Leopard's Prey (Leopard People 5)

"A few more minutes and I'll give you a clear exit," Bijou promised. She'd managed to extricate him from shows early before. "And it isn't a waste. These people love your art and they purchase it, which enables you to make more art. Think of it that way."

"Thanks." Arnaud allowed her to guide him toward two men in suits. Both had very young actresses hanging on their arms. "Tell me their names again. I always forget."

Bijou laughed and obliged. Arnaud rarely cared enough to remember someone's name, although he had amazing business sense. He was a mixture of a dreamy child, a moody, driven, obsessed genius of an artist and a man who seemed to care nothing for the social world he had to maneuver and did so with aplomb.

They spent the next fifteen minutes talking and laughing with the two customers who were two of Arnaud's biggest advocates and had purchased several of his most expensive and biggest sculptures. Bijou did most of the talking, but they were flattered to meet her and flirted outrageously with her. She made a show of glancing at her watch.

"I'm so sorry, but, Arnaud, you have to leave right now if you're going to get the right light you need for your work. If you miss this opportunity, you'll have to wait an entire month before the moon is in the right position again."

She'd used that absurd excuse on three occasions and it always worked. If someone had heard it before, well, genius took time, and if he could only work when the moon was in a specific position, they all wanted to see his next creation so they indulged his obsessive behavior.

Arnaud brushed a light kiss along her cheek and hastily waved to the crowd, disappearing through the back to make his exit fast.

Remy swept Bijou into his arms and onto the dance floor. "You are gettin' harder and harder to keep track of. It takes an army now."

She gave him her most dazzling smile as she looked up into his eyes. He looked tired, exhausted even, but more handsome than ever--and he had that look in his eyes he reserved only for her. "You didn't have to come," she whispered against his shoulder. "I know how tired you are. You need sleep."

Unlike Arnaud, Remy held her close, pressing her body into his, his hands sliding down her back, along her spine to the curve of her hips.

"I need you. You were here, so of course I would come." His lips brushed the corner of her eye and trailed kisses to the corner of her mouth. "I wouldn't want to miss seein' you like this. You look beautiful, Bijou. Absolutely stunning. When I first saw you, across the room, you took my breath away."

She moved her body against his, melting inside and out. Warm. So much love. The intensity of her feelings for him overwhelming. She wanted to be beautiful for him. "I missed you," she admitted. "Thanks for coming tonight."

"You babysit him, don' you? There really isn't anything more than friendship between you."

"I told you."

"Tellin' me and it bein' real are two very different things."

He was surprisingly smooth on the dance floor, leading her with the same casual confidence and strength that he did everything. He moved with fluid grace and guided her unerringly across the crowded floor. Now that Arnaud wasn't there for her to concentrate on, she was more aware of people whispering and taking photographs with cell phones as she went by them. She buried her face against Remy's shoulder.

Remy bent his head down toward hers, his lips brushing her ear. "I want to take you home and make, long, slow love to you."

She reached up to circle his neck with her arms. "I can't think of anything I'd like more."

It was true. She wanted to be alone with him. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift with him to the music on a rising tide of lust and love. With every passing moment, her body reacted more and more to the closeness of his, but it was her heart she found was so full it hurt. She felt his erection, thick, hard and hot against her stomach, and she loved knowing he wanted her as much as she did him.

The longer she was in his arms, the more secure she felt. The world dropped away until there was only the two of them and the delicious embers slowly fanning into flames between her legs. She could feel herself growing slick and hot with need, but unlike all the other times with Remy, this was a slower and gentler build to a coiling tension.

"Come on, chere, before I make an ass out of myself," he whispered against her ear. "You've done your job and gotten Lefevre through it. Let the gallery owners do the rest. Come home with me."

She lifted her head and nodded, completely dazzled by him, completely bewitched by him. She would always want to be with Remy, anytime, anywhere. He wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her off the dance floor. She kept her eyes down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, uncaring if they called her rude or haughty. She just wanted to go home.

"Is this his latest sculpture?" Remy asked.

Bijou blinked rapidly, trying to come out from under his spell and find her voice. She took a quick look around. He had halted to avoid running into a large group of people who clearly had cameras ready and wanted to ask for a picture with her.

Remy shifted his body to put himself between her and the group. Bijou deliberately stared down at the sculpture with a look of enchantment and admiration on her face. She didn't even have to work too hard to come up with the expression. She did admire and respect Arnaud's work.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? He calls it 'Giving Back,' and for him it's about life-forms returning to the Earth and once agai

n becomin' a part of it. Sort of his take on the universe and how it all works and how we're all tied together in one form or another," she explained.

Remy moved around the sculpture just as she had. The gallery lights had been positioned in such a way that no matter where one stood, the focus was on Arnaud's piece. "I'll bet this carries a hefty price tag," he murmured as he studied the images in the fall.

"Hundreds of thousands," she admitted.

Remy shook his head. "You travel in some pretty expensive worlds, Blue."

She touched his face. "I live in your world. That's all that matters, isn't it?"

He caught her hand and tugged her closer. "Will you be happy with me, Bijou? Over time, as we get older and our life settles down, will that be enough?"

For the first time he didn't sound as confident as he always seemed. "Yes. I'll be happy with a quiet life, but I seriously doubt that's goin' to happen for a very long time."

His cocky grin emerged. "I plan on keepin' you pregnant, surrounded by seven boys, all as difficult as I am."

"Thanks." She risked a look under his arm at the group of hopefuls waiting by the door. "They're not going to give up, Remy. You want to go out the back? We're not supposed to, but I don' think the owner will mind. I know the way; I've been in the back with Arnaud a few times and I did happen to notice this dark closet that seemed just the right size . . ."

He groaned. "Don't tell me that."

He took her hand, turned her and they fled through the back, winding between the shelves and cupboard and tables to the back door laughing like two small guilty children. He pulled her out into the night and caught her by the nape of the neck, kissing her over and over.

"Get into my car fast or we're not going to have that long slow session of making love I promised," Remy advised.

She laughed softly, in no way intimidated. "That's not much of a threat, Remy," she told him, hiking up the hem of her gown with one hand and hurrying as fast as she could in her high heels. "I happen to know you have stamina. I can have my cake and eat it too."