Riordan paced back and forth, his restless nature showing through his normally calm demeanor. Juliette had been in the house with her sister and cousin for most of the night. Dawn was only a couple of hours away, and he had yet to spend time with her. He understood completely the need to be with her sister after such a trauma, and he tried hard to suppress the selfish part of his nature, but fear was an ugly, clawing thing that kept him on edge. Solange and Jasmine wanted nothing to do with men. Riordan didn't blame them. Jasmine's gentle nature could barely tolerate what had happened to her. She was hanging on to her sanity by a thread. Juliette would help with her healing skills, strengthened by Riordan, but he knew the two women were a tremendous influence on Juliette. She also had a nature that demanded loyalty and responsibility. Jasmine was in pain, was terribly wounded. Juliette might feel she needed to stay with her.

The moment they had risen, he had fed, taken care of her needs and kept his promise to her family, bringing her straight to them. He knew they needed to be alone, and he had been the one to suggest he wait outside, but he couldn't help wanting to protect her from the pain of what Jasmine had gone through. It was difficult in the ensuing hours to keep his mind firmly away from hers to give Juliette and her family complete privacy, but he managed by pacing restlessly back and forth just in front of the small house.

He heard the door and spun around. Juliette was framed there, holding Jasmine and Solange to her, hugging them hard. She emerged with a bright smile on her face and tears in her eyes. It was obvious she had been weeping on and off for hours. Riordan's heart moved in his chest. He opened his arms, and she came into the shelter of his body.

He glanced over her head, nodded when Solange and Jasmine both lifted a tentative hand before closing the door. "I am so sorry I could not be there to comfort you," he whispered, brushing soothing kisses along her temple and down her tear-stained cheek. "I wanted to be there for you."

"I know. I carried you with me and leaned on your strength more than once. She needs time, Riordan. Please don't take the way they are personally. They'll come to love you, I know they will."

"They have given me acceptance," he pointed out. "I did not even expect that much, so I am grateful."

"I want to shift into another form and run away for awhile. I want it to be just you and me somewhere beautiful where I can't think about terrible things happening to people I love. Take me away, Riordan. Let's go find our pool. Let's just be together where I can't think anymore."

"Would you like to try a leopard form? I often use it to travel through the forest."

She tugged until he let her loose. "That might be best. I still feel like a cat inside." Being close to Riordan definitely brought cat traits out in her. "Let's try." The thought of losing herself in an animal form was enticing. It had been wearing, all those long hours, holding her baby sister, rocking her, crying with her. She looked up at Riordan. "In the end, there's no real way to take it back. No way to help her." Juliette looked ashamed for a moment. "I almost asked you if you could remove her memories."

"Not with that large of a trauma. I could perhaps lessen the impact, but it would be in her memories and she might not know why she had reactions to things that were upsetting to her. If you want me to try-"

Juliette shook her head. "Jasmine is strong. She can survive this, maybe better than the rest of us. I've never seen Solange so filled with sorrow. We chose to remain here, moving from place to place because mom told us the males were kidnapping women they suspected of being of jaguar blood and bringing them here. They have no one else, no hope of rescue other than us. So we stayed."

"Now there are others to help, Juliette. I will. My brothers will. My people will."

She smiled at him, for the first time, her heart lightening. "Our people, Riordan. I'm Carpathian now."

He trailed his fingers over her cheek, framed her face with his hands and bent his head to find her mouth with his. His kiss was gentle, loving, tender even. "Absolutely, you are Carpathian."

"So how do I make the change?"

"In much the same way as before. I have the image and structure in my head. Study it, focus on it and reach for it. I will help. With us, we actually have to hold the image in our mind the entire time we stay in the form. You become the jaguar. We are the image of the animal. We have all of its senses and abilities, but we must maintain the outer shell."

She liked the idea. It would occupy her thoughts entirely. And she found she wasn't quite ready to give up the freedom she always felt running in her jaguar form through the heavy canopy. Juliette stretched her arms up to the night sky. "Show me the leopard."

