Ellie didn’t see any more of the suite until they were in the bedroom where she finally came up for air, but what she did see of it convinced her he must have paid a small fortune. A fortune spent to give her a small break from the mundane life of a single mom and fledgling businesswoman. A single weekend without the stressors of being the boss of both her home and livelihood.
Suddenly, nothing mattered but having this man’s cock deep inside her. The moment her back touched down on the mattress, Griff stretched over her. She untucked his shirt and smoothed her hands over his torso, delighting in the hard ridges of his abdominal muscles. They practically clawed each other’s clothes off, but Griffin had more of his senses intact than her.
All she succeeded in doing was unfastening his jeans. She was damned near naked, wearing only her little black lace panties. The corset top spilled down from her arms.
Naked and vulnerable, she waited for his reaction. No man but her dear and beloved Greg had never seen her this way. Would he hate her chubby thighs and the belly no number of crunches would flatten?
“El?” His gaze raked over her body, golden and filled with an intensity that made her tremble.
“Yeah?” She licked her lips, skin tingling and hot with need.
“How the hell can you be so beautiful?”
Goodbye insecurities. They burst like soap bubbles, each one proving to be an unfounded worry. He didn’t shy away from the loose skin. He didn’t care that her soft tummy lacked definition, bearing stretch marks beneath her navel. If he saw them, he gave no indication. His lips skimmed her hipbone, grazed her thigh. Her body clenched in anticipation.
“This okay?” His breath feathered over her core, his tongue millimeters away from providing what she wanted most.
“God, yes. I swear they’ll find your murdered body in this suite tomorrow morning if you stop.”
Griff chuckled, the warmth of his breath teasing her. She clenched on nothing, seeking something to fill her, especially craving his mouth. “I like an assertive woman.”
The first kiss was almost her undoing, ending with an indulgent stroke from his tongue down her slit. Ellie jolted in place, startled by her body’s reaction long before his hands began to explore. Her breasts, heavy and aching, became his next victim as he squeezed both in his strong hands and flicked his thumbs over the tight nipples. His mouth lingered between her legs, placing eager and wet kisses against her pussy, teasing over her clit, lighting her aflame with sensations that left her writhing and trembling on the sheets.
* * *
“This isn’t fair,” Ellie finally gasped.
“Mm.” Ignoring her, Griffin teased his lips over her clit, alternating between lazy sucks and tracing the delicate nerve bundle with his tongue. “What’s not fair?” he asked, stopping only when he sensed she was on the verge of orgasm.
“Goddamn you.”
“You want me to stop?”
“No!” Ellie shouted, tangling her fingers in his hair and tugging harder. “I just… I’m close.” Her words were one-part shy whisper, one-part guttural groan of need.
Griffin slid two fingers inside her and slowly pumped, curving until he found her G-spot. “Close to what? I want to hear you say it.”
“A lot of things. I want to see you. I can’t be the only one lying here naked.”
“That all you want? What do you need, baby?”
Ellie shuddered and clamped around his fingers. “I…I don’t know if I want to orgasm on your mouth first or have your cock to inside me when I come. Right now, I’ll settle for having your dick in my hand.”
“And here I thought you’d prefer having my cock elsewhere.”
He withdrew his fingers and stood beside the bed to strip down, aware of her hungry gaze on him from start to finish, especially when he kicked off his jeans and stood at the foot of the bed in only boxers. His cock tented the cotton fabric, its pink tip poking ambitiously through the front flap.
Her eyes grew wide.
Grinning, Griffin gave himself a deliberate stroke. “Happy with what you see?”
“Oh yes.” She traced her fingertips down the sinewy length, wrapped her fingers around its length, and pumped him.
Then she put her mouth on him and all ability to communicate articulately fled his mind. He made an unintelligible sound and rocked on his heels as she licked her way across his crown.
When she stopped, the frustrated groan he made put a smile on her face. Fuck, he needed a condom, and he needed it now. His gaze darted to his discarded pants on the floor.
