Banshee Seduction (Montgomery's Sin Book 1) (11 page)

Ginny slipped from behind the desk and sauntered to the end of each aisle to check if anyone was there. No one. The man had quite terrified her, for no particular reason. Her stomach still rebelled against the slow twist of worms. She wasn’t used to being manhandled, and normally the screaming banshees would have wailed their hearts out and zapped him with at least a nosebleed, but it appeared even they had been shocked into silence.

At the last aisle, she bent at the waist, fully expecting to see someone. She peered around the edge of the bookshelves. Huh. Empty.

“Nice butt.”

She jerked upright so quickly, the sound of her own spine cracking filled her ears. A secret thrill shot through her, and before she turned, she already knew who the deep smoky voice belonged to.

Sea-green eyes glowed at her from where he casually leaned against her counter. That sexy top lip of his had pulled straight as he treated her to a welcoming smile that revealed his perfect, white teeth and weakened her knees.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She strolled over as casually as possible, trying to make her walk a bit sexy, but just succeeded in banging her ankles together to give an almost imperceptible stumble. Almost, but from his widening grin, she knew he hadn’t missed it. He’d made her into a klutz. Damn him.

“I wondered if you’d had lunch yet. Are you hungry?”

The man was always trying to feed her. Which wasn’t such a bad thing as banshees were always willing to eat to sustain all the wailing and weeping.

“No, I…” Her stomach gave an embarrassing gurgle, determined to make a liar of her.

“Great.” He dumped a bag on the counter, and the distinct aroma of hot chicken rose from its depths. She almost dribbled, so intense was her mouthwatering reaction. She wasn’t quite sure which morsel was more attractive—the steaming hot one in front of her or the chicken on the counter.

“Oh, my…” She peeped inside the bag, lightheaded at the sight of fries displayed in four square bags on each side of a box. She reached in and flipped open the lid. Fried chicken. Her mouth watered until she swallowed several times in rapid succession, almost choking herself. Her eyes filled with tears as they met his amused ones.

“Hungry?” His left eyebrow flicked up and down as he inquired again.

Preempting her denial, her stomach gave another loud protest as though it had a mind of its own, and the disloyal women in her head screeched their desperation. She shrugged and watched his smile widen. His straight top lip dipped in and made her crave something other than food. She stared at his mouth, tempted to just lean in and give it a swift nip. She moved forward, her lips parted, and…the telephone rang, shrill and loud.

“Sweet Christ!” She wondered if she might get struck with lightning for her last curse, but she grabbed the handset off the desk simply to stop it from ringing. “Shotten County Library—how may I help you?”

“Are you alone?”

“No. No, I’m not alone. What do you want?”

“I’ll be in again tomorrow.”

The line went dead. A loud buzzing resounded in her ears as she met Matt’s confused expression with one of her own. “It was the little man—ummm—Mr. Obnoxious. Do you remember? You must have passed him when you came in.” She flicked her fingers to indicate the exit.

“No. There was no one here when I came in.”

“Yes, you must have stepped inside. I heard the door slide open, before he left.”

“Ginny, I never passed anybody on my way in. You were on your own, peeping down the aisles, displaying your pretty rump to perfection when I came through the door.”

“Strange, I could have sworn…” Probably best if she didn’t swear; there was something strange going on, and as she didn’t want to scare Matt off, it might be better to keep her thoughts to herself. After all, he was only human. He might have accepted her disappearing in a profusion of fireworks, but was he really prepared to be greeted by the Underworld? Huge as he was, she suspected he didn’t have the necessary requisites—like being half banshee, or half demon. He definitely wasn’t half demon. Although she’d have no objection if he offered to take her to hell and back.

She leaned an elbow on the counter, cupped her chin in her hand, and stared at him. She allowed her gaze to cruise over his face, framed by his wild blond hair. The rich jade of his eyes invited her to fall into the depths of them and lose herself.

Her stomach let out a furious protest, accompanied by the wild moans from the hags, making their desire for food known. She had a desire for something more.

She jerked upright, shoved her hand into the paper bag, flipped open the box lid, grabbed a piece of fried chicken, and pushed it into his mouth. Emerald eyes widened with surprise. Long black lashes fluttered, and her stomach roared as she grabbed another piece of chicken for herself and started nibbling on it. “I’m hungry.”

