Claimed on the River Read online

  Antonio stood before me, his glorious body bare for a handful of breaths before he swept a hand across his body and the elegant white suit he had first worn reappeared, the white hat tilted on his head to shield his eyes from the sun. I couldn’t believe what my eyes told me, certainly couldn’t think to say anything, even when he crossed the final few feet of mud which separated us and took me into his arms.

  “Are you all right, Sophie?” he asked, gazing at me with worried eyes. “I’m sorry for frightening you, but...showing you the truth about me seemed like the best way to make you believe.”

  “Believe?” I asked. I felt dazed by what I’d just witnessed, but I couldn’t deny having his arms around me was making me feel better. “Believe what?”

  “I’m not human.”

  I pulled away, and he let me go, only holding on to my hands. “What do you mean, not human?”

  “I’m a shapeshifter, Sophie.” He didn’t look away, and his voice didn’t waver as he said the words, though he sounded almost sad. “The locals have legends about us, call us encantados.” His lips quirked in a half smile. “Enchanted ones. Most don’t believe any more, though. We’ve gotten very good at hiding.” He stroked his thumbs across the backs of my hands. “But we’re still drawn to the land, for the excitement of it, or...to find mates.”

  My heart leapt at the word, though I still wasn’t sure I believed him, or the evidence of my own eyes. “Mates?”

  “Sometimes, when we can’t find what we need among our own kind, we find it on land.” Slowly, Antonio raised my hand to his lips, kissing along the backs of my fingers. “You called to me from the moment I saw you on the ferry, Sophie, but I didn’t realize what that meant, not until it was time for me to leave you. Encantado...we mate for life. There will never be another for me, but you.”

  “This is so...how can I believe any of this?” I asked shakily. “It’s so…”

  “Strange?” Antonio offered when I floundered for words. “I should have told you before, but I doubt you would have believed me any more then than now. And I was selfish. I didn’t want you to refuse me before we had properly met.”

  In spite of my shock, I couldn’t help smiling at the sincerity of his words. “If I do believe you, that you’re...not human. What happens to me? I’m not a dolphin. I can’t live in the water.”

  “You wouldn’t have to.” The sadness in his expression was being replaced by a cautious hope. “Will you let me show you?”

  I smiled, deciding on another leap of faith. “Yes,” I said. “Show me.”

  He took my hand, guiding me to the river’s edge. I kicked off my sandals at the edge of the mud, then stepped into the water. The current wasn’t strong here, and the water was warmer than I expected, but I still gasped as it slid past my ankles to my calves, then higher, soaking the edge of my skirt. It was nearly enough to make me turn back, but then Antonio’s hand released mine and I watched him change again, his body transforming from human to dolphin while I was still trying to find my footing in the soft silt of the river.

  The river dolphin didn’t have the same pronounced fin along his back as the ocean dolphins I was familiar with from television; I wouldn’t be able to hold on to him and let him drag me through the water. Instead, as I dared to wade another few steps into the current, he nudged against my legs. I blushed a little, realizing he intended for me to ride him down into the water; my body reminded me of the intimacy we’d shared, and I wondered if he, too, was thinking about that as I settled onto the smooth, firm skin of his back and clamped my legs around his body.

  I had time for a deep breath and a moment of doubt before the dolphin dove, swimming from the shallows into the deeper part of the river with such speed that I had to lean forward and wrap my arms around the rounded dome of his head. I squeezed my eyes shut against the force of the water that was growing rapidly colder, my hair streaming behind me from Antonio’s swift movement.

  My lungs were just starting to feel the first pressure to breathe when he slowed, the current of the river replacing the current of travel. I squinted my eyes open, and shock almost made me lose the air remaining in my lungs. A dome of some kind of light bloomed across the riverbed, tucked into the deepest part of the waters, and through the wavering illumination it provided I could see buildings, smooth walls that gleamed even through the water that separated us from them, and the shapes of people walking between them. A flash of closer movement caught my eye; I glanced over and saw several dolphins emerge from the dome. They were smaller than Antonio, and they dove and rolled around each other with all the enthusiasm of teenagers.

  Antonio gave me just enough time to absorb what I was seeing, then he propelled us upward. I gasped for breath as we broke the surface of the river, shivering with a combination of shock and the cold of the deeper water, more than grateful for the heat of the humid jungle air.

  My dress clung to me as I climbed back up the bank, chilly confirmation that I really had just traveled beneath the river. I turned on the bank to watch Antonio transform back to human, trying to absorb the details of the shift, as if by analyzing it I could somehow understand how this was all possible.

  “So, you have seen,” he said quietly, climbing out of the water. “Do you believe?”

