Wild Hunger (The Phoenix Pack, #7)(103)

Her nightmares had stopped, which had relieved Trick. She’d forgiven herself for not speaking up as a kid. But Marcus hadn’t yet forgiven himself for being drawn away from her on Bjorn territory that night. Roni also felt sincerely bad about it. In addition, Ally was bummed that she hadn’t foreseen the hostage situation, and she’d needlessly apologized to Frankie and Trick for it numerous times.

After screwing the cap back on her bottle, Frankie set it down. She then lifted the paintbrush and dabbed it in the white paint. She gave the fang yet another coat, keeping her hand steady and—

Arms snaked around her waist just as a familiar scent cocooned her, making her feel safe and cared for . . . and freaking annoyed. She sighed. “You said you’d just sit and sketch.”

Trick brushed his nose along her neck, inhaling her scent. “I did sit. I did sketch.”

“Well, either go do it a little longer or head back to the caves.”

“Why?” He pressed a kiss to the hollow beneath her ear. “I’m comfortable right here.”

“You can’t be this close to me while I’m trying to work.” How was she supposed to concentrate when he was eating her space, stirring up her hormones? It had been hard enough just having him in the studio. The heat from his gaze had made it difficult for her to get into the flow at first. Whenever she’d flicked him a brief look, she’d seen his hand moving fast, drawing in short, light strokes. “I mean it, Trick, you’re too distracting.”

His arms flexed around her. “Sorry, baby, I don’t want to distract you.”

She snorted. “Yes, you do.”

“Yes, I do.”

As he pressed his solid body closer to hers, she felt his cock digging into her back. “How can you be hard right now?” She was dressed in baggy overalls that were not the least bit alluring. Her hair was styled in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing zero makeup.

Trick nuzzled her. “You have no idea how hot you are when you work,” he said. His breath, warm on her neck, sent a light tremor down the length of her spine.

“Hot?”

“Hmm.” Trick scraped his teeth over her claiming mark and then laved it with a swipe of his tongue. “You’re competent and confident. Your focus is solely on what you’re doing. Seeing you like that reminds me what it’s like to be the center of that focus.” Especially of the times she sucked his cock, when she seemed totally absorbed in what was doing, devoting every bit of her attention to him—just as she had that morning. And as he’d sat there recalling each of those times, his cock had gotten harder and heavier, until he simply couldn’t take it anymore.

Trick whispered into her ear, “I want to fuck you. Right here.”

She swallowed, too easily caught up in his spell. “I’m not done.”

“It’s my birthday,” he reminded her, pulling out her hair tie. He sank his hands into the silky curls, loving the feel of them. “You’re supposed to let me have my way on my birthday.”

“I did let you have your way—hence why you were in here, sketching, in the first place.”

His mouth curved. “I want to be in my happy place.”

She would have laughed at that, but then he grabbed a fistful of her curls and snatched her head back.

His lips grazed her ear, tickling the tiny little hairs there. “I wasn’t asking to fuck you, baby,” he said, soft and low. “I am going to fuck you. This body is mine. I can have it and mark it and use it whenever and however I want.”

Frankie shivered. That calm, dominant, confident voice seemed to seep through her skin and sink into her bones. Her blood thickened. Her nipples tightened. She felt herself go damp.

“Put your hands on the bench. Don’t move them unless I tell you to. Good girl.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed, licked, and sucked at her neck. She melted into him, nipples tingling, pussy throbbing as a slow burn started deep in her core. Using his grip on her hair, he forced her head forward and then left a trail of warm, wet kisses along her sensitive nape.

Trick flicked out his tongue to trace the shell of her ear. “I can smell how much you want me.” She couldn’t have any idea just what the heady scent of her need did to him and his wolf. They both greedily inhaled it. It was better than any perfume, any flower, any other fragrance that existed. “Fucking love that smell. Almost as much as I love you.”

He very slowly tugged down the front zipper of her overalls, thinking it a shame that she wasn’t naked beneath them. He slid them over her shoulders and down her arms, letting them puddle at her feet. After peeling off her tank top, he pushed down her shorts. “Kick them and your shoes aside, baby. Good girl.”

Standing in only her underwear, Frankie waited, expecting him to tear them off. He didn’t. Didn’t touch her at all. In fact, he took a step back. She could almost feel his gaze raking over her. Everything in her seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation, waiting for him to do something. Anything. “Trick—” She almost jumped as his hand landed on her nape and then softly swept down her back.

He palmed her ass and gave it a little squeeze. “You have the hottest ass.” Trick skimmed his hands down her arms, smoothing the little goose bumps on her skin and easing the prickle. Reaching around her, he unclipped the front clasp of her bra. He almost groaned as her breasts spilled into his hands. He squeezed and shaped them, loving how soft and creamy they were. He traced circles around her taut nipples with his thumbs. “Mouth, Frankie.”