Page 5 of Hammerhead (Kinkaid Shifters #4)

D inner under the stars on the top deck of the boat was both better and worse than Deidre thought it would be. Better because Miguel had really thought of everything and had even scrounged up a bottle of very fine wine to go with the picnic meal that he served on a blanket he spread on the deck.

It was worse because they weren’t alone. For some reason, just about every selkie on board—and there were more than a few—found a reason to come up to the top deck while they were eating and stopped to say hello and chat for a bit. One would leave, she’d take a bite of her food, and then, it seemed, another would appear. She wondered if they’d made up a schedule so that she wouldn’t be alone with Miguel for more than a few minutes at a time.

Really, it was absurd. She was a grown woman with a mind of her own. If she wanted to spend time with a Latin American hunk who just happened to be a shark when he shifted, then what business, really, was it of theirs? She almost shook her head as yet another selkie relative appeared on the deck and started walking over.

“This is getting ridiculous,” she muttered. Miguel almost choked on his wine. Apparently, she’d spoken just a bit too loud, and Miguel had heard her. Oops.

She pasted a smile on her face and greeted her selkie cousin. When he finally left, Deidre took the opportunity to apologize to Miguel.

“I’m really sorry about all the interruptions. I’m not sure what’s going on with my cousins, but I may have to have a little talk with them about my autonomy.”

“They care for you,” he said, nodding understandingly. “They worry, perhaps, about seeing you making friends with a shark.”

He shrugged in that sexy Latin way he had, but she sensed he was making light of the situation for her. She suspected he really was saddened and hurt by her family’s suspicion and over-protectiveness. Seriously, what could he do to her on the boat? There were people all around, and she wasn’t defenseless.

Miguel might be a big, strapping, handsome-as-sin shark shifter, but she wasn’t completely helpless. All she had to do was yell, and a bunch of selkies would come running. She knew that for a fact. Even if they weren’t overt about their watchfulness, they were always aware of their surroundings and looking out for each other. That was just the way selkies were built.

But this over-the-top surveillance was really going too far. If they didn’t cut it out soon, she’d have to say something.

“It isn’t right,” she muttered. “I’m beginning to think they assume I’m some sort of selkie weakling who can’t string a thought together for herself. I’m insulted on my behalf, and on yours, Miguel.” She said that just loud enough that she hoped whoever was waiting at the bottom of the stairs would hear her.

She thought she saw the top of someone’s head appear and then quickly retreat on the steep stairs, and she nodded to herself. So what if they’d heard her complain? She was a grown woman, and as much as she appreciated the concern, surely one or two check-ins had been enough.

“Your family knows what I did in New York,” he reminded her. “They’re just being cautious. I do not blame them.”

“Then you have a lot more patience than I do.” She shrugged and decided to lighten the mood. “Maybe it’s my red hair. Fiery temper and all that.”

“I love your hair,” he said, his voice dipping low, lightly accented in a way that made her tummy wobble. “It’s like silken flame.”

“Are all Brazilian men so poetic?” she asked, allowing her voice to ease into more intimate tones.

She brought the glass of tasty wine to her lips and sipped as she met his eyes over the rim. She was flirting for all she was worth, and he seemed to be responding in kind. Frankly, she was surprised. She’d never really been a femme fatale type of woman, but Miguel made her feel like a born seductress.

“It is easy to wax lyrical when the subject makes it so easy,” he replied, charming her with his turn of phrase. “You are a beauty, Deidre. If I did not know better, I would say you were a sea siren, not a seal.”

Her heart skipped a beat as he moved closer, but he was only reaching out to refill her wine glass. A little part of her was disappointed, but another part was charmed by his gallantry. He was a very attentive dinner partner, always making sure she had the best of the tidbits he’d gathered and that she wanted for nothing. She’d never been the center of a man’s attention before. At least not in a romantic way.

“And you, sir, are a charmer,” she said, feeling just a tad uncomfortable at his praise. She wasn’t used to such lavish words from men.

