Griffin didn’t wait to hear what he had to say. This was the right time to strike and he did. Using the last vestiges of strength, Griffin wacked the male across the head with a closed fist. There was a loud thud followed by a crack. The male slumped over him, the air leaving the elderly male in a whoosh.
For a few seconds, Griffin was too dazed to register anything except that his own chest rose and fell in quick succession. His eyes were closed. His body ached.
Then he felt a warmth where the male covered him followed by a noseful of stench. Even though the male’s heart had just stopped beating, he leaned forward and sank his fangs into his arm.
Griffin almost gagged. Dead for a few short seconds and already the blood was turning rancid. It was still warm and would still offer sustenance though. He forced himself to choke down a few mouthfuls. Then forced another down before gagging. By some miracle he managed to hold it down. Not nearly enough but it would have to do. He hit the male too fucking hard.
His chest still heaved. His eyes were squeezed shut. His teeth were clenched. It nauseated him that the human was touching him, but there was sweet little he could do about it. One minute passed and then two. He felt the blood flood his system, warming him. It was like a small candle in a deep, dark cavern. Unable to light up the entire space, but enough to at least drive away some of the gloom.
Sarah.
He had to get to her. One down and at least three to go. He wouldn’t be so arrogant as to say that he would not underestimate the humans again. To assume to know their strengths and numbers. The truth was, he was still fucked. He would need to rely on gut instinct and luck. He would prevail because his female was depending on him.
On a low growl, he pushed the male off of him. The fucker had pissed all over him. He groaned as he turned onto his belly. Bit back another groan, as he pulled his knees under himself. Griffin sat upright. He swayed, seeing dark spots behind his eyes. It was like the world was turning on its axis. His whole body screamed for him to lie the fuck down. To close his eyes and sleep. Just for a few hours. Just for…
No!
He forced his eyes back open. It was fucking dark. The head torch the old fuck had been wearing was no longer on. Shit! He wasn’t in great condition that was for sure. To be so affected by the dark. Even his basic senses were failing him. Nonetheless, he forced himself to his feet and staggered and swayed for a minute, before he managed to gain sufficient control. His sight improved, marginally. He needed to proceed slowly and carefully.
The small amount of blood continued to warm and strengthen him. It wouldn’t sustain him for long. Trying his best to be quiet, Griffin moved towards the direction of the cabin, not having to go for long. The whole clearing was floodlit. It made it difficult to see the roof. That was where the fucker had been waiting for him earlier. It meant that they had either seen him drive up or they were careful. If it was the first, he might just make it to the cabin, since they thought he was dead, but if it was the latter, he would probably be gunned down again.
There didn’t seem to be movement in the house. If he really strained, he could make out voices. It was too far and too muffled for him to tell how many or if they were male or female voices. He was breathing hard. Even standing upright was difficult.
A scream pierced the air. It pierced him just as surely as a knife into his gut. It was Sarah. There was no fucking doubt. She was in trouble. The scream told him of fear and panic. Of anguish. Adrenaline surged. He was through the front door of the cabin before he even realized that he had moved.
He burst through the door of a side room and his blood ignited in his veins. Griffin roared as the male, with a hand around Sarah’s neck turned around, his eyes wide.
He was on the male before he could draw a breath. One of the fucker’s hands still clasped his female by the hip. His female. His. The dickhead had no right to touch even a single hair on her head. The slime wasn’t good enough to breathe the same air as Sarah. Touch her? He dared fucking touch her. Griffin yanked him away from her feeling bone crush beneath his fingers. He growled.
The male sucked in a wheezing breath as he fell to the floor. He screamed and clutched his injured arm.
Griffin snarled as he kicked the male, feeling ribs cave in beneath his boot. On the next scream, blood sprayed from the male’s open mouth. Fucking excellent. The scream quickly turned into a gargled rasp and he slumped back. Although his chest still rose and fell, Griffin knew that he was finished. Death would not be far behind.
