Panting, dazed, deliciously fragmented, I slowly come back to myself and open my eyes. I feel deconstructed to my most basic components. Realigned.
Griffin cradles my head in his hands. “Should I pull out?”
I don’t answer. I don’t know.
“Cat! Tell me now.”
I open my mouth to say yes. The exact opposite pops out. “No.”
The sound he utters is rough and guttural—satisfaction on the most primal level. Griffin wraps his arms around me and pumps his hips rapidly, at last thrusting into me with a harsh groan. His release is a hot tide. His ragged breath warms my face as he holds himself rigidly above me. With a final shudder, his whole body relaxes, settling onto mine.
After a moment of absolute stillness, he trails his lips across my cheek to my mouth, kissing me and whispering gruff praise. I flush and grin like an idiot while his lips slide down my neck and chest. He rests his forehead on my shoulder, and I feel him smile against my skin.
I stroke his midnight hair, completely at ease for the first time in my life. I smile, too, until a strange, invigorating sensation sweeps through me. Griffin’s liquid warmth doesn’t stop at my core. It spreads to my limbs, my head, my fingers, and toes. I take a deep, surprised breath and feel like myself for the first time since Ios.
“You fixed me!” I say, laughing.
Griffin lifts his head. “Hmm?”
“I think you just gave me my life force back.”
He grins, looking way too smug, as usual. “I knew we should have been doing this for days.”
I’m not about to admit he’s right. I groan, pushing on his shoulders. “You’re as heavy as an ox.”
He chuckles and lifts some of his weight off me. Instead of moving over, though, he strokes me again—inside. “Maybe you need more life force.”
I roll my eyes. “Put a leash on your hips, Beta Sinta. I need to recover.”
He stops moving instantly. “Was I too rough?”
I shake my head. “No. You were”—amazing, mind-blowing, better than anything I ever imagined—“fine.”
He grins and kisses me. “High praise, coming from you. I’ll let those high-pitched kitten noises speak for themselves.”
“You do that,” I mutter, shoving him off me.
Griffin rolls to the side, withdrawing from me and making me shiver. He gets up and goes to the washbasin to dampen a cloth in the cool water. Despite my rather violent protest, he washes between my thighs before wiping himself clean. There’s some blood on us. Not much, but enough to concern us both. There’s a spot on the sheet, too, along with a Cat-shaped scorch mark that neither of us comments on. I’m going to have to figure out this new thunder-and-lightning thing soon. Thank the Gods I can’t hurt Griffin with magic since I don’t seem to have any control over it, and he definitely brings it out in me.
After throwing his clothes back on, Griffin takes the sheet, the cloth, and the basin out of the room to burn my blood in the kitchen fires and dilute the water in the castle sewers.
While he’s gone, I find a new sheet at the bottom of the bedroom wardrobe and put it on the bed. Ten minutes later, Griffin strips naked again and then sinks onto the mattress, pulling me against him, my back to his front. Within seconds, he’s hard and ready again. He pushes my hair aside and starts nuzzling my neck, his breath coming faster and warming my skin.
“Tempting,” I say, wiggling my bare bottom against him.
“You’re playing with fire,” he growls in my ear.
“Speaking of fire…” I face up and exhale Dragon’s Breath, leaving the ceiling charred. “It’s back!”
“Good.” Griffin splays his big hand over my stomach. “You never know when you’ll need to melt someone.”
CHAPTER 30
I wake up way too hot. It doesn’t take long to figure out why. There’s a naked warlord plastered to my back. I inch forward, trying to get away without waking him.
A steely arm bands around my waist, dragging me back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
There’s no trace of sleep in Griffin’s voice. He’s been awake for a while, holding me. My heart lurches, and I feel the intense need to run.
He rolls me to face him and looks at me like he wants me again, like all he wants is me. His eyes are shadowed pools I could lose myself in, completely and forever. My heart swells until a tangled mass of emotion clogs my throat, choking me.