Truth be told, she’d been off the dating market the past few years after a disastrous relationship with a human man she’d deluded herself into hoping had been her true mate. He hadn’t been her mate. He hadn’t even been a very good boyfriend for the two years they’d been together. He’d ignored what she’d wanted, she realized only in hindsight, and they’d always ended up doing whatever it was he wanted to do. From the places they went, to the kinds of food they’d ordered. He’d been the one in charge of everything about their relationship, and he’d never once asked for her opinion on anything.

He’d taken her for granted, and it had taken her two years to figure it out. When she had finally woken up and realized what was going on, she couldn’t believe she’d been so bamboozled by a handsome man with a persuasive manner. She’d been so in awe of the fact that he’d acted like a human Alpha, that she hadn’t read under the surface to the sheer self-centered Narcissism that had made him behave that way.

True Alphas weren’t self-absorbed assholes. They were in charge, sure, but always with the understanding that they cared for their people and protected them while allowing them to grow and evolve, each according to their own talents and desires. Sam Kinkaid was that kind of Alpha, and that’s one of the main reasons, she believed, why his Clan and his business enterprises were so successful. He didn’t take anyone for granted. Each member of his Clan—from the youngest babe to the eldest grandparent, and the most submissive selkie to the most dominant lion—were his people. He cared about each and every one of them, and he always took their needs into account when making decisions that might affect them or their families.

Sam was the kind of man she could respect and follow without question. He was also a good role model for the kind of man she should be looking for as a mate. Sam wasn’t for her, that much she knew. Her selkie side liked him, but that was all. Her human half found him fascinating and handsome in an oblique sort of way, but he felt more like an older brother than anyone she could date.

That was probably for the best. She would never fit as the Alpha female of the Kinkaid Clan. She knew her own strengths and limitations, and that sort of responsibility wasn’t for her. She knew that with certainty.

But was Miguel really the kind of man she could respect? Perhaps, even love? She wasn’t sure, but for right now, he was certainly the kind of man that made her want to take a walk on the wild side. Maybe that was enough for now. It had been a long dry spell for her, and shifters weren’t known for their celibacy.

Generally, shapeshifters sowed their wild oats for years before they settled down to hunt for that one special person who could be their life’s mate. She wasn’t sure if that’s what she was doing here. She hadn’t intentionally come here looking for a mate, but her seal side had perked up when she’d met Miguel and had been watching him with interest ever since. That was unusual in the extreme. It made her wonder if there was more going on here than she would have expected.

But only time would tell. For now, she was just going to enjoy herself with a handsome man on a moonlit night under the stars, sharing tasty wine and good conversation. If anything else should come of it, well, that was a consideration for tomorrow.

“Are you planning to go back to the boat tonight?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, giving her a sly smile. “I could be convinced.”

Her blood heated just like that. He was waiting for an invitation from her. If she issued it, she could have a guest in her stateroom overnight. It would be tight quarters, but she had one of the larger rooms as an honored guest of the Clan, and he’d fit.

He’d fit in other ways, she’d just bet, too. Her pulse sped with excitement just thinking about the possibilities. Dare she invite him to spend the night? Would that seem a bit too eager?

Probably not. They were both shifters, after all. It wasn’t like he was her last boyfriend, who’d been human, and she’d had to play hard-to-get for a bit before succumbing to his charms. She could sleep with Miguel, and they would both know it was simply a part of shifter life without the human hang-ups that often went along with such things.

Of course, if he turned out to be her mate—something her eager young pup of a seal was prodding her toward—then things would get a lot more complicated. Or simple. Mates were sacred. If he really was her mate, the others would just have to accept that and butt out of their business.

But the odds of that were slim. Shifters believed there was only one true mate for each of them, predestined by the Goddess, Herself. It would be very unlikely that Miguel was her true mate. It sure would be fun finding out, though.

“How about we take a moonlit swim after this, and then, we’ll see how it goes?” she countered as his dark eyes sparkled at her.

“As you wish,” he replied, sipping his wine as he smiled. “Never let it be said I rushed a lady into anything.”

