Chapter 26

Gryph

Having Julia ask me so many questions about my wolf was making it even harder to control myself around her. One would think, after our talk about hellhounds, things would be less tense. The laughter had certainly helped for a short time. Laughter was still new to me, and it was one of the many joys Julia brought to my life. Enforcers don’t laugh. They don’t find joy in much around them. It’s hard to find joy when you’re looking out for the next threat to your pack, your leader, or yourself.

As head enforcer, I’d faced more threats than the pack leader. It was rare for a pack leader to be taken down by force. There were protocols in place for when someone wanted to challenge the head of a pack. Enforcers were another matter. You became a top enforcer by being the biggest badass in the pack. There was always someone looking to challenge you for that title.

Looking back, I could see all the things my life had been missing, things I’d never realized I was missing. Never in a million years would I have guessed I’d be thankful for getting kicked out of my pack. Had I still been a pack member, even if I’d managed to come in contact with Julia, nothing would have come of it. Had I recognized her as my mate, I still would have walked away and never looked back.

I’d just finished eating nearly a pound of pasta. With a full belly, I became even more aware of my other aching need. It was more than physical. Every part of me wanted Julia.

“Why are you looking at me that way?” Julia asked in a shaky voice. Based on her change in scent, she was feeling the same need—the same physical need, at least.

Rather than answering, I moved toward her. She was sitting at the center island, staring at me wide-eyed. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and I groaned. I both loved and hated that habit. It always made me want to run my tongue along the same path hers had taken before pulling her lower lip into my mouth and biting down gently, just enough to make her moan and open her mouth for my kiss.

Fuck me. I was in serious trouble.

“You drive me to the edge of my control,” I rasped out. “There are times when I’m not sure I can take anymore. I want to plunge into your body and lose myself in you. Never in my life has anyone tempted me the way you do. No one else has come even close, Sass.”

“Then why do you keep turning me down?” she asked in a small voice.

The hurt in her voice nearly gutted me. My hand reached out, and I allowed my fingertips to trail along the soft skin on her cheek. She was so delicate in appearance, yet I knew her underlying strength was a good match for my own. She didn’t need my protection from anything magical. In that area, she was the more powerful of the two of us. She truly amazed me. Still, I was afraid of hurting her and afraid of losing control.

“I’m trying to protect you,” I insisted. “When you invite me into your body, you don’t know what you’re asking. You aren’t just a way to relieve my sexual tension. You’re my mate, and I can’t control my wolf if I allow myself to get that close to you.”

Julia opened her mouth to argue, but instead, a stream of magic poured out of her body and wrapped around mine. It felt like warm water cascading down around me this time. My hand dropped to fist at my side as I struggled to stay in control.

“I can’t be your mate,” Julia said helplessly, and it sounded more like she was speaking to herself than me. “I’m a witch, not a werewolf.” Her body swayed toward mine, and I wrapped my arm around her lower back to offer her support. Touching her intensified the surge of magic between us. “This can’t be happening,” she uttered.

“That’s the same argument I made when my wolf first recognized you as my mate,” I began, giving in to the temptation to brush my lips against her temple. “I was certain my wolf had gone crazy. Then I started to feel more drawn to you. Whenever I touched you, I wanted to sink my teeth into the back of your neck and leave my mark on you.” I allowed my lips to trail along the soft skin on her neck.

“You wanted to bite me?” she asked, sounding more aroused than frightened by the idea. There was a touch of fear. I could smell it in the air. The change in Julia’s scent heightened my wolf’s awareness. As much as he wanted to protect Julia, there was a part of my wolf that also wanted to hunt her and claim her in a more violent way. There were many reasons it was best that I had more control than my wolf.

Easy, I soothed the wolf. She’s not another wolf, so we need to be gentle with her. We don’t want to hurt her or frighten her.

My wolf backed away from the surface, and I sensed his struggle to control his instincts.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Sass,” I murmured, making slow circles on her lower back with my hand as I brushed my lips against hers. Julia’s lips immediately parted to give me access to her sweet mouth. I needed to pull away, but I was helpless to do so just yet. My lips moved against hers slowly as my tongue slid past her lips. Her soft moan vibrated against my mouth, sending a shudder of lust through my body. I’d kissed Julia many times before. Those kisses had always been desperate and frenzied. This kiss was different but no less consuming. I savored Julia’s mouth, drinking in her sighs and moans as her magic moved along mine.

I longed to deepen the kiss and slide my hand under her shirt so I could feel her bare skin, but it was a bad idea. With great effort, I pulled away, taking two steps back to put some distance between us. The tendrils of her magic clung to me, refusing to release their hold. It felt stronger than it had on the hill.

“That was nice,” Julia said with a shy smile.

“You look so innocent, Sass,” I remarked with a soft chuckle.

“Innocent?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “Bewildered is more like it. That kiss was very different.”

“Yeah, it was,” I agreed. “Something changed tonight.”

Looking down at her feet, Julia nodded. “I suppose it did.” When she looked up at me again, she reached out a hand toward me, but I caught it and shook my head.

“I want to touch you, Gryph,” she admitted in a soft voice.

“You have no idea how much I want you to touch me,” I began. “I still don’t trust myself with you.”

“I trust you, Gryph,” she assured me. “You’re a good man.”

