Highland Shapeshifter Read Online Free PDF Page A

sheets were wet with sweat and water, his dark hair plastered to his face while his jaw clenched so hard, Lenore worried he’d bite his tongue. His body was bowed so hard, he seemed to be all sharp angles, jutting bone, and bulging veins over tight dry skin.
    Gabe stayed with them the entire time, a steady presence while she held the shifter’s forehead and whispered soothing nonsense about movies or the upcoming playoffs he’d miss if he didn’t hang on. She didn’t even know his name. You go through something like this with someone, and you should know their name.
    When his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head and his body jack-knifed into a particularly strong seizure, Lenore couldn’t let this go on.
    Though scared of getting lost to it, she plunged her palm against his clammy chest and forced her essence into him. She wasn’t the strongest of healers, but she’d do what she could, if anything.
    Dazzling light engulfed her, more vibrant and rich and alive than any essence she’d ever touched. Fluctuating blues and emerald greens.
    He was beautiful.
    The magic of his shapeshifting abilities was exquisitely pure, untouched by the darkness of the world.
    How was that possible?
    Were all shapeshifters like this?
    No , the thought came unbidden. It’s him alone, his soul.
    He was honey and spice, protective warmth and intrinsic light chasing shadows. He was playful happiness and devoted worshipful younger brother. Those he loved, he loved deeply with a patience and strength as vast as the world.
    She wanted to weep.
    Wanted to pour everything that she was into his being and stay right there, tucked within him. She’d never experienced anything like it.
    There was no way she’d ever let his soul fade out of this world. No way.
    The seizures trembled around her, rough, jerky instable lightning stabs.
    Bearing down, Lenore pushed her magic further into his body, gliding her healing across enflamed bone and muscle tissue, like kneading fingers. She had to get this right. Mucking around in someone’s body, knitting bone or flesh, or popping blood vessels was a delicate thing. Too much pressure or not enough and a healer could do more harm than good. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured, just suffering through withdrawals. Withdrawals that were tearing his muscles apart and searing through his overtaxed nerves. Pain flared through him as intangible streaks of brutal red jabs.
    She found the tanglewort flooding through his veins and began gently drawing it out, coaxing it to filter out his pores, while at the same time she slipped her own essence around the nerve cells that were sending out pain signals to his brain. Yeah, she was a supercharged endorphin enhancer. Better than morphine. She felt the immediate response from him as he shivered beneath her inner ministrations and finally unclenched. The shaking abated. His essence flared around her, flashing brighter and pulling her magic within his own, folding her in safe.
    Who was supposed to be helping who?
    She could easily melt right into him and be content forever.
    Whoa. Dangerous thought. Better get a handle on her own endorphins.
    She had to pull back, get out, right the freak now.
    She forcefully untangled herself and dragged her magic away, though the desire to remain, just curl up and be, nearly overwhelmed her.
    She didn’t like it one bit.
    Lenore pulled harder…and with a gurgling sputtering plop, came back to herself, half-curled over the guy, lungs heaving for air. It was like stumbling out of a sauna into the rain.
    Gabe held her by the shoulders, keeping her from falling all the way onto the shifter.
    “You okay?”
    She looked up at him through strands of wet hair. The colors of the paint on his walls began seeping back in. He seemed genuinely concerned, as though her well-being was as important to him as the healing process he loved to witness. She’d only used it on him in small short bursts before, like easing headaches or muscle aches.
    One side of