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  As the reporter clattered back down the moving staircase, passing a trio of policemen on their way up, Blake clasped her forearms and tugged her close. When he kissed her, she leaned close and focused wholly on him, everything and everyone around them ceasing to exist, to matter.

  When at last they went up for air, he cupped her face with outspread hands. “I seem to remember a little something about strawberries and champagne. Care to indulge?”

  Her smile wobbled. “I thought you’d never ask. But…the police?”

  “They won’t take long.” He nodded at the cameras. “We have all the footage we need.”

  * * * * *

  The taxi ride back to the hotel seemed interminable after what had ended up being a couple of hours interviewed by the police. Alexia told herself to breathe, to relax. But adrenaline after all they’d been through, all they’d survived, fired through her bloodstream like a firecracker with a shortened fuse.

  Her pussy throbbed with wet heat. Her breasts were heavy, aching, her nipples hard spikes beneath her slinky dress.

  It was as if all the stress, the pain, the tension of the last few days had coalesced into one big molten ball of desire that scorched her from the inside out. A fire only Blake could douse. Much more powerful though was the all-consuming love in her heart. A love she couldn’t deny.

  Not anymore.

  Neon lights flashed. A car horn tooted somewhere behind them. A small truck rumbled past, headlights blazing. She noted the everyday happenings even though every scrap of her attention revolved around Blake and her intense emotions toward him.

  Blake leaned forward in his seat, his arm around her shoulders tightening as he said to the driver, “I’ll pay you double the fare if you can get us to the hotel in half the time.”

  He leaned back with a slow release of breath. Her pulse quickened, her senses erupting into overload. She giggled and he turned to her with a perplexed frown. The stiff lines of his face abruptly morphed into an easy grin, his honey-rich chuckle then joining in with hers.

  She sucked in a breath and tucked her head under his arm, pressing herself close. “I feel as if I’m some teenager drunk on hormones.”

  His heartbeat drummed under her ear. “I know exactly how you feel.”

  Yet once they were in the elevator and riding up to the penthouse suite, Blake kept himself wholly in control. A control barely leashed, she realized, as she noted the tic of a muscle in his jaw, his clenching hands. His arousal.

  She jerked her gaze up only to see the knowing glitter in his stare. “See what you do to me?” he all but growled.

  Her pulse clattering, she managed a nod as the doors slid apart. He followed her out of the elevator, and though she didn’t hear him behind her, she knew exactly where he was, sensed his every movement.

  She stilled near one of the cream-colored leather sofas, her stare resting on him as he stalked past her and into the kitchen. Uncorking the champagne, he moved back and handed her a flute frothing with bubbles, his fingers brushing hers and sending a frisson of warmth from her nerve endings straight to her womb.

  Damn, she felt as if this was their first time.

  “Turn around,” he said huskily.

  She did so, her legs going weak as his hand grazed the top of her spine. The zipper gave way with a soft whine, air caressing her bared skin. She wore no underwear beneath the red dress, and she turned to him, proud and unselfconscious as his eyes devoured every inch of her, his hot stare roaming over her naked body as if he wanted to lick every inch of her like the big cat that he was.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured, causing goose bumps to dance across her skin, her feminine core aching with exquisite pleasure-pain.

  She watched as he undressed then, his deft fingers slowly unknotting his tie and tossing it aside. She took a sip of the champagne when he shrugged off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue at his bared torso, his sleek, sun-kissed skin and well-defined muscle.

  He stepped out of his pants and then his boxer briefs. She gulped the last of her drink and allowed him to take the empty flute from her hands, placing it on the counter beside his still-full drink.

  She stared, taking him in. His beautiful, aroused nakedness literally took her breath away.

  Wordlessly, he took her hand and then led her through the thickly carpeted rooms. Through a keyhole archway, heated, square white tiles were suddenly underfoot.

