in a fairy tale, he still had the stones to admire the movement of Daeliel’s Adam’s apple as he chugged down the water, and the way a few stray drops lingered on his chin, then coyly dropped onto his hairless chest to linger there. Ben had never wanted to lick the water off someone as much as he did right now.
Setting the bottle down, Daeliel sighed. “A thousand times, yes. That’s my purpose. What you need to do is make those wishes quickly, and I can get back to my world.” He looked at Ben hopefully. “Do you want one of those wishes to be fixing that awful object you’re holding in your hands? Because I can do that. Then there’s only one more, and I can be on my way.”
Ben stared down sadly at the pieces in his hand. “This is a Clarice Cliff Newport pottery vase left to me by my mother when she died. Yes, it’s hideous, but it was hers.”
Daeliel blinked. “Your mother died? How awful. I’m so sorry.”
He sounded genuinely sympathetic, and Ben shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I was twenty-two. I don’t have much left to remind me of her.”
Daeliel came over to crouch before him. “I was trying to do a headstand scorpion, I have trouble with that yoga pose, and I lost my balance. My foot caught the vase on the table and, well, it fell off. I’m truly mortified.” He stood up swiftly, his crotch now alarmingly close to Ben’s line of sight. “Let me see what I can do. I suppose it isn’t fair to expect you to use one of your wishes when I’m the one who broke it.” He sounded surprised at his words, and Ben guessed that using one of his wishes would have suited his desire to hasten Daeliel’s path home.
The Djinn closed his eyes and seemed to be in a trance. His lips moved as if he were reciting something under his breath. A faint aura of pale lavender surrounded him, tendrils flicking out into the air and then being almost sucked back in. It was most unsettling. As was the fact Daeliel’s junk was enticingly close.
“It doesn’t matter.” Ben cleared his throat. “I can superglue it together.”
Daeliel went still, then opened one eye. “Superglue?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. I can stick the pieces with it, so it’s whole again. It won’t be the same, but meh, it’s the memory that counts, right?”
Daeliel beamed at him and the lavender aura dissipated. “Splendid. I searched the annals for any precedence to giving a wish for free, and it can be done, but of course, it is frowned upon. Best not to annoy the authorities if we don’t have to.” He patted Ben on the shoulder and turned away. “I think I’ve done enough damage for one day. I’d better get changed.” He picked up his mat, rolled it up, and then headed towards the stairs.
Ben followed Daeliel, feeling distinctly out of sorts, and entered the spare bedroom after him. Once again, his senses were assaulted with something which surely couldn’t be. He stopped and stared in amazement at the kaleidoscope of colour and mayhem before him.
“How the fuck is this possible?” he muttered dazedly. “You couldn’t possibly have been shopping for all this stuff already.”
His spare bedroom, once a neutral shade of beige and brown, now resembled a room Ben had once seen at Alton Towers. He’d been there helping out with an animal in distress and been given a tour of the top floor and the suites. This room resembled the Arabian Nights one, although with more colour and a sense of style more suited to a showgirl’s dressing room.
Daeliel smirked as he put his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and pulled them down to reveal a pert backside and more of the tattoo that had captured Ben’s imagination the night before. “Do you forget who I am and what I can do?”
Ben averted his gaze, although it took a lot of effort. “Whoa, dude. Not cool.” Way cool. If it were any cooler, I’d be a dicksicle. “Don’t you have privacy requirements where you come from?”
Daeliel paused in the process of pulling on a skin-tight pair of pale blue chinos. No underwear, Ben thought with a gulp. He’s commando under those.
“Privacy? Don’t you like looking at me?” Daeliel sounded piqued. “Where I come from, bodies are made to be displayed and explored. Don’t you find mine to your liking?”
Ben swallowed. “I, um,