Page 10 of Enslaved By Magic

He stared at her with a perplexed look on his face for nearly a minute. “If you’re free after three wishes then… oh. He didn’t make his third wish because then he’d lose you?” he asked. There was a careful tenderness in the question that took her by surprise. He sounded like he actually cared.

She nodded with a sharp jerk of her head.

“How long were you in there before him?” Luke asked.

She scowled, twisting her fists in the hem of her t-shirt as she fought the compulsion to reply long enough to phrase the response to give the least information. “In and out for a very long time. So long I don’t really remember all the years,” she said finally.

“Did you have other… Did other people own the bottle before him?”

Luke couldn’t seem to be able to make himself say the word master, and even as annoyed as she was, it still amused her. “Many. I don’t remember most of them either,” she said pointedly.

“And no one has made the third wish. Why?” he asked.

His brows furrowed in confusion. No doubt he was wondering why they’d waste a wish. She sighed. “Because they’d been told stories of angry jinn who, when freed from their bottle, took revenge on the person who freed them,” she admitted, inwardly cursing the magic that made her answer him.

He looked like he was considering pressing on with more questions, but he stopped there. Maybe he noticed how upset she was. If that was why he stopped, it would make him one of the few who ever cared about her feelings. Instead, he changed tacks, taking her by surprise.

“Okay, I’m going to make some new rules. I can do that right? As the owner of the bottle?” He shot her a questioning look and she nodded slowly. “Good. No more Master/slave junk. You don’t sound like you like it very much, and I prefer women who consent, so there’s not going to be any—” He gestured toward her body and she looked down confused. “No naked stuff,” he clarified.

“You don’t… want me?” she asked carefully, not sure she was understanding.

“No. I told you, I like girls who actually want to be with me, not—not forced by magic bottles or whatever.” He sighed and shook his head, looking as though he felt foolish even mentioning the magic.

“But—”

“I need some time to decide about the wish thing. I know you said you’re not like the stories, but I think you can understand why I need to do some research on this,” he said firmly.

“But—”

“If I decide it’s safe, I’ll make the wishes and you can go free; I just need to be sure first. In the meantime, I want—” He stopped, a frown on his face as he tried to figure out what he wanted. “You don’t have to act like a slave. You can stay here and—and just do what you want. I dunno, watch tv or something,” he suggested.

“You have a magical slave who grants wishes and is totally under your control and you want her to watch television?” she asked. She laughed and shook her head. “Men have certainly changed a lot in the past thirty years,” she said with a bit of surprise.

“Yeah, consent is a big thing now. And I like submissive women, but unwilling slaves are a whole different ballgame. So, just entertain yourself until we sort this out. You can explore how the world has changed, get caught up on current events and, you know, try to remember you’re a person,” he said. He stumbled awkwardly over the words like he wasn’t really sure how to explain that.

Which was fine, she was still reeling from the shock of being considered an actual person and not a tool. How long had it been since she’d been treated with respect? Men had lusted after her. They had praised her beauty. They had even complimented her intelligence, but usually with that insulting look of surprise, as though she were only a doll and the fact that she knew things made her odd. But respect? No, not that she could recall.

Even the few women who had owned her had treated her like an object to be used and passed on. She sat there in silence, examining his face, and trying to judge his character. She did believe he meant it now, but she wasn’t sure if the greed would corrupt him and that would change his position. Greed often changed a person. She’d watched the darkness grow in a soul until it consumed all that was good. Not once, but over and over again.

She felt a touch of sadness as she decided Luke would probably be the same. Noble in the beginning but as soon as he got a taste of the wealth her wishes could bring him, that would change. So, she could obey him and entertain herself. But she intended to use that unexpected freedom he’d given her to worm her way under his skin until she had some control. Maybe then she could still guide him toward making the final wish.

Seduction, that was the key. It would be a new game if nothing else. Being the pursuer was not something she was experienced at, but she was confident she could wrap him around her little finger quickly enough.

She pushed away all those thoughts for the moment, plastering what she hoped was a pleased expression on her face and she nodded. “Yes, Luke, that sounds wonderful. Are there still libraries? I’d like to visit one, if possible,” she said.

A bright grin spread across his face. “Sure, there’s a library right down the street, but what do you know about the Internet?” he asked, sounding eager.

“Internet? I don’t—I’m not sure what that is,” she replied, confused.

“Oh, you’re going to love this,” he assured her as he pulled her to her feet and dragged her across the room so he could teach her all about computers and how to access the information in the world with a few keystrokes.

He was right; she did love it. Not as user friendly as her bottle for telling her what she wanted to know, but much more efficient. She loved having access to so much information at the touch of a button, and as he taught her how to get around the Web thing, he seemed to have forgotten he wasn’t sure she was real. Or else he’d put it out of his mind for the moment. That was easier to work with.

She was an attentive student as he showed her how to navigate through the pages of information, but she took the opportunity to press against his body as he sat next to her. He didn’t notice at first, but when her hand ended up on his knee, he stopped short and frowned, moving his chair a little further away from her. She gave him an innocent smile, asked a question to draw his attention back to the screen, and waited patiently for him to relax again.

She found herself enjoying the time with him, and her plan to seduce him was set aside for the moment. Partly so she could concentrate on learning new things, but mostly because she could see he wasn’t going to fall for anything too obvious. There would be plenty of time to work her ‘magic’ on him. Slow and easy was the key to ensnaring this new master.

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