GRRR!

against the floor once again.
    Rico bucked his hips and threw her off balance. He brought his legs up and hooked her around the chest while coming to a sitting position. Katia’s head thumped against the floor as she tried to grab him.
    “Stop it,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
    “You sonofabitch! Let me go!”
    “I’ll let you go if you give me your word you’ll calm down.”
    “Sure, I’m calm,” she said.
    Rico grinned. Katia’s eyes were glowing and her face was red, not to mention the fact she didn’t sound sincere at all. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Now, I’m going to take my legs from around you, but I’ve still got your hands, so behave. Okay?”
    Katia nodded and he released her torso from the vice-like grip of his powerful legs, but he held onto her hands.
    “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” She continued to glare at him.
    “I apologize for that,” he said. “I had no idea you’re a shape shifter too. I just came to see you. I didn’t intend to wake you.”
    “So you didn’t think jumping on me would wake me? Or raping me would cause any problems?”
    “You know it wasn’t rape, Katia. When I came in here, your scent caught me by surprise. You know I have no control around a cat in heat.”
    Katia glared at him. “Let me go!”
    “Are you going to try to kill me?”
    “Probably.”
    Rico laughed. “Okay, but I will defend myself,” he said as he released her.
    Katia kicked at him as she stood and grabbed a sheet to wrap around herself. She studied Rico as he went to a chair in the corner of her bedroom. He was all sinewy muscle, dark and smooth and so very sexy. And she knew he was right. No male of his kind could resist a female in heat, but still, he had no right to take her the way he did.
    He should have told her what he was the first time they’d had sex. She shuffled into the bathroom, shut the door and turned the lock, and then turned the taps in the shower.
    The hot spray hit her on top of the head and ran d own her body. She took her time washing her hair and body, shaved her legs and hoped he’d be gone when she finished. Katia wasn’t surprised she didn’t know about him.
    Cats were territorial and unless it was mating season, they stayed away from one another. But the fact they’d actually met and had sex in their human form without recognizing one another did bother her. Even though they were different species, she felt she should have known what he was. And now that she did know, she was bothered even more. He wasn’t just an attractive man; he was flat out gorgeous and sexy. She hadn’t been able to get him off her mind since they’d met. In fact, she’d even gone on the prowl every night since then trying to find him, and when she failed, she’d found some very tasty substitutions.
    She turned off the water, grabbed a towel and dried herself, then wrapped the towel around her wet hair and another around her body and went back into her bedroom—her very empty bedroom.
    “Yo u sonofabitch,” she said softly, and finished drying. Then she smoothed rich cream all over herself.
     

Chapter Five
A Misunderstanding
     
    Rico stepped out of the shower and dried quickly, throwing the towel into the hamper as he went to his bedroom. That had to be the stupidest thing he’d ever done, he mused as he pulled on a pair of jeans and headed to the kitchen. He made a pot of coffee and while it brewed, he fried bacon and eggs, and put bread in the toaster.
    He’d done some pretty stupid shit in his life, bu t what he’d done at Katia’s had to be at the top of the list. Not to mention the fact that after he attacked her, he left exactly the way he’d come in—by stealth. So now, not only had he attacked the woman, he hadn’t even bothered to tell her he was sorry or say good-bye.
    Transferring his breakfast from the pan to a plate, he poured a cup of coffee, and buttered his toast. Sitting at the table eating, he thought of Katia and in his mind, he replayed the entire night over and over again. Each time the events came out exactly the same way. He was an asshole. Well, he thought as he put his dishes in the sink, even if he couldn’t undo the situation, he could apologize properly and hopefully, she would forgive him. Someday. Eventually. Then again, maybe not, he thought grimly.
    Rico went back to his room to finish dressing.
    Katia was all he’d thought of for days, and all he’d dreamed of. He’d had no idea she