The Griffin's Mate Read online

  Lainie shook herself, trying to escape the vision her imagination had called up. Harrison, working on a construction site under the blazing sun. Shirtless. Sweat running down his forehead, and along the hard curves of his chest.

  “Um,” she said, her mouth dry. Get a grip!

  She frowned, and squinted along Harrison’s arm—Don’t look at his arm, come on, keep it together—to try and make out the house he was pointing at. The houses along here were set down and back from the road, at the edge of what looked in the darkness like a shared yard.

  “Which house, sorry?”

  “Next along from the colonial with the French doors. With the cat parked out front.”

  Lainie’s frown grew deeper. The cat…? All she could see was a single-level weatherboard house with a small boat tethered to the front porch.

  Oh. Cat. Catamaran.

  “I see it,” she said, blushing.

  “Notice anything strange about it?” Harrison was practically glowing with smug anticipation.

  Lainie stared. She’d assumed the small boat—the catamaran—was grounded on the front yard, but now that she really looked at it, it seemed to be rocking up and down. She followed the black patch of “yard” towards the road, and saw the light from the streetlamp playing on it.

  “That’s all water! So, what, the house is on stilts?”

  “And here I thought I’d get the fun of explaining it to you,” Harrison said, groaning. He walked ahead, beckoning to her. “See—there’s a small lagoon here that goes back from the road. Easy to see in the daylight, but not so much at night.”

  “Can the catamaran—uh, the cat fit under the road? I mean, the bridge?”

  “With the mast down, sure.”

  “And the house doesn’t float away on the tide?”

  “Not recently.” Harrison’s teeth caught the light as he smiled at her. “This was my first build after I finished my apprenticeship. The house had come off its foundations in a big storm, so my boss, Mr. Mackaby, tasked me with getting it fixed up to the owner’s satisfaction.”

  Harrison leaned on the stone wall at the edge of the road above the lagoon. It was clear he was proud of what he’d achieved. Lainie slipped in beside him, standing just close enough that the hem of her coat brushed against him.

  “I imagine if you owned a boat, being able to moor it right at the front door would be pretty ideal,” she said.

  Harrison’s face was in shadows, but his hazel eyes caught the light, gleaming gold. “My boss agreed. Which is a good thing, because that was his house.” He paused. “His daughter lives there now, with her husband and the kids. So I better hope I did a good job, or he’ll come back and haunt me.”

  “Still getting annual work reviews from beyond the grave? Ouch.”

  “Well, if it does happen, I’ll just have to make sure to keep his ghostly attention on Marcie’s house, and not his old workshop. He’d really blow a gasket if he saw what I’ve done to the place.”

  “Oh?” Lainie was intrigued. Harrison spoke about his old boss with such fond respect, she was surprised to hear he had gone against his wishes.

  “Yeah.” Harrison looked sheepish. “It’s meant to just be a workplace, but I spent so much time there the first few years after I took over, I ended up moving in. Boss always liked to keep work and home separate, but…” He shrugged.

  “I know how you feel. I can’t count the nights I would have rather pulled out a cot bed and slept under my desk than hauled myself all the way home,” Lainie said. “Mind you, I expect you’re less likely to get stuck in the middle of a subway breakdown here than back home.”

  “We have very few subway breakdowns here, true,” Harrison said solemnly. “Not having any public transport helps, of course.” He paused. “Would you like to see it?”

  “Your workshop?” Lainie bit her lip. Is he saying what I think he’s saying? “…Now?”

  Lainie glanced sideways at Harrison. He was staring wide-eyed out at the lagoon. A look of faint horror spread across his face, as though he’d just realized what he’d said and was desperate to reel the words back in.

  “I mean… Oh, God. That came out all wrong,” he said, sounding mortified.

  “It came out wrong, but you did mean to say it?” The words came out before Lainie could stop them. Now they were both blushing.

  A warm glow kindled inside Lainie, overriding the hot blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. She turned so she was looking at Harrison straight on. No more sidelong glances.

