Page 16 of The Grip of Death
Xander screamed, thick, hot ropes of himself splashing against my torso. That did it, pushing me over the edge. The pleasure rushed through me, out of my cock, flooding his insides with what felt like endless waves. I groaned, my limbs trembling, fighting not to collapse on top of him, to crush my betrothed so close to our wedding day. I rolled off Xander and fell onto my side of the bed, my sweat soaking into the sheets.
“Very selfish,” he breathed, staring at the ceiling with a goofy, satisfied grin on his face. “Not very masterly behavior at all.”
I lifted a finger, still catching my breath myself. “Technically, I was helping you decompress by distracting you from all the scary wedding planning stuff. So, you know. Very selfless, actually. Very sexy of me, too.”
He smacked the back of his hand against my chest, laughing feebly.
“Gods, Jack, I love you. Gods above and below, I love you so much.”
I slid my arm under his waist, pulling him closer. I knew I’d never grow tired of this, all the sex and the silliness with this perfect man, my future husband. Mission accomplished. Every last one of Xander’s muscles was finally relaxed. Even his dick. Were dicks muscles? Whatever. What was I, a rocket scientist?
And then his body seized up again as he sat up with a start, going from flat to a stiff ninety degrees in a single terrifying motion. He stared at me with huge eyes.
“Jackson! We forgot about the ring bearer!”
8
I’d forgottenthat Xander and I had quietly agreed to find a replacement for Whitby as our ring bearer, mainly because Whitby really, really didn’t want to do it. And we’d apparently picked a fine day to go and visit Zephyr at his clifftop roost, finding him in a cheerful mood. Then again, Zephyr was pretty much always in a good mood when Xander and I showed up with armloads of rotisserie chickens.
Six of them between us this time, in fact. Zephyr could be a bit of a diva at the best of times — quite the understatement — so I wanted to be sure that our bribe would go over well. Both Xander and I genuinely wanted him at our wedding, and what’s more, how badass would it be to have a gryphon in our entourage?
But again: diva. After tucking into three entire rotisserie chickens, good old Zephyr was still playing hard to get.
“Preposterous.” Zephyr slammed his paw into the ground, his favored way of adding emphasis, but also of drawing attention. “A whole other creature, all for the purpose of bearing a rock? Ridiculous. Truly a waste of energy and space.”
I riffled my hands through my hair in frustration. “Zeph, man, come on. It’s actually such an important part of a humanwedding. You would play such an important part. Can’t have a wedding without a ring bearer.”
Xander bit his tongue, possibly because both of us had mentally stumbled upon the same realization. A ring bearer, in most situations, could be one of two things. It was either a small child or the family dog. Sharing this information with Zephyr clearly wouldn’t make him consider the idea any more favorable. That is, unless we actually bribed him with a small child or a family dog.
Another slam of his paw as he glared at me sidelong. “I still find it highly offensive that you believe me deserving of this dubious honor. Would not a bear be the more appropriate selection for such a lowly occupation? Stinking, earthbound brutes that they are. Not even good for eating. Too tough and stringy for my taste.”
I rubbed my face in both hands, kneading my temples with my fingertips. Xander chuckled under his breath.
“Zephyr,” I said. “Bears have nothing to do with it. You’re an important part of our life — someone we consider a friend — and it would mean so much to have you as an important part of this important day.”
“And Jack hasn’t even mentioned the best part.” Xander reached out, running his fingers through the gryphon’s feathers. “Everybody gets dressed up because it’s a very special occasion, and the person in charge of all our garments had something very special in mind for you. Ribbons.”
I cocked an eyebrow, trying not to show Zephyr my confusion. When did Xander and Beatrice have a conversation about dressing Zephyr up in ribbons? Unless — was he bluffing? My beautiful groom lying straight through his teeth to get the stubborn gryphon to attend our wedding. As if I could love him any harder.
Zephyr tilted his head. “Ribbons, you say? Adornments, then. Like one of your human soldiers.”
I shrugged. “Or, you know, like a little girl. Nice and fancy, either way.”
“Yes,” he said, eyes sharp, boring into the distance. “Nice and fancy, and formidable. A formidable little girl soldier, bloodied in battle, her talons dripping with blood, her hair dripping with ribbons.”
“That’s — that’s not the picture I had in mind, but — ”
Xander elbowed me in the ribs. “Shush. Don’t fight him on this. He’s coming around.”
“And the ceremonial extent of my responsibilities would include defending these so-called bits of jewelry of yours with my life. Is that correct?”
“They’re called rings, Zeph. Like one of these.” I held up my hand to show him my engagement ring. “And no, I’m quite sure you won’t have to actually defend them from robbers or anything. Not that anyone would be dumb enough to try.”
“You humans and your strange fancies, adorning your bodies with all sorts of trinkets. A polished rock, of all things. Here, have your pick of any rock you like.” He stretched out one talon, squinting at a particularly average specimen. “Except for that one. That one’s my favorite.”
Xander grinned. “We remember, Zephyr. You’ve shown us before. It’s certainly very pretty. So, what do you say? Will you join me and Jack and all the rest of our friends? We’d be honored to have you there.”
One more decisive slam from Zephyr’s paw, tossing up a cloud of dust and debris. “Very well. I shall participate in this human ceremony of yours. It appears to be very important to the both of you indeed, which is why you chose to invite a very important gryphon as your guest.”
