"Master, huh?" Emily cooed and raised onto her knees. "I like the sound of that."

I tried hard to focus on the entrance I had been so eager to explore a few moments ago. I licked my lips, which Em must have taken as desire.

"That's exactly the reaction I was hoping for," she said.

Not good. Without even thinking, I was already manipulating chance to get her fired.

"What's wrong," Em said when she finally realized I hadn't moved.

Thank you, Lord; that simple question got my attention. I let the threads of chance go and sighed.

"There's no way you'd believe me," I said.

Now that I wasn't acting on instinct, I took a moment to think back to my experience with Steven. His wishes hadn't compelled me to work immediately, but when Jinn wished for her million dollars, I had been. No, that wasn't quite right. I had felt a compulsion with Steven. I was just able to resist it. With Jinn, maybe I was too shocked to do anything else?

"David," Em said, "talk to me."

She'd pulled the covers back over herself. Her eyes were watery, and the corners of her mouth trembled. I couldn't tell if it was concern, fear, or hurt.

"I don't know what to say," I said.

"This shit again?" she said. "Why can't you just tell me what you want?"

Oh fuck, I’m such an idiot. She thought I was rejecting her, or I was waffling again. I had to find a way to salvage the situation. The question was, how to do that? Should I tell her the truth? No way she'd believe I was a genie. Could I wrap her in my arms and hope my libido kicked back in and give her what we both wanted—too much chance of my manhood not responding. That certainly wouldn't help.

"I'm a genie," I blurted before I could lose my nerve. "You just made a wish, which now makes you my master."

Her face slackened, and her mouth fell open. It was the most absurd expression I'd ever seen on her.

"Uh, come again?" she said.

"I told you you wouldn't believe me." I said, "But before we go any further, I need to address your wish. It's starting to get painful, letting it just hang there."

"Okay, it's obvious I made a mistake. I'm—I'm going to go."

I watched her get out of bed. She couldn't hide her body as she did so, and my body reacted. So, no boners allowed when a wish needs to handling, but fair game after that. Good to know.

"Em," I said. "come back to bed."

She paused. "What's the point? You're not as interested as I thought. I've made enough of a fool of myself, and you making jokes makes it hurt even more."

"Em," I said, beckoning her, "just come back to bed. You'll see in a little while that I'm not joking. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm super interested."

I decided to even the playing field. I'd seen her naked, so I stood up and removed my boxers. Hopefully, my very obvious arousal would calm her.

I'd never been ogled by a woman before, and it was a little weird. I could tell she liked what she saw, but her scrutiny made me uncomfortable. She raised her eyes to meet mine and slid back onto the bed.

"I don't understand what’s going on," she said.

"Trust me, I don't either. I can tell you that in a little while, you'll no longer be my boss. I'll try to explain it to you now, but I think it'll be easier once you've seen a little proof. In the meantime, we can lay here and wait, or we can do—this."

I moved my index finger in and out of the hole I'd made with my other hand. Thankfully, she laughed.

"How romantic," she said. She didn't stop moving across the bed, though.

She reached me and pulled me to her by my erection. I felt myself grow even harder. For a few minutes, she just ran her hand along my shaft. I wanted her to take me into her mouth, but it seemed foreplay wasn't high on her list.

She lay me on my back and climbed on top. Her vigorous grinding brought us both to climax much faster than I would have thought possible. Somehow she knew when I got close to finishing. She leaned hard into me and made her motions slower and more insistent. I could feel her release just as my control failed.

We gasped together, and she lay on top of me. Her breasts felt good against my chest. Our lips met. The kiss was gentle, and I let it linger perhaps a little longer than was proper.

She climbed off me and sauntered to the bathroom. I watched, dumbstruck by what just happened. Short and sweet, but oh so fucking satisfying. The Imperial March blared, and Em darted out of the bathroom. The view was sublime whichever way she faced.

"It's work," she said, picking up her phone. She answered as she laid down next to me.

"Hello," she said. "David Jinn? Yes, he's in my department." There was a long pause, and I could see her expression go from post-coital bliss to anger. "That's bullshit," she said. "He's one of our best coders." There was another long pause. "No, I understand. Of course. I'll tell him."

She hung up the phone and looked at me.

"So," I said before she could speak. "I guess I've just been fired?"

"How did you know that was going to happen?" she said. "They said the decision was only made today. Cutbacks or some shit."

"Well," I said, "that seems like a good place to start."

I told her everything, and it took less time than I would have thought. She remained silent when I finished speaking, putting me a little on edge.

"Well?" I said.

"Well, what? You expect me to believe that?"

"No," I said. I looked at her, and the golden link between us was still there, bright as ever. Unlike Steven's, it hadn't split into three or faded. "Fortunately, it's pretty easy to prove."

"Let me guess," She didn't seem mad now, just suspicious. "All I have to do is make another wish?"

"Yup," I said. "But make it simple. I don't want any horrors inflicted on some random stranger."

"Okay," she said, "I wish for a green rose."

"I said something simple. Not something that literally doesn't fucking exist."

"Oh, right," she said.

Inspiration struck me, however, and I pulled the threads around me. I kept track of the balance and was pleased this wish wasn't going to upset things too much.

"Hold out your hands," I said.

She cupped her hands in front of her, and I released the threads. A hundred dollar bill in the shape of a rose appeared out of thin air. She gasped.

"Holy hell, you're for real."

"Unfortunately, yeah," I said.

"And there's another genie that's trying to kill you?"

"You're taking this all pretty well."

"It's like coding," she said. "Once there’s proof they exist, denying the bugs won't make them go away, and getting mad at them is just stupid."

Of course, that's how she'd see it. Emily had never really been the hysterical type. There was a good chance she could help make more sense of all this than I could.

"What do you think?" I asked.

She perked up. "This is the coolest thing ever! I mean, the whole genie trying to kill you part sucks, but everything else is awesome. So, how many wishes do I get?"

A disingenuous and snarky response jumped to my lips, but I swallowed it. That fuck everyone over desire was getting damned annoying. "I don't know. Jinn made one wish, but there was something weird about that. I don't know if it's because she's another genie, but it didn't feel the same as when Steven requested his three wishes."

"That's interesting," Em said. "You said at first that gold link, or whatever, was solid and then changed to three smaller links when he said he got three wishes?"

"Yup," I said.

"And you didn't tell him he got three wishes?" she continued.

"No," I said. "He just said something like; I'll take my three wishes and the link split."

"Well,” her face scrunched up, "that seems to suggest that the master has some control over how many wishes they get. I wonder what would happen if a master never set a limit?"

"I love how that brain of yours works," I said with genuine admiration. Once she said it, it sounded so obvious, but there's no way I would've worked that out. But, I knew it was true.

She beamed at me. "So, you like me for more than just my body?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong," I said. My groin tingled. "There's a whole lot to like about your body. A whole lot. But you could be shriveled up in a wheelchair, and that brain of yours would still be enough for me."

She sidled up to me, "I guess those cutbacks are a good thing, then. Now that I'm not your boss, you can have both."

She took me into her hand and started caressing my flesh. To my great surprise and excitement, the little guy responded pretty much at once to her ministrations.

The next round of lovemaking lasted much longer, with ample time given to foreplay for both of us.