Free Sexy In A Bottle: A More Than Men Novella by Andrea Laurence

desire."
    " What if what I truly desire is you?"
    Raj’s gaze dropped to the floor. "You say that now. What if you tire of me? I am bound to serve you until your wishes are done. I don’t want to be a burden because you feel too guilty to make a wish and send me back where I belong."
    " You don’t belong in that necklace, Raj."
    " Do I belong here with you? I want to, but do I? I don’t know that the necklace isn’t exactly where I should be. It might be better for you that way."
    " What if I used my third wish to free you?"
    He looked at her with soulful blue eyes that held more emotions than he could ever voice in a thousand years. "Even if you did, what would it change? I would still be a djinn. And you deserve better."
    " Better?" Valerie couldn’t believe they were having this argument. She’d finally found someone to love. Someone who not only understood her but had the power to see to it that they were together for more than the brief remainder of her life. He could heal her. She could free him. And yet he still saw problems. If she was alive and he was free, they could weather any rough patches as easily as they had weathered the nor’easter.
    " Someone like this Danny," he said, pointing to the album. "A real man with a family and a life that you can become a part of. I can never be that for you. I will never fit in this world."
    " I don’t love Danny," she said, her jaw growing tight with irritation. "I love you . I want you ."
    " And I want you to be happy," he said.
    The frustration was boiling in her stomach. They had something beautiful and wonderful. They were on the verge of a great life together , and she wasn’t going to let his self-doubts ruin it for them. "You’re right," she snapped. "I wish you were just a regular man, because if you were human, we wouldn’t be having this argument right now about whether or not you’re good enough for me."
    The words slipped through her lips before she could stop them. Never before had the word "wish" meant anything, but now it meant everything.
    Raj’s eyes widened as he looked at her in surprise. "What have you done?" he whispered. Before she could answer, he stumbled backward, collapsing to the wood floor. He screamed, a sharp, piercing sound that made Valerie’s chest tighten. He curled into a ball and clawed at his skin as though he was desperate to rip his flesh from his bones. It was a terrible sight.
    Moments later the screaming stopped and Raj finally stilled, a panting, shaking heap on the ground.
    What had she done?
     
     
    " Raj, are you okay?"
    He was cold. After everything that had just happened, it seemed like a ridiculous thought, but given it was the first time he’d ever experienced the sensation, it felt important. Tiny bumps rose up across his skin as his teeth chattered lightly against each other.
    "Raj?"
    " I’m ok-k-ay," he stuttered. "Just c-cold." He pushed up onto his knees just as Valerie dashed over to the couch and snatched a blanket off the back.
    " Here," she said, throwing it over his shoulders.
    That was better. The soft flannel made a huge difference. He crawled to his feet and stumbled over to sit on the sofa. He was so weak. It felt as though every ounce of his strength had just been torn from him. It had hurt. More than a couple hundred years in those gold cuffs.
    Raj looked down at his wrists. T he cuffs were gone. His skin was scarred and twisted where they had once tortured him, but the shiny gold symbols of his bondage had vanished. He was free. No, not just free — human . Valerie had wished he was just a regular man. And now, for the first time in his life, he was.
    He watched Valerie cautiously ease herself down on the couch beside him. There was fear in her eyes. His transformation had probably scared the daylights out of her. To be honest it had scared him as well. For a moment he wondered if the sorcerer had some kind of trap built into the curse that would torture him if he tried to escape it.
    But now