Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Honey
It’s so windy when we get back to my parents’ place I nearly give Gryff a second look at my pussy today just getting out of the truck.
I press my thighs together as I tug down the hem of the pretty floral sundress I thought was a good idea before I had to climb up a ladder and get on the roof.
Oh right. That would be a third look at my pussy because I’m fairly sure the poor guy copped an eyeful when he rescued me, as well as in the hardware store.
Not that I would mind if he actually wanted to look at it. I wish he did.
I really need to stop thinking about Gryff and my pussy in the same thought. Those two things do not go together, much as I wish they did. He’s made it abundantly clear he’s not interested and is just helping me out of pity or duty.
The erections must just be some kind of residual reaction to my succubus side. Something he can control as much as I can control the way I lure people to me. He’s not doing it on purpose.
“I’ll need a pair of scissors to cut open the box.” Gryff shouts over the wind. A flash of lightning cuts off his last word, and I glance up anxiously at the sky.
“Ah, do you think maybe we should wait until after the storm passes?”
“It’ll take me two minutes.”
I hurry inside and scramble through the drawer to find the scissors, half tearing at the tape on the box to get the roof tiles out as Gryff sets the ladder against the house.
The wind whips my hair into my face, stinging my eyes, and I have to tuck my skirt into my underwear to stop it blowing up around my armpits.
He’s already two steps up the ladder waiting for me. “Here!” I hold up a tile, and he takes it from me, hastily climbing the ladder even as the first spots of rain drop on my cheeks and nose. He’s right. He works super-fast. In no time at all he’s climbing back down to retrieve the second tile.
Thunder cracks, and the raindrops get bigger. Gryff curses.
The tile falls and shatters on the ground beside me.
The sky lights up with a blinding flash, and I scream as thunder follows quickly after, so fast I don’t even have time to count a second between. “Gryff!”
I can’t hide the horror in my voice at the thought of him being hit by lightning.
With a growl he slides down the ladder, brushing sodden hair from his forehead and eyes with the back of his hand. “It’s no good. It’ll have to—”
Another flash seems to come from right behind the house. The crack is so loud I have to cover my ears. My scream sounds muffled.
The next part happens so quickly I only put the pieces together afterward.
One moment I’m standing in front of the house, with my hands over my ears, the next I’m on the ground with eight foot something of angry werewolf pinning me to the mud.
All the wind is knocked out of me. As soon as my head stops spinning, I realize he’s cradling it so I’m not actually hurt.
Just surprised, but this time I’m ready for what’s coming.
He lifts me and barges through the door, checking right and left and only stopping once the door is closed behind us and some of the noise from the storm has reduced.
He’s staring straight ahead, blinking. His clothes are torn, ripped by the transformation into his full beast form.
I can’t help staring at him like this. Strangely he still looks like Gryff, if a wolfy face can look like a human one.
He has the same heavy brows drawn down over eyes which hide a depth of feeling.
I lift my hand. “Gryff, can you hear me?”
He growls and his lips pull back, exposing sharp teeth, but I choose to ignore it. I don’t think he’ll hurt me. Not if I can get him to realize who I am again. He’s huge in this form. Intimidating. But the way he holds me to his chest as if I’m precious makes it hard to be scared of him.
“Gryff,” I call again, offering my hand so he can smell me. “Gryff, I know you know it’s me. Do you know where you are?”
His nostrils flare. He presses a wet nose to my palm, and I stifle a giggle at the ticklish feeling.
His ears lift. Then suddenly his body seems to shrink in on itself and instead of a huge werewolf, now it’s a semi-naked, dazed-looking man clutching me to his chest, and mud from my front yard is spread all up his front and arms. It’s splattered on the walls and floor and all over me too.
A drop of water trickles down my nose.
“Shit. Sorry, Honey.” Gryff sets me down and steps away, and I instantly regret losing the contact. My body tingles everywhere we were touching.
“Here, let me get you a towel.” I hurry toward the hall closet.
“I should go.”
“Don’t go!”
“Look at the mess I made of your house. Of you.”
I look down at my mud-splattered dress and shrug. “Nothing a shower and mop can’t fix.” Lightning flashes and a few seconds later thunder rumbles. The eye of the storm is getting further away at least. “God, I really thought that lightning was going to hit you, it was so close.”
Gryff mumbles something that sounds like, “Might have been better if it had.” But he accepts the towel I snatch from the hall closet and hand to him and begins mopping the mess on the floor rather than himself. “I’m nothing but trouble to anybody.”
