Free The Shifters by Alexandra Sokoloff

spray of the shower and lathered herself with lavender to get the morbid, formaldehyde smell of the morgue off her…but found her thoughts obsessively straying to Ryder and the feel of his hands on her, the unbearable pleasure of his mouth on her breasts. Her mouth and nipples felt swollen under the hot pulse of the water, and she ached between her legs, as wet inside as she was out.
    She leaned back against the tile wall, imagining him stepping into the shower with her, his body hard and naked against hers in the steamy heat…and then forced herself to open her eyes, to straighten. All right, that’s enough of that.
    She shut the water off and grabbed a fluffy tow el.
    Minutes later, wrapped in a silk robe, she stood at the French doors of her bedroom and combed out her hair, a little more savagely than necessary, while she tried to breathe and focus.
    She looked down over the quiet compound, the three-part house she and her sisters shared, and let her mind go to what could happen if a whole horde of discarnate entities intent on possessing human bodies suddenly descended on New Orleans during the revel that Halloween would be. If drugs and alcohol andsex made walking-in easier, then the walk-ins would have the easiest pickings in the world.
    Ryder was right. They didn’t have much time.
    She turned to her dresser and looked at a silver-framed photo of her parents, arms wrapped around each other, looking at each other in the way they al ways looked: lovers, partners, soul mates.
    â€œWhat do I do?” she whispered, not realizing she spoke aloud.
    The photo was silent, but their palpable radiance brought tears to her eyes.
    She brushed at her face angrily.
    Danny, she thought again. These walk-ins aren’t anything we can find by looking for them in the real world. They’re in the astral.
    I have to talk to Danny.
    She glanced at the clock and was startled to see it was three-fifteen in the morning. Bons Temps would be closed, and God only knew where Danny and Case would have gotten themselves to—or what they’d got ten into .
    Tomorrow, then , she thought, and then stopped, staring out through the doors, down into the courtyard.
    A shadow moved under a tree.
    There was someone outside.
    Without thinking, Caitlin backed slowly awayfrom the French door, then turned and bolted for the door into the hall.
    She ran down the stairs toward the front door, her bare feet silent.
    At the door, she paused to draw a breath, and then she threw the door open and strode out into the courtyard.
    â€œWho’s there?” she demanded, staring out toward the tree where she’d seen someone move. She saw nothing but shapeless shadows at first, and then she caught the glow of a cigarette.
    Part of the dark disengaged itself from the rest and stepped slowly forward; she caught a glimpse of a gaunt face and a familiar twisted grin. Case.
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing here?” she demanded, breathless.
    â€œWhat, you aren’t going to invite me in?” the musician/shifter mocked her, as he took a last drag of the cigarette and flicked it away onto the paving stones.
    Caitlin was on the verge of telling him to go straight to hell when she realized that this was exactly the chance she needed.
    â€œOf course, what was I thinking?” she tossed off. “I’ve been lying awake just hoping you would show up.”
    She was gratified to see a startled flicker crosshis face; she’d surprised him, though he covered with a lazy drawl. “Good to know things haven’t changed.”
    She stepped back toward her patio and held the door open. He walked by her, slowing to look over her body as he passed. She realized she was in nothing but a short silk robe, bare legs, bare feet, bare…everything.
    Oh, well…it can’t hurt.
    Before she closed the door behind him, she glanced quickly toward Fiona’s wing of the house, afraid that they’d woken Jagger. I