Leopard 02 - Wild Rain

it come out as it does with you?” She was outwardly calm, but inside a mixture of excitement and fear were beginning to blend. She scented the wind and understood the messages it carried. She heard the notes overhead in the canopy and knew the song. She saw small lizards, insects, a praying mantis, hidden among the leaves of the trees as if they stood out in bright images.
    The radio in Rio’s hand crackled. A burst of static followed. “We’re in. We’re in.” The voice was a mere whisper.
    Rachael knew the radio was important. She could hear the tension in the voice. She could feel it in Rio, but the wildness in her was blossoming, spreading like a savage heat through her body. With it came sight as she’d never known it. Thermal images rippled in reds and yellows as she stared out into the darkness. Night had fallen completely and the ghostly mist once more shrouded the canopy. White tails drifted in and out of the trees. They looked like white lace. She inhaled sharply and drew the night into her lungs.
    “Damn it, Rachael, I’m closing the door.” Rio bent down to peer at her face. “Your eyes are changing, your pupils dilating. You have to fight it.”
    Rachael blinked up at him. Rio sounded urgent, worried. She smiled at him to reassure him she wasn’t afraid. Well, maybe a little, but it was a good kind of fear. She wanted to reach for that other side of herself. She felt it strong now, purposeful, growing inside of her. She could shake off the anguish and pain and feel the sheer joy of living free. No responsibilities. No ties. There would be nothing but being alive to the sounds and scents of nature.
    The temptation was so strong she pushed away from Rio, back toward the door. Rio’s hands nearly crushed her shoulders. “Rachael, look at me.” He dragged her into his arms, held her tightly against his chest. He could feel the wildness rising in her, see it as she looked at him with eyes no longer entirely human. “Fight it. Stay with me, now. You can’t risk the change with your leg in such bad shape. Not the first time.”
    He kissed her. It was the only thing he could think to do when she was slipping away from him. When she looked so alluring, a temptress of the rain forest. The moment his mouth fastened onto hers, she circled his neck with her arms, pressed her body into his so that they simply melted together. In the heat of the forest her skin felt like hot velvet, sliding and rubbing against his so that the friction brought its own heat and excitement. His fingers tunneled in her hair, fisted there to hold her to him while he kissed her voraciously. Ravenously. Forgetting everything but the feel and taste of her.
    Rachael felt she’d gone from one dream to another. The wildness subsided into her to be replaced by another kind. Untamed, unbridled passion welled up and spilled over for this one man. The only man.
    She had thought to let him go. She thought to protect him and leave him behind. It would never happen.
    He was as much a part of her as her own head was. When they were together there was magic, laughter
    —love. It was a silly, simplistic ideal, but it worked with Rio.
    Rachael lifted her head to look at him, to take in his face, feature by feature. Tears swam in her eyes and she had to blink them away. “You’re so beautiful, Rio.” Her throat ached and her eyes burned with love welling up like a fountain.
    “You always tell me I’m beautiful. Men aren’t supposed to be beautiful.”
    “Maybe you aren’t supposed to be, but you are. I’ve never been around a man like you before.” Her fingertips traced the lines in his face, smoothed over his mouth. She looked into his eyes, and smiled.
    “It isn’t just your body that’s so perfect, Rio, you’re such a good man.”
    How could a woman tear a man up with a few simple words? Maybe it was the honesty in her expression, the love in her eyes. “Rachael.” Her name came out in a husky whisper. He couldn’t control his own voice.
    The radio crackled to life. The sound of gunfire could be heard in short bursts. Someone screamed.
    Pandemonium rang out. “Joshua’s hit. Conner’s trying to cover Drake and the vics. Damn it. Damn it.”
    More static.
    Rachael was watching Rio’s face carefully. His expression disappeared and he wore a grim mask.
    “How far away are they? How many miles away?”
    He looked down at her, blinked, kissed her mouth hard and turned to catch up his rifle. Rachael handed him the two