As she ran she stabbed at the radio again. Where the hell was everyone? "Evan! Drake!" There was a note of hysteria in her voice. She caught another glimpse of Kyle and she put on a burst of speed. He didn't even look up at the sound of her voice. Just ahead of him, sliding into the jungle of grasses, was a small furry animal. As her fingers skimmed the back of his shirt, Andraya screamed, a long, high-pitched shriek that sent goose bumps rising on her flesh.

She snagged Kyle's shirt and jerked him to an abrupt halt, ignoring his wails of protest. Scooping him up into her arms, Emma turned back on the run, afraid of leaving Andraya out of her sight even for a short moment. Kyle fought, squirming, going boneless, determined to get back to the little creature he was so interested in.

As she burst from the grass she saw Evan running toward Andraya. Tears streamed down the little girl's face. She held out her hands to Evan and he pulled her from the swing, forgetting, in his haste, to undo the seat belt so that he had to unsnap it while he held the sobbing child to him. "Why the hell didn't you radio us that you were coming out of the house?"

She glared at him as she skidded to a halt beside him, still wrestling Kyle. "I did call you, several times. You didn't come." Her heart still thundered in her ears. The smell of the cat had long since been drowned in the skunk's odor, but she couldn't get it out of her mind. Her stomach churned. "Call Drake and Joshua. And Jake. Call Jake."

She couldn't stop shaking. Evan regarded her with a puzzled look, but he obediently radioed the others before holding out his hand for her watch. "Let me take a look. Something must be wrong."

Emma didn't move, just stood there, frozen to the spot, until Jake came out, striding toward her, looking invincible, a tower of safety. She handed Kyle off to Joshua as he arrived and flung herself into Jake's arms, bursting into tears.

Jake looked to his men for an explanation and all of them shook their heads. "Joshua, take the children inside. The nurse will be showing up soon. Stay in the playroom until she arrives and then watch over them until we're back to normal. Kyle! Go with Joshua and behave yourself or you'll be in your room on time-out."

Kyle ceased struggling immediately and went with Joshua. Andraya stopped crying the minute Jake sounded stern. Both children wrapped their arms around Joshua's neck as he carried them back up to the house.

Jake brought both hands up to Emma's back and rubbed soothingly. "You've got to tell us what's going on."

"Her radio didn't work," Evan offered. "I heard Andraya scream and came running. I didn't see Emma or Kyle until she came bursting out of the grass. She told me she'd radioed for me, but I never got the call."

"He was here, Jake." Emma looked up at him. "I know he was. The one from last night. I smelled him, but then Kyle was chasing a skunk and I could only smell the skunk, but I'm sure . . ." Now she wasn't so sure. Maybe she was paranoid. Maybe the trauma and the aftereffects of the drug were playing tricks on her.

"We'll check," Drake assured. "I'll call Conner. He can track anything."

Jake took a careful look around, then escorted Emma back to the kitchen, putting her into a chair and making her a cup of tea while they waited. He sat across from her, holding her hand, his thumb gently sliding back and forth over her wrist.

The radio crackled. "No leopard tracks, Jake. Skunk tracks. Conner found the den, but the skunk is gone. No odor of a cat anywhere, Jake."

Emma hung her head, wrapping her hands tightly around the teacup. "I must be paranoid. I'm sorry, Jake."

"Don't be sorry, Emma. You've been through hell and you have every right to be upset."

"Even without the stupid leopard man prowling around, the skunk could have sprayed Kyle, or worse, what if it had rabies? I should have been more careful."

Jake wrapped his arm around her. "Nothing happened, Emma. Kyle's fine, and so is Andraya. You're just shaken after last night. The nurse is here today and can help inside the house and they'll play in the playroom where you know they're both safe."

"Stop calling her the nurse. She has a name. Brenda. And I can't believe you've gotten her to come here when she isn't even a pediatric nurse. You're so spoiled, Jake." The minute the words escaped she covered her mouth, horrified at the bite in her voice, horrified that she sounded so bitchy with him.

"I don't like strangers in my home. She's been around a couple of years now and she knows how we do things around here. She likes the kids and she's good company for you."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm not myself this morning. I need . . . I don't know what I need. Anything could have happened to Kyle. He could have gone down to the stables, Jake. One of the horses could have kicked him."

