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"Jesus" Frankie loosely hooked her arms around his neck and studied his expression as she said, "It wasn’t your fault, Trick You know that, right? It was tragic that she tried to commit suicide, but it was her choice You don’t hold any blame for it"

"I know that" But he’d still been hit hard by regret, shauilt back then "She was a nice kid, you know Fun and bright and upbeat She had really bad lows, though Could bounce fro around her had been like walking on a minefield But she had a spark; itI realized later that the spark was just that--a spark Not a sign of strength"

"And you felt like you’d snuffed out that spark," Frankie realized

"At first, yeah Not by saying that it was a crush, but by losingher"

"To be fair, Trick, I don’t think there is a sensitive way of telling a young girl that the guy she’s crushing so hard on isn’t really her mate Not if she truly believed it If you hadn’t been firht have interpreted it as indecision on your part--purely because it would have been what she wanted to believe"

"Maybe" Trick’s eyes drifted ally traced patterns on his back "Anyway, her fareed withmore They didn’t blame me, but her older brother sure did He went for rowled at the idea "How old was he?"

"Seventeen He was angry and looking for soer than hie I won the duel and he sub his claws in deep enough for that strike to scar me For a while that scar felt like a reminder of what an insensitive bastard I’d been to Jana But intellectually I knew that I wasn’t responsible for her choices I eventually ca Sounds to me like she wasn’t emotionally stable Is she better now?"

"I have no idea Her family left the pack shortly after that" He rested his forehead on hers "No one outside my childhood pack mates knows that story"

"It’s safe with me"

"I know" He snaked a hand around her throat and kissed her, slow and wet and deep He got lost in it Lost in her And now his cock was full and aching He growled "I love this mouth"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah I think about it a lot I think about tasting it Then I think about fucking it Then I think about fucking you Then I think about you fucking me You see the pattern"

"You think too ht seem like a stupid question"

"It probably is Ask anyway"

She gave hilare for that comment "Did you ever think there was a chance that your trueif the real question was Did you hope your true ht my mate would be fe Now, though, I think nized you and so I knew my mate was female Frankie, when I ith someone in the past, it wasn’t about whether they had a pussy or a cock I didn’t prefer one over the other" He gripped her neck "Hear me when I say this because it’s important--I don’t need cock, I don’t need pussy, I need you Just you"

Frankie bit the inside of her cheek They ot to her "I’m not like you"

His brow lifted "In ay, baby?"

"I don’t find it easy to say nice stuff I’, but I find it ahen it cos And I’ back, and you deserve to hear what I’"

Trick’s chest clenched He scooped her up and brought her close to straddle hi It’s written all over your face"

She couldn’t help bristling "What a?"

"You’re so madly, deeply, irreversibly in love withinto happy tears at rando you get caught up in my sexual web"