Griffin grins and mouths, “Mine.” I groan half-heartedly. Ally told me everyone would know if I slept with anyone weeks ago, but they could have warned me about the evidence on my skin.
“You’re not really mad, are you?” Griffin takes me by the shoulders and pushes me away so he can see my face.
“No, but it’s kind of embarrassing.” I scrunch up my nose.
“Would wearing a wedding ring be embarrassing?” he counters.
“Well…” I think about it for a second. “Wearing two rings just a few weeks after meeting you guys might be a little awkward,” I admit, but his words give me a marvelous idea. If they can stake their claim, so can I.
“Why are you smiling like that? Nothing good can come from that smile. That smile says I’m about to get into trouble.” Griffin searches my face. I grin even wider. “Bear, she’s up to something,” he hollers to Evan.
“I’m not scared, vampire, or should I say chicken?” Evan is leaning against the doorframe again, all casual and gorgeous in a pair of jeans that fit just right and a black T-shirt. I envy how easy guys have it when it comes to dressing, but then I look over at Griffin in his suit and I’m happy I don’t have to wear that.
Griffin trails his hand over my bare backside, and I swat it away. “You’re still in trouble, Headmaster Stone.”
Griffin lowers his chin and gives me a hard glare that should frighten me, but it doesn’t. “How about I give you a spanking and we call it even?”
A fit of laughter bursts out of me before I can help it. “That would make us even, huh?”
Griffin moves lightning quick, so he’s standing behind me in the mirror. One of his hands pushes my head down so my butt is right up against his groin. “I promise you will love it, Ms. Shaw.” His hand makes contact with the side of my butt and hip with a quick snap, and his fingers tighten on the nape of my neck. A flush steals its way over my chest, and my nipples tingle.
I spin around so I’m facing him and give him a glare of my own, even though I’m sure he knows I’m aroused. “Next time you want to spank me, you better ask nicely.” His eyes are on mine, so when I grab hold of his dick, I see when they widen. He’s hard, so I give him a little squeeze, then back away slowly.
Griffin doesn’t move a muscle except to watch me. I’m not even sure if he’s breathing. Very slowly, a grin tips up one side of his mouth. It’s devilish and far too attractive.
Once I reach Evan’s chest, he wraps his arms around my body and puts his lips to my ear. “If he swats you again without permission, I’ll hold him down so you can get your own licks in.”
“I think he would enjoy that.” I giggle.
“You’ve no idea, Ms. Shaw.”
My hip is smarting, and now I’m horny too. Great, that’s not how I expected that conversation to go, not that I can complain.
Chapter 21
Quinn
Now dressed, we’re sitting at a small dinette table in the kitchen—more evidence his place is larger than mine. I didn’t have a table, just a bar along the counter with two stools. “It was pretty late when you guys got done last night,” I comment, hoping it will spur them into sharing what they found out yesterday.
Evan shovels another bite of eggs into his mouth. Having gourmet meals delivered at a whim is a pretty nice perk of working at Havenfall. “It was,” he agrees after swallowing.
“How did it go?” My voice is a little high. I’m not sure if I should be prying, but I’m curious by nature.
“We found out who was responsible for the drugs.” Griffin is casually leaning back in his chair, looking like some business mogul ready to dominate a boardroom, on a Sunday no less.
“Was it Letty?” I peer up at him eagerly.
Evan is the one who answers. “No, but she managed to make a fairly convincing case against herself for her involvement, considering the shit she did. It would have been easy to pin it on her if Rand had any sense.”
“So it was Rand.” I push my eggs around on my plate, already full from the toast and orange marmalade I started with.
“It was, but there were other factors,” Griffin acknowledges. Geez, do they know getting information out of them is like pulling teeth?
“Like?” I encourage.
“HERO,” Evan says with a sneer, then sits back and wipes his mouth with a napkin before tossing it to the table. My heart sinks. I’m well aware of the Human Eternal Rights Organization, my parents are big contributors. Their views have been pushed down my throat for as long as I can remember.
“H-How are they involved?” I stutter, and the sinking feeling in my stomach intensifies.
“Rand was accepting money from them to provide the unblooded vamps with blood, hoping it would cause bloodlust when they transitioned. I’m sure they thought it could instill fear and get more supporters for their cause if there was a rash of ravenous vampires wreaking havoc and killing.” Griffin sounds almost bored as he explains.
“Holy shit.” A rare curse falls from my lips. Griffin tilts his head and raises his brow. My reaction got more of a response from him than the whole ordeal he just described.
“Apparently, Havenfall isn’t the only place they have moles,” Evan adds.
“Which is why I need to go into my office and make some calls today.” That explains why he’s in a suit so early.
I bite my bottom lip, feeling the need to confess for sins I haven’t committed. Evan reaches for my hand. “What’s up?” His eyes are narrowed on me as if he already knows something.
Clearing my throat, I divulge, “My parents, they, uh, they’re members, contributors, supporters, sympathizers. Whatever they call themselves.” As I ramble, I’m unable to make eye contact with either of them.
