The Griffin Marshal's Heart (U.S. Marshal Shifters Book 4) Read online

  Cooper lifted Gretchen up, tucking the blanket snugly around her so it wouldn’t fall. He followed along after the old man.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Clifford Meeks. You can call me Ford.”

  “I’m—”

  “I don’t want to know who you are, son,” Ford said, cutting him off. “If your girl doesn’t wake up by the time the phones come back, then I’ll call for an ambulance for you. If she does, and she’s doing all right, then I don’t see any reason to get anyone else involved. What I don’t know, I can’t tell the police.”

  Cooper stared at the man’s hunched back. “Sir, if I actually were on the run, you could be arrested for harboring—”

  “But you’re not on the run. You’re saving a lady’s life when you could have just left her out in the cold. And I’m eighty-three years old; anybody who wants to put me in prison is a damn fool. I’d almost welcome the change of scenery.”

  “It’s not that great,” Cooper said. “Everything’s either beige or green, and the food’s terrible.”

  “I like beige,” Ford said. “It’s soothing.” He unlocked one of the pale wooden doors. “This is one of just two that opens up from the actual inside. Everything else, you have to go out into the court to get to it. So it’s kind of like giving you the Presidential suite, only that’d be something worth caring about, and this isn’t.”

  The doors, Cooper noticed, were so old that they still used actual keys that hung on little plastic tags. As ancient as its setup might have been, the room looked clean and well-kept, without even a trace of lint on its dark green carpeting. The bed had a thick, fluffy white comforter and a plush gray blanket, and Cooper wasted no time in wrapping them both around Gretchen.

  If she woke up in this, she’d feel like a burrito. Tough. Right now, it was more important for her to get warm than be comfortable.

  “I’ll leave the door open,” Ford said, putting the soup bowls down on the dresser. “You want something, just yell.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Cooper said quietly. “You’re a good man.”

  “Son, this is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in twenty years. I just hope your girl’s okay.”

  “Me too,” Cooper said. He put his arms around her once again.

  He didn’t want to think about what he would have to do if this didn’t work.

  If she didn’t wake up soon, he’d have to make a hard decision. Should he risk trying to turn her?

  An infusion of shifter strength and hardiness would be enough to save her from almost anything. If, that was, she survived the transformation in the first place. Sometimes human bodies couldn’t handle the enormous late-in-life change, and he’d heard rumors that mythic transformations were especially dangerous.

  But he couldn’t just let her die.

  Luckily, there were at least a few ordinary, human things he hadn’t tried yet, and one of them was the snuggling-up they’d done in the car. Skin-to-skin contact might do the trick.

  “I’m sorry to do this when you’re so out of it, Gretch,” he said as he maneuvered her sweater over her head. “I’m just trying everything I can think of.”

  He had barely caught a glimpse of her in her underwear before, and he didn’t want to catch more of one now. He shed his own clothes and wrapped her in his arms, cocooning them both in the blankets that would hold in their heat.

  He tucked his chin over her shoulder, resting his head against hers, and that was when he saw it.

  He could scratch trying to change her into a shifter off his list. By the looks of the scar between her neck and her shoulder, someone had already tried that, and it hadn’t gone well.

  It wasn’t a huge scar, but it was obviously a bite-mark, and one that looked like it had healed badly. Cooper only had to brush a fingertip against it before Gretchen flinched away.

  What had happened to her that, even mostly unconscious, she would still viscerally recoil like that? Who had hurt her?

  And if a shifter’s bite hadn’t killed her, how was it that she was still human? The only person Cooper knew who had survived that kind of a bite without gaining a new shape had been Roger, and, of course, Roger was already a shifter.

  Shifters can’t turn other shifters, his griffin confirmed. Then it sounded uncertain: But Gretchen said she was human.

  Cooper couldn’t understand what had happened, but he could still understand the pain on her face. He kissed her hair.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ll stay away from it, I promise.”

  Her tensed-up expression softened into the same sleepy smile as before, and once again, she opened her eyes. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Cooper was sure there was a little more spark of alertness there than there had been before.

  “This is nice,” Gretchen said. She moved back, cuddling up a little more against his chest. “It must be my birthday.”

  “It’s the one-hour anniversary of you almost dying from hypothermia, actually.” He tried to keep his voice light, but he could still hear the raw relief in it, and he knew she could too. “That’s why we’re—you know. I had to be able to warm you up, and your clothes were getting in the way.”

  “A likely story,” she teased. “You were just trying to steal my quick-change secrets.” Then she blinked, confusion crossing her face and making her look a little more alert. “Why are you duct-taped?”

  “I tore my stitches a little. This should hold me until the wounds heal on their own.”

  She caressed around the gauze, her fingers delicate. “I didn’t want you to get hurt even more.”

  “It’s not that bad. And it was worth it.”

  A playful smile crossed Gretchen’s face. “Hey, you said I was a painkiller, right? Let me see if I can help you out.”

  She shifted, her thawing body moving against his, and he was now incredibly aware of how silky and lush her bare body was.

