Leopard’s Blood by Christine Feehan

Though he was born into a leopard’s lair in the bayou, Joshua Tregre’s fighting skills were honed in the rain forests of Borneo. Sleek and deadly, he’s the perfect man to take over a crime syndicate back home in Louisiana’s lush swamp lands. His razor-sharp instincts give him an edge in the violent underworld he knows so well but even the watchful leopard inside him isn’t prepared for the threat that comes from the girl next door…

She is a woman who can create beauty out of thin air – and out of the ruins of her own life. The games that dangerous men play have taken their toll on her but she is bent, not broken. And it’s her fierce spirit that’s like a lure to Joshua, a temptation he can’t resist – even if it means bringing his true nature into the light…