A humorless bark of laughter escaped my lips. “A good man? No, I am definitely not a good man. I’ve done horrible things that I don’t regret. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone to sing my praises, Sass.”

Then it happened. She did that thing that always left me hard and aching for her—the thing that had first awakened my wolf’s interest in her. Julia yanked her hand out of my grip and smacked my chest. “Knock it off, Gryph.”

Damn if that witch didn’t get me hot when she was standing up to me with no trepidation at all. I wasn’t used to people looking at me with anything other than fear or revulsion, usually both. Julia never looked at me that way.

“What made me think I could let you go?” I asked her with a shake of my head.

“You weren’t given much choice,” she replied on a sigh. “I’m sorry, Gryph.”

“What are you sorry for?” I pushed, suddenly tense and worried she’d try to put distance between us again. I expected her to say she was sorry she couldn’t give me what I wanted from her. This time, I was going to fight for her, but I might need to go for another run if she bluntly turned me down tonight.

“I’m sorry I was so unfair to you before,” she began. “Witches aren’t supposed to be looking for romance, or whatever it is we’ve got going on. We’re all meant to be with the perfect witch or warlock, the one whose magic complements our own. That’s what I’ve been raised to believe. I was trained to test magic between couples and told without a perfect match the relationship is doomed. From my past relationships, I’ve learned how true that is.”

We were at a point where I needed to quickly decide which direction this conversation would take. There were two ways I could handle this. I could ignore her magic moving along my skin and within my body. I could pretend that wasn’t happening and bring it up when I thought Julia was ready to discuss it. The other option was to confront Julia about what was happening.

“Your magic is drawn to me,” I stated. The first choice was never really an option. I wasn’t interested in playing games with Julia.

“Yes,” she admitted without hesitation. “It’s been drawn to you since I saw you in wolf form. I don’t know why that happened, and I’m not sure I’m in any position to try to figure it out tonight. We got really off track here. I know you want me to agree to be your mate, and to just jump in with both feet, but I can’t do that, Gryph.”

My wolf growled beneath the surface of my skin, fighting against her words. The man in me heard them for what they were, the beginning of a negotiation. Unlike the other times, Julia wasn’t shutting me down. She wasn’t rejecting me. “I should have known you couldn’t just agree to be my mate,” I told her. “You’re not a werewolf, and it wasn’t fair to expect you to act like one. I should have given you more time.”

“You’re not good at waiting for what you want,” she added with a laugh. “I imagine you usually just get your way.”

“For the most part,” I agreed. “If I’m going to acclimate to life away from werewolves, this is a skill I need to learn. How about if I court you?”

“Court me?” she asked with a giggle. “Where did you come up with that phrase?”

“It was used more when I was younger,” I explained.

“How old are you?” Julia asked as she studied me closer. “That term hasn’t been used in quite some time.”

“I’m two-hundred and fifteen,” I replied.

Julia gave me a teasing grin. “I guess I’m taking dating an older man to the extreme. I suppose it could be worse. I could have dated my demon professor in college. He was over a thousand years old.”

“I guess you don’t have a thing for ancient demons,” I mused, trying to remind my wolf that we didn’t need to be jealous of a demon she hadn’t even dated.

“I was worried I’d catch something,” she explained.

“You were really tempted?” I asked.

“He had three tongues and a reputation for going down on witches for hours,” Julia explained.

My eyes widened. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“Nope,” she replied with a grin. “Remember the two pretty demons I helped yesterday?”

“That’s right. You told me they have three tongues,” I stated.

She nodded. “That variety of demon is also very pretty.

“They certainly are, if those two are anything to go by,” I agreed. “I can see why he had so many witches chasing after him. Imagine how loud I could make you scream with three tongues.”

Julia flashed me a flirty smile. “You do just fine with one. I would definitely consider that one of the benefits of dating you.” She cursed under her breath before continuing. “Forget I said that. I tend to turn things into a joke when I’m nervous.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Why don’t we get some sleep? We can go over the details of our courtship when we’re both rested.”

“Go over the details of our courtship?” she asked with a giggle. “You sound like we’re negotiating a peace treaty. If we’re going to try dating, we can see how things go along the way. Negotiating just seems like a way for us to end up arguing about details.”

“I’m not good at doing things without a plan,” I admitted. “It threw me off when Allie agreed to drop Oliver off at Melina’s house tonight since I’d expected him to come home with us. You were right about him needing a distraction after what happened.”

“I hope he’s not being a problem for her,” she admitted. “Oliver doesn’t get along with most people or familiars. While he really likes Mr. Whiskers, he and my brother have always had a strained relationship. When Oliver was a puppy, he liked to pee in Trevor’s shoes whenever we went for a visit. It didn’t matter where Trevor hid them, Oliver found them and peed in them.”

That image was enough to make me laugh. For a little dog, Oliver had a lot of attitude. It was one of his best qualities, in my opinion, but I imagined it rubbed others the wrong way.

“We should head up to bed, Sass,” I told her, reaching out my hand.

When she immediately took my hand, I breathed an inner sigh of relief. We’d agreed to date. After the craptastic day with the new threat to Julia and the reaction of the police, I’d needed something positive. Now, I just had to figure out what dating a witch involved so I didn’t look completely clueless or screw things up.