Seduced by Magic

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Seduced by Magic ISBN 9781419914935 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Seduced by Magic Copyright © 2008 Stephanie Julian. Edited by Carole Genz. Photography and cover art by Les Byerley. Electronic book Publication March 2008 With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/) This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

SEDUCED BY MAGIC

Stephanie Julian

Trademarks Acknowledgement The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Alice in Wonderland: Disney Enterprises, Inc. Barbie: Mattel, Inc. Coke: The Coca-Cola Company Corporation Dodge Dart: Chrysler Corporation Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Ford: Ford Motor Company Marlboro: Philip Morris Inc. Saranac: Matt Brewing Company, Inc. The Lord of the Rings: Saul Zaentz Company, The DBA Tolkien Enterprises

Seduced by Magic

Chapter One Through the window, Scarlata watched the man sleep. The warm summer air caressed her bare skin, pebbling her nipples into tight nubs of pure sensation and drawing her womb into a ball of anticipation. She’d come to kill him. Not fuck him. Still, her sex moistened and her breasts ached each time she caught a glimpse of him. This man—who wanted to make her a pet. Or worse. Well, the tables were about to be turned. She shook her wings for a second before tucking them close to her back, merging them into her skin. Then she walked to the front door—the only door—and laid her hand on the cool brass knob. It turned, even though he’d locked it before stripping naked and falling into his tumbled sheets. Science didn’t allow for magic. That was his first failing. Only the first of many, she was sure. Walking through the door of the single-story cabin, she stopped to look around the room. To the right, a living area contained an upholstered chair, a table and a television on a stand, tucked neatly into the corner. She crooked a finger and the TV hummed to life. The snowy screen baffled her for a moment until the rectangular box next to it hummed and clicked. Then the TV screen cleared and people appeared. Two men and one woman involved in a convoluted sex act featuring grunting and awful music.

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The man hadn’t been with a woman since he’d arrived at this cabin in the eastern Pennsylvania forest five weeks ago. He hadn’t taken his car anywhere and the only person to visit had been a food-delivery boy. She knew he’d become frustrated in the past week, having found nothing to prove his theories. A smile curved her lips. Obviously he was frustrated in other ways as well. Turning, she took in the chaos that began on the far side of the room. Papers covered the dining table and the lone wooden chair. She ran her hands through the pages, creating a pale waterfall onto the floor. Words like “subject”, “test” and “resistance” jumped out at her from those pages. The English language continued to sound harsh to her ears, even after more than two centuries. Still, when he spoke with a voice that reminded her of the growl of a Lucani, it held a kind of magic of its own. Leaving the dining area, she followed a paper trail down the hall to a small room on the left, where the chaos seemed to have a system. Books tottered on waist-high stacks, papers and magazines in piles. A slim notebook computer sat on a table under the window. Over the past five weeks, she’d watched—sometimes from a nearby tree branch or sometimes just outside the window—while he sat for hours on end, either typing or staring into the forest surrounding the house. Fool human. He’d never seen her. Not even when she walked next to him while he hiked through the forest, watching the raptors that had given Hawk Mountain its name glide on the air currents. Her glamour allowed her to stand five feet in front of him without his knowledge. Fool to think he could outwit her, to believe he could trap her and keep her in a cage to study like an animal. She turned, letting her anger begin to heat her blood, and headed for the open doorway on the other side of the hall. 6

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Walking into his bedroom without making a sound, she felt cool wood flooring give way to plush carpet, decadent against the soles of her sensitive feet. She stood for a brief second, eyes closed, as she dug all six of her toes into the luxurious wool rug. He’d brought this rug with him. She’d watched as he’d unrolled it beside the bed the first day he’d arrived. When she opened her eyes, she let her gaze find him in the pale glimmer of moonlight filtering through the window. A stream of silver cut across his back, leaving his head and shoulders in darkness but revealing a sleek expanse of back and the hollowed curves of his gorgeous ass. Goddess, he was a beautiful specimen. She cocked her head to the side, watching the steady rise and fall of his back. His skin gleamed with a slight sheen of sweat due to the heat of the night. Even here in the forest, the temperature hovered around eighty degrees. This region of the United States was in the thrall of a heat wave. Temperatures reached one hundred degrees during the day, while barely dropping into the low eighties overnight. He’d abandoned most of his clothes the last few days, wearing only a pair of shorts that brushed his knees and hung low on his hips. He didn’t bother with underwear anymore. She drew in a breath, surprised at how hard she had to work for it. She wanted to touch him. Needed to touch him so badly her fingers ached and curled into fists at her hips. An ancient spell to ensure his continued slumber whispered from her lips and she watched it sink into his skin with a pale shimmer. Spreading her fingers, she reached out to touch the warm flesh of his back. The smooth texture reminded her of new leaves and his scent… Oh, his scent was sweat and heat, musk and male. It made her lungs tighten even further.

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It would be a shame not to have him before she disposed of him. It’d been ages since she’d enjoyed sex with an etera, a human with no magical abilities. Eteri had learned to be inventive in ways forgotten by her people, the folletti. A race of the mythic Etruscan Fata, folletti had long ago lost the ability to enjoy themselves. Unlike the Enu, the humans of magical Etruscan descent such as the streghe and the shape-changing versipelli, the Fata, such as the folletti, the linchetti and the salbinelli, had non-human attributes—wings, pointed ears or furred legs. Some Fata who could blend did so. Like the linchetti. But those like her, with hooves or wings, lived in hiding, in fear of being discovered. Reduced to seeking refuge in the ever-shrinking parts of the world humans had forgotten, could not penetrate or simply didn’t want, those types of Fata cared more about survival. This man threatened her existence. And those under her care. Sprawled in the center of the bed, he murmured something in his sleep and rolled onto his back. Her breath caught in her throat at his masculine beauty. Her fingers slid from his broad shoulders to his firmly muscled chest then dipped to caress his nipples. The little nubs hardened under her touch and she tweaked them before continuing a downward path to his flat stomach. By the time she reached the line of fine, dark blond hair that arrowed straight to his large cock, he had already thickened in arousal. She allowed her fingers to curl around his hard length, smiling at the way his shaft pulsed in her hand as more blood rushed to the organ. The flesh became hot to the touch and her fingers tightened in response. When he moaned in his sleep, her sex clenched and the ache low in her gut became all-consuming. She needed to ease that ache. Now. Releasing him, she slid onto the bed and straddled his thighs, bracing her hands on the hard muscles of his chest. Such strength under velvet skin. She could stroke it all

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night. Barely able to see his features in the dark, she blew a stream of power at the bedside lamp. When it flickered to life, it allowed her to see him completely. Asleep, his face looked almost boyish. Another smile curved her lips as her gaze shot back to his groin. Maybe not so boyish. But oh, his face. So classically handsome. Strong, square jaw. Straight, aquiline nose. His eyes were closed but she knew they were lightly colored, green or blue. His hair was blond but not one simple shade. It was caramel and wheat and gold. Colors that bespoke his work outdoors. Chasing her. Her smile fled as her eyes dropped to his lips. Firm and straight, they were parted slightly as if he was having trouble breathing. Good. She wanted him to suffer. Wanted to make him pay for the worry that ate at her. She would take her pleasure tonight. But he would find none. And he would remember this only as an unfulfilled dream in the morning. Of course, if she killed him tonight, he would remember nothing. To take her mind off that suddenly dreary thought, she again wrapped her fingers around his thick cock, so engorged it lay flat against his stomach. She pulled it toward her, holding it firmly until it pointed straight into the air. She shifted forward until the tip brushed her vaginal lips, teasing her clit. Shivers of sensation danced from that small bundle of nerves to her womb and straight into her spinal cord. Pleasure sizzled like magic along her nerve endings. But where magic could drain her, sex energized her. Sex shot pure adrenaline into her bloodstream. She drew in a deep breath—filled with his scent. It teased a moan from her that echoed throughout the room. And elicited an answering groan from the man. She ignored him. Her sleeping spell would keep him out while she took her pleasure. And if he did please her, she would make sure he suffered no pain when she took his life.

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Still, she didn’t want this to end too quickly. A slow, steady climax was always more desirable than quick gratification. She’d been alone for so many years now and human males never could last more than thirty minutes, at least in her experience. What was thirty minutes in the span of a six-hundred-year life? With her hands braced on his chest, she slid her wet flesh against his cock until it was soaked with the moisture seeping from her body. For half an hour, she rubbed her flesh against his, coming close but not achieving orgasm. She never allowed the tip of his cock to slip farther than an inch inside her body. Instead, she used the swollen head to rub against her throbbing clitoris then slid forward to allow it to tease the plump, hot lips. Eyes closed, she concentrated on sensation, ignoring the man, pleasuring herself with his body. But as the minutes passed, she found herself staring down at him. His face didn’t contain the perfection of the folletti but it had a rugged beauty all of its own. Her hand found its way to his jaw. Her skin, dark olive against his golden tones, caught on the stubble of the beard he hadn’t bothered to shave in several days. She wondered what his jaw would feel like rubbing against her skin. Between her legs. She moaned and finally let herself slide onto his cock, seating herself to the hilt. The wiry hair at the base of his erection meshed with the fine silk of her mound and she reached down to spread her lips so that the hair could tickle her clitoris. And then his eyes opened.

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Chapter Two Justin Johannson was having the best damn dream ever. A beautiful woman had crawled into his bed and was rubbing her body against his, slow and steady. It had been more than three months since he’d been with a woman and sometimes his hand wasn’t good enough. He’d resorted to porn flicks to jack off to in the last couple of days but he’d take a wet dream over video any day. Especially this one. He didn’t know the lady. As a matter of fact, he couldn’t see her. Her face was in shadow. All he could see—actually he couldn’t see anything. He could only feel. He tried to open his eyes but they were so heavy it didn’t seem worth the effort. Besides, if he opened them, the dream would end. He knew he had to be asleep because his entire body felt weighted. Even his dick felt heavier, thicker. So he let the dream take its course, knowing he’d wake up in sticky sheets, but hell, it’d be worth it. He hadn’t even penetrated her yet and it was worth it. Then she proved his point when she slid onto his cock, her internal muscles clamping onto his shaft, sucking him into her body. It was so worth it. He moaned then drew in a deep breath laced with her scent—flowers and rain and something earthier. Jesus, she smelled wonderful. And now he couldn’t wait. He had to know what she looked like. With an effort, he blinked and lifted his lids just wide enough to stare into the purest green eyes he’d ever seen.

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Spring grass, new leaves, clear-cut emeralds. They were almost too beautiful to be believed. He definitely had to be dreaming. Except those eyes widened and he heard a gasp. His gaze transferred to her mouth, her full pink lips parted in disbelief. He blinked a few more times and her features started to coalesce. She looked a little like that Italian actress from the Sixties. What was that woman’s name? High, sculpted cheekbones. Pointed chin. Dark, auburn hair that curled and fell over her shoulders. Sophia Loren. That was it. Now why the hell would he dream about Sophia Loren? And who the hell cared? He lifted his hands to brush her hair over her shoulders so he could see her breasts. Not large but high and firm. He covered them with his hands and squeezed, plucking at the firm nipples and eliciting another gasp. Damn, she felt more real than any dream he’d ever had. Not that he was complaining. Hell no. He didn’t care if he never woke up, as long as she stayed with him. Releasing her breasts, he swept his hands to her silky soft shoulders then down firmly muscled arms. From there, his hands shifted to her slim hips. Her skin felt cool beneath his touch as he lifted her by the hips, contrasting with the heat of her pussy as she slid back down his cock. She was wet and sleek and… God, let him never wake up.

Dear Goddess, what would she do now? The man was awake. But how? How had he broken through her sleeping spell? More importantly, did she really care at the moment? 12

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No, not really. She only wanted him to continue to slide her up and down his shaft. The drag from his flesh on her internal walls was an exquisite friction she didn’t want to relinquish. And he seemed in no hurry to finish. He took his time, eyes slitted, his mouth a straight line as he watched her. The motion of his hips as he thrust into her rubbed her clit against the root of his cock. Each movement brought her closer to an orgasm that threatened to make her heart stop. No, she couldn’t allow that to happen. She was in control here or, at least, she had been. She had to be. But her body decided otherwise. Her orgasm broke, sending a wave of ecstasy through her body. Crying out, she grabbed onto his wrists to steady herself, feeling her moisture spill onto his cock and drip between them. “That’s right, baby,” she heard him croon. “Come for me.” His voice, husky and tinged with a slight accent of the American South, wrung more spasms from her body and still he continued to move. Finally the orgasm abated and, with more than a little willpower, she forced herself to focus again on his face. He was smiling, his eyes half-closed. “Damn, that was good. This is the best fucking dream I’ve ever had. And I ain’t ready to wake up yet.” She hadn’t anticipated his next move. In one smooth motion, he rolled and she found herself on her back, legs spread as he pumped himself into her, slow and smooth. “Put your arms around my neck, honey.” His voice, gruff with sleep and arousal, teased her right ear, his breath hot against her flesh. “And hold on. Jesus, you feel like heaven.” She complied without thinking, sliding her arms around his shoulders, her fingers sinking into sweat-slick skin.

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He held himself above her but let his forehead rest on hers as he thrust, slow and steady. He didn’t vary his rhythm and it became an almost unbearable sensual torture. Time stretched then ceased to exist. Only the sound of his breath in her ear and the friction of his flesh against hers held any meaning. It was almost as if he were weaving his own spell around her, which she knew couldn’t be possible. This man had no magic. Except the magic of his voice as he told her how beautiful she was as he fucked her. “Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Your breasts are beautiful. I want to put my mouth on them. And I will but, Jesus, right now I only want to sink myself in you for as long as I can. I feel like I could go all night. I love how you put your legs around my waist, the way they cling to me—” He broke off with a groan and froze, groin pressed to groin. “Whoa, gotta stop. Just for a sec. Don’t wanna come yet. Feels too damn good. Baby, you feel too damn good.” Her mouth opened to speak but she didn’t want to rouse him from whatever dream state he thought he was in. Still, his words struck a chord in her, somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. No one had spoken to her in that caressing tone in decades, possibly more than a century. She hated to admit she’d missed it. It made her womb clench and she tightened her pussy around him. He groaned. “You keep doing that and this is going to be over now.” It was a challenge she couldn’t resist. She contracted her muscles again and this time he bucked against her as if he’d been slapped from behind. “I don’t want to wait anymore,” she whispered into his ear. “Make me come again. Ride me hard and make me scream.” Then she fastened her teeth onto his earlobe and bit down, hard enough to be painful. He groaned again, low in this throat. “Jesus Christ, girl, stick a knife in my heart. It’d be faster. Hold on now ’cause this could get rough.”

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“I’m counting on it,” she whispered back, knowing he’d reached his breaking point and enjoying the fact that she’d pushed him over it. His next thrust felt like a battering ram trying to breach a barred gate. She felt his sac hit her ass with each push, knew the exact second he lost all control and slammed his cock into her with brutal force. She loved every second of it. His size made each reentry a delicious mix of pleasure and pain—stretching, burning, rubbing. Her clit throbbed like it was on fire and another climax hit her when she wasn’t expecting it, making her scream. He cried out as the strength of his orgasm caused his back to bow and his hips to smash into hers one last time. His cock continued to jerk and release his hot seed for several seconds before he finally was spent and collapsed on top of her. His head dropped on the pillow next to hers, facing away. She didn’t know how long they lay there, breathing. Their chests rose and fell in unison, their skin fused together with sweat. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Just the opposite. But she got a better impression of his weight. This man could crush her. Why hadn’t she realized before that his slimness belied the heavy muscle under his skin? This had been a huge mistake. She had to get out of here. Especially considering that her magic hadn’t worked on him. And she’d let him have sex with her, even though it’d been her idea in the first place. There was little chance of her getting pregnant—she’d never managed to before, although she’d tried for years when she was younger—but she didn’t know anything more about this man other than he wanted to capture her for use in a science experiment. What if he had some dreaded disease? What if— He shifted and sighed, turned his head and nuzzled his nose into her neck.

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“I’ve never had a dream as real as this one before, baby. But I’m gonna be sleeping a lot more now if you show up again.” Then he slid to her side, threw a leg over her thighs and an arm over her chest, one hand cupping her left breast. He toyed with the nipple while she lay there, trying to figure out what to do. She should kill him now. Make it quick and easy. She’d had her fun and he…well, he’d given her more pleasure than she’d found in the last three hundred years. It seemed such a shame to get rid of him so soon. His hand slid from her breast to her stomach to her hips and finally to her mound, where he tangled his fingers in her short curls. How easy it would be to let him please her again. Why couldn’t she keep him, just for a few days? Well, for one thing, her magic hadn’t worked on him. Though maybe she’d been too distracted to weave the spell correctly. It was worth another try, especially if it meant she could have him again. Closing her eyes, she began a binding spell, muttering words in a long-forgotten language. It was hard to concentrate with his fingers moving in ever-widening circles on her mound. They brushed her clit then swept away. Came close the next time but didn’t touch. She had to start the spell twice before she got it right. She knew she’d been successful when his hand froze in mid-sweep. “What the—” A smile crept across her face as she rose from the bed, slipping from his now-stiff arms. When she stood, he could only follow her with his eyes. Beautiful blue eyes, now filled with uncertainty. And when she unfurled her wings behind her and shook her hair over her shoulders, his eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

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Now he was truly awake.

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Chapter Three 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.

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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.” 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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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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“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.

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Chapter Four “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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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.” That made him glance at her feet and his mouth dropped open. She had three toes on each foot, vaguely reminding him of a deer’s hoof. Whoa. It took him a few minutes to ask his next question. “So how do your wings work?” Now she did look at him and her raised brows made his heart pound. “I thought you were a smart man.” His short bark of laughter lifted her brows even higher.

