She was clearly affected by the potency of the peppers. Sometimes, when his grandmother had made the salsa to go over the shrimp, they’d had to clear out the kitchen and even a part of the house because it felt as if their throats were closing.

“Fucking chilies. What are you doing?” he demanded, stalking across the room toward her—not an easy thing to do when he was as hard as a rock. She half turned, and his heart nearly stopped. Even his raging cock settled. Tears streamed down her face. Dios. Dios. “What were you thinking? You didn’t handle those chilies, did you?”

She turned all the way toward him, choking on the fumes. Tears spilled down her face, but she looked determined, still blending the salsa in the blender in spite of the fact that the fumes were closing off her airway.

He crossed to her, swept her up in his arms and turned off the blender. “Dios, Siena, what the hell are you doing?” Fury curled in his belly. Hard, tight knots that told him he hadn’t taken care of her. He hadn’t cautioned her not to use any of the starred recipes. The hotter-than-Hades recipes that a novice couldn’t handle.

She buried her face against his shoulder, but she made no attempt to hang on. In fact she kept her open palms away from him. He could see they were bright red. He erupted into Spanish, cursing angrily. “Fucking hell.” It was worse than he thought. “Dios, mi amorcito, you burned your hands.”

Elijah stalked to the outside patio, carrying her away from the house and the fumes to set her down in the nearest chair. He took hold of her wrists, his hands gentle when the leopard was leaping close to the surface, raking and tearing at him for allowing her to be injured in any way. He turned her palms to face him. They weren’t just bright red, they were actually swollen and inflamed. She’d still been trying to cook for him—with her hands like that.

Deep inside his heart stuttered. What the hell did a man do with a woman who loved him like that? Who would try to cook for him in spite of burns to her hands? In spite of her throat closing from the fumes? What did a man do with a woman who lapped at his cock to clean him after mind-blowing sex? A woman who enjoyed blowing him? Who swallowed for him? Who did what she could to show him she loved him, not just say the words?