“Tell me, baby. Don’t ever be afraid to ask me for anything you need,” he whispered. His teeth nipped the nape of her neck. His tongue followed, easing the slight ache.

“Hold me for a minute, Eli. I want you to hold me while I tell you this. And don’t ask me to look at you. I know you prefer that, my eyes on yours, but I can’t do that, not when I tell you this. It . . . shames me.”

Eli allowed his body to slip from hers. She shuddered as his cock dragged over her sensitive little bud, the knot of nerves that were already screaming in bliss. He stood carefully and reached down for her, lifting his face for a moment to the rain. The storm had lessened in strength, the lightning moving off to the south. Still, their hair was plastered to their faces, hers down her back in a long sweep.

He drew her into the shelter of his body gently, holding her face to his chest. “You never have to be ashamed of anything you feel, Catarina,” he assured. “Just talk to me. Let me help you.”

She pressed her burning face into muscles cut so deeply in his abdomen. Her arms circled his waist and she held on tightly.

“I don’t want to hurt him any more than I already have. He’s so alone, and it breaks my heart that I couldn’t make him different. That I couldn’t make him better. I wasn’t strong enough, or smart enough. Nothing I did helped him, and I tried. I know I’m not responsible for the terrible things he’s done, but still, I feel if I could have been just a little better at caring for him, I could have helped him. That’s the reason. That’s why I don’t want to help anyone hurt him.”

She made the confession in a small, muffled voice. Eli could hear the tears.

“I wanted him to love me. He was all I had. I tried so hard but I could never do anything right and I could never take away his rage that always burned just below the surface. Only hurting others ever did that. When I knew he was going out and something terrible was going to happen, I tried to hold him there. It never worked. He’d grow worse, pacing, snarling, scaring me and everyone else. Eventually he’d go and when he came back, it was the only time he looked at peace. Relaxed. It never lasted.”

Eli kept his mouth closed tightly, wanting her to tell him everything. The level of trust she had for him was growing or she never would have told him such a deeply private emotion she was clearly mortified of having.