smiled. “I suppose this will be easier with your next wives.”

This time both Sam and David ended up gawking at her. “Uh, my other wives?”

“Oh, yes!” Parisa answered happily. “With me by your side, you shall become a man of great means. Therefore it is only righteous for you to take additional wives. I would only insist that I have some say in who is added to our household.”

Sam frowned as he collapsed on to their couch. “Okay, everyone take ten steps way back. Dave, who is this woman? And don’t tell me your wife, because I know for sure you weren’t dating anyone before I left, and your mom would be pissed if she didn’t get to meet the girl before you sealed the deal.”

David winced at the reminder that he was going to have to explain this to his parents somehow. He shook his head as tried to explain it all to Sam, looking to use his friend as a test run for his folks. “Ah, well ... You know my cousin Sahar, right? She’s apparently over in Iraq working with the military to protect various archaeological digs. Long story short, she ran into some guy who gave her a necklace. He said that it was part of a debt owed my great-great-great something or other. I guess it was really meant for her dad, but she decided to send it to me, and-”

David was interrupted when Parisa let out a shocked gasp. When he turned to look at her, the genie had turned a deathly pale. “You are not the heir to your family?”

David shrugged. “Well, technically I’m an heir, just not the oldest. My grandmother was a fourth wife. My grandfather’s first wife had only the one child, their only son. He’s got a couple of boys a little younger than me, so I suppose their technically my grandfather’s primary heirs. Why?”

“Oooh, my father is going to kill me!” Parisa moaned. “I was supposed to be a gift to the heir of your family, not ... not ... not... ! And we have already-! Oh, I am dead, I tell you, dead!”

Sam frowned in confusion. “All right, so you two boned. I don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, I’ve met Dave’s uncle, and the dude has a stick up his ass larger than a redwood. Not to mention waaaay too old for someone like you. I mean, I’ve heard of May-December romances, but this would be more like May-Paleozoic if you catch my meaning.”

Parisa was absolutely baffled. “I am afraid that I do not.”

“He means that my uncle is as old as your father,” David answered. Then he added, “Well, maybe not your father, but fathers in general.”

Parisa sighed in disappointment and stood up. “It does not matter. This was not how it was supposed to be. The debt remains and now I can no longer be the instrument by which it is settled. Send the amulet on to your uncle, while I shall return to my father for punishment. They will simply have to send another to-”

“Hold it right there!” David reached out and grabbed her wrist. Sternly, he added, “I’d be a poor husband if I let you go get yourself killed for a mistake that someone else made, even if it even was a mistake in the first place.”

“But you’re not supposed to be my husband!”

“Doesn’t matter,” David said as he pulled her back into his lap. “Its a done deal. We consummated it and everything. No take backsies. So now you’re stuck with me, no matter what happens. And if you’re father’s got a problem with it, then he can take it up with me.”

Parisa pouted. “You would not stand a chance against my father. His powers encompass the sun and the moon themselves! He would obliterate you with a thought!”

“Does. Not. Matter.” David growled out the words for emphasis.

“Time out,” Sam interjected, tapping his hands together. “I’m missing something important here. What’s it matter that Dave is not the first heir?”

“My powers are supposed to be used to make his family wealthy and powerful.” Parisa’s shoulders sagged in despair. “Obviously, these services would have to be provided to the first born heir, as they would receive the bulk of the family’s holdings to begin with.”

“Yeah, powers?” Sam looked doubtful. “I’m still not entirely caught up with what’s going on here.”

Parisa waved her hand dejectedly at the mess of food that was cooling across the floor. It immediately vanished, only to reappear a moment later on a golden platter hovering in front of Sam. The burger had been neatly sliced in two, and the fries lay in a steaming pile on a silver platter. The paper cup holding his soda had been replaced by a tall crystal decanter, and the half-melted ice cubes had been replaced by perfectly square chunks of ice so cold that a thin layer of frost had started to spread down the decanter’s sides.

