Seduced in Shadow (2 page)

Around midnight, he’d made one final round of her mother’s house, just to make sure all the windows and doors were locked. Then he’d heard her mumbling in her bedroom.

Stopping in her doorway, he’d nearly had a heart attack as he’d watched her pleasure herself. Yeah, it’d been a huge invasion of privacy but he hadn’t been able to drag himself away.

Closing his eyes briefly, he could still see every detail…

Ellie, naked, on her back on the bed, eyes closed. Her hands kneaded her breasts as her legs rubbed against each other, trying to ease the ache between them. She trailed one hand from her breast over her ribs and across her stomach until she brushed the curls between her legs with her fingertips.

Slowly she let her fingers sink into the curls, her legs falling apart, unknowingly baring herself to him. With her thighs parted, she slid her hand down, rubbing her clit, dipping further until she reached the glistening lips that led into her body. She ran her fingers lightly around the plump edges then back to her clit, giving it a tweak that made her lips part on an indrawn breath.

Her chest rose and fell at a faster pace, her breasts jiggling slightly with the motion.

But then her fingers arrowed back between her legs and, with a practiced motion, she slid two fingers into her channel and rubbed her thumb against her clit, maintaining a steady pace until finally,
finally
, she sobbed out her climax.

Then she’d sighed, rolled onto her side and fallen asleep.

Aching so badly he’d been grinding his teeth, Antonin had gone back to his car to retake his physical body and jerk off. It hadn’t been nearly satisfying enough.

And now he was hard and eager again just from watching her run.

He had to have her. And by the Gods, he intended to.

* * * * *

Finally.
Ellie reached the top of the hill, slowed to a halt and nearly fell over.

11

Stephanie Julian

Luckily a rough wooden bench sat on the side of the trail under a pair of tall pines and she dropped onto it gratefully. She should have brought along a water bottle…

Then she felt it.

The hair on the back of her neck lifted again. Someone, or more likely some animal, was staring at her.

She huffed. “Jeez, would you
please
just come out already? I know you’re there.”

She was expecting the doe. Whenever the wild animals realized she could understand them, they usually flocked to her in droves. Dogs, cats, squirrels, rabbits, rodents, birds, all those more used to humans, typically ignored her.

Since Ellie had realized around the age of seven that talking to animals wasn’t exactly something everyone could do, she’d learned not to acknowledge her furry friends when other people were around.

“It’ll be our secret, sweetheart,” her dad used to say. “Others just won’t understand.”

Her mother had never truly believed in her ability. She’d just patted her on the head and rolled her eyes whenever Ellie had brought home another feral cat that had begged her for food.

But since no one was around here this early, she could have another chat with the doe.

Ellie gasped and nearly passed out from shock when a man—tall, dark and dreamy—stepped out from behind the trees.

“Whoa, hey, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The man’s voice was deep, a little raspy, completely mesmerizing. He held up his hands as if in surrender but when he stepped forward, she screamed. And fell backward off the bench in her haste to get away.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Heart pounding, Ellie scrambled to her feet, keeping the bench between them.

12

Seduced in Shadow

Oh holy shit.
This was it. This was what they warned women about in those running magazine articles.

How could she have been so stupid? Alone in the woods at six o’clock in the morning with no one around to hear her scream for help.

The man looked long and lean, a little over six feet tall she guessed. With those legs, he’d catch her easily if she ran. His arms bulged with muscle under the short-sleeved green t-shirt that clearly defined his broad shoulders and flat stomach, while his thighs filled out his worn jeans.

Despite her fear, she could appreciate the sheer masculine appeal of the man. He was gorgeous.

Straight, shaggy-cut black hair hung to his shoulders, long bangs off a side part nearly obscuring light-colored eyes…maybe gray. He wasn’t close enough for her to tell the exact color, and if she had her way, he wasn’t getting any closer.