"But nothing happened. You grabbed him before he got too far. Parents have scares all the time. I've been reading about it in one of the parenting books I have."

She looked up at him, startled. "You're reading a parenting book?"

He looked sheepish. "How else am I ever going to figure this out? Things keep changing as they get older. It used to be I could just pick them up and hold them and they were happy. Now I have to do things. I don't have a clue what makes a kid happy."

Emma pressed her lips to his chin. "You're awesome sometimes."

He leaned toward her, his gaze holding hers. "You know you could be shifter like your mother, right? Have you thought about that? You're giving off the scent, very potent, of a woman in her first heat."

She wrinkled her nose. "That doesn't sound good. Are you saying I stink?"

He rubbed his shadowed jaw. "I wish. The scent is very alluring to males. All leopard males, whether they can shift or not. Drake, Joshua and Conner have a difficult time being close to you now. And I'm ready to lose my mind over it."

"Really?" She knew she didn't sound as upset as she should. Sometimes she felt something wild inside, and she often hoped there was the presence of a cat, but she doubted it. On the other hand, she didn't mind in the least being alluring to Jake.

"I'm going back to work," he said, frowning at her. "I can see you're not a bit sorry for making me as hard as a rock."

"Not really, no." She smiled up at him.

"You're going to be taking care of it," he warned.

She nodded her head. "I'll be looking forward to this evening."

17.

THE ache in his body invaded his mind for the millionth time. He couldn't concentrate. There was just no way. He dropped his hand to his lap and rubbed in an effort to alleviate the burning tightness. If he grew any thicker, he was going to burst right out of his skin. He'd been fantasizing more than working, wishing Emma was in his office with him instead of just outside his door, somewhere in the house with the kids.

Was she thinking about him? Did she hurt the way he did? He could only hope that she was. He wanted to occupy most of her thoughts and found himself a little jealous of her spending so much time with everyone else. He rarely had her to himself, and when he did, his emotions got in the way. He tapped his pencil idly on the desktop. There had to be a way to seal her to him. Yes, he could keep her pregnant, but that didn't mean her loyalty would be to him. He had to find another means.

Again his hand fell to the thick, throbbing length of him. He was so engorged he was afraid he might split his trousers, and he sure as hell wasn't going to make it until the evening. He had many women and none sated him the way she did. He didn't crave their soft skin, or want their bodies wrapped around his. It was as if his body knew hers, remembered hers from another life. Maybe all the nonsense Drake told him was more truth than legend, but whatever the reason, his body was tied to Emma's body.

He knew a million sexual tricks, ways to make any woman want more, crave more, become obsessed. If he could get her to go along with him while he trained her body, she'd always need him. She'd be bound to him completely.

He rubbed his jaw for a long moment and then dropped his face into his hands. He didn't know what was right anymore. He only knew that he couldn't live without her and he couldn't live with being so emotionally vulnerable to her. Somehow, some way, he had to get the upper hand. He had to take it back, return their relationship to a footing he could deal with.

EMMA took several different types of lettuce from the refrigerator, trying to ignore the building tension in her body. Her body temperature was going up; she could feel the heat radiating off her, coming from her very core. She was hot and aching and needy, and getting moodier by the moment. She was slick and inflamed, the dampness between her legs keeping her on edge. She'd snapped at Brenda when she brought the children in for a snack. They sat in their high chairs eating, as she began to make the preparations for dinner.

There wouldn't be any eating for her. She was tempted to try a cold shower.

"Emma." Jake's voice was quiet on the intercom.

She glanced up automatically, although it was just his voice and not his body. A note in his voice. Soft. Sexy. Commanding. Her body tightened even more in instant response, flooding with more heat. She was going to have to ask him to install fans throughout the house. "Yes?" He was up to something, she was certain of it.

"Get Brenda to handle the kids for two hours and come into my office. Ten minutes."

She hesitated but he had already clicked off. She could instantly feel the difference in her body, arousal teasing along her thighs and centering deep so that she pulsed with need. Just from his voice. He scared her sometimes, the way he controlled her body. Just his voice changing had such an effect on her nerve endings.