  It had been bad enough trying to resist her during Snowbound Cuddling Adventure: Part One, and she had at least still been wearing a T-shirt then, and they’d had the discomfort of the car to distract them. Now they had a warm, safe bed—and he had a warm, safe Gretchen. One who was moving languorously against him with a full, delighted awareness of the results she was getting.

  Her smile deepened, now looking downright mischievous. Nobody looking at her now—including Cooper himself—would be able to believe that she’d been lifeless and icy just a few minutes ago.

  That was strange, too. Any second of her being in danger terrified him, but he could still recognize that her recovery had been almost uncannily fast. Of course, he knew he wasn’t completely in tune with how quickly humans tended to heal, and, as he’d had ample opportunity to remember lately, he wasn’t a doctor or a paramedic. Maybe he didn’t know what he was talking about.

  But all the same, he was sure that it should have taken longer for her to come back to this kind of vivid, warm, energetic life.

  Then she moved against him, and Cooper forgot all his questions.

  In fact, he forgot how to think at all.

  He had stripped down to just his boxers, and the silken rub of Gretchen’s skin against his made him rue every bit of cloth that came between them. She was tantalizingly soft and warm against the slivers of his exposed body, trailing her hand along the edge of his thigh right where the boxers ended. It was like she was leaving a trail of sparks in her wake.

  He’d thought her handshake had made him come apart at the seams? That her kiss had knocked him out? This was reducing him to rubble.

  This was his mate, touching him with a sweet, sexy smile on her face; this was his heart, body, and mind working in perfect accord to appreciate everything she was giving him.

  “Gretchen—”

  He didn’t know what he was asking her for.

  It didn’t matter. She knew what he wanted. She pressed her lips against his, letting him draw a gorgeous moan out of her as he licked into her mouth.

  She drew
away only for them both to gasp in air, and that was when some ability to think finally came back to him.

  “The door.”

  She looked over her shoulder at the open door and promptly turned scarlet.

  He kissed one of her newly burning cheeks. “Glad to see your blood flow’s working right again.”

  Gretchen raised her eyebrows. “Mine’s working fine.” And then slowly, deliberately, she canted her thigh in between his, brushing the round curve of it against his cock.

  Outside of their tangle of blankets, it wouldn’t have looked like anything. The visible parts of her body had barely moved at all.

  “How’s your blood flow?” Gretchen inquired pleasantly.

  Cooper was about to say he’d learned his lesson and he wouldn’t tease her again—and then her hand closed over his cock, drawing him out of his boxer shorts.

  God.

  “Seems okay,” she said in the same bright, cheerful voice. “Everything feels like it’s in good working order.”

  Cooper tucked his mouth against her ear so he didn’t have to worry about being overheard. “You’re killing me here.”

  “You were the one who thought it was a good idea for us to take our clothes off,” she whispered back.

  “I was trying to save your life!”

  She tightened her hand around him, drawing out a noise that he thankfully managed to catch before it escaped his lips. “Consider it saved.”

  “There’s a—ah—very nice old man—fuck—named Ford out there, who could hear—”

  Gretchen kissed him again, but more softly this time. “I’ll take care of it.”

  She peeled off the comforter, leaving him wrapped in just the quilt, and wrapped it around her shoulders. It made her look like a queen in a long white winter cloak. She padded over to the open door, moving in small glides so she could keep herself covered, and called out, “Mr. Ford?”

  Ford’s voice came back: “Marshal? And it’s just Ford, dear. It’s my first name.”

  “Then I’m Gretchen. But yes, I’m the Marshal.”

  “Good to see you’re back on your feet.”

  “Good to be back on my feet, for sure. From the way Cooper’s acting, it was touch and go there for a while?”

  “Seemed to be.”

  Cooper’s throbbing lust thought this conversation, while nice and friendly, was taking way longer than it needed to.

  “Well, I am back on my feet, and all I want to do is take a nice hot shower and go to bed. I didn’t want you to worry—I’m absolutely fine. I’m just going to close the door so I can get some sleep.”

  “So you can get some sleep,” Ford repeated dryly. “Sure, dear.”

  Even from the bed, Cooper could see the back of Gretchen’s neck flush bright pink.

  But even if she was embarrassed at the thought of this motel owner being all too sure of what she and Cooper were going to get up to behind that closed door, she didn’t let it get in the way of her plan.

  “Good night!” Gretchen said, with bright innocence.

  She closed the door. Turning back to Cooper, she let the comforter fall to the floor.

  She was glorious.

  She was smooth and sleek, the perfect combination of soft, sweet curves and the finely-honed muscles that spoke to her devotion to the more physical parts of the job. Her skin was a warm golden-brown, a slightly lighter honey shade than her eyes, and seeing it juxtaposed against her cream-colored bra and panties made him want to just spend an eternity tasting her. He knew he wouldn’t regret a second of it.

  “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Cooper said. He untangled himself from the nest of blankets and went over to her, cupping one hand around the back of her head so he could kiss her deeply. “You’re perfect.”

  “I can’t even believe you’re real,” Gretchen said softly against his mouth, the words a delicate vibration against his lips. “I’m so glad I met you. I wasn’t kidding about the shower... but I’d like you to take it with me.”