Neither of them breathes a word after my confession. As the seconds tick by, my heart rate speeds up. I tug my hand out from under Evan’s and clasp them in my lap. “I’ve never been part of that,” I add in a rush. Movement draws my eye, and I peek up to see Griffin rubbing his temple as if he’s fighting a headache.
“My father encouraged my brothers to kill me before I reached maturity because he knew I would be their alpha, and you already know some of what his father did.” Evan nods his head in Griffin’s direction. “We’ve both got you beat in the screwed up family department.”
I lift my gaze to Evan’s and see the sincerity in his eyes. I can almost feel the reassurance he’s sending my way. “Still, you should know. My parents, they weren’t supportive of my career choice. They probably wouldn’t have even helped me pay for school if they knew what I planned to do with my degree. No. I know they wouldn’t have,” I admit. “They disowned me when I took the job here.” I shrug. It hurts, but it’s not like it came as a surprise. I was well aware of their beliefs long before I made my decision to work with supernaturals.
Evan reaches for my hand again and squeezes it lightly. “It’s their loss.” I give him a forced smile as a thank you. What else can you say to that?
“We should get going. I have calls to make, and you have things that need your attention.” Griffin sounds cool, detached, as he stands, ignoring everything I’ve just revealed.
“I’ll just wait here?” It comes out like a question, but it’s clear from Griffin’s demeanor I wasn’t invited. I’m not mad he needs some time to digest my confession. I’m a little hurt by how cold he’s acting, but everyone handles things differently. I can deal.
“Yeah,” Evan finally answers. “Hang out, relax. I’m sure we won’t be too long.” He tries to sound upbeat, but I see how his eyes keep darting in Griffin’s direction as if he’s waiting for him to say or do something.
“I would appreciate it if you would stay here.” Griffin makes a point to look directly at me. His tone suggests I’m an errant child as opposed to his lover.
“But you have Rand, and Michelle’s not here anymore.” I wait for his explanation.
“Can you just listen?”
Evan
I watch Quinn shut dow
n. It’s not the first time I’ve seen her use it as a defense mechanism. She did the same thing when he ridiculed her for her fear of flying. Something in her eyes shutters as she lowers her head and scoops up her still full plate and my empty one. “Got it.” Her chilly tone is a near perfect match to Griff’s.
The last time he did this to her, I let him, but not today. I put my hand on Quinn’s back, stilling her, then take the plates from her grasp. “You can go, I’m good.” Griff’s posture stiffens at my sudden rebuke. To Quinn, I murmur, “I’m going to talk to the kids, then let them return to their dorms with guidelines. I’d love your company.” The way the tension in her shoulders eases tells me I did the right thing.
“Do I have a few minutes to finish getting ready, or do you need to go now?”
“Take your time, they’ll hold.” I place the plates in the sink and turn on the water, then I wait until Quinn retreats to the bathroom before looking at Griff. “You are going to let her feel like shit for her family’s choices?”
“I don’t give a shit if her family is a band of rabid cannibals who string up entrails as decorations. I’m concerned with the fact that someone working with HERO could still be at the school, and Quinn has a connection to that. What if HERO was targeting her?”
I settle my ass against the counter and pinch my temples. “I’m much better with an in-your-face attack than I am with the scheming and plotting bullshit.”
“You of all people should know that once you amass a certain amount of power, the threat will rarely come for you head-on,” he retorts.
“What does any of this have to do with you being an asshole to Quinn?” I whisper harshly, remembering why I’m talking to him in the first place.
“I wasn’t trying to be an asshole,” he defends.
“I know that shit comes naturally to you, but come on.” I give him a dubious glare.
“My mind was already processing all the possibilities, deciphering threats. I’ll go apologize.”
I reach out and grab his arm before he can go. “If you go in there with some half-assed apology, you’re going to make it worse. Don’t do it because you think you’re supposed to.” I stress the word, hoping he’ll get my meaning.
“I’m not a complete imbecile.” Griff straightens his coat.
“That’s debatable,” I mutter, but I know he hears me.
Quinn
“Shoot!” I curse when the light tapping on the door startles me and I poke myself in the eye with my mascara wand.
“Quinn,” Griffin calls through the door.
“You can come in,” I reply, holding a tissue to my eye to catch the leak. So much for the wasted effort on makeup.
The door opens slowly, and I turn to face him when he doesn’t speak. “Do you need the bathroom?”
Griffin has a horrified expression on his face. “Are you crying?”
“What? No.” I pull the tissue away and show him my watering eye, which probably doesn’t help my effort to convince him. “I got my eye with the wand.”
He gives me a cynical stare but acts like he believes me. “I would never judge you on your family,” he says solemnly. “I have a lot on my mind. I’m sorry if it came off that way.”
I toss the used tissue into the trash. “Frankly, I’m more concerned with how you treat me. I get hearing news like that might warrant some time, some thought, but it’s always so easy for you to talk down to me and say hurtful things. Why is that?” I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the sink.
Griffin bristles, it’s minute, but I notice in the way his shoulders pull back the tiniest bit and in the tightening around his mouth and eyes. I don’t think he was expecting me to confront him.
