Fantasy Lover

He let the coldness slide over his skin before he captured it in his cupped hand, leaned down and drank the water from his palm, sucked it from his fingers. It was so soothing as it invaded his mouth and slid down his burning throat, slaking his thirst. He wanted nothing more than to be able to climb into the sink and feel the water slide all over his entire body.

To…

He heard a knock on the door followed by rushing footsteps on the stairs. Turning off the water, Julian reached for the dry cloth next to the sink and wiped off his hands and face.

As he returned to the other half of the melon, he recognized Selena's voice. "Where is he?"

Julian shook his head at her friend's enthusiasm. Now that was what he'd expected from Grace.

The two women entered the kitchen. He looked up from the melon and met brown eyes as wide as a Spartan shield.

"Holy green guacamole!" Selena gasped.

Grace folded her arms over her chest, her eyes twinkling in a cross between anger and amusement. "Julian, meet Selena."

"Holy green guacamole!" her friend repeated.

"Selena?" Grace waved her hand in front of Selena's face. Still Selena didn't blink.

"Holy gre-"

"Would you stop?" Grace chided.

Selena dropped the clothes in her hands straight to the floor and moved around the kitchen until she could see his entire body. Her gaze started at the top of his head and went all the way down to his bare feet.

Julian barely suppressed his ire over her actions. "Would you like to examine my teeth next, or would you rather I drop my pants for your inspection?" he asked with more malice than he'd intended. She was, after all, technically on his side.

If only she'd close her mouth and quit looking at him that way. He'd never been able to stand such u

Selena hesitantly reached out her hand to touch his arm.

"Boo," he snapped, making her jump a foot into the air.

Grace laughed.

Selena frowned and glared at both of them. "All right, you two. Are you through making fun of me?"

"You deserved it." Grace picked up a piece of melon that he'd just sliced and placed it into her mouth. "Not to mention that you get to take him with you today."

"What?" Julian and Selena asked in unison.

She swallowed her bite. "Well, I can't very well take him to work with me, can I?"

Selena smiled wickedly. "I bet Lisa and your female clients would love it."

"And so would the guy I have coming in at eight. However, it wouldn't be productive."

"Can't you cancel?" Selena asked.

Julian concurred. He had absolutely no desire to go anywhere public. The only part of his curse that he found even remotely tolerable was the fact that most of his summoners kept him hidden in private rooms and gardens.

"You know better," Grace said. "I don't have a lawyer hubby who supports me. Besides, I don't think Julian wants to hang around the house by himself all day. I'm sure he would like to get out and see the city."

"I'd rather stay here with you," he said.

Because what he really wanted to do was see her writhing beneath him again, feel her slick body sliding down the length of his shaft as he made her scream out in ecstasy.

Grace met his gaze and he saw the hunger that flickered in the light gray depths of her eyes. In that instant, he knew her game. She was going in to work to avoid being around him.

Well, sooner or later she'd be back. Then she would be his.

And once she surrendered to him, he was going to show her just what kind of stamina and passion a Spartan-trained Macedonian soldier was capable of.

Chapter 5

The morning seemed to drag by as Grace went through the usual round of clients. No matter how hard she tried to focus on them and their problems, she just couldn't quite succeed.

Over and over, she kept seeing deep, tawny skin and searing blue eyes.

And that smile…

How she wished Julian had never smiled at her. His smile could definitely be her undoing.

"… so then I said, Dave, look, if you want to borrow my clothes, fine. But leave off my expensive designer dresses 'cause when you look better in them than I do, then I just want to give them to the Salvation Army. So, was I right, Doc?"

Grace looked up from her pad where she was doodling pictures of stick men holding spears.

"What, Rachel?" she asked the patient who sat in the armchair across from her.

Rachel was an elegantly dressed photographer. "Was I right to tell Dave to leave off my clothes? I mean, damn, it's pretty bad when your boyfriend looks better in your clothes than you do, right?"

Grace nodded. "Absolutely. They're your clothes and you shouldn't have to lock them up."

"See, I knew it! That's what I told him. But does he listen? No. He can call himself Davida all he wants to, and tell me he's a woman in a man's body, but when it comes down to it all, he still listens to me like my ex-husband did. I swear…"

Grace inadvertently checked her watch again. Her hour with Rachel was almost up.

"You know, Rachel," she said, cutting her patient off before Rachel could begin her routine spiel about men and their a

Rachel nodded. "Will do. But remind me on Monday that I need to talk to you about Chico."

" Chico?"

"The Chihuahua that lives next door. I swear that dog is giving me the eye."

Grace frowned. Surely Rachel wasn't implying what she thought she was. "The eye?"

"You know. The eye. He may look like a pooch, but that dog has sex on his mind. Every time I walk by, he looks up my skirt. And you don't want to know what he did to my ru

"Okay," Grace said, cutting her off again. She was begi

"Thanks, Doc. You're the best." Rachel grabbed her bag off the floor and headed out the door.

Grace rubbed her brow as Rachel's words rang in her head. A Chihuahua? Jeez!

Poor Rachel. Surely there was some way to help that poor woman.

Then again, it would be infinitely better to have a Chihuahua looking up her skirt with lust than a Greek love-slave.

"Oh, Lanie," Grace breathed, "how do I let you get me into these things?"

Before she could contemplate that further, her intercom buzzed.

"Yes, Lisa?"

"Your eleven o'clock canceled, and while you were seeing Ms. Thibideaux, your friend Selena Laurens called six dozen times, and I am neither exaggerating nor kidding. She left a stack of urgent messages for you to call her on her cell phone ASAP."

"Thanks, Lisa."

Picking up the phone, Grace called Selena.

"Oh, thank God." Selena spoke before Grace could say a word. "You have got to get your butt down here and take your boyfriend home. Now!"

"He's not my boyfriend, he's your-"

"Oh, you want to know what he is?" Selena asked with a note of hysteria in her voice. "He's a friggin' estrogen magnet, that's what he is. I have women mobbing my stand even as we speak. Sunshine loves it, she's sold more pottery this morning than she ever has before. I tried to get him home earlier, but I can't even make a dent in this crowd. I swear, you'd think we had a celebrity out here. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Now get your butt down here and help me!"

The phone went dead.

Grace cursed her luck. Buzzing Lisa, she told her to cancel her appointments for the rest of the day.

As soon as she reached the square, Grace saw what Selena had meant. There had to be at least twenty women surrounding Julian, and dozens more gaping at him as they passed by.