Free Master of the Deep by Cleo Peitsche

into his world.
    “She seemed to handle the shark thing pretty well, but it’s the… non-human attributes that are getting to her.”
    A smile played at the edges of Spencer’s lips. “I find that females rather enjoy those attributes.”
    In no mood for levity, Koenraad aimed a lethal glare at his friend. “Dolphin shifters aren’t like humans, and you know it.” He paused as he suddenly remembered that Spencer had dated Hera, one of the dolphins Darius had sent to investigate Wardell’s disappearance and who was now in an inexplicable coma.
    Spencer must have remembered, too, because his smile faded, then disappeared completely. “I was the first shark Hera had been with. Actually, many of my exes had never been with a shark before.”
    “But they knew.”
    “Eh… not always. You remember Gillie?”
    “I didn’t really know her, but everyone knew about you two.” Koenraad and Spencer hadn’t become close until their final year of school, but it was common knowledge that Spencer had pulled off a coup by dating Gillie, one of the dolphin shifters. She was an adorable and playful slip of a girl, and even though Koenraad had always preferred full-figured women, he’d definitely seen the appeal. Gillie and Spencer had been like royalty until they broke up.
    “Let’s just say that our first time was memorable, and not in a good way. I scared her half to death. Hell, I scared myself. The sex-ed materials for non-mammalian shifters are woefully inadequate.”
    “Hm.” It was all Koenraad could come up with. He found the banter pleasantly distracting, but he didn’t have much to add. He wasn’t feeling light and nostalgic at the moment.
    “You’re unimpressed, but I do have a point. If bumbling teenage virgins can work it out, I’m sure two intelligent, sexually experienced adults will get through it.”
    “When you’re younger, you don’t have set ideas of how things work. What were you? Fifteen?”
    “Sixteen. We waited a long time.”
    Koenraad shrugged. “Sixteen, then. If you don’t know how things should go, if everything is new, then nothing is weird. That’s one of the theories behind fetishes, you know. That whatever’s in the air when you have your first sexual experiences, that’s what you fixate on.”
    Spencer was smiling again, and Koenraad didn’t hide his frustration when he shook his head. “You lost me. I give up,” Koenraad said.
    “Actually, you just proved my point. You’re overcomplicating this. If you act normal, she’ll accept it as normal much faster.”
    “Exactly how did I prove your point?”
    Spencer ignored the question. “If you act like you’ve got monsters in your pants, of course she’s going to be unnerved. She has no frame of reference.”
    “That’s almost exactly what I said,” Koenraad murmured. Of course, he’d been thinking about explaining Brady, then.  
    A beeping noise sounded, and Spencer transferred his little tubes to a tray. He smeared three drops of water, now dyed red, onto a glass slide.  
    “What are you doing, exactly?”
    “I suspect we’re dealing with either a bacteria or a virus. If it’s bacteria, I hope to see what an overnight culture yields, though it’s a bit of a shot in the dark. It’s anybody’s guess what kind of medium it needs, and ocean water will naturally have quite a bit of other things in it.”
    “And if it’s a virus?”
    “Then you’d better find religion.” Spencer grinned. “I’m going to test some of it on a willing subject.”
    “Spencer—”
    “Relax. I’m not going to drink it or bathe in it. This stuff only causes reactions in shifters, right? So we need to see what it does to shifter cells.”
    Koenraad gave his friend a dubious look. “You’re the science genius here, but…”
    “I’m just doing some preliminary stuff for now. Maybe we’ll get lucky. The heavy-duty work won’t happen until tomorrow.” Spencer made a sound like he was trying to clear his throat, and Koenraad