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“You know, I always considered myself a smart man. I thought I knew things about the world others didn’t. Obviously I don’t know as much as I thought. So you were born in Italy?” “I was born in 1698 in Toscana. My parents were killed in the purge of 1758 and I left for America shortly after that.” Holy shit! 1698? What the hell? Then he processed what else she’d said. “The what? The purge?” Now she turned her head to look at him, her wide eyes narrowed. “Why do you care? Why do you need to know the answers to all these questions?” He shrugged, trying to strike a balance between fascinated and stunned. She was more than three hundred years old. And she didn’t look a day over twenty-five. Jeez, the things she must have seen in that time. He was only twenty-eight. He wondered how she saw him. Finally he remembered to answer her question. “I’m a researcher. I watch and study, record what I find. Then I make conclusions.” “And what are you studying here if not me?” He felt almost foolish admitting it now. “I guess you could say I was looking for you.” She sat up in bed. “Ha! So you did know I was out here?” “No!” He scrambled up and straddled her lap, forcing her back against the headboard, his hands on either side of her head so she couldn’t get away. “No, I didn’t. Not for sure. I was sent here to study the hawks but I was told this might be a place where I could find…what I was looking for.” The other research geeks at BD Enterprises had considered this a crappy assignment, isolated and tedious, but he’d jumped at the chance to come because, as a child, his father had told him this place was special, that fairies lived here.

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He’d never expected to find one. Not really. He’d hoped and prayed since he was a child that one day he would prove his dad right. Prove he hadn’t been crazy. That magic did exist. And here she sat, magic personified, from her wings to the feel of her skin under his. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek, looking deeply into those grass-green eyes. She blinked once. “And did you?” “Did I what?” “Find what you were looking for?” Hell yes. He’d found exactly what he’d been searching for all his life.

Justin stared into her eyes with an intensity that burned. Scarlata had never experienced the sensation of another person trying to see inside her before. To see into her soul and discover truths about herself she’d rather keep hidden. This was not good. Panic made her slap his arms away so she could jump out of bed, wings emerging to curl around her shoulders in defense. “This is madness!” Nothing had gone the way she’d thought it would. Not only had they had sex—really great sex, but she wasn’t going to think about that right now—but he seemed to be immune to her spells. The only magic was the magic sparking between the two of them. And that was really not good. Just for the hell of it, she cast another spell. And stamped her foot in frustration when he did not turn into a frog. “Argh!” she screamed at him, arms waving. “Who are you?”

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His eyes widened in shock then he started to laugh. “You just tried to curse me again, didn’t you? And you’re pissed because it didn’t turn me into what…a dog? Sorry but I’d rather not be any furrier than I already am.” “The spell was for a frog, ceffo. And I do not understand what’s going on here. Why are you immune to my magic? Who are you?” He spread his hands in front of his bare chest as if in supplication. She could stare at that chest all day but forced herself to look up. She found the expression on his face anything but apologetic. “I’m Justin Johannson, son of Barbara and the late Michael Johannson. I have a baby sister named Fiorella and I could live on Italian food for the rest of my life. I think professional ice hockey is the only real man’s sport. I’ve never been married because I’m too much of a workaholic and women who know me tend to think I’m missing a few marbles upstairs because I believe in magic.” She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his, the bluest eyes she’d ever seen on a man. As bright as the sky on a clear autumn day. Those eyes encouraged her to believe everything he said. She found herself waiting for him to say something more in that harsh rumble he called a voice. “I’ve been chasing a dream for the last ten years of my life and now that the dream is real, I can’t even get worked up over the fact that you want to turn me into a frog.” He rose from the bed to stand before her and she stood her ground, spine straightening, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of backing away. At least that’s what she told herself. It was not because she wanted to breathe in his scent when he got close enough to touch. “I’ve just met the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life,” he continued. “I’ve just had the most incredible sexual experience and I want to know everything about you and then I want to take you back to bed.” Which was exactly where she wanted to be…

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“No!” She backpedaled away from him before he could touch her again. “This isn’t right. I must leave. But I must do something about you first.”

Justin realized that her “something” wasn’t going to be as pleasurable as sex. And if he didn’t want his time with her to end anytime soon, he’d have to do something fast. Sex always served as a good distraction, so he smiled, letting all the desire he felt for her show. He’d been told by several women over the years that this particular smile could melt a woman’s icy heart and soak her panties. “Well, now I have a few ideas.” He moved close enough to touch but kept a few scant inches between them. “What happened earlier blew me away. Think how much better it could be if we really put our minds to it.” Her eyes narrowed and he knew she wasn’t taken in by that smile. Over the course of her life, she’d probably seen just about everything. “Your pitiful attempts to stall are grating on my nerves,” she countered. Then her head cocked to the side and he didn’t trust her thoughtful expression. “I can’t allow you to keep the memories you have of this night.” That definitely didn’t sound good. Still, she wasn’t talking about killing him exactly. Just—what? Wiping his memories? Could she do that? “Did you know sex can power very strong magic, Justin?” He didn’t expect her to reach out and grab his cock in one silky smooth hand. His blood surged, making him grow rock-hard, as if he hadn’t just come twice in the last two hours. “Whoa, baby.” He jumped back, away from her hands. “Let’s slow down a little.” Slow down, hell. In reality, he wanted to rev up, already missed the feel of her hand on his rapidly engorging dick. But she was up to something and he probably wasn’t going to like it. That comment about sex magic made him reconsider his sex-as-adistraction plan.

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She tilted her head to the side like a little bird, all those silky red curls sliding over her bare shoulder. Some of the strands fell across her breast, caressing the nipple. He wanted to fasten his teeth to it again. He clamped down on the urge before she could realize how she was affecting him. He had to get them out of this bedroom if he was going to get his head clear enough to think. And steer her away from any more attempts to put a spell on him. He really didn’t want to end up with a tail but he didn’t want her to leave either. “So are you hungry, Red?” The nickname rolled off his tongue much easier than her name. Much more intimate. “How about we get some food?” She continued to stare at him, unblinking for a few seconds before nodding thoughtfully. “Yes, we’ll have some food. You’ll need to refuel for what I have in mind.” He reached for the cargo shorts he’d dropped on the chair before he’d gone to bed. He really should get clean ones out of the drawer but that seemed like too much trouble. Pulling them up his bare legs, he kept one eye on her. “And what do you have in mind?” he asked. She shrugged. “You’re right. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.” Without another word, she walked out of the room. He zipped up the shorts, tripping over his sandals and the towel he’d used after his shower last night. Damn, he needed to clean up. The cabin looked like it’d been hit by a tornado. Then again, he was a guy. He lived alone up here and hadn’t had a visitor since he’d arrived. Still, he didn’t want her to think he was a slob. Shit, who the hell was he kidding? He was a slob. He found her in the kitchen staring into the open refrigerator. What did he have in there? Not a lot, since he hadn’t had a food delivery in more than a week. Maybe

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longer. The freezer was stocked with meat though. He’d arrived with enough for a sixmonth stay. He was a carnivore and proud of it. He stared at her slim, naked body. With his luck, she was probably a vegetarian. “Do you eat nothing but meat?” she asked. Oh yeah. Definitely a vegetarian. “Um, I haven’t been to the store for a while.” He opened cupboards, looking for anything that might appeal to a vegetarian fai—folletta, he reminded himself. He needed to remember that or she’d try to zap him with another curse. And really, how long could his luck hold before one of her spells worked and he wound up with a tail? “Hey, how about peanut butter and jelly?” He pulled the jars out of the cabinet, stalling for time. He needed to think. “That sounds good for a midnight—uh, two a.m. snack.” Did he have bread? Yeah, he had a loaf in the freezer. He fished it out and threw it on the counter. At least he knew that would be fresh. She stepped away and let him bang through the kitchen, getting plates and cups and a knife. Then he stuck the bread in the microwave to defrost. When the machine beeped, he made the sandwiches and poured milk then took the plates to the small table along the wall of the kitchen area. As he pushed the papers off to one side, he was relieved to find she’d followed him with the glasses. They snacked in silence. She ate with a dainty precision that had him salivating every time she licked a crumb from her lips. He couldn’t remember eating but knew he must have because his sandwich was gone by the time she finished her milk. He watched her tilt the cup back, watched the play of her throat as she swallowed. And he still didn’t have a clue what to do next. “Now,” she said in a voice so low he almost wasn’t sure she’d spoken at all, “what am I going to do with you?” He’d been thinking the exact same thing as her green gaze snagged his, holding him in place.

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“I’m sure you know I can’t have you wandering around telling the rest of the eteri there are magical creatures in the world. Still, I need to find out who sent you here.” She smiled so naturally he couldn’t help but be awed. “You do want to tell me, don’t you?” Hell, at this point, what did it matter? It wasn’t like she was going to challenge them at a zoning hearing board. And maybe the truth would earn her trust. “I work for BD Enterprises,” he said. “I really am here to study the migration patterns of the hawks. The company wants to buy a tract of land to the north of Hawk Mountain to build a research facility and they want data to support their claims that it will have no impact on the sanctuary. Personally I think that’s a load of crap. Any development in rural areas affects the surrounding environment. But they’re paying me to spend a few weeks in the woods, out of the lab. So I’m not complaining.” He stared at her, his heart pounding. God, she was beautiful. Her eyes, that brilliant shade of green he’d never seen on another living being, looked almost…hypnotizing. Justin shook his head, trying to straighten his thoughts, though they were getting a little fuzzy. “I love it out here. When I was little, my dad used to tell me stories about the fairies that lived on the mountain. Woodland spirits who took care of the trees and the birds and all the animals that lived here.” His father had been one hell of a storyteller. “I didn’t realize until I was older he hadn’t been telling tales. They were the truth.” His eyes felt so heavy but he didn’t want to fall asleep. If he fell asleep, he was afraid he’d wake to find this had all been a dream. He shook his head, attempting to clear some of the fog. “We used to hike here when I was a kid. In the summer we’d come a couple times a month. “You know, my dad smoked until the day he died. But my mom,” he smiled, “she wouldn’t let him smoke in the house. He had to go out on the porch or in the backyard. But he never smoked on the mountains. Not once.”

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Damn, he’d never realized that before. He just hadn’t made the connection in his child’s mind. But now, twenty years later, it made perfect sense. His dad hadn’t wanted to pollute the purity of the mountain. Scarlata’s brows drew together for one brief second before he continued asking, “How long have you lived here on this mountain?” He wasn’t sure she was going to answer until she took a deep breath. “I came to America over two hundred years ago. This mountain has been my home since then, for the most part. However, the more people come to the mountain, the more I tend to retreat to the shadows, those places where humans aren’t likely to go.” “Are there others like you who live here? Others that my dad might have seen. Or met?” Had his father had an encounter with another folletta like the one he’d just had? That would certainly explain why his parents’ marriage had fallen apart. Scarlata looked away but she blinked and he had his answer. “There are, aren’t there?” Even he could hear the wonder in his voice. “Others like you.” She shook her head but didn’t answer. Then again, she didn’t need to. He wanted to pump his fist in victory but couldn’t seem to rouse the energy. Plus, he didn’t want to scare her. Whatever mojo she’d thrown at him earlier had stuck, at least for a little while. He didn’t want to find out what else she could do to him. “A lot more?” he asked. She shrugged, the movement causing her naked breasts to jiggle and his cock to leap to attention. Down, boy. Damn, he needed to get a grip. He’d never been this horny before. Then again, he’d never met the embodiment of his wet dreams before. “I do not know what you would consider a lot,” she replied. Rising, she gathered their plates and glasses and turned to place them in the sink. She stood there for several seconds, staring out the small window.

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As he watched, she curled and tucked her wings against her back until they disappeared under her waist-length hair. If she put on clothes—which he hoped she never decided to do—you wouldn’t realize they were there. Did she ever leave this forest? If she did, where did she go? How had she gotten from Italy to America two hundred years ago? Did she live in a little house out there in the woods? In the trees? What about the other Fata she’d talked about? Did they have a little village out there somewhere? What about the Enu she’d mentioned? So many questions. And yet he was so freaking excited. His dad had been right. But that brought up another question. If his dad had known about these beings all along, then who else knew? Fear gathered like a tight ache in his chest. Only the fear wasn’t for himself. It was for her.

Scarlata knew he watched her as she washed their dirty dishes with the little sponge by the sink. Though she’d not lived around eteri for a very long time, she did know they didn’t leave their dishes sitting around and the menial chore gave her a chance to think. She took her time, soaping each item thoroughly then rinsing them with the same care. She had planned to have sex with Justin again, enough sex to power a spell that she would use to wipe his memories of their time together. Though she’d believed she could take his life when this night had first started, she no longer thought she could. The man was too…alive. She couldn’t bring herself to take that life. Still, he couldn’t leave here with knowledge of her. It went against everything her parents had taught her. Of course they hadn’t taken their own advice and they’d been killed in the Purge by the barbarian villagers who’d once called themselves their

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friends. After their deaths, she’d turned her back on her homeland and moved here to start fresh. She’d tried to blend at first. To live among the eteri. But their greed and sloth and the filth of their cities had caused her to retreat farther into the woods. Instead of hiding among the eteri, now she hid in the forest. And now Justin… Strangely enough, she believed his story. All of it. She’d seen no deception in his aura while he spoke. It was…unsettling. She squeezed the sponge until the last drops of water fell into the sink then set it on the drain board. She couldn’t bring herself to harm him. Every time she thought about it, her stomach twisted in on itself. Turning, she allowed herself to look at him. There was fear in his aura, fear that ripped at her. She did not want him to fear her. She wanted to return to his bed and let him take her mind off all this—mess. And it was a mess. Mostly of her own making. “This was a mistake,” she said. “I should never have come.” He shook his head. “There’s no way in hell this was a mistake. It’s too good. We’re too good together.” Rising from the chair, he made his way to her, his expression a hard mask of lust. No one had looked at her like that in the past one hundred years. Maybe longer. It made her feel desired. A long-forgotten warmth spread through her entire body. She missed being close to a male, missed the heat of a male’s need. She wanted more time with him, wanted more of him. The hard decisions could wait until morning. And that was at least three hours away. More than enough time. 37

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She waited until he stood directly in front of her, frozen in place by the blaze of his blue eyes. She held his gaze until she thought she’d internally combust then let her own eyes drop to his lips, a tight, straight line she wanted to kiss. From there, it was a short trip to his lightly haired chest that rose and fell at a steadily increasing pace. His shorts hung on his hips, low enough that the plum-red tip of his cock had escaped the waistband. He stood only inches from her for several long seconds, his erection straining under her gaze. The tip had already begun to weep. She wanted to fall to her knees and take him in her mouth, taste him. Before she could, Justin grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. Her hands slapped on the counter. “Wha—” Before she could protest, he clapped a hand over her mouth. At the same time, he pressed his rigid cock into the crease of her ass. Sharp desire tightened her sex and cramped her stomach. Moaning into his hand, she opened her mouth to lick at his salty skin. More, she wanted more. “Oh Christ.” Justin’s voice sounded like a growl. “I want you. I’ve gotta—don’t move. I don’t want to hurt you but I’ve gotta—just tell me if I hurt you.” She felt his hand working between their bodies, heard the metallic rasp of his zipper. Then he pulled away and seconds later his thick cock plunged deep into her sex, creating a firestorm of friction and emotion that made her head spin. What had happened to her in such a short time that she desired him so much? She’d never felt like this before, never lost control so completely that reasoning became impossible…unwanted even.

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She bent farther over the counter, increasing his access, whimpering for him to withdraw and plunge again. His hands fell to her waist and he did exactly what she wanted. With a low groan, he shoved so far inside she thought she could feel him in her womb. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.” He whispered the words into her ear where they tumbled around her dazed brain for a few seconds. She felt his flesh thicken further inside her. “Christ, you’re so tight and hot. I could die right here and not regret a damn thing.” But she would, she realized, as he withdrew inch by inch only to drive into her again with enough force to have the edge of the counter cut into her stomach. She bit her lip to stop the gasp of pain from escaping, not wanting him to stop. Not when he made the whole world spin around her. Definitely not when she liked it as much as she did. Unaccustomed tears sprang to her eyes, having nothing to do with the counter cutting into her middle. A sob caught her just as he thrust. He froze, his hands flexing into her hips. “Damn, are you okay? I don’t wanna hurt you.” “I’m not hurt.” Though her heart might just break later. “Don’t stop. Not now.” His fingers released her hips. “No!” She reached for his hands. “Don’t stop.” “I’m not,” he said softly into her ear as he wrapped one arm around her hips, cushioning them against the counter’s sharp edge. “I’m not going anywhere.” To prove his point, he ground his hips against her ass cheeks, pressing his cock even farther inside her. “Come on, baby. Lean forward…just a little more.” He placed a hand on the back of her neck and showed her what he wanted. That was all it took for her to surrender.

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And to realize she liked it.

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Chapter Five Justin came so hard he swore he shook his spine out of alignment. And all it took was her surrender. She bent her forehead to the counter, her hair spilling over her shoulders, baring her neck and back. He lost it then, exploded in a flash of heat that fried his brain and made his heart pound so hard he thought he might be having a heart attack. When he finally stopped shaking, he realized she hadn’t moved. As he pulled away slightly, his gaze caught on the pale, tattoo-like outline in the shape of her wings on her back. He didn’t even know if she’d come this time. “Red, are you okay?” “If I wasn’t, you would have been the first to know.” Her voice, muffled against the counter where she still rested her head, sounded tired. The clock on the stove to the left read 3:08 a.m. Like a bulldozer, his own weariness hit him and he laid his head against her back. Directly on that wing-shaped outline. “That’s just too weird,” he mumbled. She flinched and he tightened his arm around her waist while he rubbed the back of her neck. He slipped out of her as her muscles began to ease. She gasped, just a tiny intake of breath. “What are you talking about?” Damn, he must have said that loud enough for her to hear. “Your wings. Where’d they go?” “Oh.” Was that relief he heard in her tone? “They’re there. Just…stored for the moment.” 41

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“Is that how you’ve managed to live here all these years without anyone knowing about you?” She moved and though he didn’t want to release her, he did so she could turn around. But when she continued to move away from him, he set both hands on either side of her on the counter, trapping her in his embrace. Her chin tilted and her head lifted so she could glare into his eyes. But she quickly looked away. “There are some of us who live among the eteri. I chose not to. I don’t care to blend.” She made the last word sound like a curse. “And you wouldn’t,” he said. Reaching for the strand of hair that curled over her shoulder, he rubbed the smooth, fiery red lock between his fingers. “You’re just too beautiful, Red. People would be drawn to you. Men especially.” Her gaze shot back to his, eyes rounded, and her mouth parted as if he’d said something that shocked her. Hell, it shouldn’t come as any surprise to her that he thought she was beautiful. He’d told her so many times already. Still… “You are, you know. Beautiful.” Her expression softened and a small smile tilted the corners of her mouth. Then she shook her head and the smile faded. “You do know I can’t let you leave here with the knowledge you now possess?” she said. Yeah, he knew that. And it satisfied some part of him that she struggled with the decision. She had to be struggling otherwise he’d probably be dead by now. But to come this close to proving decades of research correct—more importantly, vindicating his father—and have it slip away was devastating. He released her and turned to the refrigerator. He needed a drink, something to wipe away the taste of her, the scent of the sex they’d just had, so he could think.

