The Last Griffin

by Wendy L. Koenig

  She ate at the table, staring out the window. Her headache hadn’t left, but it hadn’t progressed either. It hung in the back of her skull, threatening and making her scowl. It wouldn’t take much to push it over the edge, and Tony was still lurking on the premises somewhere. Olivia finished her cereal and washed her bowl, spoon and cup in the sink. Then she went to search the bathroom. There had to be some drugs of some kind there. She pulled open the mirror front of the medicine cabinet and stared at the bare shelves. No help. The only other place that could have held any medication was the shelf above the toilet. Though she shoved aside the stacks of towels, washcloths and toilet paper, she found nothing to prevent or dull her impending migraine. Sputtering her frustration, she returned to the front room.

  Tony couldn’t be seen and she walked to the sliding glass door that led to the deck. Cool air might help her head. The moment she put her hand on the handle, the white Bengal jumped in front of her, growling softly. She had no idea where he’d been hiding. One minute, she was alone, the next, he was there. He bodily pushed her back, as if saying, “You’re not going out there.”

  “I’m going cabin crazy. I’m not used to sitting around. Exercise is what I need.” She felt foolish speaking to a jungle cat, so she reached again for the door handle. Tony snarled and gripped her wrist in his mouth. His bite was gentle, but firm, leading her to realize he brooked no argument in his decision.

  “Fine,” she said and settled on the couch again. He stared at her a moment. She raised her hands in defeat and repeated, “Fine.”

  Perhaps he took pity on her, but shortly after he left, he returned as a man, dressed and with a bottle of aspirin, a glass of water, and a deck of cards. “Poker?”

  Olivia nodded and snatched up the bottle. “Anything at all.” Drugs and relief from boredom. She could almost forgive him. She downed three pills.

  He dealt the cards and they played in silence except for the occasional words they needed for the game. The hours passed slowly, but they did pass. Periodically, Tony paused the game to listen or pace from window to window. Once, he bolted from his chair and ran to the loft. She waited, barely breathing, ready to race to the bedroom to wake Brian. But Tony came back, re-buttoning his shirt. They’d been playing a little under five hours when the bedroom door behind her opened and a fully dressed Brian wandered to the bathroom. When he came out, she halfway expected him to return to bed, but he came to where they sat and settled on the back of the couch behind her, watching the game.

  “Who’s winning?” His voice had a sleepy slur to it that added a western accent to his words. His dark hair was rumpled, and he rubbed his eyes, yawning.

  Tony pointed at her. “Olivia’s kicking my ass.” He dealt the final round of cards.

  She nodded. “A little humility is good for you.” A lot of humility would be better. She laid down a royal flush and leaned back against Brian, watching Tony’s face contort from disbelief to exasperation to the thin lips of negation.

  He tossed two pair onto the table and stood. “Well, Brian, if you’re up, then I’m gonna head back and see what I can see.”

  Brian also stood and nodded, wiping sleep from his eyes. “I’m up.”

  “Then I’m out of here. See you when I know something.” He lifted his hand in a farewell at her and practically ran out the door. She should have been offended at this offhanded treatment, as if he’d had too much of her and couldn’t wait to get away. But truthfully, she was happy to see him go. She wanted some time alone with her magic, skilled, Chinese artist.

  Brian waved his hand in a circle. “I’m going to take a look around outside. You stay here.” He opened the door and slipped out into the snow, tossing his clothes and changing to the wolf.

  If he had been Tony, Olivia would have saluted and given her best “Yes, sir!” But it wasn’t, and she was happy to wait. She walked to the window and watched Brian fade into the trees on the far side of the house, weaving between the trunks. His dark fur blended with the tree bark and dark pine boughs. As he moved farther away, she soon lost sight of him. She waited at the window. He would return. And when he did, she wanted him to know she kept an eye out for his safety, too.

