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He was fairly certain they were alone, someone else surely would have revealed their presence during the
short but intense fight. The house held no other human scent, but he wanted no more surprises.
A shudder ran through her body, trembling in reaction to the terrible wound on her leg. There was hard
authority in his voice. A distinct merciless edge that carried inherent danger. "No." She managed to gasp
out the word through her bruised throat.
Rio signaled to the clouded leopards. "I hope to hell you're telling me the truth because they'll kill anyone
they find."
He applied a field tourniquet quickly, knowing the animals would alert him if they found another intruder.
He couldn't imagine who would be stupid enough to send a woman after him. Rio lifted her with ease,
carried her to the bed and set her on it. She didn't look capable of murdering anyone, her face white and
her eyes too big for her face. He shook his head and went to work on the ugly wound in her leg. The
puncture wounds were deep and had done considerable damage. The cat had savaged the leg as she'd
tried to get away, tearing deep gouges out of her flesh, an unusual wound for a clouded leopard to make.
It was an ugly mess and needed more skill than he possessed. Rachael could barely breathe through the
pain. In the darkness, the man looming over her appeared invincible. His shoulders were wide, his arms
and chest powerful. He carried most of his upper body weight in sheer muscle. There were bloodstains
on his clothes. Blood trickled from the ugly gash near his temple. He was drenched, bis clothes torn and
soaked completely through. Water dropped from his hair onto her leg as he bent over her, the droplets
cold on her hot skin. He had a dark shadow along his jaw and the coldest eyes she'd ever seen on a
human... or a beast. Brilliant yellow-green eyes.
"Stop shaking." There was impatience in his voice. Rachael took a deep breath and forced her gaze
down to her mangled leg. A single sound escaped and her world began to blur.
"Stop looking at it, you little fool." He caught at her impatiently, jerked her chin up so that she was forced
to meet his glittering stare.
Rio studied her pale face, so drawn with pain he could see lines etched around her mouth. Beads of
sweat dotted her brow. The marks of his fingers showed around her throat, swollen and purple. His gaze
dwelt for a moment of speculation on her right wrist, noting the swelling, wondering if it was broken. It
was the least of his worries. "Listen to me, try to follow what I'm saying." He bent close to her, his face
inches from hers. His voice started out gruff, but even to his own ears, it gentled as his gaze drifted over
her.
Rachael pressed back against the mattress, terrified that his face would contort and leave her staring at a
beast rather than a man. She was floating in a sea of pain. A veil of haze blurred her vision, until she felt at
a distance from everything. A look of resolution hardened his expression, warning her. She made an
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attempt to nod, to indicate she was listening, terrified of the intensity of his unblinking stare, afraid if she
didn't respond he would suddenly grow a mouthful of teeth. All she really wanted to do was slide down
in the bed and disappear.
Infections start fast here in the rain forest. We're cut off by the river. This storm is a bad one and the
river is over its banks. I can't get you help so I'm going to have to take care of this the primitive way. It's
going to hurt."
Rachael pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle the hysterical laugh welling up. Hurt? Was he crazy? She
was caught in the middle of a nightmare with no end. She was in a tree house with a leopard man and
two mini leopards. No one knew where she was and the leopard man wanted her dead. Did he think her
leg didn't already hurt?
"Did you understand?"
He seemed to bite the words out between strong teeth. Rachael tried not to stare at his teeth. Tried not
to imagine them lengthening into lethal weapons. She made herself nod, tried to look intelligent when she
was certain she was insane. Men didn't change into leopards, not even in the middle of the rain forest.
She must have lost her sanity, there was no other explanation.
Rio stared down at her face, shocked at the way his stomach lurched at the idea of what he had to do to
her. He'd done such things before. He'd done far worse things. It was the only chance they had of saving
her leg, but the thought of hurting her further sickened him. He had no idea who she was. Chances were
good she'd been sent to kill him. He was a wanted man. It had been tried before. Rio snapped his teeth
together and swore silently. What the hell difference did it make if her eyes were too big for her face and
she looked so damned vulnerable?
The ram poured down onto the roof. The wind howled and lashed at the windows. He was uneasy,
hesitant even, something very unusual for Rio. He looked down, saw his fingertips brushing damp tendrils
of hair from her face, his touch almost gentle, and jerked his hand away as if her skin burned him. His
heart did a peculiar somersault. Rio pulled the small vial from the field medical kit strapped to his belt.
One hand clamped around her leg to hold her still. He poured the entire contents over the gaping wound.
Rachael screamed, the sound tearing up through her ragged throat to pierce the walls of the house. She
tried to fight him, tried to jerk into a sitting position, but his strength was implacable. He held her down
easily. "I can't tell you anything. I don't know anything." The words were strangled between trying to
breathe through the pain and her swollen throat. "I swear I don't. Torturing me isn't going to do you any
good." She looked at him, pleading, tears swimming in her dark eyes. "Please, I really don't know
anything."
"Ssh." Distaste for hurting her was bile in his mouth and he didn't know why. Most tasks were done
without feeling. Rio had no idea why he would suddenly develop compassion for a woman sent to kill
him. He filed her blurted revelations away for a better time to study them. The need to reassure her took
precedence and that worried him. He was a man who always wanted knowledge. Information. He wasn't [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]