Very, very bad.
She would have to come up with a suitable punishment on the way to letting her guests into the house. You know, as she should have done in the first place. Was it possible to draw and quarter oneself, or did that require a team effort?
She got halfway out the door before Dag caught up to her, placing a now-human hand on her shoulder. “Kylie…” he began.
“Not now.” She cut him off and quickly scooted out from under his touch. “We can talk about … whatever … later. Right now, Wynn and Knox are waiting. Let’s go.”
Not bothering to wait for his reaction, she headed briskly for the stairs and jogged down before he could stop her. When she deactivated the alarm and swung open the heavy front door, she could feel him behind her, but she’d just have to find a way to ignore his presence.
Kind of like she’d now have to ignore the annoying smirk on her friend’s pretty face.
“Well, hello there, Ms. Kylie.” Wynn grinned, her singsong tone guaranteed to give her friend a migraine in under six seconds. “I think you were expecting us, or did the fact that we were, ahem, coming … slip your mind?”
Though never previously given to fits of violence, Kylie knew one more laughing remark from her friend would lead to a swift fist in the witch’s face. “I hate you right now,” she hissed, turning on her heel to stalk back to the kitchen, leaving her guests to make the best of her less than warm welcome.
Ikh hob es in drerd! To hell with it. She’d already used up all her warmth. In her cheeks.
She heard the rise and fall of voices and the rumble of luggage wheels on the hardwood following her down the hall. Ignoring them, she yanked open the fridge, grabbed herself a soda, and nearly sent the cap flying across the room from the force with which she wielded the bottle opener.
Wynn actually had to duck as she entered the room. “Um, we didn’t mean to interrupt. You know that, right?” Her grin had faded, and now she looked concerned and a little bit guilty. “Knox told me what he saw, but it wasn’t like we deliberately barged in.”
Kylie lowered her drink with a sigh and let her shoulders slump. “I know. And I don’t really hate you.” She pulled one of the high stools away from the center island and climbed onto the padded seat. “At the moment, I think I just hate myself.”
Her friend sat beside her. “Why would you hate yourself? Did you drug him? Was it sexual assault?”
Snorting into her cola, Kylie shook her head. “No, that’s not how I would say it happened.”
“Well, he’s a Guardian, so I know he didn’t assault you. These guys have a code of honor that makes jarheads and saints look like moral degenerates. So why the crazy over two consenting adults doing what consenting adults like to do?”
Kylie looked at her friend like the crazy had come from an entirely new direction. “Wynneleh, he’s a member of another species!”
Wynn rolled her eyes. “Nominally. So yeah, Guardians aren’t exactly human, but it’s not like you screwed a donkey, Ky. Get over yourself. Are you trying to tell me there’s a woman on this planet who could look at one of our guys and not think they’re damned sexy?”
“Oh, why am I bothering with you? You’ve already gone over to the Dark Side.”
“Damn straight. And the cookies are awesome.”
“Do you mind? I’m having a personal crisis over here. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Yeah, I mind, because I think a crisis is a huge overreaction. I’m also betting that you weren’t thinking at the time, which is just the way it should be. I sure as heck can’t string two coherent thoughts together when Knox touches me. That’s just the way it is between mates. Frankly, I count it as a pretty big perk.”
Kylie held up a hand and cocked her ear. “Wait a second there, Pooh Bear. Mates? Where the hell did that word come from, and what is it doing in my conversation?”
“Our conversation. Don’t be a greedy bitch. And what, you thought you and Dag were just good buddies?”
“Um, I thought we were about half an insult away from sworn nemeses. And I kept thinking that, right up until my pants fell off.”
Wynn snorted. “All by themselves, right? Come on, Koyote. You heard about me and Knox, Fil and Spar, and Ella and Kees, and you thought every one of the new female Wardens turning out to be the mate of the Guardian she woke was just a big ol’ coincidence? I thought all you geek types had to know about things like statistics and the laws of probability.”
