Rachael, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself," Elijah rea.s.sured.

"Elijah's right, sestrilla," Rio murmured softly, adding his own rea.s.surance, "I suspect your uncle would want him alive, would want him to suffer with the knowledge of your death before anything else. If we're wrong and he sends the leopard to kill Elijah, you have to have faith in your brother's abilities. He's stayed alive and kept you alive all these years. He won't be taken easily. And Tama will be with him. There isn't a better guide, or a more responsible one, unless it's Kim."

Rachael bit at her knuckles. "I don't like this, I don't like us separated when he comes after us."

"He won't come if he knows you're with Elijah," Rio said patiently. "He's afraid of Elijah. Your brother is probably the only man he is afraid of. That's why he has to destroy him before he kills him. And the only means he has of destroying him is through you." .

"I know of his leopard a.s.sa.s.sin, Rachael," Elijah added. "I can take him if he comes at me. I can take him in either form, human or animal." There was complete confidence in his voice.

Rachael nodded and managed a faint smile, but Rio could feel her body trembling.

He pulled her closer, trying to protect her from her brother's all-seeing eyes.

"Once Armando has entered the country, Kim Pang, Tama's brother, will get word to Tama. You can head this way the moment Armando has entered our forest. I'll have a few of my men standing by with radios to let us know where he is. He can't take animal form, but he'll come in with hunters, hoping to protect himself. What do you think, Elijah?"

"I think I'm going to trust you with my sister's life." Elijah stood up, stretched, a completely feline motion. His eyes were hard and cold and without mercy. "Don't let me down."

"Aren't you going to stay?" Rachael asked, looking close to tears again.

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"I have to be back in camp. You never know if he has eyes or ears planted and I don't want to blow the plan before we have a chance to see if it will even work."Elijah loomed over them, tall and dangerous and very alone. "You take care of her, Rio." He brushed Rachael's head with a gentle kiss, touched her shoulder and went out into the night.

Rachael tried to pull away from Rio to go after her brother. "Let him go. This is hard for him, to let loose of you after all these years. He needs to be alone. People like us need s.p.a.ce, Rachael. He has to find his own way. He's spent a lifetime concentrating on keeping the both of you alive. He'll need to adjust in order to find another reason to go on. The forest is where he'll find it. He doesn't know that yet, but it will call to him."

She ran her hands over his body, inspecting him for damage after his long run.

"You need rest, Rio. At least come to bed with me."

It sounded good to him. He wanted to lie down beside her, hold her in his arms and feel her warmth after the terror of thinking someone was attacking her. He lay for a long time listening to the wind moaning in the trees. Listening to the songs of the rain through the canopy. Listening to the rhythm of her breathing.

Holding her soft body next to his, her hair crushed in his hands, his body wrapped protectively around hers. He remembered thinking happiness was an illusion, that life was simply to live until it was over, giving service to his people. Happiness was this woman in his arms. He allowed himself to drift off with the scent of her filling his lungs and the feel of her imprinted into his flesh and bones.19.RACHAEL gripped the railing and leaned over to peer at the forest floor below.

"I think I'm going stir crazy." She turned around to smile at Rio, half sitting on the banister. "Is that possible out here in this huge forest? And don't say I'm in one of my little moods either!"

"Sure it is. Waiting is always the most difficult part. We know the mole pa.s.sed the word, so it won't be much longer. I received word that Armando and a huge party arrived and were making their way up the river. We've got people in place watching him. He brought four big-name game hunters with him, which did cause a bit of a problem as the officials don't encourage that sort of thing."

Rachael shivered. "Knowing that man is walking in the same forest is frightening. Armando is truly evil, Rio. It won't take him long to send out his men."

"I know, but it's what we've been waiting for. This is probably our last chance for a little fun. They aren't in our area yet."

"I hate that Elijah is so close and I can't go see him. I 334.

Rio reached out to take her hand, holding her open palm over his heart. "At least this has given us some time for your leg to heal properly."

She turned her calf this way and that, frowning. "Properly? Is that what you call it? At least I have a leg. And Fritz is better too. He went out this morning around dawn to hunt food with Franz. I thought that was such a good sign."

Rio tugged on her hand until her body was tight against his. "We don't have to stay here if you'd rather go play," he invited softly.

Rachael looked up at him, his weathered, beloved face. She knew every inch of that face, by touch, by vision. There was a playful gleam in his eyes, one rarely seen by anyone other than Rachael. She loved that boyish, mischievous side of him that crept out at unexpected times. "Is it safe?"

