Wish Me

Nothing

Havan Fellows

Breathless Press

Calgary, Alberta

www.breathlesspress.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and

incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are

used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any

resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or

persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Wish Me Nothing

Copyright © 2013 Havan Fellows

ISBN: 978-1-77101-926-2

Cover Artist: Victoria Miller

Editor: Olivia Ventura

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used

or reproduced electronically or in print without written

permission, except in the case of brief quotations

embodied in reviews.

Breathless Press

www.breathlesspress.com

1

Chapter One

Vaughn bucked his hips again. He groaned as Ar swallowed

in time with his spurts, so caught up in the suction of Ar’s lips

around his prick that he almost forgot his role in their lovemak-

ing.

As he slightly softened in his lover’s mouth he moved his hand

behind Ar’s balls and applied pressure to the delicate skin there.

Not happy with the minimal reaction he received from Ar, know-

ing that his boyfriend attempted to hold back, he stepped up his

game and dragged his finger back and forth over the perineum

in an erotic massage while tonguing the underside of Ar’s cock.

Suddenly his back hit the hard sand under the soft blanket while

Ar aggressively fucked his mouth and made the best growling

sounds imaginable.

Vaughn relaxed his jaw and allowed Ar to use his mouth,

knowing he wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, wouldn’t

hurt him. Damned if his lover didn’t push the line, though, or in

Wish Me Nothing

2

this case, throat. Ar’s hips pistoned with such purpose; Vaughn

held on to them and pressed his tongue up, massaging dur-

ing each thrust. His lover’s cock jerked a couple of times before

Vaughn’s mouth filled with the tangy liquid that he craved.

After thoroughly cleaning every drop, Vaughn turned around

on the blanket and rested on one of the finest sets of abs he’d ever

had the pleasure of enjoying. Addicted to touching his boyfriend,

he never could do it enough. Thank God they both appreciated

such simple pleasures.

Vaughn ran his fingers lightly up and down the furred thigh

enticing him. Ar shifted and bopped Vaughn’s head up and down.

“Didn’t we just do that?” He chuckled and finally settled down.

“Ha ha.” He followed Ar’s example and closed his eyes. The

fading sun warmed Vaughn’s skin. Dusk closed in around them,

but neither hurried to pack up and make the short stroll to the

beach house.

Ar lay there naked, seemingly without a care in the world.

And in all reality he didn’t have a care in the world. He owned

this quarter-mile of beach along with the huge house up the em-

bankment. Vaughn loved coming here on the weekends. His posi-

tion at work landed him low man on the totem pole, so he always

had his weekends free. His job didn’t entail that much effort. In-

stead of bitterness about that fact, he relished it because it allowed

him to venture to the coast and enjoy days like today.

At first Vaughn Boggs leaned toward the intimidated side

when it came to Ar. The man did own a beach house on the coast

as his second home. Really, Vaughn lucked out if he broke thirty

grand a year at his job. How should he feel? But Ar had no prob-

lems with their financial differences. His bank book screamed

wealth. He’d inherited more money than he could spend in ten

lifetimes—his words, not Vaughn’s.

He scooted closer and absentmindedly expanded the area he

ran his fingertips over to include Ar’s groin, reminiscing about

how they first met almost a year and a half ago.

This idiot at his work had just received a huge promotion—

which surprised and pissed off at least ninety percent of the com-

pany. The man was a moron at best, a narcissistic asshole at worst.

But the even higher morons had chosen him over all the other

actual qualified candidates to head up the Southeastern Region-

al Field. Vaughn’s irked demeanor had nothing to do with that,

Havan Fellows

3

though. He wasn’t even remotely in the running for the promo-

tion. He did have a problem with the fake promotion they gave

him as the new boss’s flunky. Day in and day out he had to cater

to that man’s swelled ego; hell on Earth would’ve entertained him

more.

After his new boss celebrated his first week in his big shiny

office, the damndest thing happened, though. While yes, the idiot

did get the promotion of the century, the stress evidently broke

his mind. That description best described his downhill spiral. He

imagined people following him, kept the blinds down on his of-

fice window so they couldn’t spy on him and constantly talked to

the same they that he hid from. Finally he cracked and became a

permanent resident of the psych ward, where he continually bab-

bled about some old sixties show being real and the world ending

as they knew it.

Since Vaughn held the coveted title of his gofer, the unsa-

vory task of clearing out his personal items and returning them

ended up on Vaughn’s to-do list. He found the weirdest things in

his boss’s desk too, all kinds of bottles and fancy jars, bundles of

dried herbs and flowers, numerous travel and folklore books with

pages dog-eared and whole passages blacked out, rabbits’ feet,

salt, and a spiral notebook with gibberish scribbled all over it.

After he got it all boxed he drove it over to his boss’s town-

house. There he met Ar, sunning himself next to the private pool

in the backyard. At first Vaughn threatened to call the cops, but

Ar explained that he half-owned the swanky townhouse and just

wanted to enjoy it one more time before putting it on the market.

Vaughn didn’t buy his line, but this gorgeous stranger quickly

whipped out proof that he just happened to carry on his person.

Vaughn left the box there and said nothing as Ar rifled through

it, laughing and making odd remarks about its contents. He just

nodded and quickly took his leave, not really up to caring if a

stranger enjoyed his ex-boss’s predicament and private items.

He evidently made quite an impression on Ar, because

from that evening forward Ar hounded him every day for a

date. Vaughn wasn’t interested in dating, since he still licked his

wounds from a bad break up earlier in the year, but Ar bit down

like a pit bull with a bone. After a couple of months he whittled

Vaughn’s defenses to nil and an agreement to have coffee one

Saturday morning followed. Saturday morning coffee morphed

Wish Me Nothing

4

into Saturday night dinner followed by Sunday morning brunch.

Vaughn never regretted that decision.

A chilly breeze and the lack of heat on his skin clued Vaughn

to the late hour. He tapped his fingers on his boyfriend’s belly.

“Honey, it’s getting dark, maybe we should head back up?”

Ar smiled, but didn’t open his eyes. “But I like staying down.”

He chuckled at his joke. “I want to stay out here with you.”

“We can come back out here on Friday, I don’t have any other

plans. But it’s Sunday and I have to get back to my apartment. I

have work tomorrow and I hate not having everything laid out

before I go to sleep.”

“If you would quit your job we could come back out here to-

morrow, and the next day, and the day after that too.” Ar finally

opened his eyes and peered down at Vaughn. “I hate not having

you during the week. It isn’t fair to me, you know.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes. “It isn’t fair to me to have this discus-

sion again. You’re not my sugar daddy.”

“I could be, if you let me.”

Vaughn pushed off Ar’s chest and vaulted to his feet, grab-

bing his shorts and roughly tugging them up his legs. He pressed

the Velcro together at the top and turned to throw their picnic

supplies in the basket. “You should thank me. I’m gonna do you a

favor and forget that you said that.” He shook his head and grit-

ted his teeth, reining in his anger. “Jeez, Ar! You really...you just...”

Running his hands through his sandy hair, he just shrugged in

defeat. “You can stay here as long as you like; I’m getting my stuff

and heading home. I don’t want to crawl into bed at midnight

again; you know how anal I am about setting my stuff out for the

morning. I hate rushing against the clock.”

He warily watched Ar stand up next to him and leisurely

don his bathing suit, shorts and tank. Vaughn had to admit, if he

ever decided to be a kept man, Ar would be the one he wanted

to do the keeping. His toned body was easily nothing short of a

miracle, his chest lightly furred and broad and his pecs firm and

bite-able. Not to mention the way he filled out those white shorts

could rewrite the whole sizing scale. Vaughn’s jaw attested that

he excelled in that area as well. His ass clenched with anticipation

just thinking about the next time Ar’s cock would use and abuse

it, and Ar’s thick legs put the power in each and every thrust.

Havan Fellows

5

He raised his eyes to Ar’s face, and the smile awaiting him

there made it clear that Ar guessed correctly what Vaughn day-

dreamed about. Ar thrust his hips out a bit and chuckled. “You

know you want to stay here tonight. I could so make it worth

your while. Come on, call in to work and let me have some fun

with you.”

Shaking his head to clear the lewd thoughts Ar’s movements

instilled, Vaughn insisted, “I don’t have any sick days to call in to

work with.”

“Why are you acting so difficult? It’s not like we just met and

I’m asking the unthinkable. Over a year we’ve had each other.

Quit that sad job and stay with me; they don’t appreciate your

talents like I do.” He waggled his eyebrows at Vaughn.

That pushed the limit for Vaughn. If he stayed and tried to

discuss this, it would end in a fight, and he didn’t want that. They

only ever argued about his working and not living off Ar’s mon-

ey. Why couldn’t Ar understand? Why did Ar assume everything

should be a joke or game with no real responsibilities involved?

“I’ll call you tomorrow after work. I’m not having this discus-

sion again, though, so give it up.”

He tossed the blanket into the basket on top of everything

else, not worrying about the sand that got caught up in it, and

then turned to walk away. A steel grip on his wrist jolted him to a

stop. He glanced down at that hand and back up at his lover, rais-

ing his eyebrow in a non-verbal question.

“I will not give you up. Do you have any idea what I’ve risked

to have you? Why did I have to fall for the one human that has

values and morals? You are so damn lucky that I don’t—”

“That you don’t what, Ar? What am I so damn lucky you

don’t do?” This new twist to an old argument perplexed him.

Vaughn couldn’t even guess where it would lead. “And lay off the

melodrama. Human? Really?”

Ar released his wrist immediately. “Nothing. I’m sorry, I

just don’t understand you. I have plenty and I want to share it

with you. You’ll never want for anything, I promise. None of this

means a damn thing to me if I don’t have you by my side. Fuck

the houses, fuck the fancy cars, fuck this damned beach! Fuck it

all if you aren’t here with me. What else can I acquire that will

convince you to stay? Tell me and I will get it, all you need do is

wish it and I’ll make it yours.”

Wish Me Nothing

6

“Wish, hmm? So, let’s role play tonight, and the role of my

fairy godmother goes to...” He swept his hand in Ar’s direction.

“Because, I gotta tell you, that really doesn’t do it for me, Ar.”

He chuckled to soften the words. “I wish for you to understand

what it’s like to have a job and responsibilities. To have to answer

to someone in charge for a change instead of just always getting

what you want when you want it.”

Vaughn didn’t understand why Ar’s face suddenly froze in

a horrified grimace. His words might have been mean, but not

overwhelmingly so. Even more disturbing to him, the sun just

vanished behind charcoal-gray clouds that appeared literally out

of nowhere. The darkness enveloped them so completely that, if

not for the sensors on the spotlights, they’d have been blanketed

in pitch blackness. Of course Vaughn wouldn’t be pondering his

lover’s overly dramatic expression if that happened.

Ar shoved him violently toward the beach house.

“What the hell?”

“Run! Get your ass into the house! Now!”

Vaughn stumbled and fell on top of their basket. It collapsed

under his weight and he felt as well as heard something break

inside. He slowly stood up and brushed himself off. “What the

hell did you push me for? Because it’s going to rain? You’re really

flying off the handle today, Ar.” Vaughn tipped his head back and

studied the dark sky. Rain, yeah, the only possible explanation he

could come up with.

“Just do it, Vaughn. Trust me and get into that house now!”

“Now why would you want him to leave us so soon, Ar?”

Vaughn faltered as a huge hand appeared out of nowhere, fin-

gers digging into the meaty part of his elbow in a crushing grip.

7

Chapter Two

“What the…? Where did you come from? Let go of me!”

Vaughn jerked his arm, but the stranger’s grip tightened and

he couldn’t break away. A sudden pinching pain forced him to

glance down again. Blunt flesh-colored nails elongated before his

eyes into claw-like blue talons pressing into his skin, the sharp

points not quite puncturing, but almost. “You’re hurting me!”

