Seduced by Magic (3 page)

Frankly he preferred that
she
continue to talk. Her voice held an accent he couldn’t place although it did sound faintly Italian. Her English was flawless but by the way she 19

Stephanie Julian

formed her words, it seemed as if the language was almost alien to her. It was the sexiest thing he’d ever heard.

Still, the expression on her face left no room for doubt. Either he answered or she’d hurt him. So he lied.

“With our new technology, we can pick up trace signatures of paranormal activity.

Your signature—”

She slashed her hand through the air and he snapped his mouth shut.

“Don’t bother to lie, human. Your aura just lit up as if you’d been struck by lightning. Of course, if you truly knew what you were dealing with, you would know I am able to tell you are lying. I refuse to believe you just happened to come here to do your research. I do not believe in such luck.”

Neither did he, but then he hadn’t picked the site. His company had. There was a lot of money riding on the results of Justin’s legitimate research. At least, that’s what Daniel Bonnini, owner of BD Enterprises, had told him. Bonnini wanted proof that the top-secret research facility BD Enterprises wanted to build only a few miles from here would have no impact on the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary environment.

Justin’s assignment was supposed to be covert. Bonnini wanted proof on hand that their facility would not be a threat to the sanctuary if any of the local governments gave them hassle about zoning.

He’d be damned if he breached his ironclad confidentiality agreement and spilled his guts. He liked his job too much.

So he kept his mouth shut.

With a disgusted sound, she flapped her wings as if in annoyance. The movement looking so…real, it derailed every other thought in his head.

How was she working them? The obvious answer had to be her hands but right now her hands were on her hips. She must have strings attached. He tried to crane his 20

Seduced by Magic

head to the side to see behind her but still couldn’t move one muscle of his body. That worried him more than anything else.

“Listen,” he started, ready to come to some agreement, “if you tell me who you’re working for and what you want, I’ll try to give you as many answers as I can. If you just tell me what company you’re working for and what you’re trying to find out, I’ll tell you what I know.”

Well, not really, but it was worth a shot. Besides, he didn’t really believe she could tell when he was lying. He’d become a damn good liar.

Her wings flapped again several times and he couldn’t help but ask, “How are you doing that? They look so real, it’s amazing.”

She huffed. “That’s because they are real,
ceffo
. I thought you knew what you were doing out here. Don’t tell me I’ve wasted two months worrying about a New Age dimwit with a few toys and—”

Whoa, wait a second. New Age dimwit?
Those were definitely fighting words. “Who the hell are you, lady?”

Her beautiful green eyes widened at his harsh tone but he was beginning to think maybe he’d never woken from his dream. Because he’d be damned if those wings weren’t real.

Holy shit. “You really are a fairy, aren’t you?”

Pretty lips pursed, she huffed again. “I’m just about at the end of my patience with you,
etera
. And do not offend me by calling me ‘fairy’.” Now her back straightened and she looked regal enough to be a queen. A gorgeous, naked fairy queen. “I am a
folletta
of the Etruscan
Fata
. I am not one of those English pansies who frighten children and dance in the forest.

“I was born in the hills of
Toscana
, ran free in the ancient forests of Etruria. For centuries, my people have watched yours destroy the Earth. You’ve poisoned the water, decimated the forests, forced us into hiding.” The tips of her wings curled over as if 21

Stephanie Julian

pointing at him. “You’ve polluted the air with chemicals and created weapons that mutate the natural order of life.

“And now,” she practically spat the words out of her mouth, “you want to capture me like a mouse in a trap. Make me a pet or a lab experiment. Well, I can tell you, it’s not going to happen.”

Jesus, she was even more beautiful when she was angry.

No, angry didn’t cover it. She was royally pissed. He racked through the copious amount of arcane lore he’d amassed over the years and dug out all the information he had on—What had she called herself? A
folletta
. A spirit associated with air from Italian folklore. Nothing he remembered made him think she was dangerous, although Italian folktales were way bloodier than the English ones.

Her expression proved that the Italians knew what they were talking about.

“Jesus, you’re beautiful.”

The words were out before he could stop them. Not that he didn’t believe them completely, but plying her with compliments probably wouldn’t make her trust him any more than she already did. Which was nil.

Her mouth dropped open a second before she spoke.

“Are you an idiot? I didn’t think so until this minute but now I have to wonder. I could snap your neck with my fingers, tear your heart out of your chest with my hand.”

Her eyes narrowed as her hands moved in the air, acting out her words, and he figured he’d pushed her far enough. “Or would you like me to turn you into the dog you really are?”

The part of him that loved women—and she
was
a woman, no matter that she had wings—couldn’t help but smile at her womanly rage.

Yeah, he was an idiot.

Because, despite the fear she could do any of those things to him, he still wanted her. She was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever met and she had
wings
. She was the 22

Seduced by Magic

embodiment of every fantasy he’d had as a teenage geek, obsessing over Dungeons and Dragons and
The Lord of the Rings
.

Apparently not every part of his body was paralyzed. He had a rock-hard erection that pulsed with lust. His gaze caressed her breasts, her darker skin tone lending credence to her claim of Mediterranean origins. He wanted to suck those peach-colored nipples into his mouth and bite into them until she screamed with pleasure.

She was absolutely gorgeous.

He sat up and reached for her before he remembered he couldn’t—and discovered he could.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as he sat up and cupped her breasts in his hands.

“Maybe we could wait on the dog thing until a little later,” he said. “Unless you like it like that and then I’m all for it, babe.”

He sealed her lips with his before she could say anything else, forced his tongue into her warm mouth and slid one arm around her waist so she couldn’t get away. Then he indulged his curiosity and let his free hand stroke her wings. They were soft, like the finest leather, but petal-thin. He was almost afraid he’d puncture them with his fingers.

