He stirred.

His bed was soft, yielding. His cock was surrounded by moist heat.

He breathed in deeply, dragging in the pungent scent of sex and…the woman. He didn’t need light to know whose body cradled his manhood. Urgent, powerful desire flooded him. His shaft filled instantly, stretching the walls of her tight sheath.

Her legs moved restlessly around his hips, pulling him deeper inside her. She moaned sleepily—her sweet breath gusted on his cheek.

His chest expanded, drawing richly scented arousal into his flaring nostrils. This was life! What he’d prayed for as he lay helpless in the jaws of his enemy.

The woman from the cave had given his spirit birth and drawn him from the darkness with her sensual scent and strength of will. Now, she caressed his cock into full arousal with the tremors that rippled along her channel.

He was powerful, immortal—in her arms, in her womb. He rose, hooked her legs roughly in the crook of his elbows, and lifted her buttocks high to receive his life, his seed.

The power of his thrusts shook the soft bed beneath him, drove loud gasps from the woman’s body. Her belly and thighs tightened, her sex squeezing to milk his cock.

In a powerful explosion of energy and heat, he surged into her, merging his body to hers, searing her soul with spurts of his immortality.

Light shimmered around him, seeping from his skin, and he cried out as, suddenly, the woman shoved at his body, screams ripping from her throat.

The other raged within him, fighting to break through to the surface. He resisted, but withdrew from the woman, backing away on the mattress. Her horror wrenched at his heart, but he didn’t reach out to her to comfort her as he wished.

He let her go, and she slithered backward off the bed.

Watching her recoil from him, he lifted a hand toward her, imploring her not to fear him. Then he let himself submerge beneath the other, to wait once more.

Lani scooted off the bed, falling to the floor, but she barely registered the pain. She kept moving away until her back came up against the wall. She stared in horror at the man whose skin shimmered like a golden sun—the Indian from her dream!

Only she wasn’t sleeping now. And he wasn’t a figment. His come oozed from inside her body to slick her thighs.

She’d awoken in the dark, warmed by the body thrusting into hers. Her core had gushed its invitation, accepted his invasion. Her cunt had spasmed and clutched his cock, trying to pull him deeper inside.

The orgasm he’d coaxed from her had shaken her entire body.

Now, she stared in horror at the Indian kneeling on her bed. His glowing body still shuddered. His cock glistened, coated with their release. His expression as he stared at her was primal, predatory—possessive.

Then the brightness dimmed, and she was once again in darkness, listening to the sounds of ragged gasps coming from the bed.

She sobbed, fear for her safety and worry over Rafe’s disappearance holding her immobile.

“Sweet Jesus! Lani!” Rafe’s voice, hoarse and strained…came from the bed.

It was a trick! She knew what she’d seen—the stranger on the bed—in her body. Lani put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, wanting to disappear into the darkness. This wasn’t happening. She wasn’t really here. This was a nightmare, and she’d wake—she had to wake up!

“Lani, please.” Hands—Rafe’s hands gripped her shoulders. “Stop crying, baby. I’m here.”

She shook her head and batted at his hands, trying to scoot away. Her sobs were broken, mewling. They sounded far away—she couldn’t be making them. Someone else’s heart was breaking.

Rafe’s hands shook as he reached for her. He didn’t understand what had just happened, but he needed to hold her. Christ! What had happened? What had he done? Weak and trembling though he was, he drew her into his arms and rocked with her, crooning into her hair.

Finally, her hands crept to his shoulders, and she clutched him, falling against his chest. Her sobs lost the strained edge of hysteria, until finally, she quieted. “Turn on the light,” she said, pushing against his chest. “Turn on the light!”

Rafe let her go and reached for the bedside lamp. The soft, yellow glow dispelled all shadows except those in her stark, pinched face.

He knelt in front of her again, flinching beneath her stricken gaze. Ignoring the knowledge that what had just occurred couldn’t possibly be real, he reached to comfort her again. “Baby, are you okay? Did he…did I hurt you?”

