“It’s pushing nighttime, Kitten. The leopards were out playing all last night and most of today. We slept a few hours. Are you hungry?”
The pads of her fingers made lazy circles along his hip. The touch wasn’t meant to be sexual, but it was intimate. She traced along his bone and then into the defined muscle there.
“Not really, but if you are, I can make you something.”
Eli smiled, happiness bursting through him. His chest ached in the vicinity of his heart, and for one moment he found a lump in his throat so big he couldn’t talk. He swallowed it down and dropped his hand to the nape of her neck, massaging gently.
“You’re not going to fix me anything to eat, baby. You’re going to lay right here and rest. I was offering to fix something for you.”
She turned her head just enough to press a kiss into his belly. His cock jerked in reaction. His belly knotted and his breath hissed out between his teeth. Deep inside his heart stuttered.
“That was a nice thing to offer, Eli. Thank you.” Catarina rested her cheek back against his belly. Her hand slipped lower, her fingers smoothing along the column of his thigh. “I’m so tired I can’t really think. I like lying right here. You’re warm, and when I’m with you like this, I’m not afraid.”
This time she turned her head to look up at him. She looked drowsy. Comfortable. Beautiful. Her lashes were longer than he’d first thought, the same dark gloss as her hair, framing her incredible eyes. He couldn’t believe she was draped over him, her fingers idly stroking his thigh while she drifted, still a little dazed from the experience of shifting. He couldn’t believe she was his.
“Were you afraid?” he asked gently. He liked that she wasn’t afraid when she was with him. That said a lot. With Cordeau putting up reward money for information on her, she had plenty to be afraid of. She’d probably been afraid most of her life.
“Yes. But I knew you’d get me through it. And I wanted her to come out. I wanted to make certain she wasn’t a killer.”
Her hand moved back up to his body and once more she turned her head to press a kiss into his belly. He felt the sweep of her silky hair over his belly, along his thighs, and God help him, tangling over his cock. Heat moved through his veins straight to his groin. He had to admit, he liked waking up this way.
“She’s not a killer,” he said.
“No, she’s not. She was just as afraid as I was. Your male is a lot like you.”
There was the tiniest bit of censure in her voice and he found himself smiling. She was definitely annoyed on her leopard’s behalf.
“I noticed,” he agreed. His hand tightened in her hair. “He knows he has to keep his woman in line because she’s a little headstrong.”
Her laughter was muffled by his stomach. He felt her soft lips trailing little kisses along his belly. Lazy kisses. Gentle. Barely there.
“Are you implying I’m headstrong?”
She turned her head again to look up at him. Her blue gaze moved over his face, and his entire body tightened. His fingers tangled in her hair again, this time a little tighter, a little more possessively.
“So beautiful, Cat, and all that beauty, all that sexy, is mine. A man finds a woman like you and he walks on water to keep her. You understand that, right? You understand I’m going to love you with everything in me. But I’m keeping you. You can’t show me this, this kind of wake up. You can’t give me this and then expect me to live without it.”
“I understand you don’t hear me when I’m talking to you,” she murmured, and her mouth was back on his belly, her tongue stroking a caress before her lips trailed a blaze of fire from his belly to his cock.
Her mouth slid over him. Hot. Tight. Moist. Like a velvet fist. Her hair draped over his lap and his thighs, spilling across the sheet like a dark waterfall. His head exploded. Fire raced through him. His heart exploded. A storm of emotion. He heard her. Loud and clear. He heard her. His eyes burned and that lump was back in his throat.
Very gently he tugged on her hair to lift her mouth away from him. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, leaving the haven of her mouth. He drew her up over his body and rolled gently to tuck her under him. He felt her wince and another small sound escaped, a little groan that strengthened his resolve.
His hands framed her face and stared down into her incredible cobalt eyes. Right now they were deep blue with shades of violet and she looked at him with such a soft, loving expression he nearly lost his resolve with the need to join their bodies together. There was no better place than inside her.
