"I'd like to," Dobs replied, knowing the importance of not starting a relationship with secrets. He had enough of those to reveal as it was. "If I were bonding with a human, someone who would be a liability … " he paused not liking how that sounded and racked his brain for a different way to put it. Dobs shrugged. "That sounded bad, but it is what it is. A human would not be able to defend against an angry vampire. You would. I know I didn't respond well to your wolf yesterday, and … I'm sorry that caused you pain. I have … issues with, well, when you guys turn into your animal form." He whispered the admission, letting his eyes close, not wanting to see condescension or pity in his beloved's expression.
The only thing he scented from Frankie was concern. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.
Dobs grinned and looked down at Frankie. His shifter's open expression hid nothing. Frankie probably wouldn't even know how to stab someone in the back or betray someone. He was exactly the kind of man to have at an enforcer's back.
Swallowing hard against the sudden emotion clogging his throat, Dobs forced out, "Just your patience. That's all I need."
Frankie nodded. "Would I be able to go with you on your missions? I don't think I could let you go alone. I'd probably end up tracking you down. I'm good at tracking when I focus on it."
"Yes, you'd be going with me," Dobs confirmed, liking that Frankie seemed so open to the idea. He remembered how the shifter had commented about him wanting to take him away from his brother and pack, and he'd been worried that Frankie wouldn't want to leave. "There's no one I'd rather have at my back." As he said the words, he realized how true they were. He wanted his beloved not just at his back, but at his side.
"But you just met me yesterday, and we fought," Frankie said, clearly confused. "How can you say that? And you mean it … I can tell by your scent."
Dobs grinned, cupped Frankie's jaw, and tilted the man's head. It really was endearing that the larger man wanted to cuddle up with him, practically on his lap. He figured it was a shifter trait because he'd seen Casey doing the same thing with Caspian.
Leaning down awkwardly, Dobs gently kissed Frankie's lips. He pulled back slightly and told him, "Because I've already seen you protect me, from your own brother, even."
Frankie frowned, which hadn't been the response Dobs had been hoping for.
"Well, he shouldn't have grabbed you," Frankie muttered.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm fine. You're fine," he said, rubbing his thumb along the top of Frankie's lip. "I didn't say it to upset you. I was using it as an example of why I trust you to always have my back."
"You trust me?"
Frankie seemed inordinately pleased by his admission. Now, if Dobs could figure out how to feel the same while Frankie was in wolf form, he'd be golden. Then Frankie lifted his head slightly and kissed him, and all thought vanished except the desire to ravish the man's mouth.
He opened to Frankie's questing tongue, drawing it into his mouth and sucking it lightly. Sweeping his own tongue into his man's welcoming heat, Dobs tasted his beloved for the first time, reveling in the tones of male, musk, and a hint of wildness that probably only belonged to a shifter. Dobs wanted more.
Tangling their tongues, he shivered when Frankie's appendage caressed his fang, pulling a soft groan from him. Frankie must have taken that as the cue it was, that he enjoyed the touch to his sharp teeth very much, for he did it again, more firmly this time. Heat coursed through his body. His dick jerked in his slacks, oozing pre-cum.
Frankie's arms felt like warm bands of steel around his torso as his lover twisted on his lap. Seconds later, Dobs found himself sprawled under the bigger man with Frankie's hands buried in his hair as the shifter ravished his mouth. He almost put a stop to it, wanting to be the one in charge, but then he noted it, the bitter scent of fear and desperation. Something was going on with his beloved.
Instead of trying to roll them over on the couch and take control, Dobs gave himself up to the shifter's frenzied kisses, questing hands, and shuddering, humping body. He spread his legs, something he rarely did, and let his lover settle in the vee of his body. Bending his knees, he planted his feet on the cushions and matched his mate thrust for thrust.
Finally, Frankie broke the kiss and lifted his head. Dobs stared up into the flushed face of his lover, seeing lust, wonder, and need all rolled up as one in his expression. "Didn't think you'd … you'd want me once … once you knew," Frankie panted, still grinding his thick erection against Dobs.
He had just enough blood in his brain cells to realize Frankie's halted words explained the odd emotions roiling through the shifter's body. "Want you, Frankie," Dobs muttered roughly, thrusting up, trying to show with his body as well as his words. "We'll make this work."
He still had to explain his problem with shifters, but that could wait. He'd tell him after-after he got off, after he pleased his lover, after he proved he was trying, after Frankie knew Dobs accepted him just the way he was. And he'd find a way to do it, too … just after …
His lover taking his mouth again in a feral, possessive kiss quickly scattered any focus Dobs had left. He clutched at Frankie's wide, heavily muscled shoulders, pressing their chests together. The friction on his nipples caused by Frankie moving above him spread tingles of fire through his chest down to his groin.
Dobs' shaft oozed, his balls burned, and his fangs itched. "Wait, wait," he huffed, struggling for breath.
Frankie did as asked, his body freezing, his expression confused, pained even. Dobs didn't leave him wondering long. Scrambling with his pants, he quickly got them open, the cool air of the room on his hot shaft causing a hiss to escape his lips. He grabbed Frankie's sweats and pulled them down just enough to free his lover's cock and balls.
Grabbing Frankie's tight ass, he pulled their groins together again. Frankie took that as the sign it was and once more started humping, driving their shafts together. Pleasure radiated through his body at the friction on his sensitive dick.
"Want to taste you again, beloved," he mumbled against Frankie's neck as he licked the pulsing vein that called to him so sweetly.
Frankie groaned and tilted his head. "Yeah. Do it. Like how it feels."
Letting out a moan of his own, Dobs gave in to his body's needs and sank his fangs into his beloved's neck. Rich, warm blood flowed from the bite wound and over his tongue. He growled at Frankie's exquisite taste and sucked, wanting more, needing more to recharge his depleted body, reveling in how his shifter gave so freely.
Above him, Frankie shuddered and groaned. His seed spilled between their bodies, soaking Dobs' shirt. Knowing he pleased Frankie was an aphrodisiac in and of itself. His balls tightened, his shaft jerked, and he came, adding his own cum to the mess between them.
Moaning, he gently withdrew his fangs and licked the bite mark, sealing the wound. Resting his head against the cushion, he stared at his lover through half-closed eyes, a smile curving the corners of his lips as delicious aftershocks pinged through his body. From the way Frankie panted warm puffs of air against his sweat-soaked shirt, he knew his lover felt the same.
Dobs struggled to get his relaxed muscles to work, but managed to lift his head and press a kiss to the top of Frankie's head. "You're amazing, beloved," he muttered. "When we finally get to a bed and I fuck you, I'll die of pleasure overload."
Frankie snickered and tilted his head to grin up at him. "What a way to go, though, huh?"
Dobs grinned back, lifted his head, and kissed Frankie's lips. "Yep."
The big man's expression suddenly turned pensive. "You won't really, will you?"
Sobering, Dobs made a mental note to watch how he phrased things around his lover. He didn't want the man to misunderstand. "No, Frankie. I was just teasing, trying to tell you how much you please me."