I panic, turn invisible, and scramble off the bed.
“Cat?” Griffin grabs blindly at where I just was. Frowning, he sits up, throwing the sheet back.
I freeze, staring at him. I can’t help it. He’s naked and magnificent, every muscle hard and defined, lean and powerful. Heat sweeps through me, my insides tightening with the knowledge of what his body can do to mine. My mouth waters to taste his smooth, sun-kissed skin again. My fingers ache to touch him. Instead, I pad across the room on silent feet, ignoring the increasingly ferocious scowl on Griffin’s face. Picking up some clothes I left lying around, I move quickly and as quietly as possible because he’s stalking me now—him and his rampant erection. The second I have my boots in my hand, I throw open the door and run.
“Cat!” Griffin lunges at air, his bellow echoing off the marble walls. “I should put a bell on you!”
My heart hammering, I run to my old room in the barracks, dress, and then come out as if I’d been there all night. I try not to walk crooked. Maybe Griffin was a little rough? Or maybe this is how I’m supposed to feel—tender and a bit slippery. Regardless, as soon as the adrenaline of running away wears off, a dull soreness sets in.
I find Flynn and Kato in the refectory. They greet me with raised eyebrows since I haven’t had breakfast with them in a while.
“No food in the castle?” Kato asks.
“Food’s better here,” I say, sitting gingerly.
Flynn hands me his juice, which he never drinks. “Fight with Griffin?”
I choke on the sip I was taking. “Not exactly.”
“You’ve got rosy cheeks this morning.” Flynn’s forehead creases as he studies me a little too hard. He means I’m blushing kalaberry red.
“And a suck mark on your neck,” Kato adds, leaning in for a better look.
I shove his chin, pushing him back. “Don’t mess with me. I can punch again now, and it might actually hurt.”
Kato looks intrigued. “How did that happen?”
“Don’t ask. Please, don’t ask.”
He grins, and I’m pretty sure I turn even redder. I get hotter, anyway.
“How’s Griffin?” Flynn asks.
I roll my eyes. “How should I know?”
They burst out laughing, and I scowl. “Fine. Smug and self-satisfied, as usual.”
“Should he be?” Kato’s still grinning. He’s wiggling his eyebrows now, too. I consider burning them off, but I don’t want to accidentally blind him.
“That’s none of your business. Who knew that men were such nosy gossips?” I press my pendant into my chest, glad I have a piece of the Ice Plains to keep me from spontaneously combusting.
Flynn holds out his spice cake. My stomach instantly growls loud enough to be heard three tables over. I’m hungry again!
“That’s yours,” I say, staring at it.
He shrugs. “I don’t need it, and you need to fatten back up.”
Fatten back up? I’m not sure how to feel about that. I take the cake, though.
“Since you probably can’t ride today, or even walk, what should we do?” Kato asks.
Coughing, I blow spice cake crumbs all over the table. “Excuse me?”
“It’s just that Griffin isn’t, er…”
I narrow my eyes at him, and Kato actually turns pink. Ha!
“Known for his gentle nature,” Flynn provides.
“And how man
y women know that?” The snap in my voice sends their eyebrows bouncing up.
Kato grins again, obviously enjoying my reaction. “Enough for him to know how to please the woman he wants to claim.”
He’s had plenty of practice, then. Lovely. But they’re wrong. Griffin was careful with me. Or maybe I wouldn’t know gentle if it bit me in the ass.
“So, can you walk?” Flynn asks.
I resist the urge to roast them both alive. “I got here, didn’t I? We’re not talking about this anymore. Ever. I have some unexpected last-minute shopping to do for the realm dinner, and you two are taking me to the agora.” I look back and forth between them, giving them my frostiest stare. “And we’ll walk, not ride.” There’s no way I’m getting on a horse today, even one as good-natured as Panotii.
They make noises that sound suspiciously like man giggles.
Griffin strides into the refectory, sword strapped on, boots clomping, and spitting mad. Uh-oh.
