The Trouble With Moonlight Read Online Free PDF Page A

his hands on his thighs. The bottom of the offered jacket puddled on the floor by his feet.
    “Test me,” he replied, the cockiness in his voice unmistakable. “Move about the room and I’ll tell you precisely where you are.”
    She headed straight for the door.
    “Don’t leave.” He drew a deep breath. “I’d only come to your house tomorrow. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just needed to make sure I had the right person.” He straightened.
    The right person for what? The words formed on her tongue, but she held back. Speaking would provide unwanted clues, and she was curious if he could truly track her as he had indicated. She slipped silently to the corner where he had initially waited for her. A cool air current slipped over her feet.
    “You’re in the corner by the fireplace. It’s a bit drafty over there, but it’s hidden from the door. You wouldn’t have looked there had you expected a trap.” He held out his jacket once again. “If you wish to stay in that corner, you may wish to reconsider my offer.”
    She bit her lip. Arrogant cur. She’d show him. She stepped lightly around the room to circle the desk. She slipped directly behind him.
    “You’re to my back,” he said without turning. “You do realize that by allowing you to stand there, I’m demonstrating my trust. My neck is just an arm’s length away”—he glanced down toward the vicinity of her kick—“and you’ve already proven an ability for violence.”
    Her cheeks warmed and she stepped away.
    She slipped to an oval wall mirror to see if she was phasing back to normal, but the mirror reflected only the shelves of books behind her as if she didn’t exist. The image, or rather lack of one, jabbed at her heart.
    “Why are you looking in the mirror?”
    That startled her. “You can see me?” A deep awareness shuddered to her very core. No one had ever seen her without clothes, and yet she had been prancing about the room like a total wanton. She snatched the jacket from his outstretched arm and slipped it over her shoulders. It wasn’t long enough to cover her as modesty would dictate, but under the circumstances . . .
    He smiled. “No, but I could tell you were positioned in front of the mirror so I just assumed, correctly I take it, that there was a purpose in your actions.”
    She ignored the gloating in his words. “But how could you tell I was in front of the mirror?”
    “Ah, my lady, you have a scent like no other.” He breathed in deeply, pleasure registering across his face. Just watching him sent a delightful tingling throughout her body. “It’s a floral scent, with a bit of spice. I’d never smelled anything like it until I met you this afternoon.”
    A disturbing thought pulled at the edges of her delight. She purposively avoided all scents and perfumes for just that reason. She was afraid someone would track her.
    “How long will you stay transparent?” he asked.
    She pulled her thoughts away from his observant nose. “It varies. If I stay away from the moonlight long enough, I will phase back.”
    “Phase?”
    “It’s the term we use.” She shifted uncomfortably, not accustomed to sharing information with someone outside of the family. She glanced at his perceptive, clever eyes. He hardly seemed the type to believe in old superstitions. If he did, he’d be chasing her about with a pitchfork, determined to rid the world of evil spirits. Still, he did try to catch her with a net.
    “We? Are there others like you?”
    “Perhaps, but I’ve not met them. This is a bit of a rare condition.” And he was a bit of a rare man, she decided. He almost made her feel . . . normal.
    “But there are others.”
    She smiled at his tenacity. “Have you never heard of ghosts? I’m told I had a great-uncle, a Hessian, who liked to ride across the countryside in full-phase. Have you never heard of the headless horseman?”
    “Fantasy.” He waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “Tales told to frighten small