Even if there was, she doubted it would tell her anything about the mysterious man in her passenger seat. His lips were sealed, only opening to playfully flirt. Which, she had to admit…she kind of liked. Atticus’s attention made her feel special. That would probably change the moment they were around other people.
He would meet her brother’s girlfriend and her cousins. Atticus might flirt with them, too. Maybe that was just how he treated women. She didn’t like the idea. Even her beast resurfaced with a possessive growl. Jealousy curled in her core like a viper waiting to bite anyone who stepped too close.
Atticus wasn’t hers. She couldn’t lay claim to him. He might have a whole life she didn’t know about. Maybe even a harem of women somewhere! Which would actually explain how easily he flirted with her. Maybe he wanted her to join in.
The answer to that would be a big no. Frankie could feel her beast’s desire, how it was singularly directed at Atticus. The thought of sharing made the creature angry. Rage filled her, hot and sharp. Frankie couldn’t be a part of something like that.
She shook herself. What was she even thinking? Her mind was filling in the blanks with preposterous thoughts. Just because she didn’t know how dragon shifters worked didn’t mean they all had harems. Atticus wasn’t here to convince her to join his harem. She was being absolutely ridiculous.
If only Atticus would actually talk about himself. Maybe then, she wouldn’t feel so off kilter.
“Alright,” she began, thinking that if she talked about herself and her family then maybe Atticus would open up about his. “My parents are dirt poor. My brother still lives with them. He lifts weights and thinks he’s the best thing on the earth. If you could out bench press him, then he might shut up and hide for the rest of the night. I’d be really grateful if that happened at some point.”
By now, she had Atticus cracking up. At first, he tried to bottle up the laughter, but by the time she asked him to put her brother in his place, he burst out laughing. Frankie grinned. The sound was like heaven and brought a smile to her own lips.
This wouldn’t be so bad to hear every day. Atticus offered to be her pack leader. She said she’d think about it, but if it meant he would stick around a bit longer and let her into his world, then maybe she would let him be the leader.
“Now, my aunt will visit. She’ll invite her youngest daughter, Ginger, and all of Ginger’s kids. My cousin might seem cute at first, but she’s already had all her teeth removed. Don’t let her dentures fool you.”
“What the hell are you dragging me into?” Atticus asked.
Frankie shrugged. This was her life. He deserved to know what he was going into, but she also hoped he would relate to her and talk about his own family. But nothing came. He just laughed and shook his head at her. Frankie came to the realization that he couldn’t talk about a family he didn’t have.
Maybe it was just him after all. That could be why he asked her to be his pack. He needed a family and even a stranger would be able to fill the role. Frankie didn’t feel quite as special anymore. He said he’d woken because of her, but it felt like she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He didn’t want her in particular.
Why that bothered her, she didn’t know. Did she have to be special to this man in particular? Why did it matter? All she knew was the slow prowl of the creature inside her as she flicked her turn signal.
The houses thinned and a trailer appeared ahead. There was a grill outside under a thin layer of snow, like the blizzard hadn’t struck her childhood home. Five other cars were parked in and around the driveway. Frankie slowed to a crawl, not ready to see her family.
Not while her head was spinning with confusion.
“Why are you here with me?” Frankie asked nervously, like she had suddenly realized her mistake.
“I told you. I shouldn’t be awake right now, but you crash landed into my lap and brought me back to life.”
She laughed. “That was almost poetic.”
She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Inside, her mom would be basting the turkey with cheap fruit wine. Her brother would be digging playing cards out from behind the counters, where they had slipped into the cracks when he threw them. Kids would be running around, screaming.
Had they opened presents? Would there be anything for the daughter who couldn’t be bothered to visit? Frankie’s mind spun. Guilt and shame and confusion all fought to be the dominant emotion. All she wanted was someone to need her.
Particularly, Atticus. She wanted him to hold her hand as they entered so everyone would know they were together, even though they weren’t. She wanted to sleep beside him and breathe in his scent. When her beast got riled up, she wanted him to be there to calm it. When her desire grew uncontrollable, she wanted him there to sate it.
Frankie had told herself he was a stranger so many times, but she couldn’t ignore the kindness he showed her. Atticus didn’t have to climb into a bathtub with her while her beast was losing control. He could have let her shift in the bathroom and let her out when she had returned to human form. He didn’t have to take her to a place where she could run free, either.
“You really think you’re here because of me?” Her voice trembled with fear.
She pulled into the driveway and let the engine run as she waited for his answer.
Instead, he growled low. Her head snapped up. He watched her, brows low. She swallowed but couldn’t summon any kind of smile. Not while her beast crawled closer and closer to the surface.
“You’re overwhelmed,” Atticus said, more a statement than a question.
All Frankie could do was nod.
Between home and Atticus, she didn’t know what to do. She shouldn’t be here, around all these normal people. Frankie felt like an infection, one that would become rampant if she couldn’t keep it together. Her morning had been great, but she worried now that it had been a lie.
“What’s with the sudden tension? What can I do to help, Frankie?”
