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  That was Rachael. Teasing and laughing, her breath hot with passion as she drove him out of his mind. She loved their sex life, was every bit as adventurous as he. Just looking at her could make him crazy and when she was like this...Rio groaned again and shook his head to clear it of memories. He wanted this to be here and now. This Rachael, this Rio--not the ones from another time and place.

  He tugged at her hair and she lifted her head, her dark chocolate eyes laughing joyfully. His heart performed a series of somersaults. He pushed her back on the bed, lifted her leg carefully, dragging blankets, shirts and everything else he could find to prop it up for her. The shirt fell open to allow him to see her luscious body. Her skin was a miracle, soft and inviting.

  "You're sure, Rachael. Be sure, sestrilla, there is no going back once we do this." His heated gaze drifted possessively over her body, drinking her in, even when he wanted her to be certain of what she was doing. Whatever past life they had together was urging a passionate and heated union. "I want this to be us. You and me and no one else. Not past or future, but the two of us in the present."

  She reached her arms up for him, locked her hands behind his neck as he carefully lowered himself into the cradle of her hips. Her body was as welcoming as the look on her face. As the wonder and joy in her eyes. Rio buried his face in the warmth of her throat, closing his eyes to absorb the feel and texture of her skin. Of her heat.

  "I know what sestrilla means, Rio. You are calling me beloved one. I have no idea of the language. But I know the word." She held his head to her, feeling the trembling in his body. He was enormously strong, with roped muscles, yet he trembled in her arms. It amazed and humbled her. She swept her hands over his back, careful to keep the makeshift splint from rubbing against his skin. She knew the exact line of his back, but the scars were unfamiliar. She traced each one, committing them to memory.

  His full erection was heavy and thick, pressing against her moist entrance, but he simply lay in her arms, holding her to him while she explored his body. She felt his mouth move against her throat and her heart began to pound in anticipation. She couldn't stop moving as flames licked at her body in the wake of his tongue. He worshipped her, taking his time when they both were already on the edge of insanity. His hands and mouth touching and tasting until she had tears in her eyes and lifted her hips in urgent need. He was incredibly gentle, tender even, so careful of her injured leg, yet there wasn't a spot he missed on her body, leisurely feasting on her as if they had all the time in the world. His breath was warm on her stomach as he gave a series of little nips down to the tangle of dark curls.

  "Rio, it's too much."

  "It's never too much." He breathed the words against her, his finger pushing deep into her so that her muscles clenched around him and she cried out with pleasure. "This is the two of us, Rachael. The way we're meant to be." He bent his head and replaced his finger with his tongue.

  She clutched the sheets for an anchor. Her body exploded, rippling with life, with pleasure, nearly sending her off the bed. Then his mouth was fastened to hers and he was lifting her hips, surging into her. He was thick and full and thrust through her orgasm, sending shock waves of fire through her body.

  "More, Rachael, take me deeper, take all of me." His voice was hoarse and he tilted her hips as he thrust deeper, wanting to bury himself inside her body, inside her sanctuary. He wanted to share her skin, her heart, her very soul. "That's right, sestrilla, more, take all of me." He could have wept tears of joy. Everything in him remembered, knew he had come home. He felt her shift, just that tiny bit, felt her take him deeper into her tight sheath. Her muscles gripped and clung and performed an amazing tango of heat and fire on his body. He found a perfect rhythm, surging deep, thrusting hard, immersing, losing himself in a paradise he thought lost to him.

  He knew instinctively, or maybe it was a past life together, exactly how to please her. He knew what she wanted, what made her gasp and moan and cling to him. He wanted their first time together to be a memory for both of them. He forced his body under a semblance of control to give her complete satisfaction, driving her up and over the edge again and again until she cried out for mercy. He wanted to give her the perfect joy she gave to him.

  Rachael dug her fingernails into Rio's back, desperate to hold on, to take him with her when she was flying so high. Lights burst behind her eyes. Her body shuddered with pleasure. She felt him swelling even more, growing larger, harder, exploding with life and joy, his growl of sheer pleasure mingling with her own cry.