"The leopard is in your mind. Hold its form, Juliette, do not think you can forget it as you did the jaguar," he cautioned.

"With you to remind me, I doubt I would have a chance," she teased, already reaching for the image. It wasn't all that different from her own unique beginnings, but it was complex. As she changed form, so did Riordan. He made it seem easy and natural and fun.

The moment Juliette felt the familiar ropes of muscle, joy spread through her. She turned her head to look at the large cat beside her. He was big and shiny black with darker rosettes covering his body. He looked powerful and muscular and very alluring. She rubbed against him, body to body, a long affectionate signal to play. Whirling, she took off running in the direction of their private grotto.

Riordan, deep inside the body of the leopard, paced just behind her, admiring her sleek lines and beautiful curves. They leapt over fallen logs, rousted rodents from the shrubbery, chased a small squirrel through several trees and splashed through two creeks and up an embankment. Both raked the bark from the trees, Juliette trying to reach higher than the much larger male.

He rubbed his muzzle along her face and neck. His teeth playfully bit at her neck and shoulder. Her fragrance was ripe and enthralling, captivating him until all he could do was think about her. She teased him openly, running away, waiting for him to catch up, crouching temptingly in front of him, only to leap away before he could blanket her.

Riordan was grateful to see the shimmering pool of water waiting for them in the natural rock grotto. The high ferns screened the lush oasis from prying eyes, making it a virtual paradise.

They shifted together, Juliette laughing with glee. "That was so fun." Her gaze drifted boldly, possessively over him. "I see the experience was particularly arousing to you." Juliette stepped close to him, inhaling his scent. Her fingers trailed with tantalizing expertise over his aching erection.

Before he could react, she shifted her palms to his bare chest, "I don't think the change completely took the cat out of me." She ran her hands over his chest, feeling every defined muscle. "I thought I wanted all of it gone, every last bit of that DNA from my body, but I've changed my mind."

Her fingers rubbed over his skin in small, demanding caresses, transmitting a certain urgency. "What part of the cat remained behind?" It was hard to breathe when she was so close to him. When he was already throbbing and mercilessly hard for her touch. For her taste. He closed his eyes briefly. For the feel of her tight hot sheath surrounding his body and milking him dry.

She leaned forward and lapped at his chest, rubbed her body the length of his. "Touch. Touch is very important to cats." Her hand slid down his body, over his belly, wrapped around his thickened penis. Her thumb rubbed the sensitive tip gently. "Like this. Cats love to touch and feel. We like to be stroked." She smiled up at him. "Do you think you can manage a little stroking?"

She didn't give him the chance, kissing his chest, her mouth open and wet, her tongue working along his ribs and her teeth nipping until he thought he might go out of his mind. Riordan stood it as long as he could, with his body growing harder and the pressure building with every touch of her fingers and lips. He tunneled his hands into her hair and pulled her head up to fasten his mouth on hers. He devoured her, kiss after kiss, unable to stop to take a breath, his tongue dueling with hers.

The roaring could have been in his head, maybe it was hers, the roaring was so loud he couldn't tell. His body burned and ached and demanded relief. He kissed his way from her mouth to her throat, laved the valley between her breasts before stopping there, lavishing attention while he brought her body more fully into his.

Juliette twined one leg around him, aligning their bodies so the head of his penis was pressed tightly into her wet, welcoming entrance. "I don't want to wait anymore," she said, tugging at his hair. "I want to feel you inside of me."

He stroked her nipple with his tongue. "When?"

"Right now, this minute."

She tried to impale her body on his, but he moved, his mouth pulling strongly at her breast. With each strong pull a wave of liquid heat pushed over the head of his erection and trickled down the shaft.

"Are you certain?" When she squirmed again, he abandoned all pretense of teasing, caught her bottom in both hands and lifted her up onto him.

