Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter by Jessica Sims Read Free Book Online Page B

floorboards, and I saw Connor slam into the room, wolf-eyes gleaming. He clutched abaseball bat in his hands. Before I could scream, he swung it and connected hard with Ramsey’s shoulder.
    The bear-shifter grunted but didn’t move from where he crouched over me, caging me in his arms. Protecting me. I expected to hear a growl in his throat, but to my surprise, his voice remained slow and even, as if he’d been trying to calm a wild animal. “Leave us alone, wolf.”
    Connor looked over at me, and then blanched. He took a step backward. “Oh. Oh, shit. Sara, are you okay?”
    “Just a nightmare,” I said, then raised a hand to shoo him . . . and noticed my fingers were tipped with thick claws. In horror, I stared down at them. My arms were thick with gray fur, and my muscles vibrated with the need to change. Ramsey’s forearms bled in four long furrows—I’d attacked him in my dream.
    “Sara,” Ramsey said in a low voice, ignoring Connor. “Listen to me. Think of me.” He moved over me, his gaze trapping mine. “Connor is going to leave us alone now.”
    I looked over at the wolf, who was staring at me with something akin to horror. After a moment, Connor nodded and slung the bat back over his shoulder, mumbled something about seeing us in the morning, and shut the door behind him again.
    I turned wild eyes to Ramsey. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry—”
    “Shhh.” His fingers gently touched the sides ofmy face again, stroked my hair, completely ignoring the fact that I’d carved his arms up or that Connor had attacked him. It must have hurt, but he showed no reaction, his gaze focused intensely on me. “Concentrate on my voice. On my breathing. My pulse. Follow me. Focus on me. Understand?”
    Oh, jeez, it must have been worse than I imagined. I thought of Connor’s look of horror as he’d come in the room. He’d looked revolted at the sight of me. “My face is half changed, isn’t it?”
    “That’s not important,” Ramsey said, large fingers continuing to stroke the sides of my face. “Listen to my breathing, and match yours to mine. Breathe with me.”
    I did, inhaling slowly and breathing in the musk of his bear-scent. He didn’t smell like wolf, and the heavy feel of him over me didn’t feel like it was trapping me; it felt like it was protecting me. It took several minutes before my heart calmed to a steady pace again, in tandem with Ramsey’s slow, even beats.
    After several minutes, he nodded and then sat up. “Better.”
    I stole a peek at my hands—normal again. My fingers went to my face, and I touched my nose. Normal, except for a nosebleed. Thank God. One time I’d been stuck with a half-monster snarl for eight hours and had been terrified I’d never change back. The nosebleed was distressing, though. It reminded me of Levi’s words—that I was going to kill myself with my shifting. “Um. Got Kleenex up here?”
    He stripped his shirt off and handed it to me. Itook the shirt and wadded it up, holding it to my nose. It smelled like Ramsey and sweat, an oddly pleasant combination. “Thank you.”
    “Who is Roy?”
    I blushed in the darkness. “The asshole who changed me.”
    “You were screaming for him not to hurt you.” Not an accusation, a statement.
    How embarrassing. “I don’t want to talk about this, please,” I said in a small voice. I expected Ramsey to push the issue, but he remained silent, his gaze watchful on me. I reached out a hand to his big arm. “Is your shoulder okay?”
    “It’ll be fine by morning.” He stood and crossed over to the far side of the room, made sure the door was locked, and then returned to the bed.
    I watched his body as he moved. I couldn’t help it. My entire body was tense with nerves. The last time I’d been in a room with a half-naked man, he’d usually beaten the crap out of me and told me I deserved it, so I was wary when it came to intimate relationships. Ramsey was massive, too. A lot of shifters were in great shape,