She ruffled his coat, her eyes showing excitement and curiosity. “You know about my cat?”
He laughed, happy that she was asking questions. He considered curiosity a very good sign that she was coming to accept him, what she could be, and that they were meant to be together. “I’ve studied everything I could learn about you for a year. If you hadn’t kept yourself behind locked doors, I would have found a more casual approach for us to meet.”
She kept stroking his fur. “But you could have impersonated anyone and walked right into my meetings.”
“We don’t use our skills unless we are certain the outside world won’t learn of them.”
She seemed to accept his explanation. “Can you do feathers?”
“Sure.” He altered the fur, changing it to feathers. “And goose down.” He changed again.
“Wow. That’s awesome.”
He knew better than to think that she was speaking directly about him. He’d thought she was talking about his shapeshifting abilities, but she’d stopped walking to take in the sunset. Magnificent slashes of orange and spears of pink streaked across the sky. The sun, a fiery red ball, appeared to sink into the sea.
He spoke with pride and longing. He ached to share his home with her, to show her how he lived. “On New Atlantis, my home is at the foot of a mountain and overlooks the beach. I watch the sunset almost every night. And it’s always different.”
“I need to travel more. I’ve allowed work to take up too much of my time.” She turned to him, her tone scolding, her eyes dilated, her nostrils flaring. “But that doesn’t mean I’m interested in your offer.”
Her words said one thing, her body told him another, yet, he didn’t push what he sensed was her feminine interest in him—not yet.
When they returned to the spot she’d left her water bottles and Powerbars, he stacked the wood. She gathered dry grasses, stuffed it between the driftwood, and she started a fire with a pack of matches she must have scavenged from the plane before the landing.
With the fire crackling, the scene was almost cozy. She broke open a water bottle and helped herself to a Powerbar. Hesitating for a moment, she offered him a bar, but he shook his head. “I ate while I swam in the sea.”
Taking tiny bites, she made the food last a long time. Staring into the fire, she grew silent, and the physical tension between them grew. When she finished her food, he knew it was time.
“I have more shapes to show you.” His serious tone must have alerted her. She jerked her head up, caught his eyes, and he swallowed down a gasp at the longing he saw there. And he prayed that longing was . . . for him. “Look what I can do.”
He changed into a marble rock, shaped like Michelangelo’s David, and his shorts fell by the wayside in the sand. Clothing was such a bother to a shapeshifter, since the only form that required clothing was the human one.
She leaned over to touch his rocky surface, her hand gentle, her strokes almost erotic. “Watching you change shape is better than television.”
“And after your caresses, I’m so hot for you, I need to cool down.” He morphed into a giant ice cube, but didn’t allow himself to melt.
She chuckled. “If you’re hoping I’m thirsty enough to lick you, you’re wasting your time.”
He compacted his cells down tight. And changed into a diamond. Leaning over, she picked him up and peered at his tiny, perfect lines. “What happened to your weight?”
He rolled from her palm, dropped into his shorts and changed back into human form. “When I don’t need all my mass, I shove it into Inf space.”
“Inf?”
“Short for infinity. Your scientists call Inf the fourth dimension.”
“I thought the fourth dimension was time.”
“It is.” He thought she was going to ask him more about Inf, but her curiosity turned in a different direction.
She fed a stick into the fire, her face thoughtful, her hands shaking. “So size is limited to your mass. You can’t become a whale?”
“I can do a small whale. Although I can’t grow more cells, I can expand the ones I have.”
“And what would have happened to you in ice cube form if you’d begun to melt?”
“As long as the water pooled around me, I would have been fine. If, however, you had decided to lick me”—at his reminder of her words, her face reddened, or perhaps it was the fire flickering off her skin—“I would have lost those cells forever.”
“And if you lose a lot of cells?”
“Lose too many cells and I can’t ever return to my human form.” He kneeled beside her. “Some forms are very dangerous. If I became a bouquet of flowers, you could rip me apart.”
Her gaze locked with his. “You would die?”
“Yes.” He held her stare, gathered himself to place his life in her hands. “Pick me up again, and I’ll show you.” Without further discussion, he morphed into a seed and waited for her to do as he’d asked. The moment he sprouted from the seed, Ari would be putting his life in her hands. He’d made certain to explain first, so she would understand. And he’d seen comprehension in her eyes, but he had no idea what she might do when he sprang into a blooming bouquet.
Time to find out.
Using his will to re-form his cells, he grew two dozen stems and made a variety of flowers bloom. Lilies, roses, carnations, pansies. He needn’t conform to the rules of nature. With her hand around the stems, she could toss him into the fire before he could change to a shape in which he could defend himself. Or she could break him in half by slapping him against the remaining firewood or shred him with her bare hands.
She sniffed then very carefully placed the stems back inside his shorts. A few moments later, he was once again human, very relieved to be in one piece and trying not to pretend he’d had any doubts about what she’d do to him.
But she read him easily enough. “You weren’t certain I wouldn’t hurt you, were you?”
