Chapter 14
Meera
Three days ago, I was running for my life. Tonight, I sat in a dimly lit bar, surrounded by warmth and laughter, and people who’d somehow become my friends in the span of a weekend. And all I could think about was the man who wouldn’t even look at me.
Except Graham was looking now.
Probably because he was sitting directly across from me, trapped by the arrangement of chairs and the unspoken rules of group outings.
He tried to hide it, his gaze flicking away every time I caught him staring, but I felt the weight of it anyway.
His eyes were dark and intense, and something in them had my pulse racing. I hated how it made me feel.
And then there were our legs. Our knees kept brushing under the table. Accident? Maybe. Or maybe not. Even through the layers of fabric, I felt the heat of him. My body reacted like a live wire, and a shiver ran up my spine every time it happened.
I hadn’t expected him to be here, not after days of watching him disappear into his wing of the penthouse, avoiding every group meal, every shared moment.
He’d made it clear he wanted distance. But tonight he was here, wedged between Eamon and his brother Grayson.
Their giant frames made the chairs and table look positively tiny, even though The Howling Wolf was a shifter bar and the furniture was already pretty generously sized.
I was pretty sure Shelby and the others had something to do with him being here.
It was strange to have friends. And despite having only known them for such a short time, I felt really comfortable here, like I belonged.
But I was also pretty damn sure they were playing matchmaker.
They’d scoped me out, found me acceptable, and were now trying to hook me up with the only single man in the family unit.
Graham was the only one left without a mate, and the women had decided it was their personal mission to change that. From what I’d gathered, he’d been avoiding their Friday night hangouts at the pub and making excuses not to stay for movie night at the penthouse, almost like he didn’t belong.
Which was insane because he totally did. They’d taken it upon themselves to fix that. They weren’t trying to meddle. They were just worried, especially since he’d been a lot grumpier too.
I might have had one too many mimosas yesterday and spilled about the kiss.
Just a little. Just enough to make Shelby and Lillian’s eyes light up like they’d won the lottery.
To the best of their knowledge, I was the first woman Graham had kissed in a very, very long time. Like, decades. Maybe more.
Now, sitting here with his knee pressed against mine under the table, I wondered if he knew that I knew. And if he could tell by the way I kept fidgeting with my glass.
“I need the bathroom,” Shelby whispered.
“I’ll come with,” I said, needing some space away from his all-encompassing presence just to breathe.
“Me too,” said Emily.
Emily was Griff’s wife and mate, and Griff was the last of the Redrock brothers.
They lived in a cottage-style home built right on the roof of the building.
I didn’t really believe it until she showed me the pictures earlier.
It looked like someone had plucked a cottage straight from a storybook, complete with a thatched roof, a wildflower garden spilling over the edges, and set it down on the rooftop.
Talk about country and city living all at once.
We did the stereotypical girl thing, heading to the bathroom in a group. I hadn’t had an experience like this for years, ever since I started dating Karim and stopped going out with my friends.
It felt good. And I almost dreaded this ending, but I knew it had to come to a conclusion eventually. My life was still back in New York.
At least my job offered me a ton of freedom, since I usually booked my own client meetings and set my own hours.
Earlier, I’d called the brokerage that I worked for to let them know I’d be unavailable due to some personal problems, and to send any leads to, barf, Jack.
Maria, our receptionist, had immediately been strangely understanding.
I’d tried to act completely unsurprised when she said, “Of course, honey. You can take as much time as you need, considering what happened. I’d need time off, too, if that happened to me. Time off and a strong drink.”
I had no idea what she’d meant by “what happened” and couldn’t exactly ask. So I’d just thanked her and hung up.
I’d wanted to figure out what she’d meant, but then Lillian had come by asking if I wanted to hit up the mall and then the plant nursery, and I’d pushed it off.
I needed to pick up a few essentials. I didn’t mind borrowing Tansy’s T-shirts and sweatpants.
But I needed my own undergarments. I bought several pairs of undies and a bra, hoping it would be enough to get me through however long I had to be here.
They hadn’t found Karim, or some of the other groups who’d been after me, and even though I didn’t have the egg anymore, they wanted to make sure everything was safe before I went home.
Lillian had also convinced me to splurge on a gorgeous red body con dress that I’d never have had the guts to wear before. And I’d managed to convince her not to buy yet another watering can. She already had several, and could use only one at a time.
Some of the penthouse plants were Eamon’s, but most belonged to Lillian. Between her online shop, Tiger Lily’s Tropicals , and her obsession with aroids, her and Gunnar’s place was a veritable jungle filled top to bottom with greenery. But hey, worse addictions existed.
As for the red dress I’d bought, I was wearing that now, along with a simple, cheap purse I’d picked up since I couldn’t wear my backpack everywhere.
I checked myself out in the mirror. I hated to be vain, but I looked like a million bucks, and if Graham wasn’t interested enough to make a move, then that was his loss.
I was rubbing my hand under the super sonic dryer when I heard it.
“Bring me back my egg.”
I whipped around. But there was no one there.
Strange. The voice had been in my head. My eyes landed on something I hadn’t noticed before on the counter.
It was shiny and bronze. As if with a mind of its own, my hand reached for it before I could stop it.
It was about the size of a makeup compact, shaped like a scale, and shimmered with a familiar iridescence.
I realized what it reminded me of. The egg!
Except instead of dark green with a bit of bronze, this was bronze with a little bit of chartreuse. Was this a dragon scale?
