She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, trying to think what else she’d done. “I practiced shifting,” she admitted, still not understanding why he was upset. She practiced every chance she got. He’d told her to. Even in the bedroom sometimes she tried to best her times of removing clothes and shifting on the move.

“What did I tell you last night?”

Hard hands bit into her waist. He lifted her up abruptly and set her on the table, hard. One hand went to her shirt, yanking it open, uncaring of the buttons that flew in all directions. Her breasts spilled out through the open edges. He placed one hand on her chest and pushed, forcing her to lean back until she had to catch herself with her hands.

“I don’t know. What? You’re scaring me a little bit, Eli. I can’t think straight.”

“I told you not to go anywhere without me. I told you it wasn’t safe.”

Her heart tripped hard. He felt Rafe close. Fear made her mouth dry. She tasted a metallic flavor that always scared her. They’d had nearly a month since he’d given her the news about David and the others. She’d allowed herself to live in a dream world again, lulled into a false sense of security because so much time had passed.

“Eyes on mine,” Eli snapped. “If you’re going to be afraid of someone, it had better be me, not that bastard.”

He was really angry, she realized. He’d never actually been angry with her before. Impatient maybe, but not angry. What had he said? He had a temper. He might say and do things she needed to be able to get over. What did that mean?

Reluctantly she lifted her gaze to his. His golden eyes blazed down into hers. “You knew damn well you weren’t supposed to leave my side.”

She shook her head. A slight tremor shook her body. He was really frightening standing over her with his eyes furious. He was fully clothed, and she was sprawled out in front of him entirely vulnerable. She tried to shift position just a little, to close her legs, to give herself any kind of edge she could.

His hand smacked the side of her buttocks, the sound loud. Fire spread through her. She couldn’t help the small cry that escaped. His palm was there, rubbing, soothing, even as his other hand slipped between her legs to feel the rush of damp liquid.

“Can I just say ‘ouch’?” she asked.

“Say whatever fucking thing you want to say, Cat, but don’t you fucking move.”

Two of the f-bombs in one sentence. Clearly he was really angry.

“I just misunderstood, Eli. I didn’t think you meant here at our house. In our home. I didn’t even think about that.”