Chapter 28

Gryph

I had blue balls from hell, and it didn’t seem I’d be getting relief any time soon. Julia had been warm and inviting when we’d gone upstairs to bed the night before. She’d invited me to join her in her room, and I’d been tempted. I wanted her with a need that made every part of my body ache, but I couldn’t give in just yet. While we’d talked a little more about what it meant to date a werewolf, Julia still didn’t fully understand, and I wasn’t sure how to explain it all to her without scaring her off.

I’d been tempted to pleasure her again. I’d enjoyed making her come before, and I could have gone into the shower to relieve some tension when I was done. What stopped me was the way her magic moved along my body as our mutual arousal grew. I had no idea what was happening, but by the time we got upstairs, I’d barely been able to walk from the sensation of her magic sliding along my dick. Her magic was even more sexual than I’d guessed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Julia asked from my side after we stepped into the elevator.

“I’m fine, Sass,” I assured her.

“You’ve been quieter than usual,” she remarked.

I moved to stand in front of her and grinned when she took a step back. As I closed the distance between us, she leaned against the elevator wall and looked up at me. Leaning in, I cradled her face in my hand and brushed my lips against hers.

“Don’t worry, Sass,” I murmured close to her lips. “I just have a lot on my mind after last night.”

“Me too,” she admitted.

I pulled away when the elevator dinged, and Julia laughed at me. “You look like you’re worried about getting caught kissing me,” she said around a laugh.

“I don’t want to embarrass you,” I admitted as I stepped out into the empty Bliss lobby. “Last night, after I left you at your room, I got to thinking about all the differences between courting for witches and werewolves. I’m sure I’ve broken a lot of rules with you. That’s probably part of the reason you didn’t think I was serious.”

When I looked over at Julia, I found her lips twitching. It was clear she was struggling to keep her laughter under control. “A lot has changed since you were a young man,” she began. “I’m not embarrassed to be seen kissing you. I promise to tell you if you’re pushing things.”

“That seems fair enough,” I agreed at the door to Julia’s office. “I’m going to check on a few things.”

Before I could walk away, Julia caught my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You are absolutely adorable.”

I let out a startled bark of laughter. “Adorable? I’m not sure anyone’s ever called me adorable.”

“Your mother must have called you adorable when you were a little boy,” she insisted.

“Nope,” I assured her. “I was scary even back then.”

“Well, you’re adorable when you’re trying to figure out how to court me,” she insisted as she sat behind her desk.

I was shaking my head in wonder as I walked away from her office. That witch constantly surprised me. Despite Julia’s insistence that we just see where things went with me courting her, I needed a plan. I’d never been the type to do anything without a plan. Figuring Allie would be able to help me, I headed to her office after setting up the laptop in the conference room and checking to make sure all the video feeds were working. I’d scan the feeds from the night before after I talked to Allie since I needed to get to her before her first appointment.

Persephone was just setting up at her desk when I exited the conference room to head toward Allie’s office. “Good morning, Gryph,” she called out cheerfully. Persephone was always cheerful. From what I’d heard, she’d been homeschooled in a small town and didn’t have much experience with other preternatural creatures. Her parents had even kept her away from other witches.

“Good morning, Miss Persephone,” I responded with a smile. “Have you had any luck finding a new place to live?”

“I should hear back on the place I put in an application for today,” she told me. “It’s in a human apartment complex.” The last was said in a near whisper as if it was some big secret.

“Have you spent much time around humans?” I asked.

“Other than my parents, that’s who I spent all my time around growing up,” she replied. “Out here, spending too much time around humans seems to be frowned upon.”

I stopped to consider what she’d said. It was true. Most in the preternatural community avoided humans, except for vampires who needed them for food, and shades who sometimes took possession of their bodies. “It seems you had a healthier upbringing in that respect,” I remarked.

“I’d agree with you if my upbringing hadn’t been to keep me away from other witches,” she added with a shrug. “Oh well. It’s all water under the bridge now. My parents did what they thought was best. I’d better get to work.”

“Is Allie in her office?” I asked. “I was hoping to catch her before her first meeting.”

“She just came in, and she doesn’t have any clients for the next two hours,” Persephone replied.

“Thanks,” I told her as I hurried toward Allie’s office.

As soon as I slammed the door behind me, Allie regarded me with a raised eyebrow. Her reaction made sense since I wasn’t one to just barge into a room. I’d been raised better than that.

“Sorry,” I began. “I know it’s rude to just come in here unannounced, not to mention slamming your door like that.”

Allie waved off my apology. “We’re friends, Gryph. You can get away with being rude. What’s wrong?”

“I could really use some advice,” I told her.

As a half-succubus, Allie likely sensed I was also dealing with an insane amount of sexual tension, but she said nothing. “Is this about Julia?”

“Yes,” I began before clarifying. “It is, but it isn’t. I need help in a general sense. It does have to do with Julia, but I’m not here to ask you about Julia specifically.”

Allie shook her head to clear it. “Why don’t you have a seat and see if you can explain this a little better?” she suggested.

I nodded and sat directly in front of her desk. “I’ve come to a compromise with Julia regarding our situation.”

“That’s good,” Allie remarked. “At least, I think it’s good. You still seem really stressed. Is this a compromise you aren’t happy about?”

“I’m happy with our agreement,” I assured her. “I’m going to court Julia.”

“That sounds like a smart move,” Allie agreed. “Dating will give you both a chance to get to know each other better.”

