Hyacinth (11 page)

Their bodies
pumped in a sensuous rhythm, not quite touching except where his hand remained
on her hip. One of his knees slipped between her legs. The thump of the beat
resonated in Selene’s blood. She closed her eyes, letting the sensations take
over. Her arms slipped up through her hair, lifting the heavy mass off her
sweating neck and then let it fall back down as her hands twisted in the air
above her head.

Desire pulsed
through her in time to the music. With a little shimmy, she gave him her back,
undulating her spine enticingly. His hand returned to her hip, drawing her body
into his. She felt surrounded by Griffin… his heat, his seductive scent. His
hands seemed to be everywhere at once, setting her already hot skin on fire.

Despite her
earlier anger at him, she felt a secret thrill at being so close to him here in
the dark, their bodies sweating as they gyrated to the thumping beats. She
tossed him a look over her shoulder that was all woman. Leaning back, she
lifted her hands over her head to catch him by the scruff of neck and gently pulled
him closer.

“I assumed you
weren’t going to come!” she shouted.

“I decided to
join you!” he yelled back.

“Oh… why?”

When Griffin didn’t
respond, she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her over the noise. But then he put
his lips up to her ear. “I don’t want to fight with you tonight.”

Selene turned in
his arms, still grinding to the music as her body responded to his. She stared
at him, his face only a few inches away from hers, and gave him a small smile. Griffin
pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. The fingers at her back
started to slowly caress her skin, and Selene was immensely grateful she’d worn
the backless top.

She closed her
eyes, savoring his closeness. She thought she felt Griffin dip his head and
lightly brush his lips across her bared shoulder. But when she opened her eyes
and glanced at him, he just looked steadily back at her. She must’ve imagined
it. Despite that, shivers of wanting shimmied up and down her back, making it
impossible for her to ignore the desires and dreams centered on this man that
she’d held in check for so long.

The music
changed, and Griffin stepped back. He offered her his hand and led her back to
their table like a gentleman. No one in their group commented on his return or
their provocative dancing, although she noticed Ellie raising her eyebrows at
him. To Selene this was fascinating. She’d never had a family that cared enough
to banter with her or tease her or one she’d felt safe enough with to do the
same.

Griffin didn’t
ask her to dance again, but she had several more rounds with the girls and felt
him watching her the whole time. Excitement fizzed inside her like effervescent
bubbles. Selene was grateful for her blocking ability; otherwise, Lila and
Ellie would be having a field day with her right now. Selene was having so much
fun, she was surprised when it was time for last call. How the heck was it
already so late? Or rather, so early in the morning?

Sad that her
wonderful time had come to an end, Selene gathered her things and they all
headed home.

*****

“Who’s on first
shift?” Selene asked, yawning.

“I am,” Griffin answered.
He leaned casually in the doorway to the family room and gave her a small
shrug. “It’s only fair,” he added. “I haven’t done it yet.”

“I’ll watch, too,”
Ramsey volunteered. Lila gave a small frown.

Griffin furrowed
his brow. “Thanks, but I don’t need any help.”

“We always stay
with Selene in pairs,” Alex explained as he entered the room. He held two water
bottles and gave one to Ellie.

“Her idea,”
Adelaide added. Griffin raised a curious eyebrow at Selene, and she shrugged.

“It’s for your
own safety,” she muttered.

Griffin cocked
his head to the side and gave her a scrutinizing look. “Do you believe that you
are dangerous to us?”

“I didn’t think
so until I had these nightmares,” Selene replied.

“But now you
have doubts?”

“I don’t really
know what to think,” she said quietly.

Griffin considered
her words for some time. “I’ll take my chances,” he eventually said.

“But—”

Griffin held up his
hand. “Ellie and I are connected. She’ll know if something is happening.”

Selene folded
her arms across her chest. “Not if I’m blocking her.”

“Would you really
do that?”

“Not
consciously,” Selene admitted. “But what if I don’t know I’m doing it?”

Griffin crossed
the room and stood before her. With a gentle finger under her chin, he lifted
her face until she met his eyes again. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” She
paused, the irony not lost on her. “But you don’t trust me.”

Griffin smirked.
“Exactly.”

Griffin settled
in the chair in Selene’s room and prepared to watch over her for the rest of
the night. She’d said very little to him as she had gotten ready, only
explaining how the others had gone about their watches on previous nights.

“I can sleep
through anything,” she’d informed him. “So if you want to read or even watch a
movie, it won’t even faze me.”

“Okay.”

Selene climbed
into bed and glanced over to Griffin. “Goodnight.”

“‘Night,” he
answered and flipped off the light.

Even blinded by
the darkness, Griffin knew that she’d lain down with her back to him. He’d also
been quite aware that she’d been out almost immediately. She wasn’t kidding
about being a good sleeper.

And now here he
was, alone in a room with a woman whose very presence twisted his guts and with
hours to concentrate on nothing but her. Of course, he’d had a lot to think
about lately.

When Selene had
spilled her secrets to Griffin’s family, it’d hit him hard. It wasn’t just that
she was telling the truth about trying to help him and Ellie. What had moved
him was that despite all she’d been through, Selene remained a sweet, innocent,
and pure person.

She’d only
touched on it, but when she’d showed how she tried to reach out to him via his
dreams and how he’d never believed she was real, Griffin had felt sick to his
stomach. How had he not known, deep in his soul, that she was real?

When Selene had
finished showing them her life, he’d had to get away. He needed some time and
space to process everything. It was a lot to absorb.