  “I don’t have much choice,” I said in a shaky voice. “That trip was pretty convincing.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. My kind...we come to the surface because we find humans, with your energy and chaos and creativity, to be exciting. I thought to enjoy your company for the duration of your stay, not to find my fated mate.” Antonio caught my hands in his, gazing intently into my eyes. “I love you, Sophie. Will you stay with me?”

  “How?”

  “The entrance to Encante is beneath the river, but the city itself is dry. You could live there quite comfortably, if you chose.”

  Did I choose? Gazing into Antonio’s eyes, I knew what my heart wanted, but the practical side of me knew I couldn’t just disappear. “I need to think about it,” I told him. “It would be such a big step, leaving everything behind. I need to be sure. Can you understand that?”

  I saw the disappointment on his face, but he said, “Of course I can. You came here from so far away, this wouldn’t be an easy change.”

  “No,” I agreed, though in my heart I knew I’d have chosen to stay if he asked it of me. “I need to quit my job and tell my mother, and empty out my apartment. But when that’s taken care of I will be back. I promise.”

  His smile wasn’t the brilliant one he’d given me the night before, and I knew he doubted me, but all he said was, “I will miss you, Sophie, and long for your return.”

  “I’m not gone yet,” I reminded him, pulling him in for a kiss. “So let’s not waste time on regrets.”

  The ferry rocked under my feet as it churned its way down the river, and I grabbed hold of the rail to maintain my balance, my eyes searching the water hoping to see the flash of a fin or a glimpse of grey. The water’s calm was only broken by the wake of the ferry, though, and I tried to contain my disappointment as the little boat pulled into the dock.

  “May I help you disembark, senhora?” one of the crew asked.

  I dredged up a smile. “Thank you,” I said, smoothing my hand over the swell of my belly. It was no wonder he thought I needed help; in the five months since my previous trip to Brazil, I felt like I’d blown up to the size of a whale.

  I could only hope Antonio would be pleased when he saw me. I’d heard from him since I went home – he sent me letters and postcards – but I’d had no way to reply since a magical underwater city wasn’t exactly a return address. When I’d realized I was pregnant, I’d considered coming back early, but I couldn’t be sure Antonio would be near the resort, so I’d made myself wait.

  The five months which had seemed a perfectly reasonable amount of time for wrapping up my life in the United States and preparing to start over, suddenly became an eternity once I knew I had Antonio’s child
growing in my womb, and no way to share the news. I thought he’d be happy, but I couldn’t be certain, not until I actually saw him again.

  That little thread of doubt vanished the moment I heard my name called across the crowded docks and looked up to see Antonio, just as handsome as I remembered, dressed once again in the elegant white suit which seemed to be his default human garb. My round belly pressed against the hard planes of his abdomen as he swept me up into a hug, and I couldn’t doubt for a moment how happy he was to see me, and the precious burden I carried.

  “My Sophie,” he said, after kissing me soundly. “Five months have never been so long.”

  “It felt like forever,” I agreed, leaning into his embrace. Shyly, I rested a hand on my bulging middle. “Especially after I realized…”

  Antonio’s hand settled over mine, his fingers warm against my skin. “Yes,” he breathed reveredly, his voice warm. “I hope you are happy about this, my love.”

  “Oh, yes,” I assured him, all of my uncertainty vanishing. “Very happy. And I hoped you would be, too.”

  “How could I not be delighted to have you carrying my child?” Antonio asked. He nuzzled against my cheek, kissing me again. “Walk along the river with me,” he whispered in my ear. “Let me show you how happy I am.”

  I blushed, remembering how incredibly sensual he had made me feel while I was here. I hadn’t felt that way since my condition became impossible to hide, but somehow just a few words from Antonio – and the heat in his gaze when he looked at me – brought all of those feelings back.

  We walked away from the docks, following the river back toward the place where I’d first discovered Antonio’s true nature. Antonio was sweetly solicitous of my every need, and he didn’t seem to be able to keep his hand off my swollen belly.

  The sense of connection I’d felt between us from the moment we met returned full-force, and in spite of my condition – or maybe because of it – my body remembered the passion we had shared when we met.

  Antonio led me into a private little grove of trees near the edge of the water, the ground beneath our feet springy with grass and moss. It felt like we were miles away from the rest of the world, instead of just a few hundred yards, and when Antonio pulled me back into his arms and leaned down to kiss me, I gave in to him eagerly.

  He pressed me back against the smooth bark of one of the trees, his hands sliding down my sides cup my stomach, then slipping lower to dip beneath the edge of my knee length skirt, sliding back up my thighs. I flushed with heat at his touch, and a hint of embarrassment; even though we were hidden by the trees around us, I still felt incredibly exposed.

  “I can’t wait to savor you again,” Antonio whispered against my ear, making me shiver. His fingertips traced the lacy edge of my panties. “To see you and taste you, knowing that you carry my child.” His inhale ruffled my hair, his lips hot against my throat. “So full of life, your pretty breasts heavy with milk…It is a good look for you, minha beleza, one I will cherish now and hope to savor again in the future.”

