by Mina Carter
She giggled as he stole a kiss, their lips clinging for a breathtaking moment. Hell, the guy could kiss.
"I am dangerous. To everyone but you,” he growled, but the threatening sound was ruined by the sappy grin on his lips as he took her hand and placed it over his heart. “You saved us, sweetheart. If not for you, I'd be raw materials for someone's rockery right now."
Neri blinked. “Sun slavery? I thought Jaren was kidding when he said that. I thought you guys had a plan."
The gargoyle shook his head, smoothing her hair back from her face. His touch was gentle, almost reverent. “No, love, we didn't. Well, we did, but when we hit this place the plan went belly up. Jaren and Tiny got stuck in demon traps. They knew we were coming. I bulled on ahead because I needed to get to you."
"Jason planned this whole thing? That conniving son of a bitch!"
"But…but,” Knuckles shushed her with a finger. “They didn't count on one thing. You love me.” His grin widened as he said it, pride radiating from him like the rays from the sun.
Neri lifted an eyebrow. “That right, handsome? Awful sure of yourself there, aren't you?"
"Yup. I love you too."
The simple words took Neri's breath away. She was learning there was no subterfuge with Knuckles. It was one of the things she loved about him. When he said something, she didn't have to search for the hidden meaning.
"My question still stands about the clothes thing,” she said, changing tactics. “Jaren said something very interesting about screwing me on the floor."
Knuckles hauled her up against his hard body. His lips descended over hers and claimed them in a demanding kiss. When he lifted his head long moments later Neri tried to catch her breath and her scattered thoughts.
"Jaren is not screwing you on any floor,” he mock-growled, love shining in his eyes. “But I'm going to take you home and screw you all afternoon."
It didn't take them long to reach Knuckles’ apartment. The broad wings Neri had thought were just for show made short work of the distance. She liked the wings—there wasn't much about Knuckles she didn't like—but the actual flying part she wasn't so enamored of.
As soon as they'd taken off, the ground dropping away in a stomach-churning lurch, Neri had squeaked, buried her face into his neck and refused to open her eyes for the rest of the journey.
Only when the heavy whumph-whumph-whumph of his wings stopped did she finally risk a look. A sigh of relief escaped her when all that met her eyes were the innocuous-looking French doors into Knuckles’ living room.
"Wait. Shouldn't you tell someone we're back?” she asked as he shouldered the door open, obviously impatient to get inside. A shiver of anticipation filled her at what would happen when he did get her inside.
"They already know we are.” He shrugged as he walked straight through the main room with her still in his arms. He headed for the bedroom, kicking the door shut with a flick of his heel, hard enough to rattle it in the frame.
"They already know? How?” Neri frowned as he dropped her onto the bed, ignoring the fact she bounced a little on the firm mattress in favor of looking up at him.
Standing at the bottom of the bed, he was a sight to behold. He hadn't changed back to his human form. Neri got the feeling he was more comfortable in this one. He stood there letting her look her fill.
And she did, her eyes drinking in every inch of him greedily. Tall and broad-shouldered even before you factored in the wings, his heavily muscled body gave Neri chills just looking at it.
"Jedi mind trick,” he snorted in amusement. Then his dark eyes fixed on her and his expression turned serious as he noted the way she was looking at him. His head lifted, pride in every line of his body.
"You like what you see?"
Neri came to her knees on the bed. Her clothes were shredded beyond repair. Pushing her hair back from her face, she eyed him with hunger. Already her body was alive, a familiar ache settling low in her pelvis. It didn't matter to her that he stood there with wings, a tail and freaky feet. To her he was just Knuckles, and she loved and needed him, preferably sooner rather than later.
"Oh yes,” she breathed and crooked a finger to beckon him toward her. He smiled, his teeth flashing white as he stepped closer to the bed. As he did, his claws clicked on the floor and Neri realized why the place wasn't carpeted. It wasn't the uber-modern, minimalist look she'd originally taken it for. It was just practical when your feet came equipped with claws a couple of inches long.
He moved toward her, his body filled with a lethal grace she found fascinating and as sexy as hell. Her heart rate doubled but she stood her ground as he stalked toward the bed.
A thrill going through her, she arched her back and posed for him. A sexy pose designed to show off her body to best advantage. Teasing. Tantalizing. Tempting him into the bed with her for the good hard sex she'd been promised.
His hands hit the foot of the bed, and he started to crawl across the satin-covered expanse. Neri giggled and backed away, bouncing against the pillows at the top of the bed, making him chase her.
A low growl of warning rumbled in the center of his chest as his eyes latched on to her. It was a look she'd seen many times when cats were stalking their prey. Even his tail twitched the same, the tiny rattlesnake type movement right at the end, just the tip snaking back and forth, back and forth.
An odd look filled his eyes, something between intense longing and shame, and he stopped halfway across the bed. Neri frowned in confusion, already starting to hold her hand out to him, her mouth opening to ask what was wrong.
He ignored it, dropping his head to take a deep breath, and his skin started to shimmer like the heat over a pavement on a hot day and shift across his bones.