  The streetlamp was behind him, lighting up the stretched fabric of his shirt and his broad, powerful shoulders. Somehow, the knowledge that he’d built those muscles from manual labor, not hitting the gym, made them all the more attractive to Lainie. He seemed solid, strong and reliable. His slight self-consciousness only made him more attractive, like he didn’t realize how good-looking he really was.

  The light backlit his brown hair, and the strip of tanned skin between his hairline and collar. That top button was still holding out. Lainie itched to pull it free.

  And why not?

  Hadn’t he basically just asked her back to his place?

  Harrison turned toward her, and the light hit his face. His eyes were bright and searching, staring deep into her own. Had he been watching her watch him, when his face was in the shadows?

  “Yes. I did mean what I said, even if I didn’t mean to say it quite like that,” he said softly. Hesitantly, he raised one hand and brushed a loose strand of hair behind Lainie’s ear.

  “I thought small-towners were meant to be conservative about this sort of thing,” she teased, her light tone masking the buzz of anticipation racing through her veins.

  “Well.” Harrison drew out the word, his hand lingering at the side of Lainie’s face. “I’m not from around here, after all.”

  Lainie sank into his eyes, bewitched by the flickers of green, brown and gold. Like fall, she thought, and I’m falling right in.

  She stepped forward and found herself in his arms, cocooned in warmth. Harrison spread his hands out across her back, holding her close, and tipped her head up to meet his lips with her own.

  Harrison kissed her, gently at first and then with a controlled passion that told her how much he was still holding back. Lainie’s whole body tingled, from the soles of her feet to her scalp.

  She raised her hands, meaning to sweep them up his chest and over his shoulders, but stopped just short of his collarbones. Her finger snagged on the half-undone button, pulling it free.

  Lainie let her hand slip down, hooking her finger over the next button. Harrison mumbled something against her lips and she broke the kiss to find him looking down at her, his eyes dark with desire.

  His eyes flickered down to his shirt, and back to Lainie’s. “Planning to drag me away?”

  “You have to tell me where to drag you, first. Honestly, this tour isn’t very good, is it?”

  Harrison slapped his hand to his forehead. “You’re right!” he said, feigning shock. “I guess I’ll have to do the dragging away, huh?”

  Lainie burst out laughing, and to her delight, Harrison laughed, too. Her whole body was tingling, her skin sensitized and desperate to be touched. She’d never felt like this with anyone before. Oh, attraction, that was one thing, but she’d never felt so comfortable around someone she’d only just met. So willing to let her attraction blossom into something more.

  They were joking together. He’d made her laugh, a lot, when she’d expected to spend the whole trip miserable. This was crazy—but she was actually enjoying herself. A lot.

  And she anticipated enjoying herself a lot more in the near future.

  Harrison held out his hand to her and—only slightly regretfully—Lainie unhooked her finger from his shirt and took it.

  “Shall we?”

  Lainie didn’t answer. She just squeezed his hand, unable to wipe the smile off her face, and followed him along the path.

  Harrison’s hand was much bigger than he
rs, and callused from his work. As they walked toward his house, their hands were the only parts of them that touched. Lainie’s lips were still burning from the kiss, and electricity seemed to zap from them, to her hand, and back, until she wanted nothing more than to pull Harrison into a quiet corner and drag his mouth to hers again.

  No. There was one thing she wanted more. And it wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted to do in the middle of the main road.

  They came to a stop outside a two-storied building. A sign hung above the door, but it was too dark for Lainie to read it. By now it was cold enough that she could see her breath.

  But, oh, she was so warm inside.

  “This is it,” Harrison said. He sounded more nervous than Lainie had expected.

  She raised one eyebrow. “This is it? Because I was kind of expecting we’d make our way indoors…”

  Nerves apparently defused, Harrison grinned at her as he unlocked the door and held it open. She stepped across the threshold, her pulse quickening.

  The first thing she noticed about Harrison’s house was the smell. It wasn’t a bad smell—quite the opposite. Lainie inhaled deeply, trying to place the scent.