Lani stared then she hiccupped, and a fresh wash of tears glimmered in her eyes. “He was inside me, Rafe. He came inside me. I came. Then there was this light…”

A sharp bitter taste rose from his throat. “I know.” Not wanting to alarm her, but needing to touch her, he lifted his hand to her face and gently wiped away her tears with his fingers. “Baby, I was there, too.”

Her mouth twisted. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. I just know I was there.”

She sniffed and shook her head. “I dreamed about him. He made love to me before…” She hiccoughed softly. “B-but I thought it was just…a dream.”

“This is all crazy, but I think somehow he’s inside me now,” he said, lifting her hand to hold within his, “and so is the lion.”

Her eyes widened. “I heard the lion run into this room last night, but I thought I’d been mistaken—”

“After I cracked my head, I dreamt I was the lion—”

“Then it disappeared.” Her face crumpled. “Nothing makes sense.”

“What’s happening to me?” Rafe raked his hand through his hair. “I feel like I’m losing myself—losing my mind.”

Lani leaned her head against the wall, looking weary. “Something happened in that cave.”

“The cave…” Rafe grew still as memories swamped him. He remembered the dream—the men chasing the Indian inside, the explosion, falling. The lion. Only the images weren’t fragmented dreams any longer—they were in his mind, his memories now. “He died in there. An explosion sealed the mouth of the cave, and he fell to the bottom of the second level. The cat killed him before his injuries did.”

Lani straightened away from the wall. “I found him. His body. In the cave.”

Rafe stiffened.

“I forgot to tell you. Randy and I went back in. We found the Indian’s and the mountain lion’s skeletons on the floor near where Matt Costello died.” Lani wiped her face with the backs of her hands, and then crossed her arms over her belly, shivering. “So, you think, somehow, he and the lion merged? Are they spirits?” She laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “I don’t believe in that shit.”

“Baby, I don’t know what I believe. Some Indians believed that if a man ate the flesh of his enemy, he took on his power.”

“So, you think the Indian and the lion became a single spirit?” She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she opened them again, her gaze was focused, even a little angry. “So, what the hell does it have to do with you? Why are they inside you now?”

Glad she seemed to be shaking off her shock, Rafe met her steady gaze. “I think it’s because of you. You awakened something in them, down in that damn cave. They’re fixated on you. When I was the cat, and seeing you through its eyes, I felt an overwhelming urgency to mate with you.”

Her face blanched.

He didn’t want to frighten her more, but he had to tell her the rest. “And when I was…there…with the Indian, I felt what he did—exultant, alive. He believes you’re the key to his immortality.”

“How the hell does he think I’ll give him that?” she asked, her voice raw.

“By receiving his seed.”

Lani’s head jerked. Her eyes were wide with shock. “No!”

Rafe cupped her shoulders and smoothed his hands down her arms. “Lani, I don’t understand this, but I think I know certain things. The dreams I’ve been having were this spirit’s way of introducing itself to me. But I don’t think it has the same ability to see through my eyes, to know what I know. Not like I could when they each…surfaced. And I also don’t think they’re evil.”

Fresh tears welled in her eyes. “How do we get them to leave you? Or can they take you over? What will happen to you?”

Rafe shook his head. “I’m trying to think about this thing logically, because it’s scaring the shit out of me. But baby, I don’t think that’s their intention. And I’m not sure they’re that strong.”

Fear for him etched worry in the tightness of her lips and her pinched face. “But how can you know?”

“Think about the times I changed. I slept after I took a blow to the head—that was before the cat came out to play. Just now, I was asleep when the Indian surfaced.”

“But I don’t understand. They didn’t need your body before. I saw the cat on the ledge—it had enough substance to move that kid up that wall.”

“And it’s been feeding on livestock.” Rafe sighed. “I don’t want to scare you more, but I think it wants my body because of my connection to you.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Thank God, you’re on birth control. He won’t understand that.”

Lani’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “But Rafe…I’m not.”

Rafe felt his body still, but his heart thundered in his chest. In the back of his soul he felt a presence lingering, listening.

She drew in a jagged breath, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Lani, what did you do?” he asked softly.

Her face crumpled again, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”

His hands closed on her shoulders, and he shook her. “Tell me,” he rasped, anger blending with cold fear.

