Bite Me Harder (Guardians of the Deep 2)

She nodded toward the bonfire and walked away. Before Kalina could protest or follow her, Faith disappeared into the crowd, leaving Kalina standing alone nursing her beer, hesitating to look in the direction in which Faith had gestured. When she did, she felt a force that nearly knocked her out of her shoes. She

knew her shark senses helped her pick up on impulses in the water, slight differences in movements and sounds that helped her seek out food or avoid enemies. She’d heard it could also help find potential mates, but she’d never experienced it. Thane had talked about it a few times and the other sharks had agreed, mostly the male sharks, but Kalina thought she might be feeling it now. Deep in her loins, she ached, and her lips parted over stuttered breath. Her eyes felt heavy. He was beautiful.

He watched her. Not glaring at her but more like gazing at her, almost dopey eyed, like she’d put him in a trance. Kalina felt her heart ping off the insides of her chest like a racquetball smacked carelessly. She’d never had a boy look at her like this before. She’d spent all her life on the island. Yes, she’d had casual sex a time or two, but never anything serious. Boys told her she was beautiful, but their words had always seemed shallow, like all they wanted was a quick romp. Eyes didn’t lie, and this guy’s eyes told her he wanted her in ways she couldn’t even comprehend. And her body quivered under his stare. She wanted him just as much.

Is this how it’s supposed to work? Am I supposed to feel it like this?

He moved closer, and the nearer he got, the better he looked. His hair had been combed back at one point, when still wet or gelled, and some strands were falling loose near his face. Like drapes pulled back from windows looking out onto a dark sky, his eyes were brown pools of mystery. The neon light from the nightclub behind her reflected off his eyes and put two shining white dots at his pupils, giving him a paranormal look himself. His jaw was strong and slightly unshaven, and his skin was so tanned that even in the dark she could tell he was an outdoorsman. Probably a lifeguard. Maybe part of a construction crew. His loose shirt was unbuttoned enough to give her a peek at his muscular chest. Around his neck he wore a leather band with a shark tooth.

“Hi,” he said.

Kalina took a deep breath and huffed it out, only because she was trying to figure out how to breathe again, but once the sound escaped her, she knew it must have made her seem like a bitch. As if she’d been hit on so often she had to scoff at this guy’s attempt at a lame greeting. Her loss of words kept her silent, but she nodded with her eyes still on the guy’s necklace. He followed her gaze and shrugged.

“Shark tooth,” he said.

“I know,” Kalina replied.

“I’m Rafe,” he said.

A nickname? Really? He was a surfer. Had to be. That didn’t matter though. The connection was instant.

“Is that your real name?” she asked.

“Yeah, not the coolest but…”

“I think it’s pretty cool,” she replied. “I’m Kalina.”

This is ridiculous. I sound like a dummy. Where is Faith?

The way he looked at her, the attention he gave her, and how he seemed to be in a trance as he smiled dumbly in front of her made her question his agenda. She looked again at the fucking shark tooth necklace he wore, having no idea the woman he was meeting could shift into a shark. It would be like Kalina wearing a human nose around her neck at a time like this.

“Is this weird to you?” Rafe asked. “Because it’s kind of weird to me.”

“Definitely,” Kalina said.

It was weird. It was weird that she was talking to a boy at all. A man. Why did she keep thinking of him as a boy? Her lost childhood was all she could think of to explain it. She’d never had the chance to date boys in high school. She’d never gone to high school at all. Her education had been provided on the island by an old sea turtle shifter friend of Thane’s named Horace. She’d never gone to a school formal, had never been picked up for anything like the American proms she’d seen in movies. All guys were still boys in her eyes. She’d made out with men before but had never truly gotten that first kiss. At least not from someone who might consider her his one and only. Thane had kissed her, and he’d kissed her gently and lovingly, but wrapped up in that bit of warmth was a lot of coldness. She’d always known she wasn’t meant for him, no matter how much she denied it or how much she prayed for God to change it.

“I so want to dazzle you with witty comments right now,” Rafe said, “but I kind of suck at this type of thing.”

Kalina looked up into his eyes as he was nearly a foot taller than she was, and she liked what she saw. His smile was genuine. He was nervous too.

“I wouldn’t mind being dazzled,” she said. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“Oh, man,” he said. “I don’t…okay…I can do this.”

“Yes, you can,” she said.

It had only taken seconds for them to become playful, flirtatious with each other, which again was totally weird. She barely talked to anyone outside of her friends from the island, but conversation flowed smoothly with Rafe. He was easy to talk to, easy to flirt with, and definitely easy to look at.

“So,” Rafe began. “I think I would have done better if I’d walked over here and said something like, ‘Hey, did you lose something?’”

“And I’d say, ‘What do you mean,’” Kalina replied.

“Your heart,” Rafe said. “Your heart just flew away with mine.”

It was ridiculous. It was stupid and cheesy but also adorable at the same time. If he’d walked up and said that to her, she knew she would have laughed, and he would have had his “in” like he’d wanted.

“That’s actually pretty good,” Kalina said. “I’m impressed. Did you make that up right now?”