Page 14 of Tainted Hearts

“Frankie!” I snarl, getting in her face. I could outright ask her, but I need to hear her admit it. “Is there a reason why you're doing everything you can not to touch her?”

Frankie’s eyes flash with panic. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck!” I hiss, running a hand through my hair. “Really? Is she really your mate?”

Frankie nods. “I’m sorry,” she says again.

“How long have you known?” I know it’s different for vampires. While the rest of us need physical touch to ignite the bond spark to know who our mates are, vampires can smell it in their blood. Frankie has been keeping her distance so Abby doesn’t find out. “And why don’t you want Abby to know?”

“I’ve known for a while now. At first, I kept away because of the age gap, and I worried what her father might do if he found out. Now, it’s because that girl has had little to no choices of her own the past few months. Out of five mates, she only was able to wrap her head around one of them before her life got turned upside down. And while finding out about you has worked out, the other three, not so much. I don’t want to do that to her again.”

“Fuck’s sake,” I groan, scrubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands.

“Are you mad?” she asks.

“No,” I sigh. “Surprised as fuck? Yes. Unsure how any of this would work? Yeah. But not mad. Trust me, I’d chose you to be her mate over the other three fuckers any day.”

“I see they’re not here today. I’m guessing things are still on edge?”

“Yes and no. She’s working on things with Luke and Noah. As for Isaac...complicated.Reallyfucking complicated.”

She nods, looking out toward the fire where Abby is sitting in Leo’s lap, talking and laughing. “That’s the main reason why I’m not doing anything right now. I’m going to get to know her, let her get to know me. But the biggest thing is I’m letting her choose. I want her to decide if she wants me, I want to give her the choice she hasn’t gotten yet.”

“That’s not how this works and you know it. You don’t get a choice on who you're mated to,” I remind her.

“I know,” she snaps. “But what if she finds out now, and is so overwhelmed that she wants nothing to do with me? She already has to work on so much with the others, I don’t want to add any more to her plate. Please, Zed, just let me be her friend for now. Let her work on things with the others before throwing this at her. She’s the only thing that matters.”

“Fuck you,” I mutter.

“What? What the hell?” she growls.

“Why do you have to go and be all awesome when it comes to Abby by putting her first?”

“Really, fucker?” Frankie deadpans.

“Look, I can’t keep this from her. I refuse to lie to her. But because you both mean something to me, and really this has nothing to do with me, I’ll keep my mouth shut for now. But if there comes a time when she needs to know, you will tell her. I hate lying to her.”

“Just a few weeks, give me until Christmas to at least let her adjust to all the new changes, and then I’ll tell her. But Zed, if I feel like me being her mate will only make her unhappy or her life worse, I’m not telling her.” Her eyes grow hard, telling me I won’t change her mind.

“You’re willing to go the rest of your life without your mate?” I ask her, knowing that there’s no way I’d ever be able to be without Abby. I’d rather fucking die.

“If it means she’s happy, then yes.” Frankie’s attention drifts over to Abby again, this look of longing on her face that just doesn’t fit Frankie. Frankie is the type of person to go after what she wants. So seeing her hold herself back, means she truly cares about Abby’s feelings. And that I respect.

“This is going to be one hell of a life once you join the fold.” I laugh. “Seeing you with Abby is going to be weird as fuck.”

“Don’t be jelly, Rock Star, I can show you a few moves with my tongue someday, give you some pointers on how to rock her world.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Fuck you.” I laugh. “I know how to use my tongue just fine. Trust me, the sounds she makes, pure fucking heaven.”

Frankie’s eyes flash with heat. “So jealous right now,” she mutters.

“As you should be, Blood Sucker. As you should.”

Frankie flips me off before joining the others at the fire. I stay back and watch. Abby perks up when Frankie sits back down, and the two of them start talking again. Watching my girl look so happy, I have no doubt in my mind that she would welcome Frankie as her mate, but I understand where Frankie is coming from. Abby has had a lot thrown at her in a small amount of time. I too would like her to adjust to some of it before throwing something else at her. But I don’t think adding Frankie as her mate will be as much a hardship as the other guys. Only time will tell, I guess.

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