Her head fell back, and her expression pleading. “I stopped taking them a month ago.” She closed her eyes, more tears leaking down her face. “I’m so s-stupid. I was afraid but couldn’t tell you.”

He dragged her against his chest. “Tell me why, baby?”

Her back shuddered with each soft, shallow sob. “I wanted to be with you. B-but I was afraid. Christ! I’m such a coward.”

“Lani, what were you thinking?”

“That if I got pregnant, I couldn’t push you away anymore.”

“Sweet Jesus!”

“I’m sorry…”

Rafe closed his eyes and hugged her. “Don’t be. I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

“But what you said before…” she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder, “…about him wanting immortality… Can he make me pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” Rafe said, although he felt a glimmering certainty that was exactly what the spirit inside him believed he could do. Rafe had the sinking feeling his world was slipping from his arms. “If he surfaces again, hell, if the lion comes—you won’t be safe.”

“What do we do?”

“I have to keep away from you.”

“No!” Lani shoved at his chest and leaned back. A fierce loving light shone from her gaze.

“Baby, just until I know how to fight this, you have to keep away from me.”

“I brought them out of the cave—they tracked me down. I have to be part of this.”

“And if I’m not in control—if he surfaces again…?” He shook his head. “I won’t take that chance. Don’t you see? I’m becoming that monster you always knew I would be.”

Lani shook her head, and her hands cupped his face. “Not you. Rafe, never you. And he won’t hurt me. He let me go.”

“He didn’t want you frightened, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to take you again.”

“We’re in this together. I won’t let you do this alone.” Her expression held all the love he’d waited so long to find.

Hell, she was going to make this hard.

“Please, don’t shut me out.”

Rafe kissed her forehead, and then pressed her face to his shoulder. He had to protect her from the monsters inside him. He just didn’t know how. Not yet.

“I need to get a shower,” she whispered.

His arms tightened. “None of this is your fault. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do. I just…need a bath.”

Rafe swallowed, feeling like his heart had lodged at the back of his throat. He’d seen enough in his line of work to understand some of what was going through her mind. He nudged up her chin with a finger. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

“No way.”

He stared into her moist eyes. “Just remember, I was there. I was inside you, too.”

“Then why ask me?” He liked the edge of annoyance in her voice. She was fighting back. “You already know I came all over him.”

“You thought I was the only one there.”

“But it was different—the sex, I mean.” Her fingers dug into his arms. “I should have known.”

“How could you? I fell asleep inside you.”

“He didn’t speak—you’re always saying sexy things. He smelled different. And he was a little rough.”

Rafe wished he was better with words, better at understanding her woman’s mind. A blunder now might shut her down. “You dreamed of him before—making love to you. And you liked it. That’s why you’re upset, isn’t it?”

“That was just a dream. This time I thought it was you.”

“Lani, don’t beat yourself up. Do you think any less of yourself?” Lani was listening. He felt the tension stiffening her back and shoulders. “Do you think I think any less of you?”

“I don’t know.” Her words were so soft he barely heard them.

He threaded his fingers through her hair and gently tugged back her face, so she could see his expression. “Well, I don’t. What’s happening here is beyond natural. We’re both in this. What you said before—about me not shutting you out. Don’t turn it around.”

Her lips trembled, but she nodded. “Okay. But I still need to wash.”

“Then let me come help you.”

She nodded again, and her lips curved into a sad little smile. “We’ll keep the light on. I want to know who’s scrubbing my back.”

Rafe bent to kiss her mouth. Lord, how he loved this woman.

Lani turned on the faucets and waited for the water to heat. She kept her back to Rafe, didn’t want his keen eyes reading every emotion flitting across her face. Seemed like she couldn’t hide a thought from the man anymore. When had he gotten to know her so well? When had he climbed inside her heart?

A few hours ago, she’d thought the worst was past. She’d shared her sordid history, and her fears and come through unscathed, stronger even. Now this.

Rafe reached over her shoulder and pushed back the shower curtain. “I think the water’s warm enough now.”

Without looking back, Lani stepped into the tub beneath the water and let it sluice over her head, down her body. Rafe stepped in behind her, but she ignored him, needing silence, needing to be cleansed.