“I won’t insult you and tell you I’ve never said something to you that I knew was wrong. I have.” Griffin pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice is low, almost hesitant. “In my bedroom, when I asked ‘why else would Noah want you,’ I said it out of anger. I was battling with myself to do the right thing and let you go, but I couldn’t. So I would lash out at you to push you away to prove to you and myself that I didn’t deserve you.” My heart breaks a little, his words seem to be coming from the heart. “Sometimes though, I honestly just don’t think about how it’s going to sound.”
I walk over to Griffin and place my finger on his lips, stopping him from saying anything else. “Don’t do it anymore.” I examine his eyes. “I get making a mistake, no one is perfect, but that was before. You’re pretty much stuck with me at this point, but my mind can’t work around how you can be so…” I search for the right words. “Affectionate, caring, protective, and a whole list of other adjectives one minute, then the next you say something so ugly or talk to me like I’m everyone else. I don’t want to be everyone else to you.”
I lower my finger, and Griffin curls his arm around me, settling the weight of his palm on my lower back just above the curve of my bottom. “I can’t promise not to say something stupid, but I will make every effort not to.” His hand slides down, and he cups my ass. “I did offer you a very viable solution on how to shut me up if I do though.”
I give him a disgruntled expression, remembering how he suggested I should shut him up by sitting on his face. “Sex doesn’t fix everything. I doubt there’s much it can.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree for now.” The levity that Griffin was showing, though it seemed somewhat forced, falls away, and he cradles my face with both hands. “When I asked you to stay put, it was because I want you safe. Need you safe. I will do anything to make sure that happens.”
“Then talk to me about it, Griffin, but you can’t be my bodyguard twenty-four seven.” He lifts one eyebrow, challenging me. “Let me rephrase that. I don’t need or want you to be my bodyguard.”
He lowers his forehead until it’s resting on mine. “I’m asking you for a little grace here. Just until I fully understand everything that’s going on. I can’t lose you.”
I close my eyes and yield to him without much of a fight. “Okay, but this can’t go on forever.”
“It won’t. I won’t allow it,” he states with confidence, believing he can control every outside factor if given the chance. Griffin kisses the side of my face tenderly, then backs away. “Stay with Evan.” I huff, pretty sure our entire conversation just went in one ear and out the other.
After reapplying my mascara, I meet Evan in the living room. “I’m ready when you are.”
Chapter 22
Griffin
I usually don’t come in on the weekend, so there’s no assistant at the front desk when I enter my office. The empty chair reminds me that I still have to deal with the Millie issue. She can’t be allowed to continue receiving my blood. Her little obsession has gone too far. I’m going to have to find a replacement. I wonder how Quinn would feel about a new position, or maybe I could convince her to move her office into mine. I would feel much better if I could see her all the time just by looking out my door. I could put my assistant in her old office. She’ll never go for it, but it could be fun to try.
It takes me a moment to refocus on the issues at hand. I need to find out if the woman working at the blood bank saw an opportunity to make some extra money and offered to get Millie my blood, or if Millie sought out an avenue to further her obsession. I already have a headache just thinking about dealing with either of them.
I make my way over to the wall and open one of the hidden safes. This office used to be my father’s. He was a great many things, pragmatic being one of them, so when I opened up Havenfall as a school, I took over this space. Not only because I knew it would dry out his corpse a little more to know I was inviting shifters and vampires from lower casts to live here, but because the room has hidden secrets that only I know.
A black, leatherbound book lies among many other useful items inside the small compartment. This book was my father’s, and his father’s before him. It contains the supernatural council’s information, and all the powerful clans and packs of o
ur community with ways to contact them, but that’s not what I’m interested in. What I’m after are the numbers to the four other schools placed throughout the United States that I added to the book myself.
After taking a seat at my desk, I flip the book open. Using the blood caked silk ribbon bookmark, I find the newest entry, then slice the tip of my finger to feed the book. It’s an old custom, one I do without thought.
The phone rings twice after I dial the first number. When it’s picked up, I’m met with silence.
“Blackwood,” I intone.
“Stone,” the female vampire replies evenly.
“I have information that you might find useful.”
“And what might this information cost me?” she asks warily.
I take a moment before answering. Giving away things, even information, especially valuable information, doesn’t usually come cheap. “This will cost you nothing.”
I hear a slight noise in the background, but one would assume the line is empty, considering how deadly quiet she’s gone. “I’m listening,” she eventually responds.
I give her a brief explanation of Wet and the human organization’s involvement, but I do not divulge the events that have taken place at Havenfall. It’s her place to clean her own house.
The other three calls all go similarly. I’m not offended by their wariness of me. I’ve never made an effort to cultivate a relationship, even a working one, with any of my counterparts. I didn’t and still don’t care to. However, the real reason for their apprehension is my rise to power and how it came to be. Not many sons kill their sires, especially with a father as powerful as mine.
After rearranging the book where it belongs, I return to my desk and run my thumb over my phone screen. I’m tempted to call Evan and make sure he’s still with Quinn, but I curb the desire and text Millie.
Me: My office
I don’t feel compelled to add anything more. She will know I mean now.
Havenfall Harbor Book Two: Paranormal Ménage Romance MFM Page 23