“Baby, I hear you loud and clear. More than anything I want your mouth on me, letting me know how you feel. You can’t know how much that means to me, but even more than that, I want to take care of you. You’re exhausted. You need rest. I’ll settle for kisses this evening. And then I’m going to feed you and massage you. The leopards are going to want out again soon and you’ll need stamina. When they get erotic, so do we. Our emotions are tied together.”
Before she could say anything he took her mouth with every bit of gentle and tender he had in him. It wasn’t much, but all of it was hers. He poured love into her mouth, hoping she could hear him. He was talking to her just as she’d been talking to him. He lifted his head and saw that tears swam in her eyes. Yeah. She heard him.
“Do you need me to help you get into the bathroom?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. One finger came up to trace his jaw. Then his lips. Her touch was light, barely there, but he felt it like a brand in his bones. He opened his mouth and drew her finger deep. Her eyes went wide, then sexy.
“Baby” – he laved her finger with his tongue and then released her – “I asked you a question. I thought we’d established I like answers.”
She smiled again. Her smile could move mountains. “That’s not fair, you distracted me, probably on purpose so you could use that bossy tone.”
“You like my bossy tone.”
“True. But it makes me all hot and bothered, and you made it clear we’re not going there right now, so you can’t use that tone.”
His smile widened until he felt it in his gut. She did that. Brought sunshine into his life, even there in the night. He brushed a kiss over her mouth just because he couldn’t resist.
“My bossy tone makes you all hot and bothered?”
“You know it does.”
Yeah. He knew. “You’re wet for me right now, aren’t you? Hot and slick and dripping honey.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Probably.”
That was a clear challenge. She wasn’t going to tell him. She was teasing him.
Teasing
him. He liked it too. His palm shaped her breast, his thumb sliding over her nipple. He felt the answering shiver in her body and her eyes went violet. His hand kept going, down her rib cage to her waist. His finger dipped into her belly button and then circled it before sliding down to the soft nest of curls. The shiver grew into a tremor. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth.
He liked this too. Playing gentle. It felt a lot like love. He sank two fingers into her. She was hot. She was slick. And there was plenty of spice calling to him. His woman was as perfect as she could get. She squirmed beneath him, her breath catching. He grinned at her.
“You are. Nice and hot too. It’s a damn good thing I’m a strong man.” Deliberately he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked her right off, making a show of it. “You taste so fucking good, Kitten, I could spend a lifetime eating you up.”
That got him a full body shiver. He rolled off her before it was too late. Teasing was one thing, but he wasn’t testing his discipline, not when it came to her. “Take care of the bathroom, Cat, and come on out to the kitchen. I’ll make us a sandwich.”
“Coffee,” she murmured, not moving when he got up.
He stood over her just looking down at her. So much love. The intensity was overwhelming. She hadn’t moved. She lay on her back, looking at him, her hair spilling around her like a halo, her body bruised and battered but looking sexier than ever. He had to admit, there was a primitive, savage part of him that liked seeing his mark on her.
She lifted a hand, brushed his cock with languid fingers. “I like this part of you very much, Eli. You really are a beautiful man.”
Her touch sent a shiver through his body. “Glad you think so, baby,” he said. “Since it belongs to you.” He should have moved, but something held him there. He’d never had this – quiet intimacy. Both knew she was in no condition for sex – especially his kind of sex – and this felt loving. Right. He loved that she was his.
“I do think so. All of you. Every inch. And I’m glad every inch of you belongs to me.”
Her voice was soft. A thread of sound really, but it made its way inside of him. Her eyes met his. Her fingers still moved against him, stroking his shaft with gentle, loving caresses. “Just me, Eli. Right? That’s what you mean. I know I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but I’m a fast learner.”
She took his breath away. She gave herself to him. Admitted, in her way, that she loved him, but she still wasn’t sure of him. She still wasn’t sure of herself. Damn Cordeau for making her think she was nothing.
“Just you, Catarina. How could I possibly want another woman after having you? It would be impossible. Now get moving and stop trying to tempt me. I’m taking care of you, remember?”
