Sherrilyn Kenyon - Fantasy Lover

Her hands on her hips, Selena glared at her. "Julian of Macedon."

"Oh, sorry." Grace hugged the book to her breast and closed her eyes. "Come and ease my aching loins, O great Julian of Macedon, Julian of Macedon, Julian of Macedon."

She looked back at Selena. "You know, that's hard to say three times fast."

But Selena wasn't paying a bit of attention to her. She was busy looking around for the appearance of a handsome Greek stranger.

Grace rolled her eyes again as a subtle wind swept across the yard and a faint scent of sandalwood wafted around them. Grace took a second to savor the pleasant smell before it evaporated and the breeze settled down to the hot, thick air that was so common on an August night.

All of a sudden, there was a faint sound in her backyard. A small rustle of leaves coming from the shrubs.

Cocking her brow, Grace looked to the bushes that were swaying.

Then, the imp in her took over. "Oh, my God," Grace breathed, pointing toward a bush in the backyard. "Selena, look over there!"

Selena turned around in a hurry at her excited gesture. A tall shrub swayed as if someone were behind it.

"Julian?" Selena called.

Selena took a step closer.

The tree bent over. Suddenly, a hiss and a meow sounded an instant before two cats darted off across the backyard.

"Look, Lanie, it's Mr. Tomcat come to save me from my celibacy." Cradling the book in one arm, Grace lifted the back of her hand to her brow in a feigned swoon. "Oh, help me, Moon Mistress. Whatever am I to do with the attentions of such an unwanted suitor! Help me quick, before he kills me with my allergies."

"Give me that book," Selena snapped, snatching it from her chest. She headed back into the house while she flipped through its pages. "Dammit, what did I do wrong?"

Grace slid open her door to let Selena back into the cool house. "You didn't do anything wrong, hon. It's a farce. How many times do I have to tell you that some little old man sits in a back room somewhere making all this stuff up? I'll bet he's laughing his head off right now that we were dumb enough-"

"Maybe there was something else we needed to do. I'll bet there's something in the first few paragraphs that I can't read. That must be it."

Grace locked the sliding glass door and begged for patience. And Selena calls me stubborn.

The phone rang. Answering it, Grace heard Bill's voice asking for Selena.

"It's for you," she said, handing the phone over to her friend.

Selena took it. "Yeah?" She paused for several minutes and Grace could hear his excited chatter. By the sudden pallor of Selena's features, she could tell something had happened.

"Okay, okay. I'll be right home. Are you sure you're all right? Okay, I love you. I'm on my way-don't try and do anything until I get there."

A horrible stab of fear knotted Grace's stomach tight. Over and over, she saw the policeman at her dorm room door, heard his dispassionate voice: I'm sorry to inform you…

"What is it?" Grace asked.

"Bill fell while they were playing basketball and broke his arm."

She released her breath in relief. Thank God, it wasn't a car wreck. "Is he all right?"

"He said so. His friends took him to a doc-in-the-box and had it X-rayed before they dropped him off. He told me not to worry, but I think I better get on home."

"You want me to drive you?"

Selena shook her head. "No, unlike me you've had one too many glasses of wine. Besides, I'm sure it's nothing serious. You know what a worrywart I am. You stay here and enjoy the rest of your movie. I'll call you tomorrow morning."

"Okay. Let me know how he's doing."

Selena gathered up her bag and dug out her keys. As she started out the door, she paused and handed the book back to Grace. "What the hell. Keep it. It should give you a good laugh for the next few days while you remember what an idiot I am."

"You're not an idiot. Just eccentric."

"That's what they said about Mary Todd Lincoln. Until they locked her up."

Laughing, Grace took the book and watched Selena walk out to her car. "You be careful," she shouted out the door. "And thanks for the gift, and for coming over."

Selena waved before getting into her bright red Jeep Cherokee and driving off.

With a tired sigh, Grace shut and locked the door, then tossed the book on the sofa. "Now don't go anywhere, love-slave."

Grace laughed at their silliness. Would Selena ever outgrow such nonsense?

She turned off the TV and took their dirty dishes to the kitchen sink. As she rinsed out the glasses, she saw a bright flash of light.

For a second, she thought it was lightning.

Until she realized it came from inside the house.

"What the…?"

She put the wine glasses aside and walked toward the living room. At first she didn't see anything. But as she came flush with the doorway, she felt a strange presence. One that made the hair on the back of her arms and neck rise.

Cautiously, she entered the room and saw a tall figure standing in front of the couch. It was a man. A handsome man. A naked man!

Grace did what most any woman would do while confronting a naked man in her living room. She screamed.

Then she ran for the front door.

Only she forgot about the cushions that were still on the floor where they'd piled them. Tripping over two, she went sprawling.

No! she silently cried as she landed in a painful heap. She had to do something to protect herself.

Terrified and shaking, she scrambled through the cushions, looking for a weapon. Feeling something, she pulled her hand up, only to find a pink bunny slipper.

Dammit! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the wine bottle. Grace rolled toward it and grabbed it in her hand, then whirled to face her intruder.

Faster than she could react, he wrapped his warm hand around her wrist, tenderly immobilizing it. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

Good gracious, but his deep masculine voice was rich, with a thick, lilting accent that could only be described as musical. Erotic. And downright yummy.

Her senses dulled, Grace looked up and…

Well…

Quite honestly, there was only one thing she saw, and it made her face hotter than Cajun gumbo. After all, how could she miss it since it was just an arm's reach away. And it was such a large it, too.

In the next instant, he knelt by her side and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes. He ran his hands over her scalp as if feeling for an injury.

Her gaze feasted on his chest. Unable to move or look past all that incredible skin, Grace fought the urge to moan at the intensely wicked sensation of his fingers in her hair. Her entire body burned from it.

"Did you hit your head?" he asked. Again that strange, glorious accent that reverberated through her like a warm, soothing caress.

She stared at the wealth of golden, tawny skin that seemed to beckon her hand to reach out and touch it.

He practically glowed!

Compelled, she wanted to see his face, to see for herself if the whole of him was as incredible as his body.

As she looked up, past the sculpted muscles of his shoulders, her mouth dropped. The wine bottle slid from her numbed fingers.

It was him!

No! It couldn't be.

This couldn't be happening to her, and he couldn't be naked in her living room with his hands in her hair. Things like this just didn't happen in real life. Most especially not to average people like her.

And yet…

"Julian?" she asked breathlessly.

He had the sleek, powerful build of a finely toned gymnast. His muscles were hard, lean, and gorgeous, and well defined in places she didn't even know a man could get muscles. On top of his shoulders, his biceps and forearms. His chest and back. His neck to his legs.