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An Excerpt From: SEDUCED BY MAGIC
Copyright © STEPHANIE JULIAN, 2008
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
Justin came to two realizations at the same time.
He was definitely awake.
And he was in a shitload of trouble.
The second didn’t sink in until the
woman—creature?—standing before him unfurled pink wings behind her back.
Holy shit. He’d found exactly what he’d been
searching for all these years.
And she was in no way happy he’d done so.
He tried to get off the bed, to stand—and found he
couldn’t move a muscle. He tried to speak but couldn’t force his mouth to
form the words. Fear began to edge out the leftover endorphins from the
incredible sex. Holy hell, had he really had sex with a fairy?
And had he been any good?
Damn, now that was a sobering thought.
She stood, her expression a mix
of haughty censure and anger. With the exception of those wings, she looked
exactly like a pissed-off human female. He hadn’t been far off when he’d
thought she looked like a young Sophia Loren with deep auburn hair that
fell nearly to her waist in rumpled waves. She was as slim as a boy and her
breasts couldn’t be more than a B-cup. Still, she was the most seductive
creature he’d ever seen.
And those pink wings…
No. No, someone must be playing a joke on him. One of
the other researchers must have slipped in here last night and shot him full
of something. Something that impaired his movement. Then they’d paid a
prostitute to slide into bed with him, sleep with him then put on those
wings to screw with his head.
The nerds he worked with in the lab were known for their
practical jokes and were smart enough to get away with them. And everyone
knew about his belief in fairies.
They all thought he was nuts. But in his soul, he knew,
even without his father’s research, that there were creatures of myth
living among humans. He hadn’t needed to see one with his own eyes to know
for sure.
What he didn’t believe was that this fairy had willingly
climbed into his bed and onto him.
The woman blinked once and crossed her arms over her
breasts. She didn’t seem to want to cover her nudity so much as think. What
was she thinking?
Her glare was sharp enough to cut his skin. Was she
going to hurt him?
No, if she’d wanted to do that, she’d had plenty of
opportunity already.
Finally a smile broke across her full lips. Lips he
couldn’t help wanting to devour even if that smile did have a fierce edge.
“Worried yet, human? You should be. I could kill you now
and no one would be the wiser. Did you think I wouldn’t realize what you
were doing out here? What you’ve been looking for with your camera and your
gadgets?”
Shock ratcheted through his still-paralyzed body. No one
knew why he’d really come here. Even though his colleagues knew he believed
in fairies, he hadn’t told anyone of his personal research. Not even his
boss knew why he’d been so eager to get this assignment. He fought to make
his mouth do his bidding but couldn’t get any words out.
“What I’d like to know,” she continued as she paced at
the foot of the bed, “is how you discovered where to look. Not that you
would have seen me if I hadn’t allowed it, but I’m curious. I’ve lived in
these woods for many years. Tell me how you came to detect my presence. You
may speak now if you choose. Or I can kill you.”
An
Excerpt From: SEDUCED IN SHADOW
Copyright © STEPHANIE JULIAN, 2008
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
Ellie gasped and nearly passed out from shock when a
man—tall, dark and dreamy—stepped out from behind the trees.
“Whoa, hey, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The man’s voice was deep, a little raspy, completely
mesmerizing. He held up his hands as if in surrender but when he stepped
forward, she screamed. And fell backward off the bench in her haste to get
away.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
Heart pounding, Ellie scrambled to her feet, keeping the
bench between them.
Oh holy shit. This was it. This was what they
warned women about in those running magazine articles.
How could she have been so stupid? Alone in the woods at
six o’clock in the morning with no one around to hear her scream for help.
The man looked long and lean, a little over six feet
tall she guessed. With those legs, he’d catch her easily if she ran. His
arms bulged with muscle under the short-sleeved green t-shirt that clearly
defined his broad shoulders and flat stomach, while his thighs filled out
his worn jeans.
Despite her fear, she could appreciate the sheer
masculine appeal of the man. He was gorgeous.
Straight, shaggy-cut black hair hung to his shoulders,
long bangs off a side part nearly obscuring light-colored eyes…maybe gray.
He wasn’t close enough for her to tell the exact color, and if she had her
way, he wasn’t getting any closer.
His face was all angles—chiseled
cheeks and chin and straight, pointed nose. Hell, she thought she
even glimpsed pointy ears beneath that silky-looking hair. A slight smile
turned up the corners of his wickedly sexy mouth but it was the scattering
of freckles on that nose that capped his appeal for her. Hell if she knew
why.
The real question was why he was lurking in the woods,
stalking innocent women. With his looks, he’d be able to seduce any woman
he wanted.
Which made the situation all the more
surreal.
Okay, play it cool. You can get out of this.
“Wow. You scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t…expecting to see anyone out
here this early.”
“You’re right.” His smile kicked in again and this time
her breath caught in her throat at his pure masculinity. “There shouldn’t be
anyone out here this early.”
Right. Maybe she was reading this situation
completely wrong. What if this guy was a park ranger? She’d gladly take a
ticket for trespassing instead of rape and murder any day.
Playing on her blonde, violet-eyed looks for all she was
worth, Ellie fluttered her eyelashes at him and turned on the bright smile
that had gotten her out of many high school scrapes.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t realize… I mean, the sun
is up and I just wasn’t thinking. Am I in trouble?”
His smile widened and she felt heat that had nothing to
do with the air temperature begin to pool low in her stomach.
How inappropriate was that? From
terrified to horny in two minutes.
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