She was aware of every little detail about him. Especially his scent. It called to something wild in her. Something needy and so hot. She wanted to squirm around on the sheets, and it took discipline not to give in to that need. She liked the wide width of his shoulders and the way he moved, the flow of his muscles and the way his eyes went from amber to gold and then molten gold. She’d even dared for one supremely frightening second to drop her gaze to the front of his jeans. It was impossible to miss the impressive bulge there and that just plain freaked her out.

She felt his weight on the bed as he sank down beside her. Her heart began to pound. She couldn’t just lay there with him next to her, not feeling the way she was. Her nipples were on fire, moving against the tank and sheets with every tiny shift of her body. She couldn’t stop her hips from their restless movements either.

His hand skimmed down her back. “I’m just going to take a look at what he did to you. This was your punishment for running from him, wasn’t it?”

She tried not to react to his hand. It felt good, almost a caress, and she didn’t want anything good from him. She didn’t want gentle or sweet. She wanted him to be mean so she could never associate him with the fantasy man she’d fallen for.

“You heard. You watched.” She made it an accusation. Of course he’d listened to Tuttle interrogating her.

“Cordeau did this because you ran from him, didn’t he? He showed you his leopard.” He ignored her accusation.

She couldn’t stop the shudder that had gone through her body. He wanted to know so she told him the stark truth. What did it matter anyway?

“He stripped right there in front of me, his hard body naked, his eyes glittering. I was terrified that he intended to rape me. There was nothing to stop him.”

Eli swore aloud, biting out ugly words between his teeth, but his hand never once stopped that gentle stroking. Maybe she wanted to shock him. Maybe she just wanted him to know why she despised that entity inside of her. Either way, she told him the truth.

“His body contorted horribly and then he was all teeth and claws and fur, stalking me across the length of my bedroom. I tried to run but the leopard caught me easily, bringing me down like prey. I felt the hot breath against my skin and knew I was dead, that he was going to kill me.”