There was no sound, but she knew the instant Eli stepped through the door onto the porch. “I brought a couple of beignets to go with coffee, Kitten,” he said, and bent to brush a kiss across her mouth. He put the coffee and small plate of dessert beside her on the little end table and then pulled up a chair behind her.

“What are you doing?” She glanced over her shoulder to see him sprawled in a chair, his legs splayed out and around her chair.

“Your hair is bothering you. I’m going to braid it for you.”

Her heart stuttered. She had so much hair it was difficult to keep her arms up when she was working with it so often she just clipped it back or wore it in a ponytail.

“Lean back, baby.”

There it was again, his low, commanding tone. He used it often. Now that she thought about it, Ridley had used it as well.

“You don’t have to braid my hair, Eli. There’s a lot of it.”

“I’m familiar with your hair, Cat. When a man is crazy about his woman’s hair, he is aware of just about every strand on her head. I’m crazy about your hair. I love the way it looks when you’re first waking up. I love the way it feels on my body when you’ve got my cock in your mouth. I love the way it falls down your back like a fucking waterfall with so much shine sometimes I think it’s going to blind me.”

Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. What could she say to that? Absolutely nothing. That was the kind of thing she wanted to hold to her and take out occasionally in secret and listen to all over again. Eli gave her compliments just like Ridley, only maybe better.

She leaned her head back. The brush went through her hair, a long smooth stroke. It felt wonderful on her scalp. He took his time brushing her hair, seeming to enjoy it. The brush pulling through her hair was almost hypnotic. She closed her eyes for a few minutes and just let herself enjoy it.

Peace stole over her. The view was incredible, and for the first time in her life she felt as if she was home. Catarina didn’t try to analyze why, she just allowed herself to enjoy the moment. She drank coffee and ate one of the beignets. They weren’t quite as good cool as they were fresh and hot, but it was sugar and that went great with the strong coffee. It was perfect.

“Do you let your leopard run free very often?”

He divided her hair into thirds. “I try to every day, but when I’m on a job, sometimes that’s not always possible.”

“Are you gone a lot, working?”