CHAPTER 11
Zarreth
F uck! I quickly turn away. I can sense my eyes turning from amber to black at the thought of someone else in Frankie’s life. I’ve never had this kind of feral response to someone before.
“Woah there, Todd,” Frankie sasses. “I belong to no one.”
Once my eyes return to normal, I look back at her. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Not yet.” She grins, batting her eyelashes at me.
This girl is going to be the death of me. She lays back on the blanket with her arms folded behind her head. Her smooth legs cross at the ankles. She looks so innocent with her sundress on, and her braided hair.
It’s hard to believe she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Not like that would keep her safe from me. I would easily remove him from the picture.
“Do you come here often?” I change the subject, trying to get my mind off how delicious she looks so I don’t rip her dress off and find out if she tastes as good as she smells.
“This place was a sanctuary for Nate and me growing up. We came here all the time when our parents fought.” Frankie sits up.
“Did your parents fight a lot?”
“Technically it was my mom and stepdad. He was a piece of shit. He beat my mom every time he got drunk. When Nate turned ten, he tried protecting my mom, which only resulted in him getting beat too.”
“Did he ever hit you?” I clench my fists until my knuckles crack.
She looks down at her hands. “No, my mom would hide me in our small pantry when he came home drunk. She thought she was protecting me by putting a padlock on it, but sometimes she would go on a bender afterwards and forget about me.”
I grab her hand, interlacing my fingers with hers. There’s that spark again. Every time I touch her, my body reacts to her. It’s like my soul knows she is mine.
She must be my mate, but there is only one way to know for sure, and I’m certain Frankie would freak out if I tried fucking her right now.
She gives me a small smile before continuing to speak. “Back then, Nate rarely came home. He always stayed the night at his friend’s house, until he found me locked in the pantry after three or four days of me being in there. Mom left for a month that time, forgetting all about me. After that, Nate rarely left my side. He stayed home every night, enduring everything that son of a bitch put him through just to make sure I was safe. He ended up in the hospital a few times trying to protect me.”
Pure rage consumes me at the thought of little Frankie being scared and alone. I will find that bastard someday, and I will savor every scream I rip from his fucking throat.
I take a deep breath to get my composure before kissing the back of Frankie’s hand. “Do you still see them?”
“Nope. Nate and I have been on our own since I was sixteen. My mom hightailed it out of Minnesota on my birthday, and the asshole left soon after that. I spent most of my teen years at Jess’ house. Her family took me in like one of their own. I even had my own spot at the dinner table.” Frankie checks her phone.
“When do you think Jess will get back to you?” I ask, changing the subject again before I go on a bender of my own. The kind that will result in her mom and stepdad being fucking dead.
“Who knows? She was snoring hard when I left this morning.” She looks at me with her big innocent eyes. “I wonder how we should kill time while we wait to hear from her?”
Grabbing her chin, I rub my thumb over her bottom lip. “I can think of a few things.”
“Me too.” Frankie bites my thumb and licks it before she jumps up. “Let’s skip rocks.”
Groaning, I fall back on the blanket. Did I mention this girl will be the death of me? “What do you mean by skip rocks?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never skipped a rock before.” She pulls on my hand. I stand, following her to the edge of the water. “The flatter the rock the further it will go,” she explains.
She must find the perfect rock because she stands sideways and throws it. The rock skims the surface, making five splashes before it disappears under the water. I find a rock I hope works. I throw it, watching as it immediately sinks to the bottom.
“That was pathetic.” Frankie giggles, covering her mouth.
“I’ll show you pathetic.” I chase her along the shore.
Squealing, she pulls her dress over her head and runs into the water. Her pink lacy bra and matching panties leave nothing to the imagination. She dives under, her perfect ass breaking the surface.
All I want to do is strip down and follow her, but the scars on my back will raise too many questions so I just stand here like a fucking idiot.
“What’s the matter? Is the big, tough guy afraid of a little water?” she teases, her smartass mouth turning me on more than I already am.
“Nope. I’m just afraid I won’t be able to control myself now that you’re wet and practically naked.”
“Well, you better learn quickly because here I come.” She barrels out of the water and leaps on me.
