Chapter 33

Julia

The last four days at Gryph’s home had been relatively uneventful. After our agreement to date, I’d been certain we’d be ripping each other’s clothes off. I definitely liked the idea of ripping Gryph’s clothes off. I’d be willing to rip my own clothes off to speed up the process of getting us naked together. Gryph seemed to have excellent self-control—the bastard.

I was watching Gryph do pushups while trying not to drool all over him. It wasn’t easy. I wasn’t certain I could do a single pushup using both arms. Using just his one arm, Gryph had probably done fifty already.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch me?” he asked without looking at me.

“I’d considered taking video on my phone so I could watch it again later, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react to that,” I admitted.

Gryph chuckled and got to his feet before prowling toward me. With no shirt on, he was a sight to behold. I’d been enjoying his rippling back muscles while he did pushups. Now, I got to enjoy the front view, complete with six-pack abs. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to forget all the reasons I need to take things slow with you, Sass.”

“Then I’ll definitely keep staring,” I taunted. “Why didn’t I notice how sexy you look when you do pushups before?”

“Probably because it’s not nearly as sexy with Oliver on my back,” he remarked.

I giggled at the reminder of how much my familiar loved lying on Gryph’s back while he did pushups, and it helped with my lust—not much, but a little.

“It may not be as attractive, but it is endearing seeing you with Oliver sprawled out on your back. He really likes you,” I mused.

“You still can’t get over that, can you?” he asked.

“You’ve spent enough time around Oliver to know he doesn’t like most living things,” I stated.

“That may be why we get along so well,” Gryph added thoughtfully. “You may have noticed that I don’t like most living things.”

“Good point,” I agreed. “You and Oliver are both somewhat antisocial.”

“We’re not antisocial,” he argued. “We’re just selective.”

“Is that what you’re calling it now?” I asked.

Gryph closed the short distance between us, and his musky scent wrapped around me. My sense of smell had become much more acute in the last few days.

His hand reached out to cup my cheek, and his lips curled up ever so slightly. “You don’t believe me, Sass?”

I opened my mouth to insist they were both just antisocial, but that wasn’t really true. Oliver had genuinely enjoyed playing with the other familiars recently. As for Gryph, he spent time with his vampire neighbors. He could easily turn them down when they invited him over, but he didn’t. There was also the way he patiently answered every question Persephone asked him about werewolves. Gryph was the first werewolf she’d been able to talk to, and she had a lot of questions. He’d answered her, laughing at some of the misconceptions she had about werewolves, and he’d never once been impatient with her curiosity.

“I guess it’s not really fair to say you’re antisocial,” I began thoughtfully. “You didn’t have many opportunities to socialize with your pack because you were too busy being the big bad enforcer. This is all new to you, but there are people you consider friends now.”

“You had a lot to do with that,” he murmured, stepping closer with his hand still on my cheek.

“I wasn’t even around when you made most of these friends,” I argued somewhat breathlessly.

“You made me feel alive,” he stated. “Before I met you, I just existed. I’d decided I wasn’t going to end it all, but I sure as hell wasn’t living. Allie was the only person who even came by to see me, and I was far from civil with her. When I took the job protecting Melina, it had more to do with what I owed Allie. It wasn’t until I met you that I really felt like living again.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “That’s quite an admission, Gryph.”

“The truth scares you, doesn’t it, Sass?” he asked.

“A little,” I admitted. “While my brother was falling in love with every witch he met and still managing to remain a hopeless romantic, I was becoming almost cynical about the whole thing. With every failed relationship, I was reminded that emotions aren’t what really matter. It’s just about the compatibility of my magic with someone else’s. What’s the point of even falling in love when the magic is all that matters?”

His lips twitched.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“You, my sassy witch, are trying to pick apart what you feel for me. Even after your magic connected with my wolf, you’re still trying to find a way to explain it away as nothing. The problem is, your magic knows I’m the one. I’ve been reading up on witches and their bonding.”

“Then you know what you’re saying isn’t possible,” I told him.

He shook his head before leaning in to brush his lips against mine. “You were trained to believe you could only belong with a witch or warlock. Maybe that’s all your council has ever seen, or maybe this is just something they tell everyone because those elitists look down on werewolves. We’re just mutts to them.”

“I want to argue with you, but you may be right,” I admitted.

Gryph grinned.

“Don’t get all cocky,” I warned as I made the mistake of smacking his bare chest. The moment my hand made contact with his skin, power coursed through my body, heating my blood and drawing a ragged moan from my lips. I leaned back against the wall behind me, needing the support to remain on my feet.

Gryph clearly felt it, too, because his eyes closed and his hand moved from my cheek to the wall behind me. Leaning into my body, his cheek rested against mine as he breathed in deeply.

“Fuck, Sass,” he rasped out. “It feels like you’re touching me everywhere.”

With a shuddering breath, I responded to his words. “I’ve never felt anything like this, Gryph. Please touch me more. I’m not sure I can survive if you don’t touch me.”

With his hand still on the wall, Gryph claimed my lips. There was no teasing; his tongue thrust in to explore my mouth with barely restrained hunger. If I hadn’t felt the strong connection vibrating between us, I might have thought his control had snapped. I felt his restraint and his fear through our magical bond.

My hands moved between us to skim along his chest and up to his shoulders as I clutched them for support. Gryph could make me lose all sense and forget the consequences of my actions. As the heat built in my body, my magic flowed around us.

Gryph hissed against my mouth before breaking the kiss. “We need to stop.” His struggle to get the words past his lips was obvious. He was still bent forward as if he couldn’t bring himself to put any distance between us.

“Why?” I asked, my hands still clutching his shoulders tightly as I leaned forward to run my tongue along his lower lip.

Gryph groaned. “Please, Sass.” His desperate plea cut through my lust.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, reaching up to stroke his cheek with one hand.

His eyes met mine, and I could see the yellow swirling in the pale green. “Are you ready to accept me as your mate?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

When I didn’t immediately respond, Gryph turned and took several steps to put some distance between us. “Go up to your room and lock the door,” he ground out.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, knowing my voice clearly conveyed both frustration and hurt.

Gryph turned toward me. “It’s not you,” he said softly. “I can’t be sure I’ll be able to control my instincts when I’m this close to the edge.”

“I don’t want you to control your instincts,” I argued.

“That’s because you’re only thinking about the pleasure we can find together,” he began in a low guttural voice. “I’m too close to claiming you as my mate. Do you trust me?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“Then go up to your room,” he insisted. “Please, Sass.”