Sometimes the wind blew a cooling wave through the room and over her. Always the rain fell. A continual, steady rhythm that both soothed and irritated her. She felt trapped and claustrophobic, confined as she was to the bed. It was humiliating to have a man see to her every need, especially when most of the time she wasn’t certain who he really was. Sometimes she thought she might be insane as the nightmare images of a man shifting into the form of a leopard replayed over and over in her head. There were moments she knew the man, where she was overwhelmed with love and tenderness, and moments when she stared into a stranger’s catlike, frightening gaze and her heart pounded with terror. Time passage was impossible to know. Sometimes it was daylight, other times, night, but the one thing she counted on was the voice to steer her through nightmares and help her find her way back to reality.

She stared sightlessly at the ceiling, trying not to be alarmed at the sounds of wildcats so close to her when she couldn’t see them. A shadow moved again, across the window, outside on the verandah. Her heart accelerated. The floor creaked.

Rio caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned as Rachael attempted to slip over the side of the bed. He leapt for her, his hands stilling her struggles. “What do you think you’re doing?” Fear made his voice harsh.

She looked directly into his eyes, her fingers clutching at his arms. “They’re here. He’s sent them to kill me. I have to get out of here.” She turned her head away from him to stare eerily into the corner. “They’re over there.”

Whatever she saw was real to her. She was so intent, it sent a chill shivering down his spine. “Look at me, Rachael.” He framed her face with his hands, forced her attention back to him. “I’m not going to let anything hurt you. It’s the fever. You see things because of the fever.”

She blinked rapidly, her bright eyes beginning to focus on him. “I saw them.”

“Saw who? Who wants to kill you?” He’d asked her a dozen times but she never answered him. She tried to turn her head away from him and remain silent. This time he had her face in his hands, holding her still, locking her gaze to his.

“You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Your eyelashes are long. Why do men always get beautiful eyelashes?”