Page 10 (1/2)

THE Pantera ate lunch as a coathered around the fifty or so intricately carved wooden tables that ran along the bayou Dressed with pale green cloth, each table was piled high with boiled shri, butterrabbed a salad or a cup of soup in the hospital cafeteria whenever she had a second free during the day, this sprawling, ho as it was delicious

She glanced across the table at Ashe and grinned "This is the best ht?" She offered Julia another helping of crearits, then spooned sonancy, but then I realized the food&039;s just different here Super fresh, homemade, and you know," she winked, "ic in there"

Julia didn&039;t say anything She&039;d been re herself how imperative it was for her to find the Wildlands&039; exit and get back home to New Orleans, that this wasn&039;t real, and there was no such thing as pu the charoing to go? She didn&039;t know this area How dangerous would it be to just go walking off into the bayou?

And then there was the undeniable curiosity she couldn&039;t seem to shed About Parish and the Wildlands She hated to admit it, and had used her concern for Ashe as an excuse, but she was interested in this place, how it came to be, how it remained off the tourist trade&039;s radar

"Oh, there&039;shere" Ines, the small woman with the dark hair and sable cat eyes who&039;d come to Julia&039;s room with Ashe, sat at the head of the table "It&039;s in the air and the earth and the water Makes the food irresistible" With a grin, she added, "The es of Parish and she tried to corits

Ashe snorted "I believe mine was irresistible way before I came to the Wildlands"

"Well, you&039;re special," Ines said, reaching for the ladle in a nearby bowl "Have soator Cook&039;s specialty He was fresh caught thisfor an answer, the wo on Ashe&039;s plate "You&039;ll love it As will your cub"

Julia looked up fro an entire buttermilk pie to the table behind them "It will be half puma When it shifts for the first tier be considered a baby"

With wide eyes, Ashe glanced over at Julia "You see why I need a little human help here?"

The woman&039;s face was so h She didn&039;t believe what Ines was saying, couldn&039;t, and wanted to scold the wo Ashe&039;s psychosis But as she sat there near the slowlyvegetation and the sun filtering through the trees above, granting the herself to break the incredible e&039;s picnic

Maybe she was a coward

Orto affect her, too

"If you decide to stay, Dr Julia," Ines said, a forkful of buttermilk pie on its way to her mouth "I would love to assist you I&039;, but so far I haven&039;t been able to use my skills"

In that lanced around She ignored the gentle, sweet breeze on her skin, the laughter, and the incredible scenery, to take in the people - the Pantera - at the tables nearest to them She hadn&039;t noticed it before, even on the walk over here, but there were no children anywhere She&039;d heard what Ashe had said back in the ht She hadn&039;t believed it The world around the bayou carried no infantile sounds, no cries or coos, no i from up and down the shoreline Her heart clenched It wasn&039;t possible Maybe they were at school This couldn&039;t truly be a co

Her eyes cut to the wo back in her chair, her hands spread protectively over her still-flat belly "How many weeks did you say you were?"

"Six"

"How are you feeling?" she asked, unable to stop herself fronancy?" Ashe asked "Good Strong" She grinned "Happy"

"No pain? Spotting?"

She shook her head "I&039;ry&039;s good Can I have your hand?" Julia reached out and instantly curled her fingers around the woman&039;s wrist For one minute, she felt Ashe&039;s steady pulse "Have you had your blood pressure taken? Any tests?"

"Nothing yet I haven&039;t been here that long" Ashe cocked her head to the side, her eyes playfully narrowed on Julia "You&039;re sounding like a doctor, Doctor"

"Hard habit to break"

"Then don&039;t break it," Ashe said, her eyes soft "Stay"

"I don&039;t think I can," Julia told her "It&039;s complicated, I&039;m not sure"

Ashe&039;s eyes darkened "It&039;s Parish, isn&039;t it? He&039;s coly, sensually, irresistibly

"He can&039;t help it," Ines said, leaning forward "Hunters can be very intense, but Parish es out of his puma state, and I don&039;t think I&039;ve ever seen hi she hadn&039;t heard the part about hi now, Ines," Ashe remarked with a note of concern in her voice

"What? Where?"

"Over at the Hunters&039; table" She pointed behind Julia "I didn&039;t want to make you self-conscious, but he hasn&039;t been able to take his eyes off you since we got here"

Julia glanced over her shoulder, heart juaze searched for theblack hair and eyes that held such intensity, such heat She&039;d wondered where he was, if he was having lunch with the rest of them, the Pantera She spotted hi a stand of river birch, its four legs subed in an inch or two of water Clustered around the table were ten or so of the , barely clothed, heavily muscledon a branch a foot above the only a pair of faded jeans, which rested just below his hipbones His hair ild and the scar near his aze moved covetously over every inch of him His narroaist and ripped stomach that widened to a broad chest, powerful shoulders and lean,And the muscles in Julia&039;s belly turned to liquid fire as she watched him watch her

"The Hunters o," Ines was saying "They like to see if they can catch prey from the bank I swear they never tire A wild bunch, but incredible at what they do Most of the Factions take ether, but Hunters always do"

"He&039;s very taken with you, Julia," Ashe said, not sounding all that pleased "Say the word and I&039;ll tell Raphael to speak with hiet him to back off"

"No, don&039;t do that" She said the words very quickly, a fact that wasn&039;t lost on Ashe