Destined for Love (14 page)

Biting down on her lip, she fought the tears building in her eyes. He stepped back and Mark filled the empty space in front of her.

“I wish we had forever to love each other. I’d make every minute count,” he said before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his body.

Val welcomed his loving embrace and met his lips. Mark commanded her attention, kissing her with passion, with hunger. With his body pressed to hers, she felt the vibration of his pounding heart. Unlike James, who treated her with tenderness to show his love, Mark aggressively proved his. Her knees weakened as he vehemently fondled her tongue. She wanted him to love her forever. Grant his wish.

James patted Mark’s shoulder. “I think it’s time we let her make her final request.”

Mark slowly ended the kiss and relaxed his arms. “I never get tired of kissing you.” He pecked her lips. “Every inch of you.”

“I will second that.” James grinned as he slid his hands into his front pockets.

Mark stood next to him. Together, they stared at her. Their kind eyes and solemn expressions made her weep. She couldn’t help it. She loved them and didn’t want to see them go. One tear after another rolled down her cheeks, before she wiped them away.

“Why are you crying?” James asked as both men came to her rescue. He rubbed her back while Mark took hold of her hand.

“I know what I have to do, but it pains me. I love both of you.”

James tucked her hair behind her ear. “Trust in your heart, and everything will be fine.”

He always said the kindest words. She doubted she’d ever meet anyone like him or Mark ever again. The thought made her heart ache. She wondered if she should take the selfish route, wish for them to please her for eternity. They’d all end up happy. Wouldn’t they? Could both freedom and pleasure exist?

She wiped under her eyes. “I’m ready to make my wish.”

Mark held onto her hand. James took hold of her free one and gently squeezed it. She looked into James’ eyes, then Mark’s.

“I wish you and Mark were free from the curse put upon you, to live your life how you choose, and to share your love and happiness with whomever you wish.”

In the next second, a strong gust of wind blew over them. Her hair fanned behind her. Everything around her disappeared. The windows and office melted away into darkness. Fear took hold as she lost sight of her two lovers. She tightened her grip on their hands to ensure they were with her. They were.

“I wish for Valerie,” she heard James say.

“I, too, wish for Valerie,” Mark said.

The air grew cold, causing her to chill and gooseflesh to form. “What’s happening?”

Slowly, the world took shape around her. The floor, furniture and the sunlight shining in from the windows came into view. It was the strangest awakening she’d ever experienced. The bright side of it was seeing Mark and James still standing in front of her. They hadn’t misted away to their home.

The sound of a loud clink made Val flinch. Glass scattered over a hard surface. James and Mark twisted to look behind them. The bottle Mark had set on the desk lay in pieces, some of them on the floor.

Val gripped their hands. “Oh my God. What’s happened?”

The two genies faced each other. “She did it,” James said.

Mark grinned and nodded. “Think you can handle her? I know I can.”

“What are you talking about? What happened?” Val’s heart raced. She wanted to know if she’d caused more harm than good. The bottle lay in pieces scattered everywhere. What would happen to them now? Did she break the curse? Her anxiety had skyrocketed in a matter of seconds. She needed answers.

The two men faced her with smiles and wide eyes.

“You freed us from the spell. Of all the women we’ve met through the centuries, you are the first to use your wish to free us,” James said.

“And you gave us a wish at the same time,” Mark added.

“I meant what I said. You deserve to live freely. I want you to find someone who will make you happy.”

James slid his arm around her waist then kissed her head. “You’re the only one I want. I wished for you.”

Mark stepped closer to her other side and coiled his arm around her, too. He shoved his hand into her back pocket. “That makes two of us. Or shall I say three?” He kissed her cheek.

“Does this mean you are free now?”

“Absolutely,” James said.

Mark grazed the back of his finger down the side of her face. “Free to love and take care of you forever, which I’m very eagerly looking forward to. Can we go now?”

