Seduced in Shadow
The evil of that ranger had been almost palpable. What the hell was going on? She started to hyperventilate. The panic fell like a weight on her chest. But she fought against it. When Antonin returned and handed her a piece of paper, she nearly had it under control.
    The handwriting on the short note was definitely Justin’s, unless someone had gone to a lot of trouble to forge it.
    Ellie, hon. She smiled as she began to read. Justin started every email to her just like that. Antonin’s okay. I sent him to watch over you. There’s stuff going down, stuff we’ll need to talk about. For now listen to Antonin. Stick close to him. He’ll keep you safe and we’ll talk soon.
    Ellie looked up to find Antonin staring at her, his gaze warm enough to make her thighs clench. God, he was gorgeous. Apparently the adrenaline rush of almost being kidnapped had passed, though residual fear still made her skin tingle.
    She’d never been a particularly brave kid. She didn’t climb trees any higher than she could safely jump to the ground. She didn’t walk by herself after dark. The riskiest thing she’d done lately was start her own business. And really, the only risk in that was to her bank account.
    29
    Stephanie Julian
    Something about that park ranger had scared the crap out of her. And she hated being scared.
    With Antonin so near, all her early doubts evaporated. He had saved her from that ranger and he just felt safe. Besides, hadn’t Justin said to trust him? Her intuition told her to go along with that.
    Sighing, she tried to run her hand through her hair but it got tangled in the braid.
    With a huff, she pulled the braid over her shoulder and took off the elastic at the end so she could release the heavy mass. “So how long have you known my brother?”
    “For a while,” he hedged and Ellie looked up again—to find him staring at her, lust clearly visible in his expression. Whoa!
    Okay, that really shouldn’t make her sex clench and her heart race. Not after everything that had happened this morning.
    But it did! It had been awhile since anyone had looked at her like that, with that amount of desire.
    “And Justin wants me to stay with you? And I can call Justin whenever I want to check this out?” Why did her voice sound husky all of a sudden?
    “Go ahead and call him.” Antonin looked straight into her eyes, handing her his cell phone. “Justin’s number is saved. You may not be able to reach him right away but leave him a message and I’m sure he’ll get back to you as soon as he can.”
    Ellie found the entry, dialed and wasn’t surprised when Antonin was right. Justin’s cell went straight to voice mail. She left a message, feeling better for having made the call.
    What now? She took another look at her bodyguard—who just happened to be the epitome of the perfect male, at least the image of the perfect man she had in her head.
    The combination of dark hair and light eyes always made her heart beat a little faster. And those freckles—they were adorable, though he probably didn’t want to hear 30
    Seduced in Shadow
    that. Guys didn’t want to be adorable. They wanted to be handsome, sexy, hot. All of which this guy was. As well as tall and lean and strong.
    He’d saved her from a would-be kidnapper and whisked her away to safety. A hero.
    And a hero deserved a kiss for his good deed, right? Would it be inappropriate to jump the bones of the man who’d saved her?
    From his intent expression, she didn’t think he’d mind…and neither would she.
    Trying to rein in her hormones, Ellie reminded herself that he was just her bodyguard, though she still wasn’t quite sure why she needed one. Her brother had sent him to keep her safe, not as her sex toy.
    Maybe she could attribute her inappropriate response to Antonin to stress. A naughty little voice in her head whispered, Didn’t the doctor tell me to get laid to reduce stress?
    With a sigh, she forced herself not to think about sex with Antonin.
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