She stood there, frozen, and he kissed her, grinding his erection into the soft, cool skin of her belly. Jesus, if he rubbed any more he’d come all over her stomach. And he definitely didn’t want to do that. He wanted to be in her again when he came.

She started to squirm about the time he grabbed her hips in both hands and twisted his body until he had her under him on the bed.

Scarlata hit the bed, still not giving the man much of a fight.

But the second she felt the cool sheets under her, she began to struggle with everything in her, more out of fury than fear.

Her spells did not work on him.

23

Stephanie Julian

Why? Was he countering her spells with his own magic? If so, why hadn’t she recognized him as a magical creature?

She tried to buck him off but he had to weigh nearly eighty pounds more than she did and he stood at least five inches taller. He held her down easily, trailing kisses from her neck to her breasts. With her arms stretched over her head, her wrists held in one of his huge hands, he used his other to hold her hips.

His erection pressed against her stomach, the heat of it nearly scalding her skin.

Involuntarily, her hips rose to that heat and then… Her next thought was only how to make him hurry and enter her.

No! By the Goddess, she wasn’t that easy. This…this
etera
could not be allowed to have the upper hand.

Still, his mouth sent flares of desire through her body everywhere it touched. He’d worked his way to her breasts, laving the left nipple while the hand that had been on her hip now fondled her right breast. The rough texture of his tongue felt like sandpaper against her sensitive flesh and she arched into him, uncaring that he smiled against her before sucking the nipple into his mouth and using his teeth to bite hard enough to make her scream with pleasure.

He made her scream again when he transferred his mouth to the other nipple.

Then he moved lower.

She only realized her hands were free when she fastened them to his broad shoulders and pushed him even farther, until his breath disturbed the curls between her legs. Her moan startled her into opening her eyes and she looked down to see him staring up at her.

He waited for something. Something she knew she shouldn’t give. But she didn’t want him to stop.

And when she didn’t shake her head or move away, that gorgeous mouth of his smiled before he dipped his head and nuzzled his nose into her mound.

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Seduced by Magic

“You smell like the forest,” he said, the words muffled but understandable. “Like earth and trees and wind.”

Then he lapped at her with his tongue—long, slow sweeps that felt like a massage.

The nip on her clitoris was unexpected and sent a short, sharp orgasm rolling through her.

Before the last spasm ended, he stiffened his tongue and shot it into her slit, making her body tighten again. With her hips tight in his hands, he held her still when she wanted to move, needed to move. The loss of control both thrilled and terrified her.

Especially when she realized her hands were tugging at him, urging him to shove inside her and take her again. Her hips arched off the bed as he forced her knees apart with his thighs and slammed his cock into her in one smooth motion.

The sensation made her breath catch in her throat and he further stole her air with the kiss he slanted over her lips.

Goddess, his tongue slid into her mouth in the same rhythm as his cock slid into her sex. It set off a slow burn in the pit of her stomach and made her ache for him to do her harder.

She rubbed her hands down his back until she had her palms against his ass, encouraging him to ride her faster. He let his body answer her unspoken demand, his hips thrusting harder until she had to wrap her legs around his waist to anchor herself to him. And to keep him from getting away.

This time, their joining held power. She could feel it surround them like a living blanket, a fog of sensual magic.

And that’s when she realized she was in more trouble than she’d ever imagined.

25

Stephanie Julian

“What’s your name?”

Justin asked the question against the smooth skin of her neck, his cock still pulsing inside her. He’d come so hard that last time he was afraid he might have blacked out.

Luckily she’d come before him so at least he hadn’t embarrassed himself completely.

But she hadn’t said a word since and he had no idea what to think—except he’d just done it with a
folletta
. Again. He couldn’t stop grinning. Hot damn, he’d just had sex with a myth.

She was living, breathing proof that his dad had been right, that there were races other than humans sharing the world. That he, Justin, wasn’t an idiot geek who’d played a little too much Dungeons and Dragons as a kid. Or did a few too many drugs in college.

He wanted to know everything about her, starting with her name. He began to open his mouth but she finally spoke.

“My name,” her voice came slowly and a little breathlessly, “is Scarlata.”

He rolled to the side but kept an arm around her waist to pull her close. He didn’t want her to get away. He wanted to hold her as close as possible.

She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Refusing to look at him, he figured.

Still, she had told him her name and he wanted her to continue. So he figured it was his turn.

“My name’s Justin, in case you were wondering. You have to know you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He stroked his hand along her hip, trying to put her at ease. The stiffness had crept back into her body. “Does it hurt to lie on your wings?”

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Seduced by Magic

Her mouth twisted in feminine pique and he held back a smile. “Of course not, or I wouldn’t be lying on them.”

“Can you really fly?”

This time she rolled her eyes. “They’re not just for show,
ceffo
.”

Okay, she could call him that—even though he suspected it wasn’t complimentary—until the cows came home if she used that accent. Even her haughty tone fascinated him.

“I used to dream about meeting…someone like you.” He stared at her, willing her to return his gaze, but hers stayed fastened on the ceiling. “I knew there was magic in the world. I’ve always known, even if I could never prove it. My father…he knew too.

He used to tell me stories about the fai—sorry,
folletta
, right?”

She sighed as if bored but she hadn’t moved farther away from him. “Yes, I am
folletti
of the Etruscan
Fata
. You are an
etera
, a human,” she sounded as if she spit the word out. “We are similar creatures in most aspects.” Her mouth twisted in a sarcastic grimace. “Of course
eteri
have no magic.”

“And you’ve got wings because you’re
folletti
?”

She shrugged. “That is the way I am made. Some
Fata
have hooves. Some
Enu
become wolves.
Eteri
are much more generic. Even though you have different skin tones, you all have five toes on each of your feet.”