Chapter 44: Griffin

44

GRIFFIN

" G riffin?" Kali follows me as I bustle around the house, tidying and picking things up. "Griffin, stop."

I don't stop. In fact, I make a beeline for the kitchen and start pulling food out of the fridge, ready to go all out and prepare one of my specialties from the groceries Elle, Kali's neighbour, has been home delivering for us. My blood feels like it's on fire, and I can't stop moving, or I'll explode.

"You're doing it again," she says quietly, approaching me like I'm a nervous animal.

In a way, I suppose I am.

"You've locked him up. I've barely seen him since we got back, and you're keeping yourself distracted instead of dealing with what happened."

"Nothing happened to me, only you." I growl. "I have nothing to deal with except for the fact that I screwed up." Every muscle in my body is taut, and I feel like a coiled spring.

Kali rests her fingertips gently on my arm, and I flinch away from her touch.

"Yes, you do. You shifted for the first time under traumatic circumstances, you found your mate, torn to pieces, and then watched her almost die, and you killed someone."

The beast has slowly been giving up small flashes of what happened that evening, like that's all he thinks I can process at a time. Except all it's done is give me a confusing jumble of images that make me feel dizzy as I try to slot them together to see the full story. It's like the world's worst hangover.

"So did you." I counter, like the asshole that I am. "And they deserved it. Nothing to feel bad about there."

Kali nods. "You're right. I can sleep much better knowing that Serena is dead, and I feel no remorse for Martin." She sighs. "Doesn't mean I don't have nightmares about it."

"It's not the same." The beast is up against my insides, unhappy with the fact that I haven't claimed my mate again since we returned. I resume my attempt to cook.

Kali yanks the pan out of my hand and sets it on the countertop. "It is."

When I glare at her, refusing to fight with her, she pouts.

"It's either that, or you regret claiming me."

My answer is immediate and forceful. "Never."

"Then what's going on, Griffin?" Kali throws up her hands. "We've been home a week—that's seven long days of pining for a mate who's more interested in cleaning the kitchen than tending to his mate's needs."

I close my eyes. We've been here before, Kali goading me into letting the beast loose, but it's not happening again. "You're recovering. Evan was right, I should never have taken you while you were so badly injured. It was beyond selfish."

Kali rolls her eyes at me… fucking rolls her eyes, and I want to spank her bratty ass.

"You've slept for a week, Kali. You needed me to mind you and feed you out there, not coat you in my cum and fuck you senseless."

A smile tips up the corner of her mouth. "Your home remedy worked. My scars healed up well." She shows me her arms and lifts her T-shirt to flash me her toned stomach, that has nothing more than some pale lines, almost like stretch marks, covering her silky skin.

I want to touch it. I've deprived myself for so long.

"And I'm feeling much better now." She does look better. Her eyes are brighter, her cheeks are flushed, and she's put back on a few pounds from all the cakes Maisy's been dropping at the door. "You did a good job, Griffin. I know you might not like what your beast did, but I'm alive. It doesn't matter now."

"It matters to me." I can't get past the fact that I put her through all of that.

She flutters her eyelashes at me, the little seductress, sliding her hands up my abdomen and over my chest before resting her hands on my shoulders.

"I miss you." She presses a kiss to the base of my throat and sighs. Inhaling deeply, she eases closer, her breasts touching me, and our hips meet. There's no way she can't feel the raging hard on I've been sporting since we got home. "How can I convince you that I've forgiven your beast?"

When she bites her bottom lip, I'm lost, zoning in on how her plump lips glisten. That's why I don't immediately notice her fingers deftly opening my belt and the top button of my jeans.

"Kali…" I warn, but she shushes me, sliding her hand inside my trousers and cupping my stiff length, her warm grip is fraying my control, making me groan. "I can't be gentle. He's there, waiting to take charge the minute I let my guard down."

Tugging my jeans down over my hips, she blinks up at me, unrepentant, as she lowers herself to her knees, right here in the middle of the kitchen.

Fuck.

"I'm more than happy to indulge your beast's desires. I think I've proven that I'm made of tough stuff."

Freeing my length, she licks her lips, and I have to bury my hands in my hair just to stop them from wrapping her blonde ponytail around my fist.

"I've been dreaming about this," she murmurs right before she laps up the bead of pre-cum on the tip of my cock, and then hums in pleasure.

Easing the broad head past her lips, she locks eyes with me, and I almost come on the spot. She looks like an angel on her knees before more. But it feels wrong. I need to be worshipping her.

Leaning forward, I plan to grab her under the arms and lift her to her feet, but she growls, the vibration travelling through my groin and making me weak at the knees.

"Mine." She snarls, her tongue travelling from the base, all the way to my sensitive tip.

