Page 13 of Property of Grifter
“I’ll meet you on your bed.I like the sound of that better,” he mutters.
I roll my eyes, but don’t verbally respond.I take a minute to catch my breath and then grab the supplies I need.With another deep breath, I go back into the bedroom.I kneel down on my knees as I listen to him talk on his phone.
“No,” he growls quietly.“I didn’t get a good look at the son of a bitches.There were two of them.It was a white car.I saw a Lexus emblem.That’s about all I know.Get on the horn to our contacts at the Sheriff’s office.Yeah, head over here.Let’s see if we can find out anything.We need to see if there are any security cameras around.We need a fucking clue to get to the bottom of this shit, C.”
“Yeah, man.They shot at my old lady.I want everyone involved and I won’t rest until I get them.That’s what I said.Georgia is mine.I’ve already claimed her.That’s not changing.”
“Yeah.I’ll see you here.Make sure you get here before the cops,” he snaps and then hangs up the phone.
He goes quiet when he hangs up the phone.I feel like I have a million questions, but I’m afraid to ask any of them.So, I stay quiet, too.I carefully peel back his torn shirt sleeve as I sort through my thoughts.His wound isn’t deep, thank God, but swollen and red.It makes my stomach turn.He could have died today.Icould have died.I’ve never had to face anything like this and this time it’s with a man who has apparently claimed me, and yet today is the first day I’ve spent any time with him.Part of me feels like I’ve entered an alternate universe.My calm life is over if I let Griffin into my life—which apparently, I don’t have a choice about.
I’m feeling lost.
“This is not nothing,” I whisper, my fingers trembling as I wet a cloth and start cleaning his wound.
He watches me with that steady gaze of his.I can feel the weight of it, even if I refuse to look at him.“You’ve got a gentle touch, Georgie,” he croons softly.
“Don’t distract me,” I order.“I’m too busy making sure you don’t bleed all over my comforter.”I’m lying.It seems safer to say that, however, instead of telling him that I need him to leave me alone and disappear.I feel like if I do that, he might go and that terrifies me just as much as keeping him in my life.
Griffin lets out a dry chuckle, then winces when I dab his wound with the antiseptic.“You’re bossy when you’re worried,” he observes.
I force myself to look into his face for a moment.There’s a lot written there, but I truly don’t know how to read any of it, so I focus back on what I’m doing.“I’m allowed to be.I just had the life scared out of me.”
His smile fades, and he looks down at his hands.“I’m sorry, baby.I don’t want this part of my world touching you.”Something about the way he says it makes my chest ache.I reach for more of the antiseptic and try to breathe.
“Little late for that.I don’t actually like you protecting me with your body, either.You could have actually been shot, Griffin.”
I bite my lip as I look at him.The reality of what just happened hits me.He literally shielded me with his body to keep me safe.Who the hell does that?Made up heroes in movies and books, that’s who.It definitely doesn’t happen in real life—at least, I’ve never seen it.
He reaches out and softly touches my cheek, letting his thumb graze back and forth.“If it meant keeping you safe, I’d take worse, sweetheart.”
His words are delivered so soft that they feel almost like a physical touch.I can hear the gentle honesty in them, too.I close my eyes as emotions I’ve never felt before in my life, hit me.
I feel like I can’t breathe.
“I …”
His hand lifts up to my hip.I feel his fingers slide under my pajama top, grazing the skin and I exhale, letting the air shudder through my body.His touch is light, careful, but it heats me all the way to my bones.
“I’m fine, Georgie,” he says, voice soft but certain.“You’re good and I’m here with you.That’s all I need.”
I want to argue, to tell him how reckless that sounds—but I can’t find the words.So instead, I finish patching him up and then put a bandage over the wound.When I have it done, I slowly step back.I don’t go far.I can’t, because he still has a hold on my hip.If I’m completely honest, I don’t really want to go anywhere either.
“There,” I whisper.“All done.”
He smiles at me, slow and grateful.“Guess I owe you one now, don’t I?”
“You owe me at least two,” I reply, trying to keep my voice steady.“One for almost giving me a heart attack, and one for bleeding on my rug.”
His laugh rumbles low in his chest.“Fair enough,” he admits as he stands beside me.“I guess I should try to pay you back a little now then, right?”
“What do you mean?”I ask, rubbing my lips together to moisten them, because suddenly it feels like my body is on fire.
His scent of cigarette smoke and leather surrounds me and I never thought those two combined smells could appeal to me, but God I wassowrong.He leans down, his forehead nearly touching mine.“I just want to show you my appreciation,” he murmurs.
For a moment, everything else fades—the gunfire, the fear, the world outside.It’s just us, breathing the same air.His hand moves, sliding under my pajama top again.My eyes flutter as the sensations hit me.It feels like the sweetest torture to feel his fingers skate across my tummy and move higher.I shift on my feet, bite down on my lip, and do my best not to beg him to throw me down on the bed and take me.That’s not who I am.It’sespeciallynot me knowing my grandmother is in the next room.Griffin has me feeling things that I’ve never felt before though.I’m not myself around him.It’s scary, but it’s also exhilarating.His tongue completely takes over my mouth.He growls, making sure I know he loves every second of it.It sends vibrations through me that I feel all the way to my toes.When I feel his fingers slide against my breast, I’m completely lost.Common sense is gone.I just want more.
I whimper as I feel his thumb sweep across my nipple.“Please,” I beg, not exactly sure what I’m asking for, but just knowing I need it.Then, Nana’s voice cuts through the door like a siren.