  She was still at the window and watching when he, in naked human form, came out of the trees on the near side of the house. As far as muscle, Tony had nothing on her Brian. The man had an amazing physique. He moved with a lithe grace, huge bulks of muscles bunching and rolling with each step. And he was well endowed in the sexual department, she noticed. She watched him until he got too far around the corner of the house for her to see him anymore. When he opened the door, in his jeans and pulling on his denim shirt, she turned around and crossed the floor, stopping just a foot away. “All clear out there?”

  He nodded, never once taking his gaze off hers.

  She smiled at him. Tony was gone. They were finally alone. Heated desire singed through every cell of her body.

  An answering fire lit in his eyes and he murmured, “Come here.” He reached for her hand and pulled her into his embrace. Crushing her to him, his lips came down on hers, devouring them. Her heart swelled and her breath was swept away. She finally understood when heroines in historical novels swooned; she felt she would pass out just from sheer desire to have this man’s body tangled with hers. He traced her lips with his tongue, and then dove it into her mouth, filling it, ravishing it, while he stroked her back and hips.

  Olivia’ flattened her hands on his chest muscles, and she let them wander across their smooth lines and span the breadth of his abs. She couldn’t get enough. Her fingers, like carnivorous creatures, feasted on every contour of his abdomen, every line, tracing them again and again. Then they rose to the smooth stone of his chest, rubbing across his nipples.

  Kneading the base of her spine, and then squeezing her buttocks, Brian pulled her hips tight against his captive erection. He lifted his mouth away from hers and grazed his lips across her face in tiny kisses. She couldn’t catch her breath. Zings of fire sparked from where his lips touched her throughout her whole body and a ragged moan broke free. She slowed her hands, and reached down to unbutton the top of his jeans.

  He smiled at her then and, with a low growl, scooped her into his arms and carried her to their bed. The wolf was so visible in his eyes, she shivered.

  Chapter 27

  Brian carried Olivia in his arms, hoping she didn’t hear the heavy drum of his heart. It felt as if it would lunge right out of his chest. He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted anyone in a long time. No, it was more than that. He needed her. In every way. Her smile calmed the raging torrent of emotions inside him. He wanted to wrap himself around her, completely envelope her.

  She looked at him like he was the answer to all her dreams and desires. Like he was a hero. It made him feel foolish, vulnerable and indestructible all at the same time. He was no hero, but for her, he’d try to be one.

  He lay Olivia on the bed, following to lie beside her. His blood burned to be with her, but he didn’t want to just have her in passion and fire, he wanted to love her. He wanted this to mean something. It already did to him; he wanted it to for her as well.

  Already she scrambled with the zipper of his jeans. Her face was flushed and it made the pupils of her eyes seem larger. Tiny green flecks speckled her eyes, lending them more to hazel than brown. Brian wondered if passion had brought them out, or if they had always been there and made a mental note to check later. He wanted to know everything about her, to love her, but not hurt her.

  Shaking her fingers loose, he took her hands and kissed each knuckle.

  She stilled at the sudden change of pace. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “How do you feel?”

  Her eyebrows knit together. “Fine. I feel fine.”

  Still, he hesitated. He wanted Olivia so badly his whole body hurt. Every time she touched him his skin tingled and a quiver settled deep inside him. Yet, she’d been so grievously injured, and so recently too. Could he really be so
selfish as to jeopardize her health for the sake of making love to her now?

  Olivia took the decision from him. She reached up with both hands and placed them on either side of his face. She pulled him close. “I promise to tell you if anything, and I mean anything, feels uncomfortable.”

  Slowly he nodded, agreeing. There were, after all, more ways than one to make love to a woman.

  He propped on his elbow and cupped the back of her neck with one hand. Lowering his mouth to her throat, he kissed and nipped her gently. With his free hand, he unbuttoned her shirt and cupped her bare breast, rubbing his thumb across her nipple. His desire for her focused and became sharp in his blood, like a thin wire. Her hands floated like birds across his muscles inside his shirt and down his back, becoming more insistent as her breathing quickened.

