Page 34 of Griffin Undone
“Cost doesn’t matter now.” I didn’t care that she’d been poor. All that mattered was getting her strong. “Your body doesn’t change shape, but you have to support the increased neural activity and growth, and the requirements it places on you to physically accomplish what your gift demands.” I ate another orange slice, the sweet-tart juice exploding on my tongue. “You need fruit.”
Kat shrugged. “Well, unless triggering changed my taste buds, we’re gonna have problems.” She raised defiant eyes to meet mine, and I could see her mentally digging in her heels. “I. Don’t. Like. Fruit.”
I put as much wicked into my grin as I could muster. “Maybe I can help with that.”
I snagged another section and brought it to her pouting mouth across the narrow island. Kat’s lips tightened. Rather than forcing her, I gently rubbed the fruit against her lips until juice coated the plump surface.
“Arik—”
Before her mouth could close, I slipped the fruit onto her tongue. Kat choked, but my finger on her lips meant she couldn’t spit out the bite. After a couple of reluctant chews, she swallowed, probably just to get it out of her mouth if her grimace was any indication.
I licked my lips. Kat unconsciously copied me, capturing the sweet juice, barely missing my finger.
My gut clenched. I picked up more orange.
“I don’t—”
The fruit was popped in before she could avoid it.
I laughed as Kat sputtered. When she would have let fly with her anger, I tapped my juice-wet finger against her lips. “Uh-uh-uh.”
Kat’s breath stilled at my touch, taking my laughter with it.
Once again her tongue came out to chase the juice—and caught my finger in the process. I watched in a kind of detached amazement as her pupils blew wide, dilating with pleasure. A groan rose in my throat. I held it back by sheer will, but Kat wasn’t as successful. The tiniest moan escaped her.
I felt the sound all the way down to my groin.
Control wavered, threatening to break. I wrestled it back together—barely. I selected a plump grape this time, brought it carefully to her lips, where it disappeared after a moment of hesitation but without protest. Kat chewed and swallowed. Her breath halted when I once again touched her mouth. A moment. Two. The tip of her tongue traced my skin.
There was no holding back my groan this time. The sound shattered the spell we’d surrendered to.
“Great,” Kat said roughly before clearing her throat. She glared down at her plate. “I’m going to live for centuries with the curse of having to eat my fruits and veggies.”
“And cheeseburgers, don’t forget cheeseburgers.”
“Still…” She frowned, and damn if even that didn’t look good on those full lips.
Silence stretched between us as we finished our food and cleared our plates away. Searching for a way to get back on solid ground—and away from thoughts of Kat’s damn lips—I finally asked, “Did you play at Lenny’s often?”
Kat’s hazel eyes darkened. “Every night.” Then, under her breath, “Not that anyone noticed.”
I had. But her words sparked the memory of Grim’s words about the isolation of untriggered females. “You didn’t fit in because you were one of us. Caught between two worlds, not fully in one or the other.”
Kat breathed in deep, let the air release slowly. Her pain lay thick in the air, and the strange need to erase it filled me. I was quiet for a moment, my brain working the pieces of the puzzle. Music had been what gave her satisfaction in the human world. Music was full of emotion, and Grim had said emotion played into her gift. And her voice…
“Did you sing at Lenny’s?” She hadn’t the night I was there, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t ever.
“Sometimes. Most of the time I didn’t want to strain to be heard over the noise, so I just played.”
“Hmm.” I turned from the sink to face her. “Your voice may be what led the Anigma to you.”
“My voice? Why?”
“Because it’s tied to your gift.”
“How?”
I wasn’t a hundred percent certain, but I thought I was on the right track. “Will you sing for me?”
