Knights of Stone: Gavin: A gargoyle shifter rockstar romance

by Lisa Carlisle

  He stepped back. Her revelation shot his wariness to the stars.

  “Did you get everything you need?” He aimed to keep his voice steady.

  “Aye. But, if you want to highlight anything about your band to enrich the story, now’s your chance.”

  His suspicion of reporters was stifled by the urge to continue speaking to her. “Why don’t we discuss it backstage?”

  While leading her to the dimly lit room covered with band flyers, he focused on redirection. She had many questions about the band, why they didn’t have a website or social media presence, how they’d developed a following, and so on. It took all his focus to evade her questions with his generic “we lucked out with word-of-mouth” reply and that the “mystique works in their favor.” He attempted to steer the conversation to a safer topic. She was tough and not easy to dissuade, but he wouldn’t let her get to him. He had one mission since he’d spotted her, and he wouldn’t miss his opportunity now that he had her alone backstage.

  Finally, he made progress. “Enough with questions about me. Since I saw you tonight, I’ve been intrigued with you.” He flashed his most effective smile that often had a devastating effect on the lassies.

  She squinted at him with surprise. “About what?”

  “Your relationship status, for one. Please tell me you’re single?” He laughed. “I’d hate to have some bloke barging in here interrupting what I hope to be an unforgettable night with a bonnie lass with beautiful eyes.”

  She blinked a few times and then laughed. “No one’s going to barge in anywhere. I’m single.”

  “Brilliant.” His grin turned mischievous. He lowered his gaze to her lips. “Good. Because I want to kiss you.”

  She inhaled. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

  He searched her eyes. “Why not? You’re stunning. All I’ve been able to think about are your lips. And how sweet you’ll taste.”

  “Um—well—uh.” She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. The sound of her quickened breath was audible from the din of the crowd in the pub. She took a deep breath and straightened. Then she raised her chin and challenged him with a decadent smile, “What’s stopping you, big guy?”

  A growl vibrated in his throat, and he took the invitation. He cupped both of her cheeks and gauged her reaction. Her wide pupils and parted lips from which quickened breaths escaped signaled her interest.

  He bent down and inhaled her feminine scent in the hollow of her throat. “You smell so good.”

  She swallowed but said nothing. He exhaled along the sensitive skin on her neck, letting his warm breath tickle her ear. He touched it with the tip of his tongue and then licked back along her throat. “Taste so good, too.”

  The scent of her arousal left him hard, and his erection bulged against the front of his kilt. He stepped closer to her, close enough to press his body to hers, but stopped an inch short. Her breath came out in heavy pants now. The space between them pulsed with a sultry vibe. She completed the distance, pressing her breasts against his torso.

  Her eyelids were hooded. “I thought you wanted to kiss me,” she said, her voice a mere rasp.

  He hadn’t planned on anything more than a quick kiss, to steal a taste of her, but having her alone in this private nook skyrocketed his desire. He ached to take her right here. Claim her against the brick wall. First, he wanted to tease her. Anticipation would amp the pleasure for them both.

  He lowered his head, bringing his lips mere centimeters from hers. “Oh, but I do.” Her breath had a tinge of the sweet scent of cranberry juice. He brushed his mouth against hers and then pulled a few inches away.

  She sighed in protest. “Oh, I know what you’re doing,” she said. “The same thing you did to every woman while you performed on stage. Teasing me.”

  He pressed his lower body against hers, groaning as his erection stroked her belly. “Were you feeling teased?”

  After a few panted breaths, she admitted, “Aye.”

  “And now,” he prodded.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Good,” he declared. Gavin planted a soft kiss on her mouth.

  A small sound of relief escaped her.

  “I’m also wondering something else,” he said.

  “What?” Her voice was a mere rasp.

  “What sounds you’d make in bed,” he added.

  She tilted her head up to him and licked her lips. “What makes you think that will happen?” Her sassy tone from earlier returned.

  “A bloke can hope for the best.” He brushed his lips over her neck again. “Do you like it rough?”

  When he pulled his lips away, her eyes were hooded. Dark with desire. With her right where he wanted her, he bent lower and claimed her mouth the way he’d been yearning since he’d seen her sweet lips.

  After he pulled back, he asked, “Do you live nearby?”

  “Aye. Walking distance.”

  “How about I walk you home?”

  She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips again to his. “Come home with me.”

  * * *

  Gavin returned to the present, tormented by the memory he’d replayed countless times. Since that night, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. The past two nights hadn’t done anything to get her out of his system. In fact, he’d grown closer to her. He eagerly awaited seeing her in the audience when they played and then going home with her after the show.

  He was only in town for one more night. If he was smart, he’d pull back, since his weakness was women. And in this case, one woman had turned out to be more troublesome to his resolve than all the others combined.

  Where the hell had Gavin gone?

  Fiona blinked and rubbed her eyes. She’d taken up a spot in a building’s entryway when he’d entered an alley. She’d just peered around the corner of the brick building and spotted him for a flash. In the next heartbeat, he’d disappeared.

  How was that possible?

