32. Frankie
32
FRANKIE
I was pacing.
I’d been at it a while.
“Frankie.”
I didn’t look at Dante—my bodyguard du jour—sitting on Reath’s couch. I just held up a hand in his direction. “I’ve got nervous energy to burn.”
I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t sit still if I wanted to.
My hand clenched in my pretty, floaty, seafoam green skirt. It was one I liked to wear on my days off. I’d paired it with a plain, white T-shirt.
“Reath will be fine,” Dante said. “He’s damn tough. He hides it well behind that pretty face, but trust me, he’s the most dangerous of all of us.”
“You look the most dangerous.” I spun to face him. “Beau gets a close second.” I paused. “Colt looks like he can handle himself, and I bet Kavner is deadly in the boardroom.”
“Yeah, we can all handle ourselves, but the most dangerous is the one you don’t see coming.”
I paced his way, all churned up inside. Reath was out there, facing off with Auclair. A man who clearly hated him. I wondered at the bad blood between them.
I sat on the coffee table. Up close, I could see Dante’s appeal. He was handsome, with a rugged edge.
“Reath and Auclair have a history,” I said.
“They do, but that gives Reath an advantage. He knows this guy and his tactics. And Reath won’t go off half cocked. Reath doesn’t get overemotional. He’s got a cool head.”
I bit my lip. I didn’t like hearing that. Reath had warned me not to let the emotions in.
That he didn’t have a heart to give.
Shit . It was a hell of a time to realize just how much I felt for him, and that I was going to get my heart broken.
That’s when I heard the door downstairs. I shot to my feet.
A moment later, Reath stalked in, a dark cloud hovering over him. He dropped some gear on the kitchen table.
“How’d it go?” Dante leaned forward.
Reath lifted his head, and I sucked in a breath. He gave us both a searing look.
“The fucker wasn’t there.” Then he looked at me.
I felt burned. Reath really wasn’t happy.
“Thanks, Dante,” Reath said in a clipped tone. “I’ll be in my gym.” He disappeared back down the stairs.
Dante stared after him for a second. “Maybe I was wrong about the cool head. I’m out of here. You okay?”
I nodded.
After Dante had left, I chewed on the end of one nail. Clearly Reath was upset. I couldn’t just leave him stewing.
I moved to the stairs. When I reached the ground level, I skirted Reath’s vehicles and headed to his gym. The door was open, and I heard the thunk of weights.
In the doorway, I stopped to watch him.
He’d stripped off his shirt and was only wearing black cargo pants. He was lying on a bench, doing chest presses, and lifting crazy heavyweights. Every time he pushed that bar up, he huffed out a sharp breath. The muscles in his arms bulged.
I wandered in. He lifted a few more times, then stopped and set the bar in the holder.
As I reached him, he sat up on the bench.
“I’m sorry you didn’t find him,” I said.
Reath gave me a small nod.
I stepped forward, and that’s when his arms whipped out and he grabbed me. My pulse spiked. He pulled me close and pressed his face against my stomach.
I lifted a hand to his dark hair and stroked. “What happened?”
“I wanted to find him. I wanted to stop him today . Make sure that you’re safe.”
This was more than frustration. “What else?”
He was silent, and I thought he wasn’t going to answer me.
“Reath?”
“He left a photo of you.”
Oh? I didn’t like that. How long had Auclair and his men been watching me?
“He’s taunting me.” Reath lifted his head, and I looked at that fierce glint in his eyes. “I won’t let him touch you.”
“I know.” I lowered my head and kissed him.
I thought all the amped-up emotion coiled inside him would cause our desire to explode. That he’d drag me down and take me.
But while the kiss was forceful and filled with emotion, he kept it slow.
That’s when I realized that Reath needed to be soothed. He didn’t need more aggression. He needed something softer, sweeter.
I straddled his lap and kept kissing him. The man tasted addictive. He was the best kind of drug.
“Want you,” he murmured.
“I want you too.” I ran my lips over his jaw.
He stood, holding me tight. I wrapped my legs around his hips.
“I want to fuck you in my bed.”
I bit his earlobe. “No objections here.”
He carried me upstairs. In his bedroom, we stripped each other of our clothes.
Reath sat against the headboard, stroking his thick cock and watching me. I crawled across the bed and straddled him again.
“Why, when I’m with you, does all the shit disappear?” he murmured.
His words hit me hard. My chest felt full and warm. I had no response, so I just pressed my mouth to his.
We kissed for a long time, and soon his palms cupped my breasts. I shimmied against him, rubbing against the hard cock beneath me.
“Please,” I whispered. “I need you inside me.”
He grabbed a condom from the nightstand, and I lifted my hips, watching as he rolled it on. He held his cock in place and I went up on my knees. I felt the thick head of him nudge me, then I lowered down.
I moaned as his thickness filled me. Our gazes met, and I tried not to jolt. This felt…so intimate. I felt so connected to him.
Then I started to ride him. “ Reath .”
His hands gripped my hips. “Right here, Frankie.”
Soon, we were moving faster. He urged me on, went deeper.
“You feel so right,” he growled.
Nothing in my life had ever felt so right.
When we came, we came together.