She looked around the kitchen at the preparations she'd begun for dinner. Ten minutes. She couldn't get things done in ten minutes. She radioed Joshua, alerting him that she would not be with the children and he needed to come in and be present in the house with Brenda. She put everything away, but she was finished long before he arrived. Andraya and Kyle stayed in their chairs, eating their snacks while she worked. It took a few minutes to get them settled down with Brenda and Joshua before she felt she could safely leave them.

She knocked on the door of the office and stepped inside. Jake was working at his desk. The office was spacious, the entire wing soundproofed so that once she closed the door, she could no longer hear the sound of the children. Her painting hung on the wall opposite his desk. Jake didn't look up.

"You're late."

"Two minutes, Jake. It isn't all that easy to settle children down."

He still didn't look up, studying the papers before him. "I didn't ask you to settle them down, I asked you to come into my office in ten minutes. Joshua is capable of settling them down."

He was going to be difficult. She stayed silent, waiting, refusing to make any more excuses or rise to the bait. Minutes ticked by. When he looked up, his eyes had that glitter to them, somewhere between menace and pure lust. A fireball hit the pit of her stomach.

"Lock the door and take off your clothes, fold them and put them on the chair by the fireplace."

Excitement spread through her, but she didn't allow it to show. She studied his face. The lines etched there. The set of his jaw. The dark lust and intensity of his focus. She kept him waiting a full minute before she kicked off her house sandals and slowly began to unbutton her blouse. When the material parted, she shrugged it off and took her time folding it. Carefully she set it on the chair, reaching behind her to unhook her bra.

"Turn around and face me." Now there was a harsh rasp to the velvet of his voice.

Emma turned and looked at him, waiting a few heartbeats before she complied, then slowly slid the straps of her bra down to allow the cups to fall into her waiting hands. Her breasts were so much fuller after she'd had the baby. She heard his swift intake of breath and saw his eyes narrow, become hooded. His gaze burned over her, brushing her nipples into hard peaks, arousing her further.

Deep inside, she felt that something primitive that always seemed to rise when Jake was like this. She inhaled, the action lifting her breasts as she dragged the scent of his arousal into her lungs. Wildness unfurled, clawing at her, until she wanted, even needed, to bring up her hands and cup her own breasts as an offering, to allow her fingers to drift below to the slick, wet center of her where she throbbed and pulsed with emptiness.

"Slide off your skirt and panties and fold them too."

The material hurt her skin anyway. Something moved just below the surface like a wave of desire, itching, moving fast through her body to collect between her legs, scorching hot and aching. She took her time, wanting to entice him, to bring him to the edge of his control, when he was so sure of himself and so sure of her.

Deliberately she turned her back to him, giving him a good view of her backside as she padded across the hardwood floor to the chair and added her skirt and underwear to the pile of clothes there. She turned slowly, her hair swinging around her, cascading down her back to the curve of her hip, feeling silky and sensuous against her bare skin.

"Come here and undress me." His voice rasped even more.

He was already barefoot in anticipation of carrying out his fantasy, and she couldn't fail to see the thick, hard length in the front of his slacks.

Emma walked over to him, her breasts swinging gently, and reached up to unbutton his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders to neatly fold it and take it to the chair without being told.

"Kneel this time."

She returned to the position in front of him and dropped to her knees, reaching for his belt buckle, knowing the picture she made, knowing she was making him harder each time she complied with his orders. The experience was making her more moist than ever, more ready for him. Her knuckles deliberately brushed over his thickened shaft several times, while she opened his trousers and pulled them and his underwear from his hips. At eye level, his erection was intimidating, thick and long and angry looking as it burst free from the confines of his clothing.

Emma folded his trousers and took them to the chair.

"Get up on my desk, Emma, on your hands and knees."

"Jake . . ." Emma glanced at the door, a faint frown on her face.

"On the desk. Don't look at the door. Look at me."

Her gaze locked with his and immediately was held captive. She moistened her lips and slowly climbed onto his desk, ending up on all fours. There was something very sensual about kneeling on top of his desk, her body on display for him as he walked around, looking at her from every angle, inspecting her as if she were his prized possession.