As she closes her soft mouth around me, stars erupt behind my eyes. It's the best thing I've ever felt.

Rocking my hips to push further into her mouth, I curse, flexing fingers first, then digging them into my eyeballs to keep them away from her head.

Kali's eyes meet mine again, and she grabs my hands, bringing them to her head, giving me permission to take control.

"Fuck, Kali, you're perfect. You look so fucking beautiful on your knees for me."

Kali whimpers, the scent of her arousal perfuming the air, and sucks me down further, her hands resting on my thighs now, as she gets into a rhythm.

Cradling the back of her head, I thrust gently, obsessed with the sight of my cock sliding past her red, swollen lips.

"Tell me. Tell me what I can do to make up for it." I'm not even sure I'm talking to Kali. I've worked out what I can do to prove myself worthy of Kali to everyone… except for the most important person in this relationship.

What do you do to make up for kidnapping someone?

When she hears the genuine anguish in my voice, she pops off my cock and looks up at me, fierce and glorious.

Sliding my eyes shut, I try to push back the beast. He's trying to take over, but I need this to be me and Kali. I need to hear her answer.

Standing, she keeps hold of my stiff length, still wet from her mouth, and then slides her hand up and down, pumping me slowly with her sure grip.

"You can let me mark you." I feel her certainty through our bond, and her words are like a balm to my soul. "I'd have done it the second we got home if you weren't always running away from me."

That, I can do. If she still wants to make me hers, I'm not going to fight her.

Scooping her up, I set her ass on the counter and hitch the end of her thin dress up. Her panties are damp as I slide my fingers into the edge and tug them down. I claim her mouth, gripping her head to keep her where I want her, before pressing two fingers deep into her tight channel.

Why the fuck was I holding back?

When Kali says she wants me, I'd be an idiot to argue with her.

Curling my fingers, I swallow down her keening moans, getting a surge of primitive joy when she digs her fingers into my back, pulling me closer. Her hot breath on my neck sends goosebumps down my spine. I can feel her teeth gently pressing into my shoulder as she gasps and moans with each pulse of my fingers.

"I'm going to let you bite me, and then…" All sorts of filthy ideas are running through my mind, a week's worth of pent-up frustration being unleashed, all at once. "Then I'm going to flip you over and fuck you right here, letting your pussy drip down your legs as I pound into your tight cunt."

I gather her skirt around her waist, bunching it up in my fist, needing to see where my soaked fingers plunge in and out of her. I need it to be me, my cock, disappearing into her body.

"Bite me." I demand.

Using my thumb to stroke her clit, her cries of pleasure ease the knot in my chest that's grown bigger the more I've tried to keep my distance. I'm not perfect and nowhere near good enough for Kali, but I'm going to take advantage of every minute with her.

The sting of her teeth scraping my skin sends tingles skittering along my nerves, and I drag her to the edge of the counter, lining my throbbing dick up with her entrance. Gripping her hips, grabbing her luscious ass, I need to drive home and fill her.

"You never let me finish. You need to do two things to make it up to me," Kali whispers, her lips brushing my ear, as she speaks before she nips my earlobe, giving it a teasing tug. "Wear my mark." Her tongue teasing the shell of my ear has me pushing against her tight channel, loving the sight of my cock disappearing an inch inside her body, stretching her wide. "Then I want you to breed me. Fuck me so often, you trigger my heat, and put a baby inside me."

It's forbidden. Having a baby with Kali will be dangerous. Nobody will be happy, apart from us. But damn, if the idea doesn't trigger some primal urge inside me.

Kali's teeth sink into my soft flesh, and I hold her to me, wrapping my arms around her, my anchor, while the bond swirls around us, strengthening our connection even further.

With a roar, I surge forward, burying myself inside her.

She's not in heat. It's not going to happen, but damn, am I going to enjoy pretending.

"You want me to fuck a baby into you?" Yanking her ponytail back, I expose the column of her throat as I drive into her, harder and harder, sucking and biting on her neck.

"Yes. God, yes," Kali whispers, her voice stuttering each time my hips slam into her. Heels digging into the back of my thighs, she arches her back, moaning loudly, as I drag my mouth roughly over her neck, sucking on her mark in time with each thrust.

Slipping my hand between us, I stroke two fingers over her clit, hard, knowing the pressure will tip her over the edge.

"Mine." I growl in male satisfaction as she cries out, her tight channel rippling around me as her climax rips through her, and her walls flutter. That's all it takes for me to join her.

With one last frantic snap of my hips, I spill deep inside her, painting her with jet after jet of my cum.

"That's a much better use for it." Kali comments as I absentmindedly push any escaping cum back inside her body.

"Damn right."