by Cate Corvin
“I’m so sorry, Angelique. I can’t even imagine what that must be like for both of you. Is she going to be okay as she gets older?”
“No one knows. Harvesters aren’t usually stopped mid-job, so the long-term effects of their weapons are something of a mystery. You were held under them longer than she was, Zara, so…” She paused and swallowed thickly, and I could see her nerves in the way she wrung her hands in her lap, no longer the poised picture of perfection that she normally presented. “So I’m hoping you might let her doctors take a look at you and see if there’s anything in your physiology that could help them restore her matrix.”
That had been hard for her. And it broke my heart. “Of course, Angelique. Anything you need for her, if I can help, I will.”
She stood and crossed to me in a flash, throwing her arms around me.
“Thank you,” she rasped in my ear. “Thank you so much.”
I returned her hug. “You can thank me with a girl’s night out. With karaoke.”
She laughed and sniffed as she pulled away, surreptitiously wiping away a few escaped tears. “I suppose it’s the least I can do. Just know that fullbloods are exceptional singers, so I’ll win at karaoke.”
“It’s not a competition, Diamond.”
“That’s what you still have to learn, Ruby: it always is.” She smirked and strode for the door.
“Where are you going?” Sawyer asked, having been riveted by the entire conversation. It had to be frightening to know that even as an invincible gargoyle, he’d have to watch his back for an enemy he had little to no defense against.
It sure as shit scared me.
“I’m sure you guys have lots of sappy nonsense to handle, and I have someone waiting for me at home. Tonight is Princesses and Popcorn night.” Her smile was blindingly beautiful. “I can’t wait, but I should probably rescue Jules and Roland from nanny duty first. I sent them to her right before I left for the compound… just in case.”
The idea of the two hulking gargoyles taking care of a little girl made me snicker. That explained why they hadn’t been there to bust through a few hybrids, even though Roland seemed like the type who wanted to be on the front lines of everything.
My snicker died when the last part of it registered. Angelique had sent them to guard her daughter knowing there was a very good chance she wouldn’t be returning to her, and she’d risked it all to help us. From here on out, I was definitely going to treat Angelique like the gold she was made of.
The door shut behind her and I was left with two—no, three gargoyles who were suddenly eyeing me like I was their last meal.
“She was right, Tin Woman, we’ve definitely got some sappy shit to deal with.”
I flushed with heat as he raked me with those dark eyes. I knew what he wanted to know. And from the mirrored look Damien was giving me, I wasn’t getting to my bedroom for a desperately needed shower and some sleep without giving them what they wanted.
“I meant it. What I said in the lab. I meant it.”
“What you said in the lab?” Damien cocked his head like he was trying to pull the answers from the air. “I can’t seem to recall what that was. Gio?”
“Nothin’, man, I’m drawing nothing but blanks. I suppose as long as I’m not shooting them, I’ll be alright, but I’d appreciate a refresher.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t fight the smile tugging at my lips. “You just can’t help yourself, can you, Onyarai?”
“You’re deflecting, Kyrillian.” He was right, I was. I did love them, I hadn’t said the words out of blind panic, but saying them now, when my death wasn’t imminent, was a little scarier than I anticipated.
“I’ll start,” Sawyer cut in. He stood and took a deep breath, like he was preparing to reveal a dark secret. What the hell could he be about to say? “Gio, I love you.”
Gio sputtered what could only be called a dry spit take. “What?”
“I said that I love you,” Sawyer reiterated, raising his voice as slowing his words like the Onyx was hard of hearing.
“Cop, I don’t think you’re getting what’s going on here.”
“Sappy stuff. Declarations of love. I’m aware, and I love you.”
“…thanks?”
“You’d give your life for Zara, and you’ll do anything to keep her safe. When I was too weak to be able to help the woman I love, you gave me a way to rescue and defend her. You taught her enough about herself to be able to fight back when she’s threatened by those who are far stronger than she is. You make her happy. So I love you for that.” He shifted his gaze to Damien. “Same goes for you, asshole. Plus, I love you for this penthouse, because it’s plush and I’ll be living here for the foreseeable future.”