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“So you’re going to—what? Erase my memories? Or just kill me?” He laughed bitterly, a brief exhalation of air. “After tonight, I might die a happy man. But I’ll fight you all the way. I don’t want only one night with you.” She didn’t say anything and, damn him for being a coward, he almost didn’t want to hear what she had to say about that. Popping the cap off the Saranac lager he pulled from the fridge, he tipped it back and let the beer cool him. He gulped nearly half of it before he babbled, “Hey, you want a drink? I’ve got another beer. But if you’re going to off me, I think I’d like to drink it myself. I’ve got some amaretto in the cabinet. That’s probably more your style, huh?” Hell, this was completely screwed. She was going to erase his memories. He wouldn’t remember her, wouldn’t remember any of this and it was tearing him apart. He couldn’t think clearly. His brain didn’t seem connected to his mouth and he was blurting out whatever came to mind. As long as it didn’t have anything to do with them directly. “Justin,” she said calmly. He opened two cabinet doors before he found the squat, square bottle of rubycolored liquor. He’d had the bottle for nearly a year, kept it around to toss a shot in his Coke sometimes. “Would you give up everything to be with me?” she asked. He froze for a second as her voice made him ache to touch her again. Carefully he set the amaretto bottle on the counter. Then he nodded. “Believe it or not, yeah, I would.” Then he reached for a glass from the next cabinet and poured her two fingers. “My father believed in the existence of magic and of…people like you. Ever since I can remember, he’d tell me stories about fairies. Not fairytales but his own experiences with them. For the longest time, I thought he was making them up. I was a teenager until I realized he wasn’t. Then I thought he was a freak. Just like everyone else did.”

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His chest contracted painfully when he remembered the things he’d said to his dad at the time. “When my parents’ marriage broke up, I went to a local college but I lived with my mom. I didn’t talk to my dad for a few years. Mom was really broken up about the divorce and I blamed him for it. I didn’t even know he was sick until it was too late.” His dad had forgiven him. Too bad he couldn’t forgive himself. “He had just enough time to tell me about his research.” “Justin.” Her voice held a plea. He heard her but ignored it, lost in memories he couldn’t shake off. Memories that continued to haunt him. “I’d believed for so long that he was crazy that even though I knew he was telling me the truth, I still didn’t want to believe him.” She drew in a sharp breath. “What did your father know about the Fata?” “He’d been documenting contact, collecting evidence. Talking to people who said they’d met or seen…your kind. He told me about humans who’d been seduced by beautiful females with wings or men with horns and tails. The magical creatures no one would believe existed. My father believed,” he paused, inhaling deeply, “he believed because he’d lived with them for years.”

Scarlata had heard tales of Fata taking eteri. She’d even heard that some willingly became blood-bound to them. The ancient tradition of tying one life to another by mingling blood during sex was not to be taken lightly. It tied their fates, allowing their souls to find one another through each new life. And that could be a very long time, if you happened to choose wrong. Mostly though, eteri were used as playthings or pawns in petty wars. It was a dangerous game that occasionally backfired and led to messy consequences, witch

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trials, the occasional capture and, sometimes, to the horrible purges, like the one that had led to her parents’ deaths. Though she’d taken the occasional etera lover, she’d never considered keeping one for any length of time. And she’d never revealed her true self to them. Justin stood there, staring at her, arms crossed over his chest. Waiting. She didn’t speak. He sighed and shook his head. “You’re not surprised, are you?” She stared straight at him. “No, I am not surprised. All stories of contact between our kinds usually have some kernel of truth in them. But you didn’t believe your father, did you?” He shook his head again and the gleam from the light overhead sparkled in his hair, making her fingers itch to run through the silky softness. “Not until I read through his diaries and realized he’d made a pretty damn strong case. By that time, he was dead. I was in my last year of college, planned to get my degree in English then be a professional student until I got my doctorate and could teach on college level. “Instead, I changed my major to environmental sciences. Figured I’d get a government job and let them pay me to do my own research on the side. But I got hired out of college by BD Enterprises. They recruited me, offered me more money than the government and more opportunity for fieldwork, which was what I wanted.” Pain had settled into his eyes, a pain she wanted to ease somehow. Her arms ached to hold him but she restrained herself, clenching her hands into fists. Containment. Right now all she should be worrying about was his containment. “And what you wanted was to search for your fairies.” She didn’t bother to make it a question. He nodded. Then the corners of his lips twitched until he had a full grin on his face. “And damn, but I did good.”

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He smiled and she melted. She’d never had much interest in the eteri, had always thought they possessed little intelligence. But this man intrigued her. She couldn’t kill him. She’d begun to have feelings for him. Feelings she’d never had for an etera before. Of course she’d never been this intimate with one of them before either. Before this, sex with an etera had been purely physical. There hadn’t been much discussion. Especially not about what she was. “Justin.” She paused, wondering how to say what she wanted. “If I asked you to destroy your notes, all the material you’ve collected over the years, the information your father made his life’s work… Would you do it? For me?” Justin’s smile froze then faded until he simply stared at her. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he turned and walked to the front door. He opened the door then raised his arms above his head. Gripping the molding, he stretched his long, lean body in a way that made her mouth water. “You know, I love the way the night smells out here. The scent of the trees, the earth. You can’t smell the stench of the city here.” His non-sequitur made her frown. “I don’t—” “I’ve always loved the forest.” He interrupted her as if she hadn’t spoken. “Especially the old ones. You can almost sense a presence as if the old gods still live here.” She wanted to tell him he was closer to the truth than he might think but did not want to give him more knowledge he would regret losing. “It took me years to realize my dad wasn’t crazy, that he knew what he was talking about. I think you might have to kill me, babe. Because if you ask me to forget about my research, it’d be the same as slitting my throat.”

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His words and the conviction in his tone made her breath catch. He was so strong in the face of danger and her heart hurt to think anyone could harm a hair on his head. She certainly couldn’t… But what to do? What could she do? He turned to stare at her, his expression resigned but proud. “I understand responsibility, honey. I know why you need to keep your secrets. The majority of people in the world wouldn’t be able to handle the information I have now. But believe me when I tell you, even if you erase my memories of tonight and destroy my research, I won’t stop until I have answers.” The steady sincerity in his voice made her despair grow. Now what? Well, she couldn’t do what she wanted, which was take him back to bed. Throw herself at him and ravage him until neither of them could see straight. She did not think he’d put up a fight— A low hum teased the outside edges of her hearing. A car approached up the mountain. As she walked toward the door, toward him, Justin straightened as if to prepare himself. She stopped next to him but continued to stare through the open doorway. She barely registered the feel of his warm, damp skin against hers as he pulled her into his arms. “Someone’s coming,” she said. His gaze fell on her for a second before he turned to stare in the same direction. “I don’t hear anything.” “No, you wouldn’t. Not yet. Are you expecting anyone?” She slid him a look. His eyes had narrowed to slits and his brow had furrowed.

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He shook his head. “No, I’m not. Maybe it’s kids out for a joyride or a little backwoods action.” Possibly. But instinct told her whoever drove that car had not picked this lane at random. Someone knew she was here.

Justin heard the vehicle then. Nearly silent in its approach, it made a slow, steady ascent on the bumpy, rutted lane that broke off from the country road two miles to the south. That lane was the only way for a vehicle to reach this isolated cabin. The entrance to the lane was nearly invisible during the day unless you knew what to look for and impossible to identify in the dark. Whoever was on their way had to know where they were going. BD Enterprises had rented this cabin for him specifically because it was hard to find, literally in the middle of nowhere in the forest-covered hills that straddled the boundary line between Berks and Schuylkill counties. It was far enough away from the Appalachian Trail and its hikers and from any development that no one had stumbled onto the cabin as long as he’d been here. The car stopped before the bend in the lane, still hidden from the cabin by the forest. He heard a door open. Then another and another. Hushed whispers. The hair at the base of his neck stood up. Who the hell could be out there and what the hell did they want? “Get back.” He motioned for Scarlata to get behind him. “Stay out of sight. I’ll find out who it is and what they want.” “Justin—” She reached for his arm but he shrugged her off. “Just stay back, darlin’. And switch off the light in the kitchen.”

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He felt her move away. When the light in the kitchen extinguished, he saw the shadows in the dark forest move and re-form with the play of the clouds over the moon. He tried to make sense of those shifting shapes but it wasn’t until they came closer that he realized there were five men out there…some carrying what looked like guns. He stiffened, ready to grab Scarlata and run, when he heard a familiar voice. “Hello, Justin. How are you tonight?” Surprise made him freeze. What was the owner of BD Enterprises doing here? “Mr. Bonnini? I didn’t realize you made on-site inspections. With armed guards.” A short, slim man dressed in dark pants and shirt, Daniel Bonnini broke away from the tree line. The four gun-carrying shadows fanned out behind him. “Oh I don’t. Not usually. But then this is an unusual situation. Almost magical, isn’t it, Justin?” There was a shrewd tone to his voice. Realization hit Justin. Holy shit. Bonnini knew. He knew what had happened here tonight. That prick must have had the cabin bugged. But why? What the hell was going on? “I’m not quite sure I understand what you’re talking about, sir.” Bonnini drew closer until Justin could see the dark-haired, sharp-featured man clearly. He had rarely encountered the owner of BD Enterprises. Actually Justin could only remember meeting the man twice—once at his final employment interview and once more during the briefing he’d received before leaving on this assignment. His immediate superior had given him the rundown but Bonnini had been there, sitting at the table in the conference room. He’d smiled, they exchanged pleasantries. It hadn’t struck him as odd at the time because he’d heard around the office that Bonnini had devoted too much money to the research facility to have it fail. Justin had never questioned Bonnini’s desire to build near here. Now he had more questions than he could possibly ask and more doubts that threatened to eat a hole in his stomach.

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Bonnini smiled but it held no warmth. “Hand over the creature, Justin. You’ve done your job. I’ll take it from here.” Rage burned in his blood at Bonnini’s condescending tone. Was that bastard actually talking about Scarlata? Had he just called his beautiful Red a creature? How the hell had he even known she would be here? To stall, Justin smiled, put on the absentminded professor look that had gotten him out of more than his share of trouble at college. He’d been an A-plus student and he had a near-genius IQ but he could play dumb better than the best actor. “Sir, I’m not sure I understand just what creature you’re talking about?” Bonnini’s smile disappeared in a blink. “Son, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. You’ve served your purpose to draw her out. The magic you two created was easy enough to detect. This situation no longer needs your involvement. You’re free to go. Just walk away, Justin.” And what? Leave her alone with the men with the guns? No way was he leaving her. What the hell did they want with Scarlata anyway? Had he actually been used as bait? Shit. He turned, slamming the door behind him and locking it. Scarlata stood in the hall, her eyes huge and sorrowful. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her along with him to the bedroom. “Get out the window and into the forest.” He threw open the window and pushed her toward it. “I’ll delay them here as long as I can.” He tried to boost her out but she wouldn’t move. Her tone confident, she said, “I’m in no danger from these men, Justin. It’s you they won’t hesitate to kill.” “So it’s all right for you to off me but not them.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “That’s kind of a double standard, babe.”

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“Justin, that’s not—” “We don’t have time to argue. Just—” Before he could finish, she put her hand over his mouth. “Come with me.” He smiled, having gotten exactly what he wanted. “Now that’s a plan. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Her glare should have made his balls shrivel. He knew she wouldn’t like being manipulated but he’d wanted her to take him with her. Had wanted her to want to take him with her. They were out the window when they heard the cabin door burst open with a bang. “Tranq the creature,” Bonnini shouted at his men. “Kill Johannson.” “There really is no job security anymore, is there?” He tried to make a joke as they ran for the forest but fear put a bite in his tone. “If we get separated, babe, don’t come back for me,” he said, completely serious now. She dragged him along, her legs flying over the ground. “Shut up, Justin, and run faster. If you let anything happen to yourself now, I’ll beat you black and blue.” She didn’t sound out of breath at all whereas he couldn’t seem to catch his. Something whizzed by his head and he realized someone had just shot at him. Glancing back, he saw the men had chased them into the forest. He tried to put on a little more speed. “Nice,” he sucked in air, “to know,” he had to suck in another breath, “you care.” He didn’t know how long they ran, could only concentrate on one thing—staying on his feet. Scarlata ran as silently as a deer, picking out a path that kept them shielded from the men on their tails. He didn’t know when the sound of the men faded because after a while all he could hear was his own tortured gasping. Trying to regulate his breathing, he kept his gaze locked on Scarlata’s pale, slim outline.

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When she finally stopped, he ran into her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind so he wouldn’t fall over. It nicked his pride to know she was barely winded. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you’re tired but we have to keep moving. They continue to follow us. That man, he has magic of his own. Dark magic.” She turned, sliding her arms around his waist and drawing him closer. “There is a spell I can perform, one that will hide us from them. But I will need your help.” Tucking her head under his chin, he couldn’t stop his body’s reaction to her nudity. His cock throbbed to unwanted attention. Must be the adrenaline, he thought. “Sure, no problem.” Or it wouldn’t be, as soon as he caught his breath. Damn, he needed to pick up his running, get more miles in. Just working with the free weights wasn’t cutting it. Especially when he had to run for his life. “Whatever you need.” He wasn’t prepared for her to slide her hand into his pants and grab his already thickening erection. “I only need this,” she whispered into his ear as his shorts fell to the ground. “Lie down, Justin. On your back.” His eyes flew wide-open at her words and he froze. “Not that I don’t want you, babe, but aren’t we kinda in a hurry at the moment?” She smiled and his blood began a steady pounding in his veins. “Have you never heard of sex magic, Justin?” She gave him a slight nudge and he found himself sprawled on a soft bed of moss beneath an old oak. “In all the years you’ve researched, have you never discovered the power created when two bodies join?” Their gazes locked as Scarlata fell to her knees beside him then straddled his waist. It took him a moment to realize she was whispering something beneath her breath, something that sounded faintly like Latin, but wasn’t. Then she slid down onto his stiff cock in one smooth motion. It took away his breath and sent a shaft of pure sensation straight from his cock into his balls then up his spine. The sweet, wet heat of her surrounded him and he grabbed her hips and thrust 52

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without thinking. The men, the guns…everything faded. Everything except Scarlata and the way she made him feel. Her hands spread flat on his chest on either side of his heart and heat flooded his body at those two distinct points. The sexy hum of her voice as she continued her incantation, the fast pace she set as she pumped up and down on his shaft and the look of pure bliss on her face sent him over a precipice that was harder and sharper than any he’d ever experienced before. It took him a moment to realize the afterglow he felt was power, a pure energy that radiated from their bodies. He wanted to take that power and use it to run but as soon as he began to sit up, she pressed down on his chest with a strength he couldn’t counter. “Don’t move, Justin.” She stared down at him with a limpid smile, her green eyes half-closed. “The spell requires your energy as well as mine. Don’t siphon it.” He understood her meaning even though he really didn’t listen to her words. Instead, he let himself drift in a state of pure satisfaction.

Scarlata found it hard to concentrate on the spell when she could still feel Justin’s cock twitching inside her. It very nearly jeopardized the glamour she was trying to draw around them. Forcing herself to focus on the spell, she dug her fingers into his rock-hard chest, drew on his energy and the energy they’d produced through their joining. It took an enormous amount of concentration not to be led astray by his scent and the feel of him beneath her. But this had to work. The men tracking them had magic, dark magic that tainted the air around them. Magic they used to track her.

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She muttered the last words of the spell and felt it close around them, encompassing them in a warm embrace. As she blinked to focus her eyes, the first thing she saw was Justin’s gorgeous blue gaze locked onto hers. “It worked, didn’t it?” She nodded then realized he’d hardened again inside her. Sometimes this spell had unexpected side effects. “Good,” he rasped, “because this time I’m gonna make you come.” He lifted her off him, set her beside him on all fours then rose to his knees behind her. His first thrust seated him to the hilt and they both groaned. “Justin, we shouldn’t waste any more time—” “Believe me, baby, this won’t take long.” To prove his point, he pumped back into her while his fingers threaded through her curls and found her clit. He tweaked the little nub hard enough to be painful, yet pleasurable enough to make her writhe. Her hands dug into the ground as Justin moved behind her, dried leaves rustling as he adjusted his knees to get even closer. She moaned, forgetting for a brief second that they were still being chased, and lost herself in the feel of Justin’s cock shuttling in and out, the friction stoking an intense orgasm. Not yet. She didn’t want to come yet. Clamping her internal muscles around him, she dropped lower, onto her elbows, lifting her ass a little higher, sending him deeper. His finger still on her clit, he worked her harder, faster until she came in a rush of heat that, combined with the residual traces of magic from the spell she’d just performed, very nearly made her faint. She bit her tongue in an effort not to scream and give away their location. His cock was still hard, wanting more. She squeezed her internal muscles once more, making him moan. He lost his rhythm for a few seconds, his thrusts coming faster, until finally

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he groaned, rammed his cock into her and held it there as he pulsed deep inside her, suffusing her with warmth. When he’d finished, he pulled free but didn’t let her fall to the ground. Picking her up, he turned her around and wrapped his arms around her so she could rest against him. “Holy hell, girl. You’re going to be the death of me,” he panted into her ear. Her stomach flipped as she realized that was exactly what she didn’t want to happen. She would make sure no harm came to him. Disentangling themselves, they got to their feet, Justin pulling up his shorts as he stood. He didn’t say anything more and she didn’t know what to say either. Confusion made it hard for her to put her emotions into words. Instead, she caught the sound of men approaching. They were closer than they’d been before she’d lost herself during the last few minutes. “The spell should shield us for several hours but we need to keep moving and keep quiet,” she whispered. She felt his wetness between her legs and mourned the fact that they couldn’t spend more time in this pleasurable state. She began to run away from the sound of the men, holding her breath until Justin followed. “I will take you to the end of the forest and then I must leave you. They don’t want you, Justin. You were just a pawn.” “Yeah, a pawn that led them directly to you.” His fierce tone lit sparks in her heart. He blamed himself for what had happened, and it was not his fault. “It was my own fault. If I’d only stayed away, they never would have found me there. But I could not help myself.” “Well, now that’s nice to know.” His drawl exaggerated, he smiled when she looked his way. Then his expression sobered. “I don’t want to lose you, Red. Not now.” It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Even though it was exactly what she was thinking. They couldn’t have a life together. It wouldn’t work…and that frightened her

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more than anything. She took off, not so fast that he couldn’t catch her but fast enough that he had to work at it.