Stunned—literally; she felt as though she’d just taken a softball to the side of her head—Kylie thought back to her initial conversations with Wynn about the Guardian situation. She remembered their talk. She remembered the mention of those couples. She even remembered being informed of her new Wardenship, but she did not remember the M-word ever entering the picture.
And, oh yes, she would have remembered.
She pointed an accusing finger at her friend. “You never said anything about mates. You said the two of us would have to work together because he’s a Guardian and I’m a Warden and those twains just meet like that. There was no mention of mating. Mating was never in the handbook.”
Wynn pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling. “You know, there really should be a handbook, shouldn’t there?”
Suddenly two hulking figures stood behind them, one of them crowding close to Kylie and growling low in his throat. “What have you done to upset her?” Dag demanded, glaring at Wynn.
The witch glared right back. “Actually, I’m not the one who upset her, big guy. I think that honor goes to a little story you never bothered to tell her. I swear, what the hell is it with you guys and withholding vital information? You’d think having Ella and Fil both contemplating ripping your balls off would have taught you all a lesson on sharing means caring.”
Knox gave his fiancée a hard look. “You believe I withheld vital information from you, little witch?”
Kylie had always dismissed Dag’s claims that he ranked as one of the smallest of his kind, but after seeing Knox in person, she felt forced to reevaluate. The gargantuan man—even in human form, which she had to admit was a lot nicer to look at than the gargoyle side she’d seen in her guest-room window—looked to be in imminent danger of overflowing her kitchen. Her enormous, remodeled, showroom-ready kitchen her Realtor had described as the focal point of the house. In comparison, Dag’s size seemed almost, you know, normal.
Wynn appeared neither intimidated nor particularly impressed. “No, you did not, but you didn’t get a chance, did you? I knew it all right from the start, so hiding the facts never would have gotten you anywhere with me.”
“I hide nothing,” Dag cut in, his tone angry and expression stony. “But whatever I choose to do is no business of yours, witch. I can handle my life however I see fit.”
“Um, excuse me?” Kylie found herself raising her hand in her own kitchen and tried not to think too hard about the implications of that. “Anyone care to fill me in on what the hell is going on?”
Wynn opened her mouth, Knox shook his head, Dag bared a fang, and the witch backed off, mumbling, “Apparently not,” half under her breath.
“Dag is correct,” Knox said, laying a hand on his fiancée’s shoulder. “He has the right to conduct himself however he feels is most appropriate. And we all have more important matters to deal with. Perhaps we should simply agree to ‘table’ this discussion, I believe one would say, and focus on the reason why we have all come together here.”
Kylie took note of the similarities in Dag’s and Wynn’s disgruntled expressions. Then she spied Knox’s determination and realized no one was likely to explain what the heck had just happened anytime soon, so she bit back a growl and jumped off her stool.
“Fine,” she said, setting her soda aside with a click. “In that case, I’ll show you guys your room, and then I’m hopping in the shower. We can all use the time to decide what we want for dinner, and we’ll start work when it gets here. Follow me.”
She
stalked toward the stairs, not really caring if they obeyed or not. The house wasn’t that big. Eventually, they’d find the only spare room with a bed in it and put two and two together. With the mood she was in, Kylie would even let them find the bedding she’d piled on the nightstand and make their own damned bed.
She just hoped they didn’t stumble across her torn panties in the process.
Crap, she swore as she picked up the pace and raced ahead to retrieve her discarded undergarments. Next time, they get a hotel.
Or, you know, I keep my legs together. Whatever works.
* * *
Kylie quickly discovered that her state-of-the-art shower-head lacked a setting for self-flagellation, so she turned it to massage and tried to content herself with a mild pummeling. Even the addition of the body jets and the cross-spray couldn’t give her the beating she so richly deserved, but at least the water was hot. Didn’t Christians think sin could be burned away? Wasn’t that the whole rationale behind burning witches?
