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

gained so much. He would have to get a job. Buy clothes that fit. Find a place to live. Learn how to build a fire the hard way. He would stay with Valerie until the very end, but he would have to find out how to continue without her. Maybe he could take over as the lighthouse keeper. The chill of the room crept up his spine. No, he would go someplace far warmer.
    Raj let his thumb graze lightly over the blue gemstone. It seemed so different from the outside than on the inside. "I’ve granted a million wishes, but not once in that time was I ever able to make a wish of my own. If I could, I would wish that your heart would beat as long as mine does. That way, neither of us would ever have to live without the other."
    " That would be —" Valerie spoke, then stopped. Her mouth dropped open into an O of concern as she hunched over. "Oh no," she gasped, her hand clutching at her chest.
    Raj shot to attention beside her. "What is it? Are you okay?"
    Tears brimmed in Valerie’s eyes as she frantically shook her head. "Why now?" she asked, looking up instead of at him. "Please give me more time with him!"
    The aneurism. Certainly the fates were not so cruel as to take her from him only minutes after he first tasted freedom. She slipped off the couch to her knees, pressing fiercely against her sternum as though it would help stop the bleeding.
    " What can I do?" he asked in desperation. He’d never felt so completely and utterly powerless in his entire existence.
    " Just hold me," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks from the pain and fear. "I only have minutes left. There’s nothing else that can be done."
    Raj didn’t hesitate to scoop Valerie into his arms. He held her tightly as though she wouldn’t slip away if he didn’t let go. "Stay with me," he whispered into her hair, rocking her gently. "Please stay with me."
    " I love you," she said. "And I’m not sorry for what I did. Freeing you was the most important and wonderful thing I ever got the chance to do."
    " I love you, too," he replied. "Thank you. For everything." He couldn’t think of anything else he could say or do. He just held her. And kept holding her.
    Eventually her rattling gasps quieted. She didn’t speak or move. Raj couldn’t bear to pull away and know for certain she was gone. He couldn’t take it. Instead, he softly stroked her hair and pressed his lips against the crown of her head.
    The pain in his chest was excruciating. He’d lost her. After all this time waiting, in a flash she’d disappeared and he was alone. He had been trying to do the right thing convincing Valerie he wasn’t meant for her. He hadn’t wanted to go. Not at all, but staying by her side was the selfish choice, he knew it. He would’ve spent every moment of his existence in agony without her, but it would’ve been what she needed.
    Now he wouldn’t have her or the comfort of knowing she would be happier without him. He had nothing. His mind drifted off to the shotgun he’d seen in her bedroom. It would be so easy to…
    N o!
    Raj knew he couldn’t flaunt his life and treat it so cheaply after she’d given everything for him. That was an insult to her memory. He would carry on as best he could, even knowing he would spend every day in pain without her.
    He took a deep breath, knowing he needed to let go. It was time to call someone, although he wasn’t sure who. The police? The coast guard? Someone needed to come, even if it was too late to save her.
    " Raj?"
    His startled heart skipped a beat in his chest at the unexpected sound of her voice. His hands went immediately to her face, jerking her head back to look at him. He wasn’t as gentle as he should’ve been, but he couldn’t help it. She was alive. "Valerie?" he said, his voice laced with disbelief.
    She nodded and smiled. "It went away."
    " What did?"
    " The burning pain in my chest. At first it felt like someone with razor-sharp fingernails was trying to burrow through me to the other side. I felt it