Justin didn’t know how long they ran. By the time they reached the thinning line of trees that signaled the edge of the forest, not only his lungs burned but his thighs screamed in pain, his calves ached, he had a blistering headache and his feet felt like they’d gained a few hundred blisters. And his brain was working overtime. She was going to ditch him. He knew it in his heart. He’d seen it in her eyes in the last glance she’d slid his way. And damn, that pissed him off. He wanted to stay with her. Wanted to take care of her and make right what he’d had a hand in screwing up. He couldn’t allow her to get away from him. And he only had a few minutes to make a plan. So when she stopped behind a large oak at the edge of the tree line, he knocked her out with a chop to the back of her neck.

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Chapter Six It was a good thing he was a genius, because he sure wouldn’t have been able to make his living as a car thief. In theory, Justin knew how to hot-wire a car but in practice, it was a lot harder than it looked. He knew he had to take off the cover on the base of the steering wheel and attach two wires together to spark the ignition. But it didn’t always work the first time. After he’d knocked out his gorgeous fairy—folletta, he had to remember that—he’d picked her up and ran down the two-lane road that led to the environmental center of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Two cars sat in the lot—a thirty-year-old green Dodge Dart and a newer white Ford pickup. He chose the Dart, figuring it would have less computer hardware to contend with and its dark color would make them less of a target. And it was open. “Guess they’re not worried about anybody stealing you,” he muttered as he laid Scarlata across the huge leather backseat then opened the driver’s door and slid in. It took him five minutes to get the damn car hot-wired. Every time the engine failed to catch, he thought he heard movement in the forest. Sweat beaded on his forehead— more from fear than exertion. He couldn’t allow them to take Scarlata. If she were captured, it’d be his fault. She would have gotten away from them if he hadn’t been such a selfish bastard and knocked her out to keep her with him. He couldn’t live with that. Besides, they’d have to kill him before they got to her. Finally the engine turned over, sounding like a tank roaring to life.

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“Yes,” he hissed through tightly clenched teeth as he jammed the gearshift into drive and spewed gravel out of the parking lot. Speeding down the mountain, he pointed the car in the direction of his mother’s house in Leesport before he realized that would be one of the first places Bonnini would send men to search for him. Bonnini would know from Justin’s emergency contact sheet at work where his mom lived. He might already have the place under surveillance. Shit, they couldn’t go there. And they couldn’t go to his apartment in Pottsville either. And if he didn’t slow down, some cop was going to pull him over and discover an unconscious, naked folletta on his backseat. Taking a deep breath, he eased his foot off the gas pedal, lowering his speed. Where the hell were they going to hide? “You are one stupid male.” His hands jerked on the wheel, sending the car onto the shoulder before he straightened out. “Damn, woman. You nearly made me crash.” He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a very beautiful redhead glaring at him. “Believe me,” she snapped, “after what I do to you, you will wish you had crashed.” “Come on now, babe.” The grin he flashed her was cocky. “Is that any way to talk to the man who saved your life?” Her mouth parted but apparently he’d made her speechless. Well, at least she couldn’t turn him into a frog. Then again…she let loose a stream of what he figured was Italian. From the bite in her tone and the way her hands were going, he was pretty sure she was ripping into his hide. He listened to the beauty of the language with half an ear while he tried to figure out where they could go that’d be safe.

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After about five minutes, she finally stopped to take a breath and he had to admit he missed the sound of her sexy voice yelling at him. He actually had a hard-on. She said something to him again in Italian and he released his grip on the steering wheel to raise one hand. “English, hon. You gotta speak English if you want me to understand what the hell you’re saying.” “Ooh.” She slapped him on the back of the head. Hell, even that turned him on. “Idiot! Where are we going?” “Well, I’m not quite sure about that yet. Got any ideas?” She snorted. “Actually, yes, if you had given me a chance to speak before you knocked me unconscious, I would have told you.” “I thought you were going to ditch me.” He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her grimace in a purely feminine pout. “I believe that would have been a mistake. Those men would have harmed you no matter that you did not know where I was. And I would not have been able to live with that.” At her words, his heart actually felt like it flipped over in his chest. Her tone was offhand but the look she shot him from beneath her lowered lids was anything but. And he could think of nothing but getting her back to bed. “Then lead on, Red. Where are we going?” She didn’t answer as she slid over the front seat, nearly making him crash the car at the sight. Finally, when she’d settled next to him, she said, “Into the city.” He frowned. “Which one?” “The closest.” “Do you mean Reading?” He felt her gaze fall on him. “That is the closest, is it not?” “Do you go to the city a lot?” 59

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“I’ve not been to the city in at least fifty years, maybe longer.” He frowned again. “Then how do you know where we’re going?” “Trust me, Justin. I know a safe place for us to hide.” Funny, but he did trust her. Completely. She could’ve very easily left him behind in the woods. Hell, she could’ve flown away if she’d wanted to but she’d stuck with him. That had to count for something. “All right, but we still have to stop for gas before we get there. And I guess we better get you some clothes while we’re at it.” She shook her head, her hair shifting to play peekaboo with her nipples, hardening his erection to painful. “No one will see me if I don’t wish them to. Clothes are unnecessary. And I don’t like them.” He smiled even as he continued to check in the rearview mirror for any pursuers. “You don’t have to tell me twice, Red. But we still need the gas.” Good thing he always kept money in his various pants pockets. He tended to leave the house and forget his wallet so he’d taken to leaving bills in all of his pants. Digging into the side pocket of his shorts, he pulled out a wad of almost fifty bucks. Paydirt.

***** The closer they got to the city, the smaller Scarlata felt. And the more trapped. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Every time she drew in a breath, some foul odor made her gag. Trash lay in the hard streets. Trees struggled between slabs of concrete, their growth stunted because their roots could only reach so far into the soil. Occasional oases of green grass appeared but they were few and far between. Some homeowners had corralled containers of bright flowers on front porches but it wasn’t enough to combat the gray stone and red brick of the buildings. Not nearly enough.

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She was a folletta. She needed a forest or a field to roam. Just the thought of cities made her hyperventilate. So many people in such a confined space made her ache to run into the wooded undergrowth and the fallen leaves. Worse still, she was having a hard time concentrating on the unique signature that marked the place she sought. The steady, magical beacon that could only be detected by the Fata faded in and out of her detection. She hoped that didn’t mean the safe house had been destroyed or abandoned. It had been many years since she’d spoken to Sal. Maybe more than a hundred. Still… “Turn right here. It’s this way.” Justin turned without hesitation, drawing her gaze to him. She’d been furious when she’d discovered his deception. Her neck still throbbed from his hit. He would pay for that. Nevertheless, her heart leapt at the fact that he’d wanted to keep her with him, even at the expense of his own life. She’d had time to think about the men who’d come to take her and she did not like her conclusions. Obviously those men had known she lived in the vicinity and that Justin’s research in the area would draw her out. But did they know the bigger secret still hidden in the forest? She needed to get to Sal’s. She wasn’t sure yet what she needed to do but she could keep Justin safe while she came up with a plan. As they drove farther into the city, she had to pay more attention to her surroundings. She hadn’t been to Sal’s in many years. And though not much had changed in his neighborhood, she needed to look closely at the houses. “Here,” she touched Justin’s arm and waved toward the side. “Stop here.” Justin slowed and pulled into the next available parking space then stared out the front window. “Hon, this doesn’t seem like such a great neighborhood to visit. Are you sure we’re at the right spot?”

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“Yes. This is the place.” She opened the door and swung her legs out of the car. Then quickly drew them back before she could set her bare feet on broken glass. She huffed in displeasure but in the next second Justin was there, reaching into the car to lift her from the seat. His scent shot straight to her head like sweet mountain water and she wanted to bury her nose behind his ear and lick his neck. Justin chose that moment to look at her and his expression hardened. “You’d better steer me toward the right place, Red. Because otherwise I’m going to take you on the street and I won’t give a damn if people see us or not.” His words flooded her sex with moisture and made her whimper with lust. She swallowed hard. “Which house, Red?” Which house? Oh. She turned to look at the buildings on the street. It appeared to be a residential area, the red-brick houses built side-by-side in rows. Many seemed deserted but there were a few that looked as if they’d been cared for over the years. She knew which house they needed by the runes carved to look like decoration into the lintel above the front door. “That one.” She pointed to the house. Justin didn’t move, staring at the building. “Are you sure?” She stroked his jaw with her hand, drawing his gaze back to hers. “Yes. Trust me, Justin.” The corners of his mouth quirked. “I think we’re past that, babe. And I do trust you.” He walked to the door, carrying her like she weighed nothing. “So is there a key or some hidden—” She grasped the doorknob. It turned smoothly in her hand.

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Justin shook his head. “Okay then. I guess we don’t need a key.” He stepped over the threshold and kicked the door closed behind them. “But I do need this.” He maneuvered her until she could wrap herself around him, one of his arms around her waist to hold her in place. Sinking her fingers into his hair, she planted her lips on his and kissed him until she thought she’d faint from oxygen deprivation. His free hand—the one he didn’t have planted on her bare ass—swept from her hip to her breast, sending heat sizzling along her nerves. Cupping it, his fingers plucked at the nipple, playing with the hard tip until the sensation was almost painful. But the pain wasn’t hurtful. Just the opposite. It made her want him all that much more. Her hips began to move, grinding her mound against his stomach. She rubbed against his thick cock, straining against his shorts. Her pussy moistened and throbbed, yearning for something to grab onto, to fill her. “That’s right, babe. Let go.” His husky voice stoked her desire higher, made her move faster. When his hand moved around to rub her clit, she moaned into his mouth. More. Goddess, she wanted more. And he gave it to her without fail. He didn’t play with her. His strokes were deadly serious, working her until an orgasm rocked through her body. The feeling was so strong she had to release his mouth to draw in air. Justin’s gasp sounded just as desperate as her own. “Don’t move…” he panted. “Just let me…the zipper…” She heard his shorts hit the floor a second before he grabbed her waist and jammed her down onto his cock. Groaning in ecstasy, he slid as far into her as he could, her stillcontracting muscles clamping down on him. “Oh Christ. I’m gonna come in about two seconds.” “Then do it,” she whispered in his ear, licking the lobe before biting it. “I want you to. I want to know how hot I make you.”

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He put one hand under her chin and drew back until she met his gaze. “I only have to look at you and I’m burning.” His words and the look in his eyes made her sheath contract and she felt him jerk and release into her without moving a muscle. With a sigh, he palmed the back of her head and urged her forward until she nuzzled her nose into his neck. He held her easily, her legs still wrapped around his waist. She rested her head on his shoulder, drawing in his musky scent, listening to him breathe. It was a good place to be. And that scared her. “Well, Scary. Haven’t seen you for a while. Looks like you’re doing okay.” The voice came from behind them, freezing them in place for a second. Then Justin nearly dropped her in his haste to shield her behind him. His caring gesture made her chest tighten. “Who the hell—” Justin fumbled to put his shorts back on then paused and shook his head. “Whoa. Are you— Red, is that what I think it is?” She smiled at the wonder in his voice. “Yes, Justin. He is.” “But…but…that’s…” She moved to his side then down to her knees, showing the proper respect for the man before them. “Greetings, Salvatorus. We seek sanctuary.” The four-foot-tall salbinelli waved her to her feet. “Yeah, I kinda figured that. Sorry to disrupt,” he said with a grin on his face. Then he gestured to them. “Come on back. After you get cleaned up, we’ll get a drink and catch up and you can introduce me to your new friend.” Salvatorus turned and made his way to the back of the house, hooves clicking on the hardwood floor. As she rose to her feet, Justin grasped her elbow to help her up. “Red, is that really a…a satyr?”

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“He is salbinelli, maybe the oldest in the country. He arrived before the Purge. Possibly before the Europeans. He doesn’t talk about it. And I do not suggest you ask. The last person who did never lost the tail Sal gave her.” Justin looked at her with his lips parted, his surprise evident. “Is he really part goat and part man?” She shrugged and began pulling Justin in the direction Sal had gone. “No. He is salbinelli,” she said, as if that would explain everything. Justin shook his head. “You know, Red, I’ve seen things tonight I never thought possible. But right now I feel like Alice in Wonderland, like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole.” The salbinelli called Salvatorus popped back into the end of the hallway and smiled at him. “Son, this is definitely not Wonderland and I’m no fuckin’ goat.”

Justin felt his stomach turn over about the same time his head started to spin. “Shit, Scary, he’s gonna faint,” Salvatorus said. “No.” Justin reached for a chair at the table in the surprisingly high-tech kitchen and sat. “No, I’m fine. It’s just been kind of a crazy day. Know what I mean?” “Yes, actually I do.” Scarlata kneeled by his side, her hand warm on his knee, the look in her eyes doing the same to his groin. “I’ve had the same feeling today.” The four-foot-tall creature to her right grimaced. “All right, you two. Your little displays of affection are making me sick. Let’s get to business already.” Justin turned in time to see the creature hop onto the wooden chair next to him. His furry goat legs dangled at least a foot from the ground and his small, black, goat-like horns glinted under the fluorescent light. His curly dark hair and facial features spoke of a Mediterranean heritage but his accented voice was pure “Noo Yawk”. His muscled upper body would rival a Michelangelo masterpiece.

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Sal leveled a piercing black gaze at him. “So you gonna stare all night or you gonna tell me what you’re doin’ here?” Justin caught himself before he raised one hand as if he were in high school. “Could I ask a question first?” The creature grabbed an unfiltered Marlboro from the pack on the table and lit it. “Sure, kid. Knock yourself out.” Justin tried to figure out how to phrase his question but in the end decided on straightforward. “Where did you come from?” Sal’s laugh sounded more like a bark. “Well, I certainly didn’t spring from the ground full-formed.” He turned to Scarlata with a smile. “Scary, where’d you get this one?” “In a cabin on Hawk Mountain.” “You two got real close real fast, didn’t ya?” Scarlata shook her head, her expression sweetly amused. “You are one horny little bastard. You liked that free show, didn’t you?” Sal smiled, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Hey, it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten any, babe. At least a few days.” Now that elicited a few images Justin couldn’t quite shake from his head. Who or what did this guy have sex with? “So, babe, you wanna…” Sal leered at her. Justin had the urge to cold-cock the guy…creature…animal…for even looking at his Scarlata like that. Still, it seemed they had a relationship that probably pre-dated his birth. Scarlata laughed now, the first he’d heard. It was throaty and rich and it pissed him off that she’d never laughed with him. “Ancient history, you devil,” she teased. Okay then. That answered that question. 66

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Sal waved the cigarette in front of her. “Yeah, babe, I know. So what brought you here?” She sighed. “Someone used Justin as bait to get to me.” “How’d they know where you were in the first place?” Sal asked, his tone deadly serious. She shook her head. “I don’t know. But they knew to send Justin.” Sal gave him the once-over. “Why him?” Now Scarlata glanced at him and the heat in her eyes nearly melted the fillings in his teeth. “I’m not sure. I believe…I believe it may have something to do with his father.” Oh shit. Justin didn’t like where this was going. “Wait. What about my dad?” Her pretty mouth curved up in a sad smile. “His research. I’m assuming those men chose you specifically because of your father’s research. And maybe because they thought I’d be drawn to you.” Justin raised an eyebrow at her. “You mean it wasn’t just my handsome looks and great body that caught your eye.” She smiled. “Those are nice too but I have to admit there was something about you, something I recognized as being familiar.” He liked that she recognized something in him, something that drew her to him. But they were still missing pieces to this story and it sounded like maybe Scarlata had come up with some ideas. “Like what?” “Tell Sal about your father,” she urged. “Maybe he will be able to see some connection that I cannot.” So Justin told the little half-furry creature what he’d told Scarlata earlier, adding more detail as he remembered it. When he’d finished, Sal stubbed out his cigarette and hopped off the chair to head to the fridge.

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“Either of you want something to drink? I got beer, vodka, a decent bottle of Cabernet, some homemade lemonade. Squeezed the lemons myself.” Justin frowned. “Wait. That’s it? No answers, no comments, nothing?” Sal’s stubby tail twitched back and forth before he turned from the fridge, two bottles of beer and the wine in his hands. He didn’t answer until he’d set the bottles on the table and hopped back onto his chair. “Nice guy, your dad.” Sal popped the cap on one of the beers and took a swig. “Stupidest damn God I ever met but he plays a mean game of pool.”

