“Can you come back tomorrow?” Danny asked eagerly, bouncing along in their wake as she led Griff toward the front door. “Mommy, can he? Pleeeeeeease? Can he stay for dinner? Can we-”
“Danny!” Hayley covered his mouth before he could propose that ‘Mr. Griff’ stayed for a sleepover. “I’m sure Mr. Griff is very busy.”
“Actually, I’d love to come round tomorrow,” Griff said, crooking a smile at her that made her go weak at the knees. “If it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition.”
“Oh, no!” Hayley bit her lip. “I mean, after everything you’ve done, the least I can do is cook you dinner. We didn’t have any plans for tomorrow, anyway.”
“In that case, why don’t I come by around four?” Griff winked at Danny. “That gives us plenty of time to play before supper, eh lad?” He looked back at Hayley, his expression turning more serious. “And maybe after Danny’s in bed, you and me could have a wee chat about…a few things.”
Was she imagining the heat burning in the depths of those golden eyes?
Don’t be a fool. Of course you are. You’re a tired, stressed single mom wearing no makeup and a sweater with spaghetti sauce stains. No man—especially not one like him—is going to look at you that way.
Hayley tore herself away from Griff’s charismatic gaze, feeling the blush creep up her cheeks again. “Yes,” she said faintly. “I’d…like that.”
“Bye Mr. Griff!” Danny waved vigorously after the firefighter’s retreating back. “See you tomorrow!” He heaved a great, heartfelt sigh. “Mommy, I wish he could stay now.”
Hayley smoothed his hair. “I know, baby. I know.”
So do I.
CHAPTER THREE
Griff
Not even the deep, throbbing pain in Griff’s overstrained knee could dim his elation as he drove home.
My mate! I’ve found my mate!
He’d never dared to hope that he even had one true mate, like a normal shifter. He’d lain awake many nights, worrying that his two inner animals would mean that he had two separate mates—one for the lion, and one for the eagle. What would happen if his lion fiercely pulled him towards one woman, while his eagle equally fiercely pulled him away…?
In his darkest moments, he’d even hoped that he didn’t have a mate at all. A lifetime alone would be better than having his mind torn apart by his bitterly jealous beasts.
But as it turned out, his fears had been groundless. For once, his lion and his eagle were in perfect agreement. Hayley was their mate.
Hayley was his mate.
And what a mate! Griff sighed in longing at the thought of her sweet round face and glorious curves. With her son in her arms, she’d made a perfect picture of lush, fertile womanhood, the sort that stirred a man’s deepest, most primal urges to claim and protect. Soft yet strong, tender yet fierce…so fearless in defense of her child, yet so sweetly shy when it came to herself.
Griff had tried his best to stay professional, but a man would have to be deaf, blind, and dead not to react to her plump hips and full breasts. Yet she’d blushed and looked away when she’d noticed his appreciation of her stunning body. Not in the manner of a woman who didn’t want such attention, but in the way of one who didn’t believe anyone could possibly look at her with desire. She’d reacted like someone who’d become so used to thinking of herself as a mother, she’d forgotten that she was a woman as well.
Griff burned to show Hayley that side of herself again. To trace slow, lingering kisses across her softly rounded shoulders, to cup those bounteous breasts, his thumbs teasing their erect tips, while-
Griff shook his head, forcing such thoughts away as the ache in his groin threatened to rival the pain in his bad leg. He made himself concentrate on the road until his cock grudgingly subsided. Much as he wanted with every fiber of his being to sweep Hayley off her feet and into his bed, he couldn’t.
We can, corrected his eagle, impatiently. She desires us, as much as we desire her. It is obvious from the way she looked at us. Simply clasp her close, and-
Stupid bird! interrupted his lion. She is a mother! Her first thought must always be for her cub. We must approach her slowly, carefully, in order to win her trust. We must show her that we mean him no harm.
His eagle clicked its beak in irritation. Of course we will treasure her fledgling as our own. She would never even doubt that, were it not for you, accursed cat. She is only wary because she can sense your savage, feline nature-
ENOUGH! Griff roared inwardly, shoving between his two inner beasts as they went for each other’s throats. Searing pain split his skull, the lion’s claws and the eagle’s talons raking across his soul.
Gritting his teeth, he swerved to the side of the road, ignoring the annoyed honks of the cars behind at the abrupt maneuver. Safely parked, he focused on his breathing, trying to subdue the feral energy racing through his veins. His hands clenched on the steering wheel. His skin felt hot and tight, stretched wrongly over his bones…
Not here! Not now!
In desperation, he focused on the memory of Hayley’s shy smile and warm brown eyes. He concentrated on how she made him feel, the things his inner beasts agreed on—the bone-deep need to protect her, the fire she sparked in his blood, the hunger for her touch and the all-consuming longing to be with her.