“Oh Mary!” Another voice chimed in from the doorway, and Isabeau whirled around to see another woman. She looked a little more worn than Mary, was a little heavier, but her eyes were kind, and right now she was staring at Isabeau with rapt attention. “So this is our little bride. Isabeau Chandler? I’m Ruth Ann Gobel. Mary tells me you may need some alterations, but can’t tell where. Let me look.”

For the next two hours, Isabeau was spun around, poked, prodded, her hair washed and redone in preparation for some “do” Mary and Ruth both felt was necessary to complete the look. The two decorated the cake with surprising flourish, and other women began to arrive with platters of food.

“Go out onto the back porch and have tea with your man. We put out fruit, crackers and cheese, and you should eat something,” Mary said. “You’ve got a couple of hours to rest before everyone begins to arrive.”

Isabeau looked around the kitchen at all the women. “There’s more?”

“The entire valley is coming, dear,” Mary said with a sweet smile. “A chance for a celebration, you know. We’re all on the other side of sixty and we could use something fun like this. No one is going to miss it.”

Isabeau shook her head. Conner had no idea what he’d gotten them all into with his sudden idea of marriage. She felt a little light- headed herself, the talk swirling around her until all the words ran together and there was just the roar of need in her head. Need of Conner. Need for freedom. Need to let her cat out.

She ran her nails lightly over her arm. At least for a little while the other women had managed to drown out the needs of her leopard, but after a while, the close proximity of so many females—even though they were no threat to her mate—made her leopard cranky. Isabeau sighed and wandered out to the back porch, stopping abruptly when she saw Conner sitting at a table with Rio. A long, jaunty red-and-white cloth hung to the ground around the circular table, and an unlit candle adorned the center, along with plates of strawberries and raspberries mixed with cheese and crackers, a pitcher of lemonade and another of ice tea. The ladies had already been here.

She studied Conner through half-closed eyes, the width of his shoulders, the heavy muscles of his chest and arms, his firm jaw and straight nose, the four scars that only made him look tougher. Her entire body reacted to the sight of him, and something wholly mischievous and very sexy took hold of her. She moved up behind Conner and deliberately leaned over his shoulder, allowing her aching breasts to push against his body. At once her nipples tingled with arousal. Her head was against his, her mouth close to his ear. She breathed warm air onto the side of his neck and pressed her lips right against his ear. “I wish we were alone.”

She felt his reaction, the small ripple of awareness sliding down his spine, the slight rise in his temperature. She smiled with satisfaction and sank into the chair quite close to his, pulling it close to the table so the cloth draped down. If she had to suffer, so could he.

She took a strawberry from the bowl and bit off the end, letting the juice gleam on her lips as she kept her gaze steady on Conner. He shifted, easing the tightness of his jeans, and she nearly purred. Her gaze flicked to Rio. “I was just wondering, although we did go over all the contingencies, thinking up everything that could go wrong . . .” She swiped her tongue over her lips to get the juice of the strawberry off. “Remember when Jeremiah said Suma came to his village in Costa Rica and talked to the youth? Did anyone ask Jeremiah if any others took Suma up on his invitation?”

She dropped her free hand into Conner’s lap, her palm cupping the thick bulge, just holding still for a moment. His thigh muscles bunched. His body tensed. She took another bite of strawberry and smiled at Rio. “We could be facing a little army of leopards in that compound, right?”

Rio frowned and tipped his chair back. “I should have thought of that.” He glanced at Conner. “We both should have.”

Conner’s croak of agreement was a little strangled as she began to rub slow, caressing circles along that hard, thick bulge. His hand covered hers, pressing her palm tight against him and holding it still.

“I’m going to ask him, see if I can get an answer,” Rio said. He pushed back his chair.

Isabeau watched him leave with a small smile.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Conner hissed.

She lifted one shoulder and sent him her best siren’s smile. “Playing with fire. I like how it burns.”

“You keep it up and you’ll be crawling under the table and giving me a little relief.”

She shook her head. “Not this time. This time, I’ll be insisting you find a way to give me some relief. My cat won’t let up.”

He sat back in his chair, his eyes going golden. “Really? She’s giving you trouble, today?” His gaze grew hot.

Flames licked over her skin. She tried rubbing him again, but his fingers tightened over hers. He pulled her hand out of his lap and bit the ends of her fingers, sending a spasm of liquid heat rushing to her melting center.

“It’s hot as hell knowing you need my cock buried inside your burning little body. I should torment you a little bit and wait until you’re begging me.”

She leaned close to him, licking at his ear with the tip of her tongue. Her teeth raked the side of his neck. “Or maybe you’ll be the one begging.”

He groaned softly. “You’re killing me, baby, with all these women surrounding us. And believe me, they’re sneaking peeks. I can hear their whispers and their laughter.”