She was laid out before him. Her back arched, partially against the wall. Hair flowing down toward the patio floor. Breasts thrust toward him. Her body impaled on his. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight.

“I need the words tonight, mi amorcito. I need to hear them again.”

She smiled at him. Her soft mouth. Her beautiful eyes. “I love you more than life, Elijah.”

He let her back rest against the wall to hold her up just for a moment while he ran his hands from her shoulders, down over the curves of her breast, along her abdomen, his fingers splayed wide. Taking in his children. Holding them inside of her. He knew she saw the sorrow in his eyes when her body tightened around his. She pulled herself up, dropping her legs, trapping his hands there.

“Just wait to find out what Doc says,” she whispered. “Let’s go run, Elijah.”

He knew it would help to lose himself in the freedom of his leopard. He nodded, took her hand and led her off to the edge of the patio. He liked their combined scents. He liked knowing it was his seed trickling down her thigh. He forced his mind away from the thought of losing their children to the joy of running free. And then he shifted.

21

THE male leopard took the lead, running free away from the sometimes suffocating house that belonged to humans. He kept his female close, mostly because he liked her that way. She was in a playful mood. He wasn’t. He needed to run, to allow some of the aggression to ebb away.

The little female followed him for a long while as he led her deep into the center of the property, far from the house. The land was beautiful, rolling slightly rather than flat, and the vegetation wasn’t manicured, it was wild and dense. His mate seemed happy enough to follow him once she got the idea that he wasn’t playing, but then she began to lag behind him, stopping every few minutes to examine the ground, follow the trail of a fox, dig around a rotting log. Generally not complying with his wish to keep moving.

When he rushed her, glaring at her with his snarling mouth and focused stare, she simply rolled over and rubbed her fur along the ground and then came to her feet to rub along his body enticingly. Just like that his mood swung from temper to amorous. He gave her whatever she wanted, running beside her, playing, rolling with her in the deep grass, sliding his fur-covered side along hers, springing away when she swiped at him and moving into position when she crouched invitingly in front of him.