Devil in Paradise Read online

  He noted the direction of her gaze. “I left the boxers on for your comfort.”

  “Thanks. You’re so considerate.”

  “Was that sarcasm I detected?”

  “Is the moon round?”

  “I’m sorry I had to sink your plane, but otherwise it would be too easy for rescuers to find you.” He shot her a sideways glance. “You might as well know that I disabled the black box before you boarded the plane. The GPS won’t lead anyone here.”

  She bit back a curse, as frustrated with him as her unwarranted reaction to him. “You seemed to have thought of everything—except bringing along food and water.”

  “I can forage from the land and the sea.”

  “Good for you.”

  He grinned. “You’ll learn how to forage, too. Necessity is supposed to make you more determined to learn.”

  She saw no point in telling him again that she didn’t want to learn how to shapeshift. Why should she learn to forage when she could afford to dine in the top gourmet restaurants in the world? Unfortunately, none were on this island. Her credit card wouldn’t buy her a drop of water.

  Ignoring Ari, Samantha set her priorities and ignored the notion that if she were going to die, he could at least make her a happy woman and make delicious love to her. First, she intended to make a giant SOS in the sand that could be seen from the air. Then she would gather driftwood so she could start a fire to catch the attention of a passing boat. Third, she’d have to find water, food, and shelter.

  When she reached the palm trees, she sat and rested, her back propped against a tree trunk. She opened a bottle of water and drank, sipping slowly and appreciating the cool liquid as it wet her parched throat. Since Ari had claimed he could live off the land, she didn’t offer him any and didn’t feel the least bit guilty.

  The ocean beckoned, and she longed to take a swim, but she had work to do first. She decided, however, that although her beautiful suit and shoes belonged in the boardroom, not on a beach, she could at least get her feet wet. She kicked off the shoes, peeled off her knee-high hose, and unbuttoned her shirt’s top buttons.

  “Going for a swim?” Ari asked, his tone curious and slightly playful—almost as if he knew how difficult she found it to resist him.

  “Just getting my feet wet.” She ambled along the beach, keeping her eye out for driftwood, and tried not to think about how pleasant the wet sand felt between her toes, tried not to think about the refreshing breeze in her hair or how much she wanted to go for a swim with Ari, lie on the hot sand and enjoy him and the beautiful island, instead of completing the tasks she’d assigned herself.

  As if following the direction of her thoughts, Ari trailed behind her for a few steps. “I’m going for a swim.”

  “Whatever.”

  He held out a hand to her. “You could come with me. I’d enjoy the company.”

  Wanting to join him but holding back, Samantha refused to take his hand and saw disappointment in his eyes before he turned away and waded into the water, out past his hips. Then he sank below the surface and didn’t come up.

  Oh . . . My . . . Stars. The clear turquoise water allowed her to watch his smooth transition from man to dolphin.

  He’d shapeshifted his entire body. His bronze skin turned gray and shiny, his nose elongated. His arms retracted, and his feet merged into a tail. Now, a perfect-looking dolphin played in the surf, catching a wave and gracefully riding it to shore.

  Amazing. Cool. Unbelievable.

  When he swam near the beach and playfully splashed her, she had the urge to accept his invitation, plunge deep into the sea, grab his top fin, and let him take her for a swim. But she wasn’t about to start frolicking. Not with him. Not when she had work to do.

  She wasn’t in a playful mood . . . she wasn’t.

  Perhaps some distance would help clear her mind from lusting over him. She had no idea what had gotten into her. Whenever she was near him, her pulse seemed to leap into overdrive, and she was so keenly aware of his every glance. She should be thinking about survival, getting away, not his hot body.

  But as she turned her back on the sea, she wondered for the first time what it would be like to swim in the sea like a dolphin or fly like a bird. Or run as fast as a—

  Stop it. While she couldn’t doubt the evidence before her eyes, just because he could shapeshift didn’t mean that she could. And even if she could shapeshift, did she really want to live a life like that?

  However as she left the pleasant sea and walked along the beach, she had no doubt he’d gobble down a few fish for dinner and drink whatever dolphins drank. And the entire process amazed her. He really had a miraculous skill, and she wondered if he ever put it to good use or only employed his abilities to play.

  During her walk, she found three sticks, not enough for a fire, but she could use the longest branch to carve her giant SOS in the sand. Making sure she began above the high-tide mark, Samantha traced oversized letters then returned to scoop out a deep trough of sand with her hands so her plea for help would be visible from the air.

  Bending over in the hot sun and digging in the sand was sweaty work, and she promised herself a refreshing swim when she was done. And if that meant peeling down to her bra and panties, well, so be it—she wouldn’t be revealing any more skin than she would if she were wearing a bikini on a public beach.

  She didn’t know what to think about Ari. Or her reactions to him. He’d flirted only a little since he’d told her about the shapeshifting. But her response to him—her absorption with the meaning behind his every glance—was not like her usual self. What was it about him that she found so attractive—besides the obvious exterior beauty? If she could have forgotten what he’d told her about becoming soul mates, she might have accepted that it had simply been too long since she’d been with a man.

