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 Me to him.
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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 bis 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, bis 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
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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?”