He’d leave her again. He’d come to the rain forest to seduce a woman. She’d brought him to the rain forest to seduce another woman. And he’d taken the job until he knew she was the client. What was wrong with her? Where the hell was her cat now? The treacherous animal coming close to the surface, revealing her heat, her hunger and then deserting when Isabeau needed her claws and strength the most. She felt limp. Shattered. Humiliated. She was no match for a man like Conner Vega. She wasn’t even in his league.

“Let go.” Her voice shook, but she got the words out. Her body shuddered with illicit pleasure even as it began cooling rapidly after the terrible burning need that had raged. She was left drained and sated and confused.

“Isabeau, look at me.”

The sound of his voice made her close her eyes like a child trying to block out the ghost that always haunted her. “Just let go.” Because if he didn’t, she was going to burst into tears and sob loud enough for any enemy in the vicinity to come running.

“Relax. We’re not out of the woods yet, honey. I can’t have you fighting with me when we’re in the middle of enemy territory. Just calm down for me.”

“I’m perfectly calm.” Shattered. Broken. But calm.

Chapter 5

5

“EVERYTHING will be all right, Isabeau.”

The devil’s whisper. That sinful, sexy, lying voice. She’d succumbed to his power the first time she was tested. At that moment, she despised the cat inside of her nearly as much as she hated her human self. Isabeau forced her body to relax, showing him the fight was gone.

Conner loosened his hold on her reluctantly, as if he didn’t quite trust her surrender. She glanced at his face and saw herself as a shadow in the reflection of his eyes. She felt like a shadow, insubstantial beside his power. She ducked her head, unable to face even just the shadow of herself. She never wanted to look in the mirror again.

“I’m your mate, Isabeau. There’s no shame between mates.”

She lifted her chin and stepped away from him, her knees rubbery, her heart still thundering. “You’re nothing to me. And whatever is happening to my body, has nothing to do with you. Any man would have been satisfactory.”

She made the mistake of looking at him. The amber in his eyes crystallized, turned gold and then yellow. Flecks of green merged, his pupils fully dilated and his stare focused and deadly. He stepped close to her, invading her space. If there was rage, it smoldered beneath the surface. His face was hard, mouth firm. A muscle bunched in his jaw, but his gaze held steady, a clear warning.