“Your hair is bothering you. I’m going to braid it for you.”
Her heart stuttered. She had so much hair it was difficult to keep her arms up when she was working with it so often she just clipped it back or wore it in a ponytail.
“Lean back, baby.”
There it was again, his low, commanding tone. He used it often. Now that she thought about it, Ridley had used it as well.
“You don’t have to braid my hair, Eli. There’s a lot of it.”
“I’m familiar with your hair, Cat. When a man is crazy about his woman’s hair, he is aware of just about every strand on her head. I’m crazy about your hair. I love the way it looks when you’re first waking up. I love the way it feels on my body when you’ve got my cock in your mouth. I love the way it falls down your back like a fucking waterfall with so much shine sometimes I think it’s going to blind me.”
Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. What could she say to that? Absolutely nothing. That was the kind of thing she wanted to hold to her and take out occasionally in secret and listen to all over again. Eli gave her compliments just like Ridley, only maybe better.
She leaned her head back. The brush went through her hair, a long smooth stroke. It felt wonderful on her scalp. He took his time brushing her hair, seeming to enjoy it. The brush pulling through her hair was almost hypnotic. She closed her eyes for a few minutes and just let herself enjoy it.
Peace stole over her. The view was incredible, and for the first time in her life she felt as if she was home. Catarina didn’t try to analyze why, she just allowed herself to enjoy the moment. She drank coffee and ate one of the beignets. They weren’t quite as good cool as they were fresh and hot, but it was sugar and that went great with the strong coffee. It was perfect.
“Do you let your leopard run free very often?”
He divided her hair into thirds. “I try to every day, but when I’m on a job, sometimes that’s not always possible.”
“Are you gone a lot, working?”
He tugged gently. “If you’re asking me will I be away from my mate now that I’ve found her, the answer is no. I don’t need to work. I inherited a lot of money. It was in a trust and I couldn’t touch the bulk of it until I turned thirty-one. I work because I wanted to. Now I don’t. I’ll be handing in my resignation.”
She tried to turn her head but his hands in her hair prevented her from doing that. “Eli. You can’t do that. You love your job, and I still feel very confused.” Her lashes swept down. “I don’t know if I can ever trust you again. It was hard enough the first time. I’m still asking myself if you’re seducing me in order to get me to do what you want.”
“Of course I am. I want you to stay with me. I know you’re not going to testify against Cordeau. But you’re mine, Cat, and I’m not giving you up. It’s natural for you to be afraid, and I’ll have to work at earning your trust back, but I will.”
“You lied to me.”
“Only about my name. The man who was with you in the warehouse was all me. Maybe not so bossy or crude like I can be, but he was me. I gave you me.”
“Where were you that day? You always came to walk me home, but you didn’t that day. It was Tuttle, not you.”
“He’s a moron. He doesn’t do undercover work and he sure as hell can’t tail someone without them spotting it. I’d heard they were going to move on you and I wanted to stop them. I spent the day arguing. During the meeting I got wind that maybe someone had tipped Cordeau and I needed to run that down. If it was true, I planned to lay the entire thing out for you myself.”
Catarina swallowed hard. “Eli, I don’t want you to change your life on the chance that I might want to stay. I don’t know if I can get that trust back. I don’t even know what’s going on here between us. Is this just until my leopard emerges? Is this supposed to be a lifetime deal and I’ve got no say in it? I can’t tell you I’ll stay.”
“You’ll stay. Shifters mate for life, Cat. You’ll stay.”
She winced, afraid he was right. If her leopard only had two choices, Eli or Rafe, and she didn’t even know if Rafe would take her back or kill her, she knew she would rather be with Eli. He might never love her, or she him, but he cared enough to take care of her after they had wild, crazy sex. She blushed again just thinking about it.
“You sore?”
She moistened her lips. Her body ached from the pounding on the floor, and deep inside with every movement, she still felt him there, but it was a kind of delicious soreness. She liked it. She liked knowing how she got sore.
“Baby?” he persisted.
She nodded, liking the way his hands moved in her hair. “Not bad. The bath helped. Although I think I have skid marks on my butt.”
“I think your leopard is very close, Cat. When she emerges, I’ll have to let my leopard out. We’ll both be affected by their very unrestrained passion.”
She could tell he had chosen his words cautiously. Her heart jumped and she felt a sudden rush of damp heat at the idea of what unrestrained passion was. She thought they’d been pretty darned unrestrained.
“I’m not certain what you’re telling me. Is this going to get worse?”
He laughed softly and tugged on her braid. He leaned over and nipped at the soft spot where her neck and shoulder met.