  A huge spa took up half a wall of glass ahead. Rose petals were scattered strategically, and another platter of strawberries and a bottle of champagne waited. Dozens of candles flickered in alcoves around the bubbling spa, the city lights outside the glazed, heat-misted windows a blurred wonderland that merged with the starry night sky.

  “You planned all this?” she asked, voice breathless. But of course he had. He’d made a call from his cell phone after the police had finished with them. She’d seen him talking into it when she’d come out of the public restroom.

  “I take it you like?” The smile in his voice edged on predatory.

  She didn’t care. She wanted to be taken by him. She wanted to be licked and bitten. A willing victim to his feline mastery.

  He moved his big hand to the small of her back. Shivers cascaded up and down her spine. Longing tugged at her belly. She nodded. “Oh, I like.”

  This…it was possibly the most romantic thing anyone had done for her.

  They slipped into the spa’s warm, fizzing water, sitting opposite one another. Blake took a sip from his new flute of champagne with languorous, heavy-lidded eyes. But she knew there was nothing sleepy or lethargic about him. He was suppressed, erotic energy about to pounce, to devour.

  He moved positions, abandoning his glass with a clack on the tiled edge of the spa. Selecting a strawberry, he proffered her the plump fruit. She leaned forward, biting into its juicy flesh. The sweet, delicate flavor burst in her mouth like an aphrodisiac. But it was his tender smile that melted her from the inside out.

  His eyes holding hers, he sucked the rest of the half-eaten strawberry into his mouth. Heat shot right between her thighs, and she discarded her own glass to move through the bubbling water and between his opened legs. She crawled up over his rock-hard cock, the amazing ripples of his abs and past his lightly haired chest.

  Her breasts flattened against his hard torso when she curled her hands over his broad shoulders. Pressing her mouth over his, she smothered his low growl of need.

  He undulated beneath her, teasing her pussy with his hard, slick cock, his hot skin sliding like silk under hers. And yet he didn’t dominate, not this time. Instead he followed her lead while she took control, kissing, touching and exploring.

  The cords on his neck stood out in sharp relief, the panther within stirring to life behind his eyes.

  It was its own form of torture, the anticipation, the deliberate withholding of sexual release. And then the moment of exquisite bliss when she clasped his cock and spread the soft folds of her pussy, before she finally sank down on him, impaled and stretched to the edge of pain.

  Blake closed his eyes on a groan. She stilled, her muscles adapting. The water sloshed as she began to move, slowly at first, then faster and faster, a pace dictated by an urgency neither could deny.

  Her moan edged into a sob. She couldn’t leave him. What they had together was magic and worth fighting for. Blake was right. They were meant to be together. Any other option was unacceptable.

  He met her rhythm, hips thrusting upward, skin slapping skin. Water heaved and splashed onto the tiles. A candle hissed then sputtered. But she was soon all too focused on the sensations within, on the toe-curling, heat-seeking pleasure that blasted her into another realm. A mind-blowing climax just seconds before Blake’s seed erupted inside her.

  Her name slipped from his lips when she collapsed against him. The spa fizzed around them, heating their already sweat-slicked bodies. Their hearts drummed as one when he kissed her head, drifting butterfly kisses to
the top of her brow while murmuring sweet nothings in the aftermath, his long, corded arms holding her close.

  Heaven, she thought drowsily. Surely nothing could compare to being with Blake like this?

  Long minutes passed before he made the first move to climb out of the spa. Using a warm towel from the heated towel rack, he dried her off. Somehow she couldn’t find the energy to return the favor, a wondrous, drowsy bliss leaving her boneless and utterly spent.

  Blake wrapped another fluffy hotel robe around her before snaring her in his arms and carrying her into the master bedroom. He laid her on a huge bed as soft as clouds, and climbed under the covers beside her, his spicy warmth wrapping around her as he took her into his arms.

  “Sleep now,” he said huskily, “because I plan on giving you erotic dreams all through the night.”

  Chapter Seven

  Alexia woke with a smile on her face and to the sharp, freshly brewed scent of coffee in the air.