He spluttered. Just her luck to choke the guy. “Me too…but not that desperate.”

“I’m desperate. Eat up.”

He grabbed a handful of fries and pushed them into his mouth, his gaze still fixed to her face as he grasped her meaning.

“I have limited time. I have to eat. If I don’t eat, I’ll get the shakes this afternoon, and when I get the shakes, voices sing loud and aggressively. Not just in my head, you understand, but they spurt from my mouth and deafen people. Even in the library, I cannot contain the voices at all times.”

She took another bite of chicken, filled her fingers with fries, and then spoke around the food. “The voices—they’re muted here.” She pushed fries into her mouth and licked her lips as heat swarmed through her stomach, up her chest, and down to her thighs, making her weak with lust.

“Also—I don’t poof in the library.” She waggled another handful of fries at him in an effort to make him understand. “This building was erected on a pagan mound, or as it’s called, a barrow. The barrow pre-dates Christianity by hundreds of years, and for some reason, the pagan origins protect me.” She swallowed. “You need to know that. I don’t poof here.”

To show his support, he shoved another piece of chicken in his mouth, and as the heat in his eyes burned her, food and the history lesson ceased to matter.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the central aisle, almost running down the reference section where she knew there was a blind spot from the security cameras. She dragged him behind her, stopped abruptly, and turned to slam him against the rack of books. She grabbed his lush blond hair, fisted it, and hauled his face down to hers to give him a frantic, greasy kiss.

She slammed her eyes closed as her lips met his. Willing and able, he joined the desperate rush. His tongue pillaged her mouth, hot and hungry, with the taste of salt riding strong.

Her hands plundered his silky hair as he reversed their positions; the firm press of the shelving made a willing prisoner of her. He raised her arms above her head and sent a quiver of anticipation through her veins. Her heart beat a thunderous rhythm in the base of her throat. He held her by the wrists. The soft, worn leather of the old reference books pressed cool against the backs of her hands as he consumed her mouth. In contrast, the heat from his large hands when he released her poured over her flesh as he skimmed his fingers along the underside of her arms to smooth over her bosom. Appreciative gasps ripped from her lips. Hands still above her head, she invited him to devour her. He tilted his head, and his mouth roamed the length of her neck with insistent little nips to keep her attention and weaken her knees.

A desperate groan slipped from her lips while her body bowed as he moved lower to dip his tongue into the warm valley between her breasts.

•
●•

He had no idea if he was going to survive. She drove him higher than he’d ever been before, and he’d only managed to get his hands on her and kiss her. The sweet smell of her skin, the soft touch of her fingers—umm, well—the yank of her fingers. Desperation was evident in every move she made, every sound she emitted from her perfect, plump lips.

He cruised his mouth back up the length of her neck, enjoying the heavy weight of her perfumed breasts in his hands. He sucked in the silken skin over the racing pulse at the base of her throat. His tongue smoothed over the flesh he held in his mouth. He felt the groan reverberate through her throat and flicked his thumb over her taut nipple.

“Oh, oh.”

With a sharp jerk, she wrenched her fingers from his hair and grasped his shoulders.

Thrilled at her response and keen that at last he seemed to be going to get the chance to explore his mate, he repeated the move with his thumb, stunned she hadn’t yet exploded into a profusion of fireworks.

The firm grasp of her fingers tightened on his shoulders like steel clamps. She might be a little thing, but she sure was undeniably strong. He nipped her neck in retribution. She flung back her head, making him flinch at the loud thunk as her skull connected with the heavy leather-bound books behind her.

“I’m coming!” she shrieked, almost exploding his eardrums.

He reared his head back and stared at her. “Already?”

Bright puce flooded her face, her lips parted, and a small keening wail escaped her. Wow, she really was responsive. Her lush breasts heaved beneath his hands, and the thrum of her pulse escalated to join the rhythm of his own heartbeat.

“No,” she gasped. “No…the door.”

She gave him a firm shove. Off balance, he reeled backward into the opposite shelf. His hand caught a row of books and sent them careering to the floor as his lunchtime leisure break took off in the opposite direction, tugging her clothes into place and screeching at whoever hammered on the front door.