  Of course—he was a builder, wasn’t he? And this was his workshop. Wood shavings, a hint of old smoke, and the faintest, lingering chemical tang of turpentine and paint. The same smells as any of a dozen worksites she’d been on during her work as a planner. Familiar. Comforting.

  And without the inevitable thick mud tracked over every surface, which was her least favorite part of site visits.

  “May I take your coat?”

  Lainie looked over her shoulder to see Harrison closing the door. She nodded, and a few moments later, his polite gesture somehow found the two of them in each other’s arms, her coat forgotten on the floor.

  Lainie let out a soft cry as Harrison wound his fingers through her hair, clutching her to him. Her skin was on fire. The silk of her blouse was so thin she could feel every touch of Harrison’s body through it, but at the same time it was still a frustrating barrier between her skin and his.

  She grabbed the bottom of Harrison’s shirt and pulled it up, revealing his flat stomach and hard abs. His hip-bones made a V that disappeared under his belt, inviting further investigation.

  Lainie ran her hands over Harrison’s abs, and he drew his breath in with a hiss. He let her go long enough to pull his shirt over his head and throw it to the side, then pulled her to him again.

  Lainie batted his hands away. He looked at her, momentarily confused, but his face cleared as she stripped off her blouse. She stood in front of him, chest heaving, in nothing but her pants and bra.

  “God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathed. His eyes swept up and down her body, as though he couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She took the opportunity to return the compliment.

  Harrison was toned all over. Hard pecs, six-pack—and that tantalizing V. He wore his jeans low on his hips. Back in the restaurant, Lainie had admired how his ass looked in them. Now she was looking forward to seeing them on the floor.

  The air between them seemed to hum with electricity. Lainie reached out, half expecting to see sparks flash from her fingertips to Harrison’s chest. She threw herself into his arms, pulling him down into a long kiss that left her dizzy.

  Harrison’s skin was hot against hers. Pressed against him, she could feel his erection pushing against the crotch of his pants. Pressing against her. Her desire throbbed inside her in response. She was ready for him.

  Harrison buried his face in her hair, his hands exploring up from her waist to her hips. She moaned as he moved up to her breasts, squeezing them gently.

  “You don’t want to see the rest of the house?” he murmured wickedly in her ear.

  She growled, but she couldn’t let him get away with teasing her. “Maybe your workshop? I’m assuming it doubles as the bedroom—rollaway bed under the workbench, is it?”

  “How did you guess?”

  “I bet you built it yourself, too.” Lainie gasped as Harrison nibbled on her neck. “Um. Show me now?”

  “If you insist…”

  Lainie squealed as Harrison put his arms around her waist and slung her over his shoulder. He strode down the hallway, careful to duck through doorways so Lainie didn’t hit her head. She was too busy giggling to keep out of their way herself. She got a glimpse of other rooms as Harrison carried her through to the back of the house: a front room with a few sofas and a coffee table stacked with papers; a home office, with a desk also stacked with papers; and finally, his workshop.

  “Really?” Lainie blurted out. The workshop was scrupulously tidy, unlike all the other rooms she’d seen, but—still! Besides, there was no sign of a bed, roll-away or otherwise. “I was sort of joking…”

  “Is that so?” Harrison kissed her, pushing her backward until she bumped up against a workbench. The bench was high, tailored for Harrison’s tall frame. When he picked her up and sat her on it, Lainie’s feet dangled in the air.

  Harrison ran his hands up her thighs, stopping with his fingertips just short of her crotch. He ran one thumb between her legs, brushing her clit through her pants. Lainie groaned.

  “Damn it,” she muttered, and wriggled so she could pull her pants down. Harrison helped, sort of, but seemed mainly distracted by the effect all that wriggling had on her cleavage.

  “Like what you see?” she said brazenly. The look of amazement in his eyes made her glow inside.

  There are some benefits to being curvy, she thought smugly.

