Free Jinni's Wish, Book 4 Kingdom Series by Marie Hall Page B

bright blue glow
that made his soul flare in response. Her face looked lit from
within as her radiance sparkled and shimmered over her form. There
was a snap, a quick rolling spark shifted down her arm and then she
released a strong breath and opened flustered eyes.
    “I can’t.”
    “Yes, you can.”
    If ghosts could sweat, she’d look haggard and
worn. As it was her hair had lost some of its shine, her face
appeared slightly puffy from energy drain-off.
    Paz shook herself and pulled her head back
inside the window. Misery clung to her. Jinni shook his head.
    “Do not give up.”
    “I’m not trying to. This is hard. I was able
to lift the sheets up before, I don’t know why I can’t even do this
now.”
    “I’m immortal, in a sense. It took much
longer for me to experience energy drain off. But your humanity
accelerates it. It is okay.” He clasped his hands together, mainly
because he desperately wanted to hold her arms, comfort and sooth
her, but knew he’d never be able to latch onto her. “I know it is
hard, Paz. But you are blocking yourself. You believe you cannot do
this. So you cannot. Now close your eyes.”
    She growled low in her throat, a delicious
heated purr that sent shivers straight through him, but did as he
asked. She huffed hair out of her face, must have been a habit,
because her hair was tucked behind her ears.
    “Now, imagine yourself on a beach,” he began,
voice lulling and soft, gently hypnotizing. Once, long ago, he’d
been good at this.
    Her nose scrunched up in the most adorable
fashion and his lips twitched. “Do you see the beach?”
    “I see blackness. Lots and lots of it,” she
whined.
    He chuckled and closed his own eyes. The
magic resting in his soul flared softly to life, like the gentle
glow of candlelight. It flickered low, but steady. Reaching deep
within himself, he grasped a hold of the flame and drew that heat
through his body. It trickled through him, and for the first time
in ages he trembled with joy. With the remembered knowledge of what
it meant to grasp the fire.
    But he no longer had what he used to have,
what he’d taken for granted. Using too much would be dangerous.
Hard as it was, he tamped down the thrill of the magic and took
only what he needed. Even this little bit would cost.
    Making sure to keep a connection between his
mind and the flame, Jinni opened his eyes and smiled into Paz’s
startled face.
    She glanced around, mouth slightly open.
“You’re here? In my head?”
    In here she did not glow blue, her skin was a
tanned olive, her hair darker than midnight, and her eyes the
piercing brown of an owl. Dressed in a Grecian gown of sheer
white-- Jinni lost his breath-- as her each and every curve came
into exacting focus. Exotic and curvaceous, the type of body only a
master sculptor could hope to capture. Round, firm breasts rose
high as her breathing inched up a notch.
    With the same degree he studied her; he felt
her eyes on him like a hot brand. He’d dressed himself in the style
of the King he’d served. Tunic and pants, the cerulean fabric
threaded through with veins of gold.
    Around them was nothing but darkness. Her
mind was unfocused. Though all of what he was about to do was
illusion, there would still be the sensation of touch. Jinni walked
up to her. Her eyes were huge in her face, but she didn’t utter a
word as his warm hands slid up the length of her bare arms. A rigid
rise of goose bumps traveled in their wake and she hissed.
    Touching her was like touching something hot
and explosive. He licked his lips, his stomach bottoming out. He’d
already touched her. When he’d carried her from the plane, but the
desire to truly know her hadn’t yet been born in him.
    Now it was, and this was so different.
    Jinni forced himself to breathe. “Imagine the
sand, dove.”
    Her lashes fluttered, her gaze held his, as
if spellbound.
    With a flick of his wrist he helped her to
see it.
    She gasped as the land swayed around them,
the