Cat's Lair
Page 97

Her eyes warmed, turned a deeper shade of violet through all that blue. “Baby? Emma gave me the recipe. Do you like it?”
Baby. She had never once referred to him as anything but Eli. Not once. An endearment? Even if she was echoing one of his for her. He was grateful for the table to hide the response of his body, but he had to put his other hand in his lap to keep from giving away the sudden tremor in his hands.
He loved her. Plain and simple and every single day, every hour, she was giving him more reason to love her. He was fairly certain he could spend the rest of his life concentrating on Catarina alone and never find out all of her.
“I think it’s excellent, Kitten. I have no doubt you can reproduce this very good gravy. I’ve never had a single meal that you’ve made for me that I didn’t want to overeat.”
The corners of her mouth turned up and she shook her head. She glanced at Emma. “He does that a lot. He gives me the best compliments, and I never know quite what to do.” She swallowed. “He’s sweet.”
Eli groaned. “No, Kitten, I am not sweet. Don’t say ‘sweet,’ especially in front of another man. I’m rough and tough and scary.”
Even the two children laughed. The rest of the evening was spent with a lot of laughter and Eli enjoyed it because most of the time he was watching Catarina have fun. She seemed startled by the fact that she could have fun, and every few minutes her blue gaze would settle on his face and her features would go even softer and warmer than normal.
Mostly he paid attention to how tired she got. They’d both been working hard on conditioning and self-defense, mostly hand to hand, but she put in time on the gun range as well. He wasn’t easy on her, in spite of the long nights of frenzied sex and their leopards being just as crazy, driving them both without mercy. The moment he saw her stifle a yawn, he was up, taking her hand and making their good-byes.
Catarina lingered, chatting with Emma, promising another visit soon when he caught the second yawn. He tugged her away from their friends, walking her out to the pickup. Before she could protest, he caught Catarina around her waist and lifted her into the cab, reached across her to snap her seat belt, firmly closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. Jake’s laughter followed him every step. No doubt the man knew exactly what he was thinking, but Eli didn’t care.
He waved as he drove out, past the guards at the gate and onto the road leading back to their home.
“That was fun,” Catarina said. “I didn’t expect it to be. Thank you for introducing me to Emma. She’s wonderful. And she knows so much about shifters.”
He glanced at her. “Anything you want to know about shifters, baby, you just have to ask.”
“I know. You always answer my questions, Eli, and I love that about you. I can’t tell you how important it is to me that you care enough to answer my questions.” She glanced out the window into the night. “You’ve made my life so different.”
“I want your life to be everything you’ve ever dreamt about.”
Her head turned toward him. Her eyes were soft. “I never dreamt about anything but getting away from Rafe. I don’t think I know what normal is, but I’m happy. Really, really happy, and you’ve done that.”
He reached out and tugged at her braid, a reminder that he liked her hair down. “I want you to feel safe as well, Cat. I don’t like that you were still afraid to meet our neighbors because you thought Cordeau might hurt them.”
There was no hesitation. None at all. Catarina’s hands went up to her hair and she began removing pins until the thick braid fell free, snaking down her shoulder to pool on the seat. She began working on the tie, absently, as if she wasn’t paying the least attention. “I was afraid. I think it’s an automatic reaction, but it’s getting less. I wasn’t so paranoid that I refused to go.”
“You could have,” Eli said. “You know that, right? You don’t have to do everything I say.”
Her eyes went soft. “Seriously? Eli, I know that. I like doing things for you, but if I didn’t want to, I’d let you know. We’d argue because you like your way, but I’d stand my ground. I’m not afraid of you.”
He opened his mouth to respond but stopped, going over what she’d just said. Playing back every inflection of her voice. I’m not afraid of you. That wasn’t an idle statement. She was giving him something else. Something important. Something sacred. It was big, and he needed to get it.
“Never be afraid of me, baby. No matter how much I growl at you, and it will happen. I’m not always nice. We both know that, but I’d never hurt you, not in a million years.”
“I know that, Eli. I really do.” Her hands loosened the weave of the braid. “I’m not afraid in our home at all. I was at Emma’s because I think I’ve been afraid for so long that I couldn’t help myself.”
He reached over and took her hand, pulling it to his thigh and holding it there. “Time will fix that, Kitten. I’m glad you had fun with Emma. Jake is worried about her. She nearly died during her last pregnancy, and she still wanted another baby.”
He pulled her hand to his mouth and nibbled on the pads of her fingers for a moment before returning her palm to his thigh. “Jake wanted a surrogate, but Emma insisted on carrying. He gave in.” He took a breath and looked at her. “I wouldn’t have, baby. I want to give you every damn thing you want, but I wouldn’t have been able to give you that.”