A Mate for Griffin
Page 5
He swallowed thickly. “Give me a minute.”
“What is there to fucking think about? If you have to think about it, you shouldn’t choose anyone.” Zane looked irritated. Zero understanding was forthcoming. It made her want to hug the poor guy even more. These types of decisions were never easy. The poor thing had been dead just yesterday. Give him a break.
Brant raised his brows and looked put out.
“It’s not as simple as that,” Griffin mumbled, looking pained. His eyes flashed to her for a second and then to his feet. Why had he looked at her?
No! It must have been someone behind her.
“Fine.” Zane shook his head and pointed at the next vampire in line.
“No one,” the guy growled. Two more guys decided that they weren’t choosing anyone as well. The next one however, did say a name and the girl jumped up and down squealing.
Lance stepped forward and despite what had taken place the day before, most of the women held their breath. Her included. No! She forced herself to breathe. She forced herself not to care. Sarah refused to allow herself to feel anything.
“No one.” His voice was a deep growl. His beautiful blue eyes were dark.
Disappointment. What the hell! It rose up in her whether she liked it or not. It seemed that there had been a small part of her that was still hoping that Lance would come to his senses and realize that she was the one.
Argh!! Women could be so stupid. She could be so stupid. It wasn’t happening. It was over. With that thought came a small measure of relief. She could go home and be done with it. Lance was a crush. Nothing more. She could lick her wounds, eat a few hundred gallons of ice-cream and all would be well.
She barely paid attention when two more guys stepped forward, each one of them picked one of the ladies. Yay for them!! They looked so happy.
Lazarus stepped forward. Alex stiffened beside her. Why was she so worried? Of course he was picking her. The huge vampire didn’t have eyes for anyone else. They were focused on Alex right now. Lazarus smiled and Alex sighed. How sweet. It was like something right from the pages of a romance novel. “I choose…Alexandra,” Lazarus growled.
Sarah’s heart was beating just watching the two of them.
Alex squealed and skipped right over to Lazarus. The tiny woman threw herself into his tree trunk arms. He proceeded to kiss the shit out of her.
Her own breath caught in her lungs and her heart raced. Watching them brought a single tear to her eye, which she quickly wiped away before anyone could see. Why couldn’t she have that? Sarah didn’t want the money. She wanted that kind of intense love.
“Enough,” Brant growled. What a party pooper.
“Leave them.” Zane laughed. “I can’t believe that this fucker found a human female that actually wants him.”
Lazarus chuckled when he finally came up for air. “I will have you know that my female thinks that I am a big, cuddly teddy bear.”
Yeah right!
“Like fuck!” Zane snorted. Not quite how she would have put it but the king was right. Sarah had been a little afraid of the huge vampire, she still kind of was.
“I changed my mind,” Alex said through a wide grin.
“Yeah,” Lazarus growled low. “After you saw my cock.”
Sarah felt herself blush and watched as Alex did the same. “Shut up.” She slapped him on the arm.
“Quiet.” Brant looked pissed. “Griffin…it’s now or fucking never.”
Sarah had forgotten about poor Griffin. She hoped that he had plucked up enough courage to ask the woman he had in mind.
He looked worse than before. Sweat had beaded on his brow and his face was pale. Maybe he needed to go to a healer or something. Just when she was sure he was going to faint, he growled. His lip curled back, exposing a long fang. It was a deep noise, sounding anguished rather than angry. “Sarah…I pick Sarah.”
It took a few seconds to register that he had said her name and then a few seconds more to close her gaping mouth.“What?” Sarah shook her head. “No! Why? No!” He was obviously not thinking clearly.
“Are you refusing? Do you wish to return home?” Brant stepped forward, his eyes on her.
No. Yes. Maybe. “Um…” What the hell did she say to that? He was either deluded or he...
“She needs to think about it,” Alex said. “Can she please have the three allotted hours?”
No! What? No!
“I don’t need to think about it.” Why would Griffin pick her? Why would Alex suggest she think about it?
“Be quiet.” Alex looked at her pointedly. “Just take the three hours. This has been a bit of a surprise.”
A huge surprise. “Why did you pick me?” Sarah’s eyes narrowed on Griffin who finally looked at her. He looked guilty. There was no love or affection. No happiness. No rainbows and butterflies. He looked a little afraid and a lot guilty. He shrugged and toed his boot into the woolen carpet. “You tried to help me.”
Big deal! Sarah grimaced. So there it was. He felt that he owed her. Sarah would put a stop to that ASAP. “You’re welcome. There, you’re off the hook. I don’t want your pity. You didn’t have to pick me out of some false sense of obligation.”
“Look…” His eyes blazed. “This is not about pity.” he said through his teeth. “We can discuss it…in private.” His eyes darted around the room like he couldn’t possibly explain with everyone around.
Sarah sighed. “This isn’t a good idea.” Not good was putting it mildly, it was a terrible idea. He didn’t want her. There was no way she would agree to it anyway.
His eyes stayed focused on her. “Give it some thought…” He paused. “You know where to find me if you want to talk.” He spun around and left the room.
Left the room. Gone. No further explanation. He’d said it wasn’t about pity. What was it then?