Shit! The effects of the adrenaline surge left him and Griffin fell to one knee. The warmth of lethargy coursed through him, making him feel numb and slow. He blinked, his eyes having to strain to reopen.
“Griffin.” Sarah called, but he couldn’t get his head to turn to her. He fell back.
“Griffin.” She called a second time or maybe it was just his imagination. Hands touched him. Whisper soft. Although his eyes were open, he struggled to see.
“Blood,” he croaked as his eyes drifted shut. “Blood,” a faint whisper before he passed out.
****
“Griffin!” Sarah shouted watching as his eyes rolled back in his head. He was covered in dirt. His chest was slick with blood. There was more crusted on both his shirt and pants.
His chest moved, but barely. She couldn’t believe that he was here. “Don’t you dare die on me.”
There was a noise to her right. Earl was trying to get his gun holster open. His fingers kept scratching against the clasp. His eyes were wide. His chest rose and fell in quick succession. It was a rasping, gargling sound that made her feel ill. From the way his chest was caved in on the one side, it was safe to say, that one of his lungs was filling with blood.
She tried to ignore him and concentrated on Griffin instead. Blood. He needed blood and she would give some to him. Sarah looked around the room. She needed a knife. Sarah looked at the bodies on the floor with a shudder. She couldn’t bring herself to search them. Hopefully, there would be one in the next room. She rushed into the living room, scanning the area. There was a small kitchen area to one side. She opened the drawers, until she found what she needed. A small paring knife. Sarah ran back and almost dropped the thing when she saw the gun in Earl’s grasp. He was trying to aim it at Griffin, but the weapon was too heavy.
“Don’t.” She warned. “Put it down.”
“Bitch.” Earl spat, not even looking in her direction. His lips were coated in blood, but he continued to fumble with the weapon.
She kicked it out of his hand.
“Fuck”—he gave a few rasping pants—“you!” he said, grimacing. Fresh blood splattered onto his lips.
“My name is Sarah.” Her voice was clear. “I’m a pre-school teacher. I am daughter to Fred and Lewis Lane. Yes, you heard right, Lewis Lane. My mom gets teased a lot. My dad is jokingly called superman, or at least he was back when his hair was still black and thick. My sister is Samantha…Sammy for short. My best friend’s name is Paige.”
His eyes were wide as he struggled to draw in breath after breath. He blinked every so often. His good arm continued to probe the floor around him for the weapon.
“I am a person with real feelings. With loves, hopes and desires. I dream. I feel. I am a human being. I’m not a whore or an object.” Her voice broke but she cleared her throat. “Shame on you for treating me that way.” She paused. “Shame on you.” She repeated when his eyes moved to hers.
They were clouded with pain, but they also still glinted with determination. Sarah shook her head as she watched him feel for the gun, until his hand brushed the metal.
“Don’t do it.”
The rasping and gargling noises had grown louder as his breaths became all the more shallow. The cold look of determination seemed to overtake the pain.
She watched how his fingers closed over the handle. Earl groaned as he lifted the weapon. It looked like he wasn’t going to give up. There was no getting through to him. Sarah swallowed hard and plunged the knife into
his throat.
His legs thrashed and he dropped the gun. His broken arm lifted and then he fell back, eyes wide, chest still.
A sob was torn from her. She glanced at Griffin. His chest still rose and fell, but his breathing was shallow. She took a couple of deep breaths trying to calm herself down. This was no time for falling apart.
She took ahold of the hilt of the knife and gagged as she pulled it free. There was a closed door in the room. She ran for the door and only just made it to the toilet. Sarah threw up. The bile was bitter and burned her throat.
Once she was finished, she washed her hands and the knife before rinsing her mouth. Griffin was just as she had left him. Overly pale. It looked like his wounds had stopped bleeding though. She went to her knees next to his head. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the blade across her wrist.
She pulled his mouth open and held her arm above his lips. Her blood dripped slowly. At first there was nothing. Then he swallowed. A while later, he swallowed again, this time groaning softly as he did. There was the sound of a phone alert. Must be Earl’s. She glanced at his pants. She would need to check it. It was more than likely the others returning.
