He spared a glance back at his family. They’d turned around and were pretending at conversation, even though he could still see them stealing glances in his direction. The moment had been a failure. He never should have touched her. The beast had pushed the boundaries Lilah had set, and now his family could see the cracks in their façade.
Chapter Seven
Griffin hadn’t lied to her.
Lilah knew before entering into this agreement that there was only one bed, but when faced with it, she felt her cheeks become magma hot. Griffin strode past her, now wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers, which made her face even hotter. He collapsed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling with his hands clasped behind his head.
Neither spoke for a long moment.
Then, Lilah moved to the side of the bed, where there was a small space between the mattress and the wall and unrolled her pink sleeping bag. It was not an ideal situation, but seeing Griffin sprawled half naked in bed would not help her keep their agreement from becoming anything else.
“You don’t have to do that,” Griffin said.
“Yes. I do.”
He groaned, a soft growl threading through the sound. She made the mistake of glancing back at him. His glower was dark and heated, sparking a hot flame inside her core. Immediately, she ducked her head and hid behind the mattress.
This wasn’t going to work. Every few minutes, Lilah found herself slipping into the fantasy. She fell into the lie only to be hit with a bucket of ice-water moments later. This wasn’t real.
It wasn’t real.
Bumble announced his presence before leaping atop the bed. Griffin growled, but Bumble pretended not to notice. He stalked to the edge of the mattress where Lilah sat on the floor and yowled at her.
“Even your cat agrees that you’re being silly.”
Bumble patted the top of her head. Once. Twice. Then with claws. She yelped and covered her head with her hands. Griffin was already across the bed, snatching up Bumble.
“Are you alright?” His voice was harried, laced with panic.
Lilah just scowled. “I’m fine. I’m used to being abused by my own cat. It’s all part of the cat-owner experience.”
“That doesn’t sound enjoyable.”
She looked up to find Griffin staring into Bumble’s eyes, as if they were having a silent face-off. Then Bumble slapped Griffin across the nose. This time, Lilah leapt to her feet, lunging for her cat.
But Griffin wasn’t angry. His surprise morphed into laughter as he set the cat down. The small scratches on the tip of Griffin’s nose began to knit back together until she could no longer tell it happened at all.
Griffin looked to her, then to the cat who was now sitting as if nothing happened, and then back to her. “It worked. She’s on the bed now.”
Lilah looked down to find that she’d climbed atop the mattress in her panic. She groaned and gave in. “Fine. But you need to put on more clothes if we’re sleeping in the same bed.”
He scowled. “This is how I sleep. If you don’t like that then…”
“Then what? You wanted me to sleep in this bed. The least you can do is put on a shirt. Or pants. Or both.” She was doing her best not to look at him. If she did, then she’d forget her argument.
He was beautiful. Every muscle was perfectly sculpted from pale marble. An inky black tattoo spread over his shoulder and down part of his back in intricate patterns. Lilah didn’t look too close for fear that it would draw her in. As it was, she wanted to trace the lines with her fingers and follow them to whatever secret the tattoo was hiding. She wanted to explore the scars that crisscrossed his back and ask him how he’d gotten them.
Thankfully, he grabbed a shirt from the floor and tugged it over his head. “Is that better?”
Lilah looked up, but her gaze was caught on the bulge in his underpants. She couldn’t tell if he was excited or if that was how he hung naturally. Either way, her brain was scrambled by the mere sight of it.
A long moment passed before she was able to nod.
“We never got the chance to ask each other questions yesterday.”
Had it only been yesterday that they struck the deal? It felt like ages ago. They’d spent the early morning packing her things into his truck. Once that was over, Griffin had taken a look under the hood of her car. She’d been unable to do anything more than watch since she knew nothing about cars other than they had wheels and batteries and needed gas.
He’s shed his jacket and gave her a view of his arm muscles while he worked on whatever problem he’d found. Lilah allowed herself to indulge in the sight of him, reminding herself that it was the only time she could. Once they crossed the threshold of his house, then she needed to start keeping her eyes to herself.
“Tell me about your childhood,” Griffin prompted as he turned to lay on his side. He propped his head in one hand, platinum hair cascading over the pillow beneath him. “I don’t remember seeing you in high school.”
Lilah let herself fall back into the pillows. “You probably remember my sister. Everyone knew Vivienne James.”
She waited for recognition to cross Griffin’s face, but he just shrugged.
“Red hair, big tits, and an ability to get everyone to do exactly what she wants,” Lilah filled in for him.
Still, Griffin shrugged. “Maybe I didn’t pay attention to the girls at school. It doesn’t matter. Those days are over. I just wanted to know more about you. I’m not dating your sister.”
Her heart clenched. She spent a moment picking her nails, trying to wrangle the warm feeling and shove it into a box never to be felt again. When she finally had it under control, she said, “I think we just need to cover the important things. Birthdays. Favorite foods. Turn-offs.”
Griffin groaned. “I don’t think that’s how it works. Maybe in the beginning, but if we’re going to make this convincing, then I need to know more about you. It needs to seem like we’ve been seeing each other for a while, not just the past few days.”