“Release. Him. Now.”

Vaughn’s heart and breath froze. He shifted his gaze from

those blue talons and slowly turned toward his lover. He had

never heard such an implacably menacing sound come from Ar

before. He widened his eyes at the sight before him. The Ar that

he knew and loved no longer stood on this beach; in his place

a monster towered, a taller, wider, thicker and darker than his

boyfriend monster. His skin didn’t have the golden glow caused

by the sun anymore. It appeared dense, like the tough hide of an

animal, a deep blue/brown mixture. His eyes swirled the elements

Wish Me Nothing

8

of fire and ice combined. His teeth jutted out, sharp, jagged and

just slightly protruding over his thick blue lips. Long dreadlocks,

a darker version of his blue skin, now replaced the beautiful, soft,

ash brown hair that Vaughn loved running his fingers through

and tugging on. His hands curled and uncurled with long pointed

blue talons just like the ones causing the throbbing in Vaughn’s

arm.

A deep rumbling laugh vibrated through him. Almost too

afraid to move, Vaughn somehow got his neck to obey his com-

mands and swung his gaze to the man who held him. The strang-

er no longer possessed the muscle-bound body he did mere mo-

ments ago. He too had magnified in all ways possible, his skin a

slightly lighter hue than Ar’s.

“If you insist, traitor.” He growled right before throwing

Vaughn easily two dozen feet behind him.

The wind whooshed out of Vaughn as his back collided with

the hard-packed sand, yet he still attempted to scramble to his

feet. The fear coursing through his system worked better than any

drug on or off the market; it helped him get past the inability to

fill his lungs with air problem. He managed to roll over onto his

hands and knees, and then glanced up to where he’d been stand-

ing. Those two huge things faced off against each other. Oh my

God...it wasn’t his imagination or some bad trip from his teenage

years coming back to haunt him.

“If you ever touch him again I will take your head as a tro-

phy.” That came from the one that used to be Ar.

The other one shrugged, apparently not nervous about the

threat. “You will try. But we both know that you are not worthy

of a fight with me. When I’m done with you I will find out what

is so interesting about that human that would make you sentence

yourself to death.”

“Get up and get your ass into the house now. Don’t look back. Don’t

stop. Now go!”

Vaughn fell back on his ass when the voice floated through

his mind. What the fuck? Ar’s voice, without a doubt. But in his

head? He finally managed to get his feet beneath him, wincing

with pain. Stepping backward toward the house, he kept an eye

on the two blue men.

“Take one more move away from me, human, and I will have

your heart in my hand before your body hits the sand.”

Havan Fellows

9

Not Ar. Vaughn stopped. Neither of them actually made eye

contact with him, but both their attentions obviously focused on

him.

“He’s bluffing. Run now, damn it!”

“How the hell do I know he’s bluffing!” Vaughn yelled at the

voice in his head, or Ar, or both maybe?

“Ar, are you conversing with the human telepathically? Inter-

esting, indeed. Look at your lover, human. This man you lie with,

allow to enter your body, isn’t a man. Can you trust he serves

your best interest? He recognizes his path to die tonight. He will

do anything to save his pathetic existence. Listen to me. I can as-

sure you, I only desire to bring this traitor to justice for his crimes.

You may leave as soon as I have your memories stored safely.

Fight me on this and your demise is imminent.”

Vaughn studied Ar again, who didn’t take his gaze off the

stranger. “I’m still Ar, the man you’ve loved for over a year. Don’t

talk... Please Vaughn, just trust me on this. I will keep him from hurting

you but you have to help me. He wants you to stay with two monsters, I

want you to run. You weigh it out.”

With logic like that what could Vaughn do? He spun in the

sand and hauled his ass as fast as his legs could take him toward

Ar’s beach house.

A huge growl erupted behind him followed by a loud crash-

ing noise. A hand grazed his ankle, causing him to fall forward

and scream. He face-planted in the sand and flipped over quickly

in time to witness Ar dragging the other one away by his legs.

He watched as Ar spun in a circle holding the monster in his

hands, spinning faster and faster, raising the monster higher until

he finally released him. The creature sailed through the night sky,

finally splash-landing hundreds of feet out in the ocean.

Vaughn slumped down in short-lived relief until he glanced

up to Ar stomping towards him.

“When I fucking tell you to run you do it! Now come on, we

have to get to the house.”

He hauled Vaughn up with one hand under his bruised elbow

and pushed him towards the house.

“Hey! I’m sick and tired of all the fucking manhandling.” He

turned to Ar and glared up into his fire and ice sparring eyes, then

shrank back.

Wish Me Nothing

10

Ar might have loomed over him by at least two feet now, but

Vaughn recognized the hurt his flinch put in those red and blue

swirling eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, anything,

but a bubbling noise coming from the ocean interrupted him.

The other one exited the water and ran toward them at a pace

Vaughn couldn’t imagine the bionic man matching. Without talk-

ing, Ar grabbed his wrist and headed for the beach house that he

had fixated on since the stranger showed up.

Vaughn stumbled to keep up with him, but his legs and lungs

were only human. When they got to the boardwalk he stopped to

catch his breath.

“What are you waiting for? The crossing guard? Here’s a tip,

Vaughn. School is out and he wants our asses on a platter!” Ar

pointed to the stranger shortening the distance between them.

Something inside Vaughn cracked. He didn’t know if false

bravado or just plain stupidity urged him on, but at this point he

couldn’t really care. “I have no fucking idea what you are, but I’m

of the homo sapiens species and I need air!”

“You can breathe when you’re safe, damn it.” Ar grabbed

Vaughn and threw him over his shoulder. Vaughn grasped Ar’s

waist with his fists, balancing to stay on the massive brute.

He craned his neck and noticed a blur of blue gaining on

them. Thank God the beach house resided just on the other side of

the boardwalk, whatever good getting there would do. This guy

seemed pissed enough to take the whole house down.

Vaughn heard a loud cracking noise and then they tumbled

across the floor in the sitting room. He jumped to his feet, ignor-

ing the additional aches and pains to his body and peered out the

now open doorway with the door in pieces, completely destroyed.

“How the hell do we lock him out now? We made it here for

nothing!”

He glared at Ar, who took a step toward him, then halted.

“Doors won’t keep him out. Did he hurt you? You okay?”

“I’ll probably have a bruised ass, but I’ll live.” Vaughn squat-

ted at the window to peek through the horizontal wood blinds.

Yeah, ducking behind some wimpy glass eased his fear a bit. “I

don’t see him. Where’d he go?”

“It’s not where he went; it’s where we went. Back when I

acquired this property for us I put an incantation on the house.

Only humans and I can sense it and enter it. He just witnessed us

disappearing in front of him on a sandy beach. He no doubt can

Havan Fellows

11

figure what just happened, but there’s not a damn thing he can

do about it. Probably on his way back to the others to plot out his

next move.”

“Spell? Others? Who are you?” Vaughn ran his fingers

through his hair, closing his fist in it and tugging some to give

him some focus. “No...what are you?”

Ar closed his eyes and tilted his head up and Vaughn watched

him shrink, his skin losing the dark blue hue and returning to

a lickable sun-kissed tan, teeth and nails receding into his body,

normal size again. In front of Vaughn, with an expression of

grief easily readable on his face, stood the man he loved. Vaughn

gasped and Ar turned away from him quickly. He began speak-

ing, his voice low. “Not really a spell, per se, more like a secret

family recipe my grandfather handed down. A few words mum-

bled from a desperate monster who believed foolishly at one time

that he could obtain happiness.”

Ar turned to him again, the pain etched on this face tearing

through Vaughn like a knife. “What am I, Vaughn? I’m a mon-

ster, a being that comes and plays with humans’ lives and gets

rewarded when I drive them to insanity. Your libraries with your

books may call us genies or Djin, but they sugarcoat our true evil.

“And now the others have found me. You don’t just turn your

back on the Djin, not without consequences. I convinced myself

that with enough time, maybe I was low enough on their radar

that they wouldn’t care. Tonight proves my error in thinking. They

will stop at nothing to destroy their target. I’m not strong enough

to fight them and win, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow them to

have you. I will protect you with my last ounce of strength.”

12

Chapter Three

“Okay. Fine.” Vaughn nodded to himself as he digested what

he heard. “One thing at a time. Genies? Really?” After what he

just lived through he didn’t really doubt it. But... “Like you live in

a bottle and grant wishes genies? I’ve stayed at your two houses

and...” He turned in a circle dramatically, taking in his surround-

ings of the lavish house with a flourish of his hands. “Not really a

bottle here. Plus you never granted me any wishes, and let’s face

it, I’ve rubbed you every way possible.”

“Humans have a tendency to make everything pretty and

nice. You over romanticize what you don’t understand, even

when you portray things as evil. Vampires, for instance, don’t fall

in love with mortals and swear off drinking blood. They have to

drink to survive. Why would they sentence themselves to death?

To do something so selfless for someone whose own mortality en-

sures that they will die in what amounts to only a small fraction of

the vampire’s existence, that isn’t like those backstabbing leeches.

Havan Fellows

13

They don’t make legions of their own kind either; they are too

self-obsessed to want to share. Not to mention blood exchange re-

ally isn’t that powerful. And don’t get me talking about the devils

of this dimension. Fucking imbeciles with wannabe magick, the

whole damn lot of them.”

“Vampires and devils?” Vaughn shook his head. “Hey! That

genie out there said you sentenced yourself to death. Because of

me? If what you say is true why would you do that?”

Ar turned and walked over to the bar. He grabbed his favorite

single malt scotch and poured himself a double shot. After tossing

it back, he finally spoke. “I’m different. Always have been. When

I saw you walk into that backyard, I had to have you. The idea of

not talking to you again, holding you...unacceptable. If you had

run into any other Djin, you would be in the mental hospital by

now, but I couldn’t do it.

“Walking away from a prospective mark, forgivable without

punishment. Fucking a mortal, hell, all the Djin do that. Falling in

love with one and running from the Djin, that they won’t accept.

You don’t turn your back on the family. Um...imagine a paranor-

mal mafia.”

Falling in love with one... Vaughn held his breath. Did he hear

correctly? Ar had never said those words to him, and he doubt-

ed this actually constituted him saying them. But he really liked

hearing it anyway. Yeah, his timing sucked, but it gave Vaughn

reason to not go ape-shit right now.

“Okay, so what do we do now? You said he couldn’t get in

here? That’s nice and cozy, but we can’t stay here forever. If you’re

a genie, can’t I just wish this all away? What if I do that, or better

yet ask for you no longer to be a Djin, would that work?”

Ar laughed bitterly. “First, stop saying that word right now.

What do you think drew him here? Second, this isn’t a cartoon

movie, Vaughn. It doesn’t work like that. Wishes are powerful

magick, and as with everything else in this cosmic universe, rules

govern them.”

“You guys use wishes to drive us poor lowly mortals insane

and you have the nerve to stand there and talk to me about rules?

Who makes these fucking rules? I wish—”

Before Vaughn could utter another word Ar stood at his side

with his hand over Vaughn’s mouth. “Do not finish that sentence!

I’m the Djin standing in front of you, but thanks to that other wish

Wish Me Nothing

14

you blurted out I’m not the only one targeted on your aura. Any

verbal desire you make right now could very truly get granted

by the other one, and he doesn’t play nice with others. Do you

understand what I’m saying?”

Vaughn nodded his understanding. After Ar removed his

hand Vaughn asked, “So no saying the ‘w’ word ever again?”

“At least not until this situation gets resolved. You might want

to wait a couple decades to err on the side of safety, though. Djin

have long memories.”

“For the record, you told me to wi—” Vaughn stopped and

looked at Ar’s growling face. “You told me to say it before. So

don’t use me as your scapegoat. And about that whole thing

about when this is finished, a time frame please? Exactly what did

you mean earlier when you said you can’t fight them and win?

