Dark Challenge. Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 5

Julian bent his head to brush each of her eyelids with the soothing touch of his mouth. “Then we can do other than see to it he remains with us.”

Desari lifted her face to his, smiling up at him as if he had given her the moon. “Thank you, Julian, for understanding. If you only knew Darius, you would see how important it is.”

“I have been in your mind many times, cara. I can see him as you do. I have also seen the iron will in him that allowed all of you to survive impossible odds. He is one truly worth saving.” Then his golden gaze was sweeping the length of her body, and once again there was a hungry gleam in the depths of his eyes.

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Chapter Nine

At once Desari was gone, leaping away from him like a gazelle, her taunting laughter floating on the wind as she alighted on the huge fallen tree trunk. She took his breath away, standing there naked in the moonlight, branches swaying all around her. The wind tugged at the waves of hair cascading around her body like a cape. A sound escaped his throat, something between a growl and a groan.

Julian was a hard man honed by centuries of a harsh existence. If he had ever had a sharing of laughter with others, it was but a vague memory of his youth. He had been damned to a life of solitude, yet now he wanted nothing more than to be with this one woman, to share his life with her, the mountains, the cities, the world. He didn’t know how to play, didn’t think of having a sense of humor other than an occasional strange amusement at the actions of another. But something new was rising in him. The sound of Desari’s laughter was finding an answering playful note somewhere deep within him.

He leapt after her onto the fallen log, reaching for her waist, but she was already gone, her body shimmering in midair then changing even as she landed lightly on another log and sprang away. Sleek, glossy dark fur now covered bare skin; her muzzle was rounded and beautiful. The female leopard glanced back once enticingly, then was gone, running lightly through the forest, blending in with the foliage.

Julian grinned and followed her, his frame stretching and contorting into the heavy, well-muscled shape of a male leopard. He could smell her wild scent reaching out on the night wind to beckon him, and the wildness in him grew in response. To the male leopard, the female’s scent was as alluring as the most expensive perfume. The female leopard’s cry echoed eerily in the night, calling out to him. The male responded as if the call were a whisper of seduction.

He picked up speed, and moved effortlessly, a streak of golden fur as he silently stalked his prey. When he saw her, the wildness in him increased until he was more primitive leopard than modern man. She was rolling playfully on a soft bed of pine needles, her curves sensuous, almost serpentine. She was so alluring, the male leopard could only watch for a moment, until his age-old instincts triggered his rising need and he cautiously approached the female.

The female eyed him warily but did not rebuff his approach. He circled her, watching her every moment. She rolled again, moved closer to him so that he could touch her with his muzzle. She accepted his caress, returned it with one of her own. They looked at one another and then began to run together, leaping over logs and branches, winding through the forest with consummate grace.

Inside the body of the leopard, Julian reveled in the stretch of muscles and sinew, in the night itself and the freedom of the forest. He smelled her welcoming invitation, read it in the seductive playfulness of her body. He stayed close to the female, nudging her occasionally, enjoying the way his body thirsted after hers. He was patient. A female leopard’s rebuff could be dangerous, and no male was going to risk her solid swipe. He simply stayed close to her, following his instincts.