Intent on making soup, he didn’t turn around. “There wouldn’t be a problem, but I knew you couldn’t conceive. Not the way we made love.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“Because you’re one of us.”

Rachael lifted an eyebrow and regarded the broad expanse of his back. “How intriguing. Why didn’t I know this? You’d think my parents would have given me the information. Not that I’d mind running free in the forest though, that would be fun.”

He did turn around then and there was no answering amusement on his face. His expression was grim.

“No, you won’t go running in the forest, Rachael. Not now, not ever.” The smoldering anger was back, a fierce black roiling that swept through him like a dark tornado.

Rachael’s eyebrow shot higher. “Nice to know ahead of time there seems to be a double standard in your society for women. I already come from one of those societies, Rio, where women are second-

class citizens, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I don’t intend to join another one.”

“My mother wasn’t second-class, Rachael. She was a miracle to anyone lucky enough to know her.

And running free in the forest cost her her life.”

“It was a risk she took, Rio. You take it all the time. I took a risk when I let go of the boat and slipped into the rising river. It was my risk to take. In any case there’s no point in arguing, I’ve never shifted into any other shape but this one. Well, sometimes my weight goes up and down a bit and as I get older I think it’s redistributing and maybe changing my shape, but that’s not what you mean.”

“You’re one of us, Rachael. Drake knew it and so did Kim and Tama. You’re close to the Han Vol Dan.

It’s why you get edgy and moody.”

“Edgy? Moody? I beg your pardon! I donot get edgy and moody. And if I do, it’s only because I’m stuck in this bed.”

“Maybe that wasn’t such a good description. I’m trying to be discreet.”

“Well forget discreet and just say it.”

“All right. But don’t get mad at me. You’re close to the change and with it you’re experiencing a powerful sexual drive, much like a female cat going into heat.”

She threw the pillow at him. “I hardly think I’m acting like a cat in heat. I didn’t go after every male in the room.”

“No, but they wanted to go after you. It can be a dangerous time. You’re putting out signals, both scent and body signals.”

“You are crazy.” Rachael glared at him. “Are you tr ying to tell me you made love to me because I was putting out some kind of scent?” His back was to her again but she saw his shoulders shake. “If you dare laugh, I’m going to let you know exactly what a woman getting hot entails.”

“I wouldn’t think of laughing.” Sometimes lying was the better part of valor and the only way to save a man’s butt. “I made love to you because every time I look at you I want you. Hell, I want you now. I can’t think straight when I’m around you, but you already know that.”

Rachael tried not to be mollified by what he said, but it was impossible not to be pleased. She rather liked the idea he couldn’t think straight around her. “Seriously, Rio, why would you even consider I’m any other species other than human?”

“I’m being serious. I’m certain your parents were exactly as I am. I think the stories your mother told you were all the stories told to our children to teach them their heritage. You must have heard your father call your mothersestrilla and that’s how you knew the meaning of the word. The language is ancient and used only by our people, but it is universal to all of us no matter what part of the world we reside in. So even if your parents were born and raised in South America as I suspect, your father would have called your mother that at some time.”

“I can’t remember my father. I was very young when he died.”

“Do you have memories of the rain forest?”

“Dreams, not memories.”

“The humidity doesn’t bother you and the mosquitoes don’t go near you. You aren’t afraid in the silences or the stillness. Hell, Rachael, I walked in here as the leopard and you didn’t even flinch.”

“I flinched. There was definite flinching. You’re darned lucky I didn’t die of sheer fright.”

“You were petting the leopard. You couldn’t have been that afraid.”

“The soup is beginning to boil.” She made a face at his back. Maybe she hadn’t been as afraid of the leopard as she should have been. “Who wouldn’t pet a leopard given the chance? It was a perfectly natur al thing to do. I considered fainting, but I’m not very good at it so I thought I’d make the most of the opportunity.And, ” she continued before he could interrupt, “you have two leopards for pets, who knows if the big guy was part of the family. He walked in like he owned the place.”

He grinned at her. “I do.”

“Well, I’m not in heat.” She tried not to smile back at him. It was difficult when he was standing there, leaning one hip lazily against the sink and looking incredibly sexy.

“A man can always hope.”

She managed an elegant sniff of indignation, taking the mug of soup he handed to her. “How long before the hit man comes back?” It was a much safer subject.

“He could be holed up a couple of miles from here. It depends on how badly injured he was. He was moving fast and thinking the entire time.”