  He made my pregnancy sound incredibly sexy and desirable, something to revel in rather than hide. I leaned my back more firmly against the tree, spreading my legs to give Antonio better access. He didn’t make me wait and in short order my panties were lost somewhere in the grass while Antonio pressed my thighs apart, two fingers buried deep inside my soaking wet channel while he sucked and licked at my clit, his breathless endearments exhaled against my folds.

  He let me cum like that, quick and hard, and caught me to ease me down onto the grass when my knees would have given out. Antonio slid my dress up and off before his hand found my stomach once more, curving over the swell of it with reverence as he pressed kisses to my bare skin. “Beautiful,” he breathed, his voice rough with his own desire. “My Sophie, my own. You and our children will want for nothing, I swear it.”

  I shivered. It was intoxicating, the sunlight on my naked skin, being out in the open so close to the city but hidden, and Antonio’s unbridled devotion and hunger. “My Antonio,” I said, rolling the feel of the words though my mouth and feeling the warmth bloom in my chest. “Please-“

  I didn’t have to finish; he knew. He helped me onto my side, spooning up behind me, the way we had laid our first night. This time, though, when his clothes melted away and his erection sprang free, the hard length of him pressed against my rear, eager to please. I was wet from his ministrations and he slipped easily between my thighs, his shaft caressing the folds of my pussy before the smooth head emerged beneath my clit, bumping me as he rocked between my legs.

  It felt good, little shocks of pleasure each time the head of his cock nudged my clit, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I reached up and back, tangling my fingers in his hair, and thrilled to feel that his hat had dissolved with his clothes, leaving that little bare blow hole at the top of his scalp open to my questing fingers. It was sensitive to the touch, he had told me during our brief time together, and I took full advantage of that now, running my fingers along it in a teasing swirl. Antonio groaned, grinding his hips against my ass, and I felt his shaft harden even further.

  He tipped me a little more onto my side, so careful, and nudged my knees up. I bit my lip when I felt the head of his cock part my folds, trying to stifle my own noises as he slid slowly and firmly into me from behind. I hadn’t ever forgotten what he felt like, how full and perfectly he filled me, but reality was better than memory.

  He sank deep into me, the pleasure of his cock in me so hot and huge that it took my breath away, my toes curling in the grass. Antonio paused there, both of our breaths coming in ragged pants, his hands smoothing over my belly and up to knead my sensitive breasts. “My mate,” he breathed, kissing my throat and cheek. I turned to give him my mouth, desperate to be filled by him in every way. “My one, my own. Stay with me, my love, always.”

  A cry broke free before I could swallow it back as he began to move, drawing out only to thrust back in, lighting up every nerve in my body along the way. The weight of my belly and breasts tied me down, left me prostrate and helpless against the intoxication of his touch, until all I could do was hold onto him and let each thrust reverberate through me, sparks of white hot pleasure building into an inexorable peak. “Yes,” I managed, the word gasped out. He tugged at my nipples, stroked my belly, his hands everywhere at once, and I felt as though I were flying, my core hot with lightning and on the verge of shaking apart. “Always, yes! Forever!”

  Antonio swore, something desperate and blasphemous sounding in Portuguese, and his hand slipped down between my thighs to pinch and tug at my aching clit. I wailed as a second orgasm tore through me, the sound only partially muffled beneath my own hands. Antonio caught my mouth with his, swallowing my cries, and fed his own deep groan onto my tongue as he drove into me a handful of more times before I felt his cock swell, my body thirstily welcoming the hot rush of his seed.

  Just two days had been enough to make my belly swell the first time, I thought dreamily, letting my eyes close as Antonio curled around my back in a sated heap, his hands still petting over my baby bump. I couldn’t wait to see this little one, but the hunger with which he touched me made me wonder how many more there would be later; little children with Antonio’s beautiful skin and dark hair, and my eyes. The thought made me shiver with pleasure, my core pulsing in endless hunger around his softening shaft, envisioning our life together.

  I had wanted my once in a lifetime when I had boarded the cruise ship to Brazil. Combing my fingers through my soulmate’s soft hair, tracing the edge of the inhuman quirk his shapeshifting couldn’t quite hide, I knew I had found everything I had ever wanted, and then some.

  Seduced by Shifters #2

  Claimed in the Jungle

  Available March 23

  The temple ruins were the find of a lifetime...but they couldn't compare to finding him.

  I was just another grad student on the archaeological dig, but the handsome man who found me in the temple’s central c
hamber insisted I was something more. Someone special. Someone destined to be with him.

  I never had the kind of looks or luck to make gorgeous guys fall for me at first sight, but I couldn’t dismiss the pull I felt. And when he turned into a jaguar before my eyes, I dared to hope destiny was real.