He grinned at her, a small, mischievous little boy grin. “Several forests. There aren’t any such things as borders or rivers or places we can’t go. We do have to be a little careful in their territory. They’r e like rats, they go underground in their maze of tunnels in the fields. That’s why we lead them into the forest.
We scatter, the men change form and I’m the bandit’s only hope of retribution.”
She was furious all over again at the elders. So much so that she balled the pillow into her hand and threw it against the wall in a small fit of temper. “They take advantage of you, Rio. You’re risking your lif e to help them get away.”
“Sestrilla,it isn’t like that. The others risk their lives going into the camp while I’m safe a mile away.
We all take risks. We’re at risk when the poachers enter our territory and try to kill the endangered animals. It’s what we do, who we are. I want to do what I do.”
“And the elders sit back and count the money you all bring them. I’ll bet there’s no risk at all to them.
They just send you out, filling your head full of good deeds and necessity and count themselves lucky you’re willing to risk your life for the cause.”
“You’re really angry.” She was. He could see her body was trembling. More than that, she was close again. He could feel the sudden tension, the wild power in the room, caged but seeking freedom. She exuded a strong sensual pull.
“I detest people like that. They make the rules for everyone else and then sit back nice and safe calling the shots, making life-and-death decisions for people and reaping the monetary rewards.”
She wasn’t talking about the elders in his village. Rio remained silent, waiting to see if she would continue, but she pushed off the bed and went to the door, flinging it open to stare outside at the beckoning forest.
All the talk of the mythical Han Vol Dan, of her mother running free, made her yearn for the same freedom. Just for a few minutes to be something else, something different, with more control, more freedom. The ability to run along the branches of the tree. She held up her arms to embrace the idea.
Deep within her she felt the stirring of power. Something untamed. Wild. Something desiring to be free.
Fire raced through her bloodstream and something alive moved beneath her skin. Her fingers curved.
Her face ached. Bones cracked and snapped.
“No!” Rio said it sharply, caught her shoulder and jerked her away from the door, back into the safety of his house. He wrapped his ar m around her waist as if that would anchor her to him. “What did you think you were doing?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t look at him. She could only look at the temptation of the trees, the swaying foliage and thick canopy. Even the rain seemed to call her with its steady rhythm. “What am I doing, Rio?”
“Your leg isn’t healed enough for that. It would never survive the change without further injury. You can’t give in to it yet.”
“Is it possible to stop? If it’s in me, won’t it come out as it does with you?” She was outwardly calm, but inside a mixture of excitement and fear were beginning to blend. She scented the wind and understood the messages it carried. She heard the notes overhead in the canopy and knew the song. She saw small lizards, insects, a praying mantis, hidden among the leaves of the trees as if they stood out in bright images.
The radio in Rio’s hand crackled. A burst of static followed. “We’re in. We’re in.” The voice was a mer e whisper.
Rachael knew the radio was important. She could hear the tension in the voice. She could feel it in Rio, but the wildness in her was blossoming, spreading like a savage heat through her body. With it came sight as she’d never known it. Thermal images rippled in reds and yellows as she stared out into the darkness. Night had fallen completely and the ghostly mist once more shrouded the canopy. White tails drifted in and out of the trees. They looked like white lace. She inhaled sharply and drew the night into her lungs.
“Damn it, Rachael, I’m closing the door.” Rio bent down to peer at her face. “Your eyes are changing, your pupils dilating. You have to fight it.”
Rachael blinked up at him. Rio sounded urgent, worried. She smiled at him to reassure him she wasn’t afraid. Well, maybe a little, but it was a good kind of fear. She wanted to reach for that other side of herself. She felt it strong now, purposeful, growing inside of her. She could shake off the anguish and pain and feel the sheer joy of living free. No responsibilities. No ties. There would be nothing but being alive to the sounds and scents of nature.
The temptation was so strong she pushed away from Rio, back toward the door. Rio’s hands nearly crushed her shoulders. “Rachael, look at me.” He dragged her into his arms, held her tightly against his chest. He could feel the wildness rising in her, see it as she looked at him with eyes no longer entirely human. “Fight it. Stay with me, now. You can’t risk the change with your leg in such bad shape. Not the first time.”
He kissed her. It was the only thing he could think to do when she was slipping away from him. When she looked so alluring, a temptress of the rain forest. The moment his mouth fastened onto hers, she cir cled his neck with her arms, pressed her body into his so that they simply melted together. In the heat of the forest her skin felt like hot velvet, sliding and rubbing against his so that the friction brought its own heat and excitement. His fingers tunneled in her hair, fisted there to hold her to him while he kissed her voraciously. Ravenously. Forgetting everything but the feel and taste of her.
Rachael felt she’d gone from one dream to another. The wildness subsided into her to be replaced by another kind. Untamed, unbridled passion welled up and spilled over for this one man. The only man.
She had thought to let him go. She thought to protect him and leave him behind. It would never happen.
He was as much a part of her as her own head was. When they were together there was magic, laughter
—love. It was a silly, simplistic ideal, but it worked with Rio.
Rachael lifted her head to look at him, to take in his face, feature by feature. Tears swam in her eyes and she had to blink them away. “You’re so beautiful, Rio.” Her throat ached and her eyes burned with love welling up like a fountain.
“You always tell me I’m beautiful. Men aren’t supposed to be beautiful.”