Eli found himself smiling. Her leopard senses were becoming acute. Either that or she was really aware of him. Either way, it was a good thing. “I like looking at you. Especially when you’re making coffee.”
She laughed. He loved her laugh. He watched her while he ate his second sandwich and she delicately picked at hers. She definitely enjoyed the coffee and she looked far mellower. He was glad she didn’t want a second cup to take with them out to the hot tub. She hadn’t even said a word about the napkins versus plates, although she had raised her eyebrows and her little smile was very amused. He didn’t want her smile to disappear when he told her he didn’t want her drinking more than one cup of coffee.
“You like my bossy,” he announced.
She nearly spit out her coffee. “Where did that come from?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You were thinking about ordering me around again, weren’t you?”
“I spend a lot of time thinking about ordering you around,” he admitted, unrepentant. “It’s a good thing you like it.”
“I think shifting into your leopard yesterday has made you a little crazy. Just drink the rest of your coffee, you’ll be all right.”
He threw his head back and laughed. She also made him happy in ways he hadn’t imagined.
She barely ate her sandwich and he let her get away with it because he could see she was still exhausted and he wanted her in the hot tub. He rinsed the coffee cups before she could and tossed the napkins before grabbing her hand and taking her out to the lower deck where the tub was.
“I don’t have a swimsuit,” Cat pointed out as she stood uncertainly, watching him take the cover off.
He glanced at her. “Kitten.” Amused. “I’d just take it off of you anyway. Have you not figured out yet that one of the greatest joys of my life is to look at you naked?”
She smiled at him. “I guess I missed that.”
He stalked over to her, caught the hem of the shirt and pulled it over her head without unbuttoning it. There was very little moon, but he could see her lush body. His mark was still everywhere, the finger smudges and small bite marks. He brushed his hand down her left breast, watching her face. She was sensitive. The shiver ran through her and her eyes heated.
“Get in, before I decide I need you right now.”
Her gaze dropped to his fully erect cock as he shed his sweats. “Any time you need me, Eli, I want you. You have to know that. I’m never going to be too tired or too sore.”
She trailed her fingers over him and his cock jerked in response. His belly tightened. That was his woman. “Look up at me, baby,” he commanded softly.
Her gaze jumped to his. He saw the heat. The fire. The sexy. He nearly groaned aloud, not believing the miracle that was Catarina.
“I really mean it. Not just for you, but for me too.” The last was admitted in a low voice, but her gaze didn’t waver from his.
“I know you mean it, Kitten. I love that you mean it. Stop tempting me and get the hell in the hot tub.”
She laughed softly and climbed in. He watched her, shaking his head, still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that she was his. He watched her face carefully as she sank a little gingerly into the hot water. She winced just enough that he knew he’d been right to ensure she had a break. She still looked exhausted, and he made up his mind he would postpone his own massage in an effort to get her to relax and go back to sleep. If she had her hands on him, he doubted if he had the discipline to keep from taking her. And he knew she’d offer because she was just that generous.
The night was cool enough that steam rose from the water’s surface. He adjusted the jets on her body, and sank down onto one of the lower seats so the jets could hit the back of his neck and shoulders. Catarina was right when she said he had to be sore too. He felt as if he’d wrestled his leopard and lost.
Catarina put her head back and closed her eyes. It gave him the opportunity to study her profile. She was beautiful any way he looked at her. Her long sweeping lashes and the curve of her cheek, the high cheekbones and softly rounded chin, all her gleaming, glossy hair she’d tied up in an intricate knot.
“You’re staring at me again.” She kept her eyes closed.
“I told you, I like looking at you, especially when you’re bare-ass naked two feet from me.”
“All this time I thought it was when I was making coffee.”
“Kitten.” He waited until her lashes fluttered and rose just enough that he could see her blue eyes. “I like looking at you all the time.”
She laughed softly and closed her eyes again.
16
“YOUR woman has a beautiful laugh,” Jake Bannaconni stated.
The sound of Catarina’s laughter felt a little like music. Eli tilted his chair back, sprawling his legs out in front of him, the bottle of beer in his fist. He could listen to her laughter all day long and never tire of it. She sounded carefree. Happy. He knew he had a hand in her happiness and that made it all the more sweet.