“You do know you can be annoying, don’t you?” she demanded.

“I think you’re a little grumpy because you haven’t had your coffee and you just woke up.” He stepped close to her, crowding her, inhaling her scent. She could strip him bare, right to his soul, with her eyes. She just didn’t know it and he thought it best that she never did. “What is it about having babies that scares you, Kitten? Talk to me. Let me help with that.”

Her eyelashes fluttered, but her eyes didn’t leave his and there was an instant melting around the region of his heart. He admired her courage.

“I’ve never even held a baby, Eli, let alone taken care of one. I’ve never been around a child. I don’t know the first thing about raising children.”

She didn’t know it, but the way her gaze clung to him, the expression on her face, she looked to him like he was her lifeline. He wanted to be that lifeline. He wanted her to always look to him when she was scared or confused. He stepped even closer to her, one arm sliding around her waist to lock her to him, the other putting down his coffee so he could shape her face with his palm.

“Don’t be afraid of a child, baby. We’ll sort that out together. We’re both smart. We aren’t going to fuck up our children. You’ll be sweet like you are with them, pouring out all that love you’ve got, and I’ll growl and snarl and protect them. We’re going to love each other and them so much, they’ll be swimming in love.”

Her eyes searched his face. She swallowed twice before she answered. “Eli, has it escaped your notice that I can’t even say that word?”

“When it comes to you, Kitten, nothing escapes me. Not ever.” His thumb moved gently along her jaw. “You were made for love, Catarina. To love your man. To love your children. And for them to love you.”

She blinked, clearly surprised. A faint blush stole up her cheeks. “You say the most amazing things to me, Eli.”

She never knew what to do with him when he was giving her compliments. He figured she would have a lifetime to get used to it because he intended to give them to her on a regular basis.

“Only because they’re true. We both know I’m brutally honest.” He bent his head and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Make your coffee, baby, and let’s eat.”

“Okay.” She smiled up at him.