He said her name again. Her wolf preened, but it didn’t last long. Anxiety was a powerful wave that rolled over her and swept her under. She couldn’t breathe, not with the weight of her wolf sitting inside her chest. Coming home had been a mistake.
It was a mistake to think this man could be anything to her. Frankie would always be alone. She would forever have to struggle with this monster inside her, a plight no one else around her was allowed to know about. She would have to keep this secret forever. Or else, she would be deemed a monster.
The steering wheel groaned.
“Frankie, look at me.” The command in Atticus’s voice was undeniable.
Her gaze flicked over to him. He leaned across the console, serious eyes meeting hers. She could see a decision in those eyes, how they wavered back and forth as they danced over her face.
The wolf in her chest kicked. It shouldn’t be trying to break free after the run they had earlier, but there was no denying what was happening. Frankie would shift soon if something didn’t stop her. If Atticus couldn’t control her.
“Well,” Atticus said. “I do know one thing that relieves tension.”
Frankie clenched her teeth. The wolf was kicking again. It was using claws this time. Her pain was so at odds with the cheery decorated lawns outside the car.
“I’d accept anything right now,” she ground out.
Atticus palmed her cheek and pulled her into him. Their lips crashed together. She groaned into his mouth, a sound that he devoured. His kiss was hard and greedy, but she liked it. The pressure of his lips on hers distracted her from the pain in her middle.
His hand left her face. With a flick of his fingers, he unbuttoned her jeans. He slid his hand into her pants until his fingertips found her warm folds. She cried out when he delved between them and found the most sensitive part of her. They dipped lower while he kissed her. He pinned her to the seat, but she didn’t panic. Her beast didn’t feel trapped.
Instead, it rolled over and gave in to him. Her breath came quick when he plunged his fingers inside her. She cried out and gripped his shoulder. He laughed but didn’t stop kissing her. Her whole body felt like it’d come alive. She’d been hit by lightning and its name was Atticus.
A part of her recognized that they shouldn’t be doing this, but her small car was hidden among the others and no one knew they had arrived. The danger of being caught excited her. He risked a lot to help calm her. Her mother’s opinion of him was certainly on the line.
Frankie wanted more and more. She wanted him completely inside her, buried to the hilt. Thinking about what was trapped inside his jeans made her pleasure double. She was about to burst. Gripping his arm, she was caught between telling him to stop and begging for more.
Atticus didn’t slow. He teased her until her pleasure was almost unbearable. Until she came and he smothered her cry with his kiss. As she spasmed, he leaned back with a pride-filled smile and gave her another, quick kiss.
“Feel any better?”
Her limbs felt like jelly. She sank deeper into her seat and sighed, sated. The beast didn’t make a sound. It slept, silent for the first time.
“I told my parents you were a co-worker,” she managed to say as what they just did started to sink in. “They’re going to smell what we did.”
Atticus laughed, the rich sound filling the car like a smooth whiskey. “Humans can’t smell as well as we do. Just because we can tell, doesn’t mean they will. Besides…” He sucked his fingers, the ones that’d been inside her. “This is just an appetizer. Next time, I’m going to eat you like a four-course meal.”
Her breath vanished. Atticus pushed his door open and tossed back a wink before stepping out. She had to sit in the driver’s seat and process what was happening while her heart raced. The urge to pull him back inside the car nearly outweighed her desire to see her family.
She didn’t know sex could help her control her beast. Not that they’d had sex. No, Atticus had just given her the most mind-blowing orgasm of her life with his hands and promised her even more.
This was dangerous territory. Her heart was getting attached to a man she barely knew. He could ignite things inside her that she hadn’t felt in years, but she knew so little about him. All she had to do was let him help her through the day. After that, they could figure out where they stood.
Were they acquaintances? Pack? More than that?
She swallowed and got out of the car. It was good timing, too, because the front door flew open and her mother came flying down the steps. Frankie braced herself, but the beast did nothing when her mother embraced her.
Frankie met Atticus’s eyes over her mother’s shoulder. He gave her a small, quirk of a smile that was just between them, and her heart fluttered. Maybe he could be more after all.
***
The inside of the house smelled of artificially flavored wine and natural pine. In the corner of the living room, a live pine tree boasted a garland made of caramel corn and a handful of homemade ornaments. Atticus’s shoulders fell away from his ears. He grinned, soaking up the warmth that permeated this house.
Love filled every square inch.
Ahead of him, Frankie’s mom dragged her into the kitchen to the right of the door. Frankie had sounded ashamed of her family when she mentioned they were poor, but all Atticus could see was the wealth of love. The older woman pushed Frankie into a seat and nudged a plate of pepperoni, cheese, and crackers closer.
Atticus bent his head toward the food. It would help her control her beast as the night progressed. She would need all the food she could get after shifting and what they did in the car. He didn’t know what else to do to help her unless she was willing to let him sleep in her room.
The way she looked at him after they got out of the Volkswagen had sent electric sparks through him. He hadn’t wanted to take her in the car, but the bit of foreplay had been fun for both of them. He wanted more, and he could see that she did, too.
