Wicked Fantasy Read Free Page A

Hot? “I didn’t say he was hot.” Okay, so she’d used the word spectacular. But spectacular didn’t have the same sexual connotation as hot. Fine, so he was hot, but Sparkle didn’t need to put words in her mouth.
    â€œMeet Conall McNair. He helps run the Castle of Dark Dreams. So if you wake up in the middle of the night with an insatiable appetite for something sweet, make sure you call Conall.” Just in case Gerry didn’t “get it,” Sparkle slid her tongue across her lower lip while her strange amber eyes gleamed with the joy of her wicked suggestion. “He’ll cure any woman’s craving for sweets.”
    Sparkle was so outrageous that Gerry couldn’t help herself. She grinned. Then she made a major mistake. She looked at Conall. He returned her smile, but his was a lot more effective. It was slow heat set for long, leisurely loving until she was fork tender.
    Gerry swallowed hard. Snakesnakesnake.
    â€œSweet?” He looked offended. “I might be a lot of things, but sweet isn’t one of them.”
    He was right. Conall’s overwhelming physicality—a smooth-muscled body that was so there it screamed sexual animal—combined with the hard eyes of a man who’d seen too much violence and the sensual mouth of a man who’d seduced too many women, delivered a one-two punch of erotic desire.
    Violence? Her imagination was officially out of control. She broke eye contact to sweep the room again. No Jinx. Stiffening her spine, or whatever part of her body needed stiffening, she looked back at . . . Sparkle. Coward. “It’s been great meeting you and Conall, but I really have to find this guy—”
    â€œWhy?” Conall leaned forward, his large hands resting open on the table.
    Body language? Leaning forward, aggressive. Open hands, nonthreatening. Which signal to believe? “Because it’s my job.” There, she’d said it. Now how to explain what she did in a way that wouldn’t have them making a call to the nearest mental health facility.
    â€œNot to repeat myself, but your job would be . . . ?” Sparkle tapped one perfect nail on the table. Definitely threatening.
    â€œI’m like a cop, but I work for the private sector.” The private sector as in all those entities that officially went bump, grind, or boo in the night.
    â€œYou mean you’re a PI?” Conall looked confused.
    â€œUh, not exactly.” She glanced at the floor for inspiration . . . and spotted Jinx slithering along the baseboard in his little green snake form. He was wearing a megawatt diamond ring around said sneaky form. Well, hell. “Oops, gotta go.”
    Gerry pushed away from the table and rushed in pursuit of the snake. She didn’t know whose ring he’d snatched, but she wanted to catch him before the victim discovered it was missing. Hysterical shrieks and confusion would only aid Jinx in his escape. Humans rarely looked down when they were pursuing a thief.
    As Gerry wound around tables, trying to keep her attention totally on the snake, Jinx spotted her and slithered faster. He was heading for the restrooms. Gerry grinned. She had the little bling bandit. He’d probably stashed his clothes in the men’s room. As long as the room didn’t have an open window, Jinx had nowhere to go. Besides, he’d need a few seconds to change back to human form. She’d pounce on him as soon as he changed forms.
    But fate intervened, as fate had a way of doing. No one came out of the men’s room so that Jinx could slither inside, but someone did leave the ladies’ room. Jinx didn’t have time to be choosy. He slithered inside just as the woman let the door swing shut.
    Gerry charged in after him . . . and came to a skidding halt. Five women jockeyed for position in front of the mirror.
    â€œUgh, I can’t stand it. Look at these lines in my forehead. Good thing I have my