Eli yanked open her door. She already had the seat belt off. She hadn’t done up the buttons, leaving them just as he asked. His heart stuttered again. Who had a woman like this one? His hands spanned her waist and he lifted her out of the seat to carry her around to the bed of the truck.

“Take my shirt off, Cat,” he instructed. “A leopard has to stash clothes around the property just in case. I have to be naked to shift.”

Her eyes jumped to his. She licked her lips, and he groaned.

“Baby. I need the shirt gone. You need to sit on the tailgate and I don’t want your ass on that cold, dirty metal.”

A hint of a smile stole into her eyes and that made him want to groan all over again. She leaned away from him so she could pull his shirt up and over his head. First one arm was free and then the other. He opened the tailgate and laid the shirt down before depositing her there. She didn’t take her eyes off of his face.

“Shifting with a hard-on is much more difficult,” he growled at her.

Her hint of a smile widened into the real thing. She swung one bare foot. “I’m sure you’re up to the task.”

“You could help me out . . .” he suggested, not making it a command, just teasing.

She wiggled her fingers imperiously at him to get on with it. Eli grinned at her and pulled off his boots and socks and then his hands dropped to the drawstring of his sweats. She didn’t look away. He stepped in close to her, wedging his hips between her legs, pushing her thighs open with his.

“Actually, Kitten, if you want to see my leopard you can do this for me.”

She tilted her head. “Do you think I won’t?”

Her hands shook but they went instantly to his drawstring. She loosened it and then opened it, her fingers working deftly in his waistband to push the material off his hips. Eli wanted to throw his head back and roar like the leopard he was. She was his all right, every damn inch of her. He was beginning to realize that all the time he’d been trying to hold her to him, she was winding herself around his heart. He was more than halfway in love with her—he was already gone.

His hand dropped to her thigh. Her skin was warm and soft, just like he knew it would be. He had the taste of her in his mouth and his body already recognized the feel of her. He ran his palm up her thigh and then around to the inside. He felt her incredible heat radiating, beckoning.

“Are you wet for me?” he murmured.

“Don’t get distracted. You’re showing me your leopard,” she whispered, but her hand curled over his cock.