He knew Saria couldn’t have imagined a leopard bite. It was fairly distinctive. She’d agonized over writing the letter to Jake, so there had to be truth in what she’d seen. Leopards left trails. They marked everything. Where they’d been. Territories they moved through. It was natural behavior and, although he was extremely strong and controlled, he doubted if he could stop his leopard from marking. Especially after a kill.

He retraced every step, aware time was slipping away. He didn’t trust the marsh at night. The lair of leopards was so out of control, it was impossible to know what they might do next. Before anything else, he had to keep Saria safe. He needed to get back to the inn, shower, collect his team and meet Saria’s brothers. There was nothing here to indicate leopard, but there was no doubt in his mind that Fenton’s Marsh was a killing ground.

He made his way back to Saria as the sun was setting. Layers of crimson red, burnt orange and antique gold filled the sky, turning the reflecting waters surrounding the tip of Fenton’s Marsh into shades of color. An alligator, so still it appeared to be a log, sat on the bank, just above the reeds. A slight breeze created a ripple through the field of reeds, so that waves appeared to be lapping at the alligator’s feet. The gator was large, at least eighteen feet or more, a majestic, prehistoric creature from another age.

Bats wheeled and dipped over the water, feasting on insects, small dark bodies against the colorful sky. The birds walking like stick figures in the reeds seemed no more than cardboard silhouettes against the brilliant colors of the sunset. The tree trunks reflected in the water made it look like a painting, shimmering colors of gold and red.

The swamp was breathtaking as the sun came down. Saria crouched low, eye to her camera, capturing the beauty of the coming evening in a frozen image. Her clothes were streaked with dirt and her hair was wild, but she belonged there in the midst of all that beauty. She took his breath away. He could see the outline of her breast pushing against her T-shirt, that soft inviting curve, her narrow rib cage and tucked-in waist. As she shifted position, he admired the curve of her butt and hips.

Saria moved with confidence in spite of the sun going down. She was unafraid, even though she was well aware of the dangers of the swamp. She took several pictures, snapping quickly, and he waited patiently so as not to disturb her. She was leopard. She would know he was there.

When she slowly straightened, stretching to loosen tight muscles, he shifted, emerging naked, going for his clothes. She turned to watch him, raising the camera to her eye again and snapping as he pulled on his jeans.

“You didn’t?”

“Just your face.” She laughed. “You had such a shocked look I couldn’t resist. You’re not the only perv here, you know.”

He loved that she was unapologetic about enjoying his body. He found it strange that he’d only just met her. It seemed a lifetime ago, as if he’d known her forever, and yet each encounter was perfect and new. He had often imagined falling in love as a slow process. Learning about one another, the incredible chemistry that came with that first rush of desire and then a slow, smoldering growth that was calm and sure and steady. His experience with Saria was all of that and nothing like that. He fell like a ton of brick, dropped right into her fathomless dark eyes and kept falling.

He knew he couldn’t live without her, when only a few days ago he didn’t know of her existence. He’d been half alive, walking through the world without seeing or appreciating the beauty of it. Saria gave him the gift of sight. The sound of her laughter was like music on the wind, elusive and impossible to catch, yet she’d given him that gift as well. The trust in her eyes when she looked at him humbled him. The way she freely gave herself to him, uninhibited, willing for him to instruct her just so she could please was a gift beyond all measure.

“Take us home, Saria. We’ll get cleaned up, pick up my team and go meet your brothers.”

She blinked, looked away from him and spent an inordinate amount of time putting her camera away while he dressed.en tigh/div> Drake moved up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Tell me, honey. If you’re worried, talk to me. I don’t want you ever to worry needlessly. We can figure it out.”

She moved against him, fitting her body into his as if for reassurance. “Are you expectin’ trouble with my brothers? Is that why you’re bringin’ your team?”

“Is that what you thought?” He nibbled on her neck, finding the sweet spot where her neck and shoulder joined. He could tell he found it by the way her breathing changed. He kissed her there several times. “I want your brothers to get to know them as human beings. We need allies in the lair. We can’t be fighting them all the time and your brothers are a force to be reckoned with. Remy is strong and intelligent, a natural leader. The lair will listen to him.”

She turned in his arms, linking her hands behind his neck. “Merci. I don’ want you fightin’ with my brothers.”

“I doubt there’s need. Unless, of course,” he bit gently on her shoulder and nibbled his way up her throat to the corner of her mouth, “they try to take you from me.”

“I think they’re glad to get rid of me, at least until my little hussy emerges.”

He pulled back to look down at her. “Saria, you don’t think we’re going to have a one-night stand do you?”

She frowned. “I was hopin’ we’d practice a little before she emerges,” she admitted, color sweeping into her face. “I know I can please you if you just give me the chance.”