“What I must teach you requires trust.” He spoke simply, watching her eyes flare with comprehension and heat. “To earn your trust, I had to show you that I could give you mine.”
She lowered her gaze and stared into the fire. “Just because I don’t wish to harm you, doesn’t mean the reverse is true.”
“And knowing that, you were still careful with me.” At his question, she shivered, and he wanted to sling an arm over her shoulders and draw her against him. He wanted to hold her and tell her that shapeshifting was wonderful. But some things had to be done alone. She had to want the gift she’d been born with in order to make use of it. He’d tried to show her the pluses, but like everything in life, there were minuses, too. “Why didn’t you toss me into the fire?”
“Because you abducted me to help your people. And you’ve tried to make me feel safe when you could.” She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, and again he saw a burning curiosity. “I’m considering having you teach me to shapeshift, but first I’d like to hear more about the risks.”
Wow. She certainly knew how to lay her cards on the table, making him realize that he’d lucked out when it came to dreaming about Samantha Bessinger for his soul mate. She was tough—deep down where it counted—yet reasonable. She didn’t hide from the facts, no matter how difficult the truth might be, and so he hoped that eventually she’d even admit their growing attraction.
He could barely keep his hands off her. He ached to draw her into his arms—not to reassure her, but to find out if he could coax the simmering heat between them into a blazing inferno. But as much as he wanted her, his task required patience.
She seemed to have figured out that danger—if it came—wouldn’t be caused by him or survival on the island, but how she adjusted to the shapeshifting process. But she’d taken the first step toward making a transformation, she wanted to know more, and from the intensity in her gaz
e and the hardening of her nipples, she was sexually aroused by the danger. Samantha really was one amazing woman, and even as he ached to have her, he tamped down his impatience.
As the fire flickered over her skin, as the breeze toyed with her hair, as her long bare legs teased him, his heart lightened. For the first time, he believed they had a good chance of success. That they’d make a good team. That he’d dreamed of his true soul mate. Shapeshifters didn’t judge people on their appearances since they could take any form. Instead, his abilities had made him look deeper into her character. And what he saw, he could love.
And as his hope flared, so did his desire for this beautiful and courageous woman.
Five
“CAN ATTEMPTING and failing to shapeshift cause my death?” Samantha asked, fighting her excitement and finding resisting almost impossible. What he offered was way too incredible, way too tempting—she owed it to herself to explore.
Although Ari had effectively trapped her here, giving her only one way off the island—by learning to shapeshift—she’d always enjoyed the challenge of trying new skills. And a tiny part of her wondered if there really were such a thing as a soul mate and if he could be hers.
She’d been alone for so long that she’d never really expected to meet the one right man for her. The one man above all others who would fill her needs and she, his. The idea of him being her soul mate enticed her to dip in a finger and taste. Even if she’d been free to do so, she’d never forgive herself for walking away from all that Ari was offering—long life, healthy life—plus a mouthwatering man to share it with.
“Failing won’t hurt you at all,” he said. “But if you don’t follow my exact directions, there can be . . . difficulties.”
Samantha sensed that he’d chosen his words with care in order to avoid frightening her. However, if Samantha had had a life-threatening illness, she’d ask the doctor to be frank. If there were risk, she wanted to know the odds so she could assess her chances and increase her opportunity to achieve success. And if there were danger to her life, she wanted to know how and when and what to watch out for.
Samantha folded her jacket to form a pillow and made a bed in the sand, relaxing on her back. She’d never seen so many stars in the night sky, and it made her feel as if life was precious, special.
She sensed a tremendous life-altering opportunity for her . . . and Ari, and her stomach tightened the way it often did when she was on the verge of a business deal—only more so. “Please, tell me about what can go wrong.”
He lay next to her, rolled onto his side and rested his head in his palm. “I’m not supposed to dwell on the dangers.”
“Says who?”
“Our dream instructors. New Atlantis doesn’t just send us blindly out to find our soul mates. Esteemed professors instruct us how to teach. And they strongly recommend glossing over the dangers.”
She turned her head to look at him, almost relaxed now that she’d decided to give the shapeshifting and Ari a try. He appeared so comfortable lying on the sand. With the fire dying, the embers glowing, just enough light remained to let her read his serious expression. “I hope there’s a ‘but’ you’re going to add to that statement.”
“But”—he shot her a charming grin then returned to serious mode—“I believe that you have a right to know exactly what you’re facing, especially since shapeshifting is one of the most dangerous skills.”
His calm and reasonable tone reassured her and yet made her feel special, as if he were holding back his interest in her for fear of scaring her away. “I’m listening.”
“It’s important to learn simple shapes first. The danger of going too fast too soon is that you might become stuck in a form and not have the skill to change back.”
She shuddered, recalling his diamond shape, a form where he couldn’t move or talk, not until he’d morphed. “That sounds unpleasant. I wouldn’t want to spend the next few days as, say, a rock.”