Thankfully as soon as Griffin left, the attention moved away from her.
Alex was looking at her though. It looked like she and Lazarus were talking about her, but with everyone talking at once, she couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Maybe Griffin thought he liked her. Nah, that couldn’t be it.
Her focus went back to Lazarus who was talking into Alex’s ear. Then he was dry humping her from behind. Oh god! They were such male sluts that it was scary. Almost to prove her point, he threw Alex over his shoulder, no doubt intent on carting her away and ravaging her.
Quite a number of the women were openly crying. A couple were all out sobbing. Vanessa gave her a dirty look. If looks could kill, she would be incinerated. Only a tiny pile of ash would be left of her. She ignored the woman who was clearly jealous even though there was nothing to be jealous about. Sarah probably wasn’t staying. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t waiting around. She would go and see Griffin. Hear him out and then turn him down so that she could go and see Jenna and say her goodbyes.
Hopefully by then, Alex would be finished screwing Lazarus’ brains out and she could say goodbye to her too.
Sarah walked over to the closest guard. “Hi there.”
The big guy stood up a little taller. “Hello, human.” he grinned. “I hope you don’t plan on breaking up any fights any time soon. It is an honor to speak with such a courageous human.”
Okay. Right. “Urm…thanks…I think.”
He nodded. “You are most welcome. Is there something I can help you with?”
Sarah nodded. “Actually…yes…there is. Please, can you take me to see Griffin?”
The big guy nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “I’m glad you have decided to speak with him. Griffin is the most courageous and brave of our males. You would make a good match for one another.”
Seriously? “Right…yeah, thanks…I think.” Was this guy for real?
His smile widened. “Come. I will take you to him.” He turned and waited for her to move in next to him before walking from the room.
Chapter 6
What the fuck had he done?
There was a knock at the door.
Still deep in thought, Griffin ran a hand through his hair and opened it. Lance leaned against the jamb. “I’m not coming in,” the male growled. “I wanted to…” He shook his head. “I couldn’t say it before because things were still so fresh but I’m fucking sorry.” He pulled himself upright. “This whole thing’s been eating me up inside…” He looked away and his jaw worked.“I’m an asshole. I should never have taken out my anger and frustration on you. If something had happened…if you hadn’t survived it. Fuck!” Lance squeezed the back of his neck. “I know the pain…the fucking torture. Of all the males, I know you have at least some understanding of what I experienced. We’re fucking bonded because of the death experience…” Lance’s chest heaved. “I’m a heartless fuck for doing that. I—”
“Stop!” Griffin put his hand on Lance’s arm. “I get it. I forgave you even before you killed me, now forget about it.” He dropped his arm.
“You are too good a friend to me…you know that. Too fucking good. I don’t deserve our friendship.” His face was filled with anguish.
“I know you, Lance. I know you well enough to see past all the bullshit. You are not a dick and an asshole. You’ve been acting like one but I know that deep down you are a male with honor and I really want to see you happy.”
Lance nodded. “I’m going to try. I promise you and I owe you that much.”
“I’m glad to hear it. It’s time to move on and you are in The Program.”
“Baby steps, Griff. Baby fucking steps.” he huffed.
“You can start by treating the humans with respect and being open to the idea of a mate.” Griffin was speaking quickly.
Lance nodded. “Yeah…okay. I’ll try. I can’t promise you more than that. I think that Stephany pretty much ripped my heart out. I don’t think that there is anything left for someone else. I’ll try and behave. I’ll try…that’s it.”
“It’s a great fucking start.” Griffin stepped forward.
Lance held up his hands. “Don’t you dare.” He took a step back and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Just admit that you care, you asshole.” Griffin grabbed ahold of Lance and crushed him in a man hug.
“Fuck you.” Lance growled but he could hear that the male was smiling. “Let me go already.”
Griffin was pretty sure he felt Lance’s hand lightly touch his back just before he released the male who pretended to be offended. “Fucking hell, bro. Males don’t do shit like that.”
“Yes we do. Not often. Only for serious shit, but we do.”
Lance chuckled. “Fuck that.” He was stepping back. “I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah.” Griffin grunted, watching as Lance walked away.
Shit! Maybe it would work out. Lance was going to try and Sarah was perfect. What could go wrong?
Nothing.
He would make it his personal mission to ensure that his plan worked. Get Sarah onboard. Spend some time coaching her. Get her to attract Lance’s attention. Of course the male wouldn’t act like he was interested because he would think that she and Griffin were together. Then would come the tricky part, come clean with Lance. Hopefully the male would be thankful for the effort and of course relieved that Sarah was available and at that point he could step away. No harm done.
There was another knock at the door. Griffin had only just released the handle. He opened the door. “Did you decide that you care for…”
Sarah looked up at him. Her blue eyes wide. A look of confusion on her face.
“Oh…hi,” he mumbled.
“Expecting someone? If you are, I could come back although I would prefer to get this conversation over with.” She looked at the watch on her wrist. “My lift leaves in two and a half hours.”
“I’m not expecting anyone. I’m glad you came. Come in…please.” He gestured inside his suite.
Sarah widened her eyed for a brief second before huffing out a breath. She moved into his living room.