Not strong enough for them?”

Ar fixed two more doubles, handed one to Vaughn, and

tossed his back. With the speed of his arm, Vaughn thought he

would slam the glass down on the bar, but at the last minute he

stopped and simply dropped it. “I’ve lived a long life, maybe not

by Djin standards, but by your standards, yeah, maybe even an-

cient. That one out there,” he pointed in the general direction of

their attacker, “far exceeds my years and strength. If the fight oc-

curs straight up, my death is a sure conclusion. His interest in you

saved me. It’s the only reason I’m still breathing now, and before

he takes my life I will make sure of your safety. I dragged you into

this mess, I’ll make sure you get out of it. I just need to think and

make a call.”

“Who the hell do you need to phone about this? Who would

believe you?”

“Not that kind of call. I’ll be back in a few. Do not leave this

house for anything.”

Vaughn watched as he disappeared. No blue smoke or flashes

of lightning. Just one moment there, the next not.

“Oh yeah, a stroll down the beach sounds tempting right

now,” he grumbled to himself. “Great, I’m supposed to do what?

Twiddle my thumbs? Find religion?”

Vaughn placed his untouched drink on the bar and headed to

Ar’s office and his computer. Maybe something online would ring

with some truth to it about genies and Djin. The idea of research-

ing appealed to him more than doing nothing.

Havan Fellows

15

He booted up the computer and began typing in some key-

words for search when he heard a noise from behind him. “You

know, it’s all good and well that you can pop in and out when-

ever you feel like it, but proper manners dictate a fucking warning

would be nice.”

“Oh, a new come-on line perhaps? Giving me permission to

pop in and out of you?”

Not Ar’s voice.

***

The Wish Me Nothing bar’s proprietor also doubled as one of

the oldest Djin, who by chance happened to also carry the title of

Ar’s grandfather. Tark “retired” from the business in a way, in his

way. Only because his history allowed him that luxury, a fact that

right now tweaked Ar’s jealousy.

Tark had created the bar as a place for Djin and humans to

commingle without the threat of any wish granting; hence, the

name. Ar never understood Tark’s infatuation with humans until

he met Vaughn. He regretted that he had had to go into hiding to

keep his relationship with Vaughn safe this past year and a half.

He’d always loved hanging out here and talking to his siblings

and grandfather, especially since his father, Tark’s son, died soon

after Ar’s youngest brother came into their world.

Ar weaved in and out of the tables until he spotted his broth-

er, Moya.

Moya was only a few decades younger than Ar, being the

second-born, but he definitely harbored a hatred for all things hu-

man. Which is why Ar knew that this brother would seat himself

in the Djin-only section. No fraternizing with the enemy, so to

speak. He always hated disguising himself as a human and only

did it when he engaged with a mark. The Djin section actually

crossed over into a separate dimension, bridged by Tark’s magick.

Here the Djin didn’t have to hide their true selves and humans

couldn’t cross the barrier and intrude on their lot.

Leave it to Tark to fairly treat all who entered his establish-

ment.

“Moya, where’s Tark?”

He sat at Moya’s table and raised his hand to Blithe, his only

sister and the resident bartender. A brine ale appeared before

Wish Me Nothing

16

him, and he took a huge swallow, relishing his favorite drink. Oh

yeah, I missed this place. No one can make brine ale like Blithe.

“Well, the prodigal son has returned. The one turning the

whole Djin realm into a circus. What the hell did you do now?

The alarms went off that you’re a traitor and marked for death.”

The news that the alarms sounded in Wish Me Nothing al-

ready didn’t surprise Ar in the least. They were tuned on all of

Tark’s kin. If anything threatening happened, then Tark and the

rest of the family received in-depth alerts immediately. If you

didn’t share blood with Tark you didn’t hear them. Not that it did

anyone any good. The siblings mostly kept to themselves until

asked for help, an unspoken acknowledgement between them.

“No and yes.”

“We expect this kind of shit from Shan. You should know bet-

ter than to tempt fate and mess with Pote.”

“Pote touched my human.”

Moya rolled his eyes at Ar. “So what. Do your mark and move

on.”

Ar growled at his brother when a familiar voice interrupted

him. “Moya, haven’t I taught you respect yet? Ar isn’t referring to

a mark, but his boyfriend. I have to side with him on this one; no

one touches his human.”

Tark slapped Ar on the back and pulled up an extra chair.

“Hello my grandson. I wondered when you would come visit me

and talk about Vaughn.”

No use asking Tark how he knew about Vaughn—he seemed

to collect knowledge on his grandchildren and file it away for

when he needed it. His activity with the Djin was greatly dimin-

ished in capacity since all his magicks were tied up in protecting

Wish Me Nothing and its occupants. That didn’t mean that his

mind wasn’t a formidable ally, or enemy, depending on the side

you aligned yourself with.

“I couldn’t chance it, Tark. For Vaughn’s safety.”

“You’ve fallen for a human? That’s sick,” Moya mumbled be-

fore downing the rest of his brine ale.

Blithe slammed another one in front of Moya and glared at

Ar. “You’ve brought danger to our family. I’m not happy with

you, but if you need me...” She flashed back to the bar.

“What’s her problem?” Ar stared at Blithe slamming mugs

and cursing at the Djin sitting at the bar.

Havan Fellows

17

“Shan happened. He came in here causing his trouble, then

flashed out in the middle of their fight.” Moya chuckled and

sipped at his refill. “That happened just about when the alarms

blared the info about our traitor brother.” He snorted. “Guess he

didn’t go to help you; there’s a shocker.”

“It looks like you truly upset Pote this time. And he attached

himself to Vaughn’s aura. That will make shaking him off your

trail damn near impossible.”

Shocked, Ar dropped his mug to the table. Reaching for some

napkins out of the holder to clean up his spill, he turned to his

grandfather. “How the hell did you already learn that one, Tark?”

His grandfather just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m

a weak old Djin, but I still have my ways about this world.”

Ar snorted this time. “You, weak? Never. I need information.

I need to keep Vaughn safe. I won’t survive this; I’m prepared for

that. But Vaughn didn’t ask for a place in our realm; he doesn’t

deserve this.”

“Pote can’t take us all, Ar. I may not approve of your indiscre-

tions, but I will fight by your side. The whole family will.”

“No! This is my battle. Pote has always had an axe to grind

with me; I just threw a handy excuse in his lap to bring his war

public. If I face him alone, hopefully his hatred will die with me

and the rest of my family may live in peace. But if you situate

yourself in the middle he will have cause to go after all of you.

Not even my love for Vaughn will let me allow that to happen.”

“None of you kids caused this problem. Pote’s hatred bred

ages before your births.”

Ar cocked his eyebrow at Tark. “Care to explain? Because I

would really like to know exactly what I’m up against, and seeing

how you are withhold—”

Ar sat up straight in his chair, a surge of energy running

through him. He dropped his mug on the table and flashed out

of the bar.

“I hate when they do that...” He heard Moya’s words float

after him.

18

Chapter Four

Immediately Vaughn jumped out of the chair and ran to the

other side of the room. When he turned around, a Djin rested

his hip casually against the corner of the desk. Without moving

closer, Vaughn studied him. This one was a new one; though he

resembled Ar in some aspects, he didn’t reach Ar’s height. His

face also lacked the viciousness of the beach Djin. Okay, a new one.

Great.

“Who are you? None of you are supposed to be able to get in

here!”

“Aw, isn’t that cute. You aren’t afraid of the big blue man.

Silly human. Ar couldn’t keep me out even if he tried, and trust

me, he tried.”

The man—no, the monster—pushed off the desk and ad-

vanced on Vaughn slowly, like a beast stalking his prey. For every

move the stranger took, Vaughn mimicked it in the same direc-

tion, attempting to keep the distance from minimizing.

Havan Fellows

19

“What do you want with me?”

“Well, you see, the way I figure it, if you’re good enough for

Ar to give up his life...well then I might as well give you a go. I’m

thinking your dick shoots gold or something. Wanna show me?”

Vaughn bumped into the leather love seat and quickly side-

stepped behind it. “Let’s not and say I did.”

“Now come on, coy doesn’t become you. I’m really quite

good at it. Betcha I’m better than Ar in the sack.” He jumped over

the love seat and cornered Vaughn, planting a palm on either side

of Vaughn’s head flat against the wall so no escape could be made.

“I promise to be gentle, for the first five minutes or so at least.

Until you beg me to be rough.” He leaned closer and breathed in

Vaughn’s ear, “And oh yes, you will beg. They all do.”

Vaughn put his hands on that blue chest and pushed him

away. Or at least strove to, but he concluded a brick wall would

move before this Djin did.

The stranger rubbed his chest into Vaughn’s hands and sighed

loudly. “Oooh that tickles. Do it again?”

Vaughn snatched his hands back and contemplated the likeli-

hood of slipping under one of those massive arms.

“Shan, I suggest you back away from him right now.”

Vaughn’s muscles relaxed a bit when he heard that voice.

“Ar?”

“Jeez Ar, you’re just ordering everyone to leave your toy alone.

Didn’t you ever learn the value of sharing?” Shan licked Vaughn’s

ear. Vaughn felt his sharp teeth nip at his lobe and cringed. “Ar!”

“Shan. The next part of you that touches him will be re-

moved.”

Shan huffed a chuckle into Vaughn’s now wet ear.

“Let me rephrase that. The next part of you that touches him

I will delight in ripping off with my bare hands.”

“Your loss, moon pie. Ahh, we coulda been so good together,”

he whispered before moving away from him.

Vaughn rushed to Ar’s side and looked at Shan’s smug face.

“He stronger than you also?”

“No. In fact, this one seems to like it when I beat the shit out

of him on a regular basis.”

“Ah yes. I remember. It seems like just yesterday when you

used those big strong hands all over my body. Teaching me a les-

son and punishing me to where it hurt so good.” Shan shuddered,

Wish Me Nothing

20

leaning back against the wall and smirking again. “So Ar, am I in

need of more punishment? Will you let your toy watch this time?”

He ran his hand up the middle of his naked chest and pinched his

nipple.

Vaughn looked between Ar and Shan. “Um...Ar? Should I

leave you two alone?”

Ar let out an exasperated breath. “Shan, stop it now. You’ve

had your fun; what do you want? What purpose for your visit?”

“Better question is how the hell did he get in here if you pro-

tected this house?”

“I couldn’t keep him out; we share the same bloodline.

Vaughn, meet my baby brother.”

Vaughn looked between Shan’s blueness and Ar’s tan-ness.

“Sorry, don’t see the resemblance.” He chuckled a bit madly, then

stopped. “Wait a second, he’s your brother and you two...did that

together? Damn, that’s...well that’s...okay, that’s kinda interest-

ing.”

Ar gave him a droll look. “We did not have sex! His personal-

ity alone would wither my erection.”

“Oh stop it, Ar. You’re making me blush here.” Shan pushed

off of the wall he leaned on and swayed over to them. “So, you

two ready to get this party pumping?” He gyrated and thrust his

hips toward Vaughn.

Vaughn moved closer to Ar. “You did say you could take this

one, right?”

Ar situated himself between Vaughn and Shan. “What do you

want, Shan? Why are you here?” Vaughn could hear the irritation

in his voice.

With Shan still in his Djin form he easily winked over Ar’s

shoulder at Vaughn. “Why dearest brother, I’ve come to help you

and your toy. I figure if anyone gets the pleasure of terminating

you it should be yours truly, not those idjits who think they call

the shots.”

“So you’ve come here to kill your own brother? What type of

family do you come from, Ar?”

Shan rolled his fire and ice eyes at Vaughn. “You aren’t the

sharpest toy in the box, cupcake.”