"No!"
The shame in his eyes made sense now. He didn't think she wanted him in his real form, and as soon as things got serious he was dropping back to his human form. She bit her lip. He was crazy if he thought what he looked like mattered to her. Jason had been the archetypal blue-eyed boy, and what a piece of shit he'd turned out to be. She didn't care what Knuckles looked like; she didn't want him to feel ashamed, not with her. Not ever.
Inspiration hit her in a flash. Gargoyles like to chase. Blondie—sorry, Jaren—had warned her about that back in the warehouse, and she'd already seen Knuckles’ interest sharpen when she'd evaded him a little on the bed. But did “like to chase” mean she was likely to get her arms and legs ripped off when he caught her, or would the end result be entirely more pleasurable?
He's more likely to tear your clothes off and screw you on the floor…
Summoning all her courage, Neri took a chance this wasn't going to end up in blood and tears and made a break for it. Scrambling off the bed, she ignored the growl of warning and dodged the grab he made for her.
She hit the door at speed, bursting through it and into the main room beyond. She had no idea where she was going, and honestly, there wasn't anywhere she could escape to. Escape wasn't the point though. Unlike her frantic dash only the night before, she wasn't trying to get away; she was trying to make him chase her.
Her bid for “freedom” lasted three steps through the door. With a roar Knuckles whirled and chased after her. The sharp retort of wood cracking echoed around the room, and Neri made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder to see how far behind her he was.
He was right behind her.
She squeaked, an odd sound somewhere between a squeal and a breathless giggle, and tried to twist away to avoid him.
It was too late. Hard hands clamped down on her shoulders, whirling her around with a speed that made her head spin. She didn't get time to gasp as she was yanked up against a hard body—a hard, very aroused, male body.
"Never run,” he told her, his breath a hot whisper against her ear. “Never run from me unless you want chasing."
Neri groaned as he thrust his hips against her, the hard length of his cock pressing into her belly. Pulling back, he looked down at her. The look on
his face made her breath catch in her throat and her heart hammer against her ribs so fast she thought it was going to burst free.
"And when you've caught me?"
His lips quirked in amusement as he looped her hands around his neck. “First I'm going to bring you to the edge, make you beg me to take you. Then you get fucked, good and proper."
Neri hid her triumph as she stroked soft fingertips down the line of his cheekbone, fascinated by his hard, male beauty. She was still amazed by his different forms. In this one he was huge but apart from the wings and the tail, not forgetting the freaky feet, everything else was pretty human, just bigger. Waaaay bigger…
"You promise?” She pressed closer, fitting her soft curves against the hard, angular planes of his bigger form. Her body clenched tight, everything feminine in her reacting to the promise of the hard cock pressed against her belly. She wanted him, wanted to feel that hard length—eye watering though it might be—sliding into her: stretching her, filling her, possessing her completely and making her his.
His nostrils flared at her words as his eyes blazed with sudden, ferocious heat. “Babe, you're gonna get all of me,” he promised darkly, his voice a husky growl which reached deep inside her, stroking the fires of her already rampant arousal to fever pitch. His hand burrowed into her hair, using it to pull her head back gently. “Every single inch."
He trailed nipping kisses down the exposed length of her throat. She whimpered as liquid heat slid from between her thighs. His hand swept down her curves and molded her body against his, stroking down further over her hip and lower. Hooking long fingers behind her knee, he drew it up and over his hip, his big hand caressing her thigh.
Neri caught her lip between her teeth as the movement opened up her body, cool air washing against the dampened crotch of her panties. The position was erotic, her body open to his exploration should he just move his hand a little. His fingers slid under the thin sides of her thong, and the garment gave in a silken whisper, cut by his talons. The scrap of satin slid down her legs to the floor.
She started in surprise as something slid back up, coiling against her calf and flirting with the back of her knee before it wrapped around her thigh. Something warm and thick. “Is that your…?"
"Tail,” he murmured against her throat, leaving a playful nip there as he let her lift her head. His eyes were filled with amusement. “I did say all of me."
It moved again, the tip stroking higher and sliding against the soft folds between her legs. Neri jumped again, feeling her eyes widening as it fluttered against her. Knuckles bent his head and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. His free hand slid under the shirt to cup her breast.
The tip of his tail, as dexterous as his fingers, parted her folds and stroked along the heated flesh. She moaned, the sound lost in his mouth as she writhed against him.
He chuckled. The sound was little more than a vibration in his big chest as he ran his thumb over one puckered nipple. At the same time he flicked the tip of his tail over her needy clit.
Neri gasped, her knees turning to jelly as the aching heat between her thighs became an inferno. It was all she could manage to cling to him and return his kisses as his hands and his tail working between her thighs conspired to drive her mad.
His tail flicked and stroked, circled and flicked again, endlessly, relentlessly. She couldn't stand it. Her hips rocked to get every last drop of sensation. It wasn't enough; every time she needed more and faster, he moved away until she calmed down a little. If calm was any way to describe the state she was in at the moment.
