Bijou gasped and pushed at him, her eyes glittering, her face flushed. She made a small sound of distress and stepped back, shaking her head. He could see her leopard had risen and was close to the surface. She didn’t understand what was happening and she was afraid, probably equating the unfamiliar feelings and body pains with their intense and rather brutal sexual encounter.

“Come with me,” he whispered, trying to entice her. Seduce her. Hell, whatever it took. He just needed her to stop looking at him with fear. “Chere, let me explain what’s happenin’.”

She took another step back, shaking her head, one hand going defensively to her throat. “I’m workin’, Remy. This isn’t the time.”

“It might be too late in another half hour or so,” he pleaded. Her eyes definitely had turned cat.

She was afraid of him—or herself. Either way, she was retreating, and he couldn’t blame her. She had every reason to be frightened. Her body no longer belonged to her. She ached. She hurt. She had no one to turn to. Remy knew he threatened her on an elemental level. He should have stayed, not taken the chance, and explained everything to her.

He swore under his breath as she retreated farther from him. Every male leopard in the room would scent the rise of the female. They would know she was close to the emerging and their leopards would be ready to fight for her. She had no way of knowing the havoc she would cause, or the danger she was in—because he hadn’t told her. He hadn’t explained.

“It’s too late,” Gage whispered as Bijou turned and made her way through the crowded club back toward the stage. “We’ll just have to trust that if any of the others get near her, they’ll catch your scent and it will be sufficient to warn them off.”

“At least every leopard in here will protect her if anyone tries to harm her,” Remy consoled himself.

Remy didn’t take his eyes off of Bijou as she moved closer to the front of the room. He knew the exact moment both bodyguards realized she was a female leopard. Joshua swung around abruptly, shock on his face. Elijah was expressionless, only a small tick in his jaw giving his surprise away. The two men exchanged a long look.

Remy’s vision went cat. He was aware of every rustle, murmur and clink of ice in the room. The smells were difficult to sort out, but he breathed in lavender, fear and the intoxicating scent of a female close to her time.

“What’s up?” Lojos Boudreaux, the youngest of his brothers entered, followed closely by Mahieu and Dash.

The three brothers inhaled and swung around, shocked, staring at Bijou. She had reached Ryan Cooper’s table and was moving past it when Cooper reached out and caught her wrist, stopping her.