At the moment, Kylie entertained a fond thought involving one particular witch and a book of matches, but that was probably because she just wasn’t a very nice person. Oh, she used to be, but that was before she got mugged by demon worshippers and entered the Fabulous Land of Make meBelievei’mcrazy. Now, she was finding out she had homicidal tendencies and the morals of a big ol’ slut. Lo, how the mighty were fallen.
Good thing she was so short. It cut down on the trip.
A puff of cool air had her opening her eyes and frowning at the shower settings, but before she could even focus on the temperature gauge, a thickly muscled arm curled around her from behind. It pressed against her just below her breasts, a more effective restraint than a roller-coaster harness. She shrieked loud enough for her bubbeh to hear her.
In Connecticut.
“Hush,” Dag said, hugging her to his naked body. “It is just me.”
Kylie pressed both palms against his forearm and shoved. “Well, just you wasn’t invited, bub, so get out of my shower!”
“No. You are angry with me,” he said, “and while I deserve some of your ire for not protecting you better, I will not allow others to come between us. We must discuss what was said.”
“I’m not interested in a discussion,” Kylie said through clenched teeth. Not only did his arm refuse to budge, but the baseball bat pressing against her lower back told her the rest of him didn’t want to go anywhere, either. “I’m also not interested in anything else you might be thinking about, so I repeat, get. Out.”
“I do not believe that statement to be entirely truthful,” he purred into her ear. His second arm snaked around, and he laid his hand against her belly just above her mound. “Shall I show you why, little human?”
“If you think seducing me is going to do anything but make me more eager to rip your balls off, I have some very important information to share,” she ground out, her teeth clenched together at least as hard as her thighs.
Dag’s hands didn’t move, but then, neither did the rest of him. Well, part of him twitched against her skin, but she didn’t think he could help that. Those things tended to have minds of their own.
“If you will not be seduced, yet you will also not talk with me, what other choices have you left us? I will not allow you to think ill of me forever without allowing me the chance to explain my own actions. It would be unfair to expect as much.”
Kylie tried again to push him away. He didn’t tighten his hold, but he didn’t budge, either. Maybe he really was made of granite. “Fine, you can explain all you want, but you’ll have to do it later. Outside the shower. After we’re both fully clothed.”
One long finger tapped thoughtfully against her skin, low on her belly. Whether the gesture was deliberate or unconscious, it made Kylie’s belly clench and her mouth go dry. She deliberately failed to take stock of any effect it might have between her legs.
“That seems inefficient.” Dag leaned down to rest his chin on the top of her wet hair so that she felt entirely surrounded by him, yet curiously she felt more protected than threatened. “We are both here, and the nature of bathing ensures us of adequate privacy. Also, we should have nothing to hide from each other. We have been skin to skin already, so modesty is not necessary between us.”
“Says you.”
“What is the purpose of hiding from one another what has already been seen and felt by us both?” When Kylie didn’t answer, Dag’s hands gently urged her around to face him. “Do you feel there is some indecency in your lack of clothing? Because you cannot think that the sight of your body would do anything but give me pleasure.”
Okay, so despite her embarrassment and lingering irritation, Kylie couldn’t deny a surge of pleasure at hearing that. Still, a girl had to make a stand from time to time. “This is not about whether or not we’ve had sex.”
“Is it not? That was what you and your friend discussed when you were alone, is it not? And it made you angry. Even before Knox and I joined you in the kitchen, you had begun to grow upset with me. In fact, you were upset before you even left the bed we shared.”
Given the way she’d jumped off said bed, muttering to herself in Yiddish, she supposed a denial would prove pointless. “I was … at myself. At my own behavior. I don’t usually act like that.” She looked down at herself and grimaced. “And I don’t usually have conversations while I’m standing around in nothing but my business.”