His mate. The one person he had spent his life waiting for. He couldn’t believe he’d found her in a ditch after he’d burrowed. She could be his, after a little convincing. In the car earlier, she’d been digging. Atticus wasn’t sure of how much he could tell her about who he’d been.
Eventually, his past would crash with his present. There was no avoiding who he was. Especially when two people knew he was awake again. Should he warn Frankie? He couldn’t bring himself to add more stress to her plate, though. He wanted to keep her holiday bright and happy. She deserved that much after all she’d been through.
If Atticus ruined everything, he would never forgive himself. So, he kept his head down and tried to blend into the background while Frankie and her mother chatted. Behind him, Frankie’s father swore at a video game. He tossed the controller to one of the half-dozen kids gathered around the television and stalked outside.
It felt much like the other gatherings he’d been to, with the pack that had worked for him. Once again, the feeling of being on the outside of it all tried to rile his beast. Then, his eyes met Frankie’s and the beast settled. He let out a breath, relief palpable. She smiled and patted a chair at the table.
That was when her mother’s eyes turned on him. She pinned him, and strangely enough he was afraid to move. Here was a giant white dragon man, protector of this stretch of New York, cowed by a small brunette. He would have laughed at himself if he hadn’t been afraid she would take it the wrong way.
“So, you work with my daughter?”
“Uh, yeah.” Belatedly, Atticus realized they hadn’t even discussed what Frankie did for a living.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Frankie cringe as she came to the same realization. Would it be so bad to tell her parents how they actually met? Probably. Her mother seemed protective. If Atticus revealed that he’d appeared outside Frankie’s car completely naked in the snow the day before, she would probably have a heart attack. Atticus didn’t want to do that, so he silently pleaded with Frankie to save him.
“You look familiar,” her mother went on, not bothering to follow the line of questioning that would blow their lie to bits. “Are you from around here? Did you move to Maryland like Francine did?”
“Mom!” Frankie howled. “Don’t use my full name!”
Her mother whirled on her. “I gave you your name, and I will use it as I please. If you aren’t grateful for the life I gave you, then you can go to someone else’s Christmas.”
Atticus expected Frankie to struggle with her beast after being scolded by her mother, but a smile overtook Frankie’s features. This must have been normal to them. He could only imagine the constant back and forth argument over which name to use.
“Where did your father go?” The woman turned and scanned the kitchen and living room behind Atticus. She scowled and shook her head. “If he’s sneaking a cigarette again, I’m going to remove his fingers so he can’t hold them.”
A bit of pride swelled in Atticus. This was a family that would have fit in with his old pack. They were so similar, and yet he felt like he was a part of this family. Especially when Frankie’s mother summoned him to start peeling potatoes. She put her small hands on his waist and placed him in front of the sink before shoving a peeler and a potato into his hands. The rhythmic motion was soothing in a strange way.
Atticus could have peeled potatoes and listened to the two women talk for the rest of his life.
“Where’s Colton?’ Frankie asked.
Norma, Frankie’s mother, groaned and rolled her eyes. “He said he needed to go to the gym. Between the two of you, we haven’t opened any of the presents. And it’s already three in the afternoon! Do you remember when you two would wake us at seven in the morning to open presents?”
“Yeah, but we were twelve and eight.”
“Don’t act like that behavior stopped at that age. The two of you tormented us every Christmas morning until you left the house. Now, tell me,
why haven’t you moved back yet? Everyone knows that big fancy job fell through. It’s okay to move back home.” Norma fixed her daughter with a look, all at once welcoming and reproachful in a way only a mother could pull off.
Frankie’s eyes dropped to the floor. She quieted. Atticus stepped back far enough so the back of his knee brushed hers. He caught her appreciative sigh, and his heart stumbled when she leaned into him.
How bad were things for Frankie? He had been so wrapped up in what she could be for him that he hadn’t given her life much thought. He knew almost nothing about what her life was like even though he’d had the chance to ask her about it. They’d been in the car for hours.
Atticus felt like a fool. Frankie deserved better.
Atticus didn’t know when he would get time to ask her about the failed job or what she was doing now. He could provide for her. She might not know it, but he could make her life easier. Her family, too. Atticus would gladly give everything he had over to Frankie and her family.
She could drain him dry. Atticus knew nearly nothing about her. If she knew about who he was, Frankie could take him for all he had, and he would let her. He kept his past a secret not because he didn’t trust her, but because he wasn’t ready for the two worlds to collide.
For a little while longer, he wanted to peel potatoes and pretend that he could be a part of this viciously lovable family.
Chapter Seven
Atticus had peeled a whole bag of potatoes in record time. Frankie watched her mother gape at the pot of skinless root vegetable. She knew her mother would beg her to bring him every year from here on out. Frankie would, if he was still in her life.
She stood, not really sure of what she wanted to do. Part of her wanted to sink into Atticus, but they were supposed to be co-workers. Not lovers. Instead, she pushed past him and stepped into the living room where her cousins’ kids were fixated on the television.
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