(MSRP: 6.0000)
Available in Print
Biologist Duncan MacDonald, a Scottish Selkie shapeshifter, is developing a strain of oil-immune fish to help his clan—the Shetland Island seals. When Carli MacLeod asks him to model for her magazine, he accepts because he needs mortgage money. As they spend time together, he falls in love with her. However, he must find a way to be completely human if he wants to follow his heart. Otherwise, he might be trapped in his seal form forever.
Carli thinks she wants a career, not a man. Her magazine is her life until she meets Duncan. Although she is attracted to him, some strange nocturnal happenings at his laboratory pool cause her to wonder if he is a Selkie or a human? Will the answer to this destroy their love?
Rose
PRINT ISBN 1-60154-210-0
(280 pages) Spicy
Excerpt
Carli sucked in a deep breath. Seals. Two of them. One a dark gray, the other a honey tan. She stared until her eyes began to smart. Neither of the creatures seemed disposed to hurry with whatever business had brought them together. In fact, they sat next to one another in what appeared to be a companionable silence for several minutes. She held her breath, afraid they'd hear her ragged gasps.
Finally, they turned and faced each other. She could swear they were conversing in some fashion. From time to time, one nodded his head and the other nodded back.
The dark one waved a flipper as though to emphasize a point. Did Duncan know two of his seals had escaped their pens? If she left, would her movement startle them? What would they do? Was she trapped here for the rest of the night? Tension stiffened her neck muscles.
Wait a minute. The wordless conference appeared to be ending. The seals stopped nodding and began waddling back toward the pool. First the dark one, then the light one slipped over the edge and disappeared beneath the water's opaque surface.
A minute dragged past, and then another. They didn't appear again, so she slipped back inside the locker room. Her breath had been held so long with only a few necessary gulps of air that she felt quite lightheaded. She collapsed on the tiny room's only chair, inadvertently knocking her makeup case on the floor. Several deep breaths cured her dizziness, but her heart still beat erratically.
A few minutes passed. Her pulse finally slowed and her knees felt steady again. She reached down and felt around on the floor until her fingers touched the satiny exterior of the case. She snatched it up and rose. The door had swung shut when she entered, so with great care she pushed it open. As she stepped outside, a solid wall of damp, muscular chest prevented her escape.
"Oof." That deep husky sound could belong to only one person. Duncan. Startled, she dropped the case and stepped sideways.
"Ouch. First my gut, then my foot," he said, catching her wrists and preventing her escape. His hands were cold. Strange on such a warm night.
"I can explain," Carli offered, trying to free herself.
"Would you like to begin?" he asked, not letting go. His grip didn't hurt, but she couldn't free herself either. His eyes glittered in the moonlight that bathed them both in shades of black and white and gray. He'd never made her nervous before, but he sure did now.