  She stretched. Every muscle, every cell was awakened, rejuvenated.

  She’d never felt better. Happier. As though everything was good in the world and nothing bad could touch her.

  Her smile pulled into a grin. She couldn’t wait to see Blake’s face when she told him the shape-shifter journal was in her possession, safely hidden. It belonged to him, to his kind.

  She slipped into one of the soft white unisex robes—she recalled Blake taking it off her during the night when he’d made love to her one of many times—and padded barefoot into the kitchen.

  It really did have to be the big cat side of him that had him aroused and ready time after time. Not that she was complaining.

  She moved past the puddle of her red evening gown on the floor as she followed the coffee aroma. She spotted movement out on the balcony, where a now fully dressed Blake sat at a round glass table, an outspread newspaper before him.

  Her smile felt nothing short of indecent. She’d give him something better to do than read the paper. She’d sit astride him and open her gown, giving him an eyeful of her assets. She quivered with anticipation. Maybe she could unzip his pants and free his shaft. Then she’d ride him until his cock was streaming inside her and he was shouting out her name.

  Hell, right then she was so horny she didn’t much care if businessmen in their penthouse suites of other builders saw them wildly fucking.

  Except Blake didn’t hear her open the sliding glass doors, didn’t seem to register her at all. She watched with growing dismay as he slumped in the wicker chair, resting his downturned head in outspread hands.

  When he didn’t move at her approach, her belly bottomed out and all carnal thoughts instantly dissolved. “Blake, what’s wrong?”

  He straightened and swung around, his ashen face making her pulse skip a beat. He gestured to the headline and managed hoarsely, “It’s Shad. He’s been caught.”

  With a sinking heart and legs heavier than concrete, she forced herself forward the last few steps. The bold print on the newspaper screamed out worse than a slap to the face.

  Huge Black Panther caught in Australia.

  Her pulse racing, she scanned the sub heading underneath.

  Had world renowned archeologist, Professor Thomas Leigh, been right all along?

  Alexia pressed a hand to her mouth. Was this Liz’s attempt at an apology and some kind of effort at clearing Alexia’s dad’s name? She sank onto the nearest chair, barely able to digest the print, let alone the photo of an extraordinarily large cat pacing a too-small cage.

  She’d wanted her dad’s reputation restored, but not like this…never like this.

  Alexia looked up at Blake. His face was tight, yet weary and even a little resigned. She shook her head. “I never asked Liz to print this,” she whispered, her belly squeezing like a fist.

  Blake leaned back and scraped a hand over his face. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

  “Maybe at first,” she conceded. It wasn’t as if she’d pretended otherwise. “But not anymore. Better that the shape-shifters be forever shrouded in secrecy than even one of you captured.”

  Dear lord, if the news article questioned the fact the captured black panther might be a shape-shifter, had the secret of the Illawatti race been blown out of the water? “How much do you think the captors know?”

  Blake sighed heavily. “That’s just it, I have no way of being sure. We’re much bigger than an average panther. And Shad is the largest of us all. His sheer size alone will raise suspicion.”

  “Couldn’t he change shape and escape?”

  “It might not be that easy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If it is one of Leon’s men who caught him—and I suspect it is—then they know he’s a shifter. They’d have run whatever tests were needed to confirm his identity. They’ll make certain there’s no escape for Shad, either in human or beast form.”

  “So…we rescue him!”

  He put a hand on her arm, his nostrils flaring. “No. If we charge in there and you’re captured, you’d be hurt, or worse, killed.”

  “And if you go alone you might well be caught or killed too, which would be two less of the Illawatti tribe. You’d be all but extinct.”

  He jerked out of his seat and stalked over to the balcony rail, his back rigid and shoulders taut. “There’s only one thing now that I can do.”

  She followed him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek into the warmth of his spine and closing her eyes. “What is it?” Her eyelids flicked open as he twisted to face her. He splayed his hands across her ass cheeks outlined by the robe when he murmured, “I put my faith in the human race.”

