Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

greeted the older man as she continued walking down the winding path into the trees.
    She was magnificent. Drake found himself smiling even as he confirmed the newcomer was definitely leopard. He fol owed Saria, resisting the cat’s desire to roar his triumph to the other males. Sometimes, my friend, using brains is far better than brawn, he soothed his cat. We’re close now. It will be soon. The swamp cal ed to the wildness bred into his bones.
    “What was that back there?” he asked, knowing she would wonder if he didn’t. “Are they upset because you got the work instead of them?”
    “I take customers into the swamp al the time,” she said. “I don’ know what got into them. They aren’t related to me and we don’ date, so don’ worry about it.”
    Drake glanced to his right without turning his head. Dion Lanoux paced beside them several yards away, winding in and out of the thicker stands of trees. To his left, Robert Lanoux did the same thing. There was no doubt their cats had scented his. This was going to be one very interesting investigation. More than anything else, he needed to find out just how big the lair was, how many members it had, and if one of them had become a serial kil er. He glanced at the woman leading the way through the grove. She walked with confidence, but she was nervous. Twice, her hand brushed the hilt of the knife and she sent several surreptitious glances into the surrounding trees.
    “I don’t want to make trouble for you,” he said.
    She sent him a smal glance over her shoulder. Yeah. She knew the Lanoux brothers were in the grove, pacing along beside them, and she didn’t like it one bit. She had to be the female his cat had reacted to. It made sense. He was reacting to the woman. The men were edgy with a stranger in their midst.
    That might be natural, but to actual y chal enge one wasn’t—unless a female was close to the emerging.
    The Han Vol Dan, the period of time when a female shifter’s leopard as wel as the woman were both ready to mate at the same time, was the most dangerous time for al shifters. The male cats became edgy and restless, combative and difficult to control. Drake studied Saria. There was no sign of a cat now, nothing that gave away that a female leopard could be hiding beneath al that glorious skin.
    It took him a good few minutes before he realized everything in him—every cel , every muscle, everything he was—reached for her. Saria Boudreaux belonged to him and he was going to have to steal her right out from under the noses of every single male in what looked as if it could be a considerable lair. And he had to do it right in the middle of a murder investigation. No smal task but there was no question, he was looking forward to it.
    “What?” Saria glanced at him over her shoulder again.
    He was grinning; he couldn’t help himself. It felt damned good to be alive.
    “Nothing. Just enjoying the evening—and the company. You live in a beautiful place, Saria.”
    She sent him a faint, pleased smile. “It is, isn’t it? Not many people appreciate it.”
    He fol owed her contentedly, and with danger pacing close and the night closing in, he felt right at home.

    Titles by Christine Feehan
    RUTHLESS GAME
    STREET GAME
    MURDER GAME
    PREDATORY GAME
    DEADLY GAME
    CONSPIRACY GAME
    NIGHT GAME
    MIND GAME
    SHADOW GAME
    HIDDEN CURRENTS
    TURBULENT SEA
    SAFE HARBOR
    DANGEROUS TIDES
    OCEANS OF FIRE
    WILD FIRE
    BURNING WILD
    WILD RAIN
    WATER BOUND
    DARK PERIL
    DARK SLAYER
    DARK CURSE
    DARK HUNGER
    DARK POSSESSION
    DARK CELEBRATION
    DARK DEMON
    DARK SECRET
    DARK DESTINY
    DARK MELODY
    DARK SYMPHONY
    DARK GUARDIAN
    DARK LEGEND
    DARK FIRE
    DARK CHALLENGE
    DARK MAGIC
    DARK GOLD
    DARK DESIRE
    DARK PRINCE
    Anthologies
    HOT BLOODED
    (with Maggie Shayne, Emma Holly, and Angela Knight)
    LOVER BEWARE
    (with Fiona Brand, Katherine Sutcliffe, and Eileen Wilks)
    FANTASY
    (with Emma Holly, Sabrina Jeffries, and Elda Minger)
    FEVER
    (includes The Awakening and Wild Rain )
    SEA STORM
    (includes Magic in the Wind and Oceans of Fire )

    Table of Contents
    Title Page
    Copyright Page
    Dedication
    Acknowledgements
    CHAPTER 1
    CHAPTER 2
    CHAPTER 3
    CHAPTER 4
    CHAPTER 5
    CHAPTER 6
    CHAPTER 7
    CHAPTER 8
    CHAPTER 9
    CHAPTER 10
    CHAPTER 11
    CHAPTER 12
    CHAPTER 13
    CHAPTER 14
    CHAPTER 15
    CHAPTER 16
    CHAPTER 17
    CHAPTER 18
    CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20
Teaser chapter