Page 53 of His Atonement

I growl, growl in a way I never have, one that deepens just as my tongue invades her mouth, demands entry and takes it with urgency.

Frankie's fingers claw at my back, her nails tear down my shirt until they slip under the soaked material and when we are skin to skin, even in such a minuscule way, white hot pleasure erupts over every inch of my flesh until it practically begs for more, begs for it all.

Mine.

Yes.

Goddamnit, yes, Frankie is mine and mine alone.

Mine for now, mine for always and just when I'm seconds away from destroying the scraps of fabric that cover us so that I may lay claim to what is mine completely, someone pounds on her fucking front door.

"Frankie? Frankie, honey, are you ok in there?"

Her eyes dart toward the door as Frankie breaks our kiss, something we both groan in protest to. "It's Allie," she whisper-shouts.

I arch a brow at her and frown.

No shit it's Allie.

I am not stupid, I know the sound of her voice.

"If I don't answer she's going to come in here to make sure I'm ok."

I continue to stare. "So?"

Frankie rolls her eyes. "I don't exactly think this is a good time for her to come in here." She nods towards my painfully hard cock still pressed between us. "She thinks we hate each other and I'm not ready to answer a fuck ton of questions right now."

"So what do you intend for me and my erection to do at this moment?"

"Frankie? Frankie, you better answer this fucking door or I'll have Andrej break it down!"

Christ.

She brought the dragon.

Surely he will scent me in here, scent everything going on and what was about to happen.

Thankfully he rarely speaks, so I know Andrej won't be telling anyone about this, at least not now.

“Hide," Frankie whispers as she pushes me away from her. "Go hide in my room while I get rid of Allie."

The sharp stab of pain that pierces my heart at her words happens so quickly I almost miss it. "You wish me to hide?"

"Just for right now.” She grabs a kimono from the back of the couch and pulls it around her body. "I'll get rid of Allie tonight and talk to her about us tomorrow."

Us? Whatus? There is no us, not if Frankie wishes me to hide myself away. There shouldn't, couldn't be an us anyway because I do not do intimate or form attachments, do nothing but fuck exceptionally well to achieve a desperately needed release.

And the fact that Frankie is ashamed to be seen with me, embarrassed by kissing me with the possibility of her cousin finding us afterward is exactly the reminder I needed to stay the fuck away from her.

Now if only I believed my own words and could stop the crushing blow of rejection I feel in this moment, that would be fucking great.

“Fine," I spit with far too much aggression. "I shallhide, shall spare you the shame of being seen with me."

Frankie stares at me for a beat, and her lips begin to form words, but I don't want to hear them.

No, I don't want to hear anything Frankie has to say at all, nor do I want the hurt that is taking root in my chest, the niggling pain that was caused by everything that has transpired.

So I walk down the hall, hide in her spare room, and wait until I hear her let Allie and the dragon in before I slip out the window.