"At the moment. I didn't expect Armando to come himself so soon, but it doesn't really change anything. I'm expecting your uncle's a.s.sa.s.sin to come checking any day now, but the forest animals will alert us. We don't have to stay here in this house if you want to stretch your legs and play a bit. I have one or two beautiful spots I haven't had a chance to show you." His fingers crushed strands of her hair, rubbed them together. "We've been putting all our energy toward rehearsals for the arrival of your uncle and we haven't managed to take a much- needed break. The temporary hut is built, we've moved you in, we have people up and down the river and in the forest keeping an eye on them. I think we can take a small break."

Rio hadn't chanced a single late night run since her brother had shown up. He didn't want to leave her alone and he felt it was better to give her leg a chance to fully heal. The lure of the forest was on him, calling continually.

Rachael's smile widened and she peeled off the shirt she was wearing, flinging it aside without hesitation. It left her standing in her silky thong and nothing else. Rio Breathing Rachael in was becoming a habit. "Maybe we should just stay here," he murmured softly. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were beautiful, full and ripe and so perfect he had to touch them. His fingers whispered over her skin, tugged at her nipples just to see them peak for him.

"Maybe we shouldn't. I want to go run. You can wait here for me though." Rachael shimmied out of her thong, enjoying the way he watched her. She had never thought about being a s.e.xual being until she was around Rio. He made her so aware of her own body, of his body. Of what they could have together. She moved enticingly, wholly feminine, catching at a branch above her head. "You can be thinking about me while I'm gone," she teased.

"You aren't going anywhere without me," he declared, hastily shedding clothes.

She was already shifting, a sleek female leopard with rounded curves and a feline body built for speed and endurance. She leapt to a neighboring branch and hurried along the slanting limb to the next overlapping one.

Rio didn't take time to fold his clothes neatly. The wild-ness was already upon him, starting in the pit of his stomach, an uncontrollable longing for freedom.

His muscles contorted and he shifted in the air, making a flying dive for the branches below him that intersected with the ones she was on.

Rachael leapt from branch to branch, fully aware that Rio was giving chase. If a leopard could have laughed aloud, she would have. She couldn't believe the turn her life had taken. She'd made one small mistake, thinking his house was a hut travelers used, and it had been the best mistake she'd ever made.

Happiness burst through her, shining bright and perfect. She made it to the forest floor and took off, leaping over fallen tree trunks and larger shrubs.

Her claws dug into the vegetation to give her extra spring. Rio was coming at her fast, an enormous male with every intention of running her 336.

Rachael began to play at dodging him, winding through the trees, staying on the course he obviously wanted her to take. When she went in the wrong direction, he loomed in front of her, too large to go around and too big to confront. She didn't care, the freedom of playing was wonderful. The forest was beautiful, every detail vivid and bright. She played with a toad who didn't seem top appreciative of the company and then raced ahead when Rio nosed at the little creature.

She didn't see the embankment until too late, trying to put the brakes on as she tumbled and landed in the wide blue pool. It was a natural small fall, a basin formed of solid rock. The waterfall was gentle, a long spray of white froth that fell into the clear water. Ferns sprouted everywhere, long and lacy and tall and bushy. Rachael came up for air, shifting as she did so, laughing so hard she went under twice.

Rio caught her around the waist with one strong arm, lifting her to her feet near the edge of the pool. "You reckless, crazy woman. You nearly gave me a heart attack." His voice purred rather than scolded, a wash of velvet over her skin.

Rio touched her face gently, his fingertips tracing the line of her cheek, her jaw, his touch as light as the brush of the wings of the bright b.u.t.terflies that swarmed over the trees. Yet the impact was a bolt of lightning streaking through her body. His hands settled on the sides of her face, framing her with tenderness while he stared into her eyes.

There was such an intensity of love there, deep in the depths of his vivid green gaze. Desire and hunger burned in the background, but love shone like a bright light consuming her. He lowered his head slowly toward hers. That sensual movement caused her deepest core to react, an exquisite tightening of every muscle, a heat spreading

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His body bent over hers, yet his skin didn't quite touch her, a breath of air between them, a breeze fanning the heat that made up their skin. Water slapped at their bodies, frothing from the beat of the falls as millions of droplets entered the pool to swarm around them, touching skin like fingers, stroking a river of sensation over them.

His lips just brushed hers. Gently. Tenderly. The merest touch, yet flames flickered and danced. Hot need rushed through her and spread to every vein, every cell. Rachael leaned closer, lifting her mouth to his. The tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s caressed his chest lightly, spread flames across skin, a flash point neither expected. Rachael sighed against his mouth, a soft submissive sound, as she opened her mouth to his. Took him inside her. Heat and fire and silk.

Something moved inside of her. Recognized him. She felt her other self-rising.

Not a takeover, rather a joining.