“I don’t know how to court someone,” I confessed.

“Werewolves don’t date?” Allie asked.

“They do,” I told her. “It’s likely different from what others do, but most werewolves have a courtship of sorts. I thought I understood more about witch courtships, but it seems any knowledge I have is out of date. I became an enforcer at sixteen, so there wasn’t much time for socializing.”

“Wow! That’s a really long time to be in that role,” Allie remarked. “You missed out on so much.”

“It was fine,” I assured her. “Being an enforcer was what I wanted most, so I didn’t mind making sacrifices. This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to court someone.”

Allie nodded. “I have to be honest with you, Gryph. While I know the basics of dating, I’m half-succubus, so I didn’t exactly date in the traditional sense. Sex is a necessity for me. In the few relationships I’ve been in, things moved along much faster than most would find acceptable.”

“But you still know how people go about this sort of thing,” I insisted. “I’m sure you know more than me.”

“There’s no big secret to it,” she began. “You just take Julia places and spend time getting to know her.”

“I’m trying to avoid taking her anywhere that might not be secure,” I said mostly to myself. “There has to be a safe way to go about this. Maybe I should just wait until Julia’s no longer in danger to start courting her.”

“I don’t think you should wait to start dating Julia,” she argued. “Don’t give that witch time to come up with any reason why it’s a bad idea. There are plenty of things you can do with her that don’t involve going out much. You can fix her a nice meal, watch a movie together, play a game, or bring her chocolate. Chocolate is always a good choice.”

“How does that differ from what we’re already doing while she’s staying with me?” I asked. I’d fixed her breakfast the last two days, and we’d talked a lot the night before.

Allie shrugged. “It really doesn’t. You just have a new definition for what you’re doing. It would also help if you try not to be too arrogant.”

“My sassy witch likes me arrogant,” I insisted.

Allie considered what I’d said before nodding. “You might be right about that. Did something happen to bring about this big change?”

I hesitated in responding. I knew Julia’s magic reacting to me was the catalyst for the change, but I wasn’t sure Julia wanted others knowing what had happened. It seemed personal, and I knew she was still confused. “I just realized I need to try harder to convince her we belong together, and she agreed to let me.”

Allie smiled and moved around her desk to kiss my cheek. “You really are a good guy, Gryph. Once you and Julia get to know each other better, things will work out.”

Her compliment was laughable. I was far from a good guy, but there was no use in arguing with Allie.

“There’s something I want to ask you about,” she began cautiously.

“What’s that?” I asked, wondering what had her looking so nervous.

“Have you considered talking to a witch about your missing arm?” she asked.

“I’m talking to one now,” I replied. “Care to elaborate on your question?”

“One of Melina’s sisters is a doctor,” Allie began. “Technically, she’s a psychiatrist, but she had to go to medical school.”

“You think I need a head doctor?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“I refuse to answer that because I don’t want to offend you.” Her response made me laugh.

“So, what does Melina’s sister have to do with my arm?” I prompted.

“She’s been working on some great spells to help werewolves with missing limbs,” Allie began.

“I tried some before. They work about as well as regular prosthetics. They all irritate my skin,” I explained.

“That’s because those spells were all for demons or witches with missing limbs,” Allie explained. “Evie’s research is focused on werewolves.”

“Are there really enough werewolves with missing limbs to justify her research?” I asked suspiciously. “Melina didn’t badger her poor sister into trying to help me, did she?”

Allie laughed at my question. “First, there is nothing poor about any of Mel’s sisters. Second, do you really think Mel would even think to ask her sister to do something like that?”

“She might,” I insisted. Melina Blackwood was a tough half-demon who could be a bit bitchy, but she definitely had a soft side. It was just really well-hidden from the world most days.

“Well, she didn’t,” Allie insisted. “Anyway, her sister’s been having some great success, and I thought you might like to meet with her. The spell can create a fully functional phantom limb that doesn’t react poorly when used on werewolves. You can get the spell to do anything your former limb did. It’s a little creepy since you can’t see the phantom limb like you can with the other spells, but it is still amazing.”

I hesitated because I’d been without my arm for several years. It had taken a lot to learn to function again, especially in wolf form, but I was doing pretty well. Had someone asked in the first couple years after losing my arm, I’d have jumped at the chance to have a left arm, phantom or not. Now, I wasn’t so sure I needed it, which made no sense. Why wouldn’t I want something to make my life easier? Then I realized the real reason for my hesitation. The idea of another witch’s magic constantly touching my body made my skin crawl. I’d definitely need to consider that strange reaction.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I told her. “I’m doing fine without it, so I’m not sure I want to go through the trouble.”

“Just let me or Mel know if you change your mind,” she told me, thankfully not pushing for an explanation.

“I will,” I assured her. “For now, I’m going to check the video feeds from last night.”

“You do realize that once the security spell is activated, no one can enter the Bliss offices, don’t you?” Allie asked with an amused smile.

“You can’t be too careful,” I stated. “Besides, I also have cameras on the main floor of the building. That area isn’t quite as secure.”

“Did you have any other questions about dating?” she asked.

“No,” I replied. “It still seems too easy.”

“You don’t need a battle plan for every aspect of your life,” she pointed out.

“I’m sure I’ll believe that eventually,” I replied as I headed out of her office to get some work done and consider my battle plan to win Julia. This wouldn’t be the day I started believing I didn’t need a battle plan.