He took another step toward her, glided fluidly, like the leopard he was. She saw his leopard now in his eyes. The need to dominate because she was arguing, defying him. His eyes glittered, focused on her like he would on prey.
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Catarina. You belong to me. You always have. The moment I knew that bitch of a woman had something so precious, I knew I would take you from her and protect you.” Again there was no inflection in his voice.
The sound of water and then Eli crying out had her spinning around. They were shocking him, running electricity through his wet body. She forced herself to remain still. Lifting one hand she shifted only her arm and hand, a difficult feat that had taken weeks of practice to accomplish. A paw formed where her fingers had been, long, curved razor-sharp claws springing out of them.
She didn’t hesitate, bringing the claw to the artery in her neck. Blood trickled. Rafe leapt toward her, covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye, yanking her arm down and away from her jugular.
“You won’t be able to stop me, Rafe. They hurt him, I’ll do it. I’ll kill myself. I’ll find a way. That’s the deal.”
Rafe swore, the first sign of emotion he’d shown. He lifted his hand and instantly the water cut off and Eli stopped twisting and jerking.
“Please let go of me.” His touch confused her. His grip on her was gentle, not hard. He held her arm firmly but without any force. She couldn’t sustain the shift to just one body part and her leopard subsided, staying just below the surface in case Catarina needed her again.
“Promise me you won’t try to harm yourself. We’ll work out a deal.”
She nodded. “As long as you don’t kill or torture him, or harm anyone else I care about, I’ll listen to what you have to say, Rafe.”
Rafe waved his three lieutenants back, ensuring Eli’s safety for the time being. “We’ll go in the kitchen and talk,” he said, making it an order.
“I don’t trust them to stay away from Eli. Get him down from there, first.”
“Not a chance, Catarina. I’m giving you this one concession. Go into the kitchen where we can talk alone.”
She turned her body toward the screen door, allowing her gaze to sweep over Eli. His head was down as if in defeat, but his eyes had narrowed to slits. She saw the blaze of power there and it steadied her. He had a plan. So did she.
Catarina lifted her chin. “Give me your word that they won’t touch him while we’re in the house, Rafe.”
“Will you believe me?”
She lowered her lashes. “I always believed you, Rafe. You’re all I’ve ever had.”
He might say he knew she was precious and he wanted to protect her, but he had known she was a shifter long before he ever removed her from that house of drugs and pain. His home, any home would have been better for a child to be raised in. But he’d left her there until she’d had her first period. Until he feared her leopard might emerge. He hadn’t taken any chances, forcing her to live with him then.
She knew he could have taken her earlier, but he hadn’t wanted the inconvenience of a small child. He would have had to hire a nanny, someone who might suspect what he did. More – and she suspected it was the real reason – he didn’t want to risk her being attached to anyone else.
Catarina knew the soft statement I always believed you, Rafe had gotten to him. She saw his eyes change, the leopard backing off just a little.
“No one will harm him.” Rafe lifted his head and pinned his lieutenants with his cold, steely eyes. “I don’t want him comfortable, but do nothing more until you’re given the order.”
She hesitated. There was something in what he said that she’d missed. How he’d said it. She wasn’t certain what to do. She needed to comply with Rafe’s demands, make him believe she was listening to him, that there was a chance she’d go peacefully with him, but now she was afraid to leave Eli alone with Rafe’s shifter lieutenants.
She glanced again at Eli out of the corner of her eye. His nod was nearly imperceptible, meant only for her. She squared her shoulders and moved immediately to stand at the screen. Waiting. Forcing Rafe to open it for her. To acknowledge she was a grown woman and had to be treated with respect. Eli opened doors for her, Rafe needed to do the same.
She stood there nearly a minute before Rafe’s hand moved past her to yank the screen open. She swept through it like royalty.
“Would you like a coffee? I can make almost anything.”
His gaze scanned the room, landed on the dough she had ready to make the beignets with. He inhaled deeply, dragging in the scent of sex. He couldn’t fail to notice it. Fury burned across his expression, making her shiver, and then it was gone and his cool mask was back in place.