A Mate for Griffin (8 page)

“That’s interesting.” She looked small and upset rather than interested. This was probably her attempt at changing the topic of conversation.

“We don’t want any more deaths.” Lance looked at Griffin pointedly. So much for trying. “I think you two should leave and go and ensure it doesn’t happen, otherwise I could organize a female for you.”

Sarah tensed.

“You didn’t just say that.” Griffin scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m fine. Leave it alone.”

“He’s not fine.” Lance looked at Sarah.

“Fine, Lance. We get it. Can we drop it now please?” Griffin narrowed his eyes at the male. Enough was e-
fucking
-nough. The fact was that he wasn’t about to rut some female. It would make Sarah look like an idiot. He couldn’t do that to her. He did need blood, and soon. He felt bad asking Eleanor for more, but what else was he going to do? If he went to one of the vampire females they would talk amongst themselves, which in turn would reflect badly on Sarah. He had talked her into this and he would damn well do right by her until Lance grew a brain.

“Sort your shit out. I don’t want your death hanging over me.” Always pretending not to care. Griffin knew otherwise. He could see it in Lance’s eyes.

“You care and would miss me.” Griffin smiled.

“Bull-
fucking
-shit. I don’t want to be blamed…that’s it!” Lance stared into the garden. Like the trees and flowers were so interesting all of a sudden.

“You care, asshole. You fucking care.” It would be awesome if someone admitted it.

“You wish.” Lance smiled.

A group of females walked past. They giggled and pointed. One of the females broke away from the group.

“Lance,” she purred. “Long time no see.”

“Sapphire…yeah…too long.” Lance looked her up and down, his meaning clear. Damn, it was not supposed to go down like this. Sarah was about to witness Lance hooking up with another female if he didn’t do something.

“We’re having a private conversation,” Griffin blurted.

“Private?” Lance snorted. “Yeah right. Don’t listen to the boy.” Lance’s gaze finally locked with the female’s.

“It’s definitely a private fucking conversation.” Griffin growled, unable to help himself. There was no way in hell he was going to allow Sarah to endure this. She was already unsure about their goal. It wouldn’t take much for his plans to fall apart.

Lance chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were jealous. You don’t have to be. You have a female but if you don’t get what you need from her…” Griffin could see that Lance was joking. His friend was trying to get his message across but was going about it all wrong.

“Fuck you and fuck that!”

Chuckling, Lance stood up and walked to the group of females. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“I’m timing you, asshole.” Griffin said, making sure he projected his seriousness.

“What’s got into you?” Lance said over his shoulder as he neared the females. He didn’t wait for an answer, just kept on walking.

“This is a bad idea,” Sarah whispered. “Maybe we should go back. He’s not interested, he’s trying to push me onto you and didn’t even remember my name.”

“Didn’t you see how he checked you out as we were approaching?” Griffin kept his arm loosely slung over her shoulders.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he checks everyone out.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Lance might not be picky when it comes to bed partners, but Griffin knew he didn’t give every female he came across heated stares. It made him want to punch the male even though it was the reaction he had been after. It also pissed him off that Lance hadn’t seemed to remember her name. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Doesn’t check everyone out?…Yeah right,” she mumbled.

The vampire females broke out into peals of laughter. Lance was being his charming self. Trying to organize himself a female for this evening. Not that he had to try very fucking hard.

“Hey…” He cupped her jaw. “We spoke about this. It’s going to take time. I told you he might be an asshat and that we would need to persevere. Do you remember me saying that?”

She nodded.

“Good.”

Sarah tried to smile but he could see that her eyes were clouded. She looked hurt and rightly so. They had known that this wouldn’t be a walk in the park. “He’ll come around. How could he not?”

“You’re really sweet, Griffin.” She paused. “I’m starting to think that maybe I was wrong about him.”

“Don’t say that. Please don’t give up on him.” He removed his hand. “He’s a good male. He really is. I know that it’s hard to see that through all the bullshit sometimes.”

“A good guy…” She didn’t look convinced. “Maybe when it comes to being a friend to you. I can see that he cares for you by the way, even if he won’t admit it.” She smiled. It made her look even sadder. “What’s this whole thing about drinking and…you know?” Her cheeks infused with a hint of pink.

“Rutting?” He watched with fascination as pink became red and her eyes averted.

Griffin had to stifle a chuckle. So timid. It was endearing. It must have taken enormous guts to pursue Lance the way she did in the beginning.

“Yeah…what you said. Lance seemed pretty adamant that you should be doing both. Are you putting yourself at risk because of Lance and I? Not that there’s a Lance and I.”

“Nah. He over-exaggerates.” Not really, but he couldn’t tell her that. He really needed to get to Eleanor. Blood would make a big difference. No sex, he would have to deal.

She looked at him as if to say that he was full of shit. “He doesn’t seem like the drama queen type.”

“You would be surprised,” Griffin mumbled. “Look, as to the drinking”—he looked around to make sure that no one was watching—“I will go to Eleanor once we are done here. I will take what I need from her until Lance catches a fucking clue.”

“And the other thing? Lance seemed to think that it also makes a difference.” She looked truly worried about him. Sarah was so sweet.

He shrugged. “Vampire males need to rut at least once a day if they want to maintain optimum strength but it’s not a big deal. I can manage on less than optimum. I swear.” Maybe a bit of a break was in order. Training had been a nightmare.

“It is a big deal.” She stared at him like he had grown pink horns or something. “If you need to…you know…then you should do it. Please don’t let me stand in your way.” Her eyes darted around them. “It’s not like we’re really together.”