  His hand moved lower, undoing her jeans and sliding beneath her waistband, around to her back, lifting her abdomen and pelvis against his. His bites and kisses trailed after his hand, stopping at her breasts. He rolled his tongue around and around each nipple and softly nipped them. The already pronounced tips hardened, and Olivia moaned, breathy and low. He loved her breasts. They were neither too large, nor too small, but seemed to fit perfectly in his hands. In his mouth. He flicked his tongue back and forth across one, then the other nipple, drawing more breathy moans. The sound of her passion moved him. Made his heart tighten with emotion. Staring into her face, he thought he’d never seen a woman more beautiful. Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lower lip.

  He let his free hand roam across her body, stroking, massaging and squeezing every curve down to her buttocks and around front, grazing across her soft mound. She opened her legs to him. That simple act, that trust, nearly drove him to break his vow of making love slow and easy. The ache throughout his body showed him just how badly he wanted her. He didn’t think he could get any harder, and he wanted to plunge himself deep inside her with every ounce of strength he had.

  Abruptly, he stood and pulled off her jeans and her lace panties. While he peeled out of his clothes, she watched his erection spring forward in freedom. He stood a moment, letting her see what belonged to her now. He wasn’t small by any measure. She smiled, crooked a finger, and beckoned him. Need for her infected him like a plague, and he growled, pouncing on the bed, covering her with his body, making her his prisoner. The heat of her sex burned against him. He kissed her deeply, filling her mouth, stroking her tongue with his own.

  His free hand rode her curves down to the wetness between her legs, where he slid his fingers into the heat hidden there. She caught her breath and shuddered. It spurred him as if he was a racehorse, and he wondered if he would make it to the end of the ride. He’d never lost control before, never let himself become lost in a woman completely. But this woman, Olivia, brought him to the brink.

  He raised his head and backed down her body, tracing a long line with his tongue until he reached her cleft and found the sensitive nub buried above it. First he traced the edges of it, then he lapped it, matching the rhythm with his fingers inside.

  Her breath came ragged, and she spread her legs wider. One hand tangled in his hair while the other twisted the blankets beside her head. Her hips pulsed with the rhythm of his tongue. The crest of an orgasm came on her and her body bucked and clenched around his fingers, seeking of its own to pull him in deeper. It almost undid him. He raised himself and moved over her, pushing her thighs farther apart with his own.

  His need for her had control of him. The only thing he wanted was to be buried deep inside her, moving as one with her. No other thought entered his mind. Holding himself off her body, he rubbed the head of his shaft against her cleft, wetting it with her own juices.

  “Yes, inside me,” she whispered.

  In one smooth motion, he entered her and slowly pushed in all the way. She gave no sign of discomfort and, to his pleasure, she took him all. It was as if they were meant to join together. He slid almost all the way out and then shoved his full length in again and again, quicker each time. Looking down into her flushed face, he still saw no signs of unease or pain. Another climax was close upon her. He lowered himself on top of her, capturing her breast with his hand and her neck with his mouth. He flicked his thumb over her nipple, bit her neck, and settled into a driving rhythm. Within three strokes, she reared her hips up under him as her second orgasm washed across her. It gave him deeper access, and he buried himself as deep as he could get. Her contractions against his erection brought him to his own climax.

  Everything stilled and centered on the explosion within him. It started at the base of his shaft and spread throughout his body like a long jolt of electricity, over and over. Sweet agony. He slid his arms beneath her and held her against him, pulling her into his moment, Olivia’s whimpers hot in his ear.

  They lay coupled together for what seemed a long time. Then, as his erection relaxed, he moved out of her and rolled onto his back, pulling her to lie against his chest. “You still feel all right?”

  She laughed. “Beyond all right.”