Vaughn flipped him off, from the safety of standing behind

Ar. “It’s sharpest tool in the shed, fruitcake.”

Havan Fellows

21

Shan smiled wickedly at him. “You’ve never played with my

sharp toy, baby boy. And speaking of playing...time to act nice to

me, considering my dear old brother plans to leave you in my safe

and loving embrace for a little while. Ain’t that right, big bro?”

“I seriously doubt that!” Vaughn’s voice rose an octave or

two. He waited for Ar to back up his declaration, but his lover’s

quietness unnerved him. Especially since this was not the mo-

ment for it. “Ar? You don’t really expect me to stay with this walk-

ing hormone, do you?”

Vaughn felt at a distinct disadvantage standing behind Ar,

not able to judge his eyes while talking to him. He circled around

and placed his palm on Ar’s well-defined chest. He completely

ignored the snickering coming from the blue man now at his back.

He didn’t believe in his heart that Shan meant him any true harm,

at least not at this moment.

“Nice toy, nice nice nice.” Shan’s whispery condescend-

ing tone scraped down Vaughn’s nerves like fingernails down a

chalkboard. “You don’t want to get broken while I play with you,

now do you?”

“Shut the fuck up!” he threw over his shoulder before turning

to his boyfriend again. “Look at me, Ar. You aren’t leaving him

here with me alone; you wouldn’t do that to me.” The confidence

in his voice wavered.

Breathing heavily, Ar finally looked down at Vaughn. “He

won’t hurt you. I promise it.”

“Of course I won’t, cutie patootie. I already told you I’m real

good at it. It won’t hurt at all, well, not after the first couple of

minutes at least.”

Ar growled as he looked over Vaughn’s shoulder. “Let me

rephrase that. He won’t touch you.” The glare he bestowed upon

his brother dropped the degrees in the room by at least ten. “If I

come back and Vaughn tells me one thing that upsets me, you will

die tonight. Do I make myself clear?”

Vaughn looked over his shoulder at Shan, wishing he could

slap that fake-ass pondering look right off that blue face. Too bad

he couldn’t even reach that high without a step stool or he might

have.

“I’m a little hazy on the stipulations. Now if our little human

here winds up fully satiated when you get back, will that upset

Wish Me Nothing

22

you? Or do I only have to worry if I don’t perform to your stan-

dards?”

Vaughn quickly moved out of Ar’s path as he stormed Shan.

By the time Ar stood in front of Shan, he’d fully Djin’d out and

grown a whole head taller than Shan. Vaughn stepped back a few

more feet as Ar raised Shan off the ground with just one clawed

hand around his throat.

“He is not our anything. Vaughn belongs to me and me

alone. Remember that, dear baby brother.” The sarcasm dripped

through the room over those last three growled words. “I can tear

you apart with just my mind. Shall I demonstrate?”

Shan’s own claws scrabbled at Ar’s hand around his neck,

digging in just enough, it looked like, to let him talk. “Geez, choke

a Djin for joking. And you wonder what’s wrong with our spe-

cies? Sense of humor, Ar, get one. I won’t touch your toy unless

he wishes me to. Even you can’t interfere with that.”

“It will be a cold day in hell when I wi—” Vaughn stopped

abruptly, both Shan and Ar swinging their heads quickly to eye-

ball him, Shan with a stupid smile and Ar with murder in his de-

mon eyes.

“Almost had you, toy. Almost had you.”

Ar threw his head back and roared. One quick movement of

his upper body and Shan flew across the office and into the book-

cases, the force of the impact toppling the whole mess to the floor.

“I have to go, Vaughn. He will protect you until I come back.”

“You just got back. Why do you have to go again? Where are

you going?”

“I came back because I felt Djin entering the house. But I must

employ some allies for your future safety. I’ll move quickly, you

won’t be with him for long. You don’t have to trust Shan. Trust

me. Please can you do that?”

Vaughn looked up at his Djin lover and placed his hand on

Ar’s neck. Ar closed his eyes at the touch. “You would touch me

in this form?”

“I would touch you in any form, Ar. And I trust you also. You

go do what you have to and hurry back to me.”

Ar bent forward as if to kiss Vaughn, then hesitated. Vaughn

pulled on his neck to encourage him the rest of the way and closed

his eyes, praying that wrong would turn right and this kiss wasn’t

their last.

Havan Fellows

23

His lips touched the fullness of Ar’s, and even though he felt

the edges of Ar’s pointed teeth slightly, this kiss felt as right as the

ones he had shared with Ar throughout their relationship. He felt

the tenderness and love. Those feelings alone gave him the cour-

age to go the next step. His tongue flicked out and tasted the thick

lips, then gently slid into Ar’s mouth. He gingerly touched upon

those deadly teeth then passed them to tangle with Ar’s soft and

meaty tongue. They dueled in Ar’s mouth and tasted each other

until the sound of clapping broke the moment.

Regretfully, he pulled away and looked over to Shan, who

still lay on the floor covered with the books and shelves that had

fallen on him.

“Oh isn’t that sweet...the human has accepted the monster.

I hate to break up this erotic moment, but if you two don’t fuck

right now in front of me, then Ar, you better get going.”

Ar’s hand carefully cupped Vaughn’s face and turned it back

to him. “I won’t be gone long.”

Closing his eyes, Vaughn still felt the ghost of Ar’s hand

warming his cheek even after his lover no longer stood in front

of him.

“I hate when he does that,” Vaughn mumbled under his

breath.

A heavy arm slung over his shoulders. “Yeah, annoying

twerp, isn’t he. Horn dogs you up then leaves you high and dry. I

can fix that problem you got rising there.”

“No, you really can’t. And no touching me, remember.”

Vaughn pointedly removed his arm and walked out of the room.

He heard the footsteps following him. “Now, how can we

truly get to know each other in the biblical way without touch?

It’s like one of our top five senses. A sense that Djin and human

alike share and benefit from, might I add? Anyway those weren’t

die-hard rules Ar dished out, more like helpful guidelines meant

for me to break.”

Vaughn ignored him and headed to the kitchen for an ice cold

beer. God knew he could use it after everything that had hap-

pened. On second thought, he turned left instead of right and

headed back to the bar. He needed something stronger and fuck-

ing far quicker than beer this time.

He poured himself a double shot of tequila and downed it in

one gulp.

Wish Me Nothing

24

“Love a man who can hold his liquor. You sharing?”

“No. Can’t you protect me from the other side of the house?”

“Yep, I’m that good, all right. But...I’d get no enjoyment out of

it. So, you want to blow this tutti frutti stand? I know how to save

Ar, but only you can do it. You interested?”

“Popsicle stand, you idiot,” Vaughn whispered to himself be-

fore downing his second double, then turned and looked up, just

to realize he didn’t need to look so far up anymore. Ar stood in

front of him licking his lips and measuring every inch of Vaughn’s

body with a lecherous look that had never graced his face before.

“Oh fuck that! You...um...change out of Ar’s body immedi-

ately!”

“But I thought you liked this body.” Shan ran his hands over

his stomach and down to his crotch, massaging himself and wag-

gling his eyebrows.

“Do it now, or we’ll see how invincible you really are!”

Shan let out a dramatic sigh, then waved his hands around

him as if evoking some specialized magicks. An unnecessary

show, Vaughn knew from just watching his boyfriend do the

same thing without waving arms, but he stood and waited. Shan

came up with an obvious younger “relative” of Ar.

“Better, your highness?”

Vaughn ignored his comment and went back to what he said

before. “What did you mean that only I could save Ar?”

Shan hopped on the bar and sat cross-legged, grabbed Ar’s

bottle of single malt and swigged straight out of it. “Well, my hon-

ey bun, we Djin aren’t the only magickal things around. You hu-

mans hold your own form of powers. Put your powers up against

ours and, well now, you got a helluva show and a whole lotta

fun.”

Vaughn looked at him skeptically. “What would I have to

do?”

Shan’s smile made him even more uneasy. “Well, my sweet

toy, that’s simple enough.” He extended his hand towards Vaughn

and sang, “Why don’t you come with me little girl, on a magick

carpet ride?”

25

Chapter Five

“He won’t hurt your human. Now sit down and listen to

what I have to say.”

“Why did we let him live again?” Ar tossed himself on the

armchair in Tark’s office and eyed his grandfather.

“Because he’s the baby, and we need all the family we have.

We supply each other’s safety. We may have allies and friends

outside of the family, but they’re not in the same league as you

children. I’m not even in your league.”

Ar leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

“What’re you mumbling about, old man? You’re one of the stron-

gest Djin around. They allow you to use your magicks to keep this

place going because of that fact. As long as you deplete yourself

here, they don’t have to worry about you out there. You’ve cre-

ated your own prison cell that you can’t escape from.”

“What you see as a prison cell I see as my salvation. You don’t

know much about your father and nothing about your grand-

Wish Me Nothing

26

mother. Many centuries ago your mother and I decided on the

secrecy for your safety. I’m afraid that our silence may have en-

dangered all of you, though.”

Tark took a deep breath and sat in the chair next to Ar.

“You know, Tark, even though my curiosity levels just reached

new heights, I’m a little crunched on time right now. We playing

twenty questions here or you just going to tell me?”

Tark patted his hand. “Always wanting the last page first with

you. You never had the patience to enjoy the story. Your grand-

mother”—he breathed in and out deeply—”Beautiful. Simply

beautiful. And loving and gentle and she stole my heart from the

moment I saw her. I remember that day like yesterday. I just grant-

ed the third and final wish on a horrid man. I always had a soft

spot for humans. I couldn’t fathom marking the good and kind

ones, so I always marked the ones that needed a lesson taught

them. The others ridiculed me mercilessly, but I didn’t care.

“Well this horrid man made his final wish, greed the sin he

chose for himself. His eye had wandered onto the neighboring

shepherd’s daughter. The cretin didn’t want love, though. He

wanted ownership. In his mind he who held the gold held the

power. Such a trite and wrong cliché. So he mistakenly wished

for wealth.”

Ar snorted. “Love the original ones, right? How did you grant

it?”

Tark waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Insignificant de-

tails. Needless to say he became the wealthiest man sentenced to

hang. And none of his money could save his soul. But that young

girl that he wanted, well, I couldn’t get her out of my head. I com-

pletely forgot about finding another mark. I forgot about every-

thing but her. I took up residence at that old man’s farm as his

long-lost nephew and wooed her. I even got up the nerve to show

her my true self. She didn’t forsake me. She touched my blue face,

traced my jagged teeth and told me no other genie could possibly

be as handsome.” He chuckled. “Like genies paraded in front of

her on a regular basis.”

“Grandma? She was a human?”

Tark nodded his head, his eyes glazed over in memories. “Yes.

When she found out about her pregnancy, her joy overflowed.

Not even my speechlessness stopped her happiness. You see, I

Havan Fellows

27

didn’t think that humans and Djin could have children. Djin take

human lovers all the time. None have ever become impregnated.

“Oh but she blossomed with her pregnancy, with my child

growing fat in her womb. Only a handful of close friends knew.

Then the time came for your father to join us. The labor proceeded

relatively easily. He entered this world in a matter of minutes,

screaming up a fit. What I didn’t know, couldn’t have fathomed,”

he stopped and shook his head sadly. “It took too much out of a

human woman to give birth to a Djin child. Your father drained

the life from your grandmother when he took his first breath. I

lost my love, but gained a son.”

“I don’t know if that tradeoff would appease me, Tark. If I had

to choose between Vaughn and a baby I don’t know or love yet, I’d

choose Vaughn without a second thought.”

Tark smiled softly at his grandson. “That’s what you would

think. But your grandmother loved your father even before his

birth. She read to him, sang to him, a hand always fluttered to her

belly, and her eyes lit up. He looked so much like her; even in his

true form, he still resembled her amazingly. Watching him smile

and remembering her love, I determined to keep my son happy

and healthy...and alive. I quickly created this bar and put all my

power into his safety, knowing that others would target him as

a freak of nature. Most left us alone thanks to ignorance of your

father’s existence, but a select few grew curious.

