Wild Shores Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  By Radclyffe

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  About the Author

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Synopsis

  Gillian “Gem” Martin is the lead biologist at a wildlife sanctuary on the Northeast coast and head of the Wildlife Emergency Response Team called in when catastrophes, man-made or natural, threaten the endangered species she studies. Austin Germaine is a troubleshooter, the hired gun for a big oil company, whose job is to help contain leaks and prevent media coverage of a pending disaster until the danger can be eliminated. If it can be.

  When Gem and Austin meet by chance in the midst of an approaching hurricane, neither expects their immediate connection to lead them into uncharted territory as wild as the looming storm. When word of the spill gets out, Gem and Austin find themselves reluctant allies in a race against time to divert the spill and save the wildlife refuge and its endangered inhabitants—all while battling an attraction as unlikely as it is powerful.

  A high-stakes race against time, the forces of nature, and the strongest power of all—the desire of the human heart.

  A First Responders Novel

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  The Midnight Hunt

  RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  “Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write

  “Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online

  “The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write

  “Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire  /  werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online

  “Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  In Prescription for Love “Radclyffe populates her small town with colorful characters, among the most memorable being Flann’s little sister, Margie, and Abby’s 15-year-old trans son, Blake…This romantic drama has plenty of heart and soul.”—Publishers Weekly

  2013 RWA / New England Bean Pot award winner for contemporary romance Crossroads “will draw the reader in and make her heart ache, willing the two main characters to find love and a life together. It’s a story that lingers long after coming to ‘the end.’”—Lambda Literary

  In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary

  Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine

  2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write

  In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online

  Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs

  Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer

  Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene

  Wild Shores

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Wild Shores

  © 2016 By Radclyffe. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-646-3

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: March 2016
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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Ruth Sternglantz and Stacia Seaman

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  By Radclyffe

  Romances

  Innocent Hearts

  Promising Hearts

  Love’s Melody Lost

  Love’s Tender Warriors

  Tomorrow’s Promise

  Love’s Masquerade

  shadowland

  Passion’s Bright Fury

  Fated Love

  Turn Back Time

  When Dreams Tremble

  The Lonely Hearts Club

  Night Call

  Secrets in the Stone

  Desire by Starlight

  Crossroads

  Homestead

  Against Doctor’s Orders

  Prescription for Love

  Honor Series

  Above All, Honor

  Honor Bound

  Love & Honor

  Honor Guards

  Honor Reclaimed

  Honor Under Siege

  Word of Honor

  Code of Honor

  Price of Honor

  Justice Series

  A Matter of Trust (prequel)

  Shield of Justice

  In Pursuit of Justice

  Justice in the Shadows

  Justice Served

  Justice For All

  The Provincetown Tales

  Safe Harbor

  Beyond the Breakwater

  Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

  Storms of Change

  Winds of Fortune

  Returning Tides

  Sheltering Dunes

  First Responders Novels

  Trauma Alert

  Firestorm

  Oath of Honor

  Taking Fire

  Wild Shores

  Short Fiction

  Collected Stories by Radclyffe

  Erotic Interludes: Change of Pace

  Radical Encounters

  Edited by Radclyffe:

  Best Lesbian Romance 2009-2014

  Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.

  Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments

  Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love

  Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions

  Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games

  Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery

  Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets

  Breathless: Tales of Celebration

  Women of the Dark Streets

  Amore and More: Love Everafter

  Myth & Magic: Queer Fairy Tales

  By L.L. Raand

  Midnight Hunters

  The Midnight Hunt

  Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  The Magic Hunt

  Shadow Hunt

  Acknowledgments

  When I was small, I wanted to be a cowboy, or an astronaut, or a doctor on horseback. I wasn’t drawn so much to adventure as I was to the idea of getting away to a place where life was what you made it—I never minded being alone, and a few good friends were enough for me when I needed company. I learned to love the “wilds” at an early age, camping every summer with my parents in the Adirondacks in an untamed stretch of mountains before the state park system discovered it. That meant no water except what came from one hand pump carried a bucket at a time down a dirt road, no showers, no toilets (flush or non), and no rules or regulations. The same ten families or so returned every summer to this uncivilized spot on the shores of a chain of lakes to spend a few weeks with nothing to do but fish, read, explore, and escape. This place was a sanctuary all on its own—for the people as well as the wildlife. As I wrote this book, I thought of Putts Pond and how little I appreciated the specialness of the experience at the time, and am ever grateful to my parents for their idea of the perfect vacation. So this one is for them.

