Page 49 of Griffin Undone
One kiss. I really wanted that kiss.
I nodded.
Arik blinked, and between the lowering of his eyelids and the rising, his hands were buried in my hair and his lips were on mine.
His mouth was softer than I’d imagined it would be, harder than I’d thought possible. His lips molded to my every breath but took what he wanted without quarter. I gasped, and he thrust his tongue inside, shocking me, melting me. Arik swallowed my moan of surrender.
Desire burned as bright behind my eyelids as his glowing eyes had moments earlier. Uncertainty nibbled at the edges, but I knew in that moment that I wanted it all, and I wanted it with him. My lips softened in acknowledgment, welcoming him instead of fighting to hold myself separate, and my tongue reached tentatively for his, rubbing along the side as I familiarized myself with his hot taste.
God, it was good.
Arik’s tongue frolicked with mine, then delved deep; he pulled back to nip my swollen lower lip, pushed inside, pulled back, a subtle advance and retreat that left no doubt as to what he was tempting me to do. The knowledge tightened every cell in my body even as my core relaxed, became wet, readying me to yield to his demands. My muscles quivered when Arik’s hungry purr vibrated into my mouth.
He broke away. “Look at me, Kitty Kat. Open your eyes,” he whispered, his breath caressing my eyelids. One hand swept the hair back from my face, leaving me bare, vulnerable, almost naked.
I lifted my eyelids.
Amber heat burned into me. Would I ever get used to that electric gaze?
“Keep them open,” Arik said, his voice as breathless as I felt. “Watch me.” One gentle slide of his mouth over mine, another, a lick of his tongue— Unconsciously my mouth opened, allowing him access. He accepted with obvious relish.
My body arched, out of my control, seeking his heat, his rough muscles against my soft places—and every moment, his eyes locked with mine, seeing every need, every thought, every desire. Not until he resisted did I realize one hand was on his shoulder, pulling, trying to get his weight on top of me. What would it feel like to have him there while he was kissing me? Would it feel as good as I thought it would, as I craved it to be? I didn’t know, and I needed to, desperately.
But instead of giving me what I wanted, he eased back.Rejection.A cold shock wave brought me back to reason. Arik wanted a little kiss, not the closeness I craved. Unable to keep myself bare before him, I allowed my eyes to close. My hands fisted against my chest, and I wondered in some far corner of my brain if I was trying to hold him to me even as I let him go.
And how dangerous was that? Mere days ago I’d been telling him I couldn’t get this close so soon; now I was practically mauling him. What was wrong with me?
But when I would’ve rolled away, Arik was there, his chest against my side, his mouth at the juncture of my neck and shoulder, his erection a hard bar against my leg. “Kat,” he breathed. A soft lick wet my skin. “So you want to see, huh?”
Holding my breath, I let my mind reach for his.“Yes.”
Arik bit down on the muscle along the top of my shoulder, forcing my body to bow once more, and then he was gone.“Then let’s see.”
An instant later the bedside lamp came on.
I cringed, feeling exposed, my mind scoured by the light. But Arik wasn’t looking at me; he was walking toward the chair in the corner of the room. As he walked, he slipped his hands under the muscle shirt he wore and gradually worked it up over his shoulders and head.
Damn. Breathe, girl.
“Arik, what…?”
The look he threw over his shoulder as he laid the shirt on the chair could only be described as wicked. “You didn’t think I’d shift with my clothes on, did you?”
Oh.
My cheeks burned, and I knew they must be fiery red in that moment. Not a good color combination for a redhead, but I couldn’t worry about matching at the moment. Arik’s hands were at the waistband of his jogging pants, and I knew I was about to see my first real, live,nakedman.
Arik stood at an angle, giving me his profile, and I was thankful I didn’t have to look him in the face as his pants cleared his hips and dropped to reveal him in all his glory. I flicked a glance at the juncture of his thighs. He was erect, shocking a squeak out of me that was thoroughly embarrassing. Arik simply grinned, retrieved his pants, and set them on the chair. When he moved into the middle of the room, I came up on my knees, my breath locked in my throat as I watched the change begin.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Arik closed his eyes, his face reflecting pain as his body bowed under some unknown force. His skull lengthened, limbs shortened, and bones thickened. Fur ran like water across his spine and down his sides, a glorious, full-body coat like the pelt that had covered his wings. And speaking of wings, they unfurled from his back, pulling a soft chirrup from his animal that sounded like aching relief.
The griffin was happy to be released, then.
Amazing.
The shift was complete in a minute. The griffin shook itself as if coming in out of the rain. I realized my hands were white-knuckled balls at my sides and I still couldn’t breathe. My knees ached where I knelt, but the animal beginning a slow stalk around the bed drew my attention away from the pain until every cell focused on the sight. I needed air desperately, but the moment I sucked it in, the griffin turned amber eyes my way. That massive, muscular body followed.
The animal’s face looked like an eagle: a bird’s wickedly sharp beak widening back to round eyes with feline-shaped pupils. The featherlike fur I remembered, all tawny gold, tapered back from his beak to a thick neck and shoulders. The muscles around its nostrils worked, taking in scent, and a deep growl rumbled from its throat. I startled, falling back onto my butt. Sprawled in the middle of the bed, I was dwarfed by the griffin’s form, its head easily as high as mine, its wings extending all the way to the high ceiling. Awe shivered through me when those wings stretched out horizontally, a twelve-foot wingspan or more, and at my soft sound of admiration, I swore the animal preened.
