“I want you to be my wife. Neither of us has family—other than the boy. The team is our family. The doc could arrange it for us. My guess is this valley is made up of leopards. The doc would only settle where his expertise would help his own people. I want to know that you’re waiting for me at the other end of this thing.”

She rolled over slowly and pressed her hand to his face. “Conner. I love you. I know what you have to do to get those children back. And I know it makes you feel dirty and not worthy of me, but it makes you more so. Don’t you see that? You’re an extraordinary man to risk what we have for the safety of others. I meant what I said when I told you I stand behind you one hundred percent. You tell me what to do to help you and I’ll do it.”

“Marry me tomorrow. Be my wife. That would help me.”

She swallowed. He watched the motion of her throat, intrigued that she would be nervous when he knew she was so committed to him. He stroked his fingers down her throat and felt that convulsive swallowing and then traced her lips with the pad of his thumb and felt them tremble. “What is it, baby?” He kept his voice soft and low, intimate. “Are you afraid?”

She blinked rapidly again. “I just have a difficult time sometimes . . .”

“With . . . ?” he prompted, his hand shaping her breasts again and then sliding down to rub small circles on her belly.

“With believing that a man like you could really be satisfied with a woman like me.”

His hand stilled. He stiffened. “What the hell does that mean, Isabeau?”

Isabeau turned onto her back and stared up at his face, scarred and tough, experience and danger in every line. Although the moonlight spilled across her, he was still hidden in the shadows, something she equated with him. He would always be that shadow man. Rugged. Tough. A little mysterious. And so—so experienced in every way she wasn’t. “Way out of my league.”

His mouth quirked, his smile slow in coming. “You have it backward, honey. I’ve always known you were way out of my league with your innocence and your trust. You’re the most beautiful thing in my life, and I’m not talking about your exceptional body, which I’ll admit I’m quite fond of. You’re everything I want, Isabeau, and you should never feel like you can’t keep up. If anything, it’s the other way around.”

“I’m not talking about intellect here, or even courage. I feel I can be an asset to you, Conner, but here, in bed, I don’t have any experience, other than what you’ve taught me.”