She cried out, sliding over him, fitting like the proverbial glove, contracting her muscles around him to hold him to her. She moved with him, meeting him stroke for stroke, urging him to move into her harder and faster. Her breath came in ragged gasps, but pleasure burst through her like a rainbow, beautiful after what seemed like endless darkness. She wanted their ride to be wild and abandoned and to go on forever.

Riordan, so tuned to her, drove into her body, going deeper with each stroke. He urged her hips into the rhythm of his. Juliette went unexpectedly over the edge, her body shuddering with pleasure, the intensity of her orgasm shaking them both. Riordan slowed the pace, heightening her enjoyment, drawing it out so that she had a series of strong orgasms. She moaned softly then cried his name, her nails digging into his shoulder. He allowed himself to go over with her, exploding with passion, riding the wave of pleasure until for the moment he was somewhat sated.

They clung to one another, her head on his shoulder, their arms around each other, as close as they could get. It took a few minutes before they could make their way to the inviting coolness of the pool, slipping into the water.

"I love this place, Riordan. Do you? Do you want to remain here in South America, or do you long to travel back to the place you were born?"

His white teeth flashed, robbing her of breath. It was always so unexpected, her reaction to his genuine smile. "I love this land. It has become my home, Juliette. And I would never take you far from you sister and cousin. You forget I am in your mind and can read your fears."

She grinned at him, looking mischievous, but obviously relieved. "What am I thinking now?"

His entire body tightened. "What you are thinking is anatomically impossible, but we can try variations."

She laughed at him, fully aware of his growing fascination with her. She hoped it would continue to grow for all eternity.

"It is obsession, not fascination," he pointed out.

She turned over to lie floating on her back, drifting with the small waves, staring up at the stars glittering over her head. "I'd like to think that somewhere out there is a man for Solange and another one for Jasmine. Good men." She turned her head to look at him as he paced slowly beside her.

Riordan scooped her up in his arms, unable to bear the melancholy in her voice. He wrapped her up tightly, holding her against his body, wanting to protect her from everything evil in the world.

Juliette brushed back his hair to look into his eyes. "Someone like you, capable of loving them no matter what. Someone capable of understanding what our lives have been like and the trauma they've been through. Do you think that will ever happen for them?"

"It really will come out right," he whispered, burying kisses in her hair. "Everything will be all right."

"I almost feel as if it will never be right again," she said and buried her face against his shoulder.

"They have us, Juliette. It will not happen overnight, but we can help them rebuild their lives. They are my family now, too. And they are under the protection of the Carpathian people."

She turned her mouth blindly to his, nearly sinking them beneath the lapping water. He responded, kissing her over and over again. His hands stroked her hair. "It will be all right, Juliette. I promise you, and I take my promises very seriously." He rested his cheek on the top of her wet hair, nuzzling her, making every effort to console and comfort her.

Juliette snuggled deeper against his body, tightening her hold on him. "I know as long as I have you with me, I'll be happy. With the two of us working together, I can only believe that the people I love will find happiness too. I'm not afraid of our life."

He lifted her chin and took possession of her mouth with his. They still had a few hours until they absolutely had to go to ground and he was determined to make the most of his time.

Christine King Feehan

Christine King was born in California, USA. She grew up with 10 sisters and 3 brothers. She spent a lot of time getting in trouble at school for writing instead of doing the things she was supposed to do. Later she forced her ten sisters to read every word. She said: "I've been a writer all of my life ¨C it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything. I mean everything. All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself."

Living in the beautiful mountains of Lake County, she always loved hiking, camping, rafting and being outdoors. She has also been involved in the martial arts for years- she hold a third-degree black belt, instruct in a Korean karate system and has taught self defense.

She published her first novel "Dark Prince" in 1999, starting a paranormal saga. Her debut novel won 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature for 1999. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards. She has received numerous honors throughout her career including being a nominee for the RWA's RITA and receiving a Career Achievement Award from the Romantic Times.

Christine is married to Richard Feehan with whom she has 11 children. Today, her daughters read and help her edit her manuscripts.

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