“Holy shit!” Sam gasped. He tentatively picked up one of the fries and nibbled on the end. “Damn, that’s good. What else can you do? Hey, can you make that hot chick down at Starbucks fall in love with me? Because that girl is fine!”

Parisa scowled and stuck out her tongue at him. “We djinn are not allowed to interfere with any of God’s gifts, lest His wrath be sent upon us. And besides, my powers are for my husband’s benefit, not a scoundrel such as yourself.”

“Yeah, but me and Dave, we’re like brothers, you know? And I’m sure my brother wouldn’t be against sharing!” Sam’s smile vanished as he noticed the look David was giving him. “Oooor not. Okay, fine, I get it. No wishes for Sammy boy.”

David gently stroked Parisa’s back, relief flooding through him as he felt her relax. They might have known each other for less than an hour, but he was genuinely growing fond of her. Okay, yes, the sex had been absolutely fantastic, but it was more than that. The thought of her being punished had scared him worse than anything else he could remember and while he was sure that any confrontation between him and her father would be entirely one sided, David mentally swore that he’d still see it through. Fortunately, the discussion of her powers seemed to be just the distraction she needed. “What do you mean that you cannot interfere with God’s gifts?”

“We djinn were created as the third race, standing between Man and the Angels. We were granted free will, just as Man was, but we were not granted the souls that would allow us into Paradise,” Parisa answered. “Instead we were granted some of the Angel’s own powers, so that we could bring Man the Word of God and better help mankind understand its role within Creation. We have the ability to spin matter into the form of our choosing, to control the elements, and even to bend the laws of space and time where it suits our purpose. But while it is within our ability to do so, we are forbidden from taking from Man those things that God has gifted him with. We cannot control the mind of another, we cannot create a new life outside of the natural order of things, and only within certain limits may we use our powers to harm or even kill a human being. Those who violate those laws invoke the direct wrath of the seraphim. To be safe, most will not even bespell a human without their direct permission.”

David took a moment to think. “So, if I wished to be seven feet tall, that you would grant, but if I wished for Sam to be seven feet tall... ?”

Parisa shook her head. “I would not grant that wish. Sam would have to wish it for himself, and you would have to grant me permission before I would do so.”

“Because I’m your husband, or because I am your master?”

Parisa smiled and kissed him. “You speak as if there were a difference between the two.”

David grinned. “Well then, wife, what do you think your husband should wish for first?”

“You already made your first wish, remember?” Parisa laughed. “But I do not remember you being disappointed with it!”

“WAIT!” Sam jumped out his chair as he saw David open his mouth. “Dude, you already used your first wish? Now you only have two more remaining!”

Parisa blinked at the sudden interruption, then started to laugh. “You are thinking of Aladdin, yes? But in that case, my brothers were not acting of their own free will, but under the geas of the items that bound them. The limits placed on the number of wishes they granted were because of the contracts they negotiated with the sorcerer who originally tied them to the lamp and ring. I am not with my husband, but of him; therefore, my powers are of him as well. He may make use of them as he wishes, so long as I do not violate the laws which govern them, just as any normal man may make use of his wife in any way which the laws of man do not prohibit.”

“So wait, what about your necklace then?” David motioned to the golden amulet that had been left forgotten on his desk. “Do you have to return to it at night or anything like that?”

Parisa buried her head in her hands to hide her laughter. “Oh, that silly woman ... Is that what mortals believe now? That we djinn are trapped inside the items which summon us?”

Sam nodded. “I mean, that’s the trade, isn’t it? ‘Vast cosmic power, itty bitty living space’?”

Parisa shook her head and shifted on David’s lap. The robes she was wearing were thick, but soft, and as she moved she rubbed across his crotch, and she could feel him starting to rise against her ass. She focused her powers for just a moment, and six square inches of fabric strategically vanished. David suddenly inhaled as bare flesh met bare flesh. She turned so that she was facing Sam directly and sat back against her husband. The bulk of the genie’s robes hid the fact as she spread her legs ever so carefully, so that his cock was pressing up against her vagina instead. Her body was already slowly beginning to respond, her wet lips making way for his swelling member.

