All Bottled Up (25 page)

“I know how to free you, but I need you to focus on what I’m saying. The spell can only keep you pulled from your bottle for so long before it takes you back.” He looked from her to the bottle and back. “You’re not my master?”

“No.” She mentally pushed her frustration down. “Do you know why you were cursed?”

He nodded slowly. “Because of Anona.”

“Specifically why.”

“She was an innocent. I took advantage of her.” She cupped his chin and turned his face back to hers when he tried to look away.

“Did you? Or is that what you were told? Try to remember what happened that night.”

“Viola—”

“Do it. Close your eyes and remember.”

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He stared at her a few seconds longer than she’d have liked, but in the end he closed his eyes. The bottle on the floor began to glow, soft at first, but growing steadily in intensity. The sudden flash blinded her.

They were back in the room she’d seen when she was in his bottle before. Her Jerod was gone from her side. It took a minute for Viola to get her bearings.

The fire burned in the corner, smoke from the burning wood clung in the air. Jerod lay in his bed, his fingers still wrapped around the handle of his ale mug. The wooden floor outside his door creaked as the door was pushed open. A young woman, no more than twenty, snuck into his room and quickly shut the door.

Jerod didn’t move, even when she pulled away the fur that covered his naked body.

Both Anona and Viola sighed at the sight of him lying there. He was gorgeous. Anona didn’t hesitate. She quickly untied the front of her bodice and slipped her arms out of her dress. She then pulled up her skirts and straddled his body.

“Wake up, my warrior,” Anona whispered in his ear.

She ground her hips against his. Viola felt her face heat, but she couldn’t look away, no matter how wrong it felt to be watching this.

Jerod groaned and knocked over his mug, forgotten in his bed. The combination of the ceramic hitting the floor and Anona’s moans stirred him finally to life.

“What’s this?” he asked in a groggy voice.

“They want to marry me off to someone old enough to be my father. I want to feel a real man inside me before I’m condemned.”

Jerod’s eyes flew open. “Anona? No.”

Viola watched as he tried to push her away. The young girl locked her hands around his neck and ground her hips even harder against his.

“Don’t worry. I’m no virgin. Have no guilt about that when you ride out of here tomorrow.”

Anona reached back and slipped his cock into her body. Jerod groaned, but stopped fighting her. Viola looked away, but the sounds of their lovemaking began to arouse her.

She didn’t want to think about what that meant.

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It didn’t take long before Anona cried out, her pleasure completed. A few grunts later and Viola recognized the sounds of Jerod’s own release. Only after their breathing settled back into a normal cadence did she look back. Anona rolled off him and stood, placing a kiss on his forehead.

“Many thanks.”

She pulled her arms back into her dress, loosely tied up her bodice and sauntered out the door. Jerod stared after her and chuckled softly. He fell asleep as he was, the fur pulled up, barely covering his groin.

“And this is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with?” Anona’s grandmother’s voice crackled through the air.

Viola turned to face her, her heart pounding. “Yes, he is.” The woman’s face screwed into a hateful glare. “He’s a murdering defiler. He ruined my Anona.”

Viola’s back straightened. “Did we both watch the same scene? I believe it was your granddaughter who came here of her own free will and jumped into the bed of a sleeping, half-drunk man.”

“He’d been playing with her all night.”

The scene around them changed. They were sitting in what looked to be some sort of bar. Jerod was sitting on a bench, surrounded by a group of men, all of whom were laughing and drinking. Anona sauntered over and refilled Jerod’s mug with an amber liquid. As she walked away, he smacked her behind.

“Didn’t he tell you a woman’s ass is her most beautiful feature?” The venom in the older woman’s voice was viscous, but Viola didn’t back down.

“If that’s all he’s done wrong, then he’s no worse than half the men alive.”

“There’s no love in him. He uses women and throws them away when he’s done.” Viola took a step away from her and prayed she would get out of this in one piece.

“That’s not true.”

Both women turned around at the sound of Jerod’s voice. The bar scene was gone, leaving Jerod standing there alone. Viola smiled. He gave her a wink before turning his 240

attention on the older woman. For her part, she spit at him.

“Lies. That’s all you know. All you want is power!” Jerod walked toward the woman, but stopped at Viola’s side. She sighed when he slipped an arm around her waist.

“You lie when you say there’s no love in me. I love Viola.” He said it so matter-of-factly, she almost missed it. She looked up at him, her mouth open.

