Shifter Planet Read Online Free PDF Page A

ship.
    There was no doubt in her mind that de Mendoza and Fionn had both known exactly what was happening to her and why. And that they were determined to keep her from exploring it any further. The two men had entirely different ways of trying to control her—de Mendoza’s stern bossiness compared to Fionn’s charm. Their end goal, however, was exactly the same. They wanted her out of the forest and, ultimately, off the planet as soon as possible.
    What were they afraid she’d discover if she stayed? Neither of them understood that trying to keep her from doing something was like throwing down the proverbial gauntlet. It was a challenge, and she could never resist a challenge.
    She thought about the two men. Fionn Martyn was the Ardrigh’s son. Did that make him the heir apparent? Was the position even inherited? Fionn had let that piece of information drop casually, and she was sure he’d done it on purpose. He’d wanted her to know, either hoping to impress her, or… Well, there was no or. She knew guys like Fionn. They were handsome, charming, and easygoing—at least on the outside—and they needed to hustle every woman they met. His charm wouldn’t keep her from what she wanted to do on Harp, though if she’d been looking for a casual fling, sex with Fionn Martyn would certainly have been no hardship. It wasn’t Fionn who was occupying her thoughts, however. For some reason, her mind kept returning to de Mendoza. Did the man even have a first name? He hadn’t shared it, whatever it was. And he hadn’t been particularly friendly or charming.
    And yet, there’d been that flash of something when their eyes had first met, an almost physical snap of energy. She just knew that if they’d touched at that moment, it would have crackled between them like a wild electrical charge. He’d felt it, too. No matter how thoroughly he’d shuttered it over. He’d seemed almost angry after that. As if the very possibility that he was attracted to her pissed him off for some reason.
    Amanda scoffed at her own reflection in the lift doors. So what if she’d felt a surge of desire for the man? His ego needed to be knocked back a measure. She wasn’t exactly drooling over the idea of a relationship with him either. Broody bastard.
    The lift doors opened and she headed down the wide corridor to the three-room suite she shared with her mother, which was far more comfortable than anything Amanda could have secured on her own.
    She stuck her thumb into the biometric entry lock, and slipped through the door before it fully opened. From the main room of the suite came the gentle clink of crystal and silver and the low timbre of a man’s voice, followed by her mother’s soft laughter. Her mother was home, and she had company.
    This wasn’t unusual. Elise Sumner was an intelligent and beautiful woman, and she frequently had friends over. Occasionally that meant a single male friend, although she’d never dated any one man for very long. The two of them rarely discussed Amanda’s father, but his presence, or absence thereof, was a constant in their lives nonetheless.
    Since she felt like crap, and figured she probably looked like it too, she skipped the social niceties and went directly to her own room, thankful for a layout that permitted her to slip in discreetly. Stripping off her clothes, she thought wistfully of a long, hot shower followed by several hours’ sleep, but there wasn’t time. She’d have to settle for a short, tepid shower and a stimulant tab.
    Without warning, her door whisked open and her mother stood there. Completely ignoring Amanda’s half-clothed state, she zoomed right in on the vicious bruise left over from her sparring bout with Angelito. “What happened to your leg, sweetling?”
    Amanda was struck as always by Elise’s beauty…and by how utterly different the two of them were. Her mother was small and delicate, with rich brown eyes and black hair that turned her pale complexion into the most