“You’re a fucking miracle, Catarina,” he said, meaning it.

She brushed a kiss over his jaw. “When we have children, Eli, you’re going to have to watch your mouth. But this one time, I’ll admit, I rather like being your fucking miracle.”

He blinked. His mouth twitched. He leaned down and brushed another kiss over her lips. “You don’t get to swear. It doesn’t sound the same. And for your information, I have been toning it down.”

She burst out laughing again. “No way. You let go with two f-bombs in one sentence. That is not toning it down.”

“Two exceptions, Kitten.” He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “When you make me so angry I want to shake you until your teeth rattle, or put you over my knee and make it so you can’t sit down for a week or two, I get to drop as many f-bombs as necessary to keep from doing either.”

She mulled that over. “Okay. I’ll agree.”

“That was one exception.”

“That was two. Rattling teeth. Not sitting for a week. Two.”

“You make me want to do both at the same time, so one,” he argued, drinking more of his coffee.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, that’s one. What’s the second one?”

His smile made her stomach roll. Let loose a million butterflies. She reached up to brush the pads of her fingers down his jaw, her heart turning over.

“When you make me so crazy, burn so hot, lose my mind when I’m inside you so that I can’t do anything else.”

Her fingers curled in his hair. Stroked caresses. Anchored there. She loved that his hair was just a little too long and she could curl her fist there. “I like you crazy and burning hot.”

“Out of my mind,” he reminded, in his sinfully hot voice.

“That too,” Catarina conceded. She looked up, into his eyes. Loving him. She knew he could see it and she didn’t hide it from him.

He groaned softly. “Go take your shower, baby, before we start all over again. You’re so damned tempting, at this rate, I’ll never get anything done. We’re supposed to be starting a ranch.”

She laughed again, just because she was so happy. “We don’t actually have any livestock yet, Eli, we can’t exactly call this a working ranch. You’re going to go sit in your favorite chair on the porch while I shower.”

“Well. That’s true,” he conceded. “But I’m planning.”

Catarina shook her head and left him in the kitchen. She didn’t dare kiss him again because she knew if she did, she wouldn’t stop and he’d need another shower. She had never considered, growing up, not one time, that anyone could be so happy.

She turned music on, her favorite playlist, while she showered. That was another thing Eli had done. Another gift. The moment he discovered she loved music, he’d given her an iPod and showed her how to fill it with the songs she enjoyed. There was a small speaker that she could attach it to, making it easy to listen to her music while she showered.

She liked the water hot, and she stood for a long while under the heavy spray, feeling the way the hot water soaked into her skin and made her feel languid and lazy. Eli never made her feel as if the things she wanted when they made love were wrong. She liked when he was edgy and rough. She liked when he pushed her out of her comfort zone. She liked bossy and arrogant and dominant. She didn’t feel as if it made her weak at all.

She reveled in the way they came together. And she really wouldn’t mind stripping naked and dancing on the table if he used that one sexy, commanding voice when he told her to do it. She was definitely getting a tattoo on her lower spine, just because he liked caressing her there. He often pressed his lips there.

She didn’t want to linger too long there in the shower. She was already thinking about what she’d cook for his breakfast. She enjoyed cooking for him as well. He gave her so much and that was one way she knew she could give back. He enjoyed the meals she made for him. She and Emma had exchanged recipes and she was experimenting with some of them to make them even better.

She wrapped her hair in a towel and dried off, taking her time. Her body still felt sensual and sensitive, especially her breasts. She was a little sore between her legs, but that wasn’t unusual. Eli was large and thick and they went a little crazy sometimes. She liked rough and he usually was very rough. Still, those little tinges only served to remind her of his possession. She loved being possessed by him.

She dressed carefully, choosing clothes that came off fast and easy. She had caches scattered around the ranch, just as Eli did. It was something most shifters did, just in case they were caught somewhere and needed clothes and supplies. The everyday clothes they wore were clothes they could shed as fast and efficiently as possible.

She loved her boots. Loved them. Shifters didn’t wear boots that often because they were much harder to get off. Still, she loved them, and when Rafe was out of her life, she intended to wear every single pair lined up in her closet. That thought made her very happy.

She pulled on a skirt, tugging it to her hips. The band was wide and comfortable, the material falling in graceful ruffles to her ankles. The skirt was one of her favorites, so soft and swingy, very feminine. She knew Eli liked it. He’d chosen it for her when they’d ordered clothes off one of her favorite Internet sites. She’d looked at it all the time, but she never actually ordered anything until Eli had encouraged her.

When everything with Rafe was finally settled, she wanted to get a job in town and make her own money so she wasn’t reliant on Eli for funds. She knew instinctively that it would be a fight. Eli was a macho alpha male and he believed he should provide for his woman.