Zacharias’s long fingers clenched around the glass goblet he held. For a few moments he stared at it with unseeing eyes. His mind drifted back to the night before. When he had touched Mila, he felt a connection between them. There was a strong pull that lured him to her, but he had never once believed the intense attraction that simmered between them was strong enough to drag him into her very vivid, very erotic dreams.
Zacharias had not once considered that Mila was telekinetically and telepathically gifted.
It was unheard of.
Zacharias had not once considered that his mate would be one of the women whose mental powers were powerful enough to draw him into her mind.
And what a mind!
A wry smile curved his sensual mouth. His gaze drifted to the growing bulge between his spread thighs. His cock was heavy, full, and thick.
It ached with arousal.
The emotion was shockingly alien. It had been centuries since he had last felt desire.
If you don’t count last night, his mind reminded him with a chuckle.
He had not laid his head on his plush pillow for more than twenty minutes when his eyes had jerked open with shocking awareness. He saw the room that surrounded him, recognized the red and black fabrics as his chosen colors, but it was not his real bedroom he saw, but the room Mila dreamed.
He could feel her presence pressing against his mental shields. It was a ghost of a touch, like two soft lips pressed against one another in a butterfly kiss. His first thought was, how could she know the distinctive décor of this abode, the colors of his room?
The question was wiped from his mind when he saw the sleek outline of her voluptuous body hiding in the shadows that cloaked his darkened room. And even though he had felt her mental presence when he opened his eyes, Zacharias had been shocked by her physical presence. He had not expected her to be strong enough to project her image into his mind.
He had watched her for a few moments as her body played with the lights and shadows that streaked his room.
He had watched for a few moments as she watched him.
Finally when he could take no more of the wait, he called for her, begged her. “Mistress,” had come so naturally from his lips and in that moment Zacharias realized why no other woman had affected him like she did. Mila was the other half of his soul, the Dominatrix to his submissive.
Zacharias had not acknowledged his submissive side until Mila had lifted one midnight eyebrow in question at his actions. He immediately leaned back.
Even then, hours after the experience, he was still unsure of the depth and nature of his submissive side. Zacharias only knew he had never experienced anything as powerful as the emotions Mila evoked when she held him against his will and used his heavy cock to make herself orgasm.
“Someone is up early.”
Zacharias turned and regarded the man in the dining room doorway. “I could say the same for you,” he murmured softly. “I have not seen you rise with the sun in years.”
Hugo shrugged one massive shoulder and entered the room. Like most vampires he preferred nocturnal hours, despite the fact that the barrier that kept the kingdom hidden also worked like a veil protecting the vampires in the region from the sun. His kind were not so lucky. If caught in daylight in his gargoyle form he turned to stone.
He gave Zacharias a mischievous grin. The sight of his sharp canines made the act just a little sinister. Rufus, Zacharias’s most trusted warrior, lounged in the doorway watching Hugo.
Watching him.
“And miss the chance to meet her? I think not.”
Zacharias fought every emotion that reared its head at Hugo’s words. He aimed for calm on the outside despite the battlefield of emotions that warred within. “Who is this her you speak of?” he asked nonchalantly as he watched Rufus take a seat on his left.
“All the humans know of her presence. Even the castle staff is abuzz.” Zacharias turned to welcome the latest person to invade the dining hall, the room that had been his sanctuary. “Good morning, Liana.”
She gave him a warm smile. “Good morning, Zacharias. I hope you don’t mind our intrusion. I know you normally eat breakfast alone, but…”
“We want to meet her,” Hugo finished for her. He turned to Zacharias and looked at him in question. “I’ve never known you not to stand when a female enters the room.”
Liana stopped halfway to her seat. She turned slowly. Her gaze wandered up and down his body.
Zacharias stifled the urge to growl. Instead he murmured, “I am not harmed, so please stop looking for pain, bruises, or cuts.”
She took two steps toward him. She stopped when he held up his hand. “If you need to be healed…” she pressed.
“I am not broken, but I cannot stand, not right now.”
Hugo leaned back in his seat at the other end of the table. His dark head pressed against the long back chair in exasperation. “Please, no riddles. It’s too early in the day for that.”
Zacharias contemplated the three people in front of him. Over the centuries, Hugo and Liana had become his closest friends. They had shared bloodshed, war, and even death.
He trusted them with his life.
He could trust them with his secret.
He sighed and let out the truth. “I can’t stand because I have an erection.”
The admission thundered through the quiet room. Zacharias looked back and forth between Hugo and Liana. The shock on both their faces was vivid enough to make him smile.
The fact that Hugo was speechless made him chuckle.
Liana opened her mouth to say something.
“Good morning, everyone.”
All three heads turned to the woman in the doorway. Zacharias immediately felt hunger burst through his system at the sight of Mila’s beautiful face. Goddess, she was lovely.
He gritted his teeth and tamped down his desire so he could stand and properly greet her. “Good morning, Mila.” He placed one arm around her waist and guided her to the seat nearest his.
