She glanced at the clock on the wall. Five minutes until midnight. Taking a deep breath, she wondered if she was crazy. Yeah, crazy, lonely, and most of all horny. At least she wasn't alone. Her two best IM friends should be doing the same spell. If this spell worked she would have her own fantasy man to please her all night long. Hell, if it didn't she hoped it would at least inspire her subconscious to give her a good erotic dream. Not to mention they would laugh and blog about it tomorrow.

Raising her wineglass to her lips, she downed the rest of the sweet golden liquid. She had to be the most desperate woman in the world to resort to conjuring up a man to satisfy her. Doubts pounded her. What was she doing? She could just go out and find any man off the street.

No, he might expect more than she had to give, and right now she wanted a no-strings-attached night of bliss. She had enough to worry about. Family, friends, co-workers -- the list went on and on. There was no way she was going to add one more responsibility to her already overcrowded life.

Her alarm clock went off, making her jump and spill a few drops of wine over the rim of her glass. Too late for doubts now. Suck it up and just do it. She pulled the paper from the counter beside the empty wine bottle.

From deep beneath the surface rise

Demon lover, heed my call

Come satisfy my heady lust

Stay until my passions wane

Come to me in all your glory

Provide a happily ever after

To my bedtime story

That was the dumbest sounding spell she'd ever seen. Not that she'd ever seen one before. She shook her head. Had she really expected this to work?

A slight breeze blew through the room ruffling the red sheer curtains of her bedroom. The candlelight flickered for a second before blinking completely out. She didn't have a window open, did she? No. She never kept her windows open at night.

Where the hell had that gust of air come from then?

"Where am I?" A deep voice asked. A very male voice.

Her chest caved in as every muscle in her body froze. There was someone here, in the room. It would be more than ironic if a burglar had chosen this exact moment to break in. Haley broke out of her terror induced stupor and tripped over her computer chair in a rush to turn on the lights. Wasn't that how the stupid woman always died in the movies? New plan. Run for the door and don't look back.

She hurried toward the door, flicking on the lights on her way out. Chancing a glance over her shoulder what she saw almost stopped her in her tracks. There in the center of her bed crouched a man, naked from the waist up. Her jaw dropped and she stumbled over her own feet. She'd seen naked men before, but they were a poor imitation to the one currently staring at her. He crawled across to the edge of the bed and stood.

Oh my God. The skintight black pants he wore outlined a massive bulge. That could not be real. Saliva pooled in her mouth as her mind burned his image into her memory. The chances of her ever seeing such masculine perfection again were approximately zilch to none.

"Human. Did you summon me?" His question was full of righteous indignation.

This had to be a joke. It had to be. If it were possible to conjure a man up just for sex, every woman in her right mind would be doing it. No muss, no fuss, do the spell, do him then make him disappear.

"Did you summon me, human?"

"Tell me this is a joke. It just isn't possible." Her mouth went dry and her throat closed up.

"Why did you summon me, human?" His eyebrows slanted as his gaze turned threatening.

"I just read a stupid spell. I didn't think it would work." She inched her feet backward.

The man's head turned as he looked toward the candles surrounding him then to the rose lying in the center of the bed. "This looks like more than just a spell to me."

"I didn't think it would work," she repeated. Her voice was getting smaller and she was getting closer to getting the hell out of here.

"Well, obviously it did. Now tell me why I'm here so I can go home." Pissed was too mild a word to describe his tone. A muscle jumped up and down at the base of his jaw.

Haley swallowed but couldn't budge the lump in her throat. There was no way she was going anywhere near the guy. "I don't know..."

The man clenched his hands at his sides. "How about you read the spell to me then?"

She bit her lip. If she said the spell again she ran the risk of conjuring another male. And that was simply not acceptable. Definitely not acceptable. No way. No shape. No form.

"Human, I will not wait forever." He took a step away from the bed.

If he took one more step toward her she was out of here. Fuck trying to be subtle. The man moved to take another step but ran into an invisible wall. He stumbled back into the bed. Thank goodness she'd followed the spell to a tee. She hated to imagine what would've happened if she'd omitted that circle of salt.

"So, you took precautions did you?"

"Look, I'm sorry I called you. You can go home now." Concentrating hard, she just barely kept the tremor out of her voice.

"The magic does not work that way. I am stuck here until I fulfill the original request." Disgust flowed right alongside his anger now.

"Totally not necessary. You go away. I'll stay here. It's a win-win." Hell, she wasn't even horny anymore. Not really.

"Did you not hear me? The magic does not work that way. It cannot be fooled. I will not be returned home until I complete the task you conjured me for. Until then I am stuck here, and you are stuck with me." He sank down and opened his legs wide, making that damn bulge look even bigger.

He couldn't be telling the truth. Please don't let him be telling the truth. But what if he was? Don't even think it girl. That's what got you into this position to begin with.

"I'll not repeat myself again, human. What spell did you cast to summon me?" The dark promise in his eyes screamed that when this was over she would face all kinds of retribution.

Haley backed further down the hallway. Tiny droplets of sweat rolled down along her hairline outlining her face. He might be trapped right now, but the moment he was free he would be making her pay. How much time did she have?

"Do not run from me."

The command stopped her heart and started her feet moving. She was at the end of the hallway when her legs turned to lead. Her throat closed over as panic threatened to choke her.

"Come back to me." The seductive command sounded as if it was coming from directly behind her. Had he escaped his prison so easily? She whipped her head around and found the hallway behind her empty. Turning around she strained to move her legs but they wouldn't budge.

"Come back to me..."

The command drummed through her head, resounding a hundred times. The seductive voice caused more pain than pleasure. The stronghold on her legs subsided and relief washed through her. But it was short lived, as her body turned around and walked back to the bedroom. She strained hard, throwing her arms out against the walls. But she could not make her legs stop.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be happening at all.

"You cannot run from me, little one." There was laughter in his voice.

Anger surged through her. Damn, damn, damn. She needed to get away from here. Now. Haley opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She raised her hands to her neck, seeking the invisible force that was cutting off her voice.

"You will tell me why you summoned me." The man's unnaturally bright blue eyes shone as if a light illuminated them from the inside out. His freaking eyes were glowing. Glowing!

"I... I..." She was not a coward. Swallowing hard she forced herself to regain control of her voice. "It was to summon a demon lover..." Her voice started out barely a whisper and ended on less than a mumble. Her head snapped up at his sudden intake of breath. He'd heard her. Good, because she had no intentions of repeating it.

Blazing eyes bored into her. "I deny you, human." The harsh words were spoken deliberately, each one resounding through her head like the echo of an iron bell.

"Okay, you deny me. I got that. You can leave at any time."

"You are either the most untutored amateur I've ever seen or extremely stupid."

The hair along her arms bristled at his insult. Under normal circumstances, she'd never let anyone get away with calling her stupid. However, this was hardly normal...

She clenched her lips together and dug her fingernails into the flesh of her palm. "I was smart enough to catch you." Haley watched his nostrils flare and let her lips curl up in satisfaction as she eased her fist down to her sides.

"My body may be trapped, but my powers are not. You'd do well to remember that."

A moment of doubt tugged at her smile. He did have control over her body, but how far could that power stretch? His power probably wouldn't reach far beyond this room. She doubted he had as much power as he wanted her to believe. If he was that powerful, why would he let himself be called?

Nonexistent hands cupped her breast and squeezed hard until the pressure became a mix of pain and pleasure. Maybe he was telling the truth. This had so not been a good idea. If she lived through the night she would never surf the Internet again.