Once he’d felt as
if he was under control, he’d tried to reach out to her and start over, but
he’d completely bungled it and had come off as a pompous ass.

His dream girl
was flesh and blood, and somehow he’d managed to turn his back on her twice:
first when she’d tried to communicate with him through dreams and then when she’d
come to Colorado looking for friendship. He wouldn’t turn his back on her
again. He was going to show her that he was here for her now. And maybe,
eventually, she’d be able to trust him.

But trust felt so
far away. Even if this was a good first step. She’d allowed him into her
bedroom to watch over her while she slept. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Griffin
contented himself with just watching her sleep, periodically checking her
thoughts for any dreams. She’d dropped her blocks so that he could follow what
was going on. He was tempted to fall asleep himself and see if she met him in
their shared dream world. But he knew that would be counterproductive. He was
supposed to be watching her…

*****

Selene screamed
and sobbed, and Griffin shook her violently.

“Wake up, Selene!”
he shouted.

It took a while
for her to realize she was no longer in the nightmare, but safe in bed with
Griffin’s arms around her. She collapsed back on the pillows and stared
vacantly at the ceiling, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you with
me?” Griffin’s asked, his eyes creased with concern.

Selene curled up
into the fetal position and wept. Griffin crawled into the bed and wrapped his
arms around her, holding her tightly. If anything, this made Selene cry harder,
but she was warmed by his support. He didn’t rush her to stop or ask what was
wrong; he just waited. Eventually, her sobs slowed to hiccups, and still he
just held her.

Finally, Selene
turned over to face him. She was a little surprised when Griffin didn’t let go
but continued to comfort her. He looked at her solemnly and smoothed her hair away
from her face.

“You didn’t do
it,” he whispered.

“But she’s
dead.”

“We don’t know
that.”

Tears welled again.
“Are you sure?” she asked, desperate to believe. She held on to him, grateful
for his steadiness.

“You never left
the room, not for one second,” he assured her.

“What if I’ve
somehow manifested my dreams into reality?” It’d been a thought that had
crossed her mind more than once, but she’d always been too frightened to
vocalize the concern.

“It’s not you,”
he insisted softly. He reached up and brushed another stray lock away from her
eyes.

“You don’t know
that,” she whispered.

“If anyone in
this house would be suspicious or doubt you, it would be me. And I don’t need
Lucy’s ability to sense your intentions, or Lila’s ability to sense if you’re
being truthful, or even my ability to read minds, to tell you that you didn’t
do
anything
.

Selene took a
deep breath, and for the first time felt slightly comforted. If Griffin was in
her corner, maybe everything might work out.

She took another
deep breath and nodded. A slow smile made its way over Griffin’s mouth, and
Selene was stunned. It was the first time she’d ever seen him truly smile, and
it was shocking what an amazing difference it made. Griffin had always been
very handsome, but this made him mouth-wateringly hot.

“Although I did
read your mind just a little,” he added. Selene couldn’t tell if he was teasing
or not, but his eyes twinkled.

“And…?” she
prompted when he didn’t continue.

“The dream
didn’t originate from you, as far as I could tell. It was something you were
pulled into.”

“Pulled into
it?” The frown on her face depended. That
had
been how it’d felt… as if
she wasn’t in control. Her gaze flashed back to his. “If you’re right – and
that’s still a big if - then someone else is manipulating me and I’ve got a
different problem to deal with.”

“
We’ll
deal
with it,” Griffin corrected her. “And let’s wait until we know if anything actually
happened tonight or if it was just a dream before we borrow trouble.”

Selene’s grimaced.
“I don’t have to borrow trouble, Griffin. It finds me just fine on its own.”

“I know,” he
chuckled.

And in the quiet
moments that followed, both of them suddenly realized that they were lying in
bed together, Griffin’s arms still wrapped around Selene. The tension was
palpable, and so was the awkwardness.

Clearing his
throat, Griffin released her and inched off the bed. Once he was safely seated
in the chair, he smiled again.

“Get some rest.
Tomorrow we’ll figure out what our next steps are.”

Like I’ll be
able to sleep now,
she thought. But a hundred and sixty years of forcing herself to sleep when she
was emotionally drained, surrounded by danger and terrified of her future,
kicked in. With a nod, she turned her back on Griffin. She closed her eyes,
emptied her mind, and hoped for the thousandth time that she wouldn’t see any new
horrors that night.

Selene woke to
the low tones of a muted conversation. She rolled over and saw Griffin standing
in the doorway talking with Ellie. The urgency of their gestures broke through
Selene’s sleep-clouded mind.

“What is it?”
she asked in a groggy voice, propping herself up on her elbows.

The grim
expression on Griffin’s face as he glanced at her told Selene all she needed to
know. Her nightmare was real. The girl she’d seen – all that blood – she really
was dead.

Ten minutes
later, wrapped up in her comfy robe, Selene sat on the living room couch as
Griffin and Ellie and their entire family debated the situation. She barely
heard them as she sat there numb… silent. Her initial suggestion that she
return to the Vyusher was one point of the deliberation. A point that Griffin
had not vetoed but had not agreed to either.

“What about
leaving the area?” Lucy suggested.

Hugh shook his
head. “I don’t think that would make any difference, honey.”

“What is it that
we know? You’re sure Selene didn’t kill the girl?” Alex asked Griffin.

Griffin nodded,
his mouth set in a firm line. “Positive. She got pulled into the dream; she
didn’t manifest it.”