  They lay in the heat of the night, their scents mingling, their hearts racing. Rachael traced one long scar just over his left shoulder with her fingertip while wave after wave rocked her. "How did you get this one?"

  He couldn't move, sweat beading his body. He settled into her, shifting slightly to take some of his weight off of her. "That one was a knife. I was pulling a sixteen-year-old boy out of Tomas's camp and the kid panicked and ran from me before I could stop him. A guard nabbed him and swung a machete at him." He nestled his face closer to the warmth of her breast. "That's where this scar came from." He showed her his arm and the deep scar running along his forearm. "I was able to save the kid, but a second guard knifed me from behind during the fight. That wasn't my most shining moment."

  Rachael lifted her head enough to press her mouth to his forearm, her tongue swirling over the long scar. He tasted as if they'd just made love. "And this one?" She reached lower, deliberately sliding her fingertips over his firm buttocks to rest in the small white concave over his left hip. "How did you get this one?"

  "A bullet." He grinned, his breath teasing her nipple into a hard peak. "Obviously I was running."

  "Well at least you were showing good sense."

  "There were more of them then there was of me. I walked into a hornet's nest that time. I was only scouting, looking for signs, and walked right into them. It seemed the right thing to do was to leave since I didn't have an invitation." He leaned into her breast and suckled, just for a moment because she wasn't opposed to the idea. His laughter was muffled. "I've improved my running times since then."

  Just the pull of his mouth on her sensitized breast sent her body into another orgasm. He was still locked deep inside her and velvet-soft muscles gripped and clenched tightly, adding to his own pleasure.

  Her fingertips avoided the raw wound on his hip and went to the myriad of deep slashes on his back. "And these?"

  Rio went absolutely still. Even his breath caught in his lungs. He waited a heartbeat, listened to the air moving in and out of her lungs. Slowly he lifted his head to look down at her. "Those scars came from a few fights I had with a big cat."

  Her dark eyes moved over his face. He could see her taking it in, accepting it. "A cat like the other night. A big leopard. Not Fritz or Franz."

  "Not Fritz or Franz," he confirmed. Very gently he separated from her, easing his body from hers, rolling over to take his weight completely from her. He lay staring up at the ceiling. "A very large, fully grown male leopard."

  Rachael could feel the stillness in him. The waiting. There was something he needed to tell her, but he was extremely reluctant. She reached for his hand, laced their fingers together. "Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to say things you need to say, but don't want to say, in the dark?" Her fingers tightened around his. "You know you're going to tell me, so just say it." She waited, her heart accelerating. She had a flashback of his face changing, of fur and teeth and eerie glowing eyes. The longer she lay in the dark waiting, the more she was afraid.

  "I murdered a man." Rio said it softly, his voice so low it was barely audible. She heard pain, stark and raw in the ugly confession.

  For a moment she couldn't breathe. It was the last thing she expected him to say. The last thing she expected of a man like Rio. It didn't fit with the man who cared for his leopards first. It didn't fit with the way he always put her first. "Rio, defending yourself or having to defend others by taking them back from
a man like Tomas is not murder."

  "It wasn't self-defense. He didn't have a chance against my skills. I hunted him down and I executed him. It was not government sanctioned and the laws of my people didn't sanction such an act. I wish I could tell you I was sorry he's dead, but I'm not." He turned his head to look at her. "Maybe that's why I can't forgive myself. And it's why I live apart from the others of my kind."

  A weight seemed to be crushing her chest. "Were you arrested and charged?"

  "I presented myself before the council of elders for judgment, yes. We have our own laws and courts. I was charged with murder. I didn't deny it. How could I?"

  Rachael closed her eyes, tried to block out his words. Murder. Murder. Hunted him down and executed him. The words echoed through her mind. Flashed at her like a neon sign. "But it doesn't make sense," she murmured aloud. "Murder doesn't fit with your personality. It doesn't, Rio."