  He smiled and kissed her. Stroking her hair, he thought about how to tell her what he felt for her. That his attraction was more than just sexual. Despite any efforts to the contrary, he was in love. But, had he really fought that hard? What would she say? Would she reject his love? He didn’t think so, but the possibility existed.

  “Do you feel different as a wolf than as a man?”

  Surprised, he turned to look at her, trying to fathom her reference. It took him a moment to realize she’d been talking about changing to the wolf. “I used to think so, but as I learned to control the wolf, I stopped seeing us as two individuals. We’re just different forms of the same man.”

  “So, you’re as bad-ass as a man too?”

  He couldn’t help but laugh at that. He’d never thought of himself like that before. She really did think of him as a hero, of sorts. That worried him. It also made him vow to cross hell barefoot, if necessary, to keep her safe. “I suppose.”

  “You and Tony have done this before? Gotten into situations where you’ve both had to change to the animals? There were two sets of clothes in that backpack.” She ran the back of her finger along his jawline, sending tingles through his spine.

  He nodded, not looking at her, taking hold of her hand. His heart flooded with love for her. He wanted to tell her, needed to tell her that he wanted her in his life forever. That this wasn’t just a fling. “It’s sometimes necessary.”

  Oblivious to his rising emotions, she said, “Tony used a silver bullet. I always thought of that as myth, written for the movies.”

  He rolled his eyes. “It is. Tony uses that bullet because it’s his signature. Tony Silver.” He pressed her against him. Talking about Tony was the last thing he wanted to do at that moment.

  Chapter 28

  Brian stood in front of the window and the darkening whiteness outside, dressed in nothing but jeans that slung low enough to show the points on his narrow hips. The glow from the fire highlighted the muscles in his back and thick shoulders. They seemed to ripple as he moved. He seemed more animal than man in that moment. He had the remnants of a sandwich in his hand and, while Olivia watched, he jammed the last quarter of it into his mouth as one bite, wiping his fingers on his jeans. His head swiveled from side to side as he scoped the oncoming twilight, the lake, and the surrounding terrain, keeping an eye out for movement and listening for anything amiss.

  She knew he heard her coming out of the bedroom, but he didn’t turn away from his sentry duty. She also knew he wouldn’t until he made sure they were safe. She came up behind him, dressed in the other half of his clothes, his denim shirt, and slid her arms around his waist, leaning her cheek against his smooth, hard back. She breathed in the maleness of his scent and a tiny thrill burned through her body.

  It had been two days since Tony had left. In those two days, she and Brian had talked, laughed, and loved. They had cooked too, finding delight in making their favorite meals f
or each other. Nobody made spaghetti like she did. Nobody. And Brian loved it. She found that he was a better cook than she, which was saying a lot, actually. He made an unbelievable mushroom tomato soufflé that melted in her mouth. She prided myself on her gourmet skills, but he was a maestro. But then, he’d had over 400 years to practice.

  With his hyper-metabolism and the magic herbal medicine he continued to concoct, his bruises had faded to pale brown already. His cuts were well on their way to healing too. As for her injuries, her bruises, cuts, and scrapes were still dark, but mending. The only problem areas remained her kidney and her ribs.

  He lifted his arm now, letting her slide around the side of him, still with her one arm wrapped around his waist. They both watched the sun make its final bows, sending cascades of tangerine, burgundy, and hot pink across the sky, snow, and ice crusted lake.

  She said, “It’s beautiful. We should stay here.”

  “They’ll find us.”

  “Not if we find them first.”

  His body shifted as he turned to look at her. He didn’t answer, so she continued. “Then, after we take care of business, we can come back here and live.” For as long as their relationship might last.

  “You mean it? You’d want us to live here?” His voice was soft, hesitant.

  She looked up in his eyes. “Absolutely.”

  A kind of wonder crossed his face, and he cupped her chin in his hands. She was pretty sure he would have kissed her then, but he straightened, turning toward the door. She could tell his keen ears picked up something and, after a few seconds of listening, he said, “Tony.”