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Chapter Seven Justin was pretty sure he’d just heard the half-goat half-man with horns refer to his father as a god. He opened his mouth to speak but the only sound that came out was a kind of garbled squawk. At least Scarlata was more articulate. “What did you just say?” Sal took another swig of beer, all the while watching Justin from beneath lowered eyelids. “What? You didn’t know?” “Know,” Justin took a deep breath, not really sure he wanted an answer, “what?” Sal sighed and finished the beer in one long swallow. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.” “Sal.” Scarlata’s hushed voice scared the shit out of him but he couldn’t take his eyes off Sal. “Are you telling me he’s…” “Yep. Bitch of a way to find out, isn’t it?” Sal said. “Find out what?” Justin finally forced a coherent string of words from his mouth. “What the hell’s going on?” Scarlata shook her head and turned a speculative gaze on him. “That’s why my magic didn’t work on you. And why I detected no trace of magic in you. It’s been hidden by a master. What did you say your father’s name was?” “Michael. Michael Johannson.” “Son, your father’s name is Selvans, lo spirito dei boschi,” Sal said. “Otherwise known as the God of the Woods.” Justin speared his glance back and forth between Sal and Scarlata. “Are you really trying to tell me my father was a Roman god?”

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“Roman.” Sal snorted. “Son, you insult your sire. Your father is part of the Etruscan pantheon, older than those pansy-ass Romans.” Justin heard ringing in his ears and saw spots swimming in his vision. He might be ready to pass out but it made so much sense. Really scary, crazy sense, but sense all the same. His father’s love of nature, his extended absences, his insistence on the existence of magical races. “Wait a minute. Did you say ‘is’?” “Come on, kid.” Sal shrugged. “He’s a deity. Immortality comes with the gig.” Okay, not only was his dad a god but he was still alive. He wondered… “My mom—” “Probably doesn’t know a thing,” Sal finished his thought. “Your pop, he’s known for this kind of thing. Typically the women don’t realize what he really is.” Well, hell. That sounded…really cold. Not at all like the man he remembered. “Do I have other siblings, apart from my sister?” Sal shrugged. “Perhaps, but none that I know of. Gods don’t have a lot of kids. Too many problems crop up. How long were your parents together?” “Eighteen years. He died…” Justin closed his eyes, shutting out the sudden expression of pity on Sal’s face. “Wow, how stupid can I get? He didn’t die, did he? He left us.” Sal nodded. “Usually he leaves after fifteen years. It’s hard for an immortal to hold the illusion of age, mostly because they’re vain. Looks like he truly loved your mom, kid.” Anger flared bright and hot. “That bastard. Why the hell didn’t he tell us the truth?” But even as he spoke, Justin realized the answer. “Because I wouldn’t have believed him.” “You can’t blame yourself for that.” Scarlata drew his gaze, her expression sympathetic but not pitying. “It was hard for you to believe his stories were real and not

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fairytales. But that’s how it must be, Justin. We would be hunted to extinction if most humans knew the truth.” He couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt his beautiful Red. But she was right. Science had supplanted magic and humans no longer believed in a power they couldn’t rationally explain away. And if they couldn’t explain it, they tried to kill it. So what did all this make him? He ran a trembling hand over his face and shook his head. Maybe he could shake loose some answers while he was at it. “Justin,” Scarlata soothed, “why don’t you get some rest? We can continue this discussion when you aren’t so tired. We’re safe here for now.” That sounded like a hell of a good idea. His temples throbbed, his chest ached and the muscles in his legs were cramped into tight knots. “Fine. You’re right.” Justin had no idea why he didn’t argue. It just never occurred to him. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Not that I’m complaining but, yeah…I could use a rest.” “Scary, take him up to the back room.” Sal jerked his head toward the stairs. “Then come back down so we can catch up.”

***** “Who’s after you, Scary?” “I’m fairly certain it’s the Mal.” Sal heaved a deep sigh before taking another drag on his cigarette. “You do know,” she said, “those things will kill you.” He snorted. “Not for another thousand years or so. If I’m lucky. So what’s with this one, Scary? I’ve never known you to come down from your mountain for a piece of tail before.”

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Scarlata felt a blush heat her cheeks. Even after more than three hundred years, she wasn’t immune to embarrassment. “I believed he had discovered my existence. I…was going to teach him a lesson. Then erase his memory.” Or kill him. She didn’t say that. “But he didn’t respond to my magic.” “And you couldn’t resist gettin’ a little of that beautiful ass, could you?” She chose to ignore the bite in his tone. “I will admit to an instant attraction.” “And now you think you’re in love?” Sal’s voice held a note of shock. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “I did not say that.” “Aw, hell, kid. You don’t have to say it. It’s written all over your face.” She shook her head. “You’re wrong.” “No, I’m not.” Sal took a swig of the new bottle of beer he must have gotten while she’d taken Justin upstairs. She’d wanted to stay, had almost asked if he wanted her to. Then he’d walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Her heart had hurt as if he’d grabbed it from her chest and broken it in two. He looked so lost she wanted to comfort him. But he’d shut the door. Shut her out. “You know, you could ask him to make the choice. He could choose to stay with you forever.” “Yes, yes, I know.” Annoyed more with herself than with Sal, she rose to pace from the kitchen to the living room and back again. “But…it could kill him.” Sal shrugged. “Yeah, there is that.”

***** Justin couldn’t sleep. He’d used the attached bathroom to take a much-needed shower and, when he’d returned to the bedroom, hoping to curl around Scarlata in a real bed and get some much-needed rest, she’d been gone.

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He’d pushed her away. He’d done it deliberately, had just wanted a few minutes alone. But now he wanted to bitch because she’d left. Damn, he was farther gone than he’d thought. Flopping onto the bed, he lay on his back on incredibly soft sheets that smelled of fresh air and sunshine. He tried to sleep. But for an hour all he did was toss and turn. Too much information crowded his head. Too much had happened today, things too incredible to be true. Things he’d spent ten years trying to prove existed but had never thought he would. And yet there was a beautiful woman with pale pink wings downstairs who had wanted to stay with him. He’d seen it in her eyes, had smelled it on her bare skin. And then there was Sal, who looked like Puck and spoke like a sailor. He’d met a satyr and a fairy today. A salbinelli and a folletta. He should be turning cartwheels. But what they’d said about his father… He still couldn’t wrap his head around that. His father…an Etruscan god? He’d listened to his dad’s tales of fairies and gods and goddesses with the awe of a child. But as he’d grown older, his eccentric father’s stories had become embarrassing. It hadn’t been until his dad had died that Justin had begun to take those stories seriously. Now he knew his father had set him up. He’d given him the information he needed to figure out everything for himself. And he had followed the path directly to Scarlata. Had his dad meant for him to find her? What else was he supposed to discover? Especially about himself? According to the girl with the wings and the man with goat legs, he was the son of a god. Why didn’t he have special powers? Wings on his feet? Extraordinary strength? What about his sister Fiorella? Were they human? Or something else?

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And what exactly did it mean when Sal said his father was an Etruscan god? How many gods were there running around? Greek, Roman, Celtic, Hindi, Egyptian. There were countless pantheons. Nothing made sense. He was so tired he couldn’t see straight but he couldn’t close his eyes because his brain wouldn’t stop running. Footsteps, very nearly silent, in the hall outside his room caught his attention then. Red. He knew it was her, could feel her presence. Would she come to him? She stopped outside his door. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until the doorknob turned. He drew in a deep draught of air as the door fell open, spilling pale light around her silhouette. Her face hidden in shadow, she stopped after taking one step into the room. Her wings fluttered once. “You’re awake,” she whispered. He sat up in bed. “Can’t sleep. Too wound up.” Her laugh was unamused. “Yes, I can see how that would be a problem. I could weave a spell, a sleeping spell. No side effects.” He shook his head and her shoulders slumped as she reached for the door. “Then I’ll just—” “Don’t go.” He held out his hand. “Come here.” Her chin shot up at the command in his tone but she didn’t walk away. She moved toward him, closing the door behind her as he rose to his knees on the bed. When she took his hand, he surprised a startled laugh out of her by pulling her onto the mattress and under him in one motion. Hands by her shoulders, knees on either side of her hips, he trapped her. It gave him a sense of power that he felt sorely lacking in other areas of his life at the moment.

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When Justin leaned down to kiss her, he did so with a ferocity that very nearly scared him. She tried to raise her arms but he didn’t want her to touch him, didn’t want her to comfort him. He didn’t want that from her. He wanted to lose himself in her. It was easier than it should have been to subdue her. But after the first few seconds of struggle, she gave up the fight and lay passive beneath him. It stoked his lust more than anything else she could have done at that moment. Sitting back on his haunches, he grabbed her hands and drew them above her head, wrapping her fingers around the slats in the headboard of the queen-size bed. She gripped them, staring at him, waiting for his next move. Her skin shimmered in the dark, drawing his hands to her. Starting at her wrists, he stroked down her arms to her breasts, palming their weight and rubbing his thumbs over her nipples until she squirmed. She didn’t cry out though and he wanted—no, he needed to hear that. He plucked the nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, making them into hard tips before he bent to take one into his mouth. He laved and bit then drew the pebble into his mouth to suck hard enough to leave bruises. He continued the pattern on the other breast. Drawing back to look at her, he saw her eyes were squeezed shut, her teeth lodged into her lower lip as if she were holding back a cry. His lips lifted in a not-quite-nice smile. He’d always loved a challenge. Bending over her again without touching, he blew on the smooth skin beneath her breast, raising goose bumps he could feel when he ran his mouth over them. Trailing his tongue from there to her bellybutton, he flicked the tip into the tiny recess, her belly quivering in response. Her hips rose a centimeter off the bed before she forced herself to relax.

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His cock hard and aching, he wanted to ram himself into her now. But he wouldn’t last long if he did, and when he came, reality would come crashing down. And he didn’t want to face reality. Not yet. Instead, he grabbed her hips in his hands and lifted her until he didn’t have to bend far to press his nose into the auburn curls on her mound and breathe in her scent. A tiny sound escaped her then, no more than a whimper. It wasn’t enough for him. Deliberately taking his time, he placed her legs over his shoulders and pressed his mouth against her wet sex. His tongue plunged deep then retreated to lick her clit, alternating short stabs into her sex with more prolonged attention to her nub. He didn’t know how long he continued but he got his wish when he heard her cry out his name. “Justin! Please.” His cock pulsed red-hot and he drew back as lust blasted down his spine and tightened his balls. He reared back farther with a growl then plunged into her, feeling her tight muscles grip him. Justin paused when he felt her draw in a deep breath. Then he withdrew until he’d completely slipped out of her sheath. His aching cock bobbed up and he used one hand to aim it straight, thrusting in hard and brushing his thumb against her clit until her body convulsed and arched off the bed. Her shuddering moan inflamed him but he ringed the bottom of his cock with his fingers and squeezed ruthlessly until his impending explosion retreated. When he opened his eyes, he found her watching him through slitted lids. “Justin. I want you to come. Now. Please,” she pleaded. He shook his head. “Not now. I want to hear you scream first.” Mercilessly he fingered her clit, rubbing it until she arched again and did exactly what he wanted. She screamed his name this time, her hands gripping the headboard with white knuckles before releasing it and going limp.

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His mind and body accepted her surrender and, with a shout, he let go and shot into her. When his cock ceased pulsing, he withdrew and fell onto the bed beside her. Without a word, she snaked her arms around him and held him. Gathering her close, he tucked her head under his chin and closed his eyes.

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Chapter Eight “Up ’n at ’em, kids. Get the hell out of bed! You need to be out of here in five minutes or all hell’s gonna break loose.” The sound of hooves pounding up the stairs woke Scarlata before Sal’s words made it through the fog of sleep. She sat up, wings unfurling as she blinked to bring the room into focus. At the same time, she reached for Justin—who wasn’t there. Sal flung open the door and stalked into the room, only his head visible above the footboard of the large, ornately carved bed. “Come on, Scary. Up ’n at ’em. I’ve got an incoming arriving soon. You get that kid outta here or he’s gonna be toast.” Before she could speak, the door to the bathroom opened and Justin walked out, gloriously naked. Wet hair slicked back from his forehead, water droplets gleaming on his chest. She wanted to flick her tongue over the drops then work her way to his nipple. She’d very nearly passed out last night, she’d been so sated. “Hey, Sal. What’s got you all worked up?” Judging from his tone, Justin’s good humor had returned. He grabbed his shorts off the floor and dragged them on. “Nortia’s on her way.” Sal directed his answer at Scarlata. “She’s gonna know in about two seconds who the kid is and she’s gonna be pissed. You gotta go.” The news cut at her like a sharp knife, spurring her into motion. “Justin, we need to leave. Immediately.” Without a hitch in his steady pace, Justin stopped and folded his arms over his chest. “You know, I’m really fucking sick of running.” His flat voice stopped her in the

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midst of heading for the door. “What is it this time? The Wicked Witch of the West? The bogeyman? Hell, I’m willing to believe in the tooth fairy right about now but I’m not leaving until I get some answers.” She ran to him and grabbed his hand, ready to pull him out of the house if she had to. “You could say she is kin to the Wicked Witch. She’s also Selvans’ partner and will not be happy to know he has strayed again.” Justin’s mouth dropped open but he didn’t budge. “My father had another wife?” Sal grabbed his other arm and started helping her tug him toward the door. They only moved him about an inch. The man might look thin but his entire body was roped in muscle. “They’re not married like you’d understand it,” Sal tried to explain. “They have complementary powers, they work in conjunction with each other. Neither of them cares if the other screws around but she can be a right bitch to Selvans’ children. He must have hidden you pretty well.” Scarlata knew she had to get him out of here. Nortia’s temper was legendary and the goddess would not fail to recognize Selvans in Justin. “Please, Justin.” She placed her hand on his cheek, enjoying the rasp of stubble against her skin and the clean scent of soap. “For me. I do not want you to be hurt. I’ve grown…quite fond of you.” That got his attention. His sharp blue gaze pinned her in place. “I’m not used to running from anything, babe. It’s not really in my nature.” “Well, today it better be if you’re planning on seeing tomorrow,” Sal grumbled then tossed his hands in the air. “Shit. Too late.” Scarlata froze as she too felt another presence enter the building. The power seeping through the air crept across her skin, touching her own magic. Bending it, making it subservient. “Salvatorus. Where are you?”

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The voice grated like nails on a chalkboard, making Scarlata wince. “Hey, Red.” Justin touched her arm. “You okay?” She shook her head. “Sal. Transport him. Get him out before she sees him.” “I don’t have enough time to weave the spell and he’s not gonna like where I have to send him if I use the spell I have ready.” “Salvatorus!” The goddess called again. “Attend.” “Please, Sal,” Scarlata begged. Sal shrugged. “Your call, Scary. Hang on, kid. This could get bumpy.”

As Justin watched, Sal raised his hand, snapped his fingers and the world twisted in on itself at the point where his fingers had touched. Feeling like his stomach was being sucked out of his body, Justin fell into the pinprick hole in the fabric of reality Sal had opened. The ride was over too fast for him to think anything other than “Holy shit” and “Where the fuck am I?” when he hit the ground so hard, he thought he might have broken his leg. “Well, hello.” The voice came from his left and he tried to turn but his stomach wanted to relieve itself of its contents. “If I had known I was going to have visitors today, I would have dressed for the occasion.” Still trying to calm the fierce nausea, he rasped, “Sorry for intruding,” before he passed out. When he came to, he was lying on a bed instead of the floor and his head no longer ached. “Oh good. You’re awake. I was afraid you’d sleep through the night and I would have died from curiosity.” Justin sat up, wincing as pain shot through his left hip. Rubbing it, he looked toward the source of the voice. 80

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A completely human-looking woman stood at the end of the bed, smiling warmly at him. She looked to be in her mid-thirties with coal black hair that hung to her waist and a petite body that looked thin enough for a stiff wind to blow her over. “Would you like some tea?” she asked. “I always find that helps whenever I get transported somewhere. It really is disorienting. First time?” “No, actually. I’ve been disoriented pretty much the past couple of days.” She laughed at his joke, pure amusement in her tone. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you? I’m Mia by the way.” She sniffed the air. “Salvatorus sent you, didn’t he? How is the horny little devil these days anyway?” Justin swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. “Sal’s fine. At least he was the last time I saw him.” He hoped he could say the same for his Red. “Where am I?” The dark-haired woman smiled again and now he noticed that her incisors were longer and sharper than any person’s he’d ever seen before. “Why don’t you come down to the kitchen? Are you hungry?” Surprisingly he was. He just hoped that, wherever he’d landed now, the natives weren’t cannibals. He followed her down the stairs of a home surprisingly like the one he’d just left. “I’m Lucani by the way,” the woman spoke over her shoulder as she pulled things out of the refrigerator to set on the counter. “And you are…” “Jeez, I’m sorry. I thought you said your name was Mia. I’m Justin Johannson.” The look she shot him was amused and bemused at the same time. “My name is Mia. Lucani just explains the teeth.” He shook his head, not knowing if he wanted to ask the question or not. But he figured he’d better find out now than be surprised later. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s a Lucani? But I gotta tell you, before two nights ago, I was blissfully unaware of folletti, gods and little horned guys with goat legs.”

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Mia’s laugh rang around the kitchen as if that was the best joke she’d heard in the past year. “Son, if you’re this calm after only two days, I’d say you’re going to do well.” Hands moving fast, she began making sandwiches. “Let me add to your menagerie. I’m a werewolf.” He let that sink in while he watched her finish the sandwiches, pour milk and set it all in front of him. “So you grow fur and claws during the full moon?” “Actually I can change any time I like. I’m a hereditary, which means my parents were Lucani as well. You can become Lucani if you’re bitten by one in their wolf form but it’s rare and many don’t survive the first transformation.” Well, there went another fairytale. “Why did Sal send me here?” She shrugged. “I suspect because this was the last place he sent someone, which meant he didn’t have to weave a new spell to transport you.” “What happened to the last person he sent?” “I ate him,” she said with a completely straight face. His mouth dropped open and the sandwich he’d just picked up slipped from his fingers. “Huh?” Mia laughed again, a full-out belly laugh. “Oh you are so easy. Don’t worry, sweetie. If Sal sent you to me without explicit instructions to eat you, you’re safe. For now.” She smiled sweetly. “So why did he send you?” He picked up the sandwich and forced himself to take a bite. Turkey and cheese with mustard and lettuce. His stomach growled. “I just found out my dad’s a god and his mate would make mincemeat out of me. And that’s before she found out I’ve fallen in love with a folletta.” Mia sighed. “Well, that sounds like a busy two days. Which god?” “Selvans.” She blinked. “Really?” “Really what?”