Damien smirked at Sawyer’s declaration. “Well, now that you’re done with your embarrassing revelations, would anyone else like to go?” He quirked a brow at me.
“I’ll go,” Gio piped up. “I love Zara, and I’ll tolerate you idiots until she decides that I’m really all she needs. If that never happens…” He shrugged and grinned at the other two males. “I supposed I could get used to having you guys around. Besides, I have a feeling I’ll need backup whenever Zara gets pissed at me. Which I’m sure will be frequently, since she doesn’t always appreciate my aversion to clothes.”
“I suppose that makes it my turn.” Damien looked. “Zara, when I chose you to receive the gift of Victor’s heart, it was because of your courage, your selflessness, and your kindness. I never thought those same characteristics would make me fall in love with you, but I guess that just tells you what a hard-headed fool I can be. I should have known, should have seen it coming a mile away, but I wasn’t prepared when it hit me over the head. You’re everything I’ve ever needed but had closed myself off to, and I’m so thankful that you’re stubborn enough to make me open up and accept the gift I’ve been given. As for the two of you,” he swept a gaze over Gio and Sawyer, “thank you. Thank you for making her happy, protecting her, and helping me get justice for Victor.”
“You know, if you really think about it, you’re something of a hybrid yourself, Tin Woman,” Gio mused. “You’ve got your Ruby, but you’ve also got an Onyx, an Emerald, and a Topaz at your command. Let’s see those hybrids try to fuck with that.”
I couldn’t speak. My cold, hard stoneheart was a warm pile of mush in my chest. Never in my wildest imagination had this been possible. The three men I’d grown to love, that I could never choose between, had accepted one another, and their places in my life. They’d given themselves to me completely, and how could I not do the same?
“Come here, love.” Damien gathered me to him and took a seat on the couch, while the other two sat on either side of us. Perched on Damien’s lap like that, it was like I’d been seated on my own gargoyle throne.
The kind with a hardening cock under my ass, but that was neither here nor there.
I reached out both hands, taking one of Gio’s and one of Sawyer’s and giving both a gentle squeeze. I looked at each of them in turn, swiveling from one to the next to take in their expressions. This moment was one that would be indelibly burned into my brain for the rest of my life, and I didn’t want to forget a single detail. The tiny chips on Damien’s horns, Sawyer’s bruises, Gio’s wild hair and scratches.
And the perfect love shining in each of their eyes.
“I didn’t ask for this.” They all looked so taken aback that I had to smother a giggle. “I never asked to become a gargoyle, partly because it wasn’t something that I ever dreamed was even the most remote possibility. But then it happened, and it felt more like a curse than a gift, like I was sacrificing everything that I’d ever been to have a heart of stone. What I didn’t realize in my indignation was that this was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Not because it made me strong, or bulletproof, or smoothed out those awful pores on my nose forever—that’s a definite bonus though—but because it brought us together.
“Sawyer,” I turned to him and
tightened my hold on his hand, “I’ve loved you a little more each day since the first time you called me pardner. I got to see the kind of man you are in a million tiny moments that you didn’t even know I was paying attention to, and how could I not fall in love with you? You brought me back from a place where I wasn’t even sure I could still be a cop, thanks to everything Josh had done to my self-esteem and to my reputation on the force, and I can never thank you enough for making sure I didn’t give up on my dream.”
He gave me that charming grin that always tugged at my heart and brought my hand up to his lips, pressing a tender kiss to my knuckles. I felt my throat getting tight, so I turned to look at Damien.
“You’re such a strong man, Damien, and you’ve let that strength keep everyone at arm's length for most of your life.” I tipped my head toward Gio. “With one very notable—if odd—exception.”
“Hey!” Gio’s indignation made me smile.
