Page 28 of Shadow Wolf
As much as I would love to spend some time with Ada, I wanted to spend all this time with Frankie without the hassle of college and stuff to get in the way. Maybe get him to open up more about his family and where he came from? Maybe he lived close to the campus? He said his brother was looking after Bagheera, so it was plausible.
I smiled as I rolled into my pillow. He was so hot… I could tell Ada was checking him out when she met him. Probably wondering how the boring, shy Clare Briggs who used to spend all her time in the library, got a hot guy like Frankie. He looked like a bad boy, but he was the sweetest. I think he enjoyed the bad boy look. It probably kept most people away. Not me. Never judge a book by its cover.
But then he was so cute when we got down to the beach. He’d asked if I wanted to come in for a swim as he shucked off his hoodie and tee. I thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. It wasn’t warm enough to swim… Hell, was it ever warm enough to get into the freezing ocean? I’d warned him that it wasn’t like a pool, the ocean water had a chill in it that you could feel through to your bones.
He'd laughed and told me I was just missing out. He took his shoes and socks off and walked along the water's edge. The bottom of his jeans got wet every time the waves lapped at his feet, but he didn’t care. He was fascinated by all of it. I was fascinated by him. It was like experiencing the ocean for the first time but through his eyes. He scrunched his toes in the sand as he stood there watching the waves lap at his feet.
A knock at my door had me frozen, eyes wide. Shit, did Mom come back to check I was alone?
“Clare. Are you awake?” My eyes widened. Frankie was at my bedroom door. I hadn’t lied to Mom when I said we were going into Port Angeles today. But we didn’t have to leave for a while.
“Yes, come in.” I sat up, the sheets pooling around my waist. I wore the big, oversized tee that I loved to sleep in. I didn’t have a bra on. But I had some sleep shorts over my underwear. Mom demanded I wear them. I’d rolled my eyes at her at the time. If she only knew what I was wearing when I met Frankie in the first place, she would have locked my door and thrown away the key.
He entered, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He wasn’t wearing much… more than the first time I saw him, though. His shorts were pushed low on his hips and the V leading right down into those shorts made me flush with the thought of what was down there. It was big and I really wanted to see it again
I might be a virgin and not have a clue what the first moves were here, but my body knew what it wanted. And it was awake now.
His lips curved into a smile as he crawled up my bed. His eyes, dark and heated, had my breath caught in my lungs. He moved slowly, as if he was prowling like a cat, over my legs still encased in the sheet until his lips got closer and closer to mine. My heart raced as I closed the last inch between us and kissed him. Pulling back, he sat on my thighs—not his full weight but enough to make my body aware of how close he was.
“Good morning, beautiful.” He pushed some of my loose hair behind my ear. I wore it up in a messy bun last night and didn’t take it out before bed. Now I must look like a mess from sleeping with it in. I preferred to wear my hair out, but it was annoying me last night so I put it up.
He kissed my nose before I could form words.
“Hi,” was all I could manage. My hands hovered close to his chest, butterflies dancing in my belly. Would he like for me to touch him? I wanted to, I wanted to feel the plains of his abs. They looked so hard… Were they hard? Was his skin as smooth as it looked? He had some scars I could see now I was this close, but the tattoos. I wanted to trace them… with my tongue.
He chuckled and took both my wrists. I watched in shock as he pressed my palms over his chest. I looked up at him and he nodded.
“You can touch me anywhere; you don’t need to ask for permission.” I was glad he’d said that. I was overthinking it too much. I slowly traced my fingertips over the tattoo across his chest, his chest rising and falling as he kept still. I wasn’t sure if it was for me to be more comfortable or if he was holding himself back from wanting to touch me in return, which I also didn’t have a problem with. But he sat there still, as he watched me take my fill.
I wasn’t sure if guys had sensitive nipples, so I ran my fingertip over his. It was harder than mine. He didn’t move, but when I looked up, he smirked.
“I like that, it feels good.”
The nervousness I felt about touching him was almost gone as I moved further down his abs, as I discovered were hard, but the skin was soft as it moved freely over them. He had a trail of dark hair from his belly button that led down into his shorts, and I’d always found that appealing. I zigzagged my fingertip through the tight curls until I landed at the waistband of his shorts.
It was there I noticed a visible bulge, and my cheeks heated. I pulled my hand away, not sure what to do next. But Frankie took my hand in his.
“It feels good when you touch me. So good that you make me hard, Clare.” His voice was deep and husky.
“As I said, you can touch meanywhere.” His voice told me I didn’t need an invitation to touch his cock. He wanted me to, and I wanted to touch it. His dark eyes heated as I licked my lips. My nipples hard and straining against the tee, he would be able to see how turned on I was, but he surprised me. He didn’t pull my hand to his chest this time. He threaded his fingers through mine instead and pushed it back to the pillow beside my head. Leaning down, he softly kissed my lips, taking it slow and sweet.
“You are so beautiful, Clare. You make me want to be a better man.” He kissed me again. Oh god, my heart was melting.
“I feel so honored that you gave me your first kiss.” My eyes widened at what he had just said. How did he know?
“Vicki told me.” I had no idea she’d told him that. Maybe she wanted to protect me or make sure he gave me the best first kiss ever, which he did, but I found my words, and for the first time, I had the courage to tell him what I wanted.
“I want to give you all my firsts.”
“Can I touch you?” His voice growing deeper, my mouth went dry as I nodded. I wanted him to touch me so badly. So bad I was aching. I was ready for this. I wanted this with him.
He kissed me again. Letting go of my hand, he moved closer to me, his thumb rubbing over my lower lip before taking it with his mouth again. Our lips and tongues clashed in what felt like a heated duel, one that I didn’t want either of us to win. I didn’t want it to stop.
I felt on top of the world. No longer nervous to touch him, I found myself holding onto his arms like I needed to hold onto something before I floated away with how amazing it all felt. He shifted his legs and body, his arm wrapped under my waist dragging me down further onto the bed as he moved down to face me, pressing his body against mine. The thin sheet let me feel the erection he sported under his shorts now against my own arousal.
His hand traveled down my throat to my exposed collarbone. He kissed me there as he pulled it aside a little more to kiss my shoulder. He let go of the fabric and it skated along my heated flesh.
“You were wearing this when we first met,” he said, and I laughed as I reached down and flicked the waistband of his shorts.