  "No?" There was amusement in his voice, a twisted, humorless, sarcastic mocking that made her flinch. "You'd be surprised at what I'm capable of doing, Rachael."

  "Did you go to jail?"

  "In a way. I was banished. I am not allowed to live among my people. I do not have the benefit of the elders' wisdom. I am alone, yet not alone. I am close to them, yet always apart. My people cannot survive in jail. There is only death or banishment for a crime as grave as mine. I was banished. My people do not see me, or acknowledge my existence. Well, other than the unit I run with."

  She listened to his voice. There was no note of self-pity. No plea for compassion. Rio stated a fact. He had committed a crime and he accepted the punishment that went along with it. She let out her breath slowly, struggling not to judge too quickly. It still didn't make sense to her.

  "Are you going to tell me why you killed him?"

  "Whatever my reasons are, they weren't good enough to take the life of another. Revenge is wrong, Rachael. I know that. I was taught that. I knew it when I hunted him. I didn't even give him the chance to draw a weapon so I could claim self-defense. It was an execution, pure and simple."

  "Is that what you were thinking when you killed him?"

  There was a silence. Rio's thumb slid over the back of her hand. "No one ever asked me that. No, of course not. I didn't look at it that way, but I did know the council would either decide to put me to death or banish me when I returned and told them what I'd done."

  Rachael shook her head, more confused than ever. "You hunted this man down, killed him and then returned to your people and confessed you'd done it?"

  "Of course. I wouldn't try to hide something like that."

  "Why didn't you keep going, head for another country?"

  "I've lived apart from the forest, apart from my people, I never want to do it again. I chose this life. It's where I belong. I knew I would have to go before the council when I chose my path, yet I stayed on it. I couldn't stop myself. I still cannot mourn his passing."

  "What did he do to you?"

  "He killed my mother." His voice roughened. He cleared his throat. "She was running, much like I do at night, and he stalked her and killed her. I heard the shot and I knew. I was some distance away, and by the time I reached her it was too late." Abruptly he released her hand and was on his feet, pacing across the room to the kitchen as if movement was the only thing that could keep him from exploding. "I'm not making excuses, I knew better than to take his life."

  "For heaven's sake, Rio, he killed your mother. You must have been crazy with grief."

  He turned around to face her, leaned one hip against the sink. "There's more to the story, of course there always is. You've never asked me about my people. You've never once asked why our laws are different than the human laws."

  Rachael sat up slowly, pulled the edges of her shirt together and began awkwardly to button it. She suddenly felt vulnerable lying on his bed with barely any clothes and his scent permeating her body. "I am fairly certain Tama and Kim answer to the laws of their tribe. We're all subject to whatever laws govern our country, but out here, I doubt the government knows exactly what goes on. The tribes probably deal with most of their own troubles." She kept her voice very calm, her expression serene. It wouldn't help either of them to show she was suddenly very afraid.

  Rio moved. It was a small, subtle movement, but distinctly feline. A supple shifting of his body so that he seemed to flow like water, then become perfectly still. His eyes dilated wide, the color changing from vivid green to a yellow-green. At once his gaze was marblelike, glassy, an eerie, focused, unblinking stare. A reddish cast gave his eyes an evil, animalistic quality. He turned his head as if listening. "I can hear your heart beating too rapidly, Rachael. You can't hide fear. There is a sound to it. A smell to it. It's in every breath you take. Every beat of your heart."

  And it was killing him. He'd allowed her to get under his skin. He'd known all along he would have to tell her the truth. Rachael had been traumatized by something in her life. She'd seen and lived with violence and he suspected she had tried to escape. He had to tell her the truth, show her the truth--he couldn't live with himself if he didn't. But his heart was being ripped out of his chest and the rage that was never far from the surface welled up to choke him.

  It had taken him time to realize she made him laugh, made him cry, made him feel. She brought life to him. Almost from the beginning she made him feel alive again. He couldn't imagine going back to an empty house. He forced himself to tell her the truth, although it was terrifying. Rio had never been truly afraid in his life, yet now he stood to lose something he never thought to have. Fear fed the anger swirling in his belly so that he wanted to rage at her.

