Chapter Three
She’d been sleeping for a very, very long time.
Griffin frowned at the woman in his bed. She was breathing fine, nice and easy. There were no injuries on her body. He’d checked, not in a sleazy way, but just to make sure she hadn’t gotten burned when she’d been tied to the stake. He hadn’t stripped her gown off, but he’d lifted the now tattered and soot-covered material to look at her legs. Amazingly, she wasn’t burned at all.
She was just out cold.
He sat on the edge of the bed. His hand lifted, and he brushed back a heavy lock of her dark hair. She didn’t look evil when she slept. Her lashes were long and thick, casting shadows over her cheeks and—
Her hand flew up, grabbing his wrist. Grabbing it hard. “I hope you weren’t about to play Snow White with me.”
“What?”
“Because I don’t need a kiss from my true love to wake up.” Her lashes snapped open. Her fury was plain to see. “What I do need is for you to tell me that I am not in the realm of shifters.”
That was funny. Most people didn’t even know shifters were real. They were. Plenty of shifters lived right in the midst of humans. Bear shifters and panther shifters seemed to love mingling with them. Very few shifters—mostly the ancients and the very young—still preferred to stay in a separate realm. This realm was where they’d all started, though. Where they’d stayed safe in times of persecution. It was—
“I better not be in that hellhole,” Valerie fumed.
It wasn’t a hellhole. It was his home. For the next month, it would be her home, too.
Witches didn’t have their own realm. That was why when they got persecuted, they tended to get their asses kicked. No good place to hide. They had to blend with the humans as best they could.
“Griffin!” Her hold tightened on his wrist.
He leaned over her. Felt her tense. Smiled. “You’re in that hellhole.”
“Argh!” She released his hand. Tried to surge out of the bed.
His hands curled around her shoulders, and he pushed her right back down. “Easy there, Val. I need to make sure you’re okay.”
Her brows shot up. “Val? Who the hell is Val? My name is Val-uh-ree.”
He wouldn’t smile at her. Okay, maybe he did. A bit. “You’ve been out for over ten hours.”
Now she gave a little eye roll. “That kind of happens when you’re taken through some kind of creepy dimensional portal. The fairies made it for you, didn’t they? I know they bred with you shifters about a thousand years ago, and bam—after some hot sexing, the fey gave shifters their very own magical land.”
Yes, they had. Only he was surprised she knew that part of his history.
“But here’s the thing,” Valerie continued grimly. “Fairies and witches are enemies. Like the sworn forever kind of enemies, so that means I wasn’t supposed to come through your portal. You’re lucky you didn’t kill me on that road trip!”
He’d leaned over her. Valerie’s mouth was just inches from his. “I knew you weren’t going to die.”
“How?”
“Because you’re my mate,” Griffin said those words with a low growl. He didn’t like being tricked and the woman had definitely tricked him. “As long as we’re mated, you won’t die when you travel into or out of this realm. Witch or no witch.”
“Hmmm.” Her expression immediately became completely calm. “That’s an interesting tidbit. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
Griffin got the feeling he’d just made some sort of massive mistake.
“Are you going to kiss me?” Valerie asked. A totally casual question. She tossed it out the same, easy way someone else would ask about the time. “Because you keep looking at my mouth.”
He—shit! He had been looking at her mouth. Jaw locking, Griffin gritted, “We need some rules.”
She shook her head, sending her sleek, dark hair sliding over his pillow. “I don’t like rules.” Valerie sounded regretful. “I’m sorry, haven’t you heard that about me? I’m a rule breaker.”
“Not in this realm, you’re not.”
She just smiled. Her dimples flashed.
She was really incredibly beautiful. It was a pity that her beauty only went skin deep.
“My realm,” Griffin stressed. “My rules.”
She didn’t try to break out of his hold. She just lay on the bed, staring up at him. “So you really are the big, bad king of all the beasts?”
Yes, he was. Grimly, he nodded.
“And I saved you.” She batted her lashes. “I bet everyone here will just love me.”
