Page 33 of Griffin Undone
“Cale, set up a meeting: you, me, and your contact. Everyone else, get with Basile. We will find what we need, no matter what. Our peace will be protected. At any cost.” Just not the way Solomon intended.
Resolve settled, heavy with responsibility, on my shoulders. God help me, but that cost would likely be mine—my life, if the king discovered my defiance of his direct orders.
ChapterFifteen
Arik
Two nights later, the water I was swallowing threatened to catch halfway down my throat when Kat wandered into the kitchen. Her sleep-flushed skin made her look like a child, but the rounded breasts so evident in her cotton tank made her look anything but. I forced the water down with another quick gulp and reminded myself that ogling didn’t create the atmosphere I needed in order to foster Kat’s trust.
Or maybe it did. When Kat noticed the direction of my gaze, her cheeks darkened with a sexy blush. I flashed a little grin Kat’s way. The pink flush grew, and pleasure sparked in her hastily lowered eyes before she turned toward the fridge.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Too deep and too much,” she mumbled, all pleasure gone as she ducked her head behind the open refrigerator door. “Is there any coffee?”
“There’s juice.”
I hid my smile at her growl. Over the past few risings one thing had become abundantly clear: Kat was not a morning person, even when she slept all day. Shewasstubborn, however. Each evening she asked the same question, and my answer never varied. No coffee. That didn’t stop her from asking, or me from enjoying telling her no. I might not relish having someone in my space, but I’d always gotten a high from being in charge.
She slid onto a stool at the island, set a cold bottle of water in front of her, and dropped her head into her hands, elbows propped on the counter. The position offered a perfect view of her low cleavage, the tight nipples poking through the material in obvious reaction to the chill that never quite left the air in the underground bunker we now occupied. The sight drew my own near-silent growl as a punch of lust hit my cock. You’d think I’d be used to it after two nights, but no. In fact, the only thing rivaling my hunger for Kat was my frustration. The plan was to seduce her, use her. Except my libido seemed to have been hijacked by a runaway train that had me feeling lessfuck ’em and leave ’emand morefall to my knees and beg. And that was far too much leverage not in my hands.
Using Kat’s attraction to get her on my side afforded me not a single ounce of guilt. A little mutual satisfaction was fine. Anything beyond that, at least on my side? Unacceptable.
I crossed to the fridge to retrieve eggs and bread. “Hungry?”
Kat cleared her throat with a swallow of water before answering. “You eat real food.”
Her tone was a little puzzled despite the fact that she’d eaten with me every night. “Of course.” I grabbed a bowl and began breaking eggs into it.
From the corner of my eye I watched Kat’s hand trail along the still-bandaged wound on her neck. Ah. After several nights together, I knew Kat had plenty of curiosity and asked a lot of questions, but she hadn’t addressed the issue of her attack since Grim’s absence. Maybe she was finally ready to do so.
I whisked the eggs, letting the silence that came naturally to me after so many years alone ease her nerves. Funny how it did that when you didn’t add the fuck-you attitude.
“But I thought…” Kat’s hand trembled slightly against the white patch of gauze. “Don’t you drink blood?”
I poured the eggs into a hot skillet sizzling with butter. “Archai males have enormous strength, in both human and shifted forms. That strength is directly connected to feeding, yes, but we also eat regular food.”
“Do the women…feed too?”
“Rarely.” Her attack had been one of those rare instances; females under extreme physical duress or who had been forced to use their psych gifts to the extreme did need to feed. “A female’s psych gifts take great energy, but nothing compared with the needs of a male. Regular food will suffice for you most of the time, although your metabolism is faster and you’ll have to eat more.”
A grimace crossed her mouth at the wordsmost of the time. “But”—she pointed toward her mouth—“no fangs?”
Extending my canines slightly so I knew she could see them, I flashed her a smile. “No fangs for youyet. They usually extend when need is high”—or during sex—“but even then, female fangs are much smaller, and you have to learn how to use them.” Not that she would need to, not while we were together. I’d be happy to share mine.
I forced myself to focus somewhere besides the imagined feel of my fangs sliding through her skin. “Would you pop some toast in?”
“Sure.”
When breakfast was ready, we settled on stools on either side of the island, facing each other. The sweet scent of sunshine and vitamin C tantalized my nose as I glanced at my plate. Picking up a juicy section of orange, I eyed Kat’s selections. “You need some fruit.” I caught the juice running down my fingers with a noisy slurp, then popped the orange into my mouth.
“I don’t like fruit.”
I hid a smile. She’d told me the same thing every evening, and I’d let her get away with it. Tonight I intended to prove which of us was most stubborn—and it wasn’t her.
Sighing just loud enough for her to feel my impatience, I adopted my best “teacher” voice. “Think of an athlete, Kat. They need healthy, nutrient-heavy diets. So do you. So do I.” I picked up another piece of the fruit. “Archai require natural, organic vitamins and minerals. Daily. Popping pills won’t do it. You need fruits and vegetables and eggs and fresh meat, all the things that keep you healthy.”
“And broke,” she grumbled, gaze on her plate, then winced.