He marches straight to our table, hooks his foot around the leg of my chair, pulls it out with a screech of wood on stone, and then drags me up with a biting grip on my upper arms. My heart starts galloping like a herd of Centaurs. I have to tilt my head back to look at him.
“Don’t disappear on me, Cat. Don’t.” He drops me back into my chair, and I land on everything that’s sore. “We’re going to the agora. Now.”
I take a slow breath through my nose, refusing to shift on my seat to find a more comfortable position. “The realm dinner is tomorrow. You have other things to do.”
“I told you I’d take you.”
“I’ll go with Flynn and Kato. We’ll take the girls.”
A muscle feathers along his jaw. I look at him, my expression open and honest. Last night, I altered the course of my entire existence. Adjustments like this don’t come easily for me. I need time. He must know I need time.
Griffin exhales loudly and then nods. “Be back in two hours, or I’m sending the army after you.”
“Three,” I say. “I’ll need to be fitted for a dress, if you’ll recall.”
His nostrils flare. So do his eyes, but not with anger, and heat whips through me. He nods again and then drops a bag of coins onto the table.
* * *
Jocasta, Kaia, and I walk ahead. Flynn and Kato trail a few steps behind. We make our way through winding streets lined with whitewashed homes shaded by overhanging roofs, deep-set windows, and cypress and citrus trees. The cooler, rainy season is approaching, but for now the air is still sunny and dry. Sinta City glows on days like this, but now its radiance is reflected in the faces around us. There are practically no beggar children since most of them are employed at one or another of Piers’s building projects, and the invalids and aging soldiers who used to line the streets sweating in the sun with their hands stretched out for coppers are now somewhere in the shade. Griffin started distributing pensions, even to the people who fought against him. Go figure.
I worried that between cutting taxes and giving away money, he might not have the funds to recruit soldiers, but he said the ex-royals had hoarded enough riches to stop all taxing for a generation if he wants to. I stopped arguing, wondering about the state of Fisa’s finances for the first time in years.
Everywhere in Sinta City, faces are fuller, eyes friendlier. People have more coins in their purses, and the agora is bustling. We walk past the food stalls first, attracting a good deal of attention. The smells of baking bread and roasting meat make my stomach rumble, so I buy a honey-coated bun and eat it while we walk.
Everyone wants to touch the princesses, just a pat on the hand or a flutter of fingers across a shoulder. Just watching all the contact makes me want to crawl out of my skin, but the girls don’t seem to mind. They find a gracious word for everyone. When an old woman with a rickety wagon wants to sell us lemons, I buy ten, not because I need ten lemons, but because she bows low and long to Jocasta and Kaia even though her joints look swollen.
The agora is a kaleidoscope of noises, scents, and colors. I’ve been here many times, but I’ve never seen it like this. Vendors smile and laugh, rush out to greet us, and press gifts into the princesses’ hands. I buy all the new clothes I’ve been needing and two squares of yellow soap that smell like citrus. No one lets me pay full price for anything.
I was wary about taking the girls out with only Flynn, Kato, and me for protection. Not that the three of us are anything to scoff at, but still, it didn’t seem entirely wise even with the new royals’ overwhelming popularity among the Sintan majority. Street children have their fingers in a lot of pies, though, and what goes on at the north wall must have made the rounds of the city because it turns out we didn’t need Kato and Flynn, except to carry packages. Jocasta, Kaia, and even I appear to be universally adored. After weaving through the outdoor marketplace at an agonizingly slow pace, it’s clear that if anyone in Sinta City is stupid enough to even look at one of us wrong, they’ll be shredded by an angry mob.
When we finally wind our way up the hill toward the more exclusive shops, it’s with just enough time left before Griffin sends the army looking for me. I choose a discreet, intimate-looking establishment, and after a quick glance through the selection of ready-made dresses, I decide on an ivory gown with gold trim, finding high-heeled sandals, a geometric-patterned gold belt, and matching shoulder clasps to go with it. I try everything on, and while the seamstress is making final adjustments to the hem, the merchant, who’s handsome and young and showing a particular interest in Jocasta, convinces me to buy a length of braided gold rope to dress my hair.
