Which was another reason she worried the killer might be one of her brothers. Drake knew she wouldn’t voice it aloud again, but she was definitely worried.
“Weird how?”
“They never paid any attention to me at all while I was growin’ up. Well, Remy sometimes tried to tell me what to do, but he was always in a hurry and he’d leave after he’d give me some stupid order. They’ve lived their own lives and suddenly they’re all back and I can feel them watchin’ me. They want me in the house at night. Remy said not to go out into the swamp at night and more than once ’s checked up on me.”
He had to hide his smile at the disgust in her voice. “Imagine. Your big brother checking up on you,” he murmured.
She glared at him for a moment and then began to laugh. “I suppose that does sound silly. I don’ think any of them realized I grew up, and suddenly they’ve noticed and they want to put me back in my toddler suit. I’m so not appreciatin’ their attention.” She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed, thinking it over. “It’s strange when you think about it. I spent a good portion of my early years tryin’ to get their attention and now that I have it, I definitely resent it.”
He rubbed his shoulder against hers, a small feline gesture of affection. “I don’t think you were ever into authority figures, Saria. You just wanted to be part of them.”
She rubbed her chin on her knee. “I was happy when you told me about my leopard because all these years I’ve felt as if I didn’ belong with my brothers. It scares me, but at least I really have a family.”
He stroked a caress down her silky hair, his fingers lingering on the nape of her neck. “Of course you’re part of them, whether or not you have a leopard. You would still have all the instincts. I was injured some time back and couldn’t shift. I’ve been shifting since I was a boy. For the first time I experienced what it would be like for someone of our blood to have all the drives of a leopard without being able to unleash it.”
She took a sip of her water. Fascinated, he watched her throat work. The sun bathed her soft skin in a golden glow. He was fast becoming addicted to the sweep of her long lashes and her expressive face. He knew he was intrigued with her, drawn to her by more than the chemistry of their leopards. Her lack of guile appealed to him. The fact that he could occasionally catch glimpses of that sultry, sexy woman hidden beneath her innocent face only added to the appeal.
“What do you mean by that?” She rubbed her mouth with the back of her hand and turned her head to look directly at him.
His heart lurched. Those enormous dark eyes seemed a deep well he was in danger of falling into. Drake would have laughed if someone had told him just a few days earlier how fast and hard he would fall for a woman, but now . . . He was so far under her spell he knew there was no way out. He wanted to be lost in her forever.
“Leopards are moody, cruel, cunning, and passionate. Trap all those intense emotions into a body without an outlet, and you could have a very disturbed individual.” His fingers settled on the nape of her neck a little possessively.
She didn’t move away from him, rather snuggled closer to him, her thigh sliding against his as she reached for Pauline’s famous sweet dough lemon pie. The container was chilled to keep the pie as cold as possible.
“I feel moody sometimes,” Saria admitted as she carefully extracted the pie from the container. “Especially when someone tries to tell me what to do.”
He laughed. He’d never seen anyone enjoy food the way she seemed to—she seemed to enjoy life more than anyone he’d been around. She just lived each moment, in the moment.
“It’s true,” she said and held out the lemon pie to him. “You have to taste this. No one does a sweet dough lemon pie the way Pauline does. She Paus amazing. When I was little I’d go to her house nearly every day and she’d teach me to cook. She never got annoyed with me, or impatient, and she made the lessons fun. I love to cook because of her.”
Drake took note of the unconscious love in her voice. Pauline Lafont was a very special woman in Saria’s life whether she knew it or not. He didn’t take the pie from her hand but leaned over to take a bite. His gaze remained locked with hers. Her eyes went dark, those golden flecks flaring bright. Her lips parted, an invitation, although she seemed unaware of it. The tangy lemon burst through his mouth and he couldn’t help the slightly shocked look. “That is pure heaven.”
She used her finger to wipe at the lemon on his lip. He opened his mouth and drew her finger in. Her eyes went even wider, darkened with desire—for him. This was Saria, not her leopard, and he wanted Saria. He took his time, savoring the lemon flavor over her soft skin.
“I’m going to marry you for your cooking.”
She looked more shocked than ever. She pulled back, frowning a little. “Whoa. Back off, my man. Marriage isn’t a word you just throw around, not even when you’re jokin’.”
He took the lemon pie from her hand. “Who said I was joking? If you can make this concoction, believe me, baby, I’d die a happy man.”
Her lashes fluttered. He resisted the urge to kiss that look of utter confusion right off her face.
“Maybe you should just marry Pauline.”
He laughed. “I’d get certain benefits from marrying you.”
Saria took her lemon pie from the storage container and thoughtfully took a bite. They both watched the egrets walking with their long sticklike legs through the marsh as they savored the dessert. The water lapped gently in a soothing rhythm and a light wind rustled the leaves in the trees. Drake felt at peace. He waited for Saria to finish her pie and take another drink of water before shifting her so that she lay curled, her head in his lap. The breeze created a wave through the fields of flowers, a riot of color shimmering in the early afternoon sun. They sat in silence for a long time, with the sun beaming down on them and the wind kissing their faces.
Saria suddenly opened her eyes and caught him staring down at her. She lifted her hand to trace his strong jaw with the pads of her fingers. “I’ve been thinking about those benefits,” she said. “You’d think they would be worth it, but I’d drive you crazy. Or you’d drive me crazy. Marriage seems to give men a license to boss women around.”
He captured her fingers and brought them to his mouth to gently bite at her fingertips. “You have a very skewed view of relationships, Saria. I’m certain there are men who boss their woman around, but some men are looking for partnerships. If I’m attracted to you as you are, with your independence and opinions, why would I want to change you?”
“I always wondered that—why men would want to change women.”
“I don’t,” he said firmly, nibbling on her fingers.
“So I was wrong when I thought you were upset this mornin’ because I went into the swamp by myself? You didn’ think I needed my brother’s permission?” There was a challenge in her voice.