“Good morning, Zacharias,” she whispered softly, shyly. Scorching fire snaked through Zacharias’s system. He was instantly aware of the fact that Mila was remembering her dream. She was remembering how much he had pleasured her fantasy self and she was getting aroused by the thought.
He took a deep breath and drank in the scent of her blossoming arousal. If he wasn’t careful he was going to embarrass them both and show her just how much she pleased him, just how much he was aroused by her.
Still, he couldn’t help her playing with her. “Did you sleep well? Did you dream a little dream of…” He drifted off purposely, knowing what she would automatically think.
Her pink tongue traced the soft curve of her plump bottom lip. “I…uh…yes, I slept well.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Zacharias saw Hugo perk up. He did not like the look in the other man’s eyes. Zacharias got the distinct feeling his friend was considering how he could catch the woman in his arms.
But she was his.
Mila belonged to him.
Liana’s delicate cough reminded him he was being rude. “Mila, I would like you to meet Liana, Rufus, and Hugo, my friends. They live here at the castle with me.”
“So what brought you to our town, Mila?”
Zacharias’s head whipped to Liana. Although the question would seem innocent to Mila, he knew what Liana was truly asking. What heartfelt desire did Mila seek that brought her to the kingdom of Krim? What need had allowed her to walk the infamous Path of Passion?
Those who were lucky enough to live within the walls of the kingdom of Krim understood that its power created a surrounding force field that would not allow humans into the ancient eastern European town unless there was a desire in their hearts that could only be returned by someone or something inside the kingdom of Krim.
And Liana wanted to know if Zacharias was Mila’s desire. Had Mila’s soul called loudly enough for him that the invisible walls around Krim had come tumbling down?
Mila shrugged one softly rounded shoulder. “Honestly, it was an accident. My car started to stutter and I got lost trying to find one of those pit stop stations. I thought I would be able to find someone to tow my car, or at the very least find a motel. I was just beginning to realize how foolish I was when the lights in the castle, I mean building, appeared. It was like my prayers had been answered.”
“And what exactly did you pray for?” Hugo asked softly, his gaze never straying from Zacharias’s face. Rufus’s gaze bore into him.
Mila was silent for several seconds. Zacharias could feel her lovely mind. The expression on her beautiful face told him she was considering what to say. She opened her mouth, ready to change the subject, when Liana cut her off.
“What did you ask for, Mila?”
Zacharias knew Mila didn’t want to answer the question. An aching feeling in his abdomen told him it was for the same reason he needed to hear her say the words.
Everyone in the dining room understood the truth was a very powerful thing. And right then Zacharias needed to hear that his Mila truly wanted and needed him.
She shrugged again, but this time no one was convinced by her feigned indifference. “The truth is, I asked for a savior, someone to help me through the roughest of times, and someone to appreciate me the same way I would appreciate him. I kind of got fed up with having to rough everything on my own.” She shrugged. “It just suddenly hit me that I’ve spent the last decade on my own. I blame it on a moment of weakness, but the truth is I asked God to send me a good man.”
Chapter Six
Green Light
“You heard her words. She was sent here for you. She is your queen.”
“She is more than that. She is his destined mate,” Hugo purred from across the room. He sat languidly in one of the several ancient chairs that littered the ballroom.
Over the centuries the room had became more a basement than a room for entertaining one’s guests. Among the chairs, there were endless portraits of long forgotten family members and relics.
Zacharias whipped around, eyes swirling with the potent anger and disillusionment he felt deep inside. They had come to the ballroom after breakfast to speak in private. He had known the moment Mila spoke that this conversation was coming. Still, he was not prepared for it. “I heard what she said and she specifically said a man. I am no man. I am a gargoyle. A shape-shifter. I am not the one she desires.”
“And you must not forget that,” Rufus said.
Liana snorted. “Begging your pardon, Rufus, my lord, but don’t be an ass. I’m not blind. You are the only thing she desires. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn’t been in the dining room.”
Zacharias blushed at the truth in Liana’s words. He was not sure how Mila would have reacted to finding them alone. He only knew how he would have responded. He would have taken her, right then, on top of the table that had been in his family for generations, and if the goddess had been with him, he would have sired the next generation of Krim Guardians right there between her dark thighs.
The thought of Mila carrying his seed made the pain of knowing he was not the one she sought all the more unbearable. He turned to confront Liana and her painful optimism. “I am not the man she requested. I am a gargoyle, more beast than man was ever meant to be.”
Hugo leaned against the wall. “The Path of Passion leads one where he needs to be to fulfill his heart’s desires. Do you honestly believe there is another man in the kingdom of Krim who would fulfill her every desire, a man who is not you?”
“I am not a man,” Zacharias thundered.
With blinding speed, Hugo strode across the large ballroom to stand in front of Zacharias. “Are you forgetting, your highness, that a staggering amount of the males in your kingdom are not men, strictly speaking? There are those who are part beast, part god, and those less fortunate are part demon. Do you consider me less of a man because I have the devil inside of me?”
“Don’t you dare try to guilt-trip me out of my reasoning. Do you think this is easy for me to even consider? Just because I want her does not mean that she wants me.”
