She didn’t know it, but the way her gaze clung to him, the expression on her face, she looked to him like he was her lifeline. He wanted to be that lifeline. He wanted her to always look to him when she was scared or confused. He stepped even closer to her, one arm sliding around her waist to lock her to him, the other putting down his coffee so he could shape her face with his palm.
“Don’t be afraid of a child, baby. We’ll sort that out together. We’re both smart. We aren’t going to fuck up our children. You’ll be sweet like you are with them, pouring out all that love you’ve got, and I’ll growl and snarl and protect them. We’re going to love each other and them so much, they’ll be swimming in love.”
Her eyes searched his face. She swallowed twice before she answered. “Eli, has it escaped your notice that I can’t even say that word?”
“When it comes to you, Kitten, nothing escapes me. Not ever.” His thumb moved gently along her jaw. “You were made for love, Catarina. To love your man. To love your children. And for them to love you.”
She blinked, clearly surprised. A faint blush stole up her cheeks. “You say the most amazing things to me, Eli.”
She never knew what to do with him when he was giving her compliments. He figured she would have a lifetime to get used to it because he intended to give them to her on a regular basis.
“Only because they’re true. We both know I’m brutally honest.” He bent his head and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Make your coffee, baby, and let’s eat.”
“Okay.” She smiled up at him.
He couldn’t resist another kiss, this time sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips in a silent command for her to open to him. He slid both hands under the hem of the flannel shirt to cup the bare firm globes of her ass. She had a perfect butt. He loved watching her walk. He loved smoothing his palms over that wonderful curve. He loved looking at her bottom when she lay on her belly in their bed, or was on her hands and knees. Just like that, his cock reacted, straining against the material of his sweats. Hungry. Greedy.
She didn’t pull away from him. If anything she pressed tighter into him. That was another thing he loved. She gave him access to her body when he needed or wanted to touch her. She didn’t make a thing about it, she just did it. Caring for him. Loving him without words. He heard her talking, even if it was in silence. He heard her loud and clear.
“After dinner, Catarina, I’m going to see what I can do about those very sore muscles of yours. First the hot tub, then a hot shower and then I massage you.”
She turned her face up to his, her blue eyes searching his face. A slow smile took his breath.
“Massage?” She licked her lips. “That sounds like fun. Do I get to give you a massage too?”
She was killing him. He cleared his throat. “Would that make you happy?”
“Yes. I like touching you.”
The way she made the admission, so honest, made his heart stutter. Sometimes just looking at her hurt, she was so beautiful. But this, the way she moved into him when he touched her, the way she allowed his hands on her so willingly, and her ready confession, meaning it, that she liked touching him, nearly brought him to his knees.
He didn’t answer her immediately, he was too busy fighting for air. Fighting to keep his hands off of her and his cock out of her while she healed.
She tugged at her lower lip again with her teeth. “Your muscles have to be sore too, Eli. You were conditioning just like me, and your leopard was crazy last night. But if you don’t want me to…”
He stopped her with another kiss. “I want you to. Coffee. Eat. Hot tub. Let’s get it done so I can feel your hands on me, Kitten.”
He smacked her on her bare bottom and then slid his palm over the heated skin. Her eyes went wide. He grinned at her. “I owed you that, remember.”
“I didn’t think it would feel like that if you actually did it,” she said.
“Baby, I love seeing that wild look in your eyes. I love what wild does to your body and then what your body does to mine. I’m going to think up all kinds of creative ways to keep that look there.” He let her go, stepping back because it was either that or lift her into his arms and slam her body down hard on his pulsing cock.
Catarina went back to the coffee machine and he put the sandwiches on the table. He’d started to put them on plates but at the last minute put them on napkins. Straddling his chair, he snagged one of the roast beef sandwiches and dug in, all the while watching Cat at the coffee machine. It was a thing of beauty seeing her work, the concentration on her face.
“Stop staring at me.” She didn’t turn around.