A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(103)

“No, I—”

“You can’t walk,” I cut her off. “Flynn, you’ll have to carry her.”

Jocasta snaps her mouth shut, her sapphire eyes shooting blue fire. Flynn bends down and scoops her up. She links her arms around his neck, blushing furiously.

Ha! That was easy enough. I grab Kato and pull him ahead.

“Don’t hold hands with me. If Griffin sees, he’ll have me dismembered.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not holding your hand. I’m dragging you away.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain when you’re older.”

He grins. “Don’t get your hopes up. She shouldn’t, either.”

“Why? She’s beautiful.”

“Beauty isn’t the problem. It’s rank.”

“I’m a nobody from the circus, and Griffin still wants me.”

Kato scoffs. “A nobody?”

“You look like Adonis,” I say, rolling right over his skepticism. “I’m surprised it’s not you she wants.”

“I’m saving myself for Kaia,” he answers with a perfectly straight face.

I snort a laugh.

“Jocasta is good,” Kato says. “Flynn is good.”

“And you’re not?”

His broad shoulders lift in a shrug. “Flynn carried her home after she fell out of a tree when she was six or seven. There’s no competing with that.”

No, I suppose not.

“How’s the sleeping?” he asks.

“I miss you patting my head.” I mean to sound flippant, but I don’t.

He glances at me, suddenly serious. “Nightmares?”

I shake my head.

“Because you’re sleeping with Griffin?”

“I am not sleeping with Griffin! I’m sleeping in his room.” In his tunic. In his bed… “It’s completely different.”

Kato’s eyebrows creep up. “I see.”

He drags the word out. It’s annoying, so I shove him, but he doesn’t even react. No playful tussle. No quick grappling. No fun.

Frustrated, I cry, “I’m not made of glass!”

His arm shoots out. He pushes me, and I careen off to the side, nearly falling over.

Kato gives me a significant look. “I’ll wrestle you to the ground when you can handle it.”

Scowling, I glance back at Flynn and Jocasta as I stumble onto the path again. She’s stiff, and he’s staring straight ahead. “What’s wrong with those two? They could at least try.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kato says.

“Why?”

He gives my hair an affectionate ruffle. “Because I’m wondering the same thing about you.”

*

I should have known Griffin wouldn’t wait forever. After dinner, and a long time going over all our strategies to win support at the realm dinner, he doesn’t leave me outside the bedroom as usual. He follows me in, shutting the door with a decisive click.

“What are you doing?” I back up, keeping an eye on him.

He takes two steps, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me ravenously. “I want you. I need you. For as many hours as possible, I don’t want to think about anything but you.”

My heart gives a desperate lurch. Griffin pulls me into his arms and kisses a scorching line along my jaw and down my neck, gently scraping his teeth over my hammering pulse.

“You need a lot of things,” I say, already breathless. “Like a Dragon. That doesn’t mean you’ll get one.”

“I don’t give a Centaur’s balls about a Dragon right now.”

“Griffin! Language!”

“Are you trying to sound like my mother?” he growls against my neck.

“Is it like a bucket of ice?”

He picks me up and tosses me onto the bed. “What do you think?”

I land with an undignified grunt. I think not.

He crawls on top of me, pins my arms above my head, and plants his mouth on my breast, sucking my nipple right through my dress. I yelp and twist, pleasure exploding under his mouth. Desire arcs through me. I pull on my hands, wanting to touch him, but Griffin’s grip tightens as he uses his teeth to pull down the neckline of my gown. My breasts pop out, pushed up like an offering. We both stare at the bare skin, at the dark peaks. Then he dips his head and licks one nipple. Heat rushes to my belly. He swirls his tongue over the taut bud before turning to the other side and sucking hard enough to lift me off the bed. I gasp, the drag of his mouth stirring an aching pull deep inside me.

I arch toward him, already damp with arousal. His erection presses against the most intimate part of me, sparking hot jolts of sensation every time he moves. He sucks, licks, and rocks while I writhe under him, my trapped hands curling into fists. Mindlessness sets in, feeling driving away thought.

Griffin lifts his head and lets go of my wrists. His callused fingers slide down my arms, adding a thrilling roughness to his unhurried touch. I tangle my fingers in his hair, powerless against the brewing storm and the heat and tension building between us. I wrap my legs around his hips because this fully clothed, grinding closeness isn’t nearly close enough. I long for him. I want him filling the empty, throbbing place between my thighs.