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Turning to the sink, she started washing dishes. “Oh nothing. I know Nortia can be difficult.” Setting down his sandwich, he shook his head. “Come on, Mia. It’s been a bitch of a day. ‘Really’ what?” After what seemed like forever, Mia shut off the water and turned again to face him. “Let me be the first to welcome you to your father’s house.”

***** Scarlata felt reality fold in around itself as Sal transported Justin away. One minute Justin stood in front of her. In the next, he was gone as if he’d never been there. She didn’t have that power. Only a few of the Fata retained that particular gift. And of course the gods and goddesses. “Salvatorus! Where are you?” Nortia screeched again, giving the house a shake just for good measure. She had a temper to be reckoned with. Her court went out of their way to smooth all obstacles so they wouldn’t bear the brunt of her anger. Scarlata was not a member of her court but, as a goddess, Nortia deserved her fealty and adoration. “Come on, Scary.” Sal tugged on her arm to get her moving. “Before she brings the walls down around us.” “Where did you send him?” she whispered. “Sal, please. Is he going to be okay?” “He’ll be fine. I sent him to his father.” She didn’t have time to question the intelligence of that choice as Sal dragged her through the hall and down the stairs to the front room where the goddess lounged on an overstuffed velvet armchair. With her curly, shoulder-length hair the color of the summer sun and eyes as blue as clear river water, Nortia looked all of twenty years old and had the attitude to go with it. As Scarlata and Sal bowed before their goddess, Nortia rolled her eyes. 83

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“Oh give me a break, you two. Get up, get up.” She waved slim hands at them. “Please, I’m here to hang out for a while, not hold court and be worshipped. Hey, Scary, I didn’t expect to see you. Got tired of your mountain?” Scarlata stood as Sal hopped onto the couch. “No, my lady. I am only visiting Salvatorus for the day.” “No problem.” Nortia shrugged. “You kids can play with whoever you like. I’m not that much of a bitch. I just stopped in to say ‘Hi’, hang out on a normal plane of existence for a while.” “Something going on?” Sal asked, the sharp note in his tone drawing Scarlata’s glance as she sank onto the couch next to him. Nortia shrugged, looking much like a human college student in tattered jeans, a belly-skimming pink tank top and several tiny silver hoops dangling from her earlobes. Her bare toes shimmered with silver rings as well and the anklet on her left leg held at least twenty diamonds. “Nothing that need worry you,” Nortia said then smiled as if to cheer Sal. “So tell me what’s new, my friend. I feel I’ve been gone forever.” After a slight hesitation, Sal launched into a rundown of current events. Wars, famines, natural disasters. How many of the old race had perished in each. It was a sickening number, Scarlata thought, particularly when there were so few of them being born now. At one time, the deities, the Fata, the Enu and the humans had shared the Earth. Until science had replaced magic and the gods and goddesses had ceased to be worshipped. Midway through the sixth century, the Etruscan pantheon had scattered to all corners of the Earth when the founding gods and goddesses of the Etruscans, the Involuti, had disappeared.

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Their duties usurped by the Roman deities when the Etruscan civilization had been assimilated into the Roman Empire, the Etruscan deities had wandered for centuries, living ordinary lives, blending into the eteri population, much like their people. When the Fata and Enu had congregated in the New World, most had followed and set up shop there. “Hey, Scary, are you okay?” Startled, Scarlata refocused her gaze on Nortia, whose soft expression belied everything she’d heard about the goddess and knew from past experiences. “Forgive me. I’m fine. I just—” “Missing the boy you brought with you last night?” The goddess waved away her stunned expression. “It’s okay. I know who he is. And I’m not going to turn him into a frog or a statue or a bench.” She snorted and slid her gaze Sal’s way. “Although that last one worked well enough on Theo, didn’t it?” Sal nodded, a genuine smile on his face. “Yeah, actually he had that one coming.” Nortia shifted her gaze back to Scarlata. “I’m not an ogre, child, and if you spent more time with me, you’d realize that. Now, now, that’s not a criticism,” she added as Scarlata stiffened. “It’s just, well, time changes everyone, hon.” The goddess sighed. “I do know my reputation and I’ve cultivated it well over the centuries. Yes, I have a temper but only because I actually hate being mated to a god who falls in love with another woman every five or six decades?” The goddess took a deep breath and released it on a long sigh, a navel ring glinting at the edge of her t-shirt. “So I’m turning over a new leaf. Out with the old baggage. I’m starting a new life.” Sal barked out a laugh. “Damn glad for you, girl. I knew you’d get around to this.” Nortia beamed as if he’d just crowned her prom queen and Scarlata couldn’t help wondering again exactly who Salvatorus was.

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“Now since you’re in such a good mood,” Sal continued, “we got trouble and I think you’re the person to help.”

***** Justin felt like she’d kicked him in the chest. “Are you telling me my father lives here?” Mia grimaced. “When he’s in the, ah, area, yes, this is where he stays. Darn, I should have kept my mouth shut.” “Is he here now?” “Yes,” came a voice he knew so well and thought he’d never hear again, “he is.” Justin turned, his heart trying to beat itself out of his chest. “Hello, Justin. It’s so damn good to see you.” The man he knew as Michael Johannson stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face but his blue eyes shining. He hadn’t changed at all since the last time he’d seen him and Justin didn’t know whether to hit him or hug him. His father took the decision out of his hands when he walked over and wrapped him in his arms. Justin caught his father’s scent—woody and clean with a hint of smoke—and held on. “Dad…” He felt his father sigh. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, kid. I hated to leave you and your sister and your mom but it couldn’t be helped. I was starting to get the questions. I’ve missed you, boy.” Michael—or should he call him Selvans?—drew back and Justin saw tears in his bright eyes, eyes he’d never realized were the most pure shade of purple he’d ever seen, with a startling blue band around the iris. Why had he never noticed that before? Well over six feet tall, Michael…Selvans had curly black hair, but otherwise they were carbon copies, though Justin was several inches shorter than his father.

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Torn between pissed off and elated, Justin went with his gut and hugged back. And the joy of seeing his dad gave him a head rush. “I missed you too, Dad.” His father smiled as he took a step back, though not too far. “I knew you’d find me. My journals, I knew they’d lead you to me eventually. You were always a smart boy. I guess you have a lot of questions, so why don’t we get started?” “How about we start with the fact that you’re an Etruscan god.” His dad’s brows raised in amazement. “And how the hell do you know that?” “Sal told me.” Shaking his head, Michael—Justin couldn’t wrap his head around the whole Selvans thing—began speaking in a foreign language. Justin assumed he was swearing because his hands were going up and down and he’d started to pace. “Shit.” His father abruptly switched back to English and stopped directly in front of Justin. “I’m sorry, son. That’s not exactly the way I would have wanted you to find out.” “Yeah, well, there were extenuating circumstances.” His dad frowned. “Oh? What the hell’s going on?” “First explain to me about this whole god thing, Dad. I’m having a little trouble wrapping my head around that one. I mean, are you human? Am I human? Or something else entirely? Where do you come from?” “That’s a question none of us can answer,” his father said. “We simply are.” “But the folletti and the salbinelli and the Lucani?” he pressed. “Where do they come from? Are we all related on a cellular level? How does it work?” His dad’s expression turned rueful. “You always did want to know how things worked. Could never get you to stop asking questions as a child. Nearly drove your mother insane until you learned to read when you were five and we bought you that set of encyclopedias.

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“I can’t really tell you how it works because no one really knows. Not even me, son. I may be a god but I still don’t have all the answers. “What I can tell you is that there is magic in the world, magic that the Fata and the Enu can control to varying degrees. We know that Fata such as the folletti can mate with humans and produce children who either have wings or do not. Enu like the streghe, the Tuscan witches, and the versipelli can control the same powers of the earth as the Fata.” His brain trying to cram in all the information, Justin held up his hand. “So the Enu and the Fata are the magical races of the world?” Smiling, his dad shook his head. “Just as there are different varieties of humans, there are different varieties of magical beings. In Ireland, they have leprechauns. They’re called lauru in Italy. The English have their fairies and we have folletti. “The members of the pantheons are all different entities, though there are many similarities between them. Norse, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Hindi—” His father held up his hand before Justin could ask the question forming in his brain. “Don’t even go there, son. The Christians are a scary lot. Better to leave that question unanswered.” His temples throbbing, Justin realized he was nearing info overload. “Ya know, I’m starting to think that old saying ‘Be careful what you wish for’ is right on the money.” His dad shrugged. “Some of us believe that deities were born directly from the need for a higher power. That we’re created from the same earth, sky, water and air from which all else springs. Others just don’t care. Being a deity is good enough for them.” Justin shook his head. “But people don’t worship them anymore.” “There are still those who believe, son. And there are the magical races to protect. We’re still needed, still of use.” Okay, he could understand most of that. But now here came the sixty-thousanddollar question. “So where does that leave me, Dad?” “Human,” his dad said. “We’re not really sure how it works but because your mother is human, her genes supersede mine. Strange, huh? And when you were a baby,

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I was able to hide your magical genes, if you will. You’ll have extended life, possibly several hundred years. Your intelligence is higher than the average human genius. And you may have powers that haven’t manifested themselves yet.” Well, that sounded interesting. “Like what?” Justin urged when his dad paused. “My genes are in the mix, son, but they’re buried. Sometimes those latent abilities become viable. And sometimes they can be called forth. But that’s a dangerous path. The transformation could kill you. I’ve lost children because of this, son, children who should have known better.” His dad’s expression hardened and Justin saw pain in his eyes. “I don’t want to be in that position again. I don’t want you to put your mother through that. The power you might gain isn’t worth your life.” “Well, I may need them, because someone’s found a way to use me.” He told his father and Mia, who’d stayed in the background the entire time, what had happened the past two days. It sounded crazy. Hell, he had a god for a father, had met a creature who was half man, half goat and had had sex with an actual fairy with pink wings. Two days ago, he’d been unaware that entire races of magical creatures also shared the world. His dad rubbed a hand down his lean face. Justin couldn’t remember how many times he’d heard someone say he looked like his father. He’d never seen it himself but now…now he saw the resemblance in their bone structure. They had the same long features, straight nose and high cheekbones. But where his father’s hair was dark, his was fair. Michael’s eyes were that pure purple and his were blue. “Sounds like the Mal are up to their old tricks again.” Mia spoke her first words since his father had entered the room. “I’ll do a little recon, see if I can figure out what they’re up to.”

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Michael sighed. “They’re persistent bastards, I’ll give them that. All right, Mia. Just don’t let them know what you’re doing.” Nodding, she left the room. And finally they were alone. Michael’s lips quirked in a lopsided grin. “So you want to take a swing at me?” Justin felt an answering grin on his own lips. “I should but I’m too damn happy to see you.” “Me too, son. I have kept tabs on you and your sister. I just never saw this mess coming. Especially this company you work for. I did a little digging into Bonnini’s background when you took the job. Just to keep an eye out for you, keep up with what you were doing. But nothing popped right away. The guy looked squeaky clean. Of course that in itself should have been a red flag.” “Hell, I work for them and I never had a clue. I don’t like being used.” “Then let’s see what Mia comes up with,” Michael said. “In the meantime, let’s talk to Salvatorus—” Justin shook his head. “Not a good idea. Didn’t you hear? The reason I’m here is because Nortia showed up.” Michael huffed. “Don’t worry about her. I can handle her.”

***** Turned out his dad handled females about as well as a one-armed cow roper handled a roundup. “Now, babe, I know I’ve been—” “A shit, a creep, a dung beetle?” Nortia gave him a tight smile. “All of the above? Why is it that I got stuck with you anyway, you unfaithful jackass? I never did understand that.”

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His father’s expression turned chagrined. “Norty, come on. You know neither of us had a choice in that. That’s the hand we were dealt. And it’s not like you’ve been a saint.” Standing in the corner, Justin watched the Goddess Nortia wrinkle her pretty little nose. Blonde and blue-eyed, she looked like a twenty-something Barbie doll. He’d expected her to be a bitch but so far she’d been nothing but kind. Well, to him anyway. His dad was getting hammered. “Only after I realized you would never be faithful, you bastard.” “So sue me, babe.” Now his father’s expression turned hard. “But later. We’ve got a bigger problem now.” Nortia huffed. “I know that. Salvatorus and Scarlata have filled me in. I assume your son has done the same for you. So what do you have in mind?” “Mia is out gathering information right now but…we think the Mal are targeting our people specifically. Can you think of any reason why they would?” As his father and Nortia talked about things he should probably be listening to, all Justin really wanted was to talk to Scarlata. She stood against the opposite wall, her eyes never leaving him. She had her wings unfurled and curled around her shoulders. He wanted to put his arm around her, draw her against him. Better yet, he wanted to take her away from here, wipe that fearful expression off her face. “Do you think they know who Justin is?” Nortia’s question redirected his father’s gaze to him. “No. Or they wouldn’t have let him so far off the leash. They didn’t realize who they had in their grasp. And they’re not going to get a second chance at him.” “Yes,” Nortia said, “I do believe Scarlata would be heartbroken if something happened to him.”

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“Justin,” his father said, “take Scary and go get some sleep. You two look like you could use some down time. We’ll wake you when Mia returns.” Justin would have argued but the sudden hope on Scarlata’s face changed his mind. Taking her hand, he pulled her toward the door. It didn’t take much to convince her to go with him and when they reached the hall, he scooped her into his arms and took the stairs two at a time. He headed for the room they’d shared last night, Scarlata’s arms around his neck, her fingers laced through his hair. Her lips blazed a trail from his ear to his jaw and around the other side. He kicked the door closed behind him at the same time she dropped her hand to his shorts and unzipped them. They caught on his knees, nearly making him trip. He fell back against the door and set her on her feet but she immediately went to her knees in front of him, running her hands down his chest as she turned a wicked gaze upward. Her smile held the promise of pleasures to come, making his cock jerk in anticipation. Then her gaze dropped to stare at his shaft, blood pumping, making it twitch. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he released it on a gasp when she took the throbbing head into her mouth. Sensation shot through his body, making every muscle tingle in anticipation. He caught himself before he could grab the back of her head and force her to take him farther. Instead, he reached for the doorknob with one hand and the door hinges with the other and held on. Her tongue swirled around the tip of his cock before sucking it into her mouth. His balls tightened to the point of pain and, just when he was about to come, she let his shaft slip from her mouth and wrapped her thumb and forefinger around the base of his cock, squeezing until the impending orgasm backed off. “Oh, you are not going to get off that easy,” she said. “This time, it’s your turn to scream.”

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Her sultry tone had hot blood pumping through his veins, engorging his cock again. When she took him back into her mouth, he let his head fall against the door. Instead of watching, he closed his eyes and let her have her way with him. She took him in deep then slid back until only the tip remained in her mouth then worked her way back down until her lips touched the hair at its root. The exquisite sensation made flashes of light appear behind his eyelids. Working into a rhythm, she moved her lips up and down his shaft, her teeth occasionally grazing the sensitive skin. Need, lust and love combined in a heady mix of emotions that soon became pure pleasure. He found his left hand tangled in her hair and moved it down to rub her neck. Her hum of approval made the skin on his cock dance with joy and he realized one of her hands had crept around to clutch his ass. Caught between her head and hand, he knew this was where he wanted to be forever. With a growl, he put his hand on her shoulder and eased her mouth off his cock, hearing the faint pop as her lips broke the suction. “The bed,” he gasped. “Better way.” Scarlata stood, looking up at Justin, whose face displayed an all-consuming hunger. For her. Her stomach attempted to twist in on itself at the emotions he laid bare. She smiled and watched the heat in his eyes flare hotter. She waved a hand toward the bed. “After you.” He stepped out of his shorts then walked around her without saying a word. He was stretched on his back crosswise on the mattress before she got there. Justin held out his hands and gestured for her to approach. “Come here, babe. I want to taste you again.” Her sex contracted and moisture pooled at his husky tone. But instead of jumping onto the bed immediately, she shook her hair over her shoulders, feeling the strands stroke her skin like silk.

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The motion drew his gaze to her breasts and her nipples tightened into hard, aching points. She glanced down his body, noting the rapid rise and fall of his chest, the line of dark blond hair that led to the darker hair at his groin. His cock—the head nearly purple in its glory, shaft bulging with veins—gave a twitch as she watched and she couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Scarlata walked to the bed, letting her hips sway a little more freely. “So what did you have in mind, etera?” His mouth quirked as his breathing picked up speed. “Climb up and I’ll let you know.” Putting one knee on the bed on the opposite side from his head, she knew exactly what he had in mind. But she didn’t want to make it too easy for him. Anticipation was half the fun. “Do you want me here?” She grabbed for his ankle faster than his human eyes could see and pulled him closer until his legs hung over the bed at the knee. “Or do you want to come closer?” “You know what I want.” His voice was a barely audible growl. “Get up here, woman. On your knees. Over my face. Now.” His blunt words caused her sex to contract almost painfully and her desire for him made her lungs burn. Still, she smiled but didn’t move. “You certainly don’t expect me to follow your every command, do you? Lowly human, don’t you know—Ah!” She screamed in delight as he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto the bed, setting her on her knees. But instead of settling her on his shaft, he positioned her directly over his face. “Prepare to scream, my goddess.” His hands dug into her hips, his breath teasing the inside of her thighs. “And to beg.”

