RACHAEL wiped the sweat from her eyes and stared at the claw marks on the wall. She hadn’t been dreaming. A huge leopard had been in the house, walking around as if it owned the place. It had looked at her with its eerie stare. The animal had rubbed up against the bed, against her skin, against her entire body, not once, but twice, against the furniture and had just stretched full length to rake its enormous claws down the kitchen wall, leaving behind telltale grooves embedded deep in the wood. She couldn’t have imagined such a beast any more than she could imagine the claw marks.

“Just when you think it’s safe to go back into the jungle,” she whispered aloud, afraid if she spoke too loudly the cat would return. “Rio? Rio, where are you?”

The door was open to the night, the mosquito net blowing gently in the mild breeze. The rain was a soft fall in the distance. Rachael sat up, taking care not to jar her leg. She had more strength, but her leg was swollen and painful even with slight movement. Dragging on Rio’s shirt, muttering as it snagged on her broken wrist, she threw back the cover. The gun fell to the floor with a clatter, the noise loud in the stillness of the night.

With a little sigh, Rachael fished around for it, reaching with her fingertips, trying to spare her leg until she was forced to move. There was no sound, but she felt the impact of his eyes. At once she could breathe easier. Rachael looked up to find Rio’s wide shoulders filling the doorway. She was used to the fact that he rarely wore clothes in the house. That his body was as hard as a rock. That there was something dangerous and different about him she couldn’t quite put her finger on. But she would never get over the sure power of his eyes.

“Aside from the fact that you left the door open and a leopard decided to visit, you have to stop taking these midnight strolls. Hasn’t anyone ever told you the forest can be dangerous at night?” Rachael curled her fingers into the blanket, making a fist, wishing she could jam it in her mouth and shut up for a change. Could she sound any more ridiculous lecturing him about the dangers of the forest when he knew far better than she? It was just that she’d been so afraid and the relief of having him back safe and unharmed was overpowering.