“Then your father met your mother. Even in her youth, Savey

carried herself with grace and accepted your father had mixed

blood. She didn’t care. His heart beat good. They lived many

years in peace and happiness. But when you were born the trou-

ble started.

“The ones that figured out your father’s origin settled for

turning the other cheek. They wouldn’t openly go against me.

When they realized that your father continued his blood line they

rebelled. Your parents stayed hidden most of the time. They knew

they shouldn’t provoke anyone and have more children, but they

loved each other so much that soon you had three younger broth-

ers and a sister. When their sixth child joined your clan, the big-

oted haters finally caught up to them.”

“You see, they should’ve stopped at Blithe.”

His grandfather cuffed the back of his head. “Enough of that,

boy. It was prophesied for Shan to enter this world.”

Wish Me Nothing

28

“That’s a scary thought. What’s this prophecy?”

“That, Ar, is for another day. I do have a point to my story,

though. Pote stood with the original pitchforkers. He front-lined

the attack that killed your father. Maybe not publicly, but he was

one of the forces behind it. Taking my only son didn’t appease

their fear of the unknown. Now they want my grandchildren. If I

had the power, I would kill them all. Unfortunately, I’m invested

too heavily in Wish Me Nothing; redirecting my abilities would

be disastrous for the family. Keeping this place going so you have

a safe haven when needed is the best help I can offer at this mo-

ment.”

“I can’t kill Pote, I’m not strong enough. Maybe...maybe if

this happened in another two to three hundred years I’d stand a

chance. I just need to focus on keeping Vaughn safe.”

A crash from the bar had them both on their feet. The door

blew open and three Djin entered, one dangling Blithe like a rag-

doll by her neck.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry Tark, I couldn’t hold

them off.” Blithe spoke around the hand grasping her neck.

“Let her go!” Ar’s demand was spurred by sheer anger at the

audacity of these Djin, since his grandfather’s magicks made it

impossible for them to do Blithe real damage.

“Follow us to the grounds and we won’t focus vengeance on

this bitch, yet.”

29

Chapter Six

Vaughn looked at that ominous hand Shan offered. “If this is

a trick Ar will kill you.”

“If this is a trick Ar will be dead anyway. But I love the faith

you put in a monster.” Shan laughed.

Vaughn quickly grabbed the offered hand and yanked with

all his might. Caught off guard, Shan went tumbling down to land

at Vaughn’s feet. “He is not a monster.”

Shan threw his head back and belly-laughed. “Well played,

but I bet I can one-up you.”

Shan moved so quickly Vaughn couldn’t track it with his eyes,

but he felt himself rising off the floor and hurling across the room.

He had a split second to blink, not even long enough to raise his

arms and protect his face as he crashed into the wall. His arm hit

first, the pain flaring up immediately. But before the rest of his

body could follow and crumble down like a ragdoll, a steel arm

Wish Me Nothing

30

around his waist pulled him back against a strong chest. His feet

dangled in the air as a moist breath wafted over his cheek.

“Make no mistake; we are monsters. We play with your lives

because it passes the decades, tallying how many we have driven

insane. Just because one of us likes your hole doesn’t change our

nature. Ar will kill in a second if he deems it beneficial for him,

monster or mortal.” A tongue ran down Vaughn’s ear, then be-

hind it. “Do you still want to risk your life to save him? I can take

you away. I have the same magicks that he has. No Djin would

ever find you. You could live the rest of your life in luxury and

safety.”

Vaughn closed his eyes in disgust. “I would never run away

with you!”

His whole body reverberated with Shan’s amusement. “Don’t

flatter yourself, pet. Yeah, you might entertain me for a fuck or

two, but I have no interest in running away with you. No, this of-

fer extends to you alone. Think about it, no worries in the world,

no issues about money, I’ll even throw in a hot cabana boy to

sweeten the deal.”

Vaughn twisted to escape out of Shan’s arm, but couldn’t get

any leverage two feet above the floor. “Let me guess, a simple

wi—request and you’ll wiggle your nose and blink your eyes and

voilà?”

Shan chuckled some more. “You amuse the hell outta me.

Now imagine how much hell that is to amuse.” He brought his

other hand around and massaged Vaughn’s stomach. “Maybe

your humor attracts Ar also; mystery solved! No, you wouldn’t

have to say that nasty ‘w’ word. Consider this a freebie; I’m not

big on charging anyway. No tricks. Maybe a treat though if you

play your cards right.” Vaughn felt Shan’s hardness rub his crack

through his thin shorts. “I’m offering you an out, no risk to you

what-so-ever. Oh I know what you’re thinking, you can’t trust

me, with the whole monster thing going on. But we don’t lie. Te-

dious habit of devils, totally beneath the Djin. Think about it—has

Ar ever actually lied to you?”

Vaughn thought over his relationship with Ar and couldn’t

think of one time that Ar had ever lied, not even a little white

one. Not telling him about this other world seemed more a lack of

truth rather than a falsity of it. “If I said yes, I’d have to live with-

Havan Fellows

31

out Ar.” Not a question per se, didn’t matter with such an obvious

answer looming over it.

“He’s good as dead anyway. Why risk your life too?” The

tongue reappeared, gliding down his throat.

Vaughn tensed. “I don’t want to die.”

“Of course you don’t.” Shan captured Vaughn’s lobe between

his teeth and tugged. “May I grant your request?”

Vaughn slumped his shoulders. He felt defeated in his deci-

sion, but really no other option presented itself. “Yes, grant my re-

quest. You said I could save Ar, that’s my decision. A life without

him is no life at all.”

“You, my little apple streusel, are a complete idiot. No won-

der Ar didn’t drive you to insanity, you’re already there!” He

laughed again and, handling Vaughn like he was nothing more

than a babe, turned him around in his arms. Vaughn’s feet still

hovered in the air because he refused to wrap his legs around this

man.

“So, saving my brother is your final answer?”

“What is this? A game show? Yes, final answer.” Vaughn

placed his palms on Shan’s shoulders. “Can you please let me

down now?”

“No.”

And everything around them flashed black for a split second.

In the next moment they stood on what he could only describe as

the side of a mountain, the ledge they utilized only a foot or two

wide.

Vaughn stopped trying to push away from Shan and wrapped

his legs and arms around him. “Don’t drop me!” He looked down

the side of the steep mountain and fought off the feeling of ver-

tigo.

“You see, I knew you would come around. Now lift up a bit

and rub in a counter clockwise circular motion. A clawing like this

deserves the best accompaniments.”

“You’re an ass. Why are we here?” He tightened his arms and

inadvertently did exactly what Shan asked.

“Yes, I’m interested in your ass, sweet pea.” Shan grabbed a

cheek in each hand and squeezed. “This is where you will find the

way to save Ar. Right up there, you see?” He pointed up.

Vaughn followed where he indicated and looked toward the

sun. Then he looked back down. “Jesus H. Christ, we are in the

Wish Me Nothing

32

middle of the mountain! How the fuck are we going to get up

there? I don’t see a set of stairs or a rope ladder handy. Why didn’t

you just flash us up there instead of this tiny ledge?”

“Language, my little pumpkin. No reason to lose those good

manners your mama taught you. Yep, that’s where we’re going—

to the middle of the monolith. Why would I take us all the way

up? I would miss out on you strangling me to death while flying

us up there.”

“Fly—stop fucking kidding me! You can’t fly! More impor-

tantly, you can’t fly with me holding onto you for dear life!”

“Yes, dear, I can. You ready?”

Without waiting for an answer, Shan stepped off the side

of the mountain and they plummeted to their deaths. Vaughn

screamed the whole way down, wrapping himself around Shan

even tighter, like that would help.

Shan laughed, and as quickly as they fell, they jolted and rose

gracefully. They passed the poor excuse of a ledge and continued

heaven-bound.

“Holy shit! You can fly!”

“What did I tell you about truth and the Djin? It’s not just a

thing with us, we find liars highly insulting to our intelligence, so

why would we do it?”

They landed on the top of the mountain. It had a hole in it like

a volcano. Vaughn took one step and peered in; the impenetrable

dark went on for miles, it appeared. “What’s down there?”

“Your and Ar’s future.”

Vaughn closed his eyes. “We have to climb down there?”

“Yeah, sure...climb...fall...either or.” Vaughn felt a hand push

the middle of his back and he tumbled forward, screaming once

again.

The dark enveloped him, blinding him completely. Vaughn

flailed his arms out to grasp onto something, preferably a flying

mad genie that he could strangle the life out of then use as a cush-

ion. Nothing. He made his peace with his God and realized that

maybe Shan had taken him here to “take care” of him. If he really

wanted to save his brother then maybe the only way to do it was

this. Vaughn must have just been sacrificed or something to the

Djin to save Ar.

Havan Fellows

33

All these thoughts and more flew through his head as he spi-

raled to his end. A silly stupid question about the depth of this

obelisk crossed his mind.

As if in answer to his question, he jolted to a halt.

When his brain caught up with his heart he looked up into

Shan’s smiling face. Shan cradled him in his arms like a groom

would his bride. Vaughn squirmed out of those limbs onto the

floor and crawled away quickly to lean against one of the stone

walls. Gasping for breath, he looked around. The inside of the

mountain looked like a cavern-type room with torches high up

on the walls.

“You really are an ass!” he growled at the smirking Djin.

“You really are infatuated with that region of mine, cream

pie.”

“What are you doing in my domain without announcing your

arrival, Shan? You tempt me to break my word that I won’t kill

you.”

The deep threatening voice came from Vaughn’s left. He

scurried to his feet and back to Shan’s side. Definitely a case of

“the devil you know.” He stared down the corridor into the pitch

black, waiting.

“Oh show yourself you big lug, you’re scaring the present I

brought you! You and I both know you can’t touch a hair on my

head, so why the empty threats?”

The floor rumbled with heavy steps and Vaughn fought the

urge to run. He seethed to Shan, “What do you mean, present you

brought him!”

Shan turned slightly and patted Vaughn’s head like a child.

“Hush now, baby boy. The grown-ups are about to negotiate.”

“They won’t be empty forever, Shan. When the time occurs in

the cycle, I will have you. No mercy will be shown.”

“Oh, so he knows you obviously,” Vaughn muttered under

his breath, and then he stopped breathing.

The thing with the malicious voice walked...no, he marched

out of the darkness and into the cavern toward them. The word

huge didn’t do him justice, not just in height but width also. He

had some sort of metal coming out of his head and haloing him.

The metallic material broke through his skin and wrapped his

forearms, encasing them like gauntlets. Piercings adorned him

everywhere—septum, ears, nipples, belly button...and through

Wish Me Nothing

34

the thin tight material covering his groin the outline of at least

two more showed. Vaughn traveled his gaze down and noticed

that the same dark metal also wrapped around the thing’s calves

and the top of his feet.

“I love when you talk dirty to me, but killing me isn’t on

your agenda today. Oh, but look at this lovely I brought to you.

Oooooh aaaaah, am I right?” In the blink of an eye Shan vanished

from between Vaughn and the monster. He reappeared across the

room from them, and the monster eyed Vaughn up like a tasty

snack for a starving beast.

“A human. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted one of them.”

35

Chapter Seven

Vaughn didn’t like the sound of that. He sensed this thing

didn’t mean the good kind of taste, and if he did—well, Vaughn

didn’t want any of that either!

He backed up for every forward step the thing took, looking

everywhere for an escape route. He finally focused on Shan, who

now lounged on a gold threaded chaise with a loin-cloth-clad

twink standing behind him massaging his shoulders.

“Shan!”