  But the soul mate idea turned her on in a way that she recognized as trouble.

  And she couldn’t forget. Soul mates. He had to be insane. And yet, if he were correct, was that why she found him almost irresistible? Why she had to fight the compulsion to agree to what he asked? Perhaps pacing around before him only partly dressed might not be a good idea—because while he might ignore her bare skin, when he looked at her, she would feel even sexier.

  If she were lucky, Ari wouldn’t return until after she’d put her clothes back on. Pausing to drink, Samantha calculated that at this rate, her water would be gone in two more days. She’d have to ration.

  Two hours of sweaty labor later, she finished her giant SOS. Pleased with her efforts but tired and smelly, she peeled off her shirt and slacks, folded them, and set her clothes next to her briefcase and purse. Then she plunged into the water, letting the cool sea restore her energy.

  And now that she’d done what she could to be rescued, she finally admitted to herself she wouldn’t mind staying awhile. The island was so peaceful, and she couldn’t recall ever being out of touch with the million details of running her business. In addition, she admitted that she wanted to get to know Ari better. Her soul mate? There was no denying the effect he had on her. Her own life hadn’t served up anything resembling a date lately, let alone a gorgeous, sexy soul mate.

  As she swam into deeper water, a dolphin appeared beside her, almost as if it had been waiting just for her. At first she wasn’t certain it was Ari, but when it again splashed her playfully with a flipper, she had no doubts.

  “Come here,” she told him.

  He swam right over, and she had the strongest urge to pet him. Reminding herself he was a man in dolphin’s skin and that stroking him was a no-no, she placed one hand around his fin. “Take me for a ride, Ari.”

  The dolphin raised and lowered his head, clearly signaling agreement. Placing both hands on the fin, she let her legs float. And then he swam, slowly at first. Water rushed by, and she held her chin
out of the water, enjoying the sensation of the fluttering ripples that were similar to the jets in a whirlpool tub but much more exhilarating.

  Ari swam parallel to the shore, staying where she could easily swim to the beach if she lost her hold on him. Samantha wondered if he could think like a human when he took the dolphin’s shape. How much of Ari remained in this dolphin?

  She didn’t know. But it must be marvelous to swim to the ocean’s depths, explore without the need for scuba tanks and fins. Hanging on for the ride was fun, but how much better would it be to swim like this under her own power?

  Ari took her to shore and then left her to swim out alone again before he joined her on the beach. He’d morphed back into his own shape and had donned the boxer shorts that he must have previously stashed underwater.

  “You’re a good swimmer,” he told her, his voice warm and full of approval.

  “I competed in college, but swimming with you was . . . incredible.” All those years in the pool hadn’t prepared her for the power of swimming with a man/dolphin.

  “It’ll be even more incredible when you can shapeshift, too.”

  With a wide grin, he glanced at her bare shoulders, her breasts, her slender waist, and every cell in her warmed at the obvious approval in his gaze. “One advantage of being a shapeshifter is that you can always have the body of your dreams. Or your soul mate’s dreams.”

  She supposed it beat plastic surgery, but she had difficulty concentrating as she beat down the flutter of desire to kiss him, right now. She would have liked to laugh off his soul mate theory, but what else could explain her response to him, her compulsion to know him better in every way? All that delicious bronze flesh covered by water droplets distracted her. She ached to have those wonderful lips on hers but forced herself to answer him. “You don’t get old?”

  His grin widened, and the heat in his eyes flared, as if he knew exactly how difficult she found it not to reach out and touch him. “We don’t get sick. Ever. Once you know how to maintain your immune system, health becomes automatic. And fit cells don’t age as quickly.”

  She had to cover up before he noticed her nipples tightening. “So what’s the life expectancy of a shapeshifter?” She put on her shirt, hoping he’d think she needed to shield her skin from the sun. She didn’t bother with her slacks. It was simply too damn hot.

  “We live three to four hundred years.”

  Her lower jaw dropped. “How old are you?”

  “Thirty. My people believe we should find our soul mates early in life, before we become set in our ways—so we can grow together.”

  He made the idea sound so appealing, she had to know more. “How many people live in New Atlantis?”

  “A few thousand. Maybe another five hundred of us are traveling in your world.” He glanced at her again, his eyes darkening with an emotion she couldn’t read. “You’re no longer worried that I’d hurt you, are you?”

  She hadn’t thought about dying—except for lack of having him. The powerful needs racing through her simply had to be induced by stress—not the notion he was the perfect man for her. “You said I would die if I don’t succeed. That’s pretty harsh.”

  “So you don’t trust me?”

  “Let’s see. You impersonated my pilot, flew my plane off course, and crashed it, virtually holding me prisoner on a deserted island where there are no supplies. Do you think I should trust you?”

  Her tone was sarcastic, but oddly, she did trust him—at least to not hurt her physically—unless one counted dying slowly from arousal. She was almost shaking with the need to touch him. For him to touch her.

  He laughed, the tone deep and knowing. “Since you still don’t trust me, I suppose I won’t feel too bad about destroying your SOS in the sand.”