Doubtful. Not if they’d all heard the stories about her. And when it came to Valerie Storm, everyone knew the stories.
Her tongue slid over her lower lip. “You’re doing it again.”
She had a sexy little pink tongue.
“Staring at my mouth. I really do think you want to kiss me. Since we’re mates, go ahead. I give you permission.”
She—no. Snarling, he shot away from the bed. “We’re temporary mates.”
Valerie sat up, slowly. Her gaze raked around the room. Frowned at the sparse furnishings. “I kind of expected more from a king.” She bit her lower lip.
His gaze went right to her mouth.
The woman was playing with her mouth deliberately, making him look, he knew it. His gaze flew back up to her face—
Valerie winked at him. “Gotcha.”
Griffin growled.
“Okay, fair warning. I think that growly thing you do is oddly hot.” She shrugged. “I’m wired a little differently than most witches, sorry. I know my kind is supposed to be all cold and you know, not into the wild beast thing, but I think it’s a major turn on.”
Was she screwing with him?
Or actually being honest?
No, no way. Valerie Storm wasn’t honest. She was a liar and a trickster and a killer straight to her core.
She waved her hand at him. “Can we get back to the temporary thing that you mentioned? Because I was pretty sure we were in this mating thing forever. You know, in it to win it and all that.”
He had no idea what she meant—what were they going to win?
She reached down to touch her gown. Sighed at the damage. Then Valerie just ripped away the torn fabric, making the dress end right at mid-thigh.
Gorgeous legs. Sexy. Long. He could imagine them wrapped around—
“I think I see a little fang. What’s that about?”
It was about him getting turned on, dammit. He needed to get away from the witch. The bond—temporary though it was—had already started to mess with his head. And his body.
“I’m of royal blood,” Griffin announced.
Her hands immediately flew to her chest—super dramatic.
He forced his back teeth to unclench. “I’m the oldest damn shifter in the world. I can shift into three beasts, I am the strongest shifter you’ll ever meet, I am—”
“Awesome. Yes, I get it. You’re spectacular. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to mate with you.” She rose. Stood near the side of the bed. “I’m spectacular, too.”
She was…smaller than he’d expected. Maybe five-foot-five? Five-foot-six? She seemed to have so much power and strength, but she was actually…delicate.
Fragile?
He retreated a step. No, Valerie wasn’t fragile. She was screwing with his mind. He needed to get back to his rules. Pronto. “You’ll be here for a month.”
“Here? In shifter paradise?”
“At the end of the month, our temporary bond will end, and you’ll go back to the witches.”
Valerie pursed her lips. Probably just so he’d look at her mouth again. “Did you miss the part where they banished me? Or, um, maybe where they were trying to burn me?”
His hands fisted. When he’d seen her trapped in those flames, a rage unlike anything he’d ever known had burst to life inside of him. He’d tossed witches and vampires out of his way as he barreled to her. Nothing—no one—would have stopped him from saving her. “One month,” Griffin said, not letting emotion enter his words. “Then you will leave. Our bond will end.”
She didn’t speak. She also didn’t look happy. “I’ve never heard of a mating bond just going poof like that.”
“Ours will.”
“Because you’re all extra special and royal? With three beasts inside?”
Because he hadn’t fully mated her. Because for him, mating truly would be forever. His dragon—the strongest of the beasts he carried—would recognize his mate. And then there would never be any parting from her.
“I felt the connection when I took your blood.” Valerie squared her shoulders. “We’re mated. If we weren’t, you would have let me die in the fire.”
“We’re temporarily—”
She held up a small hand. “Stop using that word, or I might help you shift into a fourth beast. I think you’d make an awesome snake right now.”
She wouldn’t.
Oh, wait, wicked witch. She would. Or at least, she’d try. “You’re gonna find that most of your magic won’t work here.”
Valerie paled. “That will make me…helpless.”
“Think of it as…human.”
She lunged forward. Locked her arms around him. At her touch, heat seemed to burn all the way through his body. “You don’t know the enemies I have, shifter king. I’ll die without my magic.”
