Skinwalker ~ Native American Paranormal Erotica Read online

  But he holds me.

  I beat him with my fists. I kick. I push my knees and elbows against his chest, but I cannot get free. He just stares at me, holding me at the bottom of the water...

  He means to drown me.

  I reach up to the glistening, beautiful surface, as if I can pull it toward me. My chest is painfully tight. I panic. I panic worse than I have ever in my life. Lost, thrashing, the sea god does not let me go.

  Desperate for air, my lungs burn. Tangaroa’s words echo in my mind.

  A part of me must die.

  I try not to scream. Tangaroa presses me against his chest.

  “Breathe in,” he whispers. He really speaks, his words strange through the water.

  A weaving numbness covers my body and I still. My hair sways around me as my head tilts back. I know it will be like swallowing death, but I let the the cool water into my mouth.

  Strangely, the water does not fill my lungs. At the back of my throat, it splits off. On both sides below my ears, my tissue opens. The water runs over hundreds of layers of tissue beneath the skin. I can feel it happen. I don’t breathe out, but I feel my air is replenished.

  He did this to me. His kiss on my neck... saved me with a curse.

  I lift my hand to touch my neck and explore this new organ, but I am distracted by lights forming on my body.

  In neon colors, the designs painted by my tribe return, glowing like the magic of deep ocean creatures. My eyes sting a moment and I have to close them. When I am able to peel back my eyelids, I see Tangaroa swimming before me.

  I should not be able to see him so clearly, with the murky water between us. My eyes, like my throat, have changed.

  The blue and green designs across his body are more organic, but they still glow like mine. I look down to inspect myself.

  The glowing tattoos are warm, while the rest of my skin is cooling from the water. Tangaroa inspects me as well. The hold on my arm is light, but he does not let me go. The fingers of his free hand trace the bright tattoos on my shoulder.

  “You are beautiful.” I notice the water exits through slits in his neck as he speaks. They are gills, like he has given me.

  “What...” The sensation of speaking is strange. My neck vibrates with my words instead of my throat. I tense, trying to manage the titillating sensation. “What did you do to me?”

  Tangaroa caresses my arm, and I find my skin is very sensitive to his touch. I pull away and he grips my arm tighter.

  “I returned you to what you should be.”

  He pulls me closer so our bodies are almost touching. He is so strong, I do not think I would have a chance wrestling away from him. But for a moment, I am enthralled by his singular attention.

  “Those who walk on the land believe they are separate from the water, but this is truly where you belong.”

  I shake my head, recalling the tales the elders told during Matariki, but the ancient legends mean nothing to me.

  Then again, here before me is the god of the sea. He could have let me drown, but he has chosen to spare my life, for the moment.

  Tangaroa motions to the deep, dark water beyond the enclave.

  “Come with me.”

  I stare at the limitless blue and shiver. It feels like an evil, forbidden place. I try to pull away from him.

  “You will obey me.”

  His tone is not angry, but bears a warning. He offers his hand so I can take it willingly, but I see in his eyes that it will not be pleasant for me if I refuse.

  I place my hand in his palm and his large fingers wrap around it. He starts to swim, pulling me beside him. I have known how to swim almost since I could walk, but there is something strange about this body that I do not yet have control over. So I leave the swimming to the sea god, and submit to his strength.

  END OF SAMPLE