Hayley wasn’t entirely sure what she’d expected a wyvern shifter to look like, but she had to admit Ivy wasn’t it. The young woman was soft and curvy, with a round, pretty face despite her ferocious scowl. She was dressed head-to-toe in layers of leather and denim, every inch of her skin below the chin covered.
She folded her gloved hands under her armpits, glaring at Griff. “You come back for some more poison? One heart attack wasn’t enough for you?”
“Ivy, I told you, I don’t blame you for anything,” Griff said patiently. “It was entirely my own idea, and you tried to talk me out of it, and in any event, you probably saved my life. Now, are you going to stop hiding yourself away and come out to meet everyone?”
“Yeah, because all your friends would just love to hang out with me.” Ivy snorted. “I’m sure ponyboy will even buy me a drink.”
“I’ll handle Chase,” Griff coaxed. “Come on, Ivy. For Hope’s sake, if not your own.”
Ivy’s green eyes narrowed. “Tell you what, G. I will come. If you just let me do one thing first.” She stepped toward Hayley, stretching out her hand. “After all, if you want me to go to a big, crowded party, then you must be okay with me doing this…”
Hayley, who’d automatically started to take Ivy’s offered hand, yelped as Griff knocked her own arm aside. His broad form was abruptly between the her and the wyvern shifter, every muscle tense.
Ivy’s lip curled. “Yeah. Didn’t think so.”
Griff sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean to do that. Just instincts. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, well.” Ivy stepped back, closing the door again. “If you really want to help me, G…you know what you can do.”
“What was that all about?” Hayley asked Griff, after they’d collected Danny and said goodbye to Hope.
“Ivy’s touch is poisonous,” he said quietly, so that Danny—running excitedly on ahead waving a glow stick—didn’t overhear. “Even in human form. She’s fairly safe when she’s wearing gloves, but…well, ‘fairly safe’ isn’t good enough for my inner beasts.”
“Poor kid.” Ivy’s wary defensiveness took on a whole new meaning. Having seen how much a community of fellow shifters meant to Danny, Hayley felt sorry for the isolated wyvern shifter. “What did she mean, you could help her?”
“Not me, really.” Griff let out his breath in a long sigh. “Ash could, but he won’t. Ivy wants me to try to persuade him-”
“Griff?” Hayley found that she was walking by herself. She turned to see that he’d frozen in mid-step. “What is it?”
All the blood had drained from his face. “Distract me.”
“Huh? Danny!” Hayley shouted over her shoulder as she hurried back to Griff. Her blood ran cold as she realized that he was fighting his inner beasts. “Griff! What set them off?”
“I thought of—something.” His left fist clenched, shaking. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “But I can’t—let them know—distract me!”
She could only think of one thing to do. Stretching up on tip-toe, she kissed him.
She’d meant it to be short, just to shock his animals out of their anger. But once she’d started, she couldn’t stop. She laced her fingers round the back of his neck, pulling him down further, his mouth as hungry and demanding as hers. He made a low, desperate sound deep in his throat, crushing her against his strong body. It was like they were two magnets, drawn together by some unstoppable, cosmic force.
“Mommy? Mr. Griff?”
They leaped apart guiltily.
Brow furrowed, Danny looked between them, first at Hayley, then up at Griff. His small shoulders heaved in a huge, relieved sigh.
“Finally,” he said in satisfaction.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Griff
Griff very carefully concentrated on the feel of Hayley’s fingers wound through his. He focused on the exquisite softness of her skin, the intoxicating heat of her body next to his. He let his overwhelming desire for her surge…covering up the idea that Ivy had sparked in his mind.
He could feel his eagle’s stare boring into the inside of his skull, trying to see what he was concealing from it. His lion was less suspicious. It rolled in delight, luxuriating in their
mate’s presence like a kitten in a bed of catnip.
Hayley stole a sidelong glimpse of his profile as they passed under a streetlamp. “Have they settled down again?” she asked.