“What? This is a tense situation, I needed a little relief.” With-

out losing eye contact with Vaughn, he tapped the near-naked

man’s hip behind him. “Lower, Enrique, and don’t be afraid to

use pressure. Pain is good.” He smirked and winked at Vaughn,

then took a bite from an apple that manifested in his hand.

“Ar is going to survive, and then he’s gonna kill you slow and

painfully!” Vaughn hissed as Shan took another bite.

Wish Me Nothing

36

“Ar?” The beast growled right before he charged. Vaughn

didn’t have a chance to run before the thing’s big beefy paws en-

compassed his head. Then all went black.

Pictures passed in his mind: Ar sunbathing by his ex-boss’s

pool, Ar’s and his first kiss, falling asleep in Ar’s arms, them fight-

ing by the beach, the Djin showing up and throwing him back,

Shan appearing in the beach house, Vaughn freefalling into the

mountain.

All these images and so much more toppled through his

thoughts and he felt them leaking out. He didn’t lose them so

much as share them. The same force that invaded his thoughts

also added new ones to them.

Different Djin in their original forms floated into his mind,

words accompanying some of them while feelings followed oth-

ers. Scenes that he had never partaken of now seemed to be his

own memories, fiery lands, cold tundra, hateful feelings swamped

with dread and fear all embedded into him.

And pain. Oh my God so much pain! Vaughn screamed silently,

withdrawing the best he could from the slashing wounds that

scarred his subconscious. The frenzy of hurt, the aching of emo-

tions...he turned left, then right, but escape eluded him. Just when

the torture reached its pinnacle, when he swore that he would die

from this invasion of his psyche, the emptiness occurred.

“Oh Beastie, did you drain him dry? Not very hospitable of you.”

“He will live, unlike you.”

“Aww, are you still entertaining thoughts of getting your mitts on

my head? Bring it, babe. Oh wait, you can’t, can you? Such a shame,

because I’m de-li-cious.”

Vaughn slowly opened his eyes; his head throbbed like he

had just recovered from a migraine. He said a silent prayer for

two things: still living, and for the soft light in the cavern. He was

pretty sure anything brighter than the torches on the walls would

have ripped his skull in half.

He curled up in the fetal position on the stone floor with the

beast and the ass standing over him. He attempted to sit up, but

the nausea hit him and he went back to his former position.

“Cupcake, time to get up and join the living.”

“Fuck you, Shan,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Well, if you can’t even sit up I don’t think you can have sex

right now. But if you want to give it the ol’ college one-two, I’m all

Havan Fellows

37

for throwing in the three and four. I’ll even do some of the work if

that makes you happy.”

“What the hell did he do to me?” Vaughn’s voice came out

just a bit stronger this time.

“You are a delectable human.”

“I wouldn’t know, he’s playing hard to get.”

Vaughn rolled to his back and stared up at the two imposing

creatures. “I repeat, what the hell did he do to me?”

“You are prepared now. I will await your payment.” The

beast turned and walked away.

“Call me,” Shan shouted after him. He turned to Vaughn and

smirked. “He wants me. It’s a curse.”

“What did he mean by payment? And for the third and final

time—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s all about you.” Shan’s voice changed

to Vaughn’s. “What did he do to me? Ar loves me. No Shan, don’t

touch me there.” He chuckled and returned to his own voice. “He

feasted on your mental vibes.”

Vaughn sat up quickly, forgetting his pain and nausea, and

screamed from that lapse. “Shit!” He wrapped one arm around

his midsection and grabbed his head with his other.

“Humans are such babies!” Shan flicked his wrist over

Vaughn and all the discomfort faded. “There, now come on. Ar

won’t live forever.”

Vaughn stood gingerly and tested his limitations. Everything

seemed fine; his head no longer hurt and he didn’t feel like emp-

tying his stomach anymore. He stepped from one foot to the other

and decided he felt normal again. Well, as normal as possible con-

sidering he seemed to have a whole new set of memories in his

head that didn’t belong there.

“Explain what you mean by mental vibes.”

“Sure, no problem, it’s not my lover who is fighting for his

death right now.”

“He won’t die,” Vaughn seethed through clenched teeth.

“’Course not, buttercup.” Shan’s tone patronized Vaughn as

he sat in a plush leather recliner and opened the bottom of it to

elevate his feet. “It’s like this. Every living thing has energy about

them. This is Science 101 here, it goes for you humans, us mon-

sters, hell even the trees on the hills are alive with the sound of

music. That sexy creature that just left feeds off that energy. He

Wish Me Nothing

38

can drain someone dry—i.e. kill them—or just take a nibble here

and there. When he nibbles, the hors d’oeuvre—i.e. you—tends to

get cranky and annoying and forget that he wants to save his pre-

cious lover from certain death and would rather talk to the lover’s

way hotter brother.

“Now, about his payment. Well, plum pudding, in our world

you don’t ever get anything for nothing. Not only is sexy boy

good at the sucking, he’s good at the stuffing also. I’d venture to

say that you have a few secrets of his tucked in that pretty little

head of yours now, hence why we made this trip. You’ll know his

price when the time comes. Between you and me I suggest you

pay it in full. He’s one you don’t want to get on a payment plan

with. Any questions?”

“Yeah, why can’t he kill you?”

Shan hopped up and chuckled, the recliner disappearing as

soon as he left it. “Well, that’s my story to tell, not yours. So, you

ready to get this party pumping? I have high hopes for a good

time in the O.K. Corral tonight.”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Awesome, boredom ate at my brain...hey you might know

how that feels.” Shan chuckled some more until his face red-

dened. “Get it? Brain being eaten? I really need to sell these jokes

to George A. Romero, he’d appreciate them. Okay come on...” He

held his arms out for a hug and cocked his eyebrow. “What? No

loving? Fine.” He folded his arms over each other, then wiggled

his nose.

Vaughn ducked when he heard the screaming, and then

looked to his left quickly. Ar, all Djin’d out, tore the head off an-

other Djin. But that didn’t scare the shit out of Vaughn. The three

others that ran toward Ar terrified Vaughn. How could he pos-

sibly take all of them?

“You see, we missed the prelims. That’s like missing the com-

ing attractions at the movies. I love the coming attractions,” Shan

whined as he propped himself up on a rock.

Ar whipped around to look at them and growled. “Why is he

here?”

Just then, the three others tackled Ar to the ground and cov-

ered him. Vaughn ran toward him, but Shan grabbed his elbow

and halted his steps.

Havan Fellows

39

Wincing, Vaughn yanked his elbow back and rubbed it.

“What is it with Djin and my elbow?”

“Be realistic, my buttered biscuit, what are you going to do

to them? Those are just the little fish in the pond. It’s the ones up

there you have to worry about.”

Vaughn followed where Shan pointed and saw two huge Djin

standing on a ledge over them, watching. He recognized them

both from his mind, from memories that he now possessed.

Vaughn studied the two Djin standing over them. He knew

them. Sure, he knew the one on the left from the beach. But he

intimately knew them. He knew their thoughts, their positions

among the Djin, their victims, and their plans. They never intend-

ed to give Ar a chance. His death had been their goal for longer

than Vaughn had lived. Ar breaking ties with the Djin for their

relationship ended up just the excuse these two needed to justify

taking one of their own.

Their shared hatred for Ar pounded intensely in his head. It

ate at Vaughn’s thoughts.

“Shan! You get him the fuck out of here now!”

Ar’s voice brought Vaughn back. He noticed that Ar faced just

two Djin now, a head rolling across the dirt terrain where Ar had

thrown it.

Shan waved in a wide arc over his head. “Howdy. You’re do-

ing great, really! Remember...jab jab duck...or is it jab duck lunge?

Just do your best not to be killed!” He held two thumbs up as he

shouted to Ar. Then he leaned towards Vaughn and whispered

in his ear, “Yo. If you’re going to do something spectacular, now

would be a good time cuz I’m pretty sure he’s getting sliced and

diced tonight.”

“Me? What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Um...you’re the one that got juiced up. Ar might be able

to handle the brainless thugs, but when they,” Shan hitched his

thumb over his shoulder, “Get over here we’re all toast. And I

didn’t sign up for that.”

Once again Vaughn looked behind him where Shan gestured.

Their audience had decided to descend to the arena floor, and

had their eyes right on him. He grabbed Shan’s arm and shook it

some. “Do your Hulk thing and stop them!”

Shan snorted. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening. Anyway,

Hulk is green, not even a primary color, jeez. I’ll tell you what,

Wish Me Nothing

40

you wait here and do a citizen’s arrest on their asses and I’ll,” he

pried Vaughn’s hand off of his arm and took a couple steps away,

“Mosey on over to the police station and get some backup. There

should be one a couple blinks and a pop from here. Do you think

they’ll have handcuffs big enough for those mo-fo’s?”

Shan stepped a few more feet away from Vaughn but side-

ways towards the Djin and raised his hands, addressing them.

“Hey fellas, how’s it hanging? Towards the left obviously, your

pants are kinda tight. Don’t mind me, just came for the free enter-

tainment and popcorn.” He held a movie theatre bucket of pop-

corn out to them. “Want some? It’s got extra butter.”

The two leaders stopped their movement and looked at Shan.

“It is not you we seek. Be gone now while we still allow it.” The

beach-intruding Djin motioned him away and they both walked

toward Vaughn again.

Vaughn glanced over at his lover while retreating from these

two slowly. He started to feel like retreating was his forte. Ar had

his hands full with his own two blue guys. If he took his attention

off the ones pummeling him to help Vaughn, certain death would

follow. He stumbled back over the loose ground and addressed

his only hope.

“Shan, please!”

He watched as Shan munched on popcorn, his gaze swinging

between the two powerful ones and Vaughn. He almost felt like

screaming with glee when Shan took a deep breath and tossed the

snack over his shoulder. Both the popcorn and Shan disappeared.

Shan reappeared standing in the Djin’s way of reaching

Vaughn.

“Look, here’s the thing. I promised to kinda look out for the

little guy. So, if you,” he pulled his thumb across his neck and

made a choking sound, “While I’m on watch—well, my rep will

be history. And we all know how much I love my rep! Anyway,

what good would it do you? Look at Ar. Damn is he getting his

ass kicked. Sit down a spell; enjoy the show. Ar is bound to be

dead in a few. He never had the stamina of his hotter younger

brother. When he’s gone I’ll take his toy and you won’t have to

worry about a thing. No fuss no muss, I’ll clean up after you be-

cause, well I’m just a swell guy!” He spread his arms out as if to

embrace them.

Havan Fellows

41

“We haven’t killed you yet because our attention is needed for

your brother. Do not misconstrue that for the idea that we won’t.

Before we are through, the entirety of your sullied family will be

slain and we will bathe in your blood. Leave now and enjoy the

few decades of reprieve we bestow upon you until it is your turn.”

Shan squared his shoulders. “Did you just insult me? Dude,

I’m twice as tough as that wash-up over there! Why the hell aren’t

you scared of me too! Come on—give me your best shot! And

you’d be lucky if you could take down just one of us, but gunning

for my whole damn family? You’re whacked!”

“Shan! Quit talking to them and get Vaughn the hell out of

here!” Vaughn looked the distance over to Ar and cringed as an-

other head tore from a Djin’s body, tossed aside so easily. Two

down, one more to go, then Ar could come help his idiot brother.

“Who are you doing this for anyway? You aren’t Djin enough

to want this for yourself.”

Vaughn turned his attention back to the problem in front of

him again, a loud-mouthed Shan and two pissed-off-looking Djin.

His eyes grew huge when the beach Djin spread out his palm and

a broadsword appeared, the moonlight reflecting off it, making it

look even deadlier. Vaughn might have whimpered.

Shan raised his hands in surrender. “Come on you sexy genie

you, no need to be pulling out the big blades.”

The Djin ran the sword through Shan’s midsection until

Vaughn saw the bloody point penetrate his back and stick out.