“It would be more than the next few days. As a rock, you don’t require food or air. You could live an eternity as a rock. That’s why we’ll pick a—”
“When you turn into a rock,” she interrupted him, tried to ignore the clench of nerves in her stomach, and punched her pillow into shape, “do you keep all your thoughts and memories?”
He nodded and curled an arm under her shoulder, offering himself as a pillow. She snuggled into his heat, enjoying the warmth of his flesh and appreciating how comfortable she felt in his arms—as if they were destined to fit. All her earlier lust was there, simmering, but she could ignore it and wait more easily now, now that she’d decided to make love.
Why not enjoy him? Why not find out if the connection between them was as electric as it seemed?
“No matter what shape we take,” he said, “the brain goes into the Inf, but we can tap into our thoughts. The second most common danger is panic. To me the morphing sensation feels like a combination of stretching and compression, but it may seem very different to you. While it’s not painful, you can’t change your mind after you begin, or you’ll tear yourself apart.”
She swallowed hard. “What else?”
For the first time, he avoided her gaze. “The best way to teach you is for us to link.”
“Link?”
“Remember when you touched my hand? How you felt the changes?”
“You want us to hold hands?”
“I can wrap my body around you, so that I’m over you, under you. Inside you. Part of you.”
Inside her? She assumed their atoms would mix on a very elemental level. And if she got stuck, it sounded like he would be stuck with her. “And what happens if we’re linked and I panic?”
“We’ll go real slow. You’ll be fine. If our bodies are linked, I’ll be right there with you. Knowing that should keep you calm.”
“Should? You don’t know?” She narrowed her eyes. “Have you ever linked before?”
“Not like this. We need to start by making love and then progress to—”
She turned onto her side, chuckled, and splayed her fingers over his chest. “I’ve heard a lot of lines in my day, but yours has to be the most . . . outrageous.”
“Touching is necessary,” he insisted, clearly not understanding that she was teasing. “The more touching we do, the stronger the link and the greater the chance of success. In truth, I am not certain if it’s possible to teach you to shapeshift without . . .” He tightened his lips. “I’m sorry you find the idea so distasteful.”
She picked up on the hurt in his tone and sought to reassure him. “I won’t deny that you fascinate me. Or that I want you. There’s a connection growing between us that I’d like to explore.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Accepting a difficult situation. Giving us this chance.”
Samantha had experienced lust. She’d experienced friendship. But she’d never known both at the same time. Ari appealed to her on the physical level—what woman wouldn’t enjoy his masculine physique or his warm eyes following her every move? And his husky tone lapped with the same persistence as the waves rolling across the beach, soothing, caressing and exciting—all at the same time.
But what impressed her most was that he hadn’t tried to use his physical beauty or his touch to convince her to do as he wished. Another man might have stolen a kiss, found excuses to touch her. He hadn’t done more than hold her hand or offer his shoulder to pillow her head, mostly appealing to her intellect. And his plan was working. Once she’d gotten past the shock of his shapeshifting revelations, she’d realized that she wanted to know him better. She wanted to learn how he’d grown up, what he did for a living. She wanted to see his island. She wanted to kiss him and see where it led.
She wanted to make love.
Leaning toward his mouth, she kissed his lips. He ta
sted of the sea, slightly salty, fresh and with a tang of the wild. And best of all, he didn’t hurry her, didn’t grab her, allowed her to explore his mouth at her own pace.
She liked his patience and control almost as much as she liked the way his eyes sparkled in the reflected firelight. The way the pulse at his neck leaped. The way his hands threaded into her hair and massaged her scalp.
Yum.
With the starlight above, the warm sand cradling their bodies, the fire crackling, and the waves lapping along the beach, she couldn’t have asked for a more romantic setting. Or a more considerate partner. Ari kissed better than her best dream.
Although he didn’t rush, she appreciated the intensity of his muscles, and heat coiled inside her. Wanting more of his flesh, so firm, so silky, so hot, she shrugged out of her shirt. She thought he might immediately disengage her bra. He didn’t.
Ari seemed quite content to kiss her thoroughly, teasing her lips, their tongues dancing, their breaths merging. Her nipples tightened, her breasts swelled, and her breath came in gulps. Inhaling Ari’s scent, a combination of sea and wind and a male aroma all his own, she wriggled closer, breaking their kiss and toppling him to his back.
She ended up lying across his chest, her legs entwined with his. His sex strained against her, evidence of how her kiss had turned him on, and she filled with a joyful certainty that they would be good together.
His eyes glinted, searching hers, almost as if he needed reassurance that she wanted to proceed. “Being here with you . . . feels so very right.” She whispered the startling truth into his ear, nibbled on his lobe, gently bit down, then licked away the sting.
He trailed fingers over her back, showing her with his hands and his mouth that angled and demanded another kiss what he didn’t say in words. Never had a man’s touch made her feel so cherished. He explored every hollow of her back, every dip, every exposed inch of needy flesh, until she could think of nothing but that she craved to be with this man.
Raising her hands to her bra, she was about to unclip it when he shook his head. “I’ll do that.”
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