Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Europe, Africa and Asia, just the fact of its existence was amazing.
Ten circular rows of stone seating encompassed the arena where the band played and the audience danced. Some nights, especially during the spring and summer, the arena held the circensis , the games. She and Leo had actually attended a couple since moving here.
Though she’d been careful to keep to the fringes of society, only occasionally going to temple and making no friends with the exception of Dilby, she couldn’t resist the circensis .
As a kid, she’d loved to listen to her dad talk about the times he’d taken part in the Reading games as a teenager. Right here, on this floor, their dad had won many times, whether he’d fought with his bare knuckles or weapons. He’d lost a few times, too, and Shea thanked the Gods they no longer fought to the death, as they had in ancient times.
Still, the Etruscans maintained their hunger for blood and violence. Shea believed that appetite worked in their favor, gave them an edge to survive.
Even though they’d hidden their culture to protect themselves, the Etruscans worshipped in temple every week. They made sacrifices to their flesh-and-blood deities, like Nortia, Goddess of the Fate, and Tivr, God of the Moon. Those deities lived among them, their existence a carefully guarded secret from the eteri .
But as much as the Etruscans liked a good fight, good sex ranked above it.
The band’s strega , Gemma, stood on the opposite end of the stage from Leo. Another tiny brunette with pixie features and hair straight to her ass, Gemma chanted in Etruscan, weaving a strong euphoria spell that had enticed a few couples into the stands already. Bodies pressed tight, the couples’ hands roamed, mouths locked. No embarrassment at their public display.
Though Shea had never gotten down and dirty with anyone, she considered sex a natural part of life. Most eteri had a skewed sense of sex, considered it dirty or immoral, to be hidden away in dark rooms.
She didn’t understand that, especially as the beat of the music and the spell encouraged her body to move. She was halfway to the arena floor before she realized she’d gotten up.
One dance, she reasoned. If she stayed to the left of the stage, she’d be able to keep an eye on Leo and dance out some of her frustration.
Just as she hit the floor, Dilby and the band lit into “Love to Love You, Baby,” and the trancelike beat seduced her. Since she didn’t want to stand out, she approached a group of single females she’d seen here before. Though she didn’t know their names, they welcomed her into their circle with nods and quick smiles.
But the women’s attentions immediately refocused on the single men watching the action from the perimeter. Waiting. Everyone was looking for a partner tonight, someone to connect with, someone to make magic with.
Behind her, a male body pressed against hers. Hard and hot, he plastered himself to her, hands on her hips as he picked up her rhythm. He was fully aroused, his sex a stiff rod rubbing against her ass.
Goddess, his hands made her blood heat as they cruised from her hips up her sides to her breasts, cupping them, testing their weight. So firm. So hot. He wanted her. She felt his desire in the pulsing of his cock, in the thrust of his hips against her ass.
Damn, it’d be so easy to turn, to wrap her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist and let him carry her off into the stands. Let him take her mind off everything and—
The voices buzzed through her mental barrier, making her temples ache with the effort to ignore them. But she lost her rhythm and stepped out of the man’s hold. Damn it, she had to get off the dance floor before she embarrassed herself.
Without saying a word, she stumbled away, back up the risers, sinking into a seat, wanting to sink into the stone and away. Just away from this all.
Not fair. So not fair.
Tears threatened but she’d be damned if she’d let them fall. Couldn’t