Eli let his male have his time with his mate, but once he was finished and just rubbing lovingly along her fur, as she lay exhausted and panting, he forced him back and shifted.

The little female didn’t move. He dropped his hand into her thick fur. “Shift now, Cat.” He poured command into his voice.

She obeyed automatically, but she didn’t move from the floor. He reached down and lifted her exhausted body, cradling her against his chest.

“You sleep in this morning and then we’re going to take care of it.”

She rubbed her face sleepily against his chest. “Take care of what?”

He strode into the house. “Go to sleep. Let me take care of you. We’ll get the paperwork done and get married at Jake’s.”

She burrowed closer. “I think I’m being railroaded.”

He laughed softly. “Bet your life on that, baby. I’m not wasting time and giving you the chance to change your mind.”

19

CATARINA pushed away from her desk, stood up and stretched. She loved this room. Their shared office. There was so much space. It was nice sitting opposite Eli, looking up every now and then from her laptop to see his golden eyes on her. The way he looked at her always made her shiver in anticipation. He always looked at her as if he might devour her at any moment. In fact, it was true. More than once he’d ordered her to strip and climb on his desk. More than once she’d dared to crawl under his desk and open his jeans to get what she wanted.

She loved the books that slowly were filling the empty shelves. She knew she spent too much on books, but it was the only thing she spent money on. She threw out her arms and spun in a circle, unable to contain her happiness. The dread was still there, deep in the pit of her stomach and the nightmares had increased so she knew Rafe was closer than ever to her, but still she couldn’t help but be happy.

She might not spend money on herself, but Eli kept her supplied in clothes—especially lingerie. Silky, lacy camisoles. He especially liked red on her. She had a lot of lace and red. She could never really understand why because it never stayed on her more than a few minutes, but she liked to wear the silk and lace under her clothes, especially her everyday clothes, just to tease him. He always wondered.

Eli made her laugh. He was bossy, even arrogant, there was no doubt about it. He was super controlling, but, she found, it was mainly when it came to sex or her safety or health. In every other area, he was gentle with her and seemed to want her to grow confident and spread her wings.