Satisfied with my purchases and once again in my tunic and pants, I emerge from the back room to find Jocasta having trouble unhooking a necklace she tried on. The merchant goes to her at once, eager to help, but the second his fingers touch her skin, Flynn shoots like a lightning bolt from the shadows where he and Kato were hiding from all the shopping. With a growl, he yanks the man back hard enough to toss him halfway across the room. Jovial Flynn suddenly looks rabid.
Kaia snorts and then sucks the sound back in, making for an interesting combination.
Jocasta’s eyes jump to Flynn’s, tense and grateful. I could swear Flynn’s color rises. He tries to back away, but she holds her hair to one side, and he has little choice but to help her with the necklace himself.
It’s a somewhat awkward walk home, mostly because Flynn and Jocasta act like they can’t see each other even though they’re never more than five feet apart. Griffin is in the Athena courtyard when we arrive. He looks at the sundial, turns on his heel, and goes back inside. Five minutes to spare.
“Let’s meet back here in one hour,” Flynn suggests. “We’ll take lunch to the kids at the north wall.” He’s not looking at me. He’s finally looking at Jocasta.
She nods, and we go our separate ways.
* * *
“That’s a lot of lemons,” Griffin says, following me into the bedroom after dinner.
I found a bowl earlier and put the lemons on the table, using them for decoration instead of handing them over to the kitchens. “The old lady selling them bowed to your sisters, so I bought her lemons.”
“All of them?”
I throw him a dirty look. “No, not all of them.”
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, resting his chin on the top of my head. His earlier irritation seems to be forgotten. I feel more settled, too.
“You’re not nearly as mean as you pretend to be,” Griffin says.
“Oh, I’m mean,” I assure him.
He chuckles. “My apologies. I believe you.”
“Everyone loves them.” I sigh. “They love you all.”
“It seems so.” He sounds pleased, and a little proud.
“It’s revolting.” We both know I don’t mean it.
“Let’s hope Magoi are as easy to win over as Hoi Polloi.”
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“Don’t count on it, but if anyone is capable of conquering with charisma and ideas as well as force, it’s you. You have the people. Get the nobles, and most Magoi will follow. Sinta will be locked down.”
He rubs his jaw over my hair and then inhales deeply, as if enjoying the scent he stirs up. “With Sinta definitively stable, we can focus on the next step.”
My gut tightens with worry. Is he talking about increasing Sinta’s defenses and implementing the projects he and Egeria have cooked up, or something else? Something far more dangerous? I don’t want to know. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.
Eager to change the subject, I wiggle out of his arms, sift through my purchases, and then shove the soap at him. “This is for you.”
He looks surprised. “You got me something?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s just soap. And you paid for it.”
“No, you did. I keep forgetting to give you your wages, so I just gave you everything at once.”
“Oh, well, we’ve been busy dying, and healing, and…everything else.”
A smile tugs at his full mouth. “Everything else?” His voice turns gruff. He seems very interested in the everything else part. “Are you sore?”
A fiery blush paints me from top to bottom, but I shake my head. “It’s better now.”
“Good.” Closing the small distance between us, he wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me up, kissing me deeply. “You know what they say about Ares and Aphrodite?”
I twine my arms around his neck. My feet dangle above the floor. He’s strong and broad, and I cling willingly to his warmth. Our lips and tongues begin to dance, and the awareness I always feel around Griffin explodes into fierce, bone-deep desire.
“Cat?” he murmurs against my mouth.
“Hmm?”
“Ares and Aphrodite.”
I’m more interested in kissing. Griffin lets my feet touch the ground again so he can slide his hands over the curve of my bottom and pull me tightly against him. His arousal presses into my belly, and an ache blossoms between my thighs.
A Promise of Fire Page 33
