She blinked rapidly to stop the burning tears. Damn him. He’d destroyed her. He couldn’t have known how deep a blow he’d struck. She wasn’t the kind of girl boys had flocked to when she’d been growing up. There were no dates or dances in school. Boys had rushed to her friends but never to her. Same with college. She had never discovered why others avoided her. She tried to learn the art of flirting, of conversation. She’d made it a point to be friendly, but she was always pushed aside and had finally accepted she wasn’t attractive to the opposite sex and women found her too intimidating to be her friend.
Conner had come along and made her feel beautiful. He’d made her feel wanted. Of course, his name hadn’t been Conner and he’d been lying to her about his feelings for her. And she should have known. Men like Conner, dangerous, magnetic, charming and sexy, simply didn’t look at women like Isabeau. He’d made love to her over and over, and all the time he’d been doing his job. Someone had paid him to seduce her in order to get close to her father.
The shame was overpowering. She felt like such a fool. To believe, after all the years of knowing that men didn’t find her attractive, that a man like him would fall head over heels for her was ridiculous. She felt almost like she deserved what happened to her for her own stupidity.
“You killed my father.” She flung the accusation at him, so mixed up she couldn’t breathe properly. Her breath came in ragged, harsh gasps, her lungs burning, as if she was starved for air. He sounded so calm. So in control. She wanted to slap his face all over again.
“I had nothing to do with your father’s death. That was his choice and you damn well know it. I told you before, I have enough sins on my soul, Isabeau, without you adding things I’m not responsible for.” He towered over her for a long moment, his expression grim, his eyes deadly, and then he drew in a breath and touched her hair with gentle fingers. “I know it’s difficult to be with me, but you’re doing fine.”
“You call this fine? I’m a wreck. I’m so mixed up,” she admitted. Because her pride was already long gone. He could smell her arousal, her body’s call to him. There were no secrets between leopards. “I can’t even think straight.” She pushed a shaky hand through her hair—the strands he’d just brushed a caress over. She couldn’t deny the mating thing, not really, not when her body was insane for his, but she was still human and she had a brain. She had to find control. “Maybe everything you’re saying about the leopard and the mate is the truth, but I refuse to allow it to rule me.”
“You have so much more power than you realize, Isabeau, but it will come to you,” he assured.
She hated the gentleness in his voice—the caress—that sexy note that stroked her already raw nerves. Now that she knew it was practice, a tool of his trade, one would think she wouldn’t be susceptible, but it seemed her body believed him in spite of her brain.
“I’ll teach you the things you need to know to live with your cat. You’ll find you already have the strength and power to deal with her. She won’t accept any other male and she’ll drive you toward me, but you already know that.”
“She isn’t going to get her way.”
“Look at me.”
The quiet command in his voice was impossible to resist. She found herself looking into the eyes of his cat and it was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. His eyes had gone so yellow they were golden and lethal, a cat’s deadly stare, wholly focused and possessive.
“It isn’t any different for me. No other woman would be accepted by my cat. When you slapped me you left your mark in my skin, on my bones. Your cat claimed me whether you knew what you were doing or not. I can’t sleep. I can barely function. I’m edgy and moody and two breaths away from fighting every moment of the day. That’s the reality, Isabeau. I have to accept it just as you do.”
He was telling the truth. She saw it in his eyes. Heard it in his voice. She shouldn’t have felt satisfaction, but it was there, as petty as that was. One more thing to hate about herself, but if she spent her life craving a man she could never be with, he could damn well pine away for her. She let her breath out and some of the tension eased from her taut muscles.
“I didn’t know. About the mark. I didn’t know.”
“I know. Your cat knew. She was angry and she had every right to be. Let’s call a truce until we get the children home safe. We’ll sort this out later.”
“You’ll still help us then?”
“Yes.” Conner spoke tersely, aware he could never walk away from her. She still didn’t know just how strong the pull between their cats would be. He knew how strong the pull between the man and woman was, but she had every right to reject him. He had to find a way to redeem himself and if that meant he had to seduce another woman, as abhorrent as it would be for him—and for his cat—he would do whatever it took to convince her he was serious about atoning. Words weren’t going to convince her, only action. And action was something he was good at.
“Can you teach me more things like climbing the tree?”
He nodded. “You’ve learned martial arts, and you’re not bad, but you aren’t utilizing your reflexes. You need to be more confident. We can work on that as well.” He flashed her a faint grin. “Of course I’m not certain I want you to learn to be a better fighter. You have a penchant for using your skills on me.”
She managed a slight smile, her stomach settling. “I liked being in the canopy,” she admitted, striving for civility. She’d summoned him to her and now it was a case of “being careful what she wished for.” She had to live with her decision and apparently so did he. Finding she wasn’t alone in her desperate, clawing need, made dealing with it much easier.
“I do too.” He stepped away from her and gathered the fallen man’s weapons along with the gun she’d left on the ground. “Let’s rendezvous with the others and make our plans. We’ve got a lot to do before the party if we’re going to pull this off. And we have to find a way to safeguard Adan’s grandson.”
Relief flooded her body. “Do you think there’s a way? Or do you think she’s already had him killed?”
“It wouldn’t make sense for her to kill him until she’s disposed of Adan. She’d want to make a point, but if Adan capitulates, by some miracle, it would be a huge victory for her. He’s the most respected elder the tribes have. If he caves, so will the others.”
“So she sent these men out after him knowing they might fail?”
“This is his turf. He’s at home in the rain forest; these men aren’t. She has two rogue leopards on her payroll. She would have sent them if she wanted to make certain Adan died. He trains Special Forces from all over the world in survival. She knew he might survive and she’s hoping if he does, he will have gotten the message she’s willing to play hardball with him.”
“He won’t open her routes for her. He feels very strongly on the subject.”
“I imagine he does,” Conner agreed. “She’s murdering his people, forcing them into servitude. He’s a proud man who managed to bring his people into this century, yet still keep his culture intact. He’ll fight her with every breath in his body.”
“Then how?”
“We just need him to buy us some time. She doesn’t know, or care anything about the tribe, so Adan can make up ceremonies that have to be done before he leaves and buy us a couple of days there. She’ll be gloating, figuring now that she’s bent the will of the most influential tribe elder, everyone will fall in with her plans. Once he’s in the forest, she’ll have to send her rogues to watch him. She’ll have no choice. None of her other men would have a chance of staying up with him and she’ll need to know he’s complying with her orders.”