Wincing, she squeezed her arm and fresh blood dripped between his lips. Something Earl had said worried her. He’d told her that they didn’t have much time. The others could come back at any moment. Chester had been in charge of burying Griffin, so if Griffin was here then he was most likely dead.
The other two would be back soon though. Shit! She pulled away from Griffin and picked up Earl’s gun, placing it on the bed. Then she found her panties and put them back on. Sarah fixed her bra. She looked around the small bedroom but there were no items of clothing in sight. She remembered seeing some bags in the living room, but the thought of wearing these men’s clothing didn’t sit well with her. There was no time to worry about it.
Sarah didn’t know very much about guns. There was a safety, which would need to be released. Unless Earl had done that already.
“Sarah,” Griffin whispered. His eyes were closed.
She rushed back to him. “Are you okay?” Then she felt stupid for asking the question. Of course he wasn’t okay. He’d just been shot. He was dead not so long ago. “I’m here and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Griffin smiled. His eyes opened just a smidgen. “Stop that.” He grimaced.
“Stop what?” She touched his cheek and he sighed like her touch was the best thing he had ever felt. “Stop throwing yourself between fighting males.”
“Stop fighting then and you’ll have yourself a deal.”
He frowned. “That’s not going to happen any time soon.” He tried to rise but fell back on a loud groan. He cursed.
“They’re coming,” he whispered. “I can hear the vehicle. We don’t have very long. A few minutes at best.”
“Oh shit.” Sarah heard the panic in her voice. So the message had been an alert that they were on their way in. She tried to scramble up, but Griffin grabbed her wrist.
“I need blood…from your vein and I need it now.” His eyes were open. They shone with determination but the glassy look belied the pain and exhaustion he was feeling.
She nodded, holding her arm over his face. The wound was sealing.
“From the vein, Sarah.” He locked eyes with hers. She nodded and watched in fascination as he opened his mouth and pulled her hand to him. His fangs were long and sharp looking, they pierced her flesh easily.
She gasped, feeling a pinch. His lips closed over her and he sucked hard. His eyes closed and he groaned. His grip on her wrist tightened as he sucked again. His throat worked as he swallowed down her blood in big gulps.
Sarah could feel her blood rushing through her veins. Could feel as it left her body. A feeling of calm and contentment came over her. Her eyes drifted shut just as she heard a vehicle pull up and the engine switched off. “Griffin,” she whispered unnecessarily.
He released her, his eyes closed as he licked his lips.
“Get into the closet.” He cracked them open, rising to his elbows. She could see that it cost him a ton of effort just to move.
“What? No. There are two of them. I will help you.”
“No way! Not happening. I’m not arguing with you. Get into the damned closet and stay there.” He sat the rest of the way up and picked up Earl’s gun. He pointed to a switch on the side, which he flicked. “This is the safety. I just deactivated it so it will shoot. The bullets are silver, so all I ask is that you don’t shoot me. I will let you know when I have killed them.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Then and only then can you come out.” He clicked the safety back on. “Deactivate it as soon as you are in place.”
There were voices now. Just outside the front door. One of the guys called to Earl. Shit! They were out of time.
He cupped her chin. “If I don’t call to you and someone opens that closet, I need you to kill the bastard. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
He brushed a kiss on the side of her lips and her heart rate picked up a whole lot. “Good.” he whispered, much softer this time. The front door creaked open and once again, someone called to Earl.
Griffin rose to his feet. Quickly and quietly, he reminded her of a big cat. Powerful, graceful, deadly. He squeezed his eyes shut for a half a second, belying his pain. His eyes were clouded when they opened back up. He might be big and powerful, but he wasn’t very strong at the moment. He pulled her up with some effort.
Within a few seconds she was crouched in the closet, and not a second too soon. The door opened. There was a crashing noise, a thud, another thud and a gun shot rang out. Then someone fell. Something clattered to the floor. Sarah had to grit her teeth to keep from screaming.