“That’s not true!” I lift my head in the process of wiping my own face and stare at him in horror. “How can you say that? You’ve been so kind to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You wouldn’t have a hole in your roof, for starters.”
“I’d still be stuck on the roof if you hadn’t rescued me, so…”
He sighs, handing me back the towel. “I’m going to leave you be. I’ll fix the roof as soon as it’s safe. We just have to hope that it doesn’t leak too bad in the meantime.”
“Gryff, wait.”
He turns away, ignoring me. Then he opens the door and walks out into the pouring rain.
I clutch the wet muddy towel to my chest for a moment, watching the way he hunches his shoulders and jogs across the space between our houses before he disappears inside.
Does he really believe what he said, that he’s nothing but trouble? I hardly know him and can already tell he’s honorable and caring and gentle. And really great with his hands…
Despite how shitty I feel, a wave of fresh desire washes over me, leaving me trembling. Really, really great with his hands. A touch from him brought me to orgasm faster than any of my toys. His hot breath on my neck; his whispered praise in my ear.
Oh god. What is wrong with me today?
Doing my best to wipe up the mud, I make my way to the shower and make myself cum for what feels like the hundredth time that day.
And once more I can’t keep my mind off my broody, sexy, werewolf neighbor.
Only this time, as I picture his rugged features there’s an aching sadness in his eyes that was never there before, and I wish I could kiss him and pet it away.
I expect a flash storm that blows over quickly, but the rain settles in, digs its heels in, and hangs on for the rest of the night.
The sound of it pattering on the roof would be comforting, but it’s lonely snuggling up under a blanket to watch Notting Hill for the billionth time by myself.
There’s no one to make me a hot cocoa and tuck me in.
No one to help warm my feet or turn to when the wind picks up and howls like a banshee through the trees outside.
I sleep fitfully, with vivid dreams I half remember when I wake up.
When I drag myself out to the kitchen with my hair a mess and imprints from the pillow still on my face, I blink down in surprise when I notice my feet are wet.
Taking another step causes a squelch, and I wake up enough to notice the floor is covered in water and there’s water dripping from a very large dark mark on the ceiling.
Shit!
I rush to the laundry and get a bucket to catch the drips—which is probably a waste of time seeing as the floor is already covered in at least an inch of water.
I try to turn on a light, but the switch flashes and there’s a fizzle and then nothing happens.
Great. So it looks like power’s out and the floor is covered in water.
My phone has ten percent battery, but I manage to google the number of a local electrician and then wonder if I should start with a plumber.
Someone who can help get rid of all this water.
Or maybe a roof tiler. I know Gryff said he would fix the roof, but I feel bad hassling him today after everything that happened yesterday.
I’m down to five percent, so I make a snap decision and call the electrician. But it’s seven in the morning. The call goes straight to voicemail.
Desperate, I leave a message, and before I can try the next place, my phone beeps and vibrates in my hand and the screen goes black. I stare at it in frustration. I can’t even charge it because when I hurry back to the bedroom to plug it in, I find I’ve got no power there either.
What do I do here?
OK. No need to panic. Maybe the switch just flipped. I can do this.
I finally locate the mains on the outside of the house, near the back door. This is all stuff Dad would have handled, and I flip the cover and stare at all the switches for a long moment wondering if this is a good idea.
All the switches are pointing down except one single one labeled kitchen. But that seems wrong. Why is the power out in the whole house?
Oh god. This is above my pay grade.
Making a mental note to ask Dad to show me how to handle this stuff in future, I reach out hesitantly and flip the switch. There’s a thunk and the switch immediately flicks back up.
I try again, and the same thing happens.
Well shit.
I’m officially out of ideas. Feeling sheepish, I run back into the house and fetch my phone and charger, then I walk to Gryff’s front door, let out a long breath, and knock.
There’s no answer right away, so I knock a little louder.
A deep voice from inside grumbles, “Just a minute.”
A moment later the front door opens and Gryff is standing in front of me with no shirt on, just abs for days. Abs covered in a layer of dark hair that trails down to the low-slung waistband of his gray sweatpants, just like I knew I would find beneath his shirt.
My mouth goes dry. I forget how to speak.
I forget all the words in the English language.
I just hold up my phone and charger hopefully.
“Can you plug me? I mean my plug in your socket? Um… I‘ve got no power.” I mentally face palm when he doesn’t say anything.
He just stares at me with those dark, sad eyes, thick brows pulled down into a scowl of displeasure.