  He’d been standing in the alley and then whoosh—gone—faded away like a ghost. She tiptoed into the alley, her muscles shaky. Perhaps it was a trick of her eyes, and he’d slipped into a shadow. Although every cell in her body resisted the thought of entering an isolated area, she had to know the truth. Was he in there somewhere? If not, where was he?

  Fiona forced herself to tread forward, ignoring the stench of rubbish. She searched for something she could grab as a weapon in case she needed it. Who knew what lurked in the dark recesses? Although it was daylight, the building cast long shadows draping the expanse in darkness. The bins could hide, well, anything.

  She picked up a short stick lying on the ground. It wasn’t much and was thin enough to break on any significant impact, but it was better than nothing. It could inflict damage on eyes—hopefully long enough for her to run to safety.

  You’re freaking out over nothing. Stop it. Just see if he’s here and if not, get the hell out of here.

  “Gavin?” she whispered.

  Nothing.

  In a louder tone, she called, “Gavin.”

  Still no reply. Only the sound of traffic in the distance. She scanned the area, searching for where he could have gone, but the space ended with a brick wall.

  Retracing her steps backward, she rushed out of the alley and tried to shake off the creepy sensation.

  It was late Sunday morning and people milled about. Many headed into the restaurant and shops. Gavin wasn’t among them. He’d stand head and shoulders above most.

  He played in a band where it appeared that stone statues shifted into human beings. If that were true, it could be chalked up to special effects. But, what about the wings? Could they be an illusion as well? If so, he’d need to be hooked onto a system with seemingly invisible lines to make it appear that he could fly.

  Fiona sighed. Neither one of those explanations would explain how he appeared to vanish without an audience to entertain.

  Confusion weighed on her as she entered her flat. The rumpled sheets in her bedroom remi
nded her of their earlier antics. Damn, his effect on her was potent, unlike any other sexual experience in her life. In that case, aye, he seemed magical. Enchantment packed in an enticing masculine package.

  Fiona pulled the sheets to make the bed. The scent of their encounter still lingered on them. Perhaps, she’d imagined seeing him disappear, but she hadn’t imagined the hot sex. It was real. Deliciously and decadently real.

  But, what was his secret?

  Tonight, she’d find out what the hell was going on.

  Chapter 8

  At the club that night, Fiona stuck to seltzer water. With the way her stomach had been acting up lately, and the confusion over what she’d seen earlier, she didn’t need anything else messing with her. She searched the patrons to see if Mark was there, yet she couldn’t decide if she wanted to see him. Last night, she would have said no. He was a cloud of creepiness hanging over her good time with Gavin. But, after the mysteries of Gavin grew…

  Did Mark have any answers or not?

  Fiona found a spot at one of the tables in the back where she could sit and watch the show. Her body rebelled with the exhaustion of the last couple of nights catching up with her. No jumping freely up near the stage for her tonight, even if it was her last night with Gavin.

  The past few days had been more exciting than any she could recall. The sex had been phenomenal, but she enjoyed spending time with him even when they weren’t in bed, like making breakfast together. She liked him, which was something she hadn’t truly been able to say about a man in a long time.

  He was leaving tomorrow. Where would that leave them? Would he come see her whenever he was in town? Did he have other women in other cities? She shook her head, ridding herself of that offensive thought. He owed her nothing. She shouldn’t wind herself up over something she couldn’t change.

  Sure, she’d miss Gavin when he left, but he was still with her now.

  At least until tomorrow. She pushed that melancholy reminder aside to focus on the moment.

  The Knights of Stone took the stage and the crowd cheered. She wolf whistled. Gavin laughed and winked, a gesture she now looked forward to as he only seemed to do so for her. At least, here in Inverness. After a few songs had passed with no arrival of Mark, she figured he wouldn’t come.

  She was wrong.

  While the band played the crowd pleaser, The Hunt, Mark sat next to her.

  “You’re back.” She had to raise her voice to be heard above the music.

  She glanced at the stage. Gavin had noted Mark’s arrival as well as evidenced by his grim expression and hard glare.

  “As I said I would be. Have you thought about my offer?”

  She raised her brows. “To spy on a friend?” She grunted. “No, thank you.”

  “Friend,” he repeated with a suspicious laugh. “If that’s what you want to call it. At any rate, I have information that might change your mind.”

  “Oh, and what’s that?”

  “I’ve been looking into things. I have connections, you know?”

  She didn’t know. “And?” she snapped.

  He fixed a stare on her. “I know what happened with your friend when you were younger.”

  Fiona turned away. That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. “What do you know?”

  “What it was that attacked her.”

  Fuuucckkk. Her gaze fell to her glass, fixing on the cubes of ice. Her quest to discover all she could about the supernatural had been driven by that event. What had attacked Angie that night? She’d been searching for answers but, as of yet, what happened had remained a mystery.

  “Tell me what you know,” she prodded.

  Mark snorted. “Ah, that isn’t something I’m just going to reveal to you. You want information, and so do I. It seems like we’re better off making a deal, don’t you think?”

  Fiona cleared her throat. She lowered her voice, although no one would be able to hear them over the rock music. “It also sounds like blackmail.”

