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When she woke up would she no longer be a frog?

*

Liam watched Kris slip into sleep. Her hair, splashed by her struggles, had begun to dry in tangled hanks, and the freckles on her nose that had so captivated him shone stark against the unnatural paleness of her skin. A smudge of mud slashed her cheek like a wound.

Fury sparked, and he had to clench his hands to keep from breaking something.

How dare anyone touch her. She is mine!

Although perhaps that was why.

Liam left the room, shutting the door only partway in case she should need him. He’d stay here all night. He’d wake her as he’d promised. He wouldn’t leave until he had to.

He was the protector of the loch. By day and by night, Liam watched over it. Those who had gone into the water and not come out … they were on his head. That Kris had nearly been one of them—

He could not bear it.

Was it coincidence that the first woman he’d touched in ages had nearly died tonight? He didn’t think so.

Someone was drowning people. He didn’t know who any more than Alan Mac did. But it wasn’t Nessie.

Liam gave a short, sharp laugh.

That was the only thing he was certain of.

*

Kris awoke as the gray light of approaching dawn filtered into her room. Her first thought was that she was happy. Then she stretched, winced, and remembered.

She’d been attacked last night, and if Liam were to be believed, she would have been drowned.

Liam.

Kris smiled, understanding the reason for the wash of happiness, even though she should be anything but.

He’d stayed all night. He’d woken her every few hours with a kiss—just as he’d promised.

Of course they’d been chaste kisses on her brow, her cheek, once on her hand. But when she opened her eyes and saw that face …

What a way to wake up.

Kris lifted herself, bracing for the pain she expected to shoot through her head. Nothing happened—in her head.

Her back, shoulders, neck, legs, and arms were another story. She felt like she’d been beaten with a bat. Getting conked on the noggin and falling to the ground like a box of rocks must have that effect.

“Shower,” she muttered, levering herself to her feet—which also hurt, by the way. “Then coffee. Mucho coffee.”

Hoping Liam had started a pot, she sniffed the air, but all she smelled was herself—lake water, fear-sweat, a little mud, and … was that mold?

“Shower,” she repeated more firmly, then as she opened the door to her bedroom, “Liam, could you—?“

Kris stood in the doorway, staring at the empty living area, then glanced at the bathroom, but the door was open and no one was there, either.

Had Liam ever been here at all?

Kris laughed, but the sound was brittle and she stopped right away because she was scaring herself. Just because no one had seen Liam but her, no one seemed to know him but her, didn’t mean—

“What?” That she was the only one who could see him?

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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