  *

  The showers in Ford’s motel were avocado-colored bathtubs with ancient showerheads that pelted water down at you at a terrifying speed.

  They were standing outside the tub on the chilly tiled floor, shivering there in their underwear. Gretchen had been hoping for the best—despite the unappealing visual of the tub—until she’d turned on the water to test it. Most of the time, she liked the kind of shower where the water hit you like it was coming out of a pressure hose. It was like getting a free massage, if you were tough enough to take it. But she had to admit that it wasn’t exactly erotic—and neither was the prospect of slipping and sliding around the tub with Cooper while they both tried to get clean in the same tiny space.

  “I wanted to pamper you,” Gretchen said, raising her voice to be heard over the thundering water. “But this isn’t as steamy and sexy as I was hoping for.”

  “It’s a hot shower I can take in relative privacy,” Cooper said. “That’s good enough for me.”

  She laced her hands together behind his neck, feeling the silky bristle of his hair as it tapered down. “I’m sure anything would be an improvement over the last few months. But you deserve something really luxurious.”

  There was no disappointment in those sea-green eyes, though. Right here and now, Coop looked like he was completely at peace.

  “If I get to sleep in the same bed with you tonight, that would be as much luxury as any man could handle.”

  Warmth suffused through her. “I want you in bed with me.”

  That night and every night afterwards. But she didn’t want to think about the future right now. As long as they were still stuck in their little snow globe, as long as the storm was still roaring outside, then they existed in a different world from all of their problems.

  Cooper bent down and kissed her. He tasted like the sweet, light coffee he’d been drinking, and Gretchen felt that funny combination of grand romance and comfort again: his kiss made her think both of her own morning routine and of Sleeping Beauty waking up to the sight of her prince.

  “I’ll go see if Ford can let me use the shower in another room,” Coop said. “And then I can meet you back here and we can—go to bed.” There was such gorgeous hunger in his eyes, but he still added, “If that’s still what you want after you see how I clean up.” His voice was light, but he really was trying to give her an out.

  Well, she didn’t need one. She knew without a doubt that she wanted him, that she needed him.

  Maybe she wasn’t his mate. Maybe the way they’d fallen in love with each other right away was just some kind of cosmic mistake. She didn’t care. She couldn’t imagine being in this moment with anyone else.

  She said, “I bet you clean up just fine,” and kissed him so thoroughly that he would know she meant it.

  He went back to the bed and picked up the top half of his prison jumpsuit, starting to put it back on, but then he stopped.

  “I don’t want to put this back on,” Coop said hoarsely. “Not with you here. It doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to get you mixed up with all of that.”

  “Throw it away.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and even surrounded by the steam pouring out of the shower, she knew she was shivering. She hated the sight of those clothes too. “I wish you could burn it. Ford can loan you something. We can make you a toga out of sheets. Anything but those.”

  He settled for just wrapping a towel around his waist for right now. He looked both sexy and vulnerable like that—and so much happier than he’d looked in his prison uniform.

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” he said.

  Gretchen watched him go—admiring the shape of his ass even through the towel, because she was only human—and then slid off her bra and underwear. It felt insanely good to step into the shower. Without having to try to have sex under its aggressive spray, she could really appreciate the way it bludgeoned her into cleanness. It was gratifyingly hot, too, making her feel sleepy and relaxed a
s she slowly shampooed her hair and soaped up. There was something so dreamlike about watching the gauzy film of soapsuds on her skin break and scatter as the water thundered down.

  But she had a guy to get to, and that made her buckle down and hurry.

  Besides, she was showering in a hotel just a couple of hours after she’d made a Psycho joke. That was bad luck.

  She stepped out of the shower, toweling her hair dry, and walked out to the bedroom.

  Cooper was waiting for her, sitting on the bed with the now-damp towel wrapped around his waist once again. His bandages looked fresh and more carefully placed.

  “I guess if you’re the master of the quick change, I’m the master of the quick shower,” he said when he heard her footsteps. Then he looked at her, and his expression turned almost reverent. “God, Gretchen, you’re beautiful.”

  She smiled. “You’ve already seen me.”

  “If you think I’m going to get tired of looking at you, you’re wrong.”

  “I want to look at you too.” She stepped closer to him, nudging at the towel that was still covering his knee.

  “Oh,” Cooper said, with the slightest of blushes on his face. “Right.”

  “I’m always losing strip poker around you,” Gretchen said musingly.

  Cooper stood and unwound his own towel, letting Gretchen admire him. However beautiful he thought she was, she couldn’t believe that she had anything at all on him. He was tall and lean and perfectly made, with perfect hipbones that tipped into an Adonis belt, and she couldn’t stand looking at him a single second longer without touching him.

  She straddled his lap and kissed him, her body held over his beautiful flushed cock, and then it became a blur.

  He stroked her breasts, kissing and nibbling at the sensitive skin there until she was gasping and grabbing at him. It felt like her body had become a live wire and each time he touched her was a fresh and revelatory shock. She ground down against him, curling her fingers against his back, and felt his cock move teasingly over the folds of her sex.