“Djinn do not normally live in the mortal realm, let alone in mortal objects.” Parisa forced her voice to stay level as she felt her inner walls stretch to accommodate her husband’s girth. The hand that had moments ago been stroking her back suddenly gripped the back of her neck, a silent command to be still. She responded by once again closing her legs, locking him in place.

“Instead, we live in our own realm parallel to yours,” Parisa continued as she worked her muscles around David’s cock. A shudder of pleasure ran down her spine, banishing the lingering specters of failure. “It is simple enough for us to cross over, though having a particular item in your world makes it easier to arrive in a specific place or in the presence of a specific individual.”

“So are you going to be moving in with us?” Sam asked.

“Perhaps.” Parisa forced herself to look around their disheveled apartment. David’s breath was hot against the nape of her neck, and her body burned with the need to move, to feel his body rocking against hers. She began to bounce her hips, the slight motion hidden by the bulk of her robes. “But it shall be my husband’s decision.”

“What do you mean?”

Small beads of sweat broke out along Parisa’s brow as she struggled not to moan. David had started nipping gently at the back of her neck, working his way down her spine as his arm circled possessively around her waist. There were still some fears lingering from her discovery that the debt had not been settled properly, but it was almost impossible to worry about them when he was holding her. She felt safe, secure, as if nothing in the world could possibly hurt her while David was there to protect her. Pleasing him with her body was just the easiest – and perhaps the most delightful – way of thanking him for that feeling.

“Material wealth is ... no longer a concern,” Parisa explained as a pleasantly familiar knot began to tighten in her stomach. “Nor is ... is ... physical space. I can bu-build David a palace of a ... ah ... thousand rooms in a single graaain of sand!”

Sam looked confused by Parisa’s sudden loss of control over her voice. “Are you all right?”

Before Parisa could answer she felt a warm pulse as David came inside of her. Her body trembled in his arms as her own climax followed, but she managed to keep from crying out as felt his cum splatter against her inner walls. “Yessss...” She took a deep breath to steady her ragged nerves. “I mean, yes, yes I am all right. Your language is simply new to me, and the words sound unfamiliar. I keep catching myself wanting to substitute the language of the djinn in their place.”

David coughed behind her. Parisa felt her face flush at her husband’s poor attempt at disguising his laughter, and it was clear from the look on his face that Sam didn’t quite believe her, either. Fortunately, the other man was still amazed enough by suddenly finding himself in the presence of a supernatural being, especially a gorgeous supernatural being, that he didn’t bother to question her lie. Before Sam could continue his questioning any further, David decided to intervene.

“What did you mean by ‘material wealth’ is no longer a concern?”

“Just what I said,” Parisa answered. “Anything that exists, I can either duplicate with my powers, or, if you choose, I can provide you with the gold necessary to pay for it.”

“What about cash?” David asked. “I’m not sure that anyone really takes gold these days.”

Parisa nodded. “Yes, but if it used as money, then I would like to see it first.”

That made it Sam’s turn to butt in. “Why? This isn’t going to be one of those things where if we wish for a million dollars, then we’re going to end up covered in purple dye while the police of accuse us of robbing an armored car or something, is it?”

Parisa hastily shook her head as Sam handed her a twenty. “No, my wishes do not typically have such negative drawbacks, not unless I deliberately desire them to. Even then, seeking to cause that sort of misfortune is extremely complicated and tedious. The universe does not overly care too much about who has what, merely what they do with it and why. But at the same time, anything I create is only as real I know how to make it. Food, buildings, machines, those are all relatively easy, as they can be the same or different and no one really notices or cares. But ah! See here, these numbers?” Parisa indicated the twenty’s serial number with her finger. “I assume that these are some sort of tracking number, yes?”

“Yeah, they’re a tool to help prevent counterfeiting,” David said. He pursed his lips as he considered his own answer. “Which is exactly what we’re discussing doing, isn’t it. Doesn’t that violate your rules about breaking the laws?”