“Humans are fickle. It is in your best interest not to allow yourself down that road. It can only lead to pain.”
Liana rounded on Rufus. “Why would you make such a statement? Mila is here for a reason.”
“And there is nothing saying that our king is that very reason. We have all witnessed how humans conduct their affairs of the heart. They do not use their hearts or bodies. They love or hate with their minds. She will not be able to accept him unless he is what she has envisioned her mate to be. There have been plenty of destined mates who have not become couples because the human did not think her mate was truly meant for her.”
Silence descended on the room at Rufus’s words. The truth was they had all witnessed just how deadly loving a human could be. Especially for gargoyles. They fell in love with their very souls. Rejected lovers were known to have withered away, unable to survive without their other half.
Liana turned to Zacharias. “Then don’t give her a choice. Force her hand. Make sure she has no choice but to desire you.”
“Exactly what do you mean by that?” His voice was deadly soft.
Liana simply lifted one eyebrow at his tone. He turned away, feeling slightly chastised.
He heard her mutter under her breath, “Idiots, every last male.” A little louder she said, “You have to seduce her, mind, body, and soul. You have to make her realize that you are the other half of her being.”
“And this will make her ignore the fact that I am a shape-shifting gargoyle?”
Liana crossed her arms over her plump breasts and smiled. “You, your highness, will be amazed to find what a woman would do in the name of love.”
Zacharias stared at her for a few moments. The calm security in her eyes made him feel immensely better. “Okay, what do I have to do?” He turned to include Hugo in the conversation. “You two are the experts on seduction, so teach me what I need to know to get my queen.”
“First things first. We need to get you a costume.”
“A costume?” Zacharias choked out.
“Oh yeah,” Liana purred. “There is nothing as seductive as a handsome man in a dashing costume. Tomorrow night we will throw a masquerade to celebrate the coming holiday. The human will find herself inexplicably bound to you by Halloween.”
Rufus watched Zacharias as Liana spoke to him. Zacharias could feel the wise man’s eyes on him, searching his face. With a sense of relief, Zacharias dismissed Liana and Hugo. He turned to the other gargoyle. A man who he’d spent many days on the battlefield with. A man he’d come to think of as a father since the death of his own. “Tell me what you are thinking, Rufus.”
“You should choose a bride among those presented. They know about your nature. They know their duties. And you will not need to convince them to bind themselves to you in less than two weeks’ time.”
“But none of them make me feel…anything.”
Rufus sighed. It was obvious he sensed he had lost the battle, but he could not refrain from giving Zacharias a piece of his mind. “I still think it is in your best interests to choose among one of the humans who are from Krim. Love is a dangerous and deadly road. I would hate to find that you are among its casualties.”
Chapter Seven
Heartburn
He found her in the gardens, long nose camera in her hand as she peered at an Alpine Swift as it swooped low over the terrain. He watched her with hungry eyes for several moments before she turned to him. With the camera in her hand propped on her hip, she looked up at him from under the fan of her onyx lashes. “You have a beautiful home,” she called out.
Zacharias strode toward her. “It’s even more beautiful now that you are here,” he whispered, staring deep into her midnight eyes.
She smiled at him shyly before breaking the hold his gaze had over her. “You’re a slick one.”
He caug
ht her arm before she could walk away. Away from him. Away from the need that coursed between them.
Their gazes connected. His fingers dug into the resilient flesh of her shoulders as he held her. “I’m an honest one.”
She blinked at the roughness of his voice. Desire thickened his tone, yearning governed his movements as he stepped forward, closing the small space that separated their bodies.
The pain in his chest could not be ignored. His heart burned with the need to touch her, feel her skin against his, her plump body against his own harder frame. His long fingers wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled Mila across the last inch, until he could feel her breasts pressed against his chest.
Zacharias stifled the roar that threatened to tear from his chest when he felt the insistent stab of her nipples. They were hard and she was aroused. So easily. By him. He could already smell the thick musk of her desire.
His glittering gaze caught hers. “May I kiss you?”
She stared up at him in surprise for a moment. Then she whispered her answer so softly he wondered if he had dreamed it. As if she knew he needed to be sure, she leaned up on her toes, searching for the touch of his lips. Zacharias readily complied, placing the soft contours of his lips against the plump valleys and ridges of her succulent mouth.
He took his time tasting her, indulging the need to explore her mouth, fill his senses with the woman who fit so well in his arms. Her small hands dug into his scalp, fingers tightening in the overgrown strands of his hair. Her lips pressed harder against his; her tongue, determined and uninhibited, swept through his mouth, touching, caressing, painting over the inner canvas of his mouth until all Zacharias had was a vivid picture of his own burning desire.
The curve of her rounded stomach pressed against the thick bulge between his thighs. Fire streaked through his every limb at the feel of her body pressed against his cock. Sharp talons dug under his skin, pulling at his self-control. Fingers curling, his arms strained at his sides with the need to pick Mila up, align her body more perfectly with his so his cock was nestled between her thighs, pressing against her moist cunt.
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