Lainie laughed awkwardly. “I mean, it sounds silly to be making decisions based on a potential relationship so early, but… it feels right. And there’s so little in my life that does feel right, I don’t want to muck it up.” She shrugged. “So…that’s it, I guess. Stay here with you, and deal with Mrs. Sweets and the rest of the town hating me. Or leave, and drag you with me.”
“There is another option,” Harrison said, tipping her head back and planting a tender kiss on her forehead. “Why do you think I told Pol to bring everyone together this morning?”
“To look for—no, that’s not right. You asked him before we found the ring, didn’t you?”
“Because I wanted to talk to them.” Harrison smoothed Lainie’s hair down and rested his hand on her back of her neck. “When I first came to Hideaway Cove, I thought I’d found paradise. Now I know that this place isn’t the sanctuary I thought it was. We shouldn’t be breaking families apart. And I won’t sit back and let it happen.” He took a deep breath. “Lainie, I love you. I love you so much I feel like my heart could explode. I won’t ask you yet if you love me too, but… Do you trust me?”
“I—” Lainie paused, and an expression of wonder crossed her face. “Yes. Yes, I do trust you, Harrison.”
“Then come down with me now. It’s my duty to protect you, Lainie. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
He looked into Lainie’s eyes and felt the fire grow within him. This is for you. All for you, my love. Anything for you. He stretched, and felt his wings crackle out of his shoulder-blades, and the strange feeling of vertigo as he fell onto all four legs.
The first thing he felt after he finished shifting was Lainie’s touch. She rested her hand on his feathered head, and the feeling of it lit a bonfire of fierce, proud joy within him.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that,” she admitted, eyes wide. Harrison preened, and then thought:
Shit. I should have explained to her before I shifted.
Hmm.
Harrison turned side-on to Lainie, twisting his head over his massive winged shoulders and tapping his beak on his back. Then he tilted his head at her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LAINIE
Harrison motioned to his back again and then looked at Lainie, making a small, inquisitive trilling noise. Lainie’s heart jumped.
Wow, she thought. Does he really mean…?
She reached out and touched Harrison’s back, where his feathers faded into thick fur. She could feel his muscles moving under them, strong and firm.
“Do you want me to…ride you?” she asked, stumbling over the words. Harrison nodded his huge feathered head.
Lainie gulped and slid her hand further across the griffin’s broad back, resting it at the base of one of Harrison’s wings. If she sat up there, behind his wings…
Her mind was still blanking at the thought of Harrison flying. Now it stuttered to a halt on an unpleasant thought.
He’s going to fly with me on top of him? All that extra weight?
Lainie’s free hand drifted unconsciously to her hips. Harrison likes your curves, she told herself, but the brittle, scared part of her added: That doesn’t make you any lighter.
Harrison turned to look at her over his shoulder. Probably wondering what’s taking you so long, she thought. She gave him a tight smile.
“Um,” she said out loud. “Are you sure about this?”
Harrison nodded. She couldn’t see any expression on his hawk-like face, but she felt reassurance pouring off him.
“All right,” she said, hearing the doubt in her own voice. She looked down and something caught her eye. “Oh, we’d better take these down, right?” she said, bundling Harrison’s pants into her arms. Not that the folks on the beach seemed bothered about chilling in the altogether.
Harrison’s griffin form really was massive. His shoulder was level with her chest when he was standing, but he knelt down now, folding his claws neatly in front of himself. This brought his back closer to waist-height. Lainie took a deep breath, wedged the rolled-up pants under one elbow, and reached out.
Before she could change her mind, she grabbed the base of Harrison’s wing and swung one leg over his back. He wriggled underneath her and suddenly she was sitting astride him, gripping onto handfuls of feathers.
“Oh my goodness. Oh. Wow.”
Lainie had never been horse-riding. It had been years since she got on a bike. And neither of those compared even remotely to this.