  Many thanks also go to: senior editor Sandy Lowe for keeping the show running while I write, editor Ruth Sternglantz for keeping an eye on the work as I go, editor Stacia Seaman for finding all the things I missed, Sheri Halal for a super cover, and my first readers Paula, Eva, and Connie for encouragement and inspiration.

  And as always, thanks to Lee for every new adventure. Amo te.

  Radclyffe, 2016

  To Lee, for making life a surprise

  Chapter One

  Austin was right in the middle of scripting a fight scene between Charos, the demon overlord, and Ciri, the Guild Hunter, when her cell phone vibrated. Wincing, she pulled her attention from the storyboard to check the number, already calculating outcomes. Depending on an assortment of variables, a phone call from Private Number at three a.m. had the potential to shoot the rest of her night and probably the next day all to hell. If she was unlucky, and if she took the call.

  Between the third and fourth rings, Austin mentally factored in the likelihood there was a family emergency—low probability, no one in her family blocked their personal numbers, and if her parents or brother were in trouble, one of the others would call—versus an automated or highly motivated human solicitor for lowered credit card rates or zero-interest car loans—a slightly higher possibility, safely ignored—against a callout from the company. While the last would not be unusual, seeing as how disasters invariably happened in the wee hours, she’d just gotten back in-country after handling a high-profile personal injury suit in Malaysia and hadn’t even scheduled the after-action report meeting yet. She couldn’t be that unlucky.

  She let the call go to voice mail and inserted a text bubble next to Charos’s sneering, horned head.

  Today is the day you die, Guild Hunter.

  I’ve heard that before.

  She sketched Ciri’s smirking face in profile, the sheathed sword with its magically bejeweled pommel extending from the leather scabbard between her shoulder blades, her signature braid flowing over her shoulder. Red eyes for Charos, along with thin black lips, a scale-covered snout-like face, and curved protruding canines completed the panel.

  Her cell danced on the drafting table again and she caught it with her free hand before it toppled to the rough plank floor.

  “Germaine,” she said, carefully keeping her irritation from her tone as she penciled out the next sequence.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Doctor,” Eloise’s cultured tones announced.

  “You know by now,” Austin said for perhaps the hundredth time, “you can skip the honorific. A doctorate in engineering might make me capable of changing the oil in my car, if I really wanted to, but beyond that, my therapeutic skills are limited.”

  “I’m quite sure I’ve heard you referred to as a miracle worker.” Eloise laughed, her melodic voice belying her analytical mind and death-defying efficiency. “I’m afraid we might have a situation that needs your very particular attention.”

  Of course she did. There’d be no other reason for the VP of Operations of the U.S. division of General Oil and Petroleum to be calling personally at any time of the day or night. Austin set her drafting pencil aside, pushed her wheeled stool back from the table, and pivoted away, staring across her cabin to the dark windows that looked out over the Hudson. “How much of an issue? I’ve only been back in the country a few days, and I was hoping to go off the grid for a bit.”

  She didn’t add that she had a deadline in a few weeks for the first draft of the graphic novel she was adapting from a paranormal urban fantasy series. That part of her life was private and bore no relationship to what she did for GOP. Even her family didn’t know about her secret career, not that they’d put much stock in it. They’d far rather see her embroiled in a big
burn or a high-profile media extravaganza with the potential for fireworks—no matter how metaphorical. Drawing and texting comics was something for teenagers.

  “Rig 86 has a breach,” Eloise said coolly and without apology for derailing Austin’s plans, giving no indication of precisely how serious the situation might be.

  Serious was a given. The company had land and offshore drilling sites throughout the world, and breaches were not uncommon. Usually they were small, confined, and repaired before anyone outside the company was really aware of the potential problem. If they were calling Austin, the company was worried.

  “How large?” she asked.

  “At the moment, a flow rate of only a few thousand barrels a day.”

  Austin walked through the living room to her bedroom beyond, opened the closet door, and pulled out her go bag. “Chance for containment?”

  “Uncertain at this time.”

  She transferred shirts, pants, socks, and underwear from the rough oak dresser against one wall into the bag. Her toiletries and work boots were already loaded. Anything else she needed, she’d buy wherever she was going. Her wallet was on the dresser and she slid it into her back pocket. “Escalation potential?”

  “Moderate at this point.”

  “Where is it?”

  “About fifty miles from the Maryland shore.”

  “Damn.” Why didn’t these spills happen in unpopulated areas far from TV cameras, fishing waters, and beaches?