He loved the wild sight of her. Her scent, calling to him, was overpowering, a heady aphrodisiac as they continued deeper into the forest. Night creatures called back and forth. The continual flick of bat wings signaled the creatures hunting insects in the night sky. This was his world and he ruled. He approached her again, this time coming in straight behind her as she crouched. She stayed in position and everything in him settled.

His mate. His. He roared a challenge once to any male in the vicinity, and then he was on her, his teeth sinking into the back of her neck to prevent her moving, his body blanketing hers. All males were possessive and attentive when their female was in heat, and sex between cats could be rough. The large male leopard took his time with her, the drive to claim his mate overpowering. She cried out when he withdrew, spinning around to threaten him with her sides heaving and a grimace on her face, but when he rubbed his muzzle over her, she calmed.

They lay together in a heap of fur, tails twining around one another while he rested, and then he was on her again. They spent several hours together, but the male kept them moving slowly but steadily back toward the small cabin where their human counterparts were staying. They mated frequently and ferociously as was the way of the leopard.

As they neared the cabin, the female began to realize where they were and she tried to turn back to the forest and the freedom of living wild. The male, knowing the tremendous lure, prevented her, using his shoulder and upper-body strength to push her back toward the house. The reaction was very common for the first emergence, but it was necessary to curb it fast. Staying in leopard form for long periods of time could be dangerous, increasing the traits of the leopard in the human.

Isabeau smelled civilization and knew Conner was forcing her home. Already the change was beginning. The moment she recognized intellect, she knew her brain was already functioning as a human. The change started there, in her mind, a reaching for her human body. Almost immediately there was a reaction, a wrenching of muscle and bone. A small cry escaped, half human—half wild.

She felt the night air on her skin and she found herself facedown on the porch of their cabin, completely naked, her body in a terrible state of arousal. It made no sense when her leopard had been fully sated, but apparently the violent need manifested itself in the human—at least in her as well. She lifted her head to look at her husband.

Conner crouched a foot away from her, his golden eyes fixed on her face. He made no attempt to hide the stark, raw need burning through his body. With deliberate intent he reached for her, rolling her over onto her back, right there on the secluded porch. His gaze was fierce, almost as wild as his leopard as he came over her, his mouth seeking hers. He was ravenous for the taste of her, his hands moving, shaping, exploring, starved for the feel of her soft skin.

She lifted her head to meet him, their mouths fusing, welding, fastening together, tongues dueling while his hands kneaded and massaged her breasts, tugged and rolled her nipples until those soft little sobs of desperation began in her throat. Until neither could breathe and they were forced to break a scant few inches apart, drawing the air harshly into burning lungs and devouring one another with their eyes. His hands never stopped, moving down her belly until his fingers plunged inside her and she bucked helplessly against him. She felt as if she was so hot her center was melting.

“Hurry, Conner. Please hurry,” she pleaded.

He knelt between her legs and lifted her hips, hesitating a moment at her entrance. She squirmed, her head thrashing, not wanting to wait, trying to impale herself on him. He surged forward and she cried out, a broken, whimpering sound of intense pleasure as she felt him drive deep inside. Her tight sheath gripped him hard, reluctant to open, forcing him to push through those hot folds so that she could feel every inch of his heavy thickness.

The floorboards had no give, and when he held her still and pounded into her, the flames licked over her like a fire out of control, sweeping her up into a vortex of pleasure. Each time he entered her, he seemed to stretch her to capacity, his heavy erection burning like a brand between her thighs and then deep, so deep, until she felt as if he was lodged in her stomach. She could feel her body pulse and throb around his, grasping greedily, reveling in the wild pleasure he brought her.

Isabeau writhed and bucked under him, her hips tuned to his wild, jackhammer rhythm. Her breath came in ragged, harsh gasps and she pushed with her heels, wanting to take him even deeper. That thick shaft, so hot, pounded into her, stroked caresses, varied the tempo until she was shuddering over and over with such pleasure she could only gasp his name and dig her nails into his arms to anchor her there. The tension grew, her body winding tighter and tighter as he thrust into her, his hands anchoring her to him. He adjusted the angle of her body, bending over her, driving harder.

Her soft, keening cry drifted from the porch to the forest, the sound of their bodies coming together in a rhythmic, frenzied mating as molten fire poured into her body, and the pleasure burst through her like the rush of a drug. She began to thrash under him, her breath now a sob as the building pleasure increased until she thought she might not survive.

Conner’s face was a mask of harsh lines, lust etched deep, love blazing in the golden eyes as he furiously claimed her, jerking her legs over his shoulder, pounding ever deeper until she stiffened, her body clamping down like a vise on his. Her orgasm tore through her, taking him with her, so that she could feel the hot splash of his release in the midst of the ferocious waves ripping through her. She screamed, a loud, long wail of pleasure as the release gripped her and refused to let go, a fiery inferno that burned both of them alive.