Page 59 of Griffin Undone
I tilted my head, opened my mouth, and just…surrendered. His tongue was a hot spear against mine, stroking, conquering, then coaxing me to stroke him, teaching and devouring at the same time. I had no idea how long the kiss lasted before he broke away.
“Kat. God.” A groan rumbled up from deep in his chest. The look on his face— I could never forget it. It buried any lingering insecurities thoroughly. And when his hips pushed inward, grinding the hard length of his erection against my thigh? Yeah, that helped too. Enough that I found the courage to push the blanket to my feet and come up on my knees. When I turned to face Arik, he guided me to straddle his lap, a small smile playing over his lips.
He felt big, hard and unfamiliar between my thighs, forcing them uncomfortably wide as I settled on his legs. Arik gripped my hips and pulled, forcing our bodies tightly together.
I gasped.
“Oh yeah.” He grinned, revealing elongated fangs that caused a flutter of something I couldn’t identify in my belly. Or maybe that was just the pressure of his arousal against me. “You feel good.” His nose went to my throat, where he drew a deep breath, taking my scent deep into his lungs. “Relax. It’s okay, Kat.”
I ducked my head beside his. The short bristles of his hair teased the side of my face, reminding me of all the differences between us, all the things I had yet to discover, to understand. Especially the biggest one. “I’ve never done this before.”
Arik’s fingers dug in as he nuzzled my neck. “I know. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” The words were easy to say, but that tone…it was more vow than anything else, a confirmation that the honor I already knew was inside him would control how he treated me in this moment, but hearing it aloud soothed me in ways just knowing couldn’t.
And then his head tipped, his mouth moved to skim the sensitive skin of my neck, and every thought not centered on him fell away.
“Ready, Kitty Kat?”
When he purred like that, right up against me, I couldn’t raise the annoyance I normally felt for the nickname. I couldn’t speak either. Instead I tipped my head farther to the side, granting him access, answering him in the only way I was capable of in that moment.
Arik growled his pleasure at my response.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Arik
This was the mission, what I needed to do for my plan to succeed. But as Kat’s scent seeped into my lungs, my very pores, I found I couldn’t give a fuck about Maddox, the Anigma, the Archai—none of it mattered. The entire world could go straight to hell as far as I was concerned. All I cared about in this moment was having Kat beneath me, having her neck bare to my fangs, having access to the most intimate parts of her body and soul. That hunger devoured every other thought in my brain. And when my animal rose just under my skin to share the sensations…
Christ, what was I doing here?
Needing the distance to gain some control, I eased Kat back from my chest. She settled on my thighs, eyelids at half-mast, sweet hazel irises peeking up at me. I held her gaze as I lifted a hand, one finger extended, a razor-sharp claw sliding from the end. Kat’s eyes went wide, wild, her breath an unevenhuff-pant-huff-pantfilling the space between us. And then I leaned close, hooked the claw in the top of her stretchy pajama shirt, and tugged, stopping her breath altogether. The thin fabric parted like water for Moses, straight down her body, peeling back to reveal a too-tiny strip of Kat’s pale skin, inch by sweat-inducing inch.
The hem gave way with a single jerk. I slid the material from her body, first one side, then the other, down her arms to the ground. Cool air and my starving gaze zeroed in on the rosy tips of her nipples, the nubs crinkling, tightening, extending into hard, needy points as if reaching for me.
“Arik?”
Kat’s eyes were dark, uncertain in the dim light, begging me for reassurance. The first time I’d seen her naked body, she’d been unconscious. My gaze on her bare skin, devouring the sight of her, was just one of many firsts she’d experience tonight, and suddenly, fiercely I wanted each and every one of those firsts to be as perfect as I could make them.
Kat’s uncertainty gave way to a soft, sweet blush as she stared into my eyes. I let her see the hunger, the greed, let her get used to the savage demand I couldn’t hold back. I held her stare as I ripped the front hem of her gray sweatpants, right down the seam. When I reached around, gripped the material over each rounded ass cheek, and jerked, tearing the back seam, Kat’s breasts bounced right in front of my face. My animal roared, wanting those breasts against the harsh texture of his tongue, this woman under the heavy weight of his body. I gave in just enough, allowed the griffin to rise behind my skin, and licked across one straining nub as I smoothed the pants down Kat’s legs until they fell away.
Kat seemed lost to the feel of my tongue on her nipple; if she noticed the cool wash of air against her mostly naked skin, she gave no indication. I closed my lips around her tip and sucked gently, rhythmically, as I slashed each side seam of the ball-tightening white lace panties she wore. Kat mewed her pleasure like the kitten I’d named her, bowing up against my mouth, giving me more. I tugged her panties from beneath her lifted hips.
And then I had to look, had to growl my need as the sight of her, naked, beautiful, so innocent I had to fight not to spill my seed right then and there.
“Show me,” I demanded, voice rough with the struggle to hold myself back. “Let me see you. Every last bit. Let me see.”
With no more than a soft whimper, Kat obeyed. She shifted—rounded ass on my lap, legs draped across one side of the couch, body tilted back over the armrest. On display for my pleasure. And pleasure it was. Just the sight of her, vulnerable, delicate, made my mouth water. I needed to gorge, to take and devour until we were both sated from the excess. Watching her breasts shiver with every heavy breath she took, I had a feeling the satiation I sought would be a very long time coming.
Not touching her was torture. Touching her just might fucking kill me, but I’d risk it. I couldn’t not risk it.
Supporting her arched back with one hand, I cupped a full, lush breast with the other, taking its weight, savoring the contrast of smooth, creamy, soft-as-silk skin and my calloused palm. Kat whined and pushed herself higher into my hand. Sweat popped out on my brow. Her nipple, flushed deeper now, was a rigid, begging point that barely yielded to the press of my thumb. A squeeze forced a desperate cry from Kat’s lips; a tug had her thrashing against my stiff erection. I wanted to play here, take her breast into my mouth, suck and bite, drive Kat—and myself—to the thin edge of insanity.
Not yet, not yet.
Circling the tempting abundance one final time, I dragged my reluctant hand down her abdomen.
A slight outward curve welcomed me below her belly button, just enough to cushion my head after I brought her to climax with my mouth. Her thighs fell open to the slide of my fingers along their soft inner skin, revealing the treasure of short auburn curls that guarded their apex. I brushed my fingers through it, seeking, exploring, until the pouty pink lips between her legs parted at my touch and rich, wet cream greeted me.
Kat groaned. Whined her pleasure. Her fingers clutched at my ribs, holding herself in place, and she planted her feet to lift into my touch. I leaned over to meet her on the rise, burying my nose in her crisp curls, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin, the salty zing of sweat, and the distinct feminine musk of arousal. My griffin purred in my chest, the sound morphing into a growl as fresh juices wet Kat’s inner thighs.
