Witch Way Out (Witch Detectives #3) by Eve Paludan, Stuart Sharp Page A

head. “She wasn’t always like that.” On the other hand, she was now, and that was mostly what counted. “Fergie, Siobhan said we might have some other jobs.”
    The werewolf nodded, going over to his desk and the neat stack of files waiting for him there. “A few. I don’t know if you’ll be interested.”
    “If they mean that I have a legitimate reason to keep Rebecca waiting a little longer for her results, then I’m interested.”
     
     
     

     
     
    Niall’s hands roamed over me slowly, spreading oil into my skin as they worked their way so sensuously over my back. Until he’d insisted on doing this for me, I hadn’t realized quite how tense I was. I moaned in appreciation as his fingers eased out a small knot in the muscles of my shoulders, half turning to look back at him until he turned me back to keep lying there so he could work on me.
    “How did you learn to do this?” I asked. I was naked in Niall’s living room, a couple of sheets and pillows having transformed one of the tables into a massage table for the afternoon. What did it say that Niall tended to choose furniture capable of taking someone’s weight? Nothing that I didn’t already know. He was an enchanter. A vampire. Furniture designed for those occasions when you couldn’t quite make it all the way to bed simply came with the territory.
    Niall’s hands kept up their beautiful, sensuous movements. “It isn’t so difficult, when I can feel exactly what relaxes you and what doesn’t.”
    “It’s that easy, is it? I’m almost disappointed.”
    His hands moved lower, his mouth briefly following them to kiss the center of my spine. I gasped in unexpected pleasure.
    I could feel the glow of Niall’s small triumph. “People have used many words about me over the years. Never that one.”
    I could believe that. So far, Niall was still clothed, and his movements had kept to what most people would have considered safe, chaste areas, yet there was still something more intimate about the simple experience of him massaging my back than there might have been with anyone else doing almost anything else.
    And we both knew it wasn’t likely to stop at just a massage. “Mmm.”
    “You like that then, Elle?” He placed another butterfly kiss at the base of my spine.
    “You know I do.”
    “Good.” His hands resumed their work on my muscles. Despite the sensuality of Niall’s movements, he really did seem to be searching for knots and tight spots to untangle. He also seemed to be finding a lot of them. “You are so tense, Elle. You are working too hard.”
    I shook my head without looking round at him. “Just as hard as I need to.”
    “Really?”
    “Most of it’s the case for the coven. I spent half of yesterday going through pottery at the university, making sure that none of it was magical.”
    “None of it was?” I could feel Niall’s interest and I loved him for that. A lot of men could have feigned it for the sake of being together, but he actually did care about every aspect of my life.
    “None of it. Although I did get to snag a grad student on the way out, and had an enchantress snack, so the day wasn’t a total loss.”
    I was feeding regularly now, taking small amounts wherever I could. Some days, I worried about what that meant, but I’d felt the alternative. I’d felt what it was like to be helpless while Victoria hurt those around me. If stealing occasional moments with strangers was the price for getting to keep Niall safe with me, I could pay it willingly.
    “And you went to see the young woman who was hurt in the hospital.”
    “Yes. Nina told me much the same things that the others did, although there was one odd thing.”
    Niall’s hands stilled just for a second or two. “And that was?”
    “She’s a witch. Not a strong one. A minor talent like the ones…”
    “Like the ones you rescued from Victoria. It’s all right to say her name, Elle. Although it does seem to have made you more tense. Hmm,