“Like finding dead bodies in a garden or having to kill someone?” Her voice cracked and she scowled at him. “I know exactly what I’m getting into, Conner. You haven’t exactly soft-soaped it. I met you while you were on an assignment, remember? That didn’t turn out so well for me. I’m not a princess caught in a fairy tale. I’m a real-life woman who has a brain and can figure out consequences.”

“Have you figured out what it will be like living with me? The man? The leopard?”

She reached back and touched the bite mark on her shoulder with trembling fingers. “That’s one thing I do know. You’re not a mystery there, Conner. You like your way when it comes to sex.”

“In all things.”

She laughed at him. Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “Really? In all things? I don’t think so. I think you care about what I want, what makes me happy. Even in sex, you want me thinking of your pleasure, but while I am, you’re thinking of mine. You don’t see yourself nearly as well as I see you.”

“I know I love you, Isabeau, with every breath in my body, and I wouldn’t survive you leaving me. I had an endless fucking year without you, and I never want to go through that again.”

Isabeau smiled and leaned into him, her tongue sliding over his shaft. She took her time, lapping at him lovingly, while his hands settled in her hair and stroked caresses. She was answering him in a way no other woman would think to do and his heart nearly burst with love for her.

She took her time, making certain that he heard her—that he knew exactly what she was saying—shouting—in silence to him. She was aware of every shiver of his body, every tiny nuance, as she took care of him, bringing him back to his semi-hard state. She sank back and smiled up at him. “I’m going to go clean up and fall into bed and sleep for hours. Do not wake me up.”

He knew he would. And he knew she knew it. Her smile was like the cat that ate the canary. She knew exactly what she did to him with that mouth of hers. With the way she loved him. He watched her walk away, and for the first time, she seemed comfortable with her nudity in front of him, her hips swaying provocatively, enticingly.

“Little minx,” he whispered and lay back on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his neck, satisfaction humming through his veins. She made him feel on top of the world. She made him feel—magic.