Page 50 of Siren in the Rain

Flashing me a sheepish grin, Griffin rubs his belly. “That hit the spot, and I still have room for nachos later!”

I can’t help it. I sputter out a laugh. “Is your stomach a bottomless pit?”

“Pretty much,” he admits, tail wagging happily. “Most animal-kin species tend to have robust, voracious appetites.” He waggles his blond eyebrows at me. “That goes for more than just food.”

It’s utterly ridiculous how he can look so cute while delivering cheesy sexual innuendos.

It shouldn’t work on me at all, but it does—far more than I will ever deign to admit to him.

Instead, I roll my eyes. “Maybe I should change your nickname to Horn Dog.”

He snorts. “The Horn Dog who digs corn dogs.”

I snicker and take a bite of the blue fluffy cotton candy on a stick that he hands me. The sugary sweetness melts on my tongue and I can’t hold back a moan. I’ve always enjoyed sweet things, but after my mother died, I rarely had the opportunity to indulge. I didn’t have access to the kitchen, and all my meals were prepared for me according to Margaret’s specifications. Food control was just one of many forms of the systematic abuse, as my therapist has informed me.

I continue wolfing—heh—down the cotton candy, my eyes closed as I savor what feels like the indulgence of a lifetime. Something warm and, dare I say, happy swells in my chest. In this moment, with the sun shining on me, the water lapping against the pier, and the tang of sea salt in the air, I’m lighter and more carefree than I can ever remember being.

If only I could bottle this feeling and experience it again whenever I wanted.

When I finally flutter my eyes open, I find I’ve eaten the entire thing. I’m also confronted with Griffin’s hot amber gaze. He stares at my mouth, breathing heavily, a hungry gleam in his eyes.

I feel my cheeks warm in response. “Uh, sorry about that,” I mutter. “I’ve never had cotton candy before.”

Wolf Boy swallows convulsively several times and shifts awkwardly where he stands. I glance down and immediately back up after I notice the obvious tent in his pants.

No. I refuse to think about the fact that the way I ate cotton candy was apparently so sexy it gave him a raging boner.

“I wasn’t allowed to have sweets while I was under Margaret’s control,” I admit, trying to defuse the awkwardness building between us.

Griffin clears his throat. “Well then, we’ll just have to make up for lost time and introduce you to all the tasty sweets out there. After all, there’s a whole boatload of magical treats just waiting for you to stick them in your mouth!”

I gape at him and his face turns red.

“My bad. That was not an intentional sexual innuendo.”

I can’t help it—I guffaw. “You’re kind of a goofball, aren’t you?”

His tail flaps from side to side. “I’ve been called that a time or two.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

We wander through the park a little bit more, and every now and again, I spot Cal or Dallas nearby keeping an eye on things. Their presence puts me at ease. Both of them are forces to be reckoned with.

Granted, I haven’t seen Dallas in action, but with his sheer size and big-ass muscles, I feel completely confident that he can take on any of the goons that Margaret might have looking for me without breaking a sweat.

We make our way over to the bumper cars, where it’s just me and Griffin on the track, and an epic battle for the title of Bumper King begins. Before I even realize it, we’re screaming and laughing as we try to give one another whiplash from our collisions. When our time is up, we get out of our cars on shaky legs and cling to one another, still laughing.

“I totally won!” I declare.

His ears flick and he grins. “Did not. It was definitely a tie.”

I poke him in the side and he shies away with a giggle.

“Ticklish, huh?”

He backs up. “The look in your eyes is freaking me out. Don’t come near me with those deadly fingers!”

I snort out another laugh.

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