She did, sliding her arms around him, the trust he needed from her there in her eyes. He caught her with one arm around her hips and pushed into her. Her tight folds gave way, and her mouth opened as he took a breath and pushed a second time. Then he was there, balls deep, the very tip of his cock bumping her cervix. He was surrounded by fire, in a tunnel of silk, a fist so tight it threatened to strangle him.

He decided she was paradise. Pure fucking paradise. He swore he could feel each individual muscle wrapped around his cock. Her body vibrated and the feeling radiated up his shaft to nearly blow that ultrasensitive crown right off of him. The tears were back in her eyes. She felt small under him, her deep channel far too tight, but now his body remembered the feeling of moving in her, being part of her.

He bent his head and kissed her belly and then began a slow slide out, withdrawing nearly to the very hilt, loving the way her eyes went wide and her lips protested. He shoved back in hard. Fast. Driving through the tight folds to claim her.

She gasped, her legs tightening around him. He smiled at her. “You like that, don’t you, Kitten? You like it when I drive hard.”

Her tongue licked at her lips. She nodded. “Please. Yes. Eli, please.”

He gave her one more hard, fast stroke, and withdrew very slowly, watching her frown, feeling her hips buck as she tried to get him back.

“Let’s see if you like this,” he said softly. He set a much slower pace, going deep, but driving in slowly so he could feel the way her muscles grabbed at him. Locked down on him. He kept an easy, almost lazy pace, showing her slow and lazy could be good in a different way. He ground over her little button, keeping the friction there, watching the color spread over her body like a soft rose blush.

“Yeah, baby, you like that too, don’t you?” he whispered. He kept his attention exactly where it needed to be, right over her wonderful little sweet spot, so greedy, so in need. He kept a crazy leisurely pace, feeling the power in his body, the gathering, his balls tightening. Fingers of desire, of need, danced up and down his thighs.

He felt a force gathering in her body as she surrounded him. Her thighs tensed, her breath, her arms locking him closer even as her delicate inner muscles locked down on his cock. He pulled back and slammed hard. Once. Twice. Three times.

Catarina screamed as she came, the orgasm tearing through her, taking him with her so they both went flying. He kept driving, once, twice, another time, and then it was impossible as her body flung his somewhere into subspace and he just floated there in heaven for a while.

Eli collapsed over her, holding her tight to him. She felt so small, so fragile, and yet her body could take his. He was a big man and even at his most gentle, he knew he hadn’t been quite the way other men would be with her. His heart pounded into hers. He felt her frantic pulse around his shaft and his own heartbeat throb in his cock.

“I’m too heavy for you, baby. Probably crushing you. But I can’t move.” He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay locked with her just like he was.

She held him just as tightly, her legs and arms still wrapping him up as if he was a treasured gift. He buried his face against her shoulder and neck, turning his mouth so he could sip at the taste of her skin.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, meaning it, barely able to say the words aloud because deep inside he had fallen apart. He needed a few minutes to pull himself back together. He hadn’t expected his feelings for her to be so intense, so overwhelming. To eat him from the inside out.

“No one’s ever complimented me before,” she whispered back. “I don’t want you to just say it.”

His heart turned over. He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes searching hers. He was leopard. He heard the ring of truth, but still, was Rafe Cordeau really such an idiot? How could he look at this woman, have her in his home, and not tell her she was beautiful?

“Baby.” It was a reprimand. “Leopards don’t lie to their mates. You’ll know if I do. You really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She blinked at him. Her long lashes fanning down and then back up. “Probably not, but at least you think I am.” A slow smile softened her voice even more than usual. “And that’s saying something considering all the experience you seem to have.” Her legs slipped back to the mattress, as if she was suddenly too tired to hold herself around him.

He rolled, taking her with him, so that he was still locked inside her, but she was sprawled over the top of him. She was small and light, but warm and soft. He ran both hands down her back to the slope of her butt. He loved her ass. Soft. Firm. The little indentations. His fingers found them and he rubbed there.

“You ever think about getting a tattoo?”

She lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest, one eyebrow raised. “A tattoo? Of what? Where?”

His hands slid up her rounded bottom to find the curve at the small of her back. He stroked caresses there. “Right here. Something sexy and all you. That way when I take you on your hands and knees, I can see it.”

Her smile reached her eyes. “Do you think about anything besides sex?”

He grinned at her. “I did until you came along. You messed up my mind, Kitten, so now that’s all I think about.”

She laughed and turned her head to rest her cheek on his chest. His hands went back to smoothing over her soft skin. Making her his. Memorizing the shape and feel of her. His body enjoyed the occasional aftershock as her body began to relax all the way, her skin melting into the heat of his.