“There’s condoms in my jeans. Just give me a sec—”
Ellie rose onto her knees and touched one finger to his lips. “Are you clean?”
“Got tested after she left me. Just in case.”
Just in case that bitch had potentially brought something back to him. No matter how much he wanted to loathe his ex, the only emotion his heart could feel when gazing down at Ellie was elation. That bitch’s loss was Ellie’s gain.
His gain, because being free meant he could have the swan maiden of his dreams.
“I am too. And I have…an implant.” She took his hand and brought it to her arm where a device no larger than a matchstick lay under the skin. “See? Do you trust me?”
“Trust you? Fuck yes. Baby, I’d do anything you asked right now.”
* * *
Griffin caught her mouth in another searing kiss. She pressed in against him and wiggled close, her breasts flattened against his powerful chest, his cock brushing her lower stomach. Sneaking one hand between them treated her to the satin length of his erection, hard and throbbing and perfect. As she rolled her thumb over the tip and gathered the leaking precum, a shudder went through him.
“Come here,” she murmured against his lips. El pulled him down with her to the sheets. Finally, they were skin against skin and nothing else mattered but the delicious bump and grind of his cock against her slit. He slid against her over and over, gliding over her folds, nudging her core and sending shivers of delight down her spine with every delicious move.
“I feel like I’ve waited months for this,” Griff admitted, his voice a husky growl. “It’s been only a couple weeks, but God, it feels like months. Years.” And then he promptly rolled and placed her on top of him, resting with his back against pillows. “But I think this first time, I want to watch you, baby.”
“Yes,” was all she could say, her thoughts too scrambled by the fact that she had Texas’s hottest man beneath her, all muscle and sexy, sun-bronzed skin.
As much as Ellie wanted to fuck him hard and fast, she also wanted to savor the moment of entry. To feel every pulse of his cock, the wonderous stretch of him claiming her during their connection.
Leaning up, he kissed her. “Show me what you can do.”
Her belly tightened with anticipation, but she raised her hips and positioned herself over him.
The moment of truth, she thought, lowering herself onto his length. She sank down every marvelous inch, bottoming out with a startled gasp when no space remained between them. Moving slowly at first to get her bearings, she reacquainted herself with a rhythm that returned just like riding a bike. Except she was riding a gorgeous man who gazed up at her with lovestruck, lust-filled eyes.
Ellie took in the sight of Griffin beneath her, abs rippling tight with each roll of his hips. His strong hands squeezed her hips and guided her faster, filling her over and over in a lazy rhythm. Moving up, his hands framed her waist, slid over her ribs, and cupped her breasts, paying extra attention to her nipples before he leaned forward and caught one rosy bud between his teeth. When he sucked, her channel trembled around him and the telltale tension of approaching climax coiled in her belly.
One moment, they were moving at a sedate pace, a leisurely lovemaking for an unhurried woman; in the next, her needs took over, and riding him became a desperate race to the finish. Her breasts bounced as wildly as his impassioned thrusts, jostling until their rhythms merged as one, no lo
nger frenetic and clumsy but glorious and sparking with sensation.
At one point, she thought he growled, a noise she hadn’t thought her fellow avian shifters were capable of, but the sound was lost in his groans for more, his pleas for her to keep going, and guttural moans that set her ablaze with need to watch him climax with her.
Orgasm clenched her core, then swept her away on a tide of bliss that left her slumped over him and shuddering, screaming his name and bouncing like crazy through each delicious ripple. Despite Griff riding her through each tremble, her needs remained unquenched.
“Your turn,” Ellie managed to exhale between breathy moans, hungry for the moment she’d feel him joining her on the plateau.
In an easy maneuver, Griffin rolled them across the mattress and pulled out. She squeaked in surprise upon landing on her stomach, then hitched up in the bed on the single stroke that reseated him balls-deep in her pussy. She throbbed and ached, tingling out of control, chasing another orgasm that seemed just beyond reach.