  “I like all of you,” Harrison said. He grabbed her hand and kissed the palm, then her wrist, moving up her arm to her neck. “Every—part—of—you,” he murmured, the words punctuated by kisses.

  Lainie caught her breath as he nuzzled her neck, his hands reaching behind her to unlatch her bra. He pulled it off her slowly, stroking the sensitive skin of her breasts as he uncovered them. Lainie arched her back.

  “Yes—” she gasped as he brushed one nipple with his thumb. “Oh, yes.”

  He teased her nipples until they were both hard, and Lainie was almost crazy with desire. She grabbed his belt-buckle and pulled him closer, looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

  Harrison’s pupils were so wide with desire, his eyes looked black, not hazel. There was only the slightest ring of green-gold around the outside. He let her pull him in, moving his hands to her hips.

  Harrison’s fingers tightened on her hips as she wrestled with his belt buckle. Once she’d undone it she moved on to his fly. For the first time she got a good look at the bulge between his legs.

  She bit her lip. Damn.

  Harrison must have misinterpreted her hesitation. “We can stop. If you think we’re going too fast—”

  “No, it’s not that.” Lainie gave him a shy smile. “It’s just… it’s been a while.” And you look bigger than any guy I’ve ever been with before.

  Harrison cupped her face in his hands. “I’ll be gentle.”

  He kissed her as she slowly undid his pants, pushing them and his boxers down over his toned ass. With her eyes closed, still caught up in the kiss, Lainie didn’t see his cock—but she could feel it.

  She felt Harrison tense as she ran her hands along his shaft. Oh my God. He is huge.

  His cock was hot in her hands, hard and thick and long. She ran her fingers over its head and Harrison moaned into her mouth.

  “Take me,” Lainie whispered back.

  Her slacks were still half-up her legs. Harrison pulled them down and she kicked them off, along with her ankle boots. She was completely naked, exposed, with a man she had only met a few hours before.

  And she wanted it. Wanted him, so badly she couldn’t find the words for it.

  “Now?” Harrison asked, his voice rough with lust, and Lainie nodded.

  He positioned himself at her entrance. Lainie shivered with anticipation as she felt the head of his cock press against her folds. She was already wet, and incredibly aroused, but ev
en so he was so big that she wasn’t sure she could take all of him.

  Harrison had his hands on her hips again, and she flung her arms up over his shoulders. As he pushed himself into her, Lainie’s hands clenched.

  “Oh my God,” she moaned, breathless.

  She felt every inch of his cock as he entered her. Her body stretched to fit him. She would have expected it to hurt. Instead, the stretching sensation aroused her even more.

  “Is this all right?” Harrison murmured into her ear.

  “Y-yes,” Lainie stuttered. “Oh God, yes.”

  She let herself fall forward, resting her cheek against Harrison’s chest as he pushed into her. His cock brushed against a sensitive spot inside her, making her gasp. In response he sped up, burying himself to the hilt in one smooth movement.

  Lainie moaned deeply, winding her legs around Harrison’s waist, holding him fully inside her. Her heartbeat seemed to fill her whole body, and all at once, she didn’t want to go slow anymore.

  “Fuck me,” she said, raising her head. Harrison’s eyes burned into hers.

  He grasped her hips, adjusting his grip as he pulled out. Lainie sighed. Being filled by him had felt amazing, but almost overwhelming—without him, she felt emptier than ever before.

  She wanted him again, now, harder than before, and he thrust into her as though he’d read her mind. Lainie gasped as he filled her. Her body adjusted, again, faster, but not fast enough. She moaned as he pounded into her, relishing the overwhelming feeling of being stretched by his massive cock.

  She’d never experienced anything like this before. Never done anything like this before. But it felt so right.

  Harrison’s cock slid against that sensitive spot inside her, over and over as his thrusts grew stronger. Lainie’s toes curled. Each thrust set off sparks inside her, coiling out from her center to dance across her skin.

  Her head fell back as she felt her orgasm approaching like a cresting wave. She crashed over it, crying out, and felt Harrison’s cock twitch inside her as he came.