He poured his promise down her throat and into her body as well, along with his love. He stopped being so gentle with his kisses the moment she responded, the moment she began actively participating in kissing him back. She’d never really kissed him back. Not like this, not moving her body deeper beneath his, her hands sliding around his neck, fingers finding his hair. Her tongue slid along his, danced and dueled, made her own demands.

She lit up for him like a flame. He’d lit the match and she caught fire. Heat swept through his body, turning him rock hard. It wasn’t just his cock she affected, it was his entire body. He could feel his need for her in every cell, each individual muscle. His heart pounded and thunder roared in his ears. He could feel the hot blood pumping through his veins, roaring like his leopard did when it was demanding his mate.

This was all the man, not the feral cat. This was all Eli, needing Catarina. Loving her. He took his time, kissing her, making an art of it, feeding on the taste of her, committing the shape and feel of her to memory. Her lips were soft, warm, nearly indescribable for him. He was a tactile man and he loved running his tongue over her lips and tugging on her full lower lip. Little nips. Little bites. God she was gorgeous.

He loved the soft little sounds that came from her throat. She would never be a silent lover. She made noise. Lots of it. Breathy little moans. Soft little pleas. A kind of purr that nearly drove him out of his mind, and when she came, she screamed, or chanted his name. She wasn’t embarrassed about sex. She was more embarrassed that she didn’t know a lot about it.

He couldn’t tell her what a turn-on it was for him to know that no other man had ever been inside her. Maybe that was macho of him, and very unfair, but it didn’t matter, he loved that no one else had been in her mouth or her body. That he’d been her first kiss, her first everything. She belonged to him alone. No one else had even a tiny part of her. Not her heart. Not her soul. Just his.

“I’ve never had anything that I wanted just for mine,” he admitted softly against her throat. His hand swept down to her left breast. He loved that she more than filled his large palm. She had curves and he was a man to appreciate curves, especially hers.