~

Rock took the stairs three at a time. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see where he was going because he was kissing his mate like his life depended on it, and he knew the house back to front, side to side, and he could find his way about blindfolded.

When he got to the top of the staircase, he turned left and stalked down the hall with his mate wrapped around him like a vine.

Frankie was his. His mate. His for all eternity. That was if he didn’t do anything in the next while to mess things up.

If anybody knew that females were unpredictable, it was him. He needed to keep his mouth shut so that he didn’t put his large feet in it with his mate once more.

That didn’t seem to be a problem that he had right then. He couldn’t stop kissing her if he’d wanted to, and boy, did he not want to?

He stalked into his bedroom and backheeled the door closed behind him. Then it was a matter of a few long strides toward his large bed, and he was placing his mate down on the mattress and coming down over the top of her, still kissing her like his life really did depend on it.

In a way it did. She was his life.

A mate. Pups. Family.

“Squishing…” Frankie rushed out with a gasp of a breath when she broke free from his lips.

“Damn, I need to remember that you’re just a human,” Rock growled, berating himself, as he shifted his weight from her body — and caught the look of disbelief on her face.

Whoops. Rock backtracked his words to try to figure out what he’d said to garner that look from her.

“Just — a human,” she asked, and watched his eyes narrow as he grimaced.

“Not — just — a human,” he was grasping at straws.

“Go on,” she demanded as she raised her eyebrows toward her hairline, and he had to admit that she didn’t look impressed. Damn.

“I just meant that you are squishable — fragile — helpless…”

“Helpless?”

“Helplessly so…”

“So what?” She frowned.

Rock got the feeling that she might just have crossed her arms if she’d been able to. Damn.

“What?” He frowned.

Rock’s mind was racing off in all different directions — how had it come to this? How had he put his foot in his mouth so quickly after telling himself not to speak?

Damn it to hell.

“I’m getting the feeling that you need to pull your foot out of your mouth…”

“I’d really like that,” Rock nodded in agreement.

“Then — just?”

“Slip of the tongue?” He winced.

“Okay,” Frankie shrugged. Rock looked at her as if she was a pod person, an alien impostor in his mate’s body.

“Okay?” Rock felt like he was on shaky ground.

“I’m not one to hold a grudge,” Frankie said. “Much.”

“Where was I?” Rock wasn’t about to take anything for granted.

“Squishing me, putting your foot in your mouth, and now we’re going to go back to the good stuff,” Frankie giggled, and that sounded dirty to Rock’s ears, but the man didn’t need to be told twice.

He claimed her lips, and when she kissed him right back, Rock’s hands decided to wander over her body, claiming articles of clothes and tossing them away to leave her naked as nature intended.

“Unfair — you’re still dressed,” Frankie breathed out, but it wasn’t just an observation, it was a demand for action.

“Not for much longer,” he growled, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively, and he was a man of his word – and surprisingly fast at getting undressed when he needed to be.

A bedroom floor full of torn off clothes later — it still didn’t feel fast enough for her.

Frankie had already seen him naked, and it was no surprise to her that he was packed full of hard, sexy muscles. But she wanted to touch, lick, nibble on her mate, and yet he seemed to have other ideas.

Frankie pushed herself up onto her elbows, but he was already coming back toward her, leaning over her with his arms caging her in on either side of her body, and a decidedly hungry look on his face. She liked that look.

“You know what comes next, Frankie,” Rock growled at the thought of it.

“I think I remember the story the birds and the bees, yes,” she chuckled.

“I mean the claim — the bonding…”

“The biting.” Her eyes flashed with amusement and excitement.

Mine…

Rock couldn’t have stated it any better than his beast had if he’d tried. He growled long, deep, and hard.

“The biting,” he echoed her words, but his tone was hungry at the thought of it.

“I know about the biting,” Frankie grinned.

“You’ll be mine?” Rock demanded an answer. If she was unsure, if she wanted him to stop, now would be the time to say it.

“That’s a leading question…” She chuckled.

“Geez, Frankie, you’re killing me here…” he growled.

“And we wouldn’t want that, not before the mating, the bonding, the biting — better get to it then, alpha,” Frankie chuckled, but that sound was muted by his lips coming back down on hers.

Rock was damn sure of one thing — he wasn’t going to speak again.