The Shifter's Kiss Read Online Free

must leave,” she repeated and with a regal dip of his head, he left.
    Nali returned to the man’s side and covered his body with a
clean sheet. No sense staring temptation in the face all the rest of the day.
When she was done, she walked around the one-room shack, checking out the items
she had noticed earlier. Maps, papers, photos and an assortment of equipment
took up the hand-hewn table to one side of the space. She and her father had
shared many a meal there before she had been exiled to the deep ocean by the
actions of fishermen like those who had attacked them earlier.
    A basket of fresh fruit sat on the kitchen counter along with a
prescription bottle. Pain pills. A half-eaten loaf of bread was wrapped in
plastic. Inside the tiny ice box beneath the counter were a variety of cheeses,
a slab of a local cured ham, eggs and milk. The latter was probably for the
battered stovetop coffeepot and tin mug that looked as if they had seen their
share of use.
    The closet where she had grabbed her dress held only a pair of
faded jeans, a pair of khaki pants and some casual shirts. Leaning forward, she
buried her nose in them to memorize his unique scent. After, she took a quick
look through the old three-drawer chest and discovered only the very basics for
dressing.
    Except for all his fancy equipment, he was a simple man, she
decided as she walked back and sat on the chair by the side of the bed. She
hoped he would rouse soon so she could be on her way at nightfall. It would be
safest for her to travel then, hidden in darkness.
    But as dusk came and night fell, he was still unconscious, and
as she leaned forward and ran her hand across his chest, the heat there warned
that all was not well.
    She checked his wounds and frowned at the hint of redness
around the edges of the injury.
    Not good.
    She rose and went to one of the kitchen cabinets where she had
stored a collection of remedies that her family would use when one of the
villagers was hurt. Removing several of the bottles, she mixed up a paste to
place on the wounds to try and control the spread of any infection.
    Returning to the man, she gingerly spread on the paste, but he
jumped and moaned. The paste was caustic. That was part of why it worked, but as
she spread more on the exit wound, he finally roused.
    “Who are you?” he asked as he watched her work and place clean
gauze over his wounds.
    “Nali. I am Saila’s daughter.”
    Victor shook his head, fighting back the confusing images
swirling through his brain. It was the woman in his dreams. The one with the
charcoal-black eyes like the shark but with skin as rich as copper. Long,
straight hair framed a determined chin, a sharp slash of a nose and a full,
luscious mouth.
    As she noticed his perusal of her, she smiled. Perfectly white
human teeth.
    But she hadn’t been human before, he was almost certain of
that. Even now he could recall the grate of shark skin against his side
gradually softening as they had neared shore. And with that change, the muscled
bulk of the shark had thinned and filled out into womanly curves.
    Tempting curves, he realized even in his weakened condition as
his gaze dipped across the dress that hugged her shapely body.
    He shivered but not from passion. Inside, cold filled his gut
even as burning heat spread from the wound in his side.
    He gritted his teeth against that ache and reached up, gingerly
running his hand across the bandages.
    She covered his hand with hers, her skin so smooth and warm. So
warm, he thought as another shiver racked his body and his lips began to
tremble.
    “Cold.” He glanced up at her, and she offered a reassuring
smile as she ran a damp cloth across his forehead, then down along his
cheeks.
    “You have a fever,” she said and dampened the cloth again
before passing it along his shoulders and his chest.
    The wetness was welcome, but the heat of his body quickly
burned off that relief and soon he was shaking, his teeth chattering as if he
were