“But—I…I—Oh, God—I…want to see you come,” she rasped out, breathless from the fast rhythm he set. His fingers found the sensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs and rolled it. She saw stars.
“Look up.” His voice was a growly rasp in her ear.
Ellie followed his order and pushed up onto her elbows to realize there was a mirror in the headboard.
A mirror.
The sight of him, bent over her, his shoulders glistening with sweat, palming her full breasts with one hand, and teasing her clit with the other, provided all the stimulation she needed to climax again with a startled cry. Fucking her through the climax elongated it, extending and enriching her pleasure. The trembling around his cock didn’t end—even when he thrust into her with a final shout and spilled everything he had.
He held her close the whole while they lay panting together in the bed waiting for their breaths to even out and letting the sweat dry on their skin. Griffin kissed her temple, one arm looped around her waist.
“Griff?”
“Hm?”
“Let’s do it again.”
His low chuckle ignited sparks in her chest. She’d never known it was possible to adore a laugh so much. “You mind giving me a second to catch my breath before you make more demands? I’m not twenty anymore.”
“Hm… Fine. I guess I’m nice enough to go help myself to the champagne and chocolate I saw when we entered.”
13
If they were at home, Ellie would have served Griffin breakfast in bed, because her man definitely earned it. Despite claiming he wasn’t in his prime anymore—blatant lie—he’d managed to find the energy to make love to her two more times that night, once in the suite’s living room after she’d fed him strawberries, and again in the spacious bath tub where he’d tenderly washed her back. His stamina was out of this world, and her body ached in the most delicious way, meaning he deserved an equally delicious meal.
Since they couldn’t do that at the hotel, she rang up room service and ordered everything she’d have normally made for him that morning, from biscuits and gravy to enough bacon for a necromancer to raise an undead pig.
Once they returned home to Crisis, Ellie would have to send Emma over to sleep at Portia’s place, or maybe across the road to Maddie’s for a night. She really did want to cook for Griffin.
Preparing breakfast for the man she loved had long ago become one of her favorite morning-after rituals.
Loved.
God, it was too early to declare love, but she certainly felt fond of him, fond enough that she’d happily share her bed and take the terrifying step forward that involved explaining to her child that sometimes, Griff would be staying the night over at their place.
While she waited for their food to arrive, she made a call home, checked in with Portia, and chatted with Emma. Since Portia had promised her a trip to the Lufkin Zoo, Dean and Maddie were tagging along to help keep an eye on her.
Thankfully, Emma had outgrown chasing the peacocks, but during her younger years, she’d once lost control of her abilities and transformed in the middle of the damned park.
After breakfast, he unveiled a whole smorgasbord of activities he’d planned for her, beginning with a scheduled visit to the hotel’s spa.
“It’s no fun if I go alone. I want to spend time with you,” Ellie complained.
“That’s why I made an appointment for two. Couple’s seaweed wraps and all that.”
Ellie cocked a brow. “You’re joining me at the spa?”
“I’m not opposed to a mani pedi. I’m not a caveman.”
That was how Ellie wound up enjoying four hours of spa-related bliss, including the promised seaweed wraps and a jade stone massage. By the end of the evening when dinner came around at a Michelin-rated restaurant, she felt on top of the world, as if nothing—nothing—could ruin their impromptu weekend away.
* * *
Ellie sang along to the radio on the ride home, reinvigorated from the previous day’s spa visit and full of brunchtime Bloody Marys. They flew down I-45 with the convertible top down and the wind streaking through her hair. Griffin loved the smile on her face as much as he loved the melodic notes her swan maiden voice hit flawlessly, effortlessly.
Her people had a different kind of magic that transcended their ability to shift into an animal shape.
“We’re going to do this again soon, right?” he asked, cutting his gaze from the road to her wine-flushed face. In addition to half a pitcher of Bloody Mary, she’d also drank two flights of different wines on the menu to sample, because she couldn’t make up her mind, unable to choose until Griffin told her to go crazy. He was the designated driver, and “You only live once.”