Rio deepened the kiss, cupping her face in his hands, sliding his fingers around to cradle the back of her head as he kissed her, and his other self rose up to merge with her. Sensation increased, every touch, every taste. The mist from the waterfall on their skin was a tongue touching, licking along their bodies.

Rachael gasped as sensual pleasure infused her, took her over, robbing her of breath, of thought. She leaned into him, rubbed her skin against his skin, wanting the tactile contact. When he lifted his head to take a breath, she lapped at the mist on his chest, her tongue following tiny beads down his belly.

His hands moved over her, finding every spot that could make her cry out with pa.s.sion, that would inflame her more.

Rachael melted into him, skin to skin, rubbing and caressing and needing to touch him, every square inch of him. There was never enough kissing, never enough tasting, and there would never be enough time to explore him the way she wanted before her body made urgent demands.

"You're purring," he murmured softly. "I love the way 338.

her throat, lingered in the inviting hollow there, drifted lower to taste the droplets of water running over her. His hands went lower, shaped her hips, smoothed over her b.u.t.tocks to lift her off her feet.

Rachael locked her legs around him. "Do I purr? I didn't know that. I can't help myself." Her teeth nibbled over his shoulder, up his neck to the point of his chin. Her breath was warm and inviting like the soft satin of her skin. "You'd make anyone purr, Rio. Do you feel the leopard in me merging with the leopard in you? How can that happen? How can we experience what they feel when we're really one with them?"

"You're letting me all the way into your mind. All the way into your heart and body. That includes the leopard in you, and my leopard is eager for yours. We're a mated pair, Rachael. Not all of us have that in a single lifetime. I suspect we've been a mated pair in more than one lifetime. You feel so familiar to me."

He lowered her body over his and closed his eyes as the incredible sensual pleasure engulfed him.

His blood ran hot through his body, burst through his veins like a wildfire out of control, raced to his head to explode in a rush of heat and flame. She was tight and hot, a velvet sheath gripping his body, surrounding him with so much pleasure it rode the edge of pain. He felt everything for her at once, wild l.u.s.t, a greedy need, overwhelming love and tenderness. He wanted to take his time, surging in and out of her, rocking her while the water lapped at their bodies, but the pleasure was too intense, even with his slow thrusting. They were too hot, the heat arcing between them and rising fast no matter how hard he tried to slow them down. Her nails dug into his skin. Her head was thrown back, the line of her throat exposed.

Deep inside where it counted, they moved together, blended and merged, becoming one being in one skin. Rachael's soft cry took the last of his control. Her body tightened around his, gripped and clung and made demands.

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He lifted his face to the sky, soaring there, taking her with him while the water splashed around their bodies.

"You're swearing," Rachael whispered. There was laughter in her voice. She kissed his shoulder, moved her hips in the rhythm of his, allowing the little aftershocks to ride over both of them.

"You do that to me, Rachael. I think you're going to give me a heart attack. I could make love to you a hundred times a day." He lowered her gently until she was standing waist deep in water, leaning into bis body, his arms enfolding her close. "I'm losing my staying power, have you noticed?"

Her soft laughter tightened every cell in his body, washed over him like clean rain. "I thought mat was me."

A crash in the bushes near the embankment alerted them that they weren't alone.

Rio whirled to face the danger, putting his body between Rachael and the wildly thrashing shrubbery. Two small cats tumbled out into the open, Fritz sliding down the muddy bank and landing in the water almost at their feet. Rachael's hand, on the small of Rio's back, felt the tension drain out of him.

Fritz howled as he pulled himself out of the water, spitting and hissing at Franz. The other male cat clearly laughed, waiting beneath the ferns until Fritz shook off the wet fur. Franz pounced a second time, leaping on his brother and rolling him back down the embankment. They tumbled together in a wild frenzy of fur and claws, making more noises than Rachael had ever heard a cat make.

She burst out laughing and hugged Rio around his narrow waist. "They're like a couple of kids."

He shoved his hand through his ma.s.s of silky black hair. "I know." He sounded totally exasperated. "I can't do a thing with them."

That made her laugh all the more. "You have no idea how incredibly s.e.xy I find you." She kissed his chin. "I'm going to swim while I still have the chance. The rain is going to start up again any minute."340.

"It is raining."

"That's just mist. Look at the rainbow!" She pointed overhead and dove beneath the surface, a flash of bare skin and black silky hair.

He shook his head as he watched her swim away, then turned to look at the two clouded leopards pouncing on one another like leapfrogs. There was no stopping the young cats when they wanted to play rough. He waded through the water to the flat rock where he often lay to soak up the sun. It was always humid and hot, but the spray of water from the fall misted over him, keeping him cool. His gaze strayed to Rachael as she swam in the pool, her bare skin pale in the clear blue of the water.