Wild Hunger (The Phoenix Pack, #7)(35)

“Probably. Which means I should stay away from you for a while.”

Her stomach bottomed out. “Stay away?”

“I should. But I won’t.” Trick held her eyes, willing her to believe him as he repeated, “I would never hurt you. You never have to fear me. Never.”

“Trick, if I feared you or I believed you’d harm me, I wouldn’t have gotten into the SUV with you. I certainly wouldn’t be thinking about having you in my bed tonight.” She opened the door, hopped out, and walked up her driveway.

Trailing behind her, Trick said, “Say that again.” Because it really was the very last thing he’d have expected her to say.

“You heard me. I already knew that you have a dark streak. You think I bought your laid-back act?” Snorting, Frankie opened the front door and entered the house. “That easygoing charm hasn’t fooled me. I know you tone down your dominance around me. What I don’t know is why you do it.”

Trick closed the door behind him. On the one hand, he liked that he didn’t have to pretend. On the other, she’d have questions he didn’t want to answer. “I didn’t want you feeling overwhelmed or intimidated. You might be half shifter, but you’re not used to our intensity, our ways, or just how possessive we can be.”

That made both her and her wolf bristle. “I’m not made of fine bone china, Trick. You don’t need to protect me from you.” She narrowed her eyes. “Is this what you meant when you kept saying I wasn’t ready for you? You don’t think I can handle you the way you are?”

“I don’t think you can handle just how much I’ll want from you. Not yet.”

“Elaborate.”

“And scare you off?” He shook his head. “That’s not on my list of things to do.”

“Why would it scare me? You’re not making sense. Are you trying to say that you’re a sadist or something? If so, that is going to be a problem.”

“I’m not a sadist.”

“Then I don’t understand what you’re getting at. Given that you’re very dominant, assertive, and you have a forceful personality, I’ve already figured out that a relationship with you wouldn’t be easy. Am I wrong?” It was a dare to lie to her.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship.”

“Never?”

“There’ve been flings, but they were short and shallow. I never let my partners get too close.” Not even Marcus. Before the enforcer mated, he and Trick had scratched each other’s itches occasionally. Trick had let him close as a friend, but not as a partner.

“So that’s all you want with me—a fling?”

Trick shook his head and gently tapped her nose. “You’re different.”

Frankie frowned. “You mean you see me as yours, since we’re part of the same pack?”

“Something like that.” He pulled his cell out of his pocket. “I need to call Trey.”

Frankie watched him closely as he swiped his thumb over the screen and tapped it a few times. “Something like that,” he’d said, an odd glint in his eyes. And then her heartbeat kicked up as it all seemed to thread together. The way her body reacted to him, that fierce determination in his eyes, the possessiveness he displayed, the way her wolf tested him to see if he was worthy. Worthy as a mate, Frankie now realized. Her wolf didn’t fight her assumption. Oh hell.

She wasn’t quite as shocked as she should have been, so maybe she’d subconsciously suspected they were mates. Or maybe she’d just had so many shocks lately that she was immune to them at this point. Her primary emotion right then was unease. Not because she didn’t want it to be true, but because she did. She wanted Trick to be hers. She just didn’t want the shit-storm that could follow.

“Trey, we got a problem,” he said. “Or we had a problem until I shoved its face down a fucking toilet . . . Drake . . . I was at the movies with Frankie. He came at me in the restroom. Tried to bash my head in with a steel bar . . . No, I’m fine. I don’t know if Morelli sent him, but I’m more inclined to think that the motherfucker was retaliating for what happened at the meeting . . . Yeah . . . No, I’m with Frankie . . . Yeah. All right. Later.” Ending the call, Trick turned to Frankie. Whatever he saw on her face made his brows snap together. “You okay?”

She swallowed hard. “Are we mates?”

Trick stilled. Really, he wasn’t all that surprised that she’d figured it out. As he’d told the pack, she was smart and open-minded. He crossed to her, pleased when she didn’t back up. “Yes, baby, we are.” He curved his hand around the side of her neck. “At first I thought this was shit timing for you, what with everything else that’s going on. But I was wrong. If there’s one thing you need right now, it’s support, someone who’s all about you. Someone who’s on your side—not the Newmans’ side, not the pack’s side, just yours.”

Frankie raked a hand through her hair. “This is . . .”

“Going to make things a lot harder for you with the Newmans. I get that. And it wouldn’t surprise me if you’re not quite sure that true mate bonds are such great things, given what happened with your parents. But I’m not going anywhere, Frankie.” He skimmed his thumb over her jaw. “It eats me up inside that I missed so much of your life. Eats me up that I didn’t realize who you were to me when we were kids. I’ve been waiting to find you—or, as it seems, to get you back—for so fucking long . . . I’m not going to give you up. Not to spare the Newmans’ feelings, and not because you’re scared.”