She leaned into him and licked up his shaft like a cat licking cream. Her tongue teased and danced under the sensitive crown. Fire shot through his body. There was nothing gentle about his body’s reaction as her mouth slid over him like a tight glove. She suckled, her tongue dancing. A low moan escaped, vibrating right through his cock. Then she was gone, her blue eyes dancing with mischief.
“Just making certain you heard me right,” she said.
“That earned you a spanking.”
She laughed. “I’m so scared.” She didn’t sound in the least bit scared.
She rolled up and he stepped back before her hands could reach her intended target. There was only so much teasing he could take, and he knew she was sore and swollen. He wanted to kiss the little smirk right off her face, but that would definitely lead to other things.
“Hurry up,” he growled, knowing he’d lost this battle. Even if he did put her over his knee, he had a feeling she’d turn the tables on him and it would turn erotic.
He snagged a pair of soft sweatpants on his way out of the room. Her laughter only made his body harder and he knew she’d used her soft, sexy tone on purpose.
He was laughing when he got to the kitchen. His life had always been grim. He was okay with that. He did his job and he was good at it, and there was satisfaction in taking down criminals. But still, it was a grim life. Even after he’d traveled the world looking for other shifters. After he’d found Drake Donovan and had been introduced to the men who hunted rogues and took down criminals throughout the world. Shifters he could admire. Shifters who taught him the ropes. Even then, his world was grim. Until Cat. Cat changed everything and he didn’t know she’d done it until it was already done.
He looked around his kitchen. It was the same, yet different. There were flowers in a vase on the table. Pots and pans hung on the rack, but they were arranged by size and were sparkling clean. The differences were small, and subtle, but they were there. She’d already put her touch on things, especially the kitchen.
She’d set up a coffee station with the ingredients from her grocery list. Joshua had brought the groceries and clothes he’d requested and she’d been ecstatic. He hadn’t shown her the clothes yet – or the boots he’d ordered – but she’d pounced on the groceries,
oohing
and
ahhing
over every object – especially the coffee items. She could make their favorites drinks and when she did, they were every bit as awesome as he remembered from the coffee-house.
He pulled out the deli meat, turkey for her and roast beef for him. Cheese slices, avocado and condiments. He knew the moment she entered, but he didn’t look up. He smelled her – that honeysuckle scent that drove him mad. She didn’t make a sound as she padded barefoot across the floor straight to the coffee machine.
“Want one?”
“Kitten.”
She laughed. “It’s amazing how much you can convey with one word.”
He went to her, silent as well. She didn’t know he was behind her until he was already on her, turning her into his arms, taking a fistful of hair to pull her head back. He took her mouth. Rough. Hard. Possessive. Staking his claim in no uncertain terms. When he lifted his head to look into her cobalt eyes, he saw she got it. She knew his way of talking. He smiled down at her and brushed her lips gently with his. At the same time his hand slid under the hem of the shirt she wore to find her naked bottom. He caressed the firm globes with his palms before stalking back across the room to the center island, putting it between them.
“Our communication seems to be improving.”
Catarina burst out laughing. She touched her trembling mouth and wondered if her shaky legs would hold her up. Happiness burst through her veins like champagne bubbles. He had a sense of humor under all that alpha leopard macho nonsense that she found hotter than anything. Which was unfortunate because he already got his way in all things. She just liked taking care of him.
“Is it now?” she prompted as she ground up the coffee he liked.
“You’re wearing my shirt and no panties. And you know when I’m telling you that you fucking belong to me. So, yeah, communication is getting better.”
“I’m not so afraid all the time,” she admitted. She kept her back to him while she made his favorite cup of coffee. He liked caramel. She’d been surprised that he was a caramel man, but when he had something sweet, it was coffee and caramel and he liked two shots with that. She was careful to make it perfect for him.
“Kitten.”
His voice turned her heart over. It was amazing to her what that tone could do. She immediately became aware of her breasts because they ached and her nipples scraped against the soft flannel of the shirt she wore. Little fingers of desire teased her thighs, and if he asked, she’d have to admit she was getting damp for him. With just his voice. How far gone did that make her?