“You do?” Her voice trembled as she asked.

When he looked at her, he rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. Do you think I’d put up with this silliness for just anyone?”

Viola smacked his arm before she hugged him tight.

“I love you too.”

“You said there was a way around the curse. What is it?”

“There is no way to break it,” the older woman screamed at them.

They both ignored her.

“Ms. Mason said my last wish is what did the trick. I wished that you could be happy. You simply need to say what that is and it will come true.” Jerod cocked an eyebrow at her. “Simple as that.”

“Well, that depends. If a cat will make you happy, then you’ll still be a genie. You’ll just have a cat. I can’t choose for you.”

And that was the part that was killing her. In the end, it was his decision.

“So if giving up my powers to become mortal again will make me happy, then it will happen?”

Viola grinned. “It was written on the bottom of your bottle. The only thing that could free you was the power of choice. The only way you could be given that choice was for one of your masters to give it to you.”

“Which you did. By mistake.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, he bent his head down and kissed her. His wicked tongue chased away all thoughts and left her with a warm glow. Jerod only pulled 241

away from her long enough to look at the older woman and grin.

“I would like to inform you that I’m done with your game. The one thing that would make me happy is to renounce all my powers and to be able to spend the rest of my life with Viola.”

The old woman threw her head back and screamed. A loud crash, the sound of shattering glass erupted around them. Viola covered her ears and shut her eyes against the sound. After a minute, she peeked through her squint to see what was going on.

She was back in her living room. William was barking like mad in the distance, growling and scratching to be freed.

“You’d better let him out before he puts a hole in the door.” She turned to see a very naked Jerod staring at his bottle, which he held in his hands.

“Are you…” She shook her head and shrugged.

“Normal?”

She nodded. “I was going to say human, but normal works.”

“Only one way to find out.” Jerod closed his eyes and lifted his hand. “I wish for a pizza.”

When he snapped his fingers, she held her breath. It took a second for them to realize nothing happened. Viola squealed and jumped into his arms.

“Damn.”

“Damn? What do you mean damn? It worked!”

She squeezed her legs around his waist and hugged him tight.

“Yes, it worked. But I really wanted a pizza. I’m hungry.” Viola laughed as she rubbed her tears on his naked shoulder. “I’ll order you one.” His strong arms held her close as he rocked her back and forth.

“You realize that means no more floating sex?”

“I have a bed.”

“And no more trips to the sky?”

“I’m scared of heights.”

He walked over to the couch and they collapsed on it in a heap of groans and giggles.

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“And no more super strength. I didn’t realize how heavy you were.” She smacked him on the arm. “Jerk.”

He looked at her and smiled. Reaching up, he caressed her cheek with his hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They sat there in a heap, smiling and touching each other. Simply enjoying the fact that they had the rest of their lives to spend together.

“Ready to teach me about your century? Because I’m clueless without my powers.” Jerod tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears.

Viola kissed him hard, relief and desire filling her. “More than ready.” What neither of them noticed was the soft glow of the forgotten genie bottle lying in the middle of the floor.

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“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Jerod moaned.

He stood at least ten feet away from Ms. Mason’s store, his toque pulled down so low it nearly covered his eyes.

“It’s freezing. Can we go home?”

Viola laughed and gently shoved his back to get him moving in the right direction again. It had taken her two weeks to convince him they needed to stop by and thank Ms.

Mason for everything she’d done for them. Why he was being such a big chicken, she wasn’t sure.

“Stop complaining. I’m pretty sure she has heat in her store. We’ll go quickly and then I promise we can go home and get you warmed up.” He stopped moving again and Viola ran into his back. “How will we get warmed up?”

Being behind him, she couldn’t read his expression, but she could tell from his tone of voice what he wanted.

“I’m thinking bubbles in the bathtub and a nice glass of wine before we make love on the floor by the fireplace,” she said and pressed a kiss against his puffy winter jacket.

“I was only hoping for hot chocolate. But sex by the fire works for me.” He chuckled when she groaned and gave him another powerful shove. “Move it!”

“Yes, Mistress.”

A group of young men passed them and began to laugh. She distinctly heard the comment, “Pussy whipped” float back to her. Her face immediately burned as she fell into step beside him.

“I thought I told you not to say that anymore? People will take it the wrong way.” 244

“Does it matter what other people think of us?” he asked, his expression quite serious.

