“Yes, no.” Evan rises from the chair and kind of shakes his leg a few times before eventually just reaching into his pants and adjusting his dick. It doesn’t do much to hide the fact that he’s hard, but it must help with his comfort level because he stops fidgeting.
“Was it Griffin?” I pry.
“Yeah,” he replies, but doesn’t tell me what he said. “I’m not sure how long we’ll be,” he says instead.
“I understand.” I reach into the side of the chair to retrieve his phone, then hand it back to him. Evan gives me a lopsided smile, making me think he’d already forgotten about it.
He walks toward the door but turns back to face me. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. I’ll just be downstairs. I don’t want to sound like a dick, but if you need to leave the roomfor anything, call first, please.”
“No, I get it now. And you didn’t sound like a jerk, you asked nicely.” I force myself to smile, even though I hate feeling like I’m just another burden.
Evan stomps back over and swoops down for one final hard peck. He doesn’t linger after, just orders, “Lock the door,” before disappearing through it.
I look around, wondering how I’m going to distract myself.
Chapter 25
Griffin
When Evan storms into my office, I don’t take it personal. I know this shit with Quinn is on both of our minds, not to mention we need to figure out if we’re going to have a horde of newly transitioned vampires falling into bloodlust on our hands.
Then there’s the fact that I can smell Quinn’s arousal on him, and I know my interruption was even more poorly timed. He’s stiff when he drops into one of the chairs. When his hand moves, drawing my attention, I see a ring encircling one of his fingers.
So that’s what Quinn was doing in the jewelry store, I muse. I had my suspicions, but I did try to offer her as much privacy as I could. However, my beast is so attuned to her that I knew there were only one or two options, and the jewelry store, especially after our conversation about engagement rings, seemed the most likely.
I spin the ring on my thumb while observing the one she gave Evan. It’s not made of metal, instead it’s a mixture of blues and browns. “What’s that?” I ask, even though I know exactly what it is.
Evan moves his pinky finger in a way that makes the ring spin a bit. He’s never worn jewelry to my knowledge, so it probably feels foreign on his finger. He looks down at his hand, and a stupid smile lifts his lips. Bloody hell, is that what I look like when I think of Quinn?“My present,” he states proudly.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if I get one too, but I manage to refrain. “Is that what took you so long?” I drawl. The bear has more willpower than me at the moment. I probably wouldn’t have been able to pull myself away from her once I knew I had her secured. It’s part of the reason I didn’t go with him to take her up to the room. Everything in me is demanding I make sure she is safe, and finding her blood on the drugs in town is only making the compulsion worse.
“No, what took so long was the part where I was showing my gratitude—well, when I tried beforeyouinterrupted me.” He doesn’t sound so happy anymore.
Even though it makes me an asshole, I don’t apologize. The ring glints again, catching the light and winking at me. A sour feeling invades my stomach, and I realize I’m jealous. I want to storm up to the room and demand she give me one too, but will she? Even if she does, she’ll probably want to take it back after tomorrow.
I push those thoughts out of my head and explain to Evan why it was so important he leave her and come down so I could talk to him. I’m pretty sure it’s going to take some time to convince him it’s the right thing to do, but I can’t think of any better options.
Quinn isn’t safe here, not right now, and her safety is my number one priority, even if what I have to do to ensure that pisses her off.
Quinn
It was late when Evan and Griffin finally returned home. I was already in bed, having a fitful night’s sleep, but after Griffin slid in behind me and Evan snuggled his big warm body against me, I relaxed enough to get a good few hours of rest.
I’m the first one to wake, which isn’t unusual. There’s enough light coming from the crack in the curtains that when I turn over to see Evan, I find what I’m looking for—my claim, as he called it. His hand is lying on his bare chest as he saws in and out deep even breaths.
A lazy smile teases my lips. I can’t believe he shoved that thing on. It seemed way too tight, but he was determined. I roll onto my back and turn so I can see Griffin. Even in sleep, he looks annoyed, his mouth pulled down in a heavy frown. Not wanting to wake either of them, I lie in bed for a long while, thinking about everything that’s happened over the last several days. I don’t come up with any resolution before I force myself to climb out of bed. It’s Monday, and I have several meetings scheduled, the first starting in a few hours.
I let Evan and Griffin sleep while I shower and get ready for the day. When I’m done, I slip out into the living room and grab Griffin’s ring from my bag, taking it out of the box. I have a plan. Who knows if it will work, but I’m going to try.
Griffin has rolled onto his side, away from Evan, in my absence. I take a second to make sure the ring I’m looking at is on his left hand, then I crouch near the side of the bed.
I bite my lip, contemplating if I should remove the one that’s already there. It could be important to him. It’s a wide silver band with a thin line of gold circling the middle, and it could easily pass for a wedding ring, but it’s not one I gave him.
Decision made, I twist it a bit to check the fit, hoping I will be able to wiggle it off. It turns surprisingly easily, but pulling it off his finger may be another story. A little thrill of excitement makes me draw in a shaky breath, thinking it may be possible, and then I wonder how long it will take him to notice the difference.
I peek up at his face. He hasn’t moved a muscle, even the frown is still in place. I pull the ring over his knuckle, and it slips right out of my hand and falls to the floor with a thud. When I look back up at Griffin, his eyes are wide open, but nothing else has changed, not even his breathing. It’s kind of freaky.
“What are you doing on the floor?” he asks softly. I lean forward and place my hand over the ring that fell so he doesn’t see it. Damn, that thing was heavy. “I dropped something. Sorry if I woke you,” I whisper.
