Laura Jo Phillips by The Gryphons' Dream: Soul Linked#5

cinnamon filled the room and she breathed it in, wondering why she had never thought of that combination before.  She loved it and instantly knew that it would always be her favorite.  She selected a bottle of body wash and one of shampoo, and set them on the edge of the tub before stripping out of her clothes. 
    She kicked her jeans aside with a grimace before climbing into the tub.  She was so tired of wearing the same few clothes over and over again.  Clothes that, under normal circumstances, she would never have considered wearing.  Ill fitting jeans, beige tops with nothing to distinguish one from the other, bland sweaters, scuffed sneakers.  They were part of her disguise, just as her bowed head, meek manner, and hunched shoulders were.  She wanted so much to shed her disguise, but she had learned the importance of caution.  From what the Gryphons had said earlier, it sounded as though she would be safe here, on Jasan.  But how could she be sure? 
    She reached for the towel she’d set beside the tub and dried her hands, then picked up her hand terminal.  A few moments later she turned the terminal off, set it down and leaned back in the hot water with a sigh.  No response yet.  For the hundredth time she computed distances and standard message travel times, but the answer was no different.  Yesterday had been the earliest possible day she could have expected a response to her message.  It was entirely possible that her message hadn’t even reached Jessi yet.  She needed to be a little more patient.
    She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else.  An image of the Gryphons immediately popped into her mind, as it had repeatedly throughout the day.  She hadn’t gone an entire hour without thinking of them.  As she imagined them, pictured them in her mind, a wave of heat raced through her body unlike anything she’d ever experienced.  It took her a moment to realize that what she was feeling was arousal.  Her breath caught in her throat as she examined these new feelings.   
    They were certainly beautiful men, there was no denying that.  She loved how stern they appeared until you looked into their eyes, as though they held their true selves back, reserving themselves from those who didn’t care to take the time or effort to see beyond the surface.  She was like that, though very few people she had ever known recognized it. 
    She liked how big and strong they were, while at the same time they considerate and polite.  She had seen no trace of haughtiness or arrogance in any of them, though she’d not only expected it, but had looked for it.  She even liked their green hair.  She loved the way it flowed down their backs in shining waves, and slid sensuously across their shoulders as they moved, and she wondered what it would feel like against her skin.
    Aisling opened her eyes and shook her head as she sat up and reached for the bottle of body wash.  This was ridiculous.  She had no room in her life for such things as men, or romance.  She admitted to herself that she longed for the kind of relationship that Hope had with the Bearens, or Summer with the Katres, but even if she were blessed with such a thing, it could not be now.  Not yet.  She wasn’t ready for that.  She had promises to fulfill first.
    An hour later she stepped into the dining room, her hair still damp, but feeling refreshed and hungry.  “Hi everyone,” she said as she crossed to the chair she had used the night before.  “I hope I’m not too late.”
    Olaf, Rand and Rudy all stood politely, and Karma smiled.  “Thanks for the gift,” she said to all of them.  “It was very generous, and perfectly lovely.”
    “We are glad you enjoyed it,” Rand said as he and his brothers sat back down.  “And you are not late.  We were just getting ready to ask Karma to see if you were ready for dinner, so you are just in time.”
    “Great,” Aisling said.  “I’m very hungry tonight.  Which