At least she hadn’t run from him. She’d had the courage to stay, giving him a chance to prove himself even though she had to know there was a possibility he had ulterior motives. “And Trent and the enemy told you, no doubt.” His voice held a note of bitterness. He knew they wouldn’t resist planting seeds of doubt in her mind.

“They told me what they wanted me to believe. And I know what they wanted, that was made very clear. Me. A cub from me. They think I might be a shifter, or at least be able to produce one for them. They think one will give them an advantage in the oil fields, but I doubt if all shifters can scent oil in the ground or they’d be doing it already. They want me to believe that’s the only thing you want from me as well, that and to prevent them from having me.” She looked at him. “I thought it strange that they didn’t even realize what a sense of entitlement they have, believing they have the right to buy people, that somehow they are superior to the rest of us.”

“All this time, it was a game to me, the enemies, pitting themselves against me,” Jake admitted. “I thought they were after an unknown oil field or natural gas reserve. I knew they wanted a shifter of their own to control, but even though I was certain you had the bloodline, it didn’t occur to me you were what they were after all along. The real estate offer was to throw me, make me look in other directions, and I fell for it.”

“Then you did know about me?” Her voice held a hint of wariness.

“Not until recently, until you began to . . . blossom. The female development is difficult to pinpoint. No one knows what brings out their leopard, or their first heat.”

“I’m not a shifter. I have the blood and can feel things, smell things, but I don’t have a leopard.” She sounded regretful.

“Maybe it just hasn’t come out yet,” he said, brushing his mouth over the top of her head. Jake smoothed back her silky hair with gentle fingers.

“The thing is, Jake, you’re nothing like them, no matter what you think of yourself. I’ve lived with you too long for you to hide that from me. You aren’t anything at all like those people.” Her eyes locked with his. “Whatever you think about the blood running in your veins, believe me, I have firsthand knowledge, and you’re nothing like them.”

“I used you as bait,” he said, hating himself.

“We needed to see what they were after, to protect our family—the children. I go into things with my eyes open, Jake.”

His heart contracted. “Well, close them now. Go back to sleep, honey. We can talk in the morning.”

Emma snuggled deeper into his arms, surprised how safe she felt. She let herself drift, aware of his strength, his even breathing, the gentle motion of the rocking chair. When next she woke, they were on her bed, the covers over them, his body wrapped tightly around hers. She could feel the pads of his fingers stroking along her ribs, gently, back and forth.

“Jake?” She said his name in inquiry. It seemed so much easier to face him in the dark. “Thanks for rescuing me.”

He kissed her bare shoulder. “You did a pretty good job of rescuing yourself.”

“They told me that my father is Trent’s nephew and that he took a great deal of money from Trent to bring back a female shifter. He lured my mother back to the States. They said he planned to sell her to Trent, that he’d already taken their money.”

“He married her and kept her safe.”

“But I think they were telling the truth, Jake,” she said, her heart beating too fast. “I think he was bringing her back with the intention of handing her over to them, but changed his mind. What does that say about him? That he would consider selling a woman to his uncle?”

“Honey, you can’t let them taint your memories of your parents. You said they loved each other. That they loved you. Whatever mistakes your father made as a young man, growing up in that family with the kind of upbringing he would have had, he overcame it. Trent was worse than the enemies. I know he was. Your father must have been punished in the same way I was for not being what they wanted.”

She was silent for a long time. “Jake? When I woke up, you looked very scary. What were you thinking about?”

He groaned and rolled over. “Why do you have to ask me questions like that when I don’t want to tell you the answer?”

Emma smiled in the darkness. His body wasn’t in its normal hard-as-a-rock state. He was upset; she could feel that his introspection distressed him. “Just tell me.”

“I always look my worst in front of you.” His voice sounded strained. “I don’t think I can really afford to look any worse than I already do. Let it go this time.”

She rolled over to look at him. She had excellent night vision and he looked strained, ravaged. She pressed her fingertips to his face, tracing the lines there. “Tell me anyway. So far I haven’t run from you.”

He caught her fingers and kissed them, holding them to his mouth. “But you should have, Emma. You were right, you know, about last night. I thought a lot about what you said. I was thinking only of me. Of my cat’s rage and the scent of another man on your skin. I didn’t hold you, or comfort you, or even check to see if they had hurt you. I didn’t give you a chance to talk to me. I don’t understand how you can even look at me.”

“You have a fast learning curve, Jake. How can you expect to know how to react to something when you’ve never been shown the right way? Not everything is instinct.”