drawl, the ma’am. He’d touched his finger to his hat and called her that, nodding and smiling, his gray eyes warm.
Dylan had intimidated her almost as much as Miguel had, and she’d been afraid that her situation hadn’t improved. But Ellison had made Maria laugh from day one—he’d been truly funny, instead of using humor to be derisive and cruel. While she’d not been able to look up at Spike, or even Ronan, she’d raised her head and let Ellison’s smile make her feel better.
His smile still made her feel better, and his kisses were even better than that.
Maria reached up and smoothed his hair, liking the wiry silk of it. Ellison’s eyes flickered, the Shifter in him responding, but he only closed his eyes briefly, letting her touch.
He didn’t want to scare her. From the time she’d met him, Ellison had been trying to calm and reassure her, and to keep others from frightening her. He’d been right there when the asshat human had tried to intimidate her last night; he’d been at her side the moment Broderick had tried to harass her on her way home.
Now he stood in silence, letting her touch him, not grabbing her or coercing her. She ran her hands up his forearms, feeling every muscle, finding the hollows inside the bend of his elbows, the hard strength of his biceps under his shirtsleeves. Up to his shoulders, which held the responsibility of his sister, his nephews, Deni’s violent episodes.
So strong, and yet carrying so much for others.
Maria’s touch went to his face, the rough of unshaved whiskers, the warm satin of his lips. She rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to those lips, while he watched her, his gaze intent. One arm came around her, solid, holding her upright. The strength of him took her breath away.
And Ellison was . . . sexy. The way he danced to the country tunes at Liam’s bar revealed his grace, and she felt it now as he held her without effort as she kissed him.
Maria had never touched a man like this. Her experience with sex had been limited to Luis deciding when, where, and how. Luis done all of the touching, and that hadn’t been much.
Ellison was different. He caressed her back, easing her closer, kissed her lower lip then the corner of her mouth.
“I think I’m liking this kissing thing,” he said.
“Me too.”
Ellison touched his forehead to hers. “I’m not going to mate-claim you right now. Much as I want to. I told Broderick to give you a little space, and I will too. What I’m going to do instead is teach you how to love life.”
Maria looked up at him in confusion. “I do like my life now. It’s much, much better here than it’s ever been.”
“No, sweetheart, you’re only surviving. Maybe basic surviving is a little easier now, but you’re still living in the shadow of all that pain and fear. You want to go to school because—why? It will help you survive better?”
She shook her head. “I want to be a doctor, to take care of people. I can live anywhere if I do that, maybe go back to Mexico and help people who don’t have anyone. Or find people here that need the same thing.”
“You’re kindhearted. But it’s still surviving. What you mean is you want a way to take care of yourself, so you don’t live under someone else’s thumb ever again. Not Shifters, not family, not friends, not anyone.”
He understood. Ellison’s eyes sparkled gray in the sunlight and were full of knowledge. How he knew exactly what went on in her heart Maria wasn’t sure, but he did.
Maria’s voice was quiet. “I never want to be enslaved again.”
“Neither do I.” Ellison’s hand went to his Collar. “You know what Shifters know—what we’ve learned? That it’s not enough only to survive. We want to live.”
“I want to live too. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. But when I tried, I nearly destroyed myself.” Maria drew a breath, stifled a new wash of tears that threatened to flow. “So now I’m happy with survival.”
“No you’re not. But I tell you what, love, any other woman who’d been through what you have would be dead by now, or maybe in constant therapy on happy drugs. You’re strong, one of the strongest women I know. Now let me teach you how to use that strength, to grab on to life and make it yours.”
She wanted to believe him. Ellison’s eyes sparkled