Free SeductiveTracks by Elizabeth Lapthorne

the eye certainly
didn’t hinder his hunger to know her better. As he watched Shadow and Olivia
eat their salads, he drank in her every movement, memorizing her like no other.
Since he couldn’t Track her the traditional way, part of Matt wanted to be able
to pick her out of a crowd and be able to recognize her anywhere. A tiny part
of him feared to lose her, which he knew was insane, but in his secret,
innermost soul, he still could not deny the emotion.
    Besides, memorizing her every detail was not a difficult
feat in the least. Warm, dark-brown hair swayed with each move of her head,
flipping around a delicate, angular face as she laughed and talked with her
friend. Deep-brown eyes the color of dark chocolate had him wondering if he
would melt into their depths should she be watching him with that
delicious gaze. At five foot six or so, Shadow was of average height, but her
body was lithe and muscular, more feminine than a gymnast’s but just as
athletic and graceful.
    Matt felt instantly attracted to Shadow, and not just
because of the conundrum she posed to him. As a red-blooded man, he was aware
of her innate femininity. Her appeal to him was undeniably sexual as well as
intellectual. The challenge she presented drew him. The allure of such a
sensual package, a woman whom he couldn’t Track like any other witch or wizard
he knew, was intoxicating.
    “Now who’s lost his mind and needs to check his chin for
drool?” Julian’s voice broke into Matt’s thoughts, a dry wit radiating from his
words.
    Matt snickered, the irony not at all lost upon him. “At
least I’m not letting her every coquettish hair-flip render me mute,” he teased
back.
    “Oh, sure.” Julian chuckled. “And I’ll bet you’d just sit
back and let me take her in to the Enforcers’ main lock-up, present her as a
world-renowned thief dubbed Shadow and let them put her in a cage.”
    “Not a chance—” Matt snapped before he could even think.
When he realized he’d been baited so easily, he flushed. “I mean, you know Will
wants us to recruit her. Turning her in to the Enforcers or the human police
would be detrimental to our game plan. Right?”
    “Right. Sure,” Julian replied, his tone more than his actual
words conveying his amusement.
    “So we follow Shadow, right?” Matt clarified, hoping he
didn’t sound too eager. Julian raised an eyebrow, laughter rampant in his gray
eyes. Matt made a slight face and braced himself for more teasing. This time
deciding to take the higher road, Julian answered Matt’s question.
    “I still think Olivia is in a better position to help us
with…” Julian caught Matt’s eye and sighed, knowing a losing battle when he saw
one. “Oh fine, I give in. Yes, Matthias. We should follow Shadow, since you
can’t Track her.”
    Matt couldn’t have stopped the huge grin that spread across
his face even had he wanted to. He could tell Julian felt a deep interest in
Olivia. The truth was, though, that the brunette was very likely Shadow and,
regardless of his sensual interest in her, she was who they needed to speak to.
    The witch ensnared him on a deep level he’d never
experienced before. Already—without even having met or spoken to her—he felt
himself attracted to her. He longed to drag his fingers through those short,
soft-looking strands of hair. Matt guessed he could easily cup her jaw in the
palm of his hand, tilt that angular face toward him and hungrily devour her
mouth with his lips and tongue.
    Matt’s body heated just at the mental image, the imagined
sensory overload he could indulge in with this witch spiking his temperature.
He would open his senses wide to her, gather every minute detail possible so
she could never escape him again. Years of experience and training had taught
Matt that to a powerful Tracker, essence was not the be-all and end-all.
    There were a million tiny, unconscious mannerisms he could
etch onto his memory so he could pick this particular witch from a cast