Seduced in Shadow (14 page)

“Ellie, you okay?”

She swallowed hard as erotic images of Antonin ran through her mind on a continuous loop. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” She took a deep breath. “So what are we going to do?”

“I want you to sit tight. I’m going to check out the house, get the layout of the place.

I’ll be back and then we’ll get the hell out of here.”

“Antonin?”

“Yeah?”

She wished she could see him, touch him, just to reassure herself she hadn’t gone off the deep end. “Don’t forget me.”

“I won’t go anywhere without you. Sit tight, sweetheart.”

“Antonin?”

“Yeah?”

“I’d be okay with the sex magic.”

A current of air brushed against her lips, sending a shiver down her spine.

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Stephanie Julian

“I’ll be right back.”

* * * * *

Antonin headed out the door into the hallway. Even though he had dissolved his corporeal body, he was aroused to the point of pain just from thinking about having sex with Ellie.

He considered running back into the dining room and taking her on the table. He knew the only reason she’d agreed to the sex magic was because she was desperate to escape. He would fuck her, if it came to that. Hell, he’d enjoy it. But damn it, he wanted Ellie to want him for himself and not because he was her only way out of this situation.

He wanted her to make love to him and he’d never wanted anything so badly in his life.

Antonin shook his head, reminding himself he shouldn’t be thinking about sex right now. The
bassadone
spell had led him here but now his urges were only distracting him and he had a mission to accomplish. He needed to get his head back in the game or he’d never be able to get Ellie out of here.

So where was Bonnini?

The house wasn’t huge but there were spells all over the place. Whoever had warded it had done well.

The only reason those spells weren’t catching him was because he’d turned himself into shade with no substance. It was a skill every
linchetto
learned as a child, the most basic but also the most useful. He was virtually undetectable to most
Fata
and more importantly the
Mal
.

He could return to his corporeal form at any time but then the wards in the house would light him up like a Christmas tree.

Of course, if he had to resort to sex magic to get Ellie out, he’d have to materialize and build up enough of a charge in a very short period of time to teleport them both.

He didn’t even know if it was possible.

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Slipping past wards as if they weren’t there, Antonin checked every room on the ground floor. Kitchen, living room, study, powder room. No one.

Gliding up the stairs, he checked the five bedrooms, three bathrooms and the attic.

Still no one.

No way would Bonnini have left Ellie with only one guard. She was too big a prize, too important to risk losing her. The bastard had to be here somewhere.

Back downstairs, he returned to the study. The rest of the house looked unlived in.

The study at least looked occupied.

A book and several papers lay on the desk. The book had no title and since he was a shade, he couldn’t touch anything. So no turning pages. The papers were lists of names and addresses.

He skimmed through them. He knew some of those names. They belonged to people across the country with traces of
Fata
blood in their veins.

Antonin’s own blood went cold.
Shit.
How long would it take until this fiend actually put together a list of full-blooded
Fata
living among humans?

According to Justin, Bonnini wanted a specimen. Someone to experiment on, to use as a guinea pig for some nefarious plan no one knew anything about.

No way in hell was he going to let that happen to Ellie or any of the
Fata
.

The sound of voices startled him. They were coming from…inside the wall. Bonnini must have a secret room with a hidden entrance probably somewhere in this study.

As Antonin slipped into the doorway, his gaze scanned the walls, looking for the entrance. He didn’t have to wait long. After a few seconds, the wall to his right slid back to reveal a room filled with computers, flat-panel TV screens and several desks.

He would have been impressed by the James Bond vibe if Ellie hadn’t been in imminent danger. If he’d been on his own, he’d have explored that room. But when he saw what came out of it behind the dark-haired man, his blood chilled.

His plans changed in an instant. They needed to get out. Right now.

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* * * * *

Ellie felt the air shift again and knew Antonin had returned.

Bonnini hadn’t been back again, so that was a good thing. She also hadn’t heard any commotion that could mean Antonin had been discovered. That was good too.

But it was awfully quiet and that just sucked, because it allowed her imagination to run wild.

“Ellie, I’m here.”

“I know.”

Antonin didn’t answer right away. “You do?”

“Yeah. I felt you come in.”

“That’s impossible.”

Men.
“Not so much, bud. I knew you were here. Same as before. What’s going on?”

Another pause. “We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

She had a pretty good idea what he was talking about but she had to ask anyway.

“And what does that mean?”

His snort sounded disgusted. “Exactly what you think it means. We need to have sex. And I can’t materialize until we’re both ready to come. I can’t risk setting off any wards. So we’re going to have to be…inventive. And fast.”

How unsexy was that going to be, Ellie wondered.

“I take it you can’t touch me in this state— What are you right now?”

“Shade is the term you’re looking for. Like this, I’m undetectable by magic. But I also have no corporeal body so I can’t touch you.”

“But you can see me and talk to me?”

“Yeah. And believe me, I’ll be watching.”

She could work with that…hopefully.

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“Come on, Ellie.” His tone lowered an octave, vibrating through her body. “You can do this. I’ll talk you through it. Stand over here against the wall and close your eyes.”

“What if Bonnini—”

“Don’t worry about Bonnini.” His voice held so much confidence she believed him completely. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and stood up, stepping over against the wall. She closed her eyes. “Say something.”

Silence.

Ellie huffed. “I can’t do this all alone, you know. I’m going to need your help.”

“You’re beautiful.”

She huffed again and opened her eyes. “Not really and that’s not helping.”

“Yes, you are.” It was his turn to sigh. “I started falling for you from the first moment I saw you. Your brother showed me a picture. You were younger, maybe in college. You weren’t smiling, just staring into the camera.”

She knew that picture. Justin carried it in his wallet. She’d always thought she looked a little sad in it but at least she didn’t look goofy.

