I moved to flow against him, but Amber stopped me. With his broad hands against my shoulders, he spun me around. But instead of drawing me back against him, I felt his teeth press against the back of my neck. He nipped me. Hard enough, pleasurable enough to have it actually hurt. He'd always treated me with the gentlest of care before. Startled, I looked back at him and met those gleaming yellow eyes. His cougar eyes. They glowed eerily in the dark; alien, other. He was bent down, crouched over me, and I became sharply aware of the sheer size of him, of how much bigger he was than I. The solid mass of him, the heavier weight, his greater overpowering strength. He was a natural predator and the sharp blade of fear prickled my skin, pleasant and not, raising goose bumps upon my shivering flesh. My nipples tightened and drew to pebble hardness. His pupils expanded, widened, almost swallowing up his irises and his nostrils flared wide, as if he had smelled the tang of fear mixed with my arousal, and found it intoxicating.

A low rumble started deep in his chest and my heart fluttered in the cage of my chest like a captive bird.

"Run," he growled.

I stared back up at him with wide eyes, fear and desire twin captives within me, merged and inseparable.

"Run!" he repeated, his voice gravel rough, barely recognizable.

I turned and ran, my senses quivering with that odd heightened alertness, my strength boundless. He gave me a few seconds head start then came after me. I didn't hear anything, just felt the heavy waves of his power pounding behind me, closing in. Just before it touched me, I veered sharply to the right. I laughed tauntingly as he overshot me, then laughed again, a teasing invitation as I looked over my shoulder.

"Catch me if you can," I challenged in a low husky voice.