His face was all angles—chiseled cheeks and chin and straight, pointed nose. Hell, she thought she even glimpsed pointy ears beneath that silky-looking hair. A slight smile turned up the corners of his wickedly sexy mouth but it was the scattering of freckles on that nose that capped his appeal for her. Hell if she knew why.

The real question was why he was lurking in the woods, stalking innocent women.

With his looks, he’d be able to seduce any woman he wanted.

Which made the situation all the more surreal.

Okay, play it cool. You can get out of this.
“Wow. You scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t…expecting to see anyone out here this early.”

“You’re right.” His smile kicked in again and this time her breath caught in her throat at his pure masculinity. “There shouldn’t
be
anyone out here this early.”

Right.
Maybe she was reading this situation completely wrong. What if this guy was a park ranger? She’d gladly take a ticket for trespassing instead of rape and murder any day.

13

Stephanie Julian

Playing on her blonde, violet-eyed looks for all she was worth, Ellie fluttered her eyelashes at him and turned on the bright smile that had gotten her out of many high school scrapes.

“I am
so
sorry. I didn’t realize… I mean, the sun is up and I just wasn’t thinking.

Am I in trouble?”

His smile widened and she felt heat that had nothing to do with the air temperature begin to pool low in her stomach.

How inappropriate was that? From terrified to horny in two minutes. She really must be losing her mind.

“No trouble from me,” he said. “I don’t work for the park service.”

Okay, there went that idea. She took another step back. He stayed where he was.

“So then what are you doing out here?” she asked.

Cocking his head to the side, he seemed to consider his answer.

In the horror films she’d loved to watch as a kid, the villain almost always said,

“Why, I’m after you.” Which of course gave the ditzy heroine time to run into the forest, get hopelessly lost and manage to find the killer’s lair, making it easy for him to hang her on a meat hook.

Finally, when she thought for sure he was going to pull a machete from behind his back and slash her to bits, he shrugged. “Taking a walk. I’m an early riser.”

It sounded so plausible. Almost too plausible.

She tried her smile again. “Okay. Well, I’ve had my break. I’m just going to get moving then. Nice to meet you.”

He smiled again and nodded. “Nice to meet you too.” Then he turned and walked back into the forest, barely making a sound as he appeared to melt into the trees.

Ellie took off down the hill, running all out. By the time she reached her car, she was gasping and cursing herself front, back and sideways for her stupidity.

14

Seduced in Shadow

She’d let her imagination get away from her again. Just as she had in Philadelphia when she’d left her job. Fear had been part of the reason she’d run all the way home to Berks County four months ago. Fear that she was losing herself in her job, that she wasn’t cut out for a high-paced career in public relations.

Today she’d just run to the car. It seemed she was always running away from something.

She was
such
a freaking coward.

* * * * *

Whispering the spell to dissolve his corporeal body into shadow, Antonin followed Ellie all the way down the hill, cursing himself.

That was
not
how he’d wanted this to go. Justin would have his head for scaring her.

He’d wanted to make contact, charm her just a little. Typically, women loved him.

He’d been banking on that to get her to talk to him, maybe ask her out, get close to her.

Not have her run the other way.

But damn, the view was just as nice going down as it had been coming up the hill.

She had a perfect ass and great legs, even if they weren’t all that long. Still, she wasn’t much of a runner and if someone truly had been after her, she’d have been dead meat. He’d have to take that into consideration if anything happened.

By the time she reached her car parked on the side of Route 625—since the park gates hadn’t been open yet—she was gasping for air.

He watched her slump against the little red Miata, hands over her face as she tried to catch her breath. No, not trying to catch her breath…

Shit.
She was crying, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Hell, now what?

15

Stephanie Julian

Maybe he should confess. How embarrassing would that be? He was supposed to be good at this. It was why Justin had chosen him in the first place. Ellie had made the job a whole lot easier by moving back here from Philadelphia. Not that he didn’t love Philly. It was one of only a handful of cities in the world where, strangely enough, he felt safe.

However, in terms of sheer numbers, her move to Berks County had made it easier for her bodyguards to watch her. With his abilities, this should have been a cakewalk.