It was dark when they both entered the water. Miguel stripped off his clothes and dove in from the top deck in his human form, then shifted into shark form underwater. He had learned over his time among the selkies of the Kinkaid Clan that they were often a bit shy about changing in front of others, which wasn’t usual among shifters, from all he had seen, but he didn’t mind. Although the prurient part of his mind would’ve enjoyed seeing Deidre in the flesh, so to speak, he also didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in any way.

He also didn’t mind giving her a little show before he dove into the water, letting her inspect the goods, so to speak. If she liked what she saw, that might just get him that much closer to sharing her bed tonight. Or, if not tonight, then some night in the not-too-distant future, he hoped.

He stayed below, enjoying the feel of the water in his gills. His vision in this form was very different from how he saw in his human form. Hammerhead sharks had their eyes out at the ends of the hammer portion of their bodies, spaced wide apart. It gave him some advantages underwater, but it also hampered him a bit, at times.

He felt the disturbance in the water when the seal splashed down a short distance from where he’d landed. Deidre had shifted up top before making her dive into the water, which was what he’d expected, though he confessed he was still somewhat disappointed not to be able to see her naked human body.

That would come, in time. He just had to be patient and gain her trust.

He swam steadily, allowing the curious seal to dart around him, checking him out. He made no aggressive moves. Not that his kind of shark hunted seals like some of the other shark species. No, because of the shape of his head, he liked to feed on rays and skates when he was in this form. He was pretty much impervious to the stingray’s poisonous barb, though it did still hurt to get shanked by one of those things. He didn’t feel it as much in his shark form, but when he shifted, there was always a bit of residual tenderness if the barb had hit a sensitive spot.

The older he got, the less he enjoyed hunting his food as a shark. Catered dinners on land definitely held appeal. Especially when he could share them with a pretty girl, as he’d just done with Deidre. In fact, he couldn’t remember a meal he’d enjoyed more in years.

Of course, it had been a few years since he’d been on the dating scene, though he’d had encounters with women when he’d been working as a mercenary. Nothing serious, though. And certainly nothing resembling a real date. The kind of women he’d dallied with weren’t the sort to require wine and roses, or even conversation. They knew what they wanted from a man and weren’t too shy about reaching for it.

That had suited him just fine the past few years. He hadn’t put down roots anywhere and hadn’t really wanted them. But things had changed in recent times. Even his shark yearned for a female to swim with, and at this point, it wasn’t picky about what species she came in. He just wanted a partner who could share his life, even if it was only on land. He’d be willing—no, happy —to find a mate, even if she was human and couldn’t swim with him.

But the playful seal that swam circles around him now was an excellent swimmer. She might even be more agile and a bit faster than him, though he wasn’t trying to outswim her right now. If they ever had to put on speed for any reason, he was confident that he could get up to his cruising speed relatively quickly and could hold it for hours. The selkie was fast, but he wasn’t sure she had the same kind of endurance as his shark form. For one thing, she had to surface every now and again for air, where he could sweep across the deeps, never needing to surface for any reason. He was at home here, even more than she was.

She was adorable, though. He would admit that freely. She was like a puppy, frolicking around him, her joy in the water contagious. He found himself tilting his head this way and that to keep up with her antics, and he missed her when she surfaced to take a breath. Following her, he swam closer to the surface, hoping to make things a bit easier for her. He’d do just about anything for Deidre, which was a startling realization. She’d become precious to him in such a short while. That was something significant, he thought, but he was enjoying the swim too much to dwell on it now.

After a time, she went up to the surface and stayed there. Miguel circled her, realizing she wasn’t coming back down, so he shifted form and kicked to the surface to check on her. He found her looking raptly toward the horizon, and he followed her fascinated gaze. He wasn’t altogether surprised at what he saw. What he was surprised by was that she seemed to see it too.

“I’ve seen that island a few times, though nobody else believes me,” he said aloud, which seemed to break her concentration. She was still in seal form, but a quick shimmer of magic, and she was back to her human shape and able to talk to him.

“You see it too, right?” she asked, treading water easily as she kept looking back at the island as if it might disappear.