The Shifter's Kiss. Caridad Pineiro

      Chapter 1

      The ocean was the only place where Victor felt truly free.

      He did a scissors kick with his fins and pushed toward the great swath of coral reef teeming with life.

      For the past week he had been riding out with his cameras and other equipment and dropping beneath the calm surface of the Caribbean to the unique world below. As he approached the reef, he caught sight of an immense shark circling around the lowermost edges of the coral. The large female cut through the water with ease, her powerful body graceful. Her deep charcoal skin, far darker than that of a normal reef shark, was a shock against the pink–white coral and cerulean blue of the waters.

      All around her teemed yet more reef sharks, both male and female, but none as big or as imposing. It was almost as if she was the queen of the school, not that this species of sharks normally engaged in that kind of behavior. But with her unique size and coloring, he could picture the natives warning him that she was one of the shark gods who protected the many islands along the Kuna Yala, telling him not to anger her by defiling her precious reefs.

      He smiled against the mouthpiece of his scuba gear as he thought of the native legends and, for a moment, allowed himself the fantasy of it. He imagined that big beautiful beast patrolling the waters to keep the area safe. Shifting into human form for a short respite on land before returning to guard the sea around the smattering of islands.

      Pulling up his underwater camera by the leash attached to his weight belt, he snapped several pictures of the school of predators. Only hammerheads were known to swim in groups, and identifying yet another species with this behavior would be an important discovery for his research paper.

      He was so intent on recording the shark’s behavior that he didn’t realize he had let himself drift down into the midst of the school until the softness of sand beneath his feet and the bump of a fin against his side warned of danger. Instinctively he jerked in a breath and held it, a mix of primal fear and intense joy racing through him at the thought of being among such magnificent creatures.

      Slowly he settled to the bottom and kept his movements small and nonthreatening. The lesser sharks surrounded him, their dark, glassy eyes vigilant as they kept up the constant movement they needed to survive. Suddenly the sizeable, darker shape of the queen shark slipped into his peripheral vision as she approached.

      Sleek muscles powered her near, but he kept his position, watchful but unafraid. Nothing in the sharks’ behavior was threatening. If anything, they seemed inquisitive, especially the unique specimen who inched ever closer with each pass of her formidable body. He guessed her to be almost eight feet in length, far larger than the other nearby reef sharks. Combined with her shadowy charcoal coloring, he wondered if he wasn’t misidentifying her species until she turned and approached him. She had the familiar broad snout that all the other reef sharks in the school possessed, confirming that he had been correct with his identification.

      As she swam toward him slowly, he braced himself and kept his breathing smooth. She swung away from him at the last second, but she was so close he could touch her. Had to touch her.

      He ran his hand along her deeply muscled flank and the skin was sandpaper rough beneath his fingers. She quickly shifted away but then began that almost lazy inquiring circle around him again. This time, as she passed his gaze caught hers and shock traveled over him.

      Nothing was dead or flat about that gaze. If anything, it radiated human-like intelligence and interest.

      Impossible.

      He shook his head to drive away that thought and checked his dive watch to see if he had been down for far too long. Then he checked his pressure gauge for good measure.

      All good. It was just his imagination getting the best of him, but maybe it was time to go in. He already had a load of photographs and data to analyze from the various monitoring stations he had set up at spots along the reef. It would take some time to start the generator, boot up the computer and download the data from the wireless stations.

      Time for him to go and get some work done.

      He went top side and hauled himself up onto the platform on the back of the boat. His arm and shoulder protested the movement, sending shards of pain throughout his upper body. He released his mouthpiece and pulled off his mask, his teeth gritting against the hurt. All along his arm and shoulder, the scarred skin pulled tightly against more pliant flesh as he bent to remove his fins and tossed them onboard. He sucked in a breath then, taking a moment to fight back the discomfort. When he did, awareness of the fin slicing through the water just a few feet away registered.

      The sickle-shaped, charcoal-grey fin cut through the water as the shark approached, and this time fear won the battle. He surged to his feet, the harness digging into his body from the weight of the tanks and adding to his distress.

      Fearlessly the shark came right up to the dive platform on the boat, that seemingly knowing gaze looking up as if analyzing him. Then she swam away, and he finally released the harness to remove the tanks. Relief swept through him as he slipped off the tanks and their weight no longer pulled against his damaged body.

      He rubbed at his injured shoulder and arm, the scarred skin rough beneath his palm. Slowly his muscles relaxed, and he rotated his shoulder to work out the pain as he watched the shark swim away but then circle back once more.

      He crouched, wanting to get a closer look.

      Wanting to touch her again.

      As she neared, he reached out and stroked the length of her from snout to dorsal fin, her flesh rasping along his fingertips. The power in those muscles was a reminder of the strength he had once possessed before his injuries.

      With a sharp swipe of her tail,