Vaughn stared at that point with Shan’s blood dripping off it. He

couldn’t breathe or move...he stilled, open-mouthed and empty-

minded.

“Shan, damn it!” Ar screamed from across the valley.

“Oh my God! Shan! Holy shit! Dead...they killed him!”

Vaughn finally piped in.

Shan chuckled as he called to Vaughn over his shoulder,

“Don’t you worry, my cute little apple fritter. This wannabe acu-

puncturist can’t kill me with his itty bitty needle.” He glanced

over to wink at Vaughn.

Vaughn wanted to warn him when the Djin’s clawed hands

wrapped around his head and twisted while pulling up, but he

couldn’t form his thoughts in time. Shan’s surprised look was fro-

zen forever, etched on his face as he crumpled to the ground.

42

Chapter Eight

“Shan! No!”

Ar’s scream of terror jostled Vaughn’s thoughts and his head

whipped up to see the two Djin shallowly step over Shan’s body.

“I thought we were saving him for later?”

The murderer opened his palm to Shan and the blade flew

back into it. “He was an annoyance. Easy enough one to take care

of, the fool. How he survived all these centuries is beyond me.”

“Ar!” Vaughn squeaked loudly as he kept retreating from the

threat approaching him. He chanced a glimpse over to see that Ar

struggled to make it to him, but once again the last one he fought

stopped his progress.

Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Vaughn strove to

remember something, anything, of what the beast gave him for

help. None of it seemed pertinent to this situation though. All he

knew was their history, the beach one’s name, and their inten-

tions.

Havan Fellows

43

“If you had obeyed me earlier tonight you wouldn’t be facing

death, human. I only needed to drain your mind of all that is Djin.

I would’ve let you live. You are nothing to me. But your insubor-

dinate behavior will be your undoing. Ar watching his lover die

before he does will merely be a bonus for our time spent.” The

beach Djin advanced.

“Yeah, well fuck you too, asshole.” Vaughn shrugged. What

did he have to lose at this point, might as well speak his mind

before his imminent death. The right of free speech, it felt like the

only thing this Djin hadn’t taken from him.

“How dare you speak to me like that, as if we were equals!”

The Djin crossed the few feet that separated them and pulled his

arm back, preparing to wield the killing blow with the bloody

sword.

Vaughn looked at that blood. The blood of Shan, Ar’s brother.

Ar, the man...the Djin whom Vaughn called boyfriend and lover.

Who always made it a point to be honest with Vaughn, except for

one small secret.

Or was it two small secrets?

“So we’ve had our coffee. I believe this date can be declared officially

over. Thank you for a pleasant day.” Vaughn smiled at Ar. He knew this

wouldn’t fly with Ar’s temerity, but he found out in their short time

together that he liked yanking this guy’s chain. He seemed to take every-

thing so literally, Vaughn couldn’t resist teasing.

Ar’s surprised look didn’t disappoint, but then a gleam came to his

eyes and Vaughn worried maybe he underestimated this man sitting

across from him.

“Actually, I don’t plan on the date ending until we finish breakfast

together.”

“Um...it’s two in the afternoon, a little late for breakfast.”

“Breakfast tomorrow morning.” Ar lifted the corner of his mouth

and Vaughn almost melted. How could he be so attracted to someone who

he fought tooth and nail about having coffee with?

“Oh really. But I can’t sleep with you, I don’t even know your real

name. Um...unless Ar is your real name...” He leaned forward. “It isn’t,

is it?”

The loud whooping laughter caught him off-guard and caused a red-

dish tint to highlight his cheeks.

“No, my given name isn’t Ar. But it’s safe to call me that, everyone

does.”

Wish Me Nothing

44

“So...what is your full name?”

His date smiled lazily as he tossed a couple of bills on their table. He

stood up and held out his hand to Vaughn. “Why worry about that, when

there are plenty of other things to worry about?”

“For instance?” Vaughn’s curiosity didn’t go away, but Ar’s good

mood seemed to be infectious. He put his hand in Ar’s and stood next to

him.

“How do you like your eggs?”

Ar found out the next morning exactly how Vaughn liked his

eggs, but after that conversation he never elaborated on his full

name. It was the only question that Ar had pointedly never an-

swered for Vaughn.

As that blade swung down from its arc, as the Djin smiled in

victory, as Ar finally tore the head off the third monster he fought

and ran toward them at full speed...Vaughn made eye contact

with his attacker and whispered the only word that came to his

mind.

“Pouya.”

The Djin and the sword disappeared, just to reappear behind

him. Vaughn jumped and ran to his left; the Djin floated behind

him still. He turned and ran to his right, but the Djin would not

move from diagonally behind him. The sword vanished from his

hand and he looked even madder than before, but he would not

budge from Vaughn’s side.

Ar stopped in his tracks forty feet away, his mouth hanging

open. The other Djin growled in outrage and charged Vaughn.

“Pote!” Ar shouted to the nuisance at Vaughn’s back that

he couldn’t escape. “Vaughn is your master now, he called your

name. You are sworn to protect him from all who threaten him. If

he dies, you die!”

Pouya vaulted over Vaughn and summoned the sword again,

just in time to clash blades with the other one. Vaughn took this

opportunity to run to Ar, right into his open and waiting arms.

“Are you okay, Vaughn? Did they hurt you?” Ar’s hands

roamed over his body.

Vaughn took those hands and wrapped them around him,

burying his face in Ar’s blue chest. “Oh my God, I thought you

were a goner over there. He killed Shan! And now...now I think

he’s fighting for us? How?”

Havan Fellows

45

“You called out his given name. The only way for a Djin to

have a true master is for a human to call his name. When we pick

a mark, they are never our masters for real, we grant their wishes

the way we see fit to best drive them insane. But when you are a

true master of a Djin, he must serve you as best he can for your

well-being. How did you find out his name? It is the one thing the

Djin covet. Our closest persons aren’t even privy to them.”

“I think the beast told me.”

“The beast?”

“Yeah. Big guy, lots of metal and bone issues, eats people’s

auras or something.”

The clash of sword on sword made Vaughn wince. Pouya and

the other Djin were both slashed up from their battle, but clearly

Pouya had the upper hand. He twirled in a circle, bringing the

sword across the other Djin’s broad chest and opening it. Then did

the same move in the opposite direction and aimed higher to cut

at the throat. He pulled his arm back one last time, giving Vaughn

a horrible case of déjà vu, as he brought it back down again at the

rest of the exposed throat. The Djin’s body remained upright for a

good few moments before it crumbled to the ground, its head ten

feet away and still rolling.

Vaughn shuddered, thankful for Ar’s arms around him.

“What is it with you guys and decapitation?”

“It’s the only non-magickal way to kill Djin. Shan.” Ar whis-

pered his brother’s name as he hurried to his side, falling to his

knees when he reached the body.

Vaughn stayed where he stood, his own personal Djin floating

behind him again. He looked at Pouya and scowled, “Couldn’t

you float somewhere else?”

“You can wish me anywhere you want.”

“Yeah? Forget it, I’m done with that word!”

“Shan! You fucking stupid-ass insolent bastard! We agreed,

you would keep Vaughn safe. If you had just done that...you

wouldn’t be here!”

“Ar, he knew I could save you. He didn’t want to lose you.

Even if he didn’t state it that way, that was his goal.”

“I don’t fucking care! I’m not important. You and Shan...” Ar

covered his eyes for a moment, then uncovered them and looked

down at Shan again. “He was an ass, you know? But he was my

brother.”

Wish Me Nothing

46

Vaughn walked around them and watched Ar slowly cradle

Shan’s body, his head dangling from a couple of ligaments refus-

ing to break completely.

Vaughn turned away to face the Djin that killed his lover’s

sibling. About to say a Shan-esque remark, Ar interrupted him

when he laughed hysterically. He whipped around just in time to

see Ar lay Shan back on the ground and place his head back in the

rightful position.

“Ar? You okay?”

Ar looked up at him and smiled. “Never better, my love.”

Then he looked over Vaughn’s shoulder. “Pouya, when you tear

off a head make sure you throw it away from the body. Other-

wise you are just wasting time.” With that, he waved his hand and

Shan quickly jumped to his feet.

“Son of a bitch that hurts! Took you long enough to heal me,

asshole!” Shan stood and made a big show of moving his neck in

all directions.

“Don’t get your head ripped off your shoulders and I won’t

have to heal you. Better yet, listen to your older, wiser brother

and don’t bring yourself and my human into the middle of the

red zone!”

“Yeah...well...I’m still the hotter one you fucking Djin’d out

monster.” He looked around at all the dead Djin in the area.

“Damn, I missed it! And they didn’t even get a scratch on you?

That sucks!”

“Would someone please explain to me how the hell he is

standing and talking? I saw Pouya tear his head off.”

“Pouya?” Shan looked at Vaughn, then at Pouya behind him.

“Oh my fucking...no way! You’ve been tagged mister!” He belly-

laughed as he walked over to the pouting Djin. “You thought you

were Mr. Big and Bad? You thought you could take me down?

Well who’s the bey-atch now? Aww what’s wrong, are you sad?

You can thank me for this one. Oh yeah, I took the cheese puff to

see beastie. And you thought I was a chump!”

“Shan. Don’t tease the genie.” Ar growled as he closed his

arms around Vaughn again.

“He ain’t got no free will anymore; he’s harmless, like a neu-

tered little puppy dog.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes and looked up at Ar. “What do we do

with him now? I don’t want him following me everywhere I go.

Havan Fellows

47

Maybe I could wi—request him free with certain stipulations, like

never coming after us again?”

“No!” The brothers shouted together.

“Hey! That’s the first time we ever agreed on anything.” Shan

chuckled right up to when Ar cuffed him on the back of the head.

“Watch it! I’m still healing, you know.”

“No matter how many stipulations you put on your request,

there are always loopholes. And Pouya has already found me

once, he could do it again.”

“You know I don’t understand any of this, right?” Vaughn

rubbed his cheek on Ar’s midsection, not even caring that Ar was

still in his Djin form, just happy to be holding him.

“I’ll explain everything to you later, I promise. But for now

we have—”

Vaughn screamed in pain, his legs giving under his weight. If

Ar’s arms weren’t wrapped around him he would have fallen to

the ground. As quickly as the pain came it left.

“Vaughn? Are you okay?”

Vaughn nodded, and still the pain didn’t return. “The beast

wants his payment.”

Ar growled at Shan. “I can’t believe you took him there!”

Vaughn patted his chest. “Later. Right now the beast wants

his payment and I don’t think he’ll wait patiently.”

Shan stretched his arms over his head and smirked at Vaughn.

“Oh all right, I’ll take one for the team and go give the beastie

what he wants. Just know that when he’s grinding me I’m gonna

be thinking about how sweet it would be if I was grinding you at

the same time, muffin top.”

Vaughn gave Shan a droll look. “Nice visual, but it’s not you

he wants.”

“Of course the meathead wants me, who doesn’t?”

“I don’t.” Ar chimed in as Vaughn raised his hand.

“I think you both damn doth protest too much. If not me,

what does our little mind drainer want?”

Vaughn turned in Ar’s arms and leaned his back against him,

smiling when Ar unconsciously kissed his head. He pointedly

fixed his gaze on Pouya.

“Oh. Ewww, a Djin drain is going to make him feisty. I’m not

all into that. Well, good luck with that you two. My work here is

done.” Shan nodded to each of them and phased out.

Wish Me Nothing

48

“Shan!” Vaughn called, hoping to stop him.

Shan’s body shimmered a little bit, then he returned to them.

“You rang? Aren’t my babysitting duties over for now?”

“The beast wants you to bring Pouya to him.”

