People had always remarked on their physical differences, but Grace knew Selena hid her astute mind and insecurity behind her "exotic" attire. Inside, the two of them were far more alike than anyone would ever guess.
Except for Selena's bizarre belief in the occult.
And Selena's insatiable appetite for sex.
Moving to stand beside her, Selena forced the book into Grace's reluctant hands and thumbed through it. Grace did her best not to drop it.
Or roll her eyes.
"I found this the other day in that old bookstore by the Wax Museum. It was covered by a mountain of dust, and I was trying to find this book on psychometry when I came across it, and voilà!" Selena pointed triumphantly at the page.
Grace looked down at the picture, then gaped.
Never had she seen such a thing.
The man in the picture was riveting, and the picture absolutely shocking in its detail. If not for the deep impression marks on the page where it had been drawn, she would have sworn it was an actual photograph of some ancient Greek statue.
No, she corrected herself-a Greek god. Surely no mortal man could ever look that good.
Standing in full naked glory, the man oozed power, authority, and raw, animal sexuality. Even though his pose was a casual stance, he looked like some sleek predator ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
His very veins stood out on a body made perfect with the promise of a hard, lean strength designed purely for feminine pleasure.
Her mouth dry, Grace trailed her gaze over his muscles, which bulged in perfect proportion to his height and weight. She followed the lean, hard muscles over the deep indentation that divided his pectorals, down the washboard stomach that just begged for a woman's touch.
To his navel.
And then to his…
Well, no one had bothered to put a fig leaf there. And why should they? Who in their right mind would want to cover up so nice a masculine package?
For that matter, who would need anything with batteries around with that in the house!
Licking her lips, Grace looked back at his face.
As she stared at the sharp, handsome features that held just a hint of a devilish smile, she had an image of a breeze tugging at sun-kissed, tawny locks that curled around a neck made for suckling. Of steely blue eyes piercing in their intensity as he raised an iron spear over his head and shouted.
She felt a sudden stirring in the thick, hot air around her, one that seemed to somehow caress her exposed skin.
She could almost hear the deep timbre of his voice, feel strong arms wrap about her and pull her back against a rock-hard chest while warm breath tickled her ear.
Feel strong, competent hands roaming her body, giving her delight as they sought out her most private places.
A chill stole up her spine, and her body throbbed in areas she'd never known a body could throb. It was a fierce, demanding ache she'd never before known.
Blinking, she glanced up at Selena to see if she'd been affected the same way. If she had, she gave no clue.
Grace must be hallucinating. That was it! The spices from the red beans had finally seeped into her brain and turned it to mush.
"What do you think of him?" Selena asked, finally meeting her gaze.
Grace shrugged in an effort to subdue the slow burn of her body. Still, her eyes lingered on his perfect form. "He looks like a client I signed up yesterday."
Well, it wasn't exactly true-the guy she'd seen had been fairly attractive, but nothing like the man in the drawing.
She'd never seen anything like him in her life!
"Really?" Selena's eyes darkened in a way that warned her she was about to begin her long lecture on kismet and chance meetings.
"Yeah," she said, cutting Selena off before she could start. "He told me he was a lesbian trapped in a man's body."
Selena's face fell. Grabbing the book from her and slamming it shut, Selena glared at her. "You know the weirdest people."
Grace cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't say it," Selena said as she took her usual seat behind her table. She placed the book down beside her. "I'm telling you, this"-she tapped the center of the book twice-"is the answer for you."
Grace stared at her friend, thinking how true to form Madam Selene, self-proclaimed Moon Mistress, looked sitting behind her tarot cards and purple table with the arcane book beneath her hand. At that moment, she could almost believe Selena was a mystical Gypsy.
If she believed in such things.
"Okay," Grace said, giving in. "Quit stalling and tell me what that book and picture have to do with my sex life."
Selena's face became gravely earnest. "That guy I showed you… Julian… is a Greek love-slave who is completely controlled by, and devoted to, whoever summons him."
Grace laughed out loud. She knew it was rude, but she couldn't help it. How in the world could a Rhodes scholar with a Ph.D. in both ancient history and physics, even one with Selena's idiosyncrasies, believe in something so ludicrous?