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Justin lifted his head and sealed his mouth over her sex, flicking his tongue over her clit. Her head fell back as her body gave itself over to sensation. To the rough, wet licks, the exquisite suction. He held her there easily, even as she let him take more and more of her weight. An orgasm began to tighten low in her body as he feasted on her with such unrepentant hunger. Almost there. Her body taut, she needed him to drive her harder, tongue her clit with more force. But the damn man seemed intent on taking his time. She tried to roll her hips, to encourage him to go faster. But he gripped her more firmly and held her at his mercy. Moaning, she grabbed his wrists. “Justin, I need more. Now.” “Now, Red,” his voice was muffled as he spoke against her inner thigh, “I told you, you have to beg for it.” She nearly screamed in frustration when he pulled away, looking up at her with a cocky grin on his wet lips. A laugh bubbled its way through her need at the male arrogance in that statement and that smile. But she recognized it for the challenge it was. “You will pay for that, etera.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Not so sure that designation fits anymore, babe.” Lifting his shoulders off the bed, he gave her a quick swipe with his tongue. “You can just call me Master.” She laughed again and unfurled her wings. “That’s not going to cut it either, Justin.” With one quick flutter, she broke his hold on her and hovered just out of his reach above him. “I think I need to teach you a little humility.” Justin stared at her for one brief second before he gave a short bark of laughter then lay back with his hands behind his head. “Red, you can teach me anything you want.”

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Using her wings to keep her aloft, she moved down his body until she could reach his cock, throbbing and near to bursting. Hovering above him, she let her hair fall over her shoulders, brushing along his thighs, tickling his shaft. A quick glance up caught Justin as his head kicked back into the pillow, eyes shut tight. “Let’s see who begs now, Justin.” She took him in her mouth, sliding the red tip between her lips, careful to touch just the head. She sucked gently, just enough to make him as frustrated as she’d been, the only contact between them the brush of her hair against his thighs and her mouth on his cock. For several minutes, she played with him, licking along the shaft with quick, delicate strokes then taking only the head into her mouth. He writhed beneath her, his scent intensifying as he struggled to control his need. Then, with a groan, he tried to thrust farther into her mouth. She moved away, tsking slowly. “You’re killing me here, Red.” His voice came out on a growl but he knew better than to use his hands, because he kept them locked beneath his head. Still, he wanted to use them. The bunched muscles in his arms told of his restraint. Smiling, she rewarded him by taking him in farther, getting him deeper then starting a back-and-forth motion that made his breath come in gasps. She didn’t know how long she sucked him, lost in his taste and in his response. Determined to make him break first, she scraped her teeth along his cock on the way back up, eliciting a deep groan from him. Close, he was so close— “Oh Christ, Red.” His voice rasped out from between his clenched lips. “Please, I’ll beg. Just take me already, sweetheart.”

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Her lips curved around his cock and she gave him one last, deep pull before she eased back. Lifting her head, she found him staring straight into her eyes, no longer smiling. Right on the edge. Exactly where she’d wanted him. Using her wings, she repositioned her body over his until her sex rested on the tip of his cock, held straight by her hand. His eyelids closed for a few brief seconds as she hung there, suspended over him, their bodies only touching by the merest degree. His hands unlaced from behind his head and she floated up, breaking the contact. His loud groan echoed in the room. Hell, Sal and Nortia and Selvans probably heard it downstairs. She didn’t care. To her, it was the most erotic sound in the world. When he opened his eyes and grabbed the slats in the headboard, she smiled and let herself sink slowly down on his cock. She nearly lost her control as she enveloped the tip, hot and hard. Sinking centimeter by centimeter, she let her weight settle her onto him. The delicious friction created by his width against her sheath made her womb clench. The first spasms of an orgasm made her muscles contract, drawing him in farther. “Oh Christ, Scarlata.” The roughness of his voice made her breath catch in her throat. “Come on, babe. Move.” Stilling her wings, she dropped her body the last few inches, impaling herself on his shaft and freeing the orgasm to rack through her body. With a growl, Justin reversed their positions and began to pump into her clutching pussy. With his hands on her shoulders and his body covering hers, he nailed her to the bed with his thrusting hips, his breath short, sharp gasps in her ear. Arms pinned to her side and her legs spread wide, Scarlata rode out her orgasm on a cloud of bliss. And after Justin finally groaned and released into her, his head nestled into her neck, she took a deep breath and fell asleep.

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“Scary, we got a problem.” Sal’s quiet voice roused her from her doze. She stretched and found herself sprawled over Justin, who looked exhausted even in sleep. Not wanting to wake him, she used her wings to lift herself off his body without shaking the bed. Even so, he shifted restlessly, turning onto his side and grabbing the pillow next to him. Curling around it, he breathed her name on a sigh. It made her heart contract and she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with him. “Scary, come on, move it.” She sighed and moved to open the door before Sal woke Justin. “What’s going on? Has something happened?” Sal nodded and the look on his face was somber. “You’d better come down. We’ve got a major clusterfuck on our hands.” He turned and headed down the stairs, hurrying as fast as his short legs could carry him, which surprisingly, was extremely fast. He beat her down the stairs to the front room where Nortia and Selvans were staring at the television. “The blaze appears to have been deliberately set in a distinct circle on Hawk Mountain,” the man on the screen said. “Firefighters are finding it difficult to get to the scene due to the remoteness of the area.” Nortia and Selvans turned when she gasped. “I’ve got to get back.” “You know it’s a trap, Scary.” Nortia shook her head. “You can’t go. That’s what they want.” Her wings fluttering in distress, Scarlata headed for the door. “I have to go. There are more than thirty Fata living in that area.” “What?” the goddess screeched as if someone had stuck her with a pin, stopping her in her tracks. “Why did I not know there was an enclave there?” 98

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“Now don’t jump down Scary’s throat.” Selvans raised a spread hand. “I set it up. Seemed like the perfect spot. But the Mal appear to know more than we gave them credit for. They knew exactly where to hit. What I don’t understand is how they knew and why they needed Justin.” “It doesn’t matter.” Scarlata shook her head. “Those people are my responsibility and I need to get them to safety.” “I’ve already tried to transport there,” Sal added. “Whoever’s working the mojo, they’ve got a shield around the perimeter to keep us from getting in there and taking them out. They know exactly what they’re doing. You’re going to have to go in over the flames. Be careful, babe. They must want you pretty badly. Don’t make it easy for them.” “I won’t.” Scarlata added a brief smile before opening the door. “Please tell Justin…I love him.” Then she stepped out into the bright light of day and flew north.

***** “What the hell do you mean, she’s gone?” Justin had heard the door close and woken, only to realize Scarlata was nowhere to be found. He’d pulled on his shorts and barreled down the stairs to find everyone huddled around the TV. After his father had filled him in, his mouth had dropped open. “And why are you all just sitting here?” Justin added when no one answered his first question. “Norty and I are too big a prize for these people,” his dad said, shaking his head. “We can’t be taken. Not by the Mal. Besides, Scary knows what she’s doing. I don’t like it either, son, but—” “I’m going.” Justin stabbed a finger at Sal. “Transport me there. Right now.”

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Sal shrugged, hands in the air. “Don’t know that it’ll work. The Mal strung up a screening spell. Although…you may be able to slip through. They’re not screening humans. Probably because they know humans would blab to the tabloids about some strange force in the forest if they couldn’t get to the site. Yeah, this might work.” “Son, you can’t go. What help will you be?” Justin turned, ready to tell his dad to shut up, but throttled back when he saw the real fear in Michael’s eyes. “Those people must be terrified. At least I can help calm them until Red can get them out. I gotta go. I can’t sit here and do nothing. This is partly my fault.” His dad sighed. “I don’t like this. I’m not convinced those men don’t know exactly who you are. Maybe this trap is for you too.” “It doesn’t matter. She’s out there alone and I can’t live with that.”

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Chapter Nine Smoke billowed into the air, making her eyes sting and her lungs burn. Still, Scarlata flew into the gray haze, fighting tears of rage. Her beautiful forest, willfully decimated. When she found the men responsible, she would kill them. Painfully and slowly. Possibly by the same means they had used to scar her forest. They’d set the fire in a mile-wide circle, perfectly encompassing the enclave. By the way the fire stayed in a ring, not moving forward or backward, she knew it was being magically controlled. By someone with a lot of power. By the time she’d breached the choking circle of smoke, she flew directly to the center of the ring, where she knew they would be gathered. And they were. Scarlata had barely landed when they converged around her—a mix of Fata, including a few salbinelli, fauni and gianes. None had wings. There were few folletti left in the Americas. Possibly one less if she failed. “Scarlata, we can’t get out.” Barboso ran for her, the beautiful, young salbinelli nearly frantic. “The fire—” “No time to explain.” She searched the crowd until she found what she wanted. “Johanna, bring me the twins. Quickly. I’ll get the children away then we’ll figure out how to get everyone else out.” Goddess willing, she would have the time. Johanna ran forward, a twin in each arm. The girl and boy toddlers were barely three, their bright gold hair already showing the streaks of green that marked them full-

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blooded fauni. Johanna, herself one of the oldest fauni in America, had only moved here in the last hundred years. She’d never revealed the children’s father. “I’ll protect them with my life,” Scarlata promised Johanna, the fauni’s lavender eyes wide and filled with dread. “I promise.” The crying children did not want to leave their mother and Scarlata flew away with her heart in her throat, terrified she would drop one of the squirming bundles. They only weighed about twenty pounds each but their chubby little bodies represented so much more than their mother’s love. They represented hope for the Fata. As soon as she had cleared the ring of smoke and fire, she realized she’d made an error. She needed somewhere safe to keep the children but it would have to be close so she could return for others as soon as possible. The answer came in a flash of memory and an entreaty to the Great Goddess Uni for luck and a little foresight on the part of others.

***** Justin blinked and found himself in a large cave. With no apparent entrance or exit. “Damn you, Sal,” he muttered under his breath. “Son of a bitch.” The cave was wide enough to host a dinner party for twenty, table included. And the sheer rock walls rose at least thirty feet above him. A soft glow illuminated the space, some of it coming from above, where there had to be an opening to the outside, explaining the fresh air. But most of the light came from the glowing walls. Veins of silver-colored crystals ran all through the stone, giving off a radiance that shone like bright moonlight. He’d never seen anything like it. The researcher in him had to get a closer look, running his hand along the faintly warm rock. Which must be why the air didn’t feel cool. But where the hell was he? 102

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If Sal thought to keep him safe here, it wasn’t going to work. He’d drag himself up the walls with his hands if he had to. He’d be damned if he took this sitting down. Moving his fingers along the stone, he searched for handholds and began to climb. He’d only gotten a few feet off the ground when the glow in the cave flickered. He glanced up and saw something had blocked out the light at the top. No, not something. Someone. “Justin, thank the Goddess,” Scarlata breathed. “I was hoping you would be here.” Scarlata had entered somewhere above and floated toward the ground, her wings flapping to ease her down. Too stunned to do more than kiss her when she landed, he didn’t even notice the crying babies she held in each arm until one of them hit him in the chin. “Here.” She passed him the children, filling his arms with squiggling, little, warm masses of flesh. “I’ll be back.” Then she flew up and out of his sight. Leaving him with a hole in the pit of his stomach and two terrified babies with green streaks in their yellow hair, eyes so blue they blazed and chubby little cheeks flushed bright red in their fury. Holy shit. He didn’t know a damn thing about kids, not a blasted thing. None of his friends—not that he had many—but no one he knew had babies. Or if they did, he’d never seen them. What the hell did he do with them? The children began to scream louder. “Hey, guys. Give me a break here. I’m doing the best I can.” The slightly smaller of the two children hiccupped but stopped crying. “I’m a girl,” she said, sounding for all the world like an American child. “I want my mommy.” “Where did the fire come from?” asked the boy. “Will my mommy be okay? What about Dilby and Auralia and Cornelius and—” 103

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As the twins—they had to be, they looked too much alike—continued to spout questions he couldn’t answer about their mother and friends, Justin realized Scarlata’s task was much greater than he’d imagined. How many people were stuck in the center of the ring of fire? Was she planning on flying each of them out herself? How long would that take? Could she do it before the fire made its way to the center of the ring? In the short time he’d known her, he knew she would do whatever had to be done to save her friends. No matter the cost to herself. Dread sank into the pit of his stomach like acid and he held onto the children just a little tighter.

Forty-five minutes later, Justin was surrounded by seven kids—two of whom had hooves—varying in age from the three-year-old twins to the mute ten-year-old Auralia. Then there was Dilby, a beautiful dark-haired girl who looked completely human. She’d been the last to arrive and immediately took over. She picked up the twins and gathered the rest of the children in the center of the cave. She got them quiet with a few words and sat them down on the floor while she wove a spell. Suddenly the air over their heads filled with what looked like a movie, figures moving, thunderbolts flashing. Regiments of centaurs, warriors with wings and spears fighting dragons and giants. He didn’t realize he was just as engrossed in the illusion as the children until Dilby appeared at his side. “She’s not going to be able to save them all.” For the first time since Dilby arrived, Justin heard a tremble in her voice. With the children, she’d been steady as a rock, seemingly old beyond her years.

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“She needs help,” Dilby continued. He shook his head, frustration boiling in his stomach along with dread. “I know. I want to, Dilby. I just don’t know how.” “You’re the son of a god.” She bit out every word, emotions far beyond her years in her eyes. “You need to do something.” “Dilby—” “Now.” “Honey—” “Or she’ll kill herself trying to get their parents and everyone else out.” Tears began to appear in her dark eyes. “You’ve got to help.” He released a frustrated sigh. “How?” Dilby opened her mouth but stopped before making a sound. “What—” Dilby slapped a small hand over Justin’s mouth and, with a wave of her other arm, dissipated the illusion the children were watching then silenced them with a curt motion of her hand across her throat. The kids immediately went quiet. Someone’s coming. Dilby’s voice was silent but he heard her perfectly. In his head. Someone’s getting close. He figured it wasn’t Scarlata. His heart nearly beat into his throat. The kids. Jesus, how would he protect these kids? They were so tiny and he was powerless against the magic these people had. “Dilby,” he whispered. “My powers. Tell me how I get them.” She didn’t answer right away but her eyes widened in fear before narrowing in speculation. And hope. It should only be done by an elder, someone who knows what they’re doing. He heard her voice in his head again. But I’ve seen the ritual performed. I know what it entails. “Can you do it?” he whispered again. 105

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She swallowed hard then nodded. But if something goes wrong, I could kill you. His heart beat just a little faster but he ignored his fear and forced a grin. “Honey, you’re all I got at the moment. If there’s any chance you can make this work, it’s gotta be now.” Even if there’s a chance you could die? He nodded. “I know the risks. Frankly, I think they’re designed more to scare off any potentials.” Well, that was what he was hoping anyway. “If you want me to help, you’ve got to do this. Now.”

***** Though the fire had not advanced, the heat and smoke were becoming nearly unbearable for those remaining in the circle. Scarlata had taken all the children to the cave but she now faced the daunting task of deciding which adults to remove. She should take the children’s mothers first but she really wanted to have a strong male in the cave in case someone responsible for the fire should actually find them. She refused to think about the fact that Justin was in that cave as well. He would die defending the children and she would not want to live without him. By the time she flew into the circle, she’d made up her mind. “Dagobert, you must come next.” The young salbinelli drew closer, shaking his head. “The women, Scarlata. You must get the mothers out.” “We have no time to argue.” She nearly stomped her foot in frustration, the heat of the fire beginning to make her eyes tear. “You are the strongest. You must protect the children.” “Yes, go,” urged Johanna, the mother of the twins. “We are all expendable. They are not.”

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Dagobert looked ready to argue but Scarlata merely picked him up in her arms and flew away. Although he only stood four feet in height, he weighed nearly one hundred and fifty pounds. Luckily she was strong and it wasn’t far to fly. Still, by the time she reached the cave, her arms ached from the strain of holding Dagobert and her lungs burned. But when they reached the cave, the sight that greeted her wrenched a shout from her. “Justin! No!”

***** Well, maybe death wouldn’t be as painful as he’d figured. Justin felt only Dilby’s warm palm resting on his chest as he lay on the floor naked, his bare skin in contact with the soil from head to toe. Dilby had explained what she was going to do but not how it was going to work. Frankly, he hadn’t cared as long as it did work. And at first, the only discomfort he felt were the rocks against his back. Then warmth began to seep into his body, coming directly from the stone. He had about thirty seconds to ponder that situation before excruciating pain enveloped his entire being and he couldn’t think at all. Every molecule in his body screamed in agony as Dilby continued chanting. His heart felt as if it were trying to beat its way out of his chest then began to ache with searing pain. Blood continued to pump through his veins but it slowed to a sluggish crawl as if it had thickened and was congealing. He couldn’t move his lungs to breathe and with his last breath, before everything went black, he saw his Red.

***** “No! Dilby, no!”

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Scarlata ran for Justin but strong arms tightened around her from behind. “Let her finish,” Dagobert hissed. “If she stops now, she will kill him.” Scarlata wanted to scream in frustration but the sight of the children huddled in a tight knot in the far corner of the cave brought her to her senses. “Children, quickly,” she urged. “In a circle around them. Put your hands on the stone. Call to the Mother Goddess and entreat her aid.” They did as she asked, looking happy to contribute in some way. She was so engrossed in what was happening with Justin that she didn’t realize two men had materialized in the cave. “You were right, Mr. Bonnini,” a voice behind her said. “This cave is the perfect hiding spot. Damn, we hit the jackpot.” “Shut up, Jason, you idiot. You’ll scare the children. And we wouldn’t want that. We want to be friends with them.” Scarlata whirled around to stare at the newcomers. The taller of the two leered at her but it was the smaller man who scared her. He had power. Dark power. And she recognized his voice. When he’d spoken to Justin outside the cabin. This was Justin’s boss, Daniel Bonnini. The man had short, dark hair, innocuous features and a smile as sharp as a blade. She started toward him— And with a flick of his hand, he knocked her several feet back. She fell on her ass, ears ringing as the children screamed. Struggling to her feet, she saw Dagobert counter with a spell that should have made both men writhe in pain. The tall one, Jason, did fall to the floor, curled in a ball, but Bonnini barely flinched.

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The children. She had to protect the children, now crying in fear. The incantation she needed to produce a protection shield around them eluded her and Bonnini drew closer. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said, looking like a normal businessman in his suit pants, dress shirt and tie. All he was missing was the jacket. “Allow me to take two of the children and I will put out the fire and let the rest of you leave. That seems like a morethan-fair exchange, don’t you think?” The bastard. Rage bubbled through her blood as she shook herself. “You will not lay one hand on any of those children.” She stood, fighting the binding spell he was attempting to weave around her. She glanced at Dagobert, who had positioned himself between the children and Justin—still unmoving on the ground. Bonnini raised an eyebrow. “You do know that if I have to kill you and the goat boy, I will take all the children and allow the fire to consume the others. Take the deal, girl. Justin is dead. You’re on your own.” Scarlata knew he was right, knew she’d failed and, with a war cry, flung herself at the monster who had destroyed her forest, her people and her life.