She needed more. Her pussy ached to be filled, to be plunged into over and over by the thick staff of his erection pressing into her stomach like an iron bar. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against him, panting.
"Knuckles, please!” She didn't care that she was begging, something she'd promised herself years ago she'd never do. She needed him right now, and if begging got her what she needed then that was fine by her.
She slid a hand down between them, boldly cupping him through his pants. Idly, she wondered how he got pants to fit—what with the tail and all—but recalled what he'd said about his talents before other more pressing matters took her attention. Like how to separate him from said pants so she could have her wicked way with him. She'd never felt such intense desire in her life.
Her soft words and her touch shattered the last little bit of control Knuckles had. He'd tried so hard to be civilized about this, even though his instincts were all screaming at him to drop her to the floor and bury himself in her warmth. But her whispered plea and the scent of her need on the air were too much, and his baser instincts broke free.
His gaze swept the room. There was no way he was going to be able to wait even the short distance through into the bedroom. He needed inside her and now, if not ten seconds ago.
His lips twisting in a grin, he pulled his tail from her heated sex and backed her up toward the kitchen counter. A single sweep of his arm removed its contents and scattered them over the floor with a crash.
"Turn around and bend over,” he ordered, watching her through narrowed eyes. He was so wound with tension his body was shaking as she did as he told her, giving him a sultry look over her shoulder as she leaned over the counter.
"What? Like this?” she asked and wiggled her hips, drawing his attention to the luscious curves of her ass.
"Tease,” he growled as he stepped up behind her. He couldn't wait another minute, another second. Not with her bent over the counter like that and the delicious pink lips of her sex peeking out from under the hem of his shirt. He had to have her. Now.
A talon down the back of the shirt dealt with that issue, and he kicked her feet wider apart. He wanted her totally open for him. A moment's concentration was all it took to rid himself of the few clothes he was wearing. His cock leapt free, eager, and he grasped it in one large hand. He ran the swollen head against her folds, eliciting a moan, before he pressed it against the slick entrance to her body.
Oh God, he was huge. Neri bit down hard on her lip as he pushed inside her, feeling the delicate tissues of her body give and slowly envelop his rigid cock.
"God, you're so hot and tight…feels so good,” he groaned, leaning over her on the counter with his hands braced either side of her shoulders.
Her thoughts scattered as he slid as far into her as he could, adding a little roll of his hips. A small moan escaped her throat as she arched her back and thrust her ass back against him. She'd died and gone to heaven. He stretched and filled her in ways no man had before and she loved it. Fire filled every cell with the need to move, to push back against him and demand everything he could give her.
"Fuck!” His claws dug into the granite of the counter as he entered her another half inch, his male growl of need as he pulled back urging Neri on. This might have started with him being the aggressor, and she might be pinned under him, but that didn't mean she didn't have her own power.
She closed her eyes and pushed back again, meeting him thrust for thrust; her pussy clenched tight around his hard cock. Shivers rolled through that velvet sheath, transmitted from him to her as their rhythm got harder, faster. Both of them were reaching for something ethereal and wonderful hovering just out of reach, something they couldn't attain apart but together—it was perfection.
"Fuck it! I can't hold out,” Knuckles groaned, his thighs spread for balance and his hips pounding against hers, each thrust driving them both closer.
"Then don't, you big lump,” Neri gasped back, pushing up from the counter and bracing herself on her locked arms. The change in position made his cock press inside her in all sorts of new and interesting ways. Liquid heat flooded her channel and his cock in an almost scalding wave. “Just let go and fuck me."
His growl echoed around the small kitchen. Had it only been last night he'd brought her here dressed in his jacket and the remnants of her clothing? Knuckles snaked his arm around her body crosswise, pulling her upright with her bac
k flush against his broad chest.
She whimpered in his arms. The tension in her body was so tight it was a wonder she didn't snap with it. Her head dropped back to his shoulder, and she rested back against him. He thrust into her again and again, impaling her on his rigid cock.
"Please…” she pleaded, twisting to kiss his neck again, her hands on his restraining arm.
Knuckles wrapped himself tightly around her, one leg pressing hers forward as he fitted himself to her body, the smooth slide of his cock in her pussy almost furious now. He answered her unspoken plea by wrapping his tail around her too, the tip snaking between her thighs and sliding against the hard nub of her clit. It stroked as he continued to drive into her.
Neri shivered at the first touch, cried his name on the second, and on the third she shattered, coming apart in his arms. His bellow of release followed as his cock pulsed and jerked, pumping white-hot seed into the depths of her body.
And, unnoticed by the lovers, the sun broke over the horizon, pouring through the small kitchen window as the gargoyle and his love were locked together in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
Epilogue
In this world it is possible for two souls to connect so deeply, in a love so profound, that it transcends death itself. The love between Knuckles and Neri was one such love, reaching beyond the grave.
Their souls were always destined to be together, to complete each other, and so, many years beyond our story when Neri has left this mortal coil, the gargoyle guards the grave of his love, locked in stone as he waits for her to be born again.
Waiting for the day they can be together: Forever.
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