The hell she would. Not on his watch. “No one will hurt you here. My word is law, and until the next month is up, you’re mine.”
The last came out far more possessively than he’d intended. But—she was.
Her face softened, went all sweet and innocent. “You promise to keep me safe?”
He opened his mouth, almost ready to promise her any—
Oh, hell, no. Griffin smiled at her. Flashed some fang. “Rule one.”
“What?”
“Rule one is no lying. No pretending to be something you’re not.” She was definitely not sweet and innocent. “You’re the most feared witch on the planet. Everyone knows your heart is as cold as ice.”
She let him go. “Right. Everyone knows that. Common knowledge.”
“Rule two. Don’t even try your magic. Not so much as a spark of fire. Just pretend you’re on vacation. Relax for the next month. Take in the sights.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“Rule three…”
“How many rules do you have?”
A sharp knock sounded at the door. “Griffin!” A strong, male voice boomed. “Your people are still waiting!”
Dammit. He hadn’t finished his rules. But his people had to come first.
“They’re in the courtyard!” That voice continued. “And they won’t leave. Not until they all see you with their own eyes.”
Griffin sighed. Then he locked his hand around her wrist. “You’re coming with me.” He hauled her toward the door. Yanked it open.
His senior guardsman turned toward him, a wide smile instantly crossing Warren’s face. Warren LaTroix had been at his side for centuries. There was no shifter he trusted more than the blond, dark-eyed wolf.
Warren’s smile froze, though, when his gaze darted to Valerie. “You, um, you’re bringing her with you?” His stare slid down her body. Seemed to linger on Valerie’s exposed legs.
Griffin immediately moved in front of her. He had to bite back the snarl of “Mine” that rose to his lips. “They need to know she’s under my protection.”
“That’s sweet,” Valerie said from behind him. “Like white knight kind of sweet.”
His head was throbbing. Without another word, he marched forward, making Valerie advance with him. Warren rushed to follow them.
“Oh.” Valerie’s exclamation as they hurried through the stone corridors was less than thrilled. “This is very, um, medieval castle-like, isn’t it?”
Yes, it was.
He turned to the left. Shoved open two wooden doors that were hidden in an archway. He strode onto the balcony—
Cheers erupted from the people gathered down below. His people. Griffin smiled at them.
Valerie slid to his side.
The cheers began to dwindle. Whispers replaced the enthusiastic yells. The shifters below them had incredible sight. They’d be able to discern Valerie’s features perfectly. And since shifters also had incredible hearing, Griffin could easily make out—
“Tell me that’s not…”
“Why is she here?”
“Isn’t that the wicked one? I thought she burned!”
“Hello, people!” Valerie called out in an amazingly cheery voice. “Yes, the stories you’ve heard—no doubt, over the last ten hours while I slept like the dead—are all true! I did save the life of your big, bad beast Griffin.”
No more whispers. No more cheers. Nothing.
“I know, I know,” Valerie continued in her perky voice, “you’re grateful. I accept your gratitude.”
He pulled her closer. Put his mouth right at her ear. “Woman, are you mad?”
She shivered. He realized his tongue had accidentally licked the shell of her ear. Oh, who was he kidding? The lick had been deliberate.
Valerie tilted her head back to stare up at him. “A little bit mad, yes. But being sane is boring.”
She was certainly not boring. She was also doing that lip lick thing—
Warren cleared his throat. “They’re waiting.”
Right. Shit. He focused on his people once more. “Valerie Storm is under my protection! No one here will harm her, not unless you want to face my fury.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Valerie praised him in a husky voice. “But maybe you should add something a little bloodier like… ‘Not unless you want me to rip your head from your shoulders’—I think that works.”
He slanted her a glance.
“Too much?” she asked, seeming genuinely puzzled.
Griffin could only shake his head. He’d given the warning. No one ever, ever disobeyed his orders.
For the next month, he was stuck with Valerie. No one would harm her. She’d be safe.
And he would make absolutely certain she followed all of his rules. If she didn’t, he’d lock up the witch.
Simple.