She wraps her long, wet legs around my waist, and I hold her by the back of her thighs. Grabbing my baseball cap, she flips it backwards onto her wet head. I can’t resist, so I lean in to taste her mouth.
Just before our lips touch, Frankie’s phone rings. It takes everything in me not to smash it into a million pieces.
“Shit,” she groans. I wonder if she can feel the bulge in my jeans as she drops her legs, sliding down my body.
Frankie bends to pick up her phone, showing me her sweet, round ass; an ass I would worship every single day if she let me. “Hello?”
I hear Jess on the other end. “What are you doing that has you so breathless? Wait, are you with Zarreth? Did you finally get laid?”
“Jess!” she squeals. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Well, it wouldn’t kill you to get a little. It’s been forever since you’ve had a good boinking. Plus, Zarreth is hot. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
Frankie’s cheeks turn red, and I hold back a grin. An odd sense of satisfaction courses through me knowing she hasn’t been with anyone for a while.
“Do you have any information for me?” she asks, hitting the speaker button.
“I do, and Frankie, I don’t think you should dig into this. Brent said a new drug called K4 is out there, and it’s some scary shit. He didn’t want to give me the information, but I promised him a blowjob the next time I see him.”
“Aw. Look at you, sacrificing so much for your best friend,” Frankie says sarcastically. “So, did he give you a name?”
Jess takes a deep breath. “It’s a biker gang called The Horde of Shadows. Brent knows someone who ended up in a coma and never woke up all because he hit on one of their women. I’m serious, Frankie. You should stay away. Nate would never be involved with drugs, anyway.”
Fuck! The Horde of Shadows is Dante’s demon horde. They disguise themselves as a biker gang so everyone leaves them alone. There is no way in hell I’m letting Frankie go there.
And what the fuck are they doing selling drugs to humans? Is that where the hell-humans are coming from? If Dante finds out what his horde is doing, there will be hell to pay.
“I know, but what choice do I have?” Frankie shivers, so I pick up the blanket, wrapping it around her. She leans into me as I pull her close.
“I don’t know, but we should at least talk about it. I’m still at your house. When will you be back?”
“We’ll be there soon.” Frankie disconnects the phone, and we gather our things.
I swoop her up before heading to the Jeep. “We can’t have those pretty little toes stepping on anything sharp.”
When we walk into the house, we find Jess sitting on the kitchen counter, eating a slice of pizza. Her hair is damp, and she’s wearing a t-shirt she must have borrowed from Frankie because it says ‘Grass Roots Greenery’ on it.
“Oh, thank God.” Frankie grabs a piece for herself and hops on the center island. She plucks a pepperoni from the top, popping it in her mouth.
“Didn’t you just eat breakfast?” Jess asks.
Frankie takes a huge bite. “Yeah, but I’m famished already.”
“I would ask if you’re eating for two, but we both know that’s not possible,” Jess teases.
Frankie glares at her but ignores her jab. “Do you think Brent can set us up with a meeting?”
“No,” I say. There’s no fucking way I’m letting her go. She’ll be a walking target with her scent.
Frankie’s head whips toward me. “What do you mean, no?”
How the hell am I going to convince her this is a bad idea without revealing the truth? “I mean what I said. I can’t let you go, it’s too dangerous.”
Jess points to me. “I’m with him.”
Frankie hops off the counter, takes two steps toward me, and cranes her neck up, looking me in the eyes. With her hands on her hips she says, “You don’t own me, Zarreth, and you can’t stop me from going, so you might as well get it out of your big head.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. Damn it this woman is stubborn, which for some odd reason makes me want to fuck her sassy, little mouth. “Frankie, listen to me. The Horde of Shadows are not what you think they are.”
She looks at me like I’m dumb. “How would you know that? You’re just trying to convince me not to go.”
Shit. How the fuck am I supposed to make her see reason without telling her the truth? Not that she would believe me anyway. “Would you just listen to me?”
“Why would I? I barely know you,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
I guess I have no choice but to tell her. It’s the only way she’ll listen. “They’re not a biker gang. They just use that as a cover.”
“Well, then what are they?” she demands.
“They’re demons.”