Pronuncation of consonants before "et"

Bonjour tout les mondes; I have a question. I've noticed that when I hear "et" spoken after a word that ends in a consonant, the et is said by itself, there's no "dragging", if you will, of the consonant from the last word onto the beginning of et (vingt et un - and - les saisons et les annees). Am I correct in thinking that "et" stands on it's own, no matter what consonant comes before it? Because with other words that begin with a vowel, the consonant of the previous word is pronounced like it is the first letter of the next word. I'm sorry if I'm not making myself very clear. It would be very helpful to learn the answer, if anyone can help. Thank you so much, God bless - Laura