Dag’s eyes twinkled. “What is the human saying? Ah, business is good, yes?” When she just rolled her eyes, he sighed and pulled her tight against him, so not even the water rolled between them. “There. Now I cannot see that you are naked, so now may we talk?”
“Oh, sure, because that”—Kylie wiggled her belly against his erect penis—“is not at all distracting.”
“If I can ignore it, I do not see why you cannot.”
“It keeps poking me!”
“It consumes blood supply meant for my brain. On whom, then, does it have a greater effect?”
“I can’t believe I’m standing in the shower arguing about your dick.” Kylie gave up and let her forehead smack against his hard chest. Almost as good as a brick wall. “Fine. Say whatever you think you have to say, then get out. Go.”
At least she’d had the foresight to ensure the house had on-demand hot water, since the only thing that would make this discussion more fun would be the shower turning into an ice bath in the middle of it.
The silent pause told her he hadn’t really expected to win that argument. She just hoped he was enjoying it, because from now on, she’d be taking no prisoners.
“I failed to properly protect you, and there is no apology sufficient for that oversight. I can only admit to my own deficiency and vow to you that I will not again forget my duty or my purpose. I swear to you that I will keep you safe.”
Kylie shook her head without bothering to lift it. She didn’t need to be distracted by the sight of his nudity. It was bad enough that she should feel it. Every glorious, muscular, rock-hard inch of it.
Down, she mentally scolded. Bad hormones! Sit!
“I already told you that wasn’t a big deal,” she mumbled. “You didn’t fail to protect me from a threat, you just didn’t answer the door when someone knocked. Big difference. I think we can both just forget about that.”
She felt him stiffen—his muscles, you damned endocrine system!—before he spoke with obvious caution in his tone. “But if you were not upset by my lack of readiness to protect you, then your argument with the witch implies you regret our mating for other reasons.”
“That’s just the problem,” she said, finally tipping her head back to meet his gaze. “When exactly did we mate? Because I don’t recall that happening, or ever being put out on the table. Then all of a sudden everyone is just moving forward as if it’s a done deal. What’s up with that?”
His chest rumbled, enough that she could feel it against her skin. “The answer to that question would depend on one’s definition of ‘
mating,’ in order to determine what did and did not happen.”
“When did you appear before a House subcommittee?” she snapped. “How about we stick to the communal definition everyone except for me seems to be going with? Because the only definition I’m familiar with is the one from Wild Kingdom. And there’s no mistaking that that happened.”
Still, he hedged. “That definition requires that I tell you another story of the origin of the Guardians and the Wardens Guild.”
“I’m wet, and I’m naked. Do I look like I’m going anywhere?”
Dag sighed so hard she thought he might turn inside out. Seriously, it gave her grandmother a run for her money.
“Wynn told you of how the first Guardians were summoned to battle the Seven and to defend the human world from the Darkness.”
Kylie nodded for him to continue.
“For hundreds of years they did this. Ages passed as they woke and slept and woke again, each time answering the summons of the Wardens and battling to defeat the enemy so that the human world could remain untouched. But the Guardians are not of this world, and as warriors, they felt little emotion toward it. They lacked a connection to give their duty a higher purpose. Over time, they began to wonder why they should continue to fight and bleed for a world they cared nothing for. And so, the next time the Wardens called them from sleep, the Guardians failed to respond. They ignored the summons and remained locked in their stone forms, eternally slumbering.”
When she thought about that, Kylie couldn’t say that she blamed them. Even to her, this whole nightmare of demons and Guardians, nocturnis and Wardens, it all felt like someone else’s war to wage, even after she had personally been attacked. Twice. Honestly, the reason she had let herself get sucked in had been Wynn’s end-of-the-world comment, because she lived in the world. If it ended, so did she. But for the Guardians, what did it matter if the human world kept on ticking? They only saw it when they had to risk their lives for it. After a few centuries, she imagined she’d be over that kind of system, too.
Rocked by Love (Gargoyles Series) Page 15