“But you let your walls down for me to see into your heart, and the man I see is impossible not to love. You put up this façade of the cold businessman who doesn’t actually care, but you’re depriving the world of what you truly have to offer, and I want nothing more than to help you share it. Mainly with me, but other people can have a little bit, too.” I gave him an exaggerated wink, and the vulnerability in his eyes tugged me in so deeply that I couldn’t resist a quick kiss.
“And you,” I said, turning to the last piece of my heart. I would have expected excitement, even smugness from Gio at that moment, but instead I found a somber seriousness coloring his expression. “My sweet, naked protector. Under all that silliness and bravado is a man who’ll give up anything and everything to protect those he cares about. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I value that because there simply aren’t words. If gold was a stone, that’s what your heart would be made of. You’re the rare kind of man who stands by everything you say without equivocation, without pretense, and that’s only one reason why I love you. You make me smile, you make me laugh, and I’m sure you’ll make me cry at some point, but that’s only because of just how deeply you’re burrowed into my heart.” A sheen in his eyes as he blinked rapidly made my chest tighten, and I laced my fingers tighter with his. “And I’ve finally found my pretty words for you: Deserts are dead, gardens have plants; Gio, I love you, now take off your pants.”
Guffaws of laughter filled the room—which to be honest, I was a little offended by, since I thought my poem was awesome—and I was scooped up fast enough to make me lose my breath. I brushed the wild strands of my hair out of my face. Gio cradled me to his chest as he strode toward Damien’s room.
“What’s with you and the picking me up thing?”
“You move too slow, Tin Woman. It’s easier to just pick you up and take you where I want you to be.”
“And where is that?”
“Shower first, then bed. Neither of which require pants.” He grinned. “Just think of me as your Wizard of Oz, I’m about to grant your wish.”
“Hey, if anything, I’m the Wizard,” Damien said from right behind us. “I’m the one with the Emerald here.”
“Nope, I don’t like any of this, because that makes me the Scarecrow or the Cowardly Lion.” Sawyer sounded entirely put out.
“Not at all, Cop. You’re Toto.”
Damn, I fucking loved these idiots.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gio stretched out across the bed, sweeping his considerable wingspan to take up as much room as possible. I grumbled and pushed his arm aside, trying to make room for myself. A month ago, we’d decided that the gargoyle males would take turns sharing my bed while we got used to living together as a family.
Tonight was Gio’s night, and he made damn sure I knew it. For a bed this size, it was amazing he still managed to take up that much room.
“I’ve only got six inches of bed here,” I complained.
“And I’ve got twelve feet of wingspan, Tin Woman,” he said, not even bothering to open his eyes. “Who do you think is suffering more?”
His eyes were closed, but he was smiling, the bastard. I figured out my revenge almost immediately, climbing over him and flopping my full stone weight over his chest.
He exhaled, pretended to choke, and laid still. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best revenge. Now I not only had no bed space, but my new mattress was lumpy.
“Is that really how you want to play this?” he asked. He wasn’t even breathing heavily. I sighed and went limp, trying to make myself into dead weight. “Okay, then.”
I shrieked as he picked me up, manhandling me into a completely new configuration. It wasn’t fair that fullbloods were so damn strong.
A second later, I was sitting on his chest and he had my wrists in a vise-grip. Gio settled himself comfortably under me, keeping me right where I was. “Ah, that’s much better.”
“Wow, so you stole both mattresses. I see how it is.”
“You’re telling me you don’t like it where you are?” Gio stuck out his tongue and wiggled it in a way that was probably supposed to look goofy, but mostly looked enticing.
I shifted uncomfortably on his chest, and his pecs moved under my ass. “I’m not saying that, but did you… did you just flex your pecs at me?”
He did it again. Yep, definitely flexing on me.
He dropped one of my wrists and hooked his fingers in my panties, tugging them aside as he bucked his torso and sent me flying upwards. I braced my free hand on the headboard as his tongue flicked out, catching the skin of my inner thigh.