“Well…”
“Hamilton tickets, babe. You don’t know how difficult those were to get.”
“I feel like I’m taking advantage of your connections and your sister’s kindness. And I thought you said that she bought the tickets but her plans had changed?”
“Er. Well…” A spike of guilt thundered into his chest. “I fibbed a little. Charlotte thinks you’re amazing, and she bought the tickets with us in mind.” He wouldn’t say it, but his sister had spent a half hour singing Ellie’s praises, ecstatic he’d finally found a woman who accepted him for who he was.
Griffin waited for her to snap and lose her temper, but when he stole a glance at Ellie, she smiled back at him from the passenger seat.
If this wasn’t love, he didn’t think he’d ever find it. Maybe it was too soon, but just gazing at her sent his heart fluttering, warmth coursing through his blood he’d never experienced before with any other woman.
“All right. I’ll agree to your flight to New York City on one condition, mister.”
“All right? What condition is that?”
“I do my fair share at the bakery and work a few days straight so I’m not putting Grace or Luke in a bind. We’ll work it out when we’re at home.”
“Fair enough. I am sorry for springing things on you like this. It’s just…baby, you work yourself to death. You take so much on your shoulders. Maddie told me to throw her under the bus and say she put me up to it, but the truth it, I was concerned. I wanted to do something nice for you this weekend.”
“It was nice. And I love it. Just…next time you want to surprise me, give me a tiny, itty bitty inkling so I’m not putting my employees out.”
“Deal.”
He squeezed her thigh and kept his focus on the road, driving one-handed as they cruised past Houston’s city limits. Since Ellie wanted to stop for bubble tea at her favorite mall kiosk, they swung by The Woodlands Mall and beelined through JCPenney, to a nearby shop operated by three kind Asian ladies.
“The hell is a bubble tea?” Griffin asked.
“It is magic.” She turned back to the cashier. “We’ll take two taro bubble teas with tapioca please. Both large.”
Griff cocked a brow, giving the most recent customer’s drink a dubious look. No
thing about the frothy drink looked appetizing. “Is this gonna be as magical as all the booze flowing through you?” he asked, pulling out his wallet. Before he could pay, Ellie snatched it from his hands and stuffed it back into his jeans. Then she slipped the cashier a twenty from her own purse and stuffed the change into the tip jar.
“You’re going to try it because you like me.”
A couple minutes later, they returned to the JCPenney entrance with frosty drinks in hand. Ellie eyed him. “Sip it.”
“There’s black things in it.”
“It’s tapioca. Pearls of life.”
Griff snorted. “I’m pretty fucking sure that isn’t what these are.”
“Drink it.”
“What if it’s gross?”
“Listen, you uncultured eagle swine,” she started, whirling to face Griffin and point a finger at his chest. At that point, he burst out laughing. “If you hate it, I will drink it. How many times have you trusted my judgment in the bakery when I have a new item?”
“Every time,” he answered sheepishly. “You’re a pushy drunk. Adorable, but pushy.” Then he took an experimental pull through the extra-large straw. And it was delicious.
Ellie didn’t let him forget that throughout most of their drive.
About thirty minutes from home, her cell phone rang. Seconds into the call, the smile dropped off her face.
“How bad is it? Is she—”
Shit. Griffin considered pulling over. He stole glances at her as he approached their exit from the highway.
“We’re not far from home, Luke. We’ll be there soon. Just stay calm, okay? Stay calm.” Ellie ended the call and turned her gaze to Griffin. “Luke ran out to make a delivery, and when he returned, Grace was… He found her lying on the floor in the kitchen. EMS is with her now.”
14
“Whoever entered behind Mrs. Robinson must have somehow known the security camera blind spots. Now, look right here.” Griffin paused the footage for the other officers. He’d called all six men in their small department in to review the digital videos picked up from the Glazed and Confused security system. “See how he just comes out of nowhere?”
What the Flock Page 8