“Fuck you.” A human snarled. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
There was a ton of grunting and groaning. “Not so fucking strong…bloodsucker.” It sounded like Lewis. There was another loud crash. Another thud. The sound of items falling onto the floor followed by a weak sounding snarl.
“You’re dead, asshole vampire…fucking dead.” There was a meaty thud followed by another meaty thud. Then another and another.
It didn’t sound good. There was no way she was sitting holed up in a closet while some jerk hurt Griffin. The door creaked as she opened it. She pointed the gun. Lewis straddled Griffin. He was punching him in the face. He was so busy that he didn’t notice her. If he turned his head ever so slightly to the right, he would see her. He didn’t.
She looked down, suddenly realizing that the safety was still on. She’d forgotten to deactivate it again. She flipped the switch and aimed. Her arm wavered. What if Griffin suddenly sat up? His only request had been that she not accidentally shoot him. What if she missed? The gun felt heavy and awkward in her grasp.
Sarah stuck the weapon under a pillow, not wanting to leave it in the open. She knew where it was and would only have to fight Lewis long enough to get back here if she really had to. Sarah ripped the side lamp out of the wall, took two strides to a shocked looking Lewis and swung. He put his arms up but the wooden part of the lamp still hit the side of his head. Unfortunately, his forearm took the brunt of the force. He grunted.
When she swung a second time he grabbed the base and ripped the lamp from her hands. One of his eyes was swollen and his lip was a bleeding mess, but he still looked strong.
Lewis smiled as he gripped her wrist. Blood leaked from the wound. Flip it! Sarah wasn’t quick enough to get away from him. She tried to tug her arm out of his grip, but with no such luck.
A fist connected on the side of the asshole’s head and he fell to the right, grappling for the hunting knife that lay on the floor. Sarah wished she had more time. More reach, as she hit him on the back with the lamp. Lewis grunted but it didn’t stop him from crawling forward.
Griffin groaned, as he moved into a sitting position. Sarah could just make out how he shook his head. It was like he was trying to wake himself up. She hit Lewis again. P
utting everything she had into it.
He fell with a yelp, but when he turned, the blade was gripped tightly in his hand. Sarah scrambled backwards. Lewis was between her and the bed. Maybe leaving the gun hadn’t been the best idea. At the time it seemed like the right choice. She had no business trying to use a weapon and it wasn’t like she could’ve tucked the thing in her dental floss thong. If they got out of this she was going for shooting lessons.
Griffin still sat where she had left him, he was half in a daze. Oh no! Shit! He was in no condition to defend himself. Sarah screamed his name, as Lewis raised the blade. The asshole had switched his focus from her to Griffin.
Every muscle, ligament and tendon strained as she tried to reach him before Lewis did. In an almost casual move, she watched in horror as Griffin lifted an arm. The blade sliced across Griffin’s forearm. In a wild swing, she felt the wood connect against Lewis’ skull in a hard crack which reverberated up her arm. He flew back, his head bounced against the floor as he landed.
Like a crazed Amazon woman, she leapt onto him using the momentum to bring the makeshift weapon down onto his head. The noise it made as it connected with his face made her gag. It was a popping sound. She imagined a ripe melon striking a hard floor would sound very similar.
Lewis’ arm twitched. She knew that he was dead or would be soon.
“I told you to stay in the closet.” Griffin’s voice sounded weak. She turned to him. He swayed, his head hung like it was too heavy for him to carry.
“What, and watch you get beaten to death?”
He made a snorting noise and smiled. “I was perfectly fine.” He grimaced.
“Like hell! He was beating you and would have killed you.” She pointed a finger at him.
Griffin groaned as he lay down. Right there on the floor. “I was biding my time. Conserving my energy. My face is fine.” His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He looked like he had run a marathon. Funnily enough, aside from dirt and grime, his face looked unharmed even though Lewis had been punching him. “If he had tried to move away I would have killed him. Just needed more strength.” he groaned.
A Mate for Griffin Page 15