Then he had to go and spook her.

Justin’s directive that they
not
make contact unless absolutely necessary be damned.

Ellie’s brother had chosen their firm for a reason. And Antonin had a job to do. To protect her at all costs and not to freak her out.

But just as he was about to make his presence known to her, the doe from earlier poked her nose out of the trees.

“Are you hurt?” she asked Ellie, though he knew anyone else listening in would hear only a soft snort of air.

Ellie shook her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks as she glanced back at the doe. “No. I’m fine. A man on the trail startled me. Thanks for asking though.”

The doe tilted her head to the side, blinking her large eyes. “What man?”

“Tall-dark-and-handsome who scared the crap out of me.”

He smiled. So she had taken notice of him. Nice to know.

The doe snorted and shook her head. “I saw no other human. Only the
linchetto
.”

Oh shit.
Antonin rubbed a hand over his now-perspiring forehead. He’d been outed.

Ellie frowned. “What do you mean,
linchetto
?”

The doe threw her head again. “The elf.”

Ellie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in shock. “Did you just say
elf
?”

The doe flicked her tail and pawed the ground. “The dark one.”

16

Seduced in Shadow

Ellie’s brow furrowed. “An elf. Like Santa’s elf, with little pointy ears, about two feet tall?”

The doe’s head moved from side to side. “No. He stands taller than you, though he does have pointed ears.”

Ellie rubbed her forehead. “An elf. Right. Now I know I’ve gone over the edge. Isn’t it bad enough I’m God-damned Dr. Dolittle? Did you have to add elves to the list of things I don’t need in my life? Oh yeah, this is going to be a great day.”

“Are you sure you are not hurt?” The doe’s head cocked to the side, wary and watchful. Ellie shook her head then dropped it into her hands as she leaned against her car.

“No, I’m fine. Well, maybe not fine but at least I’m not sitting in a padded room wearing a straightjacket.” She sighed and lifted her head to stare at the sky, giving Antonin a clear shot at her perfect profile. “No, I’m standing on the side of the road talking to the deer. You do know I shouldn’t be able to talk to you, right?”

Antonin’s lips quirked into a smile. He liked this woman. Sure, the package was grade-A but so was her mind. She was sharp and had a quick wit she wasn’t afraid to use on herself. He’d been falling for her since Justin had first approached them with this job more than a week ago.

The doe snorted, a full-blown laugh. “Yes, I understand. Obviously you do as well.

I have met others like you.”

Ellie’s eyes blinked in surprise. “Really? I’ve never met anyone myself. I thought I was the only one. You met them here, in these woods?”

“Yes. There was one just this morning. He asked about you. He was rude.”

Antonin froze.
Shit.
Since no one of the
Fata
would have an interest in enquiring about Ellie, this could only mean one thing. The
Malandante
, the dark magic users, had found her. Justin had told him how Daniel Bonnini had nearly captured Justin’s mate, a
folletta
named Scarlata, some time ago. How the bastard had wanted her as a lab rat.

17

Stephanie Julian

Justin was worried that Bonnini would go after Ellie now that Justin and Scarlata were out of his reach. The
Mal
might try to use his sister as a bargaining chip. Bonnini must have finally decided to make his move.

“Was this man an elf too?” Ellie asked, her wry tone clearly incredulous.

“No, but he was not strictly human either.”

Ellie shook her head in disbelief. “Then what was he?”

Antonin had heard all he needed to. Time to intervene. Recalling his corporeal body, he stepped out of the trees, creating enough noise to make sure Ellie heard him this time. She started, her hand going to her throat, eyes widening in fear.

Stopping on the other side of the car, he extended his hand over the hood. “They’re after you, Ellie. I can help.”

18

Seduced in Shadow

Ellie thought her heart would pound out of her chest when the man she’d seen on the trail stepped out of the trees.

She had the immediate urge to run but knew he’d catch her before she got more than a few feet away.