~

“What in the hell full of poop-demons do you think you’re doing?” Frankie bit out.

The alpha had steamrollered his way into the room — it was a case of get out of the way or get run over by his large outhouse sized frame as he stalked through the doorway and set about repacking everything that she’d already unpacked. Not that she had a lot, but he was tossing what she did have into her suitcase.

The audacity of the man, not to mention his lackluster attempt at packing things nicely, she felt like a cat that had spotted a rabid dog on its territory. Her back was definitely up.

“Did I not make myself clear?” Rock tossed back over his shoulder as he grabbed a handful of panties from the top drawer of the dresser and hesitated as he realized what he was holding. His mind spun with X-rated thoughts, and a small grin appeared on his lips.

He wasn’t holding the sexy items of lingerie for long when she stomped up beside him and snatched them from his hand. Rock could feel the stupid smile on his face that her panties had to put there — and she’d probably seen it too – but what could he do? He cleared his throat and tried for an innocent look anyway.

“Look, pervy the pervert…”

“I resent that implication…”

“Resent away, you’re the one that had panties in your hand and a goofy look on your face,” she hissed back, and Rock considered her words as he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and down again, his lips formed words that he didn’t spit out.

“I was imagining you wearing them,” he said in hot denial of her accusation, but when she offered him a look of pure disbelief, he realized what he’d said, and groaned inwardly. He couldn’t win either way, so why bother to protest?

“The fact remains, stop packing my things. I’m not leaving with you,” she said, waving her panties practically under his nose, and she only realized when he got that goofy look back on his face again.

Frankie bit down on a curse and stuffed them back into the top drawer. Rock bit down on a curse of his own, but his was out of frustration.

“Yes, you are,” he said reaching for her panties once more, but just as his fingers got into the drawer; she slammed it shut, catching his fingertips and garnering a manly yelp from him as he snatched his hand away and shoved all four fingertips into his mouth at once.

“That’s what you get for messing with things that don’t concern you,” Frankie hissed back at him. Then she folded her arms, pushing her breasts up and out for his viewing pleasure, and cocked one eyebrow at him as if he was a naughty schoolboy.

With the fingertips still in his mouth, stinging like a bitch, there wasn’t a lot that Rock could say, but a hearty growl did rumble through his chest. He narrowed his eyes at her and glared for a long moment as the silence between them grew.

“How…” He growled past his fingertips, then rolled his eyes, and snatched them from his mouth. Then he shook out the pain. “How do they not concern me?”

“Look, if you want to wear female panties that’s your business, but go buy some,” she offered back.

Rock grumbled another growl. Having a mate wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be — or maybe it was just having a witch for a mate that was the damn problem.

“You’re my mate…” He started; it was time that he gave her a few home truths, but she had other ideas.

“I’m not sharing my panties with you,” she bit back.

“That’s unreasonable…”

“Say what?”

“I mean you are being irrational,” Rock corrected himself.

The woman was already driving him insane, and he didn’t want to even think about how damn frustrated he was, and not in a good way. He could gladly have slammed his head into the nearest wall and would have been grateful for the timeout.

“Oh, irrational; the next thing you’ll be telling me is that it’s okay because I’m female.” She tossed up a hand and dismissed him as she went to turn away, but he reached out and yanked open the top drawer of the dresser once more.

Frankie’s low grumble sounded to him, and his beast, like a growl in the back of her throat. His wolf’s ears pricked up at that sound, and he couldn’t say that he didn’t find it attractive.

“No!” She snapped as if talking to a naughty child, and slammed the door closed again.

Rock grumbled another growl. The woman certainly was irrational, frustrating, and a damn witch.

It wasn’t like she needed to wear a pointy black hat and cape while riding a broomstick and stroking a black cat – it was just so in your face that he wanted to roar with the annoyance of it all.

“I’m an alpha,” Rock grumbled, not liking the tone of her voice one little bit.

“Trust me, every little bit of you is screaming that fact — including, your little tantrum over my panties,” she tossed back.

“I do not have tantrums…”

“Your actions say otherwise…”

“Well, you don’t need to tell anyone you’re a witch — it’s glaringly obvious…” They were now in a stand-off, face to chest, with her head tipped back and her eyes glaring up at him.

“How would you like to eat those words?” She challenged him. Bad idea — it was like waving a red rag to a miffed off bull.

“How would you like me to toss you over my shoulder and carry you away like a sack of coal?” He grumbled another deep growl to underline every word.

“Just you try it and you’ll be eating your fangs,” she hissed back.

“Woman…” He grumbled a low warning growl within his chest, it was deep, velvety, and rather than being unattractive — she found it had the opposite effect on her.

Damn stupid fate. That wasn’t good, and she knew it.

“Oh, woman — is it? Not only did you insult witches, but now you’re insulting all women. And you think you need to tell people that you’re an alpha butthead?”

Rock knew he should have stopped there — tried to soothe her ruffled feathers, but in the heat of the moment, and the frustration of being around her — his toes didn’t just cross the line, they tap danced over it.

He reached out for her, dipped at the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder before she could even blink.

“Oh, the hell - no you don’t!”

Frankie was mortified. She tried to stiffen her body, tried to push up his back, like being a plank across his shoulder would have been any better. She wiggled and squirmed against him, but what more could she do against his vice-like grip?

“Well, it looks like I just did.” He went and finished that sentence with a satisfied grunt, but she appreciated his crowing about as much as she appreciated a hammer to the head.

“We’ll see about that,” she said, and without thinking about the precarious position that she was in – she zapped him hard.

Every inch of the alpha’s body felt that magical zap. It was no love tap. His muscles clenched painfully tight, tight enough to lock up completely, and he had no control over his body.

“Oh, geez,” she bit out as he started to fall forward.

It seemed to happen in slow motion and yet she still didn’t have the time to do anything about. She did release her magic, but that was already too late to save them.

A squeal caught in the back of Frankie’s throat, a second or two before her back hit the bed, and she was grateful for it because hitting the floor would have been so much worse.

But what she wasn’t grateful for was the alpha’s weight that came down on top of her hips and legs, pinning her to the mattress, and planting his face where he had no right venturing.

The alpha grunted, and she felt the vibration roll through her very feminine parts. Frankie didn’t need to think about it that time, she zapped him again, so damn hard that his upper body jerked upward, and when his face came down it hit her hip.

“This is so much better,” she grumbled, still pinned by her lower body to the bed, and when he grunted again — she grumbled a few curse words back at him. “Oh sure, like this is my fault – you big … oaf.”