“You looked so mysterious. Your mouth had just a little bit of a pout and your eyes were wide-open and staring straight ahead, as if you were looking right at me. I fell so hard for you I swear I had bruises on my knees. I knew I had to kiss you sometime. To put my mouth on yours.”

Okay, this is working.
Her thighs quivered and her nipples ached. She closed her eyes again, so all she could hear was Antonin’s soft rasp then crossed her arms over her breasts, so she could cup them.

“The first time I saw you in person was over a week ago. You were in your pajamas.

You had your hair up in a clip and it was sticking out all over the place. All I wanted 111

Stephanie Julian

was to let it down so I could rub it all over my body. I wanted to strip you out of all that blue flannel, one piece at a time, until you were down to your underwear.”

Another time, she might have been angry that he’d spied on her, watched her without her consent. But right here, right now, the voyeuristic aspect of it was a turn-on.

Antonin continued, “I had a few good daydreams wondering about your underwear. Was it silk, lace, cotton? I didn’t care. I just wanted to see it against your skin.”

Ellie swallowed a moan, not wanting to draw the guard’s attention. With her eyes closed, all her other senses went into overdrive. Her body had become sensitized and she swore she felt Antonin’s breath on her lips. His voice stroked along her neck, down her breasts to her thighs.

“That first time,” he said, “at my house was like a dream come true. Your skin is so soft it feels like silk against mine. I ran my hands all over your body. When I kissed you, you clung to me. When I caressed your breasts, your nipples hardened.”

Just as they did now. God, the tips hurt and she wanted him to touch them so badly she moaned, throaty and way too audible. Her hands tightened on her breasts, massaging them.

And Antonin continued.

“I was as hard then as I will be when I take you now. I could feel that orgasm building from the base of my neck all the way down to my balls. They were so tight they hurt. And my cock… Blessed Goddess, I wanted to get inside you so badly I nearly came at the first thrust.”

Her lungs couldn’t take in enough air. One of her hands remained at her breast, kneading, trying to ease the burn. Her other arm wrapped around her stomach, across the ache low in her gut, her hand sinking toward her mound.

“Antonin…”

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“Shh. Don’t speak. Just listen. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever been with. You fit me perfectly. You’re soaking wet just from the sound of my voice. Just listen to my voice.”

They were coming.

Antonin heard the man and the beast who’d taken Ellie walk around in the hallway. They weren’t moving toward the dining room just yet but they probably would be soon. It should have doused his libido but the danger of the situation made his balls tighten even more.

Ellie’s mouth was parted slightly, her nipples taut and puckered through her t-shirt, her hand making him crazy as she caressed her sex inside her panties. He wanted her bared to him.

“Ellie, take off your clothes. I want to see you touch your pussy. Touch yourself for me,” Antonin demanded.

She stripped herself naked in a matter of seconds. One hand tweaked her nipple while the other massaged her glistening sex. He could see goose bumps rise on her skin as her fingers flicked across her clit.

“Now rub your juices over your pussy,” he commanded.

Ellie moaned in response and did as he asked, first dipping into her sex then spreading the wetness. Her body shook with desire.

Antonin’s heated gaze was fixed on her. There was a very real possibility that the moment he materialized, he’d come all over her stomach without ever touching her.

And they couldn’t afford that.

He blocked out everything but the sound of Ellie’s heavy breaths and materialized naked directly in front of her.

As he recalled his corporeal body, he was so close to her his chest pressed against her breasts and his thick erection crowded against her belly. At the first touch of his 113

Stephanie Julian

skin, Ellie’s arms wound around his neck, her hips thrusting into his. She groaned into his mouth as he sealed his lips against hers.

Oh God. Inside.
He needed to get inside her. Condom or no condom. He lifted her straight up the wall and impaled her on his cock. Heat shot through him.

Her back arched and her heels dug into his butt, nearly pounding on him, urging him to go faster.

The voices were coming closer and then… Her internal muscles tightened around his cock and convulsed.

And Antonin exploded inside her.

Using what little brain he had left, he whispered the spell against her lips.

They disappeared, the shouts from Bonnini and his monster fading as they dematerialized.

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Ellie felt Antonin pulsing inside her as they rematerialized in his bedroom in the city. Arousal and adrenaline made her cling to him tighter and longer than she probably should have.

But since he didn’t seem to mind, she stayed where she was.

She never wanted to leave his arms. Did he feel the same way?

As she listened to him breathe heavily in her ear, she wished… What? What exactly did she want?

And more importantly what would happen now they had escaped?

She didn’t know how long they stood there but eventually Antonin shifted. He pulled out of her sex but not away, keeping his arms tightly around her. Her thighs moistened with his cum. They hadn’t used a condom. There’d been no time, too much danger and she couldn’t care less. She trusted Antonin and she’d taken her pill yesterday morning and would do so again as soon as she got home. She’d be safe.

She didn’t realize how close they were to the bed until he walked back a few steps and placed her on top of the sheets then followed her down onto the mattress.

After a few more minutes wrapped around her, Antonin sighed and ran his hand through her hair, draping the strands across his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Ellie thought about that for a moment. “Yeah. I mean, I’m not hurt. And if you’re worried about not using a condom… I’m on the Pill, so no worries there.” She exhaled.

“What was that thing back there? I’m pretty sure it took me from the cabin.”

“I’m honestly not sure but I think it was an
orchi
. A kind of giant. I didn’t believe they existed until today. I don’t know where Bonnini found one but if he can, others 115

Stephanie Julian

can. They’re mean and nearly indestructible. I’ve heard they can track almost anything by smell and even fly. If the
Mal
are recruiting
orchi
, we’re in for more of a fight than we thought.”

Her lungs contracted in fear but it wasn’t for herself. If anything happened to Antonin… “What do you mean, fight?”