a loud thud, the shark rushed away this time and sank beneath the surface.
Victor eased himself onto the deck of the dive boat. Securing his tanks and other equipment, he started the engine for the short trip back to shore, but as he did so, he looked back and caught sight of her fin again, almost as if waving goodbye.
* * *
She who was called Nali by the local Kuna people listened to the vibrations of the engine carrying him away from her.
His touch still lingered on her body, a reminder of how long it had been since she’d been human. Since she’d experienced the pleasure of warm, soft skin and the rush of desire.
Too long, she thought, swimming along the surface for just a moment before diving down to rejoin her brethren along the edges of the reefs. Not that she was truly like them.
She was of a different kind, one of the last of her race in this area. Over the centuries the others had been taken by fishermen greedy either to claim so large a prize or to rid the ocean of a feared predator.
It was why she usually avoided contact with the humans, but this one had intrigued her over the last few weeks as she watched him from the deeper waters near the reef. He’d had no fear of her cousin sharks, swimming among them, taking pictures. Returning time and time again until she’d been drawn closer and had seen him. Seen the scars on his body that she recognized as burns.
More than once a sailor from a doomed ship had drifted down into her waters with wounds such as his, so she was familiar with them. Understood the pain like she’d seen today on his face as he’d left the waters. His ocean-blue eyes could not hide the distress as they’d met hers when she swam by and he’d touched her again.
A shiver of anticipation worked through her body. How she longed for that touch. For the feel of his nearly perfect body along hers. For the chance to wake to the sight of that masculine face and those intense eyes in the morning light.
She drove away those thoughts with a sharp swipe of her tail, which propelled her back to open ocean and safety. She’d risked too much to come see him. There were too many other humans who’d want to take her, out of fear or greed, and coming in this close to shore just tempted them to hunt for her.
Much like the beautiful man tempted her for other reasons.
As passion stirred within her again, she thought about the man and all that could not be.
She was nearly the last of her kind and maybe that was the way it was meant to be. The burden of not belonging in either world was an obligation she didn’t wish to pass on.
Chapter 2
Thanks to a combination of a moonless night and a bit too much of the old man’s homemade hooch, Victor stumbled up the steps. Not even the delicious meal that his landlord, Saila, had made for him had been enough to combat the effects of the alcohol.
Cursing as he banged his shin on the steps to his rented shack, he managed to stagger to the bed and plop facedown and fully clothed on the sheets. The dizzying circles in his head finally calmed after a few minutes and, because it was too hot and humid despite the faint sea breeze coming through the open windows, he reluctantly sat back up and dragged off his clothes.
Lying back down, he propped up the pillows to sleep upright enough to catch the breeze. It washed over him peacefully, like the soft caress of the ocean, and in his mind he pictured being beneath the waves once more. Floating free in the clear, cool liquid. It was so different from the heat and flames that had been his realm during his years as a firefighter. Heat and flames that had nearly stolen his life in more ways than one.
Dashing away those thoughts, he allowed the memories of the ocean to bring him peace by recollecting that day’s encounter with the shark and the tales Saila had told him during their dinner.
The old man had been a wonderful storyteller, crafting believable and compelling stories of the shark people who lived in the Kuna Yala waters. People who lived and loved the ocean but were enticed by the allure of the land and the humans who were so different from them, so tempting.
He chuckled loudly, perplexed by that. If anything, he was the one who was tempted by the call of the sea, by the gift it gave him in its welcoming embrace.
Behind his closed eyelids, the image of the large shark filled his vision, intriguing him. Her formidable body circled, coming closer and closer. She drove him to shore with the bump of her snout until his feet brushed the silken sand and he rose in the water.
In his mind, he took a step back, watching as the fin dipped beneath the surface until all he could see in the daylight was a dark shadow. A shadow that slowly morphed, shrinking and changing as the fins became arms and legs and she rose up from beneath the sea.
The water sluiced down a body impossible to resist. Full, copper-tipped breasts. A narrow waist and generous hips that flowed into long, muscular legs.
He dragged his gaze back up to her face, and those dark charcoal eyes held him as she approached, the sunlight turning the drops of seawater on her body into glimmering liquid diamonds.
His cock jerked to life, hardening and tightening with need as she moved toward him, a sexy sway in her walk. A knowing, determined smile on her face, filled with promise.
Victor groaned aloud as the woman in his dream reached down and encircled him, her hand slick along his cock from the seawater. Sure and daring as she stroked him, she leaned forward to brush the tips of her breasts along his chest.
He fought wakefulness, wanting to savor the dream. Blaming Saila’s stories and his moonshine for the need twisting his gut and the temptress filling his dreams.
Reaching down, he grabbed hold of his dick and stroked roughly, mimicking the actions of the beautiful woman in his fantasy, reaching for completion until he came with one powerful pull, shooting his seed all along his hand and abdomen, imagining driving himself into the intriguing woman.
Finally spent, he cursed beneath his breath at allowing himself the dreams that had seemed all too real.
Maybe it was because it had been way too long since he had let himself have a relationship with a woman. At first it had been his injuries and what it had taken to recover from them. Then it had been his determination to finally follow his heart. His single-minded focus was what had gotten him this research grant and to these islands.
But he was here now and fulfilling his dream. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that doing so alone might dampen the joy of the accomplishment.
Maybe in time he could find someone with whom to share that joy. Someone who loved the ocean as much as he did and would be willing to share it with him.
Maybe, he thought as he pushed out of bed, opened the front door and strode across the sand to the ocean. He sank in the water to just beneath his chin to cool the heat of his spent passion.
The ocean was a midnight blue, devoid of moonlight, but even as dark as it was, he caught sight of the fin and the body moving toward him.
He froze, cursing himself for not remembering it was feeding time for sharks.
But as the fin came closer, he realized it was the large female shark from the reef. She circled around him with lazy, almost exploratory turns that made his head spin a bit thanks to Saila’s home brew.
* * *
Nali had sensed him, smelled him, as soon as he stepped into the water, and she’d been unable to keep away.
Heat flared to life within her as she realized he was naked.
Beautifully naked. His cock hung halfway down a well-muscled thigh, but she dragged her gaze away from that and up his body to the sculpted muscles of his midsection and chest. His arms were floating wide and, despite herself, she swam until his palm brushed along her flank.
She imagined him doing that in her human form—a big mistake because, within her, the need to transform ate away at her control.
Unwilling