“Oh hell no! Here,” he tried to hand Vaughn a potted African

violet. “Bring this to him and tell him I send my regards, but there

is no way that either of you can force me to bring that thing,” he

pointed to Pouya, “To the other thing.” He pointed off into the

distance.

Vaughn smirked. “Oh really? Hey, Shan. Guess what.”

“What?”

“I know your name too.”

Shan’s mouth dropped, then closed, then opened again and

he growled. “That’s just not right.” He stomped over to Pouya,

who begged them to reconsider, pushed the potted plant into his

hands, and they both flashed.

“Um...love? Do you really know his name?”

Vaughn turned back around and raised his lips, waiting for

Ar to bend over and kiss them. “Of course, it’s Shan. I never said

I knew his given name.”

Ar laughed. “Are you ready to go home? It’s been a long ass

night.”

“Yeah, you know what? I think I am going to call in to work

tomorrow. I just don’t feel up to going in to the office.”

Ar laughed even harder. “Well this was all a ploy just to get

you to stay with me. Come on, I want to thoroughly examine your

body and make sure you weren’t hurt.”

“Oh, I think we are both up for that! And you’ll explain all this

mess to me, now that we can breathe?”

“Yes, dear.” They both chuckled this time as Ar brought them

home.

49

Chapter Nine

Vaughn was actually getting used to the teleporting blackness

thing, which disturbed him on a completely different level. But

when they popped back into their bedroom in the beach house, al-

ready on the bed and naked—with Ar back in his human form—

Vaughn had a whole new level of respect for his abilities.

“Well, this certainly saves on time, now doesn’t it?” He chuck-

led as he pressed himself into Ar’s thigh.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that little stunt

with you, that and so much more? Imagine the places we can go

now, the things we can do now that I don’t have to hide my true

self from you.”

Vaughn raised his eyebrow. “Oh really? I don’t know, I

think I’ve been getting the best of you. The rest is just a cherry on

top.” He grabbed Ar’s head and pulled him down, lining his lips

with his tongue. He couldn’t stop his smirk when Ar ferociously

growled and slammed their lips together.

Wish Me Nothing

50

Vaughn opened for him immediately and allowed Ar to take

the lead, loving this new take-no-prisoners side that Ar evidently

had kept leashed. He tangled with Ar’s tongue, wrapping it with

his and pulling it into his mouth. Then he went back and licked

over Ar’s perfectly lined teeth, remembering the last time they

kissed just hours ago, how Ar’s teeth were so jagged and danger-

ous. One thought led to another and Vaughn couldn’t help won-

dering how different other things would be if Ar stayed in his Djin

mode.

Ar nipped his bottom lip. “Where are you going, Vaughn? I’m

losing your concentration.”

“Just wondering about the differences between...um...”

Ar’s lips curled up into a sly grin. “Oh really, you want the

big blue man to come out and play, do you?”

Vaughn snorted. “Really not the best way to say it, now I’m

gonna think I’m making love to Papa Smurf or something!”

Ar ran his hand down Vaughn’s chest and wrapped it around

his erection, squeezing slightly. “Keep laughing mister and you’ll

get it both ways tonight.” Ar bit into his collarbone with the per-

fect amount of pressure. Vaughn swore his dick jumped up and

begged for more.

“Really? We can do it when you’re in that form?” Vaughn

gasped at the idea and the sensations that Ar stirred in him.

Ar pulled back and slapped Vaughn on his hip. “We can do

anything your body desires, all you have to do is not wish for it.

On your hands and knees. I don’t think I can do foreplay after the

night we’ve had. I need you too much.”

Vaughn scrambled onto his hands and knees and wiggled his

ass at Ar, delighting in the deep noises this caused. He jumped

slightly when Ar began stretching him with first one then two

well-lubed fingers. He pushed back on the pressure he loved and

sighed.

Ar rained butterfly kisses all over his buttocks and lower

back. “You know, Vaughn, now that you know my secret I feel it

my obligation to tell you that condoms are not a necessity when

you are with a Djin.”

No condom? Vaughn shuddered at the thought of having Ar

in him with no barrier separating them. He dropped to his elbows

and rested his head on his arms, groaning.

Havan Fellows

51

“You like that idea as much as I do, yeah?” Something thicker

replaced those tantalizing fingers that always found his sweet

spot with no problem.

It took all of Vaughn’s willpower not to hurry Ar up, to al-

low him to do this at his speed, but damn his speed seemed too

slow right at this moment. He whimpered when Ar stopped his

forward process again, rubbing Vaughn’s back instead of filling

him up. “Please, Ar.” He felt every vein throbbing against him

and wanted more.

“You’re amazing.” Ar sighed as he pushed in farther.

When Vaughn felt Ar’s sac kiss his own he mumbled a thank

you to the powers that be. Then Ar thrust in and out, massag-

ing his channel in the most delicious way, and Vaughn lost it. He

pushed back into Ar’s thrusts, loving the burn that faded to bliss

and the feel of Ar’s hands roaming all over him.

He grabbed a pillow and bit into it, growling out the feelings

running through him. The strain of almost losing Ar. The fear of

almost dying on numerous occasions. The rationalizing that ge-

nies really exist. It all left him as he arched his back, tensed his

muscles and shot his cum on the bed.

Vaughn saw stars from his explosive release when two more

hard plunges into him drew a scream from Ar and Vaughn’s in-

sides were bathed with a wet heat he had never felt before, and

definitely wanted to feel again.

They collapsed on the bed side by side and Vaughn sighed

when Ar placed his palm on his cheek. “I love you, Vaughn. I will

always protect you.”

Vaughn plumped his bitten pillow under his head and looked

at Ar. “It’s not over, is it? They will continue coming for you, for

us?”

“I want to say no, but—”

“But you can’t?”

“You have to understand that not all Djin are after me. And

the ones that are, well they are scared now. What you did to Pouya

is our greatest fear. Word will get out about where he ended and

they will think twice before they attempt something.” Ar looked

around the room before settling back on Vaughn. “About what

you did, about knowing Pouya’s name. As I told you when we

first got together, Ar isn’t my given name.

Wish Me Nothing

52

“We’ve already done the secrets thing between us, and may-

be, if I had been upfront and honest with you this night might

have gone differently. I don’t want any more secrets with you. I

trust you, Vaughn. I love you and trust you with my very life. So I

want to tell you the most important secret I have.”

“No!” Vaughn sat up quickly and covered Ar’s mouth with

his hands.

“Mmm?” Ar mumbled around the hands silencing him.

Vaughn removed his hands and brushed kisses all over his

lips, talking rapidly between each one. “I don’t need to know.

Whatever you thought you needed to tell me, don’t.”

“But—”

“I mean it. You are Ar to me; you will always be Ar to me. I

don’t need another name to call you by. The fact that you willing-

ly wanted to hand something that amazing over...wow...but no.”

Ar pulled him down onto his chest and held him. “Thank

you.”

Vaughn knew why he thanked him. Even though Ar thought

that giving his secret to Vaughn a necessity, it couldn’t have been

an easy step to take.

Vaughn kissed his chest and sighed. “You know I don’t think

I’ll have to worry about saying that nasty ‘w’ word ever again,

seeing how I have everything I could possibly want in my arms

right now.”

53

Epilogue

“Yo Beastie Beastie Beastie...” Shan put his pointer fingers in

his mouth and wolf-whistled, “Come and get it...dinner time.”

“You’re a pathetic excuse for a Djin, serving up one of your

own kind to the Beast.”

Shan grabbed his heart and staggered to the left. “Ouch, that

hurts. Not.” He rolled his eyes and walked around the cavern.

“That means a lot coming from the Djin who set out to murder his

own. Dude, I’d feed you to the nimrod just for shits and giggles.

That half-assed decapitation you did hurt like hell. And I should

know, hell is my playground.

“Now where is that metalhead anyway?” A gong hanging

from a pedestal appeared in front of him and he swung a mallet

dead center at it. The loud brass noise reverberated through the

stone room, causing small rocks to fall from the ceiling.

“You can make this right, there’s still time. I’ll give you my

oath never to hunt your family again.”

Wish Me Nothing

54

Shan spun around fluidly to stare at the begging Djin. “Yeah,

let’s go with that option. That way I can have Ar and the Beast hot

on my tail? You shoulda picked your pincushions better. And stop

groveling, it’s so beneath you.” He snorted loudly. “Well actually,

it isn’t is it?”

A shadow rose from behind Pouya, making Shan take a step

back.

“Anyway, me doth think you’re out of time.”

Two big meaty hands cradled Pouya’s head, almost loving-

ly. Shan backed up a couple more paces, watching Pouya’s face

run a gambit of emotions from grinning like a loon and laughing

to weeping with tears falling from his eyes. Finally his features

ended on terrified, his mouth opened but no noise spilled out to

accompany the look of pure fear on his face.

The hands released him and he fell lifeless to the floor, his

body dried up and dusting in a nonexistent breeze.

“Wow. If I never see you do that again...um...yeah.” Shan eyed

the beast warily. “So, that should close the book on this chapter

of our little story. Your debt is paid, my brother got his happily

ever after ending, and I hear some Tahitian guys and dolls calling

my name. Been a pleasure, hope to not see you again soon.” He

turned and phased out, just to be stopped with the beast standing

right in front of him. He looked up, then behind him where the

beast was, and back to where he now stood. “How the fuck did

you do that?”

One of those hands that had just drained Pouya wrapped

around his throat and lifted him. He Djin’d out quickly, gaining

his height and mass, but his feet still dangled as the beast lifted

him to eye level.

“Oh, this is fun and all. But...you...can’t...hurt...me.” Shan

enunciated each word clearly. “Thanks for the show of speed,

nice to know you picked up a trick with your Djin treat.”

Shan again phased and drifted to the right. Already feeling

the heat of the Tahitian sun beating on him, until a hand whipped

out and again he found himself hoisted in the air level with deep

black eyes.

“Are you shitting me? That’s impossible! You can’t—”

The beast slammed his mouth down on Shan’s, silencing him

like no one ever dared to do before. Shan clawed at the hand on

his neck, but the only result he received was the beast tightening

Havan Fellows

55

his grip. He tried to jerk his head back but the beast pulled him

forward.

A strong tongue worked past Shan’s clenched lips, forced its

way into his mouth and ravaged it. Shan attempted to bite down

with his fangs, but as soon as the tips sank into the meaty intrud-

er he felt his windpipe start to collapse. He quickly removed his

teeth and the pressure around his neck relinquished some.

The beast drank from his mouth, not the way he drank from

Vaughn or Pouya, but in a purely physical way. Mapping, memo-

rizing Shan’s each and every crevice.

Finally he pulled away from Shan and released his neck. Shan

dropped to the floor and staggered to keep his footing beneath

him.

When Shan looked up at his attacker, the beast no longer

stood in front of him, but was clear across the room walking out

of the cavern.

His rumbling voice floated back to Shan. “My strength is re-

turning. The time has almost reached me.”

Shan touched his lips, a slight burn throbbing through them.

Fuck me...this can’t be good...

Biography

Something about me? Hmm…well I’m a mild mannered per-

son with an imagination that makes me blush, and I’m itching to

get under your skin as we speak. I thoroughly love getting lost

in a book or two and pray for the day my kiddos or family won’t

find me there. I write with the group Story Orgy and hope to con-

tinue doing so for a long time and I follow my muse where ever he

takes me … he hasn’t failed me yet! And just like every other red

blooded human – I love hearing from people. So feel free to drop

me a line – whether it’s a comment on my blog, an email, a tweet

or you track me down on FaceBook or Google +…it’s easy to catch

someone who wants to be caught.

I annoy, love, respect, scare, seduce, hurt, anger, infatuate,

frustrate, flatter, envy, amuse and tolerate everyone. I just do it

better in writing thanks to a little thing called...edits.

Blog - http://havanshawthaven.blogspot.com

Email – [e-mail]

Twitter – havanfellows

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