Leave it to Gio to know just how to get me where he wanted me. I straddled his face, and he made a satisfied sound and grabbed my hips. “Now this works for me,” he said, his voice muffled while he kissed my thigh.
I held my breath while his lips ventured higher. He paused for a brief second before sliding his tongue over my clit, and that second felt like a hundred years of anticipation.
Pleasure coiled through me as he sucked my clit between his full lips, his tongue occasionally flicking me until I was writhing on his face and moaning out loud.
I was so caught up in him that I barely heard the knock of my door and the sound of it opening. I turned my head so fast I nearly got whiplash from it.
“Zar? I heard someone scream…” Sawyer stopped dead, halfway through the door, at the sight on the bed. No words came to mind as Gio buried his tongue inside me, and then I got another shock at the sight of the swelling in Sawyer’s sweatpants.
Gio stopped licking me long enough to kiss my thigh again. “I can share what’s mine, Zara,” he said, and my eyes rolled back in my head when he returned his lips to the important business at hand.
“Come here, Sawyer,” I said breathlessly, turning back to find him slipping into the room and quietly shutting the door behind him. His blue-green eyes were hooded as he watched me ride Gio’s mouth, and he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his sweatpants, slinging them low on his hips. As a human, he’d been delicious on his own, but with the perfection of a Topaz and the ability to give me as good as I gave… well, I’d found him completely irresistible since. There were no more worries that I might accidentally crush his pelvis with my super-strength.
I crooked a finger at him, and he slid the sweatpants all the way off. He was already hard as a rock as he climbed up on the bed. Gio lifted me up just long enough to retract his wings so Sawyer could kneel next to me.
He looked hesitant until I ran my fingers down his chest to the chiseled V at the base of his stomach and wrapped my fingers around his cock. Sawyer buried his hands in my hair with a groan, pulling me in for a long kiss that was punctuated by my moans. Gio hadn’t stopped swirling his tongue around my clit the entire time, sending sparks of heat through my abdomen.
I stroked Sawyer as I kissed him, appreciating every little intake of breath that ended in a gasp.
Having both of them in here with me reminded me of the last time I’d been with two gargoyles, and my fear of what might happen if I ha
d them both inside me at once. I opened my mouth as Sawyer’s tongue probed in, intending to break away and taste the cock in my hand, but another knock on the door interrupted.
Damien didn’t even give an excuse. He shut the door and climbed onto the bed, nibbling my ass and working his way up my back and shoulders. “If you both get to be in here, I’m damn well coming in, too.”
I couldn’t resist waggling my eyebrows, a hint of nervousness swirling in my stomach. How was I going to handle all three at once? “Coming in more ways than one.”
Damien gave me That Look, but he wasted no time ducking his head under my arm and capturing one of my nipples in his mouth. The sensitive flesh hardened against his tongue and I bit back a gasp.
When I started shivering, Gio sucked my clit a final time before lifting me up and moving me down. “Not yet,” he said with a grin, and I wriggled backwards over his muscular torso until the head of his cock pushed against my slick entrance.
With Damien teasing my nipples and Sawyer’s cock jumping in my hand, I decided that tonight was the night. I was stone, for god’s sake. Taking all of them at once couldn’t hurt me, literally.
“I want all three of you,” I said. Gio cocked his head to the side, but his dark eyes were glittering.
“Oh, yeah?”
“At the same time.”
I leaned my hips back and the head of his cock slipped inside me. Gio’s jaw flexed, and he seemed to restrain himself from pushing in. “That’s the spirit, Tin Woman.” He sat up on one elbow, reaching behind me to smooth his palm over my ass and run his fingers across my wetness.
I tried not to tense when he found my ass and began slowly circling me with his fingers, lubricating me until I felt comfortable with his hands there. I rocked on him as he worked, letting another inch of him slide inside me until he was firmly seated there.
On some unspoken command, Sawyer kissed me and climbed behind me. Strong hands ran over my back to my ass, and a heavy hardness pushed against me there. I was already full of Gio, and I held my breath as Sawyer eased into me.