Leopard 04 - Wild Fire

brush of fur against something rough—a tree trunk she guessed. She inhaled and scented something wild. Her skin tingled as she recognized the scent of a leopard.
    Conner stepped closer to her, his arm sliding around her to bring her tight against him. His lips pressed against her ear. “He’s hunting something close to us. Reach for the information. Even without your cat close, you can use its senses. You have a kind of radar. You must have known who was at your door sometimes before you opened it.”
    She nodded.
    “A cat’s whiskers are embedded deep in tissue and the nerve endings transmit information to the brain.
    You can use that information as a guidance system, sort of like feeling your way in the dark. You can read objects, where everything and everyone is in the forest, how close you are to it and what it is.” His fingertips slid over her face. “Like Braille. Right now, Elijah knows exactly where his prey is, his position and where he needs to strike to deliver a killing bite.”
    Conner couldn’t resist touching her. Cats were tactile and he needed not only to keep his hands on her, but to rub his scent over her. She rubbed her face along his chest and throat, without even realizing she was doing it. He remembered how often she’d done just that when they’d lain together, naked, skin to skin. He should have realized then. Scent and touch was tremendously important to their species—a necessary thing.
    Isabeau had taught him to play. With her, he’d felt different— more . Often, when he’d be curled up on the bed, cat-napping after a long and satisfying sexual encounter, she would stalk and pounce on him, so they would end up in a rough-and-tumble play that led right back to much more sensual play.
    He’d missed everything about her, especially the way she rubbed her scent all over him, like now. Just the feel of her soft body pressing close to his, the feminine fragrance rising around him, wrapping him up in her, so that when he inhaled he took her into his lungs. He wanted to hold her forever, to bury his face in that sweet spot between her neck and shoulder and just breathe her in until he knew she was real again.
    He tensed when Elijah made his move, just a scant thirty feet from them, leaping on the gunman, dragging him to the ground and holding his prey with a suffocating bite to the throat until all struggle ceased. He heard the soft thud of the body, scented blood and then death. All the while, he kept his arms around Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    Isabeau, grateful he had a reason to be close to her.
    He knew the exact moment she scented death. Her body trembled slightly, and she snuggled a little deeper into him, but he was proud of her. She stood. There in the darkness, with enemies in the night, and violence and death, she stood. That was the kind of mother he wanted for his children. A mate who would stand with him no matter the circumstances.
    How the hell had he been so blind? How could he have blown his chance with her? He’d more than disappointed her. Her first experience, her first love, had betrayed her, left her with nothing but a dead father and too many questions. She hadn’t even known his real name. How did one get forgiveness for that kind of betrayal?
    Something moved off to their left and just in front of them. Leaves crackled. He felt Elijah’s sudden stillness. His hand slipped over Isabeau’s mouth, a gentle reminder to stay quiet. She looked up at him and his breath caught in his throat. There was no fear there. Her eyes were beautiful, like two jewels pressed into the pale moonlight. He held a finger to his lips and indicated she stay where she was. She nodded in understanding, but when he slowly loosened his grip to step away from her, she caught his arm.
    He leaned into her, pressing his lips to her ear. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move. Not a muscle.”
    He didn’t like leaving her, but the enemy was too close and Elijah couldn’t get to him before the man would discover them. Their adversary was moving closer, the tread of his boots loud in the night. Conner let his lips drift over her ear and into her hair, savoring her for just one moment before he moved away to intercept. He didn’t look back, but he listened. There was no rustle of clothing, no sound to indicate she’d moved, yet she must have been a little afraid left by herself deep in the rain forest with a leopard close by and men