  She frowned, spun around, and placed her fists on her hips, about to yell at him, when he grew a long flat tail that reached the sand behind him, effectively silencing her. He strode over to her SOS, his steps tracing her lettering. As he walked, his tail swished over the sand, the back-and-forth motion wiping out hours of her work in just a few minutes.

  Furious with him and furious with herself that, despite his actions, she still wanted to make love to him, she stomped off to search the beach for driftwood in a direction she had yet to explore. Damn him. She hated the way he toyed with her emotions, one moment acting friendly and concerned, the next, a calculating bastard. Ari and the sexual tension he generated kept throwing her off balance.

  Or maybe she shouldn’t be blaming him for her vacillating feelings. Even as a part of her wanted nothing to do with him, she couldn’t discount her physical reaction—but her reaction wasn’t just lust. She could have handled lust. She couldn’t so easily dismiss their swim, how he’d carefully stayed near the shore in order to make her feel secure, how he hadn’t dived deep, how he seemed to care about her safety and her feelings.

  So what did she want? Did she want him to teach her how to shapeshift? If she could do it, her entire life would change. While learning to shapeshift might be the only way she’d escape this island, if she succeeded, would that really mean she’d found her soul mate?

  Four

  WHILE ARI admired Samantha’s strong will to live and escape the island, her survival efforts were distracting her from his task to teach her how to shapeshift, but she intrigued him. One moment she looked as if she wanted to tackle him on the sand and have her way with him, the next she shut down into her business mode. Clearly Samantha didn’t fully believe or trust him, but the complex body alterations took a level of belief and acceptance from one’s partner that they had yet to establish.

  However, if Ari waited until she weakened from lack of water or food, if he waited until she was desperate, she might not be able to learn what he had to teach her. His plan was coming apart because he’d overestimated their physical attraction, believing that lust alone would convince her they were soul mates. He’d mistakenly counted on her succumbing to their passionate connection. He hadn’t expected her to be so stubborn. He’d thought once they arrived on the island that she would depend upon him and believe and trust him because he was the only other human being here and because she’d feel their connection as strongly as he did.

  Although Samantha surrounded herself with assistants and ran a corporation of thousands of employees, Ari hadn’t taken into account that the number-one person she depended upon was herself. She had an inner strength and fortitude that was working against him right now. Until they’d established a measure of trust, she couldn’t learn what he must teach her.

  He wracked his brain, trying to come up with a way to reassure her. And he could only think of one method. He would be taking a great risk with his own life, but if he wanted to earn her trust, he didn’t see another choice.

  Determined to do what must be done, he stripped, morphed into a wolf, picked up his shorts by the waistband of his canine teeth, sprinted down the beach, and caught up to her in minutes. He morphed back into human form and dressed before she spied him.

  Since scaring her was not part of the plan, he began whistling a tune to warn her of his presence. The wind teased her hair, and the setting sun gave her skin a healthy pink glow. But it was the squared shoulders and the arms full of driftwood that caught his eye. She was ever industrious, and he had no doubt she was intent on building a signal fire.

  He held out his arms for the wood. “Let me help you with that.”

  “Like you helped with the SOS in the sand?” she snapped at him, clearly still irritated.

  “If I promise not to throw the wood out to sea, will you allow me to carry it?”

  She stopped walking and looked at him, her eyes locked with his. “Why should I believe you?” Her tone remained slightly hostile, and that sliced him like a razor blade.

  “I haven’t lied to you,” he said.

  “Except b
y omission. I still haven’t forgotten your Ian impersonation.”

  “Are you going to hold a grudge against me forever? I’d like to move on.”

  “So go. I’m certainly not asking you to stay here with me.”

  Her expression sent a different message than her fierce words. Her eyes called to him. Her lips softened and filled him with a warm glow.

  He kept his tone reasonable. “You don’t understand. It’s time I showed you the different forms I can take. And if you’re out here searching for driftwood and return to camp exhausted, you’ll be too tired to learn.”

  “Fine.” With a mischievous grin, she tossed the driftwood into his arms.

  He lengthened his arms and increased the bone and muscle size to tuck the load under one arm then placed his hand in hers with the other. When she tried to pull back, he tightened his fingers slightly. “I won’t hurt you. Touch is necessary.”

  “Necessary for what?” Her voice trembled.

  For bonding. But he couldn’t tell her that. “Feel my hand. I’m going to slowly change the size and muscle tone. I want you to absorb the feel of the changes not just see them.”

  “Okay, but if you do anything weird—”

  “I won’t. First, I’ll soften my skin. Feel the calluses disappearing?”

  “No. Wait. Yes.”

  “Good. Now I’ll thin my bones. If you squeeze too hard, you could break them.” This was her first test. Would she hurt him?

  “But if I broke the bones, you could heal them, right?” She arched that knowing eyebrow, her gaze piercing and intelligent and very curious.

  “You could cause me pain, but yes, I could knit the bones and repair the torn flesh.”

  She reached across her body to place one hand over his. He tensed, wondering what she would do now that both her hands were around his. But she didn’t squeeze. She kept her touch light and explored the new shape of his hand.

  “I’m about to grow fur on my hand, just like your cat.” He changed the texture.