Linda Gayle Read Online Free Page A

creatures slid themselves up under her palms. Amazing. They not only tolerated being touched, they seemed to really want it. “Rahiti, Moana, I’d love to spend the whole day out here with you, but I have to head in. I haven’t done this much swimming since high school. But I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?” After she’d asked Henri a million questions. She wanted to learn everything she could about these two.
    Lyric waited for the bigger dolphin to pass before she took the first stroke toward shore—but the smaller one was there, blocking her. She tried again and was blocked again. She licked her salty, sunburned lips and went back to treading water. Okay, don’t panic. They don’t mean any harm. She tried moving shoreward again. This time, the smaller dolphin gently head-butted her with his snout—in the wrong direction, toward the reef and the stronger waves and the deeper water. Distracted, Lyric sank and swallowed some water. Coughing, she struggled against a rising tide of fear when the sleek skin of one of the dolphins stroked the backs of her thighs. Damn it, they were close, too close, and moving faster, their bodies overlapping each other as they circled her, turning her against her will.
    The water closed over her head just after she gulped a breath. Blind and thrashing, she fought her way to the surface, churning now with the dolphins’ movement. Hurriedly, she jerked her mask over her face to protect her eyes from the stinging salt. The instinct to yell for help swamped her, but what good would it do? She’d stupidly come out here alone, stupidly thinking she’d make buddies with two huge, wild animals that apparently wanted to drown her, and now she was stupidly going to die.
    A sharp pricking stung her right ankle and startled a yelp from her. Oh crap, one of them had her leg in its mouth. Panic swamped her. “Help!” Her scream ended in a watery gurgle as the dolphin dragged her under. The sea doused her in smothering silence, save her heartbeat.
    As quickly as it had grabbed her, the dolphin let her go about ten feet below the surface. Lyric opened her eyes, saw the flash of the darker dolphin passing her, then focused on the surface and began to kick. Suddenly, something on her shoulder stopped her—a heavy weight, like a…a hand. Lungs burning, heart racing, Lyric stared wildly at the impossible. Long, brown fingers curled around her right shoulder. Which were attached to a hand. Then a wrist…then a tattooed arm. That belonged to a serious-looking man whose black hair floated around his head like thunderous cloud.
    She opened her mouth to scream.

    * * * *

    Before the woman could suck seawater into her lungs, Rahiti gripped her arm and futilely kicked for the surface. His legs felt so weak, not at all like he remembered. Fortunately, the woman was in even more of a hurry to reach the top, and she dragged him up with her. When his head popped up into the sunlight, he took a deep breath of air through now-human nostrils. Ah! The glory of it filled him so strongly, he nearly forgot the girl in his arms who was trying desperately to peel his fingers from her arm and swim away.
    “Let me go! Help!”
    For a moment, he could only stare at her. A woman. Their woman. Her skin felt warm and smooth beneath his hand—yes, hand! He held on tighter. Her hair fell over his wrist. And she smelled like the ocean but also of female. Very agitated female. He expelled his breath suddenly, almost forgetting how to breathe as a man.
    “Your name,” he whispered. Unused for so long, his voice croaked. She’d stopped struggling and now just treaded water along with him, trembling, her lips turning blue from what must be shock. “Your name, woman,” he said again, more strongly this time.
    “Lyric.” He could see her teeth chattering. “Lyric Deponte. And who the hell are you?”
    A man who wants to smile and sing and know you and love you… Would this last? Would he turn back into a dolphin should she