When she thought about it that way, to hell with the rest of the world. “Absolutely not.” She smiled up at him and stretched up to place a kiss on his cheek.

The door to Ms. Mason’s was shut and the blinds were pulled down. A large, faded, orange Closed sign hung in the door.

“Shit. I assumed she’d be here.” Viola sighed. “I’ll leave a note at least—”

“No need, my dear.”

Both Jerod and Viola spun around to see Ms. Mason coming up the road, pulling a small metal cart behind her.

“I had to run to the store to pick up a few things for tea. I didn’t have a lick of food in the house for any company.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you expecting someone?” Viola asked as she tried to get out of Ms. Mason’s way.

The older woman turned to face Viola as she slipped her key into the lock. “Why, the two of you, of course.” She winked and pushed the door open. “Come in, come in.” Jerod hesitated at the threshold for a second after Viola walked through. Indecision and a touch of unease were on his face, his back rigid. When he looked up into her eyes, she smiled at him and held out her hand. She hoped that was all the encouragement he’d need to join her. Thankfully, he smiled back and, with a small shrug, he walked into the store and took her hand in his.

“Well, I’m glad the two of you worked that out,” Ms. Mason said from somewhere in the back room.

Jerod raised a single eyebrow at Viola, but she didn’t have an answer. Viola figured Ms. Mason had more than a little power of her own.

“Thanks for seeing us today. We really just wanted to stop by and say thank you for your help. And to let you know that things worked out okay,” Viola said loudly toward the back room.

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Viola shoved her elbow into Jerod’s side causing him to grunt softly. “Yes, thank you,” he added.

“No reason to thank me. I knew from the minute I met you things would work out for the best.” She finally emerged, carrying a tray filled with cookies and three steaming mugs of hot chocolate. “I hope you’ll join me.” Jerod quickly pulled up a chair at the small table where Beth had sat reading a few weeks earlier. His eyes were locked firmly onto the mug as he stripped off his gloves and toque. Viola couldn’t help roll her eyes.

“Who knew the genie had a sweet tooth?”

“Things you should have discovered before you freed me, sweetheart,” he teased as he accepted the mug from Ms. Mason. “Thank you.” Viola also accepted her mug, but chose to stand behind Jerod and let Ms. Mason take the free chair. For her part, Ms. Mason looked them both over closely, her gaze passing from one to the other. Viola managed to keep still, but only barely.

“So Mr…what name do you go by now?” Ms. Mason asked as she popped a cookie into her mouth.

“White,” Jerod said proudly.

When Ms. Mason’s questioning glance drifted over to her, Viola could only shrug. “I thought it best to keep it simple.”

It also was a huge turn on that he had taken her last name as his own. Not that they were married or anything, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.

“Viola is trying to find out what we need to get for paperwork to make me…” he drifted off before looking up at her for help.

“To make him a legal person,” she offered.

It was an amazingly strange situation. Jerod was human in every aspect of his existence now. He could get sick, needed to eat, and may even want to work at a job someday. Viola wanted to make sure he could do whatever he wanted. Explore whatever part of his lost humanity he wanted to. Beth had given them enough money to live comfortably. Not that Viola wanted to take any, but she’d insisted, saying the only reason 246

she had it in the first place was because of Viola’s wish. But there were some things they still needed to get.

“I’m not sure how to handle this one. I wouldn’t know how to do it legally, and going…under the table isn’t my area of expertise.”

“I think I may be able to assist you in that regard.” Ms. Mason pulled out an envelope from under the tray and slid it over to Jerod. “You’re not the first supernatural being who’s come to me for help.”

Jerod looked at the envelope before he reached out to take it. Viola tried to look over his shoulder to see what was inside. She finally gave in to her frustration and plucked the envelope from his hands.

“I was reading that,” he grumbled.

“I’ll give it back.” She placed a quick kiss on his head and then dove into the documentation.

An Italian birth certificate, passport, and a Canadian work visa peeked out at her from inside the envelope. It looked very real to Viola, who shot a questioning glace at Ms. Mason.

“Are these—?”

“Legitimate,” she said as she smiled at Viola. “If anyone questions anything, they will find the proper records on file where they should be. From that, you will be able to get everything you need to make sure Jerod doesn’t get deported.” Jerod looked up at her, a single eyebrow raised. “Good thing, right?” Viola’s heart was pounding in her chest. “Oh, yeah.” They were home free. Viola leaned over his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “This means you can get a job if you want, go to the hospital, anything you need.”