  “I don’t understand?”

  “I go public.”

  Shock lanced through her heart. “No!” She pulled free, staring up at his harsh, determined face. “I have to trust that the majority of humankind will rally together to ensure our survival and freedom.”

  “But even if that were true, with all the government red tape it could take months, even years to take effect.” She shook her head, thinking of how far she’d been willing to go to clear her father’s name—and he’d already been dead. Someone else might well pretend ignorance to the goings-on in a science lab if it gave them even a glimmer of hope their sick or dying loved one might be given a second chance, thanks to a shape-shifters’ ability to heal and not age. “There will be so many more people who would sacrifice one of your kind to help themselves or a family member.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve run out of other options. I can’t abandon Shad.”

  Her breath hissed, her mind ticking over. “Of course you can’t. But if you think for one moment that your being human matters, think again. Even animal lovers can turn a blind eye to the thousands of animals being forced to ingest toxics or injected with cancers and HIV, and whatever other human diseases in the never-ending search for a better life or a cure.”

  “Whoever caught Shad, Liz knows them. I think they hope Shad will lure us in. They want us all, and no doubt have a buyer willing to pay big money for us.” His jaw hardened. “And I’m certain it’s not to keep us as pets. I have to go public, it’s the only way.”

  She touched his face, grief and rage filling her soul as though she’d already lost him. “No! You can’t. That’s too dangerous. They might take you away too, study you. I’ll…I’ll lose you!”

  “They might. Or they might not. Besides, your father’s name will be cleared. That’s all you ever wanted, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, Blake.” She stared up at him, loving him so much it hurt. “That doesn’t matter anymore, not now my father’s murderer has been caught. None of it matters. You are all that counts now.”

  His eyes flared. Focused. Intent. “Alexia…what are you saying?”

  “I love you, Blake.”

  He squeezed his eyes closed, and she could feel the shudders of elation overtaking him from the inside out. When he eventually opened his eyes, his stare was wet. “I love you too, A
lexia. More than life itself.”

  She clasped Blake’s hands in hers and looked up, holding his gaze. She wasn’t going to lose the man she loved. She wasn’t about to let the bastards win. Not this time.

  “You don’t have to go public. I have a plan.”

  He frowned. “Alexia, this isn’t a game. These people are out to win, by any means possible.”

  “I know that. I’ve worked with enough scientists and people outside my field to have a fair understanding of how their minds work.”

  The line in his brow deepened. “So what are you suggesting?”

  * * * * *

  The sun was high in the sky when the taxi finally arrived at its destination and pulled into a car park, next to an old building where her father once worked in his laboratory, analyzing his findings. But it was the manicured park opposite the building where she led Blake, her satchel held carefully to her chest.

  She sank onto a bench seat beneath the shady branches of a gum tree, Blake sitting close. He looked relaxed and composed, but beneath it all she sensed his whole body was wired with a need to move…to hunt.

  Vague scents of briny salt air mingled with eucalyptus and the far-off exhaust fumes of Newcastle’s traffic. The lunch crowd began to pour into the park to enjoy their hour of basking in the outdoors before they had to return to their respective work places, some bringing take-out and some home wrapped sandwiches or fruit.

  Alexia wasn’t surprised to see the redheaded woman approach them, right on time. The reporter stood out with her bright hair and even brighter crimson jacket and pencil skirt. Like a flag to a bull. Alexia nodded. “Liz, thank you for coming.”

  Liz pulled her coat closer to her thin frame, her face taut. She didn’t make eye contact with Blake. “I believe you have something for me?”

  Alexia nodded, undone the satchel and carefully pulled free the old journal. “This is worth far more to you than a shape-shifter who refuses to shift.”

  If Shad really had refused to shift shape, he’d also be unable to talk and give the scientists information no amount of blood samples could achieve. He was playing it smart, and paying the price for not cooperating. A price that apparently wasn’t sitting well with the reporter.