Justin came alive with a renewed burst of pain and the sense that he held a force inside his body he couldn’t contain. He opened his eyes, sat up—and saw Bonnini fling his precious Red into the wall with enough force to make her crumple in an unmoving heap to the floor. Scrambling to his feet, careful not to step on the children surrounding him, he rushed toward Bonnini with a shout. Bonnini looked startled for all of a second before he snarled and threw what looked like a bolt of lightning at Justin’s chest, hitting him directly above the heart.

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Justin braced himself for pain, not knowing what to expect. But his body absorbed the energy as if it were water. Bonnini stopped in his tracks, his expression no longer as smug as it had been. And Justin smiled. He might be new to this son-of-a-god stuff. He might not have a clue what he could do yet. But his body felt bigger. His skin practically vibrated with strength and he swore every hair on his body crackled with static electricity. “I’m going to crush you like a bug, Bonnini.” He grinned, couldn’t help himself. “Then I’m going to dismantle your company piece by piece. And when there’s nothing left, I’m going to make damn sure this never happens again.” Justin moved with a speed he’d never possessed, a speed that was almost frightening, and grabbed Bonnini around the throat. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with, Johannson.” Bonnini had the gall to leer at him, even though he gasped for air. “You’re not going to win this.” “Watch me.” Justin threw the man against the wall on the opposite side of the cave, just as Bonnini had done to Scarlata. From where he stood, Justin heard the man’s bones break before he crumpled to the ground. His ears filled with the sound of the children crying, Justin watched Bonnini for several seconds to make sure he didn’t get up. Bonnini’s man still lay on the ground, groaning but unmoving. He turned toward the children but caught sight of Scarlata lying on the floor. “No, no, no,” Justin groaned, the words sounding full of pain even to his own ears, as he dropped to his knees beside her. “Red, come on, wake up.” She didn’t make a sound, lying as still as death. Justin wasn’t sure he should move her, was afraid he would only harm her more if he did. “Dilby!” he called, hearing fear in his voice. “Dilby, what do I do?”

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The ashen-faced girl stood with the help of the salbinelli, her face pale in the glow of the crystals embedded in the stone. “You have to heal her.” Whatever gods are listening, please let her be okay. “How do I do that?” “Pick her up. Let your body absorb her injuries. It’ll know how.” Justin refused to lose her now. Not when he found the one thing in his life that made sense. “Do it,” Dilby urged. “Their parents. They’re still out there.” Shit, he’d forgotten about those still trapped by the forest fire. With shaking hands, he reached for Scarlata.

Scarlata gasped, lungs fighting for air. Her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up but she could barely move. “Red, honey, just stay still for a second.” Justin. She turned her head and looked up. Justin held her on his lap. They were still in the cave but she didn’t hear— “The children! Are they—” “They’re fine, Red. Bonnini’s unconscious or dead. Don’t care which. How do you feel?” She took a second to think about his question and another to dismiss the small aches and pains throughout her body. “I’m fine. We need to get the children out of here.” Then she remembered her last memory of him. “What about you, Justin? Are you okay?” “I’m fine.” The strange look in his eyes made her draw in a frightened breath but then he smiled, a normal Justin smile, and she calmed. A little. “Really. I’m okay. We’ll get the kids out but I didn’t get a shiny pair of wings with my powers so I’m going to need your help with that.”

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Her heart skipped several beats. “Justin, that was so incredibly reckless. Dilby should have known better—” “I didn’t give her much of a choice. And I’d do it again. Red—” “Justin!” Dagobert yelled. “They’re getting away.” Justin turned just in time to see Bonnini’s henchman pick up Bonnini’s still-lifeless body and dematerialize before Justin could move. “Shit.” Justin glanced back down at Scarlata and then back to the spot where Bonnini had been. “I should have made sure the other guy was knocked out cold—” “Justin.” Scarlata cupped his tense jaw in her hand, drawing his furious gaze back to her. “Let’s just get out of here. We’ll get Bonnini later. When the children are safe.” Justin nodded and slowly the anger drained out of him. “You’re right. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

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Chapter Ten “I called the lab, talked to one of the researchers.” Justin leaned back in his chair at Sal’s dining table, fiddling with his now-empty coffee mug. “He said no one’s seen Bonnini since the fire. And my boss wanted to talk to me. Said the rumor going around was I was getting fired for stealing. What exactly I stole, he wasn’t too clear on.” His dad, Sal, Nortia and Scarlata had the other seats at the table, all with their eyes on him. Well, not all. Scarlata’s gaze was glued to the table, her wings out and curled around her shoulders. She sat directly across the table from him, as far away as she could get. He wanted to jump over the table, grab her and run somewhere they could talk. Alone. “Well, you don’t need to worry about the job, kid,” his dad said. “I’ve got some law enforcement contacts. We’ll make sure you’re never charged, though I don’t think Bonnini would make formal charges. He just needs an excuse to explain your disappearance. And you don’t have to worry about money. Already set up a trust for you. You’ll never have to work again if you don’t want to. Besides, you’re gonna need a few months’ training.” Selvans’ sigh was short and sharp and Justin braced himself for the next topic of conversation. “Son, your powers—that was reckless and dangerous. You could have been killed. What if something had gone wrong—” “Dad, stop.” Justin help up his hand, shooting a quick look at Scarlata, who still had her gaze focused on the table. “Nothing went wrong so let’s not go there. Just tell me what happens now.” “Now you need to learn what you can do and how to control it,” Sal answered when his dad just shook his head. “We can do the training here—” 113

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“No.” His dad slashed his hand out. “No, not around here. Not when we don’t know where Bonnini is or what he’s going to do next. Mia wasn’t able to find a clue about why he wanted Scarlata or the children. But Bonnini’s Mal. We know he’s not looking for a cure for world hunger or global warming. We’ll keep digging but I want Justin far away from here.” Because he was watching Scarlata when his dad said that, Justin saw the tips of her wings flutter, as if in distress, then close even more tightly around her shoulders. Come on, babe. Look at me. Please. Her gaze remained locked on the table. Guess he didn’t gain telepathy as part of his new powers. “I don’t like running, Dad. And what about Mom? She’s gonna have questions. What do I tell Ellie? What— Holy shit! I just realized—” “Your sister works for Bonnini too,” his dad finished. “Yeah, I know that. I know you helped get her the job.” “Fuck.” Christ, how much worse could this get? “We gotta get her out of there. I gotta call her—” “Son, she’s fine. I’ve had a guard on her for years. He’d have told me if anyone made a move on her. She’s safe. You’re the one he’s going to be looking for.” Good to know that Ellie was protected. But Scarlata would still be in danger if she were with him. Damn, but he wanted her to be with him. He couldn’t stop staring at her, waiting for her to give him some sign of what she was thinking. So far, nothing. “So I’ll learn how to deal with these powers,” Justin said, “but I don’t want to leave the area. I’m staying here.” There, that finally got a response from her. Scarlata’s gaze shot to his and, for a second, he saw a hint of a smile on her mouth. Then her mouth pursed as if she’d thought of something else.

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“Son—” “I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Sal broke in. “We’re moving the Hawk Mountain enclave to Oley. There’s no reason Justin can’t train there. If it’s okay with Scarlata.” “You know what?” Nortia spoke up for the first time since they’d returned to the house after moving the enclave members to safe houses all over the county. When Bonnini and his henchman had disappeared, the fire had dissipated on its own, leaving only a ring of scorched earth a few yards wide. The local fire departments would be scratching their heads over that one for years. “I think we don’t need to figure this all out right now,” Nortia continued. “We’re tired, we’re pissed off and some of us need a shower. I myself need about three hours in a hot tub and a few bottles of wine. And,” she shot a look at Scarlata before returning her gaze to Justin, “I think we all need a little time to think.” Justin felt like kissing the tiny blonde goddess if he didn’t think she’d take offense. Hell, since she was sitting right next to him, he did anyway. When he didn’t grow a snout and fur, he figured her smile was genuine. His dad must have finally gotten the hint as well. His gaze shot from Justin to Scarlata and back again. “Ah,” Selvans’ eyebrows lifted. “Yeah, I think you’re right, Norty.” As they all stood, Nortia said goodbye and disappeared. Selvans shook hands with Sal, patted Scarlata on the back then turned to Justin. “It’ll all work out, son.” As his dad grabbed him close for a hug, he whispered in his ear, “Good luck. I’ll see you soon.” Then he stepped back, smiled and disappeared as well. “Well, you kids are welcome to the bedrooms,” Sal said with a wicked grin. “I’ve got some errands to run. Just don’t leave the house until I get back.” And then he disappeared.

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Leaving Justin staring at Scarlata and Scarlata staring at the floor.

Scarlata didn’t have a clue what to say. There hadn’t been time to talk to Justin privately before, not when they were so busy transporting everyone out of Hawk Mountain. Then Selvans and Nortia and Sal had wanted to talk and she couldn’t very well say no to them. But she’d been dying to talk to Justin. Alone. To have his arms around her so she could feel his heartbeat and run her hands over him to assure herself he was okay. There had been little time to be terrified for him earlier, to make sure there were no unexpected consequences from Dilby unlocking his powers. He seemed fine, still… “Do you want some more coffee?” he broke the silence, drawing her gaze up to his. She knew that wasn’t what he wanted to ask. “No. Thank you. I think—” Justin bent down and sealed his mouth over hers, making her forget whatever it was she was going to say. He kissed her so hard she could barely breathe. Kissed her until she had to wrap her arms around his waist to hold herself up. His mouth on hers felt so good, so right. She couldn’t bear to lose him. Not ever. When he let her up for air, hands still holding her flush against him, he smiled, the look in his eyes so hot it almost burned her skin. “Are you really okay, Justin?” He took her hand and lifted it to his cheek, rubbing it lightly against the stubble. The gesture started a slow burn in her blood. “Do I look okay?” He drew her hand from his cheek to his jaw and down his throat. Scarlata nodded, not trusting her voice. She’d been so frightened that the sudden rush of relief she felt was almost painful. This man had helped save her friends, had nearly given his life for children he’d never met. 116

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She loved him more than she would ever be able to express. “Do I feel okay?” He rubbed her hand down his naked chest to his flat stomach and farther down to his throbbing erection under his shorts. She didn’t even nod this time, just stared into his eyes as she curled her fingers around the heated length. Justin’s eyes closed for a few brief seconds. Then he lifted her into his arms and practically ran for the stairs. In the room they’d shared last night, he laid her on the bed then undressed, removing his shorts with lightning speed. He still hadn’t gotten any new clothes. Not that she cared much. Her lungs began to labor when Justin spread out next to her. But he didn’t cover her body with his as she expected. “Are you feeling okay, Red?” His voice sounded a bit strangled, angry. “That bastard threw you into the wall pretty hard.” She smiled and reached for him, fisting his throbbing shaft. His swift intake of breath made her thighs clench. She grew wet with the thought that in a few moments he would be inside her. “I’m fine.” Scarlata moved her hand in a slow pump from the root to the tip of his cock and back down. “You’re sure?” Hot. Oh-so hot. “Yes. Oh Justin, please.” He placed a hand on her stomach, palm flat against her skin. Heat spread from the point of contact, flooding her senses with…love. The lust was there as well but it was love that made her put her free hand on his and push it down toward her mound. His fingers grazed her clit then he eased one finger into her slick channel. It wasn’t enough. Not even when he started to move that finger in and out, creating a delicious friction. She would never get enough of him.

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She arched into him, wanting him to go faster. But Justin wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, he slowed then removed his hand to stroke her thighs. She moaned and slapped her hand against the bed. “Justin. Now.” “Oh babe, I’ll do you just as soon as you give me what I want.” Her eyebrows lifted and she stared at him in confusion. “I thought I was.” “I don’t just mean sex, Red.” In one smooth movement, he removed his hand and positioned himself between her legs, the tip of his rigid cock brushing her lower lips. So warm. He was so warm as he rubbed the head against her, hitting her clit and then drawing away. Maddening. “Then what do you mean? Because I want you. Right now.” His predatory smile sent a shiver of lust down her spine. “And I want you. But…I love you, Scarlata. I want to spend my life with you. And apparently, I’m going to have a couple hundred more years to do that. Unless…” Teasingly poised at her sex, his cock throbbed against her, making her almost insane with desire. But she knew what he was saying. And didn’t the fool man know she wanted the same? Obviously not. “Of course I want you,” she said. “For however long we have. Don’t you know I love you? Don’t you realize I would be blood-bound to you if you asked?” With a groan, she tried to pull him closer, lifting her legs to wrap them around his waist. She arched, trying to pull him into her, but the stubborn man still refused to cooperate. Instead, he backed off, easing down her body to suck first one nipple then the other into his mouth. He nipped at her, played with her, his tongue licking strands of fire along her skin. Her sex clenched, concentrating her desire into a physical ache.

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Finally he finished with her breasts, but still the man denied her. He continued to kiss his way down her body, stopping to flick his tongue into her bellybutton for just a second before his mouth came tantalizingly close to her mound. He blew a soft breath across her curls, making her lift off the bed, trying to get closer. “Don’t hurt yourself, baby,” he murmured. “I’ll give you what you want.” Then he made good on his promise by lowering his mouth and swiping his tongue at her clit. She gasped at the relief combined with heightened pleasure, her body tightening as he made love to her with his mouth. Her fingers wound into his hair to hold him in place even though he’d made no move to withdraw. He toyed with her, taking long, wet swipes then spearing straight into her slit, fucking her with his tongue. It felt good, her body moving closer to that elusive orgasm. She let her body relax, waiting… And nearly cried out when he moved away again. “Justin! You will take me. Right now,” she demanded, pounding her fists on the bed. She opened her eyes to glare at him, so sure he’d be smiling. But he wasn’t. With slow deliberation, he sat back on his heels then began to drag her closer, his hands on her thighs. The sheets rubbed against her skin and she inhaled his aroused scent with every breath. Blue eyes blazing, he slid her ass up over his knees and onto his thighs. But still he would not penetrate her. “What does blood-bound mean, Red?” he asked. “Because if it means forever, I want to do it. Now.” Now? Great Goddess, she could barely speak, let alone think. Still, she nodded, the needs of her body trying to derail her thoughts. Forcing her brain to focus, she said, “It

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does. It means that when we are reincarnated in our next life, in all our lives, we’ll be able to find one another.” Justin’s expression didn’t change a bit. “Then let’s do it. And fast, ’cause I can’t hold on much longer.” Without a second thought, she used her fingernail to make a scratch on her left breast, leaving a thin trail of blood. Then she looked into his eyes. “You have to be very sure, Justin.” His gaze never wavered. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.” With a smile, she cut his chest with her fingernail at the exact spot where their skins would press together. Then she drew his chest down to her and lifted her hips toward him. “Now, Justin.” He took her in one hard thrust then set a tantalizing pace, his hips pumping in a steady rhythm that only served to heighten her desire. Hands on his shoulders, she held on, willing to let him take her wherever he wanted to go. And right now it seemed he only wanted to make her insane with lust. Without breaking skin contact, ensuring their blood mingled, he thrust in and out, each time making sure the base of his cock hit her clit. She felt her orgasm building but fought it back, wanting this moment to last until they either passed out from exhaustion or combusted from the heat building between them. A flash of electricity between their bodies made her gasp as the blood-bound spell began its work, wrapping around them, fusing their essences together until she wasn’t sure where his life force began and hers ended. She’d never felt anything so wonderful in her entire life. And from the glow in his eyes, he felt it too. “Justin.” She didn’t know what else to say, she just couldn’t stay silent and his name was as close to a blessing as she was going to get right now.

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But it was enough to make him groan low in his throat, almost a growl, and his hips began to move faster. He repositioned his body and slipped one arm under her hips to lift her more tightly against him. His balls slapped against her ass and the new position made the pressure on her clit a constant thrill. Her eyelids drifted closed now as his name became a constant refrain on her lips. “No, don’t close your eyes.” Justin’s voice sounded so close he might as well have spoken inside her head. “I want you to look at me, Red. I want you to see me.” Her eyes flew open and she moved her hands from his shoulders to cup his face. “I only see you, Justin. I’ll only ever see you.” His smile ignited her orgasm deep inside, a warm pulse that became a burning flash. And still she kept eye contact because that was what Justin wanted. She cried out as she convulsed around him and, finally, she had to close her eyes when Justin groaned out her name and froze. She felt his cock jerk inside her, a wet warmth coating her channel, and then he thrust once more as if trying to get as deeply inside her as he could. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she held him there, tilted her hips even farther to take more of him. They lay there, bodies pressed together, both attempting to catch their breath. After a few minutes, she turned and pressed a kiss to his neck. He stirred enough to pull out of her and shift his body to her side, dragging her with him and enfolding her in his arms until she was flush against him. As if he was worried she might try to get away. She attempted to put a little space between them but his arms tightened. So she moved her lips closer to his ear. “I’m not going anywhere, Justin,” she whispered. “I’ll be with you always. I love you.”

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She felt his smile against her cheek. “Good choice, babe. ’Cause you know I don’t want to live without you.” Without warning, she flipped him onto his back and sat on his stomach, surprising a laugh out of him. “Then just lie back and hold on.” The End

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About the Author Stephanie Julian is an avid reader, who used to have a book-a-day habit. Then she realized she not only wanted to read books but write them, too. Romance has always been her first love, the sexier the better. Hot men, strong women and a heaping helping of magic dominate (and she does mean dominate) her blazing hot stories. When she’s not writing, she’s, well…she’s certainly not cleaning. And she only cooks when her guys complain that they're hungry (ain’t cereal grand!). Otherwise, she’s got her fingers on a keyboard, her butt in a chair and her head in the stars.

Stephanie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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