“Cordeau didn’t want you to be educated?” He was beginning to detest the man. He felt the leopard rise close to the surface in direct response to his rising temper. He knew his eyes glittered because he could see heat waves banding across his vision. Cordeau wanted a teenage girl so trapped and so alone she had no friends and nowhere to turn. He also ensured she would feel bad about herself, inferior to him.

She licked her lips, drawing his instant attention. “No, I asked once if I could have a tutor and he got mad at me. Not just mad, but scary mad. You’re the only other person that can do that.”

She was plucking at the silverware on the table and he reached out to lay his hand over hers, stilling those restless fingers. “What do you mean, ‘scary mad’?”

“When you’re angry, Eli, you can walk into the room and I feel it, the sudden onslaught of frightening, intense, very powerful heat. The energy is so strong, I sometimes think you could knock someone over with it.”

He knew what she was talking about and he couldn’t deny it. He could shut down a room full of macho men with his anger. It wasn’t that difficult to feel the presence of his cat, a moody, brooding, vicious, bad-tempered animal that could tear a man apart in seconds.

“I know, baby,” he admitted softly. “I can get like that. I can be mean. I got a temper. For you, I’ll try to keep it in check, but if I get ugly, you have the right to say so. Just don’t walk out on me. If I say something that hurts, let me know. Don’t hold it inside. You have to learn to live with me and I’m not saying that’s going to be easy. I told you, I like things my way, and I’m not taking any chances with your safety. I’m guessing we’re going to butt heads a few times.”

“When you say I’m your woman, Eli, what does that mean, exactly? For me. What do you expect and what can I expect?”

His thumb slid over the inside of her wrist, checking her pulse. Her heart beat just a little too fast. She was scared, but she was determined.

“When I say you’re mine, it means you’re my mate in shifter terms. My wife in human terms. We build a life together. That’s what we’re going to do. I’ll have your back and you’ll have mine.”

“So a partnership.”