“Take a seat. Can I get you anything?” he gestured to the couch.
She shook her head, doing as he said. “No thanks. I don’t plan on staying long.”
“Good. I’ll get straight to the point then. I could see that you were disappointed when Lance didn’t pick you.”
“What? No, I…” She swallowed hard. Oh shit! Her eyes widened as she had a mini nervous meltdown right before his eyes. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, Lance has problems. I don’t want to be with someone like that anyway.” She sighed. “Okay, maybe I was a little disappointed but it doesn’t mean anything and it doesn’t explain why you picked me. We don’t even know each other and haven’t spoken more than a few words to one another. This isn’t making any sense.” Her cheeks were flushed red.
Sarah sat forward on the sofa, her hands remained knotted over her lap. “I’ve heard that non-humans can be quick in the falling in love department but you don’t look like you think of me in that way.”
“I don’t,” he blurted. That came out a bit harsh. “I mean, you’re seriously hot and really sweet, I would go there in a heartbeat”—Too fucking much—“but I didn’t pick you for myself. This isn’t about you and I.”
A deep frown appeared on her forehead and she sat up straighter. “What? I’m not sure I understand you. I didn’t know that you guys could pick for each other.” Her stare moved to somewhere over his shoulder. “I don’t like the idea.”
“Well, technically we can’t but I went ahead and did it anyway.” Before she could say anything, he sat down beside her. “I picked you for Lance.”
A look of something between horror and confusion crossed her face. “Lance?” The look morphed into confusion. “Why would you pick me for Lance? I’m sure if he wanted to pick me he would have. He didn’t.”
“He’s confused. Lance needs a female. He needs you, Sarah.”
“Me?” She snorted like the very idea was a huge joke or a misunderstanding or both. “What are you talking about? If he felt anything for me he would have picked me. You’re still not making sense. Lance isn’t interested in settling down. He’s looking for sex and that’s it.”
“You’re wrong. He wants to settle,” Griffin growled. “He told me so not five minutes ago. Lance wants to make a go of it, he wants more from life.” He grabbed ahold of her hand and squeezed once before letting go. “He wants to try.”
Sarah sucked in a breath, intent on arguing.
“You would be perfect for him. He doesn’t know it yet. With my help, we’ll show him…prove it to him.”
Sarah held up a hand. “Stop right there. No way! Just no…okay?” She began rising to her feet.
Griffin gripped her wrist. “Wait. Hear me out…please. What do you have to lose?”
“Look. We already had sex. He had his way with me.” She paused and he waited it out. “He didn’t pick me. You’re wasting your time. I have a ride to catch and people to say goodbye to.”
“Tell me you don’t want a shot at him? Tell me you don’t care about him and I’ll let you go.” Griffin held onto her arm, he could feel how her heart raced. Could hear her blood as it flowed through her veins.
He could smell both fear and excitement.
Sarah shook her head. “I can’t. It’s stupid to think that I would have a chance. There were a ton of other women you could have chosen, most would have jumped at the opportunity.”
“Sure they would have but that’s why I picked you. Those others would’ve been jumping at the opportunity for the wrong reasons. You see him. You understand that he’s not himself even if you don’t know the details.”
She rolled her eyes. “Rubbish. The others know that he has issues, that he is broken somehow. They had all hoped to fix him. That they would be the one to fill that void in his soul. To be the one to—”
“Yeah, but all for the wrong reasons.” For their own selfish ones.
She frowned. “I’m sure they were doing it to help him and because they cared about him.”
Griffin shook his head. “No. All they see is a challenge. A chance to win the pretty vampire. The most unobtainable of all the males.” Griffin cringed inwardly at calling his friend pretty. “Those others are not kind and generous like you. They are not soft yet tough as nails at the same time. Sweet yet courageous and brave.”
The human blushed, she pulled her hand free and clasped her fingers together once again. “I’m not brave at all, not in the least. I told you about my spider phobia. I don’t speed or jaywalk. Heck, I even make sure that library books are back on time. I don’t live on the edge. It took everything in me to chase after Lance the way that I did.” Her cheeks brightened up a whole lot more and she looked down at her hands.
Sarah pulled a breath into her lungs as if to fortify herself. “Yeah, you heard right.” She nodded her head. “I was the one that chased after him. He tried to talk me out of it but I insisted…how embarrassing is that?” Her beautiful blue eyes finally locked with his. They were brimming with tears. “I practically had to beg him.” She clenched her teeth together for a few beats, it wasn’t lost on him how her lip quivered.
“You see, Griffin, Lance does not want me. He didn’t then and he won’t now. I assure you. This would be a waste of time.” Her lip quivered again and he felt like the biggest douche bag alive.
“Let’s get something straight. You are hot as fuck. If Lance isn’t careful, I might just decide to keep you for myself. I assure you that he wanted you or he never would have spent the night with you—”
“One hour…our time together lasted all of an hour.”
Dickhead, motherfucking jerk. There were times when he hated Lance. The male didn’t deserve someone like Sarah. For just a second he was tempted to stop, to let her walk away. Then she looked at him with wide eyes. They were filled with hope.
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