Page 24 of My Guardian Gryphon

How could I fix it?

There had to be a way. I refused to believe that I was so integral to the world’s destiny that it would begrudge me actual love, a real life. Perhaps even a real family.

Chapter 10

ALEK

By the gods, why had I let myself continue kissing her? Because she tasted like heaven and sunshine wrapped into the most decadent of desserts. Her lips had stolen my breath. I’d pulled Gretchen closer, taking her mouth like we’d been lovers for centuries.

The scent of her arousal had been like an aphrodisiac, robbing me of my common sense. Her breasts, firm against my chest, had sent my mind into a place where I thought—just for a moment—that a life with her might be possible. Only for a second had I wanted to roll her on the floor, strip her of that thin linen shift, taste her sweetness, and make her mine.

Fuck.

Right there on the floor of the library.

Fuck.

She deserved better than that. I was better than that. I wasn’t some teenage, hormone-driven lunatic who couldn’t keep his pants on.

My body still vibrated with a desire that threatened my usually unwavering logic. My Gryphon struggled within me, desperate to get back to her. It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t my kind. She was a human, and a Sister. One of the women I’d sworn to protect from exactly what I was fantasizing of doing.

I couldn’t bond with her the way my parents had bonded. I didn’t know how. The rituals and ceremonies I’d watched others perform were vague memories from a childhood long past, wisps of shadows that teased and tested my patience. I was a man—a beast—without a people. Without any knowledge of my race except what my hormonal, teenage mind had retained from all those thousands of years ago.

I could shift. I could fight. I could scream a sound that made men tremble from miles away. Those were things I’d learned growing up with Jared, doing the best we could to survive in a strange world filled with people who would ostracize or kill us if they discovered our secrets.

Still, I knew there was more to being a Gryphon. That I had deduced through trial and error. Magick wound itself around my heart like coils of ivy, and every so often I’d feel it surge within me, driving me to fly, something I’d only done a few times over the millennia. Nowhere on Earth was safe for a winged monster. I wasn’t as big as a dragon. One well-placed rifle shot could knock me from the sky.

I stalked through the castle, away from her, away from her tears. It was better this way, easier for both of us. I refused to be the reason Rose’s precious prophecy was put on hold or, worse, destroyed. Even if I had moved past needing to get home, my friends had not.

The hallways passed in a blur, as did the staircase and the front door.

Sunlight beat down on my back. I crossed the street, headed for Avenue B, the street between the produce market and a row of townhouses where my home stood. Jared should still be at the office.

I needed a few minutes to myself before my nosy-neighbor-of-a-brother came stalking over to tell me what a mistake I’d made by seeing Gretchen again.

My feet pounded along the sidewalk, gaze glued to a fixed point across the street—the door to the Fire Station/Sheriff’s Office that Jared and I shared. We monitored the town, knew everyone. Nothing happened in our town without one or both of us finding out.

Just don’t come out.

My leg collided with a small person, and I leaned forward. A flash of iridescent blue hair filled my line of sight. I caught her before she fell into a pile of crates stacked in front of the market.

“Ouch!” a small female voice squeaked.

“I’m so sorry.” My voice sounded beaten and hopeless. There was no way Jared wouldn’t notice this mood. Getting over Gretchen was going to take centuries—if getting over her was possible at all.

I righted the tiny woman and took an apologetic step back, recognizing the pixie who ran the produce market, Bella. One of the only pixies who never changed her hair color. Since I’d met her over a hundred years ago, she’d always had the same silvery-blue-iridescent mane. Honestly, it still reminded me of those children’s pony toys, but it suited her—ethereal.

“I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see you.”

“Well, you’re what, like seven feet tall? I suppose someone so near the ground doesn’t register quickly.”

I shook my head. “I apologize.” I tried to step around Bella and continue down the sidewalk, but she put a hand on my chest and moved to block my way, cocking her head to the side and angling her gaze all the way up to meet mine.

Magick coursed from her hand, not physically stopping me, but it soothed my frayed nerves. Her bright, moss-green eyes flashed with interest, and her alabaster skin glowed a soft yellow like she was a night light plugged into a wall socket.

“Our big scary sheriff has given his heart to another. I wondered if someone would ever be able to reach through the armor you’d constructed around your heart and win over your loyalty.”

How the fuck?

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