Hot Blooded

for not understanding what would occur.
    Juliette opened her eyes and looked up at him.
You're crying blood,
Riordan. Don't cry for me. I chose this path
    and I didn't expect my passing from one to the other to be easy. I feel
the jaguar fading in strength. I knew from your memories that human women with
psychic abilities could be converted, and all the jaguar women, and hopefully
the descendents with more diluted blood, are psychic. I had hoped Solange would
find a Carpathian to bring her the same happiness, and even, eventually,
Jasmine, but I fear the jaguar in Solange is far too strong. It would never let
her go.
    Had I not taken you when you saved me from the laboratory, you would have
been home to aid your sister
. He couldn't say the words aloud to her. He
whispered them in her mind. The idea that a male would commit such atrocities
against a woman burned like a hole in his belly.
    I was not expected back that night, Riordan. Jasmine knew I would draw
the human trackers away. Neither of us expected an attack by the jaguars. I
didn't even know they were in our part of the forest. I wasn't worried about the
males.
    He forced air though his lungs, so much rage in him the ground shook.
I
know her through you. A younger sister who will remain scarred for life. I
wanted to insist she come home with us to the ranch, but I have brought you
fully into my world. Who will be with her in the hours when she is alone
?
    The next wave was even longer, her thrashing body creating waves in the pool.
Water splashed in agitation. The flames from the candles leapt as if a wind
rushed through the cavern. The lights flickered, and the scents mingled to bring
healing aroma wafting over the pool.
    Juliette's nails dug deep into Riordan's skin. It took a few moments to find
her breath again.
She'll always have me. And now you. She's uneasy with your
presence, and so is Solange, but they'll get better with time. We'll be more
able to watch over them. Two of us with the Carpathian gifts will be able to
guard them more carefully
.
    He bathed her, taking his time, cleaning her skin thoroughly, his hands
lingering in places he sensed soothed her. The water helped to keep her skin
cool.
    The water helps. And the feel of your hands. When I dreamt of you, I
dreamt of your hands touching me. I knew what they'd feel like on my body before
you actually touched me physically.
    "When did you dream about me? Did I look the same?"
    Your hair was flowing in the wind, and you had that same incredible
smile. I couldn't see your eyes as clearly because you were touching me and I
was feeling rather than looking.
    His heart nearly stopped beating. He remembered his dream vividly. He had
awakened with a terrible hunger and his body alive with heat. He hardly
recognized the sexual urges, he hadn't experienced them in centuries. He heard
her in his mind, laughing softly, sensuously, calling to him. She was running
just ahead of him, her scent ripe with heat. In his dream he had no choice but
to follow her. She was always just out of reach, a tantalizing temptation,
leaving in the air behind her a trail of sexual excitement.
    We must have been close to one another and I was telegraphing my need.
The purer the blood of the jaguar, the more the sexual heats hit us hard.
Fortunately, there aren't many of us women left. We stay as far away from the
males as possible.
    Riordan closed his eyes against the next wave of pain. The convulsion
actually took her out of his arms, so that she nearly sank beneath the agitated
water. He cursed his people, even his God, everything he could think of, then
began to pray, promising everything he could think of if only her ordeal would
be over.
    He heard her soft laughter in his mind even before the pain leeched from her
body.
You're going to save the world if this stops
?
    He rubbed his chin over the top of her head. "I was desperate. It has to be
over soon."
    No wonder women have all the babies.
    "Not you, not if it is anything like this. We will do without babies. I am
serious, Juliette. I think I am going to be sick."
    Well don't. I'm sick enough for both of us. I'm so tired. I just want to
sleep.
    He waded out of the pool, bringing her back to the rich, welcoming soil. "I
can send you to sleep the moment it is safe to do so." He kissed her eyes
closed. Kissed the corners of her mouth. "I love you."
    How strange. I love you too.
    It took two more intense waves of burning fire