Running Free (Woodland Creek)(15)

“Do I know you? You look familiar,” he says to her.

She’s beaming. Earlier today, she asked me a million questions about him. Were we dating? Was I going to marry him? Was he a shifter? Did he know I was one?

It drove me crazy and now I wonder if she’ll blurt out what she is despite my drilling in her head that it must remain a secret.

“You’ve probably seen her around town. I’m looking after her. A favor to a friend,” I chatter out, hoping to keep her from telling him the truth.

She pouts, understanding finally dawning on her, and releases him. “I’m Suzie.”

He accepts her outstretched hand and shakes it. “Gunnar Mason. You have the prettiest curly hair.”

Her smile stretches over her teeth and she basks in his praise. It’s in this moment that he glances my way. Questions dance all over the perceptive man’s face. He knows. It doesn’t make sense to him but he knows.

“Suzie, go back to drawing. Gun and I have something to discuss. I’ll put in an order of nachos for you if you’re still hungry.”

Defeated, she nods and breaks away from him.

“I’m sorry. She’s affectionate and doesn’t have any good male role models in her life.” That much is truth.

He lifts a hand and swipes a rogue hair away from my cheek. The action is innocent and simple, yet it ignites a fire within me. Not my core, like Luca only moments earlier, but my heart. That thing doesn’t get much action but whenever Gun is around, it has a mind of its own.

“You should bring her by for dinner tomorrow. I bet she’d love playing with Cutie Pie. I’m off work and I could fix something better than hotdogs.”

Tomorrow, the night before a full moon, seems like a terrible idea.

My body pulsates and begs to say yes.

“No,” I groan, my eyes jerking away, “I have to work.”

His warm hand envelops mine and I jolt back to life. “Frankie,” he says softly. “Just ask off. I want to see you again.”

With the way he says his sweet words, I feel compelled to please him.

What is wrong with me?

Where are my powers of intimidation when Gun is around?

He disarms me and does funny things to that organ in my chest.

“I could work,” a peppy voice chirps from behind the bar. “I could use the hours, Frankie. Besides, you work like every day. Have dinner with the hot guy.”

Gun’s eyes brighten and he flashes me the sexiest crooked grin. My knees weaken and for a moment, I wonder if I’ll collapse.

Gun will catch you.

The thought alarms me and I shudder, attempting to rid myself of how easily it is to get swept up in this man.

“Casey,” I groan and snap my head over to the other bartender who works weeknights. Her blonde hair is pulled into a sleek ponytail and her blue eyes are wide with innocence. She’s a sweetheart with the world at her fingertips but for some reason she’s happy as a lark working at this dumpy bar with me.

“She’d love to take you up on your offer, Casey,” Gun interrupts. “I need to ask her a few police questions though. Can you hold down the fort for a minute?”

She, like every other woman who sees Gunnar, nods like a bobble head and grins.

I’ve barely formed the words to argue when he grabs hold of my hand and drags me toward the hallway which leads to the bathrooms and the breakroom.

“Where are we going?” I demand, and attempt to jerk my hand free from his grasp.

He only tightens his grip as he tows me behind him. Once he hauls me into the breakroom and shuts the door behind us, he pushes me up against the wall. His lips are on mine in an instant and the moan that pours from my mouth into his is one of relief and comfort.

Simply put, I like his taste.

His kiss.

His firm, yet gentle touch.

“I’ve been dying to kiss you again since you left my place this afternoon,” he murmurs, his tongue teasing over mine.

My fingers grip his damp shirt and I pull him closer to me. “This is wrong.”

He shakes his head and devours me some more. My body is weak as his strong arms hold me to him.

“So right, Frankie. I promise.”

For a short while, I lose myself to his decadent mouth. I claw at him, nip at him, and suck on his tongue until I’m about to self-combust.

“I need air,” I hiss out.

His lips tear from mine as he regards me with a lust-filled gaze that only serves to drive me wilder.

“I want you, beautiful. All of you.” He growls out the words and they vibrate their way to my core.

I turn my head and stare out the window. It’s pouring rain so I can’t see the almost full moon that’s wreaking havoc on my hormones.

“I can’t think straight when you’re around,” I complain.

Hot lips find my neck and my eyes flutter shut. He’s killing me. A slow, beautiful death. But a death nonetheless.

“Don’t think, just react.”

His words are whispered on my sensitive neck and I grow dizzy with the desire for him to f*ck me.

Get a hold of yourself, Frankie.

I clutch onto the last remaining shred of self-control that’s spinning wildly within and almost find a way to tell him to stop. But then his hands slide away from my hips and my vision goes black with lust. A large hand slips around to my ass and grips it with a punishing force through my jeans while the other hand slips up my belly. When it finds my breast through my clothes, I whimper. His large thumb slides over my hardened nipple and I lose it.