Bliss filled Val’s soul. She’d squashed the temptation to make a wish for herself and stuck to what her heart had told her to do. She’d hoped Mark and James would want to stay with her, prayed they loved her as much as she loved them. Be it luck or faith, her wish had come true and both men wanted to stay with her. Life couldn’t be better.

And if she ran into a string of bad luck again, at least she had her two hot and seductive men to help her survive. With their loving care, she knew she’d make it through any issue.

Val slid her arms behind them. “Let’s go home.”

In each other’s arms, they walked towards the open door. The worst day of her life had led her to the best. She had everything she needed with her new job and place to live. And now she had what she wanted, Mark and James.

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

The Adventures of Star Lite: Out of the Ordinary

Naomi Bellina

Excerpt

Chapter One

Heaving a sigh of relief, Star slammed her desk drawer closed. Another school year over, and not soon enough to suit her. This term had seemed to drag on longer than the previous one, and the previous one had crawled slower than the one before. Star did not like this trend. Was life going to continue like this, until one September she woke up screaming, refusing to get out of bed? This year she had a good reason to be depressed, but even without that additional agony, the joy of teaching was slowly fading.

She still enjoyed her students and loved making a difference in their lives, but each year that task became more difficult. There was less money in the budget to spend on necessary supplies, and more demands on the teachers’ time for administrative work. Each child was receiving less personal attention, and standardised testing was changing the way teachers taught—and not for the better—in her humble opinion.

Every year she pondered her future, and this year it looked especially bleak. She didn’t know what grade level she would be teaching next year, if at all. Rumours of layoffs flew fast and furious. Scooping up her purse and the box containing the last remnants of desk junk, Star took a last glance around then walked to the door. She made it halfway across the room when the door opened.

An odd-looking man stood in the corridor. He was tall, thin and pale, and his shirt and pants hung on his body like garments on a clothesline. His skin was pure white, almost transparent. Star tried to place him as a parent but failed. She opened her purse, instinctively reaching for pepper spray. There were others in the building and no reason to suspect danger, but better safe than sorry. The stranger entered the classroom.

“Ms Lite?” he asked in a surprisingly deep voice.

Star had expected more of a dry whisper to come from his skeletal frame.

“Yes, that’s me, what can I do for you?”

“Could I speak with you for a moment? About my son.”

Well, hell.
Star badly wanted to say no and go home. She was convinced this man wasn’t the father of one of her current pupils, and if his son was due to be with her next semester, she would rather wait until then to start parent-teacher talks.

“I have another appointment to get to,” she lied. “Could this be taken care of via email?”

“I’ll only take a moment of your time. Could we sit?”

Placing her box of junk down with a thud, Star sat in a student desk and gestured for the man to do the same. They weren’t built for an adult—certainly not for someone of his height—and she hoped his discomfort would shorten the conversation.

“I’m Curtis Smith’s father,” he said, offering a large hand for her to shake. “He was in your class last year. He spoke very highly of you.”

“And how is Curtis?” Star asked, racking her brain, trying to remember a student by that name.

“He’s fine. He’s with his mother now. I saw him recently and he asked me to give you this.” The man produced a small glitter-covered box. “Curtis said you helped him a great deal with his studies, and he never properly thanked you. He wanted you to have this as a token of his appreciation.” The man stood. “Thank you for your time, Ms Lite.” He gave her a wan smile and exited the room.

Star sat for a moment, not quite sure what had just happened. It dawned on her the man hadn’t given his name, just his son’s. Curtis Smith rang a bell, but she couldn’t picture him. He must not have been a troublemaker or an exceptional student. So many students passed her way, she had a difficult time keeping track of them all, no matter how hard she tried.

Grabbing her junk box once again, Star headed for the door, relieved the encounter had been brief. Weird, but brief. She would look up Curtis Smith when she got home, but right now getting out of this building before anyone else waylaid her was the priority.