  He cracked his knuckles, and she grimaced. She hated that awful sound.

  “Call it what you will,” he said. “You want something, I want something. We can help each other out.”

  She debated her options. The more mysteries that shrouded Gavin, the more intrigued she became. She could never resist a good puzzle, and he was a complicated one. She stole a glance at him, and he still eyed her with speculation.

  Her stomach roiled with discomfort. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and faced Mark. “What do you plan to do with the information?”

  “That’s not your concern.”

  She leaned back in her chair and placed both hands on the table. “I’m not going to agree to anything if it will lead to somehow hurting Gavin or any of his brothers.”

  “I don’t plan to hurt anyone. I want answers, the same as you. We’re no different that way.”

  She gave him a once over. She could see several reasons and how they were different as well, but now wasn’t the time to nitpick.

  Was there a way to get the information she wanted without compromising Gavin’s safety?

  “I want to make sure you actually have this info that you claim to have. Which of my friends are you talking about? And what situation?”

  He gave her a pointed look as if he was aggravated with her questions. “Your friend, Angie.” He leaned forward and pointed to his scar. “I was also attacked.”

  She gasped. Fuck. He knew. “Okay, I get it. What happened?”

  “Do we have a deal?”

  Fiona tried not to stare at his scar as she considered his offer. She’d finally have the answer to the question that had haunted her for years. She avoided glancing at Gavin, afraid to meet his gaze.

  “Fine. What do you want me to find out?”

  Mark’s victorious smile repulsed her.

  “You have close access to Gavin. Very close,” he added in a lewd tone.

  “Whoa.” She raised her hand. “Sexual details are off-limits.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

  “Well, what is?”

  “You need to get a close look at his body. Specifically, his back.”

  “And look for what?”

  “Protrusions.” He nodded with self-satisfaction. “Indicative of wings.”

  Her mouth fell open. She’d already performed a thorough examination of his body for anything different but wouldn’t admit that to Mark. He’d overheard the two women talking. Perhaps he didn’t know as much as he said.

  But, he knew about Angie.

  And the creature that had attacked her had been winged…

  Before Fiona could pull her racing thoughts into a coherent question, Mark stood and said, “I’ll be in touch.” He spun around and walked to the exit.

  She’d come here tonight to find out the truth about Gavin, yet Mark might have the answers to a different mystery, one that had haunted her for seventeen years.

  Fiona could barely make it through the set. Although the music pulsed around her, she was quite certain if she rested her head on the table, she’d fall right to sleep—but, only if her mind would turn off the churning of questions that arose from her conversation with Mark.

  During a break, Gavin maneuvered through the crowd of fans to sit at her table. “What’s wrong? You look tired.”

  She forced herself to sit upright. “I’m sorry, I’m exhausted. Do you mind if I head on back to my flat? I’ll give you the key code, so you can let yourself in later.”

  His brows furrowed with concern. “Are you sure everything’s okay? I saw that bloke chatting you up again.”

  She shrugged. “Aye, you know—a familiar face and all. He stopped by to chat some more.”

  “It looked like an intense conversation.” Gavin’s tone indicated he doubted her explanation.

  “Right, we struggled to hear each other over the music.”

  In the tense seconds that followed, Fiona wished the band was still playing to drown out the sound
of her pounding heartbeat. Would Gavin believe her? Or, would he call her out as a liar? She wasn’t technically lying, was she? She just needed time to sort through what she’d seen and heard, and she couldn’t think straight being so drained.

  Gavin nodded and let out a short laugh. “There I go sounding all jealous again.” He squeezed her hand. “Sorry, sweetness. Go on back to your flat and get some rest. I’ll see you later.”

  After Fiona gave him the code, she rushed out of the club to hail a cab, both exhaustion and guilt weighing her down. No way was she walking to her place tonight. Her legs wouldn’t carry her across the street.

  Back at her place, she rushed through the bed time preparations and stripped to her bra and underwear, too tired to find her usual pajamas of shorts and a tank top. As soon as she settled onto the pillow, she fell halfway to sleep.

  She didn’t stir until the morning. Gavin was there, spooning her from behind. How had she not heard him come in? Usually, the slightest noise would wake her. The sound and motion of him climbing into her bed should have roused her.

  Fiona glanced at the clock. It was after nine. What? She never slept in this late, especially on a workday. Mondays, she rose at six to get an early start on the day. Even on the weekends, she was typically up by eight. With the way she’d conked out last night, something was off.

  When she climbed out of bed, Gavin stirred. “Where are you going, sweetness?”

  She glanced at him. He looked devilishly irresistible with his hair mussed up. In her exhaustion, she’d missed out on a spectacular night with him.

  With reluctance, she declared, “I have to go into the office.”

  He curled his finger, beckoning her with a smoldering glint in his eyes. “Can I convince you to come back to bed for a few minutes?”

  A tingling in her core followed. She yearned to agree, especially since he was leaving today. “I can’t. I have a meeting with my boss at ten.”

  Gavin groaned. “Can I meet you here after work?”

  She cocked her head. “I thought you were leaving Inverness today?”