He slipped his hand around hers and gave it a squeeze.

“Before we accept this generous gift, I have a question,” Jerod said, his voice deadly serious.

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Viola pulled back enough to see the intense stare that passed between him and Ms.

Mason. The air in the room grew suddenly heavy and Viola had the distinct feeling she was missing out on something.

“Ask away,” Ms. Mason replied, her voice calm and steady.

“Why did you help us? I may not have my powers anymore, but I recognize a supernatural when I meet one. What’s in this for you?” Ms. Mason sat still for a few seconds before she began to chuckle. “I’m happy to see regaining your humanity hasn’t dulled your perceptions any. There may be hope for you yet.”

“Hope for what?” Viola asked, but they both ignored her.

“Why?” Jerod repeated, leaning forward as he did.

“Because it suited me. I hate it when mortals have all the fun. Besides, the woman who cursed you was a bore and a brute.”

“Who are you?” Viola asked.

“My real name is mine alone. But Jerod’s people called me Ate.” She winked at Jerod. “More hot chocolate?”

Jerod stood up immediately, hooked Viola’s arm and pulled her to the door. “Thank you for your assistance. We’ll be leaving now.”

“Who is she?” Viola whispered. “Slow down.”

“Goddess of mischief. We need to leave now.” He pulled his toque on. “Thanks again.”

“Jerod, the papers,” Viola said and started back toward the table.

Without thinking, Jerod spun around and grabbed Viola’s arm to stop her and snapped his fingers. The brown envelope suddenly appeared in this hand. Viola gasped as they both stared at the paper.

“What did you do?” Jerod asked Ms. Mason, his eyes flicking between her and Viola.

“Interesting. It must have something to do with how old you are. Couldn’t get rid of all that magic.”

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“That’s impossible. You said he would lose his powers once we broke the curse. He had to give them up.”

Viola took Jerod’s hand in hers and held it still. He was trembling ever so slightly, but whether it was from fear or excitement, she couldn’t tell.

“There are no absolutes in the universe, my dear,” she said and stood up. “Well, it looks as if you have some playing around to do, and I have a store to open up. If you’ll excuse me, I believe my next customer will be here shortly.” And before they realized what was happening, they were shuffled out the door.

Neither of them said anything as they walked back to Viola’s car. Viola couldn’t get her head around what had happened. They’d tried his magic after the curse had been broken. They tried so long one day he’d gotten a major hand cramp, but nothing had happened. Once they got back to the car and climbed in out of the cold December air, Viola took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

“Do you think she did something? That it wasn’t you at all?” Jerod slowly shook his head. “No, it was me. The real question is can I do it again?” Viola waited, afraid to say anything else. Jerod closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.

“What did you try to do?” she asked.

She watched him reach into his jacket pocket, but he didn’t remove his hand. He turned to her, caressing her cheek with his free hand.

“Jerod?”

“I’m not sure how things are done in this century. My knowledge of these things is a bit outdated. But I was wondering if we had everything we needed for this?” Viola watched as he brought his hand out and opened his hand to reveal an engagement ring. The world began to spin around her as he slipped the warm circlet over her finger. She couldn’t speak, instead she looked at him, stunned. Jerod tugged off his toque and ran his fingers through his hair. His gaze bounced between her face and her hand, which he still hadn’t let go. When he finally spoke, she could hear a nervous edge in his voice.

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“I know we’ve only known each other—”

“Yes!”

Their eyes locked. He smiled briefly for a second before growing serious again.

“My powers may not last. This could be nothing more than one of Ate’s tricks for her own amusement.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your powers. I love you and I want to be with you.” The words poured out of her, straight from her heart.

Jerod’s mouth opened and for a second Viola didn’t think he’d say anything. Gently, he took her face in his hands and pulled her close. Their lips met, parted, and they drank each other in.

“I love you too,” he murmured against her lips. “Only you.” They kissed again until Viola began to giggle. “We need to get home.”

“I don’t think I can get us there. My powers aren’t that strong.” Viola let out a yelp as she felt an invisible finger trace a line down between her breasts.

“Not yet anyway,” he said and grinned.

Viola gave him a light punch on his arm and jammed the keys in the ignition.

“Behave until we get home. I’d hate to have to punish you.” Jerod leaned back in his seat and chuckled as they made their way through the traffic. Viola giggled again when she felt his invisible touch caress her chest above her heart.

“As you wish.”

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