She frowned. “Why didn’t I know you were a cop?”
“Because your cat wasn’t close enough to recognize mine. I didn’t know you were leopard and you didn’t know I was. But we’re mates. You’ll know. So will your leopard. I’m not telling you lies when I say I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Or the sexiest. Or that I want you every fucking time I lay eyes on you. Or when I tell you I’m never going to give you up.”
Her eyes searched his for a long time. “Then I guess I made the right decision. I think you’re so beautiful you take my breath away.”
He tried not to let the sound of her voice and the way she said the words, the ring of absolute truth get to him – but it did. His heart turned over. His belly knotted and his cock was as hard as a damned rock. Love and lust mixed into some terrible combustible chemical, just waiting for a match. “Baby. Men aren’t beautiful.”
“You are. The way you move. Your eyes. Your mouth. Especially your voice.” She sent him another small smile. “It doesn’t hurt that you have a scorching-hot body and you know how to use it.”
His eyes met hers. It was all he could do not to come over the table and drag her into his arms. He had the feeling that he was just getting in deeper and deeper with her. She wasn’t ready yet. She needed a little space and she’d made that clear. He wanted to give it to her. He took a deep breath, lifted his fork and saluted her. “Kitten, you have to be the best cook I’ve ever been around. I watched you make this, saw every ingredient you put into it, but I’ve never had eggs like this. Not ever. You must be magic.”
She looked pleased. “Wait until I actually have some spices and things to work with. I love this kitchen, Eli. It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad. Anything you want different, let me know and I’ll see what I can do about it. I told you, I’m no cook, but I can grill a mean steak.” He forced himself to sound offhand. He didn’t want to spook her, but he’d get her anything at all she asked him for. He’d pull down the damn moon for her if she asked him.
“That’s good, because I don’t always feel like cooking,” she admitted, sneaking a little glance at him over her coffee.
Eli frowned. “You don’t have to cook for me, Catarina. I didn’t bring you here so you could wait on me. Any time you don’t feel like cooking, just say so. I’ll take a turn or we’ll eat out.”
“We can’t eat out, Eli. Even you can’t eat out.” She raised her head, her blue eyes meeting his, anxious.
Eli liked that she looked alarmed. For him. Not for her. She was worried about him. “I’m not afraid of Cordeau, baby,” he said softly.
She shook her head. “Eli, he’ll know I’m with you by now, and the minute you surface somewhere, he’ll find you,” Catarina cautioned, carefully choosing her words, trying not to sound like she was challenging him. Or bossing him.
His heart turned over. He put his hand over hers, his thumb sliding along the bare skin of her inner wrist. “We’re going to be ready for him. I don’t intend for us to hide forever. Just long enough for your leopard to make her appearance, and for us to be ready.”
Catarina tilted her head to one side and her long, gleaming hair fell around her shoulder and tumbled down her back making his cock jump. He loved that simple little gesture and she did it a lot when her hair was down. He liked her hair down.
“Just how does one get ready for a man like Rafe Cordeau?”
“In a fight, Kitten, sometimes it comes down to conditioning. I know that sounds simple, but whoever is in shape is sometimes the one left standing. So we’re going to start training camp today. We’ll run, work on the bags, kicking, punching, crunches, push-ups and the medicine ball. I want you shooting a gun every day and I’ve got a couple of practice knives we can use. You get hit with one, it raises a hell of a welt and you know you would have gotten cut.”
“Sounds fun,” she said, and took another sip of coffee.
His eyes narrowed on her face. “This isn’t a game we’re playing with Cordeau.”
“I’m not complaining. I was already training,” she pointed out. “It’s just that, well, I can’t see me besting Rafe at hand-to-hand combat.”
Eli frowned. She’d grown up with Rafe being the sole authority around her. Everyone was afraid of the man. Everyone. Especially Catarina. To her, Cordeau was the ultimate, invincible monster. Eli hunted monsters, both human and shifter. He’d been doing it a long while, and the other shifters he knew had been doing it even longer.