* * * *

Once home, Star flung her purse on the kitchen table and dumped the box of classroom debris in a corner. The mess would more than likely sit there for the summer, then she would hastily dig through it and pull out what she needed when the next school session started up. For now, blissful freedom reigned.

Yanking open the fridge, she was disappointed—but not surprised—to see the shelves were woefully bare.
Time for a shopping trip.
Star dug through her purse then ransacked a kitchen drawer before searching in her bedroom and the living room, looking for a cigarette. If she couldn’t eat, she might as well have a smoke although she had technically quit. No food, no smokes. Was it too early for a drink?
Ah-ha—treasure!
One cigarette left in a hidden pack.

The jarring ring of the telephone broke the silence. She checked the caller ID and groaned. Her cousin Betty. She knew exactly what this call would entail and was tempted to ignore it, but Betty would persist until she got an answer.
Might as well get this conversation over with.

“Hello?” Star mumbled into the phone, balancing it on her shoulder. She set down the smoking paraphernalia, not wanting to waste that bit of pleasure with this call.

“Hello, is this Star?” the voice on the other end asked.

Who else would be answering the phone at my home, and don’t you recognise my voice after all these years?
Just once, Star longed to fling a snappy retort at Betty, but sarcasm was wasted on her sweet, innocent cousin.

“Yes, Betty, this is Star. What’s up?” she asked, hoping to get to the point quickly.

“It’s your vacation time now, isn’t it? Are you excited about having the summer off?”

“Yes, very excited. I’m kind of in the middle of stuff right now. Was there something you wanted?”

“Oh, I just want to make sure you’re getting ready for our Fourth of July party. We should start planning soon.”

“Betty, it’s the first of June. Do we really need to think about July this early?”

“Of course! There’s so much to do. Now, what do you want to be in charge of? The decorations? The desserts? Or maybe the beverage tray. Gosh, I’m getting excited just thinking about it!”

Star was ready to hurl just thinking about it, but she forced herself to take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Betty had a good heart, she couldn’t help if her brain went into hyper drive sometimes.

“How about I call you back in a week? I’ve got to unpack my school stuff and get some chores done.”

“Oh, sweetie, are you still sad? You sound sad. Gosh, I would be too after what that nasty man did to you. You’re such a great catch, it’s his loss, you know.”

“I’m not sad, I’m fine,” she said, not wanting to think about her ex-fiancé and that horrible day. “I’m over him. You’re right, it is his loss, I’ve moved on.”

“That’s the spirit! Don’t waste another minute even thinking about him. You just get yourself all together, get those chores done, and give me a call. Don’t wait too long, though. We’ve got a lot of preparations to make!”

Star said her goodbyes and hung up. She tried to work up a little indignation at Betty. Damn her for dragging her into working on a party she didn’t even want to attend, and damn her for giving her one more thing to worry about. Star had too many projects to tackle this summer, too many things to do.

But indignation was not forthcoming. She felt pretty much nothing, the same thing she’d felt continually now for the past…how much time had passed since The Event, almost a year? No joy, no anger, no sorrow, just a big fat
blah
feeling every day. It started as she woke up, carried on through the day and into the night, when she had those last fleeting thoughts dancing in her head before sleep claimed her. Even her dreams had been dull and lacklustre.

And the truth was, she didn’t have a darn thing to do this summer, no plans, nothing. Most years she had something lined up, a class to teach or attend, projects to do in her yard or around her house—some undertaking that gave her a good reason to get out of bed each morning. Not this year. Somehow, she had let summer creep up on her without making any plans.

Star knew her current mindset was not a good place to be. She had heard the words ‘clinically depressed’ whispered in the teachers’ lounge and knew that might be the case, but she hadn’t worked up enough desire to look into the problem. She kept promising to make a doctor’s appointment, but never did. The thought of taking pills wasn’t particularly appealing, and she suspected medication was all she would get from a physician.