He was the only one of his kind, utterly unique. And he was hers.
With a whisper like silk, he unfurled one vast, gleaming wing, kneeling down so that she could mount. She scrambled up onto his back, straddling his neck where the feathers blended smoothly into golden fur. She had to grab at his feathers for balance as he crouched, his muscles coiling underneath her.
With feline grace, he leaped straight up into the air. Hayley gasped with delight as the ground fell away beneath them, driven away by the powerful beats of his shining wings. She’d always secretly longed to fly…but never, not even in her wildest dreams, had she’d imagined it would be like this.
There were no walls, no boundaries, no limits. She had no fear whatsoever of falling, not with Griff bearing her up. The wind whipping through her hair was frigid, but his solid warmth between her legs heated every part of her body. She was free, the normal world of rules and restrictions left far behind.
The whole glittering night sky was theirs. He bore her up so high, she felt as though she could stretch out and pluck stars out of the sky as easily as harvesting apples. She reached out a hand in awe, and the diamond on her finger glittered as if a star had indeed fallen into her hand.
When they were so high that the thin air burned like ice in her throat, he paused, stretching his wings out to balance on the wind. She felt his chest swell underneath her. He let out a single high, fierce call, proud and wild. Somehow, she knew that he was proclaiming to all the world that she was his, his mate, now and always.
Tears of joy leaked from the corners of her eyes, whipped away by the wind. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
Hold on.
The thought was not quite her own. Hayley caught her breath, a faint, tentative presence tickling the back of her mind, light as a feather.
Hayley. Hold on.
She huddled down against his back, wrapping her arms around his feathered neck. His delight sparkled in her head like a distant firework.
Then he folded his wings, and dove.
Hayley screamed in exhilaration and terror as they plummeted like a stone. The wind snatched at her, trying to tear her from his back. She buried her face in Griff’s feathers, clinging on for dear life. Blackness gnawed at the edges of her sight. All she could do was close her eyes, hold on, and trust him.
At the very last moment, he flared his wings. They settled back to the ground as lightly as a falling leaf. The griffin’s warm back shivered underneath her, shifting into Griff’s strong arms.
“They say that the higher and faster the flight, the stronger the bond,” he said in her ear.
She twined her arms around his neck, leaning her whole weight against his hard, muscled bulk. Her legs were still weak from the exhilarating swoop. “Then our bond will be as strong as our love.”
He made a low rumble of assent, deep in his chest, as his mouth covered hers again. The hot, hungry length of his cock pressed against her stomach. But more than that, she could feel his all-consuming desire for her, a fire burning in the depths of her soul. She could feel how the touch of her tongue against his drove him wild, barely able to restrain himself from pushing her down and taking her there and then.
“Not that I want to wait any longer either,” she said, pulling back a little to grin up at him, “but it’s pretty cold out. How fast can you get us to the bedroom?”
In answer, he seized her waist in both hands. Hayley giggled as he tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, striding back into the house. In bare seconds, he’d flipped her down onto his bed.
Scattered rose petals brushed against her cheek. Hayley stretched out her arms, like a child making a snow angel, smiling as the scent of crushed petals rose from the sheets. “You did prepare thoroughly.”
His mouth quirked in amusement. “I promise, this time I have condoms.”
She hesitated, looking up at him. “Do we…do we really need them?”
“I’m afraid from your scent you’re at the peak of fertility, so-” Griff stopped dead, his face going slack with realization. “Oh. Oh.”
She dropped her gaze a little, suddenly feeling too shy to meet his eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not the sort of decision you should make in the heat of the-”
That was as far as she got before his body covered hers. His bulk pressed her hard into the bed, laying claim to every inch of her. His hands found the sides of her head, holding her as he kissed her with fierce, desperate intensity, as if she was the air he needed to breathe. She closed her eyes in blissful surrender.
“There’s no decision to make,” he said, his voice shaking with need. “I want more children with you. The only thing I want more than that is you. If you’re sure…”
“Completely,” Hayley breathed against his lips.
He kissed her again, this time just the lightest butterfly brush of his mouth against hers. Then he pushed himself to his hands and knees, holding himself above her. His eyes burned hotter than she’d ever seen before, swirls of fiery gold.
“Mine,” he growled. “My mate.”
He straddled her, pinning her hips down underneath him. His hands hooked in the neckline of her dress. With a single, sharp motion, he ripped it apart, exposing her body to his ravenous gaze. His fingers slid up under her bra. Hayley caught her breath, her pussy clenching in response as his fingers dug possessively into the softness of her breasts.