She was so beautiful, all flowing skin, golden eyes glittering at him with a mixture of fear, excitement and heat. His leopard itched, trying to leap to the surface, but Drake forced calm. This was her first time and he wanted it to be a perfect experience for her. Shoes and clothes were stowed in the pack and slung around his neck.

She suddenly cried out and flung out her hand to him. Her knuckles curved, and beneath all that smooth skin ran something else—something alive and determined to emerge. He couldn’t take his eyes from her. She left him breathless. Her body contorted and she went down to her hands and knees. He kept one hand on her shoulder, stroking with his fingers. Her back arched and she lifted her buttocks invitingly.

“Please, Drake,” she whispered, an enticement.

Heat radiated from her body. She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes begging him. His cock was so hard he couldn’t take a step. It was all he could do not to slide his hands between her legs and stroke her inviting sex. She was so beautiful, her head thrown back, her buttocks high, her breasts swinging invitingly.

The moment he felt fur sliding over her skin, he leapt back, took a breath and called his leopard. A female leopard was dangerous. Moody. Edgy. Especially in heat. One never took chances. It was all about her. What she wanted—when she wanted. He had only to keep every rival from coming near her—and to keep her safe while he waited for her signal.

Golden fur, dotted with glossy black rosettes, covered the female form. She turned her head and golden eyes blazed at him, a haunting, smoldering fire that sent a shaft of heat rushing through his body to center every nerve ending in his groin. Her spotted coat was one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen. A luxurious, unique, exotically marked fur, the rosettes scattered like stars against gold.

She stretched as roped muscles and strong sinew formed and reshaped her, as she became fully leopard. At once the female cat rolled sensuously, rubbing her head along the ground and batting the air playfully with her paws. She looked at Drake’s male leopard with teasing eyes, rolled again as he began a slow, cautious circle around her. Her cat leapt to her feet. She rubbed along trees, sliding her fur over the bark, leaving her tantalizing perfume everywhere for all males to scent. Her call sign. Her signal of readiness.

Drake’s male made certain all males knew he was in the vicinity and no one would come near his female without a fight to the death. He followed the female as she went through the swamp, staying close enough to watch over her, but far enough away to keep from getting swiped by one of her paws should she think he was trespassing before she was ready for him. She was playful, then amorous, calling to him, rolling and stretching, each movement more seductive than the last.

They moved through the swamp, deeper into the interior until he spotted the cabin Remy had told him about. He left his mate long enough to get rid of the pack around his neck and then padded after her down to a stream. Vines tangled and knotted over the ground, and moss hung from the tree branches, swaying slightly in the breeze. He saw none of it—yet all of it. He had attention and eyes for his alluring mate, reading her every signal.

His leopard had waited years for his mate, and even now, when she was finally with him, he took his time with her, rubbing along the length of her, not pressing her, waiting for her to signal her readiness. She crouched twice, but both times when he approached, using caution, she growled a warning and leapt up. He simply backed off and continued their amorous games.

She rolled again and stretched, this time coming into a crouching position, her hindquarters raised, tail to one side. The male leopard was on her instantly, blanketing her bod nuzzling her gently, calming her with his teeth along the back of her neck as he entered her.

They spent hours together, the male taking the female repeatedly, over and over, every twenty minutes. In between, they lay together, rubbing sensuously along each other’s body. The sun set with the two leopards twining around one another, mating and lying together for short periods of time. Long into the evening the cats continued.

The moon had managed to emerge from behind a growing wall of clouds and then begin to recede when Drake once again took control, forcing his cat to push the female back toward the cabin. Once on the porch, he surfaced, shifting back into human form. Breathing hard, he managed to shove the door open before turning back to the female leopard.

“Saria. I need you right now. Come to me, baby. She’s strong, but you’re stronger. She’s had her time, now it’s our turn.” He circled his thick cock with his hand. “See what you do to me? I need you, baby. Now. Shift now.”

Oftentimes it was difficult to give up the freedom of the cat’s form, but Saria immediately obeyed him, shifting and landing in a small heap on the floor in front of him. He yanked her to her feet and nearly threw her against the wall, the leopard’s strength still running through his heavily roped muscles.

Saria’s breath slammed out of her. Drake’s eyes were heavy-lidded, his pupils dilated, nearly black with glittering gold surrounding the lust-filled dark circles. Pure sensuality was carved into the lines of his face, a carnal lust that only made the terrible hunger in her grow until it nearly consumed her.

Saria looked up at him, her eyes drenched in need. She was on fire. Dripping. Hot. She needed his hands on her, his mouth on her and his cock buried deep in her body. “Hurry,” she whispered. “Hurry, Drake.”

His hands covered her breasts, his fingers tugging and rolling her nipples. Pleasure streaked from breasts to the very core of her, leaving every nerve ending tingling as a strong electrical current surged through her body.