  Rachael nodded, swallowed the tight knot of fear threatening to suffocate her. "That's true, Rio. But you mistake what I'm afraid of. It isn't you. It isn't what you say. Do you think it's all new to me? That I'm so shocked by your confession? I'm not afraid of you. You've had every opportunity to take advantage of me. To kill me, or rape me, or use me in some way. You could have easily taken me to the authorities for the reward money. I'm not afraid of you. Not Rio the man."

  He came closer, filling the room with dangerous power. It emanated from every pore. There was no whisper of sound when he walked toward her. He moved with the flowing grace of a large jungle animal. Ropes of muscle rippled beneath his skin. He leaned closer to her. She could hear the breath in his lungs, the low, threatening growl rumbling in his throat. Rachael refused to be intimidated, refused to look away. She stared at him with one eyebrow raised, daring him.

  Muscles contorted, knotted, his large frame bent and he dropped to the floor on all fours, still watching her, never blinking, never once looking away, holding her gaze captured in the blazing intensity of his. She saw his skin lift as if something alive ran beneath it.

  "And what if Rio isn't a man?" His voice was distorted, rough. He coughed, a strange grunt she'd heard before.

  A chill ran down her spine. She stared in horrified fascination as his body stretched and lengthened, as fur rippled over his skin, as his jaw lengthened into a muzzle and teeth erupted in his mouth. The leopard was black with whorls of darkened rosettes buried deep in the luxurious fur. It wasn't the first time she found herself face-to-face with the beast.

  Rachael recognized the fact that she was breathing far too fast. The leopard was inches from her, his yellow-green gaze holding hers. Waiting. There was a nobility, a dignity about the animal as he waited. Her hand shook as she reached out to touch the fur. The animal snarled, exposed the wicked canines, but she touched him. Connected to him. It was instinctive and the only thing she could think to do under the circumstances. "Fainting is out of the question," she murmured softly. "I've tried it and it just doesn't work for me. I've never figured out how other women manage it. If you were trying to shock me, believe me, you've succeeded beyond your wildest dreams."

  Even as she uttered the words, she wasn't altogether certain they were the truth. There had been signs. She hadn't wanted to believe them. It seemed too
far-fetched. Surely scientists would have discovered them by now, yet he stood there, staring at her with his wild eyes, his hot breath in her face. He was unmistakably a leopard. A shape-shifter. The thing of myth and legend.

  "Why do you want me to be afraid of you, Rio?" She bent her head toward his, ignoring his snarl of warning. She rubbed her face over the dark fur. "You're the only person who ever looked at me for myself. You gave me acceptance even when I didn't deserve it. What is so terrible about what you are? I know people far more terrible." Tears burned behind her eyelids. It wasn't as if she could stay with him. "I guess this answers the question why you run around naked in the forest. You like to go out at night as a leopard, don't you?"

  It was useless to hide from her in animal form. When he looked into her eyes there was no horror at his revelations. He could read sadness there. Rio shifted back to his human form and sat on the floor beside the bed. "I'm neither human nor animal, but a mixture of both. We have traits of both species and some of our own."

  "Can you assume another form?"

  He shook his head. "We are both leopard and human at the same time and only take one form or the other. This is who I am, Rachael. I'm not ashamed of what I am. My people are few, but we play an important role here in the rain forest. We have honor and commitment, and our elders are wise in things beyond modern science. While it's true we have to be careful to remain undiscovered for obvious reasons, we contribute to society in many ways."

  There was pride in his voice, but she could see wariness in his eyes. "Tell me what happened to your mother, Rio." She could live with, be friends with and be the lover of a shape-shifter, but she could not live with a man who murdered people. She'd done that, and she would never do so again under any circumstances.

  He raked his fingers through his hair, wreaking havoc so that his shaggy hair was more tousled then ever. Locks fell persistently over his forehead, drawing attention to the brilliance of his eyes. "I thought you'd run the minute you knew what I was."