"Knees apart for me." She had the most beautiful ass. Round. Firm. Her skin rose-petal soft. "Farther, Emma." His voice went husky. He caressed her bottom with his palm, rubbing her satin skin. "You're so beautiful. I could look at you all day."

Jake continued to walk slowly around his desk, his breath coming in a ragged rush at the sight she made. She was beautiful, like a sleek cat. She reminded him of one, her movements graceful, sensuous, fluid even, the muscles sliding under her silky soft skin. Her hair hung down in a heavy fall of red waves. Her breasts were beautiful, the nipples erect, begging for his attention. And her bottom. He couldn't stop his hand from stroking her smooth buttocks, the heart-stopping shape that drew his gaze like a magnet.

He rubbed for a moment, enjoying the feel of her skin, smooth as silk, soft as a rose petal. Deliberately he brought his hand down hard on the smooth skin and then rubbed the reddening spot with tender caresses before repeating the action a second time. "That's two, Emma, for the two minutes you were late getting here."

She hissed, an animalistic sound of hostility, turning her head to glare at him. "Is this supposed to be the sensual spanking you were telling me about? Because I don't think it's working for me."

He slid his fingers into her channel. The air escaped her in a heated rush. "I'd say you were finding it sensual." He showed her his fingers, slick, coated with her cream.

She wanted to deny it, but there was something so sensual about the way Jake moved around her, pacing like an animal, his gaze so intent, so focused, a soft, mesmerizing sound rumbling in his chest. The golden eyes were hypnotic. He licked his fingers and she nearly came on the spot.

Emma tossed her head, aware she was burning inside, a hot furnace of need. And the way he was looking at her, possessively, as if she were his, her body belonging to him, was making her even wetter for him.

Intellectually she found her reaction interesting. There was no doubt that her body wanted to submit to his. Her hips pushed back against his hand, wanting more of the erotic massage. She yelped when he brought his hand down once more and then rubbed again. It hadn't hurt, but it did make her body glow, the furnace burning hotter.

"What was that for?"

"Deliberately making me wait before you took your clothes off."

"Is this going to be one of the times you teach me all about adult sex?" Emma asked weakly. "The sex I know nothing about?" She was beginning to think there might be something to his lessons, even though she was trying to be a smart mouth. Her body was on fire, every nerve ending focused on him, every sense heightened.

"Yes. So behave. You're being sarcastic."

"Jake." He was massaging her buttocks, alternating between soft caressing strokes and rougher, deep-tissue massage. The combination made her weak with need.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to make me wait a long time before you take me? Because I'm quite willing now." She was very aware he'd said two hours of her time. Two hours was going to be endless if he didn't pick up the pace and take care of her very needy body.

He laughed softly. "A very long time."

"What if I'm not so receptive a long time from now?"

"You aren't supposed to talk unless I ask you a question."

She tossed her head again, her eyes gleaming at him. "Really? I thought I was being educated. How can I learn if you don't let me ask questions?"

"Emma."

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, trying not to laugh. "Yes?"

"Remember that sensual spanking I told you about? You're about to go over my knee."

She hid her smile and tried to look submissive. Her body was so aware of him she could feel his breath on her skin, the warmth of him radiating out when he wasn't even touching her.

"Lie down for me, honey, on your back. Just drape yourself over my desk, keep your ass right on the edge." He guided her to the very edge and then spread her legs apart, taking one foot and tucking it over to the side and pulling her other leg to curl around the other side, so she was stretched out like a feast. Her foot slipped and flayed about, kicking the highly polished wood.

"This is crazy," Emma said. "I can't stay in this position. And you'd better have all the doors locked."

He swirled his tongue in her belly button. "You don't want someone to come in and find me devouring you whole?" His palm slid down her leg and found her foot, guiding it to the small loop of leather he'd attached to his desk. He did the same with her other foot, so she didn't have to hold the pose herself.

Her breasts looked so enticing, jutting up at him, he couldn't resist cupping them in his palms. The soft weight felt like warm silk. He rubbed his thumbs over her nipples as he buried his face in the side of her neck, instinctively biting down in the way of the leopard.

She gasped, shivering, and he licked at the teeth marks. That untamed self inside her leapt toward him, craving more, needing his touch, even his domination. She felt so hot, so unlike her, yet right-exactly right-as if she'd been born for him, to please him.