She raised a brow. “It has only been the past few days.”
“And yet you’ve moved in with me. Normal couples don’t move in together after the first date.”
“I think it was after the second date,” she corrected.
“Stop being insufferable.” There was no angry growl in his voice, but a hint of laughter, as if he saw her obstinance humorous.
She grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at his face. The moment she realized what she’d done, panic slapped her. She clapped her hands over her mouth and stared in terror. Griffin slowly reached to grab the pillow, long fingers digging into the plush down. What she saw when he pulled it away was not what she expected.
He was holding back laughter, cheeks red from the effort. His chest rose and fell in a staccato rhythm. Lilah let out a breath and found her own lips curling in response. She’d thrown a pillow in the face of not only a metallic dragon, but the silver dragon.
The king’s second in command.
And he didn’t hate her for it. If anything, he looked as though he enjoyed the moment of frivolity. So, Lilah reached for the second pillow. He saw her, eyes narrowing though his grin still remained.
She pulled back, intending to hit him with another, but he was too fast. His hand closed around her wrist. Her back hit the bed. He straddled her, his veil of platinum hair falling over her skin. He barely put any weight on her, but she could feel the length of his cock touching the inside of her thigh and the fall of his warm breath over her neck.
Both filled her with unexpected chills. She tried to force them back, to hold her breath and fight the sensations bubbling inside her, but her own body betrayed her when her back arched into him. She wanted more, suddenly ravenous. Her skin ached to be touched. She wanted his hands everywhere.
“Now that you can’t throw pillows at me every time I ask a question,” Griffin began, “tell me when your birthday is.”
“What do I get
in return?” she asked, brazen.
His crooked grin revealed a sharp tooth in the corner of his mouth. Lilah found herself wondering what it would feel like dragging over her skin, over her neck, her collarbone. When his gaze lowered to her throat, she wondered if he could read her mind. Silver swirled beneath his dark lashes as his beast revealed itself.
Just when she thought he might touch her the way she craved, he shook his head.
“I’ll answer one of your questions, of course,” he replied, finally.
It wasn’t what she wanted, but Lilah struggled to regain her senses. This position wasn’t right. She would never be able to guard her heart this way. As much as she knew she should find a way out of it, she couldn’t bring herself to move. His weight was comforting, his warmth welcoming.
To be honest, Lilah was not sure she’d ever felt this way with a man before. She’d been with men throughout her life, but they’d always done the deed and left. There was none of this sweet tension, no question of whether or not he would touch her or if he would walk away.
“My birthday is June eighth,” she told him. Her brain was too scrambled to immediately find a question to ask him.
Any words she might have found were lost when Griffin released her wrists and ran his fingertips along the soft skin of her forearms. He watched the motions with awe on his face. Her heart stuttered, her core clenching. Once more, his hands slid up her arms and his fingers threaded with hers.
“What’s your favorite color,” he asked.
“That’s… not fair,” she breathed, voice growing husky from his touch. “It was my turn.”
This time, his smile split wide and revealed both sharp canines. Her lips parted, suddenly throbbing with the need to be touched, kissed, bitten. Anything. She wanted his touch more and more.
“I think I’m the one in control here.” To drive his point home, he lowered his head.
His teeth sank into the skin of her shoulder. She let out a scream, but it quickly became a moan of unexpected pleasure. This had not been discussed, but Lilah couldn’t find it in herself to argue. Perhaps later she would be angry. Just then she was drowning in sensation, the kind that made toes curl and eyes roll back.
All from a simple bite.
“Now, tell me,” he said, head still nestled in the crook of her neck. “What is your favorite color.”
She laughed, partly because the question seemed ludicrous in the moment and partly because she was still trembling from the effect of his bite. “Green. I like green, a lot.”
It was her turn to ask a question. She would be damned if she let him distract her again. His whole being was driving her wild, crouched atop her, holding her hands like a lover. No man, let alone one so beautiful, ever paid her so much attention.
“Why haven’t you found a mate yet?”
Griffin froze. Silence permeated the room. Slowly, her excitement waned, and she began to realize how inappropriate her question was. Lilah tried to find a way to apologize, to take back what she’d asked. Griffin was first to respond, though. His forehead touched her shoulder, almost in defeat.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he reminded her. His hands slid away from hers. When he rolled back to his side of the bed, she missed his warmth as cold hit her. “But, if I’m being honest, I’d say that fate forgot about me. I’m not sure…there is a mate out there for me.”
It was a sad truth, one he seemed to believe. Lilah reached for a pillow, briefly considering throwing it at him just to spark another smile, before hugging it tight to her body. There was only one way for her to apologize. She needed to offer up an embarrassing truth, as well.
“I’m single because every time I find someone who’s interested in me, my sister comes along and steals them away. Vivi gets what Vivi wants.”
Griffin collapsed back into the pillows, his eyes on her. She followed suit, laying to face him. Her hand gravitated toward the bite on her shoulder. When his gaze dropped to it, a scowl twisted his lips. She thought she caught something like regret flash across his face.