The shampoo dispenser slurped, and Rafe’s large hands gently smoothed over her hair. His fingers kneaded her scalp.

Lani let her head fall back, closing her eyes against the spray washing over her face, and let Rafe soothe the ragged edges of her torn emotions.

His hands rubbed lower, soaping her back, rolling her shoulders gently, squeezing tension from the muscles flanking either side of her spine, and then lower.

Lani gasped, feeling the first sensual stirring and braced her hands against the tiles in front of her.

His palms massaged her hips, cupped her buttocks and kneaded, separating her cheeks, closing them, slipping for a moment between her legs, but never grazing the flesh that was quickly swelling with heat.

His fingers slid beneath her buttocks, tracing the creases, then smoothed lower over the backs of her thighs and calves.

When he reached to soap her toes, his hands entered her vision for the first time. Rafe’s hands—square palms, long, thick fingers.

Tears intermingled with the spray to track down her cheeks.

Another slurp from the dispenser, and his hands glided up the fronts of her calves. Now she felt his warmth lean into her thighs, the thick muscles of his chest and shoulders rippling as his hands worked the tension from her legs, moving ever higher.

When his fingers neared the juncture of her thighs, her heartbeat quickened, and her breath caught, anticipating his intimate caress, but he glided past, his whole body caressing her back as he slowly stood.

When his hands reached her ribs, Lani captured them. Afraid he’d pass by the quickening tips of her nipples, she moved his hands over her breasts and held them there.

“Tell me what you want, Lani,” he whispered in her ear. “Shall I dry you and hold you while you sleep?”

Lani couldn’t calm the trembling that shuddered through her body. She shook her head, and then slowly turned until she faced him.

Rafe’s expression, so tight with need, made her want to cry. Her gaze swept lower to his cock. Reddened, engorged, he’d held that part of himself away from her while he’d washed her as gently as he might a child.

Rising on tiptoe, Lani kissed his mouth, and then she slowly glided her palms up his chest and behind his neck to grip his hair. “I want you inside me Rafe—so deep you’re part of me.”

His mouth slammed over hers, and he stepped forward, carrying her back against the wall. He dragged his head away. “Tell me you need gentle; I’ll go easy,” he said, although the tightness in his voice told her it would kill him.

“I want you the way you are, Rafe. And you’re not easy. Fuck me.”

Grunting, he hefted her off her feet and slid his knee between her legs. Her fingers felt the play of muscle beneath his smooth skin, and she reveled in his strength as he drove her backward until his chest flattened against hers.

Lani raised her legs, sliding them around the tops of his hips. She read hesitation in his expression—wild eyes, flared nostrils—the man was barely holding onto his restraint. She inspired that kind of lust in him. She bit his chin. “Fuck me, Rafe.”

His hands cupped her buttocks and pulled her up, his hips tensed, his cock nudging along her slit until he found her entrance. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

“Baby, you’re killing me. Fuck me!”

Rafe drove his cock straight up, his torso sliding up hers, his crisp chest hairs abrading her nipples. His thrusts were hard, sharp, and ended with a jerk—each accompanied by a guttural sound, dragged from deep inside him.

Lani writhed on his cock, relishing each long glide, clasping her inner muscles to increase the friction between his shaft and her channel. “Fuck me, Rafe. Fuck me,” she chanted over and over.

His hands clamped hard on her ass, and he pushed her down to meet his upward thrusts. “Baby, I’m coming,” he cried out, and his mouth closed over hers, his lips eating hers in drugging caresses.

Lani came apart, her hips jerking, a high-pitched whine escaping to mingle with his groans. Their movements slowed, all sense of the passing time narrowing to the slides of their flesh, the beats of their hearts.

She held him, her arms and legs wrapped tightly around his body. Their kiss ended in slackening glides of their lips. “Love you, love you,” she moaned against his mouth.

Rafe’s frame shuddered as his come spurted inside her. “My seed. My child,” he murmured.

Lani dragged her mouth away and stared at him.

Rafe’s face was hard, but his eyes were moist. “Mine, Lani.”