Page 34 of Frank's Felon
She opened her mouth to answer then shut it as a group of kids came running past them. Then a small body slammed into his legs. He looked down at those amazingly large dark eyes with the sweetest face in the pack, the universe.
“Hello, Squirt,” Frank said as he lifted her up, squeezed her and set her down.
“I can’t see from down here,” Frankie said.
“Grow and then you’ll see fine.”
She lifted her arms up and open and closed her little hands rapidly, the universal sign for up, from what Takara explained. Frank doubted he’d ever be able to say no to Frankie. He hoisted her up onto his shoulders. She dug her little fingers into his hair.
“No nails,” he said. Delilah laughed, covering her smile with her hand. He wished she’d move her hand so he could soak in that smile of hers. She hadn’t smiled much these last few days, and he feared that was because of him.
Frankie slouched and leaned her chin on Frank’s head. “Who are you?”
“My name is Delilah.”
“Are you Tess’s sister? Charlotte said you’re a red wolf like Tess.”
“Yes, we’re sisters, and we’re both red wolves.”
“Your hair is prettier than Tess’s.”
“Frankie!” Frank said. “Not nice. What if Tess heard you? You’d hurt her feelings.”
Delilah’s expression changed. The smile that had reached her eyes became a shadow of what it was moments before. “Your name is Frankie?”
“Technically, it’s Francesca,” Frank said. “Everyone except her mom calls her ‘Frankie’. Her name’s been a point of contention between us. Of all the names out there, Takara had to use mine.”
“Mama said she can’t call me Frank because that’s a boy’s name. So, it’s Frankie. Aaron says Francesca is a stupid name.”
Frank pulled her off his shoulders. “You tell Aaron he better watch what he says, or he’ll have to answer to me. As for you,Francesca, your mom chose a beautiful name for you, so stop complaining.” He gave her a slight push between her shoulder blade. “Get going and stay out of trouble. No more climbing that tree with the big kids.”
“She’s adorable,” Delilah said as Frank watched Frankie run off to catch up with the other kids. He was grinning from ear to ear. He really loved that kid.
“She loves you,” Delilah added, and Frank finally looked at her. The sadness had returned, and she was literally backing away from him, as if he had done something wrong.
“I better get going. Tess is waiting for me. I only came by to say I’m leaving tomorrow,” Delilah said.
First, she had said a few days, now it was tomorrow. In the span of a few minutes, she had changed her tune. She was eager get away, not from the pack, but from him. The only thing that had changed was Frankie’s sudden appearance.
“You don’t like kids? Is that why you don’t want anything to do with me? Because of Frankie?”
“I’m not a home-wrecker. I know you already think I’m easy and I’m nothing but a criminal, but there are lines I won’t cross. Taking a kid’s dad away from her and her mom is one of them. Don’t throw your family away like my dad did, Frank. They deserve better than that.”
* * *
DELILAH
She couldn’t stay away from Frank. Every time she left the house, her eyes sought out the large shifter with the short dark-blond hair. Of all the guards that passed through here, naked and clothed alike, none of them made her breath hitch, except her guard, her Frank. Except he wasn’t hers.
When she had mentioned blood-bonding, he had gone pale. Each time she had said he wouldn’t get to fuck her, claim her, he had always followed withyet. But not once had he ever mentioned a blood-bond. That was because he was already blood-bonded.
The sweet little girl with the dark hair and dark eyes that she had seen reading in her mom’s lap was his.Frankie. It explained why Frank had never taken or even suggested taking Delilah to his cabin. Why he had only touched her far away from camp, away from the other shifters, where no one would know he was screwing the visiting whore. That’s what Frank liked about her; she was willing and safe. He knew she’d be gone soon, she had said it from the start, and with her gone, there was little risk his extra-curricular activities with her would be discovered.
Frank came up from behind and threw her over his shoulder. “Put me down, you ass.”
“Not until we talk,” he said, his voice stern, almost angry.
Fighting him from this position would only drain her. He carried her quite a distance away, farther than all the other houses she had seen, to a small cabin in the woods past one that had burned down. He kicked open the wooden door and dropped her on her feet.
