This time, we were too busy glaring at the cursed dagger to notice the old man walk out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, I placed a hand on Griff’s arm.“There’s only one person I hate enough to stab, but he’s too powerful,” I muttered.“We’re not going after a god,” Griff said.I shook my head. “Especially not one who flings curses for every occasion.”Griff walked to the dagger, crouched low, and examined its handle. I held out a hand and said, “Don’t touch it.”“There’s no chance of me doing that,” he muttered.“Hold on a second.” I jogged over to the Hatch, where I’d left the box from the vendors who had sold the dagger.Inside was a leather sheath and a pair of protective gloves labelled ONE USE ONLY. That was good enough for me. Nodding, I slipped one onto my hand, saved the other for later, and returned to the dagger.“What are you doing?” Griff asked.“Making sure neither of us gets nicked.” I picked up the dagger by its handle and stuck it into the leather sheat
“You were in a king-sized bed with a woman sitting on your face, another one riding your dick, and your fingers stuck in two more.” I shook my head. “The memory of it is so vivid. There were another two rolling about with each other, waiting their turn.”“An orgy,” he said, his words flat.“I screamed. Demanded to know what you were doing, but you kept going.” Disgust coiled around my belly and squeezed tight. I swayed on my feet, breathing hard to settle my stomach, glad we’d been too anxious to eat.“Is that when you killed me?” he asked.“No.” I swallowed. “Half of the women scrambled off you; the other half remained. They were she-wolves who bore a grudge. They kept fucking you and hurling insults, while you were acting like you’d won a golden ticket to the Playboy Mansion.”“Cathwulf,” he whispered.My breath came in panicked gasps. “They wouldn’t stop.” My voice trembled. “Every word they said made sense. I was too big, too oafish, too ugly to attract a man. Now that I’d lost my
“Is this the double-decker boat, right?” I said.Griff placed a hand on the small of my back and walked us into what looked like the corridor of a space age hotel. “The Thames Shuttle is the most luxurious way to travel, and I want to return to the Isle of Wight in style.”Our room was also white, but the half furthest away from the door was made of glass. A double bed took up that space, which had a full view of our surroundings.I glanced out of the window across the Thames at a bridge I was sure hadn’t existed when I was alive. When I turned to Griff to see if he had noticed, he was looking at me with a hunger in his eyes that made me feel like prey.My pulse kicked up a notch and warmth surged to my core. All notions of being an alpha female disappeared on butterfly wings, along with what was left of my confidence. I hadn’t spoken of that night in decades—there had been no need when my relationship with Griff had played on an endless loop.“This is a really nice room.” I tried to
Griff took my hand, and I followed him on trembling legs across the cabin to the side encased in glass. The last vestiges of sunlight shone over the concrete buildings across the river, coloring the water’s surface the exact shade of gold as his eyes.My heart alternated between fluttering and spasming. This moment was more perfect than I could have ever imagined. We had not only broken Griff’s curse and discussed our deaths, but we had given each other both compassion and forgiveness. This was a clean slate on which we could write the rest of our history.A doubt niggled in the back of my mind. What if something between us went wrong? We had thwarted Hades’ attempt at destroying Griff and Shifter City, but he could always return to exact his revenge. What if Griff found me lacking?We reached the double bed, which was covered in a white velvety quilt that contrasted with its black lacquered headboard. Metal hooks hung off its sides, which were probably for tying people up. I glanced
In several hasty movements, he tore off my boots and socks and tossed my trousers over his shoulders. I lay on that bed, panting and naked, save for the tank top still gathered around my waist.Griff snarled. “You’re wearing too much.”“I’ll take it off if you—”Before I could finish that sentence, Griff’s fingernails shifted into claws, and he tore the fabric into half.“Better.” His voice was, husky, animalistic, as though his wolf was close to the surface. “That’s how I want you. Naked and eager.”My breath caught, and I glanced up and locked gazes with Griff to find him staring at me as though I was his prey.Rapid heartbeats fluttered in my chest, not out of fear but out of giddy anticipation. I was about to lose my virginity in this body. This time, it would be with a man who wanted me with no ulterior motive.“Your turn,” I said, my voice breathy. “Take off your clothes.”“You want to see me naked, Cathwulf?” Griff snarled.“Yes,” I hissed.He cupped his crotch. “You want to se
“Feels good?” he said, his voice lilting with a smile.“More,” I cried.With a happy groan, he ran his soft, wet tongue over my nub, down my slit and to my opening. “You taste so good.”I panted, needing him to go faster, harder, but Griff seemed like he wanted to prolong the anticipation. Bucking my hips, I threaded my fingers through his hair and held him in position.He laughed. “My alpha bitch knows what she wants.”“Yes,” I said from between my bared teeth. “And I want it now.”“Cathy.” He circled my clit with his tongue.“Call me that again,” I whispered.“Cathy?”“Yes.” I hummed as he ran languid strokes that I felt across every nerve ending. My thighs trembled, but the rest of my body melted into the mattress.Griff moaned and growled as he pleasured me to a frenzy, his tongue picking up speed to match my accelerating pulse. The sensations were so intense, I thrashed about, but he wrapped his arms around my thighs and held me down.All I could do was lie there and take the ple
“Yours,” I whispered.Griff built up a steady rhythm of strokes that stoked the flames of my arousal. I bucked against him and shivered at the surge of pleasure. Throughout this, he continued staring deeply into my eyes until my vision filled with his wide pupils.Our souls connected. Even though I couldn’t see or hear his thoughts, his emotions poured through the bond. Pride, disbelief, awe, and underneath that, a bone-deep contentment that matched mine. A heartbeat later, our pleasure switched across our bonds, and I felt what it was like to be driving into an impossibly tight channel.My breaths turned shallow, and I dug my blunt nails into the muscles of his shoulders. Molten ecstasy overtook my senses, making my eyelids flutter closed.“Keep eye contact,” he said.“Right.” I forced my eyes open again.“I love you so much,” Griff snarled.“I love you, too.” The words tumbled from my lips, but they were the truth. No man had ever reached beneath my exterior and touched my heart. No
I glanced around, looking for a way to stop Boris from recognizing Griff. The guards at the bottom of the gangway shooed the small crowd backward to make way for the passengers. Griff curled his hand around mine, obvious to the potential danger. I tightened my grip and pulled him closer.“What’s wrong?” he asked with a frown.“There’s someone out here who will recognize you.” I nodded in the direction of the pier. One of the guards held a pair of flags and was directing the people back toward the pavement.“Who?”“Your former beta.”Griff’s head snapped to the end of the walkway, his face breaking into a smile. “Which one is he?”I swallowed hard. There was so much more to my story that I hadn’t told him. Griff knew I’d infiltrated Shifter City as a spy for Hades but had decided to betray him, but he didn’t know that Hades had sent more shifters than just me.My lips tightened into a thin line. I had no idea what Boris was doing here, of all places, or why he was accosting the other p