Chapter 59

Gryph

We’d just sent Beatrice on her way with Delilah. Julia had sent a few of her clothes so Beatrice wouldn’t be forced to wear what Delilah picked out all the time. Despite the grumbling, Beatrice had seemed more amused than annoyed with her outfit.

Now, I was alone with Julia, and fuck me how I wanted her.

Julia was exhausted, and I should let her sleep. I might be capable of doing that if the scent of her arousal wasn’t wrapping around me. As I prowled toward her, her eyes remained locked with mine.

“You look tired, Sass,” I murmured when I was standing directly in front of her. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I controlled myself.

Julia gave me a saucy grin before responding. “Don’t tell me you’re unable to take care of my needs,” she teased.

“You better watch that sassy mouth of yours,” I warned playfully.

Julia giggled at my threat.

“Woman,” I began in a stern tone. “You will respect your mate.”

“Or what?” she asked sweetly.

“Or I’ll have to teach you a lesson,” I replied with a grin.

I’d noticed Julia edging back since we’d started talking. She was getting ready to run. I was hoping she’d run.

“You’ll have to catch me first,” she taunted as she turned and sprinted away from me. What I’d failed to notice while my eyes were darting to her feet as they inched back, was her lips moving. Julia had managed to mouth a binding spell, so I couldn’t move. I had to laugh at her cunning. “You are in serious trouble, witch.”

Her laughter floated toward me from the stairs. It was rare a witch or warlock could get a binding spell to hold once they weren’t looking at the person affected by the spell. It said a lot about Julia’s power that I still couldn’t move. I wasn’t worried. The magic would wear off soon enough. I could definitely be patient.

The spell held longer than I’d expected, but eventually, I was free to run after her. I took the stairs two at a time. When I got to the top, I was met with silence. She was hiding from me. My lips curled into a grin as I called out, “Come on out, Sass! We both know I’ll find you.”

My command was met with silence. I could easily have followed her scent, but I decided to play along and try to ignore that sense. I wanted to enjoy this game a little longer.

First, I checked the guest room, figuring Julia wasn’t going to run to my bedroom. She’d try to be more clever than that. Her scent was really weak in the guest room, so I could have moved on. Instead, I called out, “Where are you, my sassy witch?”

When I got no response, I moved on to the guest bathroom. I smiled when I noticed her scent was stronger. I’d only said I was going to try to avoid using my sense of smell. It wasn’t as if I could turn it off.

“I know you’re in here,” I murmured softly before moving toward the bathtub where her scent was the strongest. I pulled back the shower curtain, fully expecting to find my mate hiding in there, but all I found was a pile of dirty laundry.

I laughed at her ingenuity. That had been a clever move, not that I was surprised. She was a smart witch. “Good one, Sass,” I murmured to the empty bathroom. Julia would be close by because she’d want to hear my reaction to her trick. That meant, I’d guessed wrong. She’d gone to my room, probably assuming I wouldn’t look for her there.

When I opened the bedroom door, I found Julia lounging on my bed in nothing but a red lace thong. “What took you so long?” she cooed.

My chuckle was a little hoarse. I’d already been turned on before we’d started this game. Chasing Julia down had increased my arousal. Now, seeing her nearly naked in my bed, I had to bite back a moan.

“You’re making this very hard for me,” I accused.

Julia laughed at my statement. “Then I’m doing my job. It needs to be hard for what I have in mind.”

“Is that so,” I asked as I moved to kneel on the bed beside her. “What exactly do you have planned?”

“I was thinking you could slide your incredible dick into me and make me scream,” she cooed, rolling onto her stomach and resting her head on her crossed arms as she regarded me.

“Are you trying to tempt me to spank that perfect ass of yours?” I asked, reaching out to massage her backside.

“Maybe another time,” she replied on a moan. “I really do need you now.”

I was satisfied with her surprised yelp when I gave her ass a light swat. “Impatient witch,” I murmured before pushing her hair to the side so I could see my mark on her neck. Thanks to the werewolf magic I’d shared with Julia, the bite was healing quickly and already beginning to scar.

“Please, Gryph,” she panted out.

I moved to straddle her thighs before leaning forward to put my teeth on the mark at the back of her neck. Julia’s needy whimper proved she was as hot from me touching the mark as I was. With my teeth still on the mark, I pressed against her ass so she could feel how hard I was.

When Julia wiggled under me, I bit down until she stilled. Releasing her neck, I ran my tongue along my mark before speaking. “You drive me out of my fucking mind. Trying to control my desire around you is a form of sensual torture. I’m never sure if I want the torture to end or last forever when I’m with you.”

“Don’t control yourself,” she pleaded.

“I’m still afraid of hurting you, Sass,” I confessed. “I’m not good at being gentle.”

“Gentle isn’t what I’m looking for,” she practically purred.