“What are you talking about?” There was no way he could’ve known that Killian and my relationship was based on pure friendship.
“Because I found this.” He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.
My breath caught as he showed me the letter I’d written to Killian. Griffin did know everything.
“That’s why you kissed me.”
“Yup.” He waggled his brows. “The only thing standing between you and me wasn’t a problem after all. I wouldn’t be betraying my best friend, and I had to see if you felt the same way about me.” “And what did you determine?” My breath caught as I looked at his lips.
“That you do.” He kissed me, not holding back any longer. My stomach fluttered, and my head grew dizzy as his tongue slipped inside my mouth. His hands went to my waist, dragging me onto his lap. He began to whisper against my lips.
“At first, I thought it couldn’t be possible, that this feeling was lust. Each time I see you… touch you… kiss you, I can’t focus on anything else.” He pulled back, and his eyes stared into my soul as he whispered, “We’re fated mates. Tell me that you feel it?” He peppered kisses down my face.
His words crumbled every wall I’d built up around my heart. Maybe he’d been a player before, but everything inside told me that we’d changed each other. The tug between our souls was painfully blissful, as if we needed to connect to make us whole. “I feel the same way.”
I straddled him, needing to be closer, but I still couldn’t get close enough. My body caught fire as I slipped my tongue into his mouth, and he matched me stroke for stroke. The sweet scent of arousal coursed between us.
Between his minty taste and his smell, my head swam in a way I never wanted to end. I moaned when his fingertips brushed the bare skin of my stomach, and my need for him slammed through me.
His hand slipped under my shirt, cupping my breast as I rocked against him. I had no clue what I was doing, but he bucked against me, making me feel as if I was doing something right.
As I kissed down his neck, he sighed. “Wait. We can’t do this.”
The rejection stung as I pulled back. “What? But I thought-”
“I want to.” He removed his hands from under my shirt and growled. “But you deserve better than this. I don’t want to take you in Killian’s house while he’s out. You deserve to be courted and pampered. I want to give you all of my attention and go back to an empty house so we can take our time in my bed.” He kissed me and ran his fingers through my hair. “I want our first time together to be the best memory possible because it’ll be the start of our whole life together.”
“You do want this?” The tug had become an overwhelming leaping sensation that made me yearn for every inch of him. For him to want to wait made me fall even more.
“There’s no doubt in my mind.” He gently pressed his lips to mine. “So, Dove, what are you doing tonight?”
“Sterlyn,” my name fell from my lips.
“What?” His brows furrowed. “Sterlyn?”
“It’s my real name.” No one had called me that in so long. “I didn’t tell Killian my name, so he started calling me Dove.”
“It’s beautiful.” He brushed his lips against mine. “So, what are you doing tonight, Sterlyn?”
“Pretty sure some desperate alpha is going to wind up showing up at my door, begging me to be his for the night,” I teased him, unable to stop myself. In this moment, I was so damn happy.
“You better make him grovel.” He sighed and leaned his forehead against mine.
The garage door rumbled open, indicating that Killian had arrived home.
“Well, it’s a good thing we didn’t take things further now,” Griffin said as he pecked my lips. “I guess there’s no time like the present to inform my protective best friend I’ll be taking his sister out tonight.”
I tensed. Griffin acted confident that this was all going to work out, but I wasn’t so sure.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
I
jumped to my feet, not wanting Killian to walk in on me straddling his best friend.
Oh, dear God. That sounded horrible, and what Killian had said to me last night about Griffin not being the right guy for me made this entire situation surreal. But I’d been honest with him, and he knew that I wanted to explore things with Griffin. Granted, I was pretty sure completing the mate bond with him tonight wasn’t exploring so much as committing to each other.
My gut screamed that something uncomfortable was imminent, but this was something Griffin and I should do together. Either way, Griffin had become determined that I was going to be his.
The thought both thrilled and terrified me.
Griffin chuckled as he stood next to me, taking my hand.
A pause in Killian’s footsteps told me he’d figured out that Griffin was here. A low growl emanated from him as he hurried into the room and stopped short.
“What’s going on?” Killian straightened his shoulders as he stared at his best friend.
“I came over to ask Ster-Dove out tonight.” Griffin leaned closer to me. “Griffin, she’s important to me,” Killian said. “I don’t want to see her get hurt.” I hated that these two were arguing over me again.
“That’s fair. And I know I’ve been behaving like an asshole, but that’s changing from now on.” Griffin lifted our joined hands. “She’s my fated mate.”