Her leopard stretched and rubbed, still giving her comfort. Letting her know she wasn’t alone. They were together. She would never be alone. Her leopard had given her that at an early age. Because Evangeline had had her all of her life, she hadn’t realized what a rarity it was for a female leopard to reveal herself. No one ever knew whether or not a woman had her female until the time when she began to rise—when the cycle of the female leopard and her female human counterpart coincided. Evangeline’s leopard had risen to provide her with comfort and security—with companionship and a fierce loyalty, that same fierce loyalty Evangeline felt for her leopard.

“We’re a team,” she whispered as she crushed the lace-trimmed sheet to her breasts. “I want him. I want to make certain someone loves him and watches out for him because he’s never had that and he can be, with me, with us, so oddly gentle. But, Bebe, he will eat us alive. You know that, right? He’d take over our lives and I wouldn’t be happy. Neither would you.”

Evangeline didn’t let too many people in. She didn’t want or allow them close to her. Alonzo had crept inside when she wasn’t really paying attention. All those months of him coming in and being so quiet. She liked quiet. She’d grown up in silence, listening to the breath of the swamp, and that was her safe place—silence. Away from people.

Confused and annoyed with herself, she hopped out of bed. Evangeline rarely used lights at night and she didn’t now. Pacing, she thought about her options. If she stayed, she knew Alonzo Massi wouldn’t go away. He’d made that very clear. “I wish you’d weigh in on this,” she snapped, annoyed with her leopard.

She immediately got the impression of languid amusement. We can handle them. Man and leopard. No problem.

Evangeline clenched her teeth. “You just want that male.”

The female moved restlessly for a moment and Evangeline instantly felt hunger rise. It was sharp and terrible, a burning need that subsided almost immediately but for that moment was intense and impossible to ignore. Evangeline went very still as fire raged through her. She swore softly in Cajun and then abruptly ripped a small bag from her closet.

“You freakin’ hussy. You’re goin’ into heat, aren’t you? Oh. My. God. I’m savin’ us both. We’ll go back to the swamp. Even if he tries to track us, no one is as good as we are there. I just have to hide you until it’s over. You should have told me.”