He watched her move away as he steadied himself, taking in deep breaths. A few moments later, certain he wouldn't collapse, he pushed away from the counter and forced himself to stand on his own. It was hard, but not impossible, and he would suck down the desire to fall over to prove a point to her. He'd survived beatings and whippings and all manner of torture that wouldn't mangle a body. He would survive this, too.
"Then we'll have to be careful," he told her gently, stepping closer. "If you told us about this, we'd be careful." No, they wouldn't, but she didn't need to know that. The fact that she could apparently drain them of their strength wouldn't stop Evangeline from wanting to snuggle up to her, or him from touching her.
A thought occurred to him, and he paused about three feet away from her. Forming a phantom hand, he lifted it and touched it to her cheek. "And you see, you're not so cut off from people," he told her.