His laughter played through her mind, lightening her spirit. Sarika stepped back from the rail. She didn’t feel a threat to her. There were no jaguar males waiting to pounce on her should she leave the safety of Luiz’s tree house. Not that she could. She frowned, trying to decide if she should be happy at Tomas’ concern or annoyed. She chose to be happy.
Hurry to me, Tomas. This is going to be a long day. Right at this moment, everything is beautiful. The sky, the trees, the animals. All of it is astonishingly beautiful. I want to share the beauty with you before everything falls apart.
There was a short silence. Her stomach did a slow roll. He liked what she’d said to him. She wasn’t the best at relationships. She was feeling her way, but she knew he was pleased, and that made her very happy. She tipped her head back to look up at the canopy, at the various leaves and branches gently swaying.
Family wasn’t about perfection. They could have differences of opinion. They could argue and disagree, but they stood with one another. Luiz, Lojos and Mataias would stand with her because they considered her family. She’d come to Peru hoping for just such a connection. She’d nearly missed it because she had been so afraid of it.
She had vowed, before she’d made the journey to Peru, to be open to a relationship with Luiz, her cousin. She hadn’t expected that she would meet the man she’d corresponded with for years, or that she would be introduced to several women who were or had been jaguar. She hadn’t known she would be challenged to face her past, the scariest memories she’d always called nightmares. She hadn’t known she would feel soalive.
—
Thefirst thing Sarika noticed as she entered Dominic and Solange’s home was the feel of it. The joy that spread through the rooms like wildfire. The sound of children laughing together and talking in conspiratorial whispers, running through the various rooms she couldn’t see, their little feet making happy noises on the floor.
Growing up, I was never around children,she confessed to Tomas.Listen to them. I love the way they laugh together. They don’t walk anywhere, they run. It makes me feel happy just to hear them, and I haven’t laid eyes on them yet.
Tomas tightened his arm around her shoulders and leaned in to brush a kiss on top of her head.I have not had emotions in centuries. I forgot what joy a child brings. You’ve given me back that gift. Thank you,sivamet.
From the moment Tomas had risen, the night had taken on a different feel from when she’d first awakened with such dread. She’d spent time with Tomas—not much, but enough that he made her feel beautiful, intelligent and secure, giving her the confidence to face numerous strangers.
Sarika had always been a seemingly confident woman on the outside, able to hold her own in the many circumstances where she was surrounded by men dominating whatever field she was working in at the time. She knew she was intelligent and that her ideas were solid. Tomas had instilled that confidence in her when she was very, very young. She hadn’t realized how much he’d shaped her life and her belief in herself. He’d been a major influence on her from that early age, making her feel important and that her ideas counted.
She hadn’t realized until this evening just how often Tomas had given confidence to a young girl by simply acknowledging her ideas. He hadn’t dismissed a child’s rambling ideas even when she was far too young to know about habitats and what affected them long-term. He read every word she said and validated her concerns.
You will make an amazing father.He would. She was lucky that he would be her partner. She didn’t know how to be a mother or wife, but she would try her best. And she felt better knowing she would have Tomas to rely on. He wasn’t flashy or showy; he was steady and kind. He was thoughtful, considerate and deliberate. Sarika realized Tomas had all the qualities she sought in a man. She didn’t need a peacock or a falcon; she needed quiet and reliable.
Thank you, Sarika.Tomas flooded her mind with caresses. She felt every single one and hugged them to her.
“Sarika. Tomas.” Solange hurried across the expanse of the great room with its high cathedral ceilings to greet them.
Solange’s home was underground, but it didn’t feel that way at all. Trees and branches had become part of the walls and ceiling, looking decorative and bringing aboveground nature into the massive chambers that made up her home. Sarika could see the branches of the trees curving upward and dipping downward, making arboreal traveling easy should Solange be in jaguar form.
Sarika greeted Solange with a smile, a little shocked that the introverted woman was so welcoming.
Her jaguar is happy to see you,Tomas pointed out.You resolved the issues between them, allowing them to talk things out. Solange is very grateful. You saved her cousin and niece, and then her baby, and put things right with her jaguar. I would say she considers you a true friend.
Sarika didn’t feel as if she’d really earned that friendship—she barely knew Solange—but she was willing to accept the offering. It meant quite a bit since Solange held herself apart from most others.
“I want you to meet my friends, Sarika.” Solange indicated the three women seated across the room in a small grouping with Jasmine. She caught Sarika’s hand and tugged until she followed the other woman.
Immediately, the four women looked up, greeting her with smiles. Jasmine jumped up and flung her arms around Sarika, startling her and everyone else.
“I’m so glad you came. Solange told me you saved her baby. Shedidn’t say how, but I believe you can move mountains, so I’m sure she was right.”
“Good evening to you, too,” Sarika said. “I didn’t really do all that, but it’s nice Solange thinks I did.”
“These are our friends.” Jasmine waved toward the three women she was seated with. “Adele, Lucy, Tara, meet Sarika. She’s Luiz’s cousin. And she faced down the jaguar males when they came for Sandrine and me. We’ve known these three since we were children. Tara is married to Finn. He’s around here somewhere.” She looked around the room a little helplessly and then turned back with enthusiasm.
“So nice to meet you,” Tara said. “I had no idea Luiz had a cousin.”
“He must be thrilled,” Lucy added.
Sarika laughed. “I don’t know how thrilled he is. He likes obedience. So far, I’ve been an utter disaster for him.”
“Our daughter, Bianca, is running around with Sandrine. They’re the best of friends. Bianca is six, a year younger than Sandrine,” Tara explained.
Sarika looked at her with jaguar vision. Inhaled her scent. Tara hadn’t said so, but she was pregnant with her second child.
I think the other two jaguar females are also pregnant, Tomas.That was extremely concerning. She’d been feeling the joy in the room, but now a single thread of apprehension crept in.