“I know that you wouldn’t stop me. It’s just that it would look bad if I rutted others while I’m supposed to be with you. Rumors spread quickly. It would reflect badly on you and I won’t have that.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “That’s really sweet. I appreciate it. Sorry to cramp your style.”

“Nah. It’s not like that. I don’t mind at all. I can take care of myself.” He flexed his hand and bobbed his eyebrows.

Sarah burst out laughing and it was like freaking music to his ears. A louder burst of laughter erupted from the group drawing her attention and Sarah immediately looked at her hands clasped in her lap.

Sapphire was draped all over Lance. Her head was flung backwards, in an all out laugh. Griffin knew that the two of them sometimes shared a bed. It was evident just by watching them together.

“I think that we need to get his attention back on you.” Griffin turned all of his focus on her.

Her blue eyes flashed to his. “How do we do that?”

Griffin shrugged. “Lance suffers from FOMO. I recently learned that acronym. It means fear of missing out.” He grinned at her and she smiled back.

“What should we do?” She looked up at him from under her lashes. Sheesh, this female had no idea how stunning she was.

Griffin shrugged. “Let’s kiss. We need to practice doing it since we are going to be in public often over the next week anyways and we need to make Lance jealous.”

“Okay. Nothing over the top though.” She gave her head a small shake.

He shook his head. “Just a quick kiss or two. I’m sure he’ll come running once he sees that we’re having more fun than him. We need to make it look authentic though. Climb onto my lap.” He patted his thighs.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She glanced down at his denim clad thighs.

“It’s a fantastic idea. Just sit on my lap, buddy. It won’t mean anything. We will keep it simple.” He gave his thighs a rub.

“No tongues.” She raised her brows.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “We already agreed to no tongues but I want you on my lap, otherwise it won’t be much of a kiss.”

She slid onto his lap, her little hands circled around his neck. She felt surprisingly good against him. Her scent was candied apples. The really sweet kind. He wondered if she tasted as good as she scented, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

He bracketed her waist with his hands, feeling her tense. “I won’t touch anywhere I’m not supposed to but we need to make this look real. Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“It will look more real if you do. Also, moan loudly a few times to draw his attention. I might slide my hand up your back, so don’t be startled. Are you ready?” He looked down at her enticing lips. At least this wouldn’t be a hardship.
Not at all
. It made him feel guilty.

“I’m ready.” Her eyes were also glued to his lips. Her hands were tightly clasped at the back of his neck. Her whole body radiated tension.

“Just relax. Close your eyes and don’t forget to moan.” He whispered the last against her lips.

She did as he said, her eyes fluttering closed. Her embrace tightened but he reminded himself that it was nerves and not anticipation.

He felt like an asshole for noticing how damned enticing she was. This was technically Lance’s female, even if the male didn’t know it yet. It was just a kiss, dammit! He needed the idiot male to notice her, to start paying attention. That meant that he needed to show Lance what he was missing.

Griffin leaned in, his lips mere moments away from hers. He could taste her breath. More of the same, candied apples…so fucking sweet.

He eased his hold on her hips and gently brushed his lips against hers. Sarah jumped in his arms and sucked in a little breath. She reminded him of a timid creature ensnared in a trap. “Shhh, easy.” he whispered against the softest lips he had ever felt.

Her eyes cracked open just a smidgen.

Griffin moved his hand up her back and pushed his fingers into her long hair until he had her clasped by the back of her head. He pulled back just a smidgen. “Now, breathe.”

She sucked in a deep, shuddery breath.

“You are safe with me.” he whispered.

“Okay.” She gave a small nod beneath his touch.

“Good.” He lowered his lips back to hers, keeping his touch soft. Her eyes fluttered closed and she seemed to melt against him.

He moved back and slanted his lips across hers again. Sarah gave a soft whimper and leaned in closer.

He had to remind himself that she was only pretending. His body didn’t seem to give a fuck though. There was a familiar tightening and stirring as his dick sprang to life. It had been a while since he was last with a female so this reaction was perfectly normal. No use trying to fight it. It was purely biological and meant nothing.

Sarah moaned. Raw and base. It came from somewhere deep within her. This female might blush at any talk of sex but she was receptive as fuck.

His other hand curled into her hair as well. It was long and thick. Soft as the finest spun silk.

All he wanted was a tiny taste. Just a quick…he had planned on touching his tongue to her lip. One quick flick. Her mouth opened at that exact moment and they came together. His tongue circling with hers. His dick lurched in his pants. It all out fucking lurched.

Another sensual moan filled the small alcove. He could feel her breasts pushed up against him. Her hard as fuck nipples. Her sweet scent accosted his senses as the smell of her arousal filled the space. This female was…fuck…she was all soft lips and hot tongue. Her body was tight as fuck, but soft in all the right places. A combination he had never experienced before. It was his turn to moan.

“Get yourselves a room.” Lance said, his voice sounded flat and bored.

Sarah pulled away from him like she’d been tasered. Her eyes were wide and her breaths came in little pants. Her lips were swollen.

Fuck!

“Sorry.” he mumbled, feeling like the biggest asshole alive.

“What the fuck do you have to be sorry about?” Lance sat back down next to them. Totally oblivious to the fact that the sorry had been for Sarah, not him.

Sarah tried to get off of his lap but he held onto her.

“Nothing,” Griffin said. He couldn’t explain that now could he?

“It’s about fucking time that you two got a room. There’s nothing to feel sorry about.” Lance paused. “A couple of the guys are playing poker tomorrow night, are you game?”

Griffin shrugged. Poker nights were usually guys only. “I’m not sure I can make it.” He pulled Sarah a little more firmly onto his lap. The idea was to get Lance to notice her and that meant having both parties present.