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She forced herself to look him in the eye even though she was experiencing a heady combination of fear, confusion, and lust. “I guess that’s something we have in common.”
    “I think that you and I will find we have much more in common than that.” He bowed, causing his thick dark hair to fall over his face, and peered at her again with those intense hazel eyes. “Good evening, Lillian. I’ll see you soon.”
    A smile curved his lips, and he held her gaze as the door closed. As he disappeared from her sight, she stilled when he whispered along the edges of her mind . Welcome home.
    The tiger tattoo on her back tingled, and the breath rushed from her lungs as she registered what she’d heard and what she’d seen.
    She was certain now that Boris was connected to the dreams she’d been having, but she wasn’t entirely sure how. Was he actually visiting in her dreams? The images she saw were always literal, but she’d never seen a person turn into an animal. She, better than anyone, knew that the world was full of strange and unusual gifts.
    “No way.” Lillian put her hands on her hips as she stood at the center of the apartment for several minutes. She shook her head and rubbed her lower back with one hand as the tattoo prickled. “I’m just overtired,” she mumbled. “Everyone said that New Orleans was the place for weirdos.”
    Looking at the large plush bed, she let out a giggle, ran over, and flopped herself on the mound of pillows face-first. Enveloped by the impossibly soft bed, she flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling, convincing herself that the voice she heard was merely her subconscious.
    Lillian sat up and scrambled off the bed to the front door of her new apartment. She flipped the lock, and as she stepped through the doorway, out onto the sidewalk, she took one last look at her new place before shutting the door.
    “Hell,” she said. “For four hundred bucks a month… I can handle a little bit of weird.”

Chapter 3
    Standing in the shadows, he watched as Lillian stretched her arms over her head and wandered through the courtyard. She stopped at the fountain and arched her back, working out the kinks in her muscles. Her small breasts pointed up as if in invitation, and it was one he wanted to accept.
    She looked at the starry sky and let out a contented sigh. “That’s got to be the most gorgeous sight that I’ve ever seen.”
    “You took the words right out of my mouth,” Boris said.
    Startled, she spun around and let out a nervous laugh. “Boris, I didn’t see you there.”
    “So I see.”
    He tossed the dish towel onto a stack of crates outside the door and moved toward her. Her eyes widened, and her energy signature, which was surprisingly thick for a human, hummed with the unmistakable pulse of lust.
    “Have you settled into your apartment? Is there anything else that I can get for you?” He took another step. “Anything that you want ?”
    As he moved toward her, he noted the way the light of the full moon picked up the pale blonde highlights in her tousled hair and gave her an angelic glow. Her large eyes held his as he closed the distance between them, and he sensed her heartbeat quickening as he invaded her space.
    “No,” she whispered. Her tongue darted out nervously, moistening her lower lip. “I’ve been on the road for a while, so I’m a little horny—I mean lonely,” she blurted. Her face turned beet red, and she smacked both hands over her eyes. “Holy shit. I can’t believe I just said that.”
    Boris suppressed a grin at her slip of the tongue. He took her hands in his and dragged them to his chest, pulling her small frame up against his far larger one.
    “I’m a bit of both, myself,” he murmured, but she kept her eyes squeezed shut and refused to look at him.
    Lillian , he whispered her name tenderly along the edges of her mind. Please, don’t be embarrassed.
    Her body froze, and her energy signature fired in rapid pulses, reflecting her