Fearless (Nameless #3)(24)
“Have you seen Millie about it?”
Zo rolled her eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Striker.”
Gryphon raised an eyebrow. “May I … ” he cleared his throat in obvious discomfort. “May I see?”
Zo’s mouth went completely dry. Her pulse quickened, and before she could even evaluate her answer, she caught herself nodding, swept up in the uncertainty of his open gaze.
Zo slowly tugged at the laces of her jerkin, not fully untying them, but loosening them just enough to lift the blouse underneath to expose her stomach and lower ribs. For all they’d endured together, she shouldn’t have been so nervous. So … shy.
Gryphon hissed as he reached out and brushed his fingertips along the line of her lowest ribs. The bruising was a dark purple and spanned the length of Gryphon’s hand. Zo closed her eyes to fully appreciate the sensation of his careful touch. When his hand fell away, his features turned hard and … deadly. Like a Ram.
“Who did this to you?”
“What? No one.”
Gryphon clasped her hand and led her over to a large, flat boulder where they could sit down. “Please, Zo.” He looked away, chest heaving, breathing heavily through his nose. Anger rolled off of him, so tangible she doubted she even needed her heightened abilities to sense it. “You don’t just wake up with something like that. Please … tell me who did this. I need to know.”
“No one hurt me,” she said. “I really did just wake up—”
“No!” Gryphon stood up and took five steps away from her before wheeling back, an accusing finger pointed at the campfires in the valley below. “I don’t know what this filth does to their women, but I won’t sit by and let it happen.”
“You’re really going to lecture Wolves on the proper treatment of others?” Zo snapped.
“I swear on my life, Zo. I’ll kill the man.” He looked down at her, fury and fire battling for dominance in his handsome and frightening face. “Was it Laden?”
At that Zo actually laughed. “Gryphon, please.” She stood and walked over to him, reaching her hands up to his shoulders, pushing a bit of serenity into him as her fingers melted down his arms and finally clasped his hands. “I swear to you that I am no one’s victim. This is just a random fluke. An anomaly. Who knows? I might have fallen while sleepwalking.”
Some of the tension in Gryphon’s stance relaxed. He lowered his forehead to rest against hers. “I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I just don’t trust these people, Zo.” He stepped back and took her by the shoulders. “I need to know that you’re safe with them.”
“These are my people, Gryphon.”
Doubt crossed his expression. “But they aren’t mine.” Dropping to his knees in front of her, Gryphon took her hips with his large hands. Zo swallowed, hypnotized by his strength as well as his careful touch. She let her fingers weave into his dark hair as he rested his forehead against her stomach.
“You know, I never properly thanked you for the healing yesterday,” his voice was muffled. “When I peeked into your tent this morning before joining Laden on the training field, you were still asleep. I wanted to let you rest.”
Zo dropped to her knees to join him on the ground. His arm snaked around her back, supporting, embracing, protecting. He traced the outline of her jaw with his rough fingertips and Zo managed a weak, “It was … a pleasure.” She shuddered as his hand moved to her neck and then slid off her shoulder, down her back.
Unable to resist any longer, Zo grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him to her. His lips met hers in a beautiful collision of desire but quickly melted into something softer. Her hands fell away from his shirt to rest on his broad shoulders as her lips moved against his in a gentle, natural rhythm. Cupping the side of her neck, Gryphon communicated his tender, selfless adoration.
Giving, instead of taking.
Loving, instead of demanding love.
His lips slid along her cheek and neck. Zo tilted her head back while basking in his touch. The sky had darkened enough so the stars stood out against the blackish-blue expanse.
A shiver rippled over her skin as he nibbled on her ear. “Can I just keep you here, Zo?” He spoke between kisses. “Can we never leave this spot?”
A stab of guilt struck her. She still hadn’t told him she had to leave in the morning. “Gryphon.” With all her self-control, she leaned away to look into the endless depths of his brown eyes. “I … haven’t been completely honest with you.”
Gryphon froze, bracing himself. “What do you mean?”
Zo hesitated, hating to kill the moment but unable to bear the thought of deceiving him further about her promise to Ikatou and the Kodiak. “I’m leaving.”
Gryphon searched her face. “No, you’re not.” His eyes darkened, daring her to contradict him.
She swallowed. “I’m going with Ikatou to the Kodiak Caves in the morning. The trip should only last a week or so. Laden wants us to convince Murtog to come and take part in the Ostara. He hopes to persuade the chief and the rest of his men to join our cause.”
“What is this Ostara everyone keeps mentioning?” he said, flatly.
Gryphon, a Ram, wouldn’t be familiar with the customs of her people. “It’s an old tradition. Wolves hold them every spring to celebrate the equinox, trade goods, and discuss any threats to the region. This Ostara would be different because Laden hopes to have all three clans—Wolf, Raven, and Kodiak—present.”