I don’t know what made me put it into my purse, but I did. It almost felt like I was watching someone else do it. Then I went to wash and dry my hands again.
“Meera, are you okay?”
I turned to Shelby and Emily, who both looked at me with concern in their eyes.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Emily asked “You’ve been drying your hands for a while staring off into space.”
“I’m…” There was something important I should tell them, something significant, but I couldn’t remember. My eyes scanned the room, going from the counter to the mirror to the dryer. Nothing. “I… There was something I was going to tell you guys but I don’t remember.”
“I’m sure you’ll remember soon. Tell us then. Let’s get back to our table.”
I followed them back, all the while still feeling like I was missing something.
We returned to find the seating had been rearranged, and my plate was now right next to Graham’s, like some twisted culinary matchmaking attempt. I narrowed my eyes at Shelby, who blinked at me with the innocence of a kitten who’d just knocked over a whole damn shelf of vases.
Oh, this was totally on purpose.
I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly pulled a muscle. Please. Like this would change anything. Graham had made his position crystal clear. And I wasn’t going to throw myself at his feet like some lovesick puppy.
But they knew that, which I guess was why they’d resorted to subterfuge.
The rest of the night dragged by at the pace of a sloth hurrying to cross the road.
Every accidental brush of his arm against mine sent a jolt of awareness straight to my core.
It was impossible to ignore how close he was and how infuriatingly good he smelled.
I couldn’t even describe it. I just wanted to rub up all over him so I could smell like that too.
I tried to focus on the conversation. On the laughter. On anything but the way my skin tingled every time he shifted in his seat and the side of his thighs touched mine, reminding me again and again that gargoyles burned hot despite being made of stone.
And when we all got up to go back to the penthouse, which was only several blocks away, everyone paired up, leaving Graham and me together. Because of course they did.
The night had been warm and humid when we left Redrock, but now the temperature had crashed, and the wind cut through the darkened city streets like a blade. The first fat raindrop hit my face.
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.
The one raindrop turned into six, and then into twelve, and then I lost count.
I broke into a run with the others, but the damn shoes I’d borrowed from Tansy—technically my size, but just loose enough to be a death trap—betrayed me. My foot twisted. My arms windmilled. And then I was going down, the pavement rushing up to meet me.
“I got you.”
Graham’s voice was rough, his arms already closing around me before I could hit the ground. One second I was airborne, the next I was pressed against his chest, my heart hammering against his.
There was a deafening rumble, and without skipping a beat Graham turned and sprinted for the nearest overhang with me in his arms, even as the sky split open into a deluge.
Somewhere down the street, I heard some colorful cursing as the rest of the group scrambled for cover. A streetlamp flickered, then died, plunging us into near-darkness.
“Is everyone okay?” Tansy’s voice carried over the rain. “Where’s Meera?”
“I’m here!” I called back, my voice breathless. “I’m fine. I think I broke your shoes. I’m sorry!”
“No worries!” she shouted. “I’ll get them fixed!”
And just like that, I was stranded. Again. Alone. With Graham.
The overhang was barely big enough for two people to stand without touching. The rain drummed against the pavement in front of us, a curtain of water separating us from the rest of the world.
I wiggled in his arms. “You can put me down now.”
His grip tightened, his fingers flexing against my back. “No.”
“Graham.”
“You’re not walking in those shoes.”
“I’m fine.”
His only reply was a grumble.
I huffed out a breath. “Listen, grumpy. I know what the girls are doing. They’re trying to shove us together like a bad romance novel.
But I get it, okay? The kiss was a mistake.
If I disgust you that much, you don’t have to pretend to care.
I’ve survived this long without a grumpy gargoyle. I don’t need one now.”
His entire body went rigid. “Pretend to care?”
“Isn’t that what this is?” I shot back. “You’ve been avoiding me since that night. You act like I’m somehow contagious or something and—”
“You think I’m avoiding you because I don’t want you?” The words were a low, dangerous rumble, sending a shiver down my spine.
I swallowed. “Aren’t you?”
His face was so close I could feel his hot breath down the side of my neck. “I’ve been avoiding you because if I don’t, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder, carry you back to my room, and fuck you until you can’t remember your own name. ”
The air suddenly felt too thick to breathe.
His grip on me tightened, his voice dropping to a growl. “I’ve been avoiding you because every time I look at you, all I can think about is how good you tasted. How soft your skin is. How much I want to hear you scream my name when I—”
“Lies,” I said, knowing I was prodding the beast. “All lies, until you prove—"
His mouth crashed down on mine.
There was nothing gentle about it. His lips were hot, demanding, his tongue sweeping inside with a possessiveness that stole my breath.
I gasped, my fingers clutching at his shirt, my body melting against his.
He groaned, the sound vibrating against my lips.
His hands slid down to my waist, pulling me flush against him.
I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my side, and a needy whimper escaped my throat. My legs trembled, my knees threatening to give out if he wasn’t already holding me up, his grip unrelenting.
His tongue tangled with mine, hot and insistent, and I met him stroke for stroke, my body arching into his. The rain poured down around us, but all I could feel was his heat, the way his body pressed against mine, and the way his hands roamed over me like he couldn’t get enough.
When he finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine, his breath ragged. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he admitted, voice rough. “Not for a single damn second.”
It took me a moment to find my words; it felt like I’d been kissed to my last brain cell. “Then why the hell have you been avoiding me?”
“Because, Meera, I knew that if I touched you again, I’m not going to be able to stop.”