“I’m coming. I’m coming!”

Her voice impatient, the fast clip of her heels echoed against the stone floor as Matt glanced at the fallen books scattered all around. He hunkered down and picked one up.

The Elusive Orgasm—Have You Got Her Coming or Going?

Laughter spluttered out of him.

“Ssshhh!” How one small noise could be so vicious, he had no idea, except it sounded sharp and panic-stricken. She obviously didn’t want anyone to know she had an assignation. He stared at the book in his hand, gave a silent snort as he slipped it inside his jacket, and headed to the opposite end of the aisle to hide until he could slip unnoticed out of the front door.

He leaned forward to peer around the edge of the bookshelf and treat himself to one last look at the cute librarian who made his mouth water and his pulse thunder. Something uncomfortable happened to his heartbeat, but it was to be expected. She was his mate.

He could slide out the door or…nah, no way. It was too good to be missed. He enjoyed making the sumptuous babe blush, and the bright hue of her cheeks still glowed from their recent encounter. Frustrated he might be, but he wasn’t above teasing her. Besides, she was right, she didn’t poof in the library, and that could prove very interesting.

He sauntered from behind the bookshelf and watched as her gaze settled on him, eyes widening in horror to make him smile even wider. He delighted in watching the color suffuse her face. It was radiant. She was priceless.

“Hey.” He leaned on the counter, his attention caught by the willowy blonde librarian whom Ginny had evidently just let in the door. The woman’s hand went straight to her chest to pat above her heart.

“It’s The Dane!”

He gave her his best smile while he dipped his hand into the bag of tepid fried chicken, pulled out a piece, and took a nibble, almost laughing as the blonde fluttered her eyelashes at him. “That’s me. And what’s your name?”

He wasn’t positive, but a strange growling sound seemed to come from Ginny. Perhaps she was still hungry, but she didn’t seem to be making a move toward the food.

“Pearl.”

“Well, hi, Pearl.” He offered the bag across the counter. “Ginny, you better eat something. Your stomach is making noises, honey.” The quickly arched eyebrow made him wonder if he might have taken it too far calling her “honey,” but her saccharine smile assured him all was well as she dunked her hand into the bag and pulled out a couple of fries.

Matt turned the bag in Pearl’s direction and wondered if he should withdraw it before she drooled over his food. Nothing worse. She shook her head as if she was trying to clear it. Her voice when it came was a breathless rush. “I’ve just eaten, thank you.” She sighed and fluttered her long fingers at the bag as though she couldn’t decide whether or not to accept his invitation anyway.

He gave her a smile; her soft whimper reached his ears.

He returned his attention to Ginny. “I thought we were going to have lunch.”

She looked as though she couldn’t swallow the food she’d just put in her mouth, and the pink flush turned puce. He ran the tip of his tongue over his top lip and watched her attention divert to his mouth. He didn’t want to eat food, he wanted to eat her. Now. He flicked a glance at the tall, slender blonde and noted the intense attention she was paying them. No chance of him having a quick moment alone with Ginny.

He lowered his voice. “What time do you finish work?”

Ginny spluttered, her nostrils flared, and tiny bits of fry flew from her lips to land back in the bag he held extended. The desire to laugh stuck in his throat when she turned wide, manic eyes on him. Icy-white swirled through them while Pearl stared transfixed at the bag as though the chewed-up little pieces were going to come crawling out.

Ginny ignored her. Her voice, when it came, was layered with multihued tones. “Six.”

“Six, huh? I’ll pick you up. We’ll have dinner.”

“No.” Her voice hit a soprano note of panic and echoed in his head.

Careful, he rolled down the top of the paper bag, placed it on the counter, and leaned in. Pearl gasped as her knees gave way, and she collapsed into the operator’s chair to send it careering backward. Ginny flung her hand out, grabbed the back of the chair, and brought it to a dead stop without ever taking her cold gaze from him.

Impressed, Matt raised his eyes to meet her wintry white ones. Hell, sometimes she could be scary. He wanted to stick his finger in his ear and waggle it just to make sure the tinnitus inside his head was caused by the last crazy smash-up he’d had on the field. But no, she seemed to be emitting a penetrating squeal even Pearl was reacting to.