Suddenly, he rolled away from her. His feet were on the floor and he was out the door before she could stop him. She sat up, a plea on her tongue, but it was useless. The room was already empty. Well, save for her and Bumble, who happily leapt back onto the bed and stole Griffin’s empty spot.
She waited, awake for a long time, for him to return, but she must have drifted off to sleep.
***
Griffin couldn’t believe himself. He’d lost control and taken it way too far. At first, it’d only been a bit of flirting. There was no denying that he wanted Lilah, that he was willing to take his time in seducing her because he could feel that it would be oh so worth it. Yet, his beast had taken over and he’d marked her before she’d given him consent.
He stomped through the darkness of the guest house, wanting nothing more than to wreck everything in his reach. He wasn’t Ryker, though. He wasn’t prone to fits. Griffin didn’t have the luxury of behaving like a brat when things didn’t go his way. He was the responsible cousin, the one everyone could depend on.
Grateful that the house and guesthouse were so far removed from Grove and any other human civilization, Griffin stepped outside in his underwear. The night was cool, but not as cold as it had been. Spring was whispering its arrival, taking its time. The sky above was clear and speckled with stars that reminded him of Ryker’s mate. The female dragon shifter was similarly dappled.
During this time, Griffin would not be able to hide. His beast would look like the winter moon. He would be a beacon, whereas during the day his silver scales reflected the blue skies and gave him some natural camouflage.
The beast clawed to be free, but Griffin didn’t trust it. He knew the creature would drag him back to Lilah the first chance it got. The beast wanted her. Griffin thought it was because it’d been such a long time since he’d lain with a woman, but he’d never felt so strongly before. Perhaps all Griffin and his beast wanted was a distraction. Lilah offered him an escape. Not only could he run away from his family, but he could lose himself in her world. In her problems, in her scent.
He slapped his hands over his face and rubbed.
“Issues already?” Jasper asked, appearing in the darkness.
Griffin growled, but the sound was weak and ineffective. It wasn’t like he was going to attack his cousin.
Jasper didn’t apologize, didn’t back away. He sat on the nearby retaining wall and lifted a bottle to his lips. The king had been drinking in the woods again. Griffin had lost count at the number of whiskey bottles smashed near the back door of the main house. He never brought it up because he wasn’t one to speak, preferring to drink far away from his family, too.
“Everything is fine,” Griffin mumbled, joining his cousin.
It almost felt like the days before Jasper’s beast lost its mind. Back then, they’d been brothers. Jasper’s father had taken Griffin from his family and raised him as his own. At the time, Griffin hadn’t understood. Looking back, he remembered how his mother died young. Losing a mate had horrible effects on a dragon, especially one so strong.
Griffin’s father had been losing control. The then king of the mountain had spared Griffin a horrible childhood and probably a lot of trauma. Griffin knew how much he owed Jasper’s family, but he found it hard to pay it back day after day. He couldn’t help but wonder when he would be his own man.
It felt like the day would never come. He would be a servant until the end of his days.
“I won’t tell any one about your lie,” Jasper said, bottle halfway to his lips and moonlight catching his bright eyes.
Griffin narrowed his own in a glare. “How did you know?”
“Probably because you’re outside instead of breaking in the bed. That or the fact that you never told me a damn thing about her.” Silence hovered between them, held aloft on tension pulled taut. “We used to tell each other everything.”
“Y
eah, well, things aren’t what they used to be.” He snatched the bottle from Jasper’s fingers and stole a long swig.
“I know things have changed, but I would like to think that they wouldn’t have changed that much. We’re still family.” The last sentence was a plea for Griffin to remember, as if he could have ever forgotten.
“Talk to me when your war is over. When we don’t have to chase you over the mountains.”
The air crackled with Jasper’s fury, but his king’s composure never broke. He simply reclaimed his bottle, stood, and quietly left. Griffin mourned for his lost brother, but he wanted more for himself. It was a selfish desire, sure, but he couldn’t ignore it. He couldn’t drown it in whiskey or forget about it while doing Jasper’s work.
Plain and simple, Griffin wanted a life of his own.
Chapter Eight
Lilah clutched the bowl of potato salad as if her life depended on it. She hoped she’d done it right because she didn’t need to make any of the dragon shifters sick. Their fury would be unlike anything else she’d experienced. Knowing her luck and the curse, the eggs were rotten, and she just hadn’t noticed.
Griffin set a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. He looked as though he might say something, but instead offered a wan smile. They were supposed to be a happy couple. Lilah had to pretend to be head over heels in love even though fear had curdled her stomach long before they made it to the valley.
Truth be told, it was a beautiful day for a picnic. The air was just warm enough that a light sweater was perfect. Griffin insisted that she borrow one of his. While she’d protested at first, once she pulled it over her head, she realized she never wanted to take it off. The fleece was soft and loose, and even smelled a bit like him.
Not that his smell was attractive or anything. It was just…nice.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Griffin asked her. He’d turned to face the way they’d come as if to haul her back to the truck and far away from the picnic.
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