“Eli. I need this.”
“From me,” he prompted.
She nodded her head, then thrashed again. Desperate. Hot. Needy. Scared. “From you. From Eli.”
He slammed home, taking her with him on the crazy, wild ride. He felt her body tighten to the point of strangulation but he didn’t stop driving into her. She screamed. Her body nearly seized and then the orgasm tore through her hard and fast and mean, a powerful quake that persisted when he was swept along with her. The splash of his seed hot and strong gave her an additional powerful quake.
He buried his face in her neck as the ripples continued and he stayed inside her, riding them out with her. Her breasts felt soft and right against his hard chest. Her body was small, but fit perfectly. He’d been brutal in his possession of her and she was going to be sore. He needed to attend to her, and she was going to be embarrassed and angry when she came down from the high.
He lifted his head and pressed his mouth to the corner of hers. “Are you okay?”
She took a breath and curled her fingers in his hair, looking confused. Her gaze started to slide from his but he caught her chin.
“No, Kitten. We’re past that. We’re moving forward, and you’re not going to be embarrassed at what we did together.”
“I don’t even like you,” she whispered. “I don’t even know you and I was all over you. This isn’t even your fault. It’s mine. I did this. I couldn’t stop myself.”
He smoothed back her hair, stroking little soothing caresses over her scalp. “It’s going to be all right.”
“It isn’t though. I used you. I didn’t even try to control myself. The burning was terrible. My skin hurt, everything hurt. I didn’t think about you, only myself and some way to try to stop it.”
She sounded close to tears. He brushed kisses on each eyelid and then trailed more to the corner of her mouth. He still felt her tight sheath surrounding him. He should have been empty. Finished. But he was still hard. All that scorching fire and that honey and spice. But she was done. She needed care. Time to come to terms with what happened between them.
“This isn’t your fault, Catarina. It just is. We’re shifters. We didn’t ask to be shifters, and this comes with the territory. I know you’re afraid of her. Your leopard, but you don’t have to be…”
“Are you kidding? I would never have attacked you in a million years. She did that. She made me into a slut.”
His hands tightened on her and he gave her a little shake. “Don’t you ever call yourself that, Cat. She didn’t make you anything but what you’re supposed to be. My mate. She recognized my leopard and mine recognized yours. It’s that simple. She’ll give you a freedom you’ve never had, one that no one can take from you. When you run in that form, there’s nothing like it on earth, except this. What we have together.”
He forced himself to roll off of her. The moment he was out of her body, he felt alone again, an ache instantly, a need to be connected physically to her. It was all he had with her and he knew it. Having sex, even great sex with her, didn’t mean their problems were solved. He’d betrayed her and that betrayal had gone deep.
“I’m going to run you a bath. If you don’t soak in hot water, you’ll be sore.” She was going to be sore anyway. Leopard sex was savage at best. Brutal most of the time. His leopard clawed and raked for his mate. She wasn’t ready, but that didn’t stop the fierce cat from driving Eli to cement the relationship. Who was he kidding? He was a rough man and he liked sex hard and wild.
He pulled up his sweats and padded across the room to the master bath. He left the door open, keeping his eye on her while he ran the water as hot as he thought she could stand. She didn’t speak, but he felt her eyes on him.
“What is it, baby?” he asked as gently as possible.
She looked upset, and he didn’t blame her. She was dealing with too many things at once.
“Why? Why did you use me like that?”
For a moment he thought she was talking about sex, but when he looked at the expression on her face, the raw hurt there, he knew what she meant. Her question was a potential bomb. How could he answer that without her feeling even more betrayed? He had betrayed her.
Eli was acutely aware of what she’d said about making the choice between Cordeau and him. She wanted honesty. She even deserved honesty. He sat on the edge of the tub and kept his eyes on her face even while one hand trailed in the water to make certain it wasn’t too hot for her.