CHAPTER 18
Zarreth
“F uck!” I punch the hood of the Jeep, creating a dent. I dropped Frankie off at home, telling her I needed to grab a few things from my place. I had to get away from her. I don’t deserve the way she looks at me, like I hung the fucking moon.
I can’t lie to her anymore. I need to come clean.
I grab some clothes, hop back in the Jeep, and call Ronin. “I’m telling Frankie about Nate. It’s killing me to fucking lie to her.”
“You can’t deny she’s your mate,” Ronin says. “Why haven’t you claimed her yet?”
“Trust me. I fucking want to, but she needs to know the truth first. I don’t want any lies between us.”
“You know it’s going to happen, so you might as well do it sooner rather than later. You’ll both be stronger, and we need every advantage possible when Aradon comes looking for her.”
Fuck. I know he’s right. “It’s probably pointless to think about anyway. Once she finds out I’ve been lying to her, she’ll never speak to me again.”
“Dude, you see the way she looks at you. She’s going to be pissed, but she’ll get over it.”
“You don’t know how stubborn she is.”
After hanging up with him, I call Frankie to see if she’s eaten yet. Maybe if I feed her, she’ll be more understanding.
I return with a cheeseburger and the homemade fries she likes from The Tavern.
She runs up, planting a kiss on my cheek before grabbing the food from my hands and plopping on the couch. “So, don’t demons eat? Because I feel dumb always wolfing down food in front of you.”
“We can eat. We just don’t need to.” I sit next to her, popping a fry in my mouth. “You have a large appetite because of the change. It’s a good thing. You want to be as physically strong as possible when your body stops aging.”
Frankie flexes her biceps. “I can definitely use some more muscle.”
I can’t handle how cute she is. I wonder if she’ll grow horns.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks.
“I’m imagining how cute you’ll be if you grow horns.”
“Ugh.” She frowns, smoothing a hand over her curls. “My hair is already uncontrollable. I can’t imagine what I’d look like with horns.”
“Sexy.”
Frankie looks down, her cheeks flushed. She looks like she wants to say something but holds back.
“What is it?” I ask.
She covers her face with her hands, peeking at me through her fingers. “It’s embarrassing.”
“You painted my fingernails and dressed me like a merman. Nothing you say can be more embarrassing than that.”
She giggles. “I was wondering what the mating process is like. You said the male bites the female, but what does the female do? How do you know when to do the biting?”
“Sounds like you’ve given this some thought while I was gone.”
She blushes again, instantly turning me on. “Honestly, that’s all I think about.”
“Me too. You’re all I ever think about.” I don’t know why she looks so surprised. “I’ve never mated, obviously. But apparently your body knows what to do because it’s fated.”
“Do you think you and I are fated?” she asks shyly.
“I hope so, Frankie. I can’t imagine living an eternity without you. I hated being away from you for a few hours today. You make me feel things I didn’t know were possible.”
She takes her last bite of food before turning to me. “I hope we are too.”
“You can’t say things like that to me,” I growl. “You don’t know what those words do to me.”
“I mean it, Zarreth! We haven’t known each other long, but it doesn’t matter. We have been through so much together, and I know how I feel about you. I’ve known it since day one. I’ve just been afraid to say it.”
“ Melita , don’t say it unless you absolutely mean it,” I warn. “You don’t know what goes through my head when I’m near you. What your giggle does to me when I know I’m the reason for it. How hard I struggle to keep myself from ripping your clothes off when you put your hands on your hips, sassing back to me. Or when you start smelling like warm honey, like you do now.”
I hold Frankie’s stare, warning her. “If you say those words, I won’t hold back. I’ll fuck you, and you know what that means.”
“It means we could be mates.” She straddles my lap, putting her arms around my neck. Her lips softly graze my ear. “Zarreth, I love you,” she says in a breathy voice, flooding me with need as my cock hardens.