Parisa dismissed his concern with a short wave of her hand. “The seraphim do not care about the laws of Man, only with the laws of God. I can make you as much money as you wish for and there would be no trouble, at least not from them. Mortal law might take note, however, if you went and tried to pay with ten of the same one of these bills. So I would just need to structure the wish so that each one was created with a different tracking number.”

“Would you need to do that with everything or... ?” Sam asked.

Parisa snapped her fingers and an apple appeared out of thin air. It dropped into the palm of her hand. She lobbed it to him, and he caught it southpaw style. He held it up to the light, turning the fruit this way and that, taking note of its slightly misshapen roundness. Sweet juice dribbled out of the corner of Sam’s lips as he bit into the fruit with a noticeable crunch. “Okay, yah, it’sh an apple,” he said through full mouth. “So what?”

“So the universe does not care that it is an apple,” Parisa explained patiently. “Anymore than it cares that that piece of paper is money. But your human authorities would care if you spent the same piece of money many times over and over, and that would get my husband in trouble.”

“What about a credit card, then?” David suggested. “What if I just had a credit card with no limit?”

“A ... credit card?” Parisa frowned. “Is that anything like a letter of credit?”

“I guess?” David twisted in his seat and reached into the top drawer of his desk, where he kept his various store-based credit cards. He knew it wasn’t the safest place for them, but the only other person who ever really came into the apartment was Sam. He handed one of the pieces of plastic to his wife. “Basically when you need to pay for something you give them this, and then either the store or bank that gave you the card pays for it instead. Then you have to pay them back, usually with a bit of interest.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Parisa beamed and snapped her fingers. David suddenly found himself holding a brand new credit card, only this one was stamped from a thin slice of black metal that was cool to the touch. David’s grandfather had a similar card, but where as Sheikh Lahijani’s card had an embossed American Express logo, David’s had the same golden winged-lion design that shaped Parisa’s amulet. His name had been stamped in gold on the bottom, next to a sixteen digit number, also in gold, and there looked to be a regular RFID chip planted in the right hand side. Otherwise, the card was completely blank, missing the name of the bank that had issued it or any of the customer support information that was normally on the back of such things.

“But will it work?” Sam asked, his voice full of wonder.

Parisa grinned. “Only one way to find out! Let’s go shopping!”

Same groaned. He slapped the top of his knees and got up from the couch. “Okay, I walked into that one. Just let me go take a shower first. I got fairly well baked out at the park, and I’d rather be funky fresh for any cute girls we run into rather than just funky.”

“We probably ought to get cleaned up as well,” David suggested when they heard the shower start. “I don’t suppose you could... ?”

Parisa wiggled her nose and smiled. “Done.”

The word had no sooner left her lips than David felt as if he had just stepped out of the shower. The lingering smell of sweat and sex had vanished from the both of them, and the parts of him that had been uncomfortably sticky were instead comfortably dry. His pants were suddenly back on his body, soft and warm as if they had just come out of the dryer, and Parisa had added a plain black t-shirt that best showed off his muscles. He’d played four years of high school football and three more in college before finally getting tired of being slammed around, and even after dropping the sport David still made at least a half-assed effort to keep in shape. Coupled with his genetics, he was built like the proverbial tank. It made the matching black combat boots that finished his outfit even more appropriate. He grinned and gave her a kiss on the nose. “I can see that getting up in the morning is suddenly going to become a lot easier.”

“Well, so long as I am awake as well,” Parisa murmured as she nuzzled back against him.

“Well, then I’ll just have to make sure you’re up as well, won’t I?” David’s hands slipped under her robe to find the soft curve of her breasts. Her nipples began to stiffen as he dragged his thumbs across them.

“Stop that!” Parisa gasped. “You’re absolutely insatiable! We just got cleaned up, would you make it all for naught so soon?”

The genie laughed as David offered up his best puppy dog pout. He smiled as he shook his head and admitted, “No, you’re right. We should both get dressed.”

Parisa stood up and motioned to her robes. “But I am dressed.”