She sank down without arguing and pulled her shoes on, watching as he did the same. She knew by the way he tilted his head that he was listening to something. She caught vibrations of sound, like an echo almost, but couldn’t sort it out.

“Are they close?” Instinctively she lowered her voice.

“Someone is coming this way. It isn’t one of ours.”

“How can you tell?”

“They’re too loud. And I can smell their sweat. It isn’t a leopard scent or Adan’s. We’ll be fine. He’s alone and he’s being stalked.”

“Why can’t I smell him?”

“Your cat retreated. Women move closer and closer to their leopard emerging, but she comes and goes quite often at first. No one knows why. Maybe she’s just as nervous as you are. My cat has settled, which means yours has moved away from us.”

She shook her head. “It’s hard to believe. If I hadn’t seen or felt it, I’d think we were both crazy.”

His eyes went soft. Liquid. Sexy. Her breath hissed out. She couldn’t blame her reaction on her cat when her cat was far away. This was woman, pure and simple, so attracted to a man she went damp just looking at him.

“I know this is a lot for you to take in all at once, Isabeau, but it will get easier. And you haven’t run screaming even with all the death you’ve seen today and the revelations about who and what you are.”

There was pride in his voice—respect even. That was his talent. He could make her feel special. More than special, extraordinary. The admiration in his voice stroked like fingers over skin. How did he do that? His voice was so compelling. So real. There was no way to desensitize her skin after he’d touched her with his fingers, or after hearing his voice. It was impossible, at least for her. Her nerves were raw—little electric sparks arced over her breasts and down her stomach.

She wasn’t experienced enough, or sophisticated enough to be casual with him. Everything he did and the way he talked affected her physically and emotionally. He was so far out of her league she didn’t have a prayer of hiding anything from him, so she shrugged her shoulders and made certain her shoes were tied.

“I’m not fragile, Conner. I knew what I was getting into, or at least what it would take to get the children back.”