He rolls his hips, sending desire roaring through me. “You’re sure?” he asks.
No! “Yes!”
He clasps the back of my head and kisses a searing path down my neck, each ragged breath accompanied by a rhythmic thrust of his hips. “This is what it could be like, kardia mou. We were made for each other. Just imagine it.”
I am. I really am. My head falls back, and my whole body goes limp without ever consulting me. Just when I’m mindlessly following his tempo again, heady sensations coiling where our bodies meet, Griffin stops moving and drops his forehead to mine. He draws in a slow, labored breath, lifts me off his lap, and sets me on the ground next to him.
My jaw nearly unhinges. What? Now? I’m throbbing. It’s delicious. It’s excruciating. It’s…incomplete. I almost crawl back on top of him and tell him to finish what he started. “You’re meaner than a Cyclops.”
His smile looks pained.
I scowl, making a sound of frustration.
“Was that a growl?” he asks. His chest rises and falls like he’s been running for hours.
“Maybe.” I throw him a dirty look.
Ignoring my crankiness, he decides that now is apparently a good time to unwrap my wrist and inspect the cut. He checks the fresh scab before binding it again with a clean cloth and then soaking the old one with water. My heart rate calming, I draw my legs up under me and sit there, fevered tension draining from me, annoyingly content to let Griffin take care of me.
“I’m going to check in with the others. I’ll be back soon,” he says, raising my knuckles to his lips. “Stay here and rest.”
I nod, watching him dim the lamp and then leave the tent, my hand still tingling.
I miss him while he’s gone, which is a rather terrifying thing to admit, even to myself. When he comes back, I’m more than ready for him to sit with me again and gather me close. He sees me still awake and waiting for him and doesn’t disappoint.
“Earlier…” I clear my throat, leaning against him. “You stopped because I asked you to?”
Griffin’s chin brushes the top of my head, slowly rubbing. “Yes. And because you were making enough noise to wake the entire camp.”
“I was not!” I cry, outraged.
He chuckles. “That, and I was about three seconds from ripping your clothes off and sinking into you. I’m not sure you’re ready for that.”
Heat floods me. My heart slams against my ribs. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready for that.
“You should be stronger first.”
“I told you, I can’t.” So I really need to stop imagining it.
“Don’t delude yourself, Cat. Where do you think this is going to end up?”
His words knock the breath from my lungs. Is he right? Are my only options to leave him or give in?
I glance at his profile. Broad cheekbones, strong jaw, hawkish nose, everything shadowed in the faint light. He’s so steady and sure, the exact opposite of me. For that alone, I never want to give him up. With every touch, every word, he shows me that life can be different from what I’ve always known, different enough to dull my past, and forget my future. Even the prophecy fades. Around him, I’m just a woman, not the woman who will destroy the world.
I pluck at my fresh bandage, and Griffin wraps his fingers around mine. “You’ll unravel the knot,” he says, keeping my hand in his.
Warmth travels from my hand straight to my heart. For Griffin, life isn’t drawn in absolutes, but it’s pretty black and white. He won’t settle for less than what he thinks we should have, and I…I…
I don’t know what to do.
He drags the flask of Fisan clover water over, opens it, and hands it to me. I drink and then hand it back.
“Good,” he says, trying it for the first time. “Like cool spring mornings and sweetness.”
Cool spring mornings and sweetness. Eleni. I take a deep breath. It shudders on the way out.
“You all right?” he asks, rubbing my back.
I nod, uncomfortable taking comfort from another human being, being cared for, sharing. Clearly, I’ve fallen off the deep end.
Can I go back to being alone?
I doubt Griffin would let me. He’d tie me up with his magic rope if he had to.
I smile, ducking my head to hide it. “You make me weak.”
